The Commentariat -- Nov. 21, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** "Trump Gives Guidance to Autocrats." Mark Mazzetti & Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: Trump's "633-word statement on Tuesday about the brutal killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi showed the extent to which he believes that raw, mercantilist calculations should guide the United States' decisions about the Middle East and the wider world. Tuesday's message could become something of a blueprint for foreign leaders -- a guide to how they might increase their standing in the eyes of the American president as well as how far they can go in crushing domestic critics without raising American ire.... It was also a revealing meditation on the role that Mr. Trump believes facts should play in political decision-making.... The president dismissed not only [the CIA's] assessment but also the very process of seeking the truth, implying that it did not really matter anyway." ...
... "Maybe He did and Maybe He Didn't!" Won't Fly. Burgess Everett of Politico: "The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is demanding a definitive determination from ... Donald Trump about whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a letter to Trump, the panel's chairman, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and ranking member, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), specifically asked on Tuesday whether the administration believed that bin Salman was involved in the murder of Khashoggi.... Under the Magnitsky Act, Trump can be required to make a determination about human rights violations by global leaders. The law requires the president to do so within 120 days of the committee's request, as well as apply any sanctions. Corker and Menendez made their first request on Oct. 10, without specifically asking about bin Salman.... Corker and Menendez's first sanctions inquiry citing the Magnitsky Act ultimately resulted in the administration's sanctioning 17 Saudi Arabian officials following Khashoggi's death." ...
... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Less than a day after drawing bipartisan ire for appearing to let Saudi Arabia off the hook for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi..., Donald Trump ... tweet[ed] thanks to [Saudi Arabia] for falling oil prices. 'Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82,' he said. 'Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let's go lower!'" ...
... Speaking of Going Lower. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump sparked an immediate backlash on Twitter early Wednesday after he thanked Saudi Arabia for helping lower global oil prices. Hundreds of tweeters expressed incredulity at Trump’s post, which came a day after his bizarre statement that the U.S. would remain a 'steadfast partner' of Saudi Arabia ― even if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the brutal slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday finally submitted a set of written responses to Robert Mueller, signaling that he was done for good with the special counsel's questions. But Mueller is far from done with him. The special counsel still wants to question the president over his actions while in the White House -- Tuesday's answers only covered Russian hacking during the 2016 election. It's a fight that could result in a historic subpoena and eventual Supreme Court ruling.... Next comes the perilous round of negotiations between Trump's lawyers and Mueller's prosecutors covering topics like Trump's intentions when firing FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. That line of questioning -- which Trump says he shouldn't have to answer -- is tied to Mueller's ongoing obstruction of justice investigation."
Tara Copp of Military Times: "The White House late Tuesday signed a memo allowing troops stationed at the border to engage in some law enforcement roles and use lethal force, if necessary -- a move that legal experts have cautioned may run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act. The new 'cabinet order' was signed by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, not ... Donald Trump. It allows 'Department of Defense military personnel' to 'perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary' to protect border agents, including 'a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention. and cursory search.'" ...
Trump, supposedly writing his "American carnage" speech at Mar-a-Lago, January 2017. ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Excuse me. Since when can the White House chief-of-staff direct military operations, including those that may violate existing law? Kelly himself did receive Senate approval for his previous job as Director of Homeland Security, and he is a former Marine general, but he has retired from that position. His present position as chief-of-staff does not require Senate confirmation nor -- as far as I know -- give him authority over the military. Is Jim Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, going to put up with this? Or is the idea to get Mattis to resign in protest? And let's not pretend Trump can't sign anything because he's on vacation. They have pens at Mar-a-Lago.
But the E-mails! Caitlin Oprysko: "A pair of Republican committee heads have requested information from the White House regarding Ivanka Trump's use of a personal email account to conduct official business throughout her time in the administration. In a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly, House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) asked that the administration provide his committee with an accounting of Ivanka's email use for government business, including details on whether the White House had complied with security and record-keeping requirements as laid out by the Presidential Records Act, and whether Trump, a senior adviser to her father, had sent any sensitive or classified information over her personal email. Gowdy noted that while his committee opened an investigation in 2017 into White House staffers' use of personal emails and encrypted devices to conduct official business, the White House had yet to update his committee on the findings of an internal review.... The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday also wrote to the White House asking for details about Ivanka's email use and any training she received regarding compliance with record-keeping statutes. Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and ranking member Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) wrote to White House counsel Emmet Flood to request information that would help the committee determine 'the extent to which Mrs. Trump's use of personal email for official business was intentional and substantial versus inadvertent and de minimis.'"
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: Donald Trump is losing in the courts. "As Fred Barbash noted a few weeks ago in the Washington Post, 'by a very rough count, 40 to 50 federal judges have weighed in against the Trump administration in cases.' This is not, as Barbash observes, because these are all a bunch of demented 'judicial activists,' as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions once attempted to argue. Nor are they the 'judges of the Resistance.'... A good many of these jurists were appointed by Republican presidents and in some cases Trump himself. No, the Trump administration is still managing to lose a tremendous amount of its lawsuits despite the fact that the judicial branch has changed dramatically in the past two years and the Supreme Court itself now tilts to the political right.... Trump loses so much at least partially because his administration must often contort itself into absurd postures to justify policies enacted by random tweet (as was the trans ban) or by vengeful tantrum (as was the sanctuary cities policy) or without proper procedures (the asylum changes).... Trump also loses whenever courts take his tweeting or offhand comments into account, because they often undermine or even contradict stated legal arguments.... To be sure, there is still a great deal to be worried about."
Tess Bonn of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that House Republicans plan to hear testimony on Dec. 5 from the prosecutor appointed by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to probe alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation. Meadows who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, told Hill.TV's 'Rising' that it's time to 'circle back' to U.S. Attorney John Huber's investigation with the Justice Department into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged any improper activities."
*****
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
** Banana Republic, U.S. Edition. Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump told the White House counsel in the spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political adversaries: his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with the conversation. The lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, rebuffed the president, saying that he had no authority to order a prosecution. Mr. McGahn said that while he could request an investigation, that too could prompt accusations of abuse of power. To underscore his point, Mr. McGahn had White House lawyers write a memo for Mr. Trump warning that if he asked law enforcement to investigate his rivals, he could face a range of consequences, including possible impeachment. The encounter was one of the most blatant examples yet of how Mr. Trump views the typically independent Justice Department as a tool to be wielded against his political enemies. It took on additional significance in recent weeks when Mr. McGahn left the White House and Mr. Trump appointed a relatively inexperienced political loyalist, Matthew G. Whitaker, as the acting attorney general." ...
... Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump on multiple occasions raised with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Matt Whitaker, who was then-chief of staff to Jeff Sessions, whether the Justice Department was progressing in investigating Hillary Clinton, according to a source familiar with the matter. The President also wanted his previous White House counsel, Don McGahn, to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton on numerous occasions, but McGahn rebuffed doing that, the source said. Anticipating the question about Clinton would be raised, Whitaker came prepared to answer with what Justice was doing on Clinton-related matters, including the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One investigations, the source said. The source added that Whitaker was trying to appease the President, but did not seem to cross any line." ...
... David Corn of Mother Jones: "... there is someone in Trump's circle who has long been an advocate of prosecuting Clinton: Matt Whitaker.... In July 2016, after Comey announced that he would recommend no criminal charges be filed against Clinton..., Whitaker ... noted during a radio interview that Clinton ought to have been prosecuted. And he raised the prospect of Clinton being charged by a next administration, assuming it was not hers.... Two months later, appearing on Fox Business Channel as a pundit, Whitaker indicated he believed that if Trump won, his administration should reboot the Clinton email case.... In a May 2017 radio appearance, Whitaker essentially called for a special counsel to investigate Clinton...." ...
Carol Leonnig & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "President Trump's attorneys on Tuesday submitted his written answers to a series of questions from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about Trump's knowledge of Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign and its efforts to assist his 2016 White House bid. The inquiries only include a portion of the questions that Mueller has sought to pose to Trump for nearly a year, when he first requested an interview with president. The topics cover activities during the campaign and do not delve into questions about whether Trump has sought to obstruct the probe into Russian interference." ...
... Andrew Prokop of Vox outlines the drama that went into Trump's finally answering a limited set of questions.
Matt's Mystery Money. Robert O'Harrow, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the three years after he arrived in Washington in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker received more than $1.2 million as the leader of a charity that reported having no other employees, some of the best pay of his career. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust described itself as a new watchdog nonprofit dedicated to exposing unethical conduct by public officials. For Whitaker, it became a lucrative steppingstone in a swift rise from a modest law practice in Iowa to the nation's top law enforcement job. As FACT's president, he regularly appeared on radio and television, often to skewer liberals. But FACT's origins and the source of funding used to pay Whitaker -- now the acting attorney general -- remain obscured. An examination of state and federal records, and interviews with those involved, show that the group is part of a national network of nonprofits that often work in concert to amplify conservative messages. Contrary to its claims in news releases and a tax filing, the group was created under a different name two years before Whitaker's arrival, according to incorporation and IRS records. At least two of the organizers were involved in another conservative charity using the same address." ...
... Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Senate's top Democrat has asked the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker's communications with the White House, over concerns that he might have shared secret information from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation with President Trump. In a letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked him to open a formal probe into whether there have been any 'unlawful or improper communications' between Whitaker and the White House during his service as former attorney general Jeff Sessions's chief of staff, when he was in regular touch with Trump and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. In particular, Schumer said he was concerned that as acting attorney general, Whitaker could share 'confidential grand jury or investigative information from the Special Counsel investigation or any criminal investigation.' Schumer also wants Horowitz to investigate whether Whitaker 'provided any assurance to the President, White House officials, or others regarding steps he or others may take with regard to the Special Counsel investigation, including any intention to interfere, obstruct, or refuse authorization of subpoenas or other investigative steps.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As you may recall, last week Trump tweeted that "The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts." How would Trump know about "the inner workings of the Mueller investigation" unless somebody with knowledge of those "inner workings" told him? ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: One possible upside to the Trumpster Dumpster presidency -- ethical practices that have served as norms may be codified into laws that constrict presidential and administrative stunts. Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic: "John Dean, who served as Nixon's White House counsel..., told me that 'following Nixon, it became a post-Watergate norm that the White House stayed out of DOJ business. Trump ignores all norms.' So, following his presidency, Dean said, those norms 'will probably become law.'" Of course the Kavanaugh Court could easily decimate any ethics laws that apply to the president.
Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much. -- Donald Trump, 2015 ...
... Blood and Money. Trump Ignores Intelligence Assessment. Nicole Gaouette & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump signaled Tuesday that he will not take strong action against Saudi Arabia or its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the death and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.... In an exclamation-mark laden statement subtitled 'America First!' Trump said that 'our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event -- maybe he did and maybe he didn't!' 'That being said,' Trump continued, 'we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran.' Trump is expected to receive a CIA assessment on Khashoggi's murder later on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Note that Trump made his announcement before he reviewed his own agencies' assessment. I guess he also has a natural instinct for spy stuff. BTW, other than the likelihood somebody ran a spellcheck on Trump's statement, it sounds very Trumpy. I can believe he wrote it himself. ...
... ** Update. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump defied his intelligence agencies and ample circumstantial evidence to declare his unswerving loyalty to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, asserting that the crown prince's culpability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi might never be known.... In its 631 words in eight paragraphs, punctuated by seven exclamation points and a casual style that sounded like Mr. Trump's off-the-cuff musings, the statement was a cogent summary of the Trump worldview: remorselessly transactional, heedless of allies, determined to put America's interests first and founded on a theory of moral equivalence. His statement, which aides said Mr. Trump dictated himself and reflected his deeply held views, came only days after the C.I.A. concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an ally of the White House, had authorized the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.... Mr. Trump's words seemed certain to alienate Turkey, which has raised the pressure on Saudi Arabia to offer a full accounting of what happened to Mr. Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. They also drew outrage from lawmakers and human rights activists, for whom the grisly killing has become a test of America's willingness to overlook the crimes of a strategically valuable ally." Read on. Landler is brutal, as well he should be. ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Perhaps anticipating a damning report, Trump released a long, exclamation-point-laden statement preemptively making the case for not punishing Mohammed or his father, King Salman, even if they were involved. It's a remarkable statement that even includes a smear against the slain journalist, while insisting that Trump didn't believe the smear. Below is the statement in full, with our annotations." ...
... Jonathan Chait also parses Trump's statement -- or Statement! Chait's analysis runs to commentary like this: "From there, the statement becomes increasingly deranged." ...
... David Hearst & Daniel Hilton of the Middle East Eye: "Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince are shielding themselves from the Jamal Khashoggi murder scandal by using a roadmap drawn up by the US secretary of state, a senior Saudi source has told Middle East Eye. Mike Pompeo delivered the plan in person during a meeting ... last month in Riyadh, said the source, who is familiar with Pompeo's talks with the Saudi leaders. The plan includes an option to pin the Saudi journalist's murder on an innocent member of the ruling al-Saud family in order to insulate those at the very top, the source told MEE.... The US State Department denied the Saudi source's allegations, and called them 'a complete misrepresentation of the secretary's diplomatic mission to Saudi Arabia'." --safari: The report cites only one source, so skepticism is warranted. But WTF was Pompeo during there besides chumming it up and abruptly leaving without discussing any "facts"? ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Also too Middle East Eye is aligned with the Turkish government. But still, as safari writes. ...
... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Aside from the comment indicating uncertainty, Trump also repeated smears against the late journalist ('Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an "enemy of the state" and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood'), while appending provisos. ('My decision is in no way based on that -- this is an unacceptable and horrible crime.') Trump also repeated the falsehood that Saudi Arabia has 'agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States,' creating 'hundreds of thousands of jobs.' As former CIA director John Brennan noted, Trump's remarks mean that any accountability in the Khashoggi case will have to come from Congress." ...
... Alexia Campbell of Vox: "... Donald Trump is once again trying to persuade Americans that the United States needs to keep selling war weapons to Saudi Arabia. That hundreds of thousands of US jobs are on the line if he cancels arms sales to the kingdom. Once again, that's not true.... This is Trump's latest attempt to protect the Saudi crown prince (who is also known as MBS) from mounting international backlash over the murder.... There aren't that many American workers making weapons for the Pentagon, much less Saudi Arabia, and MBS isn't buying enough weapons to put a dent in the US economy anyway." Read on for the details. ...
... Washington Post Editors: "In a crude statement punctuated with exclamation points, Mr. Trump sidestepped a CIA finding that the crown prince was behind the killing; casually slandered Mr. Khashoggi, who was one of the Arab world's most distinguished journalists; and repeated gross falsehoods and exaggerations about the benefits of the U.S. alliance with the kingdom. Mr. Trump has betrayed American values in service to what already was a bad bet on the 33-year-old prince. As with Russian President Vladimir Putin's interference in the 2016 election, Mr. Trump is justifying his affinity for a brutal and reckless leader by disregarding the findings of the U.S. intelligence community.... While discounting these facts, Mr. Trump bases his continued backing for the regime on false claims, including his thoroughly debunked boast that Saudi Arabia will 'spend and invest $450 billion' in the United States." ...
... Juan Cole: "Trump’s statement on his policy toward Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder in Istanbul of dissident Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi brought a profound shame on the United States that will, as FDR put it, live in infamy. Trump began by saying he was putting America first, but that was the last thing he was doing. He was putting his own personal predilections and policies, and perhaps profit, above the interests of the United States. Here are the ways he put America last: 1. Trump did not wait for the final Central Intelligence Agency report on the Khashoggi killing, elements of which were leaked last Thursday.... 2. Trump admitted that the crown prince may be implicated in the murder.... 3. Trump is unbearably transparent about the financial incentives for him to overlook Khashoggi's murder.... 4. Trump is also clear that he is running interference for the crown prince for the sake of Israel and in order to keep together his coalition against Iran.... 5. Trump gave as another reason to wink at Khashoggi's murder ... is a key partner in fighting terrorism." Especially on the last point, Cole's assessment of Trump's "reasoning" is brutal. ...
... When Tom Friedman Is Right: "What is the worst thing about President Trump's approach to foreign policy? Is it that he is utterly amoral or that he is such a chump? Because the combination is terrible -- a president who is an amoral chump is the worst thing of all. He sells out American values -- awful enough -- but then gets nothing of value in return.... Trump gave M.B.S. a pass on Khashoggi's murder for the promise of future arms purchases -- 'the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States,' said Trump. That may be the most crass giveaway of U.S. principles by any president in American history, especially when you consider that the Saudis are unlikely to spend even a small fraction of that, and it would not be in our interest or theirs if they did. But even if they did buy so many arms, what is the intangible damage to our moral standing all over the world from such a grotesque blood-for-money transaction?" ...
... MEANWHILE. Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "Several women's rights activists who have been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for more than six months have been subjected to psychological or physical abuse while in custody, including sleep deprivation and beatings, according to four people familiar with the conditions of the activists' detention. Some of the abuse occurred during interrogations in which several of the women were administered electric shocks or flogged, two of the people said, citing a witness account. Other women displayed what witnesses said were apparent signs of abuse, including uncontrollable shaking or difficulty standing, the people said. The allegations of abuse and torture were impossible to independently confirm.... Amnesty International released a report Tuesday also saying that several of the Saudi activists detained since May have reportedly faced sexual harassment, torture and other forms of mistreatment while being interrogated."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said Tuesday that he 'can't imagine' anyone other than himself being named Time's Person of the Year.... The publication earlier Tuesday released the results of a reader poll to pick the Person of the Year. Trump finished tied for 13th with 2 percent of the vote, along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and special counsel Robert Mueller, among others. The top choice was South Korean boy band BTS.... The president claimed in 2017, when he was named runner-up, that he turned down the honor, though the magazine refuted his claim." Mrs. McC: My choice: Nancy Pelosi, who -- remarkably -- never made the cover until September of this year.
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his daughter's use of a private email account to conduct official business, telling reporters that the controversy was a 'whole different' issue than what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was accused of during her presidential campaign.... 'Ivanka Trump can handle herself.... They are in the historical records, no deletion whatsoever,' the president argued. 'Hillary Clinton deleted 33,000 emails, she had a server in the basement. Ivanka Trump didn't. The calls were not classified, unlike Hillary Clinton, which were classified. It is all fake news.'" ...
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "Last fall, it emerged that six White House aides had used personal email -- including Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner.... The couple even set up their own email server.... This was the behavior of staffers who, like the president, know quite well that rules exist but are convinced that they are not bound by them.... That's the same charge made against Hillary Clinton. The spokesman for Ivanka Trump's lawyer ... [said,] 'Ms. Trump did not create a private server in her house or office, no classified information was ever included, the account was never transferred at Trump Organization, and no emails were ever deleted.'... But how can the public know whether those claims are true? Clinton also insisted that she had never sent or received classified information, which turned out to be false.... Clinton also relied on her attorneys to sort her emails and hand over the relevant ones. If one thought that was insufficient and raised the specter that she could have hidden (and then deleted) relevant messages -- an entirely defensible view, and one that Donald Trump offered during rallies in 2016 -- it's hard to see why Ivanka Trump's situation is more acceptable."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "An unidentified turkey about to be pardoned by President Trump appeared in the White House press briefing room on Tuesday, surprising the assembled media. The bird quickly put the members of the press at ease, though, by treating them as they'd come to expect in that room: eyeing them skeptically, answering no questions and leaving after only a few minutes. ABC News's Alex Mallin made an interesting observation about the bird's appearance. By stopping by briefly, the turkey had spent more time on the room's podium in front of the media this month than has White House press secretary Sarah Sanders." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Bump's story is inaccurate. The real headline here should have been, "In Historic Reversal, Turkey to Pardon Trump."
Jonathan Chait: "Interactions between the media and the White House are a form of democracy theater. The give-and-take is a tangible and living sign of the fact that in a republic, the president is not a monarch but is simply a citizen like everybody else. In authoritarian regimes, the palpably cowed news media treats leaders with a deference that communicates their inviolable status. Trump's authoritarian instincts and his bullying persona bear directly on his administration's attempts to rein in the media.... Trump is imposing on the media the social terms in which he has always demanded to operate: a culture in which he can berate and bully others, but must be treated in turn with obeisance. The most tangible sign sign of any hierarchical relationship is one in which one of the parties must be polite but the other is free to engage in abuse. A world in which Trump can brush aside cogent questions by calling reporters stupid, and in which they can't even request an answer, would be the opposite of democracy theater. It would conscript the White House press corps into a regular televised performance of Trump's monarchial fantasies." (Also linked yesterday.)
Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to resume accepting asylum claims from migrants no matter where or how they entered the United States, dealing at least a temporary setback to the president's attempt to clamp down on a huge wave of Central Americans crossing the border. Judge Jon S. Tigar of the United States District Court in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the government from carrying out a new rule that denies protections to people who enter the country illegally. The order, which suspends the rule until the case is decided by the court, applies nationally." (Also linked yesterday.)
Eric Bradner of CNN: "Former President Barack Obama offered effusive praise of Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday as the Democratic leader faces opposition to her bid for House Speaker. 'I think Nancy Pelosi, when the history is written, will go down as one of the most effective legislative leaders that this country's ever seen,' Obama said at a live taping of 'The Axe Files' podcast.... 'The Axe Files' is hosted by David Axelrod, Obama's former top strategist...." ...
... Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "BREAKING NEWS: Rep. Marcia L. Fudge endorses Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for House speaker, abandons any plans to challenge longtime Democratic leader." See more on Fudge linked earlier under Beyond the Beltway. DeBonis covers Obama's remarks about Pelosi.
Election 2018
Sen. Cindy & friend don rebel caps during Cindy's visit to the Jefferson Davis home in Biloxi. No doubt Cindy has "evolved" a lot since way back in 2014 when she posed for the photo. Look away, look away....Mississippi. James Arkin & Matthew Choi of Politico: "Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Dixie) posed for a photo wearing a Confederate soldier's hat and holding a rifle in a Facebook post that surfaced Tuesday. Hyde-Smith took the photo during a 2014 visit to the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. 'Mississippi history at its best!' Hyde-Smith exclaimed." Mrs. McC: Mike Espy, a black Democrat, is challenging Hyde-Smith in a special run-off election to be held November 27. Sure would be good for Mississippi if Cindy were gone with the wind after that. ...
... Dan Mangan of CNBC: "AT&T, Leidos and Walmart asked Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi on Tuesday to return their campaign donations after getting criticized for their support of the lawmaker, who had make a joke about attending a hypothetical 'public hanging.'... Two other companies, Union Pacific and Boston Scientific, had already asked for their money back Monday."
Utah. Brady McCombs of the AP: "Democrat Ben McAdams has flipped a U.S. House seat in deep-red Utah, defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love by fewer than 700 votes in a race that took two weeks to settle. McAdams defeated Love, the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, by a margin just over what would have been needed to require a recount, according to final results posted Tuesday. McAdams' victory adds to the Democratic majority in a year when they have flipped more than three dozen Republican-held seats across the country to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives."
Alexandra Stevenson, et al., of the New York Times: "The stock market's gains for 2018 were erased in early trading on Tuesday, as a sell-off led by giant technology stocks continued. The renewed declines in the United States came after drops in Asia and Europe. The tumble of more than 1 percent in the S&P 500 followed a sell-off in high-flying technology stocks like Google, Apple and Amazon in the United States on Monday, as investors weighed the prospects for increased regulation, trade tension and threats to the profit outlook for the large technology firms that exert a large influence on major market indexes. The pain continued for such companies on Tuesday with Apple and Amazon falling by more than 4 percent in early trading. But a new area of concern also flared up after the retailer Target reported third-quarter sales and profit that missed Wall Street expectations. Target's shares dove by more than 10 percent." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Update. Matt Phillips of the New York Times: "... the S&P 500-stock index turned negative for the year.... The S&P 500 closed on Tuesday at 2,642, down 1.8 percent. Other markets also flashed warnings, with oil dropping by 6.8 percent, falling deeper into bear territory.... The recent market drop is consistent with a potential downshift in the American economy. In 2018, a hefty dose of fiscal stimulus allowed the United States to shake off the growth worries in China, Europe and the rest of the world. It won't have the same potency next year, leaving the American economy vulnerable to a global slowdown."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Lisa Ryan of New York: "Megyn Kelly notoriously found herself in big trouble with NBC -- and had her low ratings-plagued Today hour subsequently canceled -- after she decided to defend blackface during a segment on the morning program. On Tuesday afternoon, 'Page Six' reported the former Fox News anchor is close to finalizing an exit deal with NBC. By Tuesday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that Kelly could be walking away with more than $30 million.... 'Page Six' reports she is already planning her return to television. 'But this is far from the end of her TV career -- in the Trump era, there are few broadcasters like her,' a source told the gossip column. 'Megyn would likely take a short break from TV and return to cable news ahead of the 2020 election.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Congrats all around to the NBC suits. The Kelly hiring & firing were genius.
Beyond the Beltway
Kansas. Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "A white county commissioner in Kansas resigned on Tuesday after an outcry over his use of the term 'master race' in a discussion with a black consultant at a public meeting last week. The commissioner, Louis Klemp of Leavenworth County, made the comments to Triveece Penelton, who works for an architecture and design company, during a land-use meeting on Nov. 13. According to a video recording, Mr. Klemp said to Ms. Penelton: 'I don't want you to think I'm picking on you because we're part of the master race. You know you've got a gap in your teeth. You're the master race. Don't ever forget that.'... 'My attempts at identifying a similarity (space between our teeth) with a presenter were well-meaning but misinterpreted by some and definitely not racially motivated,' [Mr. Klemp claimed later].... The Leavenworth mayor pro tem, Jermaine Wilson, said he did not believe Mr. Klemp's assertion that his comments were not racially motivated. He pointed to another episode last November, when Mr. Klemp made a series of incendiary comments during a meeting about public holidays. He called Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, 'a wonderful part of history' and questioned the holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
Michigan. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Lou Anna K. Simon, the former president of Michigan State University, was charged on Tuesday with two felonies, accused of lying to the police about her knowledge of sexual abuse committed by Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar. Dr. Simon, a longtime professor and administrator, resigned from her role in January amid pressure and claims that the university allowed Dr. Nassar to prey on young women, including many gymnasts, despite warning signs and complaints over many years. Dr. Simon, who also faces two misdemeanor counts, could face up to four years in prison on each of the felony charges."
Mississippi.
... legislation like H.B. 1510 is closer to the old Mississippi -- the Mississippi bent on controlling women and minorities. The Mississippi that, just a few decades ago, barred women from serving on juries 'so they may continue their service as mothers, wives, and homemakers.' -- District Judge Carlton Reeves, in his decision on Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Currier ...
... AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, one of the most restrictive in the United States. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the law 'unequivocally' violates women's constitutional rights. 'The record is clear: States may not ban abortions prior to viability,' Reeves said, citing Supreme Court rulings. The only abortion clinic in Mississippi sued when Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the law March 19, and Reeves issued a temporary restraining order the next day to keep the state from enforcing the law."
... Mrs. McC: The ruling, coming a week before the Mississippi Senate runoff, will probably be a boost to Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. BTW, Reeves is an Obama appointee -- and he's black. Here's my favorite sentence in Wikipedia's page on Reeves, and it might be my all-time favorite Wikipedia sentence: "As a teenager, Reeves cleaned the office of Judge William Henry Barbour, Jr., whom he would later replace on the federal bench." One Mississippi, Two Mississippi.
Ohio. Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "A disgraced former judge who went to prison for beating his then-wife so severely in 2014 that she required facial reconstructive surgery was taken into custody after she was found slain Saturday morning, Ohio police said. The Shaker Heights Police Department said officers responded to a 911 call at a residence in the morning, prompting them to launch an investigation into Aisha Fraser's killing. Ex-Cuyahoga County judge Lance Mason, Fraser's former husband, was taken into custody, police said. Shaker Heights Police Cmdr. John Cole said Monday morning that the department is 'anticipating charges later today' against Mason, though he was unable to offer additional information. Details about Fraser's killing were also not immediately available; however, Cleveland.com reported that she was fatally stabbed. Un a 911 call obtained by NBC affiliate WKYC, a woman who identifies herself as Mason's sister tells a dispatcher that Mason admitted to stabbing his ex-wife." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Marcia Fudge Will Not Be Speaker of the House. Gary Shaffer of Cleveland.com: "Dozens of people, including four sitting judges, prominent Cleveland attorneys and a congresswoman now considering a bid to become speaker of the House of Representatives, wrote gushing letters of support for former Cuyahoga County Judge Lance Mason after he brutalized his wife in front of their children so badly that her face required reconstructive surgery.... U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge ... said in her letter, which was addressed to visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove in August 2015 ... that ... 'Lance accepts full responsibility for his actions and has assured me that something like this will never happen again.... Lance Mason is a good man who made a very bad mistake. I can only hope that you see in Lance what I and others see.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond
BBC: "Interpol has elected South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its president, rejecting the controversial Russian frontrunner. Mr Kim was chosen by Interpol's 194 member states at a meeting of its annual congress in Dubai. He beat Russia's Alexander Prokopchuk, who has been accused of using Interpol's arrest warrant system to target critics of the Kremlin. Russia's critics welcomed his defeat. Moscow blamed it on 'unprecedented pressure and interference'. The election follows the disappearance of Interpol's former president Meng Hongwei, who vanished on a trip to China in September. Beijing has since confirmed he has been detained and is being investigated for allegedly taking bribes."
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Hate to sully RC by quoting the Pretender, but here goes:
"The country of Iran, as an example, is......propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more."
My mistake. I thought the Pretender's buddy, Putin, was doing the Assad propping with armed troops.
@Ken Winkes: Here's a sentence you never wanted to read: "Well, Ken, both you and Trump are right." But it's true. Both Russia & Iran back Assad. Yet somehow Trump is happy to cooperate with Putin's
"peace plans" for Syria even as he uses Iran's backing of Syria as an excuse to ignore the bone-saw murder of a U.S.-based journalist.
@Marie: In the piece about Judge Reeves–-now that's the kind of life story I'm partial to–- dump wastebaskets as a kid for an old Miss Judge and replace him on the bench when all grown up––you say that Reeve's ruling on the abortion issue would "be a boost" to Cindy Hyde-Smith (who, by the way, I find utterly distasteful for a multitude of reasons). I don't understand what you mean–-could you clarify? Or were you being sarcastic?
@AK: Yesterday you brought us the Tunnel experiment and seeing that little tike run over not only five wooden people but added the one on the other track was Wow!–-kid is destined to be another Humpty Trumpy as you posited but the link you gave then took us to all kinds of psychological tests on children which I couldn't stop watching. Again, as previously happened with other links you have given us the mister wonders "what the heck were you watching up there–-the dinner is getting cold." So once again you were blamed. And I betcha if Judge Reeves would have been one of those children he would have shared his cookie and NOT eaten that marshmallow.
Neatly put, Bea.
Even (especially?) on the political stage, the Pretender's marriages are truly those of convenience.
@PD Pepe: No, I wasn't kidding. I think the judge's ruling could get out the state's anti-abortion voters, and 99 percent of them will vote for Senator Cindy.
THE BIGGEST THREAT TO FREE SPEECH NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT:
Robert Sheer cites Jeff Cohen, editor and co-foinder of the media watchdog "Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting" (FAIR) who warns us that since the repeal of Obama-era rules guaranteeing net neutrality certain liberal websites could be severely hampered.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-biggest-threat-to-free-speech-no-one-is-talking-about/
@Marie: Yeah, I can see that possibility and since it's Mississippi it makes sense.
And, on the MS abortion case: I suspect that is one of the many cases anti-abortion activists have been feeding into federal district dockets, knowing they will be ruled unconstitutional so they can then seek to appeal them to the Supreme Court. Litigants have been holding them back for the past two years waiting for the stars to align. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh's seatings are the constellation they have been waiting for. Expect these to keep coming, it's like the Israel security problem: they (abortion opponents) can lose dozens of SC cases, they only have to win one.
Alexia Campbells' article is yet another example of how This pathetic excuse for a president has degraded everything he touches.
Campbell says Trump lies when he says the Saudis buy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of weapons and fund thousands of US jobs. While her statement is true, it's not at all the conversation we should be having.
The conversation we should be having is about the moral turpitude of a president who would suggest that we should do nothing about the murder of a journalist - a legal resident of the US, no less - simply to safeguard some arms sales.
There are no words to describe just how utterly depraved this man is.
Let me correct my bad writing: the MS case is about legislatures passing laws they know are unconstitutional, not about anti-abortion activists bringing suit. But the AAAs are certainly giving the leg the language, with the idea of getting an appeal before the 9 wise souls.
Don't want to let the inarguably reprehensible Pretender off the hook, but it strikes me his stumbling self-dealing thuggery in international affairs may have one benefit.
He might be teaching some here at home that America's pretensions to moral superiority have too often been mere self-delusion. We have, after all interfered in the internal affairs of other countries frequently in our history, in fact almost constantly since WWII and the Korean Conflict, more often than not pursuing our political or economic interests at the great expense of our purported values.
That list would include our forays into Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile and Iran in the fifties-seventies, during which time also engaged in the bloody Vietnam War. With Vietnam finally behind us, the Reagan era had us again big time messing in Central America, sending troops and arms, causing the deaths of tens of thousands, and now nearly twenty years after 9/11 we're still embroiled in the Middle East and its conflicts, many we caused ourselves at immense human cost to millions, thanks to Bush II's naivete' and dreams of glory.
In my lifetime American exceptionalism has been more a nice story to tell ourselves before we lay out little heads down to sleep than it has been anything else. Along with me, the rest of the world may have accepted that story's aspirational content, but they also know it's no where near reality.
Thanks to the Pretender's inability to put a nice face on anything he does, some Americans who have lived their lives deluded about our place in the world might finally wake up from their dreams and be less willing to accept or follow blindly the cynical selfishness that too often motivates our foreign policies.
This morning's silver lining?
A Shirley Jackson Moment
Yesterday I mentioned, in regard to a conversation about mysticism versus rationalism, that Fatty wasn't in either camp. I may have been hasty in that assessment.
This morning our national acolyte to Saudi Arabian royalty announced that we should all be grateful to him for allowing MBS to murder someone. That murder gave us all lower gas prices. Thanks, MBS!
"Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!" (Trump tweet from 6:49 this morning.)
You may recall that Shirley Jackson, in her story "The Lottery", painted a stark portrait of a community mired in superstition, believing that the sacrifice of one of their own was necessary in order to improve the chances of a good harvest in the fall.
I doubt Fatty has ever read "The Lottery", but it seems he's plugged into the same mystical/murderous mindset. Sacrifice one of your own, and you can get lower gas prices. Hey! Maybe we can allow Putin to kill a foreign national living in the US and caviar prices will go down.
We could have a sacrifice a month. No. A week. Well, hell, why not every day? Fox can show it live. Of course no R would have their name placed in the lottery, it would just be Trump's undesirables who would be stoned to death or cut up with a bone saw.
Once word gets out that Trump allows sacrifices as long as he can claim a "win", it will be open season for ritual killings. And one more perfect tie between Trump, his legion of anti-rational, mystical-minded superstitious villagers is the mob mentality necessary to allow such goings-on.
So let's all enjoy this Shirley Jackson moment. Lower gas prices for everyone! And all it took was the violent, savage sacrifice of an innocent person.
Everyone grab a rock and meet Donnie out back. He's picked another one. Cable rates will be going down soon. Woo-hoo!
(And by the way, you've probably all read this story, but if you forget the casual brutality depicted therein, watch this short film version. And don't miss the lady handing a rock to a little kid so he can join in the fun. It's like watching a Trump rally. And if you prefer the print version, here it is. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there have been plenty of Trump rallies where, if Trump handed out stones, no member of the press would have been safe. They might have said, as Tessie does in the story "'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.")
It’s not only the Right that is rising.
Today’s Reuter’s link to possible improving prospects for British Labour
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-politics-mcdonnell/labours-mcdonnell-says-uk-in-disarray-but-parliament-will-block-no-deal-brexit
coupled with this from a few months ago
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/24/the-guardian-view-on-labour-economic-ideas-radical-and-necessary
suggest that all on the horizon might not be bleak.
The Pretender’s election has been seen to parallel the elevation of European economic and racial nationalism, but there is a counter movement both here and abroad.
More silver lining?
"The Lottery" is my favorite Shirley Jackson story. I gather she must have based it on the ancient virgin/goat sacrifices each year for the Corn King. It remains for me one of the most chilling examples of blindly adhering to something odious because of greed or benefits something or someone must be sacrificed ( the myth of Christ's sacrifice)And that stone given to Davy, the small boy, is the son of Tessie; that alone makes one tremble. Akhilleus used the term, "casual brutality"–-I think that pretty well sums it up.
PD,
Casual brutality is a touchstone of the Trump administration and of Republican politics in general. These people hold lotteries all the time. Who loses? Minorities, women, immigrants, liberals, the poor (especially the poor--and the worst off? Poor minority women, and their kids).
And who picks up the stones? Every R pol (and the DINO's who vote with them), every winger pundit, and everyone who votes for these policies. Even more terrifying is the fact that so many of these voters pull the lever for policies that screw them and their families. They're like the family members who stone their relatives, their mother or sister or father. You vote for Trump and McConnell and Ryan to kill healthcare? In effect, you're condemning Uncle Jack or Dad or Grandma to an early grave.
And unlike Jackson's lottery, Confederate lotteries are rigged. You'll never see a rich man or woman being stoned to death. Betsy Devos? Huh. She has a million dollar military style defense outfit paid for by you and me. She'll never even see a stone.
Casual brutality is a constant reminder of the deleterious, inhumane consequences of Republican policy as it has developed since Reagan was rewarding the rich and scapegoating the poor. And scapegoating is, in effect, what the Lottery is all about. Things are going badly? It's got to be someone else's fault. Sacrifice them and all will be well.
Stocks dropped for the rich? Must be the poor's fault. Let's teach them a lesson. Fires in California? Environmentalists are to blame. Hurricanes? Can't be global warming. It's god's punishment because we allow homosexuals to marry. Stone them. And women who are for choice. Stone them too.
Almost every day Trump finds new scapegoats, or points to his old standbys. You know who is never at fault for things going badly? Him. Or any Republican. Thus, someone else has to pay the price for their bad ideas. It certainly won't be them.
Lotteries every day. But only rigged ones.
I see that Marie posted a picture of Fatty "writing" a speech.
Sure. Trump. Writing. A speech. Hahahahahaha.
My original skepticism stemmed from the fact that when a president, well, a real president, that is, writes a speech, he usually looks at what he's writing (like this guy), not scowling for the camera to look tough and faux-resolute as if he's actually thinking of something beyond money and tits and golf balls.
So, Fatty "writing a speech". At first I thought it was a joke, but then I found this.
He really was writing.
And about those "hundreds of thousands" of jobs that will be funded (one day, maybe, sort of) by MBS with his eight hundred gazillion dollar promised purchases.
Fatty declares that we have to let the prince kill people that piss him off because otherwise he won't buy our stuff. He'll go to the Chinese or the Russians.
Um...No. He won't. He can't. The Saudis have invested heavily in US military weapons and weapons systems. They are not gonna buy rockets from the Chinese and strap them on to an American made fighter jet. Russian software is not gonna work with US programmable bomb systems. They probably can't even buy washers from the Chinese or Russians that will fit. They are locked in. Sure, they could start purchasing entirely new weapons systems from other countries, but that ain't gonna happen overnight and if we decided to put the kibosh on sending them spare parts, their planes would be sitting in the desert, immovable, within a couple of months. If he wanted to apply pressure on the Saudis he could do it easily. But then no more money in little donnie's personal bank accounts from the royal family.
It's just a lie. Oh, it's also true ignorance on the part of a true ignoramus as well. Doesn't know, doesn't care, about military purchase orders or systems or any fucking thing except who is going to be lining his pockets, how often, and with how much.
There's nothing in this involving security or jobs or the military-industrial complex. It's all about what's in it for Fatty. Like everything else.
@Akhilleus: Wow! That other guy is actually writing even while there's an incredibly sexy woman in a red dress leaning into him. That's a great photo, BTW, one I'd never seen.
Still, you did prove that Don Can Write with your other photo.
Man, oh man. Irony is truly dead.
Here's The Decider's attack dog Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wagging his finger
at Fatty for trying to prosecute Clinton and Comey.
"We live in a democracy, and you don’t go after political rivals" sez the guy who went after Democratic attorneys general who didn't go along with Dubya.
After a few minutes Gonzales reconsidered. "Well, Trump prosecuting Clinton and Comey would be a bad thing, but if he wanted to waterboard them that'd be cool."
Thanks for sharing, Alberto. You can go back to reading your torture porn now.
For domestic consumption, the Pretender wants low oil prices, tho' the Saudis don't. Still, the Khashoggi White(house) wash might keep OPEC prices (almost typed princes) tamped down for a while, and Putin says he is willing to go along with his bud's charade.
But there's that stock market, depressed in part by falling oil prices.
Can't wait for the tweet about that.
So many moving parts.
@Ken Winkes: Nobody knew that all this could be so complicated.
I see we got another episode of Super McGahn saves America last night. Apparently McGahn was angry over people pointing out that he was the one who got the judicially moronic conman Matt Whitaker a job on Sessions' staff in the first place. Even in reporting McGahn's "heroics" the journalists eventually get around to telling everyone that Trump asked the DOJ to investigate Comey anyway. This jackass keeps leaking stories to the press to make himself look good. Like everyone else in Trump's orbit it's all about himself. All the right wing bible thumpin' activist judges are a legacy of McGahn's that will screw over the american people for decades. And we cannot forget Kavanaugh. We now have a supreme court justice who could not comport himself in public to the same level of most murderers, rapists, and child abusers do in court every day thanks to McGahn.
So it is possible for CJ Roberts to speak up in support of the judicial branch:
https://www.apnews.com/c4b34f9639e141069c08cf1e3deb6b84
"Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesn’t have 'Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.' He commented in a statement released by the Supreme Court after a query [about trump saying the judge that ruled against the asylum "rule" was an "Obama judge"] by The Associated Press."
I still blame Roberts for Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and all of the nut jobs that are being installed on benches as we "speak." The above isn't evidence of a spine, but perhaps I will allow that he has a coccyx.
NiskyGuy,
Yeah. A rubber coccyx. It bends when the kicks from the right are hard enough.
@RAS: My thoughts, too. Maybe we could write a made-for-Netflix series called "SuperMcGan Saves America," based on McGahn's heroics. We might have to make it an action series for ratings, where SuperMcGan wrestles the Insane President Dumpster to the floor a few times, but that's okay because facts schmacts. The beauty of it is, we won't have to do much original writing other than a "Pow!" here and a "Bam!" there because Leaky McGahn has done the rest for us.
SuperMcGan could have a secret crush on a beautiful girl named Hope Hickey (a la Clark Kent & Lois Lane), who works for President Drumpster ironing his pants & making major policy decisions. But Hope is more interested in a handsome White House staffer named Rod Popher. When Rod takes Hope on a date and punches her in the eye (Pow!), instead of letting it slide, as McGahn did in real life, SuperMcGan wrestles Rod to the floor AND forcibly escort him to the South door even as he alerts intrepid White House reporter Maggie Haberdashery to Rod's sordid past as a serial spouse abuser.
There are endless possibilities. We just have to check McGahn's notes.