The Conversation -- January 1, 2025

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "To history, the Iran hostage crisis remains the emblem of a failed presidency, a grievous wound to American stature around the world and a proximate cause of the electoral tidal wave that swept Mr. Carter out of the White House after a single term. But to at least some of those who lived it, Mr. Carter remains a figure worthy of respect and admiration for his relentless determination to bring.... "

Lost in Translation. President Carter visits David Letterman's show: ~~~

Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: "U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced a new low for border level crossings during the month of November...."

Andrew Solender of Axios: "C-SPAN cameras will once again be allowed to roll from inside the House chamber when lawmakers return in January to elect a speaker and certify the 2024 presidential election.... C-SPAN's special access during the protracted speaker election in 2023 gave the American public a rare glimpse into the House's usually hidden machinations. The high level of public engagement with that behind-the-scenes access led to a push to allow the independent news organization to be granted permanent permission to freely film the inside of the chamber. That push was unsuccessful, though then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) did reportedly expand the access of the government-run cameras in the chamber.... The cameras are always allowed on Jan. 3 because speaker elections occur before a vote can take place to pass a House rules package explicitly barring them from the chamber. But House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) office also plans to allow the cameras on Jan. 6, when lawmakers meet to certify President-elect Trump's victory, a Johnson spokesperson told Axios. The cameras are typically only allowed in special circumstances such as State of the Union addresses."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Judicial independence is under grave threat on several fronts, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote on Tuesday in an unusually urgent and somber year-end report on the state of the federal judiciary. 'Violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,' he wrote. The report, which arrived in the wake of questions about the court's ethical standards and a drop in its approval ratings, said some criticism of judges' work is healthy, warranted and welcome.... The number of hostile threats and communication directed at judges has more than tripled in the past decade, he wrote.... 'Public officials, too, regrettably have engaged in recent attempts to intimidate judges -- for example, suggesting political bias in the judge's adverse rulings without a credible basis for such allegations,' Chief Justice Roberts wrote.... 'In recent years, hostile foreign state actors have accelerated their efforts to attack all branches of our government, including the judiciary,' the chief justice wrote." The linked report comes via the Court, not the NYT.

David Klepper of the AP: "The United States has imposed sanctions on two groups linked to Iranian and Russian efforts to target American voters with disinformation ahead of this year's election. Treasury officials announced the sanctions Tuesday, alleging that the two organizations sought to stoke divisions among Americans before November's vote. U.S. intelligence has accused both governments of spreading disinformation, including fake videos, news stories and social media posts, designed to manipulate voters and undermine trust in U.S. elections.... Authorities said the Russian group, the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise, oversaw the creation, financing and dissemination of disinformation about American candidates, including deepfake videos created using artificial intelligence.... The Iranian group, the Cognitive Design Production Center, is a subsidiary of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Officials say the center worked since at least 2023 to incite political tensions in the United States." ~~~

     ~~~ The Treasury Department's press release re: the sanctions is here, via the Department.

Carol Leonnig & Emmanuel Martinez of the Washington Post: "The causes of the mistakes in Butler, [Pennsylvania, that came close to killing Donald Trump and left one spectator dead and two injured] ... had been years in the making, a Post review found.... [It was] the Secret Service's biggest security failure since the 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.... Three presidents and Congress have failed to

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Virginia man was arrested this month with what federal prosecutors described in court papers on Monday as the largest cache of 'finished explosive devices' ever found in the F.B.I.'s history. The man, Brad Spafford, was taken into custody at a farm outside Norfolk on Dec. 17 on the basis of a single-count criminal complaint accusing him of illegally possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle. When investigators searched his 20-acre property, in Isle of Wight County, they found in a detached garage more than 150 explosive devices -- mostly pipe bombs, some of them labeled 'lethal,' prosecutors said. They found more pipe bombs in a bedroom inside Mr. Spafford's house, loosely stuffed in a backpack that bore a patch shaped like a hand grenade and a logo reading '#NoLivesMatter,' prosecutors said.

"No Lives Matter is a nihilistic, far-right ideology that largely exists on encrypted online messaging apps like Telegram. The movement's adherents promote 'targeted attacks, mass killings and criminal activity' and have 'historically encouraged members to engage in self-harm and animal abuse' according to a threat assessment released in August by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness." A CBS News report is here.

D.C. Mayor Courts the Count of Mar-a-Lardo. Meagan Flynn & Martin Weil of the Washington Post: "D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) met with ... Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, saying in a late-night statement that they discussed 'shared priorities' involving the federal workforce, buildings and park space during the 'great meeting.'... Bowser's optimistic tenor appears part of a strategy to collaborate with Trump rather than provoke him in a city where over 90 percent of voters rejected him. Trump has repeatedly antagonized the District, threatening a federal takeover in rally speeches. And, combined with a GOP Congress, D.C. is expected to be particularly vulnerable to federal intervention in its affairs. Bowser will need Trump and the federal government's buy-in on some of the District's priorities, such as redeveloping federal land at the defunct RFK football stadium and underused federal buildings."

Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "A federal judge in New York refused to allow Rudy Giuliani to hide a list of witnesses he plans to call at next month's trial over whether he will have to turn over his multimillion dollar Florida condominium to the two Georgia election workers he defamed to the tune of $148 million. U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman said on Monday that Giuliani filed his witness list under seal on Dec. 23, despite the fact that the court had 'neither directed nor permitted this list to be filed under seal.' The judge then ordered the clerk of the court to unseal the document on the court's public docket. The failure to abide by the court's processes and procedures in the latest in a long line of mishaps on Giuliani's end in the contentious litigation over how he is going to pay the massive debt he owes to Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss."

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California. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Insurance companies that pulled back from fire-prone areas of California in recent years will have to start covering those regions again if they want to stay in the state -- but they can pass more costs on to customers. A regulation announced this week by the California Department of Insurance requires insurers to increase the writing of comprehensive policies in disaster-prone areas by 5 percent every two years up to a certain threshold. Currently, there is no requirement that insurers operate in high-risk areas at all, and some of the largest home insurers have cut their natural disaster coverage or hiked rates as climate risk grows. But in an effort to keep those firms from leaving California altogether, regulators included a concession that the industry has sought for years: the ability to include reinsurance costs in the rates that homeowners pay."

North Carolina. Sam Levin of the Guardian: "The governor of North Carolina has granted commutations to 15 people on death row on his final day in office, changing their sentences to life without the possibility of parole. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced his clemency action on New Year's Eve, prompting praise from opponents of capital punishment, who have advocated for mass commutations to thwart executions. Cooper's grants exclude dozens of people whose death sentences remain intact. Out of 136 people on the state's death row, Cooper had received 89 clemency petitions, according to the governor's office. His office said it considered the facts of the crime, input from prosecutors and victims, 'credible claims of innocence', the 'potential influence of race', prison conduct, a defendant's age and intellectual capacity at the time of the offense and other case factors."

Puerto Rico. Luis Ferré-Sadurní, et al., of the New York Times: "A sweeping blackout hit Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning, plunging most of the island into darkness on New Year's Eve.... Nearly 90 percent of Puerto Rico's 1.4 million utility customers were without power on Tuesday morning in what was described as a 'systemwide' blackout, according to Luma Energy, a private Canadian American consortium that took control of the U.S. territory's energy grid in 2021.... As of 11 p.m., power had been restored to 48 percent of customers, Luma said in an update late Tuesday."

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Germany. Christopher Schuetze of the New York Times: "... [German] Chancellor Olaf ... Scholz's New Year's Eve speech, which will probably be his last, comes amid unusual political turbulence in modern Germany and rising polarization in Europe. The tone of his address reflected the stakes for the country as it faces stalled economic growth, with the chancellor calling for 'solidarity' while acknowledging that life had become more expensive for many.... He also included an oblique reference to a non-German who has taken a strong, some might say baffling, interest in the country's politics: Elon Musk.... 'Where Germany goes from here will be decided by you -- the citizens,' Mr. Scholz said. 'It will not be decided by the owners of social media channels.... In our debates, one can be forgiven for sometimes thinking the more extreme an opinion is, the more attention it will garner. But it won't be the person who yells loudest who will decide where Germany goes from here. Rather, that will be up to the vast majority of reasonable and decent people.'"

Russia/Ukraine, et al. Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "The Russian energy giant Gazprom said early Wednesday that it had suspended the flow of natural gas to Europe through a pipeline that had carried Soviet and Russian gas through Ukraine for nearly six decades. The move came after Ukraine had said it would not renew an agreement that allowed for the transit of Russian gas through its territory. The agreement, signed in 2019, ended on Wednesday. Gazprom made its announcement in a post on the Telegram platform, saying that the gas had stopped flowing at 8 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday.

"Europe has sharply reduced its consumption of Russian gas since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.... Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and several Balkan countries still rely on Russian gas delivered through Ukraine, but experts say gas in storage facilities and alternative supplies should prevent any immediate disruptions to electricity and heating in these countries."

The pipeline through Ukraine, built in the Soviet era to carry Siberian gas to European markets, was Russia's last major gas corridor to Europe after the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany was sabotaged in 2022, possibly by Ukraine, and the closure of a route through Belarus to Poland.

The Conversation -- December 31, 2024

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral will be held on Jan. 9, featuring a eulogy by President Biden and culminating more than a week of ceremonies and honors, organizers said on Monday. Mr. Biden also ordered the federal government to close on Jan. 9 and declared it a national day of mourning. Because of the New Year's holiday, the eight-day plan that organizers had long envisioned for Mr. Carter's memorial services will not kick off until later this week. The former president will be brought to Atlanta by motorcade and lie in repose on Saturday and Sunday at the Carter Center, which was the home of his post-presidential humanitarian work.... Mr. Carter ... will then be flown on Monday, Jan. 6, to Washington. He will lie in state at the Capitol." The NBC News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: It may not be a fortunate accident that President Carter died just before Donald Trump assumed the presidency*.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale thought he would still be around to speak at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, who was a little more than three years his senior. But even though Mr. Mondale died first, in 2021, he left behind the eulogy he planned to deliver, which will be read at Mr. Carters memorial service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 by his son Ted Mondale. Former President Gerald R. Ford, who died in 2006, likewise left a eulogy that will be read by his son, Steven Ford. In the tribute he left behind, Mr. Mondale hailed Mr. Carter especially for making human rights the centerpiece of his foreign policy, for promoting environmental measures long before the term climate change became widely known and for placing more women in high office than any of his predecessors -- including an appeals court judge named Ruth Bader Ginsburg." (Also linked yesterday.)

In today's world, some may look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era -- with honesty and character, faith and humility.... But I don't believe it's a bygone era. I see a man not only of our times, but for all times. Someone who embodies the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away.... We may never see his like again. But we would all do well to try to be a little more like Jimmy Carter. -- President Biden, to reporters in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. ~~~

~~~ Matt Viser & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "It was half a century ago when Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter met in Atlanta.... Biden was in town to deliver a speech, and Carter -- then the governor of Georgia -- invited Biden to stay at his home.... '... He actually asked my advice about running a long-shot campaign [for president]. Biden would ultimately be the first sitting U.S. senator to endorse Carter, quickly becoming perhaps his most important political ally at a time when many saw Carter's presidential ambitions as a joke. The young senator was the first major political figure outside of Georgia to back Carter, and he would campaign for him in 30 states during the 1976 election. It was the start of a decades-long friendship and political partnership, in which the two men clearly saw something of themselves in each other." (Also linked yesterday.)

Joseph Gedeon of the Guardian: "Joe Biden said Donald Trump should learn 'decency' from Jimmy Carter's legacy, in remarks delivered hours after the former president's death on Sunday.... Speaking to reporters during a family vacation in the US Virgin Islands, the outgoing US president drew sharp contrasts between Carter's character and that of his predecessor Trump, who is set to begin a second term in January. When asked if there was anything Trump could learn from Carter, Biden replied: 'Decency. Decency. Decency.'... The outgoing president spoke for nine minutes about Carter, describing him as a humanitarian, a personal friend and a 'remarkable leader'. He emphasized how Carter's values reflected on America's global standing, noting that 'the rest of the world looks to us. And he was worth looking to.'" You can hear President Biden's remarks in this YouTube video.

Paul Krugman on President Carter's bad luck. Also see Ken W.'s commentary, about the 8th post in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "President Joe Biden's administration said Monday it is taking steps to bar oil, gas and geothermal development for 20 years in northeastern Nevada's Ruby Mountains. The administration said it has submitted an application to withdraw about 264,000 acres (107,000 hectares) of federal lands in the area from such leasing. That starts a 90-day public comment period on the 20-year prohibition and prevents oil, gas and geothermal development for two years during the process. The lands would remain open to mining."

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The United States is sending nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, as the Biden administration continues to rush military aid to Kyiv in the weeks before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office. The aid will include air defense, artillery and other critical weapons systems, President Biden said in a statement on Monday morning." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ana Swanson & David Sanger of the New York Times: "One of China's intelligence agencies hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday, the latest in a series of embarrassing surveillance operations against major American institutions.... Senior officials with access to the intelligence on the breach said that it appeared to be entirely an espionage operation and not part of other Chinese efforts to insert malicious computer code into utility grids and water supply systems.... Top Chinese officials have a deep interest in the activities of the Treasury Department, which oversees sensitive data about global financial systems ==-- and estimates of China's own troubled economy. The department also implements sanctions against Chinese firms, including, in recent times, those aiding Russia in the war against Ukraine." CNN's report is here.

House Guest or Tenant? Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "For most of the time since Election Day..., [Elon] Musk has been using one of the cottages available for rent on Mr. Trump's property at Mar-a-Lago.... Staying right on the grounds has helped provide Mr. Musk with easy access to Mr. Trump.... The cottage ... historically has rented for at least $2,000 a night.... Mr. Musk's employees from his various businesses have also been integrally involved in the transition, vetting prospective candidates for senior administration jobs, in interviews at the Trump transition headquarters in West Palm Beach." It isn't known whether or not Trump will charge Musk rent.

Digby in Salon: "Elon Musk [has been winning] internecine GOP brawl[s] and proved that he has the next president of the United States firmly under his thumb. Trump seems to be dazzled by him and his tech-bro billionaire buds in the same way he's dazzled by Vladimir Putin. Having the richest man in the world be his friend is more meaningful to him than being president again. I think we've all been thinking that Trump was going to get jealous and kick Musk to the curb sooner rather than later. But that's no sure thing. He's lost more than a step. He's four years older than when he left the White House and he's bored with the details of the presidency. From what we're seeing, he's ready to let his bff do whatever he wants and it's becoming clear to the MAGA activists who've worshipped him that it's not going to be Musk who's kicked to the curb -- it's going to be them." A fun read. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's a good chance Digby is right. After all, Trump has more in common with billionaires than he does with MAGA believers. It's true he shares the hoi polloi's ignorance, discontent, and lifetime of failure & disappointment. But because of luck, he shares economic interests with billionaires. Since he doesn't have to worry about re-election (unless he decides to run again), the mob has lost much of its utility. It's true that the madding crowd could still help Trump maintain some control over Congress, but billionaires and their campaign contributions are mighty good at that, too. AND, despite Trump's fundraising talents, it seems more likely that he himself will benefit financially far more from alliances with billionaires than from the loyalty of MAGA adherent. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, and here's something I learned from Digby. I thought it was odd that in his pining tweet to Musk, Trump wrote, "We miss you and x!" Trump has his very own failing social media platform (which ripped off Twitter); why would he miss "x"? Turns out Musk has a child named X (full given name, "X Æ A-Xii"), and the child has been visiting Mar-a-Lardo with Elon. ~~~

~~~ AND Adam Lashinsky in a Washington Post op-ed: "... the fight over the visas is the shape of scrapes to come. Trump's new tech backers harbor decidedly different -- and much more establishment-minded -- instincts about trade, tariffs and foreign policy than the folks between the coasts who gave Trump his start. The fissure between these two branches of Trump's coalition is only likely to grow. But there is little doubt about which side will win.... Self-interest is a foundational ethos in Silicon Valley, a place where boys who read science fiction in their bedrooms and then Ayn Rand in their college dorms grew up to be today's Masters of the Universe. For years, the tech crowd tried its best to ignore Washington, barely acknowledging that their industry was built on government contracts...." Lashinsky seems to believe that the tech bros will be the winners (although he really does not make this clear, IMO). ~~~

~~~ BUT. Andrew Prokop of Vox writes that the real feud between Elon Musk & MAGA over H-1B visa is between Musk & "someone with far more power, influence, and bureaucratic savvy: Stephen Miller.... And the biggest problem for Musk and his tech allies is that, if they want H-1B expansion, they'd have to go through Miller, a formidable opponent.... Trump may say things, but it's Miller who turns those things into policy, and who knows how to slow-walk or squelch proposals he dislikes.... Finally, there's yet another twist to this messy saga -- shortly before this dispute began last week, Trump announced he'd chosen a new appointee to join Musk and Ramaswamy at DOGE. Her name? Katie Miller -- Stephen's wife. 'Congratulations to Stephen and Katie!' Trump posted."

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as House speaker on Monday, roughly two weeks after Mr. Trump helped put Mr. Johnson&'s chances in jeopardy by sinking a bipartisan spending bill that the speaker had negotiated to avert a government shutdown. The announcement from Mr. Trump on his website, Truth Social, ended days of private discussions by the president-elect and his allies about whether to try to save Mr. Johnson or find another option, as some conservatives have been agitating for. The House is set to choose a speaker on Friday, just three days before Mr. Trump's Electoral College victory is certified by a joint session of Congress, and Mr. Johnson needs to cobble together a majority to keep the job." The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hailey Fuchs of Politico: "The House Ethics Committee closed investigations into at least four members Monday for violating campaign finance rules. The investigations involved Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.), Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) and 'other confidential matters that have been under review.' The committee declined to disclose further details on those cases."

Perry Stein & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court Monday upheld a $5 million New York civil trial jury verdict that found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan said that Trump did not demonstrate that the district court 'erred in any of the challenged rulings.'... In response to the appeals court's ruling, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that the decision would be appealed and that the case should be dismissed." The AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "Matthew M. Graves, the top federal prosecutor for the District [of Columbia], announced Monday that he was resigning his post as U.S. attorney days before ... Donald Trump takes office. Graves led what the Justice Department has called the largest investigation it has ever conducted: prosecuting those who participated in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Trump has promised to pardon many of the rioters, undoing much of Graves's work.... Nearly 1,600 people have been charged in the Capitol riot, and more than 1,250 have been convicted.... More than 170 Jan. 6 defendants took their cases to trial, and federal prosecutors have won 99 percent of those."

A Story to Frighten Urban Americans. Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: "Living in [San Francisco]..., I have lately found myself in a game of chicken with cars driven by nothing but artificial intelligence. Waymo robot taxis, owned by the same company as Google, are everywhere in San Francisco -- and they will soon be driving themselves in six U.S. cities. During rush hour each weekday, easily two or three dozen of the white SUVs, loaded up with cameras and spinning sensors, pass by a street near my house.... When I try to cross my street at a marked crosswalk, the Waymo robotaxis often wouldn't yield to me.... Using my phone..., I documented more than a dozen Waymo cars failing to yield in the span of a week.... At my crosswalk, which is not protected by a stop sign, the Waymo would yield for me about 3 out of 10 times."

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North Dakota. Alexandra Petri of the New York Times: "The son of Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, was sentenced to 28 years in prison on Monday in connection with a high-speed car chase that ended with a crash that killed a sheriff's deputy last year. Ian Cramer, 43, led the police on a highway pursuit on Dec. 6, 2023, after speeding away from a hospital in Bismarck, N.D., where his mother had tried to take him that day because he was experiencing a mental health crisis, the authorities said. The authorities were able to locate Ian Cramer in Hazen, N.D., roughly 70 miles away in Mercer County and pursued him for about five miles until he crashed into an unoccupied sheriff's patrol car that was parked on the side of a highway. The impact killed Paul Martin, 53, a Mercer County sheriff's deputy who was standing behind the car when it was struck."

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South Korea. Qasim Nauman & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "A court in South Korea cleared the way for officials to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning on Tuesday, as the authorities investigated whether his declaration of martial law this month, which plunged the country into political crisis, amounted to an insurrection. The court order stops short of a formal arrest warrant. The warrant issued on Tuesday only allowed investigators to detain him for questioning for a limited period of time; they need a separate warrant from a court to formally arrest him.... Mr. Yoon planned to ask the Constitutional Court, which is hearing his impeachment trial, to reject the validity of the detention warrant and would seek an injunction against it, said his lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Linda Lavin, the Tony Award-winning Broadway actress who was best known for starring as a waitress and single mom on the long-running sitcom 'Alice,' died on Sunday in Los Angeles. She was 87."

Washington Post: "Charles Dolan, a soft-spoken media mogul who founded HBO and amassed a multibillion-dollar fortune through Cablevision, the small suburban cable company that he grew into a colossus of New York sports and entertainment, died Dec. 28. He was 98."

The Conversation -- December 30, 2024

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral will be held on Jan. 9, featuring a eulogy by President Biden and culminating more than a week of ceremonies and honors, organizers said on Monday. Mr. Biden also ordered the federal government to close on Jan. 9 and declared it a national day of mourning. Because of the New Year's holiday, the eight-day plan that organizers had long envisioned for Mr. Carter's memorial services will not kick off until later this week. The former president will be brought to Atlanta by motorcade and lie in repose on Saturday and Sunday at the Carter Center, which was the home of his post-presidential humanitarian work.... Mr. Carter ... will then be flown on Monday, Jan. 6, to Washington. He will lie in state at the Capitol." The NBC News report is here.

     ~~~ Marie: It may not be a fortunate accident that President Carter died just before Donald Trump assumed the presidency*.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale thought he would still be around to speak at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, who was a little more than three years his senior. But even though Mr. Mondale died first, in 2021, he left behind the eulogy he planned to deliver, which will be read at Mr. Carter's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 by his son Ted Mondale. Former President Gerald R. Ford, who died in 2006, likewise left a eulogy that will be read by his son, Steven Ford. In the tribute he left behind, Mr. Mondale hailed Mr. Carter especially for making human rights the centerpiece of his foreign policy, for promoting environmental measures long before the term climate change became widely known and for placing more women in high office than any of his predecessors -- including an appeals court judge named Ruth Bader Ginsburg."

In today's world, some may look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era -- with honesty and character, faith and humility.... But I don't believe it's a bygone era. I see a man not only of our times, but for all times. Someone who embodies the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away.... We may never see his like again. But we would all do well to try to be a little more like Jimmy Carter. -- President Biden, to reporters in St. Croix, Virgin Islands ~~~

~~~ Matt Viser & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "It was half a century ago when Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter met in Atlanta.... Biden was in town to deliver a speech, and Carter -- then the governor of Georgia -- invited Biden to stay at his home.... '... He actually asked my advice about running a long-shot campaign [for president]. Biden would ultimately be the first sitting U.S. senator to endorse Carter, quickly becoming perhaps his most important political ally at a time when many saw Carter's presidential ambitions as a joke. The young senator was the first major political figure outside of Georgia to back Carter, and he would campaign for him in 30 states during the 1976 election. It was the start of a decades-long friendship and political partnership, in which the two men clearly saw something of themselves in each other."

Paul Krugman on President Carter's bad luck. Also see Ken W.'s commentary, about the 8th post in today's thread.

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The United States is sending nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, as the Biden administration continues to rush military aid to Kyiv in the weeks before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office. The aid will include air defense, artillery and other critical weapons systems, President Biden said in a statement on Monday morning."

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as House speaker on Monday, roughly two weeks after Mr. Trump helped put Mr. Johnson's chances in jeopardy by sinking a bipartisan spending bill that the speaker had negotiated to avert a government shutdown. The announcement from Mr. Trump on his website, Truth Social, ended days of private discussions by the president-elect and his allies about whether to try to save Mr. Johnson or find another option, as some conservatives have been agitating for. The House is set to choose a speaker on Friday, just three days before Mr. Trump's Electoral College victory is certified by a joint session of Congress, and Mr. Johnson needs to cobble together a majority to keep the job." The AP story is here.

Perry Stein & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court Monday upheld a $5 million New York civil trial jury verdict that found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan said that Trump did not demonstrate that the district court 'erred in any of the challenged rulings.'... In response to the appeals court's ruling, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that the decision would be appealed and that the case should be dismissed." The AP report is here.

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President Jimmy Carter Dies at 100

Washington Post: "Jimmy Carter, a no-frills and steel-willed Southern governor who was elected president in 1976, was rejected by disillusioned voters after a single term and went on to an extraordinary post-presidential life that included winning the Nobel Peace Prize, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to his son James E. Carter III, known as Chip. He was 100 and the oldest living U.S. president of all time." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP report is here.

President Carter's New York Times obituary is here.

The New York Times is live-updating news related to President Carter's life & death. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Carter Center's announcement of President Carter's death is here.

Kyle Melnick of the Washington Post: "Former president Jimmy Carter's death Sunday prompted condolences and praise from current and former leaders in the United States and across the world. Many of them complimented Carter's human rights activism, conflict-resolution work and kindness from his presidency and the following decades." An ABC News story is here.

President Biden made a proclamation announcing the death of President Carter and ordering federal government officials to pay tribute & honor to him by flying the American flag at half-staff over their facilities for 30 days. He also proclaimed January 9 as a National Day of Mourning.

Here is the statement by President Joe Biden & Dr. Jill Biden on President Carter's passing. Via the White House.

Here is the statement from Vice President Kamala Harris regarding President Carter's passing, via the White House.

President Barack Obama's statement is here.

Elvia Limon of the Hill cites Donald Trump's remarks. Most of it isn't even embarrassing; well, there is that part where Trump writes, 'Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History.' MB: Obviously, many people who have never been president are aware of "the enormous responsibility" of the presidency. Some, like spouses & staff, have intimate knowledge of what those responsibilities entail. Sadly, Trump is not one of those who is aware, or if he is aware, he decided to shirk those responsibilities.

Samantha Power, in a New York Times op-ed: "Jimmy Carter's elevation of human rights in U.S. foreign policy offers many urgent lessons for today. Whatever challenges he faced consistently applying the principles he championed as the 39th president, he made a radical break with decades of foreign policy tradition, changed the world's understanding of America's aspirations, showed deep empathy for individuals who had suffered human rights abuse and in so doing, made a lasting impact on both the United States and the world.... In doing something so radical for his time -- elevating attention to the plight and dignity of individuals in U.S. foreign policy and then living those values until his final days -- he changed our world for good."

Dan Rather on Substack: "Carter was far ahead of his time on many issues, especially the environment. He was an early advocate for green energy and energy conservation, famously installing solar panels on the White House. Imagine where the world would be today if it had followed his lead instead of mocking him.... He was an early ally to what was then called the gay rights movement. Trained as a naval engineer on nuclear submarines, he realized that technology could transform our military and set out to do it. He recognized that America could be a leader for human rights around the world. He championed consumer protection and created the Department of Education to expand federal support for schools. He helped broker peace between Israel and Egypt. "

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My Governor Went on National Teevee & Made a Fool of Himself. Michael Mechanic of Mother Jones: "A news clip making the rounds Sunday morning had CNN's Dana Bash talking with Chris Sununu, New Hampshire's Republican governor, about Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest. Here, after all, we have a hecto-billionaire with massive federal contracts via SpaceX -- and whose carmaker, Tesla, likely wouldn't have survived without generous state and federal subsidies -- serving as an advisor to an incoming president on how the government should be spending its money, or not. Sununu told Bash he liked that Musk is an 'outsider' -- an interesting choice of words -- who is 'not looking for anything.' When she challenged that notion, he responded, 'The guy is worth $450 billion' and therefore is 'so rich he's removed from the potential financial influence.... I don't think he's doing it for the money,' Sununu said. 'He's doing it for the bigger project and the bigger vision of America.'... Musk's wealth, at least on paper, on a very steep upward trajectory.... One month prior to the election, Elon Musk's estimated net worth was about $263 billion. Now, at year's end, it is $437 billion.... So Sununu can spare us the 'greater project' nonsense."

Andrew Solender of Axios: "If measured by the number of bills signed into law, the 118th Congress was by far the most unproductive since at least the 1980s, according to data from public affairs firm Quorum.... The 118th Congress passed just under 150 bills over the last two years, according to the Quorum data provided to Axios. That's down from more than 350 passed in the previous Congress -- in which Democrats held control of both chambers and the White House. The 17 Congresses since the start of George H.W. Bush's presidency in 1989 have passed an average of more than 380 laws.... Every fiscal deadline [the 118th Congress faced] led to brinksmanship between the Republican House and the Democratic Senate and White House. House Republicans were also beset by infighting and palace intrigue, most notably the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Throughout the disarray, trust between House Democrats and Republicans reached a low ebb -- making bipartisan compromise rare." (MB Note: Yesterday, Axios tried to get me to sign in in order to read a post; today, I accessed this post without any impediment.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Olivia Hussey, whose performance as the female lead in a 1968 film adaptation of 'Romeo and Juliet' became its own Shakespearean tale, encompassing glory improbably achieved, helplessness with newfound power, memories that darkened over the years, yet also love of the vicissitudes of fate, died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 73."