The Commentariat -- October 7, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Edmund DeMarche, et al., of Fox "News": "The White House announced late Sunday that Turkey will soon move forward with a planned military operation in northeast Syria, as U.S. troops who have been deployed and operating with Kurdish-led forces in the area began pulling back from their positions. The decision sent shockwaves through the region and Washington, with U.S. officials telling Fox News that top Pentagon officials were 'completely blindsided' and 'shocked' by the order to pull back hundreds of U.S. troops, a move that effectively green-lights the Turkey operation." Emphasis added. ~~~
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over... ....the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets this morning (emphasis added in bold; the caps emphases are all Trump's) ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump vowed on Monday to pull back from military involvement in the Middle East and leave it to others 'to figure the situation out,' even as one of his strongest supporters [Lindsey Graham] condemned him for abandoning allies and emboldening regional enemies. In a series of Twitter messages, the president defended his decision to clear the way for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away America's Kurdish allies near the Syrian border.... 'I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out.'... 'If I didn't see Donald Trump's name on the tweet, I would have thought it was Obama's rationale for getting out of Iraq,' Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina ... said on Fox News.... The announcement set off a swift and bipartisan backlash from other lawmakers as well, with some of the president's closest allies on Capitol Hill taking to Twitter to denounce the decision, all while carefully avoiding the president's name." The AP story is here. And this Politico story covers remarks by some GOP critics. ~~~
~~~ James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "National security experts warn that Trump abandoning the Kurds in this manner will have a chilling effect not just in the region but around the world, further eroding American credibility against the backdrop of a rising China and a revanchist Russia. 'Well, at least the Trump Administration is consistent. We are about screwing our allies, partners and friends,' said John Sipher, who served 28 years in the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service'.... 'Don't trust America, even if you shed blood on their behalf. If you want favors, build a Trump tower.' Other critics of Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria were also quick to note that there is a Trump Tower complex in Istanbul."
David Fahrenthold & Anne Marimow of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Trump's lawsuit seeking to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining the president's tax returns as part of an investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected Trump's argument that the presidency makes him immune to any investigation by any prosecutor. In his 75-page ruling, Marrero called such a claim 'extraordinary' and wrote, 'This Court cannot endorse such a categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process.' The order would allow District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. (D) to enforce a subpoena he sent to Trump's longtime accountants, Mazars USA.... But moments after the ruling Monday, Trump's private attorneys asked the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to intervene to put the case on hold. The appeals court responded soon after, issuing a temporary stay pending review by a three-judge panel of the court." Politico's story is here.
Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "House Democrats on Monday subpoenaed the heads of the Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget for documents related to the Trump administration's decision to withhold financial aid to Ukraine while the president pushed the allied nation for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. In letters to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) acting director Russell Vought, the three committee chairmen leading the House's impeachment inquiry asked for the documents to be provided by Oct. 15."
Washington Post liveblog at 9 am ET: "George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state in the European and Eurasian Bureau, did not appear for a deposition before three House committees scheduled for Monday morning. 'No, Democrats originally scheduled him for deposition today, but his appearance has not yet been worked out or confirmed,' said a person familiar with the planned deposition...."
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Kurt Volker, the president's former special envoy to Ukraine, has stepped down from yet another post, his executive directorship of the McCain Institute, amid the fallout from House Democrats' impeachment inquiry. Volker resigned from his role at the State Department a little over a week ago, and his resignation as the head of the D.C.-based think tank came days after he appeared as Democrats' first witness in their widening impeachment probe.... In a statement released Monday announcing his departure, Volker specifically referenced the growing Ukraine scandal and the ensuing media frenzy.... Cindy McCain, [who directs the center,] in a statement released in tandem with Volker's, thanked the career diplomat for his service...."
The Grift. Jonathan Chait: "While Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was leaning on the government in Kiev, he was simultaneously running a side hustle trying to extort the Ukrainians [link fixed] into throwing some energy business at his clients.... While he was representing Trump as a lawyer, Giuliani was being paid by two men ... Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman ... who were seeking business with Ukraine's government. Giuliani was wearing two hats: simultaneously representing the president of the United States and his paid clients. The conflict of interest between the two roles is overt. Giuliani's clients could use his name to leverage Ukraine to give them business.... As BuzzFeed reported in July, Parnas and Fruman held at least four meetings with Ukrainian prosecutors to urge investigations of Trump's enemies, and met with both President Trump and Donald Trump Jr.... And at the same time they were doing this, Parnas and Fruman were also pushing Ukraine to throw some natural-gas import business their way. Their efforts to intertwine their business agenda with the Trump political agenda were so successful that Energy Secretary Rick Perry brought up their interests in his negotiations with Ukraine.... The fact that Trump has been casting this campaign as an effort to root out 'corruption' while Rudy's boys were asking for a taste of the action just makes the whole joke funnier." See related stories linked below. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait casts Trump as using Parnas & Fruman Trump "as freelance operators to extort Ukraine because the normal foreign-policy apparatus is not set up to shake down foreign countries for dirt on the president's enemies." But I suspect the money Trump's & Perry's big donor friends would garner from contracts & board positions with Ukraine natural gas firms was just as important to Trump. ~~~
~~~ Also too, as Chait notes, "If it were not a sidecar to a historic scandal, the energy scam would itself constitute a large enough scandal to bring most presidencies to their knees." It's so Teapot Dome-y. As historian Robert Cherney noted, "Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the 'greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics.'" Teapot Dome, like UkraineGate, involved a Cabinet Secretary arranging secret non-competitive contracts (oil leases in Teapot Dome) to energy entrepreneurs in exchange for favors (the oil companies bribed the Secretary). One difference: the president back then wasn't privy to the scam. BUT, as a kicker, one consequence of TeaPot Dome was that "Congress subsequently passed legislation, enduring to this day, giving subpoena power to House and Senate for review of tax records of any US citizen without regard to elected or appointed position, nor subject to White House interference."
Kyle Balluck & Aris Folley of the Hill: "President Trump late Sunday suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was guilty of treason and should be 'immediately' impeached. 'Nancy Pelosi knew of all of the many Shifty Adam Schiff lies and massive frauds perpetrated upon Congress and the American people, in the form of a fraudulent speech knowingly delivered as a ruthless con, and the illegal meetings with a highly partisan "Whistleblower" & lawyer,' he tweeted. 'This makes Nervous Nancy every bit as guilty as Liddle’ Adam Schiff for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, and even Treason. I guess that means that they, along with all of those that evilly "Colluded" with them, must all be immediately Impeached!'... Members of Congress cannot be impeached...." Mrs. McC: Somebody should explain impeachment to Trump; despite its prominence in his life, he still doesn't get it. This is the second time Trump has urged somebody (he uses the passive voice) to impeach members of Congress; last week it was Mitt Romney for disagreeing with Trump's solicitation of China to "investigate" the Bidens.
Emma Newberger of CNBC: "Goldman Sachs said the cost of tariffs imposed by ... Donald Trump last year against Chinese goods has fallen 'entirely' on American businesses and households, with a greater impact on consumer prices than previously expected. The bank said in a note that consumer prices are higher partly because Chinese exporters have not lowered their prices to better compete in the US market. Trump has repeatedly -- and inaccurately -- claimed that China will pay for tariffs imposed by the U.S."
Tanya Snyder, et al., of Politico: "In her first 14 months as Transportation secretary, Elaine Chao met with officials from Kentucky, which her husband Mitch McConnell represents in the Senate, vastly more often than those from any other state. In all, 25 percent of Chao's scheduled meetings with local officials [seeking DOT grants] of any state from January 2017 to March 2018 were with Kentuckians, who make up only about 1.3 percent of the U.S. population.... At least five of Chao's 18 meetings with local Kentuckians were requested in emails from McConnell staffers, who alerted Chao's staffers which of the officials were 'friends' or 'loyal supporters,' according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.... The department has long maintained that it, and [Chao], have shown no favoritism to [Kentucky], even while local officials from other states have complained about having trouble getting to see her."
Travis Loller of the AP: "With a bandage above his left eye and a large, red welt below it, former President Jimmy Carter was greeted by a cheering crowd Monday morning as he prepared to help build a home with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville. Carter fell at home on Sunday, requiring 14 stitches, but he did not let his injuries keep him from participating in his 36th building project with the nonprofit Christian housing organization. He turned 95 last Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. president to reach that milestone."
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** Trump Betrays Kurds, Backs Autocrat Erdogan. Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "In a major shift in United States military policy in Syria, the White House said on Sunday that President Trump had given his endorsement for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away American-backed Kurdish forces near the border in Syria. Turkey considers the Kurdish forces to be a terrorist insurgency, and has long sought to end American support for the group. But the Kurdish fighters, which are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or S.D.F., have been the United States' most reliable partner in fighting the Islamic State in a strategic corner of northern Syria. Now, Mr. Trump's decision goes against the recommendations of top officials in the Pentagon and the State Department who have sought to keep a small troop presence in northeast Syria to continue operations against the Islamic State, or ISIS, and to act as a critical counterweight to Iran and Russia. Administration officials said that Mr. Trump spoke directly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on the issue on Sunday." Emphasis added. The Guardian's story is here. ~~~
~~~ If you're wondering, "But what would Vlad say?" the answer is, "Good boy, Donnie."
~~~ Bassem Mroue of the AP: "U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said American troops began pulling back Monday from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion that the Syrian Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against the Islamic State group. The Syrian Kurdish fighters also accused Washington of failing to abide by its commitments to its key allies in the fight against IS. It's a major shift in U.S. policy." ~~~
~~~ Saphora Smith of NBC News: "The U.S. decision to stand aside and allow Turkey to kick off a military operation in northeast Syria risks further destabilizing the war-torn region, undermining the fight against ISIS and sparking a wider conflict between Turkey and Kurdish fighters, analysts and Kurdish-led forces warned on Monday."
The Plot Thickens -- Grifters Gotta Grift
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Friday, Politico published a story by Ben Lefebvre & Daniel Lippman with this lede: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry urged Ukraine's president to root out corruption and pushed the new government for changes at its state-run oil and gas company...." Later on, they reminded us of a Politico story published a few days before that Perry was "expected to resign next month." Then, in their recitation of what-all Perry did on his jaunts to Ukraine, they let on that Perry was pushing the new Ukraine government to put his own friends on the board of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned natural gas company. AND there was this: "Among Perry's numerous visits with Zelenksy and other Ukraine officials in the past year was a dinner with Zelensky, Jared Kushner and other officials in June, according to a government photo taken by the U.S. of the event." So I wrote, "AND you know there has to be something in this for the Trump Crime Family[.]" ~~~
~~~ ** Come Now Desmond Butler, et al., of the AP: "As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump's main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to [Trump & Giuliani] were also active in Ukraine.... This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine's massive state gas company [Naftogaz]. Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.... After Zelensky's surprise election, "the effort to install a friendlier management team at the helm of the gas company ... would soon be taken up with Ukraine's new president by ... Rick Perry, whose slate of candidates [to run Naftogaz] included a fellow Texan who is one of Perry's past political donors.... The affair shows how those with ties to Trump and his administration were pursuing business deals in Ukraine that went far beyond advancing the president's personal political interests. It also raises questions about whether Trump allies were mixing business and politics just as Republicans were calling for a probe of Biden and ... Hunter, who served five years on the board of another Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.... The Associated Press has interviewed four people with direct knowledge of the attempts to influence Naftogaz, and their accounts show Perry playing a key role in the effort.... The Trump and Giuliani allies driving the attempt to change the senior management at Naftogazt, however, appear to have had inside knowledge of the U.S. government's plans in Ukraine. For example, they told people that Trump would replace the U.S. ambassador there months before she was actually recalled to Washington...." ...
... Oh, And "At the center of the Naftogaz plan," were Giuliani's shady "clients" (or whatever) Lev Parnas & Igor Fruman, "and an oil magnate from Boca Raton, Florida, named Harry Sargeant III." Sargent, a big GOP donor, has met with Trump at the White House & at Mar-a-Lago. ~~~
~~~ So Then ... Alayna Treene & Jonathan Swan of Axios reported that "President Trump told House Republicans [in a conference call Friday] that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry -- a call Trump claimed he didn't even want to make.... Perry's spokeswoman, Shaylyn Hynes, told Axios: 'Secretary Perry absolutely supported and encouraged the president to speak to the new president of Ukraine to discuss matters related to their energy security and economic development.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That is, Trump was fingering Perry not just for urging him to pick up the phone, but also for being up to his neck in the Ukraine scandal. And in this part of the Ukraine scheme, the cash would flow not from American taxpayers to Ukraine but from Ukraine to Trump's & Perry's backers. Trump & Perry's plan then, was to use Zelensky as the middle man in a scheme to move taxpayer dollars into the pockets of the Trump Gang's oil-and-gas magnates. The Ukraine "corruption" Trump was interested in quashing was not just his political rival Joe Biden & the private gas company Hunter Biden represented, but also the state-owned gas company that wasn't paying tribute to Trump/Perry backers' interests.
** Molly McKew, in a Political Magazine piece, describes the hot war Russia is waging in Ukraine, which "is the necessary context in which Americans should understand the gravity of ... Donald Trump's attempt to strong-arm Ukraine into becoming a subsidiary of his reelection campaign. In one gesture, Trump reduced the survival of Ukraine to a bargaining chip in an utterly petty pursuit; embroiled Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, in scandal and undercut his ability to defend the interests of his nation; and weakened the clout of U.S. leadership on Ukraine, the region and beyond. The biggest beneficiary of this latest Trump-derived scandal is the Kremlin.... Trump is bargaining away U.S. security for conspiracy theories about Ukraine and the Bidens that he hopes will not only strengthen his position for his reelection, but will also erase the evidence that Kremlin intervention helped to elect him president.... It is in our vital contemporary interest, in countless respects, to limit the further expansion of Russia's hold on the Black Sea region, which the Kremlin uses to stage its war in Syria and to project power into the Middle East and Africa, across the Mediterranean on up to the western Arctic, and beyond. It is a pattern of activity that has degraded the security environment in which we and our alliances operate...."
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Those involved in the FBI investigation [of the origins into possible coordination between the Trump campaign & Russia] said they are mystified by the attorney general's activities and interest in the professor, Joseph Mifsud, and they suspect that [AG Bill] Barr might be using Justice Department resources to validate conjecture that Mifsud was deployed against a Trump adviser by Western intelligence to manufacture a basis to investigate the campaign.... Barr's inquiry has heartened Trump and his conservative allies.... Barr has long harbored suspicions about the Russia probe.... The unproven theory about Mifsud is that the Maltese professor was working to set up the Trump campaign." See also the NYT report, linked yesterday, on Barr's investigation of Trump's international conspiracy theories. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Bill Barr Is a Threat to National Security. Aruna Viswanatha, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "Attorney General William Barr is sparking discord in several foreign capitals, going outside usual channels to seek help from allies in reviewing the origins of a U.S. counterintelligence investigation begun during the 2016 presidential campaign. By meeting directly with foreign leaders -- rather than relying on investigator-to-investigator channels -- Mr. Barr has stirred up domestic politics in some of the countries he has tapped for assistance. In Rome, the national-security committee of Italy's Parliament this past week asked Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to appear and answer questions about his contacts with Mr. Barr.... In Canberra, Australian authorities said they were cooperating with Mr. Barr but disputed allegations that one of its diplomats acted inappropriately in 2016 -- an allegation at the center of Mr. Barr's inquiry.... In London, Mr. Barr's personal requests have irked counterintelligence officials over a perceived thwarting of procedural norms.... Mr. Trump has said he expects the review to show that crimes were committed by his political opponents, but no evidence of that has emerged.... 'This could put the Five Eyes relationship in jeopardy,' [Sen. Mark] Warner [D-Va.] said, using the term to describe an intelligence-sharing agreement among the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 'If Australia starts to feel that their intelligence is being used for American domestic political purposes to smear an opponent of Mr. Trump, then that trust breaks down.'" Firewalled. Mrs. McC: So far (7 pm ET Sunday), I haven't found any summaries of the story." ~~~
~~~ Matt Yglesias of Vox tries, without success, to make some sense of the crazy conspiracy theory that Bill Barr, International P.I., is pursuing around the globe on our dime. As Scott Lemieux puts it in LG&$, the theory "is roughly on a par with 'Sandy Hook was a false flag operation.'" Lemieux, BTW, seems a bit skeptical of "the highly principled anti-corruption crusade of Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani" vis-a-vis the Naftogaz "reform."
We invited the White House on to answer questions on the show this morning, [but] they did not offer a guest. We also invited both of the president's personal lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow. They declined to appear. We invited every member of Senate leadership and the top House Republicans. They all declined or did not even respond. [The Republican no-show happened' 'on one of the most critical news weeks of the last three years.... -- Jake Tapper, on air, Sunday ~~~
~~~ Republicans in Hiding. David Boddiger of Splinter: "With the exception of Chuck Todd, of all people, Sunday saw a lot less shouting.... As several news show hosts pointed out, Republican leaders are in hiding after damning evidence surfaced this week in the Trump impeachment inquiry...." ~~~
~~~ Tim Hains of Real Clear Politics: "During a heated interview on Sunday's 'Meet The Press,' Republican Senator Ron Johnson accused former members of the FBI and CIA of conspiring to frame President Trump. Host Chuck Todd fired back by calling Johnson's accusations 'Fox News conspiracy propaganda stuff.' [There follwed a contentious back & forth, with Todd trying to get Johnson to answer his questions about Ukraine.]... 'So do you not trust the FBI? Do you not trust the CIA?' Todd asked. Johnson replied: 'No, no, I don't. Absolutely not. After Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, after James Comey?!' 'I'm sorry that you chose to come on this way, senator,' Chuck Todd said as he ended the interview." Includes video. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
... Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "On Friday..., [Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)] indicated to the Wall Street Journal that he had been concerned this summer that President Trump was creating a quid pro quo with Ukraine by holding up military aid.... It was probably not a coincidence then that on Sunday, Sen. ... Johnson..., chairman of the Homeland Security ... Committee, went on TV to try to defend the president. But arguably, he did more damage to the president's cause by showing just how difficult it is to defend Trump.... Johnson refused to answer basic questions about why he was concerned about Trump, instead bringing up a completely unrelated conspiracy theory about a former FBI official.... To defend Trump...., Republicans ... increasingly have to ignore or ditch the facts altogether.... [Chuck] Todd spends the [the full interview] trying to get Johnson to answer [his first question].... Johnson tries to deflect by throwing out false summaries of the Mueller report...." ~~~
~~~ Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "The bizarre interview is a demonstration of how ... Donald Trump's allies have responded to the impeachment inquiry by rallying around debunked theories about Democratic plots and deep state set-ups during the 2016 election, while dismissing the findings of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference.
~~~ Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Chuck Todd Seeks His Inner Walter Cronkite. Peter Wade of Rolling Stone: "Of late Todd has taken a stronger approach on matters concerning the president's controversies. On Thursday, the host opened his show and put aside his propensity for going out his way to come across as unbiased and said, 'I don't say this lightly, but let's be frank. A national nightmare is upon us. The basic rules of our democracy are under attack, from the president.'"
~~~ Rudy Was on the TeeVee, After All. John Amato of Crooks & Liars: "He joined Howard Kurtz on Fox News' Media Buzz and Kurtz asked him about the impeachable crime of investigating a political rival, 'When he [Trump] came on the camera and urged China and Ukraine to investigate the Bidens --- he ... doesn't see anything wrong with it, he admitted it... Didn't he undercut your defense?' Giuliani replied, 'The President of the United States has every right to ask countries to help us in a criminal investigation that should be undertaken.'... It happens to involve a political opponent, Kurtz interjected. 'I can't help that. I mean, suppose the political opponent committed murder. What are we supposed to do if he's a political opponent? Don't investigate them?' Giuliani is presenting this as a extreme hypothetical, but at some point, 'Joe Biden committed murder' will filter through the alt-right sites and become yet another conspiracy theory upon which the GOP will demand investigations (see: Vince Foster, Seth Rich, et al.)" Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "As Team Trump seeks to expand the eye of their Biden conspiracy to East Asia, the president and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani have wheeled out an absurd new claim: that Hunter Biden was paid $1.5 BILLION by China.... While Republican lawmakers attempt to defend Trump by claiming his China comments were simply a joke, Trump defended his call for China to investigate Biden on Twitter. [Trump tweeted,] 'It is INCREDIBLE to watch and read the Fake News and how they pull out all stops to protect Sleepy Joe Biden and his thrown out of the Military son, Hunter, who was handed $100,000 a month (Plus,Plus) from a Ukrainian based company, even though he had no experience in energy..., and separately got 1.5 Billion Dollars from China despite no experience and for no apparent reason....' Giuliani repeated the false claim during his bitter clash with Fox News host Howard Kurtz. 'The Chinese were paying $1.5 billion to this kid!' he exclaimed. Read The Washington Post's thorough fact check of the Biden-China conspiracy here."
Kathy Gilsinan of the Atlantic: "Military and other security-assistance aid eats up about a third of the U.S. foreign-aid budget, which itself has been a target of Trump's ire. And it has a spotty record -- both in achieving stated American goals when it's offered, and in forcing better behavior when it's withheld.... Ukraine does suffer from corruption, but it's by no means the worst offender among the recipients of American largesse.... U.S. foreign policy relies a great deal on giving military aid, in the form of arms sales and training foreign forces, in an effort to advance security interests without committing large forces overseas. The public should be scrutinizing where it's going and what ends it's achieving -- and at what cost. But in the Ukraine instance, the bigger question now is whether, in the course of a phone call, the president dangled $400 million not in the American interest, but in his own."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has a powerfully controversial docket for its term beginning Monday that will test Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s efforts to portray the institution as above the noisy and partisan battles of the moment. Two unknowns -- the health of the court's oldest member, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and whether the court will be drawn into legal controversies arising from the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into President Trump -- add to the uncertainty. Resolution of the most contentious cases could happen in June, in the heat of a presidential campaign in which the future of the court has emerged as a galvanizing issue for conservatives and liberals." ~~~
~~~ An Umpire Whose Calls Favor His Home Team. Aaron Belkin & Sean McElwee, in a New York Times op-ed: "The term is likely to signal how far the court's conservative majority will go to block the agenda of the next Democratic president and Congress. With the court on the precipice of a dangerous lurch rightward, polling data indicate that Democrats have a positive view of Chief Justice John Roberts, who has expressed regard for precedent and concern for the court's legitimacy, encouraging a view that he will step in to prevent partisan excess. Yet history suggests that Democrats have much to fear. The chief justice is neither a swing vote among his four liberal and four conservative justices, nor a moderate. Expect him to land time and again with the conservatives.... He [has] compiled a voting record that is among the most partisan of any justice in the modern era when it comes to cases overturning precedent, according to our analysis.... Our analysis shows that the chief justice's voting record is as conservative as those of his most extreme current and former colleagues.... The chief justice's strong public defense of the court's integrity has had the effect of camouflaging a subtle, long-game strategy to tilt the court's jurisprudence decidedly to the right."
Anneken Tappe of CNN: "The US economy got off to a rough start this month, with various data pointing at a slowdown. Now economists are saying this trend will only get worse. The National Association for Business Economics said in a survey released Monday that US GDP growth next year will drop below 2% for the first time since 2016. In the previous survey, the consensus expectation for next year was 2.1% -- now it has dropped to 1.8%.... Donald Trump promised as much as 4% GDP growth earlier in his presidency, which the economy achieved in the second quarter of 2018. For the year, however, the economy grew by a more modest 2.8%. Although the 54 economists surveyed by NABE don't yet expect a recession, the dour forecast is the latest example that a slowdown is no longer merely an expectation. It's here now, and it's likely to stay."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Iraq. Bobby Allyn of NPR: "Iraqi authorities say at least seven more people were killed in clashes between protesters and police in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, bringing the death toll from nearly a week of anti-government rallies throughout Iraq to more than 100 with thousands of others injured. Protesters, who took to the streets on Tuesday frustrated over joblessness and corruption, have been met with live ammunition from security forces attempting to break up the mass demonstrations that have convulsed Baghdad and parts of southern Iraq for days. So far, 104 people have been killed and 6,107 have been wounded in the unrest, according to figures released by Iraqi security officials. More than 1,200 security members are among the injured."
News Lede
CNN: "The 2019 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been jointly awarded to William Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza for their pioneering research into how human cells respond to changing oxygen levels. Announcing the prize at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday, the Nobel committee said that the trio's discoveries have paved the way for 'promising new strategies to fight anaemia, cancer and many other diseases.'"
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Reader Comments (22)
My God! By abandoning/betraying the Kurds, trump is making sure we will not be able to attract allies in the future. This is tragic for the Kurds today and our nation tomorrow. But hey, maybe Erdogan will let trump build a hotel in Istanbul. And I’m sure Vlad is pleased.
Yes, Vlad will be very pleased: "Who's a good dog!" he quipped yesterday while relaxing on the banks of the Black Sea smiling from ear to ear knowing he never has to use a leash to direct his best Bud from across another sea.
There is a scene from "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" where within a crowd of frantic people trying to escape, a large dog appears that has the face of a man and is chasing the persons trying to escape. It's a terrifying scene. Those Pod people are determined to transform every body into lock step formality.
It's Monday and we already learn of more transformations: We have abandoned the Kurds. Let that sink in, America–-deeply!!!!!
Russia is already putting out the word that the U.S, is an untrustworthy ally. Sadly, he's telling the truth.
It is written. There will be a recession.
The interest payments on one and a half trillion dollars of student debt sucks purchasing power out of the economy.
The principal payments on student debt weighs like an anvil on the economy.
The U.S. ranks 46th among OECD countries based on a GINI of .47 showing these countries have more economic equality and their populations have more money to buy things.
Costs have gone up faster than income for decades and the piper is waiting just down the road.,
Everyone’s a scumbag
Years ago, I had a girlfriend who, after some time, began accusing me of stepping out on her. This left me totally baffled since that’s not my style at all. It’s not that I was morally superior in any way, it’s just that in my view, that’s not the way to treat people. The accusations kept coming, all without a shred of evidence. Finally I found out that the running around was all on her part. She just assumed that if she was enjoying extracurricular tangos, she couldn’t have been the only one.
I thought of this while reading several pieces (linked above) about the new revelations of sleaze and grifting and self-dealing on the part of what seems to be every single creature connected to Trump. If Fatty and Javanka, and Giuliani and Perry and god knows who else, were all junketing over to Ukraine with laughably transparent excuses of “rooting out corruption”, with one hand waving the flag and the other in Ukraine’s pocket, every other American over there must be doing the same thing, ipso facto. More like ipso fatso.
The idea that someone might not be as corrupt as themselves never occurs to these crooks. I’m not suggesting that Hunter Biden is or was pure as the driven snow. He sounds like an opportunist at best. But the Biden connections have been investigated. Still, as with my old girlfriend, no lack of evidence or proof will do. Trump knows how many times he’s been “cleared” when he was guilty as a strip joint full of gangsters.
The only solution for someone like Trump and his mob of chiseling cheaters is to do what I did with that girlfriend: dump him. And his whole sniveling, pocket picking brood.
@Akhilleus. Quite right. I think corruption is integral to the structure of the Republican party. Republicans just assume that "To the victor goes the spoils."
The Democratic party is structurally different. For instance, some of the biggest donors to Democrats are unions. So Democrats favor laws that help unions. But unions work for laborers; not just their union members, but indirectly for all laborers, because if union wages go up, non-union wages will, too, generally speaking.
But the biggest donors to Republicans are fatcats, and Republicans then reward them. Those rewards may be direct -- say, giving their very special friends no-bid contracts -- or indirect -- giving unjustified tax breaks to corporations & the rich. Republicans assume that Democrats do the same things they do -- handing out goodies to their bases -- but the nature of the bases is the difference.
good news on the tax return demand: In his ruling, Judge Victor Marrero was scathing of the president’s argument, calling it “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.” He ultimately ruled that presidents and their businesses are not above the law.
We know Trump spoke to Erdogan yesterday, but did he speak to Putin, or did Erdogan just pass along Putin's "down, Trumpie" command?
Regarding Fatty’s feckless treatment of the Kurds one has to ask “Cui bono?” Who benefits? Does this help the US? Most certainly not. Sure, it helps Erdogan, and Trump does have an unnatural affinity for murderous tyrants (he wishing sooo much he could be one too, cf alligator filled moats—moots?— and flesh piercing spikes). But that seems a little thin.
Hmmmm...could it be.....RUSSIA? Again?
Imagine tossing the Kurds to the wolves just to satisfy the guy who got you elected and maybe will help again. Why, you’d have to be a heartless inhuman monster. A Trump, in fact.
So who benefits? As in every other case for the last three years, Trump benefits.
Also, I'd like to acknowledge my part in the Snoped image posted here recently, the one of all those people climbing the Great Wall of Trump. I passed that on to Marie. But I got it from Digby's site, and thought that, well, it must be legit since I didn't find it on some questionable fly-by-night outpost on the dark web. Just shows to go, you gotta check everything.
There are plenty of other reasons to ridicule the Orange Menace.
I just got back from a tour of archaeological sites in eastern Turkey. I was always close to the Syrian border: from about 3 to 40 miles from it. First of all, the land in this area is high desert and barely habitable; but archaeology tells us that this land has been inhabited since time out of mind.
Next, with the exception of impoverished small populations and the refugee camps, the land has obviously been emptied out of people. There are abandoned houses everywhere. Most of the cities that I went through in the more western areas were booming with growing populations and high rise apartments everywhere. Our guide told us that people were very glad to move to the cities and away from the Kurds.
The Kurds have always been a thorn in the side of Erdogan. I'm sure his wish to get the Kurds out of northeast Syria is just part of his wish to ethnically cleanse the Kurds inhabiting the land adjacent to Syria in southeast Turkey.
It looks to me that Erdogan is not really concerned about Syria: he just wants to kill the Kurds. And Trump has allowed this.
@Akhilleus: Yeah, I guess we shoulda knowed it was too good to be true. I only found the error when I read & posted a story about how top rock-climbers were challenging Trump's claim that his latest border wall iteration was "impossible to climb." I thought, "Wait, wait, didn't lotsa Mexicans already scale the wall for fun & games"? That's when I found the Snopes debunk.
However, the top rock-climbers who of course climb together in competitions & so forth, said they knew all the country's top climbers and not a one of them, much less 20, were called to test Trump's wall. So Trump's claim no doubt was a lie. Also, in the same breath of braggadocio, Trump revealed that there were top-secret electronics in the wall that would detect climbers. So just maybe not top-secret any more.
That is, Trump is still an idiot.
@Victoria: Yikes! Quit going to such scary places. Archaeology is absolutely fascinating & makes such vital contributions to our understand of who we were -- and are. But couldn't you stick to British stone circles or something a little less dangerous than the Syrian border? The world needs you.
Going back to our conversation a few days ago about those missing portions of the Memcon: Before, I thought the missing portions were just the actual quid pro quo on the Biden and election investigations, but now it's very possible that the missing portions are a completely separate subject, loading the board of the State gas company with his cronies.
The result is still the same, just bigger. He knew that sort of thing was illegal and made sure it was nixed, but was so oblivious of campaign law (as in he doesn't give a shit about it) he left those parts in and is flabergasted (I know, too many syllables) that people are going nuts over that little-league stuff.
We need to see the full Memcon, or better yet, a real transcript.
Cui bono from DiJiT's decision to leave Syria?
a) Just because he said he "decided" doesn't mean he'll actually do it. The record is full of stuff he (and Pompeo) announce but don't actually do.
b) His actual "decision" is to let Turkey create their border safe zone without US hindrance. This puts Kurds in danger, and DiJiT wants to get the few US personnel out so he doesn't have to deal with possible US casualties. Erdogan probably promised him a grace period. Dead US folks in an election year is scary to DiJiT.
c) That "safe zone" will allow Erdogan to move Syrian refugees in there and then tighten up the north side of that border. When the Kurds release those ISIS fighters in camps, if they move north toward the safe zone Erdogan will treat it as a free fire zone. That kind of stuff seems logical to DiJiT, even if Turks just "shoot 'em in the legs."
d) DiJiT thinks the US can walk away and the chickens don't come to roost anywhere we care about. He is technically right, because he doesn't care about ANY place. But those chickens will come down.
e) To answer the bono question, though, I'm sure that DiJiT just thinks that cut & run is fulfilling a campaign promise. He's that simple. He assumes his base voters will think "promise made - promise kept." And they will. They're pretty simple too.
NiskyGuy,
I wonder if an actual transcript even exists. Furthermore, I wonder, don’t they record these calls, and if not, why not?
I doubt we’ll ever see an actual word for word transcript, although it’s possible that barking mad Trumpies like Rudy might have a copy, he having no security clearance and not even being employed by the federal government in any capacity.
I’m wondering if the whistleblower listened in or if he got hold of Trump’s edited version. He may be able to fill in some gaps.
As for R’s demand that the little king be able to “confront” his accuser (translation: put him on the rack and stretch him for a few weeks, after which Rudy will have him sign a confession—with his good hand—saying that Joe Biden, Hillary, Obama, and George Soros put him up to it), it doesn’t work that way. This isn’t a criminal trial (yet). Whistleblowers are protected for a reason.
Idiots.
Could it be that Upchuck Todd has awakened from his long hibernation to discover--mother of mercy!--that Republicans are untrustworthy, self-serving, lying con artists? "Hey guys, you know what? Some of these people who've been coming on my show for years actually don't tell the truth. And...get this...they sometimes spread Fox propaganda! Who knew?"
Right. Good job Chuckie. And you've been helping them to normalize and flatten their lies since you took over that show. This is Mrs. O'Leary realizing, ten years later, that oil lamps left in hay filled barns with ornery bovines is probably not the best of ideas.
But hey, welcome to the real world, Chuck.
But we'll see. He could fall asleep again and wake up in Both Sides World next week for all we know.
Schmuck.
I’m sorry, but regarding Fatty’s declaration of his “great and unmatched wisdom”, I don’t know whether to bust a gut laughing or imagine myself transmogrified some sort of Stephen King fever dream.
Unmatched wisdom? Compared to whom? Rapists? Carny barkers? Pickpockets on the Grand Central shuttle? Eric Trump? Rick Perry? Whack job Rudy? Joe Shit the Ragman, Jr.?
Classic Fatty. His “wisdom” is unmatched. He would, however, come in a distant last to my eight year old and my dog, both of whom recognize wisdom when it appears.
Fatty, I’m sure, believes that “wisdom” has more to do with how to get others to bail him out and fill his pockets than it does an appreciation of actual sagacity.
Besides who refers their own “great unmatched wisdom.”?
Losers, that’s who. And carny barkers ( the lowest rung barkers).
I’m waiting for trump to yell: “You’ve got it all wrong! I wanted to install my buddies on the Naftogaz board! Suckers!” Where’s Tom Cruise when you need him?
My money's on Drumpf walking back the Kurdish betrayal in 48 hrs. Per usual - chest thumping, threats of economic destruction, "fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen", then retreat to a moderate position. Does anyone believe this guy anymore? Sure got the media off the impeachment inquiry though.
@Periscope: Oh, you're so wrong. It took him less than 24 hours to start backpedaling. Soon, Trump will insist it never happened and everyone who claims he gave Erdogan the go-ahead to attack Kurdish-controlled areas along the Syrian border is a liar and a traitor and should be impeached or something.
@Bea
Ha! I initially wrote 24, but in a moment of questioning just how far the GOP might have succumbed to the toxicity of the leader's "wisdom", I gave him the benefit of a second 24 hour news cycle. So, things aren't as bad as I had imagined.