The Commentariat -- January 4, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Michael Tackett & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Trump threatened on Friday to keep the federal government partially closed for 'months or even years' if he does not get money to build a wall along the southern border, but he also expressed optimism he could reach agreement with congressional Democrats within days. Mr. Trump and Democratic leaders emerged from a two-hour meeting without a deal to reopen government agencies that have already been shuttered for 14 days and offered sharply contrasting views of where they stood. Democrats called the meeting 'contentious' while the president and Republican allies called it 'productive.'... Mr. Trump had no hostile words for the opposition.... He designated Vice President Mike Pence, Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, and Jared Kushner..., the president's son-in-law and senior adviser to meet with congressional representatives this weekend."
How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning
I did not lift this from the Onion; this is a real tweet Trump wrote this morning. It represents either (a) one purposeful lie after another, or (b) grounds to immediately invoke the Twentyfifth Amendment. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Jonathan Chait: "Basic facts about Trump's life, which would have been thoroughly plumbed were he any other presidential candidate, are only starting to be investigated.... One reason Trump has escaped scrutiny, of course, is that he has withheld his tax returns.... Trump has an obvious motive to conceal his decades of dependency on his father's largesse, as well as the apparent role played by Russian money laundering in replacing those cash infusions after his father's money ran out.... Measured in absolute terms, or against other candidates, Trump was subject to harsh, unrelenting scrutiny. But measured against the scale of his own dark past, he skated into office with barely any vetting at all, abetted by decades of friendly propaganda.... The review of Trump's life is only beginning now. It will probably tell us that Trump is not merely a politician who has abused his power, or a businessman who has cut corners. He is a criminal who happened to be elected president." Thanks to MAG for the link.
Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump's new acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, is already putting his stamp on the West Wing after just a few days on the job. While his recently departed predecessor, Gen. John Kelly, often tried to restrain ... Donald Trump, Mulvaney -- who has said he won&'t seek to be a check on the impulsive president -- has been egging on the president in his confrontation with congressional Democrats over a border wall."
Peter Whoriskey & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "While many federal workers go without pay and the government is partially shut down, hundreds of senior Trump political appointees are poised to receive annual raises of about $10,000 a year. The pay raises for cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, top administrators and even Vice President Mike Pence are scheduled to go into effect beginning Jan. 5 without legislation to stop them.... The raises appear to be an intended consequence of the shutdown: When lawmakers failed to pass bills on Dec. 21 to fund multiple federal agencies, they allowed an existing pay freeze to lapse.... Cabinet secretaries, for example, would be entitled to a jump in annual salary from $199,700 to $210,700."
Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Hours after she was sworn in to Congress, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib used an expletive Thursday in pushing for impeaching ... Donald Trump. Speaking to a crowd at an event sponsored by the progressive group MoveOn, Tlaib recalled the moment she won her election in November. 'And when your son looks at you and says, "Mama look, you won. Bullies don't win," and I said, "Baby, they don't," because we're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach the motherf[ucke]r,' Tlaib said Thursday, speaking of Trump...." ...
... Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "... Nancy Pelosi on Friday shied away from moving forward with impeachment at this time, calling it a 'divisive' option and saying that a colleague's use of an expletive to describe ... Donald Trump was no 'worse' than some of the language the president himself has used. 'I do think that we want to be unified and bring people together. Impeachment is a very divisive approach to take and we shouldn't take it ... without the facts,' Pelosi said during an MSNBC town hall at Trinity University in Washington, her alma mater."
James Arkin of Politico: "Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) announced Friday that he will retire in 2020 instead of running for reelection. Roberts, 82, has served four terms in the Senate and last won reelection in 2014 after facing a bruising Republican primary."
*****
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "On a day of pomp and pageantry, ebullient Democrats assumed control of the House on Thursday and elected Representative Nancy Pelosi of California to be speaker, returning her to a historic distinction as the first woman to hold the post at the pinnacle of power in Congress, second in line to the presidency. The investiture of Ms. Pelosi, whose talent for legislative maneuvering is surpassed only by her skill at keeping her fractious party in line, placed her at the fulcrum of divided government opposite an increasingly combative President Trump. With Mr. Trump, his presidential campaign and his businesses all under federal and state investigations, her handling of him will likely define the 116th Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Paul Krugman schools Pelosi on deficit spending. "... while fiscal prudence is always necessary, for Democrats to put spending in a straitjacket -- especially when Republicans have shown themselves completely irresponsible -- looks like a bad move."
Burgess Everett & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday used her first day in power to attempt to end a government shutdown that's lurching into its third week while denying any new money for ... Donald Trump's border wall. Just before 10 p.m., the Democrat-controlled House voted to fully fund nearly all of the government agencies that have been shuttered since Dec. 22. The House also voted to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security.... On Thursday afternoon the White House officially issued a veto threat, and the president also held an event with the National Border Patrol Council [-- the border patrol agents' union --] at the White House, during which the president said he's 'never had so much support as I've [had] in the last week over my stance for border security.'" Mrs. McC: The report doesn't say so, but according to MSNBC, a handful of House Republicans voted with Democrats to fund the government. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The "event," which Trump inexplicably held in the Brady press briefing room -- a venue into which he has never stepped before but where he nevertheless refused to take questions from the hastily-assembled press, who thought they were there to be briefed on something -- was a stunt requiring all of the extras to shave their heads:
... Mrs. McC, Ctd: This was a clown show, people. I expected, at the very least, to see some acrobatics. But nothing. Maybe the Screen Extras Guild wouldn't let them perform without pay, shutdown or not. ...
... Dara Lind of Vox: "... Donald Trump's hastily called 'press conference' on Thursday afternoon ... was less a press conference, in the traditional sense, than a way for Trump to signal-boost a politically helpful message. And that message, delivered by Brandon Judd, Art Del Cueto, and Hector Garza of the National Border Patrol Council (the union representing Border Patrol agents) was this: Border Patrol agents are willing to keep the government shut down for as long as it takes to get the money Trump wants for his border wall -- even if that means they have to continue working without pay. Generally, a public sector union would hardly be expected to make a public appearance urging Congress not to pass a bill that would start paying their salaries again. But Judd and the other leaders of the National Border Patrol Council aren't your typical public sector union -- and have now become, by all appearances, closer allies to Trump than some of his appointed officials.... It's worth noting that National Border Patrol Council executives get paid salaries by the union.... The executives have something of a cushion; their members do not." ...
... The Faux Presidency. Steve M: "[T]he president ... had a message, and he brought along guests to deliver it: Why these agents? Well, Fox News frequently hosts [Brandon] Judd, [Art] Del Cueto, and [Hector] Garza -- go to the links to read Fox stories and see Fox clips.... Also, curiously, Judd doesn't even work on the southern border anymore, according to the Times -- he's stationed in Montana.... So this was just Fox News in the White House briefing room, nothing more." --s ...
... The Bald Head of Courage. Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if President* I-Know-More-Than-the-Generals is replacing his ersatz admiration for chestfuls of brass to crazy bald-headed Border Patrol union leaders. This would be one area where Trump actually shows his "populism." Generals of course are at the top of the food chain & most are highly-educated in matters military. The Border Patrol, on the other hand, is kind of a dumping ground for law enforcement applicants who don't qualify for more prestigious jobs at the FBI, Secret Service, etc. Agents are not required to have college degrees. Of course by "populism" here, we mean people who support Trump, not people Trump supports.
... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) warned reporters on Thursday that the partial government shutdown could last for the 'long haul' with no clear way out in sight. '... I don't see any quick resolution to this,' Shelby told reporters. Shelby separately told reporters that the shutdown could last for 'months and months.'... 'My personal preference [is] we already would have had all these bills done as you well know.... Right now, let's see what happens. At the moment things don't look good, as far as reaching a resolution,' Shelby added." ...
... BUT. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Republican unity on the partial government shutdown is starting to crack in the face a tough election map in 2020 and no end in sight to the standoff that has hobbled key departments and agencies. At least three Senate Republicans on Thursday called on Congress to move on legislation to reopen federal agencies -- or as many as possible -- that have been shuttered since Dec. 22.... Mitch McConnell< (R-Ky.) has declared any legislation passed by the House to fully reopen federal agencies will be a non-starter in the Senate but he may have trouble keeping all his troops in line."Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Susan Collins (Me.), Shelly Capito (W. Va.) & Mike Rounds (S.D.) all suggested ways the government, or most of the shuttered departments, could reopen soon. ...
... AND Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "... [Mitch] McConnell for the first time is facing pressure from members of his own party to step in to resolve the stalemate that has left 800,000 federal workers either furloughed or working without pay. By absenting himself, Mr. McConnell had hoped to push the blame for a prolonged shutdown onto Democrats while protecting Republicans running for re-election in 2020 -- including himself.... He has repeatedly said he will not bring up legislation that Mr. Trump does not support -- a point he reiterated in a speech on Thursday on the Senate floor.... After two years of trying to advance Mr. Trump's agenda, Mr. McConnell now sees his primary job as standing in the way of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who vowed in her inaugural speech on Thursday to 'reach across the aisle in this chamber.'..." ...
... AND Jordain Carney: "Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Thursday that a House package to fully reopen the government could pass the Senate -- if Republicans would give it a vote.... Schumer blamed Trump on Thursday for the partial shutdown and questioned why senators should let 'a temper tantrum determine how we vote.'" ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Ari Melber of MSNBC, in noting that Trump promised Mexico would pay for the wall, said, "This has to be the first time in history a president shut down the government over his own broken promise." (paraphrase) No link. ...
... Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "By Saturday, the federal government will have been shut down for two weeks, a full pay cycle for federal workers. If the shutdown lasts through Monday, it will surpass the one of 2013, and if it lasts beyond the following Saturday, it will be the longest shutdown in United States history. Politicians have said they were hopeful that the standoff could be over in a matter of 'days and weeks,' a reassurance that rang hollow to hundreds of thousands of federal workers who were not getting paid.... Nearly all of those affected, the contractors, furloughed employees and employees who were working without pay, were experiencing a growing, gnawing anxiety.... The impasse may be centered within a few blocks in Washington, D.C., but the federal work force shouldering the burden is spread across the country.... Less-populated areas may be hit disproportionately hard, including small towns such as Pollock, La., where the biggest employer is a federal penitentiary.... In addition to the federal workers, thousands of people who work for contractors -- cleaning offices or serving food -- are missing wages, but are not considered in proposed legislation that promises back pay once a deal is worked out." ...
I was in the White House all by myself for six or seven days. It was very lonely. My family was down in Florida. I said stay there and enjoy yourself.... I was here on Christmas evening. I was all by myself in the White House. It's a big, big house -- except for the guys on the lawn with machine guns.... But I was all alone with the machine gunners.... [My job would be] a lot easier if I just relaxed and enjoyed the presidency like a lot of other people have done. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday ...
... Annie Karni of the New York Times: "The one thing President Trump has not talked about publicly during 13 days of the partial government shutdown is the 800,000 federal workers who are not being paid because of it. Mr. Trump's apparent indifference to the Transportation Security Administration agents, correctional officers, scientists and other federal employees caught in the cross hairs of a political standoff presents a remarkable contrast with how other presidents have made a point of trying to demonstrate their empathy during other shutdowns. In 2013, for instance, President Barack Obama wrote an open letter to the workers affected when the government was closed. 'None of this is fair to you,' he wrote, adding, 'You and your families remain at the front of my mind.'... Mr. Trump's one mention of government employees in his daily Twitter blasts in recent weeks made it that clear he viewed many of them as a hostile force, part of the 'deep state' he and his supporters mistrust. 'Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter last week." ...
... William Saletan of Slate on Trump's "explanations" for the shutdown. Funny, in a pathetic sort of way, more so if you're not directly affected by this particular manifestation of Trump's caprice.
They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. -- Donald Trump, announcing his candidacy for president in 2015 ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has shut down the government in a melodramatic effort to blackmail Congress into sending him unnecessary billions, supposedly to deter immigrants (but actually to boost his re-election chances). Because undocumented immigrants are such a threat to Americans. Oh, wait. Except those who work for him: ...
... Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A former employee of the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey said that her name was removed from a list of workers to be vetted by the Secret Service after she reminded management that she was unlawfully in the United States, the latest worker to assert that supervisors at the elite resort were aware that some members of their work force were undocumented.... Emma Torres ... said that she told a human resources employee, whose name she does not know, that she did not have legal status. She said that the woman replied, '"It's O.K. No problem." She scratched me off the list,' [but did not terminate Torres or other undocumented workers at the club]. The Bedminster golf club has recently terminated several workers who were determined to be ineligible to work in the country, according to several people familiar with the matter, following a New York Times report that revealed that immigrants who presented false documents were knowingly kept on the payroll, sometimes for years. A lawyer representing the women has met with investigators from the New Jersey attorney general's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presenting what he said was evidence that managers at the golf club knew that some workers were in the country illegally, and that at least one supervisor helped an employee obtain forged working documents." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I assume these Bedminister employees are the "good people"; not the criminals & rapists.
That Crazy "Cabinet Meeting"
Today's Presidential* Mystery. Who Has Donald's Ear? Rachel Maddow Is on the Case. Maddow, as is her wont, devoted two segments to this mystery, but the answer to the question, as yet a secret, is worth discovering. In yesterday's Commentariat, we linked Aaron Blake's take on Trump's "bizarre" aside during his rambling "Cabinet meeting" Wednesday on the history of the Soviet Union's disastrous war in Afghanistan. But, as Maddow pointed out, Trump's weird take precisely mirrors the Kremlin's new revisionist history of its "reason" for its war of aggression in Afghanistan: mythical Afghan terrorists sneaking into Russian territory. Then Maddow noted two other instances in which Trump, out of nowhere again, mimicked obscure Russian talking points, talking points at odd with, um, facts: (1) a claim he made this past summer that Montenegro was likely to start World War III because Montenegrans are "very aggressive people." (1) Right after he took office, the AP reported that the Trump administration was concerned about Poland's invading Belarus, another made-up piece of Russian propaganda. Clearly, somebody is feeding Trump Kremlin spin. No link. ...
... ** "To See Oursels as Ithers See Us!" Terry Glavin of Macleans (Canada) on Trump's claim that the Soviet Union was right to invade Afghanistan. Mrs. McC: This is a refreshing take on, well, us. The column begins, "It's been two years since a reality-television mogul, billionaire real estate grifter and sleazy beauty-pageant impresario who somehow ended up on the Republican ticket in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, failed to win the popular vote but fluked his way into the White House anyhow by means of an antique back-door anomaly peculiar to the American political system known as the Electoral College. We're now at the half-way mark of Donald Trump's term in the White House, and the relentless hum of his casual imbecilities, obscenities, banalities and outright fabrications has become so routine to the world's daily dread that it is now just background noise in the ever-louder bedlam of America's dystopian, freak-show political culture." ...
... Professor Juan Cole Schools the Presidunce: "'A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump's mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,' or, 'A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. star whom my compatriots in their wisdom made president'" --s ...
... Steve Benen: "About halfway through Donald Trump's odd cabinet meeting at the White House [Wednesday], Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker delivered some brief, gushing remarks about his deep admiration for his boss. 'Sir, Mr. President,' Whitaker said, 'I will start by highlighting the fact that you stayed in Washington, D.C. over the holidays, giving up Christmas with your family, New Year's with your family, trying to bring an end to this shutdown and security to our southern border, while members of Congress ... went on vacation and ignored the problem.'... But the president didn't spend late December 'trying to bring an end to this shutdown.' Rather, he spent the holidays tweeting and watching television. Trump could've held negotiations, called Congress to return to session, or worked the phones with lawmakers, trying to work out a deal, but he didn't do any of these things. In fact, there's no evidence of him doing any meaningful work on the issue at all." ...
... Chris Cillizza of CNN: "Like much of Trump's presidency, the [Cabinet] event felt entirely free-form -- as if Trump was making all of it up as he went. He seemed to support the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, proclaimed that he would have made a good military general and spouted falsehoods at an alarming rate -- even for him. I went through the transcript of the question-and-answer portion of Trump's Cabinet meeting and picked out the most, uh, noteworthy lines." Mrs. McC: Chris Cillizza is far from a serious guy, but compared to Trump, Cillizza is the Sage of Mount Washingtonia. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ...
... Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "... in general, Washington these days is hardly a town for optimists.... And how could it be, in this opening to the third year of Trump's Presidency?... Trump sent out a New Year's message on Tuesday that conveyed less year-opening enthusiasm than it did a warning about the crazy times to come.... On January 2nd, he convened a Cabinet meeting that seemed fully in keeping with his promise of a wild ride, offering an unscripted, extended look at a Presidency in meltdown mode.... The President's long discourse was a grievance-filled litany that offered little in the way of comfort for optimists of any party...."
Drumpy by the Numbers. Ryan Koronoswki of ThinkProgress: "Here is the truth of how the Trump administration is doing, looking at the numbers.... America's trade deficit hit $55.5 billion in October, rising almost a billion dollars from September. This is a ten-year high.... For the first time in almost a decade, the rate of uninsured children in the United States increased.... 276,000 more kids didn't have coverage in 2017 than in 2016, raising the total to 3.9 million.... Zero miles of new wall have been completed.... [Trump] also signed legislation opening up 1.5 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. This paired with some additional public lands changes ... adds up to 3.3 million acres which lost protections.... [A] Pew survey found that 70 percent of people across the globe said they lacked confidence in Trump&'s ability to do the right thing in world affairs.... Obama's rating [was] 64 percent at the end.... [I]n 2018, more coal-fired electricity generation capacity will be shut down than ever before -- 15.4 gigawatts, to be precise.... [T]here are actually 17 total investigations targeting Trump and his businesses[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Alan Yuhas of the New York Times: "Mexico has asked the United States for an investigation into American border officers' actions along the nations' shared border, two days after agents near San Diego used tear gas, smoke and pepper spray to repel a group of migrants trying to cross into the United States. On Thursday, Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it sent a diplomatic note to the United States Embassy about two episodes, on Jan. 1 and Nov. 25, in which American agents sent tear gas into Mexico near San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The note requested 'a thorough investigation' and 'deplores the occurrence of any sort of violent act on the border with Mexico,' the ministry said in a statement. Mexican officials also repeated their 'commitment to safeguard the human rights and safety of all migrants,' and said they would hold a meeting with the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Border Violence Prevention Council, a joint American-Mexican body meant to prevent violence at the border." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The first thing I thought when I read about U.S. Border Patrol agents firing tear gas into Mexico was, "Why is the Mexican government putting up with this? This is a violent, weaponized foreign attack on their country." Apparently, the new government agrees with me.
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department's public integrity section is examining whether newly departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his agency's inspector general investigators, according to three people familiar with the matter, a potential criminal violation that would exacerbate Zinke's legal woes. Zinke, who left the Trump administration Wednesday, was facing two inspector general inquiries tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his involvement in reviewing a proposed casino project by Native American tribes in Connecticut. In the course of that work, inspector general investigators came to believe Zinke had lied to them, and they referred the matter to the Justice Department to consider whether any laws were violated.... The Justice Department's interest in the matter is significant, signaling prosecutors felt Zinke's account was suspect and warranted further scrutiny. Department officials have not yet decided, though, whether he should face charges, people familiar with the matter said."
Clean-up Ops. Margaret Talev & Nick Wadhams of Bloomberg: "Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton plan to crisscross the Middle East to reassure nervous U.S. allies after ... Donald Trump's surprise withdrawal from Syria and Jim Mattis's resignation as defense secretary.... The two men face allies worried that Trump is ceding influence in the Middle East to Iran after his announcement that he'd remove U.S. military forces from Syria -- apparently a snap decision made during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan." ...
... Thomas Gibbons-Neff & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is considering Jim Webb, a former Democratic senator and Reagan-era secretary of the Navy, to be the next defense secretary, according to three officials, potentially bypassing more hawkish Republicans whose names have been floated to replace Jim Mattis. Mr. Webb, an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, is being considered as President Trump seeks to carry out campaign promises to withdraw American troops from Syria and Afghanistan.... How seriously he is being considered was unclear...."
Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "A pair of senior Senate Democrats are threatening to block the Trump administration's invitation of a sanctioned Russian official to visit the U.S. The threats -- from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Robert Menendez of New Jersey -- come in response to a recent Politico report about NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine's invitation to his Russian counterpart to visit Houston and speak at Rice University some time early this year.... The sanctioned official, Dmitry Rogozin, currently leads the Russian space agency, Roscosmos and previously served as deputy prime minister. He is among several Russian officials barred from entering the country under sanctions imposed by the Obama administration for their role in Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Rogozin is also an ultranationalist infamous at home and abroad for racist, homophobic and harsh anti-American rhetoric." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Why are we not surprised by Bridenstine's invitation to a racist, homophobic nationalist? Here's an excerpt from Sen. Patty Murray's (D-Wash.) floor speech opposing Bridenstine's confirmation to head NASA:
Rep. Bridenstine has openly expressed his opposition to the rights of LGBTQ individuals, immigrants, and women. In a May 2013 speech, he suggested that LGBTQ people were immoral, stating, 'some of us in America still believe in the concept of sexual morality.' And in response to the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling in 2013, he stated that he would keep fighting for 'traditional marriage.' Rep. Bridenstine has a history of supporting anti-Muslim groups and has consistently defended a number of President Trump's discriminatory policies on immigration, including the Muslim Travel Ban. He defended President Trump's comments about sexually assaulting women, saying they were 'locker room talk.' He has gone on shows and stages to stand with bigots and racists -- not to debate with them, but to agree with them. -- Sen. Patty Murray, April 18, 2018
Josh Lederman of NBC News: "On the first day of the new Senate, top Republicans are pushing back on President Trump's move to >withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria with a bill imposing new sanctions on the country and boosting security cooperation with neighboring Israel and Jordan. Although Congress can't force the commander-in-chief to keep troops in Syria, Senate aides say the move is designed to illustrate the need for a strong, continuing U.S. presence in the Middle East and re-assert the role of Congress on national security.... Senate Bill 1, introduced Thursday by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is being co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho. It's expected to be considered under what's known as Rule 14, which lets a bill bypass the time-consuming committee process and head directly to the Senate floor. Senate officials say they expect it to be one of the first pieces of business taken up by the new Senate."
Ed Kilgore: In the wake of Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members' disastrous performances during the Kavanaugh hearings, "Republicans hastened to supply some gender balance -- or cover, depending on how you look at it -- from the slim ranks of Republican women. They've placed Iowa's Joni Ernst and Tennessee's Marsha Blackburn on the committee. What Ernst and Blackburn ... bring to the table other than gender diversity are two assets: unquestioned party loyalty (Ernst recently joined the Senate GOP leadership, and Blackburn was in the House leadership) and a fervent commitment to the cause of outlawing abortion." Read on for their horrifying anti-abortion creds.
Linda Greenhouse: "Perhaps you haven't realized that the Supreme Court’s disinclination to expand on its landmark 2008 decision creating an individual right to gun ownership means that the justices are treating the Second Amendment as a 'second-class right.' A 'watered-down right.' A 'disfavored right.' If you are unaware of these outlandish claims, then you haven't tuned into the rising chorus of judicial voices demanding more from the Supreme Court than gun fanciers already won in that intensely disputed 5-to-4 decision a decade ago, District of Columbia v. Heller.... Justice Thomas ... has taken up the phrase ['second-class-right'] as a weapon, using it in a series of opinions over the past four years to accuse his colleagues of failing in their duty to keep pushing back against limitations on gun ownership and use.... On his former court, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Justice Kavanaugh took an aggressive gun-rights position.... The Supreme Court's appetite for expanding the Second Amendment, if such an appetite develops, will be wildly out of sync with the mood of the country.&"
Kevin Rawlinson of the Guardian: "The former US marine who is being held in Moscow on charges of spying is a British citizen, it has emerged. Paul Whelan, who is thought to be facing 20 years in a Russian prison if convicted, was initially thought to be American, but was revealed to be a dual national on Thursday evening. The UK Foreign Office said: 'Our staff have requested consular access to a British man detained in Russia after receiving a request for assistance from him.'... The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, met Whelan at Lefortovo prison, the former KGB facility where he is being held, the same day.... Whelan works for a Michigan-based car parts supplier and, according to the Rosbalt news agency, was arrested shortly after receiving a USB drive containing a classified list of names." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hmmm. Wonder if this dual-citizenship thing will change any plans Trump might have had to quickly trade Whelan for Maria Butina, the Russian who is cooperating with U.S. authorities & might implicate the NRA & other Trump supporters in criminal acts.
Beyond the Beltway
Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: "Voters dissatisfied with their local prosecutors -- who in several high-profile cases have shielded police from accountability by declining to charge them for killing unarmed black boys and men -- have sent old officials packing in favor of more reform-minded replacements. New top prosecutors in places like Cook County, Illinois, and Orange and Osceola Counties, Florida, have taken office on vows to curtail their predecessors' more punitive practices, especially concerning black and brown people. Nowhere was this more apparent than in St. Louis County, Missouri, where former-Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch guided a grand jury into declining charges against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown, a black teenager, in 2014. In August, McCulloch was primaried into early retirement by Wesley Bell, a fellow Democrat and black former Ferguson city councilman.... Since his swearing in on Tuesday, he has wasted little time demonstrating his intentions to fulfill his promise to 'fundamentally change the culture' of the office that his predecessor held for 27 years."
Florida. Casey Quilan of ThinkProgress: "A state-appointed commission investigating last year's school shooting in Parkland, Florida has issued a report that includes a recommendation to arm teachers [and install bulletproof glass]. The commission unanimously approved the report Wednesday.... An FBI study of 163 instances of mass shootings found that only one shooting was stopped by one armed person, compared to 21 shootings that were stopped by unarmed people.... Some of the other recommendations in the commission's report include mandatory lockdown training for teachers, increasing taxes to raise funds for more school security, doors that lock from the inside, safe areas for students to hide, and bulletproof glass on school windows." --s
Illinois. "Chicago Politics." Big Fish, Big Pond. Jason Meisner of the Chicago Tribune: "Longtime Ald. Edward Burke, one of Chicago's most powerful figures and a vestige of the city's old Democratic machine, has ... been ... charged ... with attempted extortion for allegedly using his position as alderman to try to steer business to his private law firm from a company seeking to renovate a fast-food restaurant in his ward. The charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.... The [federal criminal] complaint also alleged Burke asked one of the company's executives in December 2017 to attend an upcoming political fundraiser for 'another politician.' Sources identified the politician as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is running for Chicago mayor.... Prosecutors revealed during [a] 10-minute [bond] hearing [Thursday] that the FBI found 23 guns in the raids on Burke's City Hall and ward offices in November."
Maine. What a Difference a Democrat Makes. Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald: "Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order Thursday to expand Medicaid, fulfilling a campaign vow that ends the long delays imposed by the fervent opposition of her Republican predecessor, Paul LePage. More than 70,000 Mainers will be eligible for MaineCare health insurance under the expansion. Mills, who had promised to act on 'day one' of her administration, was sworn into office Wednesday evening and signed 'Executive Order 1' on Thursday.... 'More than a year ago, the people of Maine voted to expand Medicaid. Today, my administration is taking the long-awaited steps to fulfill their will,' Mills, a Democrat, said in a written statement." ...
... Eric Russell of the Portland Press Herald: "Paul LePage's last-minute pardon as governor of a former Republican lawmaker from Dresden for a drug trafficking conviction 35 years ago went against the recommendation of his own board on executive clemency. In fact, the board didn't even schedule a public hearing before rejecting the pardon request of Jeffrey Pierce, which makes LePage's decision even more unusual, said Lenny Sharon, an Auburn attorney who served on the board for 23 years. 'I've never seen it happen,' Sharon said. Other pardons were issued by LePage during his final days in office. It's possible that some were done in the same manner as Pierce's, but there is no way of knowing because Maine law was updated last year to make all pardon decisions confidential." Read on to see why the clemency board disapproved Pierce's application.
News Lede
New York Times: "The Labor Department released its official hiring and unemployment figures for December on Friday morning, offering the latest picture of the American economy. 312,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street analysts had anticipated an increase of about 180,000.... The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent. November's jobless rate was 3.7 percent.... The average hourly wage rose by 3.2 percent from a year earlier.... In the last couple of months, as stocks swayed and concern over the prospect of a recession ensued, the labor market was relatively steady. And December's numbers ended the year with a flourish.... And the unemployment rate seems to have risen for good reasons -- more people are being drawn into the job market, perhaps because of higher wages."
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The presidunce*, being a man stoop-ed in the world of media and teevee, sure picked a particular side-by-side image yesterday during the swearing-in ceremonies. Being the media dog he is, I'm sure it wasn't lost on him that this was the most diverse group of members ever, religiously, ethnically, and gender-wise. So what does he do to reassure his base? Calls on Bill Shine to gather him up some old Fox bot white boys who all strangely resemble skinheads. Surely a feature not a bug.
People are criticizing the Ogre for basically bullshitting through his speech. They're missing the point. The image was the message. It was either a world run by a woman with brown people in positions of power, or a white buffoon strong man backed by white buffoon strong men. Take ur pick, Fox Nation.
Moreover, if the celebrated wall had been built, those average white guys would be today's best representation of America. All the brown folks elected by Democrats on the other side of the screen? Those are the spawn of border hoppers, and look how they leapfrog you poor Fox folks when they get older and smarter. Now they're practically running the place. Be afraid, poor white folk, be very afraid.
What a day yesterday! Lovely to watch all the good feelings that seemed to waft through this House Warming with Nancy back in charge, with little children in attendance, with tears, hugs, and one felt something positive was taking place. But underneath already there are rumbles of turf resentment. These young, eager whipper snappers will learn in time that those that have been in the House longer than the four seasons are not going to roll over and play dead–-it will be interesting to watch how all this plays out.
But the most interesting scenario of all will be watching the man who would be King, if he could, deal with what's coming down the pike. What kind of "art" is he going to conjure up from his poor, deluded demented mindset while he sits with his tiny hands tucked petulantly into his armpits.
To piggyback on Safari's observation about the Fox view of How Things Should Be, it's only necessary to scroll through MSM headlines then look at Fox and Breitbart and headlines from other winger sources to see through the looking glass into the Bizarro World of the far right.
Where most outlets tout the rise of the representation of women in congress, on the right, all they see are uppity brown chicks who don't know nuttin' but are all about trying to screw 'merica, put abortion clinics next to every Starbucks, allow more brown people to stream into the country clutching their "How to Be a Terrorist" handbooks, dismantle the military, and begin taxing eight year olds' allowance money.
Barely 24 hours after taking control of the previously horribly out of control House, Fox is screaming that Democrats are well on the way to destroying the country. Sharia Law is right around the corner. Alexandria Orcasio Cortez has become their new punching bag. She is a combination Lenin, Stalin, and Satan. But they also see her presence as a harbinger of destructive turmoil within the "Democrat" Party. She hates Pelosi, Pelosi hates her, they both are incredibly unfair to the Glorious Leader and they have secret plans to railroad him in some conspiratorial plot through an illegal attempt to impeach his highness.
It's a case of Sky is Falling Dementia on the right. They had complete control for several years and they still couldn't do shit, but now that the Democrats are in place for less than a day, it's time for them (the Democrats) to go so R's can take over again.
Of course there's the usual Trump hagiography peppered with the standard right-wing "woe is us, we're victims" mentality.
Nonetheless, a window into the minds of wingers. It ain't pretty, it ain't rational, and it ain't true, but none of that has ever mattered.
PD,
We're already seeing what Fatty is likely to do. Lies and more lies has always been a primary ingredient in any Trump casserole, but I'm betting we'll see him start to whip up the more violent types who support his highness. The image of skinheads backing him is not an accident, as Safari has suggested. And as Marie points out, a lot of these border patrol "agents" are guys too unstable or stupid to make it on a professional police force.
Anyone who has ever had an encounter with small town local police versus say, state police, can tell right away the difference in training and demeanor. State police tend to be well trained professionals. And this isn't to say that all local cops are corrupt and incompetent, but a lot of cop wannabes who wash out of the state police end up on local forces. And a lot of guys who wash out of local forces end up as security guards at the mall or on gigs like border patrol.
I'm sure some border patrol employees are professional, committed, and well trained, but after Fatty started sounding the alarm about the rapists and drug dealers streaming into the country, he began hiring anyone who could fire a gun while playing with themselves. The goons he brought with him to that "event", such as it was, yesterday, are regular Fox chicken-littles so I'm gonna suggest that they are probably not in the first category.
But Trump has always appealed to the violent, take no prisoner types, those who see in his braggadocio and insulting, threatening manner a fellow traveler, someone who doesn't care about niceties like restraint in accordance with the law, decency. This is why Nazis love him (and vice versa).
Look for Fatty to whip up more hatred and resentment as the noose tightens.
Oh yeah, and a lot more lying.
Tom Toles summed up it quite succinctly:
"At some point, the message went from being that the market is best for moving resources around for economic efficiencies to the idea that the market is best for deciding societal outcomes."
Let's not forget that now that the Republicans and their enablers in the MSM are busy trying to paint Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as some wild-eyed radical or Elizabeth Warren as un-electable.
Speaking of the "clean up ops" by Bolton & Pompous, I literally cringed when our Dear Leader McMoron repeatedly referred to Syria as nothing but "sand and death". He said it something like 5 times. Anyone that's read a decent history book or walked through a major museum has come across the incredible civilizations that have thrived in the Middle East's Fertile Crescent region. Surely @AK could give a better vision than I, but I've had the opportunity to see some amazing architectural ruins, ancient sculptures and texts, and taste some amazing Syrian cuisine, passed down through the centuries. The country's government has undoubtedly spiraled down into the gutter, but to summarize an entire culture as "sand and death", I can't imagine how insulting that has to sound for all the proud Middle-Easterners watching in complete disgust as the POTUS* make these degrading remarks on live teevee. Even BFF Bin "Bonesaw" Salman has to take this as a slap to the face as Drumpf pisses all over Saudi history and civilization, only interested in the oil wealth below all that sand.
Soon we're going to have pull the cameras whenever he starts pontificating on world history for national security reasons as he feeds Al-Qaeda propaganda videos with endless "America Hates Islam" rhetoric straight from the horses ass.
Waaaaaahhhh....
Someone, recently, I think it may have been Harry Reid, posited that the biggest problem for Fatty (in addition to all the others) is that he has no connection with, or conception of, the real world most of the rest of us inhabit. He's never really had to work hard. He's never had to apply for a job or worry about a paycheck. Maybe when he was younger he worked at getting his puss in the tabloids, but for him, that was mostly fun, not work. He's never had to worry about money or a place to live or whether he could afford braces for the kids AND new clothes for the school year.
He's never had to opt for the generic soup rather than Campbells or Progresso on a tight budget week. He's never had to climb under the car and change the oil or replace the spark plugs, never had to climb a ladder and clean out the gutters (even though he and gutters are on a first name basis), never had to wait in line to get his check cashed and worry about making a mortgage payment after having to buy a new used car.
That's not to say that all rich people are completely divorced from the real world, but Trump is a special case. He has lived his entire life in a hermetically sealed bubble that has protected him from all the normal vicissitudes and anxiety that most people experience. Plus, he's always been a narcissistic asshole to top it off.
So when I read about him whining about being "all alone" in the White House and what a sad he has about that, I wanna tell him to grow up and shut his mouth. Just think about that for a second. "All alone. In the WHITE HOUSE!!!" You are the president, you fucking moron. And you're complaining? You live in the WHITE HOUSE! Something only a handful of people alive today can say. But, oh...poor, poor, pitiful me. And it's not like he was working. He's wandering around, watching TV, munching on junk food, tweeting away like a maniac.
I've had jobs where I worked around the clock on Christmas and New Years, and I never complained. It wasn't the most fun, but you do what you have to do. It was part of the job. Plenty of other people do the same.
But not Fatty. This is the very first time in his entire life (and he's now over 70!) where he's in a position in which he can't do exactly as he wants when he wants (even though he tries). So fuck him and his crybaby bullshit.
Maybe he'd prefer to spend the holidays in a prison cell.
I wouldn't complain.
@Akhilleus: See the tweet President Bizarro sent this morning. I think he's IN-SANE. Really.
New York has a feature by Jonathan Chait
"The review of Trump’s life is only beginning now. It will probably tell us that Trump is not merely a politician who has abused his power, or a businessman who has cut corners. : "He is a criminal who happened to be elected president. "
"...the most successful first two years of any president."
Wow. I'd hate to see what Fatso might consider two years that were just okay. Worldwide zombie eruption? A return of the plague? Invasion by human-eating aliens? Nightly prime time re-runs of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo"?
The scariest thing about this latest example of dementia is that he really believes this shit.
Can you imagine what would happen if they actually did impeach this idiot? He'd declare martial law. He'd have the Oval Office door boarded shut with him inside waving a gun around. They'd have to lure him out with cell phones showing clips of Fox and Friends talking about his greatness. "Look, Donnie. Here's Steve and Brian. They still love you. And that blonde girl, whatzername? The one you like? She's talking about how manly you are...C'mon...that-a-boy..."
The Chait article, suggested by MAG, is accompanied by a shot of Fatty's announcement, that day he descended like an orange deity down the escalator in the lobby of the Trump Mausoleum to a cheering crowd (that appearance has always reminded me of the descent of Hitler through the clouds at the beginning of Leni Riefenstahl's masterpiece of propaganda, "Triumph of the Will", landing to the cheers of his delusional followers).
Trump's appearance, like almost everything he does, was cheesy and cut-rate. And let's not forget that his "cheering crowd" was bought and paid for. He hired actors at $50 a head (then tried to stiff them). The rest were either press or Trump sycophants dragged out of offices to hosanna the great Donald.
So Fatty's crowd that day was not made up of delusional followers but paid actors, the working press, and his own employees. Later on, we'd all hear claims of gigantic crowds of tens of thousands (even when the crowds were barely a thousand).
You want fake? I give you little donnie j. trumpy, nine year old con man.
Yup, he really said that...
At a meeting today between the stampy-feet babies and the adults, the little dictator, in classic Trumpy style, told those in attendance that he has no problem keeping the Trump/McConnell shutdown going for months, or even years.
This was reported by Chuck Schumer after the meeting. When asked whether he actually said such a crazy thing, Fatty proudly acknowledged that he did in fact declare he'd keep the government closed for years until he gets his way.
What the country might look like after a couple of years of no functioning government is anyone's guess but I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say that it wouldn't be pretty.
He really has no concern for anyone but himself. Government workers are already into their second week without a check and for those who live paycheck to paycheck, with mortgage payments due, groceries to buy, car payments, doctors' bills...it's a nightmare. He couldn't possibly care less. It's always all about the Donald. Fuck everyone else.
He really is an asshole of galactic proportions.
And let's see how long he sticks to the admission that he said he'd let the government die on the vine after he gets some blowback. By this time tomorrow, it will be the latest "fake news" story. He never said any such thing. Chuck Schumer made it all up to make him look bad.
A lot of things making Fatty look bad these days. Wonder what that's all about? (*snicker*)
Funny thing about how a lot of TSA screeners and other essential "must work" types are calling in sick.
Bobby Lee,
I wasn't aware of these sickouts. Thanks for the update.
Contrary to how the Trump Traitors might characterize these no-shows (everyone should be ready to work for months, or years even, so as not to make the little dictator "look foolish"), it seems that many of the no-shows are doing so to take care of their kids, especially now that they can't afford day-care or baby sitters as well as food and rent.
These are things fatso has never had to deal with, but he has no problem threatening these people with a year or more of this bullshit so he can look good.
I will never vote for a single Democrat who caves to this self-serving, traitorous piece of shit.
Fatty broadcasts his opinion that today's meeting was great. Democrats (adults) at the meeting indicate that there is no way things are getting better. Fatso demands that everyone give in to his demands or else. It's funny how Fox and the Confederates all scream about how horrible it is that Democrats refuse to compromise.
In fact, the only group unwilling to give an inch are the Trumpy Traitors, Mitch McConnell, et al. They insist on their position and demand that everyone else kowtow to them.
This is all on them. And if a plethora of TSA employees are unable, or unwilling, to show up for work because Fatty cares more about being seen as a loser than he does about making sure government employees have food on the table, then what we'll see is a perfect storm of endangerment.
If I was a terrorist asshole, I would look at this as the perfect time to kill people. Fatty has given them carte blanche to do whatever they want.
Thanks, little donnie!