The Conversation -- October 10, 2023

** Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a significant array of new charges against Representative George Santos of New York, accusing him of new criminal schemes, including stealing the identities and credit cards of donors to his campaign. The new accusations were made in a 23-count superseding indictment that laid out how Mr. Santos had charged his donors' credit cards 'repeatedly, without their authorization,' distributing the money to his and other candidates' campaigns and to his own bank account. The new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York added 10 charges against Mr. Santos: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records to obstruct the commission." Politico's story is here.

Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the militant group Hamas for 'sheer evil' for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground." The Washington Post story is here.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Georgia prosecutors say a key Trump campaign legal adviser's memos -- which guided efforts to subvert the 2020 election despite ... Donald Trump's defeat -- cannot be shielded by attorney-client privilege because they were about politics, not law. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued Tuesday that the memos by Ken Chesebro, one of 18 defendants charged alongside Trump in a sprawling racketeering conspiracy related to the 2020 election, were not about a litigation strategy or legal advice, which would typically be protected by confidentiality rules.... Willis' argument hewed closely to the rulings of a federal judge in California, who found that many of [John] Eastman's emails in the aftermath of the 2020 election were not subject to attorney-client privilege because of their political character -- or because they were shared with non-lawyers and lost their confidentiality. That judge, U.S. District Judge David Carter, also found that some of Eastman's emails would be disclosed to the House Jan. 6 select committee because they constituted evidence of a likely conspiracy between Eastman and Trump."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "While arguing against the motion by [Donald] Trump's lawyers to delay the May 20 trial, special counsel Jack Smith's lawyers ... said they are ready to prove ... why Trump allegedly took and kept [classified] documents.... The government apparently thinks it knows 'what Trump intended' with the documents.... Smith's team has clearly shown an interest in whether Trump used the documents for his personal advantage."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has claimed in a lawsuit in a London court that Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, inflicted 'personal and reputational damage and distress' on him by leaking a dossier detailing unsavory, unproven accounts of links between him and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lawyers for Mr. Trump argue that Mr. Steele's firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, breached British data protection laws with the dossier, which triggered a political earthquake when it was published just before Mr. Trump's inauguration in 2017. The lawsuit, the first filed by Mr. Trump in Britain related to the dossier, could offer the former president more favorable legal terrain than the United States. Last year, a federal judge in Florida threw out his lawsuit claiming that Mr. Steele, as well as Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, was involved in a concerted plot to spread false information about Mr. Trump's ties to Russia.' ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas renewed his call on Tuesday for the Supreme Court to reconsider New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 ruling interpreting the First Amendment to make it more difficult for public officials to prevail in libel suits. Justice Thomas wrote that the decision had no basis in the Constitution as it was understood by the people who drafted and ratified it. He added, quoting an earlier opinion, that it 'comes at a heavy cost, allowing media organizations and interest groups "to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity."' Justice Thomas has been the subject of a series of news reports raising questions about whether he had violated ethics rules.... Justice Thomas's latest opinion came in a case brought by Don Blankenship, a former coal company executive and Senate candidate in West Virginia. He sued several news organizations for calling him a felon after he was convicted of conspiracy, a misdemeanor, in connection with the aftermath of a mine explosion." A related NBC News story, which concentrates on Blankenship's failed suit, is here.

North Carolina. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "North Carolina Republican lawmakers on Tuesday overrode the Democratic governor's veto of a bill that overhauls who runs elections and achieves a long-sought goal of the state's GOP. The legislation creates bipartisan boards that could deadlock on establishing early voting locations or certifying results in a state that may prove crucial in next year's presidential election. Democrats and election experts warn the changes risk creating dysfunction in 2024, with Gov. Roy Cooper saying they 'could doom our state's elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting.'"

Emma Farge & Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber of Reuters: "Russia failed in its bid to return to the United Nations' top human rights body on Tuesday, with rivals winning considerably more votes at the General Assembly in an election seen as a key test of Western efforts to keep Moscow isolated. In the secret ballot, Russia won 83 votes versus 160 for Bulgaria and 123 for Albania, which had competed against it in the same eastern Europe grouping for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for a three-year term beginning on Jan. 1.... A U.N.-mandated investigative body said in March that Russia had committed a wide range of war crimes in Ukraine such as wilful killings, torture and the deportation of children."

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Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Biden met over the past two days with Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating how classified documents improperly ended up at Mr. Biden's home and an office he used after leaving the vice presidency, the White House disclosed on Monday. 'The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday,' Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.... The interview raises the possibility that Mr. Hur is nearing the end of his investigation, which the Justice Department began after Mr. Biden's lawyers reported that they had found several classified documents mixed in with other papers in a storage closet while packing up an office at a Washington think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement." Read on. Savage contrasts President Biden's cooperation with a special counsel to Trump's obstruction of everybody. CNN's report is here.

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House is considering a move to attach Ukraine funding to a request for urgent aid to Israel, according to several people familiar with the deliberations, in the hopes that such a pairing would increase the chance that Congress would approve aid to Kyiv despite growing opposition from House Republicans. No final decisions have been made on whether to link the requests.... One ... [White House official] said such a move could make sense because it 'jams the far right,' which is firmly opposed to more Ukraine aid but strongly supportive of aid to Israel." The NBC News story is here.

Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Marianna Sotomayor & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "House Republicans are settling in for what many expect to be a drawn-out and contentious fight for the speaker's gavel this week, with simmering internal conflicts muddying the path forward for the two declared candidates.... Republicans returned to the Capitol on Monday under increased pressure to coalesce around a leader so that the House can begin work to provide aid to Israel.... Republican lawmakers met Monday evening to discuss the week ahead and air lingering grievances from last week's upheaval. It was a relatively staid meeting, according to lawmakers in attendance, but there was no clear consensus on the timing for choosing a leader. Republicans will hold a candidate forum Tuesday and internal votes to nominate a speaker starting Wednesday morning." CNN's report, by Manu Raju & others, is here. A Politico report is here. ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the possibility on Monday that he might be open to reclaiming the post from which he was ousted less than a week ago, even as two other Republicans vied to replace him in a contest that has highlighted the party's deep divisions. With the House rudderless and paralyzed following Mr. McCarthy's removal last week, the California Republican worked to project normalcy and leadership in the face of the war unfolding in Israel.... He summoned reporters to the Capitol to lay out a plan to defend Israel and rescue American captives. The appearance had all the trappings of the job he just lost; Mr. McCarthy spoke from behind a podium in the Rayburn Room, where the speaker often holds official ceremonies, and used the language of a party leader during a crisis."

David Pierson & Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "China's top leader, Xi Jinping, met with Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, in Beijing on Monday and expressed hopes of 'peaceful coexistence' between China and the United States, even as escalating violence in the Middle East threatens to deepen a wedge between the two powers.... Mr. Xi's amicable tone is likely to increase expectations that he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in San Francisco in November and meet with President Biden. Doing so would cap a tumultuous year for U.S.-China relations that reached a low in February after the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the United States."

Smith Alleges Trump Team Is Lying Again. Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "Special counsel Jack Smith urged the federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago willful retention of classified information prosecution to reject 'distorted and exaggerated' arguments about access to classified discovery and deny the former president's bid to push the case past the 2024 election. In the Monday filing, Smith said that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, should deny the bid to delay trial until after the election just as she did months before when setting trial for May 20, 2024.... 'To be sure, the extreme sensitivity of the special measures documents that Trump illegally retained at Mar-a-Lago presents logistical issues unique to this case,' the special counsel said in one part of his opposition to the Trump-requested trial adjournment. 'But the defendants' allegations that those logistical impediments are the fault of the SCO are wrong.'"

Jonathan O'Connell & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "... documents [prepared by New York Attorney General Letitia James] show how accounting, banking and real estate experts repeatedly informed [Donald] Trump how much his properties and businesses were really worth. But over and over again, the documents reveal that Trump, his adult sons and top executives allegedly ignored or sidelined those experts, exchanging their figures for numbers from another source: Trump's own intuition.... The civil trial against Trump's business that on Tuesday enters its second week threatens to reveal the internal workings of Trump's business in never-before-revealed detail.... A Forbes journalist asked him that year why he cared so much -- why had he gone to such great lengths to inflate his wealth? 'It was good for financing,' Trump said. Therein lies the crux of James's case: that Trump used his inflated financial statements to obtain preferential treatment from banks and insurers, conduct that she argues violates state law due to its 'capacity or tendency to deceive, or creates an atmosphere conductive to fraud.'" ~~~

~~~ Michael Sisak of the AP: "As Donald Trump's longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg helped spare the former president's real estate empire from its last existential threat, staving off insolvency after casino bankruptcies and an airline failure in the 1990s. Now, after a recent jail stint for tax fraud, Weisselberg is front and center again -- set to testify Tuesday in the civil trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, the Trump Organization. Weisselberg, also a defendant in the lawsuit, is expected to testify about his role in preparing Trump's annual financial statements -- including conversations they had while finalizing the documents, which were given to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "... on Monday..., [Donald Trump] found time to rant about Forbes omitting him from its list of the nation's 400 richest people last week. The 'very badly failing, Forbes "Magazine," which lost most of its relevance long ago, and which knows less about me than Stormy Daniels (who doesn't know me at all!) or Rosie O'Donnell, took me off their Fake Forbes 400 list, just by a "whisker," even though they know that I should be high up on that now very dated and discredited "antique'"' Trump wrote on Truth Social. The ex-president worked in attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused Forbes of participating in 'the Election Interference Scam.'..."

Presidential Race 2024

Bobby's Vanity Project, Ctd. Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "In a move that could alter the dynamics of the 2024 election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that he would continue his presidential run as an independent candidate, ending his long-shot pursuit of the Democratic nomination against an incumbent president. Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Mr. Kennedy, a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories, said he represented 'a populist movement that defies left-right division.... 'The Democrats are frightened that I'm going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that I'm going to spoil it for Trump,' he said. 'The truth is, they're both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them.'" CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pivot Monday to an independent run for president met immediate resistance from Republican leaders, who have concluded that his new effort threatens to cannibalize their vote share next year, helping to reelect President Biden. The Republican National Committee greeted his announcement with a press release that described Kennedy as 'just another radical, far-left Democrat,' with a number of talking points that could be used by the expansive network of conservative commentators who tend to take messaging cues from the party." An AP story is here.

Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Will Hurd, a Republican former congressman from Texas who was once seen as a rising star in the G.O.P., announced on Monday that he would suspend his campaign for president. He endorsed Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "Nearly 4,000 members of the United Automobile Workers union went on strike against Mack Trucks on Monday after rejecting a tentative contract that union's leaders had worked out with the company. The union informed the truck maker on Sunday that members had opposed the contract by a 73 percent vote, and that a strike would begin at Mack's factories in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida."

Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Walgreens pharmacy staff across the country are walking off work this week, alleging that poor working conditions are putting employees and patients at risk. The walkout could impact hundreds of stores starting Monday and going through Wednesday.... Pharmacists, technicians and support staff claim that increased demands on understaffed teams -- such as administering vaccines while battling hundreds of backlogged prescriptions -- have become untenable and are impeding their ability to do their jobs responsibly."

John Koblin of the New York Times: "Hollywood film and TV writers voted overwhelmingly to approve a new three-year contract with the major entertainment studios, the Writers Guild of America said on Monday, formally bringing to a close a bitter five-month labor dispute. During the one-week voting period, more than 8,500 writers submitted ballots, and the contract was ratified with 99 percent of the vote, according to the Writers Guild, which represents more than 11,000 screenwriters."

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Vermont. A Battery in Every Garage. Ivan Penn of the New York Times: "... a Vermont utility ... wants to install batteries at most homes to make sure its customers never go without electricity. The company, Green Mountain Power, proposed buying batteries, burying power lines and strengthening overhead cables in a filing with state regulators on Monday. It said its plan would be cheaper than building a lot of new lines and power plants. The plan is a big departure from how U.S. utilities normally do business. Most of them make money by building and operating power lines that deliver electricity from natural gas power plants or wind and solar farms to homes and businesses. Green Mountain -- a relatively small utility serving 270,000 homes and businesses -- would still use that infrastructure but build less of it by investing in television-size batteries that homeowners usually buy on their own.... Green Mountain's plan builds on a program it has run since 2015 to lease Tesla home batteries to customers."

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Israel/Palestine

Patrick Kingsley & Jin Yu Young of the New York Times: "Israel regained control over the towns near Gaza after days of fighting gunmen who had rushed across the border facing little resistance, the country's military said Tuesday morning.... The military is preparing for the next phase of the war, mobilizing 360,000 reservists, the most ever, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military officials say they will now focus on destroying Hamas.... Facing one of the gravest crises in its history, Israel is turning to the United States for more weapons, asking for precision-guided munitions for combat aircraft and interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system." This is the top, pinned article of a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Arlette Saenz, et al., of CNN: “Eleven US citizens have died in the conflict in Israel, President Joe Biden said Monday, and an unknown number remain missing. 'As we continue to account for the horrors of the appalling terrorist assault against Israel this weekend and the hundreds of innocent civilians who were murdered, we are seeing the immense scale and reach of this tragedy,' Biden said in a statement. 'Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed -- many of whom made a second home in Israel.' It is 'likely,' Biden said, that American citizens may be among those being held hostage by Hamas, and that his administration is working with Israeli officials on 'every aspect of the hostage crisis.' Biden also noted that there are American citizens whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for. 'This is not some distant tragedy. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep,' he said. 'It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. President Biden's full statement, via the White House, is here.

President Biden also released a joint statement with President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy & Prime Minister Sunak of the U.K., "express[ing] our steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism." Via the White House. President Biden will speak about the attacks at 1:00 pm ET today.

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "The White House has been working urgently in the past 24 hours to get a Senate confirmation process in motion for President Joe Biden's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, according to two White House officials. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, a former Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff during the Obama administration, as early as Oct. 18, according to three people familiar with the plans. Biden nominated Lew more than a month ago. The Senate is not in session this week. But the White House officials said they hope lawmakers in both parties will agree with the president on the need to quickly confirm Lew amid the war between Israel and Hamas."

Joby Warrick, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Palestinian militants behind the surprise weekend attack on Israel began planning the assault at least a year ago, with key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons, current and former Western and Middle Eastern intelligence officials said Monday. While Iran's precise role in Saturday's violence remained unclear, the officials said, the assault reflected Tehran's years-long ambition to surround Israel with legions of paramilitary fighters armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons systems capable of striking deep inside the Jewish state. Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant organization that led the attack, has historically maintained a degree of independence from Tehran compared with true Iranian proxy groups such as the Lebanese-based Hezbollah. But in recent years, Hamas has benefited from massive infusions of Iranian cash as well as technical help for manufacturing rockets and drones with advanced guidance systems, in addition to training in military tactics -- some of which occurred in camps outside Gaza, the officials said."

David Gilbert of Wired: "While all major world events are now accompanied almost instantly by a deluge of disinformation aimed at controlling the narrative, the scale and speed at which disinformation was being seeded about the Israel-Hamas conflict is unprecedented -- particularly on X.... Rather than being shown verified and fact-checked information, X users were presented with video game footage passed off as footage of a Hamas attack and images of firework celebrations in Algeria presented as Israeli strikes on Hamas. There were faked pictures of soccer superstar Ronaldo holding the Palestinian flag, while a three-year-old video from the Syrian civil war repurposed to look like it was taken this weekend.... While some later featured a note from X's decimated community fact-checking system, many more remained untouched. And as Elon Musk has repeatedly done in recent incidents, the platform's CEO made the situation much worse.... The accounts Musk referenced [as 'good' sources] are well-known spreaders of disinformation.... Musk deleted his recommendation soon after posting it, but not before it was viewed over 11 million times." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I am still mystified as to why anyone would trust any social media outlets as news sources.

The Conversation -- October 9, 2023

Arlette Saenz, et al., of CNN: "Eleven US citizens have died in the conflict in Israel, President Joe Biden said Monday, and an unknown number remain missing. 'As we continue to account for the horrors of the appalling terrorist assault against Israel this weekend and the hundreds of innocent civilians who were murdered, we are seeing the immense scale and reach of this tragedy,' Biden said in a statement. 'Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed -- many of whom made a second home in Israel.' It is 'likely,' Biden said, that American citizens may be among those being held hostage by Hamas, and that his administration is working with Israeli officials on 'every aspect of the hostage crisis.' Biden also noted that there are American citizens whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for. 'This is not some distant tragedy. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep,' he said. 'It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.'"

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Melina Delkic & Anna Betts of the New York Times: "Two years after President Biden became the first U.S. president to formally commemorate Indigenous Peoples' Day, more than a dozen states recognize some version of the holiday in lieu of Columbus Day. More than 100 cities have adopted the holiday, choosing to heed calls from Indigenous groups and other activists not to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator after whom the holiday is named. They say he brought genocide and colonization to communities that had been in the Americas for thousands of years. Many around the country, however, still celebrate Columbus Day or Italian Heritage Day as a point of pride.... [Indigenous Peoples' Day] is not yet a federal holiday, though lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation that proposes to make it one. Here is more background." ~~~

~~~ Harmeet Kaur of CNN: "For centuries, the US celebrated Christopher Columbus as the intrepid explorer who discovered the Americas -- a symbol of the American ideals of entrepreneurship and innovation. The story of the Italian navigator taught to generations of schoolchildren is shrouded in mythology. But for the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the Americas long before Columbus ever arrived, Columbus and his namesake holiday represent something much more sinister: the violent colonization of their lands and the brutal treatment of their people. The movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day has been decades in the making." First published a year ago.

Marie: Shame on me for forgetting on Indigenous Peoples' Day Randy Newman's historical perspective on my own peoples' "contributions" to the American experience. Thanks to Akhilleus for the reminder:

Annie Karni of the New York Times: Rep. Steve "Scalise [R-La.], a longtime rival to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is now mounting his own bid for the post. He has pitched himself as the man uniquely positioned to unite Republicans at a moment when they are deeply divided and demoralized after Mr. McCarthy's historic ouster last week. His candidacy is the culmination of a steady political climb for a deeply conservative Republican who once described himself, according to a local columnist, as 'like David Duke without the baggage.'... Under the current rules of the Republican conference, whoever receives a majority in [a] secret-ballot vote will be the party's nominee when the full House meets to elect a new speaker, now expected on Wednesday."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The fact that [Rep. Jim] Jordan [R-Ohio] is a viable [candidate for Speaker of the House] appears to be less about his own evolution than the Republican Party's.... 'I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart -- never building anything, never putting anything together,' former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote in his 2021 book, which lumped his Ohio colleague in with other 'legislative terrorists.'... For much of the 2010s, Jordan was a key leader of GOP efforts to push the government toward shutdowns while holding out for concessions.... That is relevant given that the next speaker would be thrust into an imminent shutdown debate, with the next deadline mid-November, according to the deal McCarthy cut.... But shutdowns aren't the only area in which Jordan has been to the right of his colleagues and held a hard line.... Jordan has aligned himself with [Donald] Trump in ways that even many of his fellow Republicans have been reluctant to[.]... And that's to say nothing of the personal questions." Blake details many of Jordan's, ah, shortcomings.

Where "Moderate" Means Timid or Whiney. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: is tired of hearing so-called "moderate Republicans" complain about their party's flamethrowers. "It's not the MAGA Republicans who are responsible for the House's descent into chaos, nor is it the responsibility of the minority party that has been lied to by [Kevin] McCarthy and his ilk. The culprit is the famed 'moderate' Republicans we keep hearing about.... If they and a supposed majority of House Republicans want to prove they are more responsible and more serious than their MAGA counterparts, they can either advance a sober contender for speaker or, better yet, place conditions on their support for any speaker (just as the far-right did with McCarthy).... This would entail an actual commitment ... to behave responsibly. Though this sounds almost inconceivable, this should be the bare minimum required of any member." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If they're so moderate, can't they come up with a candidate for speaker who did not associate himself with the Ku Klux Klan or help engineer a coup against the U.S.? Unfortunately, the answer is probably not.

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Germany. Christopher Schuetze of the New York Times: "German voters handed a victory on Sunday to mainstream conservatives in a state election in Bavaria -- as well as in the smaller central state of Hesse -- while punishing the three parties running the country. While all three of the governing parties lost votes, symbolically at least, the far-right Alternative for Germany and another populist party were the evening's clear victors, notching record results in both states when compared with other western states." MB: While the article discusses the success of "conservatives" and "populists," you would not be wrong to think "Nazis," at least where it comes to "populists."

Israel/Palestine. Andrés Martínez & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Israel's military acknowledged on Monday that it was still battling to drive Palestinian militants out of southern towns near the Gaza Strip and that more militants could still be crossing through breaches in the border fence, two days after an invasion that has killed hundreds and provoked furious retaliatory strikes by Israel.... More than 700 people have been killed in Israel, which has responded to the assault by striking nearly 500 targets in Gaza, leveling whole buildings that they say are linked to Hamas, the militant group that controls the territory. At least 493 Palestinians have been killed, according to authorities in Gaza.... The timing and scale of the next steps, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would dstroy Hamas, were unclear because Hamas and other militants held at least 150 Israelis hostage. And Israel appears to be nowhere closer to answering key questions about how it was caught unaware by the attack on Saturday despite having some of the most extensive and sophisticated intelligence, missile defense and spying networks in the world." This is a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here. The AP's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here: "Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant says he has given an order for Gaza's 'complete siege.' No electricity, food, fuel or water will be delivered to the enclave, which is surrounded on three sides by Israel and Egypt. 'We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly,' he said on camera." MB: Nothing medieval about that.

Susannah George, et al., of the Washington Post: "Israel formally declared war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday as it reeled from a surprise attack that killed more than 700 people, opening the way for a major escalation in fighting that already threatened to engulf the region. A swelling counterattack by Israeli forces in Gaza also killed more than 400 people, including 78 children, as residents braced for a more punishing campaign that some feared would include an Israeli ground invasion. The vote for war by Israel's cabinet could signal a wider operation -- it allows the government to expand military mobilization and deploy a more lethal range of military options. U.S. officials said Sunday that they expected Israel to launch a ground incursion into Gaza in the next 24 to 48 hours, according to people familiar with the matter. Israel also requested heightened cooperation with the United States on intelligence-sharing related to southern Lebanon...."

Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Sunday scrambled to prevent Hamas's assault on Israel from escalating into a multi-front, regional conflict, deploying a U.S. aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean and rushing arms to the Israeli military in a bid to deter the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and other actors from attacking.... American citizens are probably among the hostages that Hamas is holding inside Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday. At least several Americans were killed in the attack, a senior administration official confirmed."

Tia Goldenberg of the AP: "Israel's intelligence agencies have gained an aura of invincibility over the decades because of a string of achievements.... Israel's intelligence agencies have gained an aura of invincibility over the decades because of a string of achievements.... the apparent lack of prior knowledge of Hamas' plot will likely be seen as a prime culprit in the chain of events that led to the deadliest attack against Israelis in decades.... The ferocious attack, which likely took months of planning and meticulous training and involved coordination among multiple militant groups, appeared to have gone under Israel's intelligence radar. Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general, said that without a foothold inside Gaza, Israel's security services have come to rely increasingly on technological means to gain intelligence. He said militants in Gaza have found ways to evade that technological intelligence gathering, giving Israel an incomplete picture of their intentions." ~~~

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post: compares the intelligence failures that caused U.S. agencies to fail to connect the dots that signaled the 9/11 attacks to those that caused Israeli intelligence to miss the signs that pointed toward a major attack by Hamas.

Mr. Potato Head Doesn't Care. Ursula Perano, et al., of Politico: "Sen. Tommy Tuberville is not relenting from his monthslong blockade of military nominations over the Biden administration's abortion policy -- even in the face of one of America's closest allies going to war.... [Because of Tuberville's hold on military nominations & promotions, more than] 300 nominees are in limbo, including two picks for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and top officers slated to command U.S. forces in the Middle East. 'The severity of the crisis in Israel underscores the foolishness of Senator Tuberville's blockade,' Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed said in a statement Sunday. 'The United States needs seamless military leadership in place to handle dangerous situations like this and Senator Tuberville is denying it. This is no time for petty political theater, and I again urge Republican colleagues to help actively end Senator Tuberville's damaging blockade,' the Rhode Island Democrat added. 'The time for talking is over.'" ~~~

~~~ AND we all knew this was coming. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "...Donald Trump weighed in Sunday morning on the devastating attack Hamas launched against civilians in Israel on Saturday as only he would. 'THE HORRIBLE ATTACK ON ISRAEL, MUCH LIKE THE ATTACK ON UKRAINE, WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT -- ZERO CHANCE!' Trump posted to his Truth Social platform.... 'They didn't have that level of aggression with me. They didn't have it. This would have never happened with me either,' Trump said [in a statement]. He also later in the day declared during a Cedar Rapids rally that Biden had 'betrayed Israel' by releasing $6 billion in funds to Iran in exchange for American prisoners." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, yes, the lion would lie down with the lamb if I were president, too, and the dove of peace would fly over every hill and dale. I'd teach the world to sing in perfect harmony and I'd buy everybody a Coke (okay a Diet Coke). What absolute crap. ~~~

~~~ AND here's what Kristen Welker of NBC News thinks is getting tough on Nikki Haley for claiming Hamas was using money the U.S. released for Iranian humanitarian relief: "And yet, there's just no proof of that yet.... Is it irresponsible to level that charge when you really don't have any evidence of that at this point in time?" MB: Good thing she wasn't interviewing Trump again; she would have asked him if it was irresponsible to claim Hamas was afraid of him. Most Americans don't have or don't take time to follow the news closely. They figure they're being extra-good citizens if they catch a few nightly news broadcasts & tune into a Sunday morning news show. That's not really unreasonable. Well, thanks to the networks for misleading them with milquetoast & honey.

News Lede

New York Times: "The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded on Monday to Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor, for advancing the world's understanding of women's progress in the work force with her research. The Nobel committee announced the award in Stockholm. Ms. Goldin is the third woman to have won the economics Nobel, and the first one to be honored with it solo, rather than sharing in the prize. She has long been a groundbreaking woman in the field -- she was the first woman to be offered tenure in Harvard's economics department, in 1989." The AP's story is here.

The Conversation -- October 8, 2023

"The Trump Top Secret Challenge!" Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump has two modes of conversation. He is either ranting about all the things he intends to do when he becomes dictator of the country -- so many rights to strip away! so much vengeance to extract against his enemies! so many guardrails to dismantle! -- or he is volunteering classified information. Those are really it.... Is this a private party, or can anyone play? Yes! All you have to do is pay money to be around Donald Trump by, say, attending a fundraiser or joining Mar-a-Lago, the most valuable golf club on the planet..., and you, too, can take the Trump Top Secret Challenge! See how long you can go without having Donald Trump just hand you some classified information."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Digby isn't entirely convinced by Tom Rosenstiel's suggestions (first published in the Los Angeles Times) on how to cover Donald Trump, but she presents them here. MB: I do think that one way -- though certainly not the only way -- to cover Trump is to take Alexandra Petri's tack & mercilessly mock his outrageous behavior, if only because mockery certainly enrages Trump.

How George "Got Rich" Quick. Josh Kovensky & Hunter Walker of TPM have figured out how Rep. George Santos increased his annual income from $55,000 to more than $700,000 in just a few months & how he amassed a $1MM bank balance. According to his FEC filings, Santos lent his campaign more than $500,000 from these sources. But prosecutors' filings related to Santos campaign treasurer Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy fraud, "accused Santos and Marks of falsely filing documents that showed their family members made donations to the campaign that were not actually received." The filings also alleged that Santos never the lent the half-million dollars to his campaign, and he "did not have the funds necessary to make such loans at the time." The reason for claiming the fake campaign donations was to qualify for a Republican Congressional Committee program that helps GOP candidates who bring in at least $250,000. MB: You don't have to be rich to say you're rich. See also "Trump, Donald & Co. New York Fraud Case." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alexa Spreads Stolen Election Lies. Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "Amid concerns the rise of artificial intelligence will supercharge the spread of misinformation comes a wild fabrication from ... Amazon's Alexa, which declared that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Asked about fraud in the race..., the popular voice assistant said it was 'stolen by a massive amount of election fraud,' citing Rumble, a video-streaming service favored by conservatives. The 2020 races were 'notorious for many incidents of irregularities and indications pointing to electoral fraud taking place in major metro centers,' according to Alexa, referencing Substack, a subscription newsletter service. Alexa contended that Trump won Pennsylvania, citing 'an Alexa answers contributor.'... Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source.... Amazon declined to explain why its voice assistant draws 2020 election answers from unvetted sources.... Jacob Glick, who served as investigative counsel on the Jan. 6 committee, called Alexa's assertions nearly three years after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol 'alarming.... If major corporations are helping to give life to the "big lie" years after the fact, they're enabling the animating narrative of American domestic extremism to endure.'..."

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Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "In the dense, damp forests northeast of Houston, a pair of brothers [-- John & William Harris --] hit on a viable real estate business model: Offer plots of cheap land and unconventional loans for people who wanted to build their own houses, with few restrictions. The concept took off, not least among the large population of undocumented immigrants in Texas, who often do not have the legal paperwork needed for most bank loans. The Colony Ridge community, whose first residents moved in a decade ago, is now home to 40,000 people or more, with plans to more than double in size. Over the years, its swift growth and predominantly Hispanic population drew opposition from the mostly white residents of a small nearby town and some local officials, who lodged complaints and filed lawsuits.... The sprawling development has become a lightning rod for conservatives in the state and highlighted a growing tension within the Republican Party: those who focus on business freedom, and others determined to control the border.... [Gov. Greg] Abbott [ARRRR] directed the Legislature to hold hearings on Colony Ridge during a special session that starts on Monday....

"William Harris, who has donated more than $1 million in recent years to Mr. Abbott's campaigns, said he was disappointed to see the governor attack Colony Ridge on national television [that would be Fox 'News"]. 'He's a politician, it is what it is, he's got to cover his butt first,' Mr. Harris said. 'But don&'t expect a million dollars next year. It ain't happening again, brother.'" MB: I'm not sure how much it's politics and how much Greggers just hates Mexicans. He's a nasty man. The photos accompanying the article let on that Colony Ridge is not Utopia, but it is a place for people who cannot manage ordinary home ownership to acquire their little piece of the U.S.A.

Wisconsin. Reid Epstein & Julie Bosman of the New York Times (Oct. 6): "The liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case challenging the state's Republican-drawn legislative districts, a decision that could spur impeachment proceedings against a newly elected justice, Janet Protasiewicz, who refused to recuse herself from the case. The decision to accept the case -- known as an original action because it means the case will bypass Wisconsin&'s trial and appeals courts -- comes over the objections of at least two of the court's three conservative justices and the state's leading Republicans, who have threatened to impeach Justice Protasiewicz before she can rule on it.... The court's conservative members reacted with fury to their liberal colleagues' decision to accept the maps case."

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** Israel/Palestine

Patrick Kingsley & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Israel battled on Saturday to repel one of the broadest invasions of its territory in 50 years after Palestinian militants from Gaza launched an early-morning assault on southern Israel, infiltrating 22 Israeli towns and army bases, kidnapping Israeli civilians and soldiers and firing thousands of rockets toward cities as far away as Jerusalem. By early evening, the Israeli military said fighting continued in at least five places in southern Israel; multiple Israelis had been abducted and taken to Gaza, including an elderly grandmother; and at least 250 Israelis had been reported dead by officials and more than 1,400 wounded. Israel retaliated with huge strikes on Gazan cities, and the Gaza Health Ministry said at least 234 Palestinians had been killed in either gun battles or airstrikes. In an assault without recent precedent in its complexity and scale, the militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air, according to the Israeli military...." This is the top, pinned story in a liveblog that began & was linked here yesterday. ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the New York Times live updates for today. The main AP story is here. CNN's live updates are here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The stunning Hamas assault on Israel on Saturday served as a gut-wrenching reminder that the decades-old conflict with Palestinians remains a cancer that has not gone away even as leaders in Washington, Jerusalem, Riyadh and other Arab capitals would prefer to focus on building a revamped region. American officials said it was too early to say whether the attack was explicitly motivated by a desire by Hamas or its patron Iran to disrupt President Biden's effort to broker a landmark deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would profoundly reorient the Middle East. But they acknowledged that it could complicate the already delicate negotiations and make it that much harder to reach an agreement akin to the Abraham Accords between Israel and smaller Arab nations." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Time for Donald Trump to announce he could solve all the problems in a day.

Nick Robertson of the Hill: "The attacks ... were met with shock and prompted widespread support for Israel from most world leaders and governments. European and American leaders were quick to denounce the attacks, while governments in the Middle East often declined to explicitly back Israel in official comments while urging both sides to stop the violence." ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Holland & Matt Spetalnick of Reuters: "U.S. President Joe Biden offered Israel on Saturday 'all appropriate means of support' after a deadly attack from Palestinian militant group Hamas and warned 'any party hostile to Israel' not to seek advantage. U.S. and Israeli officials were coordinating about Israel's military needs in the wake of the attack, with a decision expected soon, a senior U.S. official said.... Biden spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday to offer U.S. support, with scenes of violence playing out on American news networks. The two leaders have had strained relations but met in New York last month in a show of solidarity." ~~~

     ~~~ Here is the "Statement from President Joe Biden Condemning Terrorist Attacks in Israel," via the White House.

GOP: Biden Responsible for 4,000-Year-Old Conflict. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Republican presidential candidates seized on the Hamas attack on Israel Saturday to try to lay blame on President Biden, drawing a connection between the surprise assault and a recent hostage release deal between the United States and Iran, a longtime backer of the group.... On several occasions, [Donald] Trump ... [said] that the hostage deal was a catalyst of the attacks. 'The war happened for two reasons,' he said. 'The United States is giving -- and gave to Iran -- $6 billion over hostages.'... 'Iran has helped fund this war against Israel, and Joe Biden's policies that have gone easy on Iran has helped to fill their coffers,' [Ron DeSantis] said.... 'This is what happens when @POTUS projects weakness on the world stage, kowtows to the mullahs in Iran with a $6 Billion ransom, and leaders in the Republican Party signal American retreat as Leader of the Free World,' [Mike] Pence wrote on X. 'Weakness arouses evil.'... , Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement, 'These funds [MB: released to restricted accounts in Qatar to provide humanitarian aid to Iran] have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today, and this is not the time to spread disinformation.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The NBC News story is here.

Brian Murphy, et al., of the Washington Post: "The violence erupted suddenly Saturday morning -- but comes after a year of rising tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, which has been under a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. This year alone has seen a spate of deadly attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, an escalation that followed [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's move to cobble together the most far-right government in Israeli history. Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and carried out Saturday's attacks, said the operation was in response to the blockade, as well as recent Israeli military raids in the West Bank and violence at al-Aqsa Mosque, a disputed religious site in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount.... Here are some of the major incidents that took place this year in the lead-up to the current conflict."

Now What? Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Nearly 50 years to the day after the Yom Kippur war of 1973, Israel has again been taken by surprise by a sudden attack, a startling reminder that stability in the Middle East remains a bloody mirage. Unlike the series of clashes with Palestinian forces in Gaza over the last three years, this appears to be a full-scale conflict mounted by Hamas and its allies, with rocket barrages and incursions into Israel proper, and with Israelis killed and captured.... There are few good options for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has declared war and is being pressured into a major military response.... A major war could have unforeseen consequences. It would be likely to produce sizable Palestinian casualties -- civilians as well as fighters -- disrupting the diplomatic efforts of President Biden and Mr. Netanyahu to bring about a Saudi recognition of Israel in return for defense guarantees from the United States. There would also be pressure on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group that controls southern Lebanon, to open up a second front in northern Israel, as it did in 2006 after an Israeli soldier was captured and taken prisoner in Gaza."

Juan Cole of Informed Comment: "Periodic kinetic conflicts are the price of the American elite's studied inaction and, worse, coddling of the ugliest political forces on the Israeli side, as well as failure to offer ordinary Palestinians a dignified life that could allow them to develop alternatives to the ambitious and bloodthirsty fundamentalists who run Gaza. More recently, the standard line from both Israeli politicians such as Binyamin Netanyahu and from American politicians such as Jared Kushner... and Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has been that Palestinian citizenship in a state is not essential to a peace settlement.... As with all trickle-down theories, this one is a chimera, an illusion, in brief, a scam.... The rhetoric about making the Palestinians forget all about being Palestinians by luring them with a good economy always consisted of empty rhetoric. It was nothing more than a smokescreen for predatory projects of colonizing and appropriating Palestinian land or making Gaza into an open air penitentiary."

The New York Times has maps showing where Hamas hit Israel and where Israeli retalitory strikes hit Gaza. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ecuador. Samantha Schmidt & Diana Duran of the Washington Post: "Seven men arrested in the assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate were found dead in the prisons where they were being held, authorities said. The suspects were all facing charges in the investigation into the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, a former investigative journalist and National Assembly Member who was shot in the head as he left a political rally on Aug. 9. The brazen attack occurred just days before the first round of voting in Ecuador's presidential elections. The suspected gunman in the assassination was killed by police, but six other alleged collaborators were detained shortly after. All of them were identified as Colombian nationals who were believed to have links to organized crime groups. Last month, seven additional people -- all Ecuadorian citizens -- were arrested in connection with the killing.... The Colombians were all found dead on Friday in their prison ward, authorities said. Hours later, on Saturday morning, officials said they found a seventh suspect dead in a prison near the capital of Quito.... Days earlier, the [Colombian] men had asked the attorney general's office and Ecuador's prison agency to be moved to a safer prison and were denied...."

News Lede

Afghanistan. AP: "Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It's one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades."