The Ledes

Thursday, May 1, 2025

CNBC: “Initial unemployment claims posted an unexpected increase last week in a potential trouble sign for the wobbling U.S. economy. First-time filings for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ended April 26, up 18,000 from the prior period and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. This was the highest total since Feb. 22. Continuing claims, which run a week behind and provide a broader view of layoff trends, rose to 1.92 million, up 83,000 to the highest level since Nov. 13, 2021. Much of the gain seemed to come from one state — New York, where claims more than doubled to 30,043, according to unadjusted data. The increase may have been due to spring recess in New York public schools, according to Sam Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. 'Nonetheless, the deterioration in the timeliest hiring and firing indicators over the last couple weeks suggests that jobless claims will trend up over coming weeks,' Tombs said in a note.”

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To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

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Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Tuesday
Oct082024

The Conversation -- October 8, 2024

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday warned those in the path of Hurricane Milton to 'evacuate now, now, now,' as he canceled a diplomatic trip abroad so he could oversee his administration's response to the storm barreling toward Florida's west coast. Speaking from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, the president said he had given Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, his personal phone number and he urged Floridians to listen to state authorities.... With the storm poised to slam into the Tampa Bay area by Thursday morning, Mr. Biden decided to postpone a trip to Germany and Angola meant to shore up support for Ukraine and promote investment in Africa.... The White House has not yet finalized new dates for the overseas trip."

Peter Baker & Ephrat Livni of the New York Times: "The book, 'War' [by journalist Bob Woodward], which is set to be released next week and relies on some anonymous sources, lays bare just how frustrated [President] Biden has become with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu since the war in Gaza began and Israel has bombarded the enclave, killing more than 40,000 people and displacing most of the more than two million residents there. Outwardly, Mr. Biden has voiced strong support for Israel.... Privately, the president has reacted far more explosively, sometimes with expletives, to Israel's moves, as multiple news reports have indicated. Mr. Netanyahu and the president last spoke on Aug. 21, according to a White House statement." The story includes some specifics which Woodward reports. Baker & Livni note that "The New York Times could not independently verify the specific statements reported in Mr. Woodward"s upcoming book." ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has secretly spoken with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as many as seven times since leaving office, even as he was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders, according to a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward.... The book also reports that Mr. Trump, while still in office early during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, secretly sent Mr. Putin what were then rare Abbott Point of Care test machines for the Russian's personal use. Mr. Putin, who has been described as particularly anxious about being infected at the time, urged Mr. Trump to not publicly reveal the gesture because it could damage the American president politically.... [Woodward wrote that a single Trump aide was the source for the Trump-Putin conversations.]

Mr. Trump's campaign dismissed Mr. Woodward's book by assailing the author with typically personal insults -- 'a total sleazebag' ... -- without addressing any of the specifics reported in it.... [Dmitri Peskov of] the Kremlin likewise denied the reporting in Mr. Woodward's book about conversations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin and the provision of Covid tests. It would be highly unusual for a former president to privately talk with a top American adversary like Mr. Putin without clearing it with the current administration -- especially at a time when the United States and Russia are on opposite sides of a war in Europe." MB: Okay, but Putin's puppet has to get instructions somehow.

Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea. Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in. -- Sen. Lindsey Graham ~~~

⭐     ~~~ Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "With publication on the eve of the presidential election, Woodward, who has chronicled the successes and failures of U.S. presidents for 50 years, concludes that Trump is unfit for office while President Joe Biden and his team, mistakes notwithstanding, exhibited 'steady and purposeful leadership.' Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, makes several appearances in the narrative, with Woodward presenting her as a shrewd and loyal No. 2 to Biden but not an influential voice in his administration's foreign policy.... The book ... includes candid assessments by Biden of his own missteps, including his decision to make Merrick Garland attorney general. Reacting to the prosecution of his son Hunter -- by a special prosecutor named by Garland amid partisan recriminations over the Justice Department's prosecution of Trump -- the president told an associate, 'Should never have picked Garland.'" Interesting stuff about Biden's foreign policy. ~~~

⭐     ~~~ Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "In his new book..., legendary journalist Bob Woodward offers a remarkable look behind the scenes at President Joe Biden's blunt, profanity-laced assessments and interactions with the world leaders who have shaped his presidency, from Benjamin Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin.... Woodward's new book, which was obtained by CNN ahead of its October 15 release, gives an unvarnished, in-the-room account of key moments as Biden and his national security team navigate international crises, from the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal to confronting Putin before he invaded Ukraine to private battles with Netanyahu. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants, 'War' is filled with newly reported details of high-stakes showdowns." Also good stuff about Biden. With expletives!

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump took 'British naval secrets' to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House, the former UK spy Christopher Steele says in a new book. 'I was reliably informed by impeccable sources that among the classified documents which Trump, apparently unauthorizedly, took with him to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his presidency were British naval secrets, some of the most sensitive ones in our governmental system,' Steele writes.... A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said of Steele's comments about naval secrets taken to Mar-a-Lago: 'These claims are untrue.'"

Tales of The Seven Dwarfs. Chapter 6. Whitewashing Boozy. Beth Reinhard of the Washington Post: "In September 2018, as allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett M. Kavanaugh threatened his confirmation to the Supreme Court..., Donald Trump vowed that the FBI would have 'free rein' to vet the claims.... The president's comments came as a surprise to the FBI, according to a new report from a Democratic senator [Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.)] based on previously undisclosed correspondence between the agency and the White House.... The report ... provides additional evidence of the tight control exercised by the White House over the FBI investigation -- despite Trump's claims to the contrary.

"The report found that [more than 4,500] messages to the FBI tip line regarding Kavanaugh were forwarded directly to the White House and never probed, and that the FBI had no written protocols for the supplemental background investigation ordered by the White House. It notes that the FBI was instructed by the White House to talk to 10 potential witnesses and was not given the leeway to pursue corroborating evidence -- the absence of which was cited by senators as they narrowly voted to confirm Kavanaugh.... Even when senators contacted the FBI directly with the names of people who claimed to have relevant information about Kavanaugh, the FBI did not contact them." The Guardian's report is here.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "A majority of the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic on Tuesday to the Biden administration's restrictions on kits to make homemade guns that skirted background checks. At least five justices seemed to favor the measures, with at least two conservatives, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, showing skepticism toward the plaintiffs, gun manufacturers and owners who argued that the administration had overstepped its bounds in regulating so-called ghost guns. The rule, part of a broader effort by President Biden to address gun violence, sought to curtail the soaring popularity of the guns, weapons made from kits available for purchase online and heralded as easy enough to assemble in less than an hour."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

~~~ Reid Epstein & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Here are seven takeaways from [Vice President] Harris's appearance on '60 Minutes,' which also interviewed her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Harris was in control of her message, but avoided repeated pushback.... She has a Glock, and she knows how to use it.... Harris was pressed about 'dealing with the real world' on some of her plans.... She has warned Tim Walz about misspeaking.... Neither Liz Cheney nor Harris can quite believe they are allies now.... Her foreign policy would look a lot like [President] Biden's.... Trump turned down '60 Minutes.' Harris took advantage. On the CBS show on Monday, [interviewer Bill] Whitaker said Mr. Trump had agreed to an interview, then backed out, citing, among other things, the network's promise to fact-check him on the air." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's an NBC News story about Whitaker's "grilling" of Harris: ~~~

     ~~~ If you can't view the video, the Hill has a story here outlining Scott Pelley's remarks about Trump's pulling out of the interview. MB PS: Trump won't debate Harris, either.

BTW, here's video of what looks like a portion of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast interview of Harris that aired on Monday. The comments -- mostly from the Trumpenproletariat -- are brutal. However, they're so repetitive that it's a bit hard to believe that most of them are real.

Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday commemorated the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel by planting a pomegranate tree, which she called 'a symbol of hope and righteousness' in Judaism, at her official residence in Washington. In a brief speech, Ms. Harris condemned the attack, in which some 1,200 people were massacred in Israel last year, as an 'act of pure evil' and said the scores of hostages remaining in Hamas's hands should be released. Standing beside her was her husband, Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president.... 'We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of Oct. 7 can ever happen again,' she said. 'And on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Notably (although Nehamas doesn't note it), Harris introduced her husband, rather than the other way around, making him the main speaker at the event.

Tara Suter of the Hill: "The former head of the Florida Republican Party said he's supporting Vice President Harris after 'trolling' from other Republicans over the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene. Al Cárdenas said in his appearance Monday on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that natural disasters have 'always been a bipartisan issue.'... '... the White House asked Congress to pass a bill to -- a supplemental bill -- to really help people with these disasters, because we may be running outta cash. All of a sudden, the trolling, the Trump operatives and everybody else started saying, "Well, they're giving that money to illegal immigrants." Not true.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Speaking of hard-hitting interviews, Jimmy Kimmel & Tim Walz get into whether or not Walz is sleeping with Kamala Harris. No, really: ~~~

Getting Out the Pro-Porn Vote. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Seventeen pornographic film actors on Monday announced that they had launched a $100,000 ad campaign on porn sites warning that Project 2025 -- the Heritage Foundation blueprint for a Republican administration that has been a centerpiece of some Democratic campaigns -- wants to ban pornography and imprison people who produce it. The online ads will run in the states that will decide the presidency: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.... Vice President Kamala Harris is losing to former President Donald J. Trump among men, but younger men might be winnable -- and pornographic websites are among the most heavily trafficked on the internet." ~~~

     ~~~ digby: "The bros may like Trump's anarchic spirit and care little for actual policy. But this hits them where they live. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this has an impact."

Marie: If you had told me 50 years ago that in 2024 I'd be living in a near-replica of early-1930s Nazi Germany (but with country AND western music), I would have laughed you off. Well, the joke's on me.

No. 1 U.S. Racist. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "In an interview with right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday morning, Trump's suggestion that non-White immigrants are genetically inferior was made explicit. The comment came as Trump was disparaging ... Vice President Kamala Harris. 'How about allowing people to come through an open border,' he said, '13,000 of which were murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person and they're now happily living in the United States?' This is a false claim -- 'outrageously false,' in the wording of The Washington Post Fact Checker.... Unchallenged by Hewitt, Trump continued.... 'You know, now, a murderer, I believe this, it's in their genes,' he said. 'And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.' Reinforcing that he was talking about the 'bad genes' of immigrants, Trump offered up more false claims.... Hewitt, rather than contesting Trump's genetic argument, shifted the conversation with no apparent irony to the federal criminal charges Trump himself faces. These, of course, are not a function of criminal genes, in Trump's estimation, but instead of the political whims of Biden. (In reality, they are a function of Trump's actions.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case you think Trump is speaking of immigrants in general and not non-white immigrants, as Bump asserts, I remind you that Trump's mother and paternal grandfather were immigrants to the U.S., immigrants of the White persuasion from whom Trump got his "good genes." And if you want to argue that, well, people don't choose their parents & grandparents, Trump did choose the two immigrants he married. While most of Trump's hated of immigrants is racist, I'd speculate a part of it derives from his prominent "grievance gene" -- a sense that the reason elite New Yorkers don't accept him into their circle is that he comes from recent-immigrant stock. Likely his heritage has nothing to do with their rejection; hardly anyone, elite or not, enjoys the company of obnoxious blockheads. ~~~

     ~~~ Patrick Svitek of the Washington Post has the paper's main story on Trump's racist gene theory: "Donald Trump suggested Monday that people in the country illegally who have committed murder and other crimes have 'bad genes,' the latest example of rhetoric by the former president that dehumanizes immigrants and disparages them in racial terms.... Trump's latest comment referring to 'bad genes' takes his rhetoric toward immigrants a step further, playing into tropes that foreigners are genetically inferior to Americans and responsible for societal problems -- such as violent crime -- as a result."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump suggested in a radio interview on Monday that he had visited war-torn Gaza in the past, a place there is no record of him visiting. When asked to clarify, a campaign aide said that Gaza is 'in Israel' and that Mr. Trump has visited Israel.... The Gaza Strip is not part of Israel and has never been, though some Israelis have called for annexing it.... [Trump went on to say,] 'I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it's not reciprocal, as they say, not reciprocal.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here a type of "reporting" that often appears in supposedly straight reports covering Trump: after relating the "thoughts" on Gaza Trump shared with host Hugh Hewitt, Haberman writes, "The comment renews questions about how Mr. Trump would approach the region if he wins another term." Yes, there are questions about how Trump would approach Gaza, or anything, because (1) he has no idea what he would do next week about anything and he doesn't care and (2) everything he says is a lie. It is irresponsible for a journalist to pretend she can get a clue about Trump's "policy" from a Trump response to a leading question from a friendly/frightened interviewer. The very act of speculating about Trump's approach to any international crisis is in itself misleading once you get past, "What's in it for Trump?"

Marie: Since we've linked to a story about how Kamala Harris commemorated the October 7 massacre of Jews in Israel, it is only fair to link to a report on Donald Trump's commemorative event: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: Donald Trump "held an event at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in South Florida, where he reiterated his non-falsifiable claim that 'the Oct. 7 attack would never have happened if I was president.' As he spoke, U.S. and Israel flags stood in the background.... Trump received a round of applause before the speakers began blaring 'Y.M.C.A.'" MB: Really.

Jess Bidgood of the New York Times: At a rally in Wisconsin on Sunday, Donald Trump "accuse[d] Vice President Kamala Harris of sending billions of dollars to foreign nations while providing only $750 each to domestic disaster victims -- a falsehood that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working for days to combat. He then went further still, falsely accusing the White House of playing politics with disaster relief while he did exactly that. 'You know, it's largely a Republican area so -- some people say they did it for that reason, I don't even think they're that bad, but they probably -- maybe they are,' Trump said in Juneau, Wis.... Trump's closing argument, delivered at campaign rallies all over the country, is a slurry of polarizing disinformation, false claims about his opponents cheating in elections, and a series of unfounded personal attacks on Harris.... He drew the biggest cheers of the day as he described migrants in terms that have grown more ominous in recent weeks, calling them 'savage.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A few months ago, Trump said nobody knows who "Harris" is, but he soon learned she was "a very dumb person" and a "dummy." BUT now we hear from Trump that this "dummy" engineered a successful coup against Joe Biden -- something Trump was unable to pull off, BTW -- and that she is apparently the first Vice President in history who controls billions of dollars in federal money and basically runs the administration.

Let us not delude ourselves that the only whiney-baby phony "leader" who doesn't give a rat's ass about governance is Donald Trump:~~~

~~~ Matt Dixon of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not taking calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about storm recovery just over a week after Hurricane Helene hammered parts of his state. A source familiar with the situation said he was dodging the Democratic presidential nominee's calls because they 'seemed political,' according to a DeSantis aide. 'Kamala was trying to reach out, and we didn't answer,' the DeSantis aide told NBC News. The same person said 'not to my knowledge' when asked if DeSantis had spoken to President Joe Biden." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Kierra Frazier of Politico: "Vice President Kamala Harris blasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday for 'playing political games,' after the Florida governor reportedly did not take her phone calls to discuss hurricane relief.... DeSantis told reporters ... he wasn't aware that the vice president was trying to reach him. 'I didn't know that she had called. I'm not sure who they called. They didn't call me,' he said. 'It wasn't anything that anybody in my office did, in terms of saying it was political.' The governor later appeared on Sean Hannity's prime-time Fox News show on Monday and ... [said], 'She has no role in this.... She's the first one who is trying to politicize the storm....'... The White House announced that President Joe Biden was able to speak with DeSantis over the phone about recovery efforts for Helene and preparations for Milton.... DeSantis referenced his call with Biden on Monday night to Hannity, saying he has 'worked well' with the administration of both Biden and ... Donald Trump in storms."

This story is several days old, but I guess we should read it: ~~~

Mark Mazzetti & Adam Entous of the New York Times: "... a close examination of the Hamburg summit [of July 2017, when Donald Trump met Vladimir Putin], and the months that led up to it, help explain the roots of Mr. Trump's often-disdainful attitude toward Ukraine. The meeting in Hamburg fit into a yearlong pattern in which an escalating political grudge against Ukraine on Mr. Trump's part became an opening for Mr. Putin to pursue his own aim of tempering American support for Kyiv, according to interviews with American and European officials and allies of Mr. Trump, as well as accounts in memoirs. That animus toward Ukraine remains front and center.... Mr. Putin continues to seek advantage in American politics. Senior intelligence officials briefed members of Congress last month that Russia remains determined to sow chaos in America's elections process and erode faith in its democratic systems, and that spy agencies have specific intelligence that the Kremlin wants Mr. Trump back in the White House." (Also linked yesterday.)

No One Will Be Safe. Peter Jamison of the Washington Post: "Republicans backing Donald Trump are threatening Deloitte, a consulting firm that is one of the federal government's largest business partners, with the loss of billions of dollars in contracts because an employee shared messages from 2020 in which JD Vance ... criticized the then-president's record. On Sept. 27, Donald Trump Jr. exposed the employee's name and photograph to millions of people on social media,writing, 'Maybe it's time for the GOP to end Deloitte's taxpayer funded gravy train?' Others -- including Vance's chief spokesman and a Republican senator [Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)] -- circulated Trump Jr.'s comments.... Ethics experts said the episode is a potentially ominous preview of how a second Trump administration might use the enormous power the federal government wields over private industry to punish political acts by individual workers." The Guradian's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump promised Pennsylvania women he would be their "protector" so they won't feel abandoned, lonely, scared or anxious. He told Wisconsinites he would keep them "safe" from a "migrant invasion." (See stories linked yesterday.) That is, after raising fears, either through his actions or rhetoric, Trump promises to quell the dangers he poses or warns about. But we know Americans cannot rely on him for protection. Trump and his administration will be your "protector" only insofar as you do not do or say anything that displeases them, or that anyone you know or work with does not do or say anything that displeases them. That is, you have no control over whether or not you will receive this supposed "protection." It can & will be retracted on the whims of Trump or a Trumpocrat. No one will be safe. (We already know, for instance, that if you live in a state or part of a state that votes Democratic, you won't receive federal disaster relief. See October 4 Conversation.)

Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "A leading newspaper in North Carolina is blasting former President Trump over what it calls his 'falsehoods' about the government response to Hurricane Helene, which devastated a large swath of the state last week. 'This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together,' the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer wrote this week.... The Observer noted Trump's statements in recent weeks claiming Democratic state and federal officials are 'going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas,' and saying Vice President Harris 'spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.' '"There's no evidence to support any of those ridiculous claims,' the newspaper shot back." (Also linked yesterday.)

This woman has had enough of your fucking lies, if you don't mind her saying so. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

Chaos Is the Essence of the Scheme. In a firewalled post, Brian Beutler says that Trump & Co.'s multiple, repeated lies about hurricane response are a trial run for the election. (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump Scams His Supporters. Again. Judd Legum of Popular Information: "In a series of fundraising appeals, Trump offered his supporters a chance to appear with him on stage during an October 5 rally when he returned to the site of his attempted assassination, Butler, Pennsylvania. These solicitations were sent to the Trump campaign email list, which reportedly includes tens of millions of people. 'I'd love to bring you up on stage for my Butler rally!' was the subject line of a September 2 fundraising email from Trump.'Can we take a picture together during my rally in Butler, Pennsylvania?' Trump asks in the body of the text. Trump sent emails promoting the contest on September 10..., September 28..., and October 1 ('[T]he crowd is going to LOVE YOU when you're introduced as my VIP guest[']). Trump held his rally in Butler on Saturday, and the only person he introduced on stage was Elon Musk. There was no sign of a contest winner at any time during Trump's lengthy appearance at the rally -- from the moment Trump took the stage to when he left almost two hours later." Legum lists a number of similar scams Trump pulled this year & in 2020. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Mangan of CNBC: "... Elon Musk, who is backing Donald Trump in the presidential election, on Sunday touted a $47 referral bonus that the billionaire's political action committee is offering to people for each registered swing-state voter whom they refer to an online petition that requires signers to submit personal contact information. 'For every person you refer who is a swing state voter, you get $47!' Musk wrote in a post on X, the social media site he owns. 'Easy money.' If Trump is elected, he would be the 47th president of the U.S. The petition declares that its signers support 'First and Second Amendment rights,' but it contains no details about who the petition will be delivered to, or when, or any demands that the signers have, all core elements of traditional petitions. Instead, the petition seeks the personal contact information of swing-state voters. Upon signing, all users, regardless of their state, are directed to a page that contains voter registration links for just seven states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin.... 'This program is exclusively open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina,' the PAC said."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "A former Democratic congressman who served six terms in the House said Monday he was endorsing former President Trump, citing his concerns with the Biden administration's handling of global conflicts abroad. Former Rep. Peter Deutsch (D), who represented Florida's 20th Congressional District from 1993-2005, announced his support on a call organized by the Trump campaign to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.... Deutsch said he was supportive of Trump's stances on immigration policy and school choice, but that the 'driving force for me to make this decision is what I believe is the most important factor in being president, which is really world peace.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge by social platform X ... to court rulings that forced the platform to turn over data on former President Trump's account to special counsel Jack Smith. Early last year, Smith obtained a secret warrant for Trump's account on X, where Trump posted prolifically during his White House term, as part of prosecutors' federal election interference investigation. X was prohibited from informing the former president about the warrant. It only became public last summer, after Trump was charged with four felonies in the case. He pleaded not guilty. The company challenged the order, arguing the records were potentially covered by executive privilege and not being able to tell Trump violated the First Amendment." (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge from Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania to a Biden administration executive order that is intended to boost voter registration. The justices did not comment in rejecting an appeal from the Republicans, who claimed the order is an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the November election. Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit. Nine Republican secretaries of state and 11 members of Congress had asked the court to step in. In May, the justices declined to take up and decide the case on an expedited basis. The justices separately rejected two appeals stemming from baseless claims made by Republicans that voting machines and software of Dominion Voting Systems were responsible for Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election." (Also linked yesterday.)


Lindsay Whitehurst of the AP: "The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country's strictest abortion bans. Without detailing their reasoning, the justices kept in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations that would violate Texas law. There were no publicly noted dissents. The Biden administration had asked the justices to throw out the lower court order, arguing that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court's action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues. The administration also cited a Texas Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman's life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. The administration said it brings Texas in line with federal law and means the lower court ruling is not necessary.... Doctors have said the [Texas] law remains dangerously vague after a medical board refused to specify exactly which conditions qualify for the exception." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

Yeah, let's keep voting for the guys who are devoted to taking women back to this: ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

Georgia. Carter Sherman of the Guardian: "Just one week after a Georgia judge restored broad access to abortion in the state by blocking its six-week abortion ban, the Georgia supreme court ruled on Monday to reinstate the ban. The ban will take effect at 5pm local time on Monday and remain in effect while litigation over it plays out. Abortion rights supporters quickly condemned the decision, which also came down weeks after news broke that two Georgia mothers, Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, died after being unable to access legal abortions." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

Michigan Senate Race. Where Is Mister Rogers' Neighborhood? Steve Benen of MSNBC: Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) "purchased a very expensive home in [Florida and] was still registered to vote in Florida as recently as this year.... The Detroit Free Press' M.L. Elrick ... explained in his latest column, 'I don't know where Mike Rogers lives, but it's not where he's registered to vote.... Rogers, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, changed his voter registration on July 2 to a home in White Lake Township that is under construction. A month later, he used the White Lake address to vote (presumably, for himself) in the four-way race for the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. There's just one problem: The house did not -- and still does not -- have a certificate of occupancy. That means Rogers could not live there legally. And if he didn't live there, he may have broken the law by using that address to vote.' Before changing his registration in July, Rogers apparently listed his brother's address as his own, though locals suggested they never saw him and he never lived there." ~~~

     ~~~ Elrick's column is firewalled. But he appeared on Rachel Maddow's show yesterday and said Rogers' voting as a Michigan resident using an address where he never lived would be a felony. And here we thought it was Republicans who were are worried about voter fraud.

New York. Dana Rubinstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Philip B. Banks III, New York City's deputy mayor for public safety, has resigned, Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday morning, making him the sixth senior administration official to leave City Hall in the past month.His departure comes amid an exceptional amount of turmoil at the highest levels of city government, as four federal investigations envelop Mr. Adams and his inner circle, and after prosecutors unsealed a five-count corruption indictment against the mayor. On Sept. 4, federal investigators seized the phones of Mr. Banks, as part of an investigation into a possible bribery scheme." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel's air attacks across Lebanon targeting the militant group Hezbollah continued early Tuesday, and its military said it had sent more troops into the country, as the broadening conflict in the Middle East entered its second year with no sign of abating. The intense overnight bombardment followed a day marking the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war. On Monday, Israel and the adversaries it is battling along four fronts all vowed to continue the fight. The Israeli military said in a statement that a fourth division had begun operating in southwest Lebanon on Monday, expanding its forces there."

Tunisia. Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "In Tunisia's first presidential election since its authoritarian leader began dismantling the democracy Tunisians built after their 2011 Arab Spring revolution, the apparent winner came as little surprise: the incumbent himself. President Kais Saied, first elected in 2019, easily won re-election on Sunday, according to exit polls broadcast on state television." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "A 72-year-old U.S. citizen, whose family says is an English teacher, was sentenced by a Moscow court Monday to six years and 10 months in a penal colony on charges of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine, becoming the latest in a list of Americans serving time in Russia. In a statement, the Moscow City Court said that Stephen James Hubbard, a native of Big Rapids, Mich., enlisted with a territorial defense unit in the Ukrainian town of Izium during the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The court said that Mr. Hubbard had been receiving a monthly salary of $1,000. Russian state news agencies reported last week that Mr. Hubbard pleaded guilty to the charge.... Mr. Hubbard's sister, Trisha Hubbard Fox, denied the Russian allegations, saying that her brother was 'never a mercenary' and had been teaching English abroad. In a post on Facebook, Ms. Hubbard Fox said that Russia 'kidnapped' him." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

The New York Times is live-updating developments Tuesday as powerful Hurricane Milton moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Central Florida.

New York Times:"Cissy Houston, a Grammy Award-winning soul and gospel star who helped shepherd her daughter Whitney Houston to superstardom, died on Monday at her home in Newark. She was 91."

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Monday
Oct072024

The Conversation -- October 7, 2024

Marie: If you had told me 50 years ago that in 2024 I'd be living in a near-replica of early-1930s Nazi Germany (but with country AND western music), I would have laughed you off. Well, the joke's on me.

Tara Suter of the Hill: "The former head of the Florida Republican Party said he's supporting Vice President Harris after 'trolling' from other Republicans over the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene. Al Cárdenas said in his appearance Monday on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that natural disasters have 'always been a bipartisan issue.'... '... the White House asked Congress to pass a bill to -- a supplemental bill -- to really help people with these disasters, because we may be running outta cash. All of a sudden, the trolling, the Trump operatives and everybody else started saying, "Well, they're giving that money to illegal immigrants." Not true.'" ~~~

~~~ Then there's this guy: ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "A former Democratic congressman who served six terms in the House said Monday he was endorsing former President Trump, citing his concerns with the Biden administration's handling of global conflicts abroad. Former Rep. Peter Deutsch (D), who represented Florida's 20th Congressional District from 1993-2005, announced his support on a call organized by the Trump campaign to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.... Deutsch said he was supportive of Trump's stances on immigration policy and school choice, but that the 'driving force for me to make this decision is what I believe is the most important factor in being president, which is really world peace.'"

Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "A leading newspaper in North Carolina is blasting former President Trump over what it calls his 'falsehoods' about the government response to Hurricane Helene, which devastated a large swath of the state last week. 'This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together,' the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer wrote this week.... The Observer noted Trump's statements in recent weeks claiming Democratic state and federal officials are 'going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas,' and saying Vice President Harris 'spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.' 'There's no evidence to support any of those ridiculous claims,' the newspaper shot back."

Let us not delude ourselves that the only whiney-baby phony "leader" who doesn't give a rat's ass about governance is Donald Trump: ~~~

~~~ Matt Dixon of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not taking calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about storm recovery just over a week after Hurricane Helene hammered parts of his state. A source familiar with the situation said he was dodging the Democratic presidential nominee's calls because they 'seemed political,' according to a DeSantis aide. 'Kamala was trying to reach out, and we didn't answer,' the DeSantis aide told NBC News. The same person said 'not to my knowledge' when asked if DeSantis had spoken to President Joe Biden."

This story is several days old, but I guess we should read it: ~~~

Mark Mazzetti & Adam Entous of the New York Times: "... a close examination of the Hamburg summit [of July 2017, when Donald Trump met Vladimir Putin], and the months that led up to it, help explain the roots of Mr. Trump's often-disdainful attitude toward Ukraine. The meeting in Hamburg fit into a yearlong pattern in which an escalating political grudge against Ukraine on Mr. Trump's part became an opening for Mr. Putin to pursue his own aim of tempering American support for Kyiv, according to interviews with American and European officials and allies of Mr. Trump, as well as accounts in memoirs. That animus toward Ukraine remains front and center in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.... Mr. Putin continues to seek advantage in American politics. Senior intelligence officials briefed members of Congress last month that Russia remains determined to sow chaos in America's elections process and erode faith in its democratic systems, and that spy agencies have specific intelligence that the Kremlin wants Mr. Trump back in the White House."

Georgia. Carter Sherman of the Guardian: "Just one week after a Georgia judge restored broad access to abortion in the state by blocking its six-week abortion ban, the Georgia supreme court ruled on Monday to reinstate the ban. The ban will take effect at 5pm local time on Monday and remain in effect while litigation over it plays out. Abortion rights supporters quickly condemned the decision, which also came down weeks after news broke that two Georgia mothers, Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, died after being unable to access legal abortions."

No One Will Be Safe. Peter Jamison of the Washington Post: "Republicans backing Donald Trump are threatening Deloitte, a consulting firm that is one of the federal government's largest business partners, with the loss of billions of dollars in contracts because an employee shared messages from 2020 in which JD Vance ... criticized the then-president's record. On Sept. 27, Donald Trump Jr. exposed the employee's name and photograph to millions of people on social media, writing, 'Maybe it's time for the GOP to end Deloitte's taxpayer funded gravy train?' Others -- including Vance's chief spokesman and a Republican senator [Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)] -- circulated Trump Jr.'s comments.... Ethics experts said the episode is a potentially ominous preview of how a second Trump administration might use the enormous power the federal government wields over private industry to punish political acts by individual workers." The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump promised Pennsylvania women he would be their "protector" so they won't feel abandoned, lonely, scared or anxious. He told Wisconsinites he would keep them "safe" from a "migrant invasion." (See stories linked below.) That is, after raising fears, either through his actions or rhetoric, Trump promises to quell the dangers he poses or warns about. But we know Americans cannot rely on him for protection. Trump and his administration will be your "protector" only insofar as you do not do or say anything that displeases them, or that anyone you know or work with does not do or say anything that displeases them. That is, you have no control over whether or not you will receive this supposed "protection." It can & will be retracted on the whims of Trump or a Trumpocrat. No one will be safe. (We already know, for instance, that if you live in a state or part of a state that votes Democratic, you won't receive federal disaster relief. See October 4 Conversation.)

Trump Scams His Supporters. Again. Judd Legum of Popular Information: "In a series of fundraising appeals, Trump offered his supporters a chance to appear with him on stage during an October 5 rally when he returned to the site of his attempted assassination, Butler, Pennsylvania. These solicitations were sent to the Trump campaign email list, which reportedly includes tens of millions of people. 'I'd love to bring you up on stage for my Butler rally!' was the subject line of a September 2 fundraising email from Trump. 'Can we take a picture together during my rally in Butler, Pennsylvania?' Trump asks in the body of the text. Trump sent emails promoting the contest on September 10..., September 28..., and October 1 ('[T]he crowd is going to LOVE YOU when you're introduced as my VIP guest[']). Trump held his rally in Butler on Saturday, and the only person he introduced on stage was Elon Musk. There was no sign of a contest winner at any time during Trump's lengthy appearance at the rally -- from the moment Trump took the stage to when he left almost two hours later." Legum lists a number of similar scams Trump pulled this year & in 2020.

Chaos Is the Essence of the Scheme. In a firewalled post, Brian Beutler says that Trump & Co.'s multiples, repeated lies about hurricane response are a trial run for the election.

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge by social platform X ... to court rulings that forced the platform to turn over data on former President Trump's account to special counsel Jack Smith. Early last year, Smith obtained a secret warrant for Trump's account on X, where Trump posted prolifically during his White House term, as part of prosecutors' federal election interference investigation. X was prohibited from informing the former president about the warrant. It only became public last summer, after Trump was charged with four felonies in the case. He pleaded not guilty. The company challenged the order, arguing the records were potentially covered by executive privilege and not being able to tell Trump violated the First Amendment."

AP: "The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge from Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania to a Biden administration executive order that is intended to boost voter registration. The justices did not comment in rejecting an appeal from the Republicans, who claimed the order is an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the November election. Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit. Nine Republican secretaries of state and 11 members of Congress had asked the court to step in. In May, the justices declined to take up and decide the case on an expedited basis. The justices separately rejected two appeals stemming from baseless claims made by Republicans that voting machines and software of Dominion Voting Systems were responsible for Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election."

Lindsay Whitehurst of the AP: "The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country's strictest abortion bans. Without detailing their reasoning, the justices kept in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations that would violate Texas law. There were no publicly noted dissents. The Biden administration had asked the justices to throw out the lower court order, arguing that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court's action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues. The administration also cited a Texas Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman's life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. The administration said it brings Texas in line with federal law and means the lower court ruling is not necessary.... Doctors have said the [Texas] law remains dangerously vague after a medical board refused to specify exactly which conditions qualify for the exception."

New York. Dana Rubinstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Philip B. Banks III, New York City's deputy mayor for public safety, has resigned, Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday morning, making him the sixth senior administration official to leave City Hall in the past month. His departure comes amid an exceptional amount of turmoil at the highest levels of city government, as four federal investigations envelop Mr. Adams and his inner circle, and after prosecutors unsealed a five-count corruption indictment against the mayor. On Sept. 4, federal investigators seized the phones of Mr. Banks, as part of an investigation into a possible bribery scheme."

Tunisia. Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "In Tunisia's first presidential election since its authoritarian leader began dismantling the democracy Tunisians built after their 2011 Arab Spring revolution, the apparent winner came as little surprise: the incumbent himself. President Kais Saied, first elected in 2019, easily won re-election on Sunday, according to exit polls broadcast on state television."

Ukraine, et al. Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "A 72-year-old U.S. citizen, whose family says is an English teacher, was sentenced by a Moscow court Monday to six years and 10 months in a penal colony on charges of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine, becoming the latest in a list of Americans serving time in Russia. In a statement, the Moscow City Court said that Stephen James Hubbard, a native of Big Rapids, Mich., enlisted with a territorial defense unit in the Ukrainian town of Izium during the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The court said that Mr. Hubbard had been receiving a monthly salary of $1,000. Russian state news agencies reported last week that Mr. Hubbard pleaded guilty to the charge.... Mr. Hubbard's sister, Trisha Hubbard Fox, denied the Russian allegations, saying that her brother was 'never a mercenary' and had been teaching English abroad. In a post on Facebook, Ms. Hubbard Fox said that Russia 'kidnapped' him."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "For the first time, Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed criticism from some Republicans that she does not have biological children.... In an appearance on the podcast 'Call Her Daddy,' which is popular with Gen Z and millennial women, Ms. Harris discussed reproductive rights and economic issues. She addressed comments from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas, who recently suggested that having biological children helped with her humility -- a virtue she implied Ms. Harris lacked.... When the conversation turned to attacks by Republicans against 'childless cat ladies,' Ms. Harris called the criticism, popularized by past comments by Senator JD Vance of Ohio ... 'mean and meanspirited.' Ms. Harris referred to her stepchildren, Cole and Ella Emhoff, as her children.... The 'Call Her Daddy' interview was part of several appearances that Ms. Harris will make this week with news outlets and niche podcasts or radio shows." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story. which includes a snarky responses from Sanders, is here. ~~~

You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared. You will no longer be in danger.... You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today. You will be protected, and I will be your protector. -- Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, in September ~~~

     ~~~ Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "Speaking on a popular podcast aimed at young women, Vice President Kamala Harris took issue with ... Donald Trump calling himself a 'protector' of women.... [Harris reminded listeners of Trump's] successful efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case guaranteeing a constitutional right to an abortion. Harris countered that Trump had made life more difficult for women, especially those making an often-searing decision to terminate a pregnancy. She spoke of the increasing hardships faced by women who need abortion care, including one woman who died as a result of new abortion restrictions."

Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota fielded tough questions on abortion, immigration, the economy and his own past misstatements in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday,' that was mainly noteworthy because it was his first appearance on a Sunday news program since becoming Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate. He turned some questions into critiques of ... Donald J. Trump and sidestepped others. Asked whether Israel had the right to strike Iranian oil facilities or nuclear facilities, he did not directly answer.... Confronted by a series of misstatements he has made -- including on China, where he traveled in August 1989, and indicating he and his wife had used in vitro fertilization when they in fact used a different fertility treatment called intrauterine insemination -- Mr. Walz acknowledged that he sometimes misspeaks." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mia McCarthy & Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is directly invoking special counsel Jack Smith's investigation to attack ... Donald Trump, in a new ad.... The digital ad will air in battleground states starting Sunday. The ad comes after new developments from Smith's investigation were detailed in a 165-page filing last week." ~~~

Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump promised his supporters at a Wisconsin rally on Sunday to free the state from a 'mass migration invasion.'... He blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for the death of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old who was strangled to death in Houston[:]... 'An illegal alien released by Kamala Harris was arrested for tying up and blindfolding a 12 year old. You know this you read it's big story. A 12 year old girl in a back of a van and viciously assaulting her in so many ways sexually. Today I make you this promise. I will liberate Wisconsin and our entire nation from this mass migration invasion of murderers, child predators, drug dealers, gang members and thugs.'"

Daniel Dale of CNN fact-checks "Six Days of Trump Lies about the Hurricane Helene Response.... Donald Trump has delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene. While various misinformation about the response has spread widely without Trump's involvement, the Republican presidential nominee has been one of the country's leading deceivers on the subject. Over a span of six days, in public comments and social media posts, Trump has used his powerful megaphone to endorse or invent false or unsubstantiated claims. The chief targets of his hurricane-related dishonesty have been Vice President Kamala Harris ... and President Joe Biden." (Also linked yesterday.)

It's almost difficult to come up with a tax plan that would raise taxes on most Americans, but still increase the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars a year -- and that's what [Donald Trump's plan] does. -- Steve Wamhoff of the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy ~~~

~~~ Andrew Duehren & Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's economic proposals could inflame the nation's debt burden while ultimately raising costs for a vast majority of Americans, according to a pair of new economic analyses that are among the most in-depth studies to date of the Republican nominee's plans. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that seeks lower deficits, found that Mr. Trump's various plans could add as much as $15 trillion to the nation's debt over a decade. That is nearly twice as much as the economic plans being proposed by Vice President Kamala Harris. And an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank, found that Mr. Trump's tax and tariff plans would, on average, amount to a tax increase for every income group except the top 5 percent of highest-earning Americans.... The richest 1 percent [would pay] $36,320 less in taxes, while the bottom 20 percent [would] pay $790 more, I.T.E.P. estimated. The middle 20 percent of Americans would pay $1,530 more, on average, equivalent to 2.1 percent of their income." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What a surprise! Trump comes up with a "plan" that's bad for everybody except Trump & his wealthy benefactors.

David French of the New York Times: "... as the 2020 election approached, countless Christians were not only certain that Trump would win, they were certain that Trump was divinely appointed to save the United States of America, either as King Cyrus figure (a pagan ruler who helped save the people of Israel) or as a King David figure (a flawed king, but still God's anointed ruler). Any dissent from that idea was met with ruthless opposition.... [A Pentacostal doctrine called] the Seven Mountain Mandate provided a theological justification for supporting Trump's quest for power.... Traditional Christianity teaches that Christian virtues should be applied to all spheres of life.... [But according to the Mandate,] other characteristics are necessary to dominate the ['mountains' other than the church].... Ruthlessness is useful in business and politics. In those spheres, pugilism isn't just valuable, it's often essential. Looked at this way, Trump's rage and fury become assets.... [JD] Vance's presence [at a Seven Mountain event on September 28] ... helps illustrate why he refuses to acknowledge that Biden won a free and fair election in 2020. He'd be directly contradicting the prophets of Trumpism, and if you contradict the prophets of Trumpism, you will be made to pay." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you are looking for the single greatest stroke of brilliance of members of the U.S. Constitutional Convention, it was to leave every reference to "God" out of the new nation's most important document. If you need examples of why politics & religion should not mix, David French provides it here, and Bibi Netanyahu, as well as his Muslim opponents, provide it every day. It's why I cringe when politicians end their speeches with "God bless America," when people recite the "new" pledge of allegiance with that "under God" addition, and so forth.

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wouldn't acknowledge Sunday that Joe Biden won the 2020 election when asked directly about the election denialism that former president Donald Trump continues to promote on the campaign trail. During a testy exchange on ABC News's 'This Week,' host George Stephanopoulos asked Johnson if he could say 'unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump lost.' Johnson declined, saying only that 'this is the game that is always played by mainstream media with mainstream Republicans. It's a gotcha game.'... In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, Johnson led a congressional effort to overturn the presidential results in four battleground states.... Johnson was also among the Republicans who, on Jan. 6, 2021, voted against certifying the electoral college vote for Biden in two key battleground states.... Johnson's comments Sunday may draw scrutiny about what he might do between Election Day on Nov. 5 and Congress's certification of the vote on Jan. 6 if Trump does not win in the electoral college." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: "George Stephanopoulos battled House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over comments from Eric Trump at a rally on Saturday -- during which [Eric Trump] claimed Democrats were behind the assassination attempts against his father.... 'They tried to kill him,' Eric Trump said at the rally. 'And it's because the Democratic Party, they can't do anything right.'... In a heated exchange on ABC's This Week, Stephanopoulos pressed Johnson about former President Donald Trump and his family toning down their rhetoric." After Johnson said he couldn't comment because he needed to hear Eric's comment "in context," Stephanopoulos said, 'Here's exactly what Eric Trump said. 'They tried to smear us. They came after us. They impeached him twice. And then, guys, they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him, and it's because the Democratic Party, they can't do anything right." What more context do you need? Do you support that statement or not?' [Johnson replied,] 'George, I'm not going to parse the language what people say at rallies.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What Bible Mike is arguing is that it's okay for Republicans to falsely accuse Democrats of attempted murder/assassination, as long as they do so at rallies where everybody is pumped up and might be more prone to plan action against an accused murderer.

Sharon LaFraniere & David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: "Chase Herro is an online salesman who proudly calls himself a 'dirtbag of the internet,' able to sell anything to anyone. Zachary Folkman ran a company called Date Hotter Girls, offering advice under a pseudonym on how to pick up women at bars. For the past decade or so, the two men have been serial entrepreneurs, leaving behind a trail of lawsuits and unpaid debt and taxes. Now they are ... Donald J. Trump's business partners [in a cryptocurrency venture].... Mr. Herro and Mr. Folkman have a history of jumping from project to project.... Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University, said Mr. Herro and Mr. Folkman did not appear to have the technical or financial savvy to make the venture work.... Like his social media company, [Mr. Trump's] new crypto business stands out for its potential conflicts of interest." MB: Oh, read on. This is a scheme that seems to have been developed by Donnie Junior & Eric, and it has all of the stability you might expect to find in a Dumb & Dumber enterprise.


David Ovalle of the Washington Post: "Overdose deaths appear to be declining sharply in the United States, a sign that efforts to combat the scourge of lethal fentanyl may be paying off even as experts caution that the toll remains unacceptably high and could rise again. Preliminary data compiled by states and released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 10 percent drop in deaths during the 12-month period ending in April 2024, with about 101,000 people succumbing to overdoses. Public health officials and researchers said the decline could reflect multiple forces, including widespread availability of the overdose-reversal medication naloxone, greater access to opioid addiction treatment and law-enforcement crackdowns on illicitly manufactured fentanyl, which had become the leading killer of 18-to-49-year-olds."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Israel's wars are here: "More than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In Lebanon, hundreds have been killed and more than 1.2 million displaced, according to the United Nations refugee agency." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here.

Patrick Kingsley, et al., of the New York Times: "... the war in Gaza has dragged on for a year, with no end in sight.... A wider, multifront war between Israel and Hamas's regional allies is now unfolding ... but the core of the conflict remains the original battle between Hamas and Israel, and the almost Sisyphean challenge of ending it. Inside a deeply traumatized Israel, that conflict has magnified long-running social schisms and set off bitter debate about whether to prioritize Hamas's destruction or a deal to free the hostages. Outside Israel, it has spurred horror at the Israeli military response to Hamas's atrocities, accusations of genocide and war crimes, and widespread protests in the United States and beyond.The war in Gaza has also highlighted the limits of American influence, with the Biden administration unable or unwilling to exert the pressure needed to broker a truce."

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "H​urricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a Category 3 and hurricane and storm surge watches are now posted along Florida's western Gulf Coast, where the storm poses threats of life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall by midweek. 'Milton will be a historic storm for the west coast of Florida,' the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said in a briefing Monday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times live updates are here for what is now a Cat 5 hurricane.

CNN: "This year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated. Their research revealed how genes give rise to different cells within the human body, a process known as gene regulation. Gene regulation by microRNA -- a family of molecules that helps cells control the sort of proteins they make -- ... was first revealed by Ambros and Ruvkun. The Nobel Prize committee announced the prestigious honor ... in Sweden on Monday.... Ambros, a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, conducted the research that earned him the prize at Harvard University. Ruvkun conducted his research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School."

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Sunday
Oct062024

The Conversation -- October 6, 2024

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "For the first time, Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed criticism from some Republicans that she does not have biological children.... In an appearance on the podcast 'Call Her Daddy,' which is popular with Gen Z and millennial women, Ms. Harris discussed reproductive rights and economic issues. She addressed comments from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas, who recently suggested that having biological children helped with her humility -- a virtue she implied Ms. Harris lacked.... When the conversation turned to attacks by Republicans against 'childless cat ladies,' Ms. Harris called the criticism, popularized by past comments by Senator JD Vance of Ohio ... 'mean and meanspirited.' Ms. Harris referred to her stepchildren, Cole and Ella Emhoff, as her children.... The 'Call Her Daddy' interview was part of several appearances that Ms. Harris will make this week with news outlets and niche podcasts or radio shows.:

Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota fielded tough questions on abortion, immigration, the economy and his own past misstatements in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday,' that was mainly noteworthy because it was his first appearance on a Sunday news program since becoming Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate. He turned some questions into critiques of ... Donald J. Trump and sidestepped others. Asked whether Israel had the right to strike Iranian oil facilities or nuclear facilities, he did not directly answer.... Confronted by a series of misstatements he has made -- including on China, where he traveled in August 1989, and indicating he and his wife had used in vitro fertilization when they in fact used a different fertility treatment called intrauterine insemination -- Mr. Walz acknowledged that he sometimes misspeaks."

Daniel Dale of CNN fact-checks "Six Days of Trump Lies about the Hurricane Helene Response.... Donald Trump has delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene. While various misinformation about the response has spread widely without Trump's involvement, the Republican presidential nominee has been one of the country's leading deceivers on the subject. Over a span of six days, in public comments and social media posts, Trump has used his powerful megaphone to endorse or invent false or unsubstantiated claims. The chief targets of his hurricane-related dishonesty have been Vice President Kamala Harris ... and President Joe Biden."

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wouldn't acknowledge Sunday that Joe Biden won the 2020 election when asked directly about the election denialism that ... Donald Trump continues to promote on the campaign trail. During a testy exchange on ABC News's 'This Week,' host George Stephanopoulos asked Johnson if he could say 'unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump lost.' Johnson declined, saying only that 'this is the game that is always played by mainstream media with mainstream Republicans. It's a gotcha game.'... In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, Johnson led a congressional effort to overturn the presidential results in four battleground states.... Johnson was also among the Republicans who, on Jan. 6, 2021, voted against certifying the electoral college vote for Biden in two key battleground states.... Johnson's comments Sunday may draw scrutiny about what he might do between Election Day on Nov. 5 and Congress's certification of the vote on Jan. 6 if Trump does not win in the electoral college."

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Presidential Race

Problem Solver. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris met with North Carolina and federal emergency officials on Saturday in Charlotte as she continued to help oversee the disaster response in the Southeast after Hurricane Helene. Ms. Harris participated in a storm response briefing at a North Carolina Air National Guard base at Charlotte's airport, where she was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Mayor Esther Manheimer of Asheville, N.C., which was particularly hard-hit. The vice president praised local officials and residents for their response to the storm.... The vice president's office said 74 percent of those who reported losing access to electricity during the storm have had it restored. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing the federal response, has more than 700 people in North Carolina, Ms. Harris's office said.... In addition to reviewing the official storm response, Ms. Harris visited a volunteer center, where she briefly joined them making packages of donated necessities -- including things like canned food, formula, diapers and flashlights -- for North Carolinians stranded by the storm." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Perhaps the reason we didn't see Trump doing anything menial like packaging relief supplies he pretended to donate is that he never mastered a grunt job like the one Harris held at McDonald's. Or maybe he's just too old & feeble to lift canned goods & flashlights. Oh, and the only way we'll ever see him fording a flooded street in search of storm victims is if some fan Photoshops his fat head onto an actual rescuer's body. (See below.)

Part of the Problem. Marie: Here's one of a number of fake photos of Trump's "rescue efforts" in hurricane-devasted zones. People really think Former President* Narcissist P. Sociapath is risking his own life struggling through knee-deep floodwaters to save his fellow citizens in distress:

~~~ Maxine Joselow, et al., of the Washington Post: "Across the Southeast, false rumors and conspiracy theories are flying about [Hurricane] Helene, which ... [has caused] at least 229 deaths in six states. The misinformation is adding to the chaos and confusion in many storm-battered communities, including many rural areas that lack power and cell service, leading locals to rely on word of mouth.... In places with internet access, such falsehoods have flourished on social media platforms such as X. The tech company has pulled back on efforts to combat misinformation after its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, prompting concern from many disaster experts.... The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been updating a webpage seeking to dispute common rumors, while the North Carolina Department of Public Safety has done the same....

"Donald Trump has amplified the false claim about [FEMA money being spent on undocumented] migrants during campaign rallies and on his platform, Truth Social. And Mark Robinson, the embattled Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, has repeatedly alleged that there has been no state government response to Helene, even though [Gov. Roy] Cooper [D] has traversed the affected areas, visiting emergency operations centers and meeting with storm survivors.... North Carolina state Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Republican, slammed the rampant misinformation Thursday in a Facebook post, tagging several GOP colleagues.... Musk, whose 200 million X followers make him [X's] most influential user, sent at least 12 posts Friday amplifying criticism of the Biden administration's response to Helene, much of it based on false or misleading claims."

Michael Gold & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump returned to Butler, Pa., on Saturday for a massive rally at the fairgrounds where he was struck in July by a would-be assassin's bullet.... His speech quickly swung from a somber commemoration of the slain firefighter, Corey Comperatore, to a somewhat subdued, sanded-down version of his standard attacks on his opponent, complete with exaggerations and falsehoods. Mr. Trump commended his own performance in the face of adversity and brought out one of his biggest backers, the billionaire Elon Musk, who jumped up and down on the stage." The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX, strode onto the stage to cheers at Donald J. Trump's rally on Saturday night, lifted his arms above his head and jumped into the air -- twice -- exposing his navel as his shirt rode up.... Mr. Musk publicly endorsed Mr. Trump in the minutes after a gunman tried to kill the former president on July 13 in Butler, Pa., in a post on X, the social media platform he owns.... 'President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution,' Mr. Musk said, after bounding to the mic with his hands in the air. 'He must win to preserve democracy in America.... The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech,' Mr. Musk said at the rally. 'They want to take away your right to bear arms. They want to take away your right to vote, effectively.'" MB: Musk's ability to turn reality on its head is quite impressive.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear, momentarily at least, at the top of the main page of the online New York Times: ~~~

⭐ ~~~ Peter Baker & Dylan Freedman of the New York Times: "... Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention. He rambles, he repeats himself, he roams from thought to thought -- some of them hard to understand, some of them unfinished, some of them factually fantastical. He voices outlandish claims that seem to be made up out of whole cloth. He digresses into bizarre tangents about golf, about sharks, about his own 'beautiful' body. He relishes 'a great day in Louisiana' after spending the day in Georgia. He expresses fear that North Korea is 'trying to kill me' when he presumably means Iran. As late as last month, Mr. Trump was still speaking as if he were running against President Biden, five weeks after his withdrawal from the race....

"According to a computer analysis by The New York Times, Mr. Trump's rally speeches now last an average of 82 minutes, compared with 45 minutes in 2016. Proportionately, he uses 13 percent more all-or-nothing terms like 'always' and 'never' than he did eight years ago, which some experts consider a sign of advancing age. Similarly, he uses 32 percent more negative words than positive words now, compared with 21 percent in 2016, which can be another indicator of cognitive change. And he uses swearwords 69 percent more often than he did when he first ran, a trend that could reflect what experts call disinhibition.... The Times analysis found that Mr. Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level...." Worth a read.

Katie Rogers of the New York Times tells you everything you might want to know -- and more -- about Melania's "memoir." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Vance's performance was chilling. Once I thought Trump would be an aberration for Republicans. But on Tuesday night, I saw the future of the party and it was lies piled on lies, and darkness swallowing darkness." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: RAS links to an interesting post by Steve M. on JD Vance & his promoters at the NYT. The post is particularly interesting to me because Steve saw what was going on in real time, and -- even though I was paying attention to politics then -- JayDee was completely off my radar. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hitler plans to open a restaurant in Springfield, Ohio. Thanks to Forrest M. for the link: ~~~

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Representative Eli Crane, a first-term Republican from Arizona, has been everywhere that will have him, promoting conspiracy theories about the assassination attempts against Mr. Trump, despite all evidence that such theories are false. And far from sidelining or attempting to silence him, Republican leaders have given him a prominent platform to air his outlandish claims at the highest levels.... Mr. Crane, a tattooed former member of the Navy SEALs and a onetime contender on 'Shark Tank,' now is part of a different type of reality show.... He has ... established a reputation for extreme language and tactics.... Mr. Crane's efforts have received a major boost from the right-wing media echo chamber, making him all but impossible for the Republicans on the official task force to ignore. So instead of trying to quiet him, House Republicans have accommodated him." MB: Nice try at crazy, Eli, but still more plausible than "'they' control the weather." (Also linked yesterday.)

Donald's Site, Where Scammers Go to Scam. Matt Novak of Gizmodo: Donald Trump's failing social media site cynically named Truth Social "has ... been flooded with scammers who are swindling users out of enormous sums of money. We're talking about people who've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a relatively short period of time.... Truth Social seems to be a target-rich environment for people who are easy to con.... Complaints filed with the FTC ... seem to involve plenty of elderly fans of Donald Trump.... The scams happening on Truth Social appear to be most commonly pig butchering, a method of gaining someone's trust while getting them to give you increasingly large amounts of money, all while making it seem like the victim is making wise investments." The story includes summaries of multiple complaints made to the FTC. Thanks to RAS for the link.


Adam Liptak of the New York Times takes a look at the Supreme Court's docket for its upcoming term, which begins Monday. "... the docket is, for now at least, back to a sort of normalcy, promising decisions that will produce sharp divisions among the justices and ripple through American life but fall short of producing the titanic societal shocks of recent years.... The coming months may also bring voting disputes that could decide the presidential election."

Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The most important decision the Supreme Court's justices will make in the new term that begins on Monday transcends the questions presented in any of its many cases. It is whether the court will resume or refrain from injecting itself into the country's culture wars.... Dozens of religion cases are making their way through the federal and state judicial systems, many filed by plaintiffs with the Supreme Court in mind." Greenhouse opines that the Court -- and some lower-court judges -- has moved from what she once called "grievance conservatism" to "grievance Christianity."

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Colorado. Who Could Have Predicted This? Amy Hanson of the AP: "A rural Colorado county courthouse beefed up security Friday after threats were made against staff and a judge who sentenced former county clerk Tina Peters to nearly nine years behind bars and admonished her for her role in a data breach scheme catalyzed by the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from ... Donald Trump. Courthouse staff in Grand Junction, Colorado, received multiple threats that were being vetted by law enforcement while extra security was provided, said spokesperson Wendy Likes with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office." (Also linked yesterday.)

Idaho. AP: "Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to 'go back where you came from.' Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the event early after the outburst and later denied making any racist comments in a Facebook post.... In his Facebook post, Foreman called the incident a 'quintessential display of race-baiting' and said the Democratic attendees made personal attacks and 'proclaimed Idaho to be a racist state.'... He did not respond to a voice message from The Associated Press seeking comment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Which is worst? (a) A state senator is a blatant racist. (b) A state senator is incredibly stupid. (c) People voted for this guy.

New York. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "David Burnham, a former investigative reporter for The New York Times whose exposé of corruption in the New York City Police Department in 1970 led to public hearings; tarnished top officials, including the mayor; and inspired the movie 'Serpico,' about Mr. Burnham's chief source, Detective Frank Serpico, died on Tuesday at his home in Spruce Head, Maine. He was 91."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Israel's wars are here: "The Israeli military carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Sunday and signaled that it was stepping up operations in the enclave as it pressed on with its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.... Early on Sunday, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the vast majority of northern Gaza, saying this was in preparation for 'a new phase' in the war. That came hours after Israeli warplanes attacked Jabaliya, in the northern part of the enclave.... The military also said that it had struck a mosque and a school-turned-shelter in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah overnight."

Liam Stack, et al., of the New York Times: "... Israel escalated its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday.... Israeli strikes appeared to hit the Dahiya, an area south of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway and where the Israeli military late on Friday again issued evacuation warnings for civilians.... Fighting expanded across the region, with the United States Central Command striking Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen and Israeli forces warning residents in two areas in the central Gaza Strip to evacuate, presumably in preparation for stepped up military action there...."

Niha Masih, et al., of the Washington Post: "French President Emmanuel Macron urged countries to stop providing weapons to Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip and expressed concern that the civilians of Lebanon could face a similar fate as those in Gaza.... France itself, Macron said, was not delivering any weapons.... Macron said Lebanon should not be allowed to 'become a new Gaza.'... At a summit for francophone leaders in Paris on Saturday, Macron appeared to take a jab at the United States, by far Israel's largest supplier of weapons: 'If we call for a cease-fire, consistency is to not provide weapons of war,' he said. 'And I think that those who provide them cannot every day call for a cease-fire alongside us and continue to supply them.'" MB: That does seem logical, doesn't it?

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two boys have been arrested and charged in a street attack on David A. Paterson, a former governor of New York, and his stepson, the police said. One boy, who is 12, was charged with second-degree gang assault, and the other, a 13-year-old, was charged with third-degree gang assault, the police said on Saturday night. Both boys, accompanied by their parents, turned themselves in to the police, according to Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson. A third person, also a minor, went to the police but was not charged in the Friday night attack in Manhattan, according to an internal police report.... Two other people, both adults, were involved in the attack, according to the police. They fled on foot and have not been caught, the police said. The former governor was not believed to have been targeted in the assault...."

Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, is expected to become a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. The storm is expected to pose a major hurricane threat to Florida by midweek, just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. The National Hurricane Center says that 'there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.'"

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