The Conversation -- January 20, 2025

Everything Donald Trump Does Is Lawless and/or Corrupt. ~~~

~~~ Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Monday pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and commuted the sentences of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. 'These are the hostages,' Trump said from the Oval Office, referring to the convicted and charged defendants. 'Approximately 1,500 for a pardon -- full pardon.' By pardoning the defendants, Trump has granted full clemency to hundreds of people already convicted of felony crimes like assaulting police and destroying property as part of the effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power."

Here are the New York Times' live updates of what Trump plans to do this afternoon, including signing a bunch of executive orders at the Capital One Arena.

Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: "In one of his final acts as president, Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, whose case had become a rallying cry for the Indigenous movement in the nearly 50 years since his conviction for killing two FBI agents. Peltier, 80, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, had been serving two life sentences at a federal penitentiary in Florida for the 1975 slayings of agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler during a shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota."

The Petty Vindictiveness of a Pitiful Tyrant. Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Pentagon on Monday removed a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a corridor of the building filled with paintings of all of his predecessors. The decision to take down the portrait was an early salvo by the new administration against a military establishment that ... Trump has assailed for a variety of perceived offenses. The portrait of the now retired General Milley went up last week in the last days of the Biden administration. Less than two hours after Mr. Trump took the oath of office, Pentagon officials had taken it down. A U.S. official said that 'the White House' ordered the removal. The official declined to speak further.... President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a pre-emptive pardon for General Milley before he left office. Taking down the general's portrait is unprecedented; the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is viewed as apolitical."

Dominic Patten & Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Elon Musk offered Donald Trump supporters what looked a lot like a Nazi salute today on live TV to cheers from the MAGA crowd. As social media exploded with condemnation of what some were calling a 'Sieg Heil,' with some others applauding the world's richest man's gesture, there was also some speculation that Musk's movement was more like that of an Imperial Roman general in the Gladiator mode. In point of fact, Musk turned around and gave the salute a second time almost immediately afterwards to supporters seated behind him at DC's Capitol One Arena.” ~~~

Here are the New York Times' live updates of inaugural events. ~~~

~~~ Melania Trump & Ivanka Trump showed up looking elegantly dressed for a funeral. (WashPo link) Melanie's hat, according to the accompanying article, had a brim "so wide that it blocked the president from giving his wife a kiss just before his swearing-in." Question: If the oath you take is a lie, are you really president*?

So It Begins. Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "As Trump took office promising to immediately halt 'all illegal entry' to the country, an increasingly desperate scene played out immediately across the border from El Paso in the city of Juárez, Mexico. Dozens of people arrived in the early-morning hours Monday lugging babies wrapped in blankets and the few belongings they had hoped to bring with them into the United States. Those with the earliest appointments ... with U.S. immigration officials through CBP One ... were allowed in. But by early afternoon, migrants ... were getting messages first saying their appointments were being pushed back, and then that they were no longer valid." MB: Let's be clear. These were NOT people seeking "illegal entry." They had been waiting for months, following rules set by the Biden administration.

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden pardoned five members of his family in his last minutes in office, saying in a statement that he did so not because they did anything wrong but because he feared political attacks from ... Donald J. Trump. 'My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me -- the worst kind of partisan politics,' he said in his last statement as president. 'Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.' Mr. Biden's action pardoned James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James's wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Mr. Biden's sister; John T. Owens, Ms. Owens's husband; and Francis W. Biden, Mr. Biden's brother. The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes left in Mr. Biden's presidency, after he had already walked into the Capitol Rotunda to witness the swearing-in of Mr. Trump before leaving the Capitol for the last time as president."

Remi Tumin of the New York Times: "Cecile Richards, a former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and one of the country's most well-known defenders of abortion rights, died on Monday. She was 67. Ms. Richards was diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. She died at home, her family said in a statement. A former political organizer, Ms. Richards was a daughter of former Gov. Ann Richards of Texas."

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A Good Way to Celebrate MLK, Jr. Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden pardoned five activists and public servants on Sunday, including a posthumous grant of clemency to the civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, who mobilized the Black nationalist movement and was convicted of mail fraud in 1923. Mr. Biden also commuted the sentence of two people who are serving sentences for crimes that they committed in the 1990s that would keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives. The two individuals, Robin Peoples and Michelle West, had overwhelming support from civil rights activists and will be released next month, Mr. Biden said.... Among those also receiving pardons, which wipe their criminal records clean of convictions, is Darryl Chambers, a gun violence prevention advocate who was previously convicted of a nonviolent drug offense and sentenced to 17 years in prison in 1998; Ravi Ragbir, a well-known advocate for immigrants who was convicted of wire fraud in 2000; and Don Scott, a lawyer who served his sentence for a nonviolent drug offense and went on to be elected to the Virginia legislature in 2019, and became the first Black speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates last year. Mr. Biden also pardoned Kemba Smith, a criminal justice advocate whose case drew attention to the mass incarceration of Black women...." The AP's story is here.

Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden spent his final full day in office in South Carolina, a state he credits for helping catapult him to the White House and where he returned in his final hours as president to urge his supporters to stay engaged in the fight for a more just nation. During visits to a historically Black church and an African American museum, Mr. Biden reflected on his history with a place that he said had played a pivotal role in his life and career and that pushed him in his efforts to restore 'the soul of the nation.' 'We know the struggle to redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing,' Mr. Biden said on Sunday as he addressed the congregation of Royal Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black congregation that he visited on the campaign trail in 2020. 'But faith -- faith teaches us the America of our dreams is always closer than we think.'"

⭐Kevin Liptak & Arlette Saenz of CNN: "President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, using extraordinary executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor, Donald Trump. The pardons, coming in the final hours of Biden's presidency, amount to a stunning flex of presidential power that is unprecedented in recent presidential history. They serve to protect several outspoken critics of the incoming president, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Trump has vowed retribution against. 'These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,' Biden wrote in a statement, issued hours before he was set to welcome Trump to the White House for tea before attending his swearing-in. 'Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How stunning is it that the President of the United States has to protect prominent, long-serving public servants from another POTUS*? The top U.S. military leader? A doctor? This is crazy. But it's real.

Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "The man accused of being the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, has agreed to let government prosecutors use portions of a 2007 confession that he says were obtained through his torture at any future sentencing trial if his case is settled with a life sentence. Defense lawyers have been trying for years to have those confessions excluded from the death-penalty trial against Mr. Mohammed and three other men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001.... But an excerpt from his plea deal that was released by a federal court over the weekend shows that Mr. Mohammed agreed that prosecutors can use certain portions of his disputed confessions against him at a sentencing trial -- if he is allowed to plead guilty. That deal is in the midst of a heated political and legal controversy that is spilling over into the Trump administration." Read on.

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Israel's Wars. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Israel's Wars are here: "Israel's release of 90 Palestinian prisoners early Monday, hours after three Israeli hostages were freed in Gaza, capped the first of what may be a series of hostage-for-prisoner swaps at the start of a multistage cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. As an initial truce came into effect on Sunday after 15 months of war, celebrations replaced explosions and hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks began rolling into Gaza. The three hostages returned to joyous reunions with their families at an Israeli hospital, while fireworks and cheering crowds greeted the newly freed Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. On Saturday, four more Israeli hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners in the next step of the hard-won agreement between Israel and Hamas. If the deal holds, 33 of the roughly 100 remaining hostages still in Gaza, living and dead, and more than 1,000 imprisoned Palestinians held in Israel will be released over the next six weeks." ~~~

~~~ Abbie Cheeseman & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "Despite a 60-day ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli military advanced into dozens of new positions across southern Lebanon in the first 40 days of the deal, damaging or destroying hundreds of buildings as it searched for weapons and other infrastructure, according to a Washington Post review of previously unreported satellite data and open-source imagery, as well as interviews with U.N., Western and Lebanese officials and diplomats. The Israel Defense Forces launched near-daily strikes on Hezbollah's stronghold during that period.... But it's unclear whether these military actions constitute violations of the ceasefire because the U.S.-led committee to monitor the deal has yet to define what counts as a violation of the truce, diplomats said."

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Presidency* of the Absurd. Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Whether it's his idea for 'one big, beautiful bill' to ram through his multitrillion-dollar legislative agenda, his hunger for a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war (and perhaps fulfill his first-term dream of a Nobel Peace Prize), his desire to acquire Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada for the United States, or his insistence to an adviser that he will keep signing executive orders on Inauguration Day 'until my hand breaks' -- Mr. Trump has indicated that he wants to begin his presidency with a demonstration of strength.... The way Mr. Trump sees it, his biggest concern ... is .. his own party. So tight are the G.O.P.'s congressional majorities that it would take only a handful of disobedient Republicans to kill his chances of fulfilling his major campaign promises.... Still, Mr. Trump knows that he has never had as much power as he does right now. He intends to make the most of it, to extract its full financial value.... Mr. Trump is obsessed with how to apply leverage globally, as well."

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is planning a string of executive orders during his first days in office, including one to strip job protections from career civil servants, his top policy adviser told Republican members of Congress on Sunday, according to two people briefed on the matter. In a phone call with a few dozen Republicans on Sunday, Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump's incoming homeland security adviser and deputy White House chief of staff overseeing policy, laid out the broad strokes of what Mr. Trump is planning on energy, immigration and federal workers." The Hill's report is here.

Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump delivered a boastful, campaign-style rally at a downtown Washington arena on the eve of his second inaugural, celebrating his election victory and vowing to advance his agenda in spite of what he called a 'failed and corrupt political establishment' in the nation's capital.... In remarks laced with exaggerations and outright falsehoods, the president-elect railed about illegal immigration, bragged about the swing states he won last November, and denigrated President Biden.... Mr. Trump called Elon Musk ... to talk about the coming effort to cut government spending and regulations. He vowed to end diversity efforts around the country. And he showed a video recounting deadly attacks on Americans by undocumented immigrants." The Guardian's report is here.

Seb Starcevic of Politico: "Pope Francis blasted Donald Trump's plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, calling the United States president-elect's proposal a 'disgrace.' 'If true, this will be a disgrace ... This is not the way to solve things,' the pontiff said Sunday, speaking on Italian talk show Che Tempo Che Fa. He was responding to a question about sweeping immigration raids reportedly planned in Chicago in the days after Trump's inauguration." Looks as if JayDee, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has two masters, and they're at odds. What to do? What to do?

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "While stumping for a return to power in the fall, Mr. Trump repeatedly made a sensational if implausible pledge with profound geopolitical consequences: He would broker an end to the war in Ukraine in 24 hours ... -- ... before being sworn in as president.... [This promise] was a staple of his public argument.... Yet he not only has failed to keep his promise; he has also made no known serious effort to resolve the war since his election in November.... [Trump breaks a lot of campaign promises] without evident consequence. He did not, for instance, fully build his much-heralded border wall, much less force Mexico to pay for it. He did not wipe out the federal budget deficit or shrink the national trade deficit. He did not forge a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which he said would be 'not as difficult as people have thought over the years.' He did not repeal and replace Obamacare. He did not boost economic growth to '4, 5 and even 6 percent.'"

War of the Crypto-Trumps. Sebastian Sinclair & Vince Dioquino of Decrypt: "Donald Trump's official meme coin, TRUMP, fell sharply late Sunday evening following a post from Melania Trump's social media accounts promoting what appears to be a crypto tied to her name. 'The Official Melania Meme is live,' a post on Melania Trump's X account, that Donald Trump has since retweeted, reads. The post was also shared via the incoming First Lady's Truth Social account. Dubbed Melania, the Solana-based token has surged more than 12,000% in the last 24 hours to $6.70, DEX Screener data shows. Decrypt has reached out to Trump's team for additional details." ~~~

~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The emoluments from the First Trump Reich already seem piddlyshit by comparison[.]... This is bad because it's a vehicle for virtually unlimited bribery. As for the people who buy it because they think it will appreciate in value, I hope they all end up bankrupt like they deserve to." The post includes a chunk of a WSJ article about the Trumps' marvelous-lucrative (so far) scams.

Anne Applebaum of the the Atlantic: "... the most difficult aspect of the crisis [triggered by Trump's demand to buy Greenland] is ... the need to cope with a sudden sense of almost Kafkaesque absurdity. In truth, Trump's demands are illogical. Anything that the U.S. theoretically might want to do in Greenland is already possible, right now. Denmark has never stopped the U.S. military from building bases, searching for minerals, or stationing troops in Greenland, or from patrolling sea lanes nearby.... Trump himself cannot articulate ... why exactly he needs to own Greenland, or how Denmark can give American companies and soldiers more access to Greenland than they already have.... In Copenhagen (and not only in Copenhagen) people suspect Trump just wants the U.S. to look larger on a map." Thanks to laura h. for this a gift link .

Theodore Schleifer & Alyson Krueger of the New York Times: "The who's who of Silicon Valley and Washington converged at Peter Thiel's Beaux-Arts mansion in D.C. on Saturday evening, as the power brokers gathered in anticipation of the inauguration of ... Donald J. Trump.... The party symbolized the euphoria of the tech industry on the cusp of the Trump presidency. The guest list included Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Miriam Adelson and the vice president-elect, JD Vance." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know why these people are feeling euphoric. They have more money & (theoretically more power) than do most people in the world, yet they kowtow to a fat bastard because they think they have no choice.&

Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times: "President Biden warned in his farewell address to the nation last week that an oligarchy is taking shape in America. In Washington, the oligarchs are already here, buying big houses. Counting ... Donald J. Trump himself, there are at least a dozen billionaires among his cabinet picks and those headed for senior roles in the new administration.... 'It's tempting to liken this to the Gilded Age, but John D. Rockefeller didn't actually run McKinley's campaign or move into the White House,' said Michael Waldman ... of the Brennan Center for Justice.... One of the most immediate effects in Washington has been an explosion in the luxury real estate market. The financier Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump's choice to be commerce secretary (worth $1.5 billion, according to Forbes), last month closed on the French Chateau-style home of the Fox anchor Bret Baier on Foxhall Road for $25 million, a record for the area."

Jennifer Jacobs, et al., of CBS News: "Vivek Ramaswamy..., Donald Trump's choice to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with entrepreneur Elon Musk, is expected to soon step away from the task force, CBS News has learned. Ramaswamy intends to announce a campaign for Ohio governor as soon as the end of January, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News.... People close to Musk have privately undercut Ramaswamy for weeks, frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting, according to sources familiar with the internal dynamics. There has been friction between the incoming rank and file DOGE staff and Ramaswamy, the sources said, and Ramaswamy has been subtly encouraged to exit.... Ramaswamy recently met with the Ohio's sitting governor, Mike DeWine, about the state's Senate seat left vacant by Vice President-elect JD Vance. But on Friday, DeWine announced he is appointing his lieutenant governor to the post."

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from ... Donald Trump's aides, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter said.The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will see an exodus of decorated veterans of the Foreign Service, including John Bass, the undersecretary for management and acting undersecretary for political affairs, and Geoff Pyatt, the assistant secretary for energy resources.... Requesting the resignations [is] the prerogative of any incoming administration.... Some incoming presidents choose to keep a larger stable of career diplomats in senior roles until handpicked political appointees receive Senate confirmation. Instead, Trump has authorized the selection of more than 20 'senior bureau officials' to take over various divisions where leadership posts are being vacated this week."

Clare Duffy & David Goldman of CNN: "Around 12 hours after shutting itself down in the United States, TikTok is back for many users almost like it never left, attributing its return to a move by ... Donald Trump to save the app. TikTok welcomed users back with a notification that said: 'Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!'... Early on Sunday, Trump said he would issue an executive order following his inauguration on Monday to delay enforcement of the divest-or-ban law. And within hours, access to TikTok's app and webpage began to return for US users." ~~~

~~~ As the Worms Turn. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "Mike Waltz..., Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor, praised TikTok as a 'fantastic app' Sunday on CNN after his boss vowed to 'save' it from being banned in the US. Waltz notably referred to the platform as 'spyware' last year during an interview with Fox Business Network anchor Stuart Varney. During that interview, Waltz said banning TikTok was not going 'far enough.'" ~~~

~~~ Lucia Sang of CBS News: "A man accused of setting a fire at a strip mall in Wisconsin where a congressman's office is located told authorities he was motivated by the federal ban on TikTok. The office of Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman, who voted last April for a bill that mandated TikTok's China-based parent company sell its U.S. operation by Sunday to avoid being banned in the U.S., was located in the mall in Fond du Lac.... A 19-year-old Menasha man, whose name has not been released, was in custody and will be charged with arson, police said. They said he was arrested after he was seen near the mall watching the fire."

News Lede

New York Times: "David Schneiderman, an editor turned publisher turned chief executive of The Village Voice, the granddaddy of alternative newspapers, whose 28-year tenure ran from its era of downtown-bestriding indispensability to a long, slow fade in the internet era, died on Friday in Edmonds, Wash., near Seattle. He was 77."

The Conversation -- January 19, 2025

Marie: Sorry, I've been up all night talking to Microsoft about a problem that at first I couldn't fix and then they couldn't fix. The only good thing about Microsoft technicians' not being able to fix what I thought was a simple problem is that I don't feel so stupid for not being able to fix it myself. Anyway, I need some rest.

The New York Times is live-updating stuff about Trump. ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times declares, “The mood in Washington is very different this time around. Instead of a rowdy resistance and a women’s march that drew nearly 500,000 here and some five million across the globe — an international swath of pink hats — we have Republicans who have gotten even more sheeplike and Democrats who still seem deflated and flummoxed, with no compelling ideas or pols to lead them out of the wilderness. And this as Trump is surrounded not by advisers, generals and a daughter trying (and failing) to temper him but by fervent loyalists who will help him toss out executive orders the same way he tossed out paper towels in Puerto Rico, with no worries about who might be hit.” ~~~

Marie: The first time Trump was president*, he was the most corrupt president* ever. Now, he's topped Trump I. He'll be riding his crypto-corrupt hobbyhorse right up the Capitol steps before he swears on a Bible & all to preserve, protect and defend whatever. ~~~

~~~ Ben Berkowitz & Brady Dale of Axios: "... Trump launched his own cryptocurrency overnight and swiftly appeared to make more than $25 billion on paper for himself and his companies. The stunning launch of $TRUMP caught the entire industry off-guard, and speaks to both his personal influence and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in his administration. It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have $25 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 24 hours previously.... Friday night, while Trump was reportedly hosting a 'Crypto Ball' for the industry in Washington, the president-elect launched his own meme-linked cryptocurrency. His website bills it as 'the only official Trump meme.' While a number of Trump-branded meme coins popped up in recent months, none had his official endorsement until now." ~~~

I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. $Trump is currently the hottest digital meme on earth.... This is just the beginning. -- Eric Trump, in a statement to the New York Times

It is literally cashing in on the presidency — creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president’s family in connection with his office.... It is beyond unprecedented. -- Adav Noti of the Campaign Legal Center ~~~

     ~~~ Eric Lipton of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump and his family on Friday started selling a cryptocurrency token featuring an image of Mr. Trump drawn from the July assassination attempt, a potentially lucrative new business that ethics experts assailed as a blatant effort to cash in on the office he is about to occupy again.... It is yet another sign that the Trump family will be much less hesitant in this second term to bend or breach traditional ethical boundaries.... This newest venture brings Mr. Trump and his family directly into the world of selling cryptocurrency, which is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Trump recently disclosed he intended to name a cryptocurrency advocate as S.E.C. chairman.”

Derek Seidman of Truthout: “... the breadth of direct corporate sway within the incoming regime goes beyond big campaign donations and individual players like [Elon] Musk. What’s becoming clear is that key spheres of policy-making — energy, finance and tech — will be overseen by wealthy figures plucked from the industries they’re tasked to oversee.... Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which monitors executive branch appointees, told Truthout that, while the first Trump administration was 'catastrophically corrupt,' it still made gestures toward limiting conflicts of interest. But now, he says, 'there are essentially no restraints being promised.'” Read on.

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Bipartisan critics of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are sharpening their arguments that he is unfit to serve as the nation’s top health official, embracing the extra time they have been given while Kennedy waits for his confirmation hearings to be scheduled. The Office of Government Ethics as of Friday was still evaluating Kennedy’s financial disclosures, which are required for potential Cabinet officials, delaying his anticipated hearings in front of the Senate’s finance and health committees.... Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) previewed Thursday how Democrats are likely to examine Kennedy in upcoming hearing.... Many of Warren’s questions — roughly 175 in all — directly quote Kennedy’s past statements, such as his suggestion that the coronavirus may have been 'ethnically targeted' to spare some Jews and Chinese.... Meanwhile, former vice president Mike Pence and his conservative allies this week urged GOP senators to ask whether Kennedy ... is truly committed to restricting access to abortion medication and pursuing other goals long held by the antiabortion movement.”

Paper Tigers? Or a Set-up? Nick Miroff & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump’s handpicked 'border czar' Tom Homan said in an interview Saturday that the incoming administration is reconsidering whether to launch immigration raids in Chicago next week after preliminary details leaked out in news reports.”

Sapna Maheshwari, et al., of the New York Times: “Hours before a federal law banning TikTok from the United States was set to take effect on Sunday, the Chinese-owned social media app went dark, and U.S. users could no longer access videos on the platform. Instead, the app greeted them with a message that said 'a law banning TikTok has been enacted.' 'We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution,' the message said. 'Please stay tuned!' In addition, TikTok’s sister app, Lemon8, stopped working and showed U.S. users a message saying that it 'isn’t available right now.' Both TikTok and Lemon8 are owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet giant. Apple said it removed TikTok and other ByteDance apps, including Lemon8, from its app store, and users said that Google’s U.S. app store also removed TikTok.” Here's a Politico story. ~~~

     ~~~ David Ingram & Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: “... Donald Trump told NBC News’ 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker in a phone interview Saturday that he will 'most likely' give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the U.S. after he takes office Monday.”

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North Carolina. Good for Me But Not for Thee. Doug Clark of ProPublica: “As a member of the Army National Guard in 2019 and 2020, Jefferson Griffin voted in North Carolina elections using military absentee ballots. Now, as he seeks to overturn the results of a state Supreme Court election that went against him, Griffin is asking that same court to disqualify the votes of around 5,500 people who voted in the same manner as he had. Since Democrat Allison Riggs won reelection to the state’s highest court last year by 734 votes, Griffin, now a Republican judge on the state’s Court of Appeals, has repeatedly tried to nullify her victory. Last week, the Republican majority on the state Supreme Court temporarily blocked the certification of Riggs’ win after Griffin filed a legal petition arguing that the election should be awarded to him.”

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Israel's Wars. The New York Times live updates of developments Sunday in Israel's wars are here: “A long-awaited agreement between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage release went into effect on Sunday morning, a step that is widely seen as the best chance to end the devastating 15-month war in the Gaza Strip. After a delay of just over two hours, Israel received the names of three hostages expected to be released later on Sunday, according to two Israeli officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. Israel had said the cease-fire would not come into effect until it had received the list. Israeli officials have not announced the names of the hostages set to be released, pending permission from their families. Hamas had earlier announced the names of the hostages on social media.” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here.

The Conversation -- January 18, 2025

Erica Green & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Friday that he would commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates serving long prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses, the broadest commutation of individual sentences ever issued by a U.S. president. The commutations are for offenders who received harsher sentences for drug crimes than they would under current practices, a move aimed at reversing longstanding criminal justice disparities, Mr. Biden said. Those disparities disproportionately affected Black people and fueled mass incarceration, many experts say.... Mr. Biden said his latest commutations would help those who received sentences based on now-discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, or faced inflated charges for drug crimes. Mr. Biden said in his statement that he was following the lead of Congress, which over the past two decades has passed legislation to remedy decades-long disparities spurred by tough-on-crime laws, such as mandatory minimum sentences." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden declared on Friday that he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the requirements of ratification and therefore is now part of the Constitution, but he declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it. 'In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,' Mr. Biden said in a statement. Under the Constitution, however, the president has no direct role in approving amendments and his statement has no legal force by itself. The archivist of the United States, a Biden appointee, has refused to formally publish the amendment on the grounds that it has not met the requirements to become part of the Constitution.... Even so, advocates maintained that Mr. Biden's imprimatur gave the amendment additional credibility for any future court battle over whether it actually had the force of law. In effect, Mr. Biden and his allies are daring opponents to go to court to argue that women do not have equal rights." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, via the White House. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One thing is certain: under a Trump administration, or any time the government is controlled by Republicans, women do not have equal rights. The underlying rule, as expressed by many a MAGA dude is, "your body, my choice." ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post writes quite a useful explanatory post. He pooh-poohs Biden's statement, but he admits the idea is not entirely crazy: "Even the American Bar Association has taken the position that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all the necessary hurdles and should be implemented. It passed a resolution last year stating that the deadline isn't legally binding and that states can't rescind their ratifications, because neither power appears in Article V of the Constitution.... I won't walk through all the legal ins and outs -- my colleague Glenn Kessler did a nice job of that here -- but suffice it to say that these issues are far from being settled enough for a president to claim an amendment is law." ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Prokop of Vox is equally helpful. ~~~

     ~~~ The Associated Press provides an ERA timeline that begins December 10, 1923.

Annie Karni & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: relate how Chuck Schumer finally got around to urging President Biden not to run for re-election. "The roughly 45-minute conversation, which took place on [] July 13, 2024, on] a screened-in porch overlooking a pond, was more pointed and emotional than previously known, and helps to explain how Mr. Biden came to the decision just over a week later to end his campaign. It is a central piece of the untold story of how Mr. Schumer and congressional Democrats, who spent years batting away suggestions that Mr. Biden was too old and mentally frail to be president, ultimately led the effort to pressure him to step aside." Read on. As we all know, it was too little, too late. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Trump is not president* yet, but the new Republican Congress is in session, so it has ensured that the U.S. economy is already in danger of being, well, "extraordinarily" messed up: ~~~

     ~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen told Congress on Friday that on Jan. 21 the Treasury Department will have to begin using 'extraordinary measures' to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt.... The debt limit -- which caps the amount of money that the United States is authorized to borrow to fund the government and meet its financial obligations -- will now be the problem of the next Treasury secretary, along with ... Donald J. Trump and the lawmakers who must decide its fate.... 'The United States is not going to default if I'm confirmed,' [Trump's treasury secretary nominee & billionaire hedge-fund manager Scott] Bessent said [during his confirmation hearing this week]."

Eric Lipton of the New York Times: After Elon Musk's "Starship spacecraft blew up as it was still climbing into space..., the F.A.A. on Friday suspend[ed] any additional liftoffs by SpaceX's Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. The incident raises new questions about both the safety of the rapidly increasing number of commercial space launches, or at least the air traffic disruption being caused by them. It also is the latest incident highlighting the conflicts that Elon Musk's new role in the Trump administration will bring. He will have the remit to recommend changes, and potentially budget cuts, to government agencies including the F.A.A. That tension could hamper investigations like the one announced on Friday.... Mr. Musk also made fun of the spectacle the explosion created, as the debris fell toward Turks and Caicos Islands. 'Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!' he wrote atop a video of the fiery debris falling toward earth."

Ellie Silverman of the Washington Post: "Thousands of people are expected to rally Saturday in Washington and in cities across the country as part of the People's March, a protest of President-elect Donald Trump and GOP trifecta policy priorities that they say will undermine the rights of women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and racial and religious minorities.... A complete list of sponsors and partners can be found here.... In Washington, participants plan to gather at 10 a.m. at either Farragut Square, McPherson Square or Franklin Park, with each location focused on specific issues."

Marie: Now I'm having a genuine sad: ~~~

     ~~~ John Santucci & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said he is moving his inauguration indoors Monday due to the freezing weather expected in Washington, D.C. Trump said he'll be sworn in and deliver his inauguration address inside the Capitol Rotunda.... 'We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade, Trump [said]. 'I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In.' Due to this change, the 'vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person,' according to the Joint Inaugural Committee. 'Those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress will be able to attend in person.'" MB: Sadly, the Capital One Arena is an indoor facility, too. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wait, they're having a parade inside the arena? Weird. Here's a list of the groups slated to march around in circles. ~~~

     ~~~ Trumpity-Doo-Dah. The New York Times has live updates of Trump stuff here. The updates include entries about the inauguration. ~~~

     ~~~ Chaos from Day One. Emily Davies, et al., of the Washington Post: The "sudden weather-induced change ... forced a scramble for hundreds of thousands of people who had spent months planning for the swearing-in.... Law enforcement officials called emergency meetings. Members of Congress learned about the change in the media, then fielded hundreds of calls from confused constituents who had tickets to the festivities. Workers inside the Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will now take the oath of office, quickly got to work assembling a new podium. And scores of people from across the country who had bought flights and booked hotels reconsidered their trips to the nation's capital.... The 220,000 tickets distributed by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a bipartisan group responsible for planning the event, will now be 'commemorative,' the House Sergeant at Arms said in an email Friday to lawmakers and Hill staff, adding that 'th majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person.' The Capital One Arena, where Trump said supporters could watch the swearing-in, can seat up to 20,000." ~~~

~~~⭐ "Trump to Take Oath of Office in Chamber Jan. 6 Rioters 'Desecrated'." Kyle Cheney & Ali Bianco of Politico: "At noon on Monday..., Donald Trump will be inaugurated in the Capitol rotunda where four years earlier, a wayward supporter named Brian Kelly ... filmed a horrific scene: Rioters seeking to prevent the transfer of power to President Joe Biden clashing with Capitol police and vandalizing artwork and statues, as the halls of Congress choked with tear gas. On Friday, Kelly was one of a handful of Jan. 6 defendants sentenced for his role in a riot that Trump has made clear he hopes to erase from history -- while federal judges plead with the world to never forget it. 'I only wish the rest of the country could see some of the things I see,' U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said before sentencing Kelly to 10 days in prison. 'This may be, based on what happens outside these courthouse walls, the last one of these. I don't know.' Chutkan said she had never been in the Capitol until she visited to pay her respects to President Jimmy Carter earlier this month. Her visit, she said, after presiding over so many Jan. 6 cases, was a reminder that 'people came in and desecrated that beautiful space.'"

⭐ Marie: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks suggest he (a) doesn't give a flying fig about what happens to the country & the world and/or (b) is aware of his own mortality. In either event, he will take millions of people to their deaths with him. Some of those who perish will be the Congressional Republicans who rubber-stamped his plans. ~~~

~~~ Christina Jewett of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr...., Donald J. Trump's choice to lead the nation's health agencies, formally asked the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization of all Covid vaccines during a deadly phase of the pandemic when thousands of Americans were still dying every week. Mr. Kennedy filed a petition with the F.D.A. in May 2021 demanding that officials rescind authorization for the shots and refrain from approving any Covid vaccine in the future. Just six months earlier, Mr. Trump had declared the Covid vaccines a miracle.... Estimates had begun to show that the rapid rollout of Covid vaccines had already saved about 140,000 lives in the United States. The petition was filed on behalf of the nonprofit that Mr. Kennedy founded and led, Children's Health Defense. It claimed that the risks of the vaccines outweighed the benefits and that the vaccines weren't necessary because good treatments were available, including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, which had already been deemed ineffective against the virus." The ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ William Broad of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has picked Brandon Williams, a former Navy officer and one-term congressman, to become the keeper of the nation's arsenal of thousands of nuclear bombs and warheads. Mr. Trump's selection is a shift from a tradition in which the people who served as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration typically had deep technical roots or experience in the nation's atomic complex. What's unknown publicly is the extent of Mr. Williams' experience in the knotty intricacies of how the weapons work and how they are kept reliable for decades without ever being ignited. Terry C. Wallace Jr., a former director of the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, expressed surprise at Mr. Trump's pick. Dr. Wallace ... characterized [Mr. Williams] as having 'very limited experience' with the N.N.S.A.'s missions.... The credentials and credibility of whoever becomes N.N.S.A.'s new leader may face close scrutiny because advisers to Mr. Trump have suggested that the incoming administration may propose a restart to the nation's explosive testing of nuclear arms. That step, daunting both technically and politically, would end U.S. adherence to a global test ban...."

David Nakamura & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) on Friday pledged that if confirmed to lead the Department of Homeland Security she would halt a border control program that the Biden administration has credited for helping bring a sharp reduction in illegal crossings. At her confirmation hearing before the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Noem reiterated a promise from ... Donald Trump to put an end to CBP One, which allows migrants outside the country to use a free mobile app to request an appointment at an official port of entry on the U.S. southern border so that they can apply for asylum. The number of migrants arrested at the border has dropped in recent months to the lowest level of President Joe Biden's tenure after rising to all-time highs in 2023. More than 930,000 people have used the CBP One app to schedule appointments since its introduction in January of that year, according to federal officials." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You can see where Trump & Noem would want to eliminate a program that greatly reduced illegal immigration. The CBP One program is just too damned humane. Cruelty, after all, is of the essence of their scheme.

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "As the incoming Trump administration prepares to install a political appointee to run the U.S. Border Patrol for the first time in the agency's 100-year history, retiring chief Jason Owens said in an interview Friday that he hopes the top leader will remain a nonpartisan figure who has served in uniform. 'I don't think that politics should get into the law enforcement arena, because we have to be impartial and focused on the mission no matter who is in charge,' Owens said.... Donald Trump is preparing to replace Owens with Mike Banks, a former Border Patrol agent who Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appointed to run Operation Lone Star, the state's border crackdown, the New York Post first reported Thursday. The move is a break with tradition.... In an email Thursday, Owens told the Border Patrol's nearly 20,000 agents and staff that he plans to remain until April 30. CBP officials say they aren't sure when Banks will assume the top job since Border Patrol leadership has never been appointed by the White House."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "The incoming Trump administration intends to carry out 'post-inauguration' immigration raids in Chicago next week, according to two people familiar with the planning and correspondence reviewed by The New York Times, an opening step in ... Donald J. Trump's goal to oversee the largest deportation operation in American history. The plan ... would start on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Trump is inaugurated, and last until the following Monday.... The dates were still being finalized, however, and could change." ~~~

     ~~~ Camilo Montoya-Galvez & Fin Gómez of CBS News: "Asked on Fox News about a potential ICE operation in Chicago next week -- a plan first reported by The Wall Street Journal -- incoming White House 'border czar' Tom Homan said 'there's gonna be a big raid all across the country.'"

Another Meet-the-Billionaires Dinner at Mar-a-Lardo. Kevin Perry of the Independent: "Bill Gates has revealed he had a lengthy dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where the pair discussed global health. The Microsoft co-founder, 69, told The Independent he met with ... Trump at his Florida residence shortly after Christmas to discuss the work his Gates Foundation is doing to prevent the spread of HIV and polio, and to urge Trump to continue U.S. funding for research in those areas.... 'I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,' Gates told the Journal. 'I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.'"

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday, rejecting the social media company's First Amendment challenge to the law that effectively bans it in the United States starting on Sunday. The unanimous decision may deal a death blow to the U.S. operations of the wildly popular app, which serves up short-form videos that are a leading source of information and entertainment to tens of millions of Americans, especially younger ones.... The Biden administration has said that given the timing, it would fall to the incoming administration to enforce the law.... Donald J. Trump, who has signaled his support for the app, had explored the possibility of an executive order that could allow TikTok to keep operating despite the pending ban. It is unclear whether the tactic would withstand legal challenges or even how such an order would work." This is a liveblog. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, don't worry, kids. Pam Bondi, Trump's choice for AG, who is most likely to be confirmed, would not say in her confirmation hearing yesterday whether or not she would enforce a TikTok ban. And as we know, the Supremes do not have their own enforcement arm. ~~~

~~~ Update. As the Clock TikToks. David McCabe of the New York Times: "Tiktok ... said in a statement [late Friday] that 'unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19' unless the Biden administration assures Apple, Google and other companies that they would not be punished for delivering TikTok's services in the United States. The statement was TikTok's latest attempt to pressure the administration to grant it a reprieve from a law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, that would effectively ban its service starting Sunday. The law says that app stores and major cloud computing providers cannot deliver TikTok to U.S. consumers unless the company is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to a non-Chinese owner."

Marie: Betrayal, Magnified. About that guy you thought was the love of your life: First, he knocked you up. Then, when you told him you were pregnant, he abandoned you, leaving you unable to start a family. Now, he's going to sue your friends. ~~~

     ~~~ Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "... antiabortion advocates ... are increasingly turning to one group with uniquely intimate and specific information to help them find [abortion] cases: male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies.... This partner-focused approach will shift to a more public phase next month when Texas's largest antiabortion organization launches an advertising campaign on Facebook and X to reach the husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who have had abortions in the state -- with the goal of recruiting them to file lawsuits against those who assisted the women in ending their pregnancies."

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Ohio. Patrick Svitek & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Friday named his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill the state's Senate seat left vacant by Vice President-elect JD Vance." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Vivek Ramaswamy intends to run for governor of Ohio, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking, but does not immediately plan to leave his high-profile role in Donald J. Trump's government efficiency project. Mr. Ramaswamy told Ohio allies of his plan on Friday after the state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, named Ohio's lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance.... At times, Mr. Ramaswamy's role in the incoming administration had appeared tenuous to some in Mr. Trump's circle. There have been repeated complaints about Mr. Ramaswamy from people close to Mr. Trump, and, at times, from Mr. Trump himself." The Hill has a story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's see how much Ohio like a guy who said they favored "mediocrity over excellence" and "celebrate the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian"? Vivek was writing about Americans in general, but that characterization surely applies to Ohio Republicans, if to any American. Vivek seems to have missed out on at least one lesson in The Art of the Pander.

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Never underestimate Canadians. We fight very hard, and we're very courageous. We are willing to be surgical and appropriate to have an impact on American jobs. -- Mélanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, Thursday, in an interview with the New York Times ~~~

~~~ Canada Has a Plan. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Canadian officials are preparing a three-stage plan of retaliatory tariffs and other trade restrictions against the United States, which will be put into motion if ... Donald J. Trump makes good on his threat to impose a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the United States. Canadian officials will wait until Mr. Trump has made his move -- which he has said will be on his first day in office, Monday -- and then start with imposing tariffs. They would mostly affect consumer goods worth 37 billion Canadian dollars ($25.6 billion), according to two senior government officials familiar with the plans.... They specifically want to focus on goods made in Republican or swing states, where the pain of tariffs, like pressure on jobs and the bottom lines of local businesses, would affect Trump allies." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh why, oh why, can U.S. Democrats be as courageous as Canadians?

Israel's Wars. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel's cease-fire agreement with Hamas will go into effect on Sunday, according to Qatar's Foreign Ministry and the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. A ministry spokesman said the truce would begin at 8:30 a.m. local time.... The Israeli security cabinet approved the deal on Friday morning, two days after it was announced, and the full cabinet followed with final approval during a meeting that continued into the Jewish Sabbath. Israeli civilians will have a short window to file objections, but the courts are widely expected to allow the agreement to go forward.... The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service organization, said Friday that Israeli strikes had killed more than 100 people since the cease-fire deal was announced, a figure that could not be independently verified." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here. ~~~

~~~ Patrick Kingsley, et al., of the New York Times: "The truce that was ultimately announced ... hours after Israel's [latest] demand, was little different to versions promoted for most of the past year by mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the Biden administration, whose representatives met frequently with the warring parties in Cairo, Doha and several European capitals throughout 2024. What pushed the deal over the line this past week was the unlikely partnership between the envoys of America's current and future presidents, working in tandem with the Qatari prime minister in marathon late-night meetings. While Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have competed for credit, the reality is that their representatives were both crucial to the final push, each using different approaches to push the Israeli leadership toward a deal while [the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,] focused on Hamas.... The delegations, which do not speak directly to each other, sat in different rooms on different floors, with Qatari and Egyptian officials passing messages between the two sides."