The Conversation -- December 21, 2023

Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent.

The Woman Who Changed D-Day Dies at 100. Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Before dawn on June 3, 1944, a postal clerk [Maureen Flavin] in Ireland's County Mayo checked her weather gauges. A storm was coming fast.... She double-checked the observations. They then were passed along until finally they reached Britain's Met Office, which since 1939 had used the Blacksod post office as one of its weather stations. Blacksod carried particular importance. Its position on Ireland's northwestern coast was often an early warning of Atlantic weather systems headed for Britain.... About 7,000 ships and landing craft, 11,000 aircraft and more than 130,000 Allied troops were amassed for Operation Overlord, the invasion into Nazi-occupied France. The only missing puzzle piece was the weather forecast for the English Channel to decide if June 5 would be D-Day. The storm observations from County Mayo were the first indications of trouble ahead. The invasion was postponed until June 6. And the postal worker -- 21-year-old Maureen Flavin [later Maureen Flavin Sweeney] -- became part of World War II lore as a linchpin in the weather team whose work persuaded commanders to hold off for 24 hours the air-and-sea assault that helped change the course the war.... [Sweeney] died Dec. 17 at 100...." Read to the end.

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "Special counsel Jack Smith again urged the Supreme Court to weigh former President Trump's efforts to toss his election interference prosecution as a lower court considers Trump's argument he is immune from prosecution as a former executive. The swift reply comes after Trump on Wednesday argued acceptance of the case by the high court would be an end-run around the appeals process, with the next lower court hearing set for early next month."

Eileen Sullivan & Alan Feuer of New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, a day after a federal judge ordered him to start paying the $148 million in damages he owes to two former Georgia election workers for spreading lies that they had tried to steal the 2020 election from Donald J. Trump. Mr. Giuliani owes millions of dollars in legal fees as well as unpaid state and federal income taxes, according to the filing." A Reuters story is here.

Katherine Gregg of the Providence (R.I.) Journal: "The selection of former Trump National Security Adviser − and renowned conspiracy theorist − Mike Flynn as an inductee into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame has led to at least a half dozen resignations from the board that oversees the Hall of Fame. And it has led former Congressman Jim Langevin, who was also selected last week for induction into the honorary Hall of Fame, to serve notice: 'If retired General Michael Flynn were to be included in this class I would not accept the nomination.' In her letter of resignation from the board, former Rep. Denise Aiken wrote: "I find that I am unable to be associated with an organization that would choose to honor a criminal who failed to keep this oath to the Constitution of the United States.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead. MB: Don't they have a Hall of Infamy where they could stick General Mike in with notorious Providence mob bosses & such?

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Alan Feuer of New York Times: "It now seems clear that the courts -- especially the Supreme Court -- could dramatically shape the contours of the election.... A number of the issues the court is now confronting could drastically affect the timing of the proceedings against [Donald] Trump, the scope of the charges he should face or his status as a candidate, with potentially profound effects on his chances of winning the election. And the justices could easily become ensnared in several of the questions simultaneously.... All of this arrives at a particularly vulnerable moment for the court. In the wake of its decisions on contentious issues like abortion rights and affirmative action, critics have assailed it for being guided by an overt political ideology. At the same time, some of the justices have come under withering personal scrutiny for their finances and links to wealthy backers."

Adam Liptak of New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to put off a decision on a crucial question in his federal prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election: whether he has 'absolute immunity' for actions he took as president. The question, Mr. Trump's brief said, should be 'resolved in a cautious, deliberative manner -- not at breakneck speed.' He urged the justices not to 'rush to decide the issues with reckless abandon.' The request appeared to be part of Mr. Trump's general strategy of trying to delay the trial in the case, which is scheduled to start on March 4." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Chaos Is of the Essence of the Scheme. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Donald Trump's request to the Supreme Court on Wednesday was perhaps his most brazen delay tactic yet.... The nation's highest court is poised to consider next year whether Trump can be prosecuted for crimes committed after the 2020 election and whether the actions he took in office can bar him from being on the ballot again in 2024. It's just the kind of chaos where Trump thrives -- and finds a way to turn the tables to his advantage."

"Disqualification for Thee But Not for Me." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Trump on Tuesday night derided the [Colorado supreme court] ruling as 'eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice.' But not only did Trump try to overturn the will of voters after the 2020 election, he has on myriad occasions pushed the idea that candidates should be disqualified irrespective of the voters' will.... He built a base in the early 2010s with the ugly and false 'birther' campaign, whose entire premise was that Barack Obama wasn't eligible to be president.... During the 2016 GOP primary campaign, he repeatedly pushed the idea that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) might -- and even should -- be disqualified, both because he was born in Canada and because he purportedly cheated in the Iowa caucuses, which Cruz won. And Trump explicitly called for two others to be prohibited from running, including Hillary Clinton -- a lot[.]"(Also linked yesterday.)

Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun reports that the Colorado GOP is threatening to withdraw from the state's presidential primary if Donald Trump isn't on the ballot, and Colorado delegates would caucus instead to select their presidential nominee. (MB: Sorry, the page doesn't allow copying, so I've paraphrased the gist of the report.) An NBC News story is here.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "In the 24 hours since the Colorado Supreme Court kicked ... Donald Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot, social media outlets have been flooded with threats against the justices who ruled in the case, according to a report obtained by NBC News. Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts public interest research, identified 'significant violent rhetoric' against the justices and Democrats, often in direct response to Trump's posts about the ruling on his platform Truth Social. They found that some social media users posted justices' email addresses, phone numbers and office building addresses.... Posts -- whose images and links were included in the report -- noted a variety of methods that could be used to kill those perceived as Trump's enemies: hollow-point bullets, rifles, rope, bombs.... The threats fit into a predictable and familiar pattern, seen time and time again after legal developments against Trump." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Trump followers are trying to prove that there is a revolution, that Trump is its leader, and that the revolutionary forces favor violence as the means to crown him the country's imperial leader. ~~~

~~~ AND. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Wednesday she is 'extremely concerned' about fanatical supporters of Donald Trump becoming violent in response to the state Supreme Court ruling that Trump is ineligible to appear on Colorado's 2024 presidential primary ballot. 'I've been concerned about violence and threats of violence since Donald Trump incited the insurrection,' Griswold, who has been Colorado's Democratic secretary of state since 2019, said in an interview. 'I've received hundreds if not thousands of threats at this point.' She's faced an astounding uptick in threats amid the lawsuit over Trump's eligibility to appear on the state ballot, even though she has nothing to do with it.... 'It just underlines that Donald Trump is a major threat to American democracy, elections and stability. He uses threats and intimidation against his political opponents. When he doesn't win elections, he tries to steal them. He is a dangerous leader for this country,' Griswold said." See more on this under "Presidential Race 2024" below.

But What Is an Insurrection? The Washington Post Editors are really rather upset that the Colorado supreme court ruled that Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection. "In the absence of clarity, a body of unelected officials should be reluctant to prevent the country's citizens from choosing an elected official to lead them. The Supreme Court, hopefully, understands that." MB: I'd like to remind the cautious editors that the trial court held a week-long trial, with witnesses & exhibits, arguments from both sides & all, to determine whether or not the Trumpster engaged in insurrection, and the judge found that he did. The state supremes agreed with that. If judges can't define "insurrection," then who?

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Banning Trump from the ballot -- in all states, not just Colorado -- is clearly what is called for by the Constitution.... No one is going to accuse the six Federalist Society justices on the Supreme Court of being bound by the clear letter of the Constitution. As the public has started to realize in the wake of the Dobbs decision and the slow drip of billionaire sugar daddy scandals, the main things the conservative justices care about are pushing their right-wing ideology, helping out the Republican Party and complaining about people who find their corruption unseemly." Marcotte goes on to list a number of ways the reactionary Supremes would benefit from dumping Trump. "Even the justices Trump appointed must know he wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire. Just get rid of him, Supreme Court justices. You know, deep down in your hearts, it will be a lot nicer for you when he's gone."

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post looks at the few cases in which the insurrection ban was invoked.

Alan Feuer of New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Rudolph W. Giuliani to immediately pay the $148 million he owes to two former Georgia election workers for falsely accusing them of manipulating ballots after the 2020 election, citing concerns that he might 'conceal his assets' if he were allowed to wait. The decision by the judge, Beryl A. Howell, was the latest legal defeat for Mr. Giuliani, who is facing an array of woes for his efforts three years ago to keep ... Donald J. Trump in office after his election defeat. But even though Judge Howell ordered speedy payment, there is no indication that Mr. Giuliani, whose long-running financial problems have only been intensifying, has anywhere near the amount he owes. On Monday, a few days after a jury in Washington imposed the damages on Mr. Giuliani, the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, asked Judge Howell to waive the standard 30-day waiting period and force him to pay them as soon as possible.... In a 13-page order, Judge Howell agreed with virtually everything Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss said about Mr. Giuliani...."

Bumbling into Arrest & Conviction. Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Nearly three years ago, a young professional in the nation's capital ... saw that the FBI was looking for help identifying the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. So she opened up the Bumble dating app, changed her political beliefs to conservative and got to swiping. The woman reached out to several Donald Trump supporters who the app showed were in the Washington area, hoping to elicit confessions from those who had flooded into the city.... On Wednesday, one of the Bumble users she turned in to the FBI pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers with chemical spray and a metal whip. Andrew Taake, 35, of Texas, pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, admitting that he used both bear spray and a metal whip to attack officers, at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington."

Presidential Race 2024

Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Wednesday condemned ... Donald Trump's harsh remarks about immigrants, his most public denunciation of his predecessor's increasingly vitriolic characterization of those seeking to enter the United States. Speaking in Milwaukee, Biden castigated Trump as 'the guy who thinks we're polluting the blood of America these days.... I don't believe, as the president -- former president -- said again yesterday, that immigrants are polluting, polluting our blood,' Biden said while touting his economic policies at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce. 'The economy and our nation are stronger when we're tapping into the full, full range of talents in this nation.'... [Trump's remark] 'echoes the same phrases used in Nazi Germany,' Biden said. 'Folks..., we can't fail to treat the threat that he poses.'...

"Asked whether Trump had engaged in insurrection, Biden told reporters, 'It's self-evident -- you saw it all. Now, whether the 14th Amendment applies, I'll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection. There's no question about it. None. Zero.'" This AP story covers President Biden's visit to Milwaukee & his comments about the Trump-led insurrection.

Heil Hitler. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "... far from being shamed [for using Nazi code language to describe immigrants]..., sources tell Rolling Stone that Trump plans to go out of his way to ramp up use of the rhetoric, specifically to get a rise out of the media and the left. '"He wants the media to choke on his words," one of these sources says,' reported Asawin Suebsaeng and Tim Dickinson. '"The [former] president said he's going to keep doing it, he's going to keep saying they're poisoning the blood of the nation and destroying and killing the country ... He says it's a "great line."'"

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one. -- Godwin's Law ~~~

~~~ Mike Godwin, coiner of Godwin's Law, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Years after I'd let Godwin's Law run free, I learned that an actual political philosopher, Leo Strauss, had made a somewhat similar remark a few years before I was born about debates trending toward Hitler. Strauss (whom I confess I still haven't read) chose to classify Hitler comparisons as a special instance of a particular logical fallacy: reductio ad Hitlerum.... But when people draw parallels between Donald Trump's 2024 candidacy and Hitler's progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren't joking. Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy. And that's why Godwin's Law isn't violated -- or confirmed -- by the Biden reelection campaign's criticism of Trump's increasingly unsubtle messaging."

The Incredible Shrinking GOP Candidates. Jonathan Weisman of New York Times: "The blockbuster ruling by Colorado's Supreme Court would seem to give Donald Trump's challengers an avenue of attack, but far behind in the polls, they are skirting the issue.... Mr. Trump still seems to be the one setting the parameters for legitimate debate in the G.O.P., even if he doesn't participate in the party's actual debates." ~~~

Nikki Haley: "We don't need to have judges making these decisions."

Ron DeSantis: "We're going to be litigating this stuff for how many more years going forward? I think we've got to start focusing on the people's issues."

Chris Christie: "I don't think a court should exclude somebody from running for president without there being a trial and evidence that's accepted by a jury that they did participate in insurrection'"

Vivek Ramaswamy: "I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately - or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of New York Times: “The United States released a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela on Wednesday in exchange for 10 jailed Americans and a defense contractor known as 'Fat Leonard,' who is at the center of one of the U.S. Navy's largest corruption cases. The Maduro government will also release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners and Roberto Abdul, an opposition leader in Venezuela, U.S. officials said. The Americans who were released on Wednesday include six people deemed to be 'wrongfully detained' by the Biden administration, a designation that indicates that the U.S. government sees them as the equivalent of political hostages. They had landed in Texas by Wednesday night, an administration official said." The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ A statement from President Biden, via the White House, is here.

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "... after decades of congressional inaction and recurring migration spikes -- [the southern U.S. border is experiencing] record numbers of illegal crossings this month..., an influx likely to exacerbate strains on New York, Chicago and other cities already swamped by newcomers seeking shelter, food and assistance. The latest surge is happening as negotiations in Washington to tighten U.S. enforcement have stalled until at least after the congressional holiday recess. Lawmakers are struggling to hash out a deal that would expand deportations, curb asylum claims and allow authorities to rapidly expel migrants during periods of mass crossings like the current one."

Ishaan Tharoor of Washington Post: "In Europe, [as in the United States], fears over migration are morphing the political landscape and boosting right-wing parties.... 'In a big election year -- in the U.S., the E.U. and the U.K. -- migration is shaping up to be a big issue,' Catherine Barnard ... [of] the University of Cambridge ... told my colleagues.... And so 'poisoning the blood' can go from sounding like a Nazi echo to a potential winning slogan."

The Plagiarist. Jennifer Schuessler of New York Times: "Harvard University, in the face of mounting questions over possible plagiarism in the scholarly work of its president, Claudine Gay, said on Wednesday that it had found two additional instances of her failing to properly credit other scholars. The news was an embarrassing development for the university, which has sought to quell tumult over Dr. Gay's leadership in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the congressional committee currently investigating Harvard sent a letter to the university demanding all its documentation and communications related to the allegations. The new issues were found in Dr. Gay's 1997 doctoral dissertation, in which Harvard said it had found two examples of 'duplicative language without appropriate attribution.'" CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Anrmona Hartocolis & Sheelagh McNeill of New York Times: "Here are five examples of Dr. Gay's work that are under scrutiny, comparing her writing with that of the scholars listed."

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Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "As Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, Republicans in some states launched special units to prosecute voter fraud as part of a high-profile and controversial push to stamp out cheating some claimed was rampant. But the election integrity units established or expanded in six states after Trump's loss obtained only 47 convictions during a period in which tens of millions of votes were cast, and the units overwhelmingly targeted minorities and Democrats for prosecution, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by The Washington Post of nearly every prosecution. The analysis found that 76 percent of defendants whose race or ethnicity could be identified were Black or Hispanic, while White people constituted 24 percent of those prosecuted by the units.... The analysis also showed that election integrity units have not uncovered the type of wide-ranging schemes claimed by Trump and some Republican allies that might tilt an election.... The cases that the units pursued often collapsed."

California. "Repugnant!" Christopher Weber of the AP: "A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones. The law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September was set to take effect Jan. 1. It would have prohibited people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban would apply whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon or not.... U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which he wrote was 'sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.'"; MB: Carney is a Dubya appointee.

Virginia. Joe Heim & Gregory Schneider of Washington Post: "As dawn broke at a frigid Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday morning, workers ... began to take down a controversial statue that had stood there for more than a century. Hours earlier, a federal judge had ruled an effort to halt the removal of the towering Confederate Memorial had no merit, and the contractors hired by the cemetery moved quickly to get the statue down and into custom-built wooden crates. Soon all that remained was the base and foundation. Work continued into the evening to remove the remaining bronze elements of the memorial, a cemetery spokesperson said in an email.... Contractors received word of the judge's ruling Tuesday night and workers arrived at 6 a.m. Wednesday, said Devon Henry, whose Team Henry Enterprises is overseeing the removal. Henry, who is Black, and his Virginia-based company have become specialists in the complex and controversial work of statue removal over the past three years." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's great to see the statue coming down but the white supremacist sentiments that put it there in the early 1900s are alive and well.

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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The U.N. Security Council will reconvene Thursday after a vote on a war-related resolution was delayed three times because of opposition from the United States. World powers are trying to hone the resolution's language so that Washington won't veto it. Northern Gaza has no fully functional hospitals left, the World Health Organization said. The Gaza Health Ministry warned that hundreds of wounded people could die because of the lack of medical services there." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Thursday are here.

Marie: Yesterday I embedded a Chris Hayes segment about the devastation in Gaza. Later in the day, YouTube removed the video because it was not suitable for children. So X-rated. Like Gaza. Here's a link to the video, which you can watch on YouTube.

News Lede

New York Times: "At least 15 people were killed during a shooting rampage in the Czech Republic, on Thursday, including 14 people at Charle University in Prague and the suspect's father, the authorities said. Twenty-four other people were wounded at the university. The gunman, a 24-year-old student in world history at Charles University, also died. He first killed his father in their family home in the town of Kladno, outside of Prague, said Radek Jiroudek, a police officer with Interpol Prague, in an interview. He killed himself after the shooting spree in central Prague." CNN is live-updating developments here.

The Conversation -- December 20, 2023

Adam Liptak of New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to put off a decision on a crucial question in his federal prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election: whether he has 'absolute immunity' for actions he took as president. The question, Mr. Trump's brief said, should be 'resolved in a cautious, deliberative manner -- not at breakneck speed.' He urged the justices not to 'rush to decide the issues with reckless abandon.' The request appeared to be part of Mr. Trump's general strategy of trying to delay the trial in the case, which is scheduled to start on March 4."

"Disqualification for Thee But Not for Me." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Trump on Tuesday night derided the [Colorado supreme court] ruling as 'eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice.' But not only did Trump try to overturn the will of voters after the 2020 election, he has on myriad occasions pushed the idea that candidates should be disqualified irrespective of the voters'' will.... He built a base in the early 2010s with the ugly and false 'birther' campaign, whose entire premise was that Barack Obama wasn't eligible to be president.... During the 2016 GOP primary campaign, he repeatedly pushed the idea that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) might -- and even should -- be disqualified, both because he was born in Canada and because he purportedly cheated in the Iowa caucuses, which Cruz won. And Trump explicitly called for two others to be prohibited from running, including Hillary Clinton -- a lot[.]"

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It's a Trumpity-Thumpity Doo-Dah Day!

** Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is ineligible to hold office again, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, accepting the argument that the 14th Amendment disqualifies him in an explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election. In a lengthy ruling ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr. Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot, the justices reversed a Denver district judge's finding last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment -- which disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office -- did not apply to the presidency. They affirmed the district judge's other key conclusions: that Mr. Trump's actions before and on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted engaging in insurrection, and that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.... Mr. Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his campaign said in a statement. Tuesday's ruling applies only to Colorado, but if the Supreme Court were to affirm it, he could be disqualified more broadly." The link to the ruling is a link to a Colorado state court file, not to a NYT file. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. CNN has a liveblog that goes into some detail: "The court, in its ruling, found there was 'substantial evidence' that Trump laid the groundwork to claim the 2020 election was rigged ... even before the election and worked to pressure Republican officials in various states to overturn the results. The court also found that Trump's messages in the lead-up to the January 6 rally at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, 'were a call to his supporters to fight and that his supporters responded to that call.' The former president, the court found, also put a 'significant target on Vice President (Mike) Pence's back' when he tweeted on January 6 that Pence needed to send electoral votes back to the states. On January 6, the court notes, Trump also called for the crowd at the Ellipse to march to the Capitol, and the crowd 'unsurprisingly ... reacted to President Trump's words with calls for violence.'" Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC noted that, although the Colorado court split 4-3, the minority did not object to the finding that Trump engaged in insurrection but to procedural issues. And a couple of commentators on MSNBC noted the irony of a Court's finding that Trump was barred by the Constitution from running for public office when Trump was the most prominent promoter of the racist birther lie against President Barack Obama to keep Obama from qualifying under the Constitution for re-election in 2012. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Prokop of Vox looks at several aspects of the insurrectionist ban: Practically speaking, "... the Supreme Court is the ultimate destination for all of this wrangling, and it has a six-justice conservative majority, three of whom were appointed by Trump. Even before getting into the legal specifics, that's enough reason to be deeply skeptical that the Court would ban Trump from running again.... Given the lack of precedent, the much 'healthier path,' [political scientist Steven] Levitsky said, would have been if the Republican Party had managed to self-police by convicting Trump during his second impeachment trial and blocked him from running again. They didn't -- and that's why we're in this mess, debating whether democracy can even survive another Trump presidency." This is an update of an October post. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: And are we not certain that the Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas will recuse himself from the case because of the conflict of interest created by his wife Ginni, a slobbering Trumpy insurrectionist?

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of not being religious enough during a campaign rally in Iowa on Tuesday.... 'When Joe Biden lit the national Christmas tree earlier this month, he completely failed to even mention the birth of Jesus Christ, which is hard to do if you celebrated Christmas, right? He didn't mention Jesus Christ in his remarks, not for three years he hasn't mentioned that and barely mentioned God[,' Trump said while] ... flanked by two Christmas trees decorated with Trump 2024 baubles.... 'And when I lit the Christmas tree each year, it was my honor to publicly celebrate the true source of Christmas joy, which is Jesus Christ.'" MB: Joe Biden attends mass every week, maybe more often, for all I know. And Trump clearly doesn't understand that Christmas trees, including the National Christmas Tree, are often representative of the secular celebration of Christmas like, you know, Cyber Monday. Or putting your own fat face on "Christmas" ornaments.

Hotsy-Totsy, Trump's a Friggin' Nazi. Michael Gold of New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his widely condemned comment [link fixed] that undocumented immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of our country,' rebuffing criticism that the language echoed Adolf Hitler by insisting that he had never read the Nazi dictator's autobiographical manifesto.... He said on Tuesday night in a speech in Iowa that undocumented immigrants from Africa, Asia and South America were 'destroying the blood of our country,' before alluding to his previous comments.... 'They don't like it when I said that. And I never read "Mein Kampf." They said, "Oh, Hitler said that."' He added that Hitler said it 'in a much different way,' without making his meaning clear." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'd guess the "much different way" was the original German. Let's be clear, though. Nobody ever accused Trump of reading a book (though Ivana Trump said he kept a copy of transcripts of some of Hitler's speeches at his bedside table). What he has done is absorb the sick mindset of the Nazi dictator, and perhaps learned the vile language to go with it on his social media feed. But just as he thought "fake news" was an original thought (Hillary Clinton had called some Trump campaign bulletin "fake news," & Trump, the great projectionist, adopted it) and "Abe Lincoln was a Republican" an original discovery of a little-known fact, Trump now thinks that the racist, xenophobic catchphrases he has been spewing are his original ideas.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday slapped down former President Trump's statement that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of our country' by pointing out Trump appointed his wife, Elaine Chao, who is Taiwanese American, to serve as secretary of Transportation in 2016.... But Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), one of Trump's staunchest Senate allies, defended the former president's language. Tuberville said he was 'mad' that Trump 'wasn't tougher than that.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ AND. Al Weaver of the Hill:"Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) issued a passionate defense of former President Trump's recent remarks claiming that migrants attempting to enter the U.S. are 'poisoning the blood of our country,' insisting that he was referring to fentanyl overdoses. When asked about the comments on Capitol Hill, Vance slammed the notion that Trump was borrowing rhetoric by Adolf Hitler and maintained that he was talking about the drug epidemic." MB: What a sick-o-fant. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “But Senator Susan Collins of Maine told a reporter for The Independent that the former president's remarks were 'deplorable.... That was horrible that those comments are just -- they have no place, particularly from a former president,' Ms. Collins said. Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, denounced Mr. Trump's language as 'unacceptable.... But this administration's policies are feeding right into it.'"

Godwin's Law, Amended. Calder McHugh in Politico Magazine:"Any time people start fighting on the internet, someone will inevitably reach for the Hitler comparison. It's a virtually unbreakable rule known as 'Godwin's law,' named after Mike Godwin, an early internet enthusiast who coined it back in 1990. It's also understood that often the party mentioning Hitler or the Nazis is losing the argument, though that's not part of the law itself. Godwin's law was invoked this weekend when President Joe Biden's campaign said ... Donald Trump had 'parroted Adolf Hitler' when he accused undocumented immigrants of 'poisoning the blood of our country.' But according to Godwin himself, that doesn't mean Biden is losing the argument. 'Trump's opening himself up to the Hitler comparison,' Godwin said in an interview. And in his view, Trump is actively seeking to evoke the parallel.... 'You could say the "vermin" remark or the "poisoning the blood" remark, maybe one of them would be a coincidence,' Godwin said. 'But both of them pretty much make it clear that there's something thematic going on, and I can't believe it's accidental.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Digby, in Salon: "Just because Trump's first term didn't result in the full flowering of Nazi America doesn't mean that the signs weren't there. He has been saying things for years that point inexorably to his underlying fascist worldview. And even more disturbing, the response he gets from his tens of millions of followers clearly shows that they share it." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "In 2017, U.S. Circuit Judge William H. Pryor Jr. was one of three finalists for the first Supreme Court vacancy Donald Trump got to fill. On Monday, Pryor delivered a stinging rebuke of Trump's former chief of staff [Mark Meadows] in [the Georgia election interference] case. He might also have undermined Trump's claims to presidential immunity in Trump's federal Jan. 6 case. The ruling came as both the Trump immunity claim and another crucial Jan. 6-related issue could be headed to a conservative-leaning Supreme Court where Trump nominees fill three of nine slots. And it served as a timely reminder of how even many Republican- and Trump-nominated judges have taken a dim view of Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... Pryor [-- writing for a unanimous three-judge panel --] wrote that Meadows's effort [to get his case moved from state to federal court] failed not just because former officials can't get cases removed to federal court, but also because Meadows's political actions wouldn't have qualified his case for removal anyway." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Aaron, aren't you forgetting Clarence & his law clerk Ginni? Surely they'll sit up nights writing an opinion granting Trump immunity from prosecution under the divine-right-of-kings doctrine. If they need help, they might call om Insufferable Sam & they can all get together and workshop the opinion at a fabulous resort, all expenses paid by Harlan Crow.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Months before special counsel Jack Smith took over the case, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. were considering obstruction charges in connection with Donald Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election. A newly unsealed court filing related to the Trump grand jury investigation shows that prosecutors were eyeing the charge -- which had already been deployed against dozens of Jan. 6 riot defendants -- at least by September 2022 and perhaps as early as the spring. It's not clear whether the prosecutors at the time were considering bringing the charge against Trump himself or only against people in his orbit.... The unsealed document underscores the Justice Department's long and laborious pursuit of evidence to support the obstruction allegations now lodged against Trump -- even as the statute itself could be upended by the Supreme Court. The filing relates to search warrants obtained by prosecutors in June and July 2022 to scour the personal email accounts of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, his deputy Kenneth Klukowski and the Chapman University account of attorney John Eastman." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kate Shaw of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court is considering whether to take up the question of presidential immunity -- that is, the idea that a president, by virtue of the unique nature of the office, is entitled to exceedingly broad protections from legal consequences for statements made and actions taken while in office. If the court takes up that question in a case regarding Donald Trump, it will have profound consequences for both the 2024 election and the bigger question of presidential power.... [Past decisions] identified reasons for limiting the availability of certain kinds of legal process in the case of sitting presidents and, in some cases, ex-presidents. But none came close to announcing the sort of absolute freedom from judicially enforced accountability that Mr. Trump now seeks.... For a Supreme Court that holds itself out as hewing closely to text, history and tradition, immunity should present an easy case, and Mr. Trump should lose."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Eric Kleefeld of Media Matters: "Fox News' purported 'straight news anchor' Bret Baier pushed an unbelievable false equivalency on Monday, during an interview with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). Parroting a message courtesy of Fox's corporate cousins at The Wall Street Journal editorial page, Baier suggested that President Joe Biden's policies are equally or perhaps even more authoritarian than ... Donald Trump's failed coup attempt and open plotting for revenge."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department access to nearly 1,700 records recovered from the cellphone of Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) in a long-running legal battle in the criminal investigation of ... Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of D.C. gave investigators access to 1,659 records and withheld 396 others after a federal appeals court directed him to individually review 2,055 communications from Perry's phone to decide which were protected by the Constitution's 'speech or debate' clause, which grants members of Congress immunity from criminal investigation when acting in their official capacities.... Tuesday's order will determine which messages investigators with special counsel Jack Smith can actually use as potential evidence in any case, pending an expected renewed appeal by Perry, part of legal fight that has tied up the records for more than a year."

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: Over the course of three years, "federal prosecutors were scrutinizing whether [Rudy Giuliani] pursued dubious business dealings in Ukraine to shore up his dwindling fortune, according to court records unsealed late Tuesday.... The investigation, which did not result in charges for Mr. Giuliani, centered on whether he illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials.... The prosecutors had assembled enough evidence to persuade a judge in April 2021 to authorize the seizure of Mr. Giuliani's phones and computers, an extraordinary step to take against any lawyer, let alone one who had represented a sitting president.... But when they failed to find a smoking gun in Mr. Giuliani's electronic records, the prosecutors notified the judge overseeing the matter that they had ended the long-running investigation.... For the first time, the records explicitly linked Mr. Giuliani's recent financial troubles to his dealings in Ukraine, suggesting that he did not just want Ukrainian officials' help in attacking [Joe] Biden but also their money." The story goes on to explain how Rudy attempted to profit from his Ukrainian adventures.

Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "A former leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Tuesday to more than three years behind bars for joining a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol nearly three years ago. Charles Donohoe was the second Proud Boy to plead guilty to conspiring with other group members to obstruct the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. His sentence could be a bellwether for other Proud Boys conspirators who agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Donohoe, 35, of Kernersville, North Carolina, apologized to his family, the law-enforcement officers who guarded the Capitol on Jan. 6, and 'America as a whole' for his actions on Jan. 6."

Connor O'Brien & Joseph Gould of Politico: "The Senate confirmed nearly a dozen nominees for top military posts on Tuesday night, marking the end of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's remaining holds over senior promotions. With senators rushing to wrap up before the holiday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer secured a deal to confirm all 11 nominees for four-star positions by voice vote.... Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after leaving the Senate floor, 'It's good news. We're happy about it.'... The Alabama Republican dropped his hold for most [of the 400+] promotions this month under pressure from his own party, paving the way for hundreds of confirmations. But he continued to stall four-star officers, making their confirmation one of the main pieces of unfinished business." (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, here's something you could not have foreseen: ~~~

     ~~~ Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "Senators working to reach a deal on toughening up U.S. border policy in exchange for sending more aid to Ukraine are continuing to hold hours-long meetings every day in the Capitol as they make slow progress on the proposal with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. But dozens of their Republican colleagues did not return to Washington this week to await the deal, as congressional leaders conceded there would be nothing to vote on before the holidays."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "In 2023, the Republican-led House has passed only 27 bills that became law, despite holding a total of 724 votes. That is more voting and less lawmaking than at any other time in the last decade, according to an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a far less productive record than that of last year, when Democrats had unified control of Congress. The House held 549 votes in 2022, according to the House clerk, and passed 248 bills that were signed into law.... The list of this year's accomplishments is less ambitious and more bare minimum, such as legislation to suspend the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits that helped pull the nation back from the brink of economic catastrophe.... This year was grossly unproductive even by the lower standards of what's possible in divided government and after taking into account the reality that not all bills are created equal.... And some of the votes happened because House members defied the speaker and forced them against his wishes, like a resolution to impeach Mr. Biden over his border policies and a move to censure Representative Adam B. Schiff of California and fine him $16 million." ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Heres a look at what Congress actually got done in 2023, in the order in which the laws were enacted."

Gracious and wise, civil and principled, Sandra Day O'Connor, daughter of the American West, was pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers in legal and political worlds and in the nation's consciousness.... She knew no person is an island. In the fabric of our nation, we are all inextricably linked, and for the America to thrive, America must see themselves not as enemies but as partners in the great work of deciding our collective destiny. -- President Joe Biden, at the funeral of Sandra Day O'Connor, Tuesday ~~~

The day that I was nominated to succeed Justice O'Connor, reporters had asked her what she thought of the nomination. She had nice things to say but ended by noting that the only problem was I didn't wear a skirt. My initial reaction was, of course, everything's negotiable. -- Chief Justice John Roberts, at O'Connor's funeral

~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was remembered on Tuesday for her trailblazing role on the Supreme Court, trading the sweeping skies of the Arizona desert as a cattle rancher's daughter for the marble halls of the court to become the first female justice and one of the most powerful women in the country.... Although Justice O'Connor did not serve as chief justice, she held such power during a crucial period on the court that it was often referred to as the O'Connor court." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It dawned on me as I was watching parts of O'Connor's funeral that she would not have been our first female justice had she married someone else. While they were in law school, she dated William Rehnquist, and he asked her to marry him. She turned him down. Richard Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the Supreme Court in 1971. It seems unlikely Ronald Reagan, who nominated O'Connor to the Court in 1981 (and later nominated Rehnquist to be chief justice) would have gone for a husband-and-wife Supreme team, or that the Senate would have confirmed Sandra Day while her husband was on the job.

A Rare Story with a Happy Outcome. Amy Harmon, et al., of the New York Times: "As a Jesuit priest for more than two decades, the Rev. James Martin has bestowed thousands of blessings -- on rosary beads, on babies, on homes, boats, and meals, on statues of saints, on the sick, on brides and on grooms. Never before, though, was he permitted to bless a same-sex couple -- not until Monday, when the pope said he would allow such blessings, an announcement that reverberated through the church. On Tuesday morning, Damian Steidl Jack, 44, and his husband, Jason Steidl Jack, 38, stood before Father Martin in a living room on Manhattan's West Side.... Father Martin is arguably the highest-profile advocate for L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics in America.... Father Martin had waited years for the privilege of saying such a prayer, however simple, out in the open."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maya Goldman of Axios: "Sixty percent of kids who have lost Medicaid coverage this year came from just nine states, all of which are Republican-led, according to new data from the Biden administration.... And the 10 states refusing the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults have disenrolled more kids than all of the expansion states combined, the administration also reported.... Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra sent letters to Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas on Monday urging them to better protect kids from losing Medicaid."

Florida. Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "... this time last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the rest of Florida's Republican Party were being heralded as the post-Donald Trump future for the GOP.... For months, there were glowing reports that DeSantis's 'miracle' win in Florida would render Trump a 'non person.' Polls showed DeSantis leading Trump in the GOP primary, often by robust margins. Then DeSantis officially announced his presidential run, while Trump got arrested and charged with 91 felonies in four separate jurisdictions. Since then, there's been a stampede of GOP support back to the glowering orange criminal who first captured their hearts with his blunt racism.... On Sunday, the Florida GOP did everything in their power to push their party chair, Christian Ziegler, out the door [because of a sexual scandal].... [DeSantis & Ziegler] pushed the party into embrace an anti-education, pro-censorship campaign.... The Florida GOP promise was a path to authoritarianism that would somehow not offend the majority of non-authoritarian Americans. But it was an empty promise, and the party's current shambles shows it."

New York. Grace Ashford & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "New York will undertake an ambitious effort to address the state's history of slavery and racism, establishing the United States' third statewide task force to examine whether reparations can be made to confront the legacy of racial injustice. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed a bill that empowers a commission to study not only the history of slavery, which was outlawed in New York in 1827, but also its subsequent effects on housing discrimination, biased policing, income inequality and mass incarceration of African Americans. New York joins California and Illinois at the forefront of reparations efforts...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IMO, reparations make sense only if you include all oppressed people, not just people descended from African slaves. So that would be all descendants of women, for starters. So, hey, if you're not of woman born, you're out. But you will have to pay reparations to the rest of us.

Virginia. Olivia Diaz, et al., of the Washington Post: "A day after halting work to remove the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, a federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday said he would allow the removal to proceed. On Tuesday evening, Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled against a request from a group called Defend Arlington that the memorial remain undisturbed. In an opinion denying a preliminary injunction, Alston wrote ... that the group that ... Defend Arlington had not shown it was in the public interest to leave the memorial in place, nor had it shown that adjacent graves were being disturbed by the activity."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live update of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. CNN's live updates for Wednesday are here. The New York Times' live updates are here.

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The U.N. Security Council failed again Tuesday to come up with a resolution calling for a stop to fighting in Gaza -- at least for long enough to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave -- that would not be vetoed by the United States.... Negotiators were unable to agree on language, and a late-afternoon vote was canceled. The 15-member council is scheduled to reconvene Wednesday morning."

Here's a link to this video -- Chris Hayes' take on Israel's war on Gaza --. You can watch on YouTube.

The Conversation -- December 19, 2023

** Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is ineligible to hold office again, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, accepting the argument that the 14th Amendment disqualifies him in an explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election. In a lengthy ruling ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr. Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot, the justices reversed a Denver district judge's finding last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment -- which disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office -- did not apply to the presidency. They affirmed the district judge's other key conclusions: that Mr. Trump's actions before and on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted engaging in insurrection, and that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.... Mr. Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his campaign said in a statement. Tuesday's ruling applies only to Colorado, but if the Supreme Court were to affirm it, he could be disqualified more broadly." The link to the ruling is a link to a Colorado state court file, not to a NYT file. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. CNN has a liveblog that goes into some detail: "The court, in its ruling, found there was 'substantial evidence' that Trump laid the groundwork to claim the 2020 election was rigged ... even before the election and worked to pressure Republican officials in various states to overturn the results. The court also found that Trump's messages in the lead-up to the January 6 rally at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, 'were a call to his supporters to fight and that his supporters responded to that call.' The former president, the court found, also put a 'significant target on Vice President (Mike) Pence's back' when he tweeted on January 6 that Pence needed to send electoral votes back to the states. On January 6, the court notes, Trump also called for the crowd at the Ellipse to march to the Capitol, and the crowd 'unsurprisingly ... reacted to President Trump's words with calls for violence.'" Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC noted that, although the Colorado court split 4-3, the minority did not object to the finding that Trump engaged in insurrection but to procedural issues. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Prokop of Vox looks at several aspects of the insurrectionist ban: Practically speaking, "... the Supreme Court is the ultimate destination for all of this wrangling, and it has a six-justice conservative majority, three of whom were appointed by Trump. Even before getting into the legal specifics, that's enough reason to be deeply skeptical that the Court would ban Trump from running again.... Given the lack of precedent, the much 'healthier path,' [political scientist Steven] Levitsky said, would have been if the Republican Party had managed to self-police by convicting Trump during his second impeachment trial and blocked him from running again. They didn't -- and that's why we're in this mess, debating whether democracy can even survive another Trump presidency." This is an update of an October post.

     ~~~ Marie: And are we not certain that the Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas will recuse himself from the case because of the conflict of interest created by his wife Ginni, a slobbering Trumpy insurrectionist?

Connor O'Brien & Joseph Gould of Politico: "The Senate confirmed nearly a dozen nominees for top military posts on Tuesday night, marking the end of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's remaining holds over senior promotions. With senators rushing to wrap up before the holiday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer secured a deal to confirm all 11 nominees for four-star positions by voice vote.... Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after leaving the Senate floor, 'It's good news. We're happy about it.'... The Alabama Republican dropped his hold for most [of the 400+] promotions this month under pressure from his own party, paving the way for hundreds of confirmations. But he continued to stall four-star officers, making their confirmation one of the main pieces of unfinished business."

Gracious and wise, civil and principled, Sandra Day O'Connor, daughter of the American West, was a pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers in legal and political worlds and in the nation's consciousness.... She knew no person is an island. In the fabric of our nation, we are all inextricably linked, and for the America to thrive, America must see themselves not as enemies but as partners in the great work of deciding our collective destiny. -- President Joe Biden, at the funeral of Sandra Day O'Connor, Tuesday ~~~

The day that I was nominated to succeed Justice O'Connor, reporters had asked her what she thought of the nomination. She had nice things to say but ended by noting that the only problem was I didn't wear a skirt. My initial reaction was, of course, everything's negotiable. -- Chief Justice John Roberts, at O'Connor's funeral

~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was remembered on Tuesday for her trailblazing role on the Supreme Court, trading the sweeping skies of the Arizona desert as a cattle rancher's daughter for the marble halls of the court to become the first female justice and one of the most powerful women in the country.... Although Justice O'Connor did not serve as chief justice, she held such power during a crucial period on the court that it was often referred to as the O'Connor court." The AP's story is here.

Marie: It dawned on me as I was watching parts of O'Connor's funeral that she would not have been our first female justice had she married someone else. While they were in law school, she dated William Rehnquist, and he asked her to marry him. She turned him down. Richard Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the Supreme Court in 1971. It seems unlikely Ronald Reagan, who nominated O'Connor to the Court in 1981 (and later nominated Rehnquist to be chief justice) would have gone for a husband-and-wife Supreme team, or that the Senate would have confirmed Sandra Day while her husband was on the job.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday slapped down former President Trump's statement that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of our country' by pointing out Trump appointed his wife, Elaine Chao, who is Taiwanese American, to serve as secretary of Transportation in 2016.... But Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), one of Trump's staunchest Senate allies, defended the former president's language. Tuberville said he was 'mad' that Trump 'wasn't tougher than that.'" ~~~

     ~~~ AND. Al Weaver of the Hill: "Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) issued a passionate defense of former President Trump's recent remarks claiming that migrants attempting to enter the U.S. are 'poisoning the blood of our country,' insisting that he was referring to fentanyl overdoses. When asked about the comments on Capitol Hill, Vance slammed the notion that Trump was borrowing rhetoric by Adolf Hitler and maintained that he was talking about the drug epidemic." MB: What a sick-o-fant.

Godwin's Law, Amended. Calder McHugh in Politico Magazine: "Any time people start fighting on the internet, someone will inevitably reach for the Hitler comparison. It's a virtually unbreakable rule known as 'Godwin's law,' named after Mike Godwin, an early internet enthusiast who coined it back in 1990. It's also understood that often the party mentioning Hitler or the Nazis is losing the argument, though that's not part of the law itself. Godwin's law was invoked this weekend when President Joe Biden's campaign said ... Donald Trump had 'parroted Adolf Hitler' when he accused undocumented immigrants of 'poisoning the blood of our country.' But according to Godwin himself, that doesn't mean Biden is losing the argument. 'Trump's opening himself up to the Hitler comparison,' Godwin said in an interview. And in his view, Trump is actively seeking to evoke the parallel.... 'You could say the "vermin" remark or the "poisoning the blood" remark, maybe one of them would be a coincidence,' Godwin said. 'But both of them pretty much make it clear that there's something thematic going on, and I can't believe it's accidental.'"

Digby, in Salon: "Just because Trump's first term didn't result in the full flowering of Nazi America doesn't mean that the signs weren't there. He has been saying things for years that point inexorably to his underlying fascist worldview. And even more disturbing, the response he gets from his tens of millions of followers clearly shows that they share it." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Months before special counsel Jack Smith took over the case, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. were considering obstruction charges in connection with Donald Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election. A newly unsealed court filing related to the Trump grand jury investigation shows that prosecutors were eyeing the charge -- which had already been deployed against dozens of Jan. 6 riot defendants -- at least by September 2022 and perhaps as early as the spring. It's not clear whether the prosecutors at the time were considering bringing the charge against Trump himself or only against people in his orbit.... The unsealed document underscores the Justice Department's long and laborious pursuit of evidence to support the obstruction allegations now lodged against Trump -- even as the statute itself could be upended by the Supreme Court. The filing relates to search warrants obtained by prosecutors in June and July 2022 to scour the personal email accounts of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, his deputy Kenneth Klukowski and the Chapman University account of attorney John Eastman."

Here's the video that has right-wing bigots in high dudgeon. See comments in today's thread:

~~~~~~~~~~

Rachel Siegel & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "... the economy is ending the year in a remarkably better position than almost anyone on Wall Street or in mainstream economics had predicted, having bested just about all expectations time and again. Inflation has dropped to 3.1 percent, from a peak of 9.1. The unemployment rate is at a hot 3.7 percent, and the economy grew at a healthy clip in the most recent quarter. The Fed is probably finished hiking interest rates and is eyeing cuts next year. Financial markets are at or near all-time highs, and the S&P 500 could hit a new record this week, too.... The Fed and the White House fought inflation on their own distinct tracks using entirely different tools. But now, the central bankers, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and President Biden's economic brain trust are cautiously pointing out that they have been vindicated by data and developments dismissed as virtually impossible until quite recently."

Chelsea Cirruzzo of Politico: "HHS wants states with the highest rates of children dropped from Medicaid to use certain federal rules that make it easier to get families back on coverage. In letters sent Monday to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged the states to take up more of options CMS has offered to ensure coverage. The options include allowing states to use enrollee information they have to auto-renew coverage. HHS also issued new guidance for states Monday, including an option to give kids an additional 12 months to get on the rolls. That option is available through 2024, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure told reporters. Becerra also asked the states to remove barriers to Children's Health Insurance Program enrollment for children no longer eligible for Medicaid, reduce call center times for families and expand their Medicaid programs if they haven't already."

Tara Copp & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain. The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed. The U.S. military's Central Command reported two more of the attacks on commercial vessels Monday. A strike by an attack drone and a ballistic missile hit a tanker off Yemen, at roughly the same time a cargo ship reported an explosive detonating in the water near them, the military said."

Azi Paybarah & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Monday confirmed former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration as the agency faces looming questions about its long-term solvency, systemic dysfunction and ability to handle day-to-day customer service requests. O'Malley, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, was approved by a vote of 50 to 11. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting for O'Malley as the agency's commissioner after he earned a reputation as a technocrat, in part, by focusing on measuring government performance." The Hill's story is here.

The Trials of the Trump Mob

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: In a 3-0 decision, "a federal appeals court has denied Mark Meadows' bid to move his Georgia-based criminal charges into federal court, rejecting a procedural gambit that could have derailed the state's election-related charges against not only Meadows but also Donald Trump. In an unsparing opinion written by a stalwart conservative judge [-- William Pryor --] the court ruled that Meadows, who served as Trump's White House chief of staff, must fight the charges against him in state court in Atlanta. Meadows had aimed to transfer the charges before a federal judge in hopes of having them quickly tossed out.... The panel ruled that a law permitting federal officials to transfer state-level charges into federal court applies only to current government officials, not former ones like Meadows. And the panel of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit concluded that, even if Meadows were still in office, his argument would still fail because the state's charges against Meadows are about an alleged criminal agreement to join a conspiracy, not about any actions Meadows took as Trump's chief of staff." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. The ruling, via Politico, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Attorneys for former President Trump on Monday formally asked a judge to toss Trump's Georgia 2020 election criminal racketeering case on First Amendment grounds.... On Monday, [Trump's Georgia attorney Steve] Sadow filed court papers insisting that the allegations involved 'core political speech,' telling the judge the indictment must be dismissed ahead of trial." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump asked the full federal appeals court in Washington on Monday to consider whether a gag order in the criminal case in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election should be further narrowed or thrown out. The request for a hearing in front of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was Mr. Trump's latest attempt to challenge the order, which was imposed on him in October by the trial judge handling the case in Federal District Court in Washington." (Also linked yesterday.) A CNBC story is here.

Tobi Raji & Meagan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is facing calls from a growing number of Democrats who say he should recuse himself from a case examining former president Donald Trump's presidential immunity, with more members of Congress raising concerns about the justice's ability to remain impartial given his wife's involvement in the movement to overturn the 2020 election results. The immunity case is the latest test of the court's recently released code of conduct.... In a new letter, eight House Democrats, led by Rep. Hank Johnson(Ga.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee's courts subcommittee, are calling on Thomas to recuse himself in the case, citing the court's new code of conduct's guidance on impartiality.... Ginni Thomas, who previously insisted that her work is separate from that of her husband, pressed the Trump White House and lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 victory...." More on Clarence Thomas linked below.

Andrew Kaczynski, et al., of CNN: "Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have come to the defense of a one time social media influencer who has been convicted of election interference and has a well-known history of pushing deeply racist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim and homophobic content online. In a video posted by his campaign in early December..., Trump blasted President Joe Biden and 'his henchmen' for allegedly trampling on the First Amendment rights of Douglass Mackey, a longtime supporter of the former president who ran an anonymous, notorious Twitter account in 2016.... Trump Jr. lauded the content featured on Mackey's Twitter feed. He praised Mackey on his December 7 podcast as 'maybe my favorite Twitter account of all time.'... Mackey, however, was under federal investigation for conspiracy to suppress votes in the 2016 presidential election during Trump's administration. Mackey was charged seven days after Biden took office and convicted earlier this year. He was sentenced to seven months in prison but is currently out pending an appeal of his case." (Also linked yesterday.)

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "Two former Georgia election workers who successfully sued Rudolph W. Giuliani for spreading baseless lies about them after the 2020 presidential election sued him again on Monday, seeking to bar him from continuing to repeat those falsehoods. Lawyers for the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, also asked the Federal District Court in Washington on Monday to force Mr. Giuliani to pay the $148 million in damages he owes the women immediately because of his financial troubles. Typically, there is a 30-day delay before a defendant can be forced to pay.... During the weeklong trial to determine the amount of compensation and in the days after, Mr. Giuliani, speaking in interviews and to reporters outside the courthouse, reasserted his debunked claims that the women sought to deprive ... Donald J. Trump of victory as they counted votes in Fulton County, Ga., on Nov. 3, 2020." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's why Freeman & Moss have to bring that suit: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Rudy Giuliani is still not backing down from his false claim about two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation.... On Monday, [Giuliani] went on Newsmax where he quintupled down. '[Your] initial allegations,' host Rob Schmitt said to his guest. 'You still believe them to be true?' [Giuliani replied,] '... Yeah, I do. But they want me -- they want me to lie. They basically they are suing me in order to lie for them. I'm sorry, I can't do it. The if -- if I showed you the evidence right now, and I think you've played it on your air, people would see that what I said was absolutely true and their support for it.'"

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "A software engineer hired by former President Donald Trump to investigate claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election said every instance he investigated was false.... Ken Block appeared on Monday's edition of OutFront, where Erin Burnett asked him about his findings.... [Block replied,] 'In my job looking for voter fraud for the campaign, we didn't find any -- we didn't find enough fraud to have impacted the result of any election in any of the swing states that we took a look at.... My team looked at approximately 15 or so claims -- every one of which we were able to prove was false.'..." Both special counsel Jack Smith & Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani Willis have subpoenaed Block's records; he implied he complied with the subpoenas.

Alex DeLuca of the Miami New Times: "Authorities have unsealed an arrest warrant for Barbara Balmaseda, a former Florida International University student and South Florida GOP strategist accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Barbara 'Barby' Balmaseda -- a 23-year-old from Miami Lakes with ties to high-profile Republican politicians in Florida and beyond -- was arrested and charged with corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, and engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building with the intent to impede a session of Congress on January 6, 2021.... Balmaseda interned for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio between 2018 and 2019, worked as an organizer on Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2018 campaign, and served as campaign manager for Ileana Garcia's controversial 2020 Florida Senate race."

** Chris D'Angelo of the Huffington Post: "The group that organized the pro-Donald Trump rally in front of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, knowingly misled government officials about plans for attendees to march on the U.S. Capitol, according to a new investigation from the Interior Department's internal watchdog. The report, published Monday by Interior's Official of Inspector General, includes text messages from Kylie Kremer ― the rally's organizer, and a representative of the group Women for America First ― and one potential event speaker. The Interior report does not name the individuals, but the exchange between Kremer and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trump ally, was previously made public by the House Jan. 6 select committee. 'This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court again after the ellipse. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol,' Kremer wrote to Lindell on Jan. 4. 'It cannot get out about the second stage because people will try and set up another and Sabotage it. It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the national park service and all the agencies but the POTUS is going to just call for it "unexpectedly."'" The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The report includes statements from National Park Service officials who said Kremer repeatedly said there were no plans for a march on the Capitol. Seems to me Kremer broke some federal law, and I'd be happy if DOJ prosecuted her for it.

Justin Elliott, et al., of ProPublica: "Interviews and newly unearthed documents reveal that [Supreme Court Justice Clarence] Thomas, facing financial strain [in 2000], privately pushed for a higher salary and to allow Supreme Court justices to take speaking fees.... [Thomas told Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns (R) that] Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise.... If lawmakers didn't act, 'one or more justices will leave soon' -- maybe in the next year.... Congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise. But in the years that followed..., Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court.... Ralph Mecham, then the judiciary's top administrative official, fired off the memo describing Thomas' complaints to [then-Chief Justice William] Rehnquist, his boss.... Several months later, Rehnquist focused his annual year-end report on what he called 'the most pressing issue facing the Judiciary: the need to increase judicial salaries.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

U.S. Steel, a Japanese Corporation. Eli Tan of the Washington Post: "Japan's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, won its bid to purchase U.S. Steel, a deal valued at $14.1 billion that will put the legacy American company in the hands of a foreign firm. The purchase, announced Monday, comes months after failed bids by domestic competitors Cleveland-Cliffs and Esmark, which tried to purchase U.S. Steel for $7.3 billion and $10 billion, respectively. The combination will make Nippon the second-largest steel company, trailing only China Baowu Group. U.S. Steel will retain its name after the acquisition and remain in Pittsburgh, where it was founded in 1901 by J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and Charles Schwab, according to a statement."

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Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday escalated his challenge of President Biden's border policies by signing a measure that allows Texas law enforcement officials to arrest migrants who enter the state from Mexico without legal authorization, setting the stage for a showdown with the federal government. Mr. Abbott pushed for the legislation, which passed in a special session of the Republican-dominated State Legislature last month over the strong objections of Democrats, immigrant-rights groups and Hispanic organizations who argued that the measure violated the U.S. Constitution and would encourage racial profiling. Some border sheriffs have also opposed the legislation, expressing concern that it could rapidly overwhelm the local jails and courts...." The Texas Tribune story is here.

Virginia. Orlando Mayorquin & Rebecca Carballo of the New York Times: "Hours after workers began removing a towering Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, a federal judge issued an order temporarily halting the effort to dismantle one of the country's most prominent monuments to the Confederacy on public land.... The group [Defend Arlington], which is affiliated with an organization called Save Southern Heritage Florida, sued the Defense Department in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Sunday, arguing that the Pentagon had rushed its decision to take down the monument and that it had circumvented federal law by not preparing an environmental-impact statement. It also said that the work would damage the surrounding graves and headstones. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday." An NPR story is here.

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Israel/Palestine

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Tel Aviv that protecting civilians in Gaza is a 'moral duty and a strategic imperative,' as international criticism of Israel's offensive mounts.... CIA Director William J. Burns met with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and Qatar's prime minister in Warsaw on Monday to try to broker a new hostage release deal, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: 'I can't report a date ... or tell you in good faith that another deal is imminent.' The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution calling for a halt in the fighting in Gaza. The vote had been postponed from Monday to allow for the reworking of the draft resolution in the hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto, the Associated Press reported." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Biden and his top aides have engaged in an increasingly awkward dance in recent days, prodding Israel to change its tactics in the war in the Gaza Strip while still offering it robust public support. Mr. Biden said last week that Israel was losing international support because of its 'indiscriminate bombing' of Gaza, a much more critical assessment than his earlier public statements urging greater care to protect civilians.... Speaking to reporters after daylong meetings, [U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin called U.S. support for Israel 'unshakable,' and endorsed its campaign to destroy the ability of Hamas, which controls Gaza, to wage military operations in the difficult urban terrain. But he also repeated a message he has increasingly made of late: Israel will be left less secure if its combat operations turn more Palestinians into Hamas supporters.... Mr. Austin's visit was part of a full-court press by the Biden administration to urge Israeli officials to wrap up the 'high-intensity' phase of the war and begin carrying out more targeted, intelligence-driven missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, destroy the tunnels used by the militant group and rescue the people taken hostage on Oct. 7."

Vatican. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis had allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, his most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral, and less rigid, church. The Vatican had long said it could not bless same-sex couples because it would undermine church doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman. But the new rule made clear that a blessing of a same-sex couple was not the same as a marriage sacrament, a formal ceremonial rite. It also stressed that it was not blessing the relationship, and that, to avoid confusion, blessings should not be imparted during or connected to the ceremony of a civil or same-sex union, or when there are 'any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding.'" The AP's report is here. MB: Um, I guess this is progress??? ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This reminds me of the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to marry then-Prince Charles of Great Britain & his long-time paramour Camilla Parker-Bowles, forcing the couple to marry in a civil ceremony, then attending a "blessing" of their marriage in which the couple & the congregation had to recite "the strongest act of penitence from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer," acknowledging unspecified past sins. I guess you can tell I just watched the last episodes of "The Crown."

News Lede

Weather Channel: "A​ large volcanic eruption is underway in southwestern Iceland, with semi-molten rock shooting high into the air in an area where scientists feared for weeks that such an event would take place. It's happening about 2 miles north of the town of Grindavik, which had been evacuated in November amid fears that an eruption nearby was likely. Earthquakes left some homes damaged in the town, which also prompted evacuations. T​his type of eruption is not likely to send a large amount of ash into the air, and therefore, large-scale flight delays and cancellations are not expected. The eruption is happening about 30 miles southwest of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, along the Reykjanes Peninsula." ~~~