The Commentariat -- August 23, 2016
Afternoon Update:
The latest on pipe smoking, ascot wearing former head of Faux News: Kalli Holloway of Alternet: "...former network host Andrea Tantaros has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against top executives from the network. In her complaint, Tantaros alleges that Fox higher-ups punished her for complaints about [Roger] Ailes' behavior by demoting, and then removing, her from the air. The suit describes persistent sexual harassment by Ailes and others -- including Bill O'Reilly, who has been previously accused of similar behavior by others -- and states that 'Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny.'" -- Akhilleus
If it's good enough for a Kenyan born, Muslim usurper, it's good enough for Trump: Sahil Kapur & Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg: "Donald Trump is backing away from his call for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, and even some of his rally-going supporters say they're fine with it." -- Akhilleus
Chapter 456 of Rich, Privileged White Guys Have it Tough. Romy Varghese of Bloomberg: "Rhode Island struck a settlement with Wells Fargo & Co. and Barclays Plc, agreeing to accept about $26 million to drop litigation over a municipal-bond sale that benefited the video-game startup led by former baseball pitcher Curt Schilling that later failed. The deal with the banks, who deny wrongdoing, must be approved by Rhode Island Superior Court.... The economic development agency is still pursuing lawsuits with other defendants over the $75 million bond offering.... In 2010, Schilling's company was developing a multi-player online game that it estimated it would need at least $75 million to complete, according to an SEC statement in March. When 38 Studios couldn't obtain additional financing following the bond sale, it failed to produce the game and defaulted on the loan." ...
Akhilleus: And why is this important? Curt Schilling is the Next Donald Trump. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone: "If you think the white-guy grievance movement will die after Donald Trump's likely landslide defeat this November, think again. There will be plenty of filterless, self-pitying dunces to carry the torch in Trump's place. [Curt] Schilling is a leading candidate.... Soon after his playing career ended, he blew his $50 million fortune on a failed video game venture, a fiasco that cost Rhode Island taxpayers $75 million.... A hardcore religious conservative, Schilling can't stop posting crazy stuff online. Like Trump, he is a meme fanatic, learning much of what he knows about the world from bite-size informational crap-dumplings shared on Facebook. He's railed against everything from evolution ('Hey clown, why don't apes still evolve into humans if that is the path?') to Hillary Clinton ('She should be buried under a jail somewhere') to Black Lives Matter (a 'terrorist' group)...." ...
... Akhilleus: Now this asshole is bragging that he will run against, and beat, Elizabeth Warren in next go 'round. Schilling, who routinely bellows about undeserving brown skinned types who get stuff for nothing, went to the state of Rhode Island, demanded money to fund his ego video game project, was handed $75 million of taxpayers money, then failed to hold up his end of the bargain. Result? Rhode Island on the hook for his money, leaving him free to rail against poors who get stuff for nothing. But, as Taibbi makes clear, "Don't bet against him winning a Senate seat in my home state of Massachusetts, either. His would be a victory for the cause of ignorance and tone-deafness perhaps even exceeding Trump's capture of the Republican nomination."
*****
Presidential Race
Nick Gass of Politico: "Campaigning in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday, Hillary Clinton will address Donald Trump's recent campaign hires and what her campaign termed in an announcement as 'his advisors' embrace of the disturbing "alt-right" political philosophy.' 'This "alt-right" brand is embracing extremism and presenting a divisive and dystopian view of America which should concern all Americans, regardless of party,' the campaign said in a statement." -- CW
October Surprise? Mark Landler & Steven Myers of the New York Times: "... thousands of emails that [Hillary] Clinton did not voluntarily turn over to the State Department last year could be released just weeks before the election in November. The order, by Judge James E. Boasberg of Federal District Court, came the same day a conservative watchdog group separately released hundreds of emails from one of Mrs. Clinton's closest aides, Huma Abedin, which put a new focus on the sometimes awkward ties between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department." -- CW ...
... Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The FBI's year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server uncovered 14,900 emails and documents from her time as secretary of state that had not been disclosed by her attorneys, and a federal judge on Monday pressed the State Department to begin releasing emails sooner than mid-October as it planned. Justice Department lawyers said last week that the State Department would review and turn over Clinton's work-related emails to a conservative legal group.... On Aug. 5, the FBI completed transferring what Comey said were several thousand previously undisclosed work-related Clinton emails that the FBI found in its investigation for the State Department to review and make public.... It is unclear how many documents might be attachments, duplicates or exempt from release for privacy or legal reasons." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: A cache of e-mail "exchanges, among 725 pages of correspondence from [Hillary] Clinton aide Huma] Abedin disclosed as part of a lawsuit by the conservative group Judicial Watch, illustrate[s] the way the Clintons' international network of friends and donors was able to get access to Hillary Clinton and her inner circle during her tenure running the State Department.... The disclosures also cast new doubts on Clinton's past claim that she turned over all her work-related email from her private server to the State Department for eventual release to the public." -- CW
Lisa Lerer of the AP: Appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show, Hillary Clinton said conspiracy theories about her precarious health 'are part of a 'wacky strategy' by GOP rival Donald Trump and an 'alternative reality' that's not focused on the kinds of issues that are most important to voters." -- CW ...
David Smith of the Guardian: "Bill Clinton will quit the board of his charitable foundation but not disband it if Hillary Clinton wins the US presidency, he said on Monday, as Republicans pressed allegations of a conflict of interest. The announcement came as newly disclosed emails revealed how Huma Abedin coordinated a meeting for a Bahraini prince with officials at the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state." -- See related stories by Rosalind Helderman above & Jenna Johnson below.) -- CW
Amy Chozick & Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "... with [Donald] Trump's appointment of Stephen K. Bannon ... as his new campaign chief, [Hillary] Clinton and her extended orbit have sensed an unfamiliar opportunity: The so-called vast right-wing conspiracy might actually be lending her a hand.... Yet after more than two decades of attacks from conservatives -- some seizing on Mrs. Clinton's own missteps..., but most generally groundless -- others worry that an even darker turn is possible, given the advisers now guiding Mr. Trump's campaign.... In addition to Mr. Bannon, Mr. Trump is relying on the advice of Roger Ailes, the founder and recently ousted chairman of Fox News, and Roger J. Stone Jr., whose 2015 book ... accused Mrs. Clinton of being a lesbian, shaming her husband's sexual accusers and playing a role in the death of Vincent W. Foster Jr...." -- CW
Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "After spending a few days reflecting on his immigration stances and consulting with Hispanic supporters, Donald Trump on Monday detailed how he would deal with the millions of immigrants illegally living in the United States: Enforce laws that are already on the books and continue to do what President Obama is doing, although 'perhaps with a lot more energy.' This strategy marks a sudden change for the Republican nominee, who has presented himself as a politically incorrect outsider who is not afraid to take extreme measures to combat illegal immigration, such as deporting 11 million people or constructing a massive wall along the Southern border. For more than a year, Trump insisted that all illegal immigrants 'have got to go' and that he would create a 'deportation force' to carry out the task." CW: So Trump is borrowing his new immigration "plan" from President Obama?? That should do over well with his alt-right racist base. ...
... But Then. Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Speaking to O'Reilly, Trump insisted that his calls for mass deportation could in fact be carried out under existing U.S. law, comparing his plans to that of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Trump added that if laws are executed properly, immigrants that 'go around killing people and hurting people' are 'gonna be out of this country so fast your head will spin.'" CW: My head isn't spinning exactly; it's turning back-and-forth, tennis-game style, watching Trump speak out of both sides of his mouth. ...
... The Great Deportation Scam. Greg Sargent: "Donald Trump is currently running an ad in four swing states that graphically depicts the southern border as being overrun by dark hordes. It flatly states that in Hillary Clinton's America, the borders will be 'open.'... But in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, in which he responded to reports that he's backing off of his vow of mass deportations -- a promise he's made many times -- Trump basically admitted the whole story he's been telling about immigration for the last year is a big scam." -- CW
... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump, tempering the tone of his hard-line approach to tackling immigration reform, said on Monday that he wants to come up with a plan that is 'really fair' to address the millions of undocumented immigrants now in the country" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: I gather from this Politico piece by Nick Gass that the immigrants Trump wants to be "fair" to are those who come to the country legally: "We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process and it's not fair for them." Trump told Fox "News" he isn't flip-flopping. It sounds as if that's true. ...
... John Frank of the Denver Post: "Donald Trump is attending a fundraiser in Colorado on Thursday but will not make a speech on immigration, his campaign now says, despite national media reports announcing the event.... The campaign told supporters in an email 'the speech (Trump) was planning on giving is still being modified.'" Via Greg Sargent, who sez, so unfairly, "It's almost as if Trump has no idea what he really stands for." -- CW
Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "Donald Trump veered off the teleprompter on Monday night to claim that 'inner cities run by the Democrats' were more dangerous than countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.... The intended focus of the Republican nominee's message on Monday was his call for a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton's leadership of the state department. Trump claimed that the FBI and Department of Justice could not be trusted to investigate 'Hillary Clinton's crimes'." -- CW ...
... New York Times Editors: “'Help me stop Crooked Hillary from rigging this election!' says the application form on [Donald Trump's] campaign website. There are so many lies and delusions flowing daily from the Trump campaign that it's easy to miss the times when the Republican nominee is being not just ludicrous, but dangerous. This is one. Mr. Trump has seized on the charge that Hillary Clinton plans to win by cheating. He has said it before, but he keeps on saying it. This looks like pre-emptive face-saving.... But it's worse than that.... He is setting the stage for an upwelling of right-wing outrage, cuing up a crisis of electoral legitimacy....A more immediate concern is what happens on Nov. 8, when squads of Trump volunteers fan out to defend their candidate's presumed victory." -- CW
People need to understand just how radical a departure this is from the mean of American politics. Among the values most necessary for a functioning democracy is the peaceful transition of power that's gone on uninterrupted since 1797. What enables that is the acceptance of the election's outcome by the losers. Here you have a candidate after a terrible three weeks, which has all been self-inflicted, saying the only way we lose is if it's 'rigged' or stolen -- in a media culture where people increasingly don't buy into generally accepted facts and turn to places to have their opinions validated where there's no wall between extreme and mainstream positions. That's an assault on some of the pillars that undergird our system. -- Steve Schmidt, John McCain's 2008 presidential strategist, to Politico, August 22, 2016
We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy. -- John McCain, during a debate with Barack Obama, 2008
Other People's Money. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "After bragging for a year about how cheaply he was running his campaign, Donald Trump is spending more freely now that other people are contributing ―particularly when the beneficiary is himself. Trump nearly quintupled the monthly rent his presidential campaign pays for its headquarters at Trump Tower to $169,758 in July, when he was raising funds from donors, compared with March, when he was self-funding his campaign, according to a Huffington Post review of Federal Election Commission filings. The rent jumped even though he was paying fewer staff in July than he did in March." -- CW ...
... Akhilleus: Not only that, but the Orange Headed Scam Man is squeezing donors to foot the bill at Trump owned golf courses and restaurants. A cheap con man doesn't become legitimate because he's running for president. Also, have to wonder about RNC people who want answers about Trump's financial shenanigans but still support him. If you have to ask for anonymity but still sing in the choir, there's something wrong with you.
Jenna Johnson: "Donald Trump called on Monday for the Clinton Foundation to shut down 'immediately' and return money that was donated by countries 'they shouldn't be taking money from. [Blah blah Crooked Hillary blah blah.]'... Trump's own charity -- the much smaller Donald J. Trump Foundation -- has also taken money from corporations... Trump's campaign has yet to say if the businessman will immediately shut down his own foundation." -- CW ...
The foundation ... will restructure itself completely if Hillary Clinton is elected president. That's a pledge. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has told us nothing about how he'll deal with the conflicts posed by his business dealings, like the money his company owes to the Bank of China. And I have this to say to Donald Trump.... Before you go about attacking a charity, why don't you come clean about your own business dealings and tell the American people who you are in debt to? -- Sen. Tim Kaine, in Las Vegas, Monday
Jill Colvin of the AP: "Donald Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn't look presidential. Intent on undermining his Democratic rival, Trump and GOP backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender.... Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at ... Rutgers University..., said that, even during the primary season when Trump was competing against a field of largely men, he took on the role of strong man, demeaning his rivals with put-downs. 'His message has been: I'm the manliest candidate, I'm the strongest, I know how to protect women -- which is a pretty paternalistic take on it -- ... to the point where he's talking about the size of his own manhood... If you're trying to prove you're the manliest, then you're trying to emasculate your opponent.'... His rallies are filled with blatant misogyny. Supporters wear 'Trump vs. Tramp' political buttons, and have even harsher slogans and signs." -- CW
Anna Nemtsova of Newsweek, in Politico Magazine: Donald "Trump is already helping [Vladimir] Putin consolidate control of Ukraine.... The rhetoric in the U.S. election campaign -- especially Trump's -- is already altering policy in the region, hardening Moscow's attitude toward Ukraine and at the same time frustrating and confusing the Ukrainians who want to stand up to Putin. This is partly because the U.S. campaign is happening against the backdrop of rising tensions between Kiev and Moscow." -- CW
Trump as "Presidential" as Ever. Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump escalated his feud with the hosts of MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Monday, repeating a rumor straight off Page Six that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are romantically involved." Trump posted another derogatory tweet about Scarborough & Brzezinski; a nasty Twitterspat ensued between Scarborough & him.... [Trump's] laissez-faire attitude toward Ukraine's future is an articular contrast to the two previous Republican standard-bearers, Mitt Romney and John McCain, both of whom made strident statements in support of Ukraine's independence and opposed Putin's aggression.... In Russia, meanwhile, everything is reported through a pro-Trump lens." -- CW ...
... Lisa Hagen of the Hill: "Donald Trump's new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, defended the GOP nominee Monday night, saying he doesn't lob insults unless he's prompted. This comes one day after an interview on ABC's 'This Week' in which Conway said flat-out that Trump doesn't hurl personal insults. Conway, a former supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), criticized Trump earlier this year for doing just that and using 'vulgar' language." -- CW ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who has been getting some credit for the New Trump..., appeared on the Sunday shows and assured viewers that Trump wasn't into name-calling. 'He doesn't hurl personal insults,' said Conway... Before 9 a.m. on Monday, Trump was picking fights with cable news hosts and a top Hillary Clinton aide [Huma Abedin].... Trump, as he often does, reacted to what he was seeing on cable news with a mix of personal insults and rumor-mongering.... Trump can't help but be bogged down in petty feuds...." -- CW ...
... John Stoehr in US News on why Donald Trump can't "pivot": "To pivot is to recognize, at least rhetorically, the legitimacy of various and contrary views long enough to forge a coalition large enough for a majority. Like all narcissists, Trump does not recognize various or contrary views. Observable reality is determined by how he's feeling." Stoehr identifies strong parallels between the views of Trump & Hiram W. Evans, the Imperial Wizard (i.e., the CEO) of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s & '30s. -- CW
Ben Jacobs: "Lawyers for Melania Trump are pursuing legal action against the Daily Mail for reporting '100% false' rumors that she worked as an escort in the 1990s as well as raising questions about her immigration status at the time. While Donald Trump has a reputation for threatening and pursuing litigation, it is unusual for a major party nominee or their spouse to mount legal action against a publication only months before an election." -- CW
Jeff Horwitz of the AP: "Donald Trump's paid campaign staffers have declared on their personal social media accounts that Muslims are unfit to be U.S. citizens, ridiculed Mexican accents, called for Secretary of State John Kerry to be hanged and stated their readiness for a possible civil war, according to a review by The Associated Press.... The AP examined the [public] social media feeds of more than 50 current and former campaign employees.... At least seven expressed views that were overtly racially charged, supportive of violent actions or broadly hostile to Muslims.... Their judgment matters beyond the campaign because the paid staff of winning presidential candidates often receives jobs in the next administration..... The AP also reviewed the public social media accounts of more than three dozen employees of Hillary Clinton's far larger campaign staff and found nothing as inflammatory." -- CW ...
... Maybe They're All 12-Year-Olds. Katherine Krueger of TPM: Twelve-year-old Weston Imer is running "the Trump campaign's field office in Jefferson County, [Colorado,] which includes the greater Denver area.... Guardian US reporter Ben Jacobs confirmed he was the same 12-year-old who reportedly made threatening calls to try to convince anti-Trump delegates to the RNC to back" Trump. Thanks to Nancy for the link. -- CW
Other News & Views
New York Times Editors: "The first thing to know about the latest controversy over the Iran nuclear deal is that the Obama administration did not pay $400 million in 'ransom' to secure the release of three American detainees. Yet that's the story critics are peddling in another attempt to discredit an agreement that has done something remarkable -- halted a program that had put Iran within striking distance of producing a nuclear weapon.... The administration withheld the payment to ensure Iran didn't renege on its promise to free three detainees.... That's pragmatic diplomacy not capitulation.... If the administration had handed over the funds and not brought the detainees home, what would the critics be saying now?" ...
... CW: Back in the old days, most Republicans would have encouraged a Democratic administration's international negotiations for peaceful outcomes in the best interest of the U.S. & the world. Sure, Republicans would have offered their two-cents, some of it critical, on what-all the administration should do, but only far-right nutjobs -- mostly non-elected &/or obscure -- would have predicted the end of civilization when the administration made significant progress on U.S. objectives. Now, however, we have even the most "liberal" GOP senator, and one from the President's home state, accusing the POTUS of "acting like the drug dealer in chief" for bringing home American hostages & negotiated an end to a long-simmering obligation. We are living in an age of perpetual confederate outrage.
Emily Bazalon in the New York Times Magazine: "A new geography of capital punishment is taking shape, with just 2 percent of the nation's counties now accounting for a majority of the people sitting on death row.... A deep examination of the counties where the death penalty is concentrated, several [death-penalty critics] argue, reveals that in many, the justice systems are riddled with flaws, influencing the fates of countless defendants...." In his dissent in Glossip v. Gross, decided in 2015, Justice Stephen Breyer "was laying the groundwork for abolition, by making an argument, anchored in the Constitution's 'cruel and unusual' language, that the retreat of the death penalty county by county could one day persuade the court to end it everywhere." -- CW
Erik Eckholm & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Sunday blocked the Obama administration from enforcing new guidelines that were intended to expand restroom access for transgender students across the country. Judge Reed O'Connor of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas said in a 38-page ruling, which he said should apply nationwide, that the government had not complied with federal law when it issued 'directives which contradict the existing legislative and regulatory text.'" O'Connor is a Bush II appointee. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Justin Gillis of the New York Times: "By global standards, the Block Island Wind Farm [off the coast of Rhode Island] is a tiny project, just five turbines capable of powering about 17,000 homes. Yet many people are hoping its completion, with the final blade bolted into place at the end of last week, will mark the start of a new American industry, one that could eventually make a huge contribution to reducing the nation's climate-changing pollution." -- CW
Tara Parker-Pope & Rachel Peachman of the New York Times: "A steep increase in the price of the EpiPen, a lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, has sparked outrage among consumers and lawmakers who worry that parents won't be able to afford the pens for children heading back to school." -- CW
Raphael Satter & Maggie Michael of the AP: "WikiLeaks' global crusade to expose government secrets is causing collateral damage to the privacy of hundreds of innocent people, including survivors of sexual abuse, sick children and the mentally ill, The Associated Press has found. In the past year alone, the radical transparency group has published medical files belonging to scores of ordinary citizens while many hundreds more have had sensitive family, financial or identity records posted to the web.... The AP found that WikiLeaks also routinely publishes identity records, phone numbers and other information easily exploited by criminals." -- CW
Social Security to Pay Homeless Woman $100K+. Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post: Eighty-year-old Wanda Witter, a homeless woman who lived for years on the streets of D.C., claimed Social Security owed her a bundle. During that time, Witter tried to get them to pay out what she thought they owed her, but Social Security & others viewed her as crazy. Finally, social worker Julie Turner, who works for the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, went over the paperwork Witter had been dragging around, thought it looked credible, & got her a lawyer, Daniela de la Piedra, who specializes in Social Security disputes. de la Piedra & Social Security agreed Witter was owed more than $100,000. Social Security will be sending her a check for $99,999 in the next few days (the largest the agency can cut on short notice), & she will be getting monthly benefits of $1,464. Turner also found Witter an apartment. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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