The Commentariat -- December 24, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Eric Lipton & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Realizing that his presidency could face potentially crippling questions over conflicts of interest, Donald J. Trump and his family are rushing to resolve potential controversies -- like shuttering foundations and terminating development deals -- even as [Trump] ... publicly maintains that no legal conflicts exist. In recent days, [Trump] and his aides have said that he intends to distribute the assets of his personal charity and then close it down, has examined a plan to hire an outside monitor to oversee the Trump Organization and has terminated some international business projects.... And because Mr. Trump refuses to release his tax returns, the extent of his potential conflicts remains unknown." -- CW
Dancing Girls! Kristine Guerra of the Washington Post: "The Radio City Rockettes will be performing at ... Donald Trump's inauguration, but its members will not be forced to do so, Madison Square Garden Co., which employs the dancers, said in a statement after concerns and calls for a boycott surfaced on social media. The company said on Thursday that the dance group will participate in inauguration festivities next month. The announcement prompted some, including one of the dancers, to voice their concerns on social media. Phoebe Pearl said in a now-deleted Instagram post that she's 'embarrassed and disappointed' by the gig, according to media reports." -- CW
Colin Woodard in Politico Magazine: Burlington, Vermont, is the nation's first all-renewable-energy city. CW: You may remember a certain former mayor of Burlington.
*****
Somini Sengupta & Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Defying extraordinary pressure from ... Donald J. Trump and furious lobbying by Israel, the Obama administration on Friday allowed the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution that condemned Israeli settlement construction. The administration's decision not to veto the measure broke a longstanding American policy of serving as Israel's sturdiest diplomatic shield at the United Nations.... Applause broke out in the 15-member Security Council's chambers following the vote on the measure, which passed 14-0, with the United States abstaining." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama's decision on Friday not to block a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements laid bare all the grievances [he & Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu] have nursed since shortly after they took office in 2009. For Mr. Netanyahu, it was the final betrayal by a president who was supposed to be an ally but never really was. For Mr. Obama, it was the inevitable result of Mr. Netanyahu's own stubborn defiance of international concerns with his policies." -- CW ...
... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "... with Mr. Trump staking out starkly different positions from Mr. Obama on Israel and other sensitive issues, and the president acting aggressively to protect his legacy, the two have become leaders of what amounts to dueling administrations.... The split widened on Friday when the Obama administration abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote that condemned Israel for Jewish settlements in the West Bank.... A day earlier, Mr. Trump had publicly demanded that Mr. Obama veto the measure, even intervening with Egypt at the request of Israel to pressure the administration to shelve the effort. 'As to the U.N.,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter after the vote, 'things will be different after Jan. 20.' It was the latest in a rapid-fire series of Twitter posts and public statements over the last week in which Mr. Trump has weighed in on Israel, terrorism and nuclear proliferation -- contradicting Mr. Obama and flouting the notion that the country can have only one president at a time." -- CW ...
... See also comments in today's thread. ...
... Uri Friedman of the Atlantic: "America has two presidents.... Donald Trump has involved himself in international affairs like no U.S. president-elect in recent memory.... [Trump's contradicting the Obama administration & general interference] have created such confusion in recent weeks that Jared Huffman, a Democratic congressman from California, has introduced legislation to amend the 1799 Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized private citizens from conducting U.S. foreign policy. Huffman wants to clarify that the law applies to presidents-elect...." -- CW
Major Kong Learning to Love the Bomb. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Friday welcomed a new nuclear weapons arms race, vowing in an off-camera interview with a television host that America would 'outmatch' any adversary. The comment came one day after he said in a post on Twitter that the United States should 'strengthen and expand' its own nuclear capabilities.... [Trump] escalated his comments about nuclear weapons with the show of bravado during a brief, off-air telephone conversation from his estate in Florida, according to Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Trump Staff to Media: He Doesn't Mean What He Says. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Trump's staff repeatedly pushes back against his threats to re-start a nuclear arms race. CW: The spokespeople are pretty much saying the boss in bananas. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Max Fisher of the New York Times: "If ... Donald J. Trump meant what he said, then the world may one day look back to recall that the first superpower nuclear arms race since the Cold War was announced by two pajama-clad talk show hosts. 'Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,' Mika Brzezinski, of MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program, said on Friday. She and her co-host, curled up in holiday-themed nightwear in front of a fake fireplace, said the quote was a statement from Mr. Trump, elaborating on a Twitter message on nuclear weapons. Mr. Trump has a history of bluster and his declarations may turn out to be bluffs. But should he follow through on instigating a nuclear arms race, the consequences could be severe." -- CW ...
... CW: I think as Congressional Republicans sit around their own fake fireplaces this holiday season & contemplate Trump's threat to nuclear disarmament, it will begin to dawn on them that they have to dump Drumpf sooner rather than later. That of course means President Mike Pence, which is yet another horrifying thought. ...
... Paul Waldman: "When liberals joked during the campaign that if Donald Trump became president we might all be consumed in a nuclear apocalypse, many people considered it absurd hyperbole. They may have felt the same way about Democrats' regular criticism that someone as impulsive and vindictive as Trump shouldn't be allowed near the nuclear codes.... Trump ... seems to believe that a situation like the one we have with Russia now -- long-term nuclear stability created by mutual deterrence -- is unacceptable, probably because we're not 'winning.'... He also has a deep-seated need to display dominance.... That kind of mentality is obviously dangerous when combined with the power to initiate a nuclear cataclysm.... One thing he can do quickly and on his own is make sure that we're all living in a world of fear, where our thoughts are regularly taken over not just by the specter of terrorism, but now by nuclear holocaust as well.... And that's probably just how he wants it." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
Not as Crazy as Drumpf. Neil MacFarquhar & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Friday that a statement by Donald J. Trump, the American president-elect, that the United States should expand its nuclear capabilities was not a surprise because he had said the same thing during the election campaign. Asked about the American election, Mr. Putin, who has made no secret of his distaste for Hillary Clinton, said her defeat was a 'humiliation' for the Democratic Party. The Russian president, speaking at his annual marathon news conference, also said that Russia would continue to modernize its armed forces, including nuclear weapons, but he added that the level of spending would diminish somewhat in coming years." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update. Brook Seipel of the Hill: "Trump tweeted his praise for Russian president Vladimir Putin's criticism of Hillary Clinton Friday night, agreeing with a statement he [Putin] made earlier in the day that it was 'humiliating' Democrats did not 'lose with dignity.'... It was not the first time Friday that Trump praised Putin. Earlier in the day ... [Trump] shared a Christmas letter the Russian president sent him. 'A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct,' Trump said in a statement. 'I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path.'" -- CW ...
... In Like Flynn -- With the KGB. Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's nominee for national security adviser partnered in recent months with a technology company co-led by a businessman who pleaded guilty to trying to sell stolen scientific material in the 1980s to the KGB, the former Soviet intelligence service. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn joined the advisory board of Brainwave Science in February, company documents show. The Massachusetts firm develops controversial 'brain fingerprinting' technology designed to assess whether people under interrogation are being truthful by measuring their brain waves. The firm offers training in how to use the technology, in partnership with Flynn's consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, according to Brainwave's website." -- CW
Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "The Hateful Racism of Team Trump. Carl Paladino, a former Republican nominee for governor of New York and an adviser to [Donald] Trump, included the death of President Obama and 'return' of first lady Michelle Obama to Africa on his list of things he wanted for 2017. Paladino was responding to a survey by an alternative weekly magazine, Artvoice. Asked what he would like to happen in 2017, he said he hopes that 'Obama catches mad cow disease' and dies after having relations with a Hereford, a type of cow. Asked what he would most like to see go, Paladino responded that Michelle Obama would 'return to being male' and be 'let loose' in Zimbabwe.... In a statement to The Post, Paladino denied that the comments were racist." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update: Okay, the "Trump team" is not as racist as the New York co-chair of Trump's campaign. Brian Flood of the Wrap: "... Donald Trump's transition team has denounced comments made by campaign surrogate Carl Paladino, who recently wished death on President Obama and made crude comments about the First Lady. 'Carl's comments are absolutely reprehensible, and they serve no place in our public discourse,' the transition team said in a statement." -- CW ...
... What We've Come to. Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "In the wake of the presidential election, dozens of the best teachers in the nation have banded together to say with a unified voice that public schools are valuable and that they must be safe places for students of every background, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation and gender identity.... The 44 teachers are all state teacher of the year award recipients. They said they were moved to speak out after a rash of troubling bullying incidents -- at their own schools, in some cases, and in news reports nationwide -- following Donald Trump's presidential election victory on Nov. 8." CW: These brave teachers are on the front lines of the resistance to Trumpism. They deserve our thanks. ...
Michelle Goldberg of Slate on lessons learned from Planned Parenthood focus groups that concentrated on Trump voters. CW: Worth reading. Here's what I learned -- Trump voters aren't all racists & misogynists. A lot of them are just woefully ignorant. Part of the reason that's so is that Hillary Clinton ran a lousy campaign, seldom mentioning Trump's horrible policies. Even so, it's difficult to run an effective one if you're committed to something approaching "reality-based" campaigning & every word your opponent utters is a lie. That's a problem for Democrats in most races because Republicans lie incessantly. They have to; their policies suck.
News Lede
New York Times: "Marion Pritchard, a gentile whose shock at watching Nazi soldiers storm a home for Jewish children in Amsterdam and load them into a truck for deportation inspired her to enter a clandestine world of rescuing Jews, died on Dec. 11 at her home in Washington. She was 96. The cause was cerebral arteriosclerosis, her family said. 'By 1945, I had lied, stolen, cheated, deceived and even killed,' Ms. Pritchard said in a lecture in 1996 at the University of Michigan, where she received the Wallenberg Medal, a humanitarian award given by the university in memory of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II." -- CW
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Reader Comments (18)
I love it how in the ultra-insulated world of American MSM, the "betrayal" of Obama by refusing to shield Israel for ever more egregious international violations completely passes over the fact that the final vote tally was 14-0. Every single country voted to condemn Israel's illegal settlement policy. Every.single.one. Rarely is there as much universal consensus as there is on this one very important issue. Isreal has de facto isolated our own international standing as we put the Blessed by America stamp on each growing settlememt. Yet even Democratic politicians are howling to the moon that we've "failed" our ally. Grow a spine fur chrissakes.
Looking at it objectively, this was wholly symbolic but exceedingly necessary to send even a mild wake up call to the international community to lay on the pressure to find potential solutions. Once Drvmpvs steps in the White House, our credibility (that remains) as an honest broker is fatally damaged, handing the baton to the impotent EU and the Vladmister. Another step up for Russia on the world stage. Hurray. I'm sure they'll wield that power responsibly.
The status quo is unsustainable in the long run, regardless of how high you build your walls. If the Middle East ever becomes less chaotic again and the diplomatic community could focus on the major issues, Israel's in for more condemnations by everyone but the US.
Then again, if far right, anti-Semetic demagogues keep taking power across the West, this whole point is moot.
How far did we set the clock back in 2016?
Obama betrayed Israel by abstaining from the UNSC vote on Israeli settlements, despite giving more in aid than any previous president. Putin voted in favour of the resolution, but he's fat frump's BFF. The trumpoids only love it because it's sticking it to that uppity (guy) in the White House. It doesn't need to make sense.
A revised wish for everyone here for whatever you want to call this holiday. A special shout out for Santa Marie and her two helpers, safari and Akhilleus for keeping this site intact. We few––we lucky few are blessed to be in this space which is wide enough to encompass many different views. So hooray today for something good.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
troubles are ahead––
Yet hope & strength & fortitude
keep us in good stead
Through the years we all will be together
if the fates allow––
So hang on to that optimism
& have a Merry Little Christmas now.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/the-dark-rigidity-of-fundamentalist-rural-america-a-view-from-the-inside/
An excellent view of the reality.
"Michelle Goldberg of Slate on lessons learned from Planned Parenthood focus groups that concentrated on Trump voters. CW: Worth reading. Here's what I learned -- Trump voters aren't all racists & misogynists. A lot of them are just woefully ignorant. Part of the reason that's so is that Hillary Clinton ran a lousy campaign, seldom mentioning Trump's horrible policies."
I think that the effect of right wing media, of conservative talk radio, is not being taken into account in the election autopsy. I think, and feel, that the right wing media is what set the country up for making Trump as President a possibility. Hillary definitely did the tripping over her own feet thing, for sure, but I haven't seen anyone, anywhere talking about this, and I don't see a way of getting back to normal without figuring out how to address/combat the overwhelming, divisive propaganda that spews 24/7. It's the strongest force the 1% has for getting people to vote against their own economic self interest, in my opinion.
@Marvin: I haven't finished reading your article ( have to get going Xmas wise) but what I have read is intriguing and it's something Akhilleus has also talked about because he has had similar experiences living where he does. Thanks for this–-I'm giving the link to it here:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/the-dark-rigidity-of-fundamentalist-rural-america-a-view-from-the-inside/
Marie
Thank you for another year of RC, my first and sometimes only read of the day. Nowhere else can I find the timeliness and depth of content you provide, all ad-free and all from just you and, now, your new helpers. (I'm sorry, except for Akhilleus, I don't know the other helpers' IDs.)
Thank you for staying the course you set for this site and not letting gimmick technologies dictate your format or structure. I relish coming to RC and reading what you have intuited is important, with no blinking visual trauma anywhere on the page. Just clean typeface and solid, reliable content interspersed with your delightful, spot-on "CW:" comments.
Thank you also to your merry band of regular commenters. Your wisdom, insight and humor brighten my days. I enjoy your personal anecdotes and am amazed at how accomplished you all are. I look forward to reading all of you in the coming year -- that is, if Trump doesn't get us all killed by March.
Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Season Greetings to all. Thank you to all the regular contributors who have kept this site alive. Reality Chex is still one of the first places I go each morning. Invaluable information.
Thanks and season's greetings to all who contribute here, and especially the elf queen and minions who keep it together. Great reads and better links than any site I could cite.
To Dame Marie and crew, and all contributors;
Solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwaanza, and New Year. May whichever seasonal festivals you observe may they be Joyus, Solemn, Happy, inspiring and Merry.
On a darker note, Trumps Alpha nuclear dominance ploy remind me of a poem from the early 1960s.
O little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie
Beneath your deep amd lifeless sleep the strontium clouds roll by
And in the red sky shineth the mushrooms glaring light
The hopes and fears of all the years were blown to hell tonight/
I want to add my thanks and appreciation for this wonderful site. As others have mentioned, this is one of the first places I check each morning - first the news items and then the great comments. I always seem to learn something - and then I try to impress my 25-year-old grandson with my newfound knowledge. We are definitely in agreement, so there is hope for the future. From a silent but grateful fan.
The opinion (it ain't a fact, as in indisputable, so it's just the opinion, or lie, of some Trump schmuck) that the Trump Team (I picture a bunch of sneering brutes with tails, forked tongues, cloven hooves, and sharpened teeth) is not as collectively racist as Carl (C'mon! It's just a joke!) Paladino, doesn't matter a whit.
As my mother used to say, show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are. Trump picked Paladino BECAUSE he's a racist asshole. Oh, and you say, well, maybe he didn't know the extent of his racism (like he's only a little bit racist, like being a little bit pregnant). Because that would make it different.....how?
So let me put another way. Would Trump in a million years have chosen a black campaign manager? Would he have chosen a white campaign manager who supported Black Lives Matter? Or the NAACP, for that matter? Would he have picked a white campaign manager who thought, maybe, sorta, in certain remote instances, that Black Lives Matter had a point? OR would he have chosen a white guy who believes Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group, that all black people should be back in chains, that pictures of Michele Obama as a gorilla are hilarious and that that horrible nee-groe in the White House should drop dead, but only after first catching a disease after having sex with a farm animal?
Your honors, I rest my case.
As we are in this so-called season of Peace on Earth, I keep thinking that Trump is picturing pieces of earth. On fire. Or maybe not. It's entirely possible that he is so ignorant of the potential horror of a nuclear war ("How bad could it be?") that he's not in the least concerned about igniting a new arms race and, on the side, doing his best Don Rickles imitation trying to fire up his very own war (every white Republican president needs their own war, right?).
Or maybe he's just stupid and narcissistic enough to believe that his ignorance of such matters won't prevent him from being a great, the best, the most bigly, president, who will beat everyone with his great nuklar bomb things.
Ken, the other day, was considering how things might end.
I'm thinking it won't be with a whimper or a bang, but with a moron asking "Hey, what's this red button do?"
Thinking this AM (here on the Left Coast) of family and friends, among whom I must surely count fellow RC'ers.
Don't and won't Facebook for any number of reasons, so don't have the easy intimacy of a platform littered with pictures of pets and recipes, or the social burden of pretending I care to see them, so as Spock would say, my appreciation for you all is only logical.
You say cogently, well, and often amusingly what's on your mind. This in a nation that seems hellbent on losing its own.
Thanks to all (Marie especially, of course) for the pleasure and hope you add to my life, an extended family of thoughtful people without pets or recipes.
Happy Holidays to all!
P. S.: Has anyone heard from or of Barbarossa? I miss him.
Akhilleus, it's done. Trump is the greatest POTUS in history, even though it won't be history for another 4 years.
Happy Holidays to all! This blog helps me get through each day, so thanks to all who contribute articles and the best commentary!
May I just add my most heartfelt wishes to all here for Merrie Holidays (any and all of which you may wish to celebrate in your chosen way). I am deeply grateful to Marie and all of the rest of you out there in the ether who make my day, exchanges and every day, with your wit, wisdom, and just plain good words. We will need all that we can get in the dark days to come.
If Carl Palladino's face was an airline, it would be charging extra for those bags under his eyes. I'm sightly snockered so...