The Conversation -- August 5, 2025
David Goodman of the New York Times : “Senator John Cornyn of Texas asked the F.B.I. on Tuesday to help locate and arrest dozens of Democratic state lawmakers who left Texas to block the State Legislature from voting on a Republican plan that could help the party keep control of Congress after the 2026 elections.... The senator cited an accusation by Gov. Greg Abbott that the absent Democrats and people who support them may be violating bribery laws over the funding of the walkout.... The potential use of federal agents to round up the Texas lawmakers, who have sought refuge in New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, would be a significant step, and could set up a clash between the governors of those Democratic states and the Trump administration. Hours later, the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, said that if the absent Democrats did not return by Friday he would seek a court order declaring their seats vacant.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: The excuse for the feds arresting Texas legislators seems far-fetched to me. Not showing up for work in the Texas legislature is not a federal offense. Bribery is a federal offense, but Cornyn offers nothing more than second-hand gossip as "evidence." The FBI, at least in the past, would never have arrested & detained a person on the basis of an unfounded rumor from opponents that the person might have committed a non-violent crime. I realize Trump's FBI will do what Trump wants, but multiple false arrests is a far bridge.
Everybody's Picking on Donald. Rob Copeland of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Tuesday that he was a victim of discrimination by two of the nation’s largest banks, and suggested that his personal experience was fueling his animus with Wall Street. Mr. Trump, in an interview on CNBC, said that both JPMorgan Chase — the nation’s largest bank — and Bank of America refused to accept more than $1 billion in deposits from the Trump Organization after his first term. He said that he made personal appeals to the chief executives of both banks but was rejected. 'The banks discriminated against me very badly,' Mr. Trump said.... The Trump Organization earlier sued Capital One for closing its accounts in the wake of the Jan 6. attack on the Capitol. The president’s commentary on Tuesday carries significant weight on Wall Street because his administration has been preparing a crackdown, in the form of an executive order and other proposed regulatory changes, on so-called debanking practices. Many right-leaning organizations have claimed that the financial system has locked them out because of their political positions. Bank executives and lobbying groups have broadly pushed back against that assertion, although they have said that beginning with the Obama administration — and during Mr. Trump’s first term — they were required by regulators to apply close scrutiny to certain categories of deposits, including payday lenders and gun-related businesses.” CNBC's story is here.
Megan Messerly of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Tuesday said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not be the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Trump, in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, said Bessent told him Monday evening that he does not want the job as central bank head and intends to remain Treasury secretary.... Trump did, however, reiterate that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and former Fed board member Kevin Warsh remain on his short list to run the central bank.”
Déjà vu, But Like Worse, Man. Brian Beutler of Off Message: Today is "a bit like February 2020 all over again, except we’re in the early days of a recession rather than a pandemic, and instead of reluctantly acknowledging its existence, Trump intends to deny reality altogether. Because this time he has more control over what the government says and does.... It’s clear the lesson Trump took from his first-term failures wasn’t that he had to be more competent, empirically minded, and transparent; it’s that he hadn’t established enough control over information to shield himself from the political consequences of unflattering news. This time around he seems intent on ... engaging in more coverups, purging the government of more honest brokers, and flooding the zone with more shit. But that means he’ll make more mistakes, too."
Kadia Goba of the Washington Post: “The Republican-led House issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, potentially setting up a contentious standoff between Congress and the Trump administration over an issue that has sparked major headaches for ... Donald Trump. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) formally issued the subpoena on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after one of the panel’s subcommittees — with some GOP support — voted to compel the Justice Department to release the files. Under House rules, Comer was obligated to issue the subpoenas and no full House vote was required. Along with a demand for the Epstein documents, the chairman also issued subpoenas for several high-profile figures, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and former FBI director and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. In all, Comer issued 11 subpoenas for documents and testimony spanning over two decades and including a slew of former attorneys general under Democratic and Republican administrations.”
House of Horrors -- and the World's Elite. David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times survey Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan townhouse: “The townhouse, a stone’s throw from Central Park, was sold to Mr. Epstein in 1998 by Leslie H. Wexner, the billionaire owner of L Brands. Mr. Epstein renovated and redecorated the mansion in an eccentric style. Dozens of framed prosthetic eyeballs lined the entryway. A sculpture of a woman wearing a bridal gown and clutching a rope was suspended in a central atrium. In the ground-floor dining room, Mr. Epstein entertained a rotating cast of celebrities, academics, politicians and businessmen.... Photos show that guests sat in leopard-print chairs around a large rectangular table.... In the massage room were paintings of naked women, a large silver ball and chain, and shelves stocked with lubricant, according to photos reviewed by The Times. Mr. Epstein regularly directed teenage girls — some recruited from middle schools in Queens — to massage him while he was naked. Sometimes he masturbated in front of them, according to court records and interviews with victims. Sometimes he raped or assaulted them.”
Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "One of ... Donald Trump's repeated defenses of his longtime friendship with deceased financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago country club when it became clear he was 'stealing' young girls in Trump's employ.... [But] According to the footnotes of The Grifter's Club, a 2020 book about the goings on at Trump's flagship South Florida resort, '"The authors viewed a membership list showing that Epstein’s account had been closed.' The book reports that the 'membership log shows his account at the club was closed in October 2007."' Not only does that mean Epstein was a member of the club seven years after Trump said he 'stole' Mar-a-Lago worker — and Epstein victim — Virginia Giuffre. It also means he was a member of the club a year after he was indicted on charges related to his sex trafficking operation."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Representative Mike Flood, Republican of Nebraska, was not even 30 seconds into his prepared introduction at a town hall in Lincoln on Monday evening when the booing and the jeering began. Then it didn’t let up for over an hour. 'There’s been a lot of misinformation out there about the bill,' Mr. Flood told a crowd of more than 700 people gathered in a downtown recital hall, referring to President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy legislation that significantly cuts Medicaid, food benefits and other programs. 'You are a liar!' multiple people shouted back. 'Liar! Liar!'... Faced with selling a major piece of legislation that polls show is broadly unpopular and confronted with ruptures in Mr. Trump’s base over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, [GOP Congressmen] risk being met with angry questions for which they have no easy answers.”
Shira Rubin, et al., of the Washington Post: “Israel’s plans to launch a full-scale occupation of the Gaza Strip, details of which officials are set to discuss this week..., is bringing fear and uncertainty to Palestinians in Gaza, who are exhausted after nearly two years of Israeli bombardment and gunfire and are now in the grips of a growing starvation crisis. The families of Israeli hostages still in captivity are afraid that expanded military operations in Gaza will put their loved ones at risk. The plan to occupy all of Gaza, which was reported by The Washington Post and other outlets Monday, means that military operations will also take place 'in areas where hostages are being held,' said a person familiar with the prime minister’s decisions....”
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Dangerous Times. Paul Krugman: "... right now Trump has immense power, thanks in large part to the cowardice of many of the institutions that should be holding him in check. But he’s also rapidly bleeding [public] support, in large part because he’s completely failing to deliver on his economic promises. That combination makes this an extremely dangerous moment. And if authoritarianism does come to America, don’t count on it being soft 'like Hungary's]." (Also linked yesterday.)
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s tariff threats have turned into a play for cold, hard cash as he tries to leverage U.S. economic power to cajole other nations to make multibillion-dollar investments in order to maintain access to America’s market. The president’s second-term trade agenda has clear echoes of his 'Art of the Deal' approach, essentially demanding that trading partners show him the money in the form of investment pledges or else face astronomically high tariffs.... The financial promises give Mr. Trump the opportunity to flex his negotiating prowess in relatable terms and show off the splashy sums he is pulling into America, adding to the reality show intrigue of his trade agenda.... To trade experts, the commitments raise the question of whether Mr. Trump is negotiating with trading partners or trade hostages. 'This is no doubt a global shakedown of sorts,” said Scott Lincicome ... [of] the right-leaning Cato Institute. 'The fact is that Trump is using U.S. tariff policy to effectively force these terms upon less-than-willing participants.'”
~~~ Marie: Right. “Art of the Deal”? More like extortion. Since when are bludgeoning & bullying art forms? ~~~
~~~ Calling Out the Ignoramus-in-Chief. Steve Rattner of the New York Times: “... we have a president who is fundamentally ignorant of the most basic and incontrovertible economic principles, as evidenced in his latest round of foolhardy tariffs.... Mr. Trump’s ignorance goes far beyond the tariffs-are-a-tax concept. He believes trade deficits are tantamount to 'losing' money to other countries.... (Unsurprisingly, Mr. Trump also regularly misstates the size of the trade deficit. It’s not the $2 trillion he claims; last year it was under $1 trillion.) Moreover, the tariffs that Mr. Trump is imposing reflect no rhyme or reason. What is the point of imposing a 40 percent tariff on poor Laos?... His most recent, and potentially most dangerous, transgression has been his harsh and wrongheaded criticism of the policies of the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell.... Mr. Trump seems not to understand inflation. He repeatedly — sometimes on multiple occasions in a single week — pronounces that we have 'no inflation.'... The president barely seems to comprehend supply and demand, which are among the most basic concepts in economics.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is hardly surprising that Trump can't grasp Econ 101. After all, we know he can't do 7th-grade arithmetic, a field of childhood study that is pretty much a prerequisite to mastering easy economics: ~~~
~~~ Melissa Goldin of the AP: Days after he sent letters instructing top pharmaceutical manufacturers to use a 'most favored nation' pricing model for prescription drugs..., Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he had cut costs by up to 1,500%. But Trump’s grandiose claim is mathematically impossible.... Cutting drug prices by more than 100% would theoretically mean that people are being paid to take medications.” (If you're interested in knowing how good a student Donald was, this WashPo story from 2019 is probably as definitive as you'll find.)
Erin Doherty of CNBC: “... Donald Trump and one of his top economic advisors on Monday stoked baseless conspiracies about federal jobs data, suggesting without evidence that Friday’s weaker-than-expected employment report had been 'rigged' by federal workers bent on sabotaging the president. 'All over the U.S. government, there have been people who have been resisting Trump everywhere they can,' National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday on CNBC. Trump, meanwhile, claimed on social media that the report, which painted a dour picture of the economy, was 'RIGGED' and the previous months’ revisions had been 'CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!!' The only way to protect the integrity of economic data, said Hassett, is to replace the economists and statisticians who lead the agencies that collect data.” ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "... Trump’s refusal to accept bad economic news and his likely attempt to corrupt official data probably won’t fool many people. But he is, of course, surrounded by people who will tell him what he wants to hear, so he may succeed in fooling himself. And this means that when the economy starts to have serious problems, Trump won’t even admit that bad things are happening, let alone make a serious effort to fix those problems." ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson goes into the authoritarian lies Trump and his people tell.
Chloe Atkins & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: “Two victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, ripped the federal government for appearing to be more concerned with protecting the financier's wealthy friends instead of them. The government is 'asking to release these transcripts, exhibits, etc., of which the victims are not privy to while they have concluded that there is nothing more to see on the files they hold. Yet no one has seen them, but them. I am beside myself,' said one victim, who sent a letter to the federal judge weighing the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury testimony in cases involving Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. The victim, who was not named, said, 'I am not sure the highest priority here is the victims, justice for the victims or combatting child exploitation, or at least I do not feel this way.'” ~~~
~~~ Donnie Delusional. Marie: In a podcast, Joanna Coles of the Daily Beast interviewed Stacey Williams, a former Sports Illustrated model who says she dated Jeffrey Epstein in the early 1990s. According to Williams, she & Epstein were walking past Donald Trump's office when Epstein took her up to see Trump. Almost immediately, and in front of Epstein, Trump began groping Williams, touching her all over including her breasts & buttocks. Williams said she was so shocked by this behavior that she froze; she didn't know what to do. You will recall when Donnie told Billy Bush -- as revealed in the "Access Hollywood" audio recording -- "When you're a star, they let you do it." No, Donnie, they don't "let you do it"; they're just so shocked by your grotesque behavior, they're practically catatonic. You were never a babe magnet; you were always a creep. Forever a loser.
Akhilleus' commentary in yesterday's thread on Donald Trump's architectural aesthetics is entertaining -- and accurate.
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “... in the past several months, as members of ... [Donald] Trump’s Justice Department have repeatedly misled the courts, violated their orders and demonized judges who have ruled against them, some jurists have started to show an angry loss of faith in the people and the institution they once believed in most. The dissolution of these traditional bonds of trust — known in legal circles as the presumption of regularity — goes well beyond judges’ use of blunt words ... to describe the various parts of Mr. Trump’s power-grabbing policy agenda.... A number of judges in recent weeks have openly questioned the fundamental honesty and credibility of Justice Department lawyers in ways that would have been unthinkable only months ago.... Judges are not the only players in the legal system who have shown a measure of distrust in the Justice Department. In an almost unheard-of move, federal grand juries in Los Angeles have been refusing to indict many defendants whom prosecutors have sought to charge in connection with immigration protests, according to recent news reports.” Feuer gives numerous examples of judges skepticism of prosecutors' claims.
Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a grand jury investigation into allegations that Obama administration officials broke federal laws while investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, according to a person familiar with the matter.... For years, Trump has sought to portray investigations into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 campaign as a 'witch hunt' and a Democratic plot to undermine his first presidency. However, intelligence officials and multiple investigations, including the inquiry led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, have repeatedly concluded that Russia sought to interfere with the election to benefit Trump over his rival Hillary Clinton.... Last month, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard ramped up the administration’s conspiracy claims by releasing a batch of previously classified investigative documents that she portrayed as evidence of Obama administration officials manufacturing information to undermine Trump and plotting a 'years-long coup.' She and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have referred material to the Justice Department and the FBI for criminal investigations of former officials, including former president Barack Obama.” An NBC News story is here.
Marie: One would think that the person chosen to "investigate" straight-arrow Jack Smith -- the former special prosecutor who brought criminal charges against Donald Trump -- would be, like Caesar's wife, above reproach. Well, okay, this is Trump, so,
"The guy Trump picked to lead the office that’s now investigating Jack Smith: — said Niki Haley is ineligible to be president — has neo-Nazi ties — was Andrew Tate’s lawyer — 2x Claremont fellow — wrote for Gateway Pundit — called for Pence to be hanged — called for secession after 2020 election."
~~~ The person making those claims is Radley Balko, and he's right. The person Trump picked to head up his Office of Special Counsel is Paul Ingrassia, and radical right-wing proclivities are well-established. The Senate has not held a hearing to consider his nomination. For some reason. The attack on Smith (I mean the "investigation"), if it goes forward, is guarantee to be a farce. Thank you to RAS for the link to Balko's skeet.
Hannah Sampson of the Washington Post: “The State Department plans to start running a pilot program this month that would require some foreign travelers to pay up to $15,000 for a reimbursable visa bond that deters them from staying in the U.S. longer than they’re allowed for business or tourism. Some details are outlined in a public notice that appeared Monday on the Federal Register, but many are still unclear, including which countries would be targeted by the program.... A cable with a signature from Secretary of State Marco Rubio ... says the 12-month pilot program is intended 'to protect America’s borders and the American people by holding foreign visitors accountable for departing the United States on time.' It will be aimed at countries with high visa overstay rates.” The AP story is here.
U.S. Backs Off Extortion Plan?? April Rubin of Axios: "The Trump administration appears to have changed a policy that previously stated that states and cities that boycott Israeli companies could be ineligible for disaster relief funds, it emerged on Monday.... An April Department of Homeland Security notice stated that recipients were prohibited from "limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies" in order to qualify for assistance, but this wording was not included in a later August version outlining the terms and conditions for FEMA applicants.... The change became apparent after the DHS pushed back on Axios' earlier report on the matter via a post to X." ~~~
~~~ Ahmad Austin of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump on Monday drew the ire of MAGA loyalists when it was reported that his administration would punish any state boycotting Israel.... Candace Owens, for example, accused Trump of betraying the American people by tying disaster funding to loyalty to a foreign country. She also claimed it was an 'act of treason.'... She was far from the only one who shared that sentiment....” MB: It appears that Congressional Republicans remain scared of Trump, but crazy MAGA influencers are becoming much more bold in their criticism of Donald Tha God.
Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s acting chief of staff tried and failed to oust a senior White House liaison assigned to the Pentagon, people familiar with the matter said Monday, detailing an unusual dispute that marks the latest instance of infighting among a staff plagued by disagreement and distrust. The clash last week between Ricky Buria, Hegseth’s acting chief of staff, and Matthew A. McNitt, who coordinates personnel policy as White House liaison at the Pentagon, appears rooted in Buria’s frustration with pushback from the White House as he has attempted to fill positions in the defense secretary’s office. It coincides, too, with the White House’s refusal to let Buria take over the powerful chief of staff job on a permanent basis.”
The Trump Misogyny Program, Veterans' Edition. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “Pregnant veterans would no longer be allowed to receive abortions at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in cases of rape, incest or when the pregnancy threatens their health under a proposed rule from the Trump administration that would revoke a Biden-era policy expanding abortion access. Months after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022, the Biden administration implemented a rule change allowing VA for the first time to provide abortion services for veterans and eligible family members in limited circumstances, including in states with abortion bans. VA said at the time that those bans, some near-total, were 'creating urgent risks' to the lives of pregnant veterans. Thus, VA said, the policy change was 'essential.' In its filing Friday, the Trump administration called the 2022 rule change 'inappropriate' and 'legally questionable.'” Thanks to RAS for the link.
To the Moon, Alice! Sam Skove of Politico: “Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator. NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline ... and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut.... The first country to have a reactor [on the moon] could 'declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,' the directive states, a sign of the agency’s concern about a joint project China and Russia have launched.... The move also underscores how Duffy, who faced pushback from lawmakers about handling two jobs, wants to play a role in NASA policymaking.... Duffy also offered a directive to more quickly replace the International Space Station, another NASA goal.” ~~~
~~~ Maybe we should take Duffy's "directive" as seriously as Evan Hurst does: ~~~
~~~ Evan Hurst of Wonkette: “Some preening weenus from 'The Real World' who’s scared of the subway is going to build a nuclear reactor on the moon for Donald Trump. That’s how far Trump is willing to go to hide what’s in the Epstein files, he’s going to blow up the moon. Or maybe this is a flawless plan and nothing will go wrong, just like with his entire economic plan.”
Making D.C. Racist Again. Olivia George of the Washington Post: “A Confederate statue in D.C. that was toppled, graffitied and set alight five years ago is being repaired and returned to its perch, the National Park Service said Monday. The statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate Army brigadier general whose wartime career lasted less than two years, is scheduled to be back on its plinth about a mile east of the White House in October.... Protesters with ropes and chains toppled the statue in the summer of 2020, as the country faced a racial reckoning after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. D.C. police officers watched the statue fall but did not intervene.... The announcement of the statue’s return comes during the administration’s wider campaign to scrub federal institutions of 'corrosive ideology' recognizing historical racism and sexism and a willingness from the president to impose his personal stamp on the nation’s capital, where local leaders have few options to stave off federal intervention.” A Politico story is here.
Scott Nover of the Washington Post: “Michael Abramowitz, the director of Voice of America, has been fired after refusing to accept what he called an 'illegal' reassignment to run a broadcasting station in North Carolina, according to a new court filing on Monday.... Abramowitz sued the government in March after Trump issued an executive order dismantling the USAGM. That case is ongoing in federal court.... In July, [Kari] Lake ordered Abramowitz to accept a position as chief management officer at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in Greenville, North Carolina, or face termination. Abramowitz refused, citing federal law that requires approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board — which Trump dismantled — for any VOA director’s removal.”
Meet the Lemmings. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics forced his allies into the awkward spot of criticizing an agency they had freely cited [and praised] in the past.” Among those who did about faces: JayDee Vance, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Sen. Roger Marshall (Kansas), Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, & the director of the White House Economic Council Kevin Hassett. “Mr. Trump has a pattern of accepting results that benefit him and denigrating those he dislikes as being rigged or part of a scam. He has objected to the results of the Emmys, falsely claimed that President Barack Obama did not win the popular vote and asserted that his erstwhile rival Senator Ted Cruz of Texas 'stole' a primary victory from him in Iowa in 2016.... Mr. Trump spread the lie that the [2020] election had been stolen from him. And since returning to office, he has lashed out at the sources of bad news for his administration, including judges who rule against him.... 'The key question for the Congress is: To what extent will they insist on a competent professional to be confirmed for this position going forward?' [Stephen] Farnsworth [of the University of Mary Washington] said.”
Ha Ha. Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: “A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif) against MSNBC personality Rachel Maddow nearly five years ago. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled last week that Nunes failed to prove Maddow and her team at the network acted with actual malice during a discussion about a package Nunes received addressed to him from Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian legislator with ties to Russian officials and intelligence services, while he was the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.... Nunes, a longtime ally of ... [Donald] Trump, sued Maddow in 2021 alleging she and the network 'harbor an institutional hostility, hatred, extreme bias, spite and ill-will' toward the Republican.... After leaving Congress, Nunes joined Trump as CEO of Truth Social.”
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times : A “four-lawyer firm, called the Washington Litigation Group, is the latest to join a coterie of pro bono organizations that have emerged in recent months to challenge the Trump administration, which is already facing about 375 lawsuits, according to The Times’s latest count. The firm plans to focus on clients with cases likely headed to the appeals process with the potential to set precedents strengthening civil service protections and reining in executive power. Two of its lawyers, James I. Pearce and Mary Dohrmann..., were fired from the Justice Department in January because of their work on Jack Smith’s special counsel team investigating Mr. Trump.” A CNN story, republished by AOL, is here.
Marc Elias of Democracy Docket: "I have been the subject of many spurious accusations and politically motivated attacks, but this one is in a class by itself. According to Tulsi Gabbard — the nation’s top intelligence official — my refusal to post on Twitter is being reviewed by the Department of Justice as evidence of wrongdoing. If that sounds preposterous, it is. If you don’t believe it’s true, neither do I." Read on. MB: The attacks on Elias may well infuriate you, as they did me.
Thomas Edsall of the New York Times, who is a star practitioner of Harry Truman's "on the one hand/on the other hand," just began a column with an unequivocal statement: “The six-member conservative majority on the Supreme Court has become a key enabler of President Trump’s agenda.” He goes on: “'Since May, federal district courts have ruled against the administration 94.3 percent of the time,' Adam Bonica, a political scientist at Stanford, writes in a June 25 Substack essay. 'The Supreme Court, however, has flipped that outcome, siding with the administration in 93.7 percent of its cases. The Supreme Court is now in open conflict with the lower courts over cases involving the Trump administration.'”
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South Carolina Gubernatorial Race."Nancy Mace Wants to Inspect Bathrooms in ... [the] Governor's Mansion." Marcie Jones of Wonkette: "With so much bad in the news, let us gawk at the wackjob that is GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, a genuine she-crab stew. Now with South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster’s term expiring, the Palmetto state’s most attention-craving representative ever to terrorize an Ulta Beauty has officially launched her campaign for governor, making an announcement Monday morning at her alma mater, The Citadel." You may have got the idea from this brief graf that Mace is not a serious person. Read on for more evidence.
Texas. David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times : “The gavel of a frustrated Texas House speaker fell on a truncated meeting of the legislative chamber Monday afternoon, as Democratic members who left the state on Sunday to block passage of a redrawn U.S. House district map appeared to be everywhere but in Austin.... 'A quorum is not present,' said the speaker, Representative Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican.... He issued civil arrest warrants intended to compel attendance by the absent members.... Some of them were with Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York as she vowed to match ... [Donald] Trump’s push for aggressive partisan redistricting with a push of her own. Others were at a conference of state lawmakers in Boston, where Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois spoke to Democrats who chanted, 'Fight! Fight!'The largest number camped out in a secluded conference center outside of Chicago, appearing remotely for cable television and radio interviews and defying threats from Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Republican state lawmakers back home.... Mr. Abbott ... promised to begin a legal process to remove them from office.” ~~~
~~~ Eleanor Klibanoff of the Texas Tribune: “The Texas House voted Monday afternoon to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who were not present when the chamber gaveled in. After the 85-6 vote, House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would immediately sign civil warrants for each of the legislators, empowering the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest and bring them to the Capitol. They will not face civil or criminal charges from the arrests. The warrants apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic....”
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Brazil. Ana Ionova of the New York Times: “Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest of Jair Bolsonaro, tightening the leash on the former president accused of overseeing a plot to cling to power after losing the 2022 election. The new measures threatened to escalate the biggest diplomatic crisis in decades between the United States and Brazil, set off by ... [Donald] Trump’s decision to defend Mr. Bolsonaro and slap 50 percent tariffs on some goods from Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, unless it dropped the case against the former president. Mr. Bolsonaro, who was ordered last month to wear an ankle monitor while he awaited trial, had already been told to remain at home most hours, stay away from foreign embassies and keep off social media platforms. In the new ruling on Monday, Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice who is overseeing his case, said that Mr. Bolsonaro had violated some of those terms, indirectly using social media through the accounts of his allies and sons.” ~~~
~~~ Tiago Rogero & Tom Phillips of the Guardian: “In a move immediately condemned by the US, a Brazilian supreme court judge has ordered the house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro for breaching 'preventative measures' that were imposed ahead of his trial for an alleged coup attempt.”
⭐Israel/Palestine, et al. “All or Nothing.” Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: “Negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire appear to have reached an end — or at least a point of extreme brinkmanship — as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated he plans to expand military operations to occupy the entire Gaza Strip.... An Israel official said that discussions with the Trump administration over the decision were ongoing.... Trump, [his special envoy Steve] Witkoff said, 'now believes that everybody should come home at once. No piecemeal deals.' He said the administration was formulating a new 'all or nothing' plan. Both sides have rejected elements of the Witkoff proposal that has been on the table.”
Russia. Paul Sonne & John Ismay of the New York Times : “Russia will no longer abide by a defunct treaty prohibiting the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. But Washington has accused Moscow of violating the pact for over a decade, and Russia has been known to use missiles with ranges banned by the treaty during its war against Ukraine.... The 1987 pact, also known as the I.N.F. Treaty, banned ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (311 to 3,418 miles). As a result, more than 2,600 Soviet and U.S. missiles were eliminated, in what was seen as a Cold War breakthrough. In 2019, during ... [Donald] Trump’s first term, the United States pulled out of the agreement. The Trump administration argued that Russia had long been violating the treaty.... Accusations of Russian violations date to 2014, when the Obama administration raised them.”
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Reader Comments (14)
Musicians out here are familiar with the score instructions, typically in Italian, that offer directions for musical attack, tempi, and general feeling, directions like adagio (slow), allegro (fast), presto con molto agitato (gotta go…the mucinex is working). In Dumas’ “Count of Monte Cristo” a non-native speaker traveling in a coach through Italy gives the driver instructions using terms like allegretto, vivace! to the merriment of other passengers.
Well, we’ve got our own instructions for how to interpret the MAGA mishegas coming out of the often roadkill filled mouth of Polio Bob:
Grosso con Molto Stupido (thick, with extra stoopid).
So here’s RKKJ confiding to god knows who, that he and Doc Fatty are on top of this health thing.
“‘We have full support from the president,’ Kennedy said in response to a question. ‘He wants this done. He wants — he promised to make American health again, and he’s gonna do that. He called me last night. He calls me three or four times a week and says, ‘Where are you? Why aren’t people healthier yet?’ So he’s keeping me under pressure.’”
Um….what? Why aren’t people healthier yet?
Maybe cuz they’re sick to death of so much STOOPID!
What’s going on? Are we supposed to be taking Doc Fatty’s Cure-All snake oil five times a day, to be, like, healthier? And healthier than whom? Him? The guy who needs a golf cart to travel 10 yards without falling over?
Since we’re in comparative mode, which one is stupider? The one who asks this awesomely moronic question, or the one relating said question to show everyone he’s got it under control?
Molto, molto stupido, con no braino.
Yup. Everything is going smoothly.
Make every American healthy again.
How about a 100% tariff on burgers and fries and give everyone
coupons for free salad ingredients.
California high school teacher running for congress Jesse Mackinnon, for Common Dreams, on the Reign of Useful Splendor
"U.S. President Donald Trump’s $200 million plan to construct a new golden ballroom at the White House is not just a monument to narcissism. It is statecraft by spectacle, financed by national rot. The timing is not subtle. It arrives alongside his “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” a federal budget that slashes Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, and climate programs, all while inflating the national deficit past $40 trillion. In this juxtaposition—architectural self-glorification for the ruling executive, fiscal starvation for the governed—we are not witnessing innovation. We are watching reruns of Versailles.
Louis XVI’s France operated on the principle of dépense utile, or “useful splendor”—the idea that royal extravagance was a form of political investment. Gold leaf and crystal chandeliers weren’t indulgence. They were instruments of authority. Versailles was never merely a residence. It was theater. It showcased the king’s ability to dominate not only his nobles but the metaphysical order of the kingdom itself. Every garden vista, every mirrored hallway, whispered the same thing: Obedience is beautiful, and beauty belongs to the crown."
@laura hunter, et al.: I've had a question for a long time, and I can't come up with an answer, so I'd like to know what other people have figured out.
Just about every day, we read about another instance of Trump's making some classical authoritarian move. MacKinnon offers a particularly good example, and he provides the historical precedent (as he notes, things did not work out well for Louis XVI).
So does Trump know what he's doing? Does he understand he's taking all the actions necessary to establish a fascist state? Or is he such a bully that his tyrannical acts just "come naturally," and he's merely a childish naif who believes he has unlimited power "to do whatever I want"? Does he have his own Rasputin in Stephen Miller and/or Russell Vought? In short, are their brains behind the the plot to destroy the vestiges of the nation's founding ideals? And whose brains are they anyway?
Marie,
I don't think we'll ever figure it out. There are too many unknowns, most psychological and therefore partially hidden from view.
What motivates a Trump? Ego and greed, surely, and as I've posited before, otherwise an empty moral and intellectual landscape entirely open to colonization by anything that feeds the dominant ego and greed that is all that matters to him.
Tariffs allow him to bully and extort, long his modus operandi. The anti-DEI crusade strokes his racism. His BBBill is again mostly about the greed that impels him.
But what do his handler/advisors like Miller and Vought get out of it? Power, of course, but they are also ideologues with agendas, the one clearly a Nazi racist, the other long since captured by the capitalists that fund his Heritage Foundation, who believe the best path for the country is the best path for themselves.
For none of them is America about the ideals cited at its founding or in its founding documents. It's a vast playground on which we (and the undemocratic elements of the Constitution and in the current Supreme Court) have given them permission to act out their pathologies.
David Enrich and et al, in The New York Times, take us inside Jeffrey Epstein's NYC townhouse.
Epstein's Lair
"In his seven-story townhouse, the sex offender hosted the elite, displayed photos with presidents and showcased a first edition of “Lolita,” according to previously unreported photos and letters.
Marie -
My assumption is that, as a bully and narcissist, he naturally comes to fascism but doesn't have the attention span, discipline, or know-how to implement the plot.
In a May issue of The Atlantic, McKay Coppins described Vought as The Visionary of Trump 2.0
"Vought’s agenda includes shrinking the government, but it goes deeper than that. His vision of state power would effectively reject a century of jurisprudence and unravel the modern federal bureaucracy as we know it. A devotee of the so-called unitary executive theory, he wants to see the civil service gutted and repopulated with presidential loyalists, independent federal agencies politicized or eliminated, and absolute control of the executive branch concentrated in the Oval Office."
State Rep. Jolanda Jones
don’t mess with Texas women
Marie,
Listening to the ignorance and stupidity coming out of Trump's mouth on a daily basis I am also inclined to think this is just his natural instincts and not thought out in any way. His enablers and collaborators can see where they are headed and are steering a course that benefits Donald, and lines his pockets. So he is more than happy to let others do the yeoman's work of undermining democracy and particularly the rule of law that has stymied him for so much of his life.
"... are their brains behind the the plot to destroy the vestiges of the nation's founding ideals?"
Let's consult Friar Occam: Who saith --
"Res ipsa loquitur." -- The thing speaks for itself (or, the question answers itself.)
Do you see any sign of brains? No? Because, no brains there, to speak of.
They act on the gut. It has worked for them at small scale and they think that it can work on the country. Break things and people have to come to you for relief.
They act by what I call "stochastic heuristics." Do things. If it feels good, do more of that. If not, back off, do something else. Keep repeating.
You saw a similar decison theory operate in unicellular organisms in sophomore biology. If it tastes good eat it. If not move away and eat something else. Repeat. Excrete. Reproduce.
No brain required.
Every time I do something else other than read RC first thing in the morning, I hear about insane flurries of orders and piles of new and worse directives toward the people of the USA. Then I read RC and find that I could have known about these events and happenings before the tv and the radio, tuned to NPR. Marie is amazing. She condenses it all to useable, digestible chunks of poison, convenient for us all to get stomach aches for all-day pleasure. Thanks, Marie. You do an unbelievable job. It's not your fault that everything is haywire and disbelievable. Everything these monsters do is anti-people and anti-country, and pro-themselves and pro-riches for themselves. There is no relief for any of us as we are ruled by a lunatic, demonic pyschopath and the crazies he has drawn in to his mental asylum. The really sad terrible truth is that the walls are down, the police state is real and current, and the various entities (voters, supporters, cabinet and aides and high court) are wholly owned subsidiaries of MAGAworld. Anyone speaking up against them is fired, dismissed, lied-about, arrested and/or investigated, and probably jailed. There are not enough Marc Eliases or the other judge who speaks out-- forget his name... Yikes. It's all nuts. And it's only Tuesday.
Marie,
Two cents time.
Is Fatty a fascist cuz he likes fascism or does it just come naturally?
There’s been a lot a digging into the concept of What is Fascism? and does Trump check all the boxes.
I’ve read, from some, that you can’t call him a fascist because something, something, something…blah, blah, blah.
You know what? Far be it from me to take easy pot shots at (overly) rigorous academic definitions. But this isn’t a term paper, a thesis, or a peer reviewed research project. It also isn’t a court of law where, if a defense attorney can find a teensy amount of separation between murder and second degree manslaughter, by referencing highly specific legal definitions combined with some weird bit of evidence collecting or inexact witness testimony, a guy either gets life or is out in 18 months with good behavior. Someone is still dead.
In this case, whatever you call what that fat fuck is doing, it’s all horrible.
The idea of fascism may have become categorized and subsequently cauterized as a specifically designated term, with checkboxes both necessary and sufficient, but the end result is pretty much the same. It might be of interest to a boxing fan whether the guy on the mat was hit with a surprise uppercut, a left-right combination, or a roundhouse to the noggin, but it’s all the same to guy who’s seeing stars and hearing the cuckoo.
Fascism is the result of a certain combination of entirely human instincts for control and domination. There were assholes behaving this way since we came out of the cave. They weren’t called fascists then, but that’s what they were. Those guys didn’t need a playbook. They were bullying pricks. As the tribes grew larger, more skullduggery and refined forms of violence, threats, and other nastiness obtained. At some point, some prehistoric pudknocker came up with something called propaganda. Great! Throw that shit in too.
Trump is just the latest in a long, sorry line of slimy scumbags whose natural instincts lead them to be this way. Some guys (it’s mostly guys) stay little fascists. They have neither the connections, the money, or the following to be big fascists, so they stay at the level of beating up smaller kids in the schoolyard and taking their lunch money. Guys like Trump still have that mentality, only now their following, connections, and targets are much larger and more consequential.
It’s a chicken and egg thing, but it all ends up on the same menu.
My two cents.
Also the Republicans have spent decades setting up an infrastructure for fascism. Unitary Executive Theory, Heritage Foundation, Supine Court Justices, Right-wing media and misinformation and scapegoats, Citizens United, corrupted Christianity and plenty of guns for all the crazies. Trump was just the one brazen enough to get in the monster they built and slam on the gas. They plastered on some American flags and bald eagles to help the bigots and idiots pretend or delude themselves into claiming they are being patriots as they destroy everything this country dreamed it could be.
What she said…