Marie: If you are a New York City voter who hasn't decided how to vote in the mayoral election next week, let me just point out that one of the candidates does not need a job. AND if he should get the job for which he is applying, he might just have, you know, prior commitments, or what you might call conflicts of interest. But he'll never tell: ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo earned nearly $5 million working as a private consultant in 2024, a sum so large it puts him in the top 0.5 percent of New York City earners, according to his annual tax returns. The tax documents, reviewed by The New York Times on Tuesday, show that Mr. Cuomo derived $4,712,978, almost all of his income last year, from Innovation Strategies, a pass-through company created for his consulting work before he ran for mayor of New York City. By using his company as an in-between, Mr. Cuomo avoided having to disclose the individual clients who paid for his services. His campaign said he had stopped his private work earlier this year, but it has repeatedly refused to say who was paying him. The arrangement, while well within the law, makes it almost impossible for voters or watchdog groups to understand the financial and business connections of someone who could soon have sway over billions of dollars in public contracts, real estate developments and city policy.”
King Donald Gets His Gold Crown. Steven Nelson of the New York Post: Donald “Trump received a massive gold crown from his South Korean hosts Wednesday before being treated to a dinner including 'beef patties with ketchup' — in a nod to his longstanding culinary preferences. Trump, who has eagerly trolled Democrats who accuse him of harboring monarchical ambitions, is known for his love of both the precious metal and slathering the tomato-based condiment on well-done meat. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presented Trump with the crown — a replica of one worn by kings of the historic kingdom of Silla — shortly after he arrived in the country from a stopover in Japan.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. See also RAS's commentary.
Digby publishes a number of the stupid and nonsensical remarks Trump made during his speech at Yokosuka Naval Base. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Do see Akhilleus' commentary at the top of today's Comments on "Christian virtues" and starving children.
Reed Abelson & Margot Katz-Sanger of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has released a preview of the available plans sold through Obamacare marketplaces in 30 states, giving Americans who buy their own health insurance a first look at just how much prices would go up. Insurers have increased rates significantly for next year — an average of about 30 percent in the states where the federal government manages markets, and an average of 17 percent in states that run their own markets, according to a new analysis from KFF, the health research group. But most of the more than 20 million Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act don’t currently pay the full price of their insurance, because they qualify for income-based tax credits that help make the plans affordable. That financial assistance has been in place since the federal A.C.A. marketplaces opened in 2014, and became even more generous in 2021, when Congress increased the aid. The extra help is scheduled to expire next year unless Congress acts. The looming expiration of those subsidies has been a key sticking point in congressional wrangling over the government shutdown....”
According to Reuters, the Pentagon is now requiring military officials involved with Trump’s Latin American ops to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Google's Art Intel says some sailors have been asked to sign the NDAs, too. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, writing in the Bulwark, explains why forcing military personnel to sign NDAs is ridiculous and outrageous. Thank you to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below.
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The New York Times' live updates of Hurricane Melissa developments are here.
At 4:00 am ET (and at 8:15 am ET), here are the New York Times' live updates of Trump's travels in Asia. (The URL is dated yesterday; a new page could come up any time.)
Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: “North Korea has yet to respond to ... [Donald] Trump’s repeated offers to meet with its leader, Kim Jong-un. Instead, it fired missiles off its west coast, the country’s state media reported on Wednesday. The weapons test, conducted on Tuesday, took place a day before Mr. Trump was scheduled to arrive in South Korea. On Wednesday, he is set to attend an Asia-Pacific economic forum in the city of Gyeongju. During the test, sea-to-surface strategic cruise missiles flew for more than two hours before striking their target, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. The report indicated that the missiles were designed to carry nuclear warheads.”
If you read the New York Times story about Donald Trump's speech at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, you'll see that he embarrassed the country while he was abroad. If you watched Jon Stewart's segment, embedded here yesterday, you'll see that Trump embarrassed the country while he was abroad by doing that little pseudo-dance thing he does -- maybe when he arrived in Malaysia. If you watch the video below, you'll see that Trump embarrassed the country again when he got lost in Japan.
~~~ Marie: To be fair to Trump, I think he's sick. Although the video is blurry, it looks to me as though the right side of his face has drooped again, so I would guess he is having some kind of "medical incident." That, I'll admit, is more alarming than embarrassing. But his handlers may have to start locking him away soon.
~~~ Erica Green & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump seemed to concede on Wednesday that he was not eligible to serve a third term, lamenting that it was an unfortunate result of the constitutional prohibition that he has mused about violating for months. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea, the last leg of his three-country diplomatic tour across Asia, Mr. Trump said it was 'too bad' that he couldn’t run in 2028. 'We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had, I have my highest poll numbers that I’ve ever had,' he boasted (his approval rating remains low, at 43 percent, according to a New York Times average). 'And, you know, based on what I read, I guess I’m not allowed to run. So we’ll see what happens.' The remarks came after House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday there was no path around the Constitution’s two-term limit.” An Independent report is here. ~~~
~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Tuesday that he does not see a way ... Donald Trump could run for a third term, an idea that Trump has long floated even though it is prohibited by the Constitution. At a news conference with House Republican leadership Tuesday, Johnson said he had spoken with Trump about the matter, making a reference to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which states that no person can be elected president more than twice.” MB: I can see why Bible Mike doesn't like Patrick's idea -- that two other people could run for POTUS & VPOTUS, Trump could become speaker of the House, the new prez & veep could resign, and because the speaker is third in line, Trump would become president. ~~~
~~~ Marie: BUT read Judge Luttig's assessment, linked next. It suggests, "We'll see what happens" is not exactly a concession. ~~~
~~~⭐“President for Life.” Judge J. Michael Luttig, in the Atlantic: “Since his second inauguration, Donald Trump has seized authoritarian control over the federal government and demanded the obedience of the other powerful institutions of American society — universities, law firms, media companies.... With his every word and deed, Trump has given Americans reason to believe that he will seek a third term, in defiance of the Constitution. It seems abundantly clear that he will hold on to the office at any cost, including America’s ruin.... Trump is different from all prior presidents in his utter contempt for the Constitution and America’s democracy.” Thanks very much to akaWendy for this gift link. Do read on. The judge has collected the evidence against the accused. (Also linked yesterday.)
New York Times Editors finally seem to be allowing its reporters to warn Americans how crazy-dangerous Donald Trump is. For instance, this is a straight report: ~~~
~~~ Erica Green & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump told American troops assembled in Japan on Tuesday that he was prepared to send 'more than the National Guard' into cities to enforce his crackdowns on crime and immigration, further escalating how he has talked about using the military at home and abroad. Speaking to thousands of military service members aboard an aircraft carrier at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Tuesday, Mr. Trump delivered a partisan speech that resembled the raucous rallies that made him an ascendant force in U.S. politics. But throughout his nearly hourlong speech, his usual ramblings about the physical appearances of audience members and steam-powered catapults were laced with dark warnings about how he might choose to deploy military forces.... Mr. Trump also indicated that the series of recent U.S. strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific amounted to a war.” (Also linked yesterday.)
⭐Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “The White House on Tuesday fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that had expected to review some of ... Donald Trump’s construction projects, including his planned triumphal arch and White House ballroom.... The commission, which was established by Congress more than a century ago and traditionally includes a mix of architects and urban planners, is charged with providing advice to the president, Congress and local government officials on design matters related to construction projects in the capital region.... White House officials have traditionally sought the agency’s approval. President Joe Biden appointed the six sitting commissioners to four-year terms, several of which would have extended through 2028. Their termination comes as the White House gears up for several Trump construction projects, including his planned $300 million White House ballroom, and seeks to install allies on key review boards.” ~~~
~~~ Monica Alba & Raquel Uribe of NBC News: "There is precedent for bypassing the Commission of Fine Arts and moving forward with construction plans. The CFA advised against President Harry Truman’s 1947 plan to build a balcony on the White House’s South Portico — but Truman replaced commission members and went ahead with the construction anyway, according to the White House Historical Association."
One thing about left-wing conspiracy theories: they're just theories, sure, but they often make a lot of sense -- unlike right-wing conspiracy theories about Jewish space lasers that start California wildfires, Democratic pedophile rings in the basement of a D.C. pizza place, and so forth. So here's a good one: ~~~
~~~ Let's Do the Math. Mary Geddry on Medium: “The White House ballroom is supposed to be about 90,000 square feet. At $350 million, that’s $3,888 per square foot, a figure that belongs more to a hardened military installation than an architectural vanity project... Even the most decadent hotel ballroom in Washington runs about $1,000 per square foot. But nuclear-hardened command centers? They start at $3,000.... [Now add in Mellon's $130MM donation 'to the military.'] The East Wing sat directly atop the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the White House bunker. CBS quietly reported that the PEOC was being 'upgraded' as part of the demolition work, with the White House Military Office overseeing the renovation. Combine those facts, and suddenly, the 'ballroom' looks less like Versailles and more like camouflage for a subterranean rebuild. Trump himself fueled the theory when he said 'the military is very much involved in this [the ballroom].'” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Geddry comes up with some fairly farfetched theories about why Trump is upgrading his bunker. But I do think that the "ballroom" could be an excuse for a Bigger, Better Bunker, and I also think that Trump's "real reason" for improving the bunker is most likely illegal and unconstitutional. And maybe more farfetched than Geddry's suggestions.
Marie: I hate to think of how much taxpayer money goes into entertaining one doddering old man: ~~~
~~~ Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: “The White House pressed U.S. Navy officials to launch 2,000-pound live bombs instead of dummy explosives during an elaborate military demonstration for the service’s 250th anniversary celebration that ... Donald Trump attended.... One person familiar with the planning said White House officials insisted to Navy planners that Trump 'needed to see explosions' instead of just a 'big splash' during the Oct. 5 demonstration. Original planning for what the Navy dubbed the Titans of the Sea Presidential Review called for military personnel to use dummies and not live bombs, [another] ... person familiar with the Navy’s planning said.... The White House said no switch was made.... The Navy and other military branches typically use dummy, or inert, bombs for training and demonstrations. Dummies are cheaper than live bombs because they do not contain expensive explosives, fuses and other components. They’re also safer.”
Zachary Cohen of CNN: “The US military conducted strikes against four more boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 14 people on board the vessels, with one survivor, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. It marked the first time multiple strikes were conducted on the same day as part of the Trump administration’s accelerating campaign against boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking. According to Hegseth, Mexican authorities have assumed responsibility for coordinating the search and rescue of the one survivor.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Tara Copp of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon removed key protections for defense civilian workers and directed that managers move with 'speed and conviction' to fire employees with 'unacceptable' performance reviews last month, just a day before the government shut down. The new guidelines were outlined in a Sept. 30 memo titled 'Separation of Employees with Unacceptable Performance' that’s been circulating through the Defense Department in the last week, spurring concern among the workforce.... Some managers ... caution that the edict, signed by Undersecretary of Defense Anthony Tata, the Pentagon’s top personnel policy officer, is so broad it could be used to fire anyone who doesn’t rubber stamp the administration’s programs.” The Hill's story is here.
What Is Wrong with These People? Jake Johnson of Common Dreams: “The Trump administration is moving to undercut state-level efforts to wipe medical debt from Americans’ credit reports, just as millions across the country are facing massive healthcare premium increases stemming from congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. On Tuesday, according to reporting by The Lever and Bloomberg Law, the Russell Vought-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will publish a nonbinding interpretive rule arguing that federal statute 'generally preempts state laws that touch on areas of credit reporting.'... Supporters of removing medical debt from credit reports argue it is not a reliable measure of creditworthiness. The Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at UC Berkeley notes that 'medical debt often reflects the simple misfortune of getting sick unexpectedly and having to face a medical system that is rife with insurance stonewalling, delay, and mistakes.'” Thanks to RAS for the link.
Look Away, Dixie Land. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has reinstalled a statue honoring a Confederate official near the Capitol grounds in Washington, notching another victory in ... [Donald] Trump’s effort to restore Confederate symbols in the military and in public spaces. The statue depicts Albert Pike, a Confederate diplomat and general who worked closely with Native Americans from slave-owning tribes who sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was also a prominent leader of the Freemasons, a secretive fraternal society that included many powerful politicians and elite figures in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 11-foot bronze statue of Pike, who has been suspected by some historians to have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, is the only one of its kind honoring a Confederate in the nation’s capital. The statue was toppled and set on fire by demonstrators during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 amid a nationwide movement to remove hundreds of monuments and other Confederate symbols from public spaces.”
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “Two Trump administration officials in charge of food aid are leaving their posts amid the government shutdown as the program that funds food stamps is set to lapse. James Miller, the administrator of the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service, and Babs Hough, a senior policy adviser there, are moving to the Department of Health and Human Services.... With Mr. Miller’s departure, the agency will be without a permanent leader at a chaotic time. The Food and Nutrition Service oversees 16 nutrition assistance programs, including the food stamps program, that serve about one in four Americans over the course of a year.” The report does not explain the reason Miller & Hough are transferring to HHS.
Fake, Fakier, Fakiest. Drew Harwell & Joyce Lee of the Washington Post: “The Department of Homeland Security posted a swaggering montage to social media in August declaring it had triumphed in its takeover of Washington, D.C. It showed footage of federal agents fighting what a DHS official called a 'battle for the soul of our nation' and working 'day and night to arrest, detain and deport vicious criminals from our nation’s capital.' There was one problem. Several of the clips had been recorded during i unrelated operations months earlier, in Los Angeles and West Palm Beach, Florida. The official’s sound bite about deportations in D.C. played over a clip from May showing detainees on a Coast Guard boat off the coast of Nantucket.... Officials in ... Donald Trump’s administration have used similarly misleading footage in at least six videos promoting its immigration agenda shared in the last three months.... One [clip] that claimed to show dramatic examples of past administrations’ failures instead featured border crossings and smuggling boats recorded during Trump’s first term.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Looks like the only recordings of immigration enforcement we can count on being real are those taken by citizen-videographers. You know, the ones that show the agents using excessive force, zip-tying crying children, locking up U.S. citizens, and otherwise being lawbreaking dirtbags. Like this one: ~~~
~~~ Andrea Cavallier of the Independent: “Shocking video shows a chaotic scene on a quiet Chicago street as Border Patrol agents in tactical gear drag a 67-year-old man from his car while children in Halloween costumes look on in horror. According to his running club, the man, who is a U.S. citizen, was returning from a team run when agents pulled him out of his vehicle, tackled him to the ground and kneeled on top of him, allegedly breaking six ribs and causing internal bleeding. The incident unfolded Saturday in the city’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, where residents say the agents disrupted a children’s Halloween parade amid an immigration enforcement operation.... According to ABC News, more video clips showed agents tackling and arresting several people, including U.S. citizens, outside homes decorated for Halloween. In one clip, a man identified as Carlos Rodriguez can be heard yelling, 'You’re scaring our children to death.'” ~~~
~~~ Alex Hernandez of Block Club Chicago: "As Old Irving Park prepares for Halloween festivities, neighbors are on edge after masked federal immigration agents unleashed tear gas in the community Saturday, leading to the cancellation of a children’s costume parade. On Halloween, many of of the North Side neighborhood’s residential streets are shut down to car traffic to allow thousands of children and parents from across the city to come trick or treat, said longtime neighbor Anna Zolkowski Sobor.... But federal agents tear-gassed neighbors who responded to the scene of an arrest Saturday morning near Kildare Avenue and Grace Street...." ~~~
~~~ Claire Galofaro of the AP: In Chicago, children, as well as their parents, teachers & caregivers, are getting caught up in Trump's terrifying immigration operations.
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: “In a courtroom in downtown Chicago on Tuesday, a federal judge admonished Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official who has become a face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, for his agency’s use of force and tear gas in Chicago in recent weeks. For more than an hour, the judge, Sara L. Ellis of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, read Mr. Bovino restrictions she had previously set as part of a lawsuit over tactics that agents are using and cited examples of times his agents appeared to violate those restrictions. They used tear gas in a neighborhood where children were about to march in a Halloween parade, Judge Ellis said. They failed to warn residents before tossing tear gas canisters at them, she said, noting an incident in which an agent threw a canister out of a car as it drove away. The judge then ordered Mr. Bovino, who took the stand in his usual green fatigues and Border Patrol insignia, to appear at the federal courthouse at the end of every weekday to personally provide her with a report on the day’s arrests and incidents.” Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday said it would take a second look at whether ... Donald Trump can send National Guard troops to Portland, [Oregon,] tossing out a ruling last week from a three-judge panel that had authorized the deployment. The appeals court’s decision Tuesday maintains the status quo on the ground. Troops have been blocked from deploying since early this month by U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut.... The two members of the panel’s majority — as well as Immergut — were appointed to the bench by Trump during his first term. The appeals court panel’s third member, Judge Susan P. Graber, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, dissented and urged the court to reconsider the case with a larger group of judges, known as an en banc panel. Oregon officials urged the appeals court to rehear the case....” A Guardian story is here.
Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “A federal judge disqualified the United States Attorney in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the latest rebuke to the Trump administration’s attempts to circumvent congressional approval for federal prosecutors. The ruling creates leadership uncertainty in the nation’s largest judicial district, the Central District of California, which serves seven counties in the Los Angeles area. The order was issued by Judge J. Michael Seabright of the Federal District Court in Hawaii, who ruled that the Trump appointee, Bill Essayli, 'is not lawfully serving as acting United States Attorney” and “cannot continue to perform any role' that job entails. But it was unclear what the practical effect of his order would be, since the judge also allowed Mr. Essayli to revert to the role of the office’s top deputy, as the first assistant United States attorney. The judge, an appointee of George W. Bush, said he shared concerns expressed by lawyers who had challenged Mr. Essayli’s status that the result was 'little remedy at all' and agreed that the Department of Justice was effectively circumventing the intent of the law. But he said he was constrained 'to apply the statutes as written.'” Politico's report is here.
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “Months after law firms made deals with ... [Donald] Trump to ward off punitive executive orders, the ethics committee of the District of Columbia Bar is warning that such arrangements may require firms to drop or obtain waivers from all clients who have interests at odds with the government. An opinion issued by the committee this week could bring new scrutiny to several prominent law firms that chose to strike deals with Mr. Trump instead of challenging his executive orders targeting them.” MB: If you read through Savage's article, you'll see that these firms' agreements with Trump are so dodgy that they “will likely be nonwaivable.”
Bluesky user Geoff Bowser "made an image of all the art posted by US [Department of Labor] on X since approximately Labor Day":
~~~ Maybe you'll sense a theme here. Want some help? RAS, who linked the post, wrote, "The kind of workers this department of labor recognizes. So does ICE and Border Patrol." And Akhilleus noted, "Jesus, those Labor Dept. pictures resemble Stalin era Soviet Socialist Realist art.... Not to mention some Trumpist wet dream of when America was 'great' (ie, all white)." MB: Well, they're mostly all White men -- except when the family man -- the actual worker in the illustration -- is protecting his perfect, White family. (And if real men wore necklaces, these hunky Aryans would be wearing them some golden Jesus crosses.) Update: Tim Miller calls the posters a "white nationalist campaign"; Bill Kristol calls it a "Nazi thing."
Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate on Tuesday voted to terminate the 50 percent tariffs that ... [Donald] Trump has imposed on Brazil, with a handful of Republicans crossing party lines to help push through a measure rejecting the emergency declaration used to justify them. While the resolution faces long odds in the House, where Republicans have taken extraordinary steps to make it more difficult to bring up such measures, the vote signaled bipartisan frustration with the president’s tariffs on most goods from Brazil, a country with which the United States has a multibillion-dollar trade surplus.... Democrats have planned to bring up for a vote this week ... tariffs the president imposed on Canada and a global tariff rate on more than 100 trading partners. The vote on Tuesday was 52 to 48 to end the levies on Brazil, with five Republicans joining Democrats to pass the resolution.” ~~~
~~~ Lauren Gambino & Chris Stein of the Guardian: “... five Republicans – senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and the former Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – join[ed] all Democrats in favor.... In the unlikely event the measure were to reach the president’s desk, it would meet Trump’s veto.”
Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The nomination of Amer Ghalib..., [Donald] Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, appeared on track to fail after three key Republican senators said they would oppose his confirmation. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both of Texas, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania all said they would not support elevating Mr. Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., who made national headlines last year when he became one of the most prominent Arab American backers of Mr. Trump’s campaign.... Mr. Ghalib faced bipartisan scrutiny last week during his confirmation hearing, where lawmakers pressed him over his past statements, including a remark regarding Saddam Hussein as a martyr and another refusing to condemn atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Under questioning, he also labored to explain his position on a resolution passed by the local City Council to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement focused on Israel.”
There are a number of "Republicans in Disarray" stories out there today. Here's one: ~~~
~~~ Kate Santaliz & Andrew Solender of Axios: "Republican dissent over House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) shutdown strategy spilled out on a private GOP call this afternoon, with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) adding himself to the growing list of lawmakers questioning whether they should still be home in their districts.... Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) also raised concerns about being on recess during the shutdown.... 'I do think we should be negotiating the ACA tax credits and have that compromise to put in the Approps bills,' Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a retiring centrist, told Axios.... A few members' objections likely won't prompt Johnson to change course."
Marie: Wasting our tax dollars on this kind of crap irritates me: ~~~
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released its long-anticipated investigative report on former President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s cognitive condition, accusing his inner circle of concealing a mental decline and claiming, without evidence, that he was so impaired that he could not make his own decisions. The 100-page report, entitled 'The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House,' concludes that many of the executive actions Mr. Biden took, including the pardon of his son, should be considered 'void' because there is no record that he made the decisions himself. It offers no proof that was the case, other than an account of his aides’ actions that treads over well-worn territory to conclude that they engaged in a coordinated cover-up' of the former president’s age and health issues. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Representative James E. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the Oversight Committee, requested an investigation into all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency, to see if they were 'duly authorized' by Mr. Biden. The letter suggested that the report was intended to be used as grounds for a future prosecution by the Justice Department.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is not accurate to call some typed pages an "investigative report" when the only "investigation" was copying some conspiracy theories off some right-wing sites, expressing an unsupported opinion & shooting off a referral. ~~~
~~~ The AP report, by Matt Brown & Joey Cappelletti, isn't much kindlier to Jim Comer & Co. (Also linked yesterday.)
Jennifer McDermott of the AP: "Bill Gates thinks climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be the end of civilization. He thinks scientific innovation will curb it, and it’s instead time for a “strategic pivot” in the global climate fight: from focusing on limiting rising temperatures to fighting poverty and preventing disease." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jason Koebler of 404 Media: “Wednesday, as part of his ongoing war against Wikipedia because he does not like his page, Elon Musk launched Grokipedia, a fully AI-generated 'encyclopedia' that serves no one and nothing other than the ego of the world’s richest man. As others have already pointed out, Grokipedia seeks to be a right wing, anti-woke Wikipedia competitor. But to even call it a Wikipedia competitor is to give the half-assed project too much credit.... It is a totem of what Wikipedia could and would become if you were to strip all the humans out and hand it over to a robot; in that sense, Grokipedia is a useful warning because of the constant pressure and attacks by AI slop purveyors to push AI-generated content into Wikipedia. And it is only getting attention, of course, because Elon Musk does represent an actual threat to Wikipedia through his political power, wealth, and obsession with the website, as well as the fact that he owns a huge social media platform.... Besides often having a conservative slant and having the general hallmarks of AI writing, Grokipedia pages are overly long, poorly and confusingly organized, have no internal linking, have no photos, and are generally not written in a way that makes any sense.”
Peter Eavis of the New York Times: “UPS has since last year reduced its work force by 48,000 employees, the company said on Tuesday, in a cost-cutting drive aimed at bolstering profits and winning back investors. The Atlanta-based delivery company, which had nearly half a million employees at the start of the year, said 34,000 positions were cut this year among its drivers and warehouse workers, mostly in the United States. The other 14,000 came out of management’s ranks in cuts that began last year. UPS’s stock price has long lagged the wider stock market.... News of the work force reductions and better-than-expected third-quarter results prompted a 7 percent jump in the company’s shares on Tuesday.”
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Maryland. What a Dimwit! Erin Cox & Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: “Two of Maryland’s top Democrats have been eager to jump into the redistricting arms race unfolding across the country and draw boundaries that could oust the state’s lone congressional Republican from office — but the third Democrat needed to run that special session, the president of the Maryland Senate, has refused. Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said Tuesday in a letter to Senate Democrats that his chamber will not move forward with redrawing the boundaries in a special session, despite what he called the “all-out attack on the Democratic Party and the core of democracy” that ... Donald Trump’s redistricting push has caused.... Ferguson has been subject to a pressure campaign from national party leaders for weeks....” Politico's report is here. The state senate should remove Ferguson as its president.
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Israel/Palestine, et al. Liam Stack, et al., of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to conduct strikes in Gaza on Tuesday as the government accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire agreement by firing on Israeli forces and failing to return the bodies of dead hostages.... [Mr. Netanyahu's office] later said the prime minister had made the decision with the Israeli military, and then informed ... [Donald] Trump 'before the action was taken.' Israeli and Arab media reported strikes in Gaza, explosions could be seen over the enclave’s skyline, and Gaza’s civil defense said several people had been killed.... Hamas denied involvement in an attack on Israeli forces. In a statement, it said it remained committed to the cease-fire agreement, and accused Israel of violating it. Hamas has insisted that it is working in good faith to recover the bodies.” The AP's report is here.
25 comments:
The Reich has decided to let children starve to gain political points. This is beyond the pale even for standard issue GOP evil bullshit. The USDA has almost $6 billion in contingency funds but Fatty and his sniveling, mustache twirling hacks won't spend a penny to feed hungry kids in America. His plan is to starve people, American citizens, into submission, to bend them all to his mighty, Jesus confirmed will.
What happened to "Feed the hungry"?
Willfully allowing children to go hungry--actually forcing them to go hungry--is all anyone needs to prove that Christianity, Christian virtues, Biblical instruction, Jesus, God, thots n prayrz, church suppers, hymns to the almighty, hootenanny handshakes at church, shouts of "praise Jesus", Christmas plays, old time religion....all of it, is just strategic window dressing for these fucks in the Party of Traitors, who pull all that crap out of the closet to wag their fingers at the rest of us for not being "biblical" whenever it suits them. But walking the walk themselves? That's for liberals.
They won't lift a finger to feed a hungry child in order to follow the commands of a fat, bloated dictator. Not a one of them (and especially that craven, pious mound of feculence, Bible Mike) is worth the powder to blow them to hell, as my mother used to say.
They have billions of dollars that WE PUT THERE in that USDA contingency fund, but Fatty and his lumpen lickspittles sniff that they can't possibly use that money to feed hungry children, cuz that money is there for EMERGENCIES. Oh, really? Starving kids is not an EMERGENCY??
Not for Republicans it's not. And why does the Dear Leader want to starve kids and families and the disabled and elderly who rely on SNAP benefits? Because to that rotund devourer of tens of thousands of calories in Big Macs every day, feeding kids is a "Democrat program", and he is out to destroy "Democrat programs".
How would it be if Democrats in charge could curtail "Republican programs"? How about if we could freeze all ICE funds until the shutdown ended? How about if no tax breaks were in effect for corporations and individuals making over $100,000 while the shutdown lasted? In other words, every penny big corporations made during the shutdown would be taxed to the maximum. No deportations could occur, no raids, no handcuffs, no chemical bombs thrown into peaceful crowds, no grabbing people off the streets and tossing them into unmarked vans, in fact, all ICE vans would be garaged for the duration of the shutdown.
Love to try it.
But meanwhile, kiddies, eat cake. If you can find some.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Fatty.
Soooo....an investigamagation into Biden's cogency quotient? And now it's finished?
Good.
Now they can start investigating Dementia Donny. Remember the howls that erupted when it came out that White House insiders were protecting Biden and covering up his mental gaffes? Just think of the supreme effort it must take for the current crop of POTUS handlers to hide the Dear Leader's plummet off the cognitive cliff. Watch that video Marie has linked (above) of this fucking guy wandering around in a hall in Japan like the morphine and mushrooms just kicked in. The Japanese PM had to go take him by the hand and bring him back, like an overly medicated little kid on a field trip. Love to see THAT investigation.
And speaking of being out of it, here's Drunk Pete demanding that all military personnel involved in his little war on row boats in the Caribbean sign an NDA so as not to rat him out for his bullshit stupidity and criminality.
"After nearly four decades in uniform—including years commanding in combat zones, handling top secret intelligence and being involved in compartmented information programs, and testifying before members of Congress—I can say this plainly: Such a move betrays a profound misunderstanding of how secrecy, accountability, and trust work inside the U.S. military.
A nondisclosure agreement—an NDA—is a civilian legal tool. It’s a contract, most often used in business, to prevent employees or contractors from sharing proprietary information, or for protecting personal information. It exists to protect a company’s competitive advantage or intellectual property, or to provide protection from legal action. But in government service there’s already a narrow, formalized version of that type of agreement: the Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement, known as Standard Form 312. Every person who receives a security clearance is required to sign that form. It acknowledges that the signer understands their obligation to protect classified information and states the penalties for failing to do so. That’s the one legitimate NDA in the federal system—and it already covers every service member who handles classified material. Which is, in effect, every officer with a clearance. Which is, in effect, every officer.
The military doesn’t rely on contractual secrecy; it relies on law, duty, and discipline. When you hold a clearance, you are already legally bound to protect the nation’s secrets."
But Drunk Pete is a paranoid mofo. He thinks everyone is out to screw him somehow. People who are that worried about their "secrets" being divulged are either mentally disturbed or they really do have something to hide. Of course there's another reason, but I'd have to consult Dr. Johnnie Walker, and his brothers Black and Red to get a better handle on DP's DT's.
Drunk Pete's not the only one trying to do things on the down low.
Does Siri have to sign an NDA now too?
Fat Hilter's rambling videos to the troops from digby's blog
Bovino
"Bovino places tear gas on the dash board as he leaves, a small detail and perhaps symbolizing a threat that the gassings will continue"
Some people wondered if it was his emotional support teargas and others pointed out that having an explosive device laying in front of you while you drive might not be a good idea.
"CDC Told To Study “Harms” Of Offshore Wind Farms
"HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed CDC staff to probe the potential harms of offshore wind farms as President Donald Trump marshals his administration to thwart the clean energy source he loathes.
Among the offshore wind health impacts that HHS staff have investigated is the electric magnetic frequency generated from undersea cables used to connect power from the machines to the electric grid, one of the people said. Wind proponents say they aren’t harmful. HHS spokespeople didn’t respond to inquiries."
More wastes of government money and resources on conspiracy theories. There will probably be plenty of studies on those poor sleepless whales.
Don't know if it is true, but...
"Venezuela claims to have foiled a CIA-financed cell plotting a false-flag attack on an American warship, in what the government alleges is a cynical ploy to spark a ‘full military confrontation’.
Interior minister Diosdado Cabello said that a cell ‘financed by the CIA’ planned to attack the USS Gravely and pin the blame on Caracas, after the missile destroyer docked in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday to conduct joint exercises with Trinidad’s navy.
Venezuela said that it had captured a group of mercenaries “with direct information of the American intelligence agency” and whose goal it was to carry out a false-flag attack in the region. Cabello said four people had been arrested, without providing details."
Trump set this up whether he actually greenlighted a false flag operation in Venezuela or by announcing to the world that he was greenlighting CIA operations in the country so they could claim to have foiled Trump's plans. He either gave them the perfect cover for their own made up story or he helped Venezuela know where to start looking and helped foil his own operations. Must be that 4d chess his cult is always bragging about. Lose, lose.
Thank you, "allies"
"South Korea welcomes Trump with its highest award, a golden crown and ketchup
South Korea welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday with a replica gold crown and awarded him with the "Grand Order of Mugunghwa", the country's highest decoration, the presidential office said.
The lunch was capped by a "Peacemaker's Dessert" consisting of a brownie adorned with gold."
They gave him a golden crown just after No Kings day protest. Of course he immediately wanted to put it on. I know they are playing to his fragile ego, but giving him a ruler's crown and blowing smoke up his ass about what a peacemaker he is is freaking dangerous to us and to them. He truly thinks that he can bomb his way to peace and that he is the ruler of the world. Playing into this fantasy with all the fascistic crazy dangerous people around him is playing with fire. He literally can not distinguish fantasy from reality and you want crown him on foreign soil and bend the knee and kiss the ring. There are thousands of ways to play into his ego without also playing into some of his most dangerous fantasies. He is a notoriously cheap date, but all these world leaders think they have to one up each other. This comes as all of them know that Dementia Don will forget all the promises he is making right now because he only cares what you are doing for Him in the moment and that no promise or deal actually matters to him. He thinks keeping your side of the deal is for suckers, that is if he even remembers what he promised at the time. There is no chance he is not sitting behind the resolute desk with that crown on as soon as he gets home with dreams that he can make his cosplay reality.
"deadliest day since a cease-fire was agree"
Over 100, Including 35 Children, Killed In Gaza Strikes
"Health officials in Gaza said the Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people in the enclave. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s health ministry, whose data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, said 35 children were among those killed."
That is not in fact a ceasefire, never was.
RAS,
You're likely thinking of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, too. I sure am. Or maybe Bay of Pigs. Really, just pigs...all of 'em.
Only free speech for fascists
"Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said the US revoked his visa and banned him from the country. The 91-year-old author, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986, said the US consulate asked him to bring in his passport so his visa could be cancelled in person as new unspecified information had come to light.
He said his recent comparison of Trump to Uganda’s dictator – “Idi Amin in white face” – may have contributed to the current situation."
Cruel and uncaring.
"Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage
The Trump administration is making it more difficult for veterans with a rare but deadly cancer to get their health care needs covered by the government. The new policy, involving breast cancer in men, is laid out in a Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica.
The previously undisclosed document does not cite any evolving science. Rather, it relies on an order that President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office titled: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
“As of Sept. 30, the department no longer presumes service connection for male breast cancer,” press secretary Pete Kasperowicz wrote in a statement to ProPublica."
This administration always takes their bigotries to the most absurd level possible.
This Bovino guy is a piece of work, or maybe that should be piece of shit.
Anyway, I just realized, in my head I’ve been pronouncing his name “Boveen-oh” when perhaps “Bovine-oh” would make more sense.
So…the South Koreans gave Fatty ketchup and a crown. Were they trying to lure him over to Burger King? They want to be careful though. If that crown didn’t fit his fat head or if it didn’t have enough gold and sparkly things on it, to please the fat infant, that ketchup might have decorated the wall.
But just think of that. Any other American President, being handed a crown would think “Are they trying to put me on? What the fuck is this?” then tell the hosts thank you very much, it’s a nice gesture, but I’m an ejected official, not a king. Then hand the thing off to someone else.
Not the Orange Monster. “A crown!? Yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about. I’m the King of the World!…man, woman, camera, tv. Told you I was smart!”
RAS,
I read about this updated Bay of Pigs thingamajig in Venezuela. I dunno...It sounds plausible, but remember, Maduro is a liar and a nutjob, just not as much of either as Fatty. But Trump may have handed Maduro exactly what he needed to make the claim that CIA operatives were captured planning a false flag operation when he publicly announced (as in so everyone could know about it!) that he had instructed the CIA to begin covert operations against Venezuela (that's covert, as in no one should know about it).
The current CIA director, John Ratcliffe, is a hack with zero experience in planning or executing covert operations. He has repeatedly lied about his "extensive" experience uncovering and prosecuting terrorist activity (no evidence of any such thing has been forthcoming, so, just anther Fatty liar). And even though others would plan the thing, I'm not sure they would actually blow up a warship full of American sailors just to give Fatty a talking point.
If it was an actual CIA operation, they might have been thinking of how successful it was to propagandize the explosion on the USS Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898. Yellow journalists back in the states went to town with this catastrophe, claiming that it was an act of war, which also helped sell their newspapers, as famously depicted
by Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane". Later investigations showed that it was much more likely the Maine's explosion was an accident, nonetheless, the deaths of 268 US sailors was a perfect launching pad for the Spanish-American War.
So, whoever planned this, if it's a real thing, might have remembered the Maine, but forgot all about the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Back then, Castro caught everyone the CIA put in motion and paraded them before the media (before inviting them to meet the nice men in his firing squads). Maduro has offered no proof at all of any captured agents, so there's that.
This is a perfect example of what Hannah Arendt meant when she wrote about how truth itself would list and topple over when shoved by authoritarians who use lies and disinformation to make it hard to believe anything.
Still, given the sociopathy of the Orange Monster, I wouldn't put it past him to kill Americans so he and his drunken ball licker at the Pentagon could have their splendid little war (what is it with Republican presidents who feel the absolute need to don the mantle of War President?).
Back in 1898, President McKinley had no real desire for a war with Spain. He tried to end things peacefully, but the Yellow Journalists had whipped up such a frenzy that events overtook the president and we went to war.
The difference today is that it's the president himself who is the yellow journalist creating the war frenzy. That is, when he's not taking another dementia test.
Just wondering if the Fat Fascist has sent any paper towels to the people of Jamaica...
Akhilleus,
I totally agree that they are both untrustworthy liars and we can't know if this is true without much more real corroborable evidence. Fat Hitler's big mouth makes it more believable because it is something he and the idiots around him are certainly brazen enough to try. On the other hand him opening his big mouth could easily have inspired Venezuela to plant a false story to make them look tough and tweaking FH's nose at the same time. I think that there is a good chance that Fat Hitler is in the same boat with us in that he probably doesn't know/remember if he authorized that kind of mission or not. Though he will now deny it either way since it failed whether it was real or fake.
RAS,
Quite. Success, even the fakey, invented version is the only thing Fat Hitler will admit as being the offsping of his very stable genius brain. If this was something he and his band of cutthroats cooked up and it all went south, he will screech that it's fake news, have another quarter pounder and set about devising some other soon to be clusterfuck. I think we have all we need to know that he's dead set on starting a war with Venezuela. A war will help to keep Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, at bay, just as the Decider did, he can threaten even more draconian developments should any Nosy Parkers start asking questions or criticize his bombing innocent civilians, should that occur. I mean, he's already blowing up row boats in the Caribbean with no idea who is really on board or what they're doing, so what's a few hundred dead Venezuelans? He's the Peace President, after all.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has printed all those posters from the Labor Department in their Political/Opinion section today with the lede "Labor Department's anti-DEI campaign is Norman Rockwell meets Josef Stalin." It begins with "Posters evoking another era: Very 1950s, very Caucasian, very idealistic."
We often hear the expression "stranger than fiction" as a response to storylines in a book or movie or TV show, suggesting that real world events are often crazier, scarier, more unbelievable even than invented narratives. I'm gonna adjust that old saw to "stupider than fiction". Sure, "stranger" may still apply, but for the nonce I'm going with "stupider". Why?
Trump. That's why.
Over the last few days, I've binged through season three of "The Diplomat" (could not give it a better recommendation, if you haven't seen it), and the new Kathryn Bigelow film on Netflix, "House of Dynamite" (likewise). Bigelow has previously done "Zero Dark Thirty", about torture in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and "Hurt Locker" about bomb squads in Iraq. She is the first--and only--woman to have won a Best Director Oscar, and watching any of her films shows why.
So I'm recommending both the series (The Diplomat) and the movie (House of Dynamite) not just because they are extraordinarily well written, directed, and acted, but secondarily, to hold them up in comparison to the incompetent, knuckleheaded ideologues now running things in our country.
Both efforts depict smart, effective, patriotic Americans dealing with, in one, a series of international crises, and the other, possible armageddon.
And as you watch these, especially "House of Dynamite", just imagine the morons Fatty has installed in the seats of power. The trigger in this film is an ICBM launch of a nuclear missile from somewhere in the far east, likely North Korea, headed to the continental US. The film takes great pains to show how professionals, human beings with all of our native flaws, but gifted with knowledge, competence and intense patriotism would handle themselves in the event of such a potential catastrophe. Now watch it again thinking of how things would play out with Fatty's collection of clowns and grifters. It changes from a thriller to a horror movie instantly.
During the first Fatty circus, there were at least competent, experienced adults in the room to tamp down his worst instincts. This time around, all those people have been exiled. Thousands of experienced, knowledgeable, competent government workers have likewise been cast out and replaced by pimply faced, pizza munching DOGE Hitler Youth, or in other areas by flunkies and fascist loyalists with zero competence and room temperature IQs.
And here's the thing. This is not a far fetched scenario. There are plenty of nutjobs out there who would love to fuck with us. Can you picture Drunk Pete dealing with a situation like this? How about morphine&mushrooms Fatty who wanders around in a daze when he's not mispronouncing words or spitting out insane bullshit. Because in a situation like this, it all comes down to the president.
And in our very real world, it IS stupider than fiction.
What we already knew
"Biden Justice Department slow-walked key decisions in Trump legal probes
Acting on a mix of principle and caution, Justice Department officials under former President Joe Biden made a series of decisions that significantly delayed and ultimately may have hampered the federal criminal investigations into President Donald Trump, according to a new book.
The slow decision-making at the top of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department affected two major probes into Trump after he lost the White House in 2020: whether he illegally possessed and obstructed the retrieval of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence, and whether he conspired illegally to overturn the 2020 election."
Creampuff Casper Milquetoast Garland "slow walked" Trump investigations? Slow walked describes something that eventually gets done. Garland "sloth walked" the very investigations into criminality and treason that would have either put that blob of grifting, grafting goo into an orange jumpsuit, or at the very least, sent his fat ass packing, no second term for that asshole. But noooooo.....worst cabinet decision in history. Cabinet members in the past who ended up being seen as outright crooks or astounding incompetents look like the cream of American public service next to this atomic bomb of legal stinkweed.
Oh, and something cool I forgot to mention about "House of Dynamite" . At one point, they run through some B-roll of DC locations, and they add in a shot of the White House Peace Vigil, across the street in Lafayette Square.
Of course anything connected to a progressive interest in not blowing up the world pisses off Fat Hitler and his acolytes and sniveling sycophants. Fatty ordered the Vigil site cleared back in September, and of course, the volunteer on duty was handcuffed by Fat Hitler's gestapo.
Nonetheless, I thought it was pretty cool that Bigelow included it in a film about the tenuous nature of peace in the nuclear age. Of course, Trumpelthinskin can only see a peace vigil and think it's a criticism of him personally, which naturally needs to be destroyed, with namby pamby excuse of "public safety", which clearly hasn't been the case in the 44 years the vigil has been up.
Oh, and one final word about those two shows...in neither of them is the president a demented fat white guy. We only get that in the real world. See? Stupider than fiction.
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