The Commentariat -- August 30, 2017

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "President Trump landed in storm-brushed Corpus Christi on Tuesday morning to see for himself some of the damage caused by Tropical Storm Harvey and demonstrate his personal commitment to a region still in the grips of a historic natural disaster. Mr. Trump ... pushed aides to schedule a visit to Texas as early as possible after Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas, on Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane.... 'It's a real team, and we want to do it better than ever before,' Mr. Trump said of the response effort during a meeting with officials from local, state and federal agencies in a Corpus Christi firehouse." ...

... But, Really, It's All about Trump. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "As rescuers continued their exhausting and heartbreaking work in southeastern Texas on Tuesday afternoon, as the rain continued to fall and a reservoir near Houston spilled over, President Trump grabbed a microphone to address hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside a firehouse near Corpus Christi and were chanting: 'USA! USA! USA!' 'Thank you, everybody,' the president said, sporting one of the white 'USA' caps that are being sold on his campaign website for $40. 'I just want to say: We love you. You are special.... What a crowd. What a turnout.' Yet again, Trump managed to turn attention on himself. His responses to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey have been more focused on the power of the storm and his administration's response than on the millions of Texans whose lives have been dramatically altered by the floodwaters. He has talked favorably about the higher television ratings that come with hurricane coverage, predicted that he will soon be congratulating himself and used 16 exclamation points in 22 often breathless tweets about the storm. But as of late Tuesday afternoon, the president had yet to mention those killed, call on other Americans to help or directly encourage donations to relief organizations.... At a news conference Monday, Trump continued to gush over the storm. 'I've heard the words, "epic." I've heard "historic." That's what it is,' he said, adding that the hurricane will make Texas stronger and the rebuilding effort 'will be something very special.' By focusing on the historic epicness of the hurricane, Trump has repeatedly turned attention to his role in confronting the disaster -- a message reinforced by comments and tweets praising members of his administration.... The president's comments, which lasted mere minutes, angered many of those who served in President Barack Obama's administration and could not imagine their former boss ever acting like this. 'It's not a time for crowing about crowds,' said Alyssa Mastromonaco, a former deputy chief of staff of operations for Obama." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Diane & MAG both make excellent comments on Trump's response to the storm crisis in Texas at the top of today's Comments. (Although, in fairness, Medlar said you all should have given John Kelly some credit for talking Trump out of his original plan, which was to go down there & sell #MAGA inflatable boats, #MAGA waders & #MAGA ponchos, $10 discounts for anyone wearing other #MAGA gear.) ...

... David Axelrod, in a CNN opinion piece: "Hurricane Harvey was Donald Trump's first major test in [the] role [of consoler-in-chief]. Trump flew to Texas on Tuesday to meet with state officials and disaster response coordinators.... [for] another dispiriting display of obtuse self-puffery. Seated at a table between Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and first lady Melania Trump, the President launched into a monologue about the epic nature of Harvey ... with hosannas to his team -- and by extension, himself -- for the job they're doing in meeting it.Turning to FEMA Director Brock Long, Trump gushed, 'a man who's really become very famous on television over the last couple of days.' And in wrapping up his remarks, he started to congratulate the group for their proficient handling of the storm, even as Houston and the surrounding region continued to be pounded by rain and floods. Glimpsing the awkward reaction on the faces around him, the President quickly caught himself, adding, 'We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished,' but leaving little doubt that mutual congratulations eventually would be due.The President then got a short, pro forma briefing for the benefit of the cameras and the group adjourned.... Startlingly, he did not utter one syllable about those who have lost their lives, their homes or businesses in the floods that are still swelling over southeast Texas, overwhelming the heroic first responders and volunteers who are straining to meet its demands. He had no solace for the tens of thousands of evacuees, some of whom were separated from their families in the storm and are now warehoused in arenas...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie cautionary note to Brock Long: That "become very famous on television" is a kiss-off. You could ask Jim Comey. ...

... Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "... not too long ago, the president proposed a budget calling for cuts to some of the federal government's most consequential efforts to prepare states and local communities and help them recover from catastrophic events such as Harvey. Congress is likely to approve a Harvey recovery bill, as it has after past disasters, to cover the huge cost of storm damages. The cuts proposed by the Trump administration would slice away funding for long-term preparedness efforts, many of them put in place to address the sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The proposed cuts would include programs run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose new administrator was praised by Trump in a tweet last weekend for 'doing a great job'; the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which helps rebuild homes, parks, hospitals and community centers; the National Weather Service, which forecasts extreme storms; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose research and community engagement help coastal residents prepare for disaster. 'The president has definitely sent a signal with his budget that emergency management is not of interest,' said Scott Knowles, a historian at Drexel University...." ...

... Washington Post Editors: "PRESIDENT TRUMP assured the nation over the weekend that he is 'closely monitoring' the disaster in Texas. 'We have an all out effort going, and going well!' he tweeted. No, the president and his administration do not. Since they entered office, they have tried to enhance the risk of the sort of devastation on display in Texas.... Houston is an example of what happens when public officials ignore experts and refuse to take natural risks seriously. As the country's fourth-largest city expanded, replacing prairie with impermeable surfaces such as pavement and concrete, the land was rendered less and less capable of absorbing floodwater. Without proper adaptive measures, this made an already flood-prone place more vulnerable.... A ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation found last year that those who have overseen Houston's flooding issues discounted scientists' warnings as 'anti-development.' In the coming months and years, the city may pay a high price for such shortsightedness. Those officials had the fate of only one city in their hands. Mr. Trump has the fate of the whole world." ...

... Greg Sargent: Hopes that his Hurricane Harvey response will allow Trump to "reset" his presidency have been greatly exaggerated. "Just yesterday, Trump reaffirmed his pardon o Joe Arpaio.... Trump effusively praised Arpaio.... This is an implicit endorsement of the very conduct for which Arpaio was held in criminal contempt of court (defying a judge's command that he remain constrained by the Constitution from violating the rights of Latino immigrants)..... Incredibly, Trump also defended the pardon by recalling that the crowd at his rally in Arizona 'went absolutely crazy' when he spoke up for Arpaio. Trump has now essentially confirmed that he pardoned Arpaio, at least in part, because he agreed with the goals of Arpaio's abuses and flouting of the Constitution and because his base cheered him over it.... Whatever Trump achieves in the way of a reset, it will soon come under immense strain from the same old megalomaniacal and racially divisive impulses that have rotted away at his presidency all along." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Even before the devastation from Harvey, southeastern Texas was enduring a year unlike any before. The daily surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico last winter never dropped below 73 degrees.... How many previous times that had happened: Zero. This sort of heat has a specific effect on storms: Warmer weather causes heavier rainfall.... When the seas warm, more moisture evaporates into the air, and when the air warms -- which has also been happening in Texas -- it can carry more moisture. The severity of Harvey, in other words, is almost certainly related to climate change.... In Houston's particular case, a lack of zoning laws has led to an explosion of building, which further worsens flooding. The city added 24 percent more pavement between 1996 and 2011.... Add up the evidence, and it overwhelmingly suggests that human activity has helped create the ferocity of Harvey." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday claimed the U.S. had been paying 'extortion money' to North Korea. 'The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years,' Trump tweeted. 'Talking is not the answer!'... North Korean state media on Tuesday called its recent missile launch over Japan a 'prelude' to military operations directed at Guam." Mrs. McC: Hard to tell, but I guess Trump means talk = extortion. ...

... Max Greenwood of the Hill: "A U.S. warship successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile in a test launch off the coast of Hawaii Wednesday, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said. The USS John Paul Jones detected and tracked the missile, which had been launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, before firing SM-6 guided missiles to intercept it, the agency said."

Tuomas Forsell of Reuters: Finland's "President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday denied that Finland was buying new fighter jets from American planemaker Boeing, following remarks by ... Donald Trump.... 'One of the things that is happening is you're purchasing large amounts of our great F-18 aircraft from Boeing and it's one of the great planes, the great fighter jets,' Trump said on Monday at a news conference with his Finnish counterpart in the White House. Niinisto, who was standing next to Trump, looked surprised but did not follow up on the comment. He later denied the deal with Boeing on his Twitter account and on Tuesday in Washington." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "Large amounts of ... aircraft"? No, Donald, nobody buys "large amounts" of planes. They may buy large amounts of sugar or fuel, but they buy large numbers of planes. Can't you at least make your lies grammatical?

It's really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, not only sort of a cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution but very much something that the United States defended over the years is now itself under attack from the President. It's sort of a stunning turnaround. And ultimately the sequence is a dangerous one.... To call [the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN] 'fake' does tremendous damage and to refer to individual journalists in this way, I have to ask the question is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists? -- Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, today ...

... Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters: "... Donald Trump[s criticism of journalists amounts to an attack on the freedom of the press and could provoke violence against reporters, the United Nations' human rights chief said on Wednesday. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Trump had also made worrying remarks about women, Mexicans and Muslims and went on to question the president's approach to immigration and decision to pardon former Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio." ...

... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Sarah Jones of the New Republic: "For now, Trump TV is a small operation, cheaply produced and disseminated through Facebook. But the creation of an official broadcast in which Trump mouthpieces repeat the Trumpian line is just one of several developments that suggest the Trump era has brought conservative media to its evolutionary endpoint: sheer propaganda, stripped even of the veneer of professional journalism that traditional Republican Party organs like Fox News ('Fair and Balanced') have cultivated since the end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. It can be seen in the National Rifle Association's new video channel, where the conservative provocateur Dana Loesch calls on followers to come together in a 'clenched fist of truth' to defeat America's liberal enemies. It can be seen in the growing Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose viewers are breathlessly updated about threats to the homeland through its 'Terrorism Alert Desk.' And it can be seen in a constellation of right-wing websites -- Breitbart, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, Townhall — that traffic in xenophobia, homophobia, racism, and social Darwinism. Most influentially, it is evident in the way the White House uses the bully pulpit and social media to make direct appeals to supporters.... All of this has contributed to an environment that bears the hallmarks of a budding propaganda state...."

Sam Thielman of TPM: "... Donald Trump's erstwhile lawyer, Michael Cohen, said this week in a statement provided to congressional investigators that Trump signed a letter of intent during the campaign to develop a tower in Moscow with a firm that appears to have partnered with two Russian banks under U.S. sanctions. Real estate news outlet The Real Deal was first to surface news of the apparent associations between the Moscow-based firm, I.C. Expert Investment, and VTB and Sberbank. The firm's website lists both VTB and Sberbank as partner banks.... [Felix] Sater told Cohen that he'd arranged financing for the project with VTB, according to emails that were provided to the House Intelligence Committee and reviewed by the New York Times. Sberbank and VTB were both sanctioned in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and the U.S. Treasury specifically disallows them from issuing the kinds of financing used in real estate transactions to 'U.S. persons or within the United States.'... The day before Trump's inauguration, the president of VTB called on Trump to lift those same sanctions." ...

... Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has agreed to sit down for a transcribed interview with the Senate judiciary committee, as investigators continue to dig into his attendance at a 2016 meeting where he was promised Russian dirt on the Clinton campaign.The committee and Trump Jr. have agreed on a date to be interviewed by the panel in private, according to Taylor Foy, spokesman for committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, after Trump Jr.'s lawyers have been in discussions with the panel and turned over documents. Trump Jr. will be interviewed by senior committee staff, and senators could also attend, Foy said. After the Senate judiciary committee invited him to attend a July hearing to testify in public, Trump Jr. instead cut a deal with the committee to avoid that session. It's unclear if he will eventually testify publicly, but committee leaders have said an open session with Trump Jr. is still on the table." ...

... Evan Perez of CNN: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued subpoenas to a former lawyer for Paul Manafort and to Manafort's current spokesman, an aggressive tactic that suggests an effort to add pressure on the former Trump campaign chairman. The subpoenas seeking documents and testimony were sent to Melissa Laurenza, an attorney with the Akin Gump law firm who until recently represented Manafort, and to Jason Maloni, who is Manafort's spokesman, according to people familiar with the matter. Manafort is under investigation for possible tax and financial crimes, according to US officials briefed on the investigation."

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis late Tuesday announced that transgender troops will be allowed to continue serving in the military pending the results of a study by experts. The announcement follows an order from President Trump -- first announced in a tweet -- declaring that transgender service members can no longer serve in the military, effectively reversing an Obama administration policy. The order also affects the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Coast Guard. 'Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction,' Mattis said in the statement. 'In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.'" ...

... Mark Stern of Slate: "Mattis did not 'freeze' the trans ban, and he is not 'buy[ing] time' in some potentially insubordinate effort to buck Trump. In reality, the secretary is doing exactly what Trump directed him to do in a recent memo.... Reports of a 'freeze' on the ban ... serve the administration's narrative in two ways: They legitimize a 'study' that is designed to reach a foregone conclusion, and they falsely portray the ban as more lenient or unsettled than it really is. Absent court intervention, the trans ban will take effect next year. And unless Trump changes his mind, there is virtually nothing Mattis can do to stop it."

Rene Marsh of CNN: "The EPA's Office of Inspector General announced Monday it is beginning a 'preliminary investigation' into Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel after a hotline complaint and congressional requests which 'expressed concerns' about frequent travel to Oklahoma -- his home state -- 'at taxpayer expense.'... In late July, the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project said travel records from a Freedom of Information Act request show that Pruitt spent 48 of 92 days in March, April and May traveling -- including 43 days on trips that included stops in his home state of Oklahoma." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

An Imposter Did It! Another Loony Right-Wing Trump Appointee. Andrew Kaczynski & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Donald Trump's appointee to a Department of Energy post says inflammatory comments that appeared to have been made by him online were the result of 'cyber attacks and Internet crimes' committed against him over the past several years by 'imposters in social media.' William C. Bradford, Trump's appointee to head the Energy Department's Office of Indian Energy, made the claim in response to significant evidence uncovered by CNN's KFile that suggests an account on the online commenting service Disqus belongs to him.... In the comments section of a September 2016 article on the conservative new site Daily Wire, the Disqus user wrote: 'Well, it is a fact: Obama is the son of a fourth-rate p[orn]n actress and w[hor]re." The comment is an apparent reference to an unfounded right-wing conspiracy that Obama's mother posed for nude photos.... In another comment from January 2016, the Disqus account propagated the debunked claim that Obama's birth certificate was a fake and included a photoshopped picture of the former president's birth certificate.... As recently as this January, Bradford himself said in a radio interview that he was 'agnostic' on whether Obama was an American citizen and repeated the claim that his birth certificate was a fake."

Tara Pameri of Politico: "Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer finally got an audience with the pope, after being cut out of a White House delegation with the Holy Father in May [Mrs. McC: by the cruelest, most vindictive president* in recent U.S. history]. Spicer returned to Rome over the weekend as part of a group of legislators and politicians affiliated with the International Catholic Legislators Network who met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Spicer, who resigned on July 21, has remained in the White House to help with the transition for his successor.... His last day is slated for August 31." Mrs. McC: Good thing Spicer didn't schedule his papal visit for a weekday. Trump would never have given him the day off.

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The White House will shut down an Obama-era rule that would have required businesses to track how much they pay workers of varying genders, races and ethnicities according to a new report. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump officials will stay the rule, which would have gone into effect in the spring, because it created a burden for employers. 'It's enormously burdensome,' Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, told The Journal. 'We don't believe it would actually help us gather information about wage and employment discrimination.' The Obama rule would have required employers with 100 or more employees to hand over data on wages to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the goal of preventing pay discrimination. Ivanka Trump, who ... has pushed for equal pay for women, said in a statement that the 'policy would not yield the intended results.'" Mrs. McC: Quite right, Ivanka, dear. Since Daddy-O & his administration will ignore the results, which certainly will demonstrate pay inequities, why the hell keep incriminating records? Which brings us to ...

... Today in More Republican Racism

Michael Kiefer & Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of the Arizona Republic: "U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton canceled former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's upcoming sentencing hearing for his criminal contempt-of-court conviction, telling attorneys not to file replies to motions that were pending before his recent presidential pardon. However, Bolton on Tuesday stopped short of throwing out the conviction based solely on Arpaio's request. Instead she ordered Arpaio and the U.S. Department of Justice, which is prosecuting the case, to file briefs on why she should or shouldn't grant Arpaio's request. Arpaio's attorneys asked Bolton on Monday to vacate Arpaio's conviction in light of ... Donald Trump's Friday pardon. Bolton has scheduled oral arguments on the matter for Oct. 4, the day before Arpaio was supposed to be sentenced. There is case law that says a pardon implies an admission of guilt, and that will have to be argued in open court." ...

... Rebecca Savransky: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he would not have pardoned Former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio. During an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Christie called the pardon power an 'extraordinary power' for any executive. 'My understanding has always been that one of the prerequisites you look for in giving a pardon is contrition for what you were convicted of,' he said. 'I didn't see that in Sheriff Arpaio.' When pressed on whether he would have pardoned Arpaio, Christie said: 'This is not one that I would have done.'" Mrs. McC: Christie is a former (controversial) U.S. Attorney.

Jorge Rivas of Splinter: "Immigration officials have received preliminary approval to destroy detainee records, including evidence that relates to in-custody deaths and sexual assault cases after a 20 year period. A July 14, 2017 notice published by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) -- the agency in charge of archiving materials created by the federal government -- states that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking permission to destroy 'records related to detainees, including incidents of sexual abuse and assault, escapes, deaths while in agency custody, telephone rates charged to detainees, alternatives to detention, logs and reports on status of detainees and detention facilities, and location and segregation of detainees.'... NARA['s] ... preliminary approval ... comes during an era when ICE has abruptly stopped sharing data with researchers and limited information available to attorneys -- all while the administration has increased enforcement and detained more undocumented immigrants than ever before."

Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "A Georgia Republican lawmaker warned a Democratic former colleague who criticized his support for Civil War monuments on Facebook that she won't be 'met with torches but something a lot more definitive' if she continues to call for the removal of statues in south Georgia. State Rep. Jason Spencer, a Woodbine Republican, also wrote former state Rep. LaDawn Jones that 'people in South Georgia are people of action, not drama' and suggested some who don't understand that 'will go missing in the Okefenokee.' 'Too many necks they are red around here,' he wrote. 'Don't say I didn't warn you about 'em.' Jones, who represented an Atlanta-based district from 2012 to 2016, responded that she saw his remarks as a 'threat of physical violence' but said she was confident that future generations will abandon a 'we are better than them' mentality." Jones is black. Spencer is a fat white guy.

Jonathan Chait: "Republicans confuse the Electoral College with 'the American people.'... 2.9 million more American people voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump. The Electoral College has turned two of the last five Republican national-vote defeats into victories. The Republican Party has developed a very convoluted way of suppressing this strange reality. The larger part of their response consists of constant implicit or explicit equations of the election result with the will of the voting public.... States that benefit from the Electoral College are whiter than average, which means the system gives white voters more influence over presidential elections. As Andrew Gelman and Pierre-Antoine Kremp calculate, 'whites have 16 percent more power than blacks once the Electoral College is taken into consideration, 28 percent more power than Latinos, and 57 percent more power than those who fall into the "other" category.'" Mrs. McC: You'll have to you read Chait's piece to see why this fits into the "Republican Racism" category.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has tossed out Sarah Palin's lawsuit against the [New York Times] for claiming in an editorial that her political action committee was connected to the murderous 2011 rampage of Jared Lee Loughner near Tucson, Ariz. 'Negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure it plainly is not,' wrote Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Tuesday's ruling.... The newspaper issued corrections and an apology to readers, though it failed to apologize directly to Palin. She sued just weeks after the editorial was published. From the beginning, Palin faced a high bar in her civil action. As a public figure, she needs to prove 'actual malice' on [the] part of the New York Times, meaning that it acted with knowledge of the falsity of its claims, or at least with reckless disregard thereof.... In his ruling, Rakoff said that Palin and her lawyers had failed to show evidence that they could ever meet the 'actual malice' standard. 'The complaint fails on its face to adequately allege actual malice, because it fails to identify any individual who possessed the requisite knowledge and intent and, instead, attributes it to the Times in general. This will not suffice,' wrote Rakoff."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Emergency workers rescued many more soaked and frightened people in southeast Texas on Tuesday as floodwaters continued to rise and officials counseled patience, warning that conditions would not improve soon. The slow-moving, record-shattering tropical storm Harvey battered the region for a sixth straight day and began to move into southwest Louisiana, where it made its second landfall early Wednesday morning. With hundreds of thousands of people under evacuation orders, shelters in Houston filled to bursting.... Local officials in Texas have reported at least 30 confirmed and suspected flood-related deaths. [Houston Mayor Sylvester] Turner imposed a curfew in Houston from midnight to 5 a.m. until further notice." ...

... Washington Post: "The devastating path of Harvey made landfall Wednesday for a second time since it roared ashore last week, as the biggest rainstorm in the history of the continental United States finally began to move away from Houston and carried its fury to Louisiana. Now a tropical storm, Harvey's immediate effects are not expected as devastating as a Category 4 hurricane that first blasted Houston and other parts of Texas beginning last Friday. But it still packed potentially deadly and disastrous torrents of rain that have left Texas with a punishing toll: at least 22 people known dead and possibly more, tens of thousands left homeless and storm-ravaged areas that could take months or longer to bounce back." ...

... Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Harvey made its final landfall, but its swath of torrential rain has triggered more massive flooding in east Texas, and will continue to produce torrential rain the next few days from Louisiana to parts of the Ohio Valley, while record-breaking, catastrophic river flooding continues in southeast Texas. Harvey made its third and final landfall around 3:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday morning near Cameron, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. While the heaviest rain had ended in flood-plagued Houston, Harvey's most torrential rain turned its sights on areas near Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas. With rain rates as high as 3.87 inches per hour, inundating rain immediately to the west of Harvey's center of circulation crushed the southeast Texas counties near the Louisiana border Tuesday into early Wednesday." ...

...New York Times: "If you're outside the affected area, here are options to help. (If you're in Texas and displaced by the storm, here's how to get help.)"

The Commentariat -- August 29, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Greg Sargent: Hopes that his Hurricane Harvey response will allow Trump to "reset" his presidency have been greatly exaggerated. "Just yesterday, Trump reaffirmed his pardon of Joe Arpaio.... Trump effusively praised Arpaio.... This is an implicit endorsement of the very conduct for which Arpaio was held in criminal contempt of court (defying a judge's command that he remain constrained by the Constitution from violating the rights of Latino immigrants)..... Incredibly, Trump also defended the pardon by recalling that the crowd at his rally in Arizona 'went absolutely crazy' when he spoke up for Arpaio. Trump has now essentially confirmed that he pardoned Arpaio, at least in part, because he agreed with the goals of Arpaio's abuses and flouting of the Constitution and because his base cheered him over it.... Whatever Trump achieves in the way of a reset, it will soon come under immense strain from the same old megalomaniacal and racially divisive impulses that have rotted away at his presidency all along." ...

... David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Even before the devastation from Harvey, southeastern Texas was enduring a year unlike any before. The daily surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico last winter never dropped below 73 degrees.... How many previous times that had happened: Zero. This sort of heat has a specific effect on storms: Warmer weather causes heavier rainfall.... When the seas warm, more moisture evaporates into the air, and when the air warms -- which has also been happening in Texas -- it can carry more moisture. The severity of Harvey, in other words, is almost certainly related to climate change.... In Houston's particular case, a lack of zoning laws has led to an explosion of building, which further worsens flooding. The city added 24 percent more pavement between 1996 and 2011.... Add up the evidence, and it overwhelmingly suggests that human activity has helped create the ferocity of Harvey."

Rene Marsh of CNN: "The EPA's Office of Inspector General announced Monday it is beginning a 'preliminary investigation' into Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel after a hotline complaint and congressional requests which 'expressed concerns' about frequent travel to Oklahoma -- his home state -- 'at taxpayer expense.'... In late July, the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project said travel records from a Freedom of Information Act request show that Pruitt spent 48 of 92 days in March, April and May traveling -- including 43 days on trips that included stops in his home state of Oklahoma."

*****

Matt Apuzzo & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency. The associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin. He predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Mr. Trump's savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy.... The emails show that, from the earliest months of Mr. Trump's campaign, some of his associates viewed close ties with Moscow as a political advantage.... Mr. Sater, a Russian immigrant, said he had lined up financing for the Trump Tower deal with VTB Bank, a Russian bank that was under American sanctions for involvement in Moscow's efforts to undermine democracy in Ukraine.... "Mr. Trump, however signed a nonbinding 'letter of intent' for the project in 2015. Mr. Cohen said he discussed the project with Mr. Trump three times.... Mr. Sater was a broker for the Trump Organization for several years, paid to deliver real estate deals." ...

... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A top executive from Donald Trump's real estate company emailed Vladimir Putin's personal spokesman during the U.S. presidential campaign last year to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress Monday. Michael Cohen, a Trump attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization, sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's top press aide.... Cohen's email marks the most direct interaction yet documented of a top Trump aide and a similarly senior member of Putin's government. The email shows the Trump business official directly seeking Kremlin assistance in advancing Trump's business interests, in the same months when Trump was distinguishing himself on the campaign trail with his warm rhetoric about Putin.... Cohen has been one of Trump's closest aides for more than a decade. He did not take a formal role in the campaign however sometimes spoke to reporters on Trump's behalf and appeared on television as a surrogate while Trump was running.... [Cohen] said he abandoned the project because he lost confidence the Moscow developer would be able to obtain land, financing and government approvals to complete the project." ...

... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... let's just try to remember why Trump denied having business deals in Russia. He denied it because he demonstrated an abnormal tendency to praise Vladimir Putin that was hard to understand absent some financial incentive for doing so. That he either had Russian deals that were vulnerable or wished to pursue Russian deals and didn't want to jeopardize them was such an obvious inference that it didn't need to be explained to anyone. He was asked if these were the explanations for his behavior and he said the whole idea was made up and ludicrous. But people's suspicions were 100 percent accurate. He was lying the entire time." ...

... Charles Pierce: "Oh, Felix Sater. Summon for us all The Volga Bagmen.... He's spent his entire career in the shadowy netherworld of politics and money, with an occasional sidetrip into the shadowy netherworld of the international intelligence trade. Trump continued to have a relationship with this guy, and ... here's where you may have to sit down again, the story indicates that the president* may not be an entirely honest fellow.... So much of what the president* has said about his relationship with this guy has been a lie because everything the president* has said about his business dealings in Russia has been a lie. There's so much of it now, and we're only seeing the drip-drip-drip details that are leaking out piecemeal. This is where I become almost convinced that the key to this presidency* is that nobody, including the president* himself, ever thought he'd win. He could continue to do business with shady characters because, after November, who really would care? Now, he knows what's out there and he's really stuck." ...

     ... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Tuesday said President Trump never expected to win the White House. 'Donald Trump never thought he was going to win the presidency,' Scarborough said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' 'This was all a money-making scam. He thought Jeb Bush was going to beat him.' Scarborough said Trump was going to 'take the money and run.' 'So let me [Trump] use the position I'm in right now and try to get that tower in Moscow, Scarborough said." Mrs. McC: Scarborough actually knows Trump, so Pierce's assumption looks correct. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "... we have a series of denials by a wide array of figures in Trump's orbit about their connections to Russia. The denials keep crumbling, one by one. There is no reason to assume the pattern will stop any time soon." ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post has a useful timeline of what is known publicly about Trump's dealings with Russia. Mrs. McC: Quite a few commentators have accused Trump of lying about his dealings with Russia. They are likely right, but mostly because of stuff we don't know. But based on Bump's timeline & other reporting, I'm not sure Trump was lying in July & October of 2016 when he said, using the present tense, that he had no business dealings in Russia. Other than renewing some Russian trademarks on election day 2016, I haven't seen any evidence that Trump still has business in Russia or that he had at the times he said he hadn't. (Often the reason for preserving trademarks is so others can't use them & doesn't necessarily imply you're planning to use them yourself.) ...

... Julia Ainsley & Tom Winter of NBC News: "Federal investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller are keenly focused on ... Donald Trump's role in crafting a response to a published article about a meeting between Russians and his son Donald Jr., three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The sources told NBC News that prosecutors want to know what Trump knew about the meeting and whether he sought to conceal its purpose.... At the time, the White House confirmed that Trump had 'weighed in' as the response to the Times report [of Junior's meeting] was drafted aboard Air Force One on July 8 as the president returned to the U.S. from the G20 meeting in Germany. The Washington Post reported that Trump had 'dictated' the response.... A person familiar with Mueller's strategy said that whether or not Trump made a 'knowingly false statement' is now of interest to prosecutors. 'Even if Trump is not charged with a crime as a result of the statement, it could be useful to Mueller's team to show Trump's conduct to a jury that may be considering other charges.'" ...

... Austin Wright of Politico: "Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is pushing an amendment to severely curtail special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. DeSantis has put forward a provision that would halt funding for Mueller's probe six months after the amendment's passage. It also would prohibit Mueller from investigating matters that occurred before June 2015, when Trump launched his presidential campaign.... Several House Democrats are pushing amendments to protect the Mueller probe." ...

... Robert Bauer in a Washington Post op-ed: "Since January, examples have piled up of a pattern of recklessness, impropriety and perhaps outright obstruction in President Trump's oversight of federal law enforcement. And now, with the pardoning of Joe Arpaio, we have the first exercise of that power in a different context, perhaps serving for Trump as a test run for shutting down the investigation into ties between his campaign and Russia.... The instances of Trump's warped approach to the law are legion.... Trump's record on 'rule of law' issues, now including this pardon, weakens his defenses in the Mueller probe -- and in any future debate over impeachment.... There is a line that distinguishes a pardon from direct interference with the administration of justice. Trump has crossed it.... Trump seems to believe that the pardon power is so 'complete' that it is his ace in the hole, his ultimate protection. But it will be of no use to him if the time comes ... that Congress must consider impeaching him.... At that time, the Arpaio pardon is sure to be part of the story of this presidency and, very conceivably, of how it came to an end." ...

So I stand by my pardon of Sheriff Joe and I think the people of Arizona who really know him best would agree with me. -- Donald Trump, at a press conference Monday

The people who "really know" Sheriff Joe are lawless racists, too, because no decent person would have anything to do with him. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...

... Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump defended his controversial pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio on Monday, saying his decision to announce it during Hurricane Harvey likely earned it 'far higher' ratings. Speaking at a joint news conference with the president of Finland, Trump made his first comments on Arpaio since his decision to pardon the Arizona lawman Friday.... 'He's done a great job for the people of Arizona, he's very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration, he is loved in Arizona,' Trump said. 'I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him, right before the election voting started.'... The president concluded that Arpaio, whom Trump described as 'a great veteran of the military' and a 'great law enforcement person,' still had his support." ...

... David Smith of the Guardian: "Trump said he had anticipated Monday’s question and proceeded to read, from some pre-prepared notes, a list controversial pardons and commutations by previous presidents. It included Bill Clinton's pardon of commodities trader and fugitive Marc Rich, who was wanted for tax evasion and whose ex-wife donated to the Clintons, and 'dangerous criminals' such as Weather Underground bomber Susan Rosenberg. He continued: 'You've heard the word leaker. President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who leaked countless sensitive and classified documents to WikiLeaks, perhaps and others. But horrible, horrible thing that he did, commuted the sentence and perhaps pardoned.'... Trump also continued to insist that Mexico will pay for his long-promised border wall. 'One way or the other Mexico will pay for the wall,' he said, arguing that, while the project may initially be funded by US taxpayers, 'ultimately' Mexico will pay through reimbursement.... Yet again he seemed reluctant to criticise Russia, which borders Finland. Asked if Russia poses a security threat, he replied: 'I consider many countries as a security threat.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: President Clinton did not pardon Rosenberg; he commuted her sentence after she had served 16 years of a 58-year sentence. And President Obama did not "possibly pardon" Manning; he commuted her sentence, ending her seven years in jail this past May. But facts, schmacks, who cares? ...

... ** Andrew Cohen in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "Even if we stipulate that a president's pardon power is absolute, the justifications offered by the White House are risible. That Arpaio devoted his life to 'protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration' surely comes as news to those Maricopa County residents who were the victims of sex crimes that weren't adequately investigated by Arpaio's deputies. And it comes as news to those victimized by the intentional racial discrimination Arpaio orchestrated against Latino residents. The truth is that 'America's toughest sheriff,' as Arpaio liked to call himself, was an incompetent buffoon, a sour mash of cruelty and inattention that cost his county hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, fees and legal settlements. The only thing he accomplished in his decades in power was to become, first, a national symbol of brutality toward jail inmates and, later, a poster child for anti-immigrant racism." Cohen explais of the huge differences between Trump's pardon of Arpaio & President Obama's commutations of many decades-long sentences. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In fairness to Trump, he is way too stupid to understand these differences. ...

... Esme Cribb of TPM: "... Donald Trump on Monday pledged that Texas will get recovery funding in the wake of massive flooding and destruction after Hurricane Harvey, despite his conflicts with Republican leaders in Congress and his threat to shut down the government to secure funding for his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border." ...

... Jeff Stein of Vox: "... despite being asked twice, Trump wouldn't back away from his threat to shut down the government -- a decision that would enormously complicate federal agencies' ability to help Texas's besieged cities." ...

... Blonde Chicks All Look Alike. Madeleine Aggeler of New York: "One week after President Trump laughed in the face of science and defiantly turned his naked eyes toward the sun, his eclipse blindness seems to be setting in. During a press conference with Finnish president Sauli Niinistö on Monday, Trump confused two blonde, female Finnish journalists who were sitting next to each other. As the press conference was wrapping up, Niinistö took a last question from one of the journalists. 'Again? You're going to give her the same one?' Trump asked. 'No, she is not the same lady,' Niinistö answered. 'They are sitting side by side.' 'We have a lot of blonde women in Finland,' the journalist added as she took the mic."

Rebecca Savransky: "President Trump said early Tuesday that all options are 'on the table' after North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's airspace. Trump said in a statement the world has received North Korea's latest message 'loud and clear.' 'This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior,' Trump said.... His comments come after the Pentagon confirmed late Monday that North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's airspace.... The White House early Tuesday said Trump discussed the missile during a call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday." ...

... Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Tuesday that soared over Japan, the South Korean military said. It was the second time in four days that the North Korean authorities, defying an escalation in international sanctions and warnings from President Trump, had launched a missile. Three short-range missiles were launched on Saturday.... The Japanese government sent a text alert to citizens about the launch and advised them to take protective cover. A short time later, Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, called the launch 'an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to ou nation. The missile flew over Hokkaido island in northern Japan, South Korean and Japanese officials said. It was the first time a North Korean projectile had crossed over Japan since North Korea launched rockets over Japan in 1998, and again in 2009. . At the times, the North claimed that both rockets were carrying a satellite payload.... In a statement, [Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe said the launch was 'an unprecedented, serious, grave threat' and that his government 'was prepared to take all the measures to protect people's lives.'" ...

** NEW. Will CIA Director Mike Pompeo Say "Slam, Dunk!"? Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US intelligence officials are under pressure from the White House to produce a justification to declare Iran in violation of a 2015 nuclear agreement, in an echo of the politicisation of intelligence that led up to the Iraq invasion, according to former officials and analysts. The collapse of the 2015 deal between Tehran, the US and five other countries -- by which Iran has significantly curbed its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief -- would trigger a new crisis over nuclear proliferation at a time when the US is in a tense standoff with North Korea."

Le Petit, Petty, Petty Prince. Jennifer Jacobs & Kevin Cirilli of Bloomberg: When Trump first arrived at the Phoenix Convention Center last week, the crowd was still sparse, but it filled in before Trump came out to speak. The empty seats, which were visible on TV feeds, steamed Trump, so he "later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform [long-time aide George] Gigicos[, who organized the event,] that he'd never manage a Trump rally again, according to three people familiar with the matter." Mrs. McC: Here again, Trump didn't have the guts to fire Gigicos directly, but sent a henchman to do it. And do notice Trump's high regard for his followers. Not only do they have to stand in line for hours -- this time in the stifling Phoenix heat -- which is necessary for any large public event, but they must be cheering in the stands for a good hour preceding the Teeny, Tiny Prince's appearance. If not, at least one head will roll. No wonder Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio; both are good with meting out cruel & unusual punishment to masses of innocent people.

Peter Kramer & Sally Satel, in a New York Times op-ed: "If the time comes that Congress finds Mr. Trump unable to discharge his duties, its members should appoint a bipartisan commission dominated by respected statesmen to set the removal process in motion. Obviously, if a president's health deteriorates drastically, medical consultants should be called in. But when the problem is longstanding personality traits, a doctor-dominated commission simply provides cover for Congress -- allowing legislators, presumably including those in the majority, to arrange for the replacement of the president while minimizing their responsibility for doing so." Thanks to Marvin S. for the lead. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Kramer & Patel, both psychiatrists, are right. To a great extent, Trump won votes because he is crazy. Millions of voters preferred his grotesque personality disorders to Clinton's steady hand. As much as I despise the guy & as much as I think he should be removed from office posthaste, his mental unfitness for any job in which he has to interact with others should not be cause for his removal from elected office. Rather, his bad acts, or even threats of bad acts, which of course are products of his mental instability, should be the rationale. I have been trying to think of a job for which Trump is fit, and it might be mail sorter in the basement of Manhattan's Trump Tower, though we can no longer be sure his sun-staring eyes can read the names of the addressees.

Sheila Kaplan & Denise Grady of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration announced a crackdown on dangerous stem cell clinics on Monday, while at the same time pledging to ease the path to approval for companies and doctors with legitimate treatments in the growing field. The agency reported actions against two large stem cell clinics and a biotech company, saying that it was critical to shut down 'unscrupulous actors' in regenerative medicine, a broad umbrella that includes stem cell and gene therapies and immunotherapies.... Public health advocates praised the F.D.A. for moving against the companies, but said it should have happened sooner, given the widespread knowledge of public harm."

Abby Phillip & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump's senior aides are increasingly airing their private disagreements publicly, exposing a widening rift between the president and key members of his administration over his handling of racial divisions exposed by white supremacist violence in Charlottesville.... Over the weekend, [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson suggested that Trump 'speaks for himself' rather than for the country's values in his reaction to Charlottesville. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also counseled U.S. troops to 'hold the line until our country gets back to respecting each other' and is able to 'get the power of inspiration back.' And [top economic advisor Gary] Cohn sharply criticized the president's handling of the situation in an interview with the Financial Times last week." ...

... Aide Further Distances Tillerson from Trump. Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Rather than walk back eyebrow-raising comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, an aide told CNN Monday that ... Donald Trump speaks for himself when it comes to American values 'because the Constitution speaks for the country.' The Tillerson aide said the secretary of state was not criticizing Trump in the remarks. 'The secretary and President have expressed different points of view. He isn't being critical, but more so re-establishing without confusion what are known American values,' the aide said. 'The values start from the Constitution. The President's job is to uphold those values. Did he do the best job ever responding to Charlottesville? Nope. But that doesn't mean America changes.' The aide added, 'That is why the President speaks for himself because the Constitution speaks for the country.'" ...

... Josh Dawsey, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump is not happy with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, for publicly criticizing his response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. But it appears there is little he is planning to do about it, according to people who have spoken to him." ...

... Over at the political gossip site Axios, Mike Allen & Jonathan Swan are predicting Tillerson's exit.

Carolyn Holmes, in the Washington Post, on how South Africa dealt with "beautiful statues" of apartheid leaders: "Right after apartheid fell and was replaced by multiracial democracy, during the early 1990s, the South African government removed many statues of apartheid-era leaders from city parks and government buildings, giving them to private heritage organizations. Some are now on display in private museums or in private sculpture gardens. From the mid-1990s onward, the African National Congress-run government has used a different strategy: construct new monuments alongside the old ones. For instance, Pretoria's Voortrekker monument celebrates the Afrikaner pioneers of the mid-1800s. About a mile away, the government built Freedom Park, a monument to the anti-apartheid struggle. While this strategy has met with mixed reactions, the idea was that the new South Africa would have monuments for everyone. Rather than destroying the past, it would be peacefully transformed into a multiracial present.... Two factors appear to have been critical: 1) how close a relationship the figure in the monument had to the apartheid and colonial governments; 2) who supported the statues. Depictions of apartheid-era leaders, especially those associated with the most repressive periods of apartheid, were quickly removed -- but statues of leaders before apartheid were often left standing."

Federal Aid for Me but Not for Thee. Ashley DeJean of Mother Jones: "Before Hurricane Harvey hit this weekend, Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn sent a letter to the president urging him to sign the major disaster declaration that had been requested by Gov. Greg Abbott, so the state could access key federal resources as swiftly as possible.... The irony of this request was not lost on lawmakers from states that had been devastated by hurricane Sandy in 2012. At that time, Texas lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against recovery assistance for New York and New Jersey. When asked about that hypocrisy today on MSNBC, Cruz dodged the question. 'There's time for political sniping later,' he said. 'I think our focus needs to be on this crisis and this disaster.'"

The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), interview with NBC's Katy Tur, August 28

Every time Ted Cruz pulls his sneering snout out of the trough, it seems he does so in order to display his highly developed ability, an especially notable tendency in the species politicianus republicanus, for forming the most unctuous, pharisaical flights of self-serving flimflam. His latest painful casuistry, why those with 'New York' attitudes don't deserve any assistance after a natural disaster, while those who cook bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of a machine gun should be doled out billions is a pristine example of this talent. If the guy ever once exhibited a sliver of artless decency, mountains would split asunder and birds drop out of the sky. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments

Cruz is repeating a number of myths about the funding for Sandy disaster relief. The vast majority of the spending was for Hurricane Sandy, including elements (such as Smithsonian repairs) that some lawmakers incorrectly believed were unrelated to the storm. The slow rate of projected spending that Cruz had criticized at the time was actually based on how quickly the government had spent funds after previous major storms. As we noted, we suspect Cruz misspoke about the 'two-thirds.' Still, it is wildly incorrect to claim that the bill was 'filled with unrelated pork.' The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Some Would Be Heroes. Emily Wax-Thibodeuex of the Washington Post: "... the 'Cajun Navy,' a volunteer online grass-roots effort..., along with the 'Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team,' roared into Pasadena, Tex., on Sunday. They came in high-clearance pickup trucks with bass boats and pirogues like the Cajun Cavalry, ready to help search and rescue efforts alongside first responders who were inundated with thousands of calls across the region.... [These volunteers are] part of an armada of private boats that have descended on the Houston area after authorities asked for help from those who could potentially navigate the treacherous floodwaters across a massive swath of southeast Texas in search of residents. Many boaters from east Texas and west Louisiana streamed to the outskirts of the disaster until they could drive no more, switching over to boats to go door to door seeking out the stranded."

Senate Races

Steve M.: "The Washington Examiner reports that Joe Arpaio might run for Jeff Flake's Senate seat.... [Flake] already has a challenger who's beating him by double digits in an early poll: state senator Kelli Ward, who has the support of the pro-Trump Great America PAC. It seems very likely that Flake would lose a one-on-one primary against Ward. But against Ward and Arpaio? Flake could easily win a plurality. And if I understand correctly, that would be sufficient to send him to the general election under Arizona rules. Hey, Arizona GOP, go ahead and turn this race into a three-way brawl, with the likely result being a bruised, weakened, cash-strapped nominee." ...

... Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "In early October, Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward will be headlining a dinner at the annual convention of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons in Tucson. Despite its dull name, AAPS isn't some stodgy medical organization. It's actually a fringe doctors' group whose medical journal over the years has featured a host of discredited theories, including arguments that abortion causes breast cancer, HIV doesn't cause AIDS, vaccines cause autism, and illegal immigrants caused a leprosy outbreak in the United States. AAPS was the key source of internet rumors that Hillary Clinton was suffering from a major illness during last year's presidential campaign. Years ago, it went to the US Supreme Court to demand the release of postmortem photos of former Clinton Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, who committed suicide in 1993. The group claimed it needed the photos to ensure Foster hadn't been murdered, a classic anti-Clinton conspiracy theory. Ward, a former Arizona state senator, knows a thing or two about conspiracy theories. She's perhaps most famous for holding a town hall meeting on chemtrails, those long plumes of condensation that appear behind jet planes, but which conspiratorially minded Arizonans believe are a government tool for spreading mind-control chemicals.... Ward isn't the only politician to associate with AAPS. Its members have included former Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), now Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R)." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So Jeff Flake, who is mighty conservative himself, may have two challengers, one who is a lawless, sadistic racist & the other who is batshit crazy. Thanks, Arizona!

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Steve Bannon is breaking from ... Donald Trump in the closely watched Alabama Senate special election. During a closed-door meeting with powerful conservatives in Washington last week, Bannon declared that he's supporting former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore over Trump-endorsed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, according to two people who were present. Bannon ... said that he is looking to activate the conservative base to Moore's cause."

Beyond the Beltway

Pitiful White Guy Makes up Black Attack. Sam Levin of the Guardian: "A Colorado man who claimed that someone had stabbed him because he looked like a 'neo-Nazi' fabricated the story after he accidentally cut his hand with a knife, according to police. Joshua Witt, who has been arrested on false reporting charges, admitted to law enforcement in Sheridan, Colorado, that he lied to officers when he alleged that a black man had attacked him for having a haircut associated with white supremacists, police officials said Monday.... As Witt's mugshot reveals, at the time of the alleged attack, he did not have a haircut resembling the side fade that has recently become associated with neo-Nazis. In his Facebook profile photo, however, his hair was styled that way.... Witt's original allegations went viral on social media this month, garnering press coverage across the globe, particularly from conservative newspapers that cited the stabbing as an example of violent leftwing activists attacking white people." Mrs. McC: What do you do if you're a careless, racist twit, you buy a new knife, & you're so incompetent you cut yourself trying to get it out of the package? Why, blame a black guy for attacking you, of course, then Facebook the fake attack.

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "The death toll from Harvey climbed to at least 29 Wednesday, just as officials in Houston said they planned to get various city operations back up and running. In Harris County, officials confirmed there had been at least four new deaths. The victims included a man who stepped on a live electrical wire in floodwaters and an evacuee who was discovered unresponsive on a charter bus, the Associated Press reports. Houston's bus service and light rail system are set to resume on a limited basis Thursday, according to AP. Trash collection services resumed Wednesday with heavy trash pickup. Regular trash pickup is scheduled to begin Thursday. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he wanted to ensure trash removal resumed as soon as possible because 'there will be a lot of debris.' Operations at both Houston's Hobby Airport and the George Bush International Airport had been closed for days, but Wednesday officials at both terminals announced they would be resuming flights, ABC13.com reports. The airports announced via Facebook that limited domestic airline passenger service has been resumed and they expect to have full service by the weekend.... Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that 'the worst is not yet over' for the southeastern part of the state, where widespread flooding continues. The Federal Emergency Management Administration says nearly one million people have registered for assistance, while the Texas Department of Public Safety says more than 48,700 homes have been affected by flooding and other damage since Friday." ...

... Washington Post: "The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath eastward on Wednesday, submerging coastal Texas towns in a deluge of rain, ravaging rural Louisiana and pushing a chemical plant to the brink of explosion. As Houstonians saw signs of relief in the blue sky and slowly draining waters, the flood was rising 100 miles east in the town of Orange as the tropical storm made a second landfall at daybreak." ...

... The New York Times' main story is here.

New York Times: "Jeannie de Clarens, an amateur spy who passed a wealth of information to the British about the development of the V-1 and V-2 rockets during World War II and survived stays in three concentration camps for her activities, died on Aug. 23 in Montaigu, southeast of Nantes, France. She was 98.... Getting wind of a secret weapons project, she made it her mission to be on hand when the topic was discussed by the Germans, coaxing information through charm and guile."

The Commentariat -- August 28, 2017

** Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers. As part of the discussions, a Russian-born real estate developer [Felix Sater] urged Trump to come to Moscow to tout the proposal and suggested he could get President Vladimir Putin to say 'great things' about Trump, according to several people who have been briefed on his correspondence.... Trump never went to Moscow as Sater proposed. And although investors and Trump's company signed a letter of intent, they lacked the land and permits to proceed and the project was abandoned at the end of January 2016, just before the presidential primaries began, several people familiar with the proposal said. Nevertheless, the details of the deal, which have not previously been disclosed, provide evidence that Trump's business was actively pursuing significant commercial interests in Russia at the same time he was campaigning to be president -- and in a position to determine U.S.-Russia relations. The new details from the emails, which are scheduled to be turned over to congressional investigators soon, also point to the likelihood of additional contacts between Russia-connected individuals and Trump associates during his presidential bid.... Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Sater.... When asked about Sater in 2013 court deposition, Trump said: 'If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn't know what he looked like.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Months ago Josh Marshall of TPM predicted that examining Trump's connection to Felix Sater would prove fruitful.

The Presidunce Thinks Hurricanes Are Fun, Encourages More

Showboater Prez* May Need Boat for This Show. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump on Sunday announced plans to travel to Texas on Tuesday, as millions of people there continued to battle catastrophic flooding and torrential rain that was expected to last for several more days. The timing of a presidential visit, as the disaster was still unfolding, could put Mr. Trump in an awkward position of adding to the logistical headaches for state officials, though he may avoid the storm-ravaged parts of Texas. The White House emphasized that the president's plans were tentative.... But his Twitter feed and the photos and statements released by the White House indicated that Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath had energized Mr. Trump, giving him the first major external crisis of a presidency hat has manufactured most of its own upheavals. On Friday, as the storm began lashing the Gulf Coast, Mr. Trump posted several updates on the status of the storm and lavished praise on the government's response. He held two teleconferences over the weekend with members of his cabinet and signed a federal disaster proclamation for Texas." Mrs. McC: Only Trump would think hurricanes are fun opportunities for self-aggrandizement. ...

... ** Harriet Sinclair of Newsweek: "Donald Trump signed away Obama-era flood standards just weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in a bid to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly. The rule signed by former president Barack Obama in 2015 had not yet come into effect but aimed to make infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and flooding. Those who backed Obama's rules believed they would make people safer by putting roads, bridges and other infrastructure on safer ground, NPR reported, but Trump rescinded the rule several weeks ago in an attempt to speed up the time it takes for infrastructure projects to be approved." ...

... Ryan Cooper of the Week: "This destruction [by Hurricane Harvey] is a window into the future of climate change. This is what happens when humanity fails to either meaningfully restrict greenhouse gas emissions or prepare for the damage that is certainly coming. Now, before the inevitable pedant brigade pounces in, that doesn't mean Harvey was definitely caused by climate change. Global temperatures have only markedly increased for a few decades, and extreme weather events are rare and random by definition. It will take many more years for enough data to be collected to be able to establish causality. But what we can say is that climate science predicts with high confidence that increased temperatures will increase the likelihood of extreme weather. It will make hurricanes that do form stronger. It may also increase the number of hurricanes, though that's harder to predict with certainty. It's also besides the point. A storm doesn't need to qualify as a hurricane to pose many of the same dangers. Simple big storms can still have high winds, tornadoes, and especially flooding, which is the major danger along the Gulf Coast.... [The Obama rules which Trump just rescinded] would require buildings receiving federal funding to consider climate change and build above extreme flood levels. Since there is a big federal program to provide flood insurance to many such buildings (that is incidentally nearly bankrupt due to massive claims of late), this amounts to a government subsidy to build in flood-prone areas." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Have we mentioned that the Idiot-in-Chief pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement? ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's not as if Harvey's devastation of Texas, & particularly of the Houston area, is a huge surprise. In a multiple-awards-winning series published in March 2016, ProPublica & the Texas Tribune reported, "Houston is the fourth-largest city in the country. It's home to the nation's largest refining and petrochemical complex, where billions of gallons of oil and dangerous chemicals are stored. And it's a sitting duck for the next big hurricane.... Texas isn't ready." To read the graphics-heavy stories, you can start here.

Trump Arms His Professional Militia. Kevin Johnson of USA Today: "The Trump administration is preparing to lift a controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St. Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program. The new plan, outlined in documents obtained by USA Today, would roll back an Obama administration executive order that blocked armored vehicles, large-caliber weapons, ammunition and other heavy equipment from being re-purposed from foreign battlefields to America's streets. On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to address the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union, and he may outline the program changes there." Congress could fix this. ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump spent 18 months as the ultimate law-and-order candidate, promising to rescue an American way of life he said was threatened by terrorists, illegal immigrants and inner-city criminals. But during seven months as president, many critics and legal scholars say, Mr. Trump has shown a flexible view on the issue, one that favors the police and his own allies over strict application of the rule of law. Over the past two years, in ways big and small, the critics say, Mr. Trump has signaled that taking the law into one's own hands is permissible, within the executive branch or in local police departments, or even against a heckler at one of his rallies.... The [Arpaio] case, and the pardon that ended it, involved an assumption that minorities were more likely to commit crimes, a belief in the use of force to keep people in check, and what some of the president's advisers privately describe as at best a lack of interest in becoming fluent in the legal process.... Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center for Justice ... drew a line from the pardon to Mr. Trump's statements last month to police officers on Long Island in which he appeared to encourage local law enforcement officials to give suspects rougher treatment. The president made those comments despite years of wrenching debate over a string of cases of police shootings of unarmed black men." ...

... ** Jane Chong of the New Yorker: "... since Watergate and the release, in 1976, of the Church Committee report, which detailed wider executive-branch abuses, this vast federal bureaucracy has increasingly accreted an intricate array of wheels and pulleys designed to insure that the President and his people not only enforce legal authorities but also abide by them. The Arpaio pardon is a perfect conflagration of all of the ways that Trump has systematically undermined these authorities over the course of his first seven months in office. It is nothing less than a multipronged attack on the executive branch's own commitment to the rule of law.... from start to finish, the President's conduct makes a mockery of the wall carefully maintained by every administration since President Jimmy Carter's Attorney General, Griffin Bell, first described, in his watershed 1978 speech, the need 'for the President to allow the Attorney General freedom from undue influence' in order 'to inspire public confidence in the faithful execution of the laws.'" Read it all. ...

... Garrett Epps of the Atlantic: "... increasingly, the question for the court -- as for Congress, and for the country -- is whether the republic survives not against external threat but against an unprecedented unremitting internal assault. A sense of proportion is necessary in crisis and calm; and even in the midst of shocking official misbehavior, the Arpaio pardon crosses a line. Trump has made it clear that the limits of the law, and the powers of the courts, hold no weight in his decision-making, and indeed will be brushed aside at his convenience." ...

... Washington Examiner Editors: "President Trump described himself as 'the law and order candidate' on the campaign trail, but he has consistently shown he really meant 'the candidate of busting heads.'... 'Law and order,' if the words have any meaning, has to apply to government actors as well. Lawless sheriffs promote disorder, and that's what Arpaio did to get himself convicted.... In this case, it's clear Trump has abused [the pardon] power for a friend and political ally.... Trump promised to drain the swamp if elected. But America hates the swamp because politicians and bureaucrats give special, undeserved favors to their friends and the well-connected." Mrs. McC: The Washington Examiner is an ultra-conservative newspaper. ...

... Of Fascists & Collaborators. Paul Krugman: "[Joe] Arpaio is, of course, a white supremacist. But he's more than that. There's a word for political regimes that round up members of minority groups and send them to concentration camps, while rejecting the rule of law: What Arpaio brought to Maricopa, and what the president of the United States has just endorsed, was fascism, American style.... What makes it possible for someone like Trump to attain power and hold it is the acquiescence of people, both voters and politicians, who aren't white supremacists, who sort-of kind-of believe in the rule of law, but are willing to go along with racists and lawbreakers if it seems to serve their interests.... There's also a word for people who, out of cowardice or self-interest, go along with such abuses: collaborators." Mrs. McC: We should all congratulate Krugman for speaking truth to power, including to the Grey Lady's censors. It must have been difficult to get "The POTUS* is a fascist" past them. If anyone has missed the import of Krugman's message, hear it now. ...

... Vice President Joe Biden in the Atlantic: "... when it comes to race in America, hope doesn't travel alone. It's shadowed by a long trail of violence and hate. In Charlottesville, that long trail emerged once again into plain view not only for America, but for the whole world to see. The crazed, angry faces illuminated by torches. The chants echoing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the 1930s. The neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and white supremacists emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the web into the bright light of day on the streets of a historically significant American city. If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now: We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation. The giant forward steps we have taken in recent years on civil liberties and civil rights and human rights are being met by a ferocious pushback from the oldest and darkest forces in America.... A week after Charlottesville, in Boston, we saw the truth of America: Those with the courage to oppose hate far outnumber those who promote it. Then a week after Boston, we saw the truth of this president: He won't stop. His contempt for the U.S. Constitution and willingness to divide this nation knows no bounds."

David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "Last week, the Air Force announced major new contracts for an overhaul of the American nuclear force: $1.8 billion for initial development of a highly stealthy nuclear cruise missile, and nearly $700 million to begin replacing the 40-year-old Minuteman missiles in silos across the United States. While both programs were developed during the Obama years, the Trump administration has seized on them, with only passing nods to the debate about whether either is necessary or wise. They are the first steps in a broader remaking of the nuclear arsenal -- and the bombers, submarines and missiles that deliver the weapons -- that the government estimated during Mr. Obama's tenure would ultimately cost $1 trillion or more.... Mr. Obama argued that by making nuclear weapons safer and more reliable, their numbers could be reduced, setting the world on a path to one day eliminating them.... Mr. Trump has not spoken of any such reduction, in the number of weapons or the scope of the overhaul, and his warning to North Korea a few weeks ago that he would meet any challenge with 'fire and fury' suggested that he may not subscribe to the view of most past presidents that the United States would never use such weapons in a first strike."

Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "The remains of all 10 United States Navy sailors who died aboard the destroyer John S. McCain in a collision near Singapore a week ago have been recovered, the Navy announced on Monday. Ships and aircraft from five nations had launched a huge search at sea after the McCain's pre-dawn collision with an oil tanker east of Singapore on Aug. 21. But the bodies of the 10 men were recovered in the destroyer's crushed and flooded compartments. The interior of the destroyer was so heavily damaged that it took days to locate the bodies." ...

... Dave Philipps & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Two deadly collisions between high-tech destroyers and easy-to-spot, slow-moving cargo ships in a little over two months have stunned many in the Navy.... But shipboard veterans had long seen signs of trouble. Factor in a shrinking Navy performing the same duties as a larger fleet did a decade ago, constant deployments that leave little time to train and relentless duties that require sailors driving 9,000-ton vessels to endure sleepless stretches that would be illegal for bus drivers, and avoidable accidents can happen, current and former officers said.... While there could be some surprising findings, officers said the accidents -- and two nonlethal mishaps earlier this year -- were almost certainly influenced by systemic problems that persist despite repeated alarms from congressional watchdogs and the Navy's own experts. In interviews, more than a dozen current and former ship commanders who served in the western Pacific said the strain on the Navy's fleet there had caused maintenance gaps and training shortfalls that had not been remedied or had received only cursory attention as leaders focused on immediate missions. Compounding the stress, the officers and crew said, the Navy allows ships to rely on grueling watch schedules that leave captains and crews exhausted, even though the service ordered submarines to abandon similar schedules two years ago."

Condemnation by Obfuscation & Deflection. Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, addressing President Trump's blaming of 'both sides' in the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., declined to say on Sunday whether Mr. Trump's response represented 'American values.' 'The president speaks for himself,' Mr. Tillerson said on 'Fox News Sunday.'... Mr. Tillerson responded to the national backlash to Mr. Trump's comments in a talk to State Department interns and young staff members [on August 18]. 'We do not honor, nor do we promote or accept, hate speech in any form,' Mr. Tillerson said at the event. 'Those who embrace it poison our public discourse, and they damage the very country that they claim to love.'"

Beyond the Beltway

The Deplorable Left. Kyle Swenson of the Washington Post: "Their faces hidden behind black bandannas and hoodies, about a 100 anarchists and antifa -- 'anti-fascist' -- barreled into a protest Sunday afternoon in Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Jumping over plastic and concrete barriers, the group melted into a larger crowd of around 2,000 that had marched peacefully throughout the sunny afternoon for a 'Rally Against Hate' gathering. Shortly after, violence began to flare. A pepper-spray wielding Trump supporter was smacked to the ground with homemade shields. Another was attacked by five black-clad antifas, each windmilling kicks and punches into a man desperately trying to protect himself. A conservative group leader retreated for safety behind a line of riot police as marchers chucked water bottles, shot off pepper spray and screamed 'fascist go home!' All told, the Associated Press reported at least five individuals were attacked.... Berkeley Police's Lt. Joe Okies told The Washington Post the rally resulted in '13 arrests on a range of charges including assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing a police officer, and various Berkeley municipal code violations.'" Mrs. McC: Thanks, antifas, for assisting Trump.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The rains from Tropical Storm Harvey kept pounding the Houston region on Monday, stranding thousands of residents -- many on their rooftops -- who frantically waited to be rescued from waters that are expected to keep rising for days. Many residents turned to social media to get help.... Officials scrambled to reach those residents, urging private boat owners to pitch in with an enormous and frantic rescue. And with nearly two feet of rain still expected, the authorities worried the worst was yet to come." ...

... Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Harvey will drift slowly near the upper Texas coast the next few days, bringing more extreme rainfall to the flooded Houston metro area, piling onto record-breaking, catastrophic flooding. Localized storm total rain amounts of up to 50 inches are not out of the question once Harvey's rain is finished later this week. This may end up being one of the worst flood disasters in U.S. history. As of early Monday morning, flash flood emergencies remained in effect for 11 southeast Texas counties, according to the National Weather Service in Houston." ...

... Houston Chronicle: "The [National Weather S]ervice noted that 'epic and catastrophic flooding' that had occurred in and around the Houston and Galveston areas and surrounding communities could get worse as additional life-threatening rainfall totals of 15 to 25 inches with isolated higher amount were possible over the next several days.... The first of several voluntary evacuations came Sunday afternoon when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressed concerns over the amount of water Addicks and Barker reservoirs were absorbing from Fort Bend and northern Harris County rivers and stream." ...

... Because of the hurricane, the Washington Post has dropped its paywall & the New York Times has dropped its paywall for hurricane-related stories.