The Commentariat -- September 17, 2017

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Because of an access problem (see Note to Super-Contributors above), I'm getting a very late start this morning.

NEW. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump is calling Kim Jong Un names -- the 'Rocket Man.' The president stuck the moniker on the North Korea dictator in a Sunday morning tweet ahead of Trump's scheduled arrival [in New York City] in the evening for the U.N. General Assembly, the annual gathering of more than 120 world leaders. Trump, who has spent two nights at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., also revealed that he spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who will join Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a trilateral dinner this week in New York to collaborate on addressing North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic missile threats." Mrs. McC: No matter how horrible the named subject, I'm not sure juvenile name-calling is an effective diplomatic technique.

Flip Flop, Flippity Flip Flop. Ben Dreyfuss of Mother Jones: "The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration has told European officials that it won't leave the Paris agreement.... Update [Sunday] 5:35 p.m. ET: White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters pushed back on the Wall Street Journal report in a statement, 'There has been no change in the United States' position on the Paris agreement. As the President has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country.'"

Mueller Hires DOJ Lawyer to Lean on Manafort. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "An attorney working on the Justice Department's highest-profile money laundering case recently transferred off that assignment in order to join the staff of the special prosecutor investigating the Trump ampaign's potential ties to Russia.... Attorney Kyle Freeny was among the prosecutors on hand Friday as a spokesman for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Jason Maloni, testified before a grand jury at federal court in Washington. Freeny ... is the 16th lawyer known to be working with the former FBI chief on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.... Freeny's work on the [DOJ] case and the Manafort aspect of the Trump-Russia probe appear to have some commonalities[.]" ...

... Dylan Byers of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team are now in possession of Russian-linked ads run on Facebook during the presidential election, after they obtained a search warrant for the information. Facebook gave Mueller and his team copies of ads and related information it discovered on its site linked to a Russian troll farm, as well as detailed information about the accounts that bought the ads and the way the ads were targeted at American Facebook users, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN.... Facebook did not give copies of the ads to members of the Senate and House intelligence committees when it met with them last week on the grounds that doing so would violate their privacy policy, sources with knowledge of the briefings said." ...

     ... Natasha Bertrand of Business Insider: "Legal experts say the revelation has enormous implications for the trajectory of Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference, and whether Moscow had any help from ... Donald Trump's campaign team. 'This is big news -- and potentially bad news for the Russian election interference "deniers,'" said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI counterintelligence agent.... 'The key here, though, is that Mueller clearly already has enough information on these accounts -- and their link to a potential crime to justify forcing [Facebook] to give up the info,' she said. 'That means that he has uncovered a great deal of evidence through other avenues of Russian election interference.'... Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti... [wrote that the warrant] "means that Mueller has concluded that specific foreign individuals committed a crime by making a "contribution" in connection with an election[.]'"

GOP Plan to Stick It to Blue State Taxpayers in "Reform." Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "As long as there has been a federal income tax, taxpayers have been able to deduct most of the state and local taxes they pay from earnings subject to Uncle Sam's grasp. But that deduction -- especially popular in states rich in Democratic voters -- could disappear as soon as next year if President Trump and congressional Republicans succeed in their promised rewrite of the tax code.... Republican leaders have made clear the SALT deduction is on the table, and it has shaken up a number of blue-state GOP legislators who are warning that it could derail the ambitious tax plan Trump is now pushing. 'I intend to fight it with everything I know how,' said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), who represents a district where 43 percent of tax filers claim SALT deductions and signed a bipartisan letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urging him to preserve the break. 'It's a big deal for states like ours.'” ...

... Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "More former classmates of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are calling on him to resign from his post in the Trump administration over the president's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. Nearly 200 alumni of the private Riverdale Country School in New York signed a letter pushing him to resign from the Trump administration, calling Mnuchin's own response to Trump's comments on the violent white supremacist rally 'deeply troubling.'... [A few weeks ago,] nearly 300 Yale alumni from his graduating year signed a letter similarly saying he should resign in the wake of Charlottesville."

Jacqueline Thomsen: "Organizers of a triathlon set to take place at a Trump property in North Carolina have cancelled the event days after the name was changed to distance itself from President Trump. The event, scheduled to be held at Trump National Golf Club, Charlotte, was originally named 'Tri at the Trump.' But organizer Chuck McAllister cancelled the race Saturday days after he changed the name to 'Tri for Good' following complaints about the name, The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday. Proceeds from the triathlon were to go to children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses."

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has joined an effort to challenge President Trump's announced ban on transgender troops, a sign that open resistance to the order is growing. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a military hawk and one of the GOP's most outspoken critics of Trump, said in a statement Friday that he was backing the measure because 'we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country.'... The announcement from McCain came as he joined Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, and committee members Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in introducing a bill to thwart the president's plan."

Kristine Phillips of the Washington Post: "In what appeared to be an act of defiance against President Trump and to the dismay of many in law enforcement, California lawmakers took a significant step toward making the state a so-called 'sanctuary state.' The California Senate on Saturday passed Senate Bill 54, controversial legislation that would protect undocumented immigrants from possible deportation by prohibiting local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, from cooperating with federal immigration officials. It also forbids law enforcement from inquiring about a person's immigration status. The California Values Act provides an expansive protection to the state's undocumented population, estimated to be about 2.7 million, at a time when the Trump administration continues an aggressive crackdown on those who are in the country illegally and on so-called sanctuary cities -- communities that limit local law enforcement's cooperation with immigration agents. The strictly party-line vote sends the bill to California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who is expected to sign it in to law." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Not sure why law enforcement is so "dismayed." ...

... Trump Whacks Idaho's "Local Milk People."* Susan Ferriss in Politico Magazine: Idaho's "Magic Valley's dairy boom is a contemporary rural American success story -- the kind that ... Donald Trump railed as a candidate is too often missing across the country. Unemployment here was less than 3 percent this summer.... Dairy farmers lean heavily Republican.... But in the age of Donald Trump even the farmers who supported the new president ... [are] frightened that Trump's aggressive deportation policies will soon start to pick off or push away the mostly Hispanic immigrants who do the gritty work that Americans aren't interested in doing. Many of these workers are probably undocumented, farmers acknowledge, yet they're the sturdy backbone of a surging industry. Here in the Magic Valley, the farmers' perspective is starkly different from the president's claim that undocumented workers 'compete directly against vulnerable American workers.'" ...

     ... * Mrs. McCrabbie: Here is what Trump said to Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull in January when he was complaining about a refugee immigration pact President Obama had made with Australia : "I hate taking these people.... I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people." Reporters have assumed that Trump meant "dairy farmers" when he said "local milk people." However, "Post reporter Greg Miller, who wrote the story [about the transcript of the Trump-Turnbull call], posited that it could be an allusion to yogurt company Chobani, which has been criticized for hiring refugees. Guess where Chobani is? Twin Falls, Idaho. According to Ferriss, it's the world's largest yogurt factor. AND, according to Ferriss's report, Trump's underlying assumption was wrong: Idaho's "local milk people" describe immigrants as "the sturdy backbone" of their businesses. Contra Trump, immigrants are in fact, "wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people." P.S. Looks as if Idaho should follow California's lead & become a sanctuary state.

NEW. Rod Nordland of the New York Times: "... the boundaries of the Green Zone [in Kabul, Afghanistan] will be [expanded].... The zone is separated from the rest of the city by a network of police, military and private security checkpoints. The expansion is part of a huge public works project that over the next two years will reshape the center of this city of five million to bring nearly all Western embassies, major government ministries, and NATO and American military headquarters within the protected area. After 16 years of American presence in Kabul, it is a stark acknowledgment that even the city's central districts have become too difficult to defend from Taliban bombings."

NEW. Your Tax Dollars at Work. Michael Sisak & Emily Schmall of the AP: "The federal government auctioned off disaster-response trailers at fire-sale prices just before Harvey devastated southeast Texas, reducing an already diminished supply of mobile homes ahead of what could become the nation's largest-ever housing mission. More than 100 2017-model Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers were sold over the two days before the Category 4 hurricane landed in the Gulf Coast.... Harvey was already projected to be a monster storm that would inflict unprecedented damage. The trailers were designated to be sold through Aug. 28, after floodwaters sent thousands of Texans onto rooftops and into shelters."

Few Show up for Pro-Trump "Mother of All Rallies." Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "Followers of the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse -- known as Juggalos -- held a march Saturday on the National Mall, alleging discrimination after the FBI labeled the group a gang in a 2011 report. 'We're different. We're not dangerous,' Kevin Gill, who is an announcer for a Juggalo wrestling league, said from the rally stage. 'Music is not a crime.'... In a video on the their website, the hip-hop artists claim their fans have lost jobs, custody of their children and been denied access to the military for their Juggalo affiliation.... Earlier Saturday in a separate gathering, hundreds of pro-Trump activists rallied on the National Mall in what they said was a show of American patriotism and celebration. 'We're here to support our president and this country,' said Sue Babinec, who traveled to Washington from Cincinnati for what organizers dubbed the 'Mother of All Rallies.'... U.S. Park Police braced for a crowd of as many as 3,000 people. As the event opened, there were perhaps only 1,000 people gathered just north of the Washington Monument."

NEW. Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post: "Repeal of the Affordable Care Act is back on the agenda, with Republicans suddenly talking about a bill that, until recently, few people in either party had taken all that seriously. The prospects for the new legislation are murky. The proposal has generated a ton of conversation in political and health policy circles in just the past week, with multiple outlets reporting that leadership is now thinking about floor action before Sept. 30. That's the magic date when, because of parliamentary rules, Republicans lose their ability to pass repeal with just 50 votes. But much of the chatter is hype from supporters and it's hard to know how much enthusiasm for the proposal actually exists. Still, even if the bill's political fortunes are difficult to pin down, the impact it would have as a law is crystal clear. By dramatically scaling back what the federal government spends on health care and undermining rules designed to guarantee insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, this new proposal would leave millions of Americans struggling to pay their medical bills and to get coverage."

Nicole Perlroth & Cade Metz of the New York Times: "Equifax, the credit reporting agency, said Friday that its chief information officer and chief security officer were retiring 'effective immediately.' The announcement came one week after the company revealed that a cyberattack potentially compromised confidential information of 143 million Americans. On Friday, the company also provided further details about when it had discovered the breach and which part of its website had been targeted by hackers. But many details about the breach, who was behind it and the computer security defenses at Equifax are still unclear." ...

... Octavio Blanco of Consumer Reports: "Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports, sent a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith on Thursday, expressing deep concern over the immediate and lasting effects for the 143 million consumers potentially compromised by the data breach the company announced last week. In the letter, the consumer advocacy organization called Equifax's response 'wholly inadequate' and outlined seven steps it believes Equifax must take to remediate the situation, including paying for credit freezes, processing disputes promptly, and setting aside funds to compensate consumers."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Carlos Lozado of the Washington Post reviews Katy Tur's campaign memoir Unbelievable.

Beyond the Beltway

NEW. Sheri Fink & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Gov. Rick Scott of Florida announced new rules on Saturday requiring nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in the state to have generators capable of maintaining comfortable temperatures for at least 96 hours in the event of a power loss. The governor's announcement came three days after eight residents of a nursing home in Hollywood, Fla., the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, died when the home lost power to its cooling system in the wake of Hurricane Irma. The public outcry over the episode has intensified after the home said that its staff, or people calling on their behalf, had contacted the governor himself, as well as the power utility and several county and state agencies, to get the problem resolved, to little avail."

NEW. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "For the second consecutive night, peaceful daytime protests descended into late-night violence with broken windows and thrown rocks, water bottles and garbage can lids following Friday's acquittal of a white former police officer in the shooting death of a black suspect. Shortly before 11 p.m. at Leland and Delmar, a small group of protesters threw chunks of concrete at police and broke windows at numerous Delmar Loop businesses. A chair was thrown through the window of a Starbucks. One protester was seen hitting a police SUV with a hammer. Police made more than a half-dozen arrests witnessed by reporters, including a protester who was carried away by officers by his arms and legs." ...

... Axios: "U2 canceled their concert scheduled for St. Louis [Sunday night] because of inadequate police available for the event, per AP. Local police are attending to the protests over the acquittal of a police officer who shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man, in 2011. The band released a statement this morning saying 'we cannot in good conscience risk our fans' safety by proceeding with tonight's concert....'" ...

... John Bowden of the Hill: "Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in St. Louis for a second night in a row after the acquittal of a white former police officer in the shooting death of a black motorist. Protests remained mostly peaceful Saturday, with live stream video on Periscope showing demonstrators marching down the streets chanting 'black lives matter' nd'"united we stand/divided we fall.'" ...

... Aaron Rupar of Think Progress: "In the wake of heated protests in St. Louis following the acquittal of the cop who killed Anthony Lamar Smith, a self-described Christian lawmaker from Pennsylvania endorsed running over protesters who block roads. While sharing a news story about the St. Louis protests, Pennsylvania Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R) tweeted that '[i]f anyone EVER tries to stop my car on a highway with negative intentions.... I will not stop under any conditions.'... In subsequent tweets, Bernstine called protesters 'thugs' and 'snowflakes' and vowed he 'won't be assaulted in the name of "free speech."'... Saturday morning wasn't the first time Bernstine -- a Trump supporter who's serving his first term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives -- has endorsed running over protesters with vehicles." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Excuse me, Aaron. Who's a thug? P.S. Remember when you swore that oath in the name of your god to defend the Constitution? The Constitution includes the Amendments, you dimwitted pissant. ...

... Jeremy Stahl of Slate analyzes the "mental gymnastics" Judge Timothy J. Wilson "went into acquitting a man who said to his partner of Smith, 'we're killing this motherfucker, don't you know,' minutes before killing him." Mrs. McC: Stockley's statement of intention to kill, by the way, was not a characterization by bystanders or his partner: rather, prosecutors had an audio recording of it." Stahl's assessment will make you sick all over again. ...

... Melissa Matthews of Newsweek: "Many critics are pointing to a key sentence from Wilson's ruling. 'The Court observes, based on its nearly 30 years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly,' he wrote, referring to a gun found in Smith's car that had Stockley's, not Smith's, DNA on it." Mrs. McC: So, it must have been the victim's gun because all drug dealers are carrying all the time. That's why Wilson was not convinced Stockley planted the gun even though "Stockley's DNA was found under a screw in the revolver's handle." How the hell do you get your DNA under a screw of somebody else's gun? Have I mentioned that Judge Wilson is as white as the driven snow?

Way Beyond

Caroline Davies, et al., of the Guardian: "Police are searching a residential property in Stanwell, Surrey, in connection with a second man arrested in connection with the terrorist attack that injured 30 people on a London Underground train on Friday. The 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow, west London, at about 11.50pm on Saturday..., the Metropolitan police said." ...

... Vikram Dodd of the Guardian: "Police hunting the London tube bomber have arrested an 18-year-old man in Dover and raided an address in Surrey as investigators raced to thwart a second attack. Police and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, hailed the arrest under section 41 of the Terrorism Act as very significant. Investigators believe the suspect may have been in the port area of Dover to try to board a ferry to leave Britain. There was confidence among counter-terrorism officials that finding and detaining the suspect at 7.50am on Saturday represented a major breakthrough in the investigation. It led to the decision to raid an address in Sunbury at 1.40pm. Residents were evacuated as armed police and their colleagues searched a home. The UK remained at its highest state of terrorism alert with investigators still unable to rule out more than one person being involved in the attack or its preparation."

The Commentariat -- September 16, 2017

Drew Harwell & Amy Brittain of the Washington Post: "On a weekend in early March, during one of seven trips by Trump and his White House entourage to the posh Palm Beach property since the inauguration, the government paid the Trump-owned club to reserve at least one bedroom for two nights. The charge, according to a newly disclosed receipt reviewed by The Washington Post, was $1,092. The amount was based on a per-night price of $546, which, according to the bill, was Mar-a-Lago's 'rack rate,' the hotel industry term for a standard, non-discounted price. The receipt, which was obtained in recent days by the transparency advocacy group Property of the People and verified by The Post, offers one of the first concrete signs that Trump's use of Mar-a-Lago as the 'Winter White House' has resulted in taxpayer funds flowing directly into the coffers of his private business.... It is not clear whether the invoice stemmed from a one-time occurrence or represented one of many Mar-a-Lago rooms that have been booked at government expense for presidential aides or other officials since Trump took office and began traveling there on a regular basis." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining, even in the face of a federal court order, to release a comprehensive list of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family's Mar-a-Lago resort during the two dozen days he spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year.... The refusal to disclose the full list of presidential visitors' names also brings renewed scrutiny to the president's private business empire and raises questions about why the administration would want to withhold information that could reveal possible conflicts of interest.... Mr. Trump visited Mar-a-Lago 25 times between his inauguration and the middle of May, when the club closes for the summer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeff Howitz & Julie Bykowicz of the AP: "... Donald Trump's inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107 million for a ceremony..., and the committee pledged to give leftover funds to charity. Nearly eight months later, the group has helped pay for redecorating at the White House and the vice president's residence in Washington. But nothing has yet gone to charity. What is left from the massive fundraising is a mystery, clouded by messy and, at times, budget-busting management of a private fund that requires little public disclosure.... Tom Barrack, chairman of the private Presidential Inaugural Committee..., told the AP in June that 'a full and clean external audit has been conducted and completed' of the inaugural committee's finances, though the committee would not share a copy with AP or say who performed it. Two Trump associates familiar with efforts to sort out the financing said they were unaware of a completed third-party audit."

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "... Donald Trump demanded an apology from ESPN on Friday 'for untruth,' days after one of the sports network's highest profile employees called the president 'a white supremacist. 'ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming),' Trump tweeted Friday morning. 'People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!' Trump's tweets were the president's first comments on the dispute between the White House and ESPN's Jemele Hill, a black journalist who co-hosts 'SportsCenter.' "(Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Clio Chang of the New Republic: "... in essence, [Sarah] Sanders is the same as her predecessors. She lies. She thinks her job is to discredit the news media, not to answer the public's questions. Above all, she provides cover for her racist, despotic boss. The world was reminded of this fact on Wednesday, when Sanders said ESPN should fire Jemele Hill, a black female reporter, for calling Trump a 'white supremacist' and 'bigot' on Twitter.... It was a Trumpian mix of chilling authoritarianism, racial grievance, and personal vendetta that was delivered by Sanders with stony calm.... Her list of lies is lengthy.... This is why her placid gaze is so disturbing: It is the face of a White House whose deceptions and outrages have become all too normal." ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'd just like to take a moment to congratulate CNN on its choice of sports commentators. Host Brooke Baldwin had on a couple of "experts" discussing the Jemele Hill case. So this white guy prefaced his remarks with this: "I believe in two things -- the First Amendment & boobs." I am on meds, & I wasn't in the room with the teevee or paying much attention, but I did not make a mistake here. The "expert" did not say "boos" or "boons" or "boules." He said "boobs." So, well, no wonder this guy is so fond of free speech & all. And this is why I leave sports news to Medlar. ...

     ... Update. Okay, here's John Aravosis of AmericaBlog with video. The "expert" is named Clay Travis, & he works for -- you guessed it -- Fox Sports. Baldwin cut short the segment. Mediaite has video of the full segment. For background, see Akhilleus's commentary (times two) & RAS's comment in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kevin Rawlinson, et al., of the Guardian: "An explosion that injured 22 people at Parsons Green underground station in west London was a terrorist incident, the Metropolitan police have said.... Police later confirmed the blast was from an improvised explosive device. Investigators have recovered what appears to be a circuit board from the scene and are examining it for clues. NHS England said 22 people were receiving treatment at three hospitals and an urgent care centre in Parsons Green. None were thought to be in a serious or life-threatening condition." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The Guardian has live updates of developments here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Nolan McCaskill: "British officials rebuked ... Donald Trump on Friday for claiming that the individuals responsible for setting off explosives in the London subway had been 'in the sights of' law enforcement who failed to be 'proactive.' Prime Minister Theresa May reproached Trump for his rhetoric in the wake of what police are investigating as a terrorist attack that injured at least 18 people. 'I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,' she said. 'As I've just said, the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible.' Trump earlier on Friday had used the latest attack to offer tough talk on terrorism, and seemed to get out ahead of U.K. officials -- although it's unclear what information, if any, the president used to allege that the suspects 'were in the sights of Scotland Yard.' 'Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,' Trump tweeted early Friday morning. 'These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Martin Pengelly & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Trump claimed on Twitter that the terrorist attack involved 'sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard', despite no such information having been released publicly by police. He also blamed it on 'loser terrorists', promoted his travel ban and advocated a 'proactive and nasty' policy against Islamic State.... When the president tweeted, no suspect had been identified and no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the blast.... The broadcaster CBS disclosed the name of the bomber, Salman Abedi, citing US sources, at a time when British authorities were asking the media to withhold the information to protect the investigation. The New York Times then published detailed photographs of the bomb scene that had been taken by British investigators.... The security services that work under [the Foreign Office] will be infuriated by any sign that the US president has leaked intelligence information." Mrs. McC: According to TV reports, British commentators have accused Trump of once again leaking shared U.S.-U.K. intelligence. (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "... Donald Trump can be scattershot in his tweets, as seemed to be the case with the range of subjects he chose in the space of a few hours on Friday morning: Scotland Yard, 'loser terrorists,' ESPN, Barack Obama, the Internet, 'political correctness,' Americans who bring family members to this country. And yet this stream of invective had coherence, in that it could be classified as one long, sustained, distinctly Trumpist cry...." Sorkin does a fine jobs of connecting the dotty tweets & putting them into context.

THUD. Dana Milbank: "President Trump is killing me.... I went for my annual physical last month, and, for the first time in my 49 years, I had to report that I've not been feeling well: fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, even some occasional chest pain. My doctor checked my blood pressure, which had always been normal before: alarmingly high!... I arrived at a self-diagnosis: I was suffering from Trump Hypertensive Unexplained Disorder, or THUD.... I have a strong suspicion THUD is a widespread phenomenon.... It stands to reason that THUD is less pervasive in parts of the country that supported Trump: rural areas, the South, the industrial Midwest.... Indeed, they may be feeling much better, collectively, as a recent epidemic of Obama Derangement Syndrome subsides." Mrs. McC: I have a feeling Milbank is only half-kidding.

Drill, Baby, Drill. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is quietly moving to allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in more than 30 years, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, with a draft rule that would lay the groundwork for drilling. Congress has sole authority to determine whether oil and gas drilling can take place within the refuge’s 19.6 million acres. But seismic studies represent a necessary first step, and Interior Department officials are modifying a 1980s regulation to permit them. The effort represents a twist in a political fight that has raged for decades. The remote and vast habitat, which serves as the main calving ground for one of North America's last large caribou herds and a stop for migrating birds from six continents, has served as a rallying cry for environmentalists and some of Alaska's native tribes. But state politicians and many Republicans in Washington have pressed to extract the billions of barrels of oil lying beneath the refuge's coastal plain." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's all hope drilling doesn't start before Sarah Palin can hop in a helicopter & go shoot her some caribou.

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "U.S. Army recruiters have abruptly canceled enlistment contracts for hundreds of foreign-born military recruits since last week, upending their lives and potentially exposing many to deportation, according to several affected recruits and former military officials familiar with their situation. Many of these enlistees have waited years to join a troubled recruitment program designed to attract highly skilled immigrants into the service in exchange for fast-track citizenship.... Margaret Stock, a retired Army officer who led creation of the immigration recruitment program, told The Washington Post..., 'It's a dumpster fire ruining people's lives. The magnitude of incompetence is beyond belief,' she said. 'We have a war going on. We need these people.'"

Dan Babwin of the AP: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions can't follow through — at least for now -- with his threat to withhold public safety grant money to Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities for refusing to impose new tough immigration policies, a judge ruled Friday in a legal defeat for the Trump administration. In what is at least a temporary victory for cities that have defied Sessions, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ruled that the Justice Department could not impose the requirements. He said the city had shown a 'likelihood of success' in arguing that Sessions exceeded his authority with the new conditions. Among them are requirements that cities notify immigration agents when someone in the country illegally is about to be released from local jails and to allow agents access to the jails. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the ruling a victory for cities, counties and states nationwide and 'a clear statement that the Trump administration is wrong.'"

Holas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Charles E. Grassley, facing what he sees as Justice Department stonewalling, is considering subpoenas to compel several witnesses to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and divulge what they know about President Trump's connections to Russia and his firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director. Mr. Grassley and the committee's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, have agreed that the witnesses are key to the committee's investigation and could compel them to appear despite apparent objections by the Justice Department and the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The witnesses include two top F.B.I. officials who worked alongside Mr. Comey James Rybicki and Carl Ghattas, as well as Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's former campaign chairman. Committee rules require Ms. Feinstein to sign off on subpoenas, and she has not made her position clear." ...

... Kelly Runs Interference against Rohrabacher. digby cites a Wall Street Journal report: "A U.S. congressman contacted the White House this week trying to broker a deal that would end WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's U.S. legal troubles in exchange for what he described as evidence that Russia wasn't the source of hacked emails published by the antisecrecy website during the 2016 presidential campaign. The proposal made by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.), in a phone call Wednesday with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, was apparently aimed at resolving the probe of WikiLeaks prompted by Mr. Assange's publication of secret U.S. government documents in 2010 through a pardon or other act of clemency from President Donald Trump.... In exchange, Mr. Assange would probably present a computer drive or other data-storage device that Mr. Rohrabacher said would exonerate Russia in the long-running controversy about who was the source of hacked and stolen material aimed at embarrassing the Democratic Party during the 2016 election.... Mr. Kelly told the congressman that the proposal 'was best directed to the intelligence community,' the official said. Mr. Kelly didn't make the president aware of Mr. Rohrabacher's message, and Mr. Trump doesn't know the details of the proposed deal, the official said."

Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Sen. Bill Cassidy Friday sought to rally support for the last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan he co-authored, saying he believes he's on the verge of winning the final votes needed to jam it through the Senate. Cassidy claims that as many as 49 GOP senators have expressed support but doesn't have a hard whip count with just days left to use a fast-track process allowing the bill to pass with a simply majority. And his search for the elusive 50 'aye' votes got harder Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul announced his opposition." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Halls of Academe. Nathan Heller of the New Yorker: "A chill has come early to Harvard this year. Last week, the university announced that President Trump's increasingly unhireable, unfrocked campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had been offered a perch as a fellow at its Institute of Politics, traditionally an aerie for politicos in between jobs....This week, Sean Spicer ... was also added to the I.O.P. roster.... Theatre and politics turn out to be easy bedfellows, even when private ideologies stand far apart.... [This week] Chelsea Manning would also be joining the bill.... Then, as if to cap off the week's appointments and disappointments, the Times printed the results of a recent Marshall Project investigation, revealing the Harvard administration's decision to reverse an admissions recommendation for Michelle Jones, a Ph.D. applicant released from prison.... Universities like to think of themselves as beacons of enlightenment. This week, though, Harvard staked out a future in the dark." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I agree with Dean Douglas Elmendorf on one thing: these fellowships are supposed to be "honorifics." Now I ask what "honor" Lewandowski & Spicer deserve. They were both paid liars, & Lewandowski was also a paid, violent bouncer. I'm not saying they should not be allowed to speak at universities, but the audience ought at least be offered rotten tomatoes. ...

... John Judis of the New Republic: "Michael Morell is in no position to pass judgment on Chelsea Manning. The former CIA director claims to have been outraged by the decision of the Harvard Kennedy School to appoint Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow. In response to his resignation, the school's president has rescinded Manning's appointment. I have to say that I'm outraged by the the school's decision. Let's weigh the moral balance here.... The issue isn't transgender rights. It's an issue of an administration having committed the most egregious actions in the world. You can say what you want about the Trump administration, but to date its sins pale before what the George W. Bush administration did in Iraq. Manning was one of the people who tried to expose those actions. Morell was complicit in those actions. But now Morell, with the support of the Kennedy School's chief bureaucrat, has the last word."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.

It Ain't Just Facebook. Alex Kantrowitz of BuzzFeed: "Google, the world's biggest advertising platform, allows advertisers to specifically target ads to people typing racist and bigoted terms into its search bar, BuzzFeed News has discovered. Not only that, Google will suggest additional racist and bigoted terms once you type some into its ad-buying tool. Type 'White people ruin,' as a potential advertising keyword into Google's ad platform, and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'black people ruin neighborhoods.' Type 'Why do Jews ruin everything,' and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'the evil jew' and 'jewish control of banks.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Shari Fink & Amy Harmon of the New York Times: "The Florida nursing home where eight residents died on Wednesday after the building lost air-conditioning said Friday that it had repeatedly called the local power company and had been assured that help was on the way. The nursing home, according to its statement and interviews with its representatives on Friday, first called the local utility, Florida Power & Light, on Sunday afternoon after power to the air-conditioning system went out. The utility said that a representative would arrive on Monday morning, but changed its expected arrival time in subsequent phone calls to Monday afternoon, then Tuesday morning, then Tuesday afternoon, the nursing home said. The home's residents began dying early Wednesday morning. The nursing home, which is owned by Larkin Community Hospital, also said it spoke repeatedly with government agencies, including the Florida Department of Emergency Management, the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Health." The CEO of the community hospital that shares a building with the nursing home said she called Florida Gov. Rick Scott repeatedly.

Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than a dozen people were arrested Friday as hundreds of demonstrators in the St. Louis region marched into the night following the acquittal of a white former police officer who was charged with murder last year for fatally shooting a black driver after a car chase. Prosecutors charged Jason Stockley, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, with murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. According to the probable cause statement, Stockley was caught saying he was 'going to kill this motherf[uck]er, don't you know it' and was heard telling another officer to drive into Smith's slowing car. The court document, submitted by the St. Louis circuit attorney, said Stockley then approached Smith's window and fired five times into the car, hitting Smith 'with each shot' and killing him. In addition, prosecutors accused the officer of planting a gun on the victim: there was a gun found in Smith's car, but it was later determined to only have DNA from Stockley. Judge Timothy Wilson, the circuit judge who heard the case in a bench trial, acquitted Stockley on the murder charge as well as a charge of armed criminal action in a 30-page order released Friday morning.... Wilson said, he was not convinced that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley 'did not act in self-defense,' as the former officer had said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: What would it take to get Wilson to get over his "reasonable doubt"? Say, a note taped to the gun that read, "Property of Jason Stockley, official plant gun"? A courtroom confession? Unless the feds charge Stockley with a civil rights crime, the guy is untouchable. Let's ask the U.S. attorney general what his plans are. Oh. Jeff Sessions. Asked & answered. ...

... Joel Currier & Christine Byers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty Friday of murdering a man while on duty. St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson's highly anticipated verdict found the white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black drug suspect, after a high-speed pursuit and crash.... Protesters began gathering immediately. They tried to get on Interstate 64, but were blocked by police.... Police pepper-sprayed a few protesters in the early afternoon as they tried to block police from traveling on Tucker Boulevard between Clark Avenue and Spruce Street. More than 100 police, many with batons and riot shields, were there." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kwegyirba Croffie of CNN: "Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of convicted sex abuser and former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, pleaded guilty Friday to all 14 counts of child sexual abuse against him. The Centre Country district attorney's office said the younger Sandusky, 41, entered the guilty pleas a week before his trial was scheduled to begin. The 14 counts included soliciting sex from a child younger than 16 and soliciting child pornography....The charges involve incidents with two girls, one in 2013 and one in 2016."

News Lede

CNN: "Tropical Storm Jose has strengthened back into a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm, which could bring rain and wind to the northeastern United States later this week. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was 550 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, early Saturday, according to the hurricane center.Jose remains out in the Atlantic Ocean and is moving toward the northwest, and that motion will bring it closer to the United States through the weekend. Just how far it moves west before turning to the north will tell forecasters a great deal about the likelihood of whether it will make landfall somewhere along the eastern US coastline."

The Commentariat -- September 15, 2017

Afternoon Update:

It Ain't Just Facebook. Alex Kantrowitz of BuzzFeed: "Google, the world's biggest advertising platform, allows advertisers to specifically target ads to people typing racist and bigoted terms into its search bar, BuzzFeed News has discovered. Not only that, Google will suggest additional racist and bigoted terms once you type some into its ad-buying tool. Type 'White people ruin,' as a potential advertising keyword into Google's ad platform, and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'black people ruin neighborhoods.' Type 'Why do Jews ruin everything,' and Google will suggest you run ads next to searches including 'the evil jew' and 'jewish control of banks.'"

Joel Currier & Christine Byers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty Friday of murdering a man while on duty. St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson's highly anticipated verdict found the white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black drug suspect, after a high-speed pursuit and crash.... Protesters began gathering immediately. They tried to get on Interstate 64, but were blocked by police.... Police pepper-sprayed a few protesters in the early afternoon as they tried to block police from traveling on Tucker Boulevard between Clark Avenue and Spruce Street. More than 100 police, many with batons and riot shields, were there."

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "... Donald Trump demanded an apology from ESPN on Friday 'for untruth,' days after one of the sports network's highest profile employees called the president 'a white supremacist. 'ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming),' Trump tweeted Friday morning. 'People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!' Trump's tweets were the president's first comments on the dispute between the White House and ESPN's Jemele Hill, a black journalist who co-hosts 'SportsCenter.'" ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'd just like to take a moment to congratulate CNN on its choice of sports commentators. Host Brooke Baldwin had on a couple of "experts" discussing the Jemele Hill case. (See Akhilleus's commentary below [Update: now times two].) So this white guy prefaced his remarks with this: "I believe in two things -- the First Amendment & boobs." I am on meds, & I wasn't in the room with the teevee or paying much attention, but I did not make a mistake here. The "expert" did not say "boos" or "boons" or "boules." He said "boobs." So, well, no wonder this guy is so fond of free speech & all. And this is why I leave sports news to Medlar. ...

     ... Update. Okay, here's John Aravosis of AmericaBlog with video. The "expert" is named Clay Travis, & he works for -- you guessed it -- Fox Sports. Baldwin cut short the segment. Mediaite has video of the full segment.

Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Sen. Bill Cassidy Friday sought to rally support for the last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan he co-authored, saying he believes he's on the verge of winning the final votes needed to jam it through the Senate. Cassidy claims that as many as 49 GOP senators have expressed support but doesn't have a hard whip count with just days left to use a fast-track process allowing the bill to pass with a simply majority. And his search for the elusive 50 'aye' votes got harder Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul announced his opposition."

Drew Harwell & Amy Brittain of the Washington Post: "On a weekend in early March, during one of seven trips by Trump and his White House entourage to the posh Palm Beach property since the inauguration, the government paid the Trump-owned club to reserve at least one bedroom for two nights. The charge, according to a newly disclosed receipt reviewed by The Washington Post, was $1,092. The amount was based on a per-night price of $546, which, according to the bill, was Mar-a-Lago's 'rack rate,' the hotel industry term for a standard, non-discounted price. The receipt, which was obtained in recent days by the transparency advocacy group Property of the People and verified by The Post, offers one of the first concrete signs that Trump's use of Mar-a-Lago as the 'Winter White House' has resulted in taxpayer funds flowing directly into the coffers of his private business.... It is not clear whether the invoice stemmed from a one-time occurrence or represented one of many Mar-a-Lago rooms that have been booked at government expense for presidential aides or other officials since Trump took office and began traveling there on a regular basis." ...

... Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining, even in the face of a federal court order, to release a comprehensive list of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family's Mar-a-Lago resort during the two dozen days he spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year.... The refusal to disclose the full list of presidential visitors' names also brings renewe0d scrutiny to the president's private business empire and raises questions about why the administration would want to withhold information that could reveal possible conflicts of interest.... Mr. Trump visited Mar-a-Lago 25 times between his inauguration and the middle of May, when the club closes for the summer."

Kevin Rawlinson, et al., of the Guardian: "An explosion that injured 22 people at Parsons Green underground station in west London was a terrorist incident, the Metropolitan police have said.... Police later confirmed the blast was from an improvised explosive device. Investigators have recovered what appears to be a circuit board from the scene and are examining it for clues. NHS England said 22 people were receiving treatment at three hospitals and an urgent care centre in Parsons Green. None were thought to be in a serious or life-threatening condition." ...

     ... The Guardian has live updates of developments here. ...

... Nolan McCaskill: "British officials rebuked ... Donald Trump on Friday for claiming that the individuals responsible for setting off explosives in the London subway had been 'in the sights of' law enforcement who failed to be 'proactive.' Prime Minister Theresa May reproached Trump for his rhetoric in the wake of what police are investigating as a terrorist attack.... 'I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,' she said. 'As I've just said, the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible.' Trump earlier on Friday had used the latest attack to offer tough talk on terrorism, and seemed to get out ahead of U.K. officials -- although it's unclear what information, if any, the president used to allege that the suspects 'were in the sights of Scotland Yard.' 'Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,' Trump tweeted early Friday morning. 'These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!'" ...

Martin Pengelly & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Trump claimed on Twitter that the terrorist attack involved 'sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard', despite no such information having been released publicly by police. He also blamed it on 'loser terrorists', promoted his travel ban and advocated a 'proactive and nasty' policy against Islamic State.... When the president tweeted, no suspect had been identified and no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the blast.... The broadcaster CBS disclosed the name of the bomber, Salman Abedi, citing US sources, at a time when British authorities were asking the media to withhold the information to protect the investigation. The New York Times then published detailed photographs of the bomb scene that had been taken by British investigators.... The security services that work under [the Foreign Office] will be infuriated by any sign that the US president has leaked intelligence information." Mrs. McC: According to TV reports, British commentators have accused Trump of -- once again -- leaking shared U.S.-U.K. intelligence.

*****

Flip-Flop-Flip-Flop, Flippity-Flip-Flop. Sheryl Stolberg & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "President Trump confirmed on Thursday morning that he supports legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation and would deliver a 'massive' increase in border security -- but not with a wall on the southern border. Mr. Trump's comments, both in Washington and in Florida, affirmed the broad parameters of an agreement that Democratic leaders unilaterally announced Wednesday night after dinner with the president at the White House. In remarks to reporters as he left the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump said, 'We're working on a plan for DACA.... The wall will come later.' Mr. Trump's comments seemed to contradict his own Twitter posts early Thursday morning when he said, 'no deal was made last night on DACA.' But they were very much in line with Democratic leaders' statements." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: That's nice. But Our Coy Mister's flip-flops are mostly a cruel game to unsettle the young people & families whose lives are directly & profoundly affected by Trump's decisions.

... Deal or No Deal? Sophie Tatum, et al., of CNN: "President Donald Trump is moving closer to a deal with Democrats that would protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation. But the parameters of any deal ... are up in the air as the White House and Congress grapple with the impact of a Wednesday dinner between Trump and Democratic leaders. The bombshell developments, which were first announced by Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi and reiterated by Trump himself Thursday morning, were met with immediate outrage from conservatives and put pressure on the President's Republican allies in Congress. A deal would be the second major Trump-Pelosi-Schumer pact this month, following the agreement on the debt ceiling and government spending." -- Akhilleus ...

... Maggie Haberman & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times shed some light on negotiations between Trump v. Chuck & Nancy during their White House dinner. "Senator Chuck Schumer had just finished outlining a new Democratic immigration proposal over a working dinner at the White House on Wednesday night when President Trump stopped him with a simple question: What is in it for me?" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's always the question, isn't it? Never mind the people who Trump & Republican MoCs would kick out of the country to satisfy their own racial biases & their bigot base. The sole consideration of Nasty party members is "What's in it for me?"

... Josh Marshall: "From what I can see, the Dems' play here is pretty straight forward. Push forward for that deal: DACA plus 'border security' minus the wall. If they get it, great. They save the Dreamers. If they don't, the process will still wreak havoc within the GOP. That coalition damage within the GOP is the second best way to save the Dreamers in 18 months. The first 'win' is far more precious. But they're both important wins in substantive and political terms." ...

... Elise Viebeck, et al., of the Washington Post: "Republican leaders in Congress sought to reassert their authority with an unpredictable White House Thursday as President Trump dangled a potential deal with Democrats to allow hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States while postponing talk of a border wall. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), in his first public comments since Trump met with Democrats the previous night, agreed in broad strokes with his goal of protecting 'dreamers' and toughening U.S. border security. But Ryan dismissed the possible deal as preliminary discussions and insisted any agreement must have buy-in from GOP leaders. 'The president understands he has to work with the congressional majorities to get any kind of legislative solution,' Ryan said at a news conference on Capitol Hill." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yesterday, while recuperating from some minor surgery, I listened to some of the coverage on CNN & MSNBC of the latest episode of Donnie Meets Chuck & Nancy. The cable coverage included interviews with some MoCs who favored allowing DREAMers permanent status. These pro-DREAMer guys tried to answer questions about the economic impact of DREAMers. Sadly, none of these geniuses  grasped the most fundamental economic benefit DREAMers promise: DREAMers, like all of us, are consumers. As it happens, DREAMers tend to be better consumers than most of us: they're younger & relatively well-educated so they need &/or want to buy a lot of stuff -- AND they qualify for jobs that provide them with the wherewithall to buy all that stuff. In a country where the population is growing older, you couldn't ask for a better way to boost the economy: a bunch of educated, assimilated young people ready on the cusp of a spending spree. We should not be debating whether or not to let DREAMers stay in the country; we should be looking around the world to find more of them.

Flip-Flop-Flip-Flop, Flippity-Flip-Flop. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump thrust himself back into the racial storms of Charlottesville on Thursday, repeating his charge that those resisting the neo-Nazis and white supremacists were as much to blame as the alt-right crowds who marched on the Virginia college town last month. Mr. Trump was characterizing his side of a conversation on Wednesday with Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, during which Mr. Scott, the Senate's only black Republican, said he confronted the president on his claim that 'both sides' were responsible for the violence that followed a torchlight protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. 'Especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what's going on there, you know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also,' Mr. Trump said, referring to the anti-fascist group that clashed with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Mr. Trump has offered constantly shifting statements about Charlottesville, alternately condemning the hate groups and declaring a moral equivalence between them and the counter-protesters." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's defense of his "both sides" stance comes within several hours of the White House's announcing Trump would sign a unanimously-passed Congressional resolution condemning white supremacy. The AF1 remarks were inspired by the premise that Trump is never wrong & by the political expediency of reminding his racist base that he's one of them & can't help it if every member of Congress insists on dissing those nice Neo-Nazis & white supremacists.

It's All GREAT! Emily Tillet of CBS News: "[President] Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, arrived at the Fort Myers area where he thanked first responders and is later slated to speak in the Naples area after he receives additional briefings on recovery efforts in the region. Vice President Mike Pence and a White House delegation of cabinet officials also joined the president on the trip. Mr. Trump tweeted early Thursday morning that he would be visiting the area to see 'our GREAT first responders and to thank the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA etc.' He called the impacts a 'real disaster' and said that were was 'much work do.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: Well, no one has ever accused Donald Trump of not having a way with words. Describing the devastation of Irma as a "real disaster" and talking about "GREAT first responders" will no doubt rival Churchill's most powerful speeches of WWII. But as usual, Trump cannot resist putting his own spin on the truth, at one point saying that "power is being restored rapidly...great job!", implying imminent restoration of power. According to a story in yesterday's NY Times, power restoration will take weeks not days. According to Robert Gould of Florida Power and Light, "This is going to be a very, very lengthy restoration, arguably the longest and most complex in U.S. history...." But rather than say exactly that, Trump's choice is to grandstand. He hungers for applause even when there's no crowd. ...

... Emily Holden of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday discounted any link between climate change and the intense hurricanes that ravaged Florida and the Gulf Coast while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from storm-stricken Fort Myers and Naples[.] 'We've had bigger storms than this,' Trump said when asked if the highly destructive Hurricane Harvey and record-breaking Hurricane Irma were changing his views of climate change." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's pretty funny because just hours before, on his way to Florida, Trump said to reporters, in regard to Hurricane Irma, "Historically there's never been anything like this." So what? Trump got down to Florida & discovered the storm's devastation was no big deal, after all? This loon will say anything, do anything. Presumably, he was speaking to the same travelling press in these conflicting characterizations of Irma. Why don't these stenographers ask him to make up his mind? They're content, apparently, to let the Biggest Liar have it both ways.

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "For the second time in two weeks, President Trump visited a state rocked by a hurricane. And after drawing criticism for his lack of empathy the first time around in Texas, Trump set about avoiding that narrative in Florida. And he did it well.... Appearing in Naples on Thursday, Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Vice President Pence passed out sandwiches and bananas and shook hands with those in the Hurricane Irma-stricken community.... Trump also focused almost exclusively on empathy in his comments about the hurricane[.]... But even as he was passing the empathy test, Trump wasn't exactly shedding his skin.... While passing out food, Trump encouraged one man who complained about Barack Obama golfing during a hurricane to share that claim with the cameras. This seems to refer to the popular Internet complaint that Obama was golfing during Hurricane Katrina, but George W. Bush was president at the time. So even while empathizing and doing himself some good, Trump can't help but rehash old feuds and push dubious narratives."

Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Shortly after learning in May that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate links between his campaign associates and Russia, President Trump berated Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an Oval Office meeting and said he should resign, according to current and former administration officials and others briefed on the matter. The president blamed the appointment of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, on Mr. Sessions's decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department's Russia investigation -- a move Mr. Trump believes was the moment his administration effectively lost control over the inquiry. Accusing Mr. Sessions of 'disloyalty,' Mr. Trump unleashed a string of insults on his attorney general. Ashen and emotional, Mr. Sessions told the president he would quit and sent a resignation letter to the White House, according to four people who were told details of the meeting.... Mr. Trump told Mr. Sessions that choosing him to be attorney general was one of the worst decisions he had made, called him an 'idiot' and said that he should resign.... In addition to Mr. Sessions, Vice President Mike Pence; Donald F. McGahn III; the White House counsel; and several other aides attended the meeting.... Mr. Sessions would later tell associates that the demeaning way the president addressed him was the most humiliating experience in decades of public life.... Mr. Trump ended up rejecting Mr. Sessions's May resignation letter after senior members of his administration argued that dismissing the attorney general would only create more problems for a president who had already fired an F.B.I. director and a national security adviser. Mr. Trump once again, in July, told aides he wanted to remove Mr. Sessions, but for a second time didn't take action." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: On the bright side, it's always nice to hear someone berate & humiliate JeffBo. ...

... Ethics, Schmethics. Darren Samuelson of Politico: "The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has quietly reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds. The little-noticed change could help President Donald Trump's aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands -- but raises the potential for hidden conflicts of interest or other ethics trouble. 'You can picture a whole army of people with business before the government willing to step in here and make [the debt] go away,' said Marilyn Glynn, a former George W. Bush-era acting OGE director who worked in the office for 17 years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: So Trump gets the OGE to reverse itself on whether or not anonymous donors can help pay for the mountain of upcoming legal bills for all Trumpy administration persons of interest in the Russia-Collusion probe. Pretty much everyone has lawyered up. That's a lot of anonymous donations. Why even bother with a fucking ethics office? Trump is just going to change the rules to suit himself, or ignore ones he doesn't like. Might as well dispense with it altogether. And once again, when a survivor of the Bush Debacle is appalled, how bad must things really be? ...

... Manu Raju of CNN: "Former national security adviser Susan Rice privately told House investigators that she unmasked the identities of senior Trump officials to understand why the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates was in New York late last year, multiple sources told CNN. The New York meeting preceded a separate effort by the UAE to facilitate a back-channel communication between Russia and the incoming Trump White House. The crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, arrived in New York last December in the transition period before Trump was sworn into office for a meeting with several top Trump officials, including Michael Flynn..., Jared Kushner, and ... Steve Bannon, sources said....Rice's previously undisclosed revelation in a classified setting shines new light on a practice that had come under sharp criticism from the committee chairman, California Rep. Devin Nunes, and President Donald Trump, who previously accused Rice of committing a crime. But her explanation appears to have satisfied some influential Republicans on the committee, undercutting both Nunes and Trump and raising new questions about whether any Trump associates tried to arrange back-channel discussions with the Russians."

Goodbye Cassini. Mika McKinnon of Astronomy: "After 13 years and hundreds of orbits around Saturn, Cassini is in its final fall towards the gas giant. Before the dawn breaks [Friday], the spacecraft will be vaporized. Now, we reflect on Cassini's many triumphs, and stand vigil to witness the spacecraft's last moments, pushing the boundaries of what engineering can do one final time. NASA's Cassini spacecraft launched on October 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It slung around Venus, Earth, and Jupiter, using the gravitational potential of each planet to redirect its path during its seven-year journey to Saturn.... Today, Cassini takes its final photograph, calls home with its last pre-packed data, and transitions to continuous real-time transmission to squeeze science out of every last final second before destruction. At 12:58 p.m. Pacific time on September 14, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft will look around Saturn's system for the final time." -- Akhilleus (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

And Hello Bridenstine! Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "If confirmed, Jim Bridenstine would be the first NASA administrator in the post-Apollo era who wasn't yet born when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. He's a politician and a Navy aviator, not a rocket scientist, whose credentials have already been criticized by Florida's two U.S. senators. And the congressman's comments expressing skepticism about the role humans have played in climate change have sparked controversy. But in the days since President Trump announced that Bridenstine was his pick to lead the space agency, the 42-year-old conservative Republican House member from Oklahoma has lined up some key support from members of Congress and industry groups." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: "Support builds for Bridenstine?" Of course it does! Trump looks at science denier Bridenstine as "good for business", meaning the plan of turning NASA into a wholly owned subsidiary of various for profit corporations. There's nothing wrong with making money, but NASA's mission from the beginning has been much more aligned with scientific discovery. Technologies invented for space missions have likely expanded profitable undertakings on planet Earth. But under a Trump appointee, it's unlikely any more pure science missions like Cassini will get off the drawing board. And look for another essential part of NASA's core mission to crash and burn, the careful observation and study of climate change here on Earth. So farewell Cassini, and farewell to a lot more, potentially.

Paid to Lie. Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "Sean Spicer claims it was his job to say whatever President Trump told him to say. 'That's what you sign up to do,' the former White House press secretary said Wednesday on ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' late-night show. Revisiting his memorable briefing-room debut -- a tirade against the media in which he falsely claimed that Trump's Inauguration Day crowd was the largest in history -- Spicer basically admitted that he was willing to lie for Trump.... 'Look, your job as press secretary is to represent the president's voice,' Spicer replied, 'and to make sure that you are articulating what he believes, [what] his vision is on policy, on issues and on other areas that he wants to articulate. Whether or not you agree or not isn't your job.'.. .But do 'other areas' include matters of fact? Whether Trump's crowd was the biggest ever is not a matter of opinion. It is objectively true or false -- and it happens to be false. What Spicer is saying here is that he believes his job was not merely to defend political decisions with which he disagreed but to make false statements, if asked to do so by the president." ...

     ... Akhilleus: The job description for the entire Trump administration. Liars all. And is this how Spicer will be introduced in his new gig as motivational speaker? "And now, please welcome that well known paid liar, Sean Spicer! Yeah, big round of applause for Sean."

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in a Washington Post op-ed: "Since President Trump took office, he and his administration have expressed their intention to sabotage the Affordable Care Act by creating instability in state insurance markets. As governors and other leaders across the nation warned, the Trump administration's actions could threaten the health care and indeed the lives of millions of people across our nation. Unfortunately, here in Virginia, we have seen many of those fears come to fruition.... Instead of solving the problem, the Trump administration continues to sabotage the Affordable Care Act by refusing to guarantee the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that insurers rely upon to offset lost revenue from providing subsidies to low-income individuals. The Trump administration has furthered this instability in the insurance markets by slashing outreach and enrollment efforts by 90 percent, cutting in-person assistance funding by 41 percent and discontinuing enforcement of the mandate that people buy insurance. And, to add insult to injury, those Virginia consumers reeling from the loss of the plans they had will have only 45 days this year in which to choose a new one -- if one is available to them at all -- because the Trump administration has cut the window in which people can shop for coverage in half. These actions ... show no understanding of how insurance markets work and no concern for the impact on people's lives and health."

Paul Krugman looks for some clarity: "On Wednesday Donald Trump demanded that Congress move quickly to enact his tax reform plan. But so far he has not, in fact, offered any such plan. Not only is there no detailed legislative proposal, his administration hasn't even settled on the basic outlines of what it wants. Meanwhile, 17 Senate Democrats -- more than a third of the caucus -- have signed on to Bernie Sanders's call for expanding Medicare to cover the whole population. So far, however, Sanders hasn't produced either an estimate of how much that would cost or a specific proposal about how to pay for it. I don't mean to suggest that these cases are comparable: The distinctive Trumpian mix of ignorance and fraudulence has no counterpart among Democrats. Still, both stories raise the question of how much, if at all, policy clarity matters for politicians' ability to win elections and, maybe more important, to govern."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. As I Was Climbing up the Wall, I Found It Wasn't There at All. Chaffetz & Doocy as Deconstructionist Lit Critics. Jon Levine of Mediaite: "Fox & Friends took viewers on a trip down gaslight alley on Thursday, with the show hosts scrambling to make sense of the alleged deal between Donald Trump and 'Chuck and Nancy' to save DACA and punt the border wall until later. With the President doing major damage control this morning, it was left to ex-Congressman and Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz to pick up the pieces. Chaffetz expounded on a theme from Trump this morning, insisting that the wall was 'already there.'... 'The president doesn't need Congressional authority to build the wall, it's already there,' said Chaffetz 'He needs funding so it's solely in the camp of the United States Congress to fund what the president promised he would do. He'll build it but Congress has to step up and actually fund it.'... Minutes later, Fox & Friends' Steve Doocy floated the idea that the whole wall might have been 'symbolic' and that maybe we would get to a point where 'they won't build the wall.'"

Dan Merica of CNN: "Hillary Clinton told CNN on Wednesday that it is time to abolish the Electoral College, part of a sweeping interview where the former Democratic nominee sought to explain why she lost the 2016 election. Clinton, in the interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, displayed her animus for fired FBI Director James Comey, reflected on her love for the people -- namely former President Bill Clinton -- who helped her get through the crushing loss and blasted the arcane election body that she believes helped Donald Trump win the presidency."

NEW. Andrew deGrandpre of the Washington Post: "Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government rescinded a visiting fellowship offered to Chelsea Manning, the former military intelligence analyst who spent seven years in prison for leaking classified government secrets, after the university faced forceful backlash from CIA Director Mike Pompeo among others. 'I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a Visiting Fellow was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility,' Douglas W. Elmendorf, the school's dean, wrote in a 700-word statement released shortly after midnight Friday.... Earlier Thursday, in a stern letter of his own, Michael Morell, a former CIA leader who spent more than three decades at the agency, resigned from Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.... The school's invitation to Manning, Morell said, all but endorsed her decision to break the law.... On Twitter ..., [Manning] accused the school of suppressing 'marginalized voices' and caving to pressure from the CIA."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.

Julia Angwin, et al., of ProPublica: "Until this week, when we asked Facebook about it, the world's largest social network enabled advertisers to direct their pitches to the news feeds of almost 2,300 people who expressed interest in the topics of 'Jew hater,' 'How to burn jews,' or, 'History of "why jews ruin the world."' To test if these ad categories were real, we paid $30 to target those groups with three 'promoted posts' -- in which a ProPublica article or post was displayed in their news feeds. Facebook approved all three ads within 15 minutes. After we contacted Facebook, it removed the anti-Semitic categories -- which were created by an algorithm rather than by people -- and said it would explore ways to fix the problem, such as limiting the number of categories available or scrutinizing them before they are displayed to buyers."

Sam Levin of the Guardian: "Google systematically pays women less than men doing similar work, according to a class action-lawsuit accusing the technology company of denying promotions and career opportunities to qualified women who are 'segregated' into lower-paying jobs. The complaint, filed Thursday on behalf of all women employed by Google in California over the last four years, provided the most detailed formal accounts to date of gender discrimination and pay disparities at the company after months of criticisms and a growing chorus of women publicly speaking out."

** Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "North Korea fired another missile from the Pyongyang area early Friday morning, with the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reporting that it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said that the missile was launched from a site near the capital, Pyongyang, and fired in an easterly direction at about 6:30 a.m. local time. The Japanese government is still assessing the launch, but it immediately triggered emergency alerts in Japan."

War Games, Russian Style. Staff Reuters: "Russia accused the West on Thursday of 'whipping up hysteria' over large-scale military exercises currently underway in eastern Europe and denied charges that they were being conducted with a lack of transparency. The exercises ... started on Thursday and will last until Sept. 20. They are being conducted on military ranges in Belarus, western Russia, Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad and in the Baltic Sea. 'We reject complaints of these exercises not being transparent,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters. 'We believe that whipping up hysteria around these exercises is a provocation.'... But NATO officials say the drills will simulate a conflict with the U.S.-led alliance intended to show Russia's ability to mass large numbers of troops at short notice in the event of a conflict. Amid allegations about Moscow's aggressive ambitions from its post-communist neighbors, Russia's defense ministry has said that it does not intend to use the drills as a springboard to attack Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: Putin holds war games in which Russia demonstrates how quickly it could invade a NATO country but says that there's no reason to worry. It's like Tony Soprano showing a new shop owner in town pictures of all the guys he's had beaten up then complaining if the guy overreacts. And not for nothin' but how much will you bet me that, had this occurred on Obama's watch, a certain orange haired man now strangely living in the White House, would rip him as being weak for not immediately massing troops on the border of Belarus in response to this display of military aggression?

Senate Race

Sinners in the Hands of a Vindictive God. Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott of CNN: "Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore suggested earlier this year that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks might have happened because the US had distanced itself from God. Moore, a hardline conservative running against fellow Republican and incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in a runoff primary race, made the comments in February during a speech at the Open Door Baptist Church...."