The Conversation -- January 23, 2024
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The full federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday rejected ... Donald J. Trump's bid to lift a gag order imposed on him in the criminal case in which he stands accused of trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election. The terse ruling, issued on behalf of the 11 judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, leaves Mr. Trump with only the option of appealing to the Supreme Court if he wants to keep fighting the gag order, which restricts his ability to publicly criticize certain people involved in the legal proceeding."
Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The trial of E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Donald J. Trump has been postponed for another day and will resume Thursday, a federal court announced on Tuesday. The court did not offer a reason for the additional delay, but the trial was originally postponed for a day after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in court Monday that a juror had reported flulike symptoms and would be getting a Covid test."
Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments in today's New Hampshire primary. After 7:00 pm ET, I'll post this on Wednesday's page.
Marie: I just voted in New Hampshire, and I would say turnout was light because I breezed in and out in no time. As tempting as it was to vote for Vermin Supreme, I wrote in Joe Biden instead. Glad I did because a fellow I talked to after I voted told me that Vermin Supreme has been running for 20 years, and he hasn't won yet. I guess people just aren't turned on by the thought of rat-topped pizza pies.
Marshall Cohen of CNN: "The Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission has dismissed a challenge against Donald Trump's candidacy based on his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The panel rejected the case on procedural grounds Monday, finding that the commission didn't have jurisdiction to address the matter. The outcome is a victory for the former president, but the panel avoided grappling with questions around his culpability for the deadly attack on the US Capitol.... Decisions made by the commission can be appealed in Massachusetts courts."
Say Whaaaa? Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's campaign social media team pounced when ... Donald Trump slurred through an incoherent chunk of a rally speech and also appeared to commit a gaffe in which he quoted himself in the third person.... [In] a daffy chunk ... [of his speech in Laconia, New Hampshire, Monday night,] Trump describes the operation of the Iron Dome the way a fifth-grader would cut down cops and robbers on a playground.... During the already-bizarre chunk of Trump's speech where he waxes apocalyptic over a hypnotic cult musical score, he threw in a stray self-quote: 'How foolish, are we? How stupid are our leaders? We can be energy independent and even energy dominant. Yes. Oh, yes. And quickly, says President Trump. We will be there very quickly.' And minutes later, he took a tumble down a chunk about the death penalty, slurring as he told the crowd: 'We have become a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation which is incapable of solvin' even the swollest, smallest problem, the simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty! We will put this on!' Team Biden highlighted both moments on their Twitter/X feed[.]" ~~~
~~~ Marie: You might think that Trump had made these incoherent remarks during a foaming-at-the-mouth tirade. But no. If you listen to the clips, you can hear him speaking quietly, slowly, listlessly and apparently trying to carefully read from a teleprompter. He isn't up to it. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's recent campaign appearances "signal we're headed for a lengthy debate over the relative cognitive abilities of the candidates in the most geriatric election in modern history.... Plenty of people are noting [Trump's flubs], including Fox News, Haley, Ron DeSantis's campaign before he dropped out and increasingly the Biden campaign, which has taken to promoting Trump's flubs on social media. It has also launched an ad on the subject.... While the age issue was basically a wash in the 2020 election, [President] Biden's many senior moments as president have led to a sharp rise in reservations about his mental fitness.... Trump has reaped benefits from trying to attach his own liabilities to his opponents. Now the Biden campaign has clearly set about trying to do that, and Trump's unsteady return to a packed campaign schedule suggests he could deliver plenty of fodder."
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Presidential Race
Haley Routs Trump. Alyce McFadden of the New York Times: "The first votes in the New Hampshire primary have been cast in the township of Dixville Notch. All six of them. Nikki Haley took 100 percent of the vote, with 100 percent turnout. The polls -- or poll, in this case -- opened just after the clock struck midnight, as they have here for 64 years, to great fanfare. And 10 minutes later, the voting was done. The event is as much a press spectacle as it is a serious exercise in democracy: There were more than 10 journalists for every voter, including representatives from major TV networks, newspapers, wire services and foreign press from over a dozen countries." McFadden spoke with the voters.
Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "In a first-of-its-kind effort, some Democrats are trying early this election year to drum up a symbolic show of support for the president, who has faced no formidable primary challengers, even as he has drawn low approval ratings. The unusual New Hampshire initiative is one of the results of a revampe Democratic nominating calendar. [President] Biden and the Democratic National Committee moved South Carolina to the front of the pack, but New Hampshire decided to continue to hold its long-prized first-in-the-nation primary earlier, in defiance of the new party rules. The contest carries no practical weight since the DNC has stripped the state of its delegates to the nominating convention and Biden opted not to put his name on the ballot. But Democrats here say their vote ... offer[s] the first show of support for Biden in his party before other states hold contests. And Biden's allies have been aggressive in promoting him in the state, with a super PAC run by a former party official spending more than $1.2 million on ads and mail, and many surrogates close to the campaign, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), campaigning for the write-in effort." ~~~
~~~ Alex Seitz-Wald & Mike Memoli of NBC News: "The New Hampshire attorney general's office says it is investigating what appears to be an 'unlawful attempt' at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday's presidential primary. 'Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,' the attorney generals office said in a statement. '... New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.' The investigation comes after a prominent New Hampshire Democrat, whose personal cell phone number showed up on the caller ID of those receiving the call, filed a complaint." (Also linked yesterday.)
Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump defended his confusing GOP primary rival Nikki Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, saying he recently aced a cognitive test.... [Bret Baier of Fox asked Trump in an interview,] '[Nikki Haley] said, are you mentally fit? That's basically what she said.... How do you respond to that?' 'Well, I did a cognitive test recently, and I aced it,' Trump replied. He then explained his previous gaffes, like when he appeared to confuse Obama for Biden, that it was all part of a bit[.]" MB: Hall doesn't say so, but Trump took the "recent" cognitive test he claims to have aced about four years ago. Update: I just heard a clip of Trump's saying he took the test "a few months ago." It is not impossible that a doctor readministered the test, but my own doctor told me doctors are not routinely giving these cognitive tests anymore. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post (Nov. 27, 2023): "Last week, Trump's campaign released a vague note from a doctor declaring that his 'overall health is excellent' and his 'cognitive exams were exceptional,' without providing any specifics about the results." MB: So perhaps I was wrong and Trump did "recently" take a cognitive test. However, I encourage you to think about the meaning of "exceptional": it does not necessarily mean "exceptionally good." ~~~
~~~ Oh, and this from Ashley Parker & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post (Jan. 19): "'I think it was 35, 30 questions,' the former president said in Portsmouth, N.H., of the test, which he said involved a few animal identification queries. 'They always show you the first one, like a giraffe, a tiger, or this, or that -- a whale. "Which one is the whale?" Okay. And that goes on for three or four [questions] and then it gets harder and harder and harder.' The only problem: The creator of the test in question, called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, said it has never included the specific combination of animals described by Trump in any of its versions over the years. In fact, Ziad Nasreddine, the Canadian neurologist who invented the test, said the assessment ... has never once included a drawing of a whale.... Experts also note that the assessment is not an I.Q. or intelligence test, though Trump has often talked about it as if it was."
~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: Donald Trump "made a series of flubs and missteps that serious minds should want to know more about. And yet, his stumbles are barely getting covered on cable news.... There also seems to be some reticence over the issue in light of [President] Biden's apparent decline." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "... don't mistake [Donald Trump] for a colossus leading a mighty band. This view ignores the opportunism behind many of the endorsements he is winning and the sharp split between Republicans who want to govern and those who don't.... Trump's apparent dominance distracts from what the behavior of elected GOP politicians in Washington teaches us day after day: The party is a mess." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Bender & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump plumbed new depths of degradation in his savage takedown of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a yearlong campaign of emasculation and humiliation that helped force one of the party's rising stars out of the presidential race after just one contest and left him to pick up the pieces of his political future. In front of enormous rally audiences, Mr. Trump painted Mr. DeSantis as a submissive sniveler, insisting that he had cried and begged 'on his knees' for an endorsement in the 2018 Florida governor's race. In a series of sexually charged attacks, Mr. Trump suggested -- without a shred of proof -- that Mr. DeSantis wore high heels, that he might be gay and that perhaps he was a pedophile. He promised that intense national scrutiny would leave Mr. DeSantis whining for 'mommy.' Mr. DeSantis shied from fighting back, which only inflicted more pain on his campaign." ~~~
~~~ Return on Investment: from Little to Nothing. Liz Skalka of the Huffington Post: "... the DeSantis campaign and its allied super PAC, Never Back Down, spent at least $53 million to ultimately win the vote of 23,420 Iowans. As other outlets have noted, it works out to roughly $2,262 per voter -- although not every penny was spent to court Iowans, and DeSantis' outlay in the final weeks of the campaign won't be available until the end of the month.... Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent $22 million, including more than $15 million of his own money, to win the votes of 8,449 Iowans. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a wealthy one-time software company executive, spent more than $15 million, with $12 million from his own pocket, on a campaign that he abandoned before any votes had even been cast." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Contributor RockyGirl made me feel sorry for Ron DeSantis -- for the first time ever -- when she suggested in yesterday's Comments that he "must be on the Spectrum"; that is, that DeSantis suffers from at least a mild form of autism. I'm guessing RockyGirl was kidding. But if it's true, think of the sympathy DeSantis would have garnered by becoming such a success despite his disability. Our jokes about him would have been considered cruel. Even some Trump supporters would have faulted Trump for his nasty attacks (and, yes, Trump would have attacked anyway). However, autism does not explain away Rhonda's own very mean streak. Ron DeSantis is a cruel man, who has taken lives with his condemnation of Covid vaccines, endangered others and damaged minorities and LGBTQ+ people with his despicable "anti-woke" agenda. So, on the whole, I guess I don't feel very sorry for Rhonda. Have a chocolate puddin' cup, Rhonda, and go away. ~~~
~~~ Not feeling sorry for DeSantis: Stephen Colbert, who notes that Ron's parting "Winston Churchill" quotation was actually from "an old Budweiser ad": ~~~
CNN had a liveblog yesterday covering E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump, but the court adjourned for the day because of a sick juror. "Both Trump and Carroll were in the courtroom when the cancellation was announced.... Trump attorney Alina Habba told the judge that the former president plans to testify in the trial, but he cannot be in court on Tuesday because of the New Hampshire primary." MB: There's nothing forcing Trump to be in New Hampshire on primary day. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Maria Cramer & Kate Christobek of the New York Times have the story here. Judge Lewis Kaplan had not yet decided as of Monday morning when the trial would continue but he told Trump lawyer Alina Habba, who requested the trial be delayed until Wednesday, "Circumstances may result in your getting what you ask for. And maybe not." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update 2. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Former President Trump's defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll won't resume until Wednesday morning, according to a court spokesperson, a timeline that enables Trump to wait until after the New Hampshire primary before deciding whether to testify."
~~~ Ana Faguy of Forbes: "... Donald Trump took to Truth Social Monday attacking writer E. Jean Carroll in more than three dozen separate posts, hours after the defamation trial against Trump was canceled for the day because of a juror illness.... The former president posted more than 40 times in the span of less than an hour Monday morning, attacking Carroll using snippets of interviews Carroll has done with the media, purported Facebook posts from Carroll and original posts from Trump attacking Carroll's claims about him."
Gary Fineout of Politico: "A push by some Florida Republicans to use taxpayer money to help pay for ... Donald Trump's multiple legal battles quickly fell apart after Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to veto the legislation. State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican who endorsed Trump's reelection, has filed a bill for this year's legislative session that could allow the state to hand out up to $5 million to the embattled Republican front-runner for president. The legislation has already won the endorsement from Jimmy Patronis, the state's Republican chief financial officer, who for months has been publicly calling for taxpayers to pay to defend Trump from criminal charges.... Garcia late Monday night announced she would withdraw the bill... less than two hours after DeSantis publicly posted on X ... that he did not support the measure.... Roughly 12 hours earlier, Garcia stated in a release, put out by Patronis' office, that 'we're in the midst of an historic moment where we're watching an election that's trying to be stolen by left wing prosecutors, the Biden Administration and even Blue States.'" MB: "Trying to be stolen"? At least we know Garcia is inarticulate. More seriously, this bill was an abomination.
Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge unsealed a divorce case on Monday that has entangled the Atlanta district attorney prosecuting ... Donald J. Trump, but halted plans to force the testimony of the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis. One of the parties to the divorce, Nathan Wade, is the lawyer whom Ms. Willis hired to manage the election interference case against Mr. Trump and his allies.... The accusations do not change the underlying facts in the Trump prosecution.... But [they] complicate the case considerably.... The judge ... stayed Ms. Willis's deposition [demanded by a subpoena from Mr. Wade's wife, Joycelyn Wade], which had been planned for Tuesday, saying he wished to hear from Mr. Wade first." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post is in high dudgeon over the Willis-Wade affair. "What in the world was Willis thinking?... In government or out, you don't hire your boyfriend. You know who knows this? Fani Willis. 'I certainly will not be choosing people to date that work under me,' she said in a 2020 campaign appearance helpfully recirculated by the Georgia GOP chairman.... The arrangement stinks, and it plays right into Trump's hands.... It might not damn her case in court, but the damage in the court of public opinion is immense." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Marcus makes two assumptions here: (1) that Willis & Wade were in a relationship before Willis hired Wade, and (2) that the affair has something to do with "thinking." I don't think there's any publicly-available evidence yet of when the affair began, but we don't need direct evidence to know that most "inappropriate" sexual liaisons don't involve much, if any, thinking. People who work closely together are always having affairs. And most of them know, on some level, that the affairs are, at best, inadvisable. But, as often as not, sex will best propriety. ~~~
~~~ Update: Ruth's disapproval got me to wondering if she herself might have had an "inappropriate" affair that began in the workplace. So I found this 2017 story about Ruth's career. Down the page we learn, "Soon she was promoted to the paper's national staff, where she covered legal issues, including the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Her future husband was working for the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Thomas hearings, and their romance blossomed after he became one of her sources. How perfect is that?" Oh my stars & garters. I don't know where "Having Affair with Source" fits into the journalistic ethics code, but I'll bet it's in the "Don't Do This" section. What were you thinking, Ruth?
Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration recommended late Sunday night that airlines begin visual inspections of door plugs installed on Boeing 737-900ER planes, the second Boeing model to come under scrutiny this month. The F.A.A. said the plane has the same door plug design as the 737 Max 9, which had 171 jets from its fleet grounded after a door panel was blown off one of the jets shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight left Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5., forcing an emergency landing. The door plugs are placed as a panel where an emergency door would otherwise be if a plane had more seats." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Kentucky. Roshan Abraham of Vice: "Republican politicians in Kentucky are rallying behind a new bill that would authorize the use of force -- and potentially deadly force -- against unhoused people who are found to be camping on private property. The bill would also criminalize unsanctioned homeless encampments and restrict cities and towns from preempting state laws. The bill, known as the 'Safer Kentucky Act,' or HB5, would target homelessness, drug possession and mental illness by drastically increasing criminal penalties for a range of offenses. Introduced last week by Republican state representative Jared Bauman, it already has 52 sponsors in Kentucky's House of Representatives. A vote is scheduled for this week.... The bill says the use of force is 'justifiable' if a defendant believes that criminal trespass, robbery or 'unlawful camping' is occurring on their property. In addition, it says that 'deadly physical force' is justifiable if a defendant believes that someone is trying to 'dispossess' them of their property or is attempting a robbery or committing arson, language that could also have ramifications for tenants overstaying their lease." (Also linked yesterday.)
** Texas. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Monday, allowing federal officials to cut or remove parts of a concertina-wire barrier along the Mexican border that Texas erected to keep migrants from crossing into the state. The ruling, by a 5-to-4 vote, was a victory for the administration in the increasingly bitter dispute between the White House and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, an outspoken critic of President Biden's border policy who has shipped busloads of migrants to northern cities.... Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three liberal members to form a majority." The Texas Tribune story is here. MB: What's disgusting, not to mention ominous, is that four so-called justices thought it was fine for a state to assert itself over a federal prerogative and institute cruel & unusual punishment against people crossing the border. ~~~
~~~ Then There's Clay Higgins. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in its fight with Texas for control of the southern border, [Rep. Clay] Higgins [R-La.] weighed in on social media. 'My thoughts are that the feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground,' wrote Higgins." MB: This is nonsensical. If anyone was "staging a civil war," it was Greg Abbott, who tried to usurp the federal government's power. And Higgins himself came close to joining a civil war when he voted against certifying the duly-chosen Arizona and Pennsylvania Electors and claimed late last year that FBI agents unloaded from "ghost buses" and orchestrated the insurrection.
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israel Defense Forces said 21 soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in the deadliest single attack on its forces since they began their operation in the enclave.... IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the soldiers who died in southern Gaza were rigging buildings with mines when a strike appeared to trigger the explosives and collapse the buildings with the troops inside.... The IDF said its ground troops encircled Khan Younis and 'deepened the operation' around the area. The southern Gazan city is the hometown of Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar and the site of heavy fighting in recent weeks that has forced thousands of people to flee.... The United States and Britain, with the support of four allies, launched new airstrikes on eight Houthi targets in Yemen, heightening fears of a prolonged, retaliatory military campaign from the Iranian-backed militant group." ~~~
~~~ CNN's live updates for Tuesday are here.
Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "Twenty-three American citizens, most of whom served in the Israel Defense Forces, have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war since Oct. 7, according to the U.S. State Department.... After receiving draft notices as part of a wider mobilization, about 10,000 people living in the United States have reported for duty with the IDF, Israeli officials said in November. Many had previously done service in the IDF or remain reservists.... At least 32 Americans were killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. At least 10 Americans are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, with two released under a hostage exchange deal late last year." MB: So as I understand it, at least 55 Americans have been killed in the war.
"From the River to the Sea." Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "The phrase 'from the river to the sea' has sparked controversy in both Israel and the United States, where pro-Palestinian protesters have invoked the slogan in demands for freedom and rights for Palestinians living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Many Israelis equate these demands to calls for the erasure of the Israeli state, citing Hamas's own past rhetoric. U.S. House lawmakers pushed legislation deeming the slogan 'antisemitic.' But Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party have their own fixed vision of what should exist between the river and the sea -- Likud's original party platform insists that 'between the Sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty.' And the reality cemented under successive Netanyahu governments is one of Jewish supremacy and Israeli control over a large population of Palestinians whose lives are circumscribed by Israel's security imperatives."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Charles Osgood, a newscaster who told unconventional stories on the radio in unconventional ways -- sometimes with rhyme, sometimes with humor, often with both -- died on Tuesday at his home in Saddle River, N.J. He was 91."
The New York Times liveblogged the Academy Awards nominations. Here's Variety's list of nominees.
New York Times: "Dexter Scott King, who as one of four children of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked closely with -- but also frequently fought against -- his siblings and the civil rights community over his father's legacy, died on Monday at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 62.... Mr. King was the longtime chairman of the King Center, an institution established by his mother, Coretta Scott King, in 1968 to advance the vision of her husband. He was also the president of the King Estate, which managed licensing of his father's image and likeness."
New York Times: "Norman Jewison, whose broad range as a filmmaker was reflected in the three movies that earned him Academy Award nominations for best director -- the socially conscious drama 'In the Heat of the Night,' the big-budget musical 'Fiddler on the Roof' and the romantic comedy 'Moonstruck' -- died on Saturday at his home. He was 97.... Mr. Jewison, whose career began in Canadian television and spanned more than 50 years, was, like his close friend Sidney Lumet and a select few other directors, best known for making films that addressed social issues." ~~~
~~~ "Here are some films of his available to stream, no matter your mood," via the NYT.
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