Thanksgiving Day 2024

Marie: Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone. Here's a holiday gift we can all enjoy. It turns out that what I couldn't stand about the Christmas-themed song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was Mariah Carey. The song is way Better with Beethoven. I've seen a few of these "in the style of" parodies. This one, by Josep Castanyer Alonso, is particularly brilliant, especially because it includes explanations. Thanks to Patrick for the link. ~~~

~~~ AND, on quite a different note, if you overindulge at the Thanksgiving table, you could dance off the added calories: ~~~

A Reason to be Thankful: Biden Rescues Wrongfully-detained Americans. Michael Birnbaum & Cate Caddell of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration and China have agreed to a prisoner swap, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday, securing the release of three Americans who the U.S. government has long said were wrongfully detained by Beijing. Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung are en route back to the United States, the White House said, capping months of diplomatic pressure on China and securing a win for the Biden administration.... The White House said in a statement ... [that] no other Americans are wrongfully detained in China." (Also linked yesterday.)

Simon Romero of the New York Times: "Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, spoke to ... Donald J. Trump on Wednesday afternoon, and both later characterized their discussion as positive while providing different descriptions of what Mexico is doing to stave off a potential tariff war. While Mr. Trump posted on social media that Mexico had agreed to stop migration to the United States through Mexico, 'effectively closing our Southern Border,' Ms. Sheinbaum limited her description of the migration-related issues they had discussed to migrant caravans no longer reaching the border with the United States. Still, Ms. Sheinbaum, who earlier in the day had made clear that Mexico would impose retaliatory tariffs in response to similar measures threatened by Mr. Trump, seemed to ease tensions by saying the exchange was 'excellent.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump of course is ignoring a long-standing premise of U.S. policy: that we have only one president at a time. Trump's negotiating with world leaders during Biden's presidency is more evidence for the theory that he'll never be president, but would best be described -- during those periods he can reasonably be assumed to hold office -- as president*. Oh, and there's this: ~~~

~~~ digby: "Rolling Stone is reporting today that Trump and Co have revived their plans to invade Mexico. I'm not kidding: 'Within Donald Trump's government-in-waiting, there is a fresh debate over whether and how thoroughly the president-elect should follow through on his campaign promise to attack or even invade Mexico, as part of the "war" he's pledged to wage against powerful drug cartels.... Trump's Cabinet picks, including his choices for secretary of defense and secretary of state, have publicly supported the idea of potentially unleashing the U.S. military in Mexico. So has the man Trump has tapped to be his national security adviser. So has the man Trump selected as his 'border czar' to lead his immigration crackdowns. So have various Trump allies in Congress and in the media.'... They're serious." The Rolling Stone story, which is firewalled, is here.

Rob Gillies of the AP: "Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should ... Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday.... When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.... Canadian officials argue their country is not the problem [when it comes to sending immigrants to the U.S. or fentanyl,] and that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries."

Whoa! What a Surprise! Betsy Klein, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period [with one notable omission].... 'There does not appear to be a provision addressing the requirement for the president-elect to address his conflicts of interest,' said Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service.... In 2016, Trump took some nominal steps toward alleviating ethical concerns before entering the White House.... He has made no such assurances this time. Rather, Trump lately has added potential conflicts of interest with some of his latest business dealings.... The ethics agreement, posted late Tuesday to the General Services Administration's website, otherwise 'does appear to comply with most of the requirements in the Presidential Transition Act,' a law governing the protocols around transition activities, said Boyd." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hey, Trump has an Article II that lets him do whatever he wants. And if you don't believe him, ask the Supreme Court.

Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate retired Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.... During Trump's first administration, Kellogg served as Chief of Staff and executive secretary to the National Security Council. He previously served in the military for over 35 years. Kellogg in April co-authored a policy paper, obtained by NBC News, outlining how he'd seek to end the war in Ukraine, including potentially conditioning U.S. military aid to Kyiv on their participation in peace talks with Russia.... 'Ukraine would not be asked to relinquish the goal of regaining all its territory, but it would agree to use diplomacy, not force, with the understanding that this would require a future diplomatic breakthrough which probably will not occur before Putin leaves office,' Kellogg and [co-author Fred] Fleitz wrote." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "In February, Mr. Kellogg defended Mr. Trump after the then-candidate declared that he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to NATO members who fail to meet the alliance's targets for national military spending.... Mr. Kellogg said that Mr. Trump was 'onto something' by emphasizing the responsibility of NATO members to maintain strong armies." ~~~

     ~~~ Sareen Habeshian of Axios: "Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg ... has pushed a proposal to end the war between the two countries through Ukraine ceding land to Russia." MB: Habeshian doesn't present direct evidence of Kellogg's plans for Ukrainian territory held by Russia, but Reuters did: ~~~

     ~~~ AND Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "'Under the plan drawn up by Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, who both served as chiefs of staff in Trump's National Security Council during his 2017-2021 presidency, there would be a ceasefire based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks, Fleitz said,' Reuters reported [in June]. Maintaining the current battle lines would potentially leave Russia in control of a large percentage of Ukrainian territory, which Reuters noted 'would mark a big shift in the U.S. position on the war and would face opposition from European allies and within Trump's own Republican Party.'"

Tara Copp of the AP: "... Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, has not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service.... The appointment comes at a critical moment for the Navy, which has been stretched thin with deployments around the world and must contend with a shrinking fleet even as the naval forces of its main rival, China, are growing. Trump has campaigned on expanding the Navy and would need to fight bureaucratic inertia to do so. But it's uncertain whether a secretary with no military experience -- either in uniform or as a defense civilian - would be well-positioned to lead that effort." ~~~

     ~~~ Even some Trumpbots are not amused. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One personality trait Trump's picks have in common with Trump: a complete lack of humility. If for some strange reason a president accidentally picked me to be Secretary of the Navy, I would decline the nomination as I would know I was not up to the job and my selection would be unfair to the men and women of the Navy. But Phelan, an investor, has no qualms. He apparently thinks an outing on a friend's yacht and a tourist visit to the Capitol are all the qualifications needed by a smart guy such as he.

Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "In 2019, [Robert Kennedy, Jr.,] called the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]'s vaccine division a fascist enterprise and accused it of knowingly hurting children. He also compared what he saw as a widespread conspiracy to hide harms from the child vaccination program to the cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church."

Devlin Barrett & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Several of the people ... Donald J. Trump has picked to be cabinet nominees or for White House positions received threats on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.... Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said several cabinet nominees and others were targeted with 'violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them.' Law enforcement and other authorities 'acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted,' she added. The F.B.I. said in a statement it was aware of the bomb threats and so-called swatting calls, which entail contacting law enforcement to falsely claim a dangerous person is at a particular address. Such calls are designed to create a frantic armed police response to frighten, harass and endanger someone at their home. Three people familiar with the threats, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said one of those targeted was Susie Wiles, Mr. Trump's campaign manager who he has tapped to serve as the White House chief of staff." Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin & Brooke Rollins also were targeted. (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here.

Lord Zuck Travels to the Court of Mar-a-Lardo to Pay Liege Homage. Mike Isaac, et al., of the New York Times: "Mark Zuckerberg met on Wednesday with ... Donald J. Trump in a rare face-to-face encounter, the latest attempt by the Meta chief executive to establish a positive rapport with Mr. Trump. The meeting, confirmed by three people..., was initiated by Mr. Zuckerberg, who has had a strained relationship with Mr. Trump over the past decade. Mr. Trump, who has long maintained that Meta has unfairly restrained him and other conservatives across its social media apps, has lobbed broadsides against Mr. Zuckerberg on social media and during stump speeches. Mr. Zuckerberg flew into West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday evening before joining Mr. Trump at ... Mar-a-Lago...." The AP's report is here.

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk on Wednesday called for the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the nation's most powerful watchdog agencies, signaling it could be scrapped as part of a planned review of government spending ordered by ... Donald Trump. 'Delete CFPB,' Musk said in an early-morning post on X..., categorizing the bureau as an example of 'too many duplicative regulatory agencies' in Washington." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Clearly, this is not an effort to curtail the usual irritants of "waste, fraud and abuse." As Romm writes, "Unlike other federal offices, the CFPB is funded by transfers from the Federal Reserve, a move meant to insulate the watchdog from political infighting and lobbying pressure." So Musk isn't worried about wasting taxpayer dollars; the Fed gets its operating money from interest on securities it owns (page 4 of the linked doc), not from tax dollars. Rather, as Romm writes, Musk got his CFPB bug from billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreeson, who has investments in some of the financial institutions the CFPB has cracked down on.

Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman 'committed treason' and 'will pay' after the former Trump impeachment witness accused the tech billionaire and close Trump ally of being unwittingly used by Russia. 'Vindman is on the payroll of Ukranian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States,' Musk wrote on his social media platform X, responding to comments Vindman made in an interview about Musk's reported conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Musk added that Vindman ... 'will pay the appropriate penalty.' In a response on X, Vindman said Musk's comments were 'false and completely unfounded accusations.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This may be the precursor to SOP in the Trump administration*: criticize Trump or a Trumpolodyte and "pay the appropriate penalty." Treason is a capital offense. Trump resumed executions for federal offenses during his first term, and the feds executed thirteen inmates during the first Trump administration. Merrick Garland reinstated the moratorium on federal executions in July 2021. ~~~

~~~ Marie: About a week ago, I ran a link to a story along the lines of the next linked story, but it bears repeating: ~~~

     ~~~ Hadas Gold & Rene Marsh of CNN: "Last week, in the midst of the flurry of his daily missives, [Elon] Musk reposted two X posts that revealed the names and titles of people holding four relatively obscure climate-related government positions. Each post has been viewed tens of millions of times, and the individuals named have been subjected to a barrage of negative attention. At least one of the four women named has deleted her social media accounts.... Several current federal employees told CNN they're afraid their lives will be forever changed -- including physically threatened == as Musk makes behind-the-scenes bureaucrats into personal targets.... Musk has done this kind of thing before -- and it's led to real danger for the people named. Missy Cummings [of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration] angered Musk when she was ... critical of Tesla's driver-assist programs and she had called for regulating the systems. Musk targeted Cummings on ... Twitter, and his legions of fans followed....Cummings said she received a torrent of attacks, including death threats, and had to temporarily relocate before she eventually moved.... [One expert said s/he was] 'not surprised' with Musk's re-posts, adding they are an example of a 'classic pattern' of cyber harassment."

Senator Potato Head Confuses U.S. with Russia. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "'The United States has sent $211 BILLION of your tax dollars to Ukraine, 4X as much as the rest of the world COMBINED,' [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville [R-ALa.] wrote on X. The former college football coach was soon hit with a community note that read, 'The $211 billion figure is the amount Russia has spent on the war as of February 2024. Senator Tuberville appears to have confused the United States with Russia.' The community note linked to a Reuters article that read, 'Russia has probably spent up to $211 billion in equipping, deploying and maintaining its troops for operations in Ukraine and Moscow has lost more than $10 billion in canceled or postponed arms sales, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday.'" Hey, an easy mistake to make. Besides, how could a sitting U.S. senator possibly check the facts before he shared something this stupid? Thanks to Akhilleus for the link, and for his commentary at the end of yesterday's thread.

AP: "A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled that Border Patrol agents cannot cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border in the town of Eagle Pass, which has become the center of the state's aggressive measures to curb migrant crossings. The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for Texas in a long-running rift over immigration policy with the Biden administration, which has also sought to remove floating barriers installed on the Rio Grande. Texas has continued to install razor wire along its roughly 1,200-mile (1,900 kilometers) border with Mexico over the past year. In a 2-1 ruling, the court issued an injunction blocking Border Patrol agents from damaging the wire in Eagle Pass."

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New York. Hurubie Meko & Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "A federal judge overseeing New York City's Rikers Island jail complex on Wednesday found the city in contempt for failing to stem violence and excessive force at the facility, and said she was leaning toward taking control of the city's jails. The judge, Laura Taylor Swain, said in a 65-page opinion that the city and its Department of Correction had violated the constitutional rights of prisoners and staff members alike by exposing them to danger, and had intentionally ignored her orders. The judge wrote that she was 'inclined' to impose an outside authority, known as a receiver.... She ordered the city and lawyers representing prisoners to devise a plan for a receivership by Jan. 14."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Euan Ward, et al., of the New York Times: "Thousands of civilians began the journey back to their war-ravaged, mostly abandoned communities around Beirut and in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as a U.S.-backed cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah took tenuous hold after more than 13 months of bloodshed. Vehicles stuffed with whatever items people took as they fled Israeli bombing crawled bumper to bumper on roads heading south from Beirut, the capital. For the people in them, elation, relief -- and, for Hezbollah supporters, defiance -- vied with grim knowledge: They might not have homes to return to, and the 60-day truce might not hold or bring the hoped-for end of the deadliest, most destructive war their nation has suffered in decades. But it was not clear when the people of southern Lebanon ... could go back, as the Israeli military said it would not yet permit residents in an area that had been a Hezbollah stronghold, used to launch most of its attacks on Israel. About one-quarter of Lebanon's more than five million people have been forced from their homes by the war."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Rev. Robert W. Dixon Sr., the last known survivor of the U.S. Army's all-Black regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers, died on Nov. 15 near Albany, N.Y. He was 103.... Mr. Dixon was a corporal in World War II stationed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where members of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment, composed of African Americans, trained cadets in horseback riding and mounted tactics. Created after the Civil War, the Army's all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were nicknamed 'Buffalo Soldiers' by Native Americans who encountered them in the nation's Western expansion in the post-Civil War 19th century....

"The troops could serve only west of the Mississippi River because most white Southerners would not tolerate armed Black soldiers in their communities. They fought in the Indian Wars and protected settlers moving West. During the Spanish-American War, the experienced horsemen of the 10th Cavalry led the way for Col. Theodore Roosevelt's novice Roughriders in fighting in Cuba."

The Conversation -- November 27, 2024

A Reason to be Thankful: Biden Rescues Wrongfully-detained Americans. Michael Birnbaum & Cate Caddell of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration and China have agreed to a prisoner swap, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday, securing the release of three Americans who the U.S. government has long said were wrongfully detained by Beijing. Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung are en route back to the United States, the White House said, capping months of diplomatic pressure on China and securing a win for the Biden administration.... The White House said in a statement ... [that] no other Americans are wrongfully detained in China."

Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate retired Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.... During Trump's first administration, Kellogg served as Chief of Staff and executive secretary to the National Security Council. He previously served in the military for over 35 years. Kellogg in April co-authored a policy paper, obtained by NBC News, outlining how he'd seek to end the war in Ukraine, including potentially conditioning U.S. military aid to Kyiv on their participation in peace talks with Russia.... 'Ukraine would not be asked to relinquish the goal of regaining all its territory, but it would agree to use diplomacy, not force, with the understanding that this would require a future diplomatic breakthrough which probably will not occur before Putin leaves office,' Kellogg and [co-author Fred] Fleitz wrote."

Devlin Barrett & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Several of the people ... Donald J. Trump has picked to be cabinet nominees or for White House positions received threats on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.... Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said several cabinet nominees and others were targeted with 'violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them.' Law enforcement and other authorities 'acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted,' she added. The F.B.I. said in a statement it was aware of the bomb threats and so-called swatting calls, which entail contacting law enforcement to falsely claim a dangerous person is at a particular address. Such calls are designed to create a frantic armed police response to frighten, harass and endanger someone at their home. Three people familiar with the threats ... said one of those targeted was Susie Wiles, Mr. Trump;s campaign manager who he has tapped to serve as the White House chief of staff.: Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin & Brooke Rollins also were targeted.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday celebrated the acceptance of a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States to end the 'devastating conflict' between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after more than a year of fighting. Biden, in remarks delivered from the White House Rose Garden, said he had just spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati. 'Under the deal reached today, effective at 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. Will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,' Biden said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

More on Israel's wars linked below.

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Trump transition has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House, incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles announced on Tuesday -- a move that clears the way for coordination with the federal agencies they will soon take over. The Trump team's unprecedented delay in signing these agreements, weeks after being declared the winner of the election, had alarmed former officials and ethics experts who warned it could lead to conflicts of interest and leave the new government unprepared to govern on day one. In the Tuesday announcement, Wiles suggested the Trump transition will not sign a separate agreement with the General Services Administration, which would have allowed them to receive federal funding, cybersecurity support and government office space, pledging instead to fund the transition with private dollars." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whaddaya mean, "unprepared to govern on Day One"? Why, Trump is going to solve all the world's conflicts on Day One AND slap tariffs on every item being offloaded from every ship in every port in the U.S.A. AND start rounding up all the immigrants (except Elon) AND put all the Democrats & liberal reporters and other trouble-makers in jail. Oh, they'll be ready. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "But Mr. Trump's team has so far refused to sign an agreement with the Justice Department to allow the F.B.I. to do security clearances for transition members. Without that, Biden administration officials will be unable to share classified information with many of Mr. Trump's transition aides.... [Since the Trump team also refused to sign an agreement with the G.S.A.,] White House officials said ... it would be more difficult to share information with them. Biden administration officials are being instructed to find alternate ways to share information that are still secure, officials said.... White House officials said that if [Trump's team did not sign the agreement with the Justice Department], classified information would not be shared with transition officials who do not already have security clearances."

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday evening that he had selected Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford physician and economist whose authorship of an anti-lockdown treatise during the coronavirus pandemic made him a central figure in a bitter public health debate, to be the director of the National Institutes of Health.... Dr. Bhattacharya, who is not a practicing physician, has called for overhauling the N.I.H. and limiting the power of civil servants who, he believes, played too prominent a role in shaping federal policy during the pandemic.... Dr. Bhattacharya is one of three lead authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a manifesto issued in 2020 that contended that the virus should be allowed to spread among young healthy people who were 'at minimal risk of death' and could thus develop natural immunity, while prevention efforts were targeted to older people and the vulnerable.... Dr. Bhattacharya and his fellow authors were promptly dismissed as cranks whose 'fringe' policy prescriptions would lead to millions of unnecessary deaths." ~~~

     ~~~ Erin Schumaker of Politico: "Bhattacharya, 56, has advocated for a major shakeup of the agency and accused former NIH leaders Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci of suppressing scientific debate and research during the pandemic. 'The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see,' Bhattacharya wrote earlier this month on the British news and opinion site UnHerd, in an endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health and human services secretary."

     ~~~ Marie: Occasionally I wander from idly musing about the ways Trump is going to inconvenience me or substantially interfere with my life to wondering if he'll just kill me outright via a cockamamie scheme or edict one of his "health experts" unleashes.

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump selected Kevin Hassett on Tuesday to be the director of the White House National Economic Council, giving an adviser who served as his top economist during his first term a leading role in steering his economic agenda. As the director of the N.E.C., Mr. Hassett will work closely with the Treasury secretary to push forward Mr. Trump's economic plans, focused on cutting taxes, increasing tariffs and expanding energy production....

"Mr. Trump also selected Jamieson Greer, a lawyer and former Trump official, to lead the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Mr. Greer is a partner in international trade at the law firm King & Spalding. During Mr. Trump's first term, he served as chief of staff to Robert E. Lighthizer, the trade representative at the time. He was involved in the Trump administration's trade negotiations with China, as well as the renegotiation of NAFTA with Canada and Mexico."

Jack Detsch of Politico: "... Donald Trump has selected businessman John Phelan as his nominee to lead the Navy, according to a statement released on Tuesday night.... Phelan, who leads the private investment firm Rugger Management..., was a major donor to the Trump campaign.... Trump chose Phelan, who did not serve in the military and does not have a long track record with the Navy, after a round of interviews at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to one person familiar with the matter...." MB: I have no idea what "does not have a long track record with the Navy" means. I would wager that the majority of Americans, myself included, would fit into the category of "person who does not have a long track record with the Navy." The Hill's report is here.

Team of Nitwits. Hannah Knowles, et al., of the Washington Post: In assembling the team for his second term as president*, Donald Trump is "enlisting people deeply critical of the agencies they will lead, bucking conservative orthodoxy with some of his picks and, above all, rewarding his most loyal allies.... The Cabinet is also mostly White.... 'What you see here is a wholesale contempt for government,' said Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer during Trump's first administration who has become a critic."

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Before Mr. Trump even sets foot in the Oval Office, his threat to put tariffs on America's three largest trading partners on his first day in office was reverberating around the world, shocking international businesses, rocking diplomatic relationships and calling into question two big trade deals that Mr. Trump negotiated during his first term. Mr. Trump's pronouncement late Monday that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on products from China was immediately denounced by business groups.... Foreign officials rushed to reassure the incoming Trump administration that they had been working to stop drugs and migrants from coming into the United States -- while warning that they were also ready to turn around and impose their own tariffs on American exports....

"In a public letter on Tuesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said her country had developed a comprehensive policy that had led to far fewer encounters at the U.S. border and said tariff threats would not solve the problem.... Ms. Sheinbaum also threatened to answer Mr. Trump's tariffs with levies on American products, even if that harmed automakers and other businesses that trade goods along both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.... 'Rather than panicking, we're engaging in constructive ways to protect Canadian jobs like we have before,' [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau said. 'The idea of going to war with the United States isn't what anyone wants.'"

     ~~~ An AP story on President Sheinbaum's reaction to Trump's threat is here. The Guardian's story on Canadian reactions is here. More on Trudeau's troubles linked below. ~~~

Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: "Trump ... seems to surround himself with certain men because they mistreat women, not in spite of it. The contemporary GOP under Trump has defined itself as a party devoted to violence, harassment, and the denial of women's bodily autonomy. Abuse, harassment, and dismissing the testimony of women are central to the party's policies and to its ethics. Not only are Republicans unable to expel abusers, they actively empower them.... Public, sexualized attacks on women are central to MAGA politics. One of Trump's main accomplishments in his first term was appointing far right Supreme Court justices ... who destroyed women's right to abortion and bodily autonomy.... One of [those] Supreme Court picks, Brett Kavanaugh, was accused of sexual assault during his confirmation hearing. But instead of taking the claim seriously, Trump secretly blocked an FBI investigation into the charges, and Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate.... Following [Kamala] Harris's defeat, pro-Trump men began trolling women on social media with posts declaring, 'Your body, my choice.'... Make America Great Again always meant returning America to a time when rich white men had power to subjugate others with impunity." (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump Has Another NYT Meltdown. Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "'Will the failing New York Times apologize to its readers for getting years of "Trump" coverage so wrong,' Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social. 'They write such phony "junk," knowing full well how incorrect it is, only meaning to demean.' He specifically called out national political correspondent Maggie Haberman as ... 'a third rate writer and fourth rate intellect, writes story after story, always terrible, and yet I almost never speak to her.' The president-elect's post came just hours after the Times published a story outlining an internal investigation his transition team had conducted around top Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, alleging he solicited payment from candidates for top Cabinet posts to curry favor with Trump." MB: Haberman co-wrote the Epshteyn story with Jonathan Swan. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Somebody should tell NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger that unless the paper wants to publish only the sweetest, Trump-vetted puff pieces, Donald Trump will attack the Times. ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has always demanded loyalty from his aides, but few have answered the call quite like Natalie Harp. A 33-year-old former far-right cable host, Ms. Harp is nearly always at Mr. Trump's side. She has written him a series of devotional letters, including one that said, 'You are all that matters to me.'... Little known beyond Mr. Trump's immediate orbit, Ms. Harp is now poised to play a potentially influential role in his White House, sitting right outside the Oval Office and acting as the conduit for a largely unsupervised flow of information to and from the president and helping him with his social media feed. She has no official title, but during the campaign, colleagues referred to her as the 'human printer' because she followed Mr. Trump around with a portable printer and a battery pack to charge it, so she could hand him information in hard copy, as he prefers.... One of her go-to news sources, people who have observed her say, is the website Gateway Pundit, which frequently disseminates conspiracy theories embraced by the far right.' ~~~

     ~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "It's not clear what triggered Trump's rant in the early hours of Tuesday. He singled out reporter Maggie Haberman, whose name he misspelled intentionally and also seemingly unintentionally, but his Truth Social post came shortly after the newspaper published a report by her and colleague Jonathan Swan on a series of passionate letters from a much younger aide." ~~~

     ~~~ digby finds the Trump-Harp relationship, as described by Haberman & Swan, to be "a little weird.... He calls her 'sweetie' and treats her like his own daughter.... She goes with him everywhere and does everything he wants.... "'"I want to bring you joy," she wrote [to Trump in a letter Haberman & Swan have seen], "to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk 'work.'"' Oookay. That sounds perfectly innocent...." MB: Nothing weird about Trump's calling Harp "sweetie." She's one of the ubiquitous blonde aides, and Trump can't remember her real name.

BTW, in a Bluesky skeet RAS linked earlier Tuesday, Jon Wolfsthal, a security analyst who served in the Obama administration, wrote, "The push to fire Government workers is actually a scam designed to funnel even more money to government contractors and management consulting. The dirty secret of 'smaller government' is that it benefits management consulting firms. The works still has to get done, but with 40% overhead." So, graft on a grand scale. Just think of the vast opportunities for bribes and "favors" and insider trading and profiteering and and and. (Also linked yesterday.)

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a request from special counsel Jack Smith to drop President-elect Trump's Florida documents case, ending the battle to charge him over retaining records with classified markings after leaving office. The order fulfills a request from Smith to end an appeal in the case as it relates to Trump though the case continues for his two co-defendants -- valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira." This story does not report whether the case against Trump was dropped with prejudice or without prejudice. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is still not clear to me, after re-reading a later version of Beitsch's report as well as other reports, whether or not it is theoretically possible that a future AG could revive the documents case against Trump. Apparently Barbara McQuade, who understands this far better than I, thinks so: ~~~

     ~~~ Barbara McQuade, in an MSNBC opinion piece: "It may be that a future attorney general ... will lack the appetite to resuscitate the cases against Trump in 2029. But [Jack] Smith has done all he can to preserve that possibility."

~~~ Marie: Here's why not all Trumpbots are as stupid as we think: the story of the appeals court's dismissal of the classified docs case on something called "Fox Live" is headlined, "Trump Cleared." You and I know Trump was not "cleared," which according to Merriam-Webster (and common understanding) means, "to free from accusation or blame: exonerate, vindicate." Smith asked that the cases be dismissed because of DOJ protocols regarding prosecutions of sitting presidents*, not because he determined Trump was not guilty. If your sources of news were right-wing media, you might reasonably assume that poor ole Trump had been wrongly accused and Jack Smith was finally admitting it.

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: "The legacy of [Jack] Smith's investigation [into Donald Trump's misdeeds] is shaping up to be a complex one. Legal experts give him credit for running a tightly disciplined investigation and amassing considerable evidence to back the charges he lodged. But legal battles that spun out of his prosecutions have left the Justice Department with what appear to be considerable new constraints on holding presidents accountable. And for all Mr. Smith's efforts to avoid having his work enmeshed in politics, Mr. Trump essentially put the voters between himself and federal prosecutors."

Tobi Raji of the Washington Post: "A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas has rejected the state's long-shot attempt to temporarily block special counsel Jack Smith from destroying records related to his investigation into ... Donald Trump, calling the state's argument 'unserious.' Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) had asked U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk to order Smith to preserve the records, including any communications Smith's office had with a 'range of outside parties' and information regarding the cellphones assigned to Smith's team, among other items, according to the complaint. Such requests can be a routine first step in congressional inquiries, law enforcement investigations and litigation. Three days after Trump was elected president, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia) asked Smith's office to preserve all records of his classified documents and election interference probes, an early sign that they were planning to investigate his work. But Paxton does not have any clear jurisdiction to launch such an investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wow! Ken Paxton is too "unserious" even for every winger's favorite go-to judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "A Republican senator is blocking the promotion of Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, the commander of U.S. troops in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, in what could be the first salvo in a Trump administration war against America's generals. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, put a hold on General Donahue's promotion to four stars, or general, after his nomination was sent to the Armed Services Committee last week, officials said.... Trump transition officials have said they plan to go after generals in the Pentagon for a list of perceived crimes, including taking part in the Afghanistan evacuation and promoting diversity in the ranks....

"General Donahue was the last American service member to depart Afghanistan as Taliban fighters took control on Aug. 31, 2021. A decorated former Delta Force commander, Army Ranger and paratrooper with multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was recently selected to lead the U.S. Army's Europe Command as the war in Ukraine heads into its fourth year.... General Donahue arrived at Kabul international airport on Aug. 18, three days after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban. In front of him was an impossible puzzle: a sprawling airport besieged by desperate people trying to flee and not enough troops to carry out an orderly end to America's longest war. Days later, on Aug. 26, 2021, a suicide bombing at the airport's Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians. General Donahue was not responsible for that part of the airport when the attack occurred." (Also linked yesterday.)

Stefanos Chen & Olivia Bensimon of the New York Times: A hearing in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday, scheduled to "to discuss [Rudy Giuliani's] continuing failure to give up nearly $11 million worth of personal assets..., was the most contentious yet in the winding search for his personal assets.... But first, Judge Lewis Liman allowed Mr. Giuliani's lawyers to withdraw from the case." Giuliani's new lawyer said one reason he was requesting a delay in the case was that Giuliani wanted to attend Trump's inauguration. "The answer, Judge Liman said, was no." Oh, and one of the few items Rudy did turn over to the plaintiffs -- a vintage Mercedes supposedly once belonging to Lauren Bacall -- he surrendered without the keys and the title. So Shaye & Ruby can't even drive around in style. But his failure to do even the bare minimum required by the court didn't stop Rudy from yelling at the judge or from whining about how the women have tied up his last penny. This would be sad if Rudy didn't deserve every indignity imposed upon him. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The NBC News story by Adam Reiss & Dareh Gregorian is here: "... Giuliani snapped: 'The implications you are making against me are wrong. I have no car, no credit card, no cash, everything I have is tied up. They have put stop orders on my business accounts, and I can't pay my bills.' The judge said Giuliani did not appear to be indigent and warned him against any further outbursts."

Adeel Hassan of the New York Times: "An animal-rights activist suspected in bombings at two locations in Northern California over two decades ago -- and who landed on the F.B.I.'s list of most-wanted terrorists -- was caught in Wales on Monday, the F.B.I. said on Tuesday. ThE activist, Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, was sought in connection with the bombings of two San Francisco-area buildings that housed companies with ties to animal testing.... In January 2006, the F.B.I. offered a $250,000 reward for information leading directly to his arrest, and the agency put him on the list of most-wanted terrorists in 2009.... The F.B.I. said that it had coordinated with British authorities to arrest Mr. San Diego, but did not give ... details on how he was found, or whether the reward money would be shared."

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Texas. Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "The Texas committee that examines all pregnancy-related deaths in the state will not review cases from 2022 and 2023, the first two years after Texas's near-total abortion ban took effect, leaving any potential deaths related to abortion bans during those years uninvestigated by the 23 ... specialists who make up the group. In a September meeting, leaders of the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee said the change was made to 'be more contemporary' -- allowing them to skip over a backlog of older cases.... But in interviews with The Washington Post, several members of the committee expressed concern that they would not be reviewing deaths that may have resulted from delays in care caused by Texas's abortion bans.... At least three women have died in Texas because of delays in care related to the abortion bans, according to reporting from ProPublica.... The abortion bans have restricted the ability of doctors and hospitals to provide critical care to women experiencing miscarriages or other pregnancy complications -- situations that would trigger a review by the committee if a woman died."

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Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: "Amid rapidly growing anxiety over the potential harms to Canada if ... Donald J. Trump fulfills his promise to impose heavy tariffs on the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that he would seek a united political front at an emergency meeting the following day with all of his country's provincial and territorial leaders.... But Mr. Trudeau may not be able to muster as unified a response as he managed during the previous Trump administration. Most of the premiers are his political opponents, his Liberal federal government isn't polling well and he is vulnerable in the next federal election, which must be held within a year. In the aftermath of Mr. Trump's announcement, several premiers criticized Mr. Trudeau as much as they denounced Mr. Trump's plan."

Marie: You see why I want to move to Denmark? They are the only country on Earth to have a fart tax! ~~~

Denmark. Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "... there are five times as many pigs and cows in Denmark as there are people. Nearly two-thirds of its land is taken up by farming. And agriculture is becoming its largest share of climate pollution.... So now, Denmark's unlikely coalition government, made up of three parties from across the political spectrum, has agreed to tax the planet-heating methane emissions that all those animals expel through their poop, farts and burps. The measure, under negotiation for years, was passed by the Danish Parliament this month, making it the only such climate levy on livestock in the world.... The tax is part of a larger package designed to clean up the country's agricultural pollution and eventually restore some farmland to its natural form, like peat lands, which are exceptionally good at locking away planet-heating gases underground but were drained decades ago to grow crops."

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Israel's wars are here: "A U.S.-backed cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, halting the deadliest war in Lebanon in decades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel could strike again if the Lebanese militant group violated the deal. Despite both sides warning displaced residents not to return to southern areas under Israeli evacuation orders, many people were seen flocking home in the south, causing traffic jams on highways. The deal is set to stop fighting for an initial 60-day window, during which all Israeli soldiers would withdraw as Lebanese forces take up their positions, a senior Biden administration official said. The agreement is intended as 'a permanent cessation of hostilities,' President Joe Biden said."

Johnatan Reiss of the New York Times: "An independent commission, founded by survivors of the [Hamas-led October 7, 2023,] raid and relatives of Israelis who were killed and kidnapped..., releas[ed] a scathing report that blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top military commanders for years of faulty decisions that made Israel more vulnerable to invasion. Based on three months of interviews and public hearings, the commission's report criticized the government's decision to funnel money to Hamas.... The commission ... condemned Mr. Netanyahu for sidelining high-level decision-making forums that might have stirred greater internal debate about the wisdom of such a policy. The commission also criticized top generals for reducing the number of troops stationed along Israel's border with Gaza, allowing loose discipline among the soldiers who remained, and prioritizing signal intelligence over human and visual monitoring of the Palestinian enclave."

News Lede

New York Times: "When a pilot on an animal-rescue mission died in a plane crash in upstate New York, a dog he was transporting also died, officials said. But two others survived, including one that was found in a snowy hole he had dug with broken legs. The pilot, Seuk Kim, 49, was traveling to Albany with three dogs from Maryland when he crashed on Sunday in Windham, N.Y., about 35 miles from Albany in the Catskill Mountains, according to the authorities.... Rescuers ... found ... Pluto, an 18-month-old Yorkshire terrier mix..., on a mountain ridge with minor injuries. Whiskey, a Labrador retriever mix, was found in the hole he had dug despite being injured. Whiskey was taken to an animal hospital for treatment."

The Conversation -- November 26, 2024

Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday celebrated the acceptance of a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States to end the 'devastating conflict' between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after more than a year of fighting. Biden, in remarks delivered from the White House Rose Garden, said he had just spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati. 'Under the deal reached today, effective at 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. Will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,' Biden said." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments here. ~~~

Alice Ollstein of Politico: “The Trump transition has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House, incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles announced on Tuesday — a move that clears the way for coordination with the federal agencies they will soon take over. The Trump team’s unprecedented delay in signing these agreements, weeks after being declared the winner of the election, had alarmed former officials and ethics experts who warned it could lead to conflicts of interest and leave the new government unprepared to govern on day one. In the Tuesday announcement, Wiles suggested the Trump transition will not sign a separate agreement with the General Services Administration, which would have allowed them to receive federal funding, cybersecurity support and government office space, pledging instead to fund the transition with private dollars.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whaddaya mean, "unprepared to govern on Day One." Why, Trump is going to solve all the world's conflicts on Day One AND slap tariffs on every item being offloaded from every ship in every port in the U.S.A. AND start rounding up all the immigrants (except Elon) AND put all the Democrats & liberal reporters and other trouble-makers in jail. Oh, they'll be ready.

BTW, in a Bluesky skeet RAS linked earlier Tuesday, Jon Wolfsthal, a security analyst who served in the Obama administration, wrote, "The push to fire Government workers is actually a scam designed to funnel even more money to government contractors and management consulting. The dirty secret of 'smaller government' is that it benefits management consulting firms. The works still has to get done, but with 40% overhead." So, graft on a grand scale. Just think of the vast opportunities for bribes and "favors" and insider trading and profiteering and and and.

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: “The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a request from special counsel Jack Smith to drop President-elect Trump’s Florida documents case, ending the battle to charge him over retaining records with classified markings after leaving office. The order fulfills a request from Smith to end an appeal in the case as it relates to Trump though the case continues for his two co-defendants – valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.” This is a developing story. It does not report whether the case against Trump was dropped with prejudice or without prejudice.

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: “A Republican senator is blocking the promotion of Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, the commander of U.S. troops in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, in what could be the first salvo in a Trump administration war against America’s generals. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, put a hold on General Donahue’s promotion to four stars, or general, after his nomination was sent to the Armed Services Committee last week, officials said.... Trump transition officials have said they plan to go after generals in the Pentagon for a list of perceived crimes, including taking part in the Afghanistan evacuation and promoting diversity in the ranks....

“General Donahue was the last American service member to depart Afghanistan as Taliban fighters took control on Aug. 31, 2021. A decorated former Delta Force commander, Army Ranger and paratrooper with multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was recently selected to lead the U.S. Army’s Europe Command as the war in Ukraine heads into its fourth year.... General Donahue arrived at Kabul international airport on Aug. 18, three days after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban. In front of him was an impossible puzzle: a sprawling airport besieged by desperate people trying to flee and not enough troops to carry out an orderly end to America’s longest war. Days later, on Aug. 26, 2021, a suicide bombing at the airport’s Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians. General Donahue was not responsible for that part of the airport when the attack occurred.”

Stefanos Chen & Olivia Bensimon of the New York Times: A hearing in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday, scheduled to “to discuss [Rudy Giuliani's] continuing failure to give up nearly $11 million worth of personal assets..., was the most contentious yet in the winding search for his personal assets.... But first, Judge Lewis Liman allowed Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers to withdraw from the case.” Giuliani's new lawyer said one reason he was requesting a delay in the case was that Giuliani wanted to attend Trump's inauguration. “The answer, Judge Liman said, was no.” Oh, and one of the few items Rudy did turn over to the plaintiffs -- a vintage Mercedes supposedly once belonging to Lauren Bacall -- he surrendered without the keys and the title. So Shaye & Ruby can't even drive around in style. But his failure to do even the bare minimum required by the court didn't stop Rudy from yelling at the judge or from whining about how the women have tied up his last penny. This would be sad if Rudy didn't deserve every indignity imposed upon him.

Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: “Trump ... seems to surround himself with certain men because they mistreat women, not in spite of it. The contemporary GOP under Trump has defined itself as a party devoted to violence, harassment, and the denial of women’s bodily autonomy. Abuse, harassment, and dismissing the testimony of women are central to the party’s policies and to its ethics. Not only are Republicans unable to expel abusers, they actively empower them.... Public, sexualized attacks on women are central to MAGA politics. One of Trump’s main accomplishments in his first term was appointing far right Supreme Court justices ... who destroyed women’s right to abortion and bodily autonomy.... One of [those] Supreme Court picks, Brett Kavanaugh, was accused of sexual assault during his confirmation hearing. But instead of taking the claim seriously, Trump secretly blocked an FBI investigation into the charges, and Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate.... Following [Kamala] Harris’s defeat, pro-Trump men began trolling women on social media with posts declaring, 'Your body, my choice.'... Make America Great Again always meant returning America to a time when rich white men had power to subjugate others with impunity.”

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We live in Trumplandia now, and Donald I will soon be crowned. Preparations are underway. ~~~

The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed.... [This motion] does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind. -- Jack Smith, Motion to Dismiss the election interference case against Donald Trump ~~~

~~~⭐Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “The special counsel Jack Smith asked two courts on Monday to effectively shut down the federal criminal cases he brought against ... Donald J. Trump last year, bowing to a Justice Department policy that says it is unconstitutional to pursue prosecutions against sitting presidents. The twin requests by Mr. Smith — made to judges in Washington and Atlanta — were an acknowledgment that Mr. Trump will re-enter the White House in January unburdened by federal efforts to hold him accountable through charges of plotting to subvert the last presidential election and holding on to a trove of highly classified material following his first term in office.... In both of the court submissions, Mr. Smith made clear that his moves to end the charges against Mr. Trump were a necessity imposed on him by legal norms, rather than a decision made on the merits of the cases or because of problems with the evidence....

“While Mr. Smith sought to end the criminal cases before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, he did not definitively close the door on the possibility of the prosecutions one day being revived. In both filings, his requests were for dismissals 'without prejudice,' leaving open the possibility that the charges might be refiled after Mr. Trump leaves office for the second time.... Hours after Mr. Smith submitted his requests, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case in Washington, issued a brief order dismissing the proceeding.” The reporters do not indicate whether Judge Chutkan dismissed the case with or without prejudice. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story, by Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Smith's Motion to Dismiss in the insurrection/election interference case is here. His Motion to Dismiss the Appeal as to Trump in the stolen classified documents case is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times on the legal morass the confederate Supremes have left in Trump's wake: “The result [of the dismissals] is not just that Mr. Trump appears set to escape any criminal accountability for his actions. (Mr. Smith left the door open to, in theory, refiling the charges after Mr. Trump leaves office, but the statute of limitations is likely to have run by then.) It also means that two open constitutional questions the cases have raised appear likely to go without definitive answers.... One is the extent of the protection from prosecution offered to former presidents by the Supreme Court’s ruling this summer establishing that they have a type of broad but not fully defined immunity for official acts taken while in office. The other is whether, when a president is suspected of committing crimes, the Justice Department can avoid conflicts of interest by bringing in an outside prosecutor.... The uncertainty that will linger over those questions could have implications for the future of American democracy....” ~~~

     ~~~ Robert Reich on Substack: “Both filings were a grave mistake.... [Jack Smith] could have asked the courts to put the cases on hold until Trump is no longer president.... To be sure, Smith’s requests were for dismissals 'without prejudice,' which technically leaves open the possibility that charges could be refiled after Trump leaves office. But refiling charges is vastly more cumbersome than simply ending a stay.... [If Trump was going to quash the cases, Smith should have let him do that,] so all the world can see him seek to avoid accountability for what he has done.... In the meantime, Smith should release all the evidence that his team has accumulated about Trump’s plot to subvert the 2020 election and illegally possess highly classified information.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As I wrote yesterday, the bright side for me -- the side that makes me regret I have not appreciated Donald Trump more -- is that he has given me something that few others could -- you see, he has almost made me shed all reason and succomb at long last to a deep belief in an eternal afterlife where I might live in perfect unison with the Lord and the Cosmos. And how has Donald Trump brought me to this near-epiphany? Because he has proved, once and for all time, that there is not, that there cannot be -- any fucking justice in this life on Earth. ~~~

We ordinary people are on notice to watch ourselves, but in the court of the king, everyone's a happy jester, mocking the world and plotting a course of international (and self-)destruction. ~~~

~~~ Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump said on Monday that he would impose tariffs on all products coming into the United States from Canada, Mexico and China on his first day in office, a move that would scramble global supply chains and impose heavy costs on companies that rely on doing business with some of the world’s largest economies. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump mentioned a caravan of migrants making its way to the United States from Mexico, and said he would use an executive order to levy a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico until drugs and migrants stopped coming over the border.... Taken together, the tariff threats were a dramatic ultimatum against the three largest trading partners of the United States, and a move that threatens to sow chaos in America’s diplomatic and economic relationships even before Mr. Trump sets foot in the White House. News of the tariffs immediately set off alarms in the three nations, with the currencies of Canada and Mexico sliding against the dollar and a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington warning that 'no one will win a trade war.'...

“Mexico, China and Canada together account for more than a third of the goods and services both imported and exported by the United States, supporting tens of millions of American jobs. The three countries together purchased more than $1 trillion of U.S. exports and provided nearly $1.5 trillion of goods and services to the United States in 2023.” CNN's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times leads us to believe that this is all part of the Biggest Grift: “I’m not engaging in idle speculation here. Trump imposed significant tariffs during his first term, and many businesses applied for exemptions. Who got them? A recently published statistical analysis found that companies with Republican ties, as measured by their 2016 campaign contributions, were significantly more likely (and those with Democratic ties less likely) to have their applications approved. But that was only a small-scale rehearsal for what could be coming.... There have been many analyses of the probable macroeconomic impact of Trump’s tariffs, which will, if they are anywhere near as big as he has suggested, be seriously inflationary. Arguably, however, their corrupting influence will, in the long run, be an even bigger story.... The rules for how to succeed in American business are about to change, and not in a good way.” ~~~

~~~ “Special Relationship” No Longer So Special. Matt Honeycombe-Foster of Politico: “Elon Musk fired the latest shots in his war with the British government over the weekend, branding the U.K. a 'tyrannical police state,' boosting a petition calling for a fresh general election, and sharing a documentary by a jailed far-right activist to his millions of X followers. The X owner and adviser to ... Donald Trump has spent much of the year feuding with Britain’s new center-left Labour government. In his latest attack, Musk responded to a post about a viral online petition calling for an immediate general election in the U.K., which only went to the polls in July and returned Labour in a landslide.... Over the summer..., [Musk] leaped on the killing of three schoolgirls in the seaside town of Southport to offer his thoughts on policing in the U.K., spread inaccurate claims about the government’s response, and accuse [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer of running a 'two-tier' justice system that treats white people more harshly.... Pressed on the string of comments Monday, Starmer’s official spokesperson said the prime minister 'looks forward to working with President Trump and .. his whole team, including Elon Musk' to develop 'the special U.K.-U.S. relationship.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I find this astonishing. This is not how someone who holds an informal but influential position in a government-in-waiting treats the nation's closest ally. So I guess we have to assume international alliances will be changing. Drastically. A real president-elect would tell Musk his services were no longer required. But Trump is busy threatening our biggest trading partners, including our closest neighbors. He doesn't know how to be a real president, and Musk doesn't know how to behave. And neither of these arrogant brats thinks he has to learn. Meanwhile, "America First" is about to become "America Never." You cannot insult and harm your ostensible friends and expect them to grin & bear it. All of us will pay for what the MAGAts have done. 

Aw, Trouble at the Court of Mar-a-Lardo. Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump’s legal team found evidence that a top adviser asked for retainer fees from potential appointees in order to promote them for jobs in the new administration, five people briefed on the matter said on Monday. Mr. Trump directed his team to carry out the review of the adviser, Boris Epshteyn, who coordinated the legal defenses in Mr. Trump’s criminal cases and is a powerful figure in the transition.... David Warrington, who was effectively the Trump campaign’s general counsel, conducted the review in recent days.... The review claimed that Mr. Epshteyn had sought payment from two people, including Scott Bessent, whom Mr. Trump recently picked as his nominee for Treasury secretary. According to the review, Mr. Epshteyn met with Mr. Bessent in February ... and proposed $30,000 to $40,000 a month to 'promote' Mr. Bessent around Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s estate in Florida.... The second person cited in the review was a defense contractor from whom Mr. Epshteyn sought $100,000 a month during the transition period.” CNN's report is here.

Ana Marie Cox in the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: “For the members of this new [Trump] administration, favor-trading is their most obvious skill and slick morals the defining character trait. In a normal situation, these things would be blots on a résumé. In the Trump world, consequence-free bad behavior is the résumé. Hell, given the propensity of Trump administrations to become a snakepit, it’s also a survival skill.... Hegseth appears to believe that male sexual aggression is ... to be celebrated. Writing about Trump’s refusal to back down from the 'grab her by the pussy' footage, he lauded Trump for 'not playing by the rules of a game that was stacked against him—and against all patriotic Americans.'... Seizing what others would deny you or say you don’t deserve is the whole point of Trumpism.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Jason Wilson of the Guardian: “Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has attacked several key US alliances such as Nato, allied countries such as Turkey and international institutions such as the United Nations in two recent books, as well as saying US troops should not be bound by the Geneva conventions. At the same time, the man who would head America’s gigantic military has tied US foreign policy almost entirely to the priority of Israel.... Elsewhere, Hegseth appears to argue that the US military should ignore the Geneva conventions and any international laws governing the conduct of war, and instead 'unleash them' to become a 'ruthless', ncompromising' and 'overwhelmingly lethal' force geared to 'winning our wars according to our own rules'.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The Supplicants Approach the King. Leah Douglas & Ted Hesson of Reuters: "U.S. farm industry groups want ... Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally. So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump's incoming 'border czar' Tom Homan. Nearly half of the nation's approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture...." MB: Better start turning the soil for a nice little victory garden, because -- as Forrest M. & others have been discussing -- there will be hardly anybody willing to pick your lettuce and corn, and you won't be able to afford what-all does get harvested. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Trump Plays a Sour Note. Phil Weller in Guitar World:  “Gibson has confirmed to Guitar World that it has issued a cease and desist order to Trump Guitars owner 16 Creative over the use of its single-cut electric guitar model, 'as the design infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape.'... Trump Guitars is not thought to be owned directly by the President-elect, but its electric model is being pitched as 'the only guitar officially endorsed by President Donald J. Trump'.... There is .. a mention [in the company's promotional material] of parts being supplied by 'multiple providers' that are 'both domestic and international,' so it’s possible the guitars are not made in the USA....

“Meanwhile, it is still not confirmed whether or not the President-elect actually plays guitar, but there have been previous crossovers with the six-string world. Last summer, eagle eyed players spotted a Gibson guitar case sat in storage next to classified documents at Mar-a-Lago last summer. Then there were some bizarre NFT cards that pictured Trump playing a Gibson ES-335-like guitar, complete with an 'alarmingly inaccurate' whammy bar.” Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Miriam Elder, in a New York Times op-ed, remembers the “internal emigration” that occurred when many Russians abandoned political activism for apolitical domestic pursuits when Putin returned to power in 2012. “Aliona Doletskaya, a former editor in chief of Russian Vogue..., [created] her own 'internal Copenhagen' to shut out the horrors outside.” Elder urges Americans not to emulate the Russians who gave up.  “... something binds these men who seek power with no controls — the creation of internal enemies, the constant shock moves to keep people on their toes, their viselike grip on the information environment, as well as the anger and exhaustion they provoke in their critics. Here we go again.... A new approach is necessary if America is to avoid the fate that befell so many Russians.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As for me, I don't want an "internal Copenhagen." I want to move to Copenhagen! I want to be there, to sit in the Glyptotek gardens, surrounded by nice, reasonable Danish people. Alas, that's not really possible, so I'm stuck living amidst dumb, selfish slackers, a population with the mentality and morality of 13-year-old juvenile deliquents.

Kristin Brown & Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend ... Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, the White House said Monday. Before the election, Mr. Biden said he would attend, regardless of who won. Trump did not attend Mr. Biden's 2021 inauguration, which took place two weeks after Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol ahead of the certification of the election results. Trump was the first president in more than 150 years to not attend his successor's inauguration."

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “Donald Trump and his party, having triumphed in an election in which they demonized trans people, seem hellbent on driving them out of public life.... Democratic leaders have been far too quiet as congressional Republicans, giddy and vengeful in victory, seek to humiliate their new colleague, Representative-elect Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, by barring her and other trans people from using the appropriate single-sex bathrooms in the Capitol.... The bullying of McBride — who has handled Republican cruelty with exceptional grace — is only the opening salvo in what is likely to be a far-reaching national campaign against trans people.... Politically, nuance is a harder sell than certainty. But it’s more honest, and honesty is what’s needed in the face of a coming tsunami of malicious MAGA propaganda.... There’s some ideological ground that Democrats should retreat from. But then they need to find a place where they will stand and fight.”

David McCabe & Celilia Kang of the New York Times: “Lawyers for the United States on Monday said that Google had created a monopoly with its services to place ads online, closing out an antitrust trial over the company’s dominance in advertising technology that could add to the Silicon Valley giant’s mounting woes. The legal case concerns a system of software that is used by advertisers to place ads on websites around the internet. Aaron Teitelbaum, a lawyer for the Justice Department, told Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that the company had linked its products together in a way that made it hard for publishers and advertisers to use alternatives. 'Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist,' he said. 'These are the markets that make the free and open internet possible.'”

Alex Fitzpatrick of Axios: "A typical Thanksgiving dinner for 10 will cost about $58 this year, a new report finds — down around 5% from last year but up nearly 20% in unadjusted dollars from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic." MB: My own costs are going way down because last year I bought a pricey, ready-rolled turducken roulade flown in from Louisiana, but this year I'm going to try to make my own from scratch. 

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Florida. Annie Correal of the New York Times: “A white woman in Florida who fatally shot a Black neighbor who confronted her amid a longstanding dispute over the neighbor’s children was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison. In a case that prompted national outrage and reignited debate around “stand your ground” laws, Susan Lorincz, 60, shot Ajike (A.J.) Owens as Ms. Owens, 35, stood outside the door of Ms. Lorincz’s home in Ocala..., in June last year. Ms. Lorincz, who was convicted of manslaughter by an all-white jury in August, had faced a maximum sentence of 30 years.”