The Conversation -- August 3, 2025
Greg Jaffe of the New York Times: “Jen Easterly, who had served in Republican and Democratic administrations, was headed to [a distinguished teaching chair at West Point]. Then a right-wing activist [-- Laura Loomer --] stepped in.... Over three decades, Ms. Easterly, 57, had compiled an impeccable résumé as a West Point graduate, a Rhodes Scholar and an Afghanistan war veteran. She had served as a key aide on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council and led a critical cybersecurity agency under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... Ms. Loomer, a podcaster and persistent social media presence ... and self-described 'Islamophobe,' ... has run for Congress, but never served in government. Senior White House officials, who view her as unmanageable and often toxic, have blocked her from serving in the Trump administration.... 'Now some TV commentator keen to score political points can humiliate even very senior officers,” said Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel, Vietnam veteran and emeritus professor in history and international relations at Boston University. 'And, of course, those officers allow themselves to be humiliated with the secretary of defense as either bystander or co-conspirator. It is an extraordinary moment.'”
The House the Kleptocrats Renovated. Ashley Ahn of the New York Times: “Experts on historic preservation are raising concerns over the feasibility of ... [Donald] Trump’s plans to complete large-scale renovations to the White House by the end of his term, and whether the project can be done while respecting the historic nature of the building.... It remains unclear whether the Committee for the Preservation of the White House..., It remains unclear whether the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which works in tandem with the White House Historical Association..., [and] which works in tandem with the White House Historical Association, has provided recommendations or raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s ballroom.... Questions about who is funding the project are also still largely unanswered. White House officials said the president and 'other patriot donors' would pay for the renovations but declined to give details.”
David Gelles & Maxine Joselow of the New York Times: “Ever since 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson’s science advisory committee warned of the dangers of unchecked global warming, the United States has taken steps to protect people from these risks. Now, however, the Trump administration appears to be essentially abandoning this principle, claiming that the costs of addressing climate change outweigh the benefits. The effect is to shift more of the risk and responsibility onto states and, ultimately, individual Americans, even as rising temperatures fuel more extreme and costly weather disasters nationwide, experts say.... Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, this week proposed to repeal the landmark scientific finding that enables the federal government to regulate the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. In effect, the E.P.A. will eliminate its own authority to combat climate change.... But Mr. Zeldin’s announcement was only the latest in a rapid-fire series of actions to weaken or eliminate protections against climate change.”
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Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic: “Broadly speaking, Donald Trump’s authoritarian moves come in two flavors. The first is devious plans that help him amass power (say, turning the Departments of Justice and Defense over to lackeys, or using regulatory threats to bully media owners into favorable coverage). The second is foolish impulses that he follows because they make him feel momentarily better. Firing Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as Trump did via a Truth Social post [Thursday] afternoon, falls into the second category.... Trump himself has spent years insisting that economic numbers were made up, regularly denouncing every positive jobs report during the Obama era as fake. And so, when this morning’s report came out, his lizard brain was primed to act: Bureaucrat say Trump economy bad. Trump fire bureaucrat. Now economy good.... Trump has been raging against [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell for being too slow, in Trump’s view, to cut interest rates. But cutting interest rates is what the Fed does when the economy is weak.... Trump is thus simultaneously claiming that the economy is stronger than people think and that Powell should act as if it’s weaker than people think.” Thanks to laura h. for this gift link. ~~~
~~~ When even Peter Baker of the New York Times gets it: “Mr. Trump has never been especially wedded to facts, routinely making up his own numbers, repeating falsehoods and conspiracy theories even after they are debunked and denigrating the very concept of independent fact-checking. But his efforts since reclaiming the White House to make the rest of government adopt his versions of the truth have gone further than in his first term and increasingly remind scholars of the way authoritarian leaders in other countries have sought to control information.... 'It’s a post-factual world that Trump is looking for, and he’s got these sycophants working for him that don’t challenge him on facts,' said Barbara Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia.... 'Firing the top statistical official sends a clear signal to others across the government that you are expected to compromise scientific integrity to appease the president'..., said Gretchen T. Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientsts and a former science adviser to President Biden]. 'This puts us in dangerous territory far from an accountable and reality-based government.'”
Edward Helmore of the Guardian: “Senior Republican lawmakers are condemning the decision of ... Donald Trump to fire the leading US labor market statistician after a report that showed the national economy added just 73,000 jobs – far fewer than expected – in July.... 'If the president is firing the statistician because he doesn’t like the numbers but they are accurate, then that’s a problem,' said Wyoming Republican senator Cynthia Lummis.” MB: Helmore cites similar criticisms from Thom Tillis & Rand Paul. I'd say negative comments from three GOP senators, two of whom are Trump's most frequent critics in the Senate, doesn't amount to much. But it is a start.
Trump Shifts Burden of Government Funding to Poorer Americans. Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: “Even before the latest tariffs kick in, revenue from taxes collected on imported goods has grown dramatically so far this year. Customs duties, along with some excise taxes, generated $152 billion through July, roughly double the $78 billion netted over the same time period last fiscal year, according to Treasury data.... Over time, analysts expect that the tariffs, if left in place, could be worth more than $2 trillion in additional revenue over the next decade. Economists overwhelmingly hope that doesn’t happen and the United States abandons the new trade barriers. But some acknowledge that such a substantial stream of revenue could end up being hard to quit.... The recent Republican cut to income taxes and the social safety net is perhaps the most regressive piece of major legislation in decades.... Lower-income Americans spend more of their earnings on those more expensive goods, meaning the tariffs amount to larger tax increase for them compared to richer Americans.”
Liar-in-Chief Wants Thanks for Next to Nothing. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: “Despite ... Donald Trump’s repeated assertion in recent days that the United States has contributed $60 million for food to Gaza, U.S. pledges have been half of that amount, only a fraction of which has been actually disbursed.... Using nearly identical wording, Trump has at least three times in the past week made the $60 million claim, disparaging what he said was media inattention to his administration’s generosity. 'We gave $60 million a couple of weeks ago,' he told reporters at the White House on Thursday. 'Nobody said anything about it.… Nobody said thank you.'” ~~~
~~~ In Our Names. Mehdi Hasan in a Guardian op-ed: “The debate over whether or not Gaza is a genocide is, effectively, over.... The inconvenient truth is that the US has not just looked the other way, as tens of thousands of Palestinians have been besieged and bombed, starved and slaughtered, but helped Israel pull the trigger. We have been complicit in this genocide, which is itself a crime under article III of the Genocide convention.... Donald Trump has given Benjamin Netanyahu ... and his far-right government not only the green light to 'clean out' Gaza and 'finish the job', but also the arms, intel and funds to do so. When Netanyahu launched his blockade of all food and aid going into Gaza in March, he emphasized it was done 'in full coordination with President Trump and his people'.... Congress is filled with GOP cheerleaders for genocide, from Senators Tom 'bounce the rubble in Gaza' Cotton to Lindsey 'level the place' Graham. The newest member of the House, Randy Fine, a Republican representative of Florida, has called for the nuking of Gaza and said just days ago that Palestinians in Gaza should 'starve away' until the Israeli hostages are all released.... But we cannot let Democrats off the hook either.... Then there is the US media’s complicity in this genocide.... Elite US institutions are also disgracefully complicit in the annihilation of Gaza....”
Jonathan Fischer & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: “The Smithsonian said on Saturday that it would restore information about ... Donald Trump’s two impeachments to an exhibit in the National Museum of American History within weeks. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that in July, the museum removed a placard describing Trump’s impeachments and reverted the exhibit to how it looked in 2008. That display — a glass case dominated by a file cabinet damaged in the Watergate break-in — says that 'only three presidents have seriously faced removal': Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton. The placard mentioning Trump was removed from the exhibition.” ~~~
~~~ In its earlier report, the Post reporter wrote, “The Smithsonian spokesperson said that a large gallery like 'The American Presidency' requires a 'significant amount of time and funding to update and renew.'” This suggested that it would be a lo-o-ong time before the Smithsonian got around to again acknowledging Trump's impeachments. An NBC News report is here.
Mary Jalonick & Joey Cappelletti of the AP: “The Senate left Washington Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to advance dozens of ... Donald Trump’s nominees, calling it quits after days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting on social media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer can 'GO TO HELL!' Without a deal in hand, Republicans say they may try to change Senate rules when they return in September to speed up the pace of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to move quickly as Democrats blocked more nominees than usual this year, denying any fast unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that can take several days per nominee.” Politico's report is here.
Senate Confirms Former Fox Host Boxwine. Grace Moon & Theodoric Meyer of the Washington Post: “The Senate on Saturday confirmed former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in a 50-45 vote along party lines. The 74-year-old Trump loyalist previously served as a judge and prosecutor in Westchester County, New York and has been interim U.S. attorney since May.” The CBS News report is here.
Tom Cotton will never stop being an obnoxious, attention-seeking ass: ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett of the New York Times : “An agency that scrutinizes the conduct of federal employees has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who investigated Donald J. Trump before he returned to office, following a request by a Republican senator. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed on Saturday that it had opened an investigation into Mr. Smith for a possible violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits federal workers from using their government jobs to engage in political activity. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, had asked the agency to investigate on the premise that some of Mr. Smith’s actions, such as seeking quick trial dates in the two criminal cases against Mr. Trump, were designed to influence the 2024 election.... The ... most severe penalty possible for a Hatch Act violation is dismissal from federal employment, and Mr. Smith left the government at the start of the year.... The type of prosecutorial decisions criticized by Mr. Cotton, Mr. Trump and others are far different from the type of cases the O.S.C. typically handles. The office traditionally investigates and addresses violations of federal rules about the civil service.” The AP's report is here.
Zach Montellaro & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “The Supreme Court said Friday that it will weigh the constitutionality of a common form of redistricting used to protect the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters: the drawing of congressional districts where racial minorities make up at least half the population. Experts in election law said the move signals that the court may be poised to further narrow the Voting Rights Act. In a terse order issued Friday evening, the justices called for briefing on whether the 'intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.' The order came in a case challenging Louisiana’s congressional map, which contains two majority-Black districts out of the state’s six House seats.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary near the end of yesterday's thread. A Washington Post story is here.
Texas. Gerrymandering the Gerrymandered. David Goodman of the New York Times: “A Republican-led committee of the Texas House voted on Saturday to advance a new congressional map drawn to flip five Democratic House districts in favor of Republican candidates, setting up a showdown over redistricting next week. The vote came after a marathon 15-hour hearing on Friday in which the committee heard public testimony, almost all of it firmly against the aggressive changes that affect districts in Houston, Dallas and Austin, and along the U.S.-Mexico border. Several Democratic members of Congress came to Austin to testify, arguing that the proposed map would diminish the power of Black and Hispanic communities across Texas and violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Al Green, a congressman from Houston, said the map was 'racist.' Jasmine Crockett, a congresswoman from Dallas, vowed to immediately challenge it in court. But in the end, the Republicans on the committee voted to deliver the map that had been called for by ... [Donald] Trump, who said last month that he hoped to get five more Republicans in the House. Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats.” Mother Jones' report is here.
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Reader Comments (7)
Here's a scale model of Trump's White House Ballroom, which, to me,
looks like an idiot designed it.
It dwarfs the White House. Looks like something a dictator would do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DM1BHtivKL7/
“Trump is thus simultaneously claiming that the economy is stronger than people think and that Powell should act as if it’s weaker than people think…”
Sounds oxymoronic, don’t it? That’s because it’s one of those bizzaro equations dreamed up by an omnimoronic lamebrain.
But here’s the thing. Fat Hitler has been getting away with being the class dunce for far too long while simultaneously being touted, in the pro-fascist media, as a nova level genius, and simply given his head by vast swathes of the MSM.
That’s barely tolerable when he was out of office, sending out bolts of fecal foolishness from his viper pit in Florida, but as presidunce, he’s making life altering (and in millions of cases life ending) decisions by being allowed to get away with (cliche, I know, but in this case it’s true) murder.
There are signs that the Dunce in Chief is being a bit battered by the head winds of reality. Too bad for the rest of us that neither he nor or the MAGAnuts don't and won't notice.
So, Marie notes that "even Peter Baker" now gets it. "It" being DiJiT's total fakehood. (I think he got it long ago but just ... couldn't ... write it.)
The NYT doesn't want you to comment on that, though, because it closed its comments within hours of the article's final revision today.
And the NYT article about the effects of BBB changes to SNAP, probably leading to rural food deserts and nutritional loss to the rural poor? They never had a comment availability to begin with. Which is often the case with articles denying the truth of administration "policy" claims.
It appears that even when the NYT publishes articles critical of DiJiT's lies, it wants to keep the Amen Chorus of comments down or out. Admittedly, writing a comment (anywhere but here, of course!!) is like a spit in the ocean, but, still, we are paying these guys for what they can tell us, and for letting them know what we think of it. Can it be the NYT doesn't care?
On the other hand, WaPo's AI comments will publish anything but comments that don't meet their secret verboten list, and the AI summary usually says "Most commenters don't agree with DiJiT ... " or words to that effect.
Writing a stiff letter to The Times ain't what it used to be.
Experiment Time
My wife sometimes chides me when silly jokes veer into territory she feels might be observed and acted upon by some power out in the universe. “Don’t put that out there!” she’ll warn.
Hmmm…
Maybe there’s something to that sort of thing after all. If so…here goes…
(Loudly, and with conviction bordering on Delphic Oracle bet-the-farm certainty.)
FATTY SURE IS HAVING A TOUGH TIME LATELY, WHAT WITH BEING LINKED LIKE A STRING OF SAUSAGES TO CHILD MOLESTING, SEX TRAFFICKING BUDDY JEFFREY, AND HIS MORTICIA ADDAMS GIRLFRIEND. PLUS HE HAS TO FIRE ANYONE CHALLENGING HIS GASLIGHTING.
MUST BE A LOT OF STRESS. LOTTA STRESS! HE MIGHT BLOW A GASKET ANY MINUTE NOW.
I SAID
ANY MINUTE NOW!
There. I put it out in the universe.
Waiting, waiting, waiting…
@Forrest Morris: The Instagram rendering is not an accurate picture of Trump's planned monstrosity.
For one thing, the Trumpendanzhaal in the picture is far too big. It appears to be about three times the size of the White House. But the first floor of the White House, according to the Googles, is 55,000 sq. ft., or more than half the proposed size of the dance hall.
In addition, the Instagram picture shows the giant ballroom abutting the White House. The current East Wing is separated from the White House by a long corridor. (This is the same corridor Melanie decorated with a long line of blood-red trees in 2018.)
It looks as if there will still be plenty of room for the trees from hell after the ballroom is built. I can't tell from the renderings (seen at about 1:44 minutes into the video) what will happen to the current East Wing, but according to Mizz Karoline Leavitt, the disco space will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House." That is, it will be at the end of Melanie's corridor & not smack-dab attached to the White House as the Instagram picture has it.
I'm not defending the building of a grotesque dance floor on the White House lawn, but these are the facts as we know them. Of course with Trump, everything but the gilding is TBD, so who knows?
Trump has "won" more golf tournaments in his first six months on the job than natural disasters visited.
"Trump now is claiming six championships this year, including the Men’s Member-Guest tournament in late March at Trump International West Palm Beach. He also was declared the winner at the Senior Club Championship at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter one week later. In March, while posting he won the Club Championship at Trump International West Palm Beach, Trump added it would “probably” be his last. He’s up to four more claims since then."