The Commentariat -- October 26, 2017

Late Morning Update:

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "House Republicans passed budget legislation Thursday morning, narrowly overcoming internal dissension and Democratic opposition to clear a major obstacle in the GOP;s quest to pass large-scale tax cuts. The budget legislation authorizes special procedures that will allow Republicans to reduce federal revenues over the coming decade by as much as $1.5 trillion without Democratic help. The bill passed by a vote count of 216 to 212. No Democrats voted for the budget Thursday, nor did 20 Republicans. A key holdout bloc consisted of Republican lawmakers from states with high local tax burdens...."

Trump cites as proof that he has good manners his attendance at "an Ivy League school" half a century ago. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: And I am prettier than anybody because I went to a Big Ten school half a century ago. Also too, all college boys are polite young gentlemen & all Wisconsin co-eds are knock-outs. Update: as Jeanne has pointed out, she is just as pretty as I am.

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday will announce he is directing his Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, senior administration officials said, taking long-anticipated action to address a rapidly escalating epidemic of drug use in the United States. The move falls short of Mr. Trump's sweeping promise to declare a national emergency on opioids, which would have triggered the rapid allocation of federal funding to address the issue, and does not on its own release any money to deal with the drug abuse that claimed more than 59,000 lives in 2016. But it would allow some grant money to be used for a broad array of efforts to combat opioid abuse, and would ease certain laws and regulations to address it."

Well, Of Course He Did. Kelsey Tamborrino of Politico: "... Donald Trump raised the removal of Confederate statues and memorials on Thursday while touting his support for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie. 'Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #'s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!' Trump tweeted on Thursday."

Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "Five women have come forward with allegations that Mark Halperin, one of the country's most prominent political journalists, sexually harassed them during his time at ABC News, according to a CNN report. Halperin, who has been a high-profile analyst for NBC News, often appearing on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program, is co-author of 'Game Change,' the best-selling book about the 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain. He formerly hosted a Bloomberg TV show called 'With All Due Respect.' Early Thursday, NBC News said in a statement: 'Mark Halperin is leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood,' the network reported. On 'Morning Joe,' Mika Brzezinski said: 'We are going to be following this story as it develops I'm sure we are going to be talking about it again when we know more about it.'' Mrs. McC: Don't worry; even without Halperin, the "Morning Joe" show will still be insufferable.

*****

** The Weak President. Elizabeth Drew in the New Republic: At his rallies, presidential candidate Donald Trump excited his most avid supporters through displays of toughness.... And then ,,, Trump not only didn't have an alternative to Obamacare ready on his first day in office, he never offered one. Moreover, when House Republicans presented to him their own ideas about what should be in the health care bill, they found him to be an easy mark.... He keeps telling us what a fine mind he has, but if so he seems loath to exercise it much.... And then, when it came to major substantive questions -- whether to stick with the Iran deal, how to resolve the status of undocumented immigrants who came into the country as children, and, most recently, how far to go in smashing Obamacare subsidies -- he turned these matters over to Congress to resolve. In addition, Trump has vacillated on several issues.... Trump has left a lot of the firing of people to others or used indirect methods.... Except for his use of executive orders (often to countermand ones by Obama) and his cyber-bullying, Trump is essentially a passive participant in his own government." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Drew is exactly right. My fear is that if her observation gains traction (as it should), Trump will decide to bomb someplace, as if that would be evidence of strength rather than stupidity.

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Wednesday revived the controversy over his handling of a condolence call with an Army soldier's widow, disputing Myeshia Johnson's claim that he did not seem to remember her husband's name and calling into question the memories of others who heard the conversation. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before departing for a fundraiser in Dallas, Trump said he called Army Sgt. La David Johnson -- who was killed after an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger that is still being investigated -- by his correct name 'right from the beginning.' 'One of the great memories of all time,' the president said, pointing at his head with his left hand. 'There's no hesitation.' Trump also said he had not specifically authorized the mission in Niger, which left four U.S. soldiers including Johnson dead and has prompted a slew of unanswered questions about how the mission went awry. 'No I didn't, not specifically, but I have generals that are great generals -- these are great fighters, these are warriors,' he said. 'I gave them authority to do what's right so that we win. That's the authority they have. I want to win and we're going to win.'" ...

... Gail Collins: "Early in this presidency, optimists believed that when Trump suddenly veered wildly from one position to another it was because of canny tactics. Now optimists believe that he's just ... really forgetful."

Safe Spaces for Morons. Jason Schwarz of Politico: "President Donald Trump is scheduled to sit down for an interview with Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, marking the 18th time that the president has been interviewed on a Fox television network, a preference unprecedented in the history of presidential TV interviews." --safari

Frank Rich of New York: "[T]he notion that Flake's words -- or Corker's or McCain's -- are going to change the mind of a single member of the Trump base ... is preposterous.... The Vichy leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan will remain as supine as ever, hoping they land their beloved deep tax cuts in the bargain.... They still fail to concede that legislation is not Trump's aim, not even classic conservative GOP legislation like tax cuts.... With Bannon as his wingman, his aim is to blow up the Republican Party, purge it of a feckless and tired Establishment, and remake it with his own shock troops into a nativist and nationalist regime." --safari

** Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Alexander Nix, who heads a controversial data-analytics firm that worked for ... Donald Trump's campaign, wrote in an email last year that he reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton's missing 33,000 emails. Nix, who heads Cambridge Analytica, told a third party that he reached out to Assange about his firm somehow helping the WikiLeaks editor release Clinton's missing emails, according to two sources familiar with a congressional investigation into interactions between Trump associates and the Kremlin. Those sources also relayed that, according to Nix's email, Assange told the Cambridge Analytica CEO that he didn't want his help, and preferred to do the work on his own. If the claims Nix made in that email are true, this would be the closest known connection between Trump's campaign and Assange.... Robert and Rebekah Mercer, a billionaire father-daughter duo that spent big to boost Trump's presidential candidacy, are major investors in Cambridge Analytica." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Who Dat? A "Mislabeling" Error. Natasha Bertrand of Business Insider: "Key members of ... Donald Trump's campaign team scrambled Wednesday to distance themselves from the data mining and analysis company Cambridge Analytica, whose CEO reportedly reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the presidential campaign to offer help in finding Hillary Clinton's 'missing' emails. The Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica in June 2016 to help target ads using voter data collected from approximately 230 million US adults. Multiple outlets, including NBC News and The Washington Post, reported that the campaign paid Cambridge Analytica more than $5 million in September alone, up from $250,000 in August. But Michael S. Glassner, the executive director of Trump's campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday -- hours after The Daily Beast reported on the data firm's outreach to Assange -- that the only source of voter data that played a key role in Trump's election victory was the Republican National Committee.... Brad Parscale, the digital director of the Trump campaign's entire data operation, similarly downplayed Cambridge's role in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. 'I have said from the beginning this' $5 million 'Cambridge invoice is mislabeled in the FEC reports,' Parscale said. Parscale hired Cambridge Analytica in June 2016, ;partly at the urging former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was the former vice president of Cambridge's board, according to The New York Times.

Adam Blake of the Washington Post: "The Post is reporting that the [Steele] dossier's author, [Christopher] Steele, wasn't brought into the mix until after Democrats retained Fusion GPS. So while both sides paid Fusion GPS, Steele was only funded by Democrats.... Despite there being no proof the FBI actually paid Steele, Trump suggested it might have in a tweet last week -- along with 'Russia ... or the Dems (or all).' Of those three groups, only Democrats have been reported to have actually paid Steele. And again, that was already kind-of known.... Given Democrats' argument that Russia's interference on Trump's behalf was beyond the pale, the Clinton camp and the DNC paying a Brit for information would seem somewhat problematic.... But ... the British after all are, unlike the Russians, America's allies. Also, Steele was not acting as an agent of a foreign government, which is what would likely be required to prove collusion in the case of the Trump campaign and Russia. Separately, the firm that the Clinton camp and the DNC paid also has alleged ties to the Kremlin.... The firm has worked with both Democrats and Republicans over the years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ken Vogel of the New York Times also provides background on the financing of the dossier. "In a complaint filed with the F.E.C. on Wednesday, the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit group that urges stricter enforcement of election laws, alleged that 'at least some of those payments [to the law firm for the Clinton campaign & the DNC] were earmarked for Fusion GPS, with the purpose of conducting opposition research on Donald Trump.' The complaint asserts that the failure to list the ultimate purpose of that money 'undermined the vital public information role that reporting is intended to serve.'" ...

... ** David Corn of Mother Jones: "The news that a law firm working for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee bankrolled the Trump opposition research project that produced the infamous Trump-Russia memos has touched off much howling in GOP and conservative quarters. The revelation that these Democratic outfits financed the digging of Christopher David Steele, the veteran British counterintelligence officer, was a scoop -- but it does not fundamentally change the landscape.... Republicans are asserting the Steele memos should be dismissed because they are a dastardly Democratic oppo concoction and saying this somehow undermines the whole Trump-Russia scandal. Yet at the same time, they are demanding an investigation of the fake Clinton-uranium scandal that was based on a debunked story subsidized and promoted by a big-money conservative donor and Trump backer." Read on. ...

... Paul Waldman explains why his new "Clinton scandal" is nonsense. Mrs. McC:: Of course, none of this affects the presidunce, who called the news "the real collusion. Believe me." or his consummately stupid, dingbat press secretary who wrote, in what I guess passes for an official "tweet," "Hard 2read this w/o concluding Clinton campaign colluded w Russia 2interfere in US election."

Steve Dennis of Bloomberg: "The Senate Judiciary Committee's bipartisan Russia probe has fractured, with Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein saying they're each going to set their own path on the investigation. The two senators spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday, where they agreed to pursue different issues without giving up on the original probe -- into the reasons ... Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and Russian attempts to interfere in the election. Feinstein ... said she doesn't understand a push by Republicans to once again investigate Hillary Clinton's emails or pursue a 2010 Obama-era deal by a Russian-backed company to purchase American uranium mines."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "This past summer, the Trump administration debated lowering the annual cap on refugees admitted to the United States. Should it stay at 110,000, be cut to 50,000 or fall somewhere in between? John F. Kelly offered his opinion. If it were up to him, he said, the number would be between zero and one. Mr. Kelly's comment made its way around the White House, according to an administration official, and reinforced what is only now becoming clear to many on the outside. While some officials had predicted Mr. Kelly would be a calming chief of staff for an impulsive president, recent days have made clear that he is more aligned with President Trump than anticipated. For all of the talk of Mr. Kelly as a moderating force and the so-called grown-up in the room, it turns out that he harbors strong feelings on patriotism, national security and immigration that mirror the hard-line views of his outspoken boss." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nice to see even Peter Baker has Kelly's number.

Kevin Cirilli, et al. of Bloomberg: "President Donald Trump does not intend to appoint National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn to lead the Federal Reserve, three people familiar with the matter said.... Cohn is likely to leave the White House soon after Congress disposes with the tax plan, two people said." --safari

** Donors with Benefits. Russ Choma & Nick Schwellenbach of Mother Jones: "During his 20 years as a US senator, [Jeff] Sessions pocketed hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from both Drummond Company, the corporation at the heart of [a political bribery scandal ... involving the state's largest coal company and [a] powerful, politically connected law firm]..., Birmingham-based ... Balch & Bingham. But his ties to Drummond and Balch extend beyond the usual political contributions. Last year, according to documents obtained by Mother Jones and the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, Sessions intervened to oppose the Environmental Protection Agency action at issue in the bribery case, and he did so just weeks after conferring with Balch lawyers.... Yet Sessions, who filled a key Justice Department position with a Balch lawyer and who was prepped for his confirmation hearing by an attorney at the firm, has so far taken no steps to recuse himself." --safari

Gov't = Business. Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "The U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, announced plans Tuesday to increase entrance fees at 17 parks during their busiest five-month periods as a way to raise new revenue for infrastructure improvements. Under the proposed fee change, beginning next year, entries for cars would jump from $25 to $70 between June 1 and October 31.... The Trump administration's proposed budget would increase funding for energy development on public lands while cutting virtually everything else, including the budget for the National Park Service." --safari: A great way to pay for tax cuts for the rich by raiding the pockets of nature-lovin' liburals.

Republican "Intellectualism". Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "President Donald Trump adviser and Breitbart.com columnist Kris Kobach cut and pasted into his October 24 column anti-immigrant bullet points that have appeared in random message boards, Yahoo! Answers, and chain letters for more than 10 years.... Kobach's Breitbart column also cited a piece by a white nationalist [Peter B. Gemma] who has reportedly been 'part of the American Holocaust denial movement.'" --safari

EPA Infections. Sharon Lerner of The Intercept: "Powerless Democrats watched in anger as their Republican colleagues in the Senate voted along party lines to advance Michael Dourson's nomination to become an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.... Dourson -- a massively conflicted scientist known within industry for his ability to come up with standards companies liked, create science to justify them, and then 'sell' the package to the EPA -- is one step closer to assuming his role overseeing chemical safety in the United States. His actual tenure at the EPA seems to have already begun, since he was quietly appointed as an adviser to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt despite not having approval -- a move that may have the law." --safari

Contributor PD Pepe came upon this video of Ben Carson's "testimony" before a House committee:

... Mrs. McCrabbie: There are any number of "correct" answers when you don't know the actual answer to a question posed during testimony. They all start with "I don't know," followed by a good-faith promise to provide the information and to otherwise accommodate the questioner. "Here's what I want to talk about" is not the answer to any question posed in a hearing, as Rep. Green suggests. P.S. Did I mention that the SUBJECT OF THE HEARING WAS PROPOSED HUD BUDGET CUTS? Well, Ole Doc was not even minimally prepared to talk about that, and he didn't want to talk about that and he said so to the Congressman, who was exercising his oversight duty.

GOP Dangerous Loons. Max Kutner of Newsweek, via RawStory: "A lawyer who President Donald Trump nominated to be a federal judge once likened the treatment of Christians during the Obama administration to that of people in Nazi Germany and under communist regimes. Jeff Mateer made the comments in radio interviews in 2013 and 2014, according to audio clips that CNN resurfaced." --safari

Power of Plutocracy. Jonathan Chait: "The human mind is an incredibly adept tool for generating reasons to turn one's own self-interest into a moral argument. The Republican Congress has turned this normal process of rationalization on its head. They have taken actions they truly consider to be morally correct, and convinced themselves that they are following their own self-interest.... [S]omehow Republicans have convinced themselves that their popularity depends upon passing this unpopular [tax] plan that would carry out unpopular goals.... A clever Republican Party would understand that this agenda is a way of spending its political capital. Instead they have somehow persuaded themselves that they are earning more of it." --safari

Sounds Good ... So Scrap It. Adam Cancryn of Politico: "A bipartisan bill to stabilize Obamacare would cut the federal deficit by $3.8 billion but wouldn't do much to change health insurance premiums for 2018, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. It would not substantially change the number of people who are covered. The report is about the bipartisan bill negotiated by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) which has broad support in the Senate but is unlikely to get a swift vote given opposition from President Donald Trump as well as from House Republicans." --safari

Steven Mufson & Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "Puerto Rico's financial oversight board is moving to install an emergency manager at the island's state-owned utility amid criticism of a $300 million contract it awarded to a small Montana energy firm for work on the territory's crippled electrical grid. The board said Wednesday that it intends to appoint Noel Zamot, a retired Air Force colonel and member of the oversight panel, to oversee daily operations of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The decision comes as ... Democrats called for an investigation into the utility's agreement with Whitefish Energy.... The Washington Post reported on Monday that Whitefish had only two full-time employees on the day Hurricane Maria hit the island and had never taken on repairs on the scale of the destruction suffered in Puerto Rico.... Under the contract, Whitefish is charging $330 an hour for a site supervisor and $227.88 an hour for a 'journeyman lineman.' The cost for subcontractors, which make up the bulk of Whitefish's workforce, is $462 per hour for a supervisor and $319.04 for a lineman." Emphasis added. ...

... Molly Olmstead of Slate (October 24): "A tiny, 2-year-old energy company from a small town in Montana won a $300 million contract to fix Puerto Rico's hurricane-ravaged power grid, raising concerns about the decision-making behind the lucrative deal and the company's ties to people connected to the Trump administration, as well as the company's ability to fully meet Puerto Rico's recovery needs. Whitefish Energy ... now has by far the largest contract of any company involved in Puerto Rico's recovery, and, according to reporting from the Daily Beast, is primarily financed by a firm run by a major Trump donor who has connections to several members of his administration. The contract has also raised eyebrows because the company is based in Whitefish, Montana, the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (population: 7,436). Zinke's office told the Washington Post that Zinke knows the company's CEO ... but that Zinke had no role in the deal. A member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, Luis Vega Ramos, told the Daily Beast that connections to Zinke and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló were Whitefish's 'most important expertise and assets.' Vega Ramos accused Whitefish of being a 'glorified middleman' that crafted a 'cozy sweetheart deal' to make money off subcontracting."

Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "A pregnant undocumented teenager in federal custody whose attempt to have an abortion set off a monthlong legal battle with the Trump administration terminated her pregnancy on Wednesday morning. She underwent the procedure a day after a court ruling forced federal officials to allow it. The teenager, who is 17 and is identified in court documents as Jane Doe, tried to illegally cross the border in Texas in early September and was apprehended. Her pregnancy was discovered during a physical exam, and since then she had been fighting in court to have an abortion." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

As a "Journalist," He's a Joke; Otherwise, Not o Funny. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Veteran journalist Mark Halperin sexually harassed women while he was in a powerful position at ABC News, according to five women who shared their previously undisclosed accounts with CNN and others who did not experience the alleged harassment personally, but were aware of it. 'During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me,' Halperin said in a statement to CNN Wednesday night. 'I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I'm going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation.'" ...

... Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times (October 24): "Leon Wieseltier, a prominent editor at The New Republic for three decades who was preparing to unveil a new magazine next week, apologized on Tuesday for 'offenses against some of my colleagues in the past' after several women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate advances. As those allegations came to light, Laurene Powell Jobs, a leading philanthropist whose for-profit organization, Emerson Collective, was backing Mr. Wieseltier's endeavor, decided to pull the plug on it.... Several women ... said they were humiliated when Mr. Wieseltier sloppily kissed them on the mouth, sometimes in front of other staff members. Others said he discussed his sex life, once describing the breasts of a former girlfriend in detail. Mr. Wieseltier made passes at female staffers, they said, and pressed them for details about their own sexual encounters." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The New Republic has long had the reputation of being a boys' club that was highly dismissive of women's intellects. In that light, Wieseltier's conduct is hardly surprising. ...

... Dave McKenna of Deadspin: "Earlier this week, actress Heather Lind said in a now-deleted Instagram post that former president George H.W. Bush had sexually assaulted her. 'He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side,' she wrote. 'He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again.'... Jordana Grolnick, a New York actress, has a story to tell that doesn't sound very different at all. 'I got sent the Heather Lind story by many people this morning,' Grolnick says. 'And I'm afraid that mine is entirely similar.' Rumors about Bush groping actresses in this manner have been circulating for a while. More than a year ago, a tipster passed word about the Heather Lind incident to Deadspin. We were told that Bush had, during a photo opp, groped her and told her that his favorite magician was 'David Cop-a-Feel' while fondling her."

Flying While Black. Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "The nation's oldest civil rights organization, citing a 'troubling pattern of disturbing incidents,' urged travelers -- particularly those who are African American -- to rethink whether they should fly with American Airlines. In a statement released Tuesday night, officials with the NAACP said the travel advisory would remain in effect 'until further notice.'... In issuing the advisory, NAACP officials cited four recent incidents of 'troublesome conduct' by the airline and said they 'suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias on the part of American Airlines.' The incidents involved black passengers being removed from flights for various reasons...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Legalize It. Adam Raymond of New York: "More Americans than ever think marijuana should be legal, according to a new Gallup poll that found a majority of Republicans supporting legalization for the first time ever. The 64 percent of Americans who told Gallup they support making marijuana legal is the most in the nearly 50 years Gallup has asked the question. It also represents a more-than-fivefold increase over the 12 percent of Americans who said they supported legalization the first time Gallup asked, in 1969." --safari

Beyond the Beltway

**The Purge. Kira Lerner of ThinkProgress: "Alabama's Republican secretary of state [John Merrill] wants potentially 674 Alabama citizens who voted both in this year’s Democratic primary and Republican runoff elections, in violation of a new law, to be charged with a felony and imprisoned for five years.... Merrill told ThinkProgress ... that he thinks the individuals who switched party affiliations should be sent to prison for five years and hit with a $15,000 fine, the maximum allowable punishment for the low-level felony." --safari: FYI, Merrill is best buds with Kris Kobach [R-piece of shit] ...

Way Beyond

Javier Hernandez of the New York Times: "Xi Jinping of China has so many titles -- more than a dozen and counting -- that he has been called 'chairman of everything.'... On Wednesday, he gained another five-year term as the party's general secretary and introduced a new leadership team with no clear successor, prompting speculation that he intends to rule beyond the customary second term." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Look for some jealousy-fueled tweets from our own Little King, knocking Xi & threatened another international crisis between two nuclear powers. The president of us* still doesn't get why he has not been anointed the "President of Everything."

The Commentariat -- October 25, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Alexander Nix, who heads a controversial data-analytics firm that worked for ... Donald Trump’s campaign, wrote in an email last year that he reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton's missing 33,000 emails. Nix, who heads Cambridge Analytica, told a third party that he reached out to Assange about his firm somehow helping the WikiLeaks editor release Clinton's missing emails, according to two sources familiar with a congressional investigation into interactions between Trump associates and the Kremlin. Those sources also relayed that, according to Nix's email, Assange told the Cambridge Analytica CEO that he didn't want his help, and preferred to do the work on his own. If the claims Nix made in that email are true, this would be the closest known connection between Trump's campaign and Assange.... Robert and Rebekah Mercer, a billionaire father-daughter duo that spent big to boost Trump's presidential candidacy, are major investors in Cambridge Analytica." ...

... Adam Blake of the Washington Post: "The Post is reporting that the dossier's author, [Christopher] Steele, wasn't brought into the mix until after Democrats retained Fusion GPS. So while both sides paid Fusion GPS, Steele was only funded by Democrats.... Despite there being no proof the FBI actually paid Steele, Trump suggested it might have in a tweet last week -- along with 'Russia ... or the Dems (or all).' Of those three groups, only Democrats have been reported to have actually paid Steele. And again, that was already kind-of known.... Given Democrats' argument that Russia's interference on Trump's behalf was beyond the pale, the Clinton camp and the DNC paying a Brit for information would seem somewhat problematic.... But ... the British after all are, unlike the Russians, America's allies. Also, Steele was not acting as an agent of a foreign government, which is what would likely be required to prove collusion in the case of the Trump campaign and Russia. Separately, the firm that the Clinton camp and the DNC paid also has alleged ties to the Kremlin.... The firm has worked with both Democrats and Republicans over the years."

Javier Hernandez of the New York Times: "Xi Jinping of China has so many titles -- more than a dozen and counting -- that he has been called 'chairman of everything.'... On Wednesday, he gained another five-year term as the party's general secretary and introduced a new leadership team with no clear successor, prompting speculation that he intends to rule beyond the customary second term." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Look for some jealousy-fueled tweets from our own Little King, knocking Xi & threatened another international crisis between two nuclear powers. The president of us* still doesn't get why he has not been anointed the "President of Everything."

Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "A pregnant undocumented teenager in federal custody whose attempt to have an abortion set off a monthlong legal battle with the Trump administration terminated her pregnancy on Wednesday morning. She underwent the procedure a day after a court ruling forced federal officials to allow it. The teenager, who is 17 and is identified in court documents as Jane Doe, tried to illegally cross the border in Texas in early September and was apprehended. Her pregnancy was discovered during a physical exam, and since then she had been fighting in court to have an abortion."

Flying While Black. Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "The nation's oldest civil rights organization, citing a 'troubling pattern of disturbing incidents,' urged travelers -- particularly those who are African American -- to rethink whether they should fly with American Airlines. In a statement released Tuesday night, officials with the NAACP said the travel advisory would remain in effect 'until further notice.'... In issuing the advisory, NAACP officials cited four recent incidents of 'troublesome conduct' by the airline and said they ''suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias on the part of American Airlines./ The incidents involved black passengers being removed from flights for various reasons...."

*****

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who has tangled with President Trump for months, announced on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election in 2018, saying he 'will no longer be complicit or silent' in the face of the president's 'reckless, outrageous and undignified' behavior. Mr. Flake made his announcement in an extraordinary, 17-minute speech on the Senate floor, in which he challenged not only the president but also his party's leadership. He deplored 'the casual undermining of our democratic ideals, the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedom and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency' that he said has become so prevalent in American politics. The remarkable moment came just hours after Mr. Trump had renewed his attacks on another critic in the Republican Party, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, saying he 'couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee.' Mr. Corker, appearing more weary than angry, said the president 'is debasing our country.'" ...

... Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump renewed his attacks on Senator Bob Corker on Tuesday, chastising him for his skepticism over a $1.5 trillion tax cut. Mr. Corker responded by going on national television to say that Mr. Trump was 'debasing' the United States and that the president struggled with the truth. Mr. Corker 'couldn't get elected dogcatcher in Tennessee,' Mr. Trump wrote in a Twitter post on Tuesday. Mr. Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, is not running for re-election after serving in the Senate since 2007.... Mr. Corker, who supported Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential election, told CNN on Tuesday that he would not do that again." The story includes each of Trump's insulting tweets about Corker. Mrs. McC: Right off the bat, I spotted two lies in the tweets -- lies which the media have exposed. Another of many instances in which Trump not only lies, he sticks to his lies. ...

... Calvin Woodward of the AP: "TRUMP tweets Tuesday: 'Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts.'... THE FACTS: Trump, who spelled Tennessee right the first time, continues to label Corker an enabler of the Iran nuclear deal when he was a leading critic of it.... Trump contended, also in a tweet, that Corker decided not to seek another term next year because he 'couldn't get re-elected.'... But the president has not substantiated his claim that Corker made that decision because he failed to secure his endorsement.... In fact, Trump urged Corker to run during a private meeting in September, AP learned. And Corker's chief of staff, Todd Womack, said Trump called Corker after that to ask that he reconsider his decision to leave the Senate. Trump 'reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times,' the aide said." ...

... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: Sarah Sanders "on Tuesday fought back against blistering attacks from Sens. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, calling the retiring Republicans 'petty' for their harsh words about ... Donald Trump while praising their exits as 'the right decision.'" Mrs. McC: Apparently Sanders doesn't know that "petty" means "small." Corker & Flake went big. ...

... Charles Pierce: "It is true that Flake had a long push up a dirt road to get re-elected, and it is also true that his departure, along with that of Brave Bob Corker, accelerates the process by which the Republican majority in the Senate is transforming itself into a babbling replica of the Republican majority in the House, a process that is evidence enough of the virulence and the spread of the prion disease that has been eating away at the party's higher functions for four decades.... It's hard to parse Flake's logic as anything but abject surrender to the monster that finally chewed itself out of the lab.... I find it hard to reconcile this existential threat to the country's politics with Flake's decision to leave office instead of fighting it.... His party is bound to get crazier, and the president* is completely around the bend." ...

... MEANWHILE. Three Cheers for Trump. Profiles in Cowardice. Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Just hours after publicly trading insults with a key GOP senator..., Donald Trump kept to the script and held a 'productive,' hour-long meeting with Senate Republicans, according to several senators. Trump outlined at length his accomplishments since taking office, and hen asked for Senate Republicans to help him push through a major tax-reform package. The assembled GOP senators responded to Trump's appearance with three standing ovations." Emphasis added.

Trump Sends Pence out to Help Financiers Screw Customers. Jessica Silver-Greenberg of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to strike down a sweeping new rule that would have allowed millions of Americans to band together in class-action lawsuits against financial institutions. The overturning of the rule, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-to-50 tie, will further loosen regulation of Wall Street as the Trump administration and Republicans move to roll back Obama-era policies enacted in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. By defeating the rule, Republicans are dismantling a major effort of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog created by Congress in the aftermath of the mortgage mess. The rule, five years in the making, would have dealt a serious blow to financial firms, potentially exposing them to a flood of costly lawsuits over questionable business practices."

E-Mails! Russia! Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Leading House Republicans announced on Tuesday two new probes, one into how the Obama administration's Justice Department handled a deal that gave Russia control over 20 percent of the U.S. uranium supply and the other into how it investigated Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. The parallel investigations -- both of which involve the House Oversight Committee working in cooperation with another panel -- formally revive issues that the Trump campaign used to try to discredit his Democratic rival during the 2016 presidential race and later the conduct of then-FBI Director James B. Comey. Democrats were quick to charge that the GOP-led probes were 'designed to distract attention' from the various investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin." Mrs. McC: No kidding. Looking forward to more slapstick antics from chair Devin Nunes. ...

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times has a more detailed story on these farces. "Representatives Elijah E. Cummings and John Conyers Jr., the top Democrats on the Oversight and Judiciary Committees, said in a joint statement that the investigations amounted to 'a massive diversion to distract from the lack of Republican oversight of the Trump administration and the national security threat that Russia poses.'" ...

... Louis Jacobson & John Kruzel of PolitiFact attempt to explain the Russian uranium story.

A Tale of the Dossier. Adam Entous, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump's connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said. Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research. After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Fusion GPS gave Steele's reports and other research documents to Elias." ...

... Ed Kilgore describes th revelation as "another blow to the reputation of the Clinton campaign, and at a minimum a distraction to the work of federal investigators looking into the Trump-Russia connection." Mrs. McC: I actually think it's great that Clinton, indirectly, introduced us to the "golden rain" story. But then I'm meaner than a junkyard dog. Too bad Hillary never used it. ...

... Kevin Drum: "This is nuts. Republicans are now planning an investigation into the ridiculous myth that Hillary Clinton turned over America's precious bodily fluids uranium to the Russians. Also Devin Nunes apparently has more to say about her emails. And I guess the infamous Steele Dossier is also up for grabs.... Has anyone notified Republicans that Hillary lost and will never be running against them again?"

Jeff Toobin expounds on Mitch McConnell's latest means of turning the federal judiciary as a bastion of right-wing ideologues. McConnell is refusing to honor the "blue slip" tradition of allowing home-state senators to effectively nix a presidential appointment. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link, & for her comment. Mrs. McC: There is no circumstance in which it would make sense to use the term "fair play" & "Mitch McConnell" in the same sentence. McConnell is no turtle; he's a snake.

Et Tu, Poppy? Tom Porter of Newsweek: "Former President George H.W. Bush has apologized for an 'attempt at humor' after being accused of sexual assault by actress Heather Lind. Lind, in a now-deleted Instagram post Tuesday, accused Bush, 93, of touching her from behind during a photo-op while in his wheelchair. She said Bush's wife, Barbara, was standing beside him during the 2014 photo-op for American Revolutionary War drama Turn: Washington's Spies. 'He didn't shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say 'not again'.'" ...

     ... Akhilleus: This is an attempt at "humor"? Laugh? I thought I'd die. Even "funnier", Lind was told by Poppy's security staff that it was her fault for standing so close to the ex-president's wheelchair. She should know better. She was just egging him on. What is going on here? Old guys in wheelchairs are still grabbing women then saying it was just a joke? And Barbara was right there? Jesus.

Paul Ryan: A Tower of Jello. Bob Bryan of Business Insider: "House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday deflected questions about the escalating war of words between President Donald Trump and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee hours ahead of a GOP policy lunch on tax reform....' So all this stuff you see on a daily basis on Twitter this and Twitter that, forget about it,' Ryan said. 'Let's focus on helping people, improving people's lives, and doing what we said we would do that accomplishes that. That's what we're focused on.'"

...Akhilleus: According to Man of the People, Lyin' Ryan, the attacks by Senators Flake and Corker on Trump amount to little more than an inconsequential dust up, a Twitter feud. First, only Trump the Coward used Twitter to express his position. Flake stood up before the entire Senate and Corker appeared live on CNN to deliver their messages. Weasels like Ryan who are not man enough to anything but grovel simply wish the whole thing can go away so they can back to the business of fleecing the voters. The last thing an amoral slug like Ryan wants is a national debate about the hollow, wretchedly deceitful state of the Republican Party.

Numbers Don't Lie: FiveThirtyEight. Tracking the pro-Trump votes taken by Bob Corker and Jeff Flake. Corker voted with Trump 86.3% of the time. Jeff Flake, 90.0%.

...Akhilleus: Their declarations of woe at the state of the nation under Trump are belied by their decisions to side with Trump on pretty much everything he wants. If these guys are the saviors, we're in bigger trouble than we imagined. And if you have a chance, run down the list of things they voted on with Trump. The vast majority are repeals of Obama era regulations and laws, things like repeals of environmental, banking, employment, healthcare, and consumer safeguards.

News Ledes

Rolling Stone: "Fats Domino, the genial, good-natured symbol of the dawn of rock and roll and the voice and piano behind enduring hits like 'Blueberry Hill' and 'Ain't That a hame,' died Tuesday at the age of 89.... A contemporary of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Domino was among the first acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was reportedly only second to Presley in record sales thanks to a titanic string of 11 top 10 hits between 1955 and 1960."

ABC News: "Two men were fatally shot early Wednesday morning on the campus of Grambling State University in northern Louisiana, authorities said. The suspect fled the scene, according to the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Department, which said it doesn't believe the suspect was a GSU student. The suspect has not been apprehended. Police said they believe there was an altercation in a dorm room on campus, which led up to the shooting in a courtyard outside."

The Commentariat -- October 24, 2017

... Kristine Phillips & Freedom du Lac of the Washington Post: "Making her first public comments since she took the call from Trump last week -- on the same day her husband's remains were flown back to the United States -- [Myeshia] Johnson recalled that the president said her husband 'knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways. And it made me cry. I was very angry at the tone of his voice, and how he said it.' She added: 'I didn't say anything. I just listened.' Trump on Monday disputed Johnson's account, characterizing his conversation with her as 'very respectful.' 'I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon). ...

... ** In Effect, Trump Called a Gold Star Widow a Liar. Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "There were no accompanying words of compassion [from Trump] for Johnson, who said that the call 'made me cry even worse.'... This is a steep escalation of Trump's claims that Representative Frederica Wilson, who was in a car with Johnson during the call, and said that the President had not been respectful, had 'totally fabricated' her account of it." ...

     ... Mrs Bea McCrabbie: Let me think, whom do I believe? The apolitical new widow of an American soldier KIA or a guy who tells a whopper -- in public -- an average of five times a day? That of course does not include the many fibs he surely tells off-the-record. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: The headline on Politico's story is "Trump spars with widow of slain soldier about condolence call." I'm no historian, but I'll bet a headline that reads "[President] spars with widow of slain soldier" is a first in American history. ...

...Spineless. Luke Barnes of ThinkProgress: "[A]s Trump attacked a grieving military widow, Congressional Republicans were completely silent online...Several Democrats blasted Trump for attacking a Gold Star widow." --safari...

... AND Andy Borotwitz "reports," "Calling himself 'unbelievably brave,' Donald Trump said on Monday that he is the only President in U.S. history with the courage to stand up to war widows." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Since Trump thinks all the liberal media put out is "fake news," we should quit labeling the Borowitz Report as satire & just accept it as another news source. If the right can treat its nutty conspiracy theories as news, why can't we? Comedians' "reports" are more truthy than are the "reports" of some right-wing outlets. ...

... Daniella Diaz of CNN: "Some senators are saying they didn't know the US had troops in Niger as questions swirl about the raid that killed four US servicemen there earlier this month.The Pentagon, however, said Monday it has kept Congress informed of the operation." Among those who said they didn't know were Lindsey Graham & Chuck Schumer.

... Michelle Goldberg makes the case that Democrats should publicly urge Trump's impeachment now. "... as the Harvard Law scholar Cass Sunstein, author of the recent book 'Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide,' told me, that doesn't mean Congress can impeach only a president who is caught breaking the law. 'Crime is neither necessary nor sufficient,' said Sunstein.... 'If the president went on vacation in Madagascar for six months, that's not a crime, but that's impeachable.'"

... Paul Krugman: John "Kelly has neither admitted error nor apologized. Instead, the White House declared that it's unpatriotic to criticize generals -- which, aside from being a deeply un-American position, is ludicrous given the many times Donald Trump has done just that. But we are living in the age of Trumpal infallibility: We are ruled by men who never admit error, never apologize and, crucially, never learn from their mistakes. Needless to say, men who think admitting error makes you look weak just keep making bigger mistakes; delusions of infallibility eventually lead to disaster, and one can only hope that the disasters ahead don't bring catastrophe for all of us.... Trumpal infallibility ... is a disease that infested the modern Republican Party long before Trump. And one of the areas where the symptoms are especially severe is monetary policy." Krugman discusses some zombie errors confederate economists can never admit.

Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday tweeted that changes won't be made to 401(k) plans after reports that congressional Republicans were considering a major alteration to the retirement accounts in forthcoming tax-reform legislation." Mrs. McC: I would not count on taking this or any other Trump promise to the bank. (Also linked yesterday afternoon). ...

... Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Monday that he would oppose any effort to reduce the amount of pretax income that American workers can save in 401(k) retirement accounts, effectively killing an idea that Republicans were mulling as a way to help pay for a $1.5 trillion tax cut. The directive, issued via Twitter, underscored a growing fear among Republicans and business lobbyists that Mr. Trump's bully-pulpit whims could undermine the party's best chance to pass the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in decades.... Mr. Trump 'can shift on a dime, and he has many unformed policy positions,' said Representative Charlie Dent, Republican of Pennsylvania. 'We have to worry about him shifting positions.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The only "reform" bill Trump would not sign is one that had too few Tax-cuts-for-Trump provisions. Otherwise, Trump will sign any bill he can call a "win." If Republicans brought him a bill that abolished 401(k)s & confiscated all 401(k) funds which Americans had previously saved, Trump would sign it.

Best Way to Influence Trump: Appeal to His Greed. Eric Levitz: "In a perfect world, the American president would neither take foreign-policy advice from a casino magnate with ties to the Chinese government, nor give special preference to asylum-seekers who frequent his luxury properties. But sometimes, the next best option is, apparently, to have a president who does both.... The Wall Street Journal ... reports that casino tycoon Steve Wynn ... [who] owns multiple billion-dollar gambling properties in the Chinese region of Macau ... hand-delivered a letter to Trump that was written by the Chinese government. In the missive, Beijing urged the president to extradite Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman turned vocal critic of corruption in Xi Jinping's government. Guo fled China in 2014 and is currently seeking asylum in the United States.... During an Oval Office discussion of the Guo affair in June ... the president reportedly ... [told] his top advisers, 'We need to get this criminal [Guo] out of the country.' Those advisers eventually convinced Trump not to deport the Chinese dissident -- in part, by alerting the president to the fact that Guo was a member of his Mar-a-Lago club...."

** Ignoramus-in-Chief, Ctd. Matt Yglesias of Vox: "It's not exactly a news flash at this point that Donald Trump isn't very fluent on questions of public policy, but his interview over the weekend with Fox Business Channel's Maria Bartiromo is really a sobering reminder of the levels of ignorance and dishonesty that the country is dealing with. Bartiromo is an extraordinarily soft interviewer who doesn't ask Trump any difficult questions.... That makes the extent to which he manages to flub the interview all the more striking. He's simply incapable of discussing any topic at any length in anything remotely resembling an informed or coherent way. He says the Federal Reserve is 'important psychotically' and it's part of one of his better answers, since one can at least tell that he meant to say 'psychologically.'" Do read on. Trump is so ignorant, he's funny -- until you consider the consequences. Mrs. McC: I continue to think Trump is suffering from a form of dementia. President Reagan, who had Alzheimer's, didn't mess up like this. ...

... For Instance, There's This. Apocalypse Soon. Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "The fear that ... Donald Trump is returning the world to the nightmare years of the Cold War, when nuclear annihilation was an ever-looming threat, got more intense over the weekend with the news that the United States Air Force is preparing to put B-52 bombers on 24-hour alert for the first time since 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. According to the news site Defense One, the Air Force is anticipating an escalation in its deterrence duties as part of a general shift in America's nuclear posture, sparked by 'North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear arsenal, President Trump's confrontational approach to Pyongyang, and Russia's increasingly potent and active armed forces.'... But the danger comes not just from Dr. Strangelove-style scenarios in which Trump lurches into the apocalypse, with his hapless military staff in tow. It also comes from a degradation of America's nuclear policy, caused by a combination of Pentagon hubris and Trump's punch-drunk diplomacy, which taken together would cause the other nations of the world to abandon diplomacy and put their faith in their own nuclear stockpiles. The longer-term danger isn't that Trump blows up the world, but that he pushes the international system towards a world with many more nukes in many more hands."

Andrew Desiderio of The Daily Beast: "When Congress sent President Donald Trump a bill in July that slapped new sanctions on Russia, the president signed the legislation reluctantly.... The administration has since blown past an October 1 deadline to implement the sanctions. Lawmakers are now searching for answers as to whether the president is even planning to follow the law.... But aside from procedural tactics, Congress is essentially powerless in compelling the executive branch to follow through on the law it forced them to sign." --safari

The Slime Always Floats on the Top of the Pond. Anita Kumar & Ben Weider of McClatchy News have a swell report on Steve Bannon's murky but lucrative ties to Middle Eastern interests. Among the names that figure into the report: Michael Flynn, Erik Prince and Robert Mercer. ...

... Charles Pierce: "One of the things that often eludes people about Steve Bannon, still apparently a presidential* adviser and the only surviving heir to House Harkonnen, is the money. For example, without the Mercer fortune, he's stapling his Deep Thoughts about world politics to a lamp post in Washington Square. He's also cozied up to people like Erik Prince, the founder of the former Blackwater murder gang and -- Bannon hopes -- possible future U.S. Senator from Wyoming."

Natasha Bertrand of Business Insider: "Banker turned human-rights activist Bill Browder says his authorization to travel to the US using his British passport via an ESTA visa was revoked on the same day that Russian prosecutors issued an Interpol warrant for his arrest on charges of tax evasion and murder. Browder tweeted over the weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin had managed, on the fifth attempt, to place him on the Interpol list after four previous rejections by the International Police Organization.... The same day the warrant was issued, Browder said, he was notified that his ESTA had been revoked. Browder gave up his US citizenship in 1998 and became a British citizen. ESTA, or the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, is an automated system that allows tourists from a Visa Waiver Program country to travel to the US for business or pleasure for 90 days or less..... He also said the Department of Homeland Security 'refused to provide any answers' when he initially asked last week why his ESTA had been revoked. 'They suggested I file a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request and wait for the answer, which can take as long as six months,' Browder said.... Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya detailed Browder's alleged misconduct in a memo that she brought with her to a meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner at Trump Tower last June. The document closely mirrored a memo written by the Russian prosecutor's office months earlier...." Mrs. McC: Why, you might think the whole Trump administration was still collaborating with the Russians. ...

     ... Too Hot to Handle? Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it has restored the visa of Bill Browder, a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who announced Sunday that the Trump administration had prevented him from traveling to the United States, drawing sharp criticism of the department.... Browder's visa status quickly drew concern from US lawmakers and prominent former government officials." ...

... Tom Hunter & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Tony Podesta and the Podesta Group are now the subjects of a federal investigation being led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, three sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. The probe of Podesta and his Democratic-leaning lobbying firm grew out of Mueller's inquiry into the finances of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to the sources. As special counsel, Mueller has been tasked with investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Manafort had organized a public relations campaign for a non-profit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). Podesta's company was one of many firms that worked on the campaign, which promoted Ukraine's image in the West.... Tony Podesta is the chairman of the Podesta Group and the brother of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman. John Podesta is not currently affiliated with the Podesta Group and is not part of Mueller's investigation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon). ...

... Daisuke Wakabayashi & Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "... as investigators in Washington examine the scope and reach of Russian interference in United States politics, the once-cozy relationship between RT and YouTube is drawing closer scrutiny. YouTube -- the world's most-visited video site, owned by one of the most powerful and influential corporations in America -- played a crucial role in helping build and expand RT, an organization that the American intelligence community has described as the Kremlin's 'principal international propaganda outlet' and a key player in Russia's information warfare operations around the world.... YouTube also provided RT with the kind of perks it reserved for big publishers, including custom backgrounds for its channel in the early days and a 'check mark' that designated RT as a verified news source. Until recently, RT was also among a select group of news organizations included in Google's 'preferred' news lineup, granting them access to guaranteed revenue from premium advertisers. Those advertisers, in effect, subsidized Russia's international propaganda arm. Google dropped RT from the preferred lineup last month."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Larry Harmon, a software engineer who lives near Akron, Ohio..., sometimes he stays home on Election Day, on purpose.... It turned out that Mr. Harmon's occasional decisions not to vote had led election officials to strike his name from the voting rolls. On Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the officials had gone too far in making the franchise a use-it-or-lose-it proposition.... The question for the justices is whether two federal laws allow Ohio to cull its voter rolls using notices prompted by the failure to vote. The laws prohibit states from removing people from voter rolls 'by reason of the person's failure to vote.' But they allow election officials who suspect that a voter has moved to send a confirmation notice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon).

Paul Fahri of the Washington Post: "Megyn Kelly waded back into territory she vowed to leave behind on Monday, saying on her new NBC morning program that she complained about Bill O'Reilly while she was an anchor at Fox News but was ignored. In an extraordinary monologue, Kelly went after O'Reilly, her former bosses and colleagues, accusing the network of fostering a toxic culture for its female employees. 'O'Reilly's suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false,' Kelly said during 'Megyn Kelly Today.' 'I know because I complained.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon). ...

... It's All About Bill. Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "'It's horrible what I went through, horrible what my family went through,' Bill O'Reilly said of the sexual harassment allegations that cost him his job at Fox News. Mr. O'Reilly spoke on the record to my colleagues Emily Steel and Michael S. Schmidt, addressing the latest reporting on a $32 million settlement he reached with a longtime network analyst." An audio tape of the conversation follows. (Also linked yesterday afternoon). ...

... Caroline Bankoff of New York: "At one point, O'Reilly claimed that previous reporting on his history of harassment had brought 'indescribable pain' to his children (in front of whom he allegedly beat his ex-wife), and then appeared to blame journalists for the death of his former colleague Eric Bolling's son.... In a statement to Steel, Bolling called O'Reilly's behavior 'beyond inappropriate[.]'... A couple of hours later, O'Reilly apologized[.]" Mrs. McC: Which makes O'Reilly something less of an ass than is Trump. (See Krugman's "Trumpian infallibility doctrine," linked above.) ...

...God drops the ball. Elizabeth Preza of RawStory: "Disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly added another figure to the cadre of people he holds responsible for his alleged sexual misconduct, telling listeners of the web series 'No Spin News' that he also blames God for how the events transpired. 'You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I'm mad at him,' O'Reilly said, according to CNN. 'I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn't happen. I can't explain it to you. Yeah, I'm mad at him.'" --safari

Bump Stock Who? Sam Stein of The Daily Beast: "Three weeks after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, efforts to pass even scaled-down gun-control legislation have effectively stalled on Capitol Hill. Congressional aides and issue advocates say they see no viable path for passing even the most promising bill: an effort to ban the manufacturing and sale of bump stocks." --safari

Annals of "Journalism"? Ctd.

Blame it on these bitter political times.... The nasty back-and-forth with Frederica S. Wilson, a Democratic congresswoman who is close to the soldier's family, might have dissipated had she not repeatedly disparaged Mr. Trump's intentions on national television, failing to extend him the benefit of the doubt that previous presidents had received.... And Ms. Wilson, a flamboyant, cowboy-hat-wearing Democrat, is just the kind of critic that can push Mr. Trump's buttons. -- Michael Shear, in a New York Times report, October 21 ...

... Charles Pierce: "What Congresswoman Wilson did was repeat, apparently verbatim, what the president* said to the widow of a fallen U.S. soldier. As we have come to expect, the president* sank to the occasion quite abysmally.... This, of course, was a graphic illustration, as though we needed another, that the Republic is in the hands of madmen. You have to really strain those Both Sides muscles to hang this fiasco on Wilson.... I'm just going to assume that the editors at the Times who OK'd this nonsense were sockless drunk celebrating Babbling Day and let it go at that." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: When Shear described Wilson as the kind of person who could push Trump's buttons, he, no doubt purposely, omitted her two most important qualifications – she's a woman AND she's black. For the record, Shear & Peter Baker are the NYT's top disciples of the Church of Both Sides Do It.

Casey Hopkins of Mediaite: "Fox News has parted ways with Jerusalem-based correspondent John Huddy. The timing of this news coming out is sure to raise eyebrows as it has nearly immediately followed a shocking interview that his sister Juliet Huddy had with Megyn Kelly today. Ms. Huddy appeared on the Today show to discuss her settled sexual harassment allegations against former Fox News anchor, Bill O'Reilly, a story that has led to numerous accusations leveled by O'Reilly, Kelly's husband and Fox News. Not a pretty story by any stretch." Fox claimed it fired John Huddy because of a "physical altercation earlier this month."

Beyond the Beltway

What happens when an 11-year-old Cub Scout asks a Colorado Republican state senator about her far-right votes on gun control? (a) He earns a merit badge in politics; (b) The den leader throws him out. Check the link to verify your answer, which I'm sure you got right. (Also linked yesterday.)