September 22, 2025

 

⭐Mark Kennedy of the AP: “ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials with the network said Monday. 'We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,' said a statement from the network....  Word of the reinstatement came as hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — urged Americans  'fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights' in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension. More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is 'a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.' Also Monday, ABC’s 'The View' weighed in on the controversy after not raising it for two episodes after Kimmel was suspended. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened the show saying: 'No one silences us' and she and her fellow hosts condemned Disney’s decision.” ~~~

~~~ Here's what happens to a teevee network when it caves to Donald Trump. Does the network earn Trump's favor? Does it get a leg up? (MB: I think this exchange between Jon Karl of ABC News & Trump took place Friday): ~~~

Emmett Lindner & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: “The software giant Oracle will oversee the security of Americans’ data and monitor changes and updates to its powerful recommendation technology under a new deal to avert a TikTok ban, according to a senior White House official. A copy of the algorithm, the recommendation engine that powers the app’s addictive feed of short videos, will be licensed from China to an American investor group that will oversee the app in the United States, the official said. Oracle will also invest in the new American TikTok, as will the private equity firm Silver Lake, another senior official said. It will be 'secured' in the United States outside the control of TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, one of the officials said. The U.S.-run TikTok will work to retrain the copy on users’ data in the United States, and China will not have access to the data, the officials added.... In the United States, TikTok will be operated by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity credentials, one of the senior officials said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The founder & key stockholder in Oracle is Larry Ellison, one of the "monster" billionaires Josh Marshall mentioned in his essay linked earlier. So Trump, as Marshall suggested, has just made Ellison more monstrous. We may never find out what Monster-in-Chief Trumipty-Doo-Dah gets out of the TikTok deal.

Paul Krugman on Trump's latest attempt to wreck the U.S. economy: "H-1B visas are a critical ingredient in America’s success. They allow the best and the brightest from around the world to teach in our universities, do research in our research institutes, and work in our tech sector. The rollout of Trump’s new $100,000 fee for holders of H-1B followed what has become a familiar pattern. First, without warning, the White House announced a drastic policy change that, on its face, looked catastrophic for many workers and businesses.... Then — a day late and $100,000 short — the administration scrambled to limit the damage, announcing that this was a one-time fee that didn’t apply to those holding previously issued visas. Needless to say, the initial proclamation didn’t state any of these later clarifications. Magnifying the chaos, the clarifications were announced by posts on X — which does not, as far as I know, constitute an official channel for statements of U.S. policy. And there is an outstanding legal question: does Trump even have the legal right to impose these fees? Probably not.... One more thing: Trump’s visa proclamation basically gave his officials open-ended authority to waive the fees for people and companies they like[.]... The potential for corruption ... is obvious."

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What Peter Baker Noticed. Peter Baker of the New York Times: “As ... [Donald] Trump threatens a wide-ranging crackdown on mainstream media institutions and political opponents, his aides and allies have cast the administration’s moves as critical to stanching misinformation and hate speech that could lead to political violence. But Mr. Trump himself has repeatedly made clear in recent days that he has a different goal. For him, it’s not about hate speech, but about speech that he hates — namely, speech that is critical of him and his administration. He has suggested that a clutch of protesters who yelled at him in a restaurant be prosecuted under laws targeting mobsters. He demanded that multiple late-night comics who mocked him be taken off air. He threatened to shutter television broadcasters that he deemed unfair to him. He sued The New York Times for allegedly damaging his reputation. And that was just last week.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Nahal Toosi of Politico: “... Donald Trump promised to reform American diplomacy. Insiders say he’s breaking it instead, to the point where he’s undermining his own global influence. Eight months into Trump’s second term, more than half of U.S. ambassadorships, an unusually high amount, are vacant. Most top State Department roles are filled on an acting basis, often by people with little relevant experience. Many U.S. diplomats, especially those overseas, are largely cut out of policy talks while struggling to implement administration orders they say are confusing. Many also are too afraid to speak up because they could be fired or lose a promotion under new rules that measure their 'fidelity.' They’ve already seen thousands of their colleagues pushed out and many offices dismantled.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

 

RAS links to this editorial essay by Josh Marshall of TPM: It's firewalled, but the bit readable by nonsubscribers makes an excellent point: "We live in an age of monsters: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, the Ellison family, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, the sundry billionaires who don’t own apps..... Functionally, in the role they play and power they wield in our society, they are monsters. And the function of the Trump era has been to wind them all together into a single formation, first by allurement and then by force."

Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump remembered Charlie Kirk as a 'martyr' in remarks at the conservative activist’s memorial in Arizona on Sunday, but he pivoted swiftly to blunt politics by saying that he hated his political opponents and that they 'cheated like dogs.'... Mr. Trump said he disagreed with Mr. Kirk’s view of wanting the best for one’s opponent. 'I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them,' he said. He added: 'I am sorry, Erika.' Just minutes before, Ms. Kirk publicly forgave the man who killed her husband. 'I forgive him because it is what Christ did,' she said. 'The answer to hate is not hate.'”

Tim Rohn, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump plans to announce Monday that using Tylenol during pregnancy could contribute to autism risk and will advise pregnant women only to use it, or generic acetaminophen, for high fevers, two senior administration officials told Politico. The officials ... said Trump would also highlight leucovorin, a cancer and anemia drug, as a potential therapy for people with autism.” MB: I can't think of anybody better to hand out medical advice than Bleach Man.

~~~ Debra Kamin of the New York Times: “...  dozens of pages of internal communications, memos and other documents reviewed by The New York Times ... show efforts by the Trump administration to limit enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law that has prohibited discrimination in housing for nearly six decades. In interviews, half a dozen current and former employees of HUD’s fair housing office said that the Trump political appointees had made it nearly impossible for them to do their jobs, which involve investigating and prosecuting landlords, real estate agents, lenders and others who discriminate based on race, religion, gender, family status or disability.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Isn't it journalistic malpractice to write a long piece on the Trump administration's skirting the Fair Housing Act while not even mentioning that Donald Trump first became infamous for violating the Fair Housing Act?

Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: “A mix of high borrowing costs, dwindling job openings and growing economic and political uncertainty have left many U.S. households at a standstill, with many Americans saying they feel unable to buy new homes, take new jobs or move to new cities. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut last week — the first of the year, with the expectation that more will follow — may have boosted stock prices, but it isn’t likely to make much of a difference to everyday Americans, economists say.... Monthly home sales have recently bottomed out, reaching lows last seen after the Great Recession in the 2000s. Americans aren’t leaving their jobs or getting new ones. Hiring has stalled considerably this year.... And census data shows that Americans are generally moving less — to new homes or cities — than they have in decades.” 

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Mark Landler of the New York Times: “Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed on Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and putting three major American allies at odds with the Trump administration. The widely expected announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. France and Portugal have also pledged to vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood at the U.N. this week, joining some 150 members of the body who have already done so. The concerted action, across three continents, will deepen the diplomatic isolation of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.” (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.