The Commentariat -- March 21, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ben White & Steve Shepard of Politico: "... Donald Trump has a low approval rating. He is engaging in bitter Twitter wars and facing metastasizing investigations. But if the election were held today, he'd likely ride to a second term in a huge landslide, according to multiple economic models with strong track records of picking presidential winners and losses." Mrs. McC: A good argument for impeachment.
Rebecca Morin of Politico: "... Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will formally recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights. 'After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!' the president tweeted."
Mike Allen of Axios: "Close advisers to former Vice President Joe Biden are debating the idea of packaging his presidential campaign announcement with a pledge to choose Stacey Abrams as his vice president.... The popular Georgia Democrat, who at age 45 is 31 years younger than Biden, would bring diversity and excitement to the ticket -- showing voters, in the words of a close source, that Biden 'isn't just another old white guy.'" ...
... Jonathan Chait lists nine reasons this is a good idea for both Biden & Abrams.
Lock Him Up! Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Jared Kushner ... uses an unofficial online messaging service for official White House business, including with foreign contacts, his lawyer told the House Oversight Committee late last year. The lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he was not aware if Mr. Kushner had communicated classified information on the service, WhatsApp, and said that because he took screenshots of the communications and sent them to his official White House account or the National Security Council, his client was not in violation of federal records laws. In a letter disclosing the information, the Democratic chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee [-- Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)] said that he was investigating possible violations of the Presidential Records Act by members of the Trump administration, including Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump. He accused the White House of stonewalling his committee on information it had requested for months." What's the problem? ...
... Barbara Ortutay of the AP: "Facebook said Thursday that it stored millions of its users' passwords in plain text for years. The acknowledgement from the social media giant came after a security researcher posted about the issue online.... Facebook said there is no evidence its employees abused access to this data. But thousands of employees could have searched them. The company said the passwords were stored on internal company servers, where no outsiders could access them. But the incident reveals a huge oversight for the company amid a slew of bruises and stumbles in the last couple of years." Mrs. McC: Did I mention Facebook owns WhatsApp? Jared's password is Hot*Grifter2.
Hiroko Tabuchi & David Gelles of the New York Times: "As the pilots of the doomed Boeing jets in Ethiopia and Indonesia fought to control their planes, they lacked two notable safety features in their cockpits. One reason: Boeing charged extra for them. For Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers, the practice of charging to upgrade a standard plane can be lucrative. Top airlines around the world must pay handsomely to have the jets they order fitted with customized add-ons."
Brad Brooks & Rodrigo Viga Gaier of Reuters: "Brazil's former President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday in an investigation of alleged graft in the construction of nuclear plant Angra 3, prosecutors told Reuters, rattling the political class and threatening to delay a major pension reform. Temer was president from 2016 to 2018, taking office following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, for whom he served as vice president for six years. His lawyer confirmed the arrest."
Ernie Suggs of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jimmy "Carter becomes the oldest living former president in United States history" today.
A Cancer on the Body Politic. Maxwell Tani of the Daily Beast: "Almost 8 in 10 Republicans who watch Fox News say Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. That was just one finding of a new poll showing the deep ideological divide between Fox News viewers and everyone else. The poll results were provided to The Daily Beast by Navigator, a project launched by Democratic groups Global Strategy Group and GBA strategies. They surveyed more than 1,000 registered voters online with the goal of examining the differences in views between Fox News viewers and non-Fox viewers.... The data show numerous ways in which Fox News-watching Republicans have radically different beliefs from non-Republicans and even Republicans who do not watch Fox News."
Todd Richmond of the AP: "A judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Wisconsin Republicans' contentious lame-duck laws limiting the Democratic governor and attorney general's powers, brushing aside GOP lawmakers' concerns that the move leaves thousands of pages of statutes passed in so-called extraordinary sessions susceptible to challenge. Republican legislative leaders immediately vowed to appeal Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess' order, saying it will create chaos and calling Niess biased. The order is part of a lawsuit filed by a coalition of liberal-leaning groups. They allege the Legislature met illegally when it passed the lame-duck bills in December."
~~~~~~~~~
Rats! I missed the vernal equinox. It was March 20 this year. Happy Spring! One day in. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
You. Are. Nuts. On Wednesday, Donald Trump dedicated himself to proving George Conway right. Besides feuding with Conway, Trump continued, unbid, his attacks on John McCain, dead war hero, & offered up a nonsensical (and untrue) rationale for rejecting the Mueller report. Stories linked below.
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "For months, President Trump has been unable to shake his grudge against Senator John McCain, who died in August of brain cancer. Planning his funeral, the Republican Arizona senator made it clear that Mr. Trump would not be welcome, leaving the president to fume when his two immediate predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, eulogized Mr. McCain in a service at Washington National Cathedral. The president's response was to stall on issuing any proclamation of praise, or ordering flags to be flown at half-staff to commemorate the senator's death.... In front of a military audience at a tank plant ... in Lima, [Indiana,] he took [his complaints] to a new level. He said he gave Mr. McCain 'the funeral he wanted, and I didn't get a thank you.' He blamed him for 'a war in the Middle East that McCain pushed so hard.' He said that 'McCain didn't get the job done for our great vets and the V.A.' 'I have to be honest, I've never liked him much,' Mr. Trump said, about 10 minutes into a freewheeling speech that was ostensibly about the resurgence of manufacturing jobs. '... -- probably never will.'" ...
... Sam Brodey of the Daily Beast: "A senior Republican senator with a reputation for not rocking the boat in Donald Trump's Washington spent Wednesday doing just that, issuing blistering criticisms of the president for his continued attacks on the late Sen. John McCain. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, appeared on a political talk show on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Wednesday afternoon to denounce the president's most recent comments about the senator and Vietnam war hero who died seven months ago. 'It's deplorable what he said,' Isakson said.... Most of Isakson's colleagues have been far more circumspect, save for Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) who tweeted he 'can't understand why the president would, once again, disparage a man as exemplary as my friend John McCain.'"
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday escalated his attacks on George Conway, calling him a 'whack job' who is doing a 'disservice' to his wife, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway. 'I don't know him. He's a whack job, there's no question about it,' Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before traveling to Ohio." ...
... Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday defended ... Donald Trump's attacks on her husband George Conway saying he's 'a counterpuncher' and asserting that the president is free to respond when he's accused of having a mental illness. 'He left it alone for months out of respect for me,' Conway, a senior Trump aide, told Politico in a brief telephone interview. 'But you think he shouldn't respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? You think he should just take that sitting down?'"
Also, Trump is either unaware that (1) NATO = North American Atlantic Treaty Alliance or that (2) Brazil is in South America.
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Wednesday for the first time that he would be okay with making the Mueller report public. And in doing so, he nixed a major argument against its release.... 'I don't mind,' he said when asked whether the report should be public. 'I mean, frankly, I told the House if you want, let them see it.' Trump went on to decry the very existence of the Mueller report..., arguing it is the result of an investigation that never should have been launched. He concluded by again suggesting it should be public but also indicating it may not be. 'Let it come out. Let people see it,' Trump said. 'That's up to the attorney general. And we'll see what happens.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you're able to watch videos, you may want to take the time to hear Trump's latest rationale -- delivered at Wednesday's chopper presser -- for why the Mueller report is bogus. After winning one of the greatest elections in the history of the country with 63 millions votes, some guy who was not elected to anything comes "out of the blue" to write a report; Trump and his voters can't understand that. (Even in this summary, I've made Trump sound more coherent than he was:
The Trump Grift, Ctd. Dan Alexander of Forbes: "Donald Trump has charged his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging and other expenses since taking office, according to a Forbes analysis of the latest campaign filings. And although outsiders have contributed more than $50 million to the campaign, the billionaire president hasn't handed over any of his own cash.... 'I don't need anybody's money,' he announced on the day he launched his 2016 campaign, standing inside the marble atrium at Trump Tower. 'I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists. I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich.'"
Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director and long-time confidante of ... Donald Trump, plans to turn over documents to the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into potential obstruction of justice. Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent Hicks a detailed letter earlier this month, asking for documents on a wide-range of topics, including over former national security adviser Michael Flynn's false statements to the FBI, the firing of then-FBI Director James Comey, Trump's involvement in a hush-money scheme to silence stories about his alleged affairs and the drafting of a misleading 2017 statement to the media about Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Russians.... Hicks' cooperation comes in stark contrast to former White House chief of staff John Kelly, who is facing an array of questions from the House Oversight Committee over his role in the White House security clearance process. Kelly is allowing the White House counsel's office to respond to the Democrats' demands for information, but Hicks appears to be interacting directly with the House Judiciary Committee."
Kyle Cheney & Anita Kumar of Politico: "Former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates -- a central cooperating witness for special counsel Robert Mueller -- has been advised by prosecutors not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee's broad investigation of ... Donald Trump, his lawyer told lawmakers in a recent letter obtained Wednesday by Politico. But Gates' lawyer, Thomas Green, left open the possibility of assisting the panel 'in the coming months.'... Green's letter was also copied to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, who he said had also requested Gates' testimony. The decision to delay immediate cooperation with the Democrat-led investigation comes days after Mueller signaled that Gates was still an active cooperator in multiple ongoing investigations."
Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve expressed increasing concern about slowing economic growth as it left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and showed little appetite for raising them in the near future. The Fed's fairly downbeat economic assessment is at odds with the White House's rosy economic projections, which have continued to predict stronger growth than most other forecasters say is likely. The Fed, in a statement at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting, said 'growth of economic activity has slowed from its solid rate in the fourth quarter' and cited slowdowns in household spending and business fixed investment. Fed officials now expect economic growth of 2.1 percent for 2019, down from the 2.3 percent it forecast in December." ...
... Paul Krugman: "The 2019 Economic Report of the President is out, and everyone is having fun with the bit at the end that acknowledges the help of student interns -- a list that includes Peter Parker, Aunt May, Bruce Wayne, and Jabba the Hutt.... The White House is passing this off as a deliberate joke. More likely, someone slipped superheroes in to see whether anyone in charge was actually paying attention, and proved that they weren't. But the bigger news from the report involves the supposed economic payoffs from the Trump tax cut. Even the White House now acknowledges that the tax cut won't do all they said it would -- their wildly optimistic economic projections depend on the claimed payoff to other economic policies that they themselves haven't specified.... This report is double voodoo, or voodoo squared: it relies on voodoo economics to make big claims for tax cuts, then adds a whole additional layer of magic to get the growth projections the administration wants to hear."
Helene Cooper & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "The Defense Department's inspector general said on Wednesday that it was investigating complaints that the acting defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, had been promoting his former employer, the Boeing Company, and disparaging its military contractor competitors. The investigation will examine complaints filed last week by a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington."
Steve Miletich of the Seattle Times: "The FBI has joined the criminal investigation into the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX, lending its considerable resources to an inquiry already being conducted by U.S. Department of Transportation agents, according to people familiar with the matter. The federal grand jury investigation, based in Washington, D.C., is looking into the certification process that approved the safety of the new Boeing plane, two of which have crashed since October."
** Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the Interior Department violated federal law by failing to take into account the climate impact of its oil and gas leasing in the West. The decision by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Rudolph Contreras marks the first time the Trump administration has been held to account for the climate impact of its energy-dominance agenda, and it could have sweeping implications for the president's plan to boost fossil fuel production across the country. Contreras concluded that Interior's Bureau of Land Management 'did not sufficiently consider climate change' when making decisions to auction off federal land in Wyoming to oil and gas drilling. The judge temporarily blocked drilling on roughly 300,000 acres of land in the state."
"An Extraordinary Departure from the Diplomatic Norm." Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump Jr. and national security adviser John Bolton took to British media to scold the country's political leadership over Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to request a delay in Britain's seemingly endless divorce from Europe. The effort by presidential surrogates is aimed at amplifying the pro-Brexit message among Britons even though the United States has no say in the matter. 'Next Friday, March 29, is supposed to be the British people's Independence Day,' the younger Trump wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday in Britain's Daily Telegraph. 'But because the elites control London from Brussels, the will of the people is likely to be ignored.' Bolton gave an interview to British broadcaster Sky News, accusing political leaders in London of failing voters who chose more than two years ago to quit the European Union and its collective trade policy. Bolton dangled a separate trade deal between Britain and the United States once Britain rids itself of the E.U., saying 'we are ready to go.' The commentary from members of Trump's inner circle was an extraordinary departure from the diplomatic norm, in which close allies such as the United States and Britain are careful not to appear to be meddling in each other's business."
If you'd care to read about a soulless cipher, then Alex Pareene's profile in the New Republic of Mitch McConnell is for you.
Presidential Race 2020
Dan Merica of CNN: "Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper [D] said Wednesday that he would consider putting a woman on his presidential ticket, and then asked why female Democratic presidential candidates are not being asked if they would select a man as their running mate." Mrs. McC: Apparently Hickenlooper is unaware the U.S. has never had a woman president or vice-president & that women are underepresented in Congress, in most state legislatures & in the top jobs in American businesses. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That said, I would like to suggest that female candidates consider studying under voice coaches. Kamala Harris & Amy Klobuchar already have good presidenty voices that project gravitas, but Elizabeth Warren & Kirsten Gillibrand, for instance, not so much. Of course, it takes more than a well-modulated voice to win, as Hillary Clinton found out.
Mika and I have been overwhelmed by the reaction @PeteButtigieg got after being on the show. The only other time in twelve years that we heard from as many people about a guest was after @BarackObama appeared on Morning Joe. pic.twitter.com/PoEK4Obtul
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 21, 2019
Laura Holson of the New York Times: "... a parody account pretending to be an imaginary cow owned by Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican, is more popular on Twitter than the congressman, a day after he sued the account (and Twitter) for $250 million.... The parody account @DevinCow had only 1,200 followers on Monday, but it ended Wednesday afternoon with 467,000, surpassing Mr. Nunes's account with its 395,000 followers. And the count was still growing.... A website now sells Devin Cow T-shirts. Twitter users have been celebrating with cow-themed items and jokes. Even Mr. Nunes's fellow legislators showed their support for the errant beast. Ted Lieu, a Democratic congressman from Southern California, told Mr. Nunes on Twitter to 'lighten up, dude.' Of course, no one might have heard of @DevinCow if Mr. Nunes had not sued Twitter and other users for defamation on Tuesday, seeking $250 million and an end to online mockery he said no one should have to 'suffer in their whole life.'"
Ryan Broderick & Ellie Hall of BuzzFeed News: "Before killing 50 people during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and injuring 40 more, the gunman apparently decided to fully exploit social media by releasing a manifesto, posting a Twitter thread showing off his weapons, and going live on Facebook as he launched the attack. The gunman's coordinated social media strategy wasn't unique, though. The way he manipulated social media for maximum impact is almost identical to how ISIS, at its peak, was using those very same platforms. While most mainstream social networks have become aggressive about removing pro-ISIS content from the average user's feed, far-right extremism and white nationalism continue to thrive. Only the most egregious nodes in the radicalization network have been removed from every platform.... Christchurch could be the moment Silicon Valley decides to finally treat white nationalism the way it's been treating ISIS for years." ...
... White Supremacy Pays. Nitasha Tiku of Wired: "... concerns that Big Tech expends more effort to curb the spread of terrorist content from high-profile foreign groups, while applying fewer resources and less urgency toward terrorist content from white supremacists, resurfaced last week after the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.... For [the big tech companies], failure to police terrorist content by white supremacists is a business decision molded by political pressure, not a legal constraint.... Tech companies say that it is easier to identify content related to known foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS and Al Qaeda because of information-sharing with law enforcement and industry-wide efforts, such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, a group formed by YouTube, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter in 2017.... Law professor Hannah Bloch-Wehba ... says tech platforms built [content moderation] tools in response to pressure from regulators and engineered them to address a specific kind of terrorist threat. 'We just haven't seen comparable pressure for platforms to go after white violence,' and if they do, companies face 'political blowback from the right,'..." ...
... Kelly Weill of the Daily Beast (March 18): "A Virginia police officer assigned to a high school is involved in onboarding new members for a white nationalist group, leaked chat logs reveal. Daniel Morley, 31, is a police officer at L.C. Bird High School in Chesterfield, Virginia. He's also an organizer for Identity Evropa, a white nationalist group. In the group's leaked chat messages, first highlighted by Virginia anti-fascists on Monday, Morley discussed ways to downplay appearances of racism, while still promoting white nationalism. Morley is suspended while Chesterfield County Police Department investigates the allegations...." ...
... Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: "... such behavior has become more useful in the post-civil-rights era, as open bigotry has become more taboo in polite company and the explicit racism of Jim Crow-era laws and sumptuary codes ran afoul of federal law, requiring evasive action among its adherents. This is where cries of 'reverse racism' enter the discourse, where claims like Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts's 2007 insistence that 'the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race' captures the ethos of pols seeking to override civil-rights gains through fealty to a theoretical -- but not actual -- equality.... It is an easy and frequently successful pursuit to obscure racism by dressing it up in nice clothes."
Dylan Matthews of Vox: "Ari Fleischer is a liar. He lies about stuff big and small. And as President George W. Bush's press secretary during the run-up to the Iraq War, he participated in a large effort to exaggerate and misrepresent what the intelligence community believed about weapons of mass destruction and Iraq's (negligible) links to al-Qaeda. But Fleischer does not like it when people point out that he's a liar, so he took to Twitter on Tuesday night to mark the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and address what is, in his mind, a major tragedy surrounding the war: the fact that people sometimes point out that he and his friends are liars.... Some might argue the real victims of the war are the nearly 300,000 civilians and combatants killed due to an unnecessary invasion, but Fleischer would rather focus on his and his colleagues' hurt feelings."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Marc Caputo & Gary Fineout of Politico: "Andrew Gillum announced a plan Wednesday to register and turn-out 1 million new and low-propensity Florida voters in an effort to crush ... Donald Trump's reelection chances in the nation's largest swing state. 'Voter registration is red flag No. 1,' the former Tallahassee mayor told Politico, calling increased voter registration crucial to the Democratic Party's ability to survive and thrive in Florida."
Kentucky. Child Abuse by Stupid. Deborah Yetter & Tom Loftus of the Louisville Courier Journal: "In a move experts say is medically unsound -- and can be dangerous -- Gov. Matt Bevin [RTP] said in a radio interview Tuesday that he deliberately exposed all nine of his children to chickenpox so they would catch the disease and become immune. 'Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox,' Bevin said in an interview with WKCT, a Bowling Green talk radio station. 'They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it..... They were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.' Three medical experts called the practice unsafe and unwise.... In the interview, Bevin also suggested that the government stay out of mandating vaccines. In Kentucky, varicella (chickenpox) is among vaccines mandated for all children entering kindergarten, though parents may seek religious exemptions or provide medical proof that a child has already had the disease." ...
... Only in America. Nick Martin of Splinter: "Bevin is right about one thing, and one thing only: This is indeed America, where shithead anti-vaxxers can not only ascend to some of the highest offices in the land -- don't forget, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spouted the same bullshit just two weeks ago -- but can then go on a rant about having to vaccinate their nine (!!!) kids and think to themselves that they served as a positive influence on society."
Way Beyond
New Zealand. Kate Lyons of the Guardian: "Jacinda Ardern announced sweeping an immediate changes to New Zealand's gun laws, including the banning of assault rifles and military-style semi-automatics, following the Christchurch mosque shootings. Officials estimate that there are 1.2-1.5 million guns in a country of 5million people. They say they have 'no idea' how many assault rifles are in circulation and roughly 13,500 military style semi-automatic weapons. Ardern also directed officials to develop a gun buyback scheme for those who already own such weapons. She said 'fair and reasonable compensation' would be paid. The government estimates this will cost $100m - $200m[.]" Emphasis original.
News Lede
Guardian: "Rescue teams in Mozambique are struggling to reach the thousands of people stranded on roofs and in trees and urgently need more helicopters and boats as post-cyclone flood waters continue to rise. Mozambique, which was hit by Cyclone Idai over the weekend, has declared a state of emergency and is appealing for international help. Rescue workers, military personnel and volunteers are rushing to save thousands of Mozambicans before flood levels rise further, but with four helicopters, a handful of boats and extremely difficult conditions, have only been able to save about 413 so far."
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Reader Comments (17)
Ahem, I think NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization. If it was "American" it would exclude the European countries that are currently part of it.
@unwashed: Thanks. I knew that. I hate it when I make obvious mistakes. I make so many real ones that I hate adding to them with slips of the fingers.
Was George Conway urging a "Caine Mutiny" with his reference to Captain Queeg in his "You. are. nuts." post? I'd bet a lot of the deep state conspiracy crowd thinks so.
@Bobby Lee: Maybe it goes back to Marcus Aurelius. When a powerful general called Avidius Cassius heard a false rumor that Aurelius was dying, Cassius declared himself emperor. Aurelius's supporters of course opposed the rebellion & one of them sent Cassius a one-word message: "emanes," which means "you are mad." Not much later, a centurion beheaded Cassius. Beats a mutiny. (And, no, I'm not suggesting violence against Trvmpvs. But I wouldn't be all sad if his rebellion against U.S. institutions & norms ended abruptly.)
When our would be dictator (tater-dick) says he doesn't mind if
the Mueller report is released, are we supposed to believe him, or
is he lying and he's thinking just the opposite.
He's probably already told AG Barr that if that report comes out,
your ass is grass.
Was about to read Alex Pareene's scathing piece on McConnell but delved into another Alex's–-Shephard–- "The Profound Emptiness of Beto O'Rourke." Since I already know about the emptiness and soullessness of the Turtle, I figured I'd want to know about how empty Alex S. thinks Beto is:
"But the way to get people excited about a presidential candidacy is to be an exciting presidential candidate––not to bait them about a potential run for months."
You would think Alex was talking about Biden, not Beto who, if nothing else, is definitely a candidate that people are excited about. Alex is himself a young, good looking guy who can connect with the age that Beto was playing the circuit with his rock band, but nevertheless cites this as a negative. I also imagine Alex was an English major as was Beto but Alex makes fun of Beto's literary references. As much as I take seriously the points Shephard makes here, I can't help feel there's more to his assessment than just a political hit job.
https://newrepublic.com/article/153324/profound-emptiness-beto-orourke
I'll tackle the Turtle after my shower.
P.S. Let the idiot keep dissing McCain cuz it brings out the ire of some of the GOP's ––isn't it the height of hypocrisy when those same GOPee-ers keep silent on everything else that is inflammatory but when it's one of their own, then WHAM! Well, better than nothing,
I guess.
PD: let us know that you survived the Turtle tackling. I myself am too faint of heart...
Forrest,
I'm gonna have to say, in regard to Trump's latest curveball on the Mueller report, that it's just another lie. He'd rather walk through the streets with nothing to wear but his tax returns than for that report to come out if it in any way makes him look less like the untouchable god he believes himself to be.
But he does love to screw with (and screw) the press. He loves being the center of attention, and even though last week he was still flogging the old "witch hunt" dead horse, changing things up quickly like this, on the fly, guarantees headlines with his name in them. Instead of actually talking about his many problems, millions of people are mesmerized by his sounding like a normal, law abiding citizen, for at least a couple of minutes, and the whole thing provides another distraction from the Trump Scandals (© Marie Burns) for at least a day or so. I mean, see? We're talking about it.
I choose to go with the overwhelming preponderance of his attempts to denigrate and denounce Mueller and his report, and to make sure it ends up in the "deep bosom of the ocean buried", not this little head fake.
Oh, and any time he says things like "I told the House..." it's usually another lie. I'm betting he didn't tell them shit. It's right in line with things like "Everyone is saying..." when it's really only him doing the yapping.
Plus, if the Mueller report comes out and whacks everyone but Trump, he'll be able to say "See? I told you all I had nothing to hide. That's why I said everyone should see this report."
He also has the AG to hide behind, and Barr has already averred that he won't release anything that does not clearly indicate distinctly illegal actions on the president's part.
So, pass the salt.
Never in my lifetime did I think, in my wildest imagination, that
someone like Pete Buttigieg would even consider running for POTUS.
The so called Christianists and haters will have a field day with this.
But he's a very smart and cool man so possibly he can weather it.
So I see that noted international affairs expert and world famous statesman Don Jr. has weighed in on events in Great Britain, to wit, attacking the PM, Theresa May, for not doing what his daddy sed.
First, who in the holy hell is Don Jr. to instruct anyone to do anything besides fly to Africa, spend godawful amounts of money to be shepherded around by special guides to protected places from which he can safely shoot and kill animals?
Don't ask his help in a trivia game or spelling contest. He thinks Saturday Night Live is abbreviated S&L. That's okay, his dad can't spell Theresa May's name either.
Please to be keeping quite, Donny, until you're called upon. Remember, this is the same person whose own daddy described as someone with the worst judgment in the world.
Yeah. Theresa May should take his advice. Be like the guy hawking peanuts at a ballgame explaining the finer points of a triple bypass to a heart surgeon. The only difference being the peanut guy makes an honest living.
And not for nothin', but what exactly did Trump advise May to do? He never said. He's the guy who, after the shit hits the fan, tells everyone that he knew exactly what to do but no one would listen. He never says what that was, but he wants everyone to know that he was right all along. Hmmph.
@forrest morris & @Akhilleus: Yeah, I read or heard on the teevee that the White House plans to scrub Mueller's report after Barr does. I think the only part left will be one line: "Michael Cohen lied to Congress."
The Passion of the Boeing will be a short term affair. Boeing, with the help of anti-regulators in the Republican Party and the Trump administration (every one of whom hate all regulation), will help sweep it all under the rug.
But the deaths of those poor people on those two 737's should remind everyone that regulations are not in place just because liberals are socialist weenies. They're there to prevent horrible disasters. But now the dereg fever is back and in full swing. Not all that long ago, after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, new regulations were put in place to help prevent future similar events. But Trump pooh-poohs such regulations and now they've been rolled back. Drill, baby, drill.
Look at Enron. Enron was a direct result of energy deregulation in California.
"Utilities in the state, which crafted the deregulation law, were allowed to overcharge consumers approximately $23 billion for electricity over the last five years as a result of the law. These companies, however, felt the sting of deregulation when companies like Enron began massively overcharging for electricity on the wholesale market for power. Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2001 and, in a move that consumer groups are challenging in federal court, the state Public Utilities Commission secretly agreed to a ratepayer funded $4.9 billion bailout of the second largest utility, Southern California Edison."
So consumers were screwed three times. First, by legislators deciding to deregulate an industry that desperately needed a more careful plan for moving forward, not just a complete defenestration of rules. Second, they were screwed in their electric bills, massive overcharges by both the utilities and then Enron. And finally, they were screwed by having to foot the bill for the stupidity and laziness of legislators in bailing out a sagging utility.
A couple of years ago in London, a high rise tower caught fire. 80 people died. This disaster was caused by the anti-regulatory fervor pushed by the right in Parliament. Better regulation would not have allowed the developer to cut so many corners and use shoddy insulation likely to burn down to molecules at the first spark.
Republicans routinely call for across the board deregulation, but regulations aren't a joke. Not only that, but had proper regulations been in place before the Deepwater disaster, the Gulf wouldn't have been inundated with oil for three years and BP wouldn't have been out billions of dollars, so regulations benefit business as well.
But for a chiseling corner cutter like Trump, no regulation is a good one, so we'll just wait for the next life ending disaster. Deregulation costs money, and LIVES.
In the meantime, those 737's will be back in the air in a few months. "C'mon kids, we're goin' to DisneyWorld. Hey, why are we in a nosedive? Is this one of the rides?"
(And this business about a safety feature being an EXTRA?!?! WTF is that all about? Plenty of people who live with software are used to finding out after a purchase that those features you were promised can only be accessed for just a few thousand more. But safety features on a fucking airplane?? "Oh. You wanted a SAFE plane? Shit. You should have said so! Safe planes cost more. Lots more." )
The Chait article (linked above) raising the possibility of a Joe Biden-Stacey Abrams ticket makes a lot of good arguments. I've been pretty lukewarm towards a Biden candidacy, but the addition of Abrams puts a new light on the whole thing. And as Chait argues, each gives the other something they need. It's like that old saw about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The saying goes that he gave her class and she gave him sex appeal. It's true! In this case, Biden gives her a huge boost in the national spotlight, and she gives him street cred with younger Democrats.
Plus, this poses some problems for the Insulter in Chief. Sure, he'll spit out the usual dose of bile toward Biden, but if he starts going after Abrams with his typical racial animosity, it could cost him with those wildly unpredictable (and somewhat chimerical, if you ask me) independent voters.
In any event, I'm liking the idea. Let's see where it goes.
@Akhilleus: What Chait doesn't mention -- maybe because he's wise enough to know that mike pence, no matter how excruciatingly servile he's been, can't trust Trump -- is that Trump (in theory anyway) already has a running mate, too. I'm not sure what Abrams would do while the primary race is still shaking out, but if the last months drag out the way they did for Obama & Clinton in '08 & Joe is one of the last candidates standing, Abrams could have a speaking schedule for Biden. And she could knock Trumpence every which way but up.
@ Jeanne: Re: the McConnell piece: A beautiful piece of writing–-it was actually a pleasure to read despite the person in question being such a vacant, smarmy little man. Alex was generous in citing much of McGillis' previous piece on Mitch who fleshed him out pretty thoroughly. What I found interesting was the historical bits about the senate and its operations.
Something about McConnell that I recall that showed his blood isn't completely ice water was an interview he had with Charlie Rose when he was talking about his bout with polio when he was a child and how his mother was always by his side urging him not to give up. As he was relating this he began to sob–-but quickly got hold of himself. I'm wondering whether this experience spurned him on to a dogged determination in life to get what he wanted –-hook or crook–-his goal was always to be the senate majority leader–-and it doesn't matter to him how he gets to remain in the position –-except maybe he wouldn't sell his mother down the pike for it.
And for a bit of icing on this cake: I had not realized he was married before Elaine who comes from a very wealthy family whose father has given millions to McConnell. Sweet!
Chait may be right about a possible Biden/ Abram team but there are others who say Biden doesn't fit with the new Democratic message and Abrams might want to go it alone.
The felons restoration fight is getting interesting down here and it seems to this old man that a lot of the opposition is coming from the counties. They are the ones who impose the court fees, ect (which vary greatly across the state) and don't want to lose the income. Anyway, here's a look at the mess from the Tampa Bay Times.
http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/2019/03/21/under-floridas-amendment-4-can-former-felons-afford-to-vote/