The Commentariat -- January 14, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Monday that he has rejected a proposal by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to temporarily reopen the government in an effort to jump-start talks with Democratic lawmakers on funding a border wall. 'I did reject it,' Mr. Trump said of the proposal, speaking to reporters as he boarded Marine One outside of the White House, en route to delivering a speech to a farm convention in New Orleans."
More International Policy by Tweet. Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "President Trump threatened Turkey on Sunday with harsh economic sanctions if it attacks Kurdish forces in Syria after American troops withdraw from the country in the coming months. 'Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds,' Mr. Trump said on Twitter, suggesting that there would be a 20-mile safe zone around the group after American forces leave. He added, 'Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey.' Mr. Trump's tweets marked the first public threat toward Turkey, a NATO ally, over the Kurds and seemed to offer a blanket of protection for the group, a band of American-backed militias that the Turkish government sees as terrorists." ...
... John Hudson & Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo crisscrossed the Middle East this week to explain the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria, he repeated that he was 'confident' and 'optimistic' that he was nearing a deal with Turkey on a mutually agreeable exit plan. But a pugnacious tweet from President Trump on Sunday night vowing to 'devastate' the Turkish economy if Ankara attacks U.S.-backed Kurds revealed a much wider chasm between the two sides and prompted a new round of recriminations from Turkey. Hours later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu blasted Trump's 'threatening language...,' adding: 'You will not get anywhere by threatening Turkey's economy.' The row marked the second time in a week that the White House has intervened in negotiations led by the State Department in a way that infuriated Turkey and caught U.S. diplomats flat-footed. In trying to explain Trump's tweets on Monday, Pompeo told reporters in Riyadh that he assumed Trump meant the United States would levy sanctions on Turkey if it attacked the Kurds but that he did not know for certain.... [Pompeo said] that he had not talked to Trump about the tweet."
Juan Cole: "National Security Adviser John Bolton lied his face off when he told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on his recent Mideast junket that he was sure Iran's leaders are dedicated to acquiring deliverable nuclear weapons. Nuclear security expert Joe Cirincione shredded Bolton over his false assertion, which is contradicted by UN inspectors and US intelligence. Bolton made sure to tell Netanyahu this so that Netanyahu could quote Bolton in his own fantasy-filled and inflammatory speeches urging an attack on Iran.... Ironically, when [Jim] Mattis first met Bolton, he joked that he had heard that he was 'the Devil.'... So then toward the end of his tenure Mattis found out that we weren't wrong about Bolton, and he had been foolish to be so insouciant.... I'm not sure exactly what the Democratic House can do to forestall Bolton's peculiar Iranomania from plunging us into another generation of war and instability and bankruptcy. But they should do what they can to get the madman out of office." --s
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post points out that Mike Pompeo also offered up only a non-denial denial when asked about the NYT report that the FBI had been investigating Trump as a possible national security threat. His non-answer, which he essentially repeated in response to a follow-up question about whether or not he knew about the FBI investigation: "I'm not going to comment on New York Times stories, but I'll certainly say this: The -- the notion that President Trump is a threat to American national security is absolutely ludicrous." Blake writes, "... given Pompeo's proximity to all this -- as both secretary of state and then-CIA director -- he's in a unique position to offer the most ironclad denial of basically anybody not named Trump or Mueller.... The fact that Pompeo wouldn't quite go there might be more significant even than Trump's non-denial-turned-actual-denial."
Katie Benner of the New York Times: "William P. Barr, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, promised on Monday that he would allow the special counsel to continue his investigation, seeking to allay Democrats' fears that he might shut down the inquiry. 'It is in the best interest of everyone -- the president, Congress, and, most importantly, the American people -- that this matter be resolved by allowing the special counsel to complete his work,' Mr. Barr said in written testimony that he plans to deliver on Tuesday at the start of his two-day confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.... But Mr. Barr also included a subtle caveat, limiting his assurances about the Mueller investigation to the issues under his control:... That qualification could be important because Mr. Barr has long advanced a philosophy of strong executive powers under which any administration decision is ultimately the president's to make. His views also include the notion that the president is the nation's top law-enforcement official, not the attorney general." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie Translation: "If President* Trump tells me to knee-cap my old pal Bob Mueller, I've got a sledge hammer at the ready."
*****
Nancy Pelosi Is Not Amused. Catherine Lucey of the AP: "Military salutes. Heaps of contraband. Oval Office optics.... Donald Trump, who has long put a premium on stagecraft, is discovering he cannot resolve the partial government shutdown simply by putting on a show.... The president's Oval Office address and visit to the Texas border this past week failed to break the logjam. Aides and allies are fearful that he has misjudged Democratic resolve and is running out of negotiating options.... Many associates fear his hand is weakening as his efforts to define the stakes must compete with the testimonials of hardship from federal workers and people in need of shuttered government services. That may leave a national emergency declaration as Trump's only escape path -- one more showy strategy that could backfire."
Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump chastised his new chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, over his handling of shutdown talks, creating an awkward scene in front of congressional leaders of both parties, according to two sources who were present.... The encounter came near the end of a meeting in the White House Situation Room on Jan. 4.... Trump had spent the meeting restating his demand for $5.7 billion for his wall. (Vice President Pence, at Trump's behest, had previously asked the Democrats for just $2.5 billion.) Mulvaney inserted himself into the conversation and tried to negotiate a compromise sum of money, according to the sources in the room. Mulvaney ... was trying to say we should find a middle ground," one of the sources said.... 'Trump cut him off ... "You just fucked it all up, Mick,'" the source recalled Trump saying.... Another source who was in the room confirmed the account. That source said their impression was that Trump was irritated at Mulvaney's negotiating style.... A fourth source, who was not in the room ... told me Trump has long been irritated that Mulvaney's initial 2019 budget only requested $1.6 billion for the wall. Democrats relish pointing this out...."
Trump understands that conservative media personalities like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh hold the keys to his base -- and so it's unlikely he's going to stray from them on the gov't shutdown / border issue. Democrats are effectively negotiating with the right-wing media. pic.twitter.com/1HWP9dk5lx
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) January 13, 2019
... Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Sen.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is pretty much the Democrats' ask, but a few weeks shorter than they originally suggested in December. It seems Lindsey is trying to talk Trump down off the wall using the preferred cat-on-the-roof methodology.
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
NEW. Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump >on Monday denied he 'worked for Russia,' his most direct response yet to a bombshell report that the FBI began investigating whether the president was working on behalf Moscow. 'I never worked for Russia,' Trump said.... 'If you read the [NYT] article you'll see that they found absolutely nothing,' he said." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It isn't true that the New York Times article said the FBI "found absolutely nothing." The story was silent on that. Trump's denial mirrors his campaign-era repudiation of David Duke; at first, he wouldn't do so; then, under pressure, he repudiated Duke.
** NEW. Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "In the chaotic aftermath at the FBI following Director James Comey's firing, a half-dozen senior FBI officials huddled to set in motion the momentous move to open an investigation into ... Donald Trump that included trying to understand why he was acting in ways that seemed to benefit Russia. They debated a range of possibilities, according to portions of transcripts of two FBI officials' closed-door congressional interviews obtained by CNN. On one end was the idea that Trump fired Comey at the behest of Russia. On the other was the possibility that Trump didn't have an improper relationship with the Kremlin and was acting within the bounds of his executive authority, the transcripts show.... While the FBI launched its investigation in the days after Comey's abrupt dismissal, the bureau had previously contemplated such a step, according to testimony from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page."
Jason Lemon of Newsweek: "Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein has said that he's been told that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will show how ... Donald Trump helped Russia 'destabilize the United States.'... 'This is about the most serious counterintelligence people we have in the U.S. government saying, "Oh, my God, the president's words and actions lead us to conclude that somehow he has become a witting, unwitting, or half-witting pawn, certainly in some regards, to Vladimir Putin,"' Bernstein explained during his appearance on [CNN's] Reliable Sources." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Here's Bernstein's full discussion with Brian Stelter:
... Pundits are giving Ben Wittes of Lawfare a lot of credit for coming up with the theory last Friday that "the obstruction is part of the collusion." Bernstein said the same thing two days earlier. For more than a month, various reporters have told us the Mueller report, or a portion of it, would be completed soon. Bernstein is the first (as far as I know) to give a hint about the content of the report.
Julian Barnes & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "President Trump's efforts to hide his conversations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and new details about the F.B.I. inquiry into his ties to Moscow have intensified debate over his relationship with Russia, adding fuel to Democrats' budding investigations of his presidency and potentially setting up a clash between the White House and Congress. Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, who now leads the Intelligence Committee..., implored his Republican colleagues Sunday to support his effort to obtain notes or testimony from the interpreter in one of the private meetings between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin. 'Will they join us now?' Mr. Schiff wrote on Twitter. 'Shouldn't we find out whether our president is really putting "America first?"'... 'Why is he so chummy with Vladimir Putin, this man who is a former K.G.B. agent, never been a friend to the United States, invaded our allies, threatens us around the world and tries his damnedest to undermine our elections?' Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said on ABC's 'This Week.'... The administration appears unlikely to acquiesce to such a demand without a fight."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "So it has come to this: The president of the United States was asked over the weekend whether he is a Russian agent. And he refused to directly answer. The question, which came from a friendly interviewer, not one of the 'fake media' journalists he disparages, was 'the most insulting thing I've ever been asked,' he declared. But it is a question that has hung over his presidency now for two years. If the now 23-day government shutdown standoff between Mr. Trump and Congress has seemed ugly, it may eventually seem tame by comparison with what is to come. The border wall fight is just the preliminary skirmish in this new era of divided government. The real battle has yet to begin. With Democrats now in charge of the House, the special counsel believed to be wrapping up his investigation, news media outlets competing for scoops and the first articles of impeachment already filed, Mr. Trump faces the prospect of an all-out political war for survival that may make the still-unresolved partial government shutdown pale by comparison.... The White House has begun recruiting soldiers. The new White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, has hired 17 new lawyers, according to The Post, as he prepares for a barrage of subpoenas from House Democratic committee chairmen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Steve M.: "I understand the temptation to read a lot into [Trump's failure to deny he was a Russian asset], but I don't think it means much.... Trump isn't shrewdly avoiding a 'no' answer -- he's simply caught up in a story that he rehearses in his own mind on a daily basis and publishes on Twitter nearly as often. He doesn't sidestep the question -- he just forgets to answer it directly, so enraged (and caught up in his own narrative) is he.... It's not significant -- Trump just got carried away and was enthralled by his own recitation of his grievances." --s
... Not-So-Secret Agent. Max Boot in the Washington Post lists 18 reasons we already know about that Trump could be a Russian asset. Then he adds, "I can't think of anything that would exonerate Trump aside from the difficulty of grasping what once would have seemed unimaginable: that a president of the United States could actually have been compromised by a hostile foreign power.... If Trump isn't actually a Russian agent, he is doing a pretty good imitation of one." ...
... "It's Already Collusion." Strobe Talbott in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "Whether he knows it or not, Trump is integral to Putin's strategy to strengthen authoritarian regimes and undermine democracies around the world. This unprecedented aberration defiles what America stands for at home and abroad; it alienates and dispirits our allies; and -- if it is allowed to persist -- it will jeopardize our security.... Trumpism is a godsend to Putin and a nightmare for governments in his sights -- including Trump's. The U.S. commander-in-chief is out of sync with his own administration, not to mention the government as a whole.... Trump has an affinity for dictators -- as he himself reportedly acknowledged only this week during a lunch with senators.... He envies their unchecked power, use of intimidation and penchant for operating in secret, apparently because he doesn't trust the advisers and agencies who work for him.... Trump has been colluding with a hostile Russia throughout his presidency." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: We discussed the underlying story yesterday, but this AP headline is still astonishing: "Trump dodges question on whether he has worked for Russia." ...
... Tom Nichols in USA Today: "The president clearly has something to hide.... It is highly unlikely that there is any innocent explanation for the remarkable frequency and depth of the Trump coterie's interactions with Russia for some 30 years, and especially during the campaign.... It seems at this point beyond argument that the president personally fears Russian President Vladimir Putin for reasons that can only suggest the existence of compromising information.... For the president's supporters to double down in the face of mounting evidence that the president himself is, in some way, compromised by our most dedicated enemy, while making excuses for his secretive behavior by attacking the men and women of the FBI, is a road so dark that perhaps even Joseph McCarthy would not have dared walk it." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh yeah? Lindsey Graham is strutting down that dark road: ...
... Lindsey Knocks NYT, FBI. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Sunday said that he does not believe a New York Times report that ... Donald Trump was investigated for being a suspected Russian agent. 'That story came from somebody who leaked it with an agenda,' Graham complained to Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday. 'I'd like to know who leaked it because they have an agenda not very friendly to President Trump. And I, for one, don't trust what I read in The New York Times.' Graham said that he planned to grill FBI Director Christopher Wray on whether a counter-intelligence investigation into Trump was ever open.... 'And, to me, it tells me a lot about the people running the FBI. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. How could the FBI do that?' Graham concluded. 'What kind of checks and balances are there?'" ...
Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "Before Donald Trump's lawyer was pitching the Kremlin on building a Trump Tower in Moscow, the future president was negotiating to put his name on a building in a separate glitzy real estate development outside the Russian capital.... Trump's partner in this earlier project was Aras Agalarov, an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the same man whose promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton set in motion the infamous June 2016 meeting at the original Trump Tower in New York. Two Congressional aides told NBC News the Agalarov project is now drawing new scrutiny from House and Senate investigators in the wake of the revelation in court documents that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen lied to Congress about his dealings on a separate, competing Russia real estate project. Cohen was also negotiating to build a Trump Tower in a separate part of the city." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rosalind S. Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "New revelations about Paul Manafort's interactions with a Russian associate while he was leading President Trump's campaign provide a window into how extensively the special counsel has mapped interactions between Trump associates and Russians in his 20-month-long investigation. When Manafort pleaded guilty in September to federal crimes related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, Trump said the admissions by his former campaign chairman had 'nothing to do' with the special counsel's main mission, which Trump described as 'looking for Russians involved in our campaign.' But new details inadvertently revealed in a court filing last week -- including the fact that Manafort shared polling data about the 2016 race with an associate who allegedly has ties to Russian intelligence -- indicate that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has also been scrutinizing interactions between Russians and Manafort while he led Trump's presidential bid. Manafort is among at least 14 Trump associates who interacted with Russians during the campaign and transition, according to public records and interviews.... And it serves as a stark reminder that as Trump was offering Russia-friendly rhetoric on the campaign trail, his White House bid was led for a time by a man with long-standing ties to powerful Russian figures."
Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "The Kremlin has long denied that it had anything to do with the infiltration of the NRA and the broader American conservative movement. A U.S. intelligence report reviewed by The Daily Beast tells a different story. Alexander Torshin, the Russian central bank official who spent years aggressively courting NRA leaders, briefed the Kremlin on his efforts and recommended they participate, according to the report.... While there has been speculation that Torshin and his protegée, Maria Butina, had the Kremlin's blessing to woo the NRA -- and federal prosecutors have vaguely asserted that she acted 'on behalf of the Russian federation' -- no one in the White House or the U.S. intelligence community has publicly stated as much.... The report, on the other hand, notes that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was fine with Torshin's courtship of the NRA because the relationships would be valuable if a Republican won the White House in 2016.... The report, published last year, is based on conversations that happened in 2015, before NRA leaders visited Moscow on a trip arranged by Torshin and Butina."
Time for Some Racist Tweets
Emily Birnbaum of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday night mocked a video of Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) by saying the video would have been a 'smash' if she filmed it in 'Bighorn or Wounded Knee,' a reference to her Native American heritage. Trump suggested that Warren's husband, who appears in the video, should have worn 'full Indian garb.' The president also renewed his use of his racially charged nickname for Warren: Pocahontas. 'If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash!' Trump tweeted.... Trump's tweet refers to the massacre of more than 100 Native American men, women and children by U.S. Calvary troops in the late 19th Century. The massacre has become a symbol of the brutality experienced by Native Americans under European-Americans."
Michael Burke of the Hill: "President Trump late Sunday night quoted a column by Pat Buchanan ... to back his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a pair of tweets, Trump pointed to Buchanan's argument that the president's proposal is 'dead on' and saying that something needs done or the U.S., 'as we know it, will cease to exist.'... In 1999, Trump called Buchanan a 'Hitler lover' and said it was 'incredible that anybody could embrace this guy.' Buchanan, who has often been accused of expressing racist and anti-Semitic views, at the time was seeking the Reform Party's nomination for president.... 'I guess he's an anti-Semite. He doesn't like the blacks. He doesn't like the gays...,' Trump said on 'Meet the Press' in 1999.]" Mrs. McC: But Buchanan is all good now because he also "doesn't like the Hispanics."
MEANWHILE, Everything Is Going Very Smoothly on the International Desk. Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump dispatched national security adviser John Bolton on a cleanup mission a week ago, with a three-day itinerary in Israel that was intended to reassure a close ally that Trump's impulsive decision to immediately withdraw troops from Syria would be carried out more slowly and with important caveats. The plan seemed to work at first. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was all smiles, thanking Bolton profusely for the show of U.S. support. But by the end of the week, attempts to dissuade Trump or place conditions on the withdrawal faded as the U.S. military announced it had 'begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria.' A multipronged effort by alarmed U.S. national security officials, foreign allies and Republican hawks in Congress to significantly alter or reverse Trump's decision was effectively a bust. Since Trump's abrupt Syria announcement last month, a tug-of-war with allies and his advisers has roiled the national security apparatus over how, and whether, to execute a pullout.... The episode illustrates the far-reaching consequences of Trump's proclivity to make rash decisions with uneven follow-through, according to accounts of the discussions from more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials and international diplomats." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: You mean just because the President* is an impulsive, ignorant, out-of-control buffoon, things get messed up? Like, say, our international policy is nearly nonexistent & half the government is shuttered? Now, let's ask ourselves if Vladimir is happy. ...
... Eric Schmitt & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Senior Pentagon officials are voicing deepening fears that President Trump's hawkish national security adviser, John R. Bolton, could precipitate a conflict with Iran at a time when Mr. Trump is losing leverage in the Middle East by pulling out American troops. At Mr. Bolton's direction, the National Security Council asked the Pentagon last year to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran, Defense Department and senior American officials said on Sunday. The request, which alarmed then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other Pentagon officials, came after Iranian-backed militants fired three mortars or rockets into an empty lot on the grounds of the United States Embassy in Baghdad in September.... Mr. Mattis and other military leaders adamantly opposed retaliating, arguing that the attack was insignificant -- a position that ultimately won out.... Since Mr. Bolton took over from H.R. McMaster in April, he has intensified the administration's policy of isolating and pressuring Iran — reflecting an animus against Iran's leaders that dates back to his days as an official in the George W. Bush administration. As a private citizen, he later called for military strikes on Iran, as well as regime change." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Back in the day, if you walked into a roomful of people & found Mr. Mustache, you probably would have pegged him for the craziest guy there. Now there's Trump.
** Charlie Savage of the New York Times examines William Barr's long career as a presidential-powers maximalist. "Mr. Trump revels in pushing limits -- a temperament that, when combined with Mr. Barr's unusually permissive understanding of presidential power, could play out very differently for the rule of law than it did last time" [when Barr advised President Bush I he could] start a major land war on his own -- not only without congressional permission, but even if Congress voted against it." Barr's confirmation hearings begin Tuesday. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see. Trump. Barr. Bolton. Now what are the chances Trump will start a gratuitous war before the 2020 election? This is Bush II all over again, though the target country might be Iraq's neighbor, not Iraq.
Rebeca Leber of Mother Jones: "Scott Pruitt left a long trail of investigations behind when he exited the Environmental Protection Agency last July to lead a private life as a coal consultant. On Thursday, four Democratic senators added yet another concern to the pile, requesting more information from the EPA revolving around Pruitt's legal defense fund. And Democrats can hammer the issue when Andrew Wheeler appears before the Senate on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing to become Pruitt's successor. Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Tom Carper (Del.), Tom Udall (N.M.), and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) addressed Wheeler in a letter that raises questions about a financial filing in December that revealed a $50,000 donation to Pruitt's legal defense fund from a ... businesswoman.... That is a problem, the senators argue, because the Office of Government Ethics forbids officials from accepting gifts from 'prohibited sources' -- or entities with business before the agency." --s
Pity the Confederates. Theodoric Meyer of Politico: "[M]ore than 60 Republicans exited the House this month, and so many of them are considering heading to K Street that not all of them are likely to find work, according to interviews with lobbyists and headhunters. 'Former Republican congressmen are a dime a dozen right now,' said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who left Congress a decade ago and is now a lobbyist for Holland & Knight." --s
Another Reason Not to Live in a Red State. Sudhin Thanawala of the AP: "A U.S. judge in California on Sunday blocked Trump administration rules, which would allow more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control, from taking effect in 13 states and Washington, D.C. Judge Haywood Gilliam granted a request for a preliminary injunction by California, 12 other states and Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs sought to prevent the rules from taking effect as scheduled on Monday while a lawsuit against them moved forward. But Gilliam limited the scope of the ruling to the plaintiffs, rejecting their request that he block the rules nationwide.... The ruling affects California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Washington Post Editors: "In November, nearly two-thirds of Florida voters backed a state constitutional amendment that would restore voting rights to roughly 1.4 million former felons -- a measure that undid a feature of state law, enacted after the Civil War by racist white lawmakers, designed to disenfranchise African Americans. Now some Florida Republicans who opposed the ballot measure, written unambiguously to be self-executing, insist 'clarifying' legislation is needed. That sounds like mischief intended to thwart the voters' will and maintain a system under which at least 1 in 5 black Floridians faced a lifetime ban on voting.... No other Western democracy has erected similar [voting] barriers.... Voting rights advocates are alert for land mines that may be laid by [Gov.] Ron DeSantis or other Republicans, who, in a state with a notorious history of electoral squeakers, may fear the consequences should even a small fraction of those 1.4 million eligible former felons exercise their franchise."
** Oregon. Shane Kavanaugh of the Oregonian: "The Oregonian/OregonLive has found criminal cases involving at least five Saudi nationals who vanished before they faced trial or completed their jail sentence in Oregon. They include two accused rapists, a pair of suspected hit-and-run drivers and one man with child porn on his computer. The five cases share many similarities: All were young men studying at a public college or university in Oregon with assistance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the time of their arrest. In four of the cases, the Saudi government stepped in to help, posting large sums of money for bail and possibly underwriting legal fees. Three surrendered their passports. All disappeared while facing charges or jail time. The same Oregon defense attorney, Ginger Mooney, was hired to represent the four most recent suspects. Little is known of the whereabouts of the five, though some have been traced back to Saudi Arabia. The new details add to mounting scrutiny of Saudi Arabia's conduct abroad after the kingdom's role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last fall." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm thinking this isn't happening only in Oregon.
Way Beyond
Thomson Reuters: "A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a Canadian man to death for drug smuggling after prosecutors said an original 15-year sentence, announced in November, was too lenient.Dalian Intermediate People's Court in the northeast province of Liaoning retried Robert Lloyd Schellenberg and handed down the death penalty, the court said in a brief statement on its website."
News Ledes
New York Times: "The man accused of kidnapping Jayme Closs and killing her parents told investigators that he had spotted 13-year-old Jayme getting onto a school bus last fall and decided then that 'that was the girl he was going to take,' according to court documents released Monday. The man, Jake Patterson, 21, was charged on Monday with kidnapping, burglary and two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and was scheduled to appear in a Wisconsin courtroom later in the day. He was arrested on Thursday, shortly after Jayme escaped from under a twin-size bed where she was being held and sought help from a woman walking a dog." Includes a facsimile of the criminal complaint." ...
... Mrs. McC: As far as I can tell, Patterson is a white guy & presumably a U.S. citizen. I expect Trump to tweet about how dangerous white Americans are -- "they're rapists & murderers," etc. -- just as he does about criminals who are immigrants.
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Reader Comments (22)
https://www.newsweek.com/mueller-report-trump-helped-putin-destabilize-us-watergate-journalist-1289541
Is it reasonable to think (hope?) that this journalist's source has a deep throat?
I see where the Blight House is scrambling to hire a bunch of new lawyers for the fast approaching legal Armageddon, something any normal person being scrutinized by half a dozen government agencies and now the entire Democratically controlled house would have done long ago. It’s a little like scouting around for trained soldiers a year after war has been declared and opposing forces are streaming into your backyard, but whatever. This is Fatty, smartest guy in the world. No one knows more about being investigated than he does.
Also, however, because it is Fatty, it’s entirely likely that he’ll be hiring a battery of brand new lawyers fresh out of the Rush Limbaugh School of Wingnut Casuistry and Legal Sounding Bullshit, with names like Sleepy, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleazy, Boris, Nicolai, Feodor, Moe, Larry, Curly, and my cousin Vinny. None of whom have even heard of the Constitution, never mind read it.
@Akhilleus: Congratulations! You have correctly named 11 of Trump's 17 new lawyers. I tried to reach out to one of my White House sources/leakers, but as you may know, the White House switchboards are out of service because of the Great Trump Shutdown. Still, it turns out there's more than one Larry, as in Larry, Darryl & Darryl. Also, I'm pretty sure Beavis & Butthead each got a desk. That leaves one mystery hire. I'll assume for now it's the ghost of Roy Cohn, but I could be wrong on that one.
Drumpf's ability to turn people into total sycophants, abandoning all logic, previously held beliefs, willfully tattering their own reputations for a known con man, has to be further investigated.
For anyone having already seen the light, he's a seriously damaged shell. But those who interact with him regularly all seem to be taken under his wicked spells. His carnival barking is historic. His ability to sell snake oil to millions and gobble up the riches for himself is extraordinary. All of the traits that make him "successful" are monstrous. But his power as a cult leader cannot be denied. Finding a way to break his spell, by passing out sniffing salt at his rallies or poisoning its message, needs to be better understood. Sure, it goes down to weak whites scurred about brown folks and financial stress due to vulture capitalism, but there's a secret ingredient in Drumpf that metastasizes the effects.
Taking time off from his busy schedule of munching on corn chips, watching T.V. and making phone calls, the man of the hour had a 20 minute interview with his favorite sycophant Jeanine, the Fox's lady lawyer queen. If you can stomach listening to this it reveals how easily both slide into the net of lies and feed off one another. At one point, Trump, referring to the NYT's explosive article, said:
"It's most insulting article I've ever had written."
It's pathetic how Piro presses Trump to accelerate his delusions––the two tied together by the glue of deception.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/trump-on-nyt-report-on-fbi-investigation-most-insulting-article-ive-ever-had-written.html
Agree, Safari... What IS that secret ingredient? I'm thinking abject stupidity on all their parts, and terrifying fear on Lindsey Graham's part. What does the Carny Barker have on him? At any rate, Circus Peanut is a genius at spreading muck, and the groveling stupidity of his manure-sniffing public prevents their enlightenment...
One early morning thought and one demurrer..
The demurrer first.
Great list., Akhilleus, but the Vinny I knew did have some rudimentary acquaintance with the Bill of Rights.......Must have been some other Vinny you had in mind?
And, Safari, I think the Pretender's attraction is not quite so magical as explicable.
Nasty, self-righteous people are not in short supply, and over the last fifty years the Republican Party has come to depend increasingly on those whose lives are ruled by the worst within us. Conservative media did a lot to help them self-identify, better articulate the source of their many grievances, and flex their political muscles at the local and national levels. As I've watched this element cohere over the years, the poisons you may be referring to have come closer and closer to the surface as the nastiness of conservative talk radio has drawn them from the cellar of the id into the full light of day. Yes, the Pretender does appeal to those sad excuses for human beings, but they were ready-made and even eager for his arrival.
That's the reaching down part. The up part, his appeal to those who might otherwise be called the elites, the ones with money and maybe a smattering of education, can be more easily explained. The secret sauce of the Pretender's appeal to them is simply put. It's money and the power that goes with it. For them, there is no such thing as moral or even, as they are commonly conceived, patriotic considerations.
In both cases, the down and the up, the Pretender's appeal is a litmus test that is becoming more clear every day.
If you like him, you're a lost soul, and who is who, from the
Senate to the meanest streets, will become even more apparent as the Pretender's thoroughly rotten, fly-ridden core is unmistakably exposed to public view.
I'm thinking we've almost arrived at that Pearly Gate and the mundane dispensation is at hand.
LOCAL NEWS:
Chris Murphy went to Derby, Ct., a small mill town, over the weekend for a town hall meeting. Many there have been hurt by the shutdown and urged Murphy to "just do something–-anything–-to get Trump to open up the government. It didn't seem to matter what that something was–-they wanted their paychecks. But there were others who understood what Murphy had explained to them, in fact, one woman stood up and reiterated his words forcefully and added that "more people here need to get involved in what is going on in this country."
If you listen to the interview I linked you'll hear Trump congratulate himself on staying in the White House while Nancy and her crew are in "Porto-Rico" dining out and having fun.
@safari: The spell, as you put it, obviously wicked, that Trump wields so well has been, I think, the mystery element in all this. There have been many explanations and all have credence, but to call it a "spell" means it has a magic component and those that have fallen under that spell are smitten–-you're bitten and smitten–-like a love bite from that dark creature of the night––with no garlic in sight–-you're done for.
@Ken Winkes: I think you've put your finger on it. It's difficult for a rational, hopeful person to understand the appeal of someone like Trump, who doesn't have a single personal redeeming quality: he's physically unattractive, he's a sloppy dresser (even in $2,000 suits), he's less articulate than a fifth-grader, he's ignorant, he's crude & boorish, he's a braggart, (he doesn't share the religious values of his followers), he's greedy, he's selfish, he's corrupt, & he's a traitor in the general understanding of the term. That is, both outwardly and inwardly, he's a grotesque.
There may be some nihilistic streak in all of us, and as you suggest, Republicans & the right-wing media stoke it regularly. Your failures are not your fault; others -- maybe others of a different hue -- did you in. Of course, often that's true; do your best & things still may not work out through no fault of your own. If the most competent people were also the most successful, the world would look strikingly different.
But normal people -- people not possessed by some fatalistic or nihilistic worldview -- have hope for their own futures & for the future of people they care about, and for people they don't know. It might be easy for you & me to feel joy for someone else's success, but I suspect Trumpbot's resent it when their neighbor gets a promotion or wins $1,000 in the scratch-off lottery. Proving that Trump was a failed businessman & a worse president* is not going to turn them off to Trump; it makes him even more like them. Or they more like him. Trump is the avatar of a whimpering, defeated nation.
That alone makes him worth defeating. We have to prune the rotted head off the plant for the rest of it to grow & flourish again.
@ Akhilleus: Great list. "(H)e’ll be hiring a battery of brand new lawyers fresh out of the Rush Limbaugh School of Wingnut Casuistry and Legal Sounding Bullshit" gave me a laugh that will last all day.
I'm thinkin' the last lawyer on that list ought to be Saul Goodman.
This observation on the character of the American people, when confronted by the Other:
"In the midst of this American society, so well policed, so sententious, so charitable, a cold selfishness and complete insensibility prevails when it is a question of the natives of the country. The Americans of the United States do not let their dogs hunt the Indians as do the Spaniards in Mexico, but at the bottom it is the same pitiless feeling which here, as everywhere else, animates the European race. This world here belongs to us, they tell themselves every day: the Indian race is destined for final destruction which one cannot prevent and which it is not desirable to delay. Heaven has not made them to become civilised; it is necessary that they die. Besides I do not want to get mixed up in it. I will not do anything against them: I will limit myself to providing everything that will hasten their ruin. In time I will have their lands and will be innocent of their death. Satisfied with his reasoning, the American goes to church where he hears the minister of the gospel repeat every day that all men are brothers, and that the Eternal Being who has made them all in like image, has given them all the duty to help one another."
That De Tocqueville was one smart dude.
Kinda cuts through the B. S., don't he?
Marie,
I completely forgot about the Darryls. An inside source tells me that Fatty is not, in fact, alone in the Blight House. He has dragooned the Darryls into working the switchboard and answering the phones, which, you may recall, is problematic since neither of these guys ever speaks. Perfect for the Trumpy CHOM. But I'm sure they'll be excellent giving the summation at Fatty's trial for treason.
Still wondering about Fatty's non-denial (it doesn't even rate as a non-denial denial) about whether or not he is a Russian asset. The question was asked by Trump sycophant and one of his many Fox mouthpieces, Jeanine Pirro. Now normally, 99,999 times out of 100,000, Trump would have done what he typically does: lie. Incredibly, instead of lying and saying "No Effing Way, Jeanine!", he didn't. He started blathering about how unfair the world is to Trump. He never said "No. I'm not now and never have been working for the interests of a foreign power, ie, Russia".
Weird. Doesn't he lie instinctively? What gives this time? Conscience? Oops...sorry. That one slipped out. Guilt? Nah....he'd slit his grandmother's throat for a glowing headline in the National Enquirer, then sleep like a baby with the bloody knife under his pillow.
So what, then?
Surely he's not worried about pissing off his boss, Putin. At this point Putin must be pretty annoyed that the game is largely up and everyone knows that his poodle barks in Russian. He much prefer that Fatty pretend not to even know him.
I'm stumped. Maybe it's as easy as Trump is just as stupid you think he is. He is a legend in his own mind, and no one else's. But he's also Donaldo, ever the victim. Rather than hit Pirro's softball question out the park with a big fat lie, he zeroed in on how horrible everyone treats him, the greatest man in history. Ain't it awful?
@Ken: Great quote from the guy that saw through the facade of America's projection of "we the people" etc. etc. Thank you!
No Art, No Deal, Just the Tweets, Ma'am
This morning I was taken aback while listening to an interview on NPR with Robert Ford, former Ambassador to Syria under the last real president. He was asked about Fatty's latest broadside about how he would financially cripple Turkey if they don't do what he sez. In passing, Ford said something like, "Well, the foreign policy contained in that tweet..."
Okay, I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but I suppose that's an indication that I'm not yet in a "Frog in the Pot" state.
Foreign policy via Tweet.
It really is incredible. One could respond to Fatty's threats by saying "It's more bullying by Trump", but that overlooks the truly radical shift brought on by this guy in terms of America's standing in the world. Especially regarding his self-proclaimed ability as a "deal-maker" and negotiator.
I've been working my way through a crazy, wild book called "The Ruin of Kasch" by Italian polymath Roberto Calasso. I won't even bother trying to explain the book, which lurches back and forth in time and subject matter, and runs from famous authors and historical personages to little known experts in arcane and recondite fields of study and action, sometimes in the same paragraph. What interests me so far is his account of the figure and work of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, known to most of you simply as Talleyrand.
Hated in his day and scourged by many modern historians as a rank opportunist, Talleyrand showed remarkable talent as not just a survivor (he worked for the Ancien Regime, then Napoleon, then against Napoleon, and then for the Bourbon restoration crew, and wasn't KILLED by any of them!). Most importantly, for my current concern, he was instrumental in forging the treaties and connections across the post-Napoleonic world at the Congress of Vienna.
He worked the room hard. He knew all the players, spoke most of their languages, understood their backgrounds, their countries' histories, what they desired, what they needed, and what they could live with. It was an astounding feat of diplomacy.
Unlike the braggart, Trump, Talleyrand was a true deal-maker. And listen to this. At a time when Europe had finally rid itself of the despised and feared tyrant, Bonaparte, Talleyrand went to Vienna and negotiated favorable treatment of France, when most of the non-French attendees would just as soon have given the whole place the full Carthaginian treatment.
Which brings me back around to the Diplomacy-by-Tweet idiot.
Bullying foreign governments wouldn't have worked at Vienna, and it really doesn't work now. But in terms of deal making, I'm thinking of how Fatty is forever whining that the Democrats better come back to the table soon so he can "make a deal" and declare victory.
This is not how deal-makers work. Talleyrand had little to stand on, but he worked at it. He brought understanding, knowledge, and ability to the table and he when he left, with France's interests safely secured, he didn't shout "Nyah, nyah, nyah. You guys suck. I won."
If Trump truly were a deal-maker, he'd have been able to recognize that his position was not strong, and think it through, figure out that it would be prudent to agree with Pelosi's offer to reopen the government (and take the credit) and revisit the wall situation later. But he was too stupid for that (ie, he is NOT a deal-maker). Instead, he's now in a lose-lose situation. And someone skilled in the art of the deal would not sit in his house and jabber about how no one is doing what he wants; he'd be out working the room, enticing his opposites to sit down with him, or going out to them and bringing them in, either getting them to agree to his points, or some version of them, or, seeing it was not gonna work, find a way to walk away with something. He is, after all, the president. There are many things he can offer the other side if it's done right.
But no.
So, no Talleyrand.
But he does have the hate part down pretty well. That's something, I guess.
Here's the segment from 60 minutes featuring Elijah Cummings–-and in my book, a REAL mensch––who now has new power re: the investigations.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elijah-cummings-new-power-as-house-oversight-committee-chairman-for-investigating-trump-60-minutes/
@AK: Boy, oh, boy, do we need a Talleyrand in this la la land. thanks again for the history.
Safari, Ken, and Marie,
Nice job collating the Trumpian appeal. I think also that because right-wing media (and in a larger sense, the entire ideology, at least as it has evolved) relies on a foundation of victimhood and moral superiority (god loves us best), they are okay with Trump. More than okay. He is their hero because they see him as being beset by the hated "liberal media" (never mind that there is no such thing), just as they are, but he "fights back" (ie, screams and yells and threatens and insults), just as they would love to. Remember those frightening moments at his rallies where he would point a tiny finger at the press pen (the fenced off area where journalists were herded to be heckled and screamed at by the Trumpbots) and shout "Fake News" and "Liars" and "They are the ENEMY!!!!!".
It was as if a figure of power came into their parents' basements or the local bar or wherever they might dwell in darkness and depression, nursing their hatreds and hurt fee-fees because a black man was president and gays and uppity women and minorities were not backing down like they should, to their betters, and told them that they were RIGHT! They were right to hate these people, right to feel rejected and right to believe that they were, after all, the chosen ones.
This is wingnut balm from a bitter Gilead, where the cure to all that ailed you was for your enemies to suffer.
And that's what Trump promises. Their enemies will suffer. So he turns back every Obama era rule and regulation, most designed to HELP THESE PEOPLE. To help them live longer, advocate for a better life for them and their children. But if Trump can kick those advances back to the black horrid nee-groe hell they came from, they're all for it. And him.
It's deeper and more powerful than the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The enemy of my enemy is more of political alliance, and given certain circumstances, it could be short-circuited. This is much harder to break. This is foundational, so nothing Trump can do, from adultery to treason, will break these ties that bind.
Ken,
De Tocqueville was indeed prescient. Writing in the 1830's, his observations about the sense of white Americans as being destined, manifestly, to oversee the destruction of Native Americans, were borne out almost to the letter over the next 100 years. By the early decades of the 20th century, the vast majority of Native Americans had vanished (reminds me a bit of that Randy Newman song, "Great Nations of Europe": "Columbus sailed for India, Found Salvador instead,
Shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead").
But De Tocqueville was not overly appreciative of the natives of this continent either. I seem to recall (and I'd have to look it up now since I don't remember the exact passage) his remark that he wasn't much impressed by the members of whatever tribe he happened to meet, describing them as savages. He was a man of his time, no doubt. But he had America's number and he's still worth a read.
Thanks for the reminder.
Schlub,
If I were Saul, I wouldn't call back.
Hayley Mills at HuffPost Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to take over the Russia interference probe, as well as the inquiry into whether Trump had either knowingly or unwittingly worked to help the Kremlin, the Times reported. Mueller is also investigating whether Trump obstructed justice.
(Ms. Mills writes) No evidence has emerged publicly to suggest Trump was in contact with or took direction from Russian officials."
(Boldface in last sentence above is mine added).
Methinks, Ms. Mills ought wake up and read Charles Pierce's January 12th piece in Esquire "There Is a Bombshell of a Word in the New York Times Report on the Trump FBI Investigation. This is "the most astounding eividence " of Oval Office criminality since the release of the "smoking gun" tape in 1974."
@Ken (and anyone who appreciates myth-busting American history), more keen insight from another Frenchman: "Gold: Being the Marvelous History of General John Augustus Sutter" by Blaise Cendrars, published in 1923 but not in English translation until 1996. I for one had not appreciated the magnitude, and toxicity, of Sutter's impact on the American West. And without revealing the spoiler, DJT should have such a fitting end.
Trump's taking notes from his interpreter with regards to Putin reminded me that we never heard any follow up on the reports of Trump shredding and throwing away papers that should be archived. There is so much information that may just be lost forever from the Trump administration.