The Conversation -- October 25, 2023

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the speaker's race. ~~~

Catie Edmondson: "As Representative Elise Stefanik of New York formally nominates [Mike] Johnson on the House floor, every Republican rises to their feet and cheers."

Annie Karni: "Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the no. 3 Democrat, once again nominates Hakeem Jeffries for speaker."

Karni: "Here we go. The roll call has begun. Republicans expect this to be settled on the first ballot."

Edmondson: "Any Republican defectors now would be a big surprise."

[Marie: Looks like once again the so-called "moderate Republicans" caved to the crazies. It's Matt Gaetz' party now.]

Luke Broadwater: "Johnson started yesterday with only 34 supporters, just 15% of the conference. Now he's headed toward being the unanimous choice of House Republicans."

Robert Jimison: "'As one who knows and respects the role of speaker, Hakeem Jeffries,' former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says of voting for the Democrat."

[Marie: Mike Johnson won every GOP vote: 220; Jeffries won every Democratic vote: 207.]

Edmondson: "After three weeks, Patrick McHenry, the interim speaker, says Johnson is the 'duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.'"

Edmondson: "Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election on Wednesday as the 56th speaker of the House of Representatives, putting an end to three weeks of chaos that left the chamber without a leader and put Republican divisions on display. Republicans elevated Mr. Johnson, 51, a little-known and deeply conservative lawmaker after a tumultuous fight that began after the hard right ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and raged on as the divided House G.O.P. nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed him."

[This Was All God's Idea.] Karni: "Johnson's speech is light on policy and heavy on personal history. He has talked about his own history -- first in his family to graduate from college, lost his father to cancer three days before he was first elected to Congress -- but said little about what he plans to do in the new job. It's also heavy on God: he is an Evangelical Christian, and he says that he doesn't think anything is a coincidence and hints that God has put him where he is today."

Kayla Guo: "Democrat Jamie Raskin ... is brutal in his evaluation of Johnson and Republicans more broadly, saying the new speaker has 'much better manners' than G.O.P. firebrands but 'is a MAGA extremist in substance.' The dominating religious tenor of Johnson's remarks, Raskin added, 'demonstrates that there are no public policy values that unify the Republican caucus anymore. They don't have a secular program. And so they have fallen back on theocracy as the final binding mechanism of their cause.'"

Edmondson: "'I look forward to meeting with Speaker Johnson soon to discuss the path forward to avoid a government shutdown,' [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer said in a statement. 'When I meet with him, I will convey that bipartisanship is the only way we can deliver results for the American people. The only way to avoid a government shutdown, pass critical supplemental funding, and deliver common-sense investments to the American people is bipartisanship.'"

Erica Green: "President Biden, when asked about Johnson's history of rejecting the 2020 election results, said he was not worried about Johnson attempting to overturn the results of the next presidential election. 'Just like I was not worried the last campaign would overturn the election,' Biden said. 'They got 60 lawsuits, and all the way to Supreme Court and every time they lost. I understand the Constitution.'"

     ~~~ CNN's liveblog is here.

~~~ Steve Kornacki of MSNBC says the Speaker-designee Mike Johnson can afford to lose 5 Republican votes.

Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "... Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by ... Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden's electoral victory in the 2020 election. Johnson, who currently serves as the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states won by Biden: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.... The [New York] Times reported last year that many Republicans who voted to discount pro-Biden electors cited an argument crafted by Johnson, which was to ignore the false claims about mass fraud in the election and instead hang the objection on the claim that certain states' voting changes during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional." ** Update: A New York Times story is here.

Andrew Kaczynski & Allison Gordon of CNN: "Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s. In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport, Louisiana, paper, The Times, Johnson called homosexuality a 'inherently unnatural' and 'dangerous lifestyle' that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy 'the entire democratic system.' And, in another editorial, he wrote, 'Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,' he wrote. 'This is a free country, but we don't give special protections for every person's bizarre choices.' At the time, Johnson was an attorney and spokesman for Alliance Defense Fund, known today as Alliance Defending Freedom, where he also authored his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas -- which overturned state laws that criminalized homosexual activity between consenting adults."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: A floor vote for speaker is expected today at noon ET. "It was clear from the start that House Republicans would struggle to govern this year given their deep ideological divisions, narrow majority and myriad personal feuds and grudges. But even the most pessimistic of predictions could not have captured the remarkable, drawn-out Republican self-own now raging on Capitol Hill. In merrily decapitating their third speaker candidate on Tuesday in a move worthy of the French Revolution, House Republicans took a situation that did not seem like it could get any worse to a breathtaking new low. They piled chaos upon chaos as members threw up their hands in frustration and anger over their inability to coalesce."

Judge Finds Trump Lied Under Oath & Defamed Clerk, Fines Trump $10K. Jonah Bromwich & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "A Manhattan judge briefly ordered Donald J. Trump to the witness stand on Wednesday after accusing him of breaking a gag order with critical comments that seemed aimed at a law clerk, and then fined him $10,000. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, who is presiding over Mr. Trump's civil fraud trial, issued the punishment after finding that Mr. Trump earlier in the day had violated an order that prevents him from discussing court staff. Mr. Trump said that his comments had referred not to the clerk, whom he had previously attacked, but to his former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, a witness. From the stand, Mr. Trump ... said that while he had not been speaking about the clerk, Allison Greenfield, he thought she was 'maybe unfair, and I think she's very biased against me.' Mr. Trump left the stand after about three minutes. Justice Engoron said that he had not found the former president credible and levied the fine.

"While Mr. Trump has been voluble in his own defense outside the courtroom, he had not testified in open court in more than a decade, and as soon as he did, the judge found against him.... During a break in the proceedings on Wednesday, Mr. Trump had called Justice Engoron partisan -- which is allowable under the order. But he continued, saying, 'with a person who's very partisan sitting alongside him. Perhaps even much more partisan than he is.'" This is an update of a story linked earlier. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Trump can't speak under oath for three minutes without lying.

Electionstollen. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "In a rage-filled stream of consciousness on his Truth Social network on Tuesday night, [Donald] Trump lashed out at the ABC report about [his chief of sfaff Mark] Meadows. 'I don't think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!),' the former president wrote. 'Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don't think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Trump responded by issuing a broadside not just against a potentially cooperating [Mark] Meadows, but seemingly -- by extension -- allies who have cut deals in recent days in his other election interference case, in Fulton County, Ga.... Trump's comments would seem to transparently violate the limited gag order that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued in Trump's federal case but later suspended while Trump's legal team appeals the decision.... Trump signed a form in August acknowledging that it would be a crime to 'intimidate or attempt to intimidate a witness, victim, juror, informant, or officer of the court.'... Trump in his Tuesday post also called [prosecutor Jack] Smith 'deranged' yet again, despite Chutkan's having explicitly cited that attack as being beyond the pale."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Despite pleading guilty to interfering with the 2020 presidential election result, Sidney Powell continues to promote conspiracy theories about Donald Trump's election loss.... The right-wing attorney pushed baseless claims of election fraud and accused Georgia prosecutors of politicizing their office, and a newsletter published by her dark-money group shared articles claiming that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis secured Powell's guilty plea through extortion, reported Insider.... Since her plea, Powell has also used her Truth Social and Telegram accounts to promote the Substack newsletter published by her dark-money group, Defending the Republic, urging followers to "hold fast" and share articles and YouTube videos claiming her guilty plea was 'extorted.'" See also Akhilleus's commentary at the top of today's thread.

David Atkins of the Washington Monthly: "... the Republican base is beset with conspiratorial fantasies. One in four Republicans believes in QAnon, a grab bag of paranoid theories claptrap that includes the notion that Trump is still president prosecuting a secret war against cannibal child predators and John F. Kennedy, Jr. did not die in a 1999 plane crash and is alive and well and working in tandem with the 45^th president. Seven in ten Republicans believe in the racist Great Replacement theory, which posits that white Americans are being intentionally 'replaced' with non-white immigrants for various nefarious reasons. Crucially for understanding the speaker fiasco, seven out of 10 Republicans also believe the Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 election. It doesn't help that the GOP has lost control of its own communications apparatus, which was replaced long ago with a right-wing media complex that promotes lies and thrives on its audience's rage whether Republicans win elections or not, much less whether the country functions." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below.

** Jo Becker of the New York Times: "With no money down, Justice Clarence Thomas could borrow more than a quarter of a million dollars from a wealthy friend to buy a 40-foot luxury motor coach, making annual interest-only payments for five years. Only then would the principal come due. But despite the favorable nature of the 1999 loan and a lengthy extension to make good on his obligations, Justice Thomas failed to repay a 'significant portion' -- or perhaps any -- of the $267,230 principal, according to a new report by Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. Nearly nine years later, after Justice Thomas had made an unclear number of the interest payments, the outstanding debt was forgiven....

"The Senate inquiry was prompted by a Times investigation published in August that revealed that Justice Thomas bought his Prevost Marathon Le Mirage XL, a brand favored by touring rock bands and the super-wealthy, with financing from Anthony Welters, a longtime friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.... At the very least, Justice Thomas appears to have flouted an ethics rule requiring that he include any 'discharge of indebtedness' as income on required annual financial disclosure reports. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service treats debt forgiveness as income to the borrower."

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Israel/Hamas war are here. CNN's live updates are here.

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** Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "House Republicans chose and then quickly repudiated yet another of their nominees for speaker on Tuesday and rushed to name a fourth, pressing to put an end to a remarkable three-week-long deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed. Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday night as the latest contender for the post after Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination. Mr. Emmer's downfall followed a swift backlash from the right, including ... Donald J. Trump, that left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever. But by late Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson appeared to have put together a coalition that brought him closer to capturing the speakership than any candidate has been since hard-right rebels deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy three weeks ago. Though it was not certain he had the votes to be elected, he said he planned to call for a floor vote on Wednesday at noon.... In a secret-ballot vote on Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson got 128 votes, with 44 Republicans voting for nominees not on the ballot, including 43 for Mr. McCarthy, whom many view as unfairly ousted. Still, in a separate vote afterward, only a few Republicans indicated they would not back Mr. Johnson on the floor, while about 20 Republicans were absent.

"... Mr. Johnson is a lawyer and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee. He served on ... Donald J. Trump's impeachment defense team, played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results and was an architect of Mr. Trump's bid to object to certifying them in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Pressed by reporters on Tuesday night about his efforts to overturn the election, Mr. Johnson smiled and shook his head, saying, 'next question,' as Republicans beside him booed. Last year, Mr. Johnson, an evangelical Christian, sponsored legislation that would effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at any institution serving children younger than 10 that receives federal funds.... He has also opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine...." An NBC News story is here.

Meredith McGraw & Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Just hours after Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) won the Republican Conference's nomination to be Speaker on Tuesday..., Donald Trump took to Truth Social to deride the congressman as 'totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters' and a 'Globalist RINO.' He then got on the phone with members to express his aversion for Emmer and his bid for Speaker. By Tuesday afternoon Trump called one person close to him with the message, 'He's done. It's over. I killed him.' Just minutes later, Emmer officially dropped out of the race."

Here are a few of the entries from yesterday's New York Times liveblog of yesterday's chaotic developments in the GOP speakership contest. The individual entries ended early in the evening, just after Tom Emmer dropped his bid for the job. (I posted more entries yesterday, so if you don't have a NYT subscription, you can read them in yesterday's Conversation.)

~~~ Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater: "... [Mike] Johnson, 51, was a key architect of Republicans' objections to certifying the victory of President Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. Many Republicans in Congress relied on his arguments." MB: Gosh, he sounds ideal.

** Kayla Guo: "Tom Emmer of Minnesota wins the speakership nomination, making him the third to do so since Kevin McCarthys ouster."

Broadwater: "Tom Emmer defeated Mike Johnson, 117 votes to 97, according to members in the room."

Broadwater: "... the narrow margin of [Emmer's] victory reflected that House Republicans were still deeply at odds, and a swift backlash from the right, including from ... [MB: insane narcissist] Donald J. Trump, suggested his candidacy was in peril. Immediately following his nomination, about two dozen right-wing Republicans indicated that they did not intend to vote for Mr. Emmer on the floor.... Then as he met with holdouts to try to win them over, the former president issued a scathing statement on social media expressing vehement opposition to Mr. Emmer, calling him a 'Globalist RINO' ... whose elevation would be a 'tragic mistake.... I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA -- MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN![']"

** Queen for a Day Three or Four Hours. Broadwater: "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid for speaker on Tuesday hours after securing his divided party's nomination, after a swift backlash from the right, including ... Donald J. Trump, left his candidacy in shambles. Mr. Emmer’s abrupt exit signaled that Republicans were as far as ever from breaking a deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed for three weeks. It made Mr. Emmer the third Republican this month to be chosen to lead the party, only to have his bid collapse in a seemingly endless cycle of G.O.P. grievances, personality conflicts and ideological rifts."

Carl Hulse: "What's going on with House Republicans is a stark example of what happens when party discipline is abandoned. Members feel free to go their own way with no fear of payback."

Marie: Hulse's remark reminds me of something Mark McKinnon -- GOP consultant & doofus who co-founded No Labels -- said Monday night on MSNBC: It was Kevin McCarthy himself who placed Chekhov's gun over the mantel when he agreed to allow any Republican member of the House to bring a motion to vacate the speakership. In so doing, McCarthy made it a foregone conclusion that somebody would pull that trigger.

Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Michael G. Whitaker, a former Obama administration official, to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, filling a key vacancy that had persisted for more than 18 months. Mr. Whitaker, 62, was confirmed by a vote of 98 to 0, bringing an end to the carousel of leadership that had plagued the agency for more than half of President Biden's time in office. His swift bipartisan confirmation underscored the desire of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to install a permanent administrator atop the nation's aviation regulator. Mr. Whitaker now faces the challenge of stabilizing an agency that has been in turmoil and providing the flying public with the confidence that the country's air travel system is safe and reliable."

The Trials of Trump

** Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump's final chief of staff in the White House, Mark Meadows, has spoken with special counsel Jack Smith's team at least three times this year, including once before a federal grand jury, which came only after Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sources said Meadows informed Smith's team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump's prolific rhetoric regarding the election.... According to Meadows' book, the election was 'stolen' and 'rigged' with help from 'allies in the liberal media,' who ignored 'actual evidence of fraud, right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze.'... Under the penalty of perjury, Meadows offered a vastly different assessment to Smith's investigators, telling them he's never seen any evidence of fraud that would undermine the election's outcome, according to what sources told ABC News." Emphasis added. Read on. MB: The dam done broke & Donald Trump has drownded. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "... I caution against concluding too much about what the testimony means. Most importantly, there's no hint that Meadows has flipped. Meadows has testified (which a past ABC scoop made clear). But giving immunized testimony is not flipping.... His January 6 testimony seems to conflict with what [Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani] Willis knows." Emphasis original.

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "... on Tuesday, [Michael] Cohen confronted his onetime boss from the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom, attacking the former president as a criminal and a cheat and defending his own credibility under a barrage of questions.... It was the first time the men had come face to face since 2018, and the reunion was tense. [Donald] Trump, seated feet away at the defense table, scoffed and shook his head in apparent frustration. Mr. Cohen had been called to testify about Mr. Trump's annual financial statements, which are at the heart of the civil case that the New York attorney general, Letitia James, brought against Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen testified, directed him to 'reverse engineer' the statements to reach the former president's desired net worth.... The temperature rose when Mr. Cohen was cross-examined by one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, Alina Habba. She called Mr. Cohen's credibility into question, noting that he had admitted to lying under oath when he pleaded guilty to federal crimes in 2018, wrongs that he had said he committed on Mr. Trump's behalf.... Their exchange devolved. Several times, Mr. Cohen made legal objections from the witness stand; in a trial, only lawyers trying the case can make objections." (This is another update of a story linked yesterday.)

** And Then There Were 15. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer who amplified ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims of election fraud as part of what she called a legal 'elite strike force team,' pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors in Georgia. During a public hearing Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.... Ms. Ellis agreed to be sentenced to five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. She has already written an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, and she agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors as the case progresses." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "For the third time in less than week, a lawyer who worked for Donald Trump has pleaded guilty in the Fulton County, Ga., election interference case. Jenna Ellis on Tuesday joined Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro in cutting a deal that will require her to testify truthfully about the other defendants, including presumably Trump himself. Her centrality to the case, relative to the others, is debatable. Ellis often served more as a spokesperson than an actual practicing lawyer, though certain actions clearly involved legal strategizing and proximity to Trump. But her plea came with something the others did not: a tearful statement to the court that suggested she is prepared to cast blame up the chain. Whether and how much that includes Trump is a big question. But it would seem to be bad news for Rudy Giuliani and potentially, by extension, for Trump himself.... [Her plea] deal cited false claims from Giuliani, her frequent traveling companion as they worked to overturn the election results, and a Trump campaign lawyer in Georgia, Ray Smith. Both were indicted alongside Trump, Ellis and the others."

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Texas Sues to Continue Crime Against Humanity. Valerie Gonzalez of the AP: "Texas sued the Biden administration on Tuesday, seeking to stop federal agents from cutting the state's razor wire that has gashed or snagged migrants as they have attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the Rio Grande. In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Del Rio, Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the Biden administration of 'undermining' the state's border security efforts. 'Texas has the sovereign right to construct border barriers to prevent the entry of illegal aliens,' Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, said in a news release Tuesday."

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Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

The New York Times' live updates Tuesday of developments in the Israel/Hamas war are here (also linked yesterday): "The secretary general of the United Nations said on Tuesday that the attacks by Hamas that left 1,400 people dead in Israel on Oct. 7 were 'appalling' but did not justify the 'collective punishment' of civilians in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military has significantly stepped up its bombardment in recent days.... The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, called for a humanitarian cease-fire in an address to the U.N. Security Council, saying that it was important to recognize that the attacks by Hamas 'did not happen in a vacuum' and that Palestinians had been subjected to 56 years of 'suffocating occupation.'... Israel said it had struck more than 700 targets in Gaza in the past two days. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said that it had recorded the highest single-day death toll of the war on Tuesday: at least 704 people killed in dozens of strikes on homes, a refugee camp and other places. It was not possible to independently verify the toll."

Times of Israel: "Israeli officials railed at UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Tuesday after he appeared to suggest the impetus for the Hamas terror group's devastating October 7 attack on Israel was the Jewish state's continued control of Palestinian territories, with the Israeli Ambassador to the UN demanding that he resign."

Iran/U.S. Steve Holland of Reuters: "The White House on Monday said Iran was in some cases 'actively facilitating' rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria, and President Biden has directed the Department of Defense to brace for more and respond appropriately. White House spokesman John Kirby said there had been an uptick in such attacks over the last week, and especially over the last few days, but the U.S. would not allow threats to its interests in the region to 'go unchallenged.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "The Nashville police chief's estranged son, who was recently identified as a suspect in the shooting of two police officers outside a Dollar General store in La Vergne, Tenn., was found dead on Tuesday night, officials said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement late Tuesday that John Drake Jr. had died in Nashville from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

New York Times: "Otis made landfall near the resort city of Acapulco on the southern Pacific Coast of Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane, bringing record winds and rainfall that could create a 'nightmare scenario' of flooding and mudslides, forecasters said early Wednesday. Hurricane Otis's maximum sustained winds had grown to 165 miles per hour with stronger gusts at about 12:25 a.m. local time, when it made landfall, the National Hurricane Center said.... Otis threatens a coast dotted with fishing villages and beach resorts as they gear up for their peak winter season. Along its path lies Acapulco, a large port city and a popular tourist destination home to more than 852,000 people...." The AP story is here.

New York Times: "An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off the engines during a flight on Sunday told investigators that he had been sleepless and dehydrated since he consumed psychedelic mushrooms about 48 hours before boarding and that he had been depressed for a long time, state and federal court documents said. The pilot, Joseph D. Emerson, 44, also told the police in an interview after he was taken into custody that he believed he was having a 'nervous breakdown,' according to federal court documents. He said he had struggled with depression for about six years and that a friend had recently died." The AP's story is here.

New York Times: "Richard Roundtree, the actor who redefined African American masculinity in the movies when he played the title role in 'Shaft,' one of the first Black action heroes, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.... While indelibly tied to the role that made him famous in 1971, the actor remained active for more than four decades afterward."

The Conversation -- October 24, 2023

According to CNN's liveblog on the House GOP disaster (also linked below), @ ca. 6:38 pm ET: "The House is set to adjourn shortly, meaning no floor votes for speaker are expected tonight as the GOP conference looks to decide on their next Speaker designee. House Republicans are currently holding a candidate forum to hear from the candidates vying for the gavel. They're poised to hold another secret-ballot vote to nominate a new speaker candidate at 8 p.m. ET."

** Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump's final chief of staff in the White House, Mark Meadows, has spoken with special counsel Jack Smith's team at least three times this year, including once before a federal grand jury, which came only after Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sources said Meadows informed Smith's team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump's prolific rhetoric regarding the election.... According to Meadows' book, the election was 'stolen' and 'rigged' with help from 'allies in the liberal media,' who ignored 'actual evidence of fraud, right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze.'... Under the penalty of perjury, Meadows offered a vastly different assessment to Smith's investigators, telling them he's never seen any evidence of fraud that would undermine the election's outcome, according to what sources told ABC News." Emphasis added. Read on. MB: The dam done broke & Trump has drownded."

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen attacked his onetime boss, Donald J. Trump, from the witness stand on Tuesday, accusing the former president of manipulating his net worth as Mr. Trump, seated feet away, stared blankly ahead. In the early afternoon, just before lunch break in a Manhattan courtroom, Mr. Cohen began to testify about the annual financial statements that are at the heart of a civil fraud trial against the former president that was brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James.... Mr. Cohen did not say anything he has not already said. Nonetheless the courtroom was silent and tense as he testified about his former employer -- whom he always referred to as Mr. Trump -- and said that he had committed crimes as part of his role at the Trump Organization." (This is an update of a story linked earlier today.)

** According to MSNBC on-air, Tom Emmer -- who won today's vote for speaker -- has already dropped out of the race.

The New York Times is liveblogging the House beauty pageant results: "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, emerged from a crowded field on Tuesday as his party's latest leading contender for speaker as the G.O.P. ground through rounds of closed-door votes to break a deadlock that has left Congress paralyzed for three weeks. Mr. Emmer won the first rounds of secret balloting, according to lawmakers who participated, and the field -- which began with nine candidates on Monday evening -- was winnowing as the lowest vote getters were forced out.... Mr. Emmer had yet to draw a majority and was still facing one conservative challenger: Representatives Mike Johnson of Louisiana...." ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater: "Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a lawyer who is the former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, is a favorite of the party's right wing. An evangelical Christian who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Johnson, 51, was a key architect of Republicans' objections to certifying the victory of President Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. Many Republicans in Congress relied on his arguments." MB: Gosh, he sounds ideal.

** Kayla Guo: "Tom Emmer of Minnesota wins the speakership nomination, making him the third to do so since Kevin McCarthy's ouster."

Robert Jimison: "Republicans are now expected to take another closed-door vote to see how many members in the conference will pledge support for Emmer on the House floor."

Broadwater "Tom Emmer defeated Mike Johnson, 117 votes to 97, according to members in the room."

Broadwater: "... the narrow margin of [Emmer's] victory reflected that House Republicans were still deeply at odds, and a swift backlash from the right, including from ... [MB: insane narcissist] Donald J. Trump, suggested his candidacy was in peril. Immediately following his nomination, about two dozen right-wing Republicans indicated that they did not intend to vote for Mr. Emmer on the floor.... Then as he met with holdouts to try to win them over, the former president issued a scathing statement on social media expressing vehement opposition to Mr. Emmer, calling him a 'Globalist RINO' ... whose elevation would be a 'tragic mistake.... I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA -- MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN![']"

Carl Hulse: "What's going on with House Republicans is a stark example of what happens when party discipline is abandoned. Members feel free to go their own way with no fear of payback."

Guo: "Republicans are going on a break now as Tom Emmer meets with holdouts individually and in small groups. He wants to secure the necessary 217 votes behind closed doors before bringing his nomination to a vote on the floor."

** Queen for a Day Three Hours. Broadwater : "Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid for speaker on Tuesday hours after securing his divided party's nomination, after a swift backlash from the right, including ... Donald J. Trump, left his candidacy in shambles. Mr. Emmer's abrupt exit signaled that Republicans were as far as ever from breaking a deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed for three weeks. It made Mr. Emmer the third Republican this month to be chosen to lead the party, only to have his bid collapse in a seemingly endless cycle of G.O.P. grievances, personality conflicts and ideological rifts."

     ~~~ CNN's liveblog is here.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans are meeting on Tuesday to vote -- yet again -- on a nominee for speaker, as the party feud that has paralyzed the chamber enters its third week. Seven Republicans are now vying for the post, reflecting the deep divisions within the House G.O.P.... A a House floor vote could occur as soon as Tuesday afternoon, but there is no guarantee that the winner will have the 217 votes necessary to be elected...." ~~~

Marie: Carl Hulse's remark above reminds me of something Mark McKinnon -- GOP consultant & doofus who co-founded No Labels -- said Monday night on MSNBC: It was Kevin McCarthy himself who placed Chekhov's gun over the mantel when he agreed to allow any Republican member of the House to bring a motion to vacate the speakership. In so doing, McCarthy made it a foregone conclusion that somebody would pull that trigger. (paraphrase)

~~~ Jim Croce returns for some political commentary: Thanks to D in Md for this:

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer who amplified ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims of election fraud as part of what she called a legal 'elite strike force team,' pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors in Georgia. During a public hearing Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.... Ms. Ellis agreed to be sentenced to five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. She has already written an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, and she agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors as the case progresses." CNN's report is here.

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House GOP Holds Speakership Cattle Call. Leigh Ann Caldwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Republicans will regroup and again try to elect a speaker of the House this week, a usually simple task that has proved nearly impossible in a divided and wounded Republican conference that has for three weeks been unable to choose a leader. Eight candidates from across the Republican ideological spectrum presented their pitch to their party Monday in another closed-door meeting, a rare event that has become commonplace in recent weeks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The article gives a lot of attention to the Trump factor: "Behind the scenes, [Trump] personally directed his allies to hammer front-runner candidate, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).... Emmer's sins, according to people close to Trump, include voting to certify the 2020 election and failing to endorse Trump, both privately and publicly.... Emmer -- aware of the challenge Trump could pose ... -- spoke with the former president over the phone Saturday, in which they had a 'productive' conversation, according to a person familiar with the call. But a person close with Trump played down the significance of the call, saying it was a 'polite conversation. End of story.'" But it wasn't the end of the story: "During a stop ... in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump said Emmer is his 'biggest fan now because he called me yesterday and told me he's my biggest fan.'... Emmer thanked Trump on X...." I'll bet you've had thousands of polite conversations with people and you never came away thinking, much less boasting to others, "he's my biggest fan." What a sick dick. But wait. There's more. See "Presidential Race 2024" below.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the House GOP's continuing failed attempts to name a speaker are here.

Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "Republicans announced Friday that they had uncovered a 'direct payment' to President Joe Biden -- exactly the kind of evidence they've sought linking Biden to his family's foreign business deals. But the March 2018 payment came from Joe Biden's brother James, not a Ukrainian oligarch or Chinese tycoon, and the check was marked as a 'loan repayment.' Still, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who obtained the records via subpoena, said the $200,000 check looks suspicious for the president.... 'These records actually show that President Biden was the one who stepped in to help family members when they needed support, including by providing short term loans to his brother,' Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee's top Democrat, said in a statement. Raskin added that the 1,400 pages of records Republicans got from their subpoenas, which asked banks for several years of records relating to the president's brother and son, show no wrongdoing, but do reveal 'payments for things like groceries, vet visits, and plumbing repairs.'... The Committee has the bank documents that show both the loan Jim received from his brother in January 2018 and the repayment by check six weeks later,' [a lawyer for James Biden] said. 'At no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.'"

Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez [D] of New Jersey pleaded not guilty on Monday to a new federal charge that accused him of illegally plotting to be an agent of Egypt while serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It was Mr. Menendez's second not-guilty plea in a month after he and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were accused of being at the center of a broad web of political corruption. The couple has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for Mr. Menendez's efforts to increase aid and weapons sales to Egypt while also working to quash criminal investigations for associates in New Jersey."

Vera Lynn sings "We'll Meet Again":

~~~ :Trump and Cohen to Meet Again.: Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: The reunion of Donald Trump & his former lawyer & fixer Michael Cohen "is now set for a stage that has become familiar to them both: a New York courtroom, where Mr. Cohen will take the stand as soon as Tuesday as a star witness against Mr. Trump in a civil fraud trial.... Mr. Trump ... is expected to attend at least some of his testimony.... Mr. Cohen's testimony before Congress in 2019 served as the impetus for [New York Attorney General Letitia] James's investigation.... He is expected to reprise those comments and fill in details this week. But the testimony's substance may pale in comparison to the drama of the face-off. It also will test Mr. Trump's courtroom decorum.... In a statement ahead of his testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Cohen said: 'It's been five years since we have seen one another. I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does as well.'"

Motion Commotion. Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "In a slew of court filings late Monday, attorneys for Donald Trump filed several motions asking the judge overseeing the election subversion case in Washington, DC, to dismiss the charges against the former president on grounds that, among other things, they violate his First Amendment rights and are the product of a 'selective and vindictive prosecution.'... Trump's attorneys, in their filings, also moved to strike allegations around the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack mentioned in the indictment against him.... [Among the arguments:] because of the 'tradition of forceful political advocacy' in the US, the former president 'lacked fair notice that his advocacy in this instance could be criminalized.'" MB: Ah, nobody told me I couldn't try to overturn the election by any means possible, including violence, so I just did it, exercising my free speech rights. ~~~

The Constitution's plain text, structural principles of separation of powers, our history and tradition, and principles of Double Jeopardy bar the Executive Branch from seeking to re-charge and re-try a President who has already been impeached and acquitted in a trial before the U.S. Senate. -- Trump Attorneys, in a ridiculous argument filed just before midnight ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Washington Post's story.

Lisa Kashinsky, et al., of Politico: "At a series of appearances on Monday in New Hampshire, [Donald Trump] seemed to take delight in flouting the court system that now endangers his livelihood and the judges urging him to watch his mouth. Clearer still was that he fully intends to wring political advantage out of the cases he is navigating. It is, he told his followers, all 'bullshit.'... On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Trump a temporary reprieve from a gag order she had imposed just three days earlier, after Trump's attorney John Lauro argued that parts of the order were vague and indecipherable. Within hours, Trump had resumed his attacks on the lead prosecutor in his Washington and Florida criminal cases, special counsel Jack Smith, calling him 'deranged' and also swiping at a potential witness in his Florida trial."

Trump Is No Equal-Opportunity Bully. Paul Butler of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump reserves a particularly race-inflected venom for the Black government lawyers who threaten his liberty and wealth. He called [Manhattan DA Alvin] Bragg a 'Soros-backed animal' and [New York AG Letitia] James a 'political animal.'... His nickname for James is 'peekaboo,' which rhymes with a racist slur.... He lied that [Fulton County, Ga., DA Fani] Willis was in a relationship with an alleged gang member she is prosecuting. In an email after Trump's indictment in Fulton County, his campaign said that Willis came from 'a family steeped in hate' and highlighted the fact that her first name is Swahili. Trump repeatedly attacks Bragg, Willis and James as 'racists.' It's all a transparent attempt to rile up his base against Black prosecutors who have the gall to focus on him. His incitements clearly aim to remind his supporters who the real criminals supposedly are -- Black and Brown folks." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Contributor Jeanne wrote something yesterday that I might have written myself had I been as honest as she: "I have never wished death on anyone until I realized I was hoping for his demise every single morning when I switch on the 'electric machine' to see what has been happening overnight. That has been going on for about seven years now." Shame on us. Maybe.

Presidential Race 2024

Jill Colvin & Holly Ramer of the AP: "Returning to New Hampshire to register for its presidential primary, [Donald] Trump held a rally where he railed against President Joe Biden's response to the Hamas attack on Israel and vowed to build an Iron Dome-style missile defense shield over the U.S. But he focused much of his dark and at times profane speech on the criminal and civil cases against him, at one point suggesting he would go to prison like the former South African president [Nelson Mandela] who spent 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's apartheid system and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't mind being Nelson Mandela because I'm doing it for a reason'..., [Trump said at a rally in Derry, New Hampshire.]" MB: Let's all hope Trump gets a well-deserved 27-year sentence, too, for crimes committed, even as we recognize that Mandela's incarceration was entirely unjust. ~~~

     ~~~ A Very Good Brain. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump spoke to a rally crowd in Derry, New Hampshire, on Monday, where he celebrated his own 'genius.' As part of his rambling speech, Trump seemed to realize the abbreviations of the United States, U.S., are the same letters as 'us.'.... Speaking about French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump explained, 'You know, he's for France. I'm for us.... You know how you spell 'us' right? You spell it U-S!' The crowd cheered. 'I just picked that up. Has anyone ever thought of that be -- I just picked that up,' Trump continued." ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Confuses Two of His Favorite Dictators. Seb Starcevic of Politico: "... Donald Trump appeared to confuse the leaders of Turkey and Hungary in a campaign speech in New Hampshire on Monday. 'There's a man, Viktor Orbán, did anyone ever hear of him?' Trump said, referring to the Hungarian prime minister. 'He's probably, like, one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. He"s the leader of Turkey,' the former president said. Turkey's president is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trump added that Orbán has a 'front' with Russia. Neither Turkey nor Hungary has a border with Russia."

** Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump is pushing for a major American foreign policy change in his second administration that would likely upend decades of global national security infrastructure. Sources tell Rolling Stone that Trump is planning to pull the United States entirely out of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance unless it caves to his demands that include one that would seem to undermine the entire purpose of the alliance. In addition to his standard calls for other NATO countries to chip in more for their defense spending, Trump also reportedly wants to rip up the strategic doctrine that an attack on one NATO country represents an attack on all NATO countries."

Claire Miller of the New York Times: "New data shows [show!], for the first time at this level of detail, how much students' standardized test scores rise with their parents' incomes -- and how disparities start years before students sit for tests. One-third of the children of the very richest families scored a 1300 or higher on the SAT, while less than 5 percent of middle-class students did, according to the data, from economists at Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard. Relatively few children in the poorest families scored that high; just one in five took the test at all.... The disparity highlights the inequality at the heart of American education: Starting very early, children from rich and poor families receive vastly different educations, in and out of school, driven by differences in the amount of money and time their parents are able to invest. And in the last five decades, as the country has become more unequal by income, the gap in children's academic achievement, as measured by test scores throughout schooling, has widened." MB: But, but don't these data prove that rich people like Donald Trump have very good brains? (Also linked yesterday.)

Historian Seth Cotlar reflects on an education that whitewashed the facism and racism that were prominent in pre-World War II America. Cotlar was educated in the 1970s and '80s. Cotlar focuses first on the way American history "memory-holed" racist pro-Nazis Charles Lindbergh & Henry Ford. MB: It's still going on. For instance, the National Space & Air Museum, which Cotlar mentions in his essay still features Lindbergh's plane "The Spirit of Saint Louis," and the museum sponsors a Lindbergh fellowship that -- while generally lauding Lindbergh -- admits in passing, "His reputation was somewhat darkened by his acceptance of honors from the Nazi government in 1938, and by his noninterventionist activities for America First in 1941." Yeah, somewhat. And in Fort Myers, Florida, where I lived for more than a decade, Henry Ford is honored with a statue at a public park and in Fort Myers' Number 1 tourist attraction: the Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates museum. I can't recall any mention there of Ford's politics. Thanks to RAS for the link to Cotlar's essay. (Also linked yesterday.)

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it had struck hundreds of targets in Gaza overnight, and Palestinian officials said more than 700 people had been killed, adding to the devastating toll as Israel faces pressure to delay a ground invasion.... The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Israel's airstrikes had killed more than 5,700 people, nearly half of them children, since Oct. 7, when a Hamas-led attack killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.... Aid workers had started distributing relief supplies in southern Gaza after a third convoy of aid entered through Egypt on Monday. Humanitarian groups have called for more food, water and medicine to be sent in, as well as fuel, but Israel has balked at deliveries of fuel because it says Hamas could use it for military purposes." ~~~

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

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials.... The officials ... said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely."

New York Times: "More Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in the past few weeks than in any similar period in at least the past 15 years, according to Palestinian health authorities and historical data from the United Nations. Israeli forces and settlers have killed 95 Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, health officials said, a surge in violence in what was already a particularly deadly year in the West Bank. One Israeli soldier was also killed in clashes. Most of the Palestinian deaths in the West Bank have been in clashes with Israeli forces, while others were the result of settler attacks."

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is concerned that Israel lacks achievable military objectives in Gaza, and that the Israel Defense Forces are not yet ready to launch a ground invasion with a plan that can work, senior administration officials said. In phone conversations with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has stressed the need for careful consideration of how Israeli forces might conduct a ground invasion of Gaza, where Hamas maintains intricate tunnel networks under densely populated areas. Biden administration officials insisted that the United States had not told Israel what to do and still supported the ground invasion. But the Pentagon has sent a three-star Marine, Lt. Gen. James Glynn, along with other officers to help the Israelis with the challenges of fighting an urban war." ~~~

~~~ Ruth Michaelson, et al., of the Guardian: "Pressure has intensified on Israel to negotiate the release of more than 200 people held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, with desperate families begging officials to help free their loved ones before an anticipated ground invasion.... The pressure comes from inside and outside Israel. Many of the hostages were citizens or dual nationals of countries around the world, including Israel's closest allies." ~~~

~~~ Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice: "I think Biden knows Netanyahu is a corrupt, Trump-like snake who repeatedly puts his own political interests above the security and interests of his country. So maybe Biden [-- by embracing Israel --] is attempting to be the grownup in the room there too, not just for Israel's sake but for ours."

From the CNN liveblog of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war: "Two more hostages have been released from Hamas custody following Qatari and Egyptian mediation, according to two Israeli officials and two other sources briefed on the matter. The two were identified as Israeli citizens Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, according to multiple sources.... The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed they facilitated in the release of two more hostages." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- October 23, 2023

From the CNN liveblog of developments in the Israel/Hamas war: "Two more hostages have been released from Hamas custody following Qatari and Egyptian mediation, according to two Israeli officials and two other sources briefed on the matter. The two were identified as Israeli citizens Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, according to multiple sources.... The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed they facilitated in the release of two more hostages."

Trump Is No Equal-Opportunity Bully. Paul Butler of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump reserves a particularly race-inflected venom for the Black government lawyers who threaten his liberty and wealth. He called [Manhattan DA Alvin] Bragg a 'Soros-backed animal' and [New York AG Letitia] James a 'political animal.'... His nickname for James is 'peekaboo,' which rhymes with a racist slur.... He lied that [Fulton County, Ga., DA Fani] Willis was in a relationship with an alleged gang member she is prosecuting. In an email after Trump's indictment in Fulton County, his campaign said that Willis came from 'a family steeped in hate' and highlighted the fact that her first name is Swahili. Trump repeatedly attacks Bragg, Willis and James as 'racists.' It's all a transparent attempt to rile up his base against Black prosecutors who have the gall to focus on him. His incitements clearly aim to remind his supporters who the real criminals supposedly are -- Black and Brown folks."

Claire Miller of the New York Times: "New data shows [show!], for the first time at this level of detail, how much students' standardized test scores rise with their parents' incomes -- and how disparities start years before students sit for tests. One-third of the children of the very richest families scored a 1300 or higher on the SAT, while less than 5 percent of middle-class students did, according to the data, from economists at Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard. Relatively few children in the poorest families scored that high; just one in five took the test at all.... The disparity highlights the inequality at the heart of American education: Starting very early, children from rich and poor families receive vastly different educations, in and out of school, driven by differences in the amount of money and time their parents are able to invest. And in the last five decades, as the country has become more unequal by income, the gap in children's academic achievement, as measured by test scores throughout schooling, has widened." MB: But, but don't these data prove that rich people like Donald Trump have very good brains?

Historian Seth Cotlar reflects on an education that whitewashed the facism and racism that were prominent in pre-World War II America. Cotlar was educated in the 1970s and '80s. Cotlar focuses first on the way American history "memory-holed" racist pro-Nazis Charles Lindbergh & Henry Ford. MB: It's still going on. For instance, the National Space & Air Museum, which Cotlar mentions in his essay still features Lindbergh's plane "The Spirit of Saint Louis," and the museum sponsors a Lindbergh fellowship that -- while generally lauding Lindbergh -- admits in passing, "His reputation was somewhat darkened by his acceptance of honors from the Nazi government in 1938, and by his noninterventionist activities for America First in 1941." Yeah, somewhat. And in Fort Myers, Florida, where I lived for more than a decade, Henry Ford is honored with a statue at a public park and in Fort Myers' Number 1 tourist attraction: the Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates museum. I can't recall any mention there of Ford's politics. Thanks to RAS for the link to Cotlar's essay.

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O Captain! My Captain! Wherefore Art Thou, My Captain? Lisa Lerer & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "As national Democrats largely stand behind President Biden and his agenda -- more united than in years -- Republicans are divided, directionless and effectively leaderless. In the House, Republicans are casting about for a new leader, mired in an internecine battle marked by screaming, cursing and a fresh flood of candidates. In the Senate, their party is led by Senator Mitch McConnell, who spent weeks arguing that he remained physically and mentally fit enough for the position after freezing midsentence in two public appearances. And on the 2024 campaign trail, the dominant front-runner, Donald J. Trump, faces 91 felony charges across four cases, creating a drumbeat of legal news that often overwhelms any of his party's political messages."

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Rarely is the contrast between the leadership of the two political parties as clear as it has been in recent days. President Biden has been steadfast in responding to the vicious attacks against Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists. Republicans in the House have been so consumed by internal differences that they have left Congress immobilized when action is demanded. The split-screen projections have reinforced perceptions that Republicans are unable or unwilling to govern. Too many Republicans in the House operate in a bubble constructed of false claims about the 2020 election and conspiracy theories about a potpourri of other topics -- a worldview shaped by a diet of Fox News and the erratic and at times dangerous rhetoric of ... Donald Trump.... Chaos hardly describes the scene on Capitol Hill. [Republicans] are damaging not only themselves as a party but also faith in the United States as a stable democracy.... On Ukraine and now Israel, Biden has earned praise from abroad and from many in the foreign policy community at home." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marshall Cohen & Kristen Holmes of CNN: "... Donald Trump claimed Sidney Powell was 'never' his attorney in a social media post Sunday, three days after she pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. Despite Trump's claims, Powell was briefly an official member of Trump's legal team in 2020, and Trump stayed in contact with her on election-related matters even after she was ousted from his campaign. 'Sidney Powell was one of millions and millions of people who thought, and in ever increasing numbers still think, correctly, that the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLLEN, AND OUR COUNTRY IS BEING ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT!!! MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS. In fact, she would have been conflicted,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... Trump publicly announced on November 15, 2020, that he 'added' Powell to his 'truly great team' of lawyers working on the election." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Germans call "stollen" "christstollen," but I think it's about time they adopt an all-nuts version called "trumpstollen" a/k/a "electionstollen." On a more serious note, it is rather odd how Trump comes up again and again with "truly great" staff, plucked from among "the best people," yet they all eventually disappoint him to the point he must disavow and/or berate them as losers. He's kinda down to his personal valet and the former parking valet now.

"The Trump Bazaar: Coffee & Nuclear Secrets." Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "New details of how an American president [-- Trump --] and an Australian billionaire [-- Anthony Pratt --] bonded over their mutual self-interest help to document the transactional ethos of the Trump presidency, and show how Mr. Trump melded his White House with his personal business in a way that, according to prosecutors, had ramifications for national security.... Mr. Pratt used his money and flattery to get on Mr. Trump's radar: He lavished praise on him in public appearances, bought newspaper ads that hyped Mr. Trump as a job creator and became a member of Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Pratt, in turn, gained priceless publicity and proximity to the power of the presidency, providing him entree into an administration whose policies lowered his taxes and benefited his business." Thanks to laura h. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the "60 Minutes Australia" segment upon which the NYT article is largely based. Thanks to unwashed for the lead:

     ~~~ Update. Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Trump took to Truth Social to deny the [NYT] report, blast the New York Times as 'Fake News,' and paint himself as a victim. He referenced Pratt as a 'red haired weirdo.' He blamed the NY Times and Maggie Haberman (which he derided as [']Maggie Hagerman and the Misfits') for not reaching out for comment, perhaps unaware that the source of the report was verified audio for anyone to hear." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: So Pratt is just one more "very fine person" who now has Trumpmobile tire tracks imprinted across his face.

Aaron Gregg & Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "After decades of expansion, the nation's largest drugstore chains are closing hundreds of stores as they reorient their operations against rising competition, a crush of opioid lawsuits and other forces -- relegating many already-vulnerable communities into pharmacy deserts. Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, CVS and Walgreens have signaled over the past two years plans to collectively shutter more than 1,500 stores. Public health experts have already seen the fallout, noting that the first neighborhoods to lose their pharmacies are often predominantly Black, Latinx and low-income."

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel said on Monday that it had struck hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip and attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, as President Biden led an international diplomatic effort to try to ensure the conflict does not ensnare other nations in the region. In a joint statement on Sunday, Mr. Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy urged Israel to protect civilians as it defended itself, and called for the release of all hostages believed to be held in Gaza. More than 4,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, when Israel began retaliating for an attack by the militant group that killed 1,400 people.... Hamas and other militant groups are believed to be holding more than 200 people captive, and, according to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, have been blocking U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals from leaving Gaza."

Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "The second aid convoy destined for desperate Palestinian civilians reached Gaza on Sunday, as Israel widened its attacks to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group that if it launches its own war, 'we will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine.'" ~~~

~~~ Kelly Garrity of Politico: "President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed in a phone call Sunday that Israel will allow a 'continued flow' of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, according to the White House. During the call, Biden 'welcomed the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance since Hamas's October 7 terrorist attack, which crossed the border into Gaza and is being distributed to Palestinians in need,' according to a readout from the White House. 'The leaders affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza.'"

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "By the time [President] Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday -- amid Israeli airstrikes that had already killed more than 3,000 Palestinians inside Gaza, an ongoing siege that left millions of civilians without food and water and preparations for a full-scale Israeli ground assault of the enclave -- the need to buy time for Israel 'to think this through,' in the words of one U.S. official, had become a core objective of the trip. Neither Biden, nor Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin or others in direct contact with their Israeli counterparts, told them what to do or what not to do.... Two weeks after the surprise Hamas attack, even as the Biden administration continues to extend full-throated support for Israel, it is trying to prevent the nightmare scenario 0f a wider regional war.... Other Western governments, amid expressions of support [for Israel], were privately delivering the same message."

Faris Tanyos of CBS News: "As tensions heighten in the Middle East amid the escalating Israel-Hamas war, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the U.S. will redeploy one of its strike groups to the Persian Gulf, as well as send additional air defense systems to the region. Austin also said that he has placed additional U.S. forces on 'prepare to deploy orders,' but did not detail how many. Austin earlier this week ordered 2,000 troops to be prepared to deploy to the Middle East. The latest decision followed 'detailed discussions with President Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East,' Austin said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Secretary Austin's statement is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sam Levine of the Guardian: "Mitch McConnell offered a strong endorsement on Sunday of the Joe Biden White House's $106bn aid proposal to Israel and Ukraine, saying he and the president were essentially 'in the same place' on the issue. McConnell, the powerful Republican leader in the Senate, also rebuffed some of his GOP colleagues in the Senate who have called for a package separating assistance for the two countries, saying it would be 'a mistake' during an interview on CBS's Face the Nation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday, I heard Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also speak favorably of President Biden's foreign aid request.

Loveday Morris & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "A Hamas field manual obtained by The Washington Post and other documents found in the wake of the group's brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago illustrate some of its military capabilities and preparations for close-in, bloody killing. The manual, dated last year and found on the body of a Hamas fighter, lists instructions on operating certain weapons, identifies vulnerabilities in Israeli military equipment and offers tips on killing with a knife. The document appears to have been prepared for different units of Hamas's elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, including anti-armor, engineering, sniper, infantry and tunnel specialists as well as what the booklet describes as 'shock troops.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

Odd News. New York Times: }An off-duty pilot who was in a jump seat in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight on Sunday has been charged with more than 80 counts of attempted murder after he tried to disrupt the engines, prompting the plane to divert to Portland, Ore., the authorities said. Flight 2059, operated by Horizon Airlines, an Alaska Airlines regional subsidiary, left Everett, Wash., around 5:23 p.m. and was headed to San Francisco when it reported 'a credible security threat related to an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who was traveling in the flight deck jump seat,' Alaska Airlines said in a statement on Monday.... The pilot asked that law enforcement meet the plane upon landing. The Port of Portland Police Department said in a statement that the flight crew 'was able to detain the subject and the flight landed safely at Portland International Airport just before 6:30 p.m.' The man was taken into custody without incident. The department identified him as Joseph D. Emerson."