The Parable of the Sunbeam

Here is a copy of an email I wrote to Squarespace.

Maybe if I told you a little story, you could understand why I want you to fix my Squarespace site so it works for my readers and me.

I have a Sunbeam toaster. It was an especially popular toaster in 1952 when my father bought it for my mother. When you drop a slice of bread into the toast slot, the bread descends slowly into the toaster, the heating elements start up, they toast the bread, then the elements turn themselves off and toast rises slowly from the depths of the toaster. (Not a miracle of Biblical proportions perhaps, but a wonderment to the simple suburban Americans of 1952.)

This particular toaster has been in service of my family for almost 72 years. I am not saying it has been used every day for 72 years, but I calculate it has been used perhaps 26,000 times over the decades. I still use it almost every day. 

Not surprisingly, a toaster that has performed its function more than 25,000 times doesn't always work perfectly. These days, often when I plop a piece of bread in the slot, the bread does not descend, and I have to pick up the bread and drop it again. Sometimes a third time, and a fourth, before the bread descends slowly, slowly into its toasty place. 

And that's precisely the problem with Squarespace. I have had my Squarespace site since September 2008. These days, often when my readers and I try to perform simple tasks like posting a comment or editing a page, the site hangs up, it doesn't do the work, it loses a comment, the edit disappears into the great beyond, and I have to find the work and drop it again. Sometimes a third time, and a fourth, before the work appears, sometimes slowly, slowly, until the change is posted.

Now will you please fix that? I have waited for weeks for you to respond, and so far the best you can do is to eventually tell me you don't recognize my email address. And when I asked you what you wanted me to do to help you accept my email address with the same alacrity with which your billing department accepts my annual usage payments, you did not respond.

I have confidence that you can do better. Thank you.

Marie Burns

The Conversation -- August 31, 2024

Jon Gambrell of the AP: "The United States military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country's western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday.... The U.S. military's Central Command said the militants were armed with 'numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive "suicide" belts' during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the Anbar Desert."

Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Since [2022], when Republicans underperformed expectations in the midterm elections, Mr. Trump has been privately emphatic with advisers that in his view the abortion issue alone could kill their chances of victory in November. And he is willing to make as many rhetorical and policy contortions as he deems necessary to win. It is through that narrow political lens that Mr. Trump has been weighing the subject, despite his role in reshaping the Supreme Court that overturned the landmark 1973 abortion decision. The results have been confusing and fluid, a contradictory mess of policy statements as he has once again tried to rebrand himself on an issue that many of his supporters view in strict moral terms...."

Marcy Wheeler: "In 2016, Donald Trump bragged, 'I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?' This election, Trump wants to hide from voters details of how he almost killed his Vice President, Mike Pence, and his claim that doing so was an official act protected by presidential immunity. That's the primary thing you need to know about the joint status report presented to Judge Tanya Chutkan in Trump's January prosecution last night."

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: I've made a few late entries.

Presidential Race

Everybody loves South Florida in early September, so ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "Vice President Harris's campaign are launching a bus tour in Palm Beach, Fla., with its surrogates promoting access to reproductive rights. The 'Fighting for Reproductive Freedom' bus tour is set to start Tuesday in former President Trump's hometown. Surrogates from second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, among others, will be on the tour. The tour will make at least 50 stops in red, blue and battleground states in the next couple of months, the campaign announced. Surrogates will focus on talking to voters about Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's (D) plans to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade.... The tour will also focus on holding Trump 'directly accountable for the devastating impacts of overturning Roe v. Wade, including threatening access to [in vitro fertilization],' according to the campaign, and outline the difference between Trump's stance on abortion and Harris's stance."

Tim Balk of the New York Times: "Nine days after ... Donald J. Trump falsely claimed to accept an endorsement from the pop superstar Taylor Swift, thousands of Swift fans, including some high-profile cultural and political figures, gathered on a video call with the goal of ensuring his defeat. They shared their favorite Swift songs. They quoted their favorite Swift lines. And then they assailed Mr. Trump's political agenda as a threat to women. One fan, the singer Carole King, sang Ms. Swift's song 'Shake It Off.' Another, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, described Mr. Trump as a bully who was 'trying to claw us back into the dark days.' Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who attended two concerts on Ms. Swift's Eras Tour, made a series of jokes at Mr. Trump's expense that played on the singer's lyrics.... The early returns from the group's organizing call on Tuesday -- which lasted two hours and was joined by about 34,000 people across Zoom, YouTube and TikTok -- have been promising...: $130,000 raised for the Harris campaign over four days." ~~~

     ~~~ The video is here.

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Let's hope [Vice President] Harris continues to shrug off Trump's racist and misogynist attacks. It's clearly driving him crazy. Recent days have seen Trump spiraling.... Harris's team has, wisely, declined to comment on his antics. As on campaign official put it to me: 'Why would we step in this man's way?'... Swinging through battleground states, [Harris] and Walz are drawing MAGA-size crowds -- something else that has been freaking Trump out.... Harris, not known as a particularly deft politician, is also walking a thin line."

David Burke in the Washington Monthly with something you might not know about Tim Walz: "... in May 2023, he signed legislation that could help render swing-state appeal obsolete. That's when Minnesota became the 17^th jurisdiction to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a plan that would effectively replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote. A bill to join the Compact had languished in the statehouse in Saint Paul since 2006, but Walz was able to sign it after Democrats took control of both chambers and held on to the governorship in 2022. The Compact was a natural fit for a myriad of measures designed to enhance democracy...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let me say this about that. While the National Popular Vote Compact may sound like a good alternative to an impossible-to-pass Constitutional Amendment to abandon the Electoral College & elect the president & vice president by popular vote, I've been against it since I first heard of it more than a decade ago. Of course I favor the popular election of the president. The Electoral College is one of the many impediments to voter equality. But the Compact will not fix it. Even back in the 2000-aughts, before the Supreme Court became as winger-weighty as it is today, I could see that any election in which the Compact came into play would cause national chaos. Do you suppose the people of, say, Wyoming or Kentucky would quietly concede that their votes shouldn't count more than those of Californians? That they would glad concede to allow a Democrat who won the popular vote but not the Electoral College to take the oath of office? Hah! While taking to the streets, some of these Republican citizens would go running to the Supremes. And just as in the Bush v. Gore, the Supremes would rule for the Republican candidate. Do you think the people of New York and California would concede that Wyoming cowboys were more equal than they? Hah!

The big news to come out of Dana Bash's interview of Kamala Harris Thursday was that Bash forced Harris to defend changes she had made in policy positions she held in 2019. Trump & JayDee, after all have been knocking Harris for long opposing fracking, a process used in must-win Pennsylvania's natural gas industry. Trump assets that if she is elected, Harris will flip-flop right back to her anti-fracking policy. So we're all surprised by this development Friday afternoon: ~~~

~~~ What a Difference a Day Makes, 24 Little Hours. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "... Donald Trump came out on Friday against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand access to abortion, after spending a day doing damage control on the issue. His announcement came a day after telling NBC News that Florida's six-week ban is 'too short' and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure. On Friday, Trump said, once again, that women need 'more time' than six weeks to decide whether to have an abortion, but that the 'Democrats are radical' and he couldn't back the amendment.... During the [Thursday] interview with NBC News, Trump said, 'I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,' when asked how he would vote on the ballot measure. It's unclear what he meant as the Florida initiative gives voters a binary choice.... The proposed amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, while ensuring exceptions to protect the health of the mother." A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Contorno of CNN, in a straight news report, points out that Trump has not figured out how to address a huge problem of his own creation. ~~~

     ~~~ Dan Pfeiffer, who wrote before Trump's latest flip-flop, outlines the overwhelming evidence that Trump, as president*, would neither veto a federal abortion ban passed by Congress (or stop his Project 2025 buddies from their administrative anti-reproductive-rights antics) nor require insurance companies to cover IVF.

NEW. Abbie Cheeseman of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump headlined an event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Friday, magnifying the struggle he faces in credibly distancing himself from Project 2025, a controversial policy plan the conservative think tank shepherded. Trump spoke on the first night of the Moms for Liberty annual summit, a three-day event hosted by the conservative parental rights organization that counts Heritage among the 10 key sponsors listed on its website.... Trump did not address Project 2025 or the proposal to dismantle the Education Department during the event, instead continuing his pattern of insulting Vice President Kamala Harris and launching familiar criticisms about the U.S. southern border and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.... The Heritage Foundation ... hosted three strategy sessions on Friday -- including one led by Lindsey Burke, the author of the Project 2025 chapter on abolishing the Education Department. A second Heritage session included 'Boyhood and the Changing Role of the Man in American Life,' another topic highlighted in Project 2025. Moms for Liberty serves on the advisory board for Project 2025. The call to disband the Education Department is one of the several crossovers between Trump’s campaign proposals and Project 2025...."

Man Storms Press at Trump Rally, Trump Says It's Fun. AP: "A man at Donald Trump's rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, stormed into the press area as the former president spoke Friday but was surrounded by police and sheriff's deputies and was eventually subdued with a Taser. The altercation came moments after Trump criticized major media outlets for what he said was unfavorable coverage and dismissed CNN as fawning for its interview Thursday with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. The man made it over a bicycle rack ringing the media area, and began climbing the back side of a riser where television reporters and cameras were stationed, according to a video of the incident posted to social media by a reporter for CBS News.... The crowd cheered as a pack of police led the man away, prompting Trump to declare, 'Is there anywhere that's more fun to be than a Trump rally?'... Fierce criticism of the media is a standard part of Trump's rally speeches, prompting his supporters to turn toward the press section and boo, often while using a middle finger to demonstrate their distaste for journalists." Emphasis added.

Simon Levien & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump grappled on Friday with the lingering fallout from his visit to Arlington National Cemetery this week, offering an extended defense of his campaign;s actions leading up to an altercation between a Trump 2024 staff member and a cemetery official. Over a digressive 13 minutes, Mr. Trump insisted that he had not been seeking publicity on Monday when he posed for photographs in a heavily restricted area of the cemetery where veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are buried. He accused the news media of stoking the controversy and said baselessly that his political opponents had manufactured it.... He said conspiratorially at one point, 'That was all put out by the White House.'... Mr. Trump has found himself struggling this week to fend off new criticisms of his long-scrutinized treatment of America's veterans and fallen service members. At the same time, he has been twisting himself in knots to navigate the politics of in vitro fertilization and abortion rights, and has confronted negative headlines for making obscene attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris."

Steve Benen of MSNBC: Donald Trump "delivered public remarks on the [fiasco at Arlington National Cemetery] for the first time [Thursday afternoon], misstated the date of his visit to Arlington, bragged about being on time for the event at the cemetery, characterized himself as a victim of smear, and concluded that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris 'killed' American service members in Afghanistan.... Around the same time, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, on the heels of publicly criticizing the official who works at the cemetery, issued a statement online that called the office of the Army Secretary a bunch of 'hacks.'... Politico reported: 'Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services panel, added Thursday that he wants to see the Army's report on the confrontation....' VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, wasted little time in throwing its public support behind the Democratic senator's efforts, and there's a related push underway from several House Democrats. Mark Esper, who served as Trump's Defense Secretary, has also called for an investigation into the incident." Related stories linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post was so amused by the idea that Donald Trump could "win on character" that he set out to prove it with just a few of the Trump activities and remarks of the week. (Also linked yesterday.)

You know, I do the weave. You know what "the weave" is? I'll talk about like nine different things that they all come back brilliantly together. And it's like -- and friends of mine that are like English professors, they say it's the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. -- Donald Trump, Friday, defending his incomprehensible stream-of-unconsciousness remarks ~~~

Donald Trump has friends who are English professors? Really? -- Marie ~~~

~~~ This Is Rich. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Even before Vice President Kamala Harris's interview with CNN aired on Thursday night..., Donald J. Trump began attacking it. In the morning, he criticized her for having her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, on hand beside her. After seeing a clip of the interview, he criticized her for rambling 'incoherently.'... 'I look so forward to Debating Comrade Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is,' he wrote on Truth Social, repeating 'Comrade.' He added: 'Harris has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything.'" [See Florida Abortion Amendment, Trump Flip-Flop, linked above.]

Colbert King of the Washington Post: "Trump is being covered by the press as if Jan. 6 were old news.... Questions should hound Trump on the campaign trail.... Fortunately, and for the sake of our democracy and Constitution, special counsel Jack Smith is not going to let Trump slide away from his attempt to overturn Biden's 2020 election victory.... And here, in 2024, we have Trump campaigning in full misogyny, with lewd references to [Vice President] Harris, without being pressed for answers about behavior that unleashed the worst assault on the seat of the federal government since the War of 1812.... Meanwhile, Trump's New Jersey golf club is hosting a fundraiser for families of the defendants charged in the attack on the Capitol. Felons -- dubbed 'patriots' by Trump -- whose sentences he has promised to commute if he's returned to the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: King wants the press to question Trump about whether or not he will accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, as he puts it, "Every. Single. Time." But Trump has already answered that question with a resounding "No." In addition, numerous reports have laid out some of the steps he and his cohort are taking to change the results of the election if he loses. Trump and his allies are not even trying to hide some of his nefarious plans. Here's one report from earlier this month, by Sam Levine, a New York-based reporter for the Guardian.

NEW. Jason Wilson of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, said that professional women 'choose a path to misery' when they prioritize careers over having children in a September 2021 podcast interview in which he also claimed men in America were 'suppressed' in their masculinity.... [Vance] said of women like his classmates at Yale Law School that 'pursuing racial or gender equity is like the value system that gives their life meaning .. [but] they all find that that value system leads to misery'. Vance also sideswiped the Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a one-time Somali refugee, claiming she had shown 'ingratitude' to America, and that she 'would be living in a craphole' had she not moved to the US.... Of Afghans who assisted US troops during the occupation of that country who were now seeking to come to America, Vance asked whether 'certain groups of people can successfully become American citizens', and said those hostile to Minneapolis]s Somali American community 'don't like people getting hatcheted in the street in [their] own community'."

David Moye of the Huffington Post: "JD Vance is refusing to apologize for attempting to mock Kamala Harris by posting an embarrassing clip of a teen beauty pageant contestant struggling to answer a question ― even after he learned the subject of the video once contemplated suicide. On Thursday night..., [Vance] posted a video on social media Thursday that he 'jokingly' claimed was the full Harris CNN interview. The video was from 2007 and showed Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton trying ― and failing ― to explain why some Americans supposedly can't find the U.S. on a map. Vance's post was widely condemned, with many people noting that Upton struggled with public ridicule and later admitted that she contemplated suicide as a result of the whole experience. CNN's John Berman asked Vance if he'd like to apologize 'given what you've now learned' [about Upton's mental health struggles]. Vance refused, saying, 'John, I'm not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: (1) It appears Trump has made clear to JayDee that he must never apologize for any dumb thing he says or does; (2) JayDee is not as horrible a person as Trump: even though Vance refused to apologize, when Berman told Vance about Upton's difficulties with widespread public ridicule Vance replied that he himself has "said a lot of stupid things on camera." IOW, Vance is capable of empathy even as he is afraid to raise Trump's ire. ~~~

     ~~~ Clarissa-Jan Lim of MSNBC: "In a post on X on Friday morning, [Caitlin Upton] wrote: 'It's a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up. There's not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop.' Upton's account appears to have since been deleted." MB: Chris Hayes of MSNBC said (or implied) Friday night that Upton took down her X account because Trump supporters immediately began harassing her.

Let's All Go to the Movies! Jada Yuan & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: "The Apprentice,' the controversial film centered on Donald Trump's origin story that was met with legal threats and a months-long distribution delay, now has a pre-election U.S. release date set for Oct. 11. The release of Ali Abbasi's film, which follows Trump (Sebastian Stan) as a young New York real estate magnate mentored by lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), was initially met with roadblocks. Trump's team has threatened legal action against filmmakers since the docudrama's buzzy world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May. A lawyer for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the movie's team accusing them of defamation and illegal election interference. And ex-Washington Commanders owner and Trump backer Daniel Snyder, whos the principal lender for the movie's primary U.S. production company, Kinematics, reportedly didn't like 'The Apprentice' and contributed to a stall in securing the movie's U.S. distribution. But the highly anticipated film has secured its U.S. distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment.... The film's other producers reportedly bought out Kinematics" stake." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Special counsel Jack Smith opted against proposing a new timeline Friday to bring Donald Trump to trial over his effort to subvert the 2020 election, instead telling U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan it's entirely up to her. In a 10-page joint filing with Trump's attorneys -- a response to Chutkan's request for guidance and a schedule after the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity upended the case -- Smith emphasized that the timeline for the case is her call.... Smith instead simply urged Chutkan to tackle Trump's many efforts to dismiss the case at roughly the same time. Doing so, prosecutors said, would keep the case moving forward.... Trump's defense team put forward a specific proposal that would allow pretrial motions in the case to stretch into January. His lawyers also hinted at additional proceedings that could extend deep into 2025. Trump's team did not propose a trial date but said a trial won't be necessary because he'll prevail in getting the case thrown out."

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "The Georgia election workers defamed by Rudolph W. Giuliani in the aftermath of the 2020 election filed a civil suit against him on Friday, accusing him of trying to keep his multimillion-dollar condominium in Florida out of their reach in debt collection. Mr. Giuliani, the onetime personal lawyer to ... Donald J. Trump, filed for bankruptcy last year after a federal jury determined he should pay the two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, $148 million for spreading lies about them as part of his efforts to help Mr. Trump stay in office. A New York bankruptcy judge dismissed Mr. Giuliani's case last month because of his failure to comply with basic court requirements. Mr. Giuliani signed an affidavit on July 13 stating that his Florida residence was his primary home, and therefore not eligible to be seized by his creditors under Florida law. But that is not enough under Florida law to establish primary residency. According to the complaint, Mr. Giuliani has spent very little time at the condo in Palm Beach, Fla." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According Alper Law, "Becoming a Florida resident requires that you (1) reside in Florida, (2) maintain a presence in Florida most of the year [at least 183 days], (3) have a stronger tie to Florida than the previous state, and (4) get a Florida driver's license."

⭐ American Gothic. Amanda Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tens of thousands of disabled people in the United States are paid less than the federal minimum wage -- with some workers making as little as 25 cents per hour. These workers, most of whom have intellectual and developmental disabilities, are part of an arcane government program that is supposed to prepare them for higher-paying jobs in the community. But a Washington Post investigation has found that many disabled workers are paid low wages for years under a tangled bureaucracy that lacks accountability and oversight. A Post analysis of Labor Department records showed that at least 38 percent of current employers in the program have violated compensation and other rules, and cheated disabled workers out of millions in pay.... In response to increasing scrutiny, 13 states and D.C. have phased out the use of 14(c) certificates, and four more -- California, Nevada, South Carolina and Virginia -- are ending it."

AP: "U.S. regulators have cleared a third updated COVID-19 vaccine for this fall, shots made by Novavax Inc. Already, Pfizer and Moderna are shipping shots modified to better match more recent strains of the ever-evolving coronavirus. Those doses can be used in adults and children as young as 6 months. Friday, the Food and Drug Administration gave the OK to the updated Novavax formula, too -- and those shots are open to anyone 12 and older."

~~~~~~~~~~

Pennsylvania Voting Rights. Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: "Pennsylvania's two most populous counties cannot throw out otherwise timely and eligible mail-in ballots because they are undated or do not have the correct date on the outer envelope, a state court ruled on Friday. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, siding with voter advocacy groups, found that tossing ballots because they did not comport with a 2019 law requiring voters to date and sign the outer envelope would violate a State Constitution clause guaranteeing 'free and equal elections' and pose a 'substantial threat of disenfranchisement.' The ruling could play a critical role in November in the battleground state, which polls now show to be a tossup between Vice President Kamala Harris and ... Donald J. Trump.... The ruling applies only to Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties. Whether it will extend across the state will most likely depend on county officials and guidance from the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, who leads Pennsylvania's Department of State."

~~~~~~~~~~

Brazil. Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post: "A Brazilian supreme court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of X in Latin America's largest country, a dramatic escalation in a months-long dispute between platform owner Elon Musk and Brazilian jurists over the limits of freedom of speech in an era gripped by polarization and disinformation. The decision, which did not immediately shut the site down, could impact more than 20 million X users in Brazil and deprive the platform of one of its largest and most active markets. The ruling came days after Musk declined to comply with a request by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world's most aggressive prosecutors of disinformation, to reestablish a physical presence in Brazil. Moraes says X needs a representative in this country of 215 million people to respond to government requests to suspend accounts found to be spreading fake news. Musk has refused, saying anyone one he appointed would be exposed to the possibility of arrest. Moraes then froze the bank accounts of Starlink, another Musk company active in Brazil, and gave him 24 hours to name a representative in Brazil. The 24 hours lapsed Thursday evening, as Musk repeatedly assailed the judge on X." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jack Nicas & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Brazil blocked the social network X on Friday after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with a Brazilian judge's orders to suspend certain accounts, the biggest test yet of the billionaire's efforts to transform the site into a digital town square where just about anything goes."

Israel/Palestine, et al. Lara Jakes & Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "... in the Gaza Strip, polio is now stalking a population that for nearly 11 months has been on the run from relentless bombardment. Under ratcheting international pressure to prevent an outbreak of the crippling disease, Israel, which has rebuffed much of the criticism of its handling of the war, is moving with relative haste. Israeli officials agreed this week to temporary and localized pauses in fighting to allow United Nations aid workers to deliver vaccines to 640,000 children. In a conflict where the warring sides have agreed on precious little, Hamas says it will also abide by the staggered pauses in fighting, which are scheduled to begin on Sunday. But health officials warn the plan comes with enormous challenges. Much of Gaza's infrastructure is in ruins, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are living in temporary shelters and aid workers have been attacked while trying to deliver supplies."

Ukraine, et al. Matthew Bigg & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine dismissed the head of the country's Air Force on Friday, days after the crash of an F-16 warplane in what may have been a friendly fire incident. A Western official who has been briefed on the preliminary investigation of the crash said that there were 'indications' that friendly fire from a Patriot missile battery might have brought down the jet, though mechanical failure and pilot error have not been ruled out."

The Conversation -- August 30, 2024

David Moye of the Huffington Post: "JD Vance is refusing to apologize for attempting to mock Kamala Harris by posting an embarrassing clip of a teen beauty pageant contestant struggling to answer a question ― even after he learned the subject of the video once contemplated suicide. On Thursday night..., [Vance] posted a video on social media Thursday that he 'jokingly' claimed was the full Harris CNN interview. The video was from 2007 and showed Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton trying ― and failing ― to explain why some Americans supposedly can't find the U.S. on a map. Vance's post was widely condemned, with many people noting that Upton struggled with public ridicule and later admitted that she contemplated suicide as a result of the whole experience. Berman asked Vance if he'd like to apologize 'given what you've now learned' [about Upton's mental health struggles]. Vance refused, saying, 'John, I'm not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: (1) It appears Trump has told JayDee that he must never apologize for any dumb thing he says or does; (2) JayDee is not as horrible a person as Trump: even though Vance refused to apologize, when Berman told Vance about Upton's difficulties with widespread public ridicule, Vance replied that he himself has "said a lot of stupid things on camera." IOW, Vance is capable of empathy even as he is afraid to raise Trump's ire.

Terrence McCoyof the Washington Post: "A Brazilian supreme court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of X in Latin America's largest country, a dramatic escalation in a months-long dispute between platform owner Elon Musk and Brazilian jurists over the limits of freedom of speech in an era gripped by polarization and disinformation. The decision, which did not immediately shut the site down, could impact more than 20 million X users in Brazil and deprive the platform of one of its largest and most active markets. The ruling came days after Musk declined to comply with a request by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world's most aggressive prosecutors of disinformation, to reestablish a physical presence in Brazil. Moraes says X needs a representative in this country of 215 million people to respond to government requests to suspend accounts found to be spreading fake news. Musk has refused, saying anyone one he appointed would be exposed to the possibility of arrest. Moraes then froze the bank accounts of Starlink, another Musk company active in Brazil, and gave him 24 hours to name a representative in Brazil. The 24 hours lapsed Thursday evening, as Musk repeatedly assailed the judge on X."

Let's All Go to the Movies! Jada Yuan & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: "The Apprentice,' the controversial film centered on Donald Trump's origin story that was met with legal threats and a months-long distribution delay, now has a pre-election U.S. release date set for Oct. 11. The release of Ali Abbasi's film, which follows Trump (Sebastian Stan) as a young New York real estate magnate mentored by lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), was initially met with roadblocks. Trump's team has threatened legal action against filmmakers since the docudrama's buzzy world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May. A lawyer for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the movie's team accusing them of defamation and illegal election interference. And ex-Washington Commanders owner and Trump backer Daniel Snyder, who's the principal lender for the movie's primary U.S. production company, Kinematics, reportedly didn't like 'The Apprentice' and contributed to a stall in securing the movie's U.S. distribution. But the highly anticipated film has secured its U.S. distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment.... The film's other producers reportedly bought out Kinematics' stake."

Steve Benen of MSNBC: Donald Trump "delivered public remarks on the [fiasco at Arlington National Cemetery] for the first time [Thursday afternoon], misstated the date of his visit to Arlington, bragged about being on time for the event at the cemetery, characterized himself as a victim of smear, and concluded that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris 'killed' American service members in Afghanistan.... Around the same time, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, on the heels of publicly criticizing the official who works at the cemetery, issued a statement online that called the office of the Army Secretary a bunch of 'hacks.'... Politico reported: 'Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services panel, added Thursday that he wants to see the Army's report on the confrontation....' VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, wasted little time in throwing its public support behind the Democratic senator's efforts, and there's a related push underway from several House Democrats. Mark Esper, who served as Trump's Defense Secretary, has also called for an investigation into the incident." Related stories linked below.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post was so amused by the idea that Donald Trump could "win on character" that he set out to prove it with just a few of the Trump activities and remarks of the week.

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Seated alongside her running mate, the quietly supportive Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, [Vice President Kamala] Harris parried questions from Dana Bash on Thursday without causing herself political harm or providing herself a significant boost. She was methodical and risk-averse in the 27-minute interview.... Here are seven takeaways from the interview[.]" ~~~

     ~~~ CNN has a full transcript of the interview here.

Carl Hulseof the New York Times: "The effort by [Senate Leader Chuck] Schumer and Senate Democrats to persuade [President] Biden to step aside was a more pivotal factor than previously known in bringing about the president's exit from the race, as he found himself with scant support in the chamber that had been his political home for 36 years. Representative Nancy Pelosi, who appeared on television hinting at her concerns about Mr. Biden and privately made the case that he could not win, has widely been credited as the chief architect of the quiet but intense drive to sideline the president. But behind the scenes, Mr. Schumer and his colleagues -- along with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, and former President Barack Obama -- were also playing a powerful role. Mr. Schumer was spurred to action after it became abundantly clear that Senate Democrats, Mr. Biden's closest political allies on Capitol Hill, believed that he was putting them and his legacy at risk...." Read on.

Congreve was right! It turns out music does soothe the savage beast, or at least music can soothe you if you must think of savage beasts. (Okay, Congreve posited that music soothed "a savage breast," but we're not going to let a correct citation ruin the point.) Anyway, Linda from Denver, with a little guidance from Stephen Sondheim, has devised lyrics that will have you waltzing around your living room while thinking of savage beasts. Art is a beautiful thing:

Aint it a bitch?
Aren't they a pair?
One with a worm in his brain
One with bad hair
They've sent in the clowns
A couple of clowns.
They'll be gone next year.*

     * Marie: Linda let me know that she accidentally omitted the credit for these lyrics when she shared them yesterday. She found them in a comment by "Runaway" in a WashPo thread. We don't know if Runaway wrote them. But they're pretty good.

Paul McLeary & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "The Army is defending an Arlington National Cemetery official involved in an incident with the Trump campaign this week at the national memorial, saying the woman was 'abruptly pushed aside' and 'unfairly attacked' by the Trump staffers and its surrogates.... In the statement, an Army spokesperson said the employee, despite being 'abruptly pushed aside ... acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.' The unidentified female staff member has declined to press charges due to concern over retaliation, and the Army, which runs national cemeteries, said in a statement Thursday morning that it considers the matter closed." The Washington Post story by Meryl Kornfield, linked below, describes the Army's release as "a rare statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: In an interview with NBC News' Dasha Burns, Donald Trump defends his visit to Arlington National Cemetery. I especially like the part where he says it might have been the families who brought those still & video cameras to the cemetery because, you know, he "really doesn't know anything about it": ~~~

~~~ Meryl Kornfield, et al.,of the Washington Post: "... Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, doubled down Wednesday on telling Vice President Kamala Harris to 'go to hell,' falsely repeating that she had feigned outrage over an altercation between Trump's campaign and an Arlington cemetery worker when she had not. In an interview with The Washington Post, Vance defended his attack on Harris -- saying 'go to hell' is 'a colloquial phrase' -- and tied it to broader criticism of the administration's handling of an Islamic State attack that killed 13 U.S. troops during the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.... Vance also referred to a 2020 Biden campaign video that included a photo of Biden as vice president in 2010 in Section 60, the area of the cemetery that includes recent conflicts. However, the photo was taken at an official Memorial Day event, not while Biden was campaigning for president a decade later. The content of the campaign video memorialized soldiers and did not attack his opponent." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Badash of AlterNet: "The Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, reportedly pulled strings to get Donald Trump into Arlington National Cemetery, amid what has become a scandal and a crisis.... The [right-wing] Daily Caller reports Monday's event 'would have not happened without Speaker Johnson,' according to an unnamed source." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "... hauling a camera crew to Arlington National Cemetery and exploiting the fresh graves of heroes -- using them as props in his presidential campaign -- was more than a violation of the cemetery's rules; it was more, even, than a violation of federal law. It was a deeply dishonorable act by a shockingly dishonorable man.... Arlington National Cemetery is a place of honor. Donald Trump thinks honor is for suckers and losers -- and values sacrifice only if it might help him win an election. Do not become numb to his nature." ~~~

~~~ digby & Josh Marshall comment. Marshall's column is firewalled on TPM, but digby republishes a big piece of it.

Marie: If you don't think Donald Trump can best Kamala Harris in a debate, I offer this evidence that he is a master of not answering unwelcome questions. Here he puts on his (unconvincing) little toddler-in-the-cookie-jar face and tone, swinging his shoulders left and right in an unintentional sign of equivocation, to not answer NBC News' Dasha Burns' questions about his position on abortion rights. Bear in mind that the non-answer need not make a lick of sense. Indeed, that's the beauty of it: ~~~

~~~ Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump suggested on Thursday that he might support a ballot measure that would expand abortion rights in his adopted state of Florida, though his campaign quickly sought to make clear that his remarks were not indicative of how he would vote. In an interview with NBC, Mr. Trump ... was asked on how he would vote on the measure known as Amendment 4, which would guarantee the right to abortion 'before viability,' usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Mr. Trump initially repeated his past criticism of the state's current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. When pressed further, he stopped short of outright endorsing the proposal but said, 'I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.' The only way to do that directly on the November ballot would be to vote 'Yes' on Amendment 4.... Later on Thursday, however, Mr. Trump's campaign said in a statement that the former president 'has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.... He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short,' said the statement from Karoline Leavitt, the campaign's national press secretary." ~~~

Maeve Reston & Sabrina Malhi of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump said Thursday that if he wins a second term, he would require the government or private insurance companies to cover all costs associated with in vitro fertilization treatments -- an announcement delivered with few details that underscored his deficit among female voters and political headwinds on reproductive issues.... During a speech in Potterville, Mich., Trump offered only a general description of how his proposals would work and did not specify how much it would cost. Each IVF treatment can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and covering assisted reproductive technologies often comes with a host of health policy complications.... 'I'm announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for -- or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for -- all costs associated with IVF treatment,' Trump said. 'Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.'" The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Um, how would you put that "not nicely"? More important, "a major statement" implies production of a white paper: a formal proposal that would at least generally outline revenue sources. BUT, according to the WashPo report, "His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for more details on his proposals." So Trump seems not to have bothered with any of that, to put it nicely. Less nicely: he's lying again. But if you loved Infrastructure Week, maybe IVF Week will please you -- again and again. According to the NBC News story linked above, "The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology says its member clinics performed 389,993 IVF cycles in 2022. At a cost of around $20,000 apiece, that would come to $7.8 billion for that one year." But it's fair to assume it would cost a lot more than that if suddenly everyone who wanted IVF treatment suddenly could get it for free.

Autocrat v. Plutocrat. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump writes in a new book set to be published next week that Mark Zuckerberg plotted against him during the 2020 election and said the Meta chief executive would 'spend the rest of his life in prison' if he did it again. It represents Trump's most recent attack on Zuckerberg, who he has repeatedly accused of intervening in the last presidential election. And it comes as Meta has taken steps to assure conservatives it will not influence this year's campaign. [Under a photo in a coffee table book,] Trump writes that Zuckerberg 'would come to the Oval Office to see me. He would bring his very nice wife to dinners, be as nice as anyone could be, while always plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT,' Trump added, referring to a $420 million contribution Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made during the 2020 election to fund election infrastructure." (Also linked yesterday.)

Meidas Touch reviews Donald Trump's r<ésumé. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link: ~~~

📺 NEW MEIDAS SHORT

Trump is not okay. Stay vigilant. Look for the RED FLAGS! 🚩 🚩 pic.twitter.com/OnfrfzzY0B

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 27, 2024

Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "During a meeting of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) -- which is part of the hugely influential AFL-CIO -- [JD] Vance addressed the Boston, Massachusetts crowd of union firefighters.... But Vance's speech was interrupted by loud boos after he tried to tout the GOP ticket's 'pro-worker' bona fides. 'President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history,' Vance said, as the audience started to boo.... Vance's speech to the IAFF came a day after Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz addressed the group, in which he said that Trump and Vance had 'waged war on working people' with their policies." MB: I don't recall that the firefighters booed Walz. (Also linked yesterday.)

Spaghetti ... Wall. Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump sought to move his Manhattan criminal case into federal court on Thursday, filing the unusual request three months after he was convicted in state court. The long-shot bid marks Mr. Trump's latest effort to stave off his sentencing in state court in his hush-money trial, in which he was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. He is scheduled to receive his punishment on Sept. 18...."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "As Speaker Nancy Pelosi was evacuated from the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while the complex was under attack, her motorcade passed by a pipe bomb at the Democratic National Committee headquarters that law enforcement had yet to render safe, according to video and analysis released this week by House Republicans. The revelation is the second known instance of a prominent Democrat coming close to the explosive device, and it underscores the threat that elected officials faced that day when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.... Kamala Harris, then the vice president-elect, came within 20 feet of it, according to a report last month by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, who faulted the Secret Service for its handling of the pipe bomb." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to pardon the "patriots" who may be responsible for building & planting a device that could have killed or maimed the two most prominent women in American politics, along with any number of government personnel & bystanders.

Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "Three years after the Justice Department's internal watchdog slammed the FBI for its failures in the case of convicted sex predator and former U.S. gymnastic team doctor Larry Nassar, a new audit released Thursday finds that the bureau is still failing to protect children who have been sexually abused. A new report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz reviewed a sample of 327 cases and found 42 that were so deficient that auditors felt compelled to contact the FBI and urge immediate attention. In one case, the audit found that a child continued to be sexually abused for 15 months -- and another child victim was abused by the same person -- while the FBI failed to investigate the case. The IG reported on a separate FBI review that found another such example in which a 2-year-old was being abused for 21 months while the FBI sat on the case and failed to take investigative steps. These cases mirror what happened in the Nassar case, even though FBI Director Christopher Wray assured Congress and the public this would never happen again." (Also linked yesterday.)

Joe Heim, et al.,of the Washington Post: "The Boar's Head plant in southern Virginia at the epicenter of a deadly nationwide listeria outbreak was regularly cited for violations in the past year, including the presence of mold, mildew, insects and a 'rancid smell,' according to reports by government inspectors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, reviewed by The Washington Post, show that inspectors notified managers at the plant of one or more 'noncompliances' on 57 separate days between Aug. 1, 2023, and July 27, 2024. Among the issues cited were 'dirty' machinery, flies in pickle containers, 'heavy meat buildup' on walls, blood in puddles on the floor, and multiple instances of leaking pipes, clogged drains and heavy dust buildup in certain areas.... Inspections at the Jarratt facility have been suspended, according to the USDA, and the facility will remain closed 'until the establishment is able to demonstrate it can produce safe product.'... Deli meat produced at the Jarratt, Va., facility between May 10 and July 29 is now believed to be responsible for the deaths of nine people and the hospitalization of dozens of others." The CBS News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Doesn't it seem that if a food production plant is in "noncompliance," the USDA should shut down the plant right away till it's in compliance? Maybe you're thinking that would be way to expensive for a fine capitalist enterprise, but according to the WashPo report, Boar's Head has had to recall "at least 7 million pounds of more than 70 products." That -- plus all the suits for wrongful death, illness & hospitalizations caused by the listeria outbreak -- would seem to be more costly than shutting down a plant for a few days. I think I'll switch to Whale's Head. I know a guy ...

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: This morning's New York Times online front page has two stories by Reid Epstein, and I have a feeling one of them has been sitting around in his to-do basket for so long, he decided to string together a lot of research tidbits, craft them into paragraphs in no particUlar order, and turn it in. To begin, the story's tease looms ominously: "For years, the Maryland governor has faced questions about whether he had wrongfully said he had a Bronze Star. He insisted no. But an old document proves otherwise." Sounds bad. ~~~

~~~ Maryland. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "When Wes Moore ran for governor of Maryland in 2022, questions about whether he had claimed to have been awarded a Bronze Star for his Army service in Afghanistan hovered over his campaign. For reasons that remain unexplained, two television interviewers, Gwen Ifill and Stephen Colbert, had wrongly introduced him years earlier as a recipient of the award. Mr. Moore failed to correct them, even as he and his aides insisted he had never told anyone he had a Bronze Star. But at least once, Mr. Moore, now the state's Democratic governor, did say he had received the award." ~~~

     ~~~ If you read all the way down to Graf 20, you'll find out that Ifill interviewed Moore in 2008, so 16 years ago, and Colbert interviewed him in 2010, so 14 years back. If you keep on reading, you learn in Graf 27 that Moore says he's sorry he didn't correct Ifill or Colbert. I guess you can call that "unexplained," but if you've ever been introduced by someone who made a mistake about your biography, chances are you didn't want to embarrass him by correcting him in public, much less on national television. And let's face it, a comedy show is not the place to get into details. And there are details, because we find in Graf 18 that the colonel -- now an Army general officer -- who had recommended Moore for a Bronze Star was unaware Moore had never received it. The general said he would resubmit the paperwork. Here and there throughout the story, Reid reports plausible explanations as to why Moore had not received the Bronze Star and why he wrote that he had received it on a 2006 application for a White House fellowship. ~~~

     ~~~ If you have served in the military, you may disagree with me, and there's a good chance I'll defer to your experience. Moore should have cleared up this matter before he ran for public office for the first time in 2021-22. It does seem that Moore has been fairly sloppy in a number of more minor civil matters that either should not have arisen or should have been corrected before they received press attention. Nevertheless, Epstein's story seems an awful lot like "But the Emails!" journalism.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. Victoria Kim & Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "Israel's military stormed a mosque in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, where it said weapons were being stored, and engaged in gun battles that left at least five Palestinians dead, including a young militant commander who Israel says was responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians. It was the second straight day of an Israeli incursion into the northern West Bank, focused in and around the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, involving columns of armored vehicles, fleets of drones and hundreds of troops. The raids are Israel's biggest military actions in the West Bank in more than a year. The commander killed in Thursday's fighting, Muhammad Jaber, who died in a clash in Tulkarm, led the local branch of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which confirmed his death.... Wafa, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, said 17 people had been killed in total in the raids across the West Bank...."

News Lede

New York Times: "Prosecutors in Sicily have broadened their investigation into the sinking of the luxury yacht, the Bayesian, and are now looking into the actions of two more crew members, their lawyer said Thursday. The captain of the yacht, James Cutfield, is also facing a manslaughter inquiry to determine whether his actions negligently caused the shipwreck, one of his lawyers said Tuesday. Seven people -- six passengers and one crew member -- died in the Aug. 19 accident amid a pre-dawn storm off the coast of Sicily. Among the victims was the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, whose family owned the Bayesian, as well as his 18-year-old daughter Hannah."