The Conversation -- March 15, 2025
Eric Schmitt & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "The United States carried out large-scale military strikes on Saturday against dozens of targets in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia..., [Donald] Trump announced. It was the opening salvo in what senior American officials said was a new offensive against the militants and a strong message to Iran, as Mr. Trump seeks a nuclear deal with its government. Air and naval strikes ordered by Mr. Trump hit radars, air defenses, and missile and drone systems in an effort to open international shipping lanes in the Red Sea that the Houthis have disrupted for months with their own attacks. At least one senior Houthi commander was targeted. The Biden administration conducted several strikes against the Houthis but largely failed to restore stability to the region.... U.S. officials said that airstrikes against the Houthis' arsenal, much of which is buried deep underground, could last for several weeks, intensifying in scope and scale depending on the militants' reaction. U.S. intelligence agencies have struggled in the past to identify and locate the Houthi weapons systems, which the rebels produce in subterranean factories and smuggle in from Iran."
Tobi Raji, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has invoked a centuries-old wartime law to declare that a Venezuelan gang has 'invaded' the United States, clearing the way for the 'immediate apprehension, detention, and removal' of anyone the government says falls into that category. Trump issued the proclamation hours after a federal judge in D.C. preemptively blocked the president from deploying the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport five Venezuelan men on Saturday. Civil rights lawyers say the migrants are at risk of being removed without a court hearing. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington granted the temporary restraining order to bar the Trump administration from using the law to deport several men the administration alleges have ties to the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua. The American Civil Liberties Union says the men do not have any ties to the criminal group. The ACLU and Democracy Forward sued the administration Saturday in anticipation of Trump's plan to invoke the law, claiming that the five migrants face an 'imminent risk' of deportation." ~~~
~~~ Here's an update: "As he issued his ruling, the judge said he heard that 'flights are actively departing' and ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt the removals and return to the United States any flights that are in the air." If you watched the Maddow video linked below, you know that the Alien Enemies Act is the same law under which Japanese-Americans were interned during WWII. The U.S. has since issued a formal apology and paid reparations to internees. The 1798 act has been used just three times, each during wars: "the War of 1812, World War I and World War II." We are not in a war with Venezuela now.
Teo Armus, et al., of the Washington Post: ICE detained a Venezuelan couple who migrated to the U.S. and settled in Washington, D.C., with their three children, even though the family enjoyed protected status. "With two of their children looking on, screaming and crying, the Border Patrol arrested the couple in D.C., removing them from their home in handcuffs on a misdemeanor charge of illegally crossing the border more than two years ago.... Th family was apart for three days. By Thursday evening, the couple was back in their home with an order to appear in an El Paso federal court in 30 days to answer for the illegal border crossing. The arrests, weeks before temporary protected status is set to expire for several hundred thousand Venezuelans, immediately raised alarms among immigrant advocates.... Advocacy groups say they are investigating whether the government is violating a 2023 court settlement that prohibits separating children from their parents based on illegal border crossings, the same minor crime the first Trump administration used in 2018 to justify separating families at the southern border.... It was unclear Friday why this couple was targeted...."
Right-wing New York Times columnist David French more-or-less gets it: "Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student -- and the university itself -- as a test case for its new authoritarian regime.... When federal immigration officials showed up at [the] apartment building [of former Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil] last weekend and whisked him away to a facility in Louisiana to begin deportation proceedings, they brought the malice and incompetence of the Trump administration into stark relief.... According to the Department of Homeland Security's Notice to Appear that was provided to Khalil, 'The secretary of state has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.'... Khalil was detained because of his protest activity and not because he'd provided illegal support for terrorists.... The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil are a direct attack on free speech.... Our Constitution has survived previous waves of government repression. There is no guarantee it will survive another." French outlines some of the Trump administration attacks on Columbia. ~~~
~~~ Marie: French writes that "The sad irony of our unconstitutional moment is that the perspectives of foreign students can be particularly valuable when foreign affairs dominate American discourse." But the more alarming irony, IMO, is that the person responsible for trying to deport Khalil for his speech is the same person who instigated a violent insurrection against the United States in an attempt to overturn a presidential election. Why, he is even a person who himself has had "serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States." Just look at what happened to the very Secretary of State who supposedly made the determination that Khalil presented a threat. Little Marco is today a pathetic shadow of the foreign policy hawk once known as Senator Marco Rubio. And that abrupt diminution of Marco, of course, is the "serious adverse foreign policy consequences" of working for Donald Trump.
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "... when ... [Donald] Trump appeared in the gilded [Great Hall of the Justice Department] on Friday afternoon, he ... delivered a grievance-filled attack on the very people who have worked in the building and others like them. As he singled out some targets of his rage, he appeared to offer his own vision of justice in America, one defined by personal vengeance rather than by institutional principles. 'These are people that are bad people, really bad people,' Mr. Trump said. 'They tried to turn America into a corrupt communist and third-world country, but in the end, the thugs failed and the truth won.'... In offering his litany of complaints, Mr. Trump provided no proof that ... any of the people he named had committed crimes or even ethical violations. Their sole offense appeared to have been trying to hold him accountable for his behavior." ~~~
~~~ Among those "enemies" Trump identified were elections lawyer Marc Elias, who led the legal battle against Trump's 2020 false claims of election fraud; Mark Pomerantz, an SDNY prosecutor who worked on but never brought charges in a criminal case against Trump; Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted Trump; special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two major federal cases against Trump; former FBI Director James Comey, who refused to pledge his loyalty to Trump & opened an investigation into Trump's ties to Russian election interference; attorney Norm Eisen who oversaw the first impeachment of Trump. MB: All totally consistent, of course, on Trump's "L'État, c'est moi" tude.
Javier Hernández of the New York Times: "When ... [Donald] Trump was criticized by some of the artists who were recognized at the annual Kennedy Center Honors program during his first term, he responded by boycotting the show, breaking with decades of precedent. Now, as he leads a sweeping takeover of the Kennedy Center in his second term, Mr. Trump is seeking changes that will allow him greater sway in the selection of honorees.... Mr. Trump, who is now the chairman of the Kennedy Center, is scheduled to speak at a meeting of its board on Monday afternoon, when proposed changes to the honors advisory committee will be on the agenda.... He replaced all the Biden appointees on the center's once-bipartisan board, was elected chairman and installed a loyalist, Richard Grenell, as its president."
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Liz Goodwin, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Friday averted a federal government shutdown full of political and practical unknowns. But the decision to back the GOP funding bill has left a party still reeling from Donald Trump's 2024 win even more rudderless and divided. House Democrats are taking shots at Senate Democrats. A fired-up base feels enraged and is flooding senators' phone lines. And Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) has emerged as the lightning rod absorbing the party's anger, with some of his key allies standing silently by while he's attacked.... Schumer ... defended his decision to vote for the GOP funding bill as the best way to fight Trump's sweeping plan for downsizing the government, saying a shutdown would be 'DOGE on steroids.'... In a stunning rebuke, Schumer's former leadership counterpart, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), publicly urged Senate Democrats to vote against their leader on Friday." The AP's story is here. NPR's story is here.~~~
~~~ Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Top House Democrats on Friday threw Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) under the bus after he announced he would help House Republicans pass their extreme spending bill to avert a government shutdown.... Schumer's longtime House counterpart..., Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), publicly lashed him for setting up 'a false choice' between the GOP's bill and a shutdown, emphasizing that Democrats have long been pushing for another option: passing a short-term bill to simply keep the government funded at its current levels in order to buy more time for lawmakers to hash out a longer-term, bipartisan spending package." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Just how many buses can roll over Chuck? Chuck himself had already lain down in front of the MAGA bus in a display of anticipatory obedience. Erik Loomis, in LG&$, publishes Pelosi's full statement as well as Trump's full post in praise of Chuck's capitulation (related Politico story on Trump linked below). ~~~
~~~ ⭐Catie Edmondson & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: :The Senate on Friday cleared a critical hurdle to avert a government shutdown at midnight, after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and nine other members of his caucus joined Republicans in voting to advance a stopgap spending bill, effectively thwarting a filibuster by their own party. The vote to move forward with the G.O.P.-written stopgap spending measure, which would fund the government through Sept. 30, was 62 to 38. It came just hours before a midnight deadline to avoid a lapse in funding, and set the stage for a final vote on the spending measure later on Friday.... Democrats joining Mr. Schumer in voting to move it forward were Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Gary Peters of Michigan, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire. Senator Angus King, the Maine independent..., also voted yes." MB: I called Shaheen's & Hassan's office, identified myself and told them to vote against cloture. Well, I told their voicemails, because neither senator's office was accepting calls. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$ explains Chuck's rationale even better than Chuck does, although Campos, it would seem, is not into it: "One thing that simply doesn't work is to run for election on the we're in an existential battle to save democracy from the fascist hordes platform, lose, bombard all your supports with twelve zillion texts and emails about how Donald Trump is on the verge of establishing a dictatorship so you had better rush us ten dollars now to pass the No Kings Act (how stupid do they think we are? Don't answer that), and then, after all that, simply unconditionally surrender to the aforementioned hordes and aspiring dictator, on the basis of the inspiring claim that it's the savvy thing to do.... The old men have gotten us into this fix, and politics, like physics, apparently advances one funeral at a time." MB: Can't figure out why he heads this post with a huge photo of a beautiful young woman. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Joseph Gedeon & Chris Stein of the Guardian: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is condemning Chuck Schumer ... for caving to Republican demands on a government funding bill, saying the move has created a 'deep sense of outrage and betrayal' among Democrats. Speaking to reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats were gathered for their annual policy retreat, Ocasio-Cortez said she was mobilizing Democratic supporters to push Schumer to oppose what she characterized as an 'acquiesce' to the GOP bill.... The rift has reportedly sparked such anger among House Democrats that some are encouraging Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer in a primary election, according to CNN. When asked about these suggestions, she declined to comment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "The eruption of anger about Mr. Schumer's seeming surrender thrust into public view a generational divide that has emerged as one of the Democratic Party's deepest and most consequential rifts. Younger Democrats are chafing at and increasingly complaining about what they see as the feebleness of the old guard's efforts to push back against President Trump. They are second-guessing how the party's leaders -- like Mr. Schumer, who brandishes his flip phone as a point of pride -- are communicating their message in the TikTok era, as Republicans dominate the digital town square. And they are demanding that the party develop a bolder policy agenda that can answer the desperation of tens of millions of people who are struggling financially at a time when belief in the American dream is dimming. In other words, the younger generation is done with deference." MB: Guess that makes me a virtual toddler. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I can tell you this with some certainty: if Donald Trump is applauding you, you're doing something terribly, terribly wrong: ~~~
~~~ Katherine Tully-McManus of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday congratulated Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for 'doing the right thing' by backing the Republican-led bill to avert a government shutdown, a choice that's put the New York Democrat at odds with many in his party. 'A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,' wrote the president Friday morning on Truth Social. 'Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer,' wrote the president on Truth Social." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ BUT. Matt Yglesias, who is an original, generally-liberal commentator, says Chuck did the right thing. MB: I still strongly disagree, but I won't deny Matt is smarter than I am. (Also linked yesterday.)
Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, last year's Democratic nominee for vice president, took another step back onto the national political stage on Friday when he hosted a town hall in front of a friendly audience in Des Moines, the latest in a series of appearances outside his home state. During roughly an hour on the stage of a high school auditorium, Mr. Walz expressed sadness over Democrats' struggles with rural and working-class voters, blasted ... [Donald] Trump's cuts to the federal government and told the crowd that Democrats needed to rethink how they campaigned and governed. 'Millions of people stayed home because they didn't think there was any difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and myself on the ticket,' Mr. Walz said at the event, which was organized by the Iowa Democratic Party. 'We need to acknowledge that. I think one of the reasons is that when Democrats have been in power, we've been timid about passing things that make a difference.'... When the moderator [of the town hall] asked what the audience wanted Democratic leaders to know, several people offered phrases like 'fight' or 'fight back.'"
Felon No. 1 Openly Corrupts DOJ. Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: Donald "Trump's triumphal entry into Justice Department headquarters on Friday darkened into an acid recitation of grievances against his enemies, as he demonstrated his power over a department that had tried and failed to hold him to account. The event, held in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, was billed as a major policy address to reposition the department from the purported political 'weaponization' of the Biden era to a renewed focus on crime, punishment and fighting drugs. But in an hourlong speech, Mr. Trump veered from his prepared remarks to lash out at lawyers and former prosecutors by name in a venue dedicated to the impartial administration of justice. He also accused the department's previous leadership of trying to destroy him and declared former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. the head of a 'crime' family. 'Scum,' Mr. Trump called his adversaries.... His message was unmistakable: The president intends to bend the vast powers of federal law enforcement to his will -- in the pursuit of an anti-crime agenda and, perhaps, vengeance.... He also suggested he was preparing new executive actions to personally target the 'violent vicious lawyers' who had prosecuted him or opposed his policies in court.... 'The [documents] case against me was bullshit,' Mr. Trump said, standing in the building where the charges were approved." ~~~
~~~ Felon No. 1 Holds Political Rally in DOJ Great Hall. Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump spent much of his hour at the microphone laying out personal complaints about how 'a corrupt group of hacks and radicals' wrongly prosecuted him during the Biden administration.... [When Trump called the documents case against him 'bullshit,'] the crowd, which included elected officials, political appointees, allies and law enforcement officials[, applauded]. Trump denounced the judges who oversaw his three other cases, including the state trial in New York where he was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment.... It is rare for a president to visit the Justice Department -- which has kept safeguards between the White House and the law enforcement agency in the post-Watergate era to ensure that politics don't interfere with law enforcement investigations.... But Trump has obliterated those norms.... The Village People's 'YMCA' blared as he walked off the stage." ~~~
~~~ Irie Sentner & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Trump charged the DOJ with spying on his campaign, raiding his home, persecuting his 'family, staff and supporters,' launching 'one hoax and disinformation campaign after the other' and breaking the law 'on a colossal scale,' making clear the glee he has taken in undermining the department's typical independence and wielding it to achieve the White House's objectives.... Attorney General Pam Bondi introduced Trump by pledging that she and others at the department are fully engaged in his mission. 'We will never stop fighting for him and for our country,' she said." ~~~
Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed -- and no republic can survive.... And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution -- not primarily to amuse and entertain... -- but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion. -- President John Kennedy, April 1961
... I believe that CNN and MSDNC [sic], who literally write 97 .6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they're really corrupt and they're illegal. What they do is illegal. It makes no difference how big a victory I had. I can have the biggest victory in history. -- Donald Trump, speech at DOJ, Friday ~~~
~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Condemnation of Trump's remarks was swift.... 'Calling news outlets that hold the president accountable "illegal" is what dictators say to attack the free press and suppress freedom of speech. Trump's remarks at the DOJ aren't just partisan -- they're a direct attack on democracy. We can't let him turn the DOJ into his personal weapon,' wrote Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA)." Griffing cites numerous other reactions to Trump's remarks. ~~~
~~~ Jeff Toobin of the New York Times: "Robert Jackson is best remembered as perhaps the finest prose stylist ever to serve on the Supreme Court.... At the Justice Department, where he served briefly as attorney general, Jackson is still venerated for a speech he gave there on April 1, 1940.... Jackson's remarks remain a touchstone for the ethical obligations of the officials who have, he said, 'more control over life, liberty and reputation than any other person in America.' Jackson delivered his speech in the same room at the Justice Department where on Friday ... [Donald] Trump offered a very different sense of the obligations of those who wield such power. The theme of the Jackson speech was restraint.... To that end, he (and in those days, it was always he) 'should have, as nearly as possible, a detached and impartial view of all groups in his community.' Trump's speech was about as far from 'neutral and impartial' as it could be.... Jackson warned in his speech against just this politicized, personalized approach to law enforcement.... It remains to be seen whether Trump's appointees in the Justice Department will use their enormous power against the president's political adversaries."
Devlin Barrett & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald "Trump on Friday opened a third attack against a private law firm, restricting the business activities of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison just days after a federal judge ruled such measures appeared to violate the Constitution. The president signed an executive order to suspend security clearances held by people at the firm, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest. The order also seeks to sharply limit Paul, Weiss employees from entering government buildings, getting government jobs or receiving any money from federal contracts. The move widened an assault by Mr. Trump on some of nation's most prominent law firms. Legal experts have warned the aggressive campaign sets a dangerous precedent that threatens not just the ability of lawyers to do their jobs, but also the ability of private citizens to obtain lawyers to represent them. The order said it was intended to end 'government sponsorship of harmful activity' at Paul, Weiss and specifically punish one of its former lawyers, Mark F. Pomerantz. Mr. Trump mentioned Mr. Pomerantz by name in an angry speech Friday at the Justice Department.... Mr. Pomerantz had tried to build a criminal case against Mr. Trump several years ago when he worked at the Manhattan district attorney's office. The White House announcement called Mr. Pomerantz 'an unethical lawyer' who tried to 'manufacture a prosecution against President Trump.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm not sure how much work Pomerantz does for Paul, Weiss. His U. Penn bio says he is "of counsel" there, which has various meanings, but in general means he is not a full-time partner or associate. So it looks as if the only way a law firm can assure itself that Donald Trump won't put it out of business is to never hire anyone who at some time in the future might irritate Trump.&
Charlie Savage & Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is considering targeting the citizens of as many as 43 countries as part of a new ban on travel to the United States that would be broader than the restrictions imposed during ... [Donald] Trump's first term.... A draft list of recommendations developed by diplomatic and security officials suggests a 'red' list of 11 countries whose citizens would be flatly barred from entering the United States. They are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen..., officials said.... The officials ... cautioned that the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago, and that changes were likely by the time it reached the White House." The article includes the current, three-tiered list.
Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald "Trump signed an executive order on Friday seeking to dismantle seven additional federal agencies, including the one that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded media outlets around the world. Mr. Trump directed the heads of the agencies, largely obscure entities that address issues like labor mediation and homelessness prevention, to eliminate all functions that are not statutorily mandated. The leaders should also 'reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,' the order said. Like many of the president's moves in his wide-ranging effort to shrink the government, the order appears to test the bounds of his authority. Voice of America's parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, for example, is congressionally chartered as an independent agency, and Congress passed a law in 2020 intended to limit the power of the agency's presidentially appointed chief executive."
Trump is signaling to white people everywhere that he will use his power to protect and advance their interests, no matter the facts. -- Khalil Gibran Muhammad of Princeton University ~~~
~~~ John Eligon of the New York Times: "To hear ... [Donald] Trump and some of his closest supporters tell it, South Africa is a terrible place for white people. They face discrimination, are sidelined from jobs and live under the constant threat of violence or having their land stolen by a corrupt, Black-led government that has left the country in disarray. The data tell a different story. Although white people make up 7 percent of the country's population, they own at least half of South Africa's land. Police statistics do not show that they are any more vulnerable to violent crime than other people. And white South Africans are far better off than Black people on virtually every marker of the economic scale. Yet Mr. Trump and his allies have pushed their own narrative of South Africa to press an argument at home: If the United States doesn't clamp down on attempts to promote diversity, America will become a hotbed of dysfunction and anti-white discrimination....
“Mr. Trump has built his political identity in part as a protector of white America. He has fought to save symbols of the Confederacy in the South, blasted racial sensitivity training as 'un-American propaganda' and publicly defended white supremacists. Cutting off aid to most of Africa while championing Afrikaners -- the white ethnic minority in South Africa that led the apartheid government -- appears to be the latest illustration of Mr. Trump's commitment to white interests." ~~~
~~~ Edward Wong & John Eligon of the New York Times: Donald "Trump's administration has officially expelled South Africa's ambassador to the United States, a spokesman for the South African president said on Saturday, calling the decision 'regrettable.' The ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, received an expulsion letter from the State Department, said ... the spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. The move comes during a low point in the relationship between the two countries, with Mr. Trump having accused Mr. Ramaphosa's government of discriminating against South Africa's white minority and siding with one of America's enemies, Iran.... [Friday, Secretary of State Marco] Rubio wrote on social media that South Africa's ambassador was a 'race-baiting politician who hates America' and Mr. Trump. He added, 'We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.' That designation requires South Africa to end Mr. Rasool's role as ambassador. Mr. Rubio made his comments above a repost of an article from Breitbart, a right-leaning news site, about remarks Mr. Rasool made on Friday via video link to an institute in Johannesburg. The article quoted Mr. Rasool as saying Mr. Trump was leading a 'supremacist' movement against 'the incumbency, those who are in power,' in South Africa."
Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has withdrawn its nominee to be the United States' official envoy for hostage affairs.... White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said [Friday] that Adam Boehler, who has been serving as Trump's envoy on an interim basis, would work on hostage negotiations for ... Donald Trump as a 'special government employee' rather than seeking [Senate] confirmation.... A senior White House official ... said that Boehler elected to work in a non-confirmed capacity so he would not be required to divest from his health-care investment firm.... But he has faced criticism from within Israel and among Republicans on Capitol Hill for his more recent talks with Hamas.... The talks earlier this month in the Qatari capital Doha not only defied a norm prohibiting direct talks with terrorist groups..., but they took place without prior notification to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli officials have said.... Jewish Insider reported Thursday that Boehler had been removed from negotiations with Hamas after running into opposition from Republican lawmakers."
Erasing History. Tobi Raji & Michael Ruane of the Washington Post: "Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website, part of a broader effort across the Defense Department to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence. A cemetery spokesperson confirmed Friday that it removed internal links directing users to webpages listing the dozens of 'Notable Graves' of Black, Hispanic and female veterans and their spouses.... The biographies of notable Black, Hispanic and female veterans and their spouses are still accessible through other internal links [via online searches].... The cemetery has completely removed educational materials on the Civil War and Medal of Honor recipients, among other topics.... Donald Trump signed executive orders on his first day in office banning DEI in federal programs and contracts. Since then, directives from Pentagon leaders have ordered the removal of all news and feature articles, photos and videos that they say 'promote' DEI." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Only people who are extremely twisted and at least mildly deranged would attempt to scrub all references to history that either make White men look bad (by acknowledging the Civil War) or recognize the patriotic sacrifices of women and minorities.
Musk Supports Claim that Workers, Not Dictators, Committed Genocide. Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Early on Friday, Elon Musk shared a post written by an X user about the actions of three 20th century dictators -- then quickly deleted it after it sparked a backlash. The post falsely claimed that Joseph Stalin, the communist leader of the Soviet Union until 1953; Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party in Germany; and Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China, didn't cause the deaths of millions of people under their watch. Instead, the post said, their public sector workers did. Mr. Musk shared the post without any other comment. He removed it soon after users on X criticized the post, saying it was antisemitic and dismissive of genocide.... Mr. Musk in recent weeks has battled with public sector workers in Washington as part of his work with his cost-cutting initiative.... 'America's public service workers -- our nurses, teachers, firefighters, librarians -- chose making our communities safe, healthy and strong over getting rich. They are not, as the world's richest man implies, genocidal murderers,' Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said in a statement."
Isabel van Brugen of the Daily Beast, republished by MSN: "Elon Musk threw a tantrum after his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dealt a series of legal setbacks, immediately calling for the impeachment of federal judges. 'Without judicial reform, which means at least the absolute worst judges get impeached, we don’t have real democracy in America,' Musk said on X. He reacted after federal agencies were ordered on Thursday to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of federal workers with probationary status who had been laid off by DOGE as part of its sweeping government cost-cutting efforts, dealing a blow to Musk, as he seeks to eventually reduce the deficit by $1 trillion." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The Despicable Oligarch's Gross Effluent here is perfectly consistent with the attitude and policy of an administration that is firing (among others!) all the people who even might be more loyal to the Constitution than to King Donald. The purpose of federal officials is to back what the Trumplodytes want, and those who don't, must go.
Tim Balk of the New York Times: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took his position during the first Trump presidency and moved to shrink the agency's ranks during the Biden administration, said he had signed an agreement with [Elon] Musk's group on Wednesday. Mr. DeJoy, a Republican megadonor, wrote in the letter that Mr. Musk's initiative was 'an effort aligned' with his efforts. He said that the Postal Service's work force had shrunk by 30,000 since the 2021 fiscal year, and that the agency planned to complete a 'further reduction of another 10,000 people in the next 30 days' through a previously established voluntary-retirement program. Last week, Mr. Musk said at a tech conference organized by the bank Morgan Stanley that the Postal Service should be privatized, declaring, 'We should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized.'... The agreement described by Mr. DeJoy on Thursday was comparatively less disruptive, but it drew a stern rebuke from Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which oversees the Postal Service." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Troy Closson of the New York Times: "A second person who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has been arrested by U.S. immigration agents, after overstaying a student visa, federal officials said on Friday, the latest turn in the crisis engulfing the Ivy League institution. The person, identified by the authorities as Leqaa Kordia, is Palestinian and from the West Bank. She was arrested in Newark on Thursday, officials said. Her student visa was terminated in January 2022, and she was arrested by the New York City police last April for her role in a campus demonstration, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. The agency also released a video on Friday that it said showed a Columbia student, identified as Ranjani Srinivasan, preparing to enter Canada after her student visa was revoked. The announcements, by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, reflected an escalation of the Trump administration's focus on Columbia...."
Collin Binkley of the AP: "More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of ... Donald Trump's campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students. The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America's schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over 'race-based preferences' in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.... Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges' partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.... Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding 'impermissible race-based scholarships,' the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race." (Also linked yesterday.)~~~
~~~ Profs. Ryan Enos & Steven Levitsky in a Harvard Crimson op-ed: "Like many autocrats before him, Donald Trump has launched what could be a devastating attack on universities. Over the last week, the Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University and $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University. Both schools were on a list of 10 universities (including Harvard) that the Department of Justice announced it was investigating over politicized allegations of antisemitism. The Department of Education subsequently launched a similar investigation into 60 universities. And last week, the administration arrested a former student seemingly ... for his political speech.... So far, America's leading universities have remained virtually silent in the face of this authoritarian assault on institutions of higher education.... As the Columbia case suggests, [silence is] not working. Columbia's leadership made repeated concessions to right-wing critics, only to be the first to come under attack.... We cannot remain silent in the face of authoritarian attacks on our peers, even if they have not yet come for us." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "The University of Minnesota, which ... [Donald] Trump's Justice Department is scrutinizing for its handling of antisemitism on campus, largely barred itself on Friday from issuing official statements about 'matters of public concern or public interest.'... Friday's vote by the board of regents ... fit into the scramble by universities to undercut accusations that they have supported, or downplayed, antisemitic behavior or political activity.... Under Minnesota's new policy, statements from the university -- including ones from divisions like colleges and departments -- about public issues will be forbidden unless the president determines the subject has 'an actual or potential impact on the mission and operations of the university.' The university senate, which includes students, faculty members and other workers, opposed the plan, and in early January, a university task force had urged a narrower approach. Critics have questioned whether the policy violates the First Amendment and argued that it grants excessive power to Minnesota's president." ~~~
~~~ Nevertheless, this is not surprising: ~~~
~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Leo Terrell, former Fox News contributor who now heads the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, shared a wild post by white nationalist Patrick Casey this week declaring ... Donald Trump can 'revoke someone's Jew card.'... Terrell, who is Black, reposted Casey's reaction to Trump blasting Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in the Oval Office this week -- saying he isn't 'Jewish anymore.'... RawStory's Jordan Green noted on Friday that Terrell also shared a post on Wednesday from the 'Hodgetwins, who regularly fawn over Hitler on their podcast.'" ~~~
~~~ Anna Betts of the Guardian: "A far-right group that claimed credit for the arrest of a Palestinian activist and permanent US resident [Mahmoud Khalil] who the Trump administration is seeking to deport claims it has submitted 'thousands of names' for similar treatment. Betar US is one of a number of rightwing, pro-Israel groups that are supporting the administration's efforts to deport international students involved in university pro-Palestinian protests, an effort that escalated this week with the arrest of ... Khalil..., who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University.... Betar, which has been labelled an extremist group by the Anti-Defamation League..., said on Monday that it had 'been working on deportations and will continue to do so', and warned that the effort would extend beyond immigrants. 'Expect naturalized citizens to start being picked up within the month,' the group's post on X read. (It is very difficult to revoke US citizenship, though Trump has indicated an intention to try.)"
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon requested responses from states and groups that have challenged the constitutionality of the president's order ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and foreign residents. The move is a signal that the justices will consider a request by the Trump administration asking the court to lift a nationwide pause on the policy as the underlying court challenges proceed.... The issue before the justices is the legality of a tool called a nationwide injunction, which enables a federal judge to temporarily freeze a policy across the country, rather than limiting a pause to the parties involved. In its applications to the court, the Trump administration pushed back on nationwide injunctions. The tool has been used during Democratic and Republican administrations, and a debate over such injunctions has simmered for years....
"The court had the option of rejecting the application out of hand but instead ordered responses to be submitted by the afternoon of April 4.... Even if the justices reject the Trump administration's request to allow the policy to go into effect in parts of the country, the justices may ultimately consider the core of the case -- whether the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship -- after litigation has proceeded through the lower courts."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has given ... Donald Trump's administration the go-ahead to enforce a pair of controversial executive orders that seek to root out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at federal agencies and government contractors. The three-member appeals panel ' including two judges appointed by Democratic presidents -- lifted a lower court's injunction that had put the policy on hold last month. The ruling Friday from the panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is not a final decision on the legality of Trump's anti-DEI policy. It merely allows the government to administer the policy while litigation continues. In separate opinions explaining their votes, the three judges suggested the Trump administration should be allowed to demonstrate that it will abide by anti-discrimination laws and respect First Amendment rights as it implements the executive orders, which Trump issued on the first two days of his new term." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I didn't realize there was an injunction to lift. It seems as if every other day, including today (see Arlington Cemetery story linked above), I link to a story of some egregious effort on the part of some federal department or entity to erase all references to non-White, non-male Americans.
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has denied the Justice Department's attempt to apply ... Donald Trump's blanket pardon for members of the Jan. 6 mob at the Capitol to one defendant's conviction for possessing illegal guns hundreds of miles away, at his Kentucky home. In a ruling Thursday night, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, became the first judge to reject outright the Justice Department's recently adopted position.... Reversing its initial stance..., the department is now arguing that Trump's pardon extends to crimes with no connection to the attack on the Capitol other than the fact that law enforcement agents uncovered evidence of them during the Jan. 6 investigation. Friedrich said DOJ's position 'contradicts' the 'clear and unambiguous' language of Trump's Day 1 executive order granting pardons to about 1,500 people convicted of participating in the riot.... [The government's position] 'would "defy rationality,"' Friedrich wrote.... Trump could clarify or expand his Jan. 6 pardon directive at any time, but he has not done so...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Stephen Groves & Leah Askarinam of the AP: "Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, a champion of environmental protections and progressive ideals who took on principled but often futile causes during a two-decade career in Congress, died Thursday. Grijalva, who was 77, had risen to chair the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee during his 12 terms representing southern Arizona, a powerful perch he used to shape the nation's environmental policies. He was known for reliably going to bat for immigrants and Native American tribes, and for the bolo tie he wore at home in Tucson and in the Capitol in Washington. Grijalva died of complications from cancer treatment, his office said in a statement. The treatments had sidelined him from Congress in recent months." (Also linked yesterday.)
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Alan K. Simpson, a plain-spoken former Republican senator from Wyoming who championed immigration reforms and conservative candidates for the Supreme Court while fighting running battles with women's groups, environmentalists and the press, died on Friday in Cody, Wyo. He was 93." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The video below is for Akhilleus. It's the reason I seldom speak ill of the dead while the body is still warm (metaphorically speaking). Here is how I imagine this particular person's family wishes to remember him in the days after his death, whether or not he be, all things considered, a "rotten prick." Anyhow, thanks, Rachel:
Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Four astronauts launched on Friday en route to the International Space Station. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. Eastern time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is a routine rotation of crew on the space station, but it is garnering extra attention because it will allow the return to Earth of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts whose brief scheduled visit to the space station last June was unexpectedly stretched to more than nine months. The stay ... was extended at least two more days when the first attempt at launching this mission on Wednesday was called off with less than 45 minutes left in the countdown."
~~~~~~~~~~
John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies[, meeting in La Malbaie, Canada,] set aside a growing list of disagreements with ... Donald Trump over his tariffs and brash territorial claims and agreed to a joint statement on shared priorities, including pressuring Russia into a ceasefire, ending the war in Gaza and curbing China's military buildup.... But the atmosphere at [U.S. Secretary of State Marco] Rubio's first appearance at a G-7 ministerial was anything but convivial. [Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie] Joly criticized what she interpreted as a blithe attitude that visiting diplomats took to Trump's rhetoric about annexation. 'Many of my colleagues coming here thought that this issue was still a joke, and that this had to be taken in a humorous way. But I said to them: "This is not a joke,"' Joly said." Rubio skipped the social meetings, where ministers went snowshoeing and roasted marshmellows. Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump "reiterated his support for making Canada the 51st U.S. state and suggesting America's northern neighbor would lose badly in a trade war." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Little Marco begged off the friendship-building activities on account of being so tired from his trip to Saudi Arabia. Now, I'll admit that growing up in the Miami area as he and I did, one does not get much practice in snowshoeing skills, but I'm going to guess that his greatest worry was that the snowshoe bindings would not fit over his high-heeled Cuban boots.
Canada, Portugal. Murraey Brewster of CBC News: "Canada is actively looking at potential alternatives to the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers, Defence Minister Bill Blair said late Friday, just hours after being reappointed to the post as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet. The remarks came one day after Portugal signalled it was planning to ditch its acquisition of the high-tech warplane. The re-examination in this country is taking place amid the bruising political fight with the Trump administration over tariffs and threats from the American president to annex Canada by economic force. There has been a groundswell of support among Canadians to kill the $19-billion purchase and find aircraft other than those manufactured and maintained in the United States."
France. Lee Hockstader of the Washington Post: "... Washington is now increasingly regarded by its closest allies as a source of treachery, menace and malice. That view of Donald Trump's America was brutally encapsulated last week by a centrist French senator named Claude Malhuret, who noted that until now, 'never in history has a U.S. president capitulated to the enemy.' In a speech at the French Senate assessing Trump's alignment with the Kremlin, turn against Ukraine and the implications for Europe, he said: 'We were at war with a dictator. Now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.' Read a transcript of Malhuret's speech, an instant social media sensation, and you'll see he's no knee-jerk anti-American. Quite the contrary: the 75-year-old senator, a former head of Doctors Without Borders, retains a touching, even sentimental, faith in our fundamental decency, values and systemic strengths.... Right now, Trump, with important assists from Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, has mounted an attack as devastating to our reputational well-being as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were to our physical security." (Also linked yesterday.)
Germany. Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, announced on Friday that he had secured the votes to allow for extensive new government spending, including for defense, clearing the way for a stunning turnabout in German strategic and fiscal policy before he even takes office. The deal should now allow Mr. Merz to pass a raft of measures in Parliament next week that he has billed as a response to ... [Donald] Trump's moves to pull back American security guarantees for Europe. It includes what party leaders called crucial investments in German competitiveness and its efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions to fight global warming. And it breathed new life into a coalition of center-left and center-right parties that have long governed Germany but have wilted in a new era of populism in recent years, losing votes to the far left and the far right. The measures would lift Germany's hallowed limits on government borrowing as they apply to military spending. It would exempt all spending on defense above 1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product from those limits, and it would define 'defense' broadly to include intelligence spending, information security and more." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: So, as Trump turns the U.S. into a cesspool of corruption, incompetence & reactionary policies, he appears to have liberated Germany.
Ukraine/Russia, et al. Anton Troianovski & Maria Varenikova of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday insisted that Ukraine order some of its forces to surrender to Russia, a striking demand made hours after ... [Donald] Trump said the United States had 'very good and productive' discussions with Mr. Putin about a potential cease-fire. Mr. Putin's televised comments came shortly after Mr. Trump, on social media, said he had urged the Russian leader to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers struggling to hold on to a patch of land in the Kursk region of Russia. 'I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared,' Mr. Trump wrote. Both presidents claimed on Friday that Ukrainian forces were surrounded in Kursk.... Independent analysts have challenged those claims, and Ukraine's military on Friday again rejected them."
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