The Commentariat -- August 27, 2017

Philip Rucker & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: This past spring, President Trump "asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions whether it would be possible for the government to drop the criminal case against [Joe] Arpaio, but was advised that would be inappropriate, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation. After talking with Sessions, Trump decided to let the case go to trial, and if Arpaio was convicted, he could grant clemency. So the president waited, all the while planning to issue a pardon if Arpaio was found in contempt of court.... Trump's Friday-evening decision to issue his first pardon for Arpaio was the culmination of a five-year political friendship with roots in the 'birther' movement to undermine President Barack Obama. In an extraordinary exercise of presidential power, Trump bypassed the traditional review process to ensure that Arpaio ... would face no time in prison. Trump's pardon, issued without consulting the Justice Department, raised a storm of protest over the weekend, including from some fellow Republicans, and threatens to become a stain on the president's legacy.... Trump's spring inquiry about intervening in Arpaio's case is consistent with his alleged attempts to influence the federal investigation of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So it comes back to Trump's envy of Barack Obama. So much does. ...

Asking the Attorney General to drop a case against a political ally is the kind of thing people get impeached for https://t.co/iUC1no2YHx -- Dan Pfeiffer [President Obama's communications director] (@danpfeiffer) August 27, 2017

... Words. Matt Shuham of TPM: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Saturday criticized ... Donald Trump's decision to pardon former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.... 'The speaker does not agree with the decision,' Ryan's spokesperson, Doug Andres, told the Wall Street Journal. 'Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.'" Mrs. McC: A statement of "disagreement" issued through a spokesperson is better than nothing. Initiating impeachment proceedings would be better. ...

... On the other hand, Ryan's "disagreement" with the pardon was probably no more than a smarmy attempt to keep a few Latinos in the Republican party's tent. Conor Friedorsdorf of the Atlantic: "If the Latinos who are threatened by this action [-- the pardon --] and the decent people of all races and ethnic groups who are offended by it hold it against Republicans who support the Arpaio pardon or stay silent, the GOP will deserve every last election and vote that they lose, having flagrantly failed to stand up for the creed of liberty and justice for all." ...

... Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump over his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, arguing it 'undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.' 'Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge's orders,' McCain said in a statement. 'The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump 's decision to pardon Joe Arpaio ... came late on a Friday night as a hurricane bore down on Texas. It concerned a crime some said was particularly ill-suited to clemency, and it was not the product of the care and deliberation that have informed pardons by other presidents. But it was almost certainly lawful. The Constitution gives presidents extremely broad power to grant pardons.... Mr. Trump ... used his constitutional power to block a federal judge's effort to enforce the Constitution. Legal experts said they found this to be the most troubling aspect of the pardon, given that it excused the lawlessness of an official who had sworn to defend the constitutional structure." ...

Arpaio action was appalling & political. It also sends message to witnesses in Russia investigation to keep quiet, stay loyal & get pardon. -- Adam Schiff August 26, 2017

Amanda Erickson of the Washington Post asks several experts on authoritarianism about Trump's pardon of Arpaio. Cas Mudde provides a plausible explanation for the timing of the pardon, which has befuddled others: "... the timing is probably ... more linked to the issue that predominates President Trump's mind: the Russia investigation. There are several key people in his former entourage who are at the point of caving to pressure to working with the [Robert S.] Mueller investigation. Trump has shown them that they have nothing to fear, because he can and will pardon them, irrespective of the circumstances. This, of course, is a fundamentally undemocratic position, but not so much informed by ideology but by naked self-interest." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Seems to me what Mudde misses is that "naked self-interest" is Trump's ideology.

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That's one obvious message from Friday's decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump has been a divisive force from the very start of his campaign for president, a proud disrupter of the political status quo.... The more he is under fire -- as he is now -- the more he returns to that strategy.... The pardon was an extraordinary act coming so early in a presidency and sets a tone both on immigration and on the president's willingness to use this power to take care of those who have been loyal to him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jonathan Blitzer of the New Yorker: "Even before Arpaio was found to be in contempt of court, advocates and community members in Arizona beat him at the ballot box, which showed that Trump, too, could be defeated democratically.... What ultimately mobilized the community against Arpaio was his decision to work formally and systematically with federal immigration authorities. The sheriff's department began arresting Hispanic residents with little or no pretense at all, and if they happened to be undocumented Arpaio would turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation. 'Before then, no one really had an official agreement with ICE; there was no police agency handing people over,' [Puente director Carlos] Garcia said. 'Arpaio used to set up a perimeter around immigrant communities, and send out hundreds of officers who would arrest and detain anyone they wanted.' The Trump Administration has spent the last six months trying to force local law-enforcement agencies to collaborate with ICE as Arpaio did, and many police chiefs and sheriffs across the country have resisted."

** AP: "Active-duty transgender troops say a policy change that puts them at risk of being removed and indefinitely bars transgender people from enlisting in the military is a step backward for civil rights that will promote inequality in the armed forces.... The guidance from the White House contradicts Trump's words, Army Capt Jennifer Sims said, pointing out that the president just praised the military for its tolerance when he [spoke to] veterans in Nevada on Wednesday.... Days earlier, Trump, speaking to thousands of soldiers ... in Arlington, Virginia, denounced prejudice, bigotry and hate in the wake of violence that erupted at a rally organized by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.... A 2016 study by the Rand Corporation estimated it would cost the military $2.4m to $8.4m a year to provide gender transition-related coverage, an increase of 0.04% to 0.13% in healthcare spending for active-duty members.... It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to discharge thousands of transgender personnel, according to a study released this month by the Palm Center, an independent research institute." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In other words, the cost of gender-transition coverage would be somewhere between (1) less than a single Trump weekend at one of his golf courses and (2) three Trump weekends at one of his golf courses. Trump loves to talk about military sacrifices, but he won't give up even a couple of weekends to give these military personnel the medical treatment they need. But the great irony here is that Trump's stated rationale for banning transgender military personnel -- saving tax dollars -- will instead cost hundreds of millions more than would maintaining the status quo. This is about bigotry, pure and simple; it has nothing whatever to do with cost-savings. What Capt. Sims doesn't consider is the increasingly schizophrenic nature of the Trump presidency. @realbigotDonaldTrump abuses most minorities; @scriptedDonaldTrump reads rational, presidenty speeches. This is largely new chief-of-staff John Kelly's contribution, a contribution that does not seem to be helping much. ...

... Citing Trump's July tweets banning transgender military service, former Navy diver Jennifer Detlefsen wrote on her Instagram account, "This man [Trump] is a disgrace. I've tried to keep politics out of my social media feed as much as possible, but this is inexcusable. This veteran says sit down and shut the fuck up, you know-nothing, never-served piece of shit." What is remarkable about Detlefsen's post is that she is the daughter of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, who "frequently mentioned [her] in his successful 2016 re-election campaign for the U.S. House," Jayme Fraser of the Billings (Montana) Gazette reports. Mrs. McC: I wonder if Detlefsen's tweet cost Americans a few thousand acres of national monuments. ...

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel delivered one of the most memorable speeches of last year's Republican National Convention, predicting that Donald Trump would, swiftly and without mercy, end the culture wars. How is that working out?... Far from sharing Thiel's attitude that no one should care about 'who gets to use which bathroom,' Trump has shown he cares deeply. One of Trump's first acts as president was to issue a letter withdrawing federal protection for transgender high school students who want to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identities. In July, the president tweeted that he would reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military, and this week, he made good on the threat, issuing a directive that bars new transgender recruits, blocks funding for sex reassignment surgeries, and gives Defense Secretary James Mattis six months to decide whether to expel the thousands of transgender soldiers already serving. And these are not the only ways in which Trump is governing as a right-wing cultural warrior."

** Jill Filipovic in a New York Times op-ed (August 24): During the second presidential debate during which Donald Trump stalked her, Hillary "Clinton did what most women do when they face harassment or intimidation: She ignored it. But now she's stewing in the what-if.... Had Mrs. Clinton responded forcefully during that debate, she would most likely have faced the same penalties other women do when they speak up at work: being seen as unpleasant, aggressive and less competent.... For Mrs. Clinton, on that stage, that lack of intervention put her in the same position as so many women who are harassed in plain view of others who do nothing: all alone, second-guessing her own gut reaction.... [Trump] stalked a woman onstage while we all watched, and then he won the election. Now we expect her to be very sorry. Perhaps it's not just Hillary Clinton who should be thinking about what she could have done differently." ...

     ... Marie Burns: I intended to link this op-ed when the Times published it, but I took it so personally -- partly because of the recent virtual stalking & harassment to which I've been subjected -- that I thought I might write more extensively about Filipovic's essay. Every one of the people who landed on Reality Chex' do-not-comment list -- and half of them are women -- have made surly demands of me in the past and/or have criticized not my ideas but my self. They didn't just get started last week. And I've mostly endured it. Clearly, that tack did not pay off. Rather, it emboldened them. I realize that many of my contemporaries, who grew up in an age when women were supposed to know their place, have that view so imprinted in their hearts that it won't go away. At the same time, women of a certain age may also have become personal feminists; they've been beaten down, and now they feel feminism has given them permission to beat down women they perceive to be weaker than they. I've always thought following the Golden Rule was the best way to conduct one's life. I question that now. I think for women of my generation, an eye-for-an-eye may be a necessity. But, as Filipovic suggests, neither Option A nor Option B wins any prizes. The victim of harassment, no matter how bold or how timid her reaction, will always have to pay for what somebody else did to her. The Constant Weader worked for other people; Mrs. Bea McCrabbie will continue CW's work, but she won't put up with the crap some who availed themselves of her services thought was their due.

This video, which the Washington Post recently obtained. shows a protester (allegedly) firing a pistol directly into a crowd of counterprotesters:

... UPDATE. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Police have arrested a man suspected of shooting in the direction of a crowd of counter-protesters during the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 12, the New York Times first reported Friday. Multiple outlets later reported that Richard Wilson Preston, 52, was one of three people against whom police had announced charges Saturday in connection with the Unite the Right rally. He was charged with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.... Neither police nor city officials confirmed that Preston was the same man as the one shown in video provided by the ACLU of Virginia.... Preston is a well-known imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan."

Beyond the Beltway

Kristine Phillips & Andrew deGrandpre of the Washington Post: "School officials in Denver have fired a cheerleading coach amid controversy over disturbing videos of teenage girls wailing in pain while apparently being forced to perform leg splits. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg announced Friday that newly hired coach Ozell Williams has been fired from his job at East High School. Williams is a Guinness World Record holder and former contestant on the NBC reality series 'America's Got Talent.' The allegations involve at least eight girls, according to Denver's NBC affiliate, KUSA. In one clip obtained by the station, a 13-year-old incoming freshman shrieks 'please stop' nine times during a span of 24 seconds. The technique, known as 'forced splits,' happened at a cheer camp last June and was captured in videos that were later provided to school officials.... A child-abuse investigation by Denver Police is ongoing."

Kristine Phillips: "Scuffles broke out on the streets of San Francisco after hundreds of people descended on the city to protest a now-canceled event by a right-wing group.... Organizers canceled the 'Freedom Rally' as city leaders braced for the kind of protest that drew extremist groups to Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. The pro-Trump group Patriot Prayer then planned to hold a news conference instead -- but that, too, did not happen after the city blocked the venue from the public. Meanwhile, hundreds of counterprotesters gathered at a San Francisco park on Saturday morning, according to media reports.... The event was scheduled Saturday afternoon at Crissy Field, a recreational area near the Golden Gate Bridge." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I have a feeling these stalwart right-wing extremists cancelled because they were too prissy to march in doggy-doo.

News Ledes

New York Times: "At least five deaths and more than a dozen injuries have been reported in the aftermath of Harvey, the hurricane that tore across the Gulf Coast of Texas over the weekend. On Sunday the powerful system, now a tropical storm, pounded the region with torrential rains that were expected to continue for days, causing catastrophic floods, according to the National Hurricane Center. The public hospital for Harris County, which includes Houston, began evacuating patients after flooding disrupted its power supply. The National Weather Service forecast rainfall of 15 to 25 inches through Friday, with as much as 50 inches in a few areas." ...

... Washington Post: "While Texas is reeling from Harvey, residents along the East Coast from the Carolinas to Cape Cod are preparing for rain, gusty winds and rough surf from what is likely to become Tropical Storm Irma. Already, the National Weather Service has hoisted a tropical storm watch for the Atlantic coast from Georgetown, S.C., to the tip of Cape Hatteras." ...

... Washington Post: "Harvey continued to pummel Texas during the early hours of Sunday morning, dropping nearly two feet of rain on Houston overnight and causing dire, and deadly, flash floods. Officials in Houston said early Sunday that a woman was found dead by her vehicle, believed to have been trapped during a flood. As midnight local time struck, police and rescue workers continue to plea with residents to stay indoors and not attempt to travel flooded roadways. 'There[s flooding all over this city,' Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a livestream video early Sunday morning. 'We have one fatality, and a potential second fatality from the flood waters out here.' By 4:30 a.m. Central time, the National Weather Service had recorded 20 inches of rain in Houston, as warnings for flash flooding and tornadoes remained in place for a large swath of the state." ...

... Weather Channel: "'There is life-threatening, catastrophic flooding happening now in Southeast Harris County [Houston],' Jeff Lindner of the Harris County Flood Control District told The Weather Channel. Lindner said water had overtopped Interstate 10, that there had been more than 1,000 water rescues overnight in the Houston area and that hundreds more were stranded in cars across roadways in the area. Flash flood emergencies have been issued area where the extreme rainfall has nundated homes, vehicles and killed at least two people. There are now three confirmed deaths in Harvey." ...

... New York Times "live briefings" of hurricane news are here.

The Commentariat -- August 26, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump over his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, arguing it 'undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.' 'Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge's orders,' McCain said in a statement. 'The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.'" ...

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That's one obvious message from Friday's decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump has been a divisive force from the very start of his campaign for president, a proud disrupter of the political status quo.... The more he is under fire -- as he is now -- the more he returns to that strategy.... The pardon was an extraordinary act coming so early in a presidency and sets a tone both on immigration and on the president's willingness to use this power to take care of those who have been loyal to him."

*****

Worst Friday Night(/Hurricane) News Dump Ever. Trump has pardoned Joe Arpaio. The WashPo has a one-graf breaking news story here. Abby Phillip has updated the story.

     ... The New York Times story, by Julie Davis, is here. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If you didn't read Martin Redish's NYT op-ed yesterday, read it now. This pardon constitutes a serious breach of Constitutional rights as well as of the very three-branches structure of the Constitution. It's nothing like pardoning (or commuting the sentence of) reefer-guy who got a life sentence in 1995 under a three-strikes law. The pardon is a direct attack on the Constitution & the judiciary. ...

... Arizona Republic Editors: "While America was talking about tearing down monuments that offend historically oppressed people, Donald Trump effectively erected yet another one. His pardon of Joe Arpaio elevated the disgraced former Maricopa County sheriff to monument status among the immigration hardliners and nationalists in Trump's base. This erases any doubt about whether Trump meant to empower them after the violence in Charlottesville. Arpaio is their darling. Arpaio is now back on his pedestal thanks to their president.... Trump spent last week demonstrating that he wants to be president of the few. By pardoning Arpaio, Trump made it clear that institutional racism is not just OK with him. It is a goal." ...

... Phillip Bump of the Washington Post: "The broader question raised by the pardon ... is where Trump would draw the line. If he's willing to pardon Joe Arpaio for ignoring a court order in service of a political goal Trump embraces, why wouldn't he pardon another individual he respects for similarly ignoring a demand from the court. Say, a former employee or a family member who, say, was issued a subpoena to testify before a special prosecutor? One message from the Arpaio pardon is precisely that Trump sees his evaluation of the boundaries of legality as superior to the boundaries set by the legal system.... In other words, if any of Trump's allies decides to tell special counsel Robert Mueller to stick his subpoena in the south side of the National Mall, Mueller can press a court for contempt charges. The person could be convicted of those charges -- and then get a pardon identical to Arpaio's." ...

... Kevin Drum: "With [the Arpaio] action, Trump is basically saying that courts have no authority to enforce the law on agents of the state. I wonder if it will be challenged in court? Everyone always says the pardon power is absolute, but I don't think that's ever been tested. After all, the language of the First Amendment is also absolute, but the Supreme Court has carved out all kinds of exceptions. (But who would have standing to sue?)" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: To answer Drum's question, I believe that any & all American citizens whom Arpaio's deputies stopped on the basis of their skin tone alone -- particularly those who were stopped after the court issued its injunction against him and/or those who were unlawfully detained for more than a couple of minutes -- would have standing. Surely the ACLU, which defended the original, underlying case, can represent & fund some of Arpaio & Trump's direct victims. Of course, we're all indirect victims here. This is a signal to law enforcement that as long as Trump is president, they don't have to follow any of those pesky Constitutional guarantees. Do whatever & send Trump & JeffBo your pardon applications. I wouldn't mind if the Constitutional scholar who argued the case before the Supremes was Barack Obama. ...

His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism. -- Cecillia Wang of the ACLU

... Bmaz of emptywheel: "It is an abominable act by a lawless jackass. One lawless jackass pardoning another lawless jackass. Trump and Arpaio are really two peas in the same racist bigot pod; both supreme narcissists, ignorant and contemptuous of the rule of law down to their deepest bone.... While 'Trump's base' may be part of his audience in making this pardon move, it is likely even more intended for law enforcement. Police unions were almost across the board for Trump, and they do speak for their rank and file. Not to mention that all cops are fine with a pro law enforcement approach of Trump and his DOJ, not just the racist bigot ones." ...

... Noah Feldman of Bloomberg, writing before the pardon: "If ... Donald Trump pardons Joe Arpaio..., it would not be an ordinary exercise of the power -- it would be an impeachable offense.... [Arpaio's crime was ] willful defiance of a federal judge's lawful order to enforce the Constitution.... Trump has questioned judges' motives and decisions [before], but this would be a further, more radical step in his attack on the independent constitutional authority of Article III judges.... For Trump to say that this violation is excusable would threaten the very structure on which is right to pardon is based. Fundamentally, pardoning Arpaio would also undermine the rule of law itself.... James Madison noted at the Virginia ratifying convention that abuse of the pardon power could be grounds for impeachment. He was correct then -- and it's still true now." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Feldman, BTW, accepts the notion that the president's pardon power is absolute. I don't agree; the Constitution, after all, is a document in tension with itself, & surely the fundamental framework & intent of the Constitution outweighs a single clause. ...

... Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker summarizes Arpaio's reign of terror. Arpaio's lawless disregard for human rights is what Trump admires in him, that & the fact that Arpaio also admires Trump.

Friday Night News Dump, Ctd. Michael Gordon & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Trump signed a long-awaited directive on Friday that precludes transgender individuals from joining the military but gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wide discretion in determining whether those already in the armed forces can continue to serve. Mr. Mattis's decisions will be based on several criteria..., a senior White House official said in briefing reporters. Left unclear was how many of the thousands of transgender service personnel estimated to be in the military might keep serving. By putting the onus on Mr. Mattis, the president appeared to open the door to allowing at least some transgender service members to remain in the military."

Friday Night News Dump, Ctd. Gorka Quits White House Job, Whatever It Was. Reid Nakamura of the Wrap: "Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to ... Donald Trump, is the latest official to resign from the administration. He announced his decision in a letter to the president on Friday. '[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are -- for now -- ascendant within the White House,' Gorka wrote in the resignation letter, obtained by the Federalist. 'As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People's House.'" ...

     ... Update. Maggie Haberman & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Sebastian Gorka, an outspoken adviser to President Trump and lightning rod for controversy, has been forced out of his position at the White House, two administration officials said on Friday. One of the officials said that the president's chief of staff, John F. Kelly, had telegraphed his lack of interest in keeping Mr. Gorka over the last week in internal discussions. Mr. Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, had been on vacation for at least the last two weeks, with no clear assigned duties to hand to others, that official said." ...

... Chas Danner of New York: "... while Gorka's contributions to the White House remain a mystery, he did reportedly make President Trump very happy as a combative surrogate for the administration on television. That is not at all surprising considering how often Gorka used his media appearances to deride the media, as well as his Trump-like tendency to make a lot of questionable and/or downright incendiary claims -- like suggesting the recent bombing of a Minnesota mosque may have been a false-flag incident perpetrated by the left.... CNN reported last week that, when asked, the White House 'refused to answer questions on what exactly Gorka does, whether he advises anyone, and whether he holds the security clearance needed to sit in on meetings involving terrorism.'" ...

... Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "It's Friday night. A Category 4 hurricane is about to slam the Texas coastline, and President Trump just directed the Pentagon to ban transgender people from joining the military and pardoned a politically radioactive convicted former sheriff [Joe Arpaio]. News also broke that one of his more controversial advisers, Sebastian Gorka, is leaving the White House. This isn't your average sleepy Friday news dump -- a trick newsmakers use to bury unpopular news by releasing it when most people aren't reading news. This is a flagrant attempt to hide a series of politically fraught (but base-pleasing) moves under the cover of an August Friday night hurricane. In other words, it's transparent Trump is doing controversial things he knows are controversial, and he and the White House would prefer the public and the media not focus on it." ...

... Kevin Drum: "That was Trump O'Clock on Friday, the 25th of August. Join us tomorrow for another edition." ...

.. Here's Trump on his way to his weekend getaway at Camp David showing his deep concern for people in the path of Hurricane Harvey:

Damian Palleta & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "An unprecedented rebuke of President Trump by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn reverberated through Washington on Friday.... [Cohn's] criticism was the first serious public condemnation of Trump's behavior by a member of his inner circle since the beginning of his presidency.... Privately, a White House official said, Trump was furious about Cohn's public airing, though publicly, White House officials, while defending the president's response to the events in Charlottesville, acknowledged that the White House can always do more.... At the same time, it was clear there was potential for a deterioration in the relationship between Trump and his chief economic adviser, whom he has been considering naming as Federal Reserve chair. On Wednesday evening, Cohn complained loudly about Trump while dining with friends at a Long Island restaurant called the Frisky Oyster. Cohn explained to his companions -- in a loud voice overheard by others -- that he had to be careful not to give Trump too much lead time about some new ideas because the president could disclose the information prematurely and upend the planning process, according to a person familiar with the dinner." See related stories in yesterday's Commentariat.

Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas in recent days seeking testimony from public relations executives who worked on an international campaign organized by Paul Manafort, people directly familiar with the matter told NBC News. This is the first public indication that Mueller's investigation is beginning to compel witness testimony before the grand jury -- a significant milestone in an inquiry that is examining the conduct of ... Donald Trump and ... Jared Kushner, among others." ...

... Melanie Zanona of the Hill: "Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether former national security adviser and Trump campaign aide Michael Flynn played any role in an effort to get Hillary Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.... Republican activist Peter W. Smith, who allegedly led an operation hoping to obtain Clinton's deleted emails, portrayed Flynn as 'an ally in those efforts and implied that other senior Trump campaign officials were coordinating with him' in correspondence and conversations with colleagues, according to the Journal. Flynn's consulting firm and his son were also reportedly mentioned in the same correspondence.... Now federal investigators working for Mueller are examining whether Flynn, who was a senior Trump campaign adviser at the time, or his son were involved in any way in the pursuit of the emails. They are also working to determine whether Smith or anyone else paid hackers for Clinton's emails, according to the report."

A Warning to Seniors: Don't Believe Those Tom Selleck Ads. Jenifer McKim of the Washington Post: "Across the nation, an increasing number of seniors are facing foreclosure after taking out reverse mortgages, either because they fell behind on property charges or failed to meet other requirements of the complex mortgage loans, according to federal data and interviews with consumer and housing specialists.... The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which insures most reverse mortgages in the country, says it lacks detailed data on how many homeowners have lost their homes or are facing foreclosure in the program, which was launched in 1989 and covers about 636,000 loans.... But a HUD report issued last fall found that nearly 90,000 reverse mortgage loans held by seniors were at least 12 months behind in payment of taxes and insurance and were expected to end in 'involuntary termination' in fiscal 2017. That's more than double the number the year before."

Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea launched several short-range missiles off its coast on Saturday, damping hopes in Washington and South Korea that the country would restrain from provocations to help pave the way for dialogue. The missiles blasted off from a coastal launching site and flew about 155 miles to the northeast before falling into the sea, the South Korean military said in a statement. Military officials were analyzing data to determine what type of missiles were used, it said."

MEANWHILE, in Dubai, Uday & Qusay are holding back wages of already-low-paid migrant workers who are building Trump-branded luxury golf courses, which the chips off the old blockhead manage. Peter Goodman of the New York Times: "While the president's company, the Trump Organization, is not the workers' employer, it manages the properties through a partnership with Damac, one of Dubai's largest real estate developers. Mr. Trump has earned $2 million to $10 million from the two golf courses, according to financial disclosures he filed last year with the Federal Election Commission.... The migrant workers make $200 to $400 a month, money that frequently comes weeks or months late, prompting recent strikes, according to interviews conducted by The New York Times with two dozen current and former workers at the Damac Hills course, where hundreds of laborers have been employed in recent years. The workers say they struggle to cover debts amassed in paying recruitment agents for their jobs, while confronting physical hardships and violations of their rights under local labor laws."

News Ledes

Houston Chronicle: "Hurricane Harvey barreled into the Texas coast around 10 p..m. Friday as one of the most powerful hurricanes to strike the Texas coast in decades. The storm has now weakened to a Category 1 storm with 85 mph winds and is expected to continue to weaken, becoming a tropical storm later on Saturday. Overnight, a reported tornado ripped through Missouri City causing damage to homes inside Sienna Plantation." ...

... The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Post is temporarily lifting its firewall (perhaps for all stories, not just those that relate to Hurricane Harvey) ...

... The New York Times has lifted its paywall for hurricane-related stories.

The Commentariat -- August 25, 2017

Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK. -- Gary Cohn, chief White House economic advisor, in an interview

... Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Gary Cohn, Donald Trump's chief economic adviser, has become the most senior administration official to criticize the president over his initial failure to condemn neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, following the clashes in Charlottesville.... 'This administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities,' Cohn told the Financial Times in his first public comments on the issue. Cohn, who was president of Goldman Sachs before accepting a position in the Trump administration as head of the White House national economic council, said he had come under 'enormous pressure' to resign after Trump equivocated in his denunciation of white supremacist groups.... The economic adviser said he had considered resigning but decided to stay on after discussions with the president." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Gary Cohn's "comments amount to a pretty stunning rebuke of his boss. We'll see what his boss does about it, because we're in pretty uncharted territory here. Does Trump tolerate his own aides publicly chastising him in this manner? It's almost as if Cohn is daring Trump to fire him -- and relieve him of his own conflicted feelings about serving this president." ...

... Eileen Sullivan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The sharp critique from Mr. Trump's top economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn, came nearly two weeks after deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., in response to a rally led by white nationalist groups. Mr. Cohn, who is Jewish, seriously considered resigning and even drafted a letter of resignation, according to two people familiar with the draft.... In the days after the Charlottesville violence, Mr. Cohn's family -- including his wife -- told him he needed to think seriously about departing, according to two people briefed on the discussions. Several of his friends in the business community also urged him to step away from the administration.... Mr. Cohn came close to resigning, according to one of the people briefed on the discussions.... The markets were spooked last week amid fears that Mr. Cohn would resign, and United States stocks dropped until the White House denied the rumor. Mr. Cohn ... was deeply troubled by the market reaction, people close to him said.... Mr. Cohn's remarks were in stark contrast to a statement from the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who defended the president. Mr. Mnuchin is also Jewish." ...

... Yes, Yes, What about Steve? ...

... Mitch's Revenge. Drew Harwell & Beth Reinhard of the Washington Post: "Louise Linton, wife of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, drew accusations of elitism this week for an Instagram glamour shot of her stepping off a government jet -- and for her mockery of an online critic as 'adorably out of touch.' But a watchdog group and a lawmaker seized on a different issue: Did the millionaire couple fly to Louisville on Monday, on a taxpayer-funded plane, just to see the solar eclipse? Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) suggested as much in seeking records of the trip, saying it 'seems to have been planned around the solar eclipse. It turns out that Mnuchin did view the eclipse while he was in Kentucky, and from an extraordinary place: Just outside the path of totality, from the roof of the nation's fabled Fort Knox, atop nearly $200 billion in American gold. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) posted a Facebook photo of himself, holding a pair of eclipse glasses, and Mnuchin at the U.S. Bullion Repository, where he said 'we viewed the #solareclipse from the rooftop today.'" Mrs. McC: Why, I'm ever so sure Mitch had no idea the photo could be controversial. ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday once again renewed his call for the Senate to do away with the legislative filibuster, a step Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed never to take. 'If Senate Republicans don't get rid of the Filibuster Rule and go to a 51% majority, few bills will be passed. 8 Dems control the Senate!' Trump wrote on Twitter Friday morning." Mrs. McC: Could be that Mitch doesn't give a damn what you think, Mr. P*.

John Kelly, Toddler Coddler. Margaret Talev & Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg: "Trump's appointment of [John] Kelly [as chief-of-staff] has imposed new order on a White House that had been riven with infighting among warring camps. But it hasn't been the political lifeline Republican allies had hoped for, as Kelly has so far been unable to perform one of the chief of staff's most basic duties: to stop a president from following his worst instincts. Trump's controversial initial response to the violence in Charlottesville, compounded by an off-the-cuff press conference days later and then defended again in a divisive, revisionist speech Tuesday in Phoenix, have laid bare the limits of Kelly's ability to manage his boss. This month may be the most politically damaging so far of Trump's presidency, as the legitimacy he appeared to confer on white supremacists alienated allies in corporate America and antagonized Republican lawmakers. The ultimatum Trump issued Tuesday that he would shut down the federal government unless his fellow Republicans who control Congress pay for the border wall he promised compounds the challenges for Kelly ahead of the Sept. 30 funding deadline." ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In two memos sent to the staff on Monday [new White House Chief-of-Staff John Kelly] began to detail his plan [to bring some order to the White House], starting with how he wants information to get to the president, and how Mr. Trump will respond.... The pair of memos ... codified rules and procedures that a White House typically sets at the outset of an administration. Mr. Kelly's predecessor, Reince Priebus, sent some similar guidelines around early in the administration, according to two officials, but they were never taken seriously.... Mr. Kelly has made clear that one thing he will not seek to directly control is the behavior of the president.... Despite Mr. Kelly's fairly deft touch at approaching the president, Mr. Trump has shown signs of rebelling after stories have appeared describing how his chief of staff has put tighter controls in place and is imposing some discipline on White House operations.... Mr. Trump, presidential experts say, has shown he is immune to efforts to bring lasting change to his own behavior. And that could ultimately undermine Mr. Kelly's mission." ...

... Elania Johnson & Nancy Cook of Politico had the Kelly memos story earlier Thursday: "The new system, laid out in two memos co-authored by [John] Kelly and [staff secretary Rob] Porter and distributed to Cabinet members and White House staffers in recent days, is designed to ensure that the president won't see any external policy documents, internal policy memos, agency reports and even news articles that haven't been vetted.... The keystone of the new system is a 'decision memo' that will -- for each Trump policy -- integrate the input of Cabinet agencies and policy councils and present the president with various options...." ...

... Adam Raymond of New York: "For months, those closest to President Trump tried to keep him happy by giving him everything he wanted. He was complimented often, presented with information in the style he prefers -- brief, with lots of pictures, charts and 'killer graphics' -- and was allowed to move at his own frenetic, disorganized pace. Trump's reputation for having a short attention span and fondness for flattery spread quickly around the world and in May, as he embarked on his first international trip, foreign governments handled him as they might a sleep-deprived toddler.... [The processes John Kelly has imposed] would no doubt result in fewer embarrassments, like the botched rollout of Trump's travel ban, the ban on transgender servicemembers that was announced to the military's surprise, and the complete lack of legislative success eight months into the Trump presidency. But those problems are only avoided, and those successes only enjoyed, if Trump plays along, and those odds seem long. If he couldn't help but get distracted by cable news and TV when his aides were presenting him with big pictures and 'killer graphics,' how's he going to stay focused on a 'decision memo'?" ...

... Uh, Trump Can't Stay "Focussed" for 24 Hours. Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "... Donald Trump ditched his recent -- if brief -- talk of unity on Thursday, instead accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan of provoking a 'mess' over the debt ceiling, while also lashing out at the news media and former intelligence official James Clapper. The declarations came in a series of tweets that Trump fired off early Thursday, which also included a retweet of a picture of himself covering an image of former President Barack Obama with the caption, 'The Best Eclipse Ever!'... 'The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!That should NEVER have happened!' Trump wrote on Twitter. The morning missives come just two days after Trump told the crowd at a Phoenix campaign rally, 'I don't do Twitter-storms.'" Mrs. McC: Maybe this is Trump's way of showing Kelly who's boss. ...

... AND This. Sorry, Donnie. There Was a "Beautiful Letter" for Hillary, Too. Eliza Relman of Business Insider: "The day after James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, questioned ... Donald Trump's fitness for office, the president shot back at the veteran intelligence leader, calling him a liar and implying he's a hypocrite. 'James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump,' Trump tweeted on Thursday, referring to Clapper's 2013 testimony before Congress in which he denied that intelligence officials 'wittingly' collected data on millions of Americans. 'Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?' Trump added. Clapper told CNN in an interview on Thursday that the president was referring to a note he sent Trump the day after his election. 'The night before the election, we deployed two teams so that we would be ready to provide a PDB brief the next morning to whomever won,' Clapper said, referring to the Presidential Daily Briefing. 'I hand-wrote almost identical short notes to each of the two candidates to accompany the first brief as President-elect; only one actually got deployed — the one to him.'" ...

... AND This. Eric Levitz of New York: Hours after the Politico published the story linked above, "the president of the United States retweeted a supporter who had recently argued that Jews 'just can't drive.'... As Trump's ill-advised retweet demonstrates, so long as the president has an internet connection (and/or a cable modem), he will be drinking from a fire hose of far-right propaganda every time Kelly turns his back.... Ultimately, the only way to prevent this president from making policy on the basis of misinformation would to dismantle the vast right-wing propaganda network that created him and the voters who put him in the Oval Office." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The full tweet the guy sent a few days ago was much worse than Levitz lets on: "We have enough of these jews where I live lol someone else take them. They just can't drive" The tweet Trump retweeted was the one where Trump "eclipses" President Obama. Gee, I guess I don't get the joke; how can the Worst President Ever "eclipse" one of the best? ...

... Wait, Wait. The Nasty Tweets Are Stra-TEE-gic. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump is strategically separating himself from Republicans in Congress, an extraordinary move to deflect blame if the GOP agenda continues to flounder. Trump deepened the fissures in the party on Thursday when he accused the top two leaders on Capitol Hill of mismanaging a looming showdown over the nation's borrowing authority. Republican lawmakers and aides responded to the president's hostility with broadsides and warnings of their own.... The growing divide comes at an inopportune moment for Washington, however. In addition to having to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a fiscal crisis, Republicans face September deadlines to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown, as well as pressure to fulfill a key Trump campaign promise to rewrite the nation's tax laws." ...

... Woe Are They. Adrian Carrasquillo & Charlie Warzel of BuzzFeed: "Pro-Trump media personalities and websites are worried they may be losing a dear reader: President Trump. New White House chief of staff John Kelly is limiting the flow of information to Trump's desk, including holding out articles from far right and anti-establishment sources, BuzzFeed News has confirmed. 'I'm scared that the military complex is taking over the formerly populist White House,' said Lucian Wintrich, who writes for Gateway Pundit, one of the websites in the pro-Trump sphere, which has trafficked in conspiracies in the past. Longtime Trump adviser and occasional Infowars guest Roger Stone said Trump's 'news summaries have been sanitized, which means no Infowars, no Daily Caller, no Breitbart.... 'He's controlling every article that passes through the West Wing right now,' pro-Trump media personality Mike Cernovich, who has broken news on the administration but also propagated conspiracy theories in the past, said of Kelly. 'This shuts out a lot of people.'"

Julie Turkewitz & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The future of [27 national monuments] was left in question on Thursday when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent recommendations for [the] monuments under federal review to President Trump, but did not make the recommendations public." Mrs. McC: This is an extraordinary update to a story linked yesterday. ...

... BUT the Washington Post is on the case. Juliet Eilperin & Darryl Fears: "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Thursday that President Trump alter at least three national monuments established by his immediate predecessors, including two in Utah, a move expected to reshape federal land and water protections and certain to trigger major legal fights. In a report Zinke submitted to the White House, the secretary recommended reducing the size of Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, according to multiple individuals briefed on the decision.... A White House official confirmed that Trump had received the report but would not say when it would be released or when the president would act on Zinke's recommendations.... Nearly 3 million people submitted comments to Interior on the review, which stemmed from an executive order Trump signed in late April.... 'Comments received were overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining existing monuments and demonstrated a well-orchestrated national campaign organized by multiple organizations,' Zinke said in the statement on Thursday."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The White House isn't even pretending that Mexico is going to pay for that wall anymore. With President Trump threatening to shut down the government over Congress funding the border wall, reporters pressed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday about why Trump would insist upon Congress funding something that Mexico was supposed to be paying for -- something Trump promised at dozens and dozens of campaign rallies to the delight of his crowds. Huckabee Sanders's responses were telling. Asked four times, she completely declined to reiterate that Mexico would pay for the wall. Each time, she deflected.... Trump himself has suggested that Congress would fund the wall in the near term but that Mexico would be made to pay for it later.... Apparently the company line has changed, and it no longer includes Mexico paying for the wall at some future date. Of course, we probably should have seen that coming, given we now know Trump told Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto privately back in January that it wasn't actually a huge priority for him."

Martin Redish in a New York Times op-ed: "... on its face the Constitution's pardon power would seem unlimited.... But the Arpaio case is different: The sheriff was convicted of violating constitutional rights, in defiance of a court order involving racial profiling.... If the president [pardons Arpaio, it] signals to government agents that there exists the likelihood of a pardon when they violate a judicial injunction that furthers his policies.... Indeed, the president could even secretly promise a pardon to agents if they undertake illegal activity he desires.... If the president can immunize his agents in this manner, the courts will effectively lose any meaningful authority to protect constitutional rights against invasion by the executive branch." Redish theorizes that the presidential pardon may not be absolute, & if Trump pardons Arpaio, the courts may have the power to issue an injunction against the pardon.

Lies White and Black. But Mostly Black. And Huge. Philip Bump of the Washington Post. "There's not much that is remarkable about Paulding County, Ohio. Slotted into the northwest corner of the state along the Indiana border, the rural county is home to about 20,000 people. The reason we're interested in Paulding County today is because of 334 of those people, about 2 percent of the population. Those 334 people were, as of this week, the only people in America who participate in an Obamacare exchange for which no 2018 insurance provider had yet been lined up.... Earlier this week, our factcheckers identified the Trump falsehood that he has repeated with the most regularity. 'Trump's most repeated claim, uttered 50 times,' they wrote, 'was some variation of the statement that the Affordable Care Act is dying and 'essentially dead.' The turnaround in Paulding County reinforces the idea that this isn't true." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ... Akhilleus: This goes just a tad -- a tad, I say -- against the regular pronouncements of Lyin' Ryan that "Obamacare is not working...We've got dozens of counties around America that have zero insurers left." So, let's see. This must be some new kind of math. One county with problems = "dozens". Hmmm....Confederate math. No wonder they think killing taxes on the rich will lead to enormous increases in the federal coffers. I think I'll try this next time I'm filling out my taxes. "Taxable Income?" they'll ask. "One dollar" I'll say. ...

... Update. Eric Levitz: "Republicans ... opposed [ObamaCare] because the law was passed by a Democratic president; raised capital gains taxes on millionaires; and provided the poor and middle-class with yet another public benefit that their big-dollar donors didn't want to subsidize. And so, the GOP lied.... Meanwhile, Trump did what he could to make his prophesies self-fulfilling. The president routinely threatened to cut-off subsidies to insurers, while his department of Health and Human Services actively discouraged Americans from seeking insurance through the exchanges. And, of course, congressional Republicans created perpetual uncertainty about Obamacare's near-term survival.... Obamacare has proven strong enough to withstand judicial challenge, legislative attack, and administrative sabotage: On Thursday, America's last 'bare' county finally found an insurer for its exchange, as CareSource agreed to provide coverage to the good people of Paulding County, Ohio."

Some Good News to Beat Back the Trump Fake News. Steve Benen of MSNBC. "In predictable fashion, Donald Trump spent quite a bit of time at his Phoenix rally this week whining about American news organizations. In fact..., the president said of reporters, 'I really think they don't like our country....' It was reminiscent of Trump's argument from earlier in the year that major news outlets, including NBC News, are 'the enemy of the American people' -- a phrase with a fraught history. is anyone actually buying the president's nonsense?.... When it comes to trust, Trump has invested an enormous amount of energy into telling the public not to trust the media, and for the most part, Americans disagree.... The only constituencies that trust the president more than news organizations are self-identified Republicans, white men, and whites without college degrees. In every other group of people, the media tops Trump, usually by wide margins." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: Now if we could only get those other groups to vote more often.

Birds of a Feather. A Tour of the Trump "Updates" to the West Wing. The Guardian. "It's a fresh new look for the White House, after a two-week renovation that reportedly cost more than $3m. The Oval Office, the Roosevelt Room and other parts of the West Wing have been given a facelift -- and the heating and AC systems have also been updated." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus. The updates include the usual gaudy, gold-plated Trump patina along with plenty of eagles, to demonstrate the patriotic manliness of the new occupant. The renovations include 6,700 yards of new carpet and new wallpaper in the Oval Office because the Obama wallpaper was "damaged...with a lot of stains on it". Trump just can't bring himself to walk through hallways and sit in an office formerly occupied by a black guy who dirtied the wallpaper. Oh, and about those eagles? Here's what Ben Franklin had to say about Trump's choice of decorations. He believed the bald eagle to be a "rank coward" and "a bird of bad moral character ... that "does not get his living honestly" because it steals food from the fishing hawk and is "too lazy to fish for himself." Sounds pretty accurate to me...

Jeff Shesol in The New Yorker: "The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, hardbound and handsome in ersatz leather, are not a beach read. A typical volume, each a compendium of speeches, statements, and proclamations, weighs four pounds.... It won't be until 2019, when the U.S. Government Publishing Office begins to release the papers of President Donald J. Trump, that any volume will have contained the sentence, 'not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me,' or the transcribed cry of a crowd in Phoenix, incited by a President of the United States, chanting 'CNN sucks!'... What the Trump papers will not include ... is much by way of significant speeches.... Donald Trump..., is, as he intends, dominating the national discussion. But he is not leading it; he is not driving it in any clear direction. His papers -- their pages filling up with digressions, obfuscation, invective, and lies -- will someday reflect that." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: I've already got the Trumpy Papers on my Amazon wish list! Doesn't everyone?

Scaring the Dickens out, er... into Them. Doug Donovan of the Baltimore Sun. "The real estate company owned by Jared Kushner ... has been the most aggressive in Maryland in using a controversial debt-collection tactic: getting judges to order the arrest of people who owe his company money. Since 2013, the first full year in which the Kushner Cos. operated in Maryland, corporate entities affiliated with the firm's 17 apartment complexes in the state have sought the civil arrest of 105 former tenants for failing to appear in court to face allegations of unpaid debt.... That's more than any other landlord in the state over that time, an analysis of Maryland District Court data shows. Court records show that 20 former Kushner tenants have been detained." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ... Akhilleus: Ahh...an evil bastard to rank with the most conniving Dickens villains. So what's next? Debtors prisons? That would be suitably vindictive. I'm sure if it's a Trump/Kushner idea, it will be a for-profit privately run prison. Maybe they can perfect the "enhanced interrogations" Trump would love to use during his new Afghanistan war. Try it out on the poors first. Perfect! Lady Munchkin would approve. "None of them have pearls on. To the waterboarding table with them." Maybe Young Jared can try this approach with his Peace in the Middle East plan. Anyone who doesn't do what he says, have them jailed. No wonder Trump loves this little twit.

"Turd Reich." Julia Wong of the Guardian: "Hundreds of San Franciscans plan to prepare Crissy Field, the picturesque beach in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge where rightwing protest group Patriot Prayer will gather, with a generous carpeting of excrement.... [Tuffy] Tuffington, a 45-year-old artist and designer, created a Facebook event page based on the concept, and the dog owners of San Francisco responded in droves. Many have declared their intention to stockpile their shitpiles for days in advance, then deliver them in bags for the site. (The group is also planning to reconvene on Sunday to 'clean up the mess and hug each other'.)"

Jonathan Chait points that all of those Obama-era deficit scolds suddenly quit wagging their fingers the day the Obamas moved out of the White House. And the breathless media reports about the horrors of the deficit -- they're gone, too. Mrs. McC: It's worth noting that it is quite reasonable -- and necessary -- for the federal government to rack up a big deficit in an effort to rescue a tanking economy, which is what President Obama & Democrats did. Now that the economy is in much better shape, it would be sensible to tax the rich -- and the super-rich -- at higher rates in order to bring the deficit down to a more comfortable level. Needless to say, that won't happen.

Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: "Amazon's $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market will be finalized Monday, and shoppers will see an immediate markdown in prices on a number of items, including salmon, avocados, baby kale and almond butter, as the tech giant looks to shake up the grocery business. Amazon and Whole Foods announced the news on Thursday. 'The two companies will together pursue the vision of making Whole Foods Market's high-quality, natural and organic food affordable for everyone,' they said in a joint statement."

Beyond the Beltway

Jen Kirby of New York: "Florida has executed its first death-row prisoner in more than 18 months using a drug that has never before been used in a lethal injection. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the last-minute appeal from 53-year-old Mark James Asay to stay his execution, clearing the way for Asay to be put to death Thursday at 6:22 p.m., using a lethal-injection cocktail that included the untested sedative etomidate.... Asay was convicted in 1988 for the murders of two men, which prosecutors alleged was a racially motivated attack. Asay was accused of having white-supremacist tattoos and yelling slurs during the murder of a black man, Robert Booker. On the same night, Asay also killed Robert McDowell, who was dressed as a woman at the time. Court documents originally identified McDowell as a black man, though it later was revealed that he was white or Latino." Mrs. McC: I presume Asay is the worst of the worst, but I don't condone his execution.

"White Male" Seeks Better than "the Best." Natasha Korecki of Politico: "Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner [R-Rich] has shaken up his staff yet again, clearing out his communications team less than six weeks after they were hired. Last month, Rauner abruptly fired several longtime staffers, saying he wanted to build 'the best team in America.' On Wednesday evening, the new hires in the communications office were let go. The latest turnover comes just days after staffers on the communications team said that, 'as a white male,' the governor had nothing more to add to a debate over a political cartoon that critics had called racist. The cartoon, which showed a black Chicago public school student begging for money from a portly white man with a cigar, was created by a conservative think tank -- the Illinois Policy Institute -- that has deep ties to the administration. Three of the four staffers who tendered resignations had come to the administration from that same think tank. One source close to the governor, said Rauner, who was out of town when the response was released, 'blew a gasket' when he found out about his staff's response."

News Ledes

Houston Chronicle: "Hurricane Harvey strengthened into a Category 4 storm Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The eye was quickly approaching the Texas coast and the hurricane was expected to make landfall within the next several hours." ...

... The Washington Post is live-updating Hurricane Harvey developments here. ...

... Weather Channel: "Hurricane Harvey continues to intensify and will be the nation's first Category 3 landfall in almost 12 years tonight or Saturday morning, poised to clobber the Texas Gulf Coast with devastating rainfall flooding, dangerous storm-surge flooding and destructive winds this weekend that could leave parts of the area uninhabitable for an extended period of time."