Homo Trumpicus

By Akhilleus

Reading through a chapter on human evolution examining the adaptations that allowed the species to go from Homo Erectus to early Homo Sapiens, about 200,000 years ago, and then to Homo Sapiens 2.0 (us, basically) roughly 70,000 years ago, I was struck by how important certain developments were for both the survival of the species and its rise to dominance, and then I thought about how few of those developed traits are present in the MAGA tribe.

Actually, none.

Prominent among the traits promoting survival and success as a species was the ability to collaborate, to work together developing ideas, habits, and technologies benefiting the entire group.

This trait is entirely absent in MAGA world. Homo Trumpicus, in fact, believes that collaborative efforts to benefit everyone are grounds for immediate expulsion from the tribe (see border policy, eg).

Another trait vital to the species’ success was (and is) curiosity, that is, the impulse for discovery, a by-product of which is the ability to learn new things, which of course requires sharp discernment, an absolute need to understand what’s factually true and what is absolute nonsensical bullshit. Two guys go off into unknown territories. They come back and each has a map. The first guy shows his group the actual way to go to new hunting grounds and landmarks denoting bad stuff to avoid. The second guy shows his buddies a map he just made up. The two groups go out exploring. The second group is never seen again. Facts matter.

But not to Homo Trumpicus.

Another interesting biological development that allowed Homo Sapiens to turbocharge its success (and which led, partially, to the extinction of Homo Erectus) was the reduction in testosterone in the males. This allowed for less chest thumping, unnecessary, violent confrontations, and pointless dick measuring, and more fruitful collaboration, further development of the arts, and greater intellectual advancement and innovation.

Here is yet another trait Homo Trumpicus lacks. Here’s where the tribe’s leader says “Punch him in the face!” The other tribe says “Let’s figure out a better solution”. One tribe succeeded. The other went extinct.

So, the traits that allowed Homo Sapiens to dominate the planet, collaboration, advanced intellect, a belief in facts, have served the species well. It allowed us to leave the confines of the planet and set foot on a different astral body.

Now, a show of hands, class. How many think Homo Trumpicus could put one of their tribe on the moon?

Answer (from them): Huh? The moon is made of cheese. That’s stupid. I should punch you in the face!”

Extinction can’t come too soon for me.

Marie: Related text and illustration, via RAS:

The Conversation -- January 26, 2024

Update of the New York Times liveblog of the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Donald Trump:

Benjamin Weiser, et. al.: "A Manhattan jury on Friday ordered ... Donald J. Trump to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in social media posts, news conferences and even on the campaign trail ever since she first accused him in 2019 of raping her in a department store dressing room decades earlier. The award included $65 million in punitive damages, which the nine-member jury assessed after finding Mr. Trump, 77, had acted maliciously after Ms. Carroll's lawyers pointed to Mr. Trump's persisting in attacks on her, both from the White House and after leaving office. On a single day recently, Mr. Trump made more than 40 derisive posts about her on his Truth Social website."

Maria Cramer: "Judge Kaplan tells the jurors that they are free of his order to maintain their anonymity. But, he said, 'my advice to you is that you never disclose you were on this jury.'"

Maggie Haberman: "It's hard to express how angry Trump is going to be about this"

Michael Gold: "Donald Trump just posted on Truth Social, calling the verdict 'absolutely ridiculous.' He said he plans to appeal, and again accused Carroll's suit of being a 'Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.' He adds, 'They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!'" ~~~

~~~ Marie: I just hope the court forces Trump to take the $83.3MM out of his own piggybank and doesn't let him get away with collecting the cash from contributors. I'm pretty impressed that Joe Biden can get to anonymous jury members and "direct" them to order Donald Trump to pay millions of dollars to E. Jean Carroll.

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday paused the permitting process for new liquefied natural gas export facilities in order to analyze their impact on climate change, the economy and national security.... The move could spell trouble for what would be the largest export terminal in the country, a $10 billion proposed project in Louisiana that has drawn scrutiny for its potential environmental impact. Mr. Biden's election-year decision is viewed as a win for climate activists who have pressed the administration to curb fossil fuels at a time when greenhouse gas emissions need to fall rapidly to stave off climate catastrophe."

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Speaker Mike Johnson sought on Friday to choke off the last remaining glimmers of hope for a bipartisan immigration compromise to emerge from Congress this year, repeating that a deal under discussion in the Senate would almost certainly be 'dead on arrival' in the Republican-led House.... As the immigration plan teeters, the fate of additional aid for Ukraine also hangs in the balance, with hard-right House Republicans also dug in against it and threatening to depose Mr. Johnson if he seeks to push it through over their objections."

Oh, the New York Times is liveblogging developments today in E. Jean Carroll's defamation suit against Donald Trump:

Benjamin Weiser & Maria Cramer: "Donald J. Trump walked out of the courtroom on Friday as lawyers trying the defamation case brought against him by E. Jean Carroll made their final pitches to a nine-member jury.... Roberta A. Kaplan, the lawyer for Ms. Carroll, told jurors ... that Mr. Trump has normalized behavior by people on social media who, because of his actions, thought it was acceptable to attack Ms. Carroll. Soon after, Mr. Trump, in an unusual breach of courtroom decorum, stood up and walked out, though Ms. Kaplan continued as if nothing unusual had happened. Mr. Trump returned to the courtroom more than an hour after he left, around 11:15 a.m., just before his lawyer, Alina Habba, began her closing arguments.... Trump appeared frustrated before the proceedings even began, shaking his head repeatedly. When Ms. Kaplan began describing last May's verdict that found Trump had sexually abused Carroll, he grew more frustrated -- scoffing, muttering and shaking his head. ~~~

~~~ "In her argument, Ms. Kaplan focused on the harm she said Mr. Trump inflicted on her client and her reputation, saying that the trial is about 'getting him to stop once and for all.' She emphasized that the only way to do so was to cost him as much money as possible."

Quite a few interesting entries on Robert Kaplan's closing. For instance ~~~

~~~ Cramer: "Roberta Kaplan describes the relentlessness of Trump's attacks. 'The truly shocking part is that false denials and attacks have continued during this trial,' she says. She notes that Trump held a press conference last week 'while you were sitting in this jury box' and lied about Carroll. She plays a clip of the press conference and shows a post he put on Truth Social, his website, where he said he would keep denying her claims."

Kate Christobek: "Trump grew visibly frustrated during the closing statement by E. Jean Carroll's lawyer Shawn Crowley. He shook his head vigorously when Crowley told the jury 'there are ways to lawfully respond to an allegation -- you could say nothing.'... When Crowley made a comment about how Trump's legal team wants the jury to believe he is the victim here, Trump mouthed the word 'true.'" ~~~

~~~ Adam Klasfeld of the Messenger: "A federal judge threatened Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba with jail time on Friday, after the former president's lawyer kept contesting a ruling after it had been issued. 'You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup,' senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan warned. 'Sit down.' The bombshell remark came moments before the start of closing arguments in Trump's second trial in a case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll."

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: The night Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses in a landslide, carrying 98 of 99 counties, "the former president and his usual coterie of top aides were joined by about a dozen Iowa staffers headed for New York, boarding the plane his campaign calls Trump Force One.... Mr. Trump had lost Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, by a single vote. The regional political director who had overseen the area was not given a seat on the plane. The next morning..., she was informed by a terse email from her supervisor that her contract with the Trump campaign was not being renewed. It was the type of ruthlessness the Trump team had deployed in the prior 14 months: Win -- or else.... How Mr. Trump swept the first two states ... is certainly a tale of cutthroat politics. But that's only part of the story. The former president and his allies had luck and a cunning strategy on their side. They put Mr. Trump's unerring instincts for revving up the Republican base and belittling his opponents to effective use."

** Texas, etc. Matthew Choi & Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "From the Texas House to ... Donald Trump, Republicans across the country are rallying behind Gov. Greg Abbott's legal standoff with the federal government at the southern border, intensifying concerns about a constitutional crisis amid an ongoing dispute with the Biden administration. At issue is concertina wire that the Texas National Guard has been using as a barrier between the Rio Grande River and Shelby Park, a 47-acre area in Eagle Pass. In a 5-4 decision earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Biden Administration when it vacated a lower court's ruling that prevented Border Patrol agents from cutting the wire to apprehend people who had crossed the river. On Wednesday -- and as the Texas National Guard and state troopers continued to roll out the wire and prevent federal agents from accessing much of the park -- Abbott continued to publicly challenge the ruling and 'hold the line.' He declared that Texas was under an 'invasion,' giving the state the constitutional right to defend itself and claimed that President Joe Biden's practice of paroling migrants into the country amounted to a refusal to enforce current immigration laws."

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The Trials of Trump & the Trump Mob

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump took the stand in his own defense on Thursday in the trial of E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against him, a civil case that grew out of her accusation that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. His testimony, after days of anticipation, lasted less than five minutes. 'The defense calls President Donald Trump,' Alina Habba, his lead lawyer, told the court. She asked the former president whether he stood by his remarks in a deposition in which he had called Ms. Carroll a liar. 'One hundred percent, yes,' Mr. Trump said. 'She said something; I consider it a false accusation.' Mr. Trump's brief appearance came after much debate before the trial over whether the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, should ensure Mr. Trump did not stray from the sole issue in the case -- damages. Ms. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, had written to the judge, saying Trump might see a political benefit 'from intentionally turning this trial into a circus.'"

The New York Times liveblog of developments Thursday in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Donald Trump is here: A few excerpts (more in yesterday's page): ~~~

Benjamin Weiser & Maria Cramer: "... Alina Habba, asked the former president whether he stood by his remarks, in which he called Ms. Carroll a liar. '100 percent, yes,' Mr. Trump said. 'She said something I considered a false accusation.' The judge struck that second statement, and Ms. Habba asked Mr. Trump whether he intended to hurt Ms. Carroll. He said no. 'I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency,' Mr. Trump added."; [MB: According to a transcript of the testimony, which Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC read on-air, Judge Kaplan also struck "everything after 'no'" in this response. Video below.]

Cramer: "As Habba and Kaplan go back and forth about the testimony, Trump begins talking at the defense table. 'Mr. Trump, you're interrupting these proceedings by talking loudly while your counsel is talking, and that is not permitted,' the judge tells him."

Kate Christobek: "Before he took the stand, Trump appeared upset with the limitations that Kaplan, the judge, put on his testimony. At one point before the jury entered the courtroom, Trump raised his hands and said: 'I never met the woman. I don't know who the woman is.'"

Maggie Haberman: "Trump's much-anticipated testimony lasted just over three minutes. His lawyer, Alina Habba, was extremely limited in what she was allowed to ask him. He was supposed to stick to tighter limits on what he could say on the stand. In unsurprising news, he strayed from it.... Trump's approach was to try to get his denials of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll into the record, which the judge wouldn't allow. When the judge read aloud that a previous trial found Trump had assaulted her and described it graphically, Trump let out a loud 'uch!' that could be heard several rows back."

Christobek: "Trump walked slowly as he left the courtroom after his testimony. He spoke loudly enough for the members of the audience to hear: 'This is not America. Not America. This is not America.'"

Cramer: "After Trump's testimony, the judge dismissed the jury for the day and called a recess, but the lawyers are coming back today to go over how to instruct the jury on the law. Closings will be tomorrow and the jury could start deliberating right after.

~~~ CNN liveblogged the E. Jean Carroll defamation case developments yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "A current and former law partner to Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor leading the 2020 election subversion case in Georgia, have been told to expect a subpoena to testify at a hearing next month on whether he and the district attorney who brought the case should be disqualified over their alleged affair and financial ties, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. The district attorney, Fani Willis, also is expected to be subpoenaed, sources say, and possibly others in her office. The Fulton County judge overseeing the criminal case against ... Donald Trump and his allies called for the hearing to address claims from one of Trump's co-defendants that Willis and Wade have a conflict of interest. Citing financial statements turned up in Wade's current divorce proceeding, lawyers for Trump's co-defendant, Mike Roman, argue that Willis financially benefited when Wade took her on lavish vacations after she hired him as special prosecutor." ~~~

~~~ Steve Reilly of the Messenger: "Donald Trump on Thursday joined an effort by his co-defendant in the Georgia election-racketeering case to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis and dismiss her charges over allegations of impropriety.... In a six-page filing Thursday, the former president's Georgia legal team adopted and supplemented [fellow defendant Mike] Roman's motion, and its claims 'that an improper intimate personal relationship existed between Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney (DA) Willis, that Wade has been paid over $650,000 by the DA, and that taxpayer monies were used by Wade to take the DA on lavish vacations.'"

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to ... Donald J. Trump who helped lay plans to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, was sentenced on Thursday to four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Navarro, 74, was found guilty in September of two misdemeanor counts of criminal contempt of Congress.... In a contentious exchange with Judge [Amit] Mehta, [Mr. Navarro's lawyer Stanley] Woodward repeatedly predicted that an appeals court would side with Mr. Navarro on constitutional grounds. 'This case is far from over,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.) NPR's story is here.

Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Steven Bannon's refusal to pay his lawyer close to $500K in legal fees may end up inadvertently exposing more evidence of financial fraud by the former Donal[d] Trump adviser. According to a report from the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, Bannon stiffed longtime attorney Robert Costello..., and a judge has ordered him to pay the $480,487 that is way overdue.... Bannon has asked a judge to keep Costello's law firm from reviewing his bank statements, with Pagliery writing, 'a request that has required Bannon to awkwardly concede that his personal finances likely have evidence that could bolster the Manhattan District Attorneys case against him,' involving fraudulent fundraising to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.... Bannon's current attorney, Harlan Protass, admitted as much in a recent filing, writing of Costello's law firm, 'DHC's taking of post-judgment discovery from Mr. Bannon poses a significant risk of compromising Mr. Bannon's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I must say I was unaware a person had a Fifth Amendment right to hide his bank account records. If that were true, many fraudsters would be off the hook.

I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved 'in an orderly fashion' like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as 'political prisoners' or even, incredibly, 'hostages.'... That is all preposterous. But the Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country. -- Federal Judge Royce Lambeth, resentencing notes in the case of the U.S. v. James Little ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The longest-serving district judge on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., warned Thursday that false rhetoric about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- including the sorts of lies hurled by ... Donald Trump and some of his congressional allies -- poses an ongoing danger to the nation. Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee to the bench, said the 'destructive' misinformation, spread by political leaders who have downplayed and misrepresented the attack, had become pervasive.... Though he did not mention Trump by name, Lamberth specifically called out language used by Trump and, more recently, Trump allies like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), describing Jan. 6 defendants as 'hostages.' It was a remarkable jeremiad from a veteran jurist who has presided over dozens of Jan. 6 criminal cases and more than 10 trials."

Presidential Race

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "... President Biden ... traveled to the shores of a bay near Lake Superior on Thursday to stand at the foot of the Blatnik Bridge, a structure that his administration said would have failed by 2030 without a $1 billion infusion provided by the bipartisan infrastructure law that Mr. Biden championed. The president was there to talk infrastructure and the economy, and to contrast his performance with that of his predecessor and likely challenger in the general election..., Donald J. Trump.... Mr. Biden talked about the $6.1 billion that had been invested in Wisconsin and the $5.7 billion in Minnesota, located just over the bridge, which supports agriculture, shipping and forestry industries in the upper Midwest.... As the president spoke, Mr. Trump was taking the stand in a defamation trial in New York, offering a striking split-screen comparison that the Biden campaign has welcomed.... Bipartisan law or not, no Republican lawmakers assembled to greet Mr. Biden. ('I'm sorry to say the vast majority voted against it,' Mr. Biden said, a number that includes Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican representing the district where the bridge is located.)" CNN's story is here.

Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump can remain on Maine's primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the 14th Amendment case in Colorado, the top court in Maine declared Wednesday, dismissing an appeal from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D). In a unanimous decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower judge's order that required Bellows to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the Colorado ballot case before she could withdraw, modify or uphold her decision to block Trump's name from Maine's March 5 primary ballot." (Also linked yesterday.)

Digby republishes would-be dictator Donald Trump's ten-point plan to dismantle democratic institutions. MB: As far as I can tell, the plan is a gen-u-wine Trump & Co. production, not something that wiser minds gleaned from Trump's various pronouncements & rants. Digby also publishes transcript excerpts of a conversation among New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan & Charlie Savage, in which they discuss how effective they think Trump & his team of miscreants would be a second time around. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "... Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to blacklist anyone who donates to Nikki Haley's presidential campaign. Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who makes a contribution to the Haley campaign 'from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: What do kids do at MAGA Camp? Go kayaking? Make woven plastic lanyards? Teepee the girls' bunkhouse? Without explaining how much fun you'll miss by not going to Maga camp, Trump's threat is pretty toothless. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Froomkin: "That a delusional, dissembling, and despotic Donald Trump remains in serious contention for the presidency in 2024 is a profound indictment of the journalism profession. It indicates that a torrent of misinformation is flowing unimpeded, that there are grave misunderstandings about the state of the country, and that the threat he poses to our democracy has not been made sufficiently clear.... Political journalism needs ... to fight as enthusiastically against misinformation as Fox and its ilk spread it;... to call Trumpism what it is: Fascism;... to stop letting Trump supporters disguise their true motivations behind empty words;... make an assertive case for reality, e.g.: the nation is not awash in crime; the border is not wide open; the economy is not in the toilet (it's doing amazingly well); Joe Biden is not mentally incompetent; government is working."

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy continued to grow at a healthy pace at the end of 2023, capping a year in which unemployment remained low, inflation cooled and a widely predicted recession never materialized. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That was down from the 4.9 percent rate in the third quarter but easily topped forecasters'; expectations and showed the resilience of the recovery from the pandemic's economic upheaval." As Akhilleus writes in today's thread, no mention of how well the economy is doing under President Biden. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Bryan Mena of CNN: "The US economy remained shockingly robust in the fourth quarter to close out a remarkably strong 2023 as consumers and businesses continued to spend, crushing expectations of a recession." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ You'll Not See Nothing Like the Mighty Yellen. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen defended the Biden administration's economic agenda on Thursday, drawing sharp contrasts with the policies of the Trump administration.... In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Ms. Yellen argued that the Biden administration had successfully navigated challenging headwinds caused by the pandemic and led a recovery that has outpaced those in the rest of the world. She also suggested that the Biden administration needed more time to tackle affordability issues, such as improving access to child care and housing.... Pointing to Mr. Trump's repeated pledges to rebuild America's roads and bridges, she recalled how those promises went unfulfilled. 'Our country's infrastructure has been deteriorating for decades,' Ms. Yellen said. 'In the Trump administration, the idea of doing anything to fix it was a punchline.' Ms. Yellen also assailed Mr. Trump's tax cuts, castigating him for enacting a 2017 tax law that she said enriched corporations, increased America's budget deficit and did little to make the economy stronger.... Treasury secretaries tend to avoid wading into politics, but Ms. Yellen told reporters ahead of her speech that she believed it was important to lay out the policy differences between the Trump and Biden administrations." (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The emerging bipartisan border deal is hitting fresh snags among Republicans on Capitol Hill because of the opposition of ... Donald J. Trump.... Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, told Republicans privately on Wednesday that the politics of the issue had been complicated by Mr. Trump's rise and his hostility to the agreement, putting the party 'in a quandary,' according to lawmakers who participated in the meeting.... The remarks ... were striking coming from a Republican who has toiled to distance himself and his party from the former president. Mr. McConnell has vociferously backed the proposed border compromise and has been a chief proponent of a stalled effort to send tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, which Republicans have said must be tied to the deal." (Also linked yesterday.) The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "As ... Donald J. Trump moves closer to becoming his party's presidential nominee and Republican lawmakers consolidate behind him, he is wielding a heavier hand than any time since leaving office over his party's agenda in Congress. His vocal opposition to the emerging border compromise has all but killed the measure's chances in a divided Congress as he puts his own hard-line immigration policies once again at the center of his presidential campaign.... For a Congress that has struggled for more than a year to do the bare minimum of legislating, Mr. Trump's dominance among Republicans is yet another drag on the institution's ability to function in an election year when his name is likely to be on the ballot.... His 'America First' approach to foreign policy already helped to sap G.O.P. support for sending aid to Ukraine for its war against Russian aggression, placing the fate of that money in doubt.... On Thursday, after members grew alarmed that Mr. McConnell's message signaled the death knell for any potential deal, he clarified in a second meeting that he was still moving ahead with the border-Ukraine package." ~~~

~~~ Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "Senior Senate Republicans are furious that Donald Trump may have killed an emerging bipartisan deal over the southern border, depriving them of a key legislative achievement on a pressing national priority.... In recent weeks, Trump has been lobbying Republicans both in private conversations and in public statements on social media to oppose the border compromise being delicately hashed out in the Senate, according to GOP sources familiar with the conversations -- in part because he wants to campaign on the issue this November and doesn't want President Joe Biden to score a victory in an area where he is politically vulnerable.... 'This proposal would have had almost unanimous Republican support if it weren't for Donald Trump,' [a] Republican senator said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Meanwhile, let's do impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas because he hasn't solved the never-ending border problem, given the limitations Congress has placed on the administration. ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sided with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in his feud with the federal government over razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border.... 'I stand with Governor Abbott. The House will do everything in its power to back him up,' Johnson wrote on X.... 'The next step: holding Secretary Mayorkas accountable,' he wrote.... Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) earlier this week called for a federalization of the Texas National Guard, which as a military unit is ultimately under the command of [President] Biden as commander in chief."

Jim Rutenberg & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "In the spring of 2020, when ... Donald J. Trump wrote messages on Twitter warning that increased reliance on mail-in ballots would lead to a 'rigged election,' the platform ran a corrective, debunking his claims.... This month Elon Musk, who has since bought Twitter..., echoed several of Mr. Trump's claims about the American voting system, putting forth distorted and false notions that American elections were wide open for fraud and illegal voting by noncitizens. This time, there were no fact checks. And the X algorithm -- under Mr. Musk's direct control -- helped the posts reach large audiences, in some cases drawing many millions of views. Since taking control of the site, Mr. Musk has dismantled the platform's system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference. Now, his early election-year attacks on a tried-and-true voting method are raising alarms among civil rights lawyers, election administrators and Democrats."

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Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its 'guinea pig' to test a method of execution never attempted before. The world is watching. -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in dissent of the Supreme Court's majority decision to allow the execution to go forward ~~~

~~~ ** Alabama. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Alabama carried out the first American execution using nitrogen gas on Thursday evening, killing a convicted murderer whose jury had voted to spare his life and opening a new frontier in how states execute death row prisoners.... The jury that convicted him of murder in 1996 also voted 11 to 1 to sentence him to life in prison rather than death, but the judge overruled their decision.... The execution of the condemned prisoner, Kenneth Smith, 58, began at 7:53 p.m. Central time, and he was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. in an execution chamber in Atmore, Ala., according to John Q. Hamm, the state prison system's commissioner. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution to move forward over the objections of its three liberal justices and concerns from death penalty opponents that the untested method could cause Mr. Smith to suffer.... State lawyers had previously claimed in court filings that an execution by nitrogen would ensure 'unconsciousness in seconds.' He then 'shook and writhed' for at least two minutes before beginning to breathe heavily for several minutes. Eventually, the journalists said, his breathing slowed until it was no longer apparent.... Lee Hedgepeth, a reporter in Alabama who witnessed the execution, said Mr. Smith's head moved back and forth violently in the minutes after the execution began. 'This was the fifth execution that I've witnessed in Alabama, and I have never seen such a violent reaction to an execution,' Mr. Hedgepeth said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I view this as state-sponsored murder. The people -- in the form of a jury -- decided against killing Smith, but an agent of the state -- a judge -- overruled the will of the people. Then state actors in the prison system carried out the execution (twice!). ~~~

     ~~~ Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Supporters of the [nitrogen gas] method say it is fast and painless. But earlier this month, the United Nations Human Rights Office urged Alabama to stop the execution, saying it could amount to torture and be in violation of human rights treaties that the United States has agreed to. Alabama would be the first state to use nitrogen hypoxia, but other states are interested in employing the method."

Connecticut. There Was a Crooked Mayor and He Won a Crooked Race.... Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: "A Connecticut mayor whose September primary election win was invalidated after ballot-fraud allegations won a do-over primary Tuesday, months after his case became a flash point in conservative arguments about debunked theories of voter fraud.... Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, whose supporters allegedly stuffed absentee ballots on his behalf, won reelection over John Gomes in the Tuesday Democratic primary, according to the Associated Press.... Donald Trump ... and his allies ... see the case -- which resulted in a mayor formerly convicted of conspiracy winning a general election that had been voided by the courts -- as evidence that Democrats are committing widespread fraud. Elections experts say those claims are baseless and that the Bridgeport case is unique."

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Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday are here: "An attack on a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City on Thursday killed at least 20 and injured 150, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The Associated Press reported that Israeli forces opened fire at a roundabout, citing witnesses and the Health Ministry." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Friday are here.

Emily Rauhala & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to do more to prevent the killing and harm of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, a landmark decision that is part of the case determining if genocide is taking place, and will add to pressure to change course in the military campaign. The court did not, however, order a cease-fire as requested by South Africa, though it said Israel must submit a report in one month outlining the measures it has taken to give effect to the court's orders." MB: I don't see how an order to "do more"; will help much.

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, plans to travel to Europe to meet with senior Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials, in a sign the United States is pushing to secure a deal to release the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip and broker a prolonged cease-fire, according to U.S. officials. U.S. officials said Israel's apparent willingness to agree to a cessation of hostilities in return for the release of more hostages being held in Gaza has created a new opening for negotiations. Any new deal would likely include phased releases of hostages, though the White House is hoping that a more ambitious one, possibly leading to the release of all of the remaining hostages, might be possible."

The Conversation -- January 25, 2024

The New York Times liveblog of the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Donald Trump is here: ~~~

Benjamin Weiser & Maria Cramer: "... Donald J. Trump took the stand in his own defense on Thursday in the civil trial for E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against him, a case that grew out of her accusation that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. His testimony lasted less than five minutes. A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Alina Habba, asked the former president whether he stood by his remarks, in which he called Ms. Carroll a liar. '100 percent, yes,' Mr. Trump said. 'She said something I considered a false accusation.' The judge struck that second statement, and Ms. Habba asked Mr. Trump whether he intended to hurt Ms. Carroll. He said no. 'I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency,' Mr. Trump added."

Cramer: "Alina Habba ... told the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, that she plans to ask Trump three questions. Trump's intention is to say that he did not intend to cause E. Jean Carroll any harm when he denied her claims.... As Habba and Kaplan go back and forth about the testimony, Trump begins talking at the defense table. 'Mr. Trump, you're interrupting these proceedings by talking loudly while your counsel is talking, and that is not permitted,' the judge tells him."

Cramer: "Kaplan ... tells Habba she can ask Trump the following: Does he stand by the statements he made in his deposition leading up to the trial? Did he deny the allegations because an accusation was made? Did he ever instruct anyone to hurt Ms. Carroll?"

Kate Christobek: "Before he took the stand, Trump appeared upset with the limitations that Kaplan, the judge, put on his testimony. At one point before the jury entered the courtroom, Trump raised his hands and said: 'I never met the woman. I don't know who the woman is.'"

Maggie Haberman: "Trump's much-anticipated testimony lasted just over three minutes. His lawyer, Alina Habba, was extremely limited in what she was allowed to ask him. He was supposed to stick to tighter limits on what he could say on the stand. In unsurprising news, he strayed from it.... Trump's approach was to try to get his denials of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll into the record, which the judge wouldn't allow. When the judge read aloud that a previous trial found Trump had assaulted her and described it graphically, Trump let out a loud 'uch!' that could be heard several rows back."

Cramer: "The cross is very brief, with Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, asking only a couple of questions: Is this the first trial you attended where Carroll was plaintiff? Yes, he responds."

Christobek: "Trump walked slowly as he left the courtroom after his testimony. He spoke loudly enough for the members of the audience to hear: 'This is not America. Not America. This is not America.'"

Cramer: "After Trump's testimony, the judge dismissed the jury for the day and called a recess, but the lawyers are coming back today to go over how to instruct the jury on the law. Closings will be tomorrow and the jury could start deliberating right after.

~~~ CNN is liveblogging the E. Jean Carroll defamation case developments today. Reporters on MSNBC say that Trump is in the courtroom and is expected to testify. The judge has put limits on what he can say; for instance, he can't say that he never met Carroll and never sexually assaulted her. Also, Trump posted about the case something like 37 times overnight. CNN is liveblogging the E. Jean Carroll defamation case developments today. Reporters on MSNBC say that Trump is in the courtroom and is expected to testify. The judge has put limits on what he can say; for instance, he can't say that he never met Carroll and never sexually assaulted her. Also, Trump posted about the case something like 37 times overnight.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to ... Donald J. Trump who helped lay plans to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, was sentenced on Thursday to four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Navarro, 74, was found guilty in September of two misdemeanor counts of criminal contempt of Congress.... In a contentious exchange with Judge [Amit] Mehta, [Mr. Navarro's lawyer Stanley] Woodward repeatedly predicted that an appeals court would side with Mr. Navarro on constitutional grounds. 'This case is far from over,' he said."

Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump can remain on Maine's primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the 14th Amendment case in Colorado, the top court in Maine declared Wednesday, dismissing an appeal from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D). In a unanimous decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower judge's order that required Bellows to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the Colorado ballot case before she could withdraw, modify or uphold her decision to block Trump's name from Maine's March 5 primary ballot."

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy continued to grow at a healthy pace at the end of 2023, capping a year in which unemployment remained low, inflation cooled and a widely predicted recession never materialized. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That was down from the 4.9 percent rate in the third quarter but easily topped forecasters' expectations and showed the resilience of the recovery from the pandemic's economic upheaval." As Akhilleus writes in today's thread, no mention of how well the economy is doing under President Biden. ~~~

     ~~~ Bryan Mena of CNN: "The US economy remained shockingly robust in the fourth quarter to close out a remarkably strong 2023 as consumers and businesses continued to spend, crushing expectations of a recession." ~~~

~~~ You'll Not See Nothing Like the Mighty Yellen. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen defended the Biden administration's economic agenda on Thursday, drawing sharp contrasts with the policies of the Trump administration.... In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Ms. Yellen argued that the Biden administration had successfully navigated challenging headwinds caused by the pandemic and led a recovery that has outpaced those in the rest of the world. She also suggested that the Biden administration needed more time to tackle affordability issues, such as improving access to child care and housing.... Pointing to Mr. Trump's repeated pledges to rebuild America's roads and bridges, she recalled how those promises went unfulfilled. 'Our country's infrastructure has been deteriorating for decades,' Ms. Yellen said. 'In the Trump administration, the idea of doing anything to fix it was a punchline.' Ms. Yellen also assailed Mr. Trump's tax cuts, castigating him for enacting a 2017 tax law that she said enriched corporations, increased America's budget deficit and did little to make the economy stronger.... Treasury secretaries tend to avoid wading into politics, but Ms. Yellen told reporters ahead of her speech that she believed it was important to lay out the policy differences between the Trump and Biden administrations."

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The emerging bipartisan border deal is hitting fresh snags among Republicans on Capitol Hill because of the opposition of ... Donald J. Trump.... Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, told Republicans privately on Wednesday that the politics of the issue had been complicated by Mr. Trump's rise and his hostility to the agreement, putting the party 'in a quandary,' according to lawmakers who participated in the meeting.... The remarks ... were striking coming from a Republican who has toiled to distance himself and his party from the former president. Mr. McConnell has vociferously backed the proposed border compromise and has been a chief proponent of a stalled effort to send tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, which Republicans have said must be tied to the deal." Related HuffPost story by Jennifer Bendery & Igor Bobic, linked below.

Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "... Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to blacklist anyone who donates to Nikki Haley's presidential campaign. Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who makes a contribution to the Haley campaign 'from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: What do kids do at MAGA Camp? Go kayaking? Make woven plastic lanyards? Teepee the girls' bunkhouse? Without explaining how much fun you'll miss by not going to Maga camp, Trump's threat is pretty toothless.

Presidential Race

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "The United Auto Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden Wednesday. 'If our endorsement must be earned, then Joe Biden has earned it!' UAW President Shawn Fain said in a lengthy speech before introducing the president at the union's conference in Washington.... Biden expressed enthusiasm in his remarks for UAW workers, saying, 'I've always believed that the union movement in America is important because it produces the best-skilled workers in the world. That's what happens. It's good for everybody. It's good for companies. It increases the quality of the job, the quality of the product. It's good for economic growth.... Tens of thousands of auto jobs were lost nationwide through Trump's presidency,' Biden said. 'During my presidency, we've opened 20 auto factories and more to come. We've created more than 250,000 auto jobs all across America.' In his speech, Biden alluded to his experience last fall when he became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he visited auto workers outside Detroit who were striking for higher wages and cost-of-living increases." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Michael Bender & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Outside the soft bubble of Republican primaries, Mr. Trump's campaign is confronting enduring vulnerabilities that make his nomination a considerable risk for his party. Those weaknesses were laid bare in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where independents, college-educated voters and Republicans unwilling to dismiss his legal jeopardy voted in large numbers for his rival, Nikki Haley.... Four in 10 [New Hampshire] voters who backed Ms. Haley said their dislike of Mr. Trump was a more important factor in their vote than their approval of Ms. Haley, according to exit polls. More than 90 percent said they would be dissatisfied if Mr. Trump won the nomination for a third time.... Exit polls [in Iowa] show that 55 percent of people who identified as independents backed one of Mr. Trump's opponents.... The number of Haley supporters telling pollsters they will back Mr. Biden -- roughly 40 percent according to state and national polls -- is striking.... Trump aides and super PAC officials both view Mr. Biden's campaign as a more formidable opponent than any of Mr. Trump's primary rivals." ~~~

~~~ Alicia Menendez said on MSNBC that Trump lost in both Iowa and New Hampshire in the groups of GOP caucus-goers/voter who said (1) that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and (2) that Trump would be disqualified if he were convicted of a felony. As Menendez said, one would hope that reality-conscious voters who don't think a felon should be the POTUS are the sort you would hope would participate in elections.

Wednesday's New York Times liveblog on the presidential primaries is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Chris Cameron: "Nikki Haley was set to return home to South Carolina on Wednesday after her loss to Donald J. Trump in the New Hampshire primary, projecting optimism and determination to push on in what by all appearances will be an arduous road. She faces daunting and perhaps insurmountable challenges, lagging far behind Mr. Trump in polls in her home state and confronting growing calls from other Republicans to abandon the presidential race. Yet Ms. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, vowed to fight on, delivering a concession on Tuesday night in what sounded more like a victory speech.... Mr. Trump has also been lobbing increasingly bitter attacks against Ms. Haley in recent days, raising the possibility that the race could adopt a particularly noxious tone by the time votes are cast in South Carolina on Feb. 24.... On Tuesday night, he hinted that a new wave of vitriol could soon be trained in her direction, alluding vaguely to 'little stuff that she doesn't want to talk about.'"

Katie Glueck: "In a call with reporters this morning, [President Biden's] campaign officials sought to frame what they see as the choice in 2024: 'Donald Trump is running a campaign of revenge and retribution that threatens American democracy and our fundamental freedoms, while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are running to move the country forward and make life better for working people,' said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the campaign manager."/p>

Maggie Astor: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign sent volunteers to polling sites in New Hampshire yesterday to collect signatures to put his name on the general-election ballot there. The campaign says it collected the 3,000 signatures that the state requires; local officials will need to review their validity before the secretary of state's office determines whether to include Kennedy...."

Nick Corasaniti: "A record number of voters cast a ballot in New Hampshire's Republican primary on Tuesday, according to a New York Times analysis of election data.... The total of more than 300,000 votes as of early Wednesday surpassed the previous high-water mark for a Republican primary, when more than 287,000 voters turned out in 2016. The previous record for either party was the Democrats' 2020 contest, with more than 296,000 voters, many supporting Senator Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont."

The New York Times' full page of the results in New Hampshire's Republican primary is here. The Times' Democratic primary results are here: this morning has Joe Biden at 55.8% with 10.1% of the write-ins still unprocessed & Dean Phillips at 19.5%. (Also linked yesterday.) MB: Funny how Biden did better than Trump when Biden didn't campaign at all in New Hampshire and wasn't even on the ballot. Wait till Trump finds out.

David Corn of Mother Jones: "... it was telling that in the middle of [his New Hampshire] triumph the people Trump appeared to care most about were not campaign aides who have toiled hard to help him achieve his win or loved ones who have been at his side. When he looked into the audience, his gaze fell upon two oligarchs -- one an accused sexual assaulter [Steve Wynn]; the other, a wheeler-dealer [John Paulson] who cashed in on a deal that led to one of the biggest penalties in Wall Street history."

Marie: Most of the stories about Trump's win mention how pissed-off he was that Haley did fairly well in the primary, then delivered an upbeat speech in which she vowed not to quit. But over there in Right Wing World, the Fox "News" headline is "Trump 'honored' by New Hampshire win, says Republican party is 'very united.'" (No link.) ~~~

~~~ The Unhappy Insurrectionist. Steve Benen of MSNBC: "For speechwriters, remarks after a primary victory are an easy lift.... Candidates thank their supporters..., they express their appreciation to their campaign staff, they congratulate their defeated rivals, and they say a few words about the road ahead.... But [Trump] ... went in a very different direction.... During relatively brief remarks, the likely GOP nominee not only slammed Haley for appearing pleased about the primary results, he also referenced unnamed Haley scandals that 'she doesn't want to talk about' and even took aim at her attire. 'You can't let people get away with bull----,' Trump added. 'And when I watched her in the fancy dress that probably wasn't so fancy, I said, "What's she doing? We won."' The former president concluded, 'I don't get too angry, I get even.' On his social media platform, he was every bit as agitated, condemning Haley as 'DELUSIONAL!!!' for sticking around after losing. He added, 'Could somebody please explain to Nikki Haley that she lost -- and lost really badly.' For good measure the former president wrote, 'NIKKI CAME IN LAST, NOT SECOND!'... The irony of the circumstances is staggering.... Why, Trump effectively asked, can't Haley simply accept defeat? Self-awareness isn't among the former president's strong suits." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, if only Haley had had the grace to repeatedly complain Trump cheated, then complain there is a conspiracy against her (which apparently there is), then sue, then stage a coup. ~~~

~~~ The irony (and lack of self-awareness) doesn't end with Trump. In yesterday's Comments, RAS writes, "When I hear Haley disingenuously attacking Biden by saying we can't have a Harris presidency I'm reminded that she is attacking and insinuating that a fellow Indian woman, Kamala Harris, is not fit for the job But Haley is Republican so she has to signal to her people that she is as racist and misogynistic as they are. And Harris is a boogeyman the Right likes to attack because she is both puppet master pulling all of Biden's strings controlling everything and an incompetent affirmative active hire who is only in her position because of the color of her skin and because she is a woman."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a key figure in getting bills passed through Congress, says she will not endorse former President Trump, even if he becomes the Republican Party's nominee for president. Asked if she could see herself endorsing Trump if he wins the nomination, Collins replied: 'I do not at this point.'... 'I'm glad to hear last night that Nikki Haley is determined to stay in [the race.] I think the more people see of her, particularly since she appears to be the only alternative to Donald Trump right now, the more impressed they will be,' she said."

Trump's Rallies Are Bo-o-oring. Ian Ward in Politico Magazine: "Trump's rallies, once the primary attraction in the MAGA universe, have become awkward sideshows in his grander political drama, which is now unfolding primarily in closed courtrooms and six-page legal orders.... But something deeper than distraction or fatigue plagued the former president's appearances in New Hampshire. Trump's speeches have always been rambling and directionless, but in 2024, they have the additional drawback of being inescapably monotonous. His rallies aren't fundamentally different than they have been in past elections, but ... there's little new substance or material in this year's revival of the Trump Show. His core grievances ... are all retreads.... Trying to discern a clear picture of Trump or his plans for a second term from [his] remarks is like trying to find patterns in a Pollock painting."

Marie: Over the past couple of days, we've linked to stories documenting Trump's cognitive decline. Even though we don't listen much to Trump, we should have realized that even he knows he has "cognitive diffuculties." This is President* Projection, and he has been knocking Biden's cognitive abilities for months.

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday vetoed a Republican-led effort that could have thwarted the administration's plans to invest $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country. In issuing the veto, Mr. Biden argued that the congressional resolution would have hurt domestic manufacturing as well as the clean energy transition.... Republicans, with some Democrats, voted to repeal a waiver issued by the Biden administration that allows federally funded electric vehicle chargers to be made from imported iron and steel, as long as they are assembled in the United States."

Jennifer Bendery & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump on Wednesday privately pressured Senate Republicans to 'kill' a bipartisan deal to secure the U.S. border because he doesn't want President Joe Biden to chalk up a win ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to a source familiar with the tenuous negotiations on the package. Trump directly reached out to several GOP senators on Wednesday to tell them to reject any deal, said this source.... The GOP presidential frontrunner also personally reached out to some Senate Republicans over the weekend, the source told HuffPost.... Trump's meddling generated an 'emotional' discussion in a closed door meeting between Senate Republicans on Wednesday, as senators vented their frustrations for hours about the largely secret negotiations over emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and immigration."

Jim Comer Is Still a Big Fat Liar. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: After deposing Hunter Biden's friend and benefactor Kevin Morris, "House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) released a statement suggesting that Morris had offered information that was deeply problematic for the Bidens. It read, in part: '... Kevin Morris admitted he has "loaned" the president's son at least $5 million. These "loans" don't have to be repaid until after the next presidential election and the "loans" may ultimately be forgiven. Since Kevin Morris has kept President Biden's son financially afloat, he's had access to the Biden White House and has spoken to President Biden. This follows a familiar pattern where Hunter Biden's associates have access to Joe Biden himself.' Morris's lawyer, Bryan Sullivan, quickly sent Comer a letter condemning the legislator for misrepresenting the testimony.... On Tuesday, the transcript was made public. And Sullivan's criticism of Comer was very much proved to be warranted.... In his response to questions from House members and committee staff, Morris explained how he came to consider the younger Biden a friend and quickly agreed to similarly serve as his legal counsel."

Paula Reid & Annie Grayer of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz has reached out to the woman whom the congressman allegedly had sexual relations with when she was a 17-year-old minor, according to a source familiar with the committee's work. The outreach, which has not previously been reported, is a sign that the GOP-led committee's investigation into the Florida Republican has recently expanded to include questioning around allegations of sex crimes. Sources said the committee also has reached out to the Justice Department requesting materials from its investigation into Gaetz, which included allegations of lobbying violations, sex-trafficking and possible obstruction of justice. The federal probe, which also included allegations he had sex with a minor, concluded in 2023 with no charges brought against the congressman."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "More than 21 million people have signed up for health plans through the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. The record level of enrollment comes as ... Donald Trump ... is again vowing to repeal the program if elected. Sign-ups in the health insurance marketplaces -- a jump of 5 million since last year and the third straight year of record enrollment -- were partly driven by states 'unwinding' pandemic-era protections in Medicaid, with millions of people culled from the safety net health program, said Biden officials and outside researchers. The enrollment figures reflect a roughly 80 percent surge in sign-ups for the ACA since President Biden took office in 2021 and expanded the subsidies available to consumers." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "Homicides declined last year in nearly two dozen U.S. cities, though many communities still continued to face higher levels of deadly violence than they did in 2019, before a spike in killings, according to a new report on crime trends. The report by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice also said that while numerous cities saw violent crime fall in 2023 from the year before, other offenses increased over the same period, including motor vehicle thefts. 'Overall, crime rates are largely returning to pre-COVID levels as the nation distances itself from the height of the pandemic, but there are notable exceptions,' said the think tank's report, which was released Thursday."

Kelby Vera of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, was spotted rubbing elbows with Republicans in New Hampshire on Tuesday, just the day after asking for a delay in the ex-president's defamation trial because she was feeling under the weather. On Monday, one of the nine jurors considering writer E. Jean Carroll's second defamation suit against Trump was excused for being ill. Though Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll's lawyers agreed to continue the trial with eight jurors, Trump's legal team requested a delay, saying Habba had been exposed to COVID and had a fever. She was not wearing a mask during the hearing." MB: But so glad to learn Habba is feeling better.

Antonio Planas of NBC News: "A member of the Proud Boys extremist group who took selfies in the Senate gallery during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and once told a judge he would 'still do it all over again' was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison, federal prosecutors said. Marc Anthony Bru, 44, of Vancouver, Washington, was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay a $7,946 fine and $2,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement. Bru was found guilty on Oct. 3 of two felonies, obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, along with five misdemeanors, prosecutors said." MB: And Donald Trump is still walking around free.

In Arizona news, linked below, we learn that the state's GOP chair has resigned when it came out he tried to bribe Kari Lake not run for the Senate this year. But here's a guy who accepted a bribe and is running for Congress: ~~~

~~~ Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "Michael A. Brown, the lobbyist and former D.C. Council member who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge more than a decade ago, said he will run to become D.C.'s nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, joining a slate of opponents challenging longtime Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton in the June Democratic primary."

~~~~~~~~~~

You might think that the only pregnancies that are unfairly denied by state abortion bans are those that make the news because these particular abortions are so badly needed. But no. ~~~

~~~ Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "More than 64,000 women and girls became pregnant because of rape in states that implemented abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overruled, according to a new research estimate published online Wednesday. The research letter, published by JAMA Internal Medicine and headed up by the medical director at Planned Parenthood of Montana, estimated that nearly 520,000 rapes were associated with 64,565 pregnancies across 14 states, most of which had no exceptions that allowed for terminations of pregnancies that occurred as a result of rape."

Alabama. Cruel AND Unusual. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court each declined on Wednesday to intervene to stop Alabama from conducting the nation's first-ever execution by nitrogen gas, putting the state on track to use the novel method to kill a death row prisoner. Alabama plans to use nitrogen gas to kill Kenneth Smith, who was convicted of a 1988 murder, after the state botched its previous attempt to execute him by lethal injection in November 2022. Barring any additional legal interventions, prison officials plan to bring him to the execution chamber in Atmore, Ala., on Thursday evening, place a mask on his face and pump nitrogen into it, depriving him of oxygen until he dies.... The [Supreme C]ourt's order did not include an explanation or note any dissents.... Mr. Smith's lawyers said they would also appeal [a second] case to the Supreme Court, potentially giving the justices another chance to intervene...."

Arizona. Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit announced his resignation Wednesday after a recording was made public that appeared to show him attempting to entice Republican Kari Lake to sit out the 2024 election for the state's U.S. Senate seat.... In the recording, published by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, DeWit tries to dissuade Lake, who lost the gubernatorial election in Arizona in 2022 and has served as a surrogate for Trump in this election cycle, from seeking a Senate seat in 2024. He suggests she instead run for governor again in 2026. 'There are very powerful people who want to keep you out. ... But they're willing to put their money where their mouth is in a big way. So, this conversation never happened,' DeWit says in the recording. He later continues, 'So the ask I got today from back east was: "Is there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out?"'... In another portion of the exchange, DeWit says: 'Just say, is there a number at which —' to which Lake interjects: 'I can be bought? That's what it's about.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, Vazquez wrote this story with a special Sani-Wipes pen. "Attempting to entice"? Oh please. Lake knows an effort to bribe her when she gets one. Update: NPR's story is here; NPR's reporter, Ben Giles, is not afraid to use the word "bribe."

Ohio. CBS/AP: "Ohio has banned gender-affirming care for minors and restricted transgender women's and girls' participation on sports teams, a move that has families of transgender children scrambling over how best to care for them. The Republican-dominated Senate voted Wednesday to override GOP Gov. Mike DeWine's veto. The new law bans gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapies, and restricts mental health care for transgender individuals under 18. The measure also bans transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports teams at both the K-12 and collegiate level. The override cleared the chamber 24-8 mostly along party lines, save Sen. Nathan Manning, a Republican from Cuyahoga County who has consistently broken from his party on the issue."

Texas. Andrew Schneider of Houston Public Media: "Several Texas Republican lawmakers ... have urged the state to defy the Supreme Court's order to let the Biden administration cut concertina wire Texas has strung out along the border. Governor Greg Abbott has responded by issuing what he described as a 'Statement on Texas' Constitutional Right to Self-Defense,' signaling what could be the beginning of a constitutional crisis.... [Gov. Abbott's statement asserts] the state's constitutional right to protect itself, accusing the Biden administration once again of failing to protect the state from what Abbott characterizes as 'an invasion' of undocumented immigrants. Abbott has not yet indicated that he will defy the Supreme Court's order to allow federal agents to cut the concertina wire, but numerous reports have emerged that the state is continuing to deploy the wire."

Texas. Oldie But Goodie. RAS linked this video of Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin, of course) explaining to dimwitted colleague Candy Nobel (R, natch) why a bill requiring posters of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms was un-Christian. ~~~

I don’t know who this man is but protect him at all costs!! He finally broke it down. So much she had no come back! See the God yall worshipping is yourself and your opinions!! I love how he use the word, the one she claims to know in his argument! Sadly they still won’t get it.… pic.twitter.com/KHqrVf5SHC

— Leslie Jones 🦋 (@Lesdoggg) January 23, 2024

     ~~~ Marie: I'm way surprised Christianists would want to put the Ten Commandments in front of innocent babes. You would think the anti-woke contingent would be shocked, shocked that the schools were featuring a document when 20% of it is about sex, to wit: 7. "You shall not commit adultery."... 10. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17). Do they want little children going home asking, "Mommy, what is 'adultery'?"? "Does Daddy covet Mrs. Jones? What is 'covet'?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, called the number of civilian deaths in Khan Younis 'horrendous,' after U.N. officials said a blast killed 12 people sheltering at a U.N. training center in the southern Gaza city. The International Court of Justice will deliver an initial ruling Friday on South Africa's request that the court order Israel to stop its military campaign.... Judges at the U.N.'s top court will respond Friday to South Africa's request that Israel 'immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.' Their order will not include a ruling on whether Israel has committed genocide -- a verdict on that could take years. Israel and the United States have dismissed South Africa's case as meritless. The top U.S. mediator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, is in the region to encourage discussions on the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, but U.S. officials emphasized Wednesday that there was little progress to report." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Thursday are here.

News Lede

New York Times: "Melanie, the husky-voiced singer and songwriter who was one of the surprise stars of the Woodstock music festival in 1969 and two years later had a No. 1 single with the disarmingly childlike 'Brand New Key,' died on Tuesday. She was 76."