The Conversation -- November 29, 2023
From Wednesday's CNN liveblog on the Israel/Hamas war, also linked earlier: "The sixth round of hostages has been handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, the Israeli military said, citing the organization. This includes 10 Israelis and four Thai nationals, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The hostages are still in Gaza and are on their way to Israeli territory, the IDF said. This handover is separate from the two hostages released earlier that were not part of Israel's hostage deal with Hamas. Those two released had immigrated to Israel from Russia, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel."
Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Democrats, for very good reason, have been in a poll-induced panic for weeks now. Despite a relatively successful presidency and a booming economy, Joe Biden is falling behind Donald Trump in the polls, often by downright startling margins.... But this week, a small ray of hope has opened up, because Trump has indicated that he plans to run an incredibly stupid campaign, focused on two of his least popular political views: the Big Lie and his wish to strip health care away from millions of Americans. Even better, his approach to these two toxic issues suggests that, despite his team's efforts to normalize Trump, his psychotic levels of narcissism will always drag the campaign straight back to his ego obsessions, reminding voters what they most dislike about Trump."
Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Ordinarily, [Elon Musk/X's] lawsuit [against Media Matters] would be the kind of stunt that legal observers could probably ignore.... But the case was just reassigned to Judge Reed O'Connor, a notoriously partisan former Republican Senate staffer, known for handing down poorly reasoned opinions giving major policy victories to right-wing litigants. O'Connor is frequently reversed by the Supreme Court, even though this Court is also quite conservative.... O'Connor's decisions appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a far-right court dominated by Trump appointees and other MAGA loyalists who share O'Connor's penchant for manipulating the law to achieve right-wing results." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary in today's thread.
This New York Times page has a lot of photos of Rosalynn Carter from the time she was a baby until two years ago.
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Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President Jimmy Carter emerged from hospice care to join some of his successors and every living presidential spouse on Tuesday to honor Rosalynn Carter, his wife and partner of more than three-quarters of a century and the nation's first lady from 1977 to 1981.... The former president was unable to address the gathering and so left it to others to express his own feelings. Speaking from the pulpit, family and friends honored Mrs. Carter as her husband's alter ego and most important confidant, with her own strong will behind a shy exterior and a determined commitment to helping the world's most vulnerable." (This is an update of a story linked earlier yesterday.) The AP's story is here. ~~~
Nick Robertson of the Hill: In a floor speech Tuesday, "Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) made it clear to House colleagues Tuesday that he will not resign his seat, choosing instead to face an expulsion vote this week which he said 'undermines and underscores the precedent we've had in this chamber.' Santos is set to face a third expulsion attempt this week after Rep. Robert Garcia\ (D-Calif.) introduced a privileged resolution on the House floor Tuesday to advance a vote on the matter.... The congressman survived two previous attempts at expulsion, including a vote early this month."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden, the president's son, who is the subject of an investigation by House Republicans into his family, told Congress on Tuesday that he was willing to testify -- but only publicly so that Republicans cannot twist or selectively leak what he says. In a letter to Congress, Abbe D. Lowell, Mr. Biden's lawyer, criticized the Republican inquiry as a 'partisan crusade,' and said he has watched as Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has used 'closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.'... Mr. Comer quickly rejected the offer, insisting that Mr. Biden first speak to the oversight panel behind closed doors, but said that he could still testify publicly down the road." See also Akhilleus' commentary below. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Trials of Trump
The View from Under the Bus: Vlad Gets the Trump Treatment. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "For years..., Donald Trump has avoided agreeing with intelligence assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered on his behalf during the 2016 presidential election. Most infamously, Trump rejected the American intelligence community's assessment about Russia's actions at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland where he stood next to Putin and said, 'President Putin says it's not Russia, I don't see any reason why it would be.' [But in a legal filing in the federal election interference case against Trump, his] attorneys this week ... dispute special counsel Jack Smith's claims that Trump has damaged Americans' faith in the electoral system by essentially arguing that Putin did it first. [Politico's Kyle Cheney notes in an X post, 'Trump wants people to know that it was Russia, not him, who caused Americans to distrust the election system. He will make this case by relying on intelligence community assessments he and his allies have constantly maligned and disputed.']" Thanks to RAS for the link to the Raw Story post. (Also linked yesterday.)
Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Attorneys representing ... Donald Trump are trying to undermine former Vice President Mike Pence's credibility by suggesting he may be in cahoots with Biden administration prosecutors. In a filing flagged by Politico's Kyle Cheney, Trump attorneys suggested that Pence may have felt incentivized to turn on Trump because of leverage held over him by government prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents. 'In January 2023, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly turned over at least a "dozen" documents bearing classification markings,' the attorneys argue. 'In February 2023, the FBI found at least one additional classified document at Vice President Pence's home.... The potential charges faced by Vice President Pence gave him an incentive to curry favor with authorities by providing information that is consistent with the Biden Administration's preferred, and false, narrative regarding this case.' In fact, most legal experts predicted that Pence would face no charges at all for his retention of classified documents because, unlike Trump, he cooperated with investigators and did not try to obstruct law enforcement officials...." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Plot Thickens. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "ABC News reported Tuesday that on Christmas Eve 2020, [Vice President] Pence had momentarily decided against presiding [over the Electoral College vote count].... ABC also reported that Pence has testified that Trump personally suggested that he recuse. 'Not feeling like I should attend electoral count,' Pence wrote in notes obtained by special counsel Jack Smith, according to ABC. 'Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election.' Pence testified that he reversed course after a conversation with his son, who cited the vice president's constitutional duty, according to ABC." Trump's (or rather Ken Chesebro & John Eastman's) idea was to have Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) preside and reject critical states' votes, thus supposedly insulating the administration from the coup. The ABC News story, also linked below, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
See Y'all in Court, Fellas. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Fulton county prosecutors do not intend to offer plea deals to Donald Trump and at least two high-level co-defendants charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to two people familiar with the matter, preferring instead to force them to trial. The individuals seen as ineligible include Trump, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Aside from those three, the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has opened plea talks or has left open the possibility of talks with the remaining co-defendants in the hope that they ultimately decide to become cooperating witnesses against the former president, the people said. The previously unreported decision has not been communicated formally and could still change...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "In her new book, former Rep. Liz Cheney paints a scathing portrait of the Republican Party, condemning her former colleagues and party leaders as 'enablers and collaborators,' who after the 2020 election were 'willing to violate their oath to the Constitution out of political expediency and loyalty to Donald Trump...', who she calls 'the most dangerous man ever to inhabit the Oval Office.'... Throughout 'Oath and Honor,' Cheney describes how she saw her Republican colleagues go from condemning Trump to falling back in line and supporting his claims of election fraud. Cheney reveals for the first time that [Kevin] McCarthy told her just two days after Election Day that he had talked to Trump and that Trump acknowledged he had lost the 2020 election. 'He knows it's over,' McCarthy said, according to the book. 'He needs to go through all the stages of grief.'... Cheney is also critical of McCarthy's successor, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who 'appeared especially susceptible to flattery from Trump and aspired to being anywhere in Trump's orbit,' she writes."
Presidential Race 2024
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The Biden campaign on Tuesday seized on former President Trump's assertion that he was 'seriously looking at alternatives' to the Affordable Care Act, warning a second Trump presidency could harm millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. President Biden's reelection team, in a memo first shared with The Hill, cautioned that repealing ObamaCare would strip protections from up to 135 million Americans with preexisting conditions. The 2010 law barred health insurance companies from denying coverage to patients with such conditions 'Whether you have cancer or diabetes, or are simply a woman, Trump's plan means insurance companies would again be able to deny coverage for no reason at all -- other than the fact that they can,' Seth Schuster, a Biden campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. 'But Donald Trump doesn't care, because like everything in his life, he only cares about himself -- and turns out, a billionaire doesn't have to worry about his health insurance.'"
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The political network founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch has endorsed Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential nominating contest, giving her organizational muscle and financial heft as she battles Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to be the top rival to ... Donald J. Trump." The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Nikki Is Coming After Your Social Security. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "So it seems worth looking at what [Nikki] Haley stands for. From a political point of view, one answer might be: nothing. A recent Times profile described her as having 'an ability to calibrate her message to the moment.'... 'Flip-flopping' doesn't really convey the sheer cynicism with which she has shifted her rhetoric and changed her positions.... That said, Haley has shown some consistency on issues of economic and fiscal policy. And what you should know is that her positions on these issues are pretty far to the right.... On fiscal and economic policy, she's a hard-right advocate of tax cuts for the rich and benefit cuts for the working class.... In particular, she seems exceptionally explicit, even among would-be Republican nominees, in calling for an increase in the age at which Americans become eligible for Social Security -- a bad idea that seems to be experiencing a revival."
Better Than Haley. Alison Main of CNN: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday he would not sign a six-week federal abortion ban as president because he does not believe such legislation aligns with the views of the American public.... Christie has said that he personally opposes abortion and that he would only sign a federal bill restricting the procedure if it represented a national consensus, something he acknowledges would be difficult in a divided Congress."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "Major news outlets devoted dramatically less coverage to ... Donald Trump describing his political enemies as 'vermin' earlier this month than they provided then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's 2016 'basket of deplorables' remark in the week following those respective comments."
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "As the host of global climate talks that begin this week, the United Arab Emirates is expected to play a central role in forging an agreement to move the world more rapidly away from coal, oil and gas. But behind the scenes, the Emirates has sought to use its position as host to pursue a contradictory goal: to lobby on oil and gas deals around the world, according to an internal document made public by a whistle-blower.... The ... details in the nearly 50-page document -- obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting and the BBC -- have cast a pall over the climate summit, which begins on Thursday. They are indications, experts said, that the U.A.E. is blurring the boundary between its powerful standing as host of the United Nations climate conference, and U.A.E.'s position as one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters." The BBC's story is here. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Nick Robertson of the Hill: "A co-founder of the Students for Trump supporter group was arrested last week on domestic violence charges in North Carolina, according to court documents. Ryan Fournier, who co-founded the organization as a Campbell University student in 2016 and now leads conservative activist group Radical Alert, was charged with assault of a woman and assault with a deadly weapon after an incident last Tuesday. According to court records, Fournier grabbed his girlfriend by the arm and hit her in the head with a handgun." ~~~
~~~ Marie: You may have noticed that I post links to many more articles about Republicans behaving badly than about Democrats behaving badly. That's not because I ignore stories that shine a bad light on Democrats; I don't. I try to post the stories that make the news, no matter the political party of the perp. But the fact is, as far as I can tell, that more Republicans violate the law and/or societal norms than do Democrats. I suspect that's because people drawn to the Democratic party are more geared toward societal interests while Republicans are more apt to be selfish pricks. Just sayin'.
Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk voiced support Tuesday for Pizzagate, the long-debunked conspiracy theory that led a man to fire a rifle inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant in 2016. The far-right theory, a predecessor to QAnon, alleged that the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders ran a secret satanic child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria known as Comet Ping Pong.... Musk ... posted a meme on Tuesday implying that the expert who debunked Pizzagate 'went to jail for child porn.' Musk said that 'does seem at least a little suspicious.' The post was viewed more than 15 million times before being deleted at around 2 p.m., less than an hour after this story was published. The meme itself is based on a fabricated headline that suggests Pizzagate was debunked by one person, the disgraced former ABC reporter James Gordon Meek, who pleaded guilty last year to possessing child sexual abuse images and was sentenced to six years in federal prison. Meek covered national security and appeared to have mentioned Pizzagate only once...." ~~~
~~~ Ben Goggin of NBC News: "Since Nov. 20, Musk has responded to tweets referring to pizzagate four other times."
~~~ Marie: The amazing thing here is that Musk seems to think random tweeters are reliable news sources. Every high-school student should know better. How smart is Elon? One has to wonder.
Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Robert De Niro has accused the organizers of a film awards ceremony of editing his speech without permission, removing critical remarks of ... Donald Trump and other political comments. De Niro was presenting the Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award at the Gotham Awards on Monday when, mid-speech, he paused and looked confused as he read off the teleprompter. De Niro continued with his speech, then said: 'I just want to say one thing. The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, I didn't know about it. And I want to read it.' The 80-year-old star, who was presenting an honor for the film 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' in which he stars, then reached for his phone and began reading from what appeared to be the original, unedited script." The Guardian's story is here.
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Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "As the humanitarian pause in combat in Gaza entered its fifth day Tuesday and more Israeli hostages were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, international mediators pushed for an even longer break in the conflict. The two sides have agreed to a 48-hour extension of the initial four-day pause in exchange for the release of 20 more Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian prisoners. Aid organizations hope the break will allow for the delivery of additional desperately needed supplies to the besieged Palestinian enclave, where the humanitarian situation is worsening as winter weather sets in." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a New York Times op-ed: "Today, too many Americans are exploiting arguments against Israel and leaping toward a virulent antisemitism. The normalization and intensifying of this rise in hate is the danger many Jewish people fear most.... Too often in Jewish history, legitimate criticism of Israeli policies or even older disputes over religious, economic and political issues have often crossed over into something darker, into attacking Jewish people simply for being Jewish."
Ukraine. et al. Marc Santora & Maria Varenikova of the New York Times: "The wife of Ukraine's military intelligence chief has been poisoned and is recovering in a hospital, Ukrainian intelligence officials said on Tuesday, an incident that has led to widespread speculation that Russia was stepping up efforts to target Ukraine's senior leadership. Andriy Chernyak, an official from the Ukrainian military intelligence agency, said that Marianna Budanova had been poisoned and was receiving treatment. Her husband, Kyrylo Budanov, is the head of the agency known as G.U.R. and is one of the country's most senior military leaders."
Vatican to Evict Cardinal. Jason Horowitz & Ruth Graham of the New York Times: Pope "Francis told a meeting of high-ranking Vatican officials that he intended to throw [U.S.] cardinal [Raymond Burke] out of his Vatican-subsidized apartment and deprive him of his salary as a retired cardinal." Burke has been Francis' chief critic inside the church.
News Lede
AP: "A U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed during a training mission Wednesday off of the country's southern coast, killing at least one of the eight crew members, the Japanese coast guard said."
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Just wondering if Melanie wore her “I don’t really care” jacket to the ceremony honoring Rosalynn Carter…
So here she is in the First Ladies’ Club. Let’s see who’s who in that group.
Hillary Clinton, graduate of Yale Law, former senator and Secretary of State who came a tiny Jim Comey away from being president.
Laura Bush, educator and professional librarian who advocated for literacy and childhood education.
Michelle Obama, graduate of Harvard Law, created programs designed to address childhood obesity and heathy eating, advocated for homeless veterans.
Melanie. Soft core porn model. Favorite quote: “Christmas sucks”.
Yet another in the many, many ways the Trump family has debased the nation.
The Judge Store is open for business!
Elon Musk’s Free Speech for Me, not Thee Tour continues apace, now with new and improved fascist legal ingredients.
So here’s the skinny. Musk promotes antisemitism, hatred, white supremacy, Nazi tropes, and all manner of fever swamp conspiracy theories, all in the name of (*cough-cough*) free speech. His, not yours, natch.
Media Matters points out that, after promising, promising, promising advertisers that their promotional materials and ads wouldn’t be placed alongside Joe Bob’s “let’s hunt us down some nigras” posts, Holocaust denials, Heinrich Himmler Society screeds, and “Jews will not replace us!” banners, Musk did exactly that. No question. He even admits it happened, BUT, his defense is “Not everyone saw those things” which is like saying “Only a few people saw me rob the bank, so you can’t blame me for stealing that money”.
What to do? Sue!
So Musk sues Media Matters. At first it looked like a laugher. A thin skinned narcissist’s way of dealing with his hurt fee-fees. But that was before he went to the Judge Store! Hey, look over here, we’ve got a special on right-wing extremist judges who will rule in your favor no matter the merits of your case.
Ian Millhiser of Vox:
“Ordinarily, this lawsuit would be the kind of stunt that legal observers could probably ignore. The First Amendment provides extraordinarily robust protections against lawsuits that target speech.
But the case was just reassigned to Judge Reed O’Connor, a notoriously partisan former Republican Senate staffer, known for handing down poorly reasoned opinions giving major policy victories to right-wing litigants. O’Connor is frequently reversed by the Supreme Court, even though this Court is also quite conservative.”
This Reed O’Connor actor is a fucking piece of work, as my mother used to say (okay, mum never used the F word, but you get what I mean).
This guy once ruled that the entire ACA was illegal. He ruled that criminals didn’t have to undergo background checks to purchase weapons, he ruled that the military had no right to insist on Covid vaccines for service members. It’s a long list of horrific and ridiculously reasoned rulings. Many have been overturned, but that doesn’t mean all of them.
And if he rules in Musk’s favor…even if Media Matters appeals it…
“Worse, O’Connor’s decisions appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a far-right court dominated by Trump appointees and other MAGA loyalists who share O’Connor’s penchant for manipulating the law to achieve right-wing results. So, even if Media Matters ultimately prevails in this lawsuit, it could be forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills litigating this case before some of the most partisan judges in the country, before the case is ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court.
And, if Twitter’s attempt to haul one of its critics before a partisan tribunal succeeds, copycat lawsuits targeting other left-leaning media outlets could soon follow. That’s because federal courts in Texas (including O’Connor’s court) give plaintiffs an unusual amount of control over which judge will hear their case. In many cases, it is possible for litigants to choose the specific judge that will preside over their lawsuit.“
So, even if you eventually lose, you can financially cripple an organization calling you on your moral failings and criminal activities.
A blueprint for other right-wing schemers, con artists, grifters, and hacks who want to fuck with anyone they don’t like.
Just go to the Judge Store and get your very own Reed O’Connor. Call now! Operators are standing back and standing by.
Hahaha, this is good…
@Akhilleus: Yes, it is good. But it also illustrates Jim Comer's point: it's much better to hold these hearings behind closed doors. Then the senator there could go on Fox "News" & announce, "During the hearing, Mr. Covid admitted he targets Republicans. It's a Democrat plot!"
Geopsychology
"the systematic study of regional differences in the distribution of personality traits"
An interesting read about how our environment helps shape us. Though I question whether some of it is more surface level than true feelings like the kind and agreeable Southerner stereotype.
Donald P. Moynihan
"Trump Has a Master Plan for Destroying the ‘Deep State’
It has three major parts.
The first is to put Trump loyalists into appointment positions.
The second part of the Trump plan is to terrify career civil servants into submission.
The third part of Mr. Trump’s authoritarian blueprint is to create a legal framework that would allow him to use government resources to protect himself, attack his political enemies and force through his policy goals without congressional approval."
Here's hoping Melanie has seen all those photos of the Jill Biden
White House Christmas decorations.
She can compare them to her bordello decor from 'The Shining' or 'Night of the Living Dead' or wherever she came up with that red
stuff. Maybe that's what her holidays were like in Slovenia or
wherever it was she migrated from to find the man of her dreams
(with money).
Maybe this was Melania's x-mas inspiration
An infamous war criminal has died. Every outlet I’ve seen thus far describes this scheming murderer as a vaunted diplomat. The term diplomat is defined as a person who can deal with people in a sensitive and effective way. I suppose if by effective you mean “can ensure that those he considers enemies can be killed, or those who come into conflict with those he considers useful friends can be raped, murdered, and buried in a shallow grave”, then I suppose Henry Kissinger could be labeled a “diplomat”. I guess by that light, John Gotti was a diplomat as well.
Good riddance.
Fucker.