The Commentariat -- July 30, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday doubled down on his threat to shut down the government to secure enhanced border security measures. 'If we don't get border security after many, many years of talk ... 'I would have no problem doing a shutdown,' Trump said during a joint press conference with Italy's prime minister."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "President Trump's defense in the Russia investigation has been a study in goal-post moving -- constantly watering down previous denials and raising the standard for what would constitute actual wrongdoing. But rarely has it been so concentrated in one morning.... Rudolph W. Giuliani appeared on Fox News's and CNN's morning shows.... The most notable portion of the interviews was when Giuliani rekindled the idea that collusion isn't even a crime. Trump's defenders have occasionally noted that the word doesn't appear in the criminal code -- which is true but misleading -- but Giuliani took it a step further: He basically suggested Trump would have had to pay for Russia to interfere on his behalf[:]... 'Hacking is the crime. The president didn't hack. He didn't pay for the hacking.'... Giuliani also seemed to offer a very narrow denial of what happened with the Trump Tower meeting.... Giuliani focused his defense on arguing not necessarily that Trump didn't know about it -- but that he wasn't physically at meetings at which information from Russians was discussed. And he did it on both shows." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "I think we can all agree that Trump lacks the technical expertise to personally design and execute a spearfishing attack on John Podesta or the Democratic National Committee.... What we have seen over the last day is a sharp turn in the pro-Trump message, from denying that any collusion took place to redefining what collusion means and whether it is okay.... If Trump solicited the hacking, or was an accessory to the crime, his lawyer is prepared to paint him as innocent.... As you watch Trump's defenders retreating over the horizon, a salient fact to bear in mind is that there are probably more revelations to come with regard to collusion." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: By Giuliani's standards, most of the famous murdering dictators in history were innocent! because they weren't the ones who actually set the bomb, pulled the trigger or released the bow a million times. ...
... Kevin Drum: "So: Trump didn't pay the Russians to hack the DNC server and he wasn't physically present at the Trump Tower meeting. As far as I know, no one has ever accused him of either of these things, but now that he's denied them I suppose my working assumption is that he did pay for the hacks and he was at the Trump Tower meeting." ...
... Oops! Rudy Let Slip Another Trump Tower Meeting. Josh Marshall: "... from the start, I've had the sense that Giuliani does know specifically what Cohen is talking about but is denying the specifics.... In a back and forth with CNN's Alisyn Carmerota, [Giuliani] appears to say that two days before the meeting with the Russian lawyer there was a planning meeting to prepare for that meeting. This prep meeting would have been on June 7th, 2016. Giuliani says that meeting included Don Jr., Jared Kushner, Manafort, Rick Gates and others.... I don't think I'd ever heard of this planning meeting.... It suggests that the Trump team took the planned encounter with the Russian government emissary much more seriously than they've suggested to date.... Gates is now a cooperating witness. Big problem for the Trump Team, if he was at such a planning meeting.... June 7th. That's the date when Trump made that primary election night victory speech where he teased his upcoming anti-Hillary speech where he'd reveal a bunch of new dirt on Hillary, a speech that ended up never happening.... It lines up perfectly with what many have long suspected: that Trump was so excited about the dirt his campaign was going to receive from Russia two days later that he couldn't help but brag about it in public that night." ...
... David Jackson of USA Today: "Rudy Giuliani ... says his team is preparing a 'counter-report' designed to rebut any accusations that special counsel Robert Mueller makes in his expected report about the Russia investigation. Giuliani told USA Today that he believed Mueller's team is 'writing the report as we speak.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hold on a minute. If Team Trump is writing a "counter-report," then they must strongly suspect Mueller's report will show some evidence of criminal or civil liability to "counter." You don't write a "counter-report" when the original report is an extended encomium. ...
... Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "... Rudy Giuliani has angrily compared Michael Cohen to famous traitors Benedict Arnold, Brutus and Iago.... Giuliani also called Cohen a 'scumbag' and repeated a claim that investigators have seized more than 180 tapes made by Cohen, which he claimed without offering evidence Cohen had doctored, and said no one on the tapes knew they were being recorded. He said again that only one of those tapes contains Trump's voice."
Patrick Temple-West & Victoria Guida of Politico: "Some of the biggest winners from ... Donald Trump's new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares. A Politico review of data disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings shows the executives, who often receive most of their compensation in stock, have been profiting handsomely by selling shares since Trump signed the law on Dec. 22 and slashed corporate tax rates to 21 percent. That trend is likely to increase, as Wall Street analysts expect buyback activity to accelerate in the coming weeks. 'It is going to be a parade of eye-popping numbers,' said Pat McGurn, the head of strategic research and analysis at Institutional Shareholder Services, a shareholder advisory firm."
Josh Eidelson of Bloomberg: "Six years before .. Donald Trump nominated him for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh sided with Trump Entertainment Resorts' successful effort to thwart a unionization drive at one of its casinos. Kavanaugh was one of three Republican-appointed judges who in 2012 voted unanimously to set aside an order by the National Labor Relations Board that would have required the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to bargain with the United Auto Workers. The casino has since shut down. But labor advocates point to the case -- as well as ones where he backed management at Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Venetian hotel and at SeaWorld after an orca killed a worker -- as evidence that Kavanaugh may hobble enforcement of workplace laws and the already-embattled union movement. 'Kavanaugh, along with Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch -- and Roberts along for the ride -- will comprise the most radical, anti-labor-law Supreme Court in my lifetime," said University of Wyoming law professor Michael Duff, a former attorney for the NLRB...." ...
... Elana Schor of Politico: "Sen. Rand Paul announced his support for Brett Kavanaugh on Monday, cutting short speculation over whether the Kentucky Republican might actually oppose ... Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee over his record on privacy." Mrs. McC: Two people who weren't speculating all that much were Akhilleus & Jeanne (see today's thread).
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** Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump and the publisher of The New York Times, A. G. Sulzberger, engaged in a fierce public clash on Sunday over Mr. Trump's threats against journalism, after Mr. Sulzberger said the president misrepresented a private meeting and Mr. Trump accused The Times and other papers of putting lives at risk wit irresponsible reporting. Mr. Trump said on Twitter that he and Mr. Sulzberger had discussed 'the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, "Enemy of the People." Sad!' In a five-paragraph statement issued two hours after the tweet, Mr. Sulzberger said he had accepted Mr. Trump's invitation for the July 20 meeting mainly to raise his concerns about the president's 'deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric.' 'I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous,' said Mr. Sulzberger, who became publisher of The Times on Jan. 1. 'I told him that although the phrase "fake news" is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists "the enemy of the people,"' Mr. Sulzberger continued. 'I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence.'" Read on. ...
... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Trump escalated his feud with the news media on Sunday, accusing journalists of being unpatriotic and endangering lives after the publisher of the New York Times disclosed that he had warned Trump recently that his inflammatory rhetoric about the media could lead to violence. Trump ... fired off a Twitter tirade Sunday afternoon from his New Jersey golf estate.... 'When the media -- driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome -- reveals internal deliberations of our government, it truly puts the lives of many, not just journalists, at risk! Very unpatriotic!' Trump wrote." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I missed this WashPo story (July 25) by Isaac Stanley-Becker: "During his speech [to the VFW] in Kansas City, Mo., Trump lashed out at the news media, which prompted some in the audience to boo and heckle members of the press. Within hours, the VFW rebuked its members for taunting the press and distanced itself from the president's words. 'We were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press during President Trump's remarks,' the organization said in a statement. 'We rely on the media to spread the VFW message, and CNN, NBC News, ABC News, Fox News, CBS News, and others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.' It was an awkward moment for an organization that has hosted presidents of both parties going back years without having to weigh in afterward to clarify its values." Rucker mentions the VFW's rebuking in the story linked above. ...
... David Boddinger of Splinter: "To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump proved once again his word is meaningless. On July 20, Trump privately met at the White House with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and Editorial Page Editor James Bennet, in what the Times described as a traditional meeting between a president and a newspaper publisher. The president's aides requested the meeting to be off the record. But the impulsive president couldn't keep his manic Twitter fingers at bay and broke the agreement on Sunday...." ...
... ** AND Across the Pond. Guardian: Editors: "The weekend report by the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee on disinformation and 'fake news' is a report that deserves to be described as essential reading.... The government's reaction to it will be a defining statement of its own moral seriousness and worthiness to govern. The issues raised in the report are existential for parliamentary democracy and for rational public policy-making.... What is at stake is the threat from unregulated social media monopolies and from bold and well-funded activist conspiracies.... Yet what is ultimately at stake here concerns the future even more than the past. The report is a wake-up call about the failures of traditional governance.... But it can be tackled by absolute clarity about the threat and its impact in every future electoral contest...." --safari
Matt Shuham of TPM: "... Donald Trump capped a day of rambling tweets -- about the New York Times, 'consequences' for people who cross the border illegally and his bizarre and false claim that he has the 'highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party' -- with a string of provable falsehoods and unspecified accusations about special counsel Robert Mueller[:] 'There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam!' 'Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend..' '....Also, why is Mueller only appointing Angry Dems, some of whom have worked for Crooked Hillary, others, including himself, have worked for Obama....And why isn't Mueller looking at all of the criminal activity & real Russian Collusion on the Democrats side - Podesta, Dossier?'" Shuham debunks some of this nonsense.
Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government this fall if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall. 'I would be willing to "shut down" government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!' Trump tweeted. 'Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!' Trump's shutdown warning -- which he has made before -- escalates the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, raising the possibility of a political showdown before the Nov. 6 midterm elections that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid. A funding fight also could prove a distraction from Republican efforts in the Senate to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh by Oct. 1. Trump faced immediate words of caution from top Republicans...." (An earlier version of this report was linked yesterday.)
Margaret Hartmann: "As if he didn't have enough on his plate between renovating Air Force One and pondering how to add a ballroom to the White House (and whatever presidential duties he squeezes in after 'executive time'), Axios reports that President Trump has been 'obsessed with the FBI building' for months. The J. Edgar Hoover Building has been added to his list of frequent rant topics, and Axios says he thinks micromanaging the project is a good way for his sidelined chief of staff to occupy his time.... But why is Trump so interested in providing his foes in the FBI with cushier headquarters? Theory 1: Trump Is an Architecture Snob.... Theory 2: Trump Has a Passion for Construction That Won't Be Denied.... Theory 3: FBI Headquarters Is Literally Falling Apart.... Theory 4: The FBI Building Mars the View From the Trump International Hotel[.]" Mrs. McC: I'm with Trump, et al., on the "aesthetics" of the Hoover building. They ain't none.
Sharon LaFraniere & Emily Baumgaertner of the New York Times: "Paul Manafort ... is scheduled to go to trial on financial fraud charges starting on Tuesday in United States District Court in Alexandria, Va. The main points to be aware of: It is the first trial stemming from charges brought by Robert S. Mueller III.... Prosecutors have said they do not intend to delve into questions about collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in this case, which focuses on how Mr. Manafort handled the money he earned working as a consultant in Ukraine. The trial is expected to last at least three weeks, and a second trial is scheduled to follow starting in September. In that case, Mr. Manafort will face related charges in United States District Court in the District of Columbia." The reporters run down FAQs about the cases against Manafort.
Obstruction of Justice, Congressional-Style. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "... much of what President Trump's House Republican allies have been doing cannot be called oversight; it is political skullduggery intended to protect the president and undermine the investigation into Russian interference with our democracy.... The constitutional provision protects members of Congress from being sued or prosecuted for carrying out their official duties. However, there is nothing official in sneaking over to the White House to review classified materials and then publicly misrepresenting them [as Devin Nunes did]. There is nothing official in outing a confidential source.... Congressmen, Trump lawyers and White House aides conferring with intent to mislead investigators and the public, to disable the inquiry and/or to discredit law enforcement sounds an awful lot like obstruction of justice. Conversations or documents relating to that sort of conspiracy are in no way privileged. An investigation into Republican House members' antics is critical if we want to hold them responsible for actions injurious to our criminal justice system. It is also necessary in order to uncover who if anyone they were colluding with on the White House side of the operation."
Rudy Is Confused. Mitchell Alva of ABC News: "... Donald Trump's legal team [to-wit, Rudy Giuliani] is on the attack against ... Michael Cohen, saying he violated attorney-client privilege by releasing a taped conversation of him and Trump about payments to a former Playboy model. But Cohen attorney Lanny Davis called the attack baseless, and ABC News' chief legal analyst also said Trump's lawyers may have difficulty backing up their claim.... 'Mr. Giuliani seems to be confused,' Davis said. 'He expressly waived attorney-client privilege last week and repeatedly and inaccurately - as proven by the tape - talked and talked about the recording, forfeiting all confidentiality.' On 'This Week' Sunday, ABC Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams told Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz that Giuliani has 'waived attorney-client privilege' in regard to the tape." ...
... CBS News: "President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani says that federal investigators have 183 'unique conversations' recorded by Michael Cohen, the president's former attorney and fixer. Mr. Trump is heard on one of those recordings, which has already been made public, Giuliani said on 'Face the Nation' Sunday. 'We know of something like 183 unique conversations on tape. One of those is with the president of the United States. That's the three-minute one involving the McDougal payment, AMI-McDougal payment,' Giuliani said, referring to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with the president. 'There are 12 others, maybe 11 or 12 others out of the 183, in which the president is discussed at any length by Cohen, mostly with reporters.' Giuliani said he doesn't know the contents of the recordings that don't include or mention Mr. Trump, but said federal prosecutors would have turned them over to him if they related to the president."
** E.J. Dionne: "... Putin's Russia is creating a new Reactionary International built around nationalism, a critique of modernity and a disdain for liberal democracy. Its central mission includes wrecking the Western alliance and the European Union by undermining a shared commitment to democratic values.... The dominant thrust of Putinism is toward the far right, because a nationalism rooted in Russian traditionalism cements his hold on power.... In a prescient March 2017 article in Time magazine, Alex Altman and Elizabeth Dias detailed Russia's 'new alliances with leading U.S. evangelicals, lawmakers and powerful interest groups like the NRA.' Evangelical Christians, they noted, found common ground with Putin, a strong foe of LGBTQ rights, on the basis of 'Moscow's nationalist and ultraconservative push -- led by the Russian Orthodox Church -- to make the post-Soviet nation a bulwark of Christianity amid the increasing secularization of the West.' Altman and Dias highlighted the role of Maria Butina, a Russian national who was in court last week following her indictment for conspiring to act as a foreign agent.... Republicans should bear in mind that disrupting Robert S. Mueller III's probe serves Putin's interests, not just Trump's." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I missed Susan Glasser's commentary last week (New Yorker -- July 27) on Mike Pompeo's Helsinki-cleanup testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but it's still worth reading.
Frank Bruni of the New York Times: "There are problems with impeaching Donald Trump. A big one is the holy terror waiting in the wings. That would be Mike Pence, who mirrors the boss more than you realize. He's also self-infatuated. Also a bigot. Also a liar. Also cruel. To that brimming potpourri he adds two ingredients that Trump doesn't genuinely possess: the conviction that he's on a mission from God and a determination to mold the entire nation in the shape of his own faith, a regressive, repressive version of Christianity. Trade Trump for Pence and you go from kleptocracy to theocracy."
Politico staff run down a list of 52 "train wrecks" since the arrival of hapless Gen. John Kelly. --safari ...
... Eliana Johnson of Politico: "A year into the job, [John] Kelly's attempts to implement traditional processes in an untraditional White House have failed.... Many of Trump's friends and advisers have concluded the president doesn't really want a chief of staff -- and he has several confidants urging him to operate without one. But for this president, keeping Kelly around offers the best of both worlds: somebody to blame when things go awry but nobody fettering his freedom of action. Kelly, people around him say, no longer works to keep his mercurial boss on task or on message, with a Republican close to the White House referring to him as a 'chief of staff in name only.'" --safari
Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "In one of his first acts as President Trump's Veterans Affairs secretary, Robert Wilkie intends to reassign several high-ranking political appointees at the center of the agency's ongoing morale crisis and staffing exodus.... Wilkie, who will be sworn in Monday, wants to form his own leadership team..., and to ease lawmakers' continued concern that VA, historically a nonpartisan corner of the government, has become highly politicized. He discussed the proposed personnel moves with Trump in recent days aboard Air Force One, while en route to a veterans convention in Kansas City, Mo.... Announcements could come as soon as this week, pending approval from the White House Personnel Office." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Say what? A Trump cabinet member who wants to do a good job & actually drain Trump's swamp? This guy is not fitting in. Howevah, he has previously worked for Sens. Jesse Helms & Trent Lott, so I'm guessing he is not all bipartisany.
Jacob Soboroff & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "The federal judge overseeing the court-ordered reunification of 2,551 migrant children separated from their parents ordered the Trump administration to provide detailed information in order to locate hundreds of what he called 'missing parents' the government had deemed ineligible for reunification. Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California on Friday mandated that the Trump administration turn over a list by Wednesday of all parents deemed 'ineligible' for reunification by the government, including those who have been deported, those who have been released into the United States and those who were not reunited because of criminal history." ...
KKK Steven Miller Runs TrumpenMerika. Dara Lind of Vox: "A lawyer claims that several fathers have been separated from their children by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a second time.... The fathers say that shortly after being reunited with their teenage children, they were presented with forms that gave them three 'options' ... -- with the option for deporting the child along with the parent already selected.... Parents who attempted to cross that out and choose the second option -- being deported while allowing their children to pursue their case and stay in the US -- were yelled at by the ICE agents or told they simply were not allowed to select another option.... When, ultimately, the four fathers whose accounts are represented ... succeeded in selecting the option of getting deported on their own, they were prevented from saying goodbye to their children." --safari
... Addy Baird of ThinkProgress: "The Republican National Committee railed against the 'mainstream media' on Twitter Saturday afternoon, hitting the media for its 'negative' coverage of President Trump's immigration policies. 'New study from the Media Research Center finds that 92% of news coverage related to @realDonaldTrump';s immigration policy is negative,' the GOP tweeted.... It's hard to put a positive spin on stories about children telling their loved ones they're being abused by government officials in jail-like conditions." --safari
TMZ: "Donald Trump's [Hollywood] Walk of Fame star has been a lightning rod for violence, but it's going to ... stay put because cops and the group that manages the Walk of Fame don't want it 86'd.... As we reported, violence erupted Thursday night where protesters punched, kicked and otherwise abused their opponents. And, the star has been destroyed twice ... most recently this week when a Trump foe went at it with a pickax." (Also linked yesterday.)
William Saletan of Slate: "[Jim] Jordan -- one of the most sanctimonious ideologues in Congress -- is wading ever deeper into a cover-up of his own.... But now Jordan is going further. He's denying not just that he knew about abuse, but also that other coaches or administrators did.... But by escalating his denials, Jordan is exposing himself to ever greater legal and political jeopardy.... The OSU scandal is likely to get worse.... On July 20, OSU said its own investigators had already interviewed 'more than 100 former students who report firsthand accounts of sexual misconduct committed by Strauss.'... OSU's investigators interviewed Jordan on July 16..., and attorneys for plaintiffs in at least one of the lawsuits expect to call him as a witness." --safari
Congressional Races
George Packer of the New Yorker: "... three months from now, American democracy will be on the line. The midterm elections in November are the last remaining obstacle to President Trump's consolidation of power.... [Despite Republican advantages in every corner of government & social media,] public opinion still plays a central role in safeguarding democracy, and it becomes decisive through voting. Demonstrations can capture attention and build solidarity, books can provide arguments, social media can organize resistance. But if the Republicans don't suffer a serious defeat in November, Trump will go into 2020 with every structural advantage."
Meet Your GOP. Kelly Weill of The Daily Beast: "Corey Stewart, the Republican candidate for Senate in Virginia, has been shunned by his own party over his ties with neo-Confederate groups and his refusal to condemn white supremacist violence. That hasn't stopped several activists who express similarly extreme views from working for Stewart. One of Stewart's spokespersons, Rick Shaftan, tweeted that three majority-black U.S. cities were 'shitholes' and repeatedly warned against opening businesses in black neighborhoods.... Shaftan has also worked for a political action committee that supported Paul Nehlen, a far-right candidate running for a House seat from Wisconsin. Nehlen has long expressed anti-Muslim views, and beginning late 2017 started posting explicitly anti-Semitic content, including an image of Jews' heads on pikes in the Oval Office." --safari
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Now that President Trump has nominated Judge [Brett] Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the opacity of his testimony about [George W.] Bush's signing statements, including about the torture ban, is becoming a case study for Democrats' vehement arguments that the Senate must see his staff secretary files before any confirmation hearing.... Senate Republicans are pushing to move forward on the nomination without asking the National Archives to provide those documents.... Emails disclosed last year during the confirmation of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, another Bush administration veteran, revealed that there had been a high-level internal fight about what the signing statement on the torture ban should say. But those emails did not show how Judge Kavanaugh eventually presented the matter to Mr. Bush."
Dan Berman of CNN: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she hopes to stay on the Supreme Court until the age of 90. 'I'm now 85,' Ginsburg said on Sunday. 'My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.' She has already hired law clerks for at least two more terms."
Deanna Paul of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit scolded a veteran judge for making sexist comments in his Houston courtroom, calling his remarks 'demeaning, inappropriate, and beneath the dignity' of his profession. U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes had been presiding over a criminal case against Simone Swenson, an adoption agency owner charged with fraud." Hughes dismissed the Swenson indictment because a female federal prosecutor turned over discovery documents at the last minute, although federal rules permit such late submissions. "Then he said, 'It was a lot simpler when you guys wore dark suits, white shirts and navy ties,' ... according to the 5th Circuit. 'We didn't let girls do it in the old days.'... In reinstating the Swenson case, the appellate court also took an unusual action: It ordered Hughes, now 76, to be replaced with a different judge." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hughes is a Reagan appointee. Apparently he doesn't care much for women. Here's one of his rulings that shows up on his Wikipage: "In the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Houston Funding II, Ltd. et al...., Donnicia Venters, a mother represented by the EEOC, claimed that she was fired from Houston Funding due to her request to be allowed to pump breastmilk upon her return to work after giving birth.... Venters sued Houston Funding, alleging that the company had discriminated against her based on her sex.... Judge Hughes explained that breastfeeding is not covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.... '... lactation is not pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition. She gave birth on Dec. 11, 2009. After that day, she was no longer pregnant and her pregnancy-related conditions ended. Firing someone because of lactation or breast-pumping is not sex discrimination." Hughes was overruled by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals...." Trump will probably give the old codger a presidential medal. He thinks pumping breastmilk is "disgusting."
Rebecca Berg of CNN: "The influential conservative Koch network opened up their summer meeting with an emphasis on bipartisanship while also delivering sharp critiques of ... Donald Trump and his administration. 'The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage,' said network co-chair Brian Hooks, who also chided elected officials who are 'following' his lead.The Koch network's influence, even among Republicans, has come into question in the conventional-wisdom-shredding era of Trump. The network has during the past year and a half fruitlessly pushed for comprehensive health care and immigration reform; and like other leading conservative groups, the network has been powerless to persuade the President to rethink his strategy on trade generally and tariffs specifically.... The network, led by billionaire Charles Koch, [is gearing] up to spend millions to protect Republican majorities in Washington." ...
... Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Top officials with the donor network affiliated with billionaire industrialist Charles Koch this weekend sought to distance the network from the Republican Party and President Trump, citing tariff and immigration policies and 'divisive' rhetoric out of Washington. At a gathering of hundreds of donors [in Colorado Springs]..., officials reiterated their plans to spend as much as $400 million on policy issues and political campaigns during the 2018 cycle. Earlier this year, they announced heavy spending aimed at helping Republicans to hold the Senate. But in a warning shot at Trump and the GOP, network co-chair Brian Hooks lamented 'tremendous lack of leadership' in Trump's Washington and the 'deterioration of the core institutions of society.'" ...
... Mercers 1 Kochs 0. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon tore into the powerful Koch political network Sunday, accusing it of undermining President Donald Trump ahead of a midterm election that threatens to derail his presidency. 'What they have to do is shut up and get with the program, OK?' Bannon said in an interview with Politico. 'And here's the program: Ground game to support Trump's presidency and program, [and] victory on Nov. 6.'...'They were the first people to put the knife in his back,' he said. A Koch network spokesman, James Davis, shrugged off the criticism." --safari
Robert Booth of the Guardian: "A senior MP [Damian Collins] has called for a 'proper independent investigation' into claims Qatar launched a secret campaign to discredit its rivals to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.... [Qatar allegedly] hired a PR agency and former CIA operatives to disseminate fake propaganda about its main competitors, the USA and Australia..., included paying a professor $9,000 (£6,900) to write a damning report on the economic cost of a US World Cup, recruiting journalists and bloggers to promote negative stories in the US, Australian and international media, and organising grassroots protests at rugby matches in Australia.... A group of American PE teachers had been recruited to ask congressmen to oppose a US World Cup on the grounds the money would be better spent on high school sports.... Qatar's organising committee said it rejected the allegations." --safari
** Macroeconomics 101. Robert Reich in the Guardian: "The official rate of unemployment in America has plunged to a remarkably low 3.8%.... But the official rate hides more troubling realities: legions of college grads overqualified for their jobs, a growing number of contract workers with no job security, and an army of part-time workers desperate for full-time jobs. Almost 80% of Americans say they live from paycheck to paycheck.... Although the US economy continues to grow, most of the gains have been going to a relatively few top [earners]. America doesn't have a jobs crisis. It has a good jobs crisis. When Republicans delivered their $1.5tn tax cut last December they predicted a big wage boost for American workers. Forget it. Wages actually dropped in the second quarter of this year. Not even the current low rate of unemployment is forcing employers to raise wages." Read on.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Democrats could distill Reich's longish essay into a campaign slogan, no one except those top earners & some blinded Trumpbots would vote Republican again.
Beyond the Beltway
Health Alert. E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "Michigan is once again grappling with water issues following a warning issued to two communities over dangerously high levels of industrial chemicals found in their drinking source. Residents of two Kalamazoo counties will receive bottled water on Friday morning after 'high amounts' of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were detected.... A PFAS test yielded 1,410 parts per trillion in their drinking water, 20 times higher than the lifetime health advisory given by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).... In a news release circulated Thursday, the 3,000 residents of Parchment and Cooper Township were warned to 'immediately stop using their water for drinking, cooking, making baby formula and food, or rinsing fruits and vegetables.'" --safari
Way Beyond
Amrit Dhillon of the Guardian: "About 4 million people who live in the Indian border state of Assam have been excluded from a draft list of citizens, as Bengali-speaking Muslims fear that they will be sent to detention centres or deported.... Hundreds of thousands of people fled to India during Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistan in the early 1970s. Most of them settled in Assam.... The list aims to identify every resident who can demonstrate roots in the state before March 1971. [This has been a] mammoth three-year-long exercise to prove the identities of 33 million people.... There have been longstanding social and communal tensions in the state, with locals campaigning against illegal immigrants -- a fight championed by the Hindu nationalist-led government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. In 1983, scores of people were killed by machete-armed mobs intent on hounding out Muslim immigrants." --safari
"Arab Nato." Juan Cole: "The Trump White House is again hoping for a summit of Gulf Arab leaders this fall, after the last one collapsed. The idea is to establish a Middle East Strategic Alliance against Iran.... That the 'America first' guy who alienates even allies can craft a new alliance in the fractious Arab world seems a little far-fetched. So here are the problems with this Arab NATO.... The anti-Iran bloc of the old Gulf Cooperation Council ... is just Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.... [They are] offset by Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, which are all pro-Iranian.... The UAE citizen population is about 1 million, and Bahrain is less than half that. Saudi Arabia probably actually only has 20 million citizens. The core of the Arab NATO is only about 22 million people. Iran's population is 80 million." --safari
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Yesterday afternoon I looked out my window & saw some women & their children having a picnic in the park across the street from my cottage here in sunny New England. When I went outside to put some stuff in my car, I could hear they were playing Spanish-language music, & the group was speaking Spanish. The scene reminded me of my years living in Florida, back when Florida was a nice place to live, before the NRA captured it. One woman in the group was wearing shorts & a T-shirt, and for all I know, the T-shirt sported a Puerto Rican flag. I could have yelled at them to go back to their country, but instead I smiled & waved, & they smiled & waved back.
@Marie: What a touch of fresh air you give us here––the scene of those mothers and children picnicking in the park and the warm waves from you and they––lovely.
Yesterday I was discussing with my husband a piece I had read in 2002 by Natalia Ginzburg that has stayed with me ever since. During the 1920's and 1930's, as Fascism was taking hold, Natalia Levi, her parents, and the circle of friends (intellectuals and artists) were all connected actively as anti-fascists. In 1938 Natalia married scholar Leone Ginzburg (they had three children) and spent their early years in political exile in Abruzzi. When they returned to Rome in 1944, Leone was arrested and died at the hands of the Fascists.
It was Natalia's last paragraph that has haunted me, especially now that we are experiencing the breakdown of our government.
"My husband died in Regina Coeli prison in Rome a few months after we left the village. When I confront the horror of his solitary death, of the anguished choices that preceded his death, I have to wonder if this really happened to us, we who bought oranges at Girò’s and went walking in the snow. I had faith then in a simple, happy future, rich with fulfilled desires, with shared experiences and ventures. But that was the best time of my life, and only now, now that it’s gone forever, do I know it."
@PD Pepe: Here's Ginzburg's full essay, written in 1944. It is indeed compelling. Thankfully, she would go on to experience good times again.
Touching, PD...
I have been going to our pool in our old neighborhood for 30 years. About 10 years ago, the people in the neighborhood starting building pools, and complaining about the Latinos and others coming to "our" pool, and stopping using it. I heard some terrible things. Today, many Latinos and others come and are welcome. I went home from the pool to sit on our porch with a neighbor. He noted that a new neighbor, in a new house owned by Asians, was having a party and lots of cars containing Asians were driving on our street and coming to the party. Then he commented on a pair of black girls going to another house with a humor-intended comment: "There goes the neighborhood." This echoed the fears expressed by the earlier neighbors long ago, so I guess nothing has changed. I think our current neighbors are educated and "not really" racist, but it's an urge to talk that way that was learned from birth. His wife is not at all racist, but I think her husband is not as evolved. Sigh. My job will be to never agree with him... He voted for Trump, says he regrets it, but I wonder...
Marie,
If you were in the Florida of Trump, Scott, white supremacy, and Stand Your Ground, you could have gone out and shot those people. You could simply say that that loud music was attacking your white cultural sensibilities and the fact that they were speaking Spanish meant that they might be discussing revolution against the Glorious Leader for trying to put up his wall. You were just standing up for white Amerika against the incursions of the mongrel horde.
Gunning down unarmed black men and children is no problem, why should brown people get a pass?
Fox would laud you as a great heroine of th' 'merican people. Trump would invite you to the Blight House, and, of course, you'd walk.
Luckily you're in New Hampshire. Home of bussing in Massachusetts voters to vote against Trump.
But your story reminds me of my first weekend living in NYC. I left my apartment in the Village and decided to walk uptown as far as I could go. It was a beautiful day in June and as I got farther uptown, up Fifth Ave next to the park, I started noticing more and more people carrying Puerto Rican flags and having a good old time for themselves. Another few blocks and I was smack dab in the middle of what I found out was a Puerto Rican Day parade. Everyone was having a great time, food, fun, horns blowing, flags waving. It was a splendid introduction to my life in that city. I never once felt the urge to stand my ground. I was too busy having fun.
"'What they have to do is shut up and get with the program, OK?' Bannon said in an interview with Politico. 'And here’s the program: Ground game to support Trump’s presidency and program, [and] victory on Nov. 6.'...'They were the first people to put the knife in his back,' he said."
Ah yes...the old Stabbed in the Back trick. Bannon has a million of 'em. Knives that is.
And leave us not forget that telling people to shut up and get with the program is the clarion call of fascism in action. No wonder these people, and their media lackey, Fox, are so worked up by the Antifa movement. Anyone against fascism is not their friend. Besides, they might try to stab you in the back.
Boo-hoo-hoo.
Wingers are whining that their Glorious Leader is not getting good press coverage for his superlative immigration policy.
Oh, you mean maliciously planning to separate parents from babies and small children in an attempt to punish other human beings for wanting a better life? That policy?
Isn't this a bit like wondering why the Florence Gazette back in 1348 didn't have more positive stories about the Black Death?
"This just in! Only 15,000 people died today. We spoke with Signor Paolo Ravelli outside his home near the Ponte Vecchio where his infected wife and kids have been walled in and left to die. 'Well, it might seem harsh, but look, the plague isn't all bad. In fact, after this is over, there'll be plenty of good real estate down by the river. Cheap, too!' And that's it folks. Pay no attention to those Fake News Fredos always complaining about how bad the plague is."
Tomorrow it all gets real as Trump campaign manager Paul (Dict8tors are Gr8) Manafort goes on trial. Expect the tweets to come fast, furious, and often, with nary a hint of truth, honesty, or honor.
And look for the Freedum Cockus to return early from summer vacation (aren't these guys always on vacation? when do they work?) and demand access to all of Mueller's trial notes and internal memos so they can, ya know, provide "oversight" (i.e., run to the White House and tell Trump everything they can find out so's they can all plan a disinformation campaign to obstruct justice).
The Littlest Flip-Flopper Flops Again!
Last week, you may recall, we reviewed some of Aqua Buddha's greatest hits as a flip-flopping spotlight hogging, conviction-free opportunist. It was also noted that he had announced his latest flip, saying that he was really, really, really wicked concerned about Brett Kavanaugh going to the Supreme Court because privacy something, something, something. I suggested that the flop wouldn't be far behind.
It came much faster than anticipated.
Ta-da! And here it is!
"GOP Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) said on Monday that he will support Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
'After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination,' Paul said in a statement."
Which means either that Li'l Randy was getting a snootful of whining from fellow wingers about not toeing the line for the little dictator's latest future Nuremberg Trials Defendant, or he didn't get the buzz he expected from his spotlight grabbing and will now look for greener pastures on which to pose as the Last Indispensable Man.
More flip-flops than IHOP.
He's horrible. But you gotta admit: Kentucky deserves him. Border state, my hind leg...
"pondering how to add a ballroom to the White House..."
Is this a piece of Donny's delusional dream that cultural celebrities and elites actually like him, or still will one day? Who the fuck at this point is going to accept an invitation to Donny's Make America White Again ball? This is the guy who had to scrape together B-list talents for his inauguration, and that was BEFORE all the Charlottesville nightmares.
The only successful ball Kellyanne Conjob and Co. could scrounge together would be a true collection of Vichy America, a hodge-podge of flabby, white, insecure, booze-filled zombies all flashing their fake pearly whites at their "friends" they viciously lash their tongues at in private. A snake pit filled with venom, each scouring for a weakness to slip the knife in their rivals' back to leapfrog closer to their opium of the almighty dollar. All cackling and backslapping together, trying to drink away that creeping rot deep inside their chests knowing that the viciousness enclosed in that room will only be acceptable while their white nationalist Dear Leader holds the White House. The day he leaves, their white power will have to recede into the private rooms spoken in dog whistles. They'll have to shed and burn their Vichy uniforms and slip back into society, hoping all the evidence of their collaboration doesn't burn their ambitions for the future.
But Donnie, why do you need a ballroom? Remember, you
shouldn't be dancing with those bone spurs. At least, get your
"doctor's" permission.
So here's Rudy (Am I on Camera? Great!) Giuliani telling the world (again) that there was NO COLLUSION!....but if there was, it wouldn't be illegal.
Got that? He didn't do it, but he might have, and if he did? Meh. No biggie.
I repeat. If I were under investigation for high crimes and misdemeanors and Giuliani was my lawyer, I'd be getting my affairs in order and hoping my cell mates weren't too mentally unstable.
Forrest,
C'mon, ballrooms are where Donald Juan can slither up to the babes for a little gropey-gropey. What fun is being in the White House if you haven't got a ballroom for some harmless sexual assault every now and then? Geez.
I can't tell if all of this floppy sweat, shrill shreeks and bugged eyed shoulder shrugs from Darrell Issa, Dana Rohrabacher, Giulani, etc. are smoke bombs for serious revelations coming...or if it's just Monday in America.
The Shutdown Blowhard (and coward)
The Trump Monster promises a shut down. I soooooo hope he follows through. But he won't. He's a big mouthed coward. He'll find a way to "have to keep the government going" and blame it on liberals, Democrats, and progressive policies, giving him and his racist pig followers a pass.
As much as I would love a Confederate-Trump shut down of the government, it won't happen. Trump, above all else, is all about self-preservation. And even if he's an ignorant, lying windbag (which he is), he won't put himself in the position of being the one to curtail government services in order to make his ass less shit-stained.
Trump is a coward. He has no ethics, no moral core, no affiliation with democracy. He'll happily deny millions of Americans necessary services in the hope that he can force decent people to be racist assholes like himself and go along with pissing on decent human beings in order to feed racist chum to his gobbling goobers.
@safari: answer: It IS just Monday in America. While wild fires are destroying large swaths of it this dipwad of a leader is more concerned about ballrooms, walls and "fake news." At this point in the game of thrones, I am sick to death of what you call "a snake pit full of venom"––my anger has morphed into morbid thoughts of throwing my hands up in utter frustration and just saying, ok, you fuckers, let's see how far you can go with this––and walk away. I say this today––on a Monday–-by tomorrow I'll be right back in the fray.