The Conversation -- July 14, 2025

Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said he would help Europe speed more weapons to Ukraine and warned Russia that if it did not agree to a peace deal within 50 days, he would impose a new round of punishing sanctions. Speaking from the Oval Office, where he met with NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte​, Mr. Trump said the weapons would be “quickly distributed to the battlefield.” He also threatened to impose secondary sanctions, which are penalties imposed on other countries or parties that trade with nations under sanctions. 'I’m disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” Mr. Trump said.”

Peter Baker in the New York Times: “It should come as no surprise that Mr. Trump would try to undo much of what President Joseph R. Biden Jr. did over the past four years. What is so striking in Mr. Trump’s second term is how much he is trying to undo changes that happened years and even decades before that. At times, it seems as if he is trying to repeal much of the 20th century. On matters big and small, Mr. Trump has hit the rewind button. At the broadest level, he has endeavored to reverse the globalization and internationalism that have defined U.S. leadership around the globe since World War II, under presidents of both parties. But even at a more prosaic level, it has become evident that Mr. Trump, 79, the oldest president ever inaugurated, simply prefers things the way he remembers them from his youth, or even before that.” Baker cites many, many examples of Trump's turn-back-the-clock "agenda." This is a gift link. ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think Trump's preference for "the good old days" is primarily an exercise in conservatism or even in nostalgia for a false memory of a country that never existed. While it's certainly steeped in racism & misogyny & wealth-elitism, that's not really the half of it. Rather, what we're looking at is senility. The poor old duffer wants to go back to the days when a sporty car's dashboard was loaded with mechanial instruments, and it was not true that "Everything's computer!"

Linda Greenouse of the New York Times: “People of a certain age might remember the songwriter Jimmy Webb’s weirdly compelling 'MacArthur Park,' with its refrain that begins, 'MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark.' Growing up in the east, I had never heard of MacArthur Park when the song hit the charts in 1968, and I wasn’t sure it was a real place. All these years later, something real is melting for sure. It is the glue that holds civil society together.”

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Lisa Friedman, et al., of the New York Times: “In an effort to shrink the federal government..., [Donald] Trump and congressional Republicans have taken steps that are diluting the country’s ability to anticipate, prepare for and respond to catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather events, disaster experts say. Staff reductions, budget cuts and other changes made by the administration since January have already created holes at the National Weather Service, which forecasts and warns of dangerous weather. Mr. Trump’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year would close 10 laboratories run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that research the ways a warming planet is changing weather, among other things.... The president is also envisioning a dramatically scaled-down Federal Emergency Management Agency that would shift the costs of disaster response and recovery from the federal government to the states.... The federal government’s retrenchment arrives at a time when climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and severe. Last year, the United States experienced 27 disasters that cost more than $1 billion each.”

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: “Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium [in New Jersey] ... was something of a test run for the World Cup, which will include many of the same top names in the sport playing on behalf of their national teams.... Some on Sunday cheered [Donald Trump's] attendance, chanted 'USA! USA!' and turned to take photos. But when he appeared on the jumbo screen during the national anthem, boos rose up before the camera quickly turned elsewhere. As Trump took the field with FIFA president Gianni Infantino after the match for the medal ceremony the crowd loudly booed Trump again as he pumped his fists and took the stage. Chelsea players gave one another confused looks as Trump continued to linger while they raised the trophy in celebration.... The World Cup is likely to bring a host of ... organizational and political challenges, especially amid the Trump administration’s harsh crackdown on immigration.” ~~~

     ~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite: “FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s attempt to discreetly usher ... Donald Trump off the stage failed Sunday night, leaving Chelsea soccer players visibly baffled as Trump lingered and remained front and center during their ceremonial Club World Cup trophy lift. After handing team captain Reece James the trophy following Chelsea’s 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain, Trump remained among the players – despite protocol dictating a swift exit.” MB: Viser does not make clear why Chelsea players were “confused.” Gilmour does. Trump is not going to miss a chance to bask in -- and appear to be part of --somebody else's glory.

Ha Ha. Colby Hall of Mediaite: “In a rare and telling moment, the president got ratioed [over the Epstein brouhaha] on the very social platform he owns, Truth Social, by the very MAGA loyalists he once could count on to amplify every post. So it’s not just the vocal MAGA influencers who aren’t buying it, it’s the very rabble he loves to rouse who are calling bullshit. For the uninitiated, getting 'ratioed' is social media shorthand for when a post receives far more replies than likes or reposts — usually a sign that the audience disagrees with, or is angry about the content.... The backlash [after Trump's post defending Pam Bondi] was immediate. The post was swarmed with angry and skeptical comments, vastly outnumbering the likes and reposts. This kind of ratio isn’t just a matter of bad optics — it’s a warning flare from Trump’s base. The digital loyalty he once commanded without question is now, at least on this issue, showing serious cracks.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is all SO stupid! These nitwits aren't upset Trump lies to them ten times a day; they aren't upset he has scammed them again and again with his cheesy merch; they aren't upset his megabill will do harm to them and their families; they aren't upset his goons are picking up & deporting mostly regular people, not criminals. Nope. They're upset they're not going to find out what they already know: that men associated with Jeffrey Epstein are skank.

     ~~~ Tom Sullivan of digby's Hullabaloo has more. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ AND Steve M. found a response to a Laura Loomer post that he writes, "is more revealing of the MAGA mindset than all the New York Times diner safaris and Trump-voter focus groups combined. For much of MAGA, there aren't multiple conspiracies. There's just one big conspiracy: the Deep State runs everything, and Donald Trump is tasked by God with dismantling it and bringing the malefactors to judgment.... The problem for Trump now is that his voters have been led to believe that the Epstein client list and the Deep State are exactly the same thing.... MAGA believes that Epstein was a procurer only for people MAGA hates, and that the entire Deep State was in on this, because child exploitation is central to how the rich and powerful operate.... Trump and the party established unrealistic expectations for their voters -- and now they're beginning to pay the price for that." MB: Steve's explanation makes sense, & it answers questions I raised along the lines of "Why would MAGA care about Epstein?" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M. says the pipedream of MAGA falling apart over the Epstein files is not going to happen: "... Trump doesn't always determine what MAGA believes. MAGA turned against vaccines long before Trump did -- he continued to speak favorably about the COVID vaccines that were developed during his first administration until booing crowds persuaded him to stop. Trump also followed other right-wing influencers on subjects such as DEI and trans rights.... The right-wing grievance machine predates Trump's entry into politcs by decades, and will exist long after he's gone.... Trump seems to have been the party's sole leader for a decade, but he actually shares the leadership role now with the likes of Chris Rufo, Charlie Kirk, Chaya Raichik, and the Heritage Foundation, and the messages are channeled through Fox (for old people), purely ideological podcasts such as Steve Bannon's War Room for the middle-aged, and bro podcasts and social media posts for the young. And all this is bankrolled by billionaires who largely stay out of the public eye but ensure that culture wars steer voters to the GOP and the GOP directs money into their pockets. There's no crackup coming." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you're wondering, "How could democracy fail like this?", I think Steve has your answer: a huge chuck of the voting public is unacquainted with reality. (And they are aided and abetted by another huge chunk who doesn't take the time to care.) 

Your Tax Dollars -- Supporting Crazy Trump Conspiracy Theories. Naftali Bendavid of the Washington Post: “After ... Donald Trump wrongly suggested that Social Security funds were going to millions of dead people, his administration spent weeks revamping the agency’s database. When Trump seized on a debunked claim that South Africa’s government was systematically massacring White farmers, U.S. officials developed plans to resettle 1,000 of them. And in recent days, the Justice Department wrapped up an investigation that took several months and considerable FBI resources by announcing that — contrary to an internet conspiracy theory pushed by many Trump allies — the department was not concealing an explosive list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients and the alleged sex trafficker had not been secretly murdered. As the administration approaches its six-month mark, Trump officials have regularly shown they are willing to throw the machinery of government into gear — redirecting employees, spending taxpayer money and in some cases changing policy — in the service of conspiracy theories or easily disproven assertions.”

Tim Cunningham, who is a professional clown, objects in a Washington Post op-ed to all the characterizations of Donald Trump as a clown. “For centuries, clowns have been uniting people in laughter, levity and creativity. That’s what real clowns have to offer. If you’re still stuck on the broken comparison ingrained in our national dialogue, here’s an alternative: Try 'buffoon.'” MB: Cunningham probably doesn't appreciate “Fuckface von Clownstick,” either. Ah, well.

U.S.A., the Lonely Country. Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: “Trade chaos is forcing America’s allies closer together, and further from the United States. And as that happens, the European Union is trying to position itself at the center of a new global trade map. The bloc learned this weekend that Washington would subject it to 30 percent tariffs starting Aug. 1. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the E.U. executive branch, responded with a pledge to keep negotiating ... [but also] would continue to draw up plans to hit back with force. But that was not the entire strategy. Europe, like many of the United States’ trading partners, is also looking for more reliable friends.... Just as ... [Donald] Trump threatens to put hefty tariffs on many countries, including Indonesia, the European Union is working to relax trade barriers and deepen economic relations. 'In hard times, some turn inward, toward isolation and fragmentation,' Ms. von der Leyen said. Then, in a message implicitly extended to world leaders who have been jolted by Mr. Trump’s tariffs, she added, 'You are always welcome here, and you can count on Europe.'” This appears to be a gift link.

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times: “Over the past six months, The New York Times has documented how [DOGE]’s Wall of Receipts, the only public accounting of DOGE’s work, has been plagued by errors. To understand why, The Times looked closely at claims submitted by the V.A., which has accounted for one of the highest totals of canceled contracts on the wall, but also some of its bigger mistakes. That analysis revealed two levels of failure, which only seemed to accelerate in recent weeks. The V.A. submitted a raft of flawed claims that inflated its progress. Then..., DOGE was supposed to fact-check these claims. Instead, The Times found, it amplified them.... The sole public source of information [-- the Wall of Receipts --] about one of the Trump administration’s most controversial and disruptive efforts remains unreliable six months into its work.”

Joe My God republishes a bit of a Bloomberg story: "Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired her personal ethics adviser, removing the Justice Department’s top official responsible for counseling the most senior political appointees, according to two people familiar with the move. Joseph Tirrell, a career attorney who’d spent nearly 20 years at the department, received a termination letter from Bondi July 11 that didn’t state a reason for his immediate removal from federal service." MB: I don't see the problem. Obviously, an ethics advisor whose job it was to advise "Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other DOJ leaders" is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. Kinda like, say, if the government paid a fact-checker to advise Donald Trump (and other Trump staff). 

Lizzie Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv a day after Trump said the United States would soon send Patriot missiles to Ukraine — marking an optimistic turn for the country in a brutal summer of deadly aerial attacks and demoralizing news from Washington.... While he had not 'agreed on the number yet,' Trump said the United States would soon send Patriots to Ukraine, paid for by the European Union, to help stop Russian missiles.”

Alyce McFadden of the New York Times: “Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, defended the federal government’s response on Sunday to catastrophic flooding in Texas that left more than 120 dead. She dismissed as 'absolutely false' reports that recent policy changes slowed the deployment of critical disaster aid. In an appearance on NBC’s 'Meet the Press,' Ms. Noem denied that a new policy requiring her personal approval for contracts larger than $100,000 had left Federal Emergency Management Agency call centers understaffed for days after floodwaters swept through Texas’ Hill Country on July 4 and 5. The New York Times reported that on July 6 and 7, thousands of calls to the agency went unanswered because hundreds of contractors had been fired when their contracts lapsed on July 5. 'False reporting, fake news,' Ms. Noem said. Experts and current and former FEMA employees have said the agency was slow to deploy response and search-and-rescue coordination teams. But Ms. Noem insisted that FEMA, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, had responded to the Texas flooding better than it had to any other disaster in 'many, many years' and dismissed claims to the contrary as attacks by the Trump administration’s political opponents.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Noem is sort of a comical liar. First, it's the media fault. Then somehow she knows that every prior FEMA operation was worse than the response to Texas flooding. Really? What are her criteria? Where are her data?

Paul Krugman: “...  the call for mass deportations and/or imprisonment was based on a lie — the claim that America is facing a huge immigrant crime wave. 'They’re not a city of immigrants, they’re a city of criminals,' declared Kristi Noem about Los Angeles last month. Last week city officials reported that LA is on track to have the fewest homicides in 60 years.... According to the Miami Herald, only around a third of the people being held in 'Alligator Alcatraz' — a cute name, but it’s a concentration camp, pure and simple — have any kind of criminal conviction. Why aren’t they rounding up more undocumented criminals? Because that would be hard work, and anyway there aren’t that many of them.... And the Trumpies — for whom, as Adam Serwer famously observed, the cruelty is the point — are inadvertently humanizing immigrants for Americans who don’t have ... daily experience [with them].... Harsh anti-immigrant policies are looking like a political loser, not a winner.”

“A New Era of Hunger Has Begun.” Tracy Kidder in the New York Times: “Mr. Trump’s law, signed on Independence Day, is the latest and largest of all the cyclical attempts to reduce the size and cost of America’s so-called safety net — to winnow the various social programs established by President Lyndon Johnson’s 'Great Society' program. Among other things, the law begins to dismember the federal program once known as food stamps, now known, in an age of prolixity, as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The program distributes money for food — an average of $187 a month per person. About 42 million Americans rely on it.... Cutting SNAP will dramatically increase the pressure on food banks.... According to Feeding America, which oversees food banks across the country, SNAP [currently] provides nine times more food than all of its 200 food banks combined.... Because ... the funds are quickly spent..., each $1 in SNAP benefits adds as much as $1.50 to the country’s gross domestic product.”

Rebecca Solnit: "... too many of the powerful voices in this country are downplaying the crisis we're in, and that tamps down the reactions that could save us.... Two things under attack are the rule of law and the separation of powers, but the impact is largely downplayed.... Congress could take its powers back if it didn't have a submissive Republican majority in both houses.... The tariffs are now routinely treated as [Trump's] prerogative, rather than an illicit power grab (that we should be hounding Congress to fight or blaming for not fighting).... While most of the judiciary is upholding the rule of law, the rogue six in the Supreme Court are bending and twisting laws and precedents to hand unchecked power to the president... The Trumpists are increasingly disregarding the law.... ICE is given a shocking amount of money in the BBB, and the apparent plan is to have an unaccountable, lawless gangster army rove the streets of this country. I have not seen mainstream media stories on what this could look like, but I know authoritarianism comes when the authoritarian sweeps aside all limits on his power, all forms of accountability.... [The media are] downplaying Trump's massive corruption of his office...." Thanks to laura h. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Charlie Savage & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: “Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is escalating his battle against Republican claims that he might not have been in control of high-profile clemency decisions issued under his name at the end of his term and, more generally, that his cognitive state impaired his functioning in office. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Biden said that he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term, calling ... [Donald] Trump and other Republicans 'liars' for claiming his aides had used an autopen to do so without his authorization.... Asked what evidence the Trump White House has that Mr. Biden did not authorize the clemency actions, a spokesman, Harrison Fields, said on Sunday that Mr. Biden 'should not be trusted,' adding, 'The truth will come out about who was, in fact, running the country.'” MB: IOW, No evidence.

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: “For more than 60 years, the CIA claimed it had little or no knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That wasn’t true, new documents unearthed by a House task force prove. The revelation raises further questions about the agency’s awareness of — or involvement in — the plot to murder the president. The documents confirm that George Joannides, a CIA agent based in Miami in 1963, was helping finance and oversee a group of Cuban students opposed to the ascension of Fidel Castro. Joannides had a covert assignment to manage anti-Castro propaganda and disrupt pro-Castro groups, even as the CIA was prohibited from domestic spying. The CIA-backed group known as DRE was aware of Oswald as he publicly promoted a pro-Castro policy for the U.S., and its members physically clashed with him three months before the assassination. And then, a DRE member said, Oswald approached them and offered his help, possibly to work as a mole within his pro-Castro group, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. The CIA had long denied any involvement with the Cuban group, or any awareness of Oswald’s pro-Cuba advocacy.” The link is a gift link.

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Arizona. Felicia Fonseca & Jaimie Ding of the AP: “A fast-moving wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, forcing officials to close access to that area for the season, the park said Sunday. The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost. 'Numerous' historic cabins in the area also were destroyed, the park said.... Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs [D] called on the federal government late Sunday to investigate the National Park Service’s response to the wildfire. 'They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage,' she said in a post on X. 'But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park.'”

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France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: “President Emmanuel Macron of France, painting a somber picture of a threatening world, announced a sharp increase in military spending on Sunday in his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday. 'Our freedom has never been so threatened,' Mr. Macron said. 'There are no more rules, it’s the law of the strongest that wins.' In this context, he added, 'We Europeans must assure our security ourselves.' His speech amounted to the strongest statement yet of the French view that old partnerships, particularly with ... [Donald] Trump’s America, have eroded; that the threat from Russia is acute; and that inhibitions over recourse to force in the world have disappeared. 'You have to be feared in this world,' Mr. Macron said. 'And to be feared you have to be strong.' He added that 'American disengagement' left Europe with no choice but to defend itself. Mr. Macron announced that, given the mounting threats, military spending would accelerate to reach $74.8 billion by 2027, when Mr. Macron, who is term limited, will leave office.... Military spending stood at $37.64 billion in 2017 when Mr. Macron took office, so it will in effect have doubled in a decade. But it still represents only 2 percent of total economic output today.”

Israel/Palestine. Miriam Berger, et al., of the Washington Post: “Ten people, many of them children, were killed in a strike at a water distribution site in central Gaza on Sunday, local health officials said, in a deadly incident the Israeli military said was the result of a  'technical error' with a munition.... The Israel Defense Forces said it launched “a strike targeting an Islamic Jihad terrorist” on Sunday, but that 'as a result of a technical error with the munition, the munition fell dozens of meters from the target.' The Israeli military said it was 'aware of the claim regarding casualties'  and is investigating the incident. 'The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians.'”

The Conversation -- July 13, 2025

Rebecca Solnit: "... too many of the powerful voices in this country are downplaying the crisis we're in, and that tamps down the reactions that could save us.... Two things under attack are the rule of law and the separation of powers, but the impact is largely downplayed.... Congress could take its powers back if it didn't have a submissive Republican majority in both houses.... The tariffs are now routinely treated as [Trump's] prerogative, rather than an illicit power grab (that we should be hounding Congress to fight or blaming for not fighting).... While most of the judiciary is upholding the rule of law, the rogue six in the Supreme Court are bending and twisting laws and precedents to hand unchecked power to the president... The Trumpists are increasingly disregarding the law.... ICE is given a shocking amount of money in the BBB, and the apparent plan is to have an unaccountable, lawless gangster army rove the streets of this country. I have not seen mainstream media stories on what this could look like, but I know authoritarianism comes when the authoritarian sweeps aside all limits on his power, all forms of accountability.... [The media are] downplaying Trump's massive corruption of his office...." Thanks to laura h. for the link.

Ha Ha. Colby Hall of Mediaite: "In a rare and telling moment, the president got ratioed [over the Epstein brouhaha] on the very social platform he owns, Truth Social, by the very MAGA loyalists he once could count on to amplify every post. So it's not just the vocal MAGA influencers who aren't buying it, it's the very rabble he loves to rouse who are calling bullshit. For the uninitiated, getting 'ratioed' is social media shorthand for when a post receives far more replies than likes or reposts -- usually a sign that the audience disagrees with, or is angry about the content.... The backlash [after Trump's post defending Pam Bondi] was immediate. The post was swarmed with angry and skeptical comments, vastly outnumbering the likes and reposts. This kind of ratio isn't just a matter of bad optics -- it's a warning flare from Trump's base. The digital loyalty he once commanded without question is now, at least on this issue, showing serious cracks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is all SO stupid! These nitwits aren't upset Trump lies to them ten times a day; they aren't upset he has scammed them again and again with his cheesy merch; they aren't upset his megabill will do harm to them and their families; they aren't upset his goons are picking up & deporting mostly regular people, not criminals. Nope. They're upset they're not going to find out what they already know: that men associated with Jeffrey Epstein are skank.

     ~~~ Tom Sullivan of digby's Hullabaloo has more. ~~~

     ~~~ AND Steve M. found a response to a Laura Loomer post that he writes, "is more revealing of the MAGA mindset than all the New York Times diner safaris and Trump-voter focus groups combined. For much of MAGA, there aren't multiple conspiracies. There's just one big conspiracy: the Deep State runs everything, and Donald Trump is tasked by God with dismantling it and bringing the malefactors to judgment.... The problem for Trump now is that his voters have been led to believe that the Epstein client list and the Deep State are exactly the same thing.... MAGA believes that Epstein was a procurer only for people MAGA hates, and that the entire Deep State was in on this, because child exploitation is central to how the rich and powerful operate.... Trump and the party established unrealistic expectations for their voters -- and now they're beginning to pay the price for that." MB: Steve's explanation makes sense, & it answers questions I raised along the lines of "Why would MAGA care about Epstein?"

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Most days the big news is that Trump is being cruel or corrupt (or both) again, not to mention careless and craven. Today it's more along the lines of crazy.

laura h. noticed (see yesterday's Comments) that Trump "sounding especially deranged and even a little panicked" over the Epstein files. Trump claimed yesterday in a social media post that the Epstein documents were "written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration." Say what? Epstein himself -- who of course was, in real life, a partying pal of Trump's -- now seems to be a zombie in Trump's mind; he "never dies." Here's part of Trump's long, panicky (and unintentionally comical) post, via Caleb Howe of Mediaite: "We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it's Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 'Intelligence' Agents, 'THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,' and more?" Howe has the complete, crazy text, which Trump ends with his weird sign-off: "Thank you for your attention to this matter!" ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Thrush & Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald "Trump on Saturday threw a political lifeline to Pam Bondi, his embattled attorney general, appearing to side with her over Dan Bongino, the F.B.I.'s deputy director, who has threatened to quit over Ms. Bondi's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.... Mr. Trump, appearing concerned about the fallout from his administration's decision to close the Epstein investigation, went on to plead with his followers to 'not waste Time and Energy' on the disgraced financier and registered sex offender he once socialized with.... The blowback over the Epstein case ... has defied the patterns of previous Trump controversies, provoking criticism from activists on the right increasingly willing to cast doubt on Mr. Trump's actions and motives -- and not just place blame on his surrogates and subordinates. Saturday's post, which included unfounded accusations against Democrats, did not appear to achieve its intended result of diverting attention and quelling doubts about the case, based on the negative response of even Mr. Trump's supporters." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Don't the Times writers have an obligation to write some version of, "In his post, the President* of the United States sounds batshit crazy"? The article, as written, normalizes scribblings so insane that no one 20 years ago imagined could have been written by a real U.S. president for public release. ~~~

~~~ Matt Dixon & Brennan Leach of NBC News: "... it's not clear that Trump's post will be enough to quell the furor.... All they wanted to talk about ... [this weekend] at the Student Action Summit hosted by the conservative activist group Turning Point USA was the 'Epstein files.' 'I think that these people -- and I don't know, for whatever reason, there could be reasons -- but I don't think they're telling us the truth about Epstein,' podcaster Brandon Tatum told the assembled crowd at the Tampa Convention Center. 'I think that that that guy was involved in something nefarious that implicates a whole lot of people. And my guess is that the whole lot of people may have, may happen to be some of our allies and some people that we don't want to have a bad relationship with.'... Former Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, who was among Trump's biggest supporters when in the state Legislature and was in attendance at the event, called Trump's Truth Social post 'out of touch.'... The Epstein issue is challenging [the Trump] alliance like never before." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The great part of this MAGA drama is that it's much ado about very little. They're fighting over myths (kind of like the Reformation, I guess, for those who have opinions about papal indulgences and such). Of course there are "Epstein files," and no doubt they contain "binders full of men." After all, local and federal officials investigated Epstein beginning in 2005, and the feds investigated him again in & around 2019. (French prosecutors also opened an Epstein investigation in 2019.) Epstein himself reportedly made sex tapes of young women & prominent men in his New York City & U.S. Virgin Island properties. Did he catalogue those videos in such a way that would comprise a "client list"? Maybe. Bondi definitely has access to files she is withholding. She should just say so. Also, the likelihood that Epstein killed himself is high. That is, it's unlikely powerful forces conspired to murder him to keep him from telling all. And frankly, who cares? We already know of quite a few public figures, including Donald Trump, who joined in Epstein's partying, and -- with the exception of Britain's Prince Andrew -- none has suffered much for it because most were already known sleazebags. ~~~

     ~~~ Conservative Charlie Sykes on Substack: "... bozos are fighting with buffoons as the ringleader of the whole bangarang looks on. Who could have seen this coming? Other than absolutely everybody? (And, no we do not have to pick sides in a slap-fight among deplorables.)"

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Saturday announced he's levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners. Trump detailed the planned tariffs in letters posted to his social media account. They are part of an announcement blitz by Trump of new tariffs aimed at allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. In his letter to Mexico's leader, President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump acknowledged that the country has been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States. But he said the country has not done enough to stop North America from turning into a 'Narco-Trafficking Playground.'... Trump in his letter to the European Union said the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jenna Smialek & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Both economies [-- Mexico & the E.U. --] do a huge amount of trade in goods and services with the United States. And both governments have been in intense negotiations with the United States, right up until Mr. Trump's letters were sent." (Also linked yesterday.)

Giselle Ewing of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday said he is considering revoking the citizenship of one of his longtime foes -- actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell -- something he has no clear legal pathway to do. The move is an escalation of Trump's weaponization of American citizenship. While the president has enacted mass deportations for immigrants and looked to end birthright citizenship for the children of some immigrants, his threat to revoke the New York-born actor's citizenship marks a new frontier. 'Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning. O'Donnell currently resides in Ireland." The New York Times story is here.(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe Trump really can't get away with revoking a U.S. citizen's birthright, but he can make the life of any U.S. citizen a nightmare by threatening to take away his citizenship. No citizen or person residing in the U.S. is safe from his delusional megalomania.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "It is not reassuring, at a time of man-made and natural disasters, that the president is spouting gobbledygook and his maladroit cabinet members are spinning out. It's a paradox: If you choose your cabinet based on looks, you are likely to end up with a cabinet that makes you look bad. Running government is harder than bloviating on Fox News and assorted podcasts. And if you demand über-fealty from your advisers, you will end up surrounded by toadies who don't level with you."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "Thousands of new deportation agents deployed into American cities. A doubling of detention space to hold tens of thousands of immigrants before they are expelled. Miles of new border wall, along with surveillance towers equipped with artificial intelligence. That is the expansive plan that ... [Donald] Trump's top immigration officials now intend to enact after months of struggling to overcome staffing shortages and logistical hurdles that have stymied his pledge to record the most deportations in American history.... The annual budget of Immigration and Customs Enforcement alone will spike from about $8 billion to roughly $28 billion.... Tim Quinn, a former senior official in Customs and Border Protection, said the rapid expansion of the immigration agencies makes accountability mechanisms even more essential. But the administration earlier this year took steps to dismantle the watchdog agencies inside the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE." ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Peltz & Alexandria Rodriguez of the AP: "Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida's new Everglades immigration detention center after visiting Saturday, describing it as crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested. Republicans on the same tour said they saw nothing of the sort at the remote facility that officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' The state-arranged tour came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center that the state rapidly built on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. So many state legislators and members of Congress turned up Saturday that they were split into multiple groups. 'There are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut the hell down,' U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, told reporters after visiting the agglomeration of tents, trailers and temporary buildings.... Cage-style units of 32 men share three combination toilet-sink devices, the visitors measured the temperature at 83 degrees (28 degrees Celsius) in a housing area entranceway and 85 (29 Celsius) in a medical intake area, and grasshoppers and other insects abound, she and her fellow Florida Democrats said. Although the visitors said they were not able to speak with the detainees, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, also a Democrat, said one called out 'I'm an American citizen!' and others chanted 'Libertad!'" The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Cruelty Is the Point. Maria Sacchetti, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal immigration officers may deport immigrants with as little as six hours' notice to countries other than their own even if officials have not provided any assurances that the new arrivals will be safe from persecution or torture, a top official said in a memo this week. Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a memo to the ICE workforce Wednesday that a Supreme Court ruling last month had cleared the way for officers to 'immediately' start sending immigrants to 'alternative' countries. People being sent to countries where officials have not provided any 'diplomatic assurances' that immigrants will be safe will be informed 24 hours in advance -- and in 'exigent' circumstances, just six. Those being flown to places that have offered those assurances could be deported with no advance notice.... Among those who could be targeted are thousands of immigrants with final removal orders who have not been deported to their native countries because a judge found that they might face danger there.... Lawyers warned that thousands of longtime immigrants with work permits and families in the U.S. could now be uprooted and sent to places where they lack family ties or even a common language." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not only that, you can bet that some U.S. citizens will be caught up in ICE's dragnet -- like dolphins in a tuna net -- & deported to unsafe countries where they have no ties.

Marie: I know life isn't fair, but how about this: if you work at the Department of Injustice, you may be fired because Donald Trump disapproves of the your work assignment you once fulfilled. ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Pam Bondi this week fired multiple Justice Department employees who were involved in two federal prosecutions of ... Donald Trump during the Biden administration.... In total, 20 people were fired from the department, including two prosecutors who worked under former special counsel Jack Smith.... The rest of the dismissed employees were support staff and U.S. marshals who assisted those prosecutors.... The latest firings come as the Trump administration continues to push out employees across the Justice Department and FBI, often with no explanation or warning.... The latest firings are unrelated to the mass reductions-in-force and reorganizations that Trump has implemented at many other federal agencies...." A CBS News story is here.

Mark Thiessen of the AP: "The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction. Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey and dispose of government property; and aiding and abetting in those efforts. The charges were brought when Joe Biden was president.... A federal grand jury on Jan. 11, 2023, returned an indictment against Moore, his Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc., others associated with the clinic and a neighbor of Moore's.... The trial began Monday in Salt Lake City with jury selection.... Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation's top health official, posted his support for Moore in April, saying on X that Moore 'deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing!'... In a follow-up X post on Saturday, Bondi said Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene brought the case to her attention." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Excuse me. RFKJ is still "a leading anti-vaccine activist," or maybe "the leading anti-vaccine activist."

The government's interpretation is, to put it mildly, 'interpretive jiggery-pokery' of the highest order. ... It requires not just reading between the lines, but hallucinating new text that simply is not there. -- District Judge Jamal Whitehead ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "'Judges from across the ideological spectrum are ruling against administration policies at remarkable rates,' said Adam Bonica, a political scientist at Stanford University. These rulings have halted Mr. Trump's vengeful attempts to destroy law firms, forestalled some of his budget cuts and kept him from deporting additional immigrants. Yes, the Supreme Court has often been more deferential to the president. Still, it has let stand many lower-court rulings and has itself constrained Mr. Trump in some cases. The bipartisan alarm from federal judges offers a roadmap for others to respond to Mr. Trump's often illegal behavior. His actions deserve to be called out in plain language for what they really are. And people in positions of influence should do what they can to stand up for American values, as many judges have done. Here, we've compiled quotations from judges' recent rulings and bench comments." The citations are remarkable.

What comes first, the money or the assholiness? ~~~

~~~ What a Prick! Whitey-White Billionaire Dude Attacks Diversity. Nitasha Tiku of the Washington Post: "Influential tech investor and Trump adviser Marc Andreessen recently said universities will 'pay the price' for promoting diversity and allegedly discriminating against supporters of ... Donald Trump, according to messages he sent to a group chat with White House officials and technology leaders.... [Andreessen singled out M.I.T. & Stanford.] The investor described a 'counterattack' against universities in hi messages and called for the National Science Foundation, a federal research funding agency, to receive 'the bureaucratic death penalty.' Andreessen co-founded one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms, Andreessen Horowitz, which embraced ... Donald Trump's candidacy last year.... Andreessen has quietly helped shape the administration's hiring and policy decisions.... Andreessen sent his messages to a WhatsApp group used by Trump officials to discuss artificial intelligence policy with dozens of tech figures and academics.... He quickly deleted many of the messages after sending them...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The pathetic irony here is that I suspect people strive to become ultra-rich so "normal" people will admire them. But the fact is that quite a few of the super-rich (and probably especially the self-made variety) are too obnoxious for most of us to endure. So rather than admire them, we are apt to shun and/or ridicule them.

Disasters That Keep on Taking. Erin Blakemore of the Washington Post: "Counties that undergo severe climate-related disasters often suffer reduced access to critical health care infrastructure in the years that follow, a study ... published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ... suggests.... In contrast, moderate disasters were associated with increased access to in health care, suggesting that 'disasters can, in some cases, lead to (possibly unequal) redevelopment.' 'More affluent communities often have better connections, such as political influence, that help them maintain these important health institutions following a period of crisis,' Yvonne Michael, a professor of epidemiology at Drexel University ... and the study's senior author, said in a news release."

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: On Tuesday, Ted "Cruz inserted language into the Republicans' 'big beautiful' reconciliation bill, before its signing by Donald Trump on Friday, that eliminates a $150m fund to 'accelerate advances and improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of information to the public' around weather forecasting.... 'Ted Cruz has spent years doing big oil's bidding, gutting climate research, defunding Noaa, and weakening the very systems meant to warn and protect the public,' said Cassidy DiPaola ... of Fossil Free Media. 'That's made disasters like this weekend's flood in Texas even more deadly. Now he's doubling down, pushing through even more cuts in the so-called big beautiful bill. Texans are dead and grieving, and Cruz is protecting big oil instead of the people he's supposed to represent....' Cruz, who has previously cast doubt over the scientific reality of the climate crisis, said that complaints about cuts to the National Weather Service are 'partisan finger pointing.'..." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You can bet Travellin' Ted let his big oil & gas donors know about his amendment. So let's make sure every Texan knows about it, too. Ted is up for re-election next year. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee should run a continuous loop on Texans' social media feeds featuring Ted's amendment, maybe over photos of him with his wife visiting the Parthenon.

So it turns out Grok is too much like Elon & his followers. I think we knew that. ~~~

~~~ Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, said that its Grok chatbot relied too heavily on input from users of his social media platform X after a code update, causing it to share a series of antisemitic comments on Tuesday. At the time, the chatbot praised Hitler, suggested that people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate and said a Holocaust-like response to hatred against white people would be 'effective.' It also referred to itself as 'MechaHitler' and posted sexually explicit commentary. X deleted some of the posts on Tuesday evening. Early on Saturday, xAI said in a statement on its X account that 'we deeply apologize for the horrific behavior that many experienced.'" Here's a TechCrunch report.

David Enrich of the New York Times: "In recent months, UnitedHealth has targeted traditional journalists and news outlets, a prominent investor, a Texas doctor and activists.... In legal letters and court filings, UnitedHealth has invoked last year's murder of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of the company's health insurance division, to argue that intense criticism of the company risks inciting further violence.... UnitedHealth joins a growing group of companies and wealthy individuals, including ... [Donald] Trump, who are using legal threats and lawsuits to deter or penalize criticism.... For UnitedHealth, the stakes are high. In recent years, the company has been the subject of extensive investigative reporting into its billing practices and denials of patient care, among other things. It faces a variety of federal criminal and civil investigations, including into potential Medicare fraud and antitrust violation...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Texas. Isn't That Convenient? David Goodman of the New York Times: "A state court on Friday ordered records in the divorce of Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas to be sealed, a day after his wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, filed a petition that accused Mr. Paxton of adultery. The order to seal the records in the case, in the 429th District Court in Collin County, north of Dallas, came after a request from Mrs. Paxton's lawyer. This means that further details of the high-profile split would not be available to the public in a case that could significantly affect the race for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. Mr. Paxton, a firebrand conservative who is popular among Republican voters, is challenging Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary in 2026. Mr. Paxton has been leading in public polling." --35--

The Conversation -- July 12, 2025

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "...Donald Trump on Saturday announced he's levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners. Trump detailed the planned tariffs in letters posted to his social media account. They are part of an announcement blitz by Trump of new tariffs aimed at allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. In his letter to Mexico's leader, President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump acknowledged that the country has been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States. But he said the country has not done enough to stop North America from turning into a 'Narco-Trafficking Playground.'... Trump in his letter to the European Union said the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat." ~~~

     ~~~ Jeanna Smialek & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Both economies [-- Mexico & the E.U. --] do a huge amount of trade in goods and services with the United States. And both governments have been in intense negotiations with the United States, right up until Mr. Trump's letters were sent."

Giselle Ewing of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday said he is considering revoking the citizenship of one of his longtime foes -- actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell -- something he has no clear legal pathway to do. The move is an escalation of Trump's weaponization of American citizenship. While the president has enacted mass deportations for immigrants and looked to end birthright citizenship for the children of some immigrants, his threat to revoke the New York-born actor's citizenship marks a new frontier. 'Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning. O'Donnell currently resides in Ireland." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe Trump really can't get away with revoking a U.S. citizen's birthright, but he can make the life of any U.S. citizen hell by threatening to take away his citizenship. No one residing in the U.S. is safe from his delusional megalomania.

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: On Tuesday, Ted "Cruz inserted language into the Republicans' 'big beautiful' reconciliation bill, before its signing by Donald Trump on Friday, that eliminates a $150m fund to 'accelerate advances and improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of information to the public' around weather forecasting.... 'Ted Cruz has spent years doing big oil's bidding, gutting climate research, defunding Noaa, and weakening the very systems meant to warn and protect the public,' said Cassidy DiPaola ... of Fossil Free Media. 'That's made disasters like this weekend's flood in Texas even more deadly. Now he's doubling down, pushing through even more cuts in the so-called big beautiful bill. Texans are dead and grieving, and Cruz is protecting big oil instead of the people he's supposed to represent....' Cruz, who has previously cast doubt over the scientific reality of the climate crisis, said that complaints about cuts to the National Weather Service are 'partisan finger pointing.'..." Thanks to RAS for the link.

     ~~~ Marie: You can bet Travellin' Ted let his big oil & gas donors know about his amendment. So let's make sure every Texan knows about it, too. Ted is up for re-election next year. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee should run a continuous loop on Texans' social media feeds featuring Ted's amendment, maybe over photos of him with his wife visiting the Parthenon.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald "Trump and Melania Trump traveled Friday to an area of Texas devastated by last weekend's extreme flash flooding, which left more than 120 people dead.... After the tour, Mr. and Mrs. Trump held a round table packed with state and local officials.... A local reporter tried asking him about 'several families we've heard from' who said warning alerts weren't sent out soon enough, and that people died as a result. 'Only a bad person would ask a question like that,' Mr. Trump said. 'To be honest with you, I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.' The national media was largely barred from the round table. But two pro-Trump social media influencers, Brian Glenn and Link Lauren, were let in. They heaped praise on Mr. Trump, and one tossed out politically friendly suppositions criticizing Democrats and others who had questioned the administration's disaster response." ~~~

     ~~~ Alexandra Hutzler of the AP: Trump's upbeat responses to how local officials have handled the disaster are "a marked contrast to how [he] has reacted to natural disasters the past, including to the California wildfires earlier this year, where he blasted California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local Democratic officials.... Trump instead has largely focused on his relationship with Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott. 'He's an amazing guy, we've become very, very close politically and personally,' the president said. Some of the hardest-hit areas of central Texas, including Kerr County, are areas of strong Republican support that voted for Trump in the 2024 election. 'I would say they were fully funded within minutes of hearing about this,' Trump said at Friday's roundtable. 'And you know, the state of Texas, No. 1, they do it right, and they've done it right for a long time.'" MB: IOW, don't believe all the stories you've read about repeated local and state screw-ups, federal funding delays, staff shortages, whatever. What a jackass. ~~~

~~~ Maxine Joselow of the New York Times: "Two days after catastrophic floods roared through Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. The lack of responsiveness happened because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters. The agency laid off the contractors on July 5 after their contracts expired and were not extended, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who has instituted a new requirement that she personally approve expenses over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until Thursday, five days after the contracts expired. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security." Emphasis added. MB: I know it's a shame, after she assembled all those outfits (mostly on our dime, no doubt), but this might be a good time to fire Kristi. This won't happen, of course, because questioning the Trump administration's performance is "evil." ~~~

~~~ Hiroko Tabuchi & Mira Rojanasakul of the New York Times: "An analysis of National Weather Service vacancies found that in more than a third of offices overseeing regions that are particularly vulnerable to flash floods, one or more of three senior leadership roles, including chief meteorologist, are unfilled. The weather service's Houston-Galveston office, which straddles an area that sees frequent hurricanes but is also known as 'flash flood alley,' currently has no chief meteorologist, science operations officer or warning-coordination meteorologist, according to staff lists from the weather service. The Austin-San Antonio Office, one office responsible for areas hard hit by the weekend flood that killed more than 120 people, since April has had no permanent warning-coordination meteorologist, a post that would typically oversee the weather service's contact with local emergency officials and others. The San Angelo office, the other office responsible, has had no chief meteorologist." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Joyce Lee, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Texas county where nearly 100 people were killed and more than 160 remain missing had the technology to turn every cellphone in the river valley into a blaring alarm, but local officials did not do so before or during the early-morning hours of July 4 as river levels rose to record heights, inundating campsites and homes, a Washington Post examination found. Kerr County officials, who have come under increasing scrutiny for their actions as the Guadalupe River began to flood, eventually sent text-message alerts that morning to residents who had registered to receive them.... But ... even as a federal meteorologist warned of deteriorating conditions and catastrophic risk, county officials did not activate a more powerful notification tool they had previously used to warn of potential flooding. The National Weather Service sent its own alerts through this system, beginning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4."~~~

~~~ Ryan Foley & Christopher Keller of the AP: "Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic's buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found. The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls' summer camp in a 'Special Flood Hazard Area' in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects.... In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 [Obama administration] amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area.... After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 [Trump administration] from the designation.... Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle ... said it was 'particularly disturbing' that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation."

Lara Jakes, et al., of the New York Times: "NATO countries have devised a novel way to provide critical American weaponry to Ukraine for its fight against Russia, and ... [Donald] Trump suggested for the first time that he's likely to go along with it. Rather than having the United States continue to give its weapons to Ukraine, officials in NATO countries conceived a plan where the Trump administration could sell them to allies, which would then give them to Ukraine. Not only could that be a financial windfall for the United States, it would also shield Mr. Trump ... from accusations of direct involvement in the war. And according to defense officials and experts in Europe..., it would speed desperately needed Patriot air defenses and ammunition to Ukraine as it withstands some of the heaviest Russian bombardments of the three-year war. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he intended to adopt that strategy."

Colby Smith of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve took steps on Friday to defend itself against accusations by ... [Donald] Trump and his allies that Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, mismanaged renovations at the central bank's headquarters and then lied to Congress about those plans. The new line of attack, after Mr. Trump aimed a barrage at the Fed's reluctance to lower borrowing costs, has raised alarm that the White House is trying to lay the groundwork to fire Mr. Powell for cause. In an update to its website late Friday, the central bank laid out details intended to support Mr. Powell's statements to lawmakers regarding the project, which kicked off in 2021 and is estimated to be $700 million over budget at around $2.5 billion. The extent of the renovations and their swelling cost have spawned intense criticism from both the White House and a number of leading Republicans, who have taken issue with luxury features in an initial plan, including rooftop garden terraces and marble finishings."

As President Trump works hard to take back our nation's economic sovereignty, today's Monthly Treasury Statement is demonstrating record customs duties -- and with no inflation! -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a tweet ~~~

~~~ David Lawder of Reuters: "U.S. customs duty collections surged again in June as ... Donald Trump's tariffs gained steam, topping $100 billion for the first time during a fiscal year and helping to produce a surprise $27 billion budget surplus for the month, the Treasury Department reported on Friday. The budget data showed that tariffs are starting to build into a significant revenue contributor for the federal government, with customs duties in June hitting new records, quadrupling to $27.2 billion on a gross basis and $26.6 billion on a net basis after refunds." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie. Wow! That sounds great! Trump was right all along! Oh, wait. Treasury is collecting those taxes from U.S. importers and retailers. And those importers will pass on to us consumers most of the cost of those taxes. AND the taxes -- eventually paid by U.S. consumers -- is regressive; that is, poor people will pay a bigger percentage of their income in the cost of imported goods than will the wealthy. As for Bessent's claim of "no inflation," we will also soon feel the inflation at the store. (My neighbor, who pays attention to such things, says she's already noticed hikes in prices of goods she buys regularly.)

Paul Krugman: "I wrote the other day about Trump's Brazil tariff, which is, as I said, evil and megalomaniacal. But I forgot to point out that it's blatantly illegal.... [Trump's] letter [to Brazil's President Lula] is basically a confession that he is imposing a tariff for non-economic reasons. And that's not legally allowed. Memo to mainstream media: No, Trump isn't 'testing the limits of his authority' or some other euphemism. He's breaking the law. Period. And it should be reported that way." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jack Shafer in a Washington Post op-ed outlines many of the ways Donald Trump has turned "the Resolute Desk into a cashier's counter" for himself and his family's benefit. Thanks to Patrick for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Casey Michel, in an Atlantic essay, argues that "Americans have never witnessed anything like the corruption that ... Donald Trump and his inner circle have perpetrated in recent months. Its brazenness, volume, and variety defy historical comparison, even in a country with a centuries-long history of grift -- including, notably, Trump's first four years in office.... Virtually every week, the Trump family seems to find a new way to profit from the presidency.... Foreign regimes are beginning to see just how far their money can go in Trump's America. The highest bidder has never had so much to gain." Thank you to laura h. for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Scott MacFarlane of CBS News: "Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official who previously served as ... [Donald] Trump's criminal defense attorney, declined to rule out the possibility of the president running for a third term and did not denounce the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in a questionnaire submitted to a Senate panel considering his nomination for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote next week on whether to advance Bove's nomination to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. CBS News obtained the 165-page questionnaire that Bove submitted to senators in response to their written questions. In his answers, Bove also wrote he does not recall which Jan. 6 criminal cases he helped supervise when he served in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In response to the question 'Do you denounce the January 6 insurrection?' Bove wrote: 'The characterization of the events on January 6 is a matter of significant political debate,' and said it would be 'inappropriate to address this question' given ongoing litigation over pardons of Jan. 6 defendants." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not exactly the wisdom of Solomon, but a nice endorsement of monarchy and a big ole "up yours" to the Senate.

Alan Feuer & Minho Kim of the New York Times: "A frustrated federal judge signaled on Friday that she would issue an order protecting Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, from being hastily expelled from the United States again after he was brought back last month to face criminal charges. The suggestion by Judge Paula Xinis, who is handling the original civil case emerging from the wrongful deportation, came during a hearing in Federal District Court in Maryland where she exploded at the Justice Department for having badly damaged the bonds of trust that are normally afforded by the courts to lawyers for the government.... Judge Xinis said some legal safeguard was needed because the administration had already shown in this and other deportation cases that it could not be trusted.... At least three judges in recent months have accused Justice Department lawyers of flouting their orders or of acting in bad faith and have considered opening contempt proceedings to punish them and other Trump officials." (Also linked yesterday.)

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration on Friday from making indiscriminate immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area and from denying detainees the right to consult with a lawyer. The two temporary restraining orders issued by the judge represented a sharp rebuke of tactics that federal agents have employed in and around Los Angeles during waves of immigration raids that began last month. In the orders, the judge, Maame E. Frimpong of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, directed agents to stop racial profiling in the course of seeking out immigrants and mandated that the federal government, which has deployed hundreds of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies in Los Angeles County, ensure detainees have access to legal counsel.... She said that 'roving patrols' without reasonable suspicion violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and that denying access to lawyers violated the Fifth Amendment. The ruling, which remains in place for up to 10 days, came in response to a lawsuit filed last week by immigrant advocacy groups, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the nonprofit Public Counsel. A fuller hearing is expected in the coming weeks...." The AP's report is here.

Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday ordered the Los Angeles Police Department to stop using foam projectiles, tear gas and flash-bang devices against journalists covering protests after reporters and photographers were struck during demonstrations last month. The temporary restraining order by Judge Hernán D. Vera of U.S. District Court also prohibits police officers from blocking journalists from closed areas, obstructing them from gathering information and detaining them for violating curfews or failing to disperse. The case stems from injuries that journalists experienced while covering street demonstrations against the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration enforcement. A lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and Status Coup, an investigative reporting site, documented 35 instances in which Los Angeles police officers had used projectiles, tear gas or other forms of force against journalists or blocked them from public areas. The press organizations are likely to succeed in arguing that the journalists' First Amendment rights were violated and that they would suffer harm in covering future protests in Los Angeles, the judge wrote in granting the temporary order, which lasts 14 days." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You might have to tell a toddler not to throw toys at his baby sister, but it's pathetic that a court has to order trained officers not to fire projectiles at journalists.

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A Mexican farmworker died on Friday from injuries sustained during a federal immigration raid the day before in an agricultural region north of Los Angeles, according to the United Farm Workers union. The farmworker, Jaime Alanís, fell several stories to the ground from a greenhouse on Thursday, when federal agents raided a state-licensed cannabis farm in Ventura County.... An official familiar with the circumstances of the farmworker's death said he was from the Mexican state of Michoacán, had been working at the farm for more than a decade and had been trying to flee from agents when he fell. He was in his late 50s.... In a statement, Teresa Romero, president of the U.F.W., said that several farmworkers had been critically injured, and that others, including U.S. citizens, remained unaccounted for after the enforcement actions. She said those citizens who were detained 'were forced to delete photos and videos of the raid from their phones' before being released.... A spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department said that eight people had been transferred to area hospitals in response to 911 calls on Thursday, and that four other people had been treated at the scene." ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Haskell of ABC 7 Los Angeles: "Concerned family members are desperate for answers after they say a disabled U.S. veteran and citizen was taken during a federal immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo. George Retes, 25, works as a security guard at Glass House Farms, where the raid took place Thursday. His sister and wife told Eyewitness News that he was trying to leave the area as tensions escalated between federal agents and protesters. They say they saw AIR7 footage of the scene and were able to see his white vehicle. 'ICE thought he was probably part of the protest, but he wasn't, he was trying to reverse his car,' said his sister, Destinee Majana. 'They broke his window, they pepper-sprayed him, they grabbed him, threw him on the floor. They detained him.... We're just asking to let my brother go. He's a U.S. citizen. He didn't do anything wrong. He's a veteran, disabled citizen. It says it on his car,'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Woodward of the Independent: "... Donald Trump's administration has defended violent immigration raids targeting cannabis farms in California, where masked federal agents discovered allegedly undocumented minors who are victims of 'exploitation' and 'potentially human trafficking or smuggling,' according to the Department of Homeland Security. The United Farm Workers union said several workers were critically injured during the raids, while other targeted workers, including a U.S. citizen, 'remain totally unaccounted for.' Agents are accused of chasing one worker who fell 30 feet from the top of a building. He was hospitalized and placed on life support, before dying from his injuries on Frida, according to the union."

Jazmine Ulloa & Ruth Igielnik of the New York Times: "Six months into the Trump administration's efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history, a new poll shows that the American public is once again warming to immigration.... The share of those wanting to see immigration decrease now totaling 30 percent, compared to 55 percent in 2024, according to the new survey, conducted by Gallup.... A record high of adults in the United States -- 79 percent -- now believes immigration is a 'good thing' for the country. The results are in line with other recent surveys that suggest attitudes on immigration may be shifting as Mr. Trump has intensified efforts to detain and deport people. Illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, which began dropping last year under President Biden, are now at their lowest level in decades, and major cities like New York are no longer struggling to care for large numbers of migrants. At the same time, people in many communities ... are seeing immigrant relatives, friends and neighbors taken away by federal agents."

John Hudson & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "The State Department began firing more than 1,300 employees via email on Friday as a part of the Trump administration's plans to downsize government.... The move has come under criticism from current and former diplomats who say the cuts will degrade America's standing in the world and curb U.S. soft power. The diplomats hit hardest hailed from the offices that Secretary of State Marco Rubio eliminated in his sweeping reorganization of the department, the most far-reaching in decades, including the Office of Global Women's Issues and the department's diversity and inclusion programs. But cuts also affected employees working on highly volatile issues, including Syria, a brittle Middle Eastern country emerging from decades of authoritarian rule, and senior officials in charge of chemical weapons issues and multilateral nuclear diplomacy. 'They cut key experts on nuclear testing, nuclear verification and efforts to end the production of weapons-grade fissile material,' said Alex Bell, a former State Department official and current president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 'These cuts will only serve to increase the nuclear threats facing this nation.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Jake Spring of the Washington Post: "The State Department on Friday fired the remaining staff working in the office responsible for international climate policy, including annual U.N. negotiations related to climate treaties.... Most of the staff in the Office of Global Change had left voluntaril after ... Donald Trump took office and moved rapidly to pull the United States out of international climate talks. Nearly a dozen people who remained on staff were fired Friday, and the office will be shuttered as part of the wider downsizing of the department...."

Opera Buffa, Featuring Bondi & Bongino! Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The bitter blame game over the handling of the investigation into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein erupted in public on Friday between Attorney General Pam Bondi and the senior leadership of the F.B.I., particularly the bureau's deputy director, Dan Bongino.... [During] an angry face-to-face confrontation at the White House on Wednesday..., an irate Ms. Bondi accused Mr. Bongino of leaking information to the news media in the presence of the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, the White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and one of her deputies, Taylor Budowich. Mr. Bongino denied it.... Mr. Bongino, during another confrontation within the past week, told Ms. Bondi she had overhyped the likelihood that a review of the case ... would reveal a list of Mr. Epstein's sex-trafficking clients, and possibly raise questions about his 2019 death by hanging.... On Friday, a high-profile Bongino booster -- the far-right influencer and conspiracist Laura Loomer -- claimed, in two dramatic social media posts, that the bureau's deputy director had taken Friday off to collect his thoughts, and was 'now seriously thinking about RESIGNING' over Ms. Bondi's actions in the Epstein case." ~~~

~~~ Marc Caputo of Axios: "FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.... The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn't have a celebrity "client list," and that he wasn't murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.... [During a meeting Wednesday,] 'Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn't end on friendly terms,' said one person briefed on the heated discussion. Bongino left angry, the source said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein & others at the Washington Post have their own take on the melodramatic hijinks. MB: Let's face it: this comedic feud is not what the public expects the top people at DOJ & the FBI to be doing. ~~~

~~~ And now it seems even Kash Patel is thinking of getting the hell out of Dodge if Bondi doesn't get the boot. This is becoming a little too much fun. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos, in LG&$, does not seem to feel Bongino's pain, or Patel's. Or Bondi's. ~~~

     ~~~ As Akhilleus points out at the top of today's Comments, digby has some theories about what's up. Unlike right-wing conspiracy theories, hers are (a) plausible, and (b) not set in stone. MB: If you were wondering, "What's the difference between 'intelligent' and 'stupid'? there's a place to start. Intelligent people seek plausible explanations (even for stupid stuff like why Dan Bongino is so upset), they pose hypotheses, then adjust their ideas as developments arise. Stupid people come up with crazy theories to explain even fairly unambiguous events, then stick to their crazy theories as others prove them wrong.

Sharon Otterman & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "Columbia University and the Trump administration on Friday were nearing a deal in the contentious fight over allegations that the school had failed to protect Jewish students from harassment, with Columbia potentially agreeing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the matter.... The deal, which remains in draft form, would restore at least some of the more than $400 million in federal research funding the administration canceled. In exchange, Columbia would provide compensation to settle allegations of civil rights violations and increase transparency about admissions and foreign gifts, among other concessions."

Katherine Mangan in ProPublica: "When the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights notified George Mason University on July 1 that it was opening an antisemitism investigation based on a recent complaint, the university's president, Gregory Washington, said he was 'perplexed.' Compared with other campuses..., George Mason had been relatively quiet over the past year, he said. His administration had taken extensive steps to improve relations with the Jewish community, had enacted strict rules on protests and had communicated all of that to the OCR during a previous antisemitism investigation that remained open. By the next day, though, there were signs that the new investigation was part of a coordinated campaign to oust him." Read on. Washington's suspicions seem justified. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ivan Penn of the New York Times: "The Energy Department plans to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for major renewable and efficiency projects this year, the latest move by the Trump administration to undo efforts to shift the nation away from fossil fuels. The cuts, which would take money away from projects budgeted for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, focus on solar and wind projects, as well as state and local assistance for low-income families.... Critics argue that the moves are illegal because Congress had previously approved the funding for specific projects.... Ranking Democrats on the Senate and House energy subcommittees called it a 'reckless decision' and demanded the agency immediately reverse its action."

Jay Willis of Balls & Strikes: Justice Ketanji Brown "Jackson's focus on the Court's penchant for warping the law to suit Trump's interests -- sometimes using language so pointed that even the other liberals are reluctant to join her -- has been the defining characteristic of her jurisprudence since Trump took office. For as long as she remains stuck in the minority, it might also be the most important part of her job: If she cannot persuade her colleagues that the Constitution does not imbue Donald Trump with an inviolate right to ignore it, she can at least use her platform to show the public that the institution is captured, broken, and not to be taken seriously." Read on. Willis makes a number of excellent points about how Jackson is doing her job. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Clyde Haberman of the New York Times: "David Gergen, an inside-the-Beltway veteran who helped shape the public images of four presidents, mostly Republicans, and who, after a turn as a magazine editor, trod a well-worn path from political insider to television commentator, died on Thursday in Lexington, Mass. He was 83." An AP obituary is here.

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Florida. Gilsela Salomon & Kate Payne of the AP: "At the brand new Everglades immigration detention center that officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' people held there say worms turn up in the food. Toilets don't flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. Inside the compound's large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages. Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and they are only able to speak by phone to lawyers and loved ones. At times the air conditioners abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat. Days after ... Donald Trump toured it, attorneys, advocates, detainees and their relatives are speaking out about the makeshift facility, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration raced to build on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. Detainees began arriving July 2.... Officials have disputed such descriptions.... But authorities have provided few details and have denied media access. A group of Democratic lawmakers sued the DeSantis administration to be allowed in, and officials are holding a site visit by state legislators and members of Congress on Saturday." ~~~

     ~~~ Jamie Guirola of NBC Miami: "The Archdiocese of Miami is condemning a controversial migrant detention facility in Florida -- which state officials have named 'Alligator Alcatraz.'...In a strongly worded statement posted to the archdiocese's website, Archbishop Thomas Wenski criticized both the conditions at the remote detention site in the Everglades and the rhetoric surrounding it. He wrote: 'It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of "alligators and pythons" at the Collier-Dade facility.' Wenski's statement also highlighted humanitarian concerns, noting the isolation of the facility from medical care and the vulnerability of the temporary tent structures to Florida's harsh summer weather and hurricane threats. He also called for chaplains and ministers to be granted access to serve those in custody."

Missouri. Government of, by, for the People? Nah. Vivian Ho of the Washington Post: "Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) on Thursday signed legislation repealing a voter-approved law that guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and adjusted the minimum wage to inflation. The law, Proposition A, had been repeatedly challenged by conservative lawmakers and business groups since it passed by a ballot measure in November with almost 58 percent of the vote, with the state Supreme Court upholding it just days before it went into effect in May.... In signing the bill, which repealed Proposition A's paid sick leave mandate and the annual consumer price index adjustment to the state minimum wage, Kehoe said in a statement that conservative leadership was 'protecting the people who make Missouri work ... by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates.'"

Texas. Miriam Waldvogel of the Hill: "The Senate GOP's campaign committee swung at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Thursday after news broke that his wife, Angela Paxton, had filed for divorce. 'What Ken Paxton has put his family through is truly repulsive and disgusting,' National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said. 'No one should have to endure what Angela Paxton has, and we pray for her as she chooses to stand up for herself and her family during this difficult time.' Ken Paxton is looking to topple Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), with one poll in June showing the incumbent trailing the state attorney general by 22 points. The NRSC endorsed Cornyn in the 2026 race and generally supports incumbents." (Also linked yesterday.) --55--