The Conversation -- August 31, 2024
Jon Gambrell of the AP: "The United States military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country's western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday.... The U.S. military's Central Command said the militants were armed with 'numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive "suicide" belts' during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the Anbar Desert."
Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Since [2022], when Republicans underperformed expectations in the midterm elections, Mr. Trump has been privately emphatic with advisers that in his view the abortion issue alone could kill their chances of victory in November. And he is willing to make as many rhetorical and policy contortions as he deems necessary to win. It is through that narrow political lens that Mr. Trump has been weighing the subject, despite his role in reshaping the Supreme Court that overturned the landmark 1973 abortion decision. The results have been confusing and fluid, a contradictory mess of policy statements as he has once again tried to rebrand himself on an issue that many of his supporters view in strict moral terms...."
Marcy Wheeler: "In 2016, Donald Trump bragged, 'I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?' This election, Trump wants to hide from voters details of how he almost killed his Vice President, Mike Pence, and his claim that doing so was an official act protected by presidential immunity. That's the primary thing you need to know about the joint status report presented to Judge Tanya Chutkan in Trump's January prosecution last night."
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Marie: I've made a few late entries.
Presidential Race
Everybody loves South Florida in early September, so ~~~
~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "Vice President Harris's campaign are launching a bus tour in Palm Beach, Fla., with its surrogates promoting access to reproductive rights. The 'Fighting for Reproductive Freedom' bus tour is set to start Tuesday in former President Trump's hometown. Surrogates from second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, among others, will be on the tour. The tour will make at least 50 stops in red, blue and battleground states in the next couple of months, the campaign announced. Surrogates will focus on talking to voters about Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's (D) plans to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade.... The tour will also focus on holding Trump 'directly accountable for the devastating impacts of overturning Roe v. Wade, including threatening access to [in vitro fertilization],' according to the campaign, and outline the difference between Trump's stance on abortion and Harris's stance."
Tim Balk of the New York Times: "Nine days after ... Donald J. Trump falsely claimed to accept an endorsement from the pop superstar Taylor Swift, thousands of Swift fans, including some high-profile cultural and political figures, gathered on a video call with the goal of ensuring his defeat. They shared their favorite Swift songs. They quoted their favorite Swift lines. And then they assailed Mr. Trump's political agenda as a threat to women. One fan, the singer Carole King, sang Ms. Swift's song 'Shake It Off.' Another, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, described Mr. Trump as a bully who was 'trying to claw us back into the dark days.' Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who attended two concerts on Ms. Swift's Eras Tour, made a series of jokes at Mr. Trump's expense that played on the singer's lyrics.... The early returns from the group's organizing call on Tuesday -- which lasted two hours and was joined by about 34,000 people across Zoom, YouTube and TikTok -- have been promising...: $130,000 raised for the Harris campaign over four days." ~~~
~~~ The video is here.
Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Let's hope [Vice President] Harris continues to shrug off Trump's racist and misogynist attacks. It's clearly driving him crazy. Recent days have seen Trump spiraling.... Harris's team has, wisely, declined to comment on his antics. As on campaign official put it to me: 'Why would we step in this man's way?'... Swinging through battleground states, [Harris] and Walz are drawing MAGA-size crowds -- something else that has been freaking Trump out.... Harris, not known as a particularly deft politician, is also walking a thin line."
David Burke in the Washington Monthly with something you might not know about Tim Walz: "... in May 2023, he signed legislation that could help render swing-state appeal obsolete. That's when Minnesota became the 17th jurisdiction to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a plan that would effectively replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote. A bill to join the Compact had languished in the statehouse in Saint Paul since 2006, but Walz was able to sign it after Democrats took control of both chambers and held on to the governorship in 2022. The Compact was a natural fit for a myriad of measures designed to enhance democracy...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Let me say this about that. While the National Popular Vote Compact may sound like a good alternative to an impossible-to-pass Constitutional Amendment to abandon the Electoral College & elect the president & vice president by popular vote, I've been against it since I first heard of it more than a decade ago. Of course I favor the popular election of the president. The Electoral College is one of the many impediments to voter equality. But the Compact will not fix it. Even back in the 2000-aughts, before the Supreme Court became as winger-weighty as it is today, I could see that any election in which the Compact came into play would cause national chaos. Do you suppose the people of, say, Wyoming or Kentucky would quietly concede that their votes shouldn't count more than those of Californians? That they would glad concede to allow a Democrat who won the popular vote but not the Electoral College to take the oath of office? Hah! While taking to the streets, some of these Republican citizens would go running to the Supremes. And just as in the Bush v. Gore, the Supremes would rule for the Republican candidate. Do you think the people of New York and California would concede that Wyoming cowboys were more equal than they? Hah!
The big news to come out of Dana Bash's interview of Kamala Harris Thursday was that Bash forced Harris to defend changes she had made in policy positions she held in 2019. Trump & JayDee, after all have been knocking Harris for long opposing fracking, a process used in must-win Pennsylvania's natural gas industry. Trump assets that if she is elected, Harris will flip-flop right back to her anti-fracking policy. So we're all surprised by this development Friday afternoon: ~~~
~~~ What a Difference a Day Makes, 24 Little Hours. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "... Donald Trump came out on Friday against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand access to abortion, after spending a day doing damage control on the issue. His announcement came a day after telling NBC News that Florida's six-week ban is 'too short' and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure. On Friday, Trump said, once again, that women need 'more time' than six weeks to decide whether to have an abortion, but that the 'Democrats are radical' and he couldn't back the amendment.... During the [Thursday] interview with NBC News, Trump said, 'I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,' when asked how he would vote on the ballot measure. It's unclear what he meant as the Florida initiative gives voters a binary choice.... The proposed amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, while ensuring exceptions to protect the health of the mother." A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Steve Contorno of CNN, in a straight news report, points out that Trump has not figured out how to address a huge problem of his own creation. ~~~
~~~ Dan Pfeiffer, who wrote before Trump's latest flip-flop, outlines the overwhelming evidence that Trump, as president*, would neither veto a federal abortion ban passed by Congress (or stop his Project 2025 buddies from their administrative anti-reproductive-rights antics) nor require insurance companies to cover IVF.
NEW. Abbie Cheeseman of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump headlined an event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Friday, magnifying the struggle he faces in credibly distancing himself from Project 2025, a controversial policy plan the conservative think tank shepherded. Trump spoke on the first night of the Moms for Liberty annual summit, a three-day event hosted by the conservative parental rights organization that counts Heritage among the 10 key sponsors listed on its website.... Trump did not address Project 2025 or the proposal to dismantle the Education Department during the event, instead continuing his pattern of insulting Vice President Kamala Harris and launching familiar criticisms about the U.S. southern border and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.... The Heritage Foundation ... hosted three strategy sessions on Friday -- including one led by Lindsey Burke, the author of the Project 2025 chapter on abolishing the Education Department. A second Heritage session included 'Boyhood and the Changing Role of the Man in American Life,' another topic highlighted in Project 2025. Moms for Liberty serves on the advisory board for Project 2025. The call to disband the Education Department is one of the several crossovers between Trump’s campaign proposals and Project 2025...."
Man Storms Press at Trump Rally, Trump Says It's Fun. AP: "A man at Donald Trump's rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, stormed into the press area as the former president spoke Friday but was surrounded by police and sheriff's deputies and was eventually subdued with a Taser. The altercation came moments after Trump criticized major media outlets for what he said was unfavorable coverage and dismissed CNN as fawning for its interview Thursday with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. The man made it over a bicycle rack ringing the media area, and began climbing the back side of a riser where television reporters and cameras were stationed, according to a video of the incident posted to social media by a reporter for CBS News.... The crowd cheered as a pack of police led the man away, prompting Trump to declare, 'Is there anywhere that's more fun to be than a Trump rally?'... Fierce criticism of the media is a standard part of Trump's rally speeches, prompting his supporters to turn toward the press section and boo, often while using a middle finger to demonstrate their distaste for journalists." Emphasis added.
Simon Levien & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump grappled on Friday with the lingering fallout from his visit to Arlington National Cemetery this week, offering an extended defense of his campaign;s actions leading up to an altercation between a Trump 2024 staff member and a cemetery official. Over a digressive 13 minutes, Mr. Trump insisted that he had not been seeking publicity on Monday when he posed for photographs in a heavily restricted area of the cemetery where veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are buried. He accused the news media of stoking the controversy and said baselessly that his political opponents had manufactured it.... He said conspiratorially at one point, 'That was all put out by the White House.'... Mr. Trump has found himself struggling this week to fend off new criticisms of his long-scrutinized treatment of America's veterans and fallen service members. At the same time, he has been twisting himself in knots to navigate the politics of in vitro fertilization and abortion rights, and has confronted negative headlines for making obscene attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris."
Steve Benen of MSNBC: Donald Trump "delivered public remarks on the [fiasco at Arlington National Cemetery] for the first time [Thursday afternoon], misstated the date of his visit to Arlington, bragged about being on time for the event at the cemetery, characterized himself as a victim of smear, and concluded that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris 'killed' American service members in Afghanistan.... Around the same time, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, on the heels of publicly criticizing the official who works at the cemetery, issued a statement online that called the office of the Army Secretary a bunch of 'hacks.'... Politico reported: 'Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services panel, added Thursday that he wants to see the Army's report on the confrontation....' VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, wasted little time in throwing its public support behind the Democratic senator's efforts, and there's a related push underway from several House Democrats. Mark Esper, who served as Trump's Defense Secretary, has also called for an investigation into the incident." Related stories linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post was so amused by the idea that Donald Trump could "win on character" that he set out to prove it with just a few of the Trump activities and remarks of the week. (Also linked yesterday.)
You know, I do the weave. You know what "the weave" is? I'll talk about like nine different things that they all come back brilliantly together. And it's like -- and friends of mine that are like English professors, they say it's the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. -- Donald Trump, Friday, defending his incomprehensible stream-of-unconsciousness remarks ~~~
Donald Trump has friends who are English professors? Really? -- Marie ~~~
~~~ This Is Rich. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Even before Vice President Kamala Harris's interview with CNN aired on Thursday night..., Donald J. Trump began attacking it. In the morning, he criticized her for having her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, on hand beside her. After seeing a clip of the interview, he criticized her for rambling 'incoherently.'... 'I look so forward to Debating Comrade Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is,' he wrote on Truth Social, repeating 'Comrade.' He added: 'Harris has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything.'" [See Florida Abortion Amendment, Trump Flip-Flop, linked above.]
Colbert King of the Washington Post: "Trump is being covered by the press as if Jan. 6 were old news.... Questions should hound Trump on the campaign trail.... Fortunately, and for the sake of our democracy and Constitution, special counsel Jack Smith is not going to let Trump slide away from his attempt to overturn Biden's 2020 election victory.... And here, in 2024, we have Trump campaigning in full misogyny, with lewd references to [Vice President] Harris, without being pressed for answers about behavior that unleashed the worst assault on the seat of the federal government since the War of 1812.... Meanwhile, Trump's New Jersey golf club is hosting a fundraiser for families of the defendants charged in the attack on the Capitol. Felons -- dubbed 'patriots' by Trump -- whose sentences he has promised to commute if he's returned to the White House." ~~~
~~~ Marie: King wants the press to question Trump about whether or not he will accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, as he puts it, "Every. Single. Time." But Trump has already answered that question with a resounding "No." In addition, numerous reports have laid out some of the steps he and his cohort are taking to change the results of the election if he loses. Trump and his allies are not even trying to hide some of his nefarious plans. Here's one report from earlier this month, by Sam Levine, a New York-based reporter for the Guardian.
NEW. Jason Wilson of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, said that professional women 'choose a path to misery' when they prioritize careers over having children in a September 2021 podcast interview in which he also claimed men in America were 'suppressed' in their masculinity.... [Vance] said of women like his classmates at Yale Law School that 'pursuing racial or gender equity is like the value system that gives their life meaning .. [but] they all find that that value system leads to misery'. Vance also sideswiped the Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a one-time Somali refugee, claiming she had shown 'ingratitude' to America, and that she 'would be living in a craphole' had she not moved to the US.... Of Afghans who assisted US troops during the occupation of that country who were now seeking to come to America, Vance asked whether 'certain groups of people can successfully become American citizens', and said those hostile to Minneapolis]s Somali American community 'don't like people getting hatcheted in the street in [their] own community'."
David Moye of the Huffington Post: "JD Vance is refusing to apologize for attempting to mock Kamala Harris by posting an embarrassing clip of a teen beauty pageant contestant struggling to answer a question ― even after he learned the subject of the video once contemplated suicide. On Thursday night..., [Vance] posted a video on social media Thursday that he 'jokingly' claimed was the full Harris CNN interview. The video was from 2007 and showed Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton trying ― and failing ― to explain why some Americans supposedly can't find the U.S. on a map. Vance's post was widely condemned, with many people noting that Upton struggled with public ridicule and later admitted that she contemplated suicide as a result of the whole experience. CNN's John Berman asked Vance if he'd like to apologize 'given what you've now learned' [about Upton's mental health struggles]. Vance refused, saying, 'John, I'm not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Marie: (1) It appears Trump has made clear to JayDee that he must never apologize for any dumb thing he says or does; (2) JayDee is not as horrible a person as Trump: even though Vance refused to apologize, when Berman told Vance about Upton's difficulties with widespread public ridicule Vance replied that he himself has "said a lot of stupid things on camera." IOW, Vance is capable of empathy even as he is afraid to raise Trump's ire. ~~~
~~~ Clarissa-Jan Lim of MSNBC: "In a post on X on Friday morning, [Caitlin Upton] wrote: 'It's a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up. There's not too much else to say about it at this point. Regardless of political beliefs, one thing I do know is that social media and online bullying needs to stop.' Upton's account appears to have since been deleted." MB: Chris Hayes of MSNBC said (or implied) Friday night that Upton took down her X account because Trump supporters immediately began harassing her.
Let's All Go to the Movies! Jada Yuan & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: "The Apprentice,' the controversial film centered on Donald Trump's origin story that was met with legal threats and a months-long distribution delay, now has a pre-election U.S. release date set for Oct. 11. The release of Ali Abbasi's film, which follows Trump (Sebastian Stan) as a young New York real estate magnate mentored by lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), was initially met with roadblocks. Trump's team has threatened legal action against filmmakers since the docudrama's buzzy world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May. A lawyer for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the movie's team accusing them of defamation and illegal election interference. And ex-Washington Commanders owner and Trump backer Daniel Snyder, whos the principal lender for the movie's primary U.S. production company, Kinematics, reportedly didn't like 'The Apprentice' and contributed to a stall in securing the movie's U.S. distribution. But the highly anticipated film has secured its U.S. distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment.... The film's other producers reportedly bought out Kinematics" stake." (Also linked yesterday.)
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Special counsel Jack Smith opted against proposing a new timeline Friday to bring Donald Trump to trial over his effort to subvert the 2020 election, instead telling U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan it's entirely up to her. In a 10-page joint filing with Trump's attorneys -- a response to Chutkan's request for guidance and a schedule after the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity upended the case -- Smith emphasized that the timeline for the case is her call.... Smith instead simply urged Chutkan to tackle Trump's many efforts to dismiss the case at roughly the same time. Doing so, prosecutors said, would keep the case moving forward.... Trump's defense team put forward a specific proposal that would allow pretrial motions in the case to stretch into January. His lawyers also hinted at additional proceedings that could extend deep into 2025. Trump's team did not propose a trial date but said a trial won't be necessary because he'll prevail in getting the case thrown out."
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "The Georgia election workers defamed by Rudolph W. Giuliani in the aftermath of the 2020 election filed a civil suit against him on Friday, accusing him of trying to keep his multimillion-dollar condominium in Florida out of their reach in debt collection. Mr. Giuliani, the onetime personal lawyer to ... Donald J. Trump, filed for bankruptcy last year after a federal jury determined he should pay the two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, $148 million for spreading lies about them as part of his efforts to help Mr. Trump stay in office. A New York bankruptcy judge dismissed Mr. Giuliani's case last month because of his failure to comply with basic court requirements. Mr. Giuliani signed an affidavit on July 13 stating that his Florida residence was his primary home, and therefore not eligible to be seized by his creditors under Florida law. But that is not enough under Florida law to establish primary residency. According to the complaint, Mr. Giuliani has spent very little time at the condo in Palm Beach, Fla." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: According Alper Law, "Becoming a Florida resident requires that you (1) reside in Florida, (2) maintain a presence in Florida most of the year [at least 183 days], (3) have a stronger tie to Florida than the previous state, and (4) get a Florida driver's license."
⭐ American Gothic. Amanda Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tens of thousands of disabled people in the United States are paid less than the federal minimum wage -- with some workers making as little as 25 cents per hour. These workers, most of whom have intellectual and developmental disabilities, are part of an arcane government program that is supposed to prepare them for higher-paying jobs in the community. But a Washington Post investigation has found that many disabled workers are paid low wages for years under a tangled bureaucracy that lacks accountability and oversight. A Post analysis of Labor Department records showed that at least 38 percent of current employers in the program have violated compensation and other rules, and cheated disabled workers out of millions in pay.... In response to increasing scrutiny, 13 states and D.C. have phased out the use of 14(c) certificates, and four more -- California, Nevada, South Carolina and Virginia -- are ending it."
AP: "U.S. regulators have cleared a third updated COVID-19 vaccine for this fall, shots made by Novavax Inc. Already, Pfizer and Moderna are shipping shots modified to better match more recent strains of the ever-evolving coronavirus. Those doses can be used in adults and children as young as 6 months. Friday, the Food and Drug Administration gave the OK to the updated Novavax formula, too -- and those shots are open to anyone 12 and older."
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Pennsylvania Voting Rights. Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: "Pennsylvania's two most populous counties cannot throw out otherwise timely and eligible mail-in ballots because they are undated or do not have the correct date on the outer envelope, a state court ruled on Friday. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, siding with voter advocacy groups, found that tossing ballots because they did not comport with a 2019 law requiring voters to date and sign the outer envelope would violate a State Constitution clause guaranteeing 'free and equal elections' and pose a 'substantial threat of disenfranchisement.' The ruling could play a critical role in November in the battleground state, which polls now show to be a tossup between Vice President Kamala Harris and ... Donald J. Trump.... The ruling applies only to Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties. Whether it will extend across the state will most likely depend on county officials and guidance from the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, who leads Pennsylvania's Department of State."
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Brazil. Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post: "A Brazilian supreme court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of X in Latin America's largest country, a dramatic escalation in a months-long dispute between platform owner Elon Musk and Brazilian jurists over the limits of freedom of speech in an era gripped by polarization and disinformation. The decision, which did not immediately shut the site down, could impact more than 20 million X users in Brazil and deprive the platform of one of its largest and most active markets. The ruling came days after Musk declined to comply with a request by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world's most aggressive prosecutors of disinformation, to reestablish a physical presence in Brazil. Moraes says X needs a representative in this country of 215 million people to respond to government requests to suspend accounts found to be spreading fake news. Musk has refused, saying anyone one he appointed would be exposed to the possibility of arrest. Moraes then froze the bank accounts of Starlink, another Musk company active in Brazil, and gave him 24 hours to name a representative in Brazil. The 24 hours lapsed Thursday evening, as Musk repeatedly assailed the judge on X." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Jack Nicas & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Brazil blocked the social network X on Friday after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with a Brazilian judge's orders to suspend certain accounts, the biggest test yet of the billionaire's efforts to transform the site into a digital town square where just about anything goes."
Israel/Palestine, et al. Lara Jakes & Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "... in the Gaza Strip, polio is now stalking a population that for nearly 11 months has been on the run from relentless bombardment. Under ratcheting international pressure to prevent an outbreak of the crippling disease, Israel, which has rebuffed much of the criticism of its handling of the war, is moving with relative haste. Israeli officials agreed this week to temporary and localized pauses in fighting to allow United Nations aid workers to deliver vaccines to 640,000 children. In a conflict where the warring sides have agreed on precious little, Hamas says it will also abide by the staggered pauses in fighting, which are scheduled to begin on Sunday. But health officials warn the plan comes with enormous challenges. Much of Gaza's infrastructure is in ruins, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are living in temporary shelters and aid workers have been attacked while trying to deliver supplies."
Ukraine, et al. Matthew Bigg & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine dismissed the head of the country's Air Force on Friday, days after the crash of an F-16 warplane in what may have been a friendly fire incident. A Western official who has been briefed on the preliminary investigation of the crash said that there were 'indications' that friendly fire from a Patriot missile battery might have brought down the jet, though mechanical failure and pilot error have not been ruled out."
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