The Commentariat -- December 22, 2019
In the FBI, this is what we called "a clue." -- Asha Rangappa, former FBI special agent, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ ** Edward Wong of the New York Times: "About 90 minutes after President Trump held a controversial telephone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in July, the White House budget office ordered the Pentagon to suspend all military aid that Congress had allocated to Ukraine, according to emails released by the Pentagon late Friday. A budget official, Michael Duffey, also told the Pentagon to keep quiet about the aid freeze because of the 'sensitive nature of the request,' according to a message dated July 25. An earlier email that Mr. Duffey sent to the Pentagon comptroller suggested that Mr. Trump began asking aides about $250 million in military aid set aside for Ukraine after noticing a June 19 article about it in the Washington Examiner. The emails add to public understanding of the events that prompted the Democratic-led House to call for Mr. Trump to be removed from office.... The emails were in a batch of 146 pages of documents released by the Pentagon late Friday to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization and watchdog group, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.... Senator Chuck Schumer ... has pressed for Mr. Duffey, a political appointee..., to testify in a Senate trial. On Twitter on Saturday, he pointed to the July 25 email as 'all the more reason' Mr. Duffey and others must appear." A CNN story is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's the Center for Public Integrity's liveblog on the docs, by Zachary Fryer-Biggs. It includes images of all of the sometimes-heavily-redacted e-mails. ~~~
~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate: "'Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,' [Michael] Duffey wrote at 11:04 a.m., [an hour-and-a-half after the Trump-Zelensky call ended]....The question, of course, becomes who exactly gave Duffey the 'guidance' that he wrote about in the email.... 'Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction,' [Duffey] wrote [in the same July 25 email].... The Center for Public Integrity points out that the heavily redacted emails show many government officials were worried that the White House was 'asking the officials involved to take an action that was not merely unwise but flatly illegal.' The law in question is known as the Impoundment Control Act and 'says that once Congress appropriates funds -- like the Ukraine assistance -- and the president signs the relevant spending bill, the executive branch must spend those funds,' explains CPI. For the funds to be withheld, Congress must be informed and must approve, which obviously did not happen in this case." ~~~
~~~ Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "The disclosure of Duff[e]y's July 25 emails, since they show he has significant information, seem to make [Mitch] McConnell's [refusal to allow Duffey to be called as a fact witness in the Senate trial] more difficult." ~~~
~~~ digby: "These documents make it even clearer that [Trump] saw Ukraine as a pawn in his and Rudy's scheme. When he saw the article about the military aid in the Examiner he realized he had more leverage than just a White House meeting and he immediately used it."
Trump Boasts of Putin Affirmation. Colby Itkowitz & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Late Friday night, minutes before deplaning in Florida for the holidays, President Trump retweeted a link to an article in which Russian President Vladimir Putin defended him against impeachment. 'A total Witch Hunt!' the president tweeted at 10:30 p.m., as he shared a 36-hour-old Associated Press tweet that read: 'BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin says U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment is far-fetched and predicts the U.S. Senate will reject it.'"
Dan Alexander of Forbes: "The Trump campaign is spending big money at the president's properties, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Yet the records show that Donald Trump still has not donated any of his own funds to the campaign. That means America's billionaire-in-chief has shifted $1.7 million from campaign donors into his private business." --s
Not the Onion. Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Donald Trump is considering a Florida trailer court as the location of his presidential library, according to The Palm Beach Post. 'Vanilla Ice ran it by Donald Jr.,' [James Arena, a real estate broker and resident of Briny Breezes] said.... '[Vanilla Ice] called me back and said, "Man, I think they're really into it."'... Arena suggested the president could change the town's name to 'Trump Town.'" --safari: Nothing says 'Trump brand' like a Florida trailer park community. Report here.
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "It seems like it was eons ago, but it was actually a fairly recent occurrence: Americans used to be obsessed with 'civility.'... It wasn't just that we all talked about civility all the time; there actually arose a massive Civility Industrial Complex ... dedicated to the restoration of 'civility' in public discourse.... Something fundamental shifted in the discussion after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.... Suddenly 'civility' ... became a defense for why Trump officials, who had crafted an entire government of cruelty, deserved polite service in restaurants nonetheless....Civility had come to mean being nice to terrible people in public because it hurts their feelings when we do not.... As Adam Serwer summarized it in this month's Atlantic: 'There are two definitions of civility. The first is not being an asshole. The second is "I can do what I want and you can shut up." The latter definition currently dominates American political discourse.'... Joe Biden caused a stir in June when he thought back fondly to a more civil era in politics.... The problem of course is that 'getting things done' by meeting unabashed racists halfway no longer feels like a win-win, so much as capitulation." --s
Stuart Thompson & Charlie Warzel of the New York Times in a long opinion piece: "Every minute of every day, everywhere on the planet, dozens of companies -- largely unregulated, little scrutinized -- are logging the movements of tens of millions of people with mobile phones and storing the information in gigantic data files.... In the cities that the data file covers, it tracks people from nearly every neighborhood and block.... If you lived in one of the cities the dataset covers and use apps that share your location -- anything from weather apps to local news apps to coupon savers -- you could be in there, too.... [The data] originated from a location data company, one of dozens quietly collecting precise movements using software slipped onto mobile phone apps.... Today, it's perfectly legal to collect and sell all this information. In the United States, as in most of the world, no federal law limits what has become a vast and lucrative trade in human tracking.... The companies that collect all this information on your movements justify their business on the basis of three claims: People consent to be tracked, the data is [are!] anonymous and the data is [are!] secure. None of those claims hold[d] up, based on the file we've obtained and our review of company practices." ~~~
~~~ Henry Ford Is Watching You. Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: "Behind the wheel, it's nothing but you, the open road -- and your car quietly recording your every move. On a recent drive, a 2017 Chevrolet collected my precise location. It stored my phone's ID and the people I called. It judged my acceleration and braking style, beaming back reports to its maker General Motors over an always-on Internet connection.... The data it produces doesn't [don't!] belong to you.... There are no federal laws regulating what carmakers can collect or do with our driving data." Thanks to MAG for the link. Mrs. McC: I have a newish car. I guess this foils my Christmas-week plans for a few drive-by bank heists.
Annals of "Journalism." Ctd. Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "[T]he Poynter Institute nam[ed] NBC's Chuck Todd the 'media personality of the year' while calling his Meet the Press the 'gold standard[.]'" --s
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Congrats, Chuck. You edge out Hannity & Judge Jeanine.
Quack, Quack. Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times: "May 15, Dr. [Keith] Ablow's license [to practice psychotherapy] was suspended in Massachusetts after an investigation determined that his continued practice was a threat to the 'health, safety and welfare' of the public. He is appealing the ruling.... [In 2009,] Roger Ailes had hired him as a regular contributor on Fox News, where he would remain until 2017, speculating about the mental states of political figures and presiding over viewer segments like 'Normal or Nuts?'... This spring..., based on ... the testimonies of [five] female patients, as well as several former employees of Dr. Ablow's, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine ruled that Dr. Ablow practiced 'in violation of law, regulations, and/or good and accepted medical practice.' As a result of that suspension, he consented to cease practice in New York, where a renewed investigation by the conduct office is underway."
Beyond the Beltway
Iowa. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "An Iowa woman was charged with attempted murder after running over a 14-year-old girl because she thought the teenager was Mexican, the police said. The woman, Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, of Des Moines, told the police that she intentionally struck the girl with her vehicle on Dec. 9 because she believed that she was 'a Mexican,' Chief Michael G. Venema of the Clive Police Department said in a news release Friday. 'She went on to make a number of derogatory statements about Latinos to the investigators,' Chief Venema said. The episode took place in Clive, a city of about 17,000 residents about 10 miles west of Des Moines. The authorities said the girl was walking on the sidewalk on her way to Indian Hills Junior High School when 'a vehicle left the roadway and ran the girl over,' the news release said." Mrs. McC: A photo, which I'm guessing is a mugshot, accompanies the story. Franklin is smiling. She looks sort of unremarkable, not your stereotypical image of a deranged killer. But the fact that she was making "derogatory statements about Latinos" ten days after she tried to murder a child shows that the attack wasn't some momentary flash of insanity.
Wisconsin. AP: "One of ... Donald Trump's top re-election advisers [Justin Clark] told influential Republicans in swing state Wisconsin that the party has 'traditionally' relied on voter suppression to compete in battleground states but will be able to 'start playing offense' in 2020 due to relaxed Election Day rules, according to an audio recording of a private event obtained by The Associated Press.... Asked about the remarks by AP, Clark said he was referring to false accusations that the GOP engages in voter suppression.... Clark made the comments Nov. 21 in a meeting of the Republican National Lawyers Association's Wisconsin chapter. Attendees included the state Senate's top Republican, Scott Fitzgerald, along with the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.... Republican officials publicly signaled plans to step up their Election Day monitoring after a judge in 2018 lifted a consent degree in place since 1982 that barred the Republican National Committee from voter verification and other 'ballot security' efforts. Critics have argued the tactics amount to voter intimidation." --s
Way Beyond
Australia. Josh Taylor of the Guardian: "The devastation from Australia's bushfire crisis became clearer on Sunday, as the South Australian premier said 72 homes had been destroyed and his New South Wales counterpart revealed there was 'not much left' of the town of Balmoral, south-west of Sydney. It is feared the figures for homes lost may get much worse as authorities continue to assess the damage from Saturday, and with dozens of fires still active.... The prime minister, Scott Morrison, returned to Australia from his holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night.... At a press conference on Sunday morning, Morrison apologised to people who were upset for him going on holiday during the bushfire crisis.... The prime minister acknowledging that climate change was having an impact on weather events, but indicated there would be no change to government policy[.]" --s
North Korea. Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "North Korea has expanded a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear missiles, according to a new analysis of satellite photos provided to NBC News that bolsters a growing expectation the country soon will resume testing a capability that threatens the United States."
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Reader Comments (19)
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The Washington Post has another 'spy' tracking us tale (see NYT article by Stuart Thompson & Charlie Warzel that Bea mentions above) with:"What does your car know about you?"
"...automakers collect data through hundreds of sensors and an always-on Internet connection. Driving surveillance is becoming hard to avoid."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/12/17/what-does-your-car-know-about-you-we-hacked-chevy-find-out/
Yes. trump should put his “library” in Florida. As close to the beach as possible. Since climate change is a hoax and all.
Moscow Vlad predicts that Moscow Mitch will save Moscow Donnie from impeachment.
This is news?
And who benefits most from this treason?
Tell me again to which country McConnell and Trump swore and oath of allegiance? Hold on, does it begin with R and end with A? And no, it’s not Rwanda. But it sure ain’t the United States.
Hattie,
Ferlinghetti has it write. And as surprised as as I was to see that he wrote that poem during the Bush Debacle, having been born a few months after the end of WWI, I was even more surprised to find that this seminal figure of the Beat Era is still alive, 100 years old.
A century after the murderous events of WWI, the event that pushed the US into a position of international prominence, we find ourselves being dragged back into the shadows of international clownishness, led by a greedy, narcissistic moron who thinks he can buy other countries and order other nations to move their capitol cities at his direction. He also believes that other nations exist to serve him, to attack his enemies.
Pity the nation indeed with an ignorant traitor as it’s leader.
" An earlier email that Mr. Duffey sent to the Pentagon comptroller suggested that Mr. Trump began asking aides about $250 million in military aid set aside for Ukraine after noticing a June 19 article about it in the Washington Examiner."
S0––does this mean Fatty is informed by W.E. and not by the usual means of information? The president of the U.S. , I guess, ignores briefings or doesn't get complete ones; gets his ideas and info from Fox and papers like the W.E. Holy Impotus, Batman, we sure gots trouble in Swampy Bottom.
The story about Dr. Ablow is––what's the word? Crazy nuts! Yes, indeed, the world of therapy is laded with charlatans and the good doctor here appears to be one of them although I must say Monique seemed to have boundary problems of her own in this case.
And then we get the story of a woman running her car over another because she's a different color and a different nationality. Now that's what I call a good Sunday romp––and I betcha the woman in the car goes to church today and praises Jesus and sings extra loud.
Used to try to figure out those Sunday sermons I heard, sitting there on the hard pew in that little Catholic church. Often I could. They were straightforward enough. Be good. Faith, hope and charity and all that. But once in while the priest's thinking was too muddled or paradoxical or mystical for me and I could not. At those moments this whole belief thing seemed short of sense. Over time that feeling spread.
Now more Sunday confusion:
Faith and Freedom Coalition Chair Ralph Reed thinks "Christianity Today" might better be called "Christianity Yesterday." (Admit to scanning a Fox headline but prefer not to link it)
Got me all excited. Thought he was referring to the yesterdays when Christians pretended to follow Christ's teachings (at least six days a week).
Alas. Not what he meant. Said the magazine was out of step with today's Christians, the ones who have tied themselves tightly to the Pretender because he's giving them so many goodies...
Looks like the Pretender is not the only one making devilish deals.
Does that make today's evangelicals satanists?
Mrs. Bea McC.,,
Big apologies for posting without regard for (knowledge of) copywriting. I’ve much yet to learn.
Akhilleus,
I, too, was floored to dowciver that Ferlinghetti is 100. As well, to glance the date of this poem. Indeed, he did / does have it ‘write’.
Akhilleus Re: “dowciver” -
(Lithuanian for “covefe”?)
Shoulda been “discover”.
What happens w/out reading glasses while squinting into cellphone.
@Hattie: Poems written before end of 1923 can be printed without permission fees. Maybe they have upped this date but I don't think so.
Thank you, PD Pepe!
I’ve now bookmarked several bits to read later.
And, from just skimming, realize I also owe apologies to Mr. Ferlinghetti.
@Bea McCrab: Noticed you called attention to "The Report", which I just finished viewing Thursday. Highly recommend it.
Made me think, might there be a producer/director (Steve Soderbergh) already developing an outline in the works for the future release of "The Impeachment"?
Think the Pretender's very public eagerness to thank Putin for supporting him in his impeachment troubles is prompting any cognitive dissonance in even one or two Trumpbots?
I'd like to think it is, but I'm not optimistic.
Even on a Sunday morning, I can't summon the necessary faith.
Ken,
No.
Hattie,
I used to have half a dozen pairs of reading glasses at work. People finding them left in front of a computer screen or on the odd desk would call me to say they’d found another pair. My wife suggested that I get an expensive pair, the idea being that I’d keep better track of them. My sense is that I’d just lose an expensive pair of reading glasses. Instead, I dowciver them in strange places in the midst of yet another squinting session, so I get it. And I’m sure, at this late date, Ferlinghetti does as well.
@Akhilleus: Here is a photo of Ferlinghetti. He is wearing specs. He uses "a desktop electronic magnifier that helps offset his poor eyesight."
Akhilleus,
Laughter-enjoying your post (both re: the specs-searching and your “Lithuanian” facility. => Too bad pour moi (iPhone refuses to italicize): My paternal ancestors came from Vilnius but, as with my maternal/s from elsewhere along with my Dad, there was a strict adherence to learn “English”. So grateful we’re they to become American citizens. Thus, I missed out on becoming more linqual-y.
Mrs Bea McC.,
Thanks! There were additional photos of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (much to my delight) following this one sporting his (nice!) tortoise-shell-ish ones.
Still such a handsome, vital man. Exactly my kinda (older) guy. (Sadly, not all elder “halves” remain as long as Ferlinghetti. Yet overjoyed that Mr. F’s still cookin’.). Had to smile when seeing him at his computer with its giant font, and when looking so child-like delighted with that Statue of Liberty [?] crown.) Wonderful photos!
Re: above “Mama Cax, an Amputee Model and Disability Activist, Dies at 30” | New York Times
Tragic. And thirty’s way too soon. This piece links to when Ms. Cax was invited by the (Obama) WH to model there. A few photos of her are included. (Shall I wonder if Despot-us also appointed a Disabilities Liaison? Uh. Nevuh Mind.)
The life of this very young, very beautiful (inside and out) woman was ripped from her.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/fashion/Mama-cax-dead.html