Sunday
Aug202017
The Commentariat -- August 21, 2017
Afternoon Update:
William Booth & James McAuley of the Washington Post: "The Moroccan-born man who authorities say was the driver of the van that plowed down pedestrians in a crowded tourist zone in Barcelona last week was shot dead by Spanish police Monday afternoon. Police confirmed that officers shot and killed Younes Abouyaaquob, 22, in the small town of Subirats, about an hour's drive west of Barcelona. Abouyaaquob has been the subject of a massive manhunt since he escaped on Thursday night after the van attack. Police said Abouyaaquob was wearing what appeared to be a suicide bomb vest when he was confronted by officers. Bomb squad officers deployed a robot to get near the prone body, only then learning that the suicide vest was a fake, they said."
Kevin Johnson of USA Today: "The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission -- in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump's family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast. Secret Service Director Randolph 'Tex' Alles ... said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandate caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year.... Agents must protect Trump -- who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia -- and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas. 'The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,' Alles said.... Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That's up from 31 during the Obama administration. Overwork and constant travel have also been driving a recent exodus from the Secret Service ranks, yet without congressional intervention to provide additional funding, Alles will not even be able to pay agents for the work they have already done."
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday applauded evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. for defending Trump's controversial response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va.... 'Jerry Falwell of Liberty University was fantastic on @foxandfriends. The Fake News should listen to what he had to say. Thanks Jerry!' Trump tweeted. The president then responded to a Twitter user who said the media is trying to 'take you down,' claiming 'the very dishonest Fake News media is out of control!'... With other Republicans refusing to publicly defend Trump, the White House is relying on Falwell as a top surrogate for the president." ...
... Samantha Schmidt & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "After Trump's equivocation about neo-Nazi groups following the violence in Charlottesville,Falwell tweeted that he was 'so proud' of Trump for his 'bold truthful' statement on the tragedy. Falwell appeared on 'Fox & Friends' Monday morning to reiterate his support for the president.... In response to Falwell's unwavering support of Trump, Liberty University graduates are calling on fellow alumni to take a stand by returning their diplomas. They are also writing letters to Falwell's office and to the Board of Trustees, calling for his removal. More than 260 people have joined a Facebook group titled 'Return your diploma to LU.' By publicly 'revoking all ties, all support present and future,' the graduates hope to send a message to the school that 'could jeopardize future enrollment, finances and funding,' according to the Facebook group."
Politico: "... Donald Trump on Sunday called the collision between the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and a tanker that left at least 10 sailors missing 'too bad' before tweeting support for the sailor's families."
Mr. & Mrs. Trump view the eclipse from the Truman balcony. More proof you cannot be dumber than Donald.
*****
... To find out what time the eclipse can be viewed in your area, go here. This page is set for Boston, Massachusetts, but you can plug the name of a city near you into the search box. Local times appears in the upper right corner of the video. ...
... Here's a still map of the path of the eclipse across the U.S. ...
... If you don't have NASA-approved solar-viewing glasses, here are a few ideas -- (1) and (2) and (3) -- on how you can view the eclipse through a do-it-yourself device. Remember, you face away from the sun using these methods & looking at a projection of the eclipse on the ground or inside your homemade projector. ...
... Andy Borowitz: "Attacking the media for its 'very unfair' coverage of Monday's solar eclipse, Donald J. Trump said on Saturday that the sun was equally to blame for blocking the moon." Mrs. McC Note: This is satire, you lunkheads. Don't write in complaining about fake news & asking why other media didn't cover Trump's lunatic tirade. Speaking of the Big Loon & the lunar, nobody could moon you like Trump. I told Medlar if he accidentally gets behind the Beast on I-95, I'm putting on my eclipse glasses right then & there. I wouldn't let Medlar scrape the Hillary! & faded Barack stickers off the bumpers, so you know Trump will "reply." Only hope for Medlar is the rear window of the Beast isn't big enough to cover the whole show.
NEW. Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "The United States Embassy in Moscow announced Monday it would temporarily stop issuing all non-immigrant visas in Russia and then severely curtail visa operations as it slashes its staff to comply with the latest salvo in Washington's diplomatic standoff with Moscow."
Carol Morello & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Monday night will announce a 'path forward' on military strategy in Afghanistan, the White House said, offering his imprint on the longest-running war in U.S. history. Trump is scheduled to address the military and American people from Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a brief statement Sunday afternoon." Trump will make a primetime address at 9 pm ET. ...
... Michael Gordan, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump, who has been accused by lawmakers of dragging his feet on Afghanistan, has settled on a new strategy to carry on the nearly 16-year-old conflict there, administration officials said Sunday. The move, following a detailed review, is likely to open the door to the deployment of several thousand troops. 'The president has made a decision,' Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters on an overnight flight that arrived in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. 'I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous.'"
Max Greenwood of the Hill: "White House officials were notably absent from the morning news show lineups on Sunday, as President Trump capped off a turbulent week in his presidency. 'To give you a sense of how reluctant Republicans are to talk about President Trump this week, not one member of the current Republican leadership in Congress agreed to come on the broadcast this morning,' Chuck Todd, host of NBC's 'Meet the Press,' said. 'In fact, even the White House was unable, or perhaps unwilling, to provide a guest, right down to the White House press secretary.'"
You have no idea how much crazy stuff we kill. -- Unidentified White House Official ...
... Mike Allen of Axios: Top White House officials explain -- off the record, of course -- why they're not quitting. ...
... Brian Beutler: "The notion that Donald Trump's presidency constitutes an open-ended, moment-to-moment crisis for the United States and the world is no longer a contested one. If there's one thing his staunchest allies and opponents agree on, it's that Trump is dangerous.... It speaks volumes about the precariousness of the situation that the most powerful senior officials in the executive branch, other than the president himself, spend so much of their time justifying their continued service.... It is extraordinary that members of this president's braintrust say they're sticking around only because they think they can save the president (and through him, all of us) from himself.... Nobody who claims to be protecting the public from even worse outcomes can credibly claim that their influence will last, or that they'll be in the right places at the right times whenever Trump's unbridled instincts tell him to do awful things. Their efforts to extend the Trump presidency expose the public to greater risk, not less."
John Wagner: "Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that he sees 'some serious issues' with President Trump's capabilities that aren't likely to get better but that it's premature to consider invoking a constitutional provision to force him from office.... Schiff ... said he does not agree with some fellow Democrats who have argued that it's time to invoke the 25th Amendment, which gives the vice president and eight Cabinet members the authority to unilaterally force the president from office if they deem him 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.' 'I think for that reason at a minimum, we need the very best people around him in the White House,' Schiff said of Trump." ...
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that he and his colleagues are increasingly concerned about ... Donald Trump's mental fitness. 'There are some serious issues,' Schiff said on CNN's 'State of the Union,' adding that 'the pressures of the job may only get worse.'" ...
... Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: "... interviews with his associates and documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that [Rinat] Akhmetshin..., [a lobbyist who met with Donald Trump, Jr., & other Trump campaign officials last summer,] has much deeper ties to the Russian government and Kremlin-backed oligarchs than previously known. He has an association with a former deputy head of a Russian spy service, the F.S.B., and a history of working for close allies of President Vladimir V. Putin.... Mr. Akhmetshin's meeting with Trump campaign officials is of keen interest to [special counsel Robert] Mueller.... Of all the visitors who attended the June 2016 session at the Trump Tower, he appears to have the most direct ties to Russian intelligence." ...
... Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Countless amateur sleuths are on [Donald Trump's] case, from a short-order cook in Belfast, Northern Ireland, whose research was recently cited by The Daily Beast to a Florida art teacher who tells Politico he is applying his pattern-recognition skills to Trump's sprawling business empire. Undaunted by a lack of subpoena power or search warrants, and the government's vast legal and technical expertise, countless people like these are poring through Trump's personal and business records, as well as overlooked 2016 campaign clues. They share their findings through email, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and even tips to reporters and the FBI. Most labor in obscurity, but all are motivated by the lottery-like odds of a discovery that has eluded journalists and prosecutors but which just might bring down a president.... This may sound like the pointless industry of conspiracy theorists, but some legal experts, and history itself, suggest they could make a difference. Among the 15,000 pieces of mail and 6,000 telegrams the Watergate special prosecutor received during his first year on the job, according an official report, an average of three or four 'substantial allegations' each month merited a deeper look.... The notion that the public could strike pay dirt is the reason [the FBI] maintains a website at which incoming tips are taken seriously."
Jeremy Peters & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "John F. Kelly, the new White House chief of staff, told Stephen K. Bannon in late July that he needed to go: No need for it to get messy, Mr. Kelly told Mr. Bannon, according to several people with firsthand knowledge of the exchange. The two worked out a mutually amicable departure date for mid-August, with President Trump's blessing. But as Mr. Trump struggled last week to contain a growing public furor over his response to a deadly, race-fueled melee in Virginia, Mr. Bannon clashed with Mr. Kelly over how the president should respond.... By Thursday, after Mr. Bannon undercut American policy toward North Korea in an interview published by a left-leaning magazine, Mr. Trump himself had concluded that Mr. Bannon was too much of a liability. By Friday, when he was forced from his job as Mr. Trump's chief strategist, Mr. Bannon had found himself wholly isolated inside a White House where he once operated with such autonomy that he reported only to the president himself."
Max Greenwood: "Breitbart News, the media outlet helmed by President Trump's former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, published an article on Sunday casting national security adviser H.R. McMaster as soft on Islamist extremism and terrorism." ...
Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair: Steve Bannon, back at the helm of Breitbart & planning to challenge Fox "News" for a slice of cable, is about to go ballistic on Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Gary Cohn & administration hawks.
Julia Manchester of the Hill: "President Trump blasted the news media ahead of his return to Washington on Sunday after a 17-day working vacation. 'Heading back to Washington after working hard and watching some of the worst and most dishonest Fake News reporting I have ever seen!' the president said."
Dara Lind of Vox: "... the ACLU is going to have to make some very quick decisions about when and how it will defend the far right in 2017.... In the days before the Unite the Right rally, it became clear that Charlottesville would be a gathering point for both right-wing rallygoers and left-wing counterprotesters. The city of Charlottesville attempted to defuse the situation by moving the Unite the Right rally away from its original location ... to a location farther away from the center of the city. The city argued it was trying to prevent confrontation. But to free-speech activists -- including the ACLU of Virginia -- it was a pretty standard attempt to use a rally permit to marginalize unpopular speech. So the organizers of the rally sued, with the ACLU's support, and won the right to keep the rally downtown.... [After the melee,] ACLU of Virginia board member Waldo Jaquith resigned, alleging on Twitter that the organization ignored signs that rally organizers were encouraging violence -- and that 'what is legal is not always right.'... On Thursday, the national organization appeared to [change its position] -- and draw a new line that would have prevented them from defending Unite the Right. ACLU director Anthony Romero told the Wall Street Journal: 'If a protest group insists, "No, we want to be able to carry loaded firearms," well, we don't have to represent them. They can find someone else.'... In practice, freedom of speech isn't exactly absolute: 'Government may not censor speech because of its viewpoint,' says former ACLU director Nadine Strossen, 'but it may censor speech because of its effects.'" ...
... Julia Manchester: "The Vice News reporter who followed white supremacist marching in Charlottesville said they were chanting about Jews, not the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. 'Once they started marching, they didn't talk about Robert E. Lee being a brilliant military tactician. They chanted about Jews. Like, they wanted to be menacing. It's not an accident,' Elle Reeve told CBS News' John Dickerson on CBS's 'Face the Nation.'" ...
... Alex Pareene in Splinter News: "Charlottesville Was a Preview of the Future of the Republican Party.... I'm not merely being glib: Racial resentment has been a driving force behind College Republican recruitment for years, but at this point it's really all they have left to offer.... Everything that has happened in American life since the election of George W. Bush, the last point at which the generation currently entering its 30s was 'up for grabs,' has only served to drive young people away from the Republican Party.... Meanwhile..., the alt-right absolutely comprises the only effective and successful youth outreach strategy the GOP currently employs.... The pool of people the Republican Party will be drawing from when selecting candidates a generation from now will contain these men and hardly anyone else.... This will be the legacy of Trumpism: It won't be long before voters who reflexively check the box labeled 'Republican' because their parents did, or because they think their property taxes are too high, or because Fox made them scared of terrorism, start electing Pepe racists to Congress."
Matea Gold & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee paid the Trump International Hotel in Washington $122,000 last month after the party held a lavish fundraiser at the venue in June, the latest example of how GOP political committees are generating a steady income stream for President Trump's private business, new Federal Election Commission records show. At least 25 congressional campaigns, state parties and the Republican Governors Association have together spent more than $473,000 at Trump hotels or golf resorts this year, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance filings. Trump's companies collected an additional $793,000 from the RNC and the president's campaign committee.... The nearly $1.3 million spent by Republican political committees at Trump entities in 2017 has helped boost his company at a time when business is falling off at some core properties.... The RNC is among 19 federal political committees that have patronized the [Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.,] this year.... Trump's other signature properties also have drawn GOP fundraising events." ...
... Shannon Donnelly of the Palm Beach Post: "And then there were two. Or maybe four, depending on what happens when a couple of boards meet this week. Today, the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society and MorseLife both announced a change of venue for their annual Palm Beach fundraisers, from the Mar-a-Lago Club to -- well, not the Mar-a-Lago Club. That brings to 19 the number of charities that have decided to leave Mar-a-Lago in recent months, many in the past week. The defections leave only the Palm Beach Police Foundation's Policeman's Ball and the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Vets 'Spirit of America' holiday gala as remaining at the presidential retreat."
Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Labor leaders, once courted by President Trump, are stepping up their campaign to turn workers against the White House if it does not deliver more on jobs and trade -- and if it does not stop undoing Obama-era regulations. The most visible effort, which starts in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon, is a two-week tour organized by the coalition Good Jobs Nation that ropes in labor-friendly politicians. The coalition, launched in 2013 to pressure Barack Obama's White House on trade and wage issues, is organizing rallies throughout the Midwest through Labor Day. 'Trump ran as a working-class hero, so let's look at the results,' said Joseph Geevarghese, Good Jobs Nation's executive director. 'We're seven months into his administration, and wages are flat. People are still getting pink slips.'... The Trump administration has undone or walked away from a number of regulations that labor lobbied for, and won, under Obama...."
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Reader Comments (15)
Oh, happy day! The spice is back in the sauce! So before I read the news of the day, I just want to say–––Welcome back Mrs. McC. and top of the morning to Medlar. Let the fun begin.
...and speaking of fun...
King Trumpy's back! Wait...is the vacation over yet? Isn't he always on holiday? Oh well, let's not get bogged down in negativity with those nattering nabobs. (Wonder what Safire would think of the new king of his party? He was perfectly fine with another damaged whacko, the Tricky One, so perhaps he wouldn't mind so much. I'm guessing the one thing that might put him off is Trump's puerile approach to language.)
Anyway, back to work, and what is Donald's first Big Decision?
More WAR!! Yay! Because what's better for what ails you than killing people and blowing shit up? Ego auguring in? Drop a few bunker busters! That'll restore the old self-confidence. And a plus? They're almost all brown Muslims. So even if you happen to blow up some innocent civilians, what the hey, you just rid the world of a few more filthy Mooslims.
There, that's better, in'it?
He's sure to want his very own war, right soon.
Yesterday at a family get together we listened to a guest, an old family friend, regale us about Marjorie Merriweather Post, the original owner of Mar-a-lago. Marjorie was a friend of this man's mother and he remembers his visits with his parents as a young boy to Palm Beach and Mar-a-lago. Marjorie became very involved in politics and was a great supporter of FDR and was one of the most generous providers for the poor during the depression and later in the second world war. He ended his long history by saying Marjorie would have been horrified to learn that she sold Mar-a-lago to a man she had no idea would besmirch everything she stood for. And by the way, that man bought that structure for a measly $8 million during a down time in real estate holdings.
Marjorie might, however, take comfort that this man in question is beginning to get his just desserts, not quite yet that delicious chocolate cake his Chinese guest enjoyed, but a lovely lemon sponge is on the menu and it's tartness lingers on the tongue.
Channeling Cletus McRedneck:
"Ain't no pointy headed librul gummit scientist gonna tell me what to do. Them damfools don't even know fake global warming is a commie plot to grab our guns and our freedom. I'm gonna look at that eclipse thing wid a piece of smoked glass jes lak my granpappy tole me."
How many visually impaired Trumpanistas will be seeking medical care tomorrow?
PD-- possibly the much-desired special sauce would go well on that tart lemon sponge... (that reminds me of an old recipe of my mom's-- lemon cake-top pudding-- yum-- must look for that--)
Welcome back to the RC abode-- we look forward to the McCrabbies duo!
Astronomically shortened Bad Limerick Time
Fake news got you doing back flips?
Concerned 'bout a Trumpocalypse?
Then early this aft',
Give depression the shaft.
Go outside and watch the eclipse!
Trumpbots complaining en masse
Evidence d'eclipse they'll amass
What puts out the sun,
They say, second to none
Not the moon, but Donald's fat ass.
Ba dum bum. Or should it be Da dumb bum?
Marie will have to scurry to get to Ft Myer Va in time to hear
the president's* war speech if she's in Santee SC. It's about a
6 1/2 hour drive. However, the highways around Ft Myer Va
will no doubt be closed to other than trumpbots, rednecks, nazis
and the like.
Sorry. I meant Mr and Mrs McCrabbie, not Marie.
Eclipse in Grand Island Nebraska
Absolutely perfect. Solid 10.0 on the Weird-Shit-O-Meter. 4 planets, 360 sunset, big temperature drop… Forth and best I've ever seen.
Have to second D.C.'s observation about the eclipse. As totality hit, suddenly, Venus pops out, I could make out Mercury as well. A very eerie sensation that lasted for a full two minutes. You could ditch the glasses and see the corona (which was not visible through the glasses), a spectacular sight. Easily among the top ten coolest things I've seen in my life.
I did see Prez Dumbo dancing around at the White House wondering why that dragon was eating his sun. Must have been a hoax started by the Chinese. That was among the top ten stupidest things I've ever seen, so two top tens in a ten minute span.
Re Secret Service out of money to pay for Le Donald's protection:
So? What's new? Donaldo has a long history of stiffing employees, contractors, investors. These are just a bunch of Civil Servants. And we all know those are just a bunch of lazy bums feeding at the public trough.
And remember when Donnie said Hilary should let her security go unarmed? To make some idiotic point about gun rights? Well....
So let me see how this works.
Fatso Trumpy takes so many golf vacations (remember how he used to rip Obama for the occasional golf outing? He was talking about once every month or so. King Trumpy golfs almost every week) that it's costing the Secret Service a mint just to protect his fat ass. So far they've spent $60,000 on golf cart rentals alone!! GOLF CARTS. To follow chubby around his own golf courses. "Now wait a minute" you're saying to yourself. "If Trump is at his own golf courses, how is that the Secret Service has to pay for golf carts? Can't Fat Boy donate their use gratis to the men and women ready to lay down their lives to save his worthless hide?
Not on your fucking life. He made the Secret Service fork over $130,000 a month for what amounted to a one bedroom at Trump Castle.
Trumpy is in business to bilk the American taxpayer dry. He's not in the business of offering "handouts" to those whose job it is to keep him safe. Fuck that. They can fork it over and pay through the nose just like everyone else who has ever found themselves in the unenviable position of doing business with King Trumpy and his rapacious relations.
If American taxpayers have to pay out a few tens of millions more than it took to protect the hated First Black Family, so what? He's white, ain't he? Don't he deserve Xtra Dee-lookes treatment? He's the Donald, ain't he?
Besides, he's not in this for the glory. He's in it to make money and screw his enemies, of which there are many. And by many, I mean stars in the heavens many.
So Congress had better find a way to pony up. Little Dracula has a gallivant to several countries planned next month with 100 of his closest friends to hawk Trumpy wares, and they'll all need Secret Service protection, chop-chop.
I mean, what if some liberal came up to him and asked him a question? Horrors! He needs the SS there to stomp on those evil people.
The idea!
@AK: I was just saying to my mister the exact same thing about Trump's criticism (along with Hannity who hammered Obama constantly) regarding his golfing, his vacations, his secret service, his...fill in the blanks. Such a schmuck!
And––your limerick–-amass, en masse, fat ass–-loved it!!
Oh, Mrs. McCrabbie:
Remember me? You were the substitute teacher who came into my english class after we drove the poor woman to distraction in 9th grade english, and she quit. You scared me half (okay 3/4) to death with your little checks in pencil down the left side of my essays.
You had grey hair fixed in a bun with a pencil, tie up black teacher shoes, and a dark blue dress with doilies for a collar. And you never smiled.
You assigned me to study hall, and I had to read Conrad or you would call my mother. You knew I would rather die than have anybody know I was in trouble at school.
So I read Conrad and all the other things you assigned. I discovered poetry and my life changed, although I was an adult before I realized this. So thank you from today to yesterday.
Love from,
Victoria
http://www.theonion.com/article/theres-nothing-it-secret-service-agent-assures-mar-56716