⭐Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: “Miami voters elected Eileen Higgins as mayor in a rout on Tuesday, choosing a Democrat to lead the city for the first time in almost 30 years in a race that Democrats hope sets a precedent for the 2026 midterms. Ms. Higgins, 61, will become Miami’s first female mayor and its first non-Hispanic mayor since the 1990s. Cuban American Republicans have dominated city politics over the past three decades. 'Together, we turned the page on years of chaos and corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city — one defined by ethical, accountable leadership that delivers real results for the people,' Ms. Higgins said in a statement declaring victory.... Voters signaled a desire for change in the first round of the election in November, sending Ms. Higgins, a former Miami-Dade County commissioner, and Emilio T. González, a former Miami city manager, to Tuesday’s runoff. Both candidates campaigned on good-government platforms following years of corruption scandals in a city controlled by political dynasties. Mr. González publicly conceded on Tuesday evening, as unofficial results from the county elections supervisor showed Ms. Higgins leading by 18 percentage points.”
Paul Waldman explains welfare queens to Republicans: "... you can’t help but notice that some of the people who shout the loudest about how independent they are and how much they despise the government meddling in their lives are the people who have benefited the most from it. Like farmers, yes, but also techno-libertarian billionaire douchebags complaining about the gentlest regulation, when it was the government that created the internet in the first place and made everything they do possible. So yes, farm country is full of welfare queens, and so is Silicon Valley. So are cities and suburbs and small towns. I’m a welfare queen, and so are you. And there’s nothing wrong with that."
Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “The top U.S. military officer overseeing operations in Latin America met privately with lawmakers on Tuesday, days before he is due to step down from his position prematurely amid tension with the Trump administration and its deadly counternarcotics campaign there. Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, met in a classified session with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (Mississippi) and the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island). Reed, speaking to reporters afterward, said that Holsey 'described the command relationships' he experienced and was 'forthcoming,' though there is 'still more to be gleaned.' House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (Alabama) and Rep. Adam Smith (Washington), the top Democrat on that committee, scheduled a separate call with Holsey later in the day.... Holsey’s interview was expected to cover a range of topics, including the controversial nature of his early retirement and bipartisan scrutiny of the decision-making on Sept. 2....”
Abbie VanSickle & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court grappled on Tuesday with whether to chip away at campaign finance limits in a major challenge to political campaign funding that could undercut one of the Democrats’ financial advantages going into the midterms. The court’s liberal justices voiced skepticism about unraveling limitations during the arguments, which lasted more than two hours. The conservatives, who will probably decide the case, asked fewer questions, with key justices giving less of an indication on how they are likely to land when the court rules in coming months. The case comes against a backdrop of years of court decisions cutting back on legal limits on money in campaigns, after the court reshaped the political landscape in 2010 in the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case.”
Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Virginia suggested on Tuesday that Lindsey Halligan should resign as U.S. attorney after a ruling declared her appointment unlawful, making her the third jurist to challenge Ms. Halligan’s continued claim to the post. Ms. Halligan was handpicked by ... [Donald] Trump to oversee the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia after career prosecutors there resisted pressure to bring criminal charges against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. Once appointed to the job, Ms. Halligan quickly secured indictments of both, but a federal judge dismissed those indictments..., ruling that the Trump administration had violated the law for filling vacancies.... During the hearing on Tuesday, the judge, Leonie M. Brinkema, pressed a federal prosecutor to explain why Ms. Halligan’s name remained on such filings ... [and] whether there was any legal guidance issued by the Justice Department to explain why Ms. Halligan was still in the job. The lawyer representing the government said only that the staff of the Eastern District of Virginia had been told in an email to keep using Ms. Halligan’s name as the U.S. attorney.”
Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: “A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department’s motion to unseal the records of the grand jury investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking a minor and other counts. The ruling by Judge Paul A. Engelmayer cited a new law passed by Congress requiring the Justice Department to release all of its files on Mr. Epstein by Dec. 19.” MB: Katelyn Polantz said on CNN that the grand jury records would reveal very little new information because any evidence presented to the grand jury probably came out at trial.
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “Recently several Republican congresswomen have been complaining, on and off the record, that their party’s leaders, especially Mike Johnson, the House speaker, don’t take them seriously.... It’s tempting to roll one’s eyes at women who are shocked, shocked to discover sexism in a political party led by Donald Trump.... They may not all call themselves feminists ... but they’ve internalized basic feminist assumptions about their entitlement to equal treatment. What they’ve failed to understand, however, is that those aren’t assumptions their party shares.... Today..., Republicans are much less defensive [than they were a decade or two ago] about being the party of chest-beating patriarchy.... There are still plenty of opportunities in the MAGA movement for women who embody Trump’s preferred style of hyper-femininity, espouse traditional gender roles, or both.... But as some women in the party are realizing, there’s a big difference between being useful and being respected.” ~~~
~~~ If you're a bit unsure of the characteristics of a MAGA man, here's an unsigned* Wonkette essay to help you out. *Update: Evan Hurst's byline has been added: ~~~
Evan Hurst of Wonkette: “There seems to be a consenus growing among MAGA men about why Pete Hegseth’s dry/wet/dunno drunk boat murder strikes are so awesome, and it’s the same as Pete Hegseth’s reason: It makes him feel like his wing-wang works and is big and strong and capable of performing on its own without pharmaceuticals or a book’s work of affirmations. And they, the MAGA men, are in turn living vicariously through Pete Hegseth’s wing-wang. The man who will become the avatar for all this is, of course, Jesse Watters. AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE THESE VIDEOS, YOU’RE 'EFFEMINATE.'” MB: It all sounds like arrested development to me. The seventh grade can be a difficult year, and this humongous group of seventh-graders never got past the insecurities of emerging puberty.
Hilarious! Justin Elliott, et al., of ProPublica: “For months, the Trump administration has been accusing its political enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence.... Donald Trump branded one foe who did so 'deceitful and potentially criminal.' He called another “CROOKED” on Truth Social and pushed the attorney general to take action. But years earlier, Trump did the very thing he’s accusing his enemies of, records show. In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a 'Bermuda style' home in Palm Beach, Florida, pledging that it would be his principal residence. Just seven weeks later, he got another mortgage for a seven-bedroom, marble-floored neighboring property, attesting that it too would be his principal residence. In reality, Trump, then a New Yorker, does not appear to have ever lived in either home, let alone used them as a principal residence. Instead, the two houses, which are next to his historic Mar-a-Lago estate, were used as investment properties and rented out.... Trump hung up on a ProPublica reporter after being asked whether his Florida mortgages were similar to those of others he had accused of fraud.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See his commentary below. ~~~
~~~ Not So Funny. Spencer Ackerman: In Alligator Alcatraz, Amnesty International found "Florida jailers using CIA-pedigreed torture techniques on migrants accused of being in the country without proper authorization, a civil, not criminal, violation." MB: Ron DeSantis should go to jail for this. BTW, re: those 2x2 torture boxes, that's 2x2 meters or about 6-1/2 feet by 6-1/2 feet. Thank you to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I was of the impression Alligator Alcatraz had been shut down. It has not. Michael Finkel in the Naples Daily News (Nov. 14): "Alligator Alcatraz is still open and keeping detainees in its caged facilities. Most people we talk to do not know that an appeals court overturned the lower judge’s order to close the camp. Our national and state disgrace continues." And Trump should be careful about leaving the U.S. Maybe he'll be arrested for crimes against humanity while he's golfing at one of his clubs in Ireland or Scotland.
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David Sanger of the New York Times: “Days after ... [Donald] Trump declared he had 'no problem' releasing a video of a second strike on a boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2 that killed two alleged drug smugglers hanging to remnants of the hull, he reversed himself on Monday and said he would let Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decide whether to make it public.... Mr. Trump told reporters who asked about the video last week, 'I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem.' But on Monday he denied ever endorsing its release.... On Saturday, Mr. Hegseth told the Reagan National Defense Forum that he would not commit to making the video public. 'We’re reviewing the process, and we’ll see,' Mr. Hegseth said. 'Whatever we were to decide to release, we’d have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now.'” ~~~
~~~ Sean James of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump lambasted ABC senior political reporter Rachel Scott on Monday, calling her 'terrible' and the 'most obnoxious reporter' in the White House press corps. The president raged at Scott after she asked a follow-up question on whether he would release classified footage of a September 2 military strike on a suspected drug boat — an attack that has led to controversy in recent weeks, with critics of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claiming there was an illegal second strike on the vessel.” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Marie: I don't know if reporters who cover war zones get extra pay while they're in the zone, but if so, those who cover Trump should get combat pay bonuses, too. ~~~
~~~ digby argues persuasively that Hegseth did, in effect, issue an order to "kill 'em all," and that Bradley was following that order when he ordered the second strike on the boat. MB: BTW, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who did view the video, said the flotsam to which the two men were clinging "probably wasn’t any bigger than your average kitchen table." It is beyond extraordinary that an admiral in the U.S. Navy would claim that there was a danger that these two men would right the kitchen table, retrieve the supposed cargo of cocaine that he speculated was keeping the wreckage afloat, then paddle hundreds of miles across the Caribbean Sea & the Gulf of Mexico to unload that cocaine on U.S. kids. I suspect most military brass think members of Congress are thick & gullible, but really, that thick & gullible? ~~~
~~~ Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The annual defense policy bill on track to clear Congress in the coming days would compel the Pentagon to provide lawmakers with the specific orders behind the strikes that the United States military is taking on boats in international waters, as well with unedited video of the attacks. The inclusion of the provisions, tucked into must-pass legislation that sets defense policy and provides a pay raise for U.S. troops, signals bipartisan frustration on Capitol Hill that members of Congress are being kept in the dark about crucial aspects of the operation. For months, the top Republicans and Democrats on the congressional national security committees have tried without success to compel the Defense Department to share critical information about the attacks....
“The legislation ... would withhold 25 percent of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget if he failed to give the congressional national security committees a copy of the execute orders behind the strikes, or to outline how he planned to facilitate future briefings about the operation with lawmakers in accordance with federal law. The bill also would require that the Defense Department hand over to Congress 'unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations' in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. Mr. Hegseth has posted edited footage of the strikes on social media, but has so far refused to share the full videos with lawmakers.” Politico's story is here.
~~~ Marie: It is kind of hilarious that Congress would try to ground Drunk Pete in order to get him to comply with valid Congressional demands to access to unedited strike videos.
The President of the United States unilaterally levied a tax on all of us and is redistributing our taxes to a core segment of his supporters. -- Darin Self, Utah County Democratic Party chair & BYU professor, on Trump's farm bailout ~~~
~~~ Alan Rappeport, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers on Monday as he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war. The rescue package, which was unveiled at a round table at the White House, is an acknowledgment by the administration that Mr. Trump’s trade policies have had negative consequences for the American agriculture sector. Although his plan to raise tariffs were intended to spur domestic production and open export markets, China — the biggest buyer of American crops such as soybeans — retaliated by halting purchases of U.S. farm products this year.... Most of the relief funds will come from the Agriculture Department’s Farmer Bridge Assistance program. According to the White House, the money will go to corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle and wheat farmers....
“Although he said the tariffs made the payments possible, Mr. Trump’s aggressive use of import levies is the primary reason that American farmers need economic support. The payments are not being funded directly by tariff income.... While the payments will be welcomed by farmers, a $12 billion bailout probably will not be enough to stanch their losses this year.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: As Patrick points out in comments Monday, Google's Art Intel sez, "The 'Farmer Bridge Assistance Program' (FBA) was ... authorized in December 2025 under the H.R.10545 - American Relief Act, 2025 (Public Law No: 118-158) on December 21, 2024, as an extension of the Farm Bill, with payments stemming from supplemental disaster aid...." So as Trump would have it, as Patrick wryly notes, some unknown factotum in the Biden White House signed the bill with an autopen. According to the NYT article cited, "Mr. Trump sought to blame former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for failing to protect farmers and manufacturers...." But, in fact, Patrick writes, "As I assumed, it was just DiJiT renaming something that was signed by Biden a year ago." The Times article should have said so. ~~~
~~~ It's Always Sleepy Time for Drowsy Don. Daniel Hampton of the Raw Story: "A sleepy ... Donald Trump again appeared to nod off, this time during a White House Cabinet roundtable on Monday afternoon. The 79-year-old president, who could barely keep his eyes open during a Cabinet meeting last week, again struggled to stay awake during a gathering in which Trump announced a multibillion-dollar aid package for U.S. farmers affected by his trade policies.... The report showed his head tilted toward [Agriculture Secretary Brooke] Rollins and his eyes closed. Trump's head dipped forward before he suddenly jerked back awake.”
Tripp Mickle & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said Monday that his administration had granted Nvidia permission to begin selling its second-most-powerful chip to China, a big step up from what the artificial intelligence chip maker had been allowed to offer to Beijing.... The decision is a major win for Jensen Huang. Nvidia’s chief executive, who spent months lobbying the White House to ease its export restrictions. The move is also a departure for Mr. Trump, whose administration initially promised to restrict sales of A.I. chips to China. The early position had support across much of Washington, and a looser policy that has become clear in recent months has drawn bipartisan complaints from Congress.” The link appears to be a gift link.
Max Boot of the Washington Post: “... the 29-page National Security Strategy released by the White House last week ... will encourage Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and discourage America’s allies, particularly in Europe.... In many ways, the NSS is a masterpiece of doublespeak.... [For example,]& The NSS calls for 're-instilling a culture of competence, rooting out so-called “DEI” and other discriminatory and anti-competitive practices,' as if anyone could possibly imagine that Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard or other officials were appointed based on competence. And, even while lauding 'competence and merit,' the strategy adds that 'we cannot allow meritocracy to be used as a justification to open America’s labor market to the world in the name of finding “global talent” that undercuts American workers.' So we definitely want the very best people — as long as they’re born here, which would rule out half of America’s 2025 Nobel Prize winners in science.... The Biden strategy had a heartfelt condemnation of 'Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war on its neighbor Ukraine,' while the Trump strategy has no words of censure at all. None.” ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "Social media giants have bought our government, and are trying to bully Europe.... Other countries’ governments are less easily corrupted.... Under the auspices of its Digital Services Act, the European Commission imposed its first fine last week — 120 million euros, basically a tiny slap on the wrist — on Musk’s X.... Yet Musk went berserk, declaring that the EU >should be abolished and threatening personal retribution against the 'woke Stasi commissars' responsible for the fine.... What makes this episode especially disturbing is that the U.S. government appears to be using its power to support the broligarchy’s fight against European regulation. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has explicitly linked U.S. tariffs on European steel to demands that Europe weakens its digital regulations. ”
Jeremy Roebuck & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “Alina Habba..., Donald Trump’s embattled pick as top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, said Monday she would leave her post after a federal appeals court ruled last week she was serving unlawfully in the role. Habba posted her decision in a statement on social media, saying she chose to resign as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey 'to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love.' She said she intends to continue serving as a senior Justice Department adviser. Last week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully maneuvered to secure Habba’s original appointment to the U.S. attorney position.... Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a statement, called the Third Circuit’s ruling 'flawed' and said the Justice Department would continue to appeal the decision.” The AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Paul Duggan of the Washington Post: “Thirteen former FBI agents who were photographed kneeling in public with protesters in Washington in 2020 have sued the Trump administration, alleging that they were improperly fired by FBI Director Kash Patel in September even though they had been cleared of any wrongdoing several years earlier. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, says that on June 4, 2020, while the agents were helping with crowd control during a mass demonstration in D.C., they were confronted by angry protesters outside the National Archives building. The lawsuit says the agents made a 'tactical' decision to kneel, hoping to calm the protesters and de-escalate the encounter.... 'As a result of their tactical decision to kneel, the mass of people moved on without escalation to violence,' according to the lawsuit....”
Dylan Wells, et al., of the Washington Post: “Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) berated airport police and Transportation Security Administration officers with profanity and demeaning insults during a chaotic airport encounter in October, leaving airport employees 'visibly upset,' according to an internal investigation by the Charleston Airport Police Department. The Nov. 12 investigation report [and] related [documentation] were obtained by The Washington Post ... through a public records request. They offer more details from the Oct. 30 confrontation, which was initially disclosed in a police incident report.... The airport holds 'a certain level of responsibility' for a 'minor miscommunication' about the color of the vehicle that Mace would arrive in, airport police chief James A. Woods wrote in the new report. But Mace’s 'continued failure to follow established procedures at the checkpoint' escalated the situation into 'a spectacle.'... The investigation ... found Mace told officers 'I’m sick of your s---,' said that they were 'f---ing idiots' and 'f---ing incompetent' and yelled in front of TSA officers and police using similar expletives as she proclaimed that she is a 'f---ing representative.'”
Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Monday appeared poised to make it easier for ... [Donald] Trump to fire independent government officials despite laws meant to insulate them from political pressure in what would be a major expansion of presidential power. Hearing a case dealing with Mr. Trump’s attempt to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission, members of the court’s conservative majority seemed ready to overturn or strictly limit a landmark decision from 1935. That precedent said Congress could put limits on the president’s authority to remove some executive branch officials. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who is almost always in the majority in significant cases..., referred to the 1935 precedent as a 'dried husk.'... A decision in the president’s favor, [the three liberal justices] said, would call into question the constitutionality of job protections extended to leaders of more than two dozen other agencies Congress has charged with protecting consumers, workers and the environment. Justice Elena Kagan said such a ruling would 'put massive, uncontrolled, unchecked power in the hands of the president.'” MB: That's the idea. Politico's report is here.
Maxine Joselow & Brad Plumer of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Monday struck down ... [Donald] Trump’s halt on approvals of all wind power projects on federal lands and waters, dealing a significant legal setback to the administration’s campaign against wind farms. Judge Patti B. Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that the president’s sweeping executive order, which halted all leasing of public lands and waters for new wind projects, was 'arbitrary and capricious,' violating federal law. Judge Saris, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, said the Interior Department had not provided a 'reasoned explanation' of its decision to stop approving wind projects, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. Instead, she said, the 'agency defendants candidly concede that the sole factor they considered in deciding to stop issuing permits was the president’s direction to do so.'” An AP story is here.
Steve Thompson of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Monday said he is seeking testimony from a former Justice Department attorney-turned-whistleblower in an inquiry over whether Trump administration officials should be referred for prosecution for disobeying a court order that temporarily barred two airplanes carrying Venezuelan detainees from proceeding to El Salvador. In a confrontation between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary, revived after a months-long delay for appeals, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia has scheduled the whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, to appear in court on Dec. 15....
“Reuveni has accused Justice Department officials of planning to knowingly defy court orders. In a report filed to Congress in June, Reuveni accused Emil Bove — a former top department official who previously served as a Trump defense attorney — [and is now a federal appeals court judge] of telling lawyers handling the case that the planes needed to take off no matter what.... Justice Department lawyers filed a declaration by [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem on Friday, saying she was the one who decided the flights should continue, but it also offered little more detail.”
~~~ Marie: Maybe someday we'll find out if a girl can maintain hair extensions in prison. Here's Kristi in 2018 and in her current iteration as ICE Barbie: ~~~
~~~ In the meantime, Kyle Cheney of Politico reports, “James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, said Monday that it’s 'premature' to recommend criminal prosecution of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem....”
Holly Ramer of the AP: “A Brazilian woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while she fights potential deportation, an immigration judge ruled Monday. Bruna Ferreira, 33, a longtime Massachusetts resident, was previously engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael. She was driving to pick up their 11-year-old son in New Hampshire when she was arrested by ICE agents in Revere, Massachusetts, on Nov. 12. Ferreira later was moved to a detention facility in Louisiana, where an immigration judge ordered that she be released on $1,500 bond, her attorney Todd Pomerleau said.”
Now the Ellisons Are All Mad and Everything. Benjamin Mullin & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: “Paramount on Monday mounted a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a brazen attempt to secure a Hollywood prize snatched away by Netflix last week. Netflix announced an $83 billion deal to buy a big part of Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, in an agreement approved by the boards of both companies. In a news release on Monday, Paramount went around the Warner Bros. Discovery board and straight to shareholders with what it called a superior offer. Paramount said it would pay $30 per share in cash, valuing the company at around $108 billion, including debt. It said it was going to shareholders because the board of Warner Bros. Discovery is 'pursuing an inferior proposal' that would lead to 'a challenging regulatory approval process.'” The CNBC story is here. MB: Whatever. I assume viewers like me will get screwed. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Oh. And This. Dan Primack of Axios: "Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Jared Kushner, is part of Paramount's hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, according to a regulatory filing.... Paramount is telling WBD shareholders that it has a smoother path to regulatory approval than does Netflix, and Kushner's involvement only strengthens that case." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: And, as I learned from Honduras' attorney general, this hostile takeover, involving Trump's son-in-law, occurred on International Anti-Corruption Day. The Family Trump makes a mockery of everything related to good government. ~~~
~~~ "Team Oligarch Suits Up to Torpedo Netflix/WBD Merger." Josh Marshall of TPM: "In its public pitch, [Paramount] has openly advertised to shareholders that it is the better acquirer because the Ellisons are tight with Trump, and the White House will never let a Netflix deal go through. Trump, in comments yesterday, as much as agreed. Trump has refashioned antitrust oversight to be little more than a personal veto for the Trump family. Friends can do mergers; foes can’t. Indeed, the indifferent and uncommitted can’t either. You need to get right with the Trump family.... Just moments ago I saw that it’s not just Jared: the Saudis, Qataris and Emiratis are also in on the deal. Backstopping the deal is a fund, RedBird Capital, seen by many as a stalking horse for China.... Paramount[, unlike Netflix,] does want CNN because either neutering it on behalf of Trump (´à la CBS) or turning it into a Fox News competitor is part of its alliance with Trump, and more general commitment to oligarchic rule in the U.S."
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New York. Movin' on Up. Eliza Shapiro of the New York Times: “Come January, Zohran Mamdani will trade his Queens one-bedroom apartment for 11,000 square feet of living and entertaining space at Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side. The mayor-elect made his upcoming move official on Monday morning, saying in a statement that he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, would move to Gracie next month, as is typical, some time after he is inaugurated on Jan. 1.... Most mayors end up living at Gracie because of the security apparatus. 'This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,' Mr. Mamdani said.” ~~~
~~~ Donald Trump may be dreaming of Zohran (see SNL's cold open, embedded Sunday), but Zohran just posted this ~~~
~~~ AP: "New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted a video to social media on Sunday explaining immigrants' right to refuse to speak to or comply with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, days after federal agents carried out a raid in Manhattan. In the video, Mamdani vowed to protect the city's 3 million immigrants...."
Oklahoma. Academic Freedom? Hell, No. Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “The University of Oklahoma has removed a second instructor in connection with a controversy that erupted after a student was given a zero grade for a paper on gender that cited the Bible as its primary source. This time, the university said it removed a teacher for encouraging students to support a campus protest over the earlier suspension. The controversy began when the student, a junior named Samantha Fulnecky, complained about the failing grade she received on the paper. The assignment was to read a scholarly article on 'gender typicality, peer relations, and mental health' and then write thoughtfully about some aspect of the article. In her essay, Ms. Fulnecky cited the Bible and wrote that 'the lie that there are multiple genders' was 'demonic.'... The [president of the] campus chapter of Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk..., filed a complaint against the [second] instructor....”
Texas Congressional Races. Jack Fink of CBS News: "Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday filed paperwork to run for Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, a source tells CBS News Texas, hours ahead of a planned news conference where she announced her plans.... In the Democratic primary, Crockett will face state Rep. James Talarico of Austin, whose campaign has generated national headlines and who raised a record $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign announcement.... Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are also locked in a closely-watched battle for the GOP nomination.... Crockett's entry into the race comes after another Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, dropped out of the race earlier Monday. Instead of filing his paperwork to run in the Senate race, he opted to file to run for the newly-drawn 33rd Congressional District in Dallas County. ” ~~~
~~~ Here's Crockett's unusual launch video: ~~~
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Honduras. Annie Correal of the New York Times: “The Honduran attorney general announced on Monday night that he had issued an international arrest warrant for the country’s former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was recently pardoned by President Trump and released from prison in the United States. In a social media post, Attorney General Johel Antonio Zelaya Alvarez said he had instructed the government and Interpol to execute the warrant against Mr. Hernández, citing charges of money laundering and fraud connected to a case involving his first presidential campaign more than a decade ago.... Mr. Zelaya noted that his announcement coincided with International Anti-Corruption Day, Dec. 9.” ~~~
~~~ Marlon Gonzalez of the AP: “Hernández’s wife said after his release that the former president was in an undisclosed location for his safety. The drama comes while Honduras is still waiting to find out who its next president will be. Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura, a former Tegucigalpa mayor from Hernández’s conservative National Party. Asfura was leading Salvador Nasralla, also a conservative from the Liberal Party, by barely a percentage point as the vote count slowly advanced. An Asfura victory could potentially smooth the way for Hernández’s eventual return to Honduras. Nasralla has made fighting corruption the centerpiece of his campaign and has said Hernández stole the 2017 election from him in a vote that was full of irregularities.”
Ukraine, Russia, et al. Michael Shear of the New York Times: “President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine would not budge from its longstanding opposition to handing over land to Russia, adding that the United States was pushing Kyiv for a “compromise” on Moscow’s territorial demands.... Mr. Zelensky made the comments in an online chat with journalists after meeting in London with leaders of Europe’s largest economies, who vowed to continue backing Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.... After the meeting ended, [French President Emmanuel] Macron’s office issued a statement saying the group had worked on the American peace proposals “with a view to supplementing it with European contributions, in close coordination with Ukraine.” ~~~
~~~ Steve Hendrix & Lizzie Johnson of the Washington Post: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with top European leaders in London on Monday amid continuing public pressure from ... Donald Trump that he accept a plan to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine on terms largely favorable to Moscow. Trump over the weekend once again cast Kyiv as the obstacle to the American-championed proposal, accusing Zelensky of slow-walking the plan and not bothering to read it, even as Moscow has shown little, if any, willingness to compromise on its maximalist demands. Trump’s continuing pressure, including his stern tone toward Ukraine and apparent openness to granting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s territorial claims, has unnerved European capitals, heightening fears that Kyiv’s negotiating leverage is evaporating as Putin’s forces advance on the battlefield and Zelensky’s government remains consumed by a swirling corruption scandal.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Dear Europeans: Forget about the U.S. We are now a bunch of ignorant, self-absorbed, monolingual lunkheads. The boys of us just want to blow up South Americans -- Hoo Yah! -- and the girls of us all dream of Mar-a-Lago lips. You can't count on us for anything. S/Your friend, Marie
22 comments:
They are confused in Oklahoma..
From the above NYT piece on Oklahoma education: "
“The university classroom exists to teach students how to think, not what to think,”
But teaching students how to think is teaching them what to think. If it’s evidence based, it’s thinking. If not, it’s faith or unsupported belief.
People can believe what they wish, but they cannot expect or demand to be taken seriously if their beliefs are unsupported by fact. It's a distinction with a great difference.
Don't believe it, Oklahoma? You're not paying attention to RFK, Jr. and what he's doing to the nation's health.
MAGA news knows! Well, sort of...but not really.
Venezuela? Here's how a Newsmax idiot explains geography to his MAGA viewers.
"I don't really know where Venezuela is...I think it's one of those at the tippy top...."
The tippy top? South America has a top? Oh, maybe in the Andes...As Jon Stewart points out, maybe they should have a meeting before this numbnuts goes on the air to show him exactly where Venezuela is....I guess he prefers to comfort his MAGA fans by showing them that he's just as ignorant as they are. I guess when Fatty starts bombing, he and Drunk Pete (who probably couldn't find Venezuela on a map either) to just drop them somewhere at the tippy top.
Fat Hitler, would be destroyer of Western Democracies offers some more projection when he whines and screams and shouts that "Weak leaders are destroying their countries!"
Well, he's got that right. A weak leader who's destroying his country. We got one of those right here in the good ol' US of A. No need to go to Europe.
Is Putin paying him to destroy NATO and the hundred year alliance the US has forged with European democracies? Or is he doing this because he really is an autocratic hater of democracy and our allies?
@Ken Winkes: I'm going to assume that the first teacher's criticism of the student's paper was correct: that the paper “does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive.” That is, however well- or poorly-written her paper, it didn't follow the assignment. If you assigned me to write a paper about George Orwell and I wrote an excellent paper about George Sand, you'd still have to give me an F, especially if the class you were teaching was on 20th-century English lit.
As for putting the second professor on administrative leave, the University poobahs are wrong there, too. As long as there is a rational basis for dismissing a class -- "I have a toothache"; "You should join the protest" -- then a professor can dismiss his class. (The only time I recall a professor dismissing a class for cause was when President Kennedy died, but there may have been other times.)
However, if I read the article correctly, the professor did not allow the Charlie Kirk acolyte to skip the class to attend a counterprotest. The little brat said that was "viewpoint discrimination," and I agree with him. If you're going to let one group of students out of class because you agree with their viewpoint, and restrain another student because you disagree with his, you're discriminating against that second student because of his views. I'm not sure I'd put the second professor on leave, but if he resisted my counsel to treat students equally no matter what their POV, I might take a strong step to reprimand him, which would include placing him on administrative leave.
So what's the problem with releasing the video of Murderin' Drunk Pete's double tap that killed helpless survivors clinging to the wreckage of the boat he destroyed with the first missile?
There can't be any national security concerns. It's a video shot from a drone of a boat and human beings being murdered. It's not like anyone can divine national security secrets or military methods. There's only one reason to continue to hide behind more bullshit. It's to protect Drunk Pete from a one-way trip to the Hague and a cell.
@Akhilleus: Exactly. For some reason it's fun to post videos of the Navy blowing up boats and killing everybody on them. But it's not so much fun to post videos that would prove an obvious war crime.
, as they say...
"For months, the Trump administration has been accusing its political enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence.
President Donald Trump branded one foe who did so 'deceitful and potentially criminal.' He called another 'CROOKED' on Truth Social and pushed the attorney general to take action.
But years earlier, Trump did the very thing he’s accusing his enemies of, records show.
In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a 'Bermuda style' home in Palm Beach, Florida, pledging that it would be his principal residence. Just seven weeks later, he got another mortgage for a seven-bedroom, marble-floored neighboring property, attesting that it too would be his principal residence.
In reality, Trump, then a New Yorker, does not appear to have ever lived in either home, let alone used them as a principal residence. Instead, the two houses, which are next to his historic Mar-a-Lago estate, were used as investment properties and rented out, according to contemporaneous news accounts and an interview with his longtime real estate agent — exactly the sort of scenario his administration has pointed to as evidence of fraud."
Imagine that. Let's see, what where those adjectives? Crooked? Criminal? Fraudulent? Yeah, they all apply to Fat Hitler.
And leave us not forget that Fatty's mortgage attack dog, Bill Pulte is dealing with accusations that his parents are also guilty of the sort of mortgage fraud he's been using to attack Democrats.
If there's a Trump in the woodpile, you're talking fraud of some kind.
Wow...that's some link..
Fatty's Fails
So here's this new strategery thingie that Fat Hitler has released. In it, he lays out the things he (or the Stephen Miller types who dreamed this up) claims the US needs to be Great Again. Except, he's already failing at most of them.
"This is the work of a bunch of men who imagine they are competent telling everyone who came before them that they were doing things wrong.
Yet by laying all that out — by writing down what they imagine competence would deliver — they make it clear how badly they’re screwing up.
Effectively, Donald Trump has already done significant, if not grave, damage to six of the ten things that Trump claims America wants:
* Continued survival of US sovereignty
* Protect the country from human trafficking, foreign influence, propaganda, and espionage
* A resilient national infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters, resist and thwart foreign threat”
* The most dynamic economy
* A robust industrial base
* Unrivaled soft power that “believe[s] in our country’s inherent greatness and decency”)"
In each case, the weasels in the Trump domain have undercut and destroyed the infrastructure and programs necessary to achieve a single one of these "requirements for greatness".
'There’s plenty else in this NSS (such as other references to America’s technical superiority) where the boys aspire to have skills they affirmatively destroyed.
As such, the NSS isn’t so much a strategy (a word they scare quote when they define it): it’s a confession that these self-declared competent people are failing to meet their own standards.'
A good read.
Goodnight Orange
Private Equity Is America’s New Landlord.
Just a thought. It's pretty clear that no one will pay for their crimes in the Trump Criminal Enterprise knowns as his administration. Drunk Pete, who has now murdered over 80 human beings won't spend an hour in a cell.
But if you're a dad or a mom who came here as a child from another country, who has a job, a family, is a contributing member to your community, have never gotten so much as a parking ticket, you can be scooped up, beaten, terrorized, chained up and put on a plane to place you've never seen before, effectively ending the life you've worked hard to build. So Stephen Miller can be happy.
It would be great to believe that there's some justice in the universe, some force that can turn this around on the true criminals, but there isn't. Even if that Fat Fuck and his drooling sycophants get spanked by voters, nothing is going to free those poor people being unfairly and unnecessarily deported and put that dipso murderer in their place.
Continuing the Con
"Trump: Donate Now To Get Your “Tariff Rebate Check”
Donald Trump’s political operation sent out another misleading “tariff rebate check” email late Saturday, escalating a fundraising tactic that falsely implies supporters have government checks waiting to be signed.
The message repeats the claim that Trump is preparing to personally sign a “Tariff Check” for the recipient and urges them to verify their name before an 11:59 p.m. deadline."
I wish some of these reporters would use Fat Hitler's insecurities against him. They need to stop coddling the racist old shit. When he says that he is waiting on Hegseth to say it is okay to release the boat murder video follow up right away with asking who the real president is since he is taking orders from Whiskey Pete. Or asking him to admit that he is not releasing the murder video or the Epstein files because he is scared. Goad the impulsive idiot into exposing him and his minions' dirty secrets. He treats so many of these reporters like crap. They should return the favor. They could clean it up and say in a nice tone, but it is easier and easier to get under the Orange Moron's thin skin. It would be cathartic for a lot of them and it could lead to some real relevations if done and timed right. Fat Hitler wants to brag about all the seedy shit he has been doing. He has been so surrounded by "yes" men that he often forgets what he is and isn't supposed to share with the rest of us. Or do like the Russians were doing in his first term and and entice him to brag about what they are doing behind the scenes or what they are planning. His handlers don't like him in public anymore because he is so unpredictable and erratic. This is the time to take advantage of his failing faculties to help and protect the country.
Timothy Snyder
"Land War or Self-Terrorism?
Trump's Likely Next Step
In certain ways, the autumn of 2025 in the United States has recalled the autumn of 1938 in Nazi Germany.
The mass deportation of undocumented people was one of Hitler’s largest coercive policies before the war. That fall, the German police and SS rounded up Jews who lacked German citizenship and dumped them on the Polish side of the German-Polish border."
Is this possibly newsworthy? How much is falling through the cracks as so much evil is being done by this government.
"Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
The four men interviewed by Amnesty International, as well as Florida-based organizations, told the organization about the ‘box’, described as a 2x2 foot cage-like structure located outside in the yard of “Alligator Alcatraz” where individuals are sent for punishment. Individuals are put in the ‘box’, their hands are shackled and their feet are attached to restraints on the ground. They are unable to sit down or move positions,"
RAS,
Your suggestion that reporters stop being either kindly or fearful when questioning the Orange Monster about his many illegal, unconstitutional, and downright criminal undertakings is something I have wished for for ages. In fact, it's in my letter to Santa this year, that White House reporters be delivered the courage, tenacity, intestinal fortitude, or just plain balls to do their job properly.
Now of course, their primary job is not to piss off the Fat Fascist unnecessarily, but it is to pry a few facts free from the La Brea tar pit that surrounds White House shenanigans and criminal schemes, and if getting under the onion skin a bit helps that along, all well and good. Besides, it would meet and just that this whiny titty baby get a little of his own back.
The problem (and there are a few) is that, according to Tokyo Rose Garden KKKaroline, asking the Dear Leader questions he doesn't like is akin to physical assault and high treason. Softball questions only, preferably from appropriately submissive nubile blondes who are as stupid as he is.
Another problem is that for political reporters, the White House beat is a gigantic plum, something many work their entire professional careers to obtain, and everyone has seen how pissing off the Orange Monster can get one banned from the briefings and kicked off Air Force One, maybe even in mid flight. Access makes them valuable to their organizations. Getting kicked out, doesn't. Which makes one realize that in many cases, all they're looking for is a sound bite. They really don't care about getting to the truth of the many matters needing to be got at.
Nonetheless, a few intrepid souls have dared to beard the monster, and what they find, as you point out, is a fragile, easily discombobulated ego largely bereft of cognition much beyond fifth grade. But Trump also has a sense for self-preservation. It would be great if one could goad him into the sort of "Few Good Men" confessions Jack Nicholson's colonel makes on the stand "You're goddam right I ordered the Code Red!" But that character, whatever else he was, was no coward. Fatty is a yellow bellied coward, like you read about. He would never admit anything that could make him look bad. His occasional public flubs are laughed off later as a joke or a misunderstanding. Standing up for something he believes is right (like murdering possible drug couriers) and taking credit for it, is not in his operations manual, not if he might get dinged for it. That's finger pointing time, not "You're goddam right!" time.
Still and all, were the White House press corps to go after this fat fuck en masse, on a regular basis and get him to blow a few gaskets, at the very least, he'd realize that he is not the god-king he envisions himself to be. He is, after all, our employee. And as such, we are entirely free to fire his fat ass.
If only.
We are unfortunately and excruciatingly used to Trump perfidy, con jobs, criminal schemes, double dealing, and treachery, but somewhere, even the gods are shaking their heads as these crooks are revving up the engine of self-dealing and pocket-lining on International Anti-Corruption Day. ]
Now here's an idea!
I got a chuckle out of VanSickle & Goldmacher's massive understatement of "The conservatives, who will probably decide the case". You think that the corrupt six Confederates MIGHT be a deciding factor in our highest court this time?
Heard part of that incredibly sycophantic "interview" with the Fat Fascist done by Politico. It's not so much an interview as a chance for Fatty to spout propaganda and lies. At one point, the interviewer begins to ask him how the economy is doing (why do that? He's going to lie, there are plenty of trustworthy statistics and benchmarks that show that while things are great for the one percent, the economy is terrible for everyone else, and it's all because of him), he interrupts to say "A plus....A plus plus plus plus plus plus"....like an eight year old of his ritalin. Which brings us back to the point RAS made earlier about the lack of serious journalists covering this monster. This thing is to journalism as Charles Ponzi is to honest investment strategies.
Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims have more on the Warner Brothers deal.
"Kushner and Saudis back hostile takeover of Hollywood giant
Jared Kushner is funneling $24 billion from Middle Eastern governments to back a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery—all while advising President Trump on foreign policy."
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