The Commentariat -- September 5, 2017

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

... because it made no sense to expel talented, driven, patriotic young people from the only country they know solely because of the actions of their parents, my administration acted to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people, so that they could continue to contribute to our communities and our country. We did so based on the well-established legal principle of prosecutorial discretion, deployed by Democratic and Republican presidents alike.... Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result. But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again. To target these young people is wrong.... It is self-defeating.... And it is cruel.... Let's be clear: the action taken today isn't required legally. It's a political decision, and a moral question. -- President Obama, in a statement, today. Thanks to Marvin S. for the link.

I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws. -- Donald Trump -- who recently pardoned Joe Arpaio for continuously breaking the law & violating a federal judge's order -- in a written statement released late this morning ...

Michael Shear & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday ordered an end to the Obama-era executive action that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation and called on Congress to replace the policy with legislation before it fully expires on March 5, 2018. The government will no longer accept new applications from undocumented immigrants to shield them from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, administration officials announced Tuesday. But officials said about 800,000 current beneficiaries of the program will not be immediately affected by what they called an 'orderly wind down' of former President Barack Obama's policy. President Trump signaled the move early Tuesday morning in a tweet, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally announced the move to shift the responsibility for the immigration issue to lawmakers.... Mr. Sessions called the Obama-era policy an 'open-ended circumvention of immigration laws' and an unconstitutional use of executive authority. 'The executive branch through DACA deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions,' he said." ...

... Mark Stern of Slate: "At the heart of [Jeff Sessions'] speech were two lies, straight from Breitbart, explaining why DACA must end: 'The effect of this unilateral executive amnesty, among other things, contributed to a surge of unaccompanied minors on the southern border that yielded terrible humanitarian consequences. It also denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same jobs to go to illegal aliens.'... A study published in International Migration, a peer-reviewed academic journal, found that the surge in unaccompanied minors actually began in 2008. (DACA was announced in 2012.)... Its authors concluded that 'the claim that DACA is responsible for the increase in the flow of unaccompanied alien children is not supported by the data.'... There is no actual evidence that DACA recipients have taken jobs from any Americans, let alone 'hundreds of thousands.' There is, however, strong evidence that killing DACA will significantly damage the economy -- a fact that Sessions conveniently omitted from his speech.... after Sessions' speech, it is difficult to view this move as anything other than an attempt to implement the white nationalism that Trump and Sessions campaigned on." ...

... The Word from the Weasel. Esme Cribb of TPM: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Tuesday said ... Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program 'fulfills a promise.' 'Ending this program fulfills a promise that President Trump made to restore the proper role of the executive and legislative branches,' Ryan said in a statement.... 'The President has called on Congress to act,' he said. 'It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the President's leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country.'" ...

... Ben Smith of BuzzFeed: "President Trump, cornered, weakened, and apparently unable to get his hands on the usual levers of presidential powers, has adopted pretty much the worst possible strategy for someone trying to wield the power of the most powerful job in the world: He's shooting the hostages.... His remaining political leverage has come largely from the policies left to him as hostages by President Barack Obama: the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and, most of all, DACA and the nearly 800,000 sympathetic young Americans it allows to live normal, and sometimes extraordinary, lives.... The administration's allies, who have sued to force a choice on whether or not to defend DACA ... have left him with the fairly ludicrous option of suggesting that he, Donald Trump, is simply too wedded to constitutional tradition to allow an executive order to reach into Congress's role of setting immigration policy." ...

... Cristian Farias of New York: "Without much of a moral compass to guide him, the president instead ducked responsibility for the needless suffering he'd be causing Dreamers by deferring to Congress, which since 2001 has tried and failed to pass legislation to shield these young immigrants -- who never had the intent to violate the law -- from a legal regime that otherwise treats them as deportable aliens that don't belong here. Does anyone really believe that Trump, whose rode into office by attempting to appease a nationalist base, will sign a codified version of DACA that would give more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants a chance of joining the polity? More cowardly still, he deputized the historically anti-immigrant [Jeff] Sessions to deliver the blow on DACA, which was couched in legalese and a veneer of compassion, and features a six-month 'wind-down. period.... Let's dispense with the meme that Trump was ever torn over DACA's future because he wanted to treat his beneficiaries 'with heart.' Or that his is a law-and-order presidency that believed DACA couldn't survive because it was contrary to the rule of law."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton slams Bernie Sanders in her new book. Mrs. McC: Whenever it accidentally occurs to me to say something nice about somebody, I close my eyes & summon my inner Hillary, and the moment of grace passes.

*****

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Say you just woke up from a year-long coma. After greeting your happy, teary-eyed family, the next thing you would do -- naturally -- is pick up the laptop Uncle Fred brought you & peruse today's Commentariat. After a moment of extreme cognitive dissonance at the very idea that Donald Trump is now President Trump, you would conclude, "This guy is the worst president in U.S. history." But then that would have been true if you came to almost any day since January 20.

Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "For seven decades, the United States and South Korea have been the closest of allies.... Now, as North Korea carries out a series of provocative missile and nuclear bomb tests, that alliance is straining at a time when both nations may need it more than ever. President Trump issued a blast of antagonistic comments in the last few days that have made South Koreans doubt that they can take the alliance for granted any longer.... [South Korea's president] Moon [Jae-in] has supported Mr. Trump's push for tougher sanctions against North Korea, and in a call on Monday, their first since the nuclear test on Sunday, the two leaders agreed to lift the weight limit on South Korean conventional warheads..., a spokesman for Mr. Moon, said. Removing the 500-kilogram restriction, part of a treaty with the United States aimed at preventing a regional arms race, could give the South greater power to strike the North in the event of military conflict." ...

... Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "'Opinion polls show South Koreans have one of the lowest rates of regard for Trump in the world and they don't consider him to be a reasonable person...,' David Straub, a former State Department official.... 'In fact, they worry he's kind of nuts, but they still want the alliance.'" ...

... Jonah Shepp of New York: "The Trump doctrine, in a nutshell, is that the United States is by leaps and bounds the most powerful country in the world, and by all rights should be taking greater advantage of that power. Any agreement we make, with friend or foe, should favor us absolutely.... Trump's solutions to foreign policy problems are entirely coercive, based mainly on economic threats.... Nowhere is this doctrine working out particularly well for the Trump administration, but nowhere is it faring worse than in North Korea.... If Pyongyang really can launch a nuclear warhead at the U.S..., the U.S. will need to work extra hard to convince South Korea and Japan that we have their backs and so there is no need for them to pursue their own weapons programs and start a regional nuclear arms race. Instead, Trump -- blindly following the logic of his doctrine -- is threatening to withdraw from our free trade agreement with South Korea (which, like all things that contribute to U.S. trade deficits, he considers a bad deal). Even to speak of such a bewildering move in the midst of perhaps the most serious crisis of nuclear diplomacy since 1962 is a crime against common sense, but it is abundantly clear by now that threats are the only diplomatic moves Trump knows how to make.... Trump's approach to China is suffering from similar issues. His latest threat to halt all trade with China if it doesn't cut off North Korea's economic lifeline is transparently unconvincing...." ...

... Jeremy Herb & Joshua Berlinger of CNN: "US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was 'begging for war' as she urged the UN Security Council to adopt the strongest sanctions measures possible to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program. Speaking at a Security Council emergency meeting, Haley said North Korea's sixth nuclear test was a clear sign that' "the time for half measures' from the UN had to end."

Big- Chicken-Hearted Don Assigns Hit Job to "The Elf." Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions is slated to hold a news briefing Tuesday morning on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Justice Department announced the briefing late Monday amid mounting pressure over President Trump's decision on whether to end the Obama-era program. The department didn't provide any more information about the announcement." Mrs. McC: Today we're going to find out how unconstitutional DACA is. Don Donaldo seems to think we'll buy his chicken-shit alibi if his consigliere is caught on tape clipping the kids. Never has there been such a cowardly U.S. president.

     ... Update: Contributor Diane suggests Sessions wear the appropriate attire for the occasion, as pictured above right.

... Jill Colvin of the AP: "A plan ... Donald Trump is expected to announce to remove a shield from deportation for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children is being embraced by some top Republicans and denounced by others as the beginning of a 'civil war' within the party. The response was an immediate illustration of the potential battles ahead if Trump follows through with a plan that would hand a political hot potato to Republicans on the Hill who have a long history of dropping it.... [Trump's] approach -- essentially kicking the can down the road and letting Congress deal with it -- is fraught with uncertainty and political perils that amount, according to one vocal opponent, to 'Republican suicide.'" ...

... NEW. James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "By their fruits you will know them. At the Republican National Convention last summer, Donald Trump said he'd 'do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens.' Then he rescinded protections for trans students in public schools and issued orders to bar transgender people from the armed forces. Trump pronounced the House's health-care bill 'mean,' but that did not stop him from whipping votes for the measure and holding a rally in the Rose Garden to celebrate its passage. At a February news conference, Trump was asked about fears in the Hispanic community that he might get rid of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 'We're going to show great heart,' the president promised.... Today the Trump administration is expected to announce plans to end the DACA program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 undocumented people who were brought to the United States as minors to live and work in the country without fear of deportation.... Trump has often talked about the need to be compassionate on social issues, but his rhetoric hasn't matched reality as he has repeatedly acceded to the wishes of his dwindling base since taking office." ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday threatened to sue the Trump administration if ... Donald Trump rolls back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.... 'President Trump's decision to end the DACA program would be cruel, gratuitous, and devastating to tens of thousands of New Yorkers -- and I will sue to protect them,' Schneiderman said in a statement.... New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also issued a statement supporting Schneiderman's lawsuit threat over DACA." ...

... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Urgency on Capitol Hill has mounted amid reports that Trump will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 people to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. Trump, who is scheduled to announce his decision Tuesday, is leaning toward terminating the program but delaying enforcement for six months to give lawmakers time to find a solution, according to people briefed on the White House's deliberations.... Attorney General Jeff Sessions ... has suggested that the Justice Department would not be able to defend the program's constitutionality in court and has lobbied Trump to end it. Other top advisers, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, have pushed him to maintain the program until lawmakers act. Yet the odds that a sharply polarized Congress could strike a deal -- steep in the best of times -- are considered especially difficult at a time when lawmakers face a busy fall agenda." ...

... From the Left. Paul Waldman: "As we awaited Trump's decision, we were told in one news report after another that the [DACA] dilemma was just tearing him up inside, because he had such sympathy for the young people known as 'dreamers.'... The only appropriate response is: Give me a break. There is precisely zero evidence that Trump feels anything for dreamers. More importantly, none of us should give a damn what's in his heart. What matters is what he does. And no president in our lifetime has encouraged, promoted, celebrated and exploited bigotry and hatred -- particularly against immigrants -- to the degree Donald Trump has. That's who he is....' ...

... From the Right. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Some in the media take seriously the notion that [Trump] is 'conflicted' or 'wrestling' with the decision, as though Trump were engaged in a great moral debate. That would be a first for Trump, who counts only winners and losers, never bothering with moral principles or democratic norms.... Let's not think Trump -- who invites cops to abuse suspects, who thinks ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio was 'doing his job' when denying others their constitutional rights and who issued the Muslim ban -- cares about the Constitution (any of the 'twelve' articles). Trump says, 'We love the dreamers.... We think the dreamers are terrific.' But in fact he loves the applause he derives from his cultist followers more than anything. Otherwise he'd go to the mat to defend the dreamers and secure their legal status.... No, if Trump cancels DACA, it will be one more attempt to endear himself to his shrinking base with the only thing that truly energizes the dead-enders: vengeance fueled by white grievance.... The party of Lincoln has become the party of Charlottesville, Arpaio, DACA repeal and the Muslim ban. Embodying the very worst sentiments and driven by irrational anger, it deserves not defense but extinction." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Now let us turn from tales of Trump's screwing innocent young people ... to tales of Trump's administration's screwing innocent sick people. And us innocent taxpayers, too:

... Audrey Carlsen & Haeyoun Park of the New York Times: "But the Department of Health and Human Services -- an agency with a legal responsibility to administer the [Affordable Care Act] -- has used taxpayer dollars to oppose it. Legal experts say that while it is common for a new administration to reinterpret an existing law, it is unusual to take steps to undermine it. Here are three ways the health department has campaigned against Obamacare. 1.... Instead of using its outreach budget to promote the Affordable Care Act, the department made videos critical of the law.... 2.... In addition to the YouTube videos, the department has used Twitter and news releases to try to discredit the health law. Since being sworn in as health secretary on February 10, Tom Price has posted on Twitter 48 infographics advocating against Obamacare, all of which bear the health department's logo.... 3.... The department removed useful guidance for consumers about the Affordable Care Act from its website." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Insurance companies are rolling dough, so they can afford to sue TrumPrice & HHS. They should. They wouldn't have a case if all TrumPrice did was reduce spending on ObamaCare outreach programs. But they do have a case, I think, against the administration when it is misusing money designated by law to promote ObamaCare. Meanwhile, HHS's inspector general -- if s/he isn't a slimy Trump stooge -- should fault Price for dereliction of duty & embezzlement of government funds.

** Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the unusual step of putting a political operative in charge of vetting the hundreds of millions of dollars in grants the EPA distributes annually, assigning final funding decisions to a former Trump campaign aide with little environmental policy experience. In this role, John Konkus reviews every award the agency gives out, along with every grant solicitation before it is issued. According to both career and political employees, Konkus has told staff that he is on the lookout for 'the double C-word' -- climate change -- and repeatedly has instructed grant officers to eliminate references to the subject in solicitations. Konkus, who officially works in the EPA's public affairs office, has canceled close to $2 million competitively awarded to universities and nonprofit organizations. Although his review has primarily affected Obama administration priorities, it is the heavily Republican state of Alaska that has undergone the most scrutiny so far.... Earlier this summer, on the same day that Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined with two other Republicans in voting down a GOP health-care bill, EPA staffers were instructed without any explanation to halt all grants to the regional office that covers Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. That hold was quickly narrowed just to Alaska and remained in place for nearly two weeks.... several officials from the Obama and George W. Bush administrations said they had never heard of a public affairs officer scrutinizing EPA's solicitations and its grants, which account for half of the agency's roughly $8 billion budget."

Ken Klippenstein of the Daily Beast: "During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump attacked Hillary Clinton for accepting money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, complaining during one of the debates, 'These are people that kill women and treat women horribly and yet you take their money.' That was, of course, before he made his first foreign visit as president to Saudi Arabia and accepted dozens of gifts from the kingdom. In fact, during Trump's visit, the White House accepted at least 83 separate gifts from Saudi Arabia, according to a document The Daily Beast has obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request to the State Department. The gifts range from the regal ('Artwork featuring picture of President Trump') to the martial (multiple swords, daggers, leather ammo holders and holsters), to the baroque (tiger and cheetah fur robes, and a dagger made of pure silver with a mother of pearl sheath). Amusing as the gifts may be, they are emblematic of a more serious issue: Trump's embrace of the Saudi regime, a stark reversal from his campaign rhetoric.... Trump's decision to make his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia was a singular one, breaking with a long-standing presidential tradition of first visiting Mexico or Canada.... No less noteworthy than the visit itself was the administration's conduct during it. During the visit, the Trump administration announced a $110 billion arms deal with the Saudis, totaling $350 billion over 10 years." Klippenstein provides a complete list of the Saudis' gifts to President Bling.

Mallory Shelbourne of the Hill: "The House on Wednesday will vote on supplemental appropriations for Hurricane Harvey disaster relief, according to a senior House leadership aide. The news comes one day after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the House Appropriations Committee introduced a new bill to match President Trump's first request for relief funding for Hurricane Harvey."

Austin Wright & Ali Watkins of Politico: "The congressional Russia investigations are entering a new and more serious phase as lawmakers return from the August recess amid fresh revelations about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. In the coming weeks, both intelligence committees are expected to conduct closed-door interviews with high-ranking members of the Trump campaign, and potential witnesses could include Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr."

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "For the first time in 36 years, a sitting United States Senator [Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)] is facing a federal bribery trial, one that comes as a bitterly divided Congress reconvenes amid the unrelenting turbulence of the Trump administration. Since his indictment more than two years ago, Mr. Menendez has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, and last week, he reiterated that.... Mr. Menendez is charged with 12 corruption-related counts, including six counts of bribery and three counts of honest services fraud.... Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday, but legal sparring began picking up last week, as Mr. Menendez's team took exception to a pretrial brief from prosecutors...."

Beyond the Beltway

Fred Barbash & Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "The University of Utah Hospital, where a nurse was manhandled and arrested by police as she protected the legal rights of a patient, has imposed new restrictions on law enforcement, including barring officers from patient-care areas and from direct contact with nurses. Gordon Crabtree, interim chief executive of the hospital, said at a Monday news conference that he was 'deeply troubled' by the arrest and manhandling of burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26.... 'This will not happen again,' Crabtree said, praising Wubbels for 'putting her own safety at risk' to 'protect the rights of patients.'"

News Lede

Washington Post: "Hurricane Irma strengthened overnight to a dangerous Category 5 as it barrels toward the Greater Antilles and Southern Florida. It's likely that Hurricane Irma will affect the U.S. coast -- potentially making a direct landfall -- this weekend. Tuesday morning, NOAA Hurricane Hunters found the storm's maximum wind speeds are 175 mph. It now ranks among the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasts suggest it will reach southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico this weekend."

The Commentariat -- September 4, 2017

... Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Labor Then & Now. Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "... corporations across America have flocked to a new management theory: Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy.... Major companies have ... chosen to bifurcate their work force, contracting out much of the labor that goes into their products to other companies, which compete by lowering costs.... Across a range of job functions, industries and countries, the shift to a contracting economy has put downward pressure on compensation." ...

... Larry Summers has gone populist in a Washington Post op-ed and urges governmental entities "to balance the power between workers and employers." ...

For too long, American workers were forgotten by their government -- and I mean totally forgotten. My administration has offered a new vision. The well-being of the American citizen and worker will be placed second to none. -- Donald Trump, in a weekly address earlier this year ...

... Helaine Olen of the Nation: "The rollback of labor rights and protections since Trump took office is staggering. It puts worker safety at risk and guarantees that many workers will earn less, but that's not all. Measures to help victims of discrimination receive redress are on the scrap heap. Unions are running scared. 'It's a death by a thousand cuts,' explains Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute."

... Juan Cole finds some good news for U.S. workers: green energy jobs. Mrs. McC: I'm pretty sure this isn't what Trump has in mind. ...

... Steven Greenhouse in a New York Times op-ed: "... this Labor Day, his first while in office, it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump's initiatives have done much to help workers, whether blue-collar or any other collar. It is clear, however, that he has taken several steps that will hurt workers, most notably his decisions to delay, weaken or erase Obama-era workplace regulations.... Many of Mr. Trump's moves to help workers have come with a serious downside.... Mr. Trump repeatedly derided the levels of job creation under President Barack Obama, vowing to increase them by eliminating 'job-killing regulations.' But the pace of job creation under Mr. Trump -- 170,000 a month -- is slightly less than during Mr. Obama's last six months in office."

NEW. David Sanger & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea's detonation of a sixth nuclear bomb on Sunday prompted the Trump administration to warn that even the threat to use such a weapon against the United States and its allies 'will be met with a massive military response.' The test -- and President Trump's response -- immediately raised new questions about the president's North Korea strategy and opened a new rift with a major American ally, South Korea, which Mr. Trump criticized for its 'talk of appeasement' with the North." ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The crisis with North Korea escalated Sunday as President Trump reviewed military options and suggested sweeping new economic sanctions in response to the crossing of a dangerous threshold by the isolated nation in detonating its most powerful nuclear weapon ever.... Asked as he left morning services at St. John's Church whether he was planning to attack North Korea, Trump told reporters, 'We'll see.' Trump sought to assign responsibility for the unfolding crisis to North Korea's neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region, firing off a series of tweets that signaled rifts in U.S. economic and security partnerships that for years have helped isolate and contain North Korea. It fell to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to offer reassurances to the world that 'the commitments among the allies are ironclad.'... Trump also said on Twitter that he was considering cutting off trade with any nation doing business with North Korea. China is by far the country's largest trading partner, but it also is the largest U.S. trading partner in terms of goods imported and exported. Such a move ... would be nearly impossible to pull off without devastating the U.S. and global economies.... Trump convened a Sunday afternoon White House meeting of his national security team, also attended by Vice President Pence. Mattis said that at the president's request they reviewed every military option and that Trump concluded the United States is prepared to defend itself and its allies.... Mattis [said, 'We are not looking for the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea, but ... we have many options to do so.'" ...

... Glenn Thrush & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "While the world agonized over the huge nuclear test in North Korea this weekend, President Trump aimed his most pointed rhetorical fire not at the renegade regime in Pyongyang, but at America's closest partner in confronting the crisis: South Korea. In taking to Twitter to accuse Seoul of 'appeasement,' Mr. Trump was venting his frustration at a new liberal South Korean government he sees as both soft on North Korea's atomic program and resistant to his demand for an overhaul of trade practices that he views as cheating American workers and companies. For Mr. Trump, the crisis lays bare how his trade agenda -- the bedrock of his economic populist campaign in 2016 -- is increasingly at odds with the security agenda he has pursued as president. It is largely a problem of Mr. Trump's own making. Unlike several of his predecessors, who were able to press countries on trade issues while cooperating with them on security, Mr. Trump has explicitly linked the two, painting himself into a corner.... Mr. Trump's threat to halt trade [with any country doing business with North Korea] went much further, suggesting a move that would dramatically intensify the potential for conflict with China, which accounts for roughly 85 percent of all trade with the North." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yeah But. The important thing is that trashing trade agreements energizes Trump's base. In effect, Trump is outsourcing international relations to Joe-Bob from Podunk. ...

... Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: North Korea's nuclear test took place at around midnight Saturday ET. "But it only took until 7:30 A.M. for Trump to make an extremely dangerous and volatile situation worse.... He had some blame to dole out. 'North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success,' he tweeted.... And then: 'South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!' What is that 'one thing'? War, missiles, tweets, Trumpism? 'Fire and fury like the world has never seen'...? ... Matters with North Korea, never good, have deteriorated during his Presidency. What has changed is not the South's 'appeasement' but his heedless will toward escalation." ...

... Amy Zegart of the Atlantic: "America's North Korea policy is failing. It's been failing for years, across several presidents. But the risk of conflict has grown dramatically in this administration -- in part because Trump has gotten himself into a public threat war with the world's most unpredictable and uncontrollable bully, and Trump's go-to play is to threaten that man more. Trump is committing deterrence malpractice -- in four ways. The first is making threats so obviously hollow that many of his own advisers don't believe or support them.... Trump's second form of deterrence malpractice is that he conflates power with influence.... Sheer power is often not enough: The most powerful side in a contest of threats frequently doesn't win.... Trump's third type of deterrence malpractice: He talks too much. Effective deterrence is about signaling -- often without words -- that you really do mean what you say.... President Trump is committing deterrence malpractice in a fourth way -- by dividing the nation rather than uniting it, playing to our worst hatreds and his strongest base rather than bringing the country together in support of broader objectives that serve the national interest."

Donald Trump is anti-woman, anti-Hispanic, anti-black, anti-anything that would bring the country together. The only thing he is for is himself. Those in Republican leadership who have enabled his behavior by standing silent or making excuses for him deserve the reckoning that will eventually come for the GOP. It makes me terrifically sad to be honest -- sad for the party of ideas that I supported for over 30 years -- even more sad for the country and the fact that we can no longer have a credible and important debate about issues that will lead to problem solving. I am a conservative. But I can't and won't be a Republican as long as Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. -- Sally Bradshaw, a co-author of the 2012-2013 Republican party "autopsy" report -- which urged the party to reach out to Hispanics & other minorities -- writing in response to a BuzzFeed inquiry about DACA ...

... Maggie Haberman & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "President Trump is strongly considering a plan that would end the Obama-era program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation, but only after giving Congress six months to come up with a potential replacement for the popular initiative, according to three administration officials briefed on the discussions. Officials working on the plan stressed that Mr. Trump could still change his mind, and some key details had not yet been resolved. Among them: whether beneficiaries of the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, would be allowed to renew their protected status during the six-month period." ...

... Eliana Johnson of Politico: "... Donald Trump has decided to end the Obama-era program that grants work permits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. Senior White House aides huddled Sunday afternoon to discuss the rollout of a decision likely to ignite a political firestorm -- and fulfill one of the president's core campaign promises.... In a nod to reservations held by many lawmakers, the White House plans to delay the enforcement of the president's decision for six months, giving Congress a window to act, according to one White House official.... White House aides caution that -- as with everything in the Trump White House -- nothing is set in stone until an official announcement has been made. Trump is expected to formally make that announcement on Tuesday, and the White House informed House Speaker Paul Ryan of the president's decision on Sunday morning...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Assuming the reporting is correct, once again Trump has put his own needs to appease his bigot base over the needs of, in this case, innocent young people.

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly taken actions that have little crossover appeal to Democrats or independents but that are strongly backed by Trump voters -- including efforts to ban people from a group of majority Muslim countries from entering the United States and withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.... [He] pardoned a tough-on-immigration Arizona sheriff accused of racial profiling. He threatened a government shutdown if Congress won't deliver border wall funding. He banned transgender people from serving in the military. And he is openly contemplating ending a program that shields from deportation young undocumented immigrants who consider the United States home.... In recent weeks, Trump has continued his practice of holding campaign-style rallies in states he won, creating an echo chamber of support with his most loyal backers.... Recent polling has underscored the narrow band of support Trump enjoys for some of the policies he is advocating. Collectively, [these moves ] have helped cement an image of a president, seven months into his term, who is playing only to his political base." ...

... Kevin Liptak of CNN publishes the text of President Obama's Inauguration Day letter to Donald Trump. "Written out longhand on White House stationery and slipped into the top drawer of the Resolute Desk, the 275-word letter captures an outgoing president eager to instill in Trump the vast responsibilities and uncertain parameters of the job. Obama, when writing the letter, didn't disclose the content even to his closest aides. Since then, however, Trump has shown the letter to visitors in the Oval Office or his private White House residence.... [In the letter, Obama offered] a warning against eroding the tenets of democracy in the name of political gain. 'We are just temporary occupants of this office,' Obama wrote. 'That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it's up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them,' he said. That passage ... appears prescient. Trump has been accused of flouting rule of law in his broadsides against federal judges and his own attorney general. His verbal assaults on Congress have led to charges that he's disregarding the constitutionally enshrined separate but equal branches of government.... Since reading the letter for the first time, Trump hasn't spoken or seen Obama. Instead he's frequently criticized the former president, rolled back significant elements of Obama's agenda, and privately obsessed about comparisons between himself and the man he replaced."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. There are heroic reporters on the ground in Texas. And there are whiney Trumpies. ...

... The Nasiest, Lyingest, Most Petty, Ignorant President Ever. Adam Peck of ThinkProgress: "On Wednesday, CNN reporter Drew Griffin and his camera crew were conducting a live interview from Beaumont, Texas.... While on camera, a truck plowed into a flooded drainage ditch ... and began floating away. Grabbing a rope, Griffin rushed to help the man before his truck disappeared under water. 'I want to thank these guys for saving my life,' said Jerry Sumrall, the driver. On Saturday, Donald Trump essentially called the very same media a bunch of cowards. Like all of Donald Trump's childish insults, it was unprompted and apropos of absolutely nothing.... 'I hear the Coast Guard saved 11,000 people,' he said during a press conference on Saturday during his second trip to the Houston area. 'By going into winds that the media would not go into. They will not go into those winds,' he added, smirking.... From the moment Harvey made landfall in Texas last week through today, reporters have been on the ground risking life and limb to bring information to millions of Americans in the path of the storm, and tens of millions more watching from afar. And reporters are going to places around Houston that even Donald Trump's own administration officials have yet to tread." ...

... The Nasiest, Lyingest, Most Petty, Ignorant Administration Ever. Benjamin Hart of New York: "On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that several Houston-area Superfund sites had been severely flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, 'with the risk that waters were stirring dangerous sediment.' [Story linked in yesterdays' Commentariat.]... On Sunday, the EPA responded by attacking one of the reporters who wrote the story, while not disputing any of the facts involved. [The] EPA statement [was] written in the jarringly caustic and grammatically sloppy style that characterizes so many Trump administration communiques[.]" ...

... Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "It is very rare, if not unprecedented, for a federal agency to specifically target an individual reporter in a press release." According to the EPA's own earlier statements, its staffers did not visit the sites but took pictures of them from the air; the AP reporters went by boat. Yet the EPA complained that the AP reported its story "from the comfort of Washington" because one of the reporters on the byline was working from D.C. In addition, the statement relied on a misleading Breitbart report to criticize the same reporter, Michael Biesecker, for an unrelated, much earlier report that cited a meeting between EPA administrator Scott Pruitt & Dow Chemical's CEO. Biesecker relied on the EPA's own schedule in his reporting of the meeting. "But in a correction, the AP noted that a spokesperson for the EPA told AP that the meeting ... was canceled...." The EPA described the AP report on the Superfund sites as "yellow journalism." ...

... RUI. MEANWHILE, Ty Cobb, Trump's top personal attorney for the Russia case, berated reporter Natasha Bertrand of Business Insider for a report she wrote Saturday. Cobb called her report on Trump's draft memo on the Comey firing "exaggerated and/or fictionalized." "Are you on drugs?" Cobb asked Bertrand. "Have you read anything else on this???" Mrs. McC: Trump reflexively attacks the media almost daily, but this might be the first time anyone in his realm has suggested a journalist was Reporting Under the Influence.

Timothy Cama of the Hill: "President Trump's pick to be the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) chief scientist is on track to face one of the rougher confirmation battles of the administration. Democrats are girding for an all-out battle against Sam Clovis's nomination to be USDA's under secretary for research, education and economics, a position that would see him overseeing billions of dollars in research spending and serving as a cross-departmental science czar.... Clovis has been criticized for lacking scientific credentials, and he disagrees with the scientific consensus on climate change. Further complicating Clovis's confirmation process, CNN uncovered a number of objectionable statements he has made on topics like race and politics. Clovis ... once wrote that former President Obama was being 'given a pass because he is Black,' called former Attorney General Eric Holder a 'racist black,' declared that homosexuality is a choice, and called progressives both 'race traitors' and 'race traders,' CNN reported.... Clovis's opponents argue that the 2008 law that designated the 'chief scientist' position requires the candidate to be a scientist, so Clovis is statutorily disqualified."

Paul Krugman: "Where Houston has long been famous for its virtual absence of regulations on building, greater San Francisco is famous for its NIMBYism -- that is, the power of 'not in my backyard' sentiment to prevent new housing construction.... This is one policy area where 'both sides get it wrong' -- a claim I usually despise -- turns out to be right. NIMBYism is bad for working families and the U.S. economy as a whole, strangling growth precisely where workers are most productive. But unrestricted development imposes large costs in the form of traffic congestion, pollution, and, as we've just seen, vulnerability to disaster."

Beyond the Beltway

Mae C., at the end of yesterday's Comments thread, provides a plausible explanation -- and refutes some of Mrs. McCrabbie's theories -- for why Salt Lake City cops were so eager to suck the blood of a comatose traffic accident victim: "About that nurse. The [fatal] speeding car crash was instigated by Utah cops and was against department policy. The blood draw was an effort by the cops to muddy any possible effort by the unconscious victim to sue the Utah cops. The phlebotomist was assigned to police blood draw department and had to know of Scotus decision of one year ago that so impacted his department. They did not attempt to get a warrant because they knew no judge would grant one. Source is Josh Marshall's twitter thread."

News Lede

Washington Post: "It's looking more likely that Hurricane Irma will affect the U.S. coast -- potentially making a direct landfall -- starting Friday. The powerful storm strengthened to a Category 4 on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph."

The Commentariat -- September 3, 2017

Julie Pace of the AP: "After a summer of staff shake-ups and self-made crises..., Donald Trump is emerging politically damaged, personally agitated and continuing to buck at the confines of his office, according to some close allies. For weeks, the West Wing has been upended by a reorganization that Trump has endorsed and, later, second-guessed, including his choice of retired Marine Gen. John Kelly as chief of staff. The president recently lashed out at Kelly after a boisterous rally in Phoenix, an incident relayed by a person with knowledge of the matter. In private conversations, Trump has leveled indiscriminate and harsh criticism on the rest of his remaining team. Seven months into his tenure, Trump has yet to put his mark on any signature legislation and his approval ratings are sagging. Fellow Republicans have grown weary of his volatility, and Trump spent the summer tangling with some of the same lawmakers he'll need to work with in the coming weeks to pass a government funding bill, raise the country's borrowing limit and make a difficult bid for tax overhaul legislation."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: No matter how many times we hash over Trump's personality disorders, his mental condition, his ignorance, etc., it is still impossible not to reflexively ask,

... What's Wrong with This Man?

Glenn Thrush & Jack Healy of the New York Times: "President Trump urged onlookers at a Houston shelter to 'have a good time' on Saturday -- and appeared to take his own advice during a daylong Gulf Coast tour that blurred the line between bucking up a battered region and taking an early victory lap. During a half-dozen events in Texas and Louisiana, Mr. Trump exchanged hugs with survivors of Hurricane Harvey, viewed the historic damage firsthand, conferred with emergency management officials and personally imprinted the Trump brand on a recovery effort expected to take years and cost $100 billion or more. Mr. Trump, who had traveled to the area four days before and was criticized for not meeting with victims of the storm, sought on Saturday to project a sense of empathy during the series of media-friendly stops. 'They're really happy with what's going on,' he told reporters after talking with local residents at the NRG Center, a convention building serving as a temporary shelter for nearly 1,200 people. 'It's something that's been very well received. Even by you guys, it's been very well received.'... 'The cameras are blazing,' he noted during one of the many photo ops...." ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The brief encounters Trump had with storm victims seemed to consist of exchanging pleasantries, smiling for photos and sharing presidential words of encouragement. Trump also talked of his electoral victory, as he often does. When Trump shook hands with a few uniformed military members at the evacuee shelter in Houston, one of the men told him, 'We voted for you.' 'You better,' Trump said playfully. 'Who didn't in your world? Who didn't?'" ...

... Alice Ollstein of TPM: "In a visit toone of Houston's designated emergency refuge areas, the NRG Center, Trump told reporters he is seeing 'a lot of happiness.' 'It's been really nice,' he said, according to the traveling press pool. 'It's been a wonderful thing. As tough as this was, it's been a wonderful thing, I think even for the country to watch it and for the world to watch. It's been beautiful.' The president also said of the children he visited who had been displaced by the storm, 'They're doing great.' When asked about the devastating flooding still covering much of the region, he replied: 'The flooding? Oh, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of water, but it's leaving pretty quickly. But there's a lot of water, a lot of water, but it's moving out.' While handing out meals to survivors of the flood, Trump paused to inform the press that his hands were too big for the sanitary plastic gloves.... In a subsequent visit to the First Church of Pearland in the Houston suburbs, Trump reminded flood survivors that he had declared Sunday a national day of prayer. 'So go to your church and pray and enjoy the day,' he said. Trump's light-hearted tone contrasted sharply with reports from the ground, where the death toll continues to climb." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's video of Trump speaking to reporters for a minute as he was leaving the NRG Center. I'm guessing he's trying to follow White House staff instructions to talk about storm victims. This is the best he could do -- talk about how happy they were at the job his people were doing to help them. BTW, the White House uploaded this video to YouTube, so staff too thought he was "doing great":

... "Enjoy the Day." Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Hurricane Harvey has resulted in Houston's petrochemical industry leaking thousands of tons of pollutants, with communities living near plants damaged by the storm exposed to soaring levels of toxic fumes and potential water contamination. Refineries and chemical plants have reported more than 2,700 tons, or 5.4m pounds, of extra air pollution due to direct damage from the hurricane as well as the preventive shutting down of facilities, which causes a spike in released toxins.... Fourteen plants, operated by firms including Shell and Dow Chemical, have also reported wastewater overflows following the hurricane.... Residents living near the sprawling industrial facilities that dominate Houston's ship channel said they have experienced pungent smells and respiratory issues in the wake of the hurricane.... Houston has not met national air quality standards since the introduction of the Clean Air Act in 1970 and the sudden surge in pollution has caused deep concern among public health advocates. ...

... EPA MIA. Jason Dearen & Michael Biesecker of the the AP: "Long a center of the nation's petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America's most intensely contaminated places. Many are now flooded, with the risk that waters were stirring dangerous sediment.... The Associated Press surveyed seven Superfund sites in and around Houston during the flooding. All had been inundated with water, in some cases many feet deep. On Saturday, hours after the AP published its first report, the EPA said it had reviewed aerial imagery confirming that 13 of the 41 Superfund sites in Texas were flooded by Harvey and were 'experiencing possible damage' due to the storm. The statement confirmed the AP's reporting that the EPA had not yet been able to physically visit the Houston-area sites, saying the sites had 'not been accessible by response personnel.'" ...

... David Atkins of the Washington Monthly: "Since his election, Trump has been doing all he can to sabotage the EPA and render it unable to do its job. Part of this sabotage has been its willfully ignorant neglect toward nearly every department of government. But the EPA has come under particular scrutiny under a president who disbelieves in climate science and views environmental regulations as obstacles to his favorite industries like oil and coal. So Trump's industry-friendly EPA director Scott Pruitt has been busily dismantling the organization from the inside, firing employees, cutting funding and generally wrecking the place however he can.... The EPA exists for a reason. As with so much else, it would have been nice if Trump knew what it was before he got elected and started dismantling it." ...

... Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post (Sept. 1): "A couple of weeks ago President Trump scrapped Obama-era rules, intended to reduce the risks posed by flooding, that established new construction standards for roads, housing and other infrastructure projects that receive federal dollars. Trump derided these restrictions, which were written in response to growing concerns over the impact of climate change, and other federal rules as useless red tape holding back the economy.... But now, in the wake of the massive flooding and destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast, the Trump administration is considering whether to issue similar requirements to build higher in flood-prone areas as the government prepares to spend billions of dollars in response to the storm. This potential policy shift underscores the extent to which the reality of this week's storm has collided with Trump officials' push to upend President Barack Obama's policies and represents a striking acknowledgment by an administration skeptical of climate change that the government must factor changing weather into some of its major infrastructure policies.... Earlier in his tenure, Trump eliminated other policies and institutions aimed at incorporating projected climate impacts such as sea level rise and more frequent, intense storms into infrastructure planning." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: What we're probably seeing here is a clash between climate realists & climate deniers, the latter group led of course by the Reality Denier-in-Chief. Harvey has given the realists a lift, which may last as long as Donald Trump enjoys making new friends in flood-ravaged Texas. ...

... Lobbyists Are Awesome. Zachary Warmbrodt & Theodoric Meyer of Politico: "The catastrophic weather in Texas has thrown the spotlight on the federal government's troubled flood insurance program, which is nearly $25 billion in debt after huge payouts following Katrina, Sandy and other devastating hurricanes. But as Houston starts the long process of recovering, lobbyists in Washington have already maneuvered to slow lawmakers efforts' to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program and protect their industries' profits. The powerful home builders’ lobby helped kill a proposal that would have phased out coverage for new construction in high-risk areas. The National Association of Realtors blocked an attempt to rein in discounted insurance rates that homeowners can get when their flood risk increases. And the American Bankers Association has warned of a 'regional foreclosure crisis' if Congress axes coverage for homes with excessive claims."

Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "President Trump has instructed advisers to prepare to withdraw the United States from a free-trade agreement with South Korea, several people close to the process said, a move that would stoke economic tensions with the U.S. ally as both countries confront a crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Withdrawing from the trade deal would back up Trump's promises to crack down on what he considers unfair trade competition from other countries, but his top national security and economic advisers are pushing him to abandon the plan, arguing it would hamper U.S. economic growth and strain ties with an important ally. Officials including national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and National Economic Council director Gary Cohn oppose withdrawal, said people familiar with the process.... Although it is still possible Trump could decide to stay in the agreement to renegotiate its terms, the internal preparations for terminating the deal are far along, and the formal withdrawal process could begin as soon as this week, the people said." ...

... Josh Delk of the Hill: "Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) blasted the Trump administration on Saturday for having '18th-century views of trade' after it was reported that President Trump was preparing to withdraw the U.S. from its free trade agreement with South Korea. 'The president and Nebraska have a basic disagreement about trade,' Sasse said in a statement. 'His Administration holds 18th-century views of trade as a zero-sum game. I side with our farmers and ranchers who are feeding the world now,' the conservative senator added." ...

... AND There's This. Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea said on Sunday that it has developed a hydrogen bomb 'with super explosive power' [link fixed] to be mounted on its intercontinental ballistic missile. The North's official Korean Central News Agency offered no evidence for the claim, other than photos of Kim Jong-un ... inspecting what it said was the weapon. The report said Mr. Kim had visited the Nuclear Weapons Institute, which the news agency said had recently 'succeeded in a more developed nuke' and in 'bringing about a signal turn in nuclear weaponization.'" ...

     ... ** NEW LEDE: "North Korea carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in an extraordinary show of defiance against President Trump on Sunday, saying it had detonated a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile. The test, which the North called a 'complete success,' was the first to clearly surpass the destructive power of the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.... Still, it was unclear whether the North had in fact detonated such a weapon, a far more powerful type of nuclear device than the atomic bombs it has tested in the past. And analysts were skeptical that Pyongyang had really developed the capability to mount one on an ICBM." ...

... Philip Rucker: "In a pair of tweets issued Sunday morning, Trump wrote: 'North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States ... North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.' Trump also delivered a scolding to South Korea, a longtime U.S. ally, stating that 'appeasement with North Korea will not work' and suggesting that more severe steps must be taken to influence Kim Jong Un's government.' In a third Sunday morning tweet, the president wrote, 'South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!' This comes amid escalating economic tensions with South Korea, a democratic nation and a longtime economic and diplomatic partner with the United States. Trump is considering withdrawing the United States from a free-trade agreement with South Korea."

New York Times Editors: "The policy objective [of the tax-cut bill Congress & the White House are working on] is to steeply cut tax rates for businesses and wealthy individuals. The political aim, and the point of President Trump's speech last Wednesday, is to persuade ... the Trump working-class base that a tax cut for the wealthy would be good for them, too. It would not be, and to pretend otherwise, as Mr. Trump did, is to substitute propaganda for discourse.... Wages have long stagnated, despite tax cuts in the 1980s and 2000s, while profits, shareholder returns and executive pay have soared.... Then, too, there is the budget issue. Mr. Trump has proposed cutting the top corporate rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, a point he emphasized on Wednesday despite warnings from his economic advisers that a cut that sizable would cause the deficit to explode. Separately, he and his advisers have also proposed ending taxation on the foreign profits of American corporations, even though such profits are often actually earned in the United States and simply relabeled as foreign through the use of complex accounting maneuvers.... Over all, the cuts, paired with loophole closers, would cost at least $3.4 trillion in revenue in the first 10 years and $5.9 trillion over the following decade."

Kimberly Kindy, et al., of the Washington Post: "On June 3, 2014, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. restarted a long-dormant domestic terrorism task force created after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A former Ku Klux Klan leader had just murdered three people near a Jewish Community Center in a Kansas City suburb and yelled 'Heil Hitler' as police took him into custody. For too long, Holder said, the federal government had narrowly focused on Islamist threats and had lost sight of the 'continued danger we face' from violent far-right extremists. But three years later, it is unclear what, if anything the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee has done [in this regard].... As President Trump continues to suffer political backlash for his response to the deadly Charlottesville protests led by white supremacists, analysts who follow far-right groups say generations of neglect by multiple administrations has allowed them to proliferate and strengthen.... Since 9/11, there have been 95 deaths in the United States linked to Islamist militant violence, while 68 people have died at the hands of the far right during the same time, according to the nonpartisan think tank New America.... Federal authorities are also dealing with an emerging problem from an increasingly confrontational and sometimes violent leftist extremist group known as antifa."

Former Sen. Bob Graham in a Washington Post op-ed: Congressional investigative committees are not nearly prepared to adequately investigate the Trump/Russia scandal. "The nation's best option is for [Robert] Mueller to continue his investigation until it ends, wherever it leads. Should Trump find some way to remove him, it would spark a constitutional crisis unlike anything since Watergate; Congress must be ready for this worst-case scenario. In our system of checks and balances, it has the right and duty to exercise full oversight. Now is the time to start preparing for that responsibility."

Deirdre Walsh of CNN: "The Justice Department said in a court filing Friday evening that it has no evidence to support ... Donald Trump's assertion in March that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower before last year's election. 'Both FBI and NSD confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets,' the department's motion reads. NSD refers to the department's national security division. The motion came in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by a group pushing for government transparency, American Oversight.On March 4, Trump tweeted: 'Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!' 'How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process,' Trump also tweeted. 'This is Nixon/Watergate.' Then-FBI Director James Comey told Congress in March there was no evidence to support the contention that Trump Tower had been wiretapped.... American Oversight said in a statement following the Justice Department's motion: 'The FBI and Department of Justice have now sided with former Director Comey and confirmed in writing that President Trump lied when he tweeted the former President Obama "wiretapped" him at Trump Tower.'" ...

... Chas Danner of New York: "The episode, as well as Trump and the White House's subsequent refusal to provide any evidence to back up the claim, was one of the most-outrageous early events of Trump's presidency. The most likely explanation for Trump's tweets is that someone passed him a Breitbart article writing up accusations against Obama made by conservative radio host Mark Levin, who based his claims based on dubious British media reports. In other words, a right-wing game of conspiracy-theory telephone resulted in the president of the United States accusing his predecessor of a politically-motivated criminal act via tweetstorm, which in turn kicked off one of the biggest, most-distracting scandals of Trump's early presidency."

Friday Night News Dump. Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Representative Jim Bridenstine, Republican of Oklahoma, will be nominated by President Trump to serve as NASA's next administrator, the White House said on Friday night. Mr. Bridenstine, a strong advocate for drawing private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin more deeply into NASA's exploration of space, had been rumored to be the leading candidate for the job, but months passed without an announcement. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Bridenstine, 42, would be the first elected official to hold that job." ...

... Marc Caputo of Politico: "Florida’s senators are voicing opposition to ... Donald Trump's pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine, saying a 'politician' shouldn't lead the nation's space program. Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson wouldn't say whether they'd buck the president and vote against Bridenstine, who was nominated Friday. But they suggested the GOP congressman's political past would needlessly spark a partisan fight in the Senate that could ultimately damage NASA.... The bipartisan pushback against Trump's nominee for NASA administrator underscores the importance of the agency to Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.... Nelson serves as the ranking member on the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, which oversees NASA and would hear Bridenstine's nomination.... Bridenstine was harshly critical of Rubio during the GOP presidential primary when the Oklahoma representative supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz." ...

... Joe Romm of Think Progress: "Bridenstine is a politician without any scientific credentials, unlike previous NASA chiefs.... NASA scientists have led the way in documenting the scientific reality of climate change. But in 2013, Bridenstine not only gave a speech on the House floor filled with standard denier talking points, he actually ended his remarks with a demand that President Obama apologize for funding research into climate science.... Although Bridenstine serves on the House science committee, those remarks were in contradiction to well-established science at the time -- and indeed to NASA's own research." ...

... Wait, Wait. It Gets Worse. Ken Ward of the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette-Mail: "... Donald Trump on Saturday indicated he has chosen as the nation's top mine safety official the former chief executive of Rhino Resources, a coal company that repeatedly clashed with federal regulators when the Obama administration Labor Department tried to step up industry-wide enforcement in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in a generation. The White House announced that Trump intended to nominate David G. Zatezalo, of Wheeling, [West Virginia,] as assistant secretary of labor for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration."

Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... White House chief of staff John Kelly has sought to put a dent in the influence of one of ... Donald Trump’s most famous advisers: Omarosa Manigault. The former Apprentice co-star -- who currently serves as the communications director for the Office of Public Liaison -- has seen her direct access to the president limited since Kelly took the top White House job in late July, sources tell The Daily Beast. In particular, Kelly has taken steps to prevent her and other senior staffers from getting unvetted news articles on the president's Resolute desk -- a key method for influencing the president's thinking, and one that Manigualt used to rile up Trump about internal White House drama.... 'When Gen. Kelly is talking about clamping down on access to the Oval, she's patient zero,' a source close to the Trump administration said.... Manigault would [bring negative press reports] to Trump, often on a phone or printed out, [which] would often enrage the president, and resulted in him spending at least the rest of the day fuming about it."

Beyond the Beltway

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "A bar in Minneapolis, Minn., shut its doors Friday after it was revealed the owner had donated to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's failed Senate campaign, The Star Tribune reported. Club Jäger closed down Friday, with staff protesting after local newspaper City Pages revealed that owner Julius De Roma had made a $500 donation to Duke's Senate bid last year. Entertainers at the bar and staffers quit after the story about De Roma's campaign donation to the former KKK grand wizard emerged. Employees said the decision to close the business was made by those who ran the bar, not the owner, according to the Star Tribune. De Roma defended his donation to local television station WCCO this week as 'free speech.' 'Well, whatever,' De Roma said. 'What do you expect? It's basically something that is blown up beyond what it should be.'"

News Lede

Los Angeles Times: "Hundreds of firefighters fought for control over a 5,800-acre brush fire Saturday in the Verdugo Mountains north of downtown Los Angeles that forced the evacuations of hundreds of homes and shut down a nine-mile stretch of the 210 Freeway. The La Tuna fire was believed to be one of the largest in L.A. city history in terms of sheer acreage, officials said. The blaze destroyed three homes in Tujunga, but no injuries were reported. The fire, which shrouded the sky with plumes of white smoke, was only 10% contained late Saturday. It broke out a day earlier, with shifting winds sending flames in multiple directions. Fire crews confronted the same erratic conditions on Saturday, Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said."