The Conversation -- November 10, 2024

Marie: Here's a wacky idea I love. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: "Jamal Simmons, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, made a bold suggestion Sunday that shocked the CNN panel discussing Donald Trump's transition to the White House. 'Joe Biden's been a phenomenal president, he's lived up to so many of the promises he's made. There's one promise left that he could fulfill, being a transitional figure,' Simmons said. 'He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris president of the United States -- ... It would absolve her from having to oversee the January 6th transition, right, of her own defeat. And it would make sure, it would dominate the news, at a point where Democrats have to learn, drama and transparency and doing things the public want to see -- this is the time, this is the moment for us to change the entire perspective of how Democrats operate.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: AND it would mess with all the MAGA nitwits who bought 47 merch.

Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.... During the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington's sizable military presence in Europe, said a person familiar with the call.... The two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss 'the resolution of Ukraine"s war soon.'..." ~~~

~~~ Oh, yeah? Seems maybe Putin is ignoring Trump: ~~~

~~~ Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The Russian military has assembled a force of 50,000 soldiers, including North Korean troops, as it prepares to begin an assault aimed at reclaiming territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. A new U.S. assessment concludes that Russia has massed the force without having to pull soldiers out of Ukraine's east -- its main battlefield priority -- allowing Moscow to press on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Ben Davis, in a Guardian op-ed: "Despite the trauma and death of Covid and the isolation of lockdowns, from late 2020 to early 2021, Americans briefly experienced the freedom of social democracy. They had enough liquid money to plan long term and make spending decisions for their own pleasure rather than just to survive. They had the labor protections to look for the jobs they wanted rather than feel stuck in the jobs they had. At the end of Trump's term, the American standard of living and the amount of economic security and freedom Americans had was higher than when it started, and, with the loss of this expanded welfare state, it was worse when Biden left office, despite his real policy wins for workers and unions. This is why voters view Trump as a better shepherd of the economy.... [President] Biden wanted to continue many of these policies, but there wasn't a political pathway. Instead, they quietly expired. To voters, however, the material reality is that when Trump left office, this safety net existed, and by the time of the 2024 election, it had evaporated." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This essay is a good example of burying the lede. But I think Davis is onto something I missed, probably because I took the economic effects of the pandemic too personally. Trump raised my taxes even as Covid lowered my income, so the Trump years were far from a boon for me. But for many working people, as Davis points out, the social safety net enhancements forced upon Republicans by the Covid crisis was a boon. As a number of opinionators have noted, many voters chose Trump at the same time they chose Democrats' policies where that was an option. Davis' theory fits into that picture.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: The Googles know who I am. Unprompted by any hits I made on YouTube, up popped a "recommended for you" video titled, "It's Time to Move Out." The video cover shows what I guess is supposed to be a ruined American city street, and the content of the video is advising what countries are most amenable to accepting American ex-pats. I'm too old to manage an international move, but maybe you'd like to relocate to someplace like No. 2 choice Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between Norway & the North Pole. In fairness, I'm sure 24 continuous hours of darkness in Svalbard is more pleasant than 24 hours in a Trump detention camp.

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "Across the federal government, Trump's election has set off a scramble among political appointees and career bureaucrats alike to lock in [President] Biden's landmark environmental initiatives.... Environmentalists said they expect the [EPA] to take several major actions in the coming weeks touching everything from electric vehicles to toxic chemicals. At the top of the list: Trump-proofing California's transition to EVs. Under the Clean Air Act, California can receive a waiver from the EPA to set tougher vehicle emissions rules than those of the federal government. More than a dozen other states follow California's stricter rules, collectively accounting for about 40 percent of the U.S. auto market. Before Trump takes office, the EPA plans to grant California a waiver to enforce its rule aimed at banning sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035...."

A Gentleman & a Scoundrel. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden will host ... Donald J. Trump at the White House on Wednesday, extending a presidential tradition to his onetime rival that Mr. Trump did not offer four years ago after Mr. Biden defeated him.... [Although in 2016, he said he would do so,] Mr. Trump did not seek his predecessor's counsel and spent much of his time in office insulting Mr. Obama and seeking to undo the former president's agenda." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ We've heard about the following before, but just a reminder that Trump is screwing up from way before the get-go. The sphere of this particular failing is hardly surprising. Moreover, this "oversight" is without any doubt a mere speck in the coliseum of corruption that will follow. But it's all hunky dory -- because Supremes. ~~~

~~~ Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has not yet submitted a legally required ethics pledge stating that he will avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical concerns while in office, raising concerns that his refusal to do so will hamper the smooth transition to power. Mr. Trump's transition team was required to submit the ethics plan by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act. While the transition team's leadership has privately drafted an ethics code and a conflict-of-interest statement governing its staff, those documents do not include language, required under the law, that explains how Mr. Trump himself will address conflicts of interest during his presidency. Since Mr. Trump created his transition team in August, it has refused to participate in the normal handoff process, which typically begins months before the election. It has missed multiple deadlines for signing required agreements governing the process. That has prevented Mr. Trump's transition team from participating in national security briefings or gaining access to federal agencies to begin the complicated work of preparing to take control of the government on Jan. 20, 2025." (Also linked yesterday.)

⭐ Heather Cox Richardson on Substack: Social media has been flooded today [Saturday] with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices.... There are also stories that voters who chose Trump to lower household expenses are unhappy to discover that their undocumented relatives are in danger of deportation.... Meanwhile, Trump's advisors told Jim VandeHei and MIke Allen of Axios that ... they plan to hit the ground running with tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, deregulation, and increased gas and oil production.... In The New Republic today, Michael Tomasky reinforced that voters chose Trump in 2024 not because of the economy or inflation, or anything else, but because of how they perceived those issues -- which is not the same thing." Read on. Richardson draws a parallel between the way the right-wing media conned the nitwits and the way white supremacists conned the goobers during the decades before and after the Civil War. Thanks to laura h. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Millions of people who desperately want more progressive policies cast their ballots for a man whose agenda is exactly the opposite of what they want.... In state after state, voters backed both Trump and ballot initiatives that advanced and protected progressive goals.... The problem wasn't Democratic policy or messaging. It's ignorance.... When voters have factual information about the candidates, they prefer Democrats.... Increasing numbers of Americans have a media diet that is mostly a bunch of lies, conspiracy theories, irrelevant diatribes and other such bunkum.... When it looked like Project 2025 might hurt him politically, Trump, shameless as usual, said he knew nothing about it.... [But Steve Bannon said the other day,] 'Now that the election is over, I think we can finally say that, yeah, actually, Project 2025 is the agenda.'" Thanks to laura h. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The voters who put Trump in the White House a second time expect lower prices -- cheaper gas, cheaper groceries and cheaper homes. But nothing in the former president's policy portfolio would deliver any of the above.... And then there is the rest of the agenda.... I'm going to guess that they don't know [what they voted for]. But they'll find out soon enough."

Rachel Maddow says it's up to us to save our democracy from the Dear Leader and his minions. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

Rachel Nostrant & Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "An employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fired after reports that in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, the employee told relief workers in Florida to pass over houses with signs supporting Donald J. Trump, the agency said Saturday.... FEMA said the employee, whose name was not revealed, has now been terminated. It said that it believed this was an isolated incident, which is now under investigation.... In a post on X, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said state officials were seeking answers for what he said were 'partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy.'" A CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Both stories report that FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called the employee's conduct "reprehensible." No, it wasn't reprehensible. It was unlawful and unfair, but it was understandable. FEMA employees obviously are under a lot of pressure during the aftermath of a disaster. And what did Trump do to support them? He told lie after lie, accusing FEMA and its employees of failing to help victims of Hurricanes Helene & Milton. The employee reacted -- badly -- to the false accusations. S/he shouldn't be on the job because s/he can't handle the pressure, but a blanket condemnation is over the top.

Adeel Hassan of the New York Times: "Two founders of a militia group who were plotting a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to shoot at immigrants and the authorities who might try to stop them were convicted on Thursday by a federal jury in Missouri of attempting to murder federal agents, prosecutors said. A jury in Jefferson City, Mo., convicted the men, Jonathan S. O'Dell, 34, of Warsaw, Mo., and Bryan C. Perry, 39, of Clarksville, Tenn., of multiple felony counts. Most of the counts were linked to the men shooting at F.B.I. agents who arrived with a search warrant at Mr. O'Dell's home. Among other charges, Mr. O'Dell and Mr. Perry were also convicted of conspiracy to murder officers and employees of the United States government, prosecutors said. They each face a minimum of 10 years in prison and up to a life sentence. Under federal statutes, neither would be eligible for parole."

~~~~~~~~~~

Netherlands. Jim Tankersley, et al., of the New York Times: "Amsterdam banned demonstrations over the weekend under an emergency order and mobilized additional police officers after what city officials described as antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans during the week. The order prohibited the wearing of face masks or face coverings and stepped up security at Jewish institutions. It also gave police the power to stop and search people. This week's violence unfolded over days around a soccer match on Thursday between Ajax, a Dutch team, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli team.... The tensions had been building up in the city before Thursday's match." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Looks like a blueprint for how Trump, et al., will ban demonstrations in the U.S. Amsterdam is one of the most liberal cities in the world, so banning protests there is a radical move, one that, you know, could begin an "international trend." All the Trumpies have to do is arrange a demonstration in which they attribute violence to the left, then ban protests under an emergency order or martial law or whatever. The Women's March organization is thinking about thinking about doing a "comeback tour." Putting the onus on liberal women sounds kinda perfect, doesn't it?

The Conversation -- November 9, 2024

A Gentleman & a Scoundrel. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden will host ... Donald J. Trump at the White House on Wednesday, extending a presidential tradition to his onetime rival that Mr. Trump did not offer four years ago after Mr. Biden defeated him.... [Although in 2016, he said he would do so,] Mr. Trump did not seek his predecessor's counsel and spent much of his time in office insulting Mr. Obama and seeking to undo the former president's agenda." ~~~

~~~ We've heard about the following before, but just a reminder that Trump is screwing up from way before the get-go. The sphere of this particular failing is hardly surprising. Moreover, this "oversight" is without any doubt a mere speck in the coliseum of corruption that will follow. But it's all hunky dory -- because Supremes. ~~~

~~~ Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has not yet submitted a legally required ethics pledge stating that he will avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical concerns while in office, raising concerns that his refusal to do so will hamper the smooth transition to power. Mr. Trump's transition team was required to submit the ethics plan by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act. While the transition team's leadership has privately drafted an ethics code and a conflict-of-interest statement governing its staff, those documents do not include language, required under the law, that explains how Mr. Trump himself will address conflicts of interest during his presidency. Since Mr. Trump created his transition team in August, it has refused to participate in the normal handoff process, which typically begins months before the election. It has missed multiple deadlines for signing required agreements governing the process. That has prevented Mr. Trump's transition team from participating in national security briefings or gaining access to federal agencies to begin the complicated work of preparing to take control of the government on Jan. 20, 2025."

⭐ Heather Cox Richardson on Substack: "Social media has been flooded today [Saturday] with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices.... There are also stories that voters who chose Trump to lower household expenses are unhappy to discover that their undocumented relatives are in danger of deportation.... Meanwhile, Trump's advisors told Jim VandeHei and MIke Allen of Axios that ... they plan to hit the ground running with tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, deregulation, and increased gas and oil production.... In The New Republic today, Michael Tomasky reinforced that voters chose Trump in 2024 not because of the economy or inflation, or anything else, but because of how they perceived those issues -- which is not the same thing." Read on. Richardson draws a parallel between the way the right-wing media conned the nitwits and the way white supremacists conned the goobers during the decades before and after the Civil War. Thanks to laura h. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Millions of people who desperately want more progressive policies cast their ballots for a man whose agenda is exactly the opposite of what they want.... In state after state, voters backed both Trump and ballot initiatives that advanced and protected progressive goals.... The problem wasn't Democratic policy or messaging. It's ignorance.... When voters have factual information about the candidates, they prefer Democrats.... Increasing numbers of Americans have a media diet that is mostly a bunch of lies, conspiracy theories, irrelevant diatribes and other such bunkum.... When it looked like Project 2025 might hurt him politically, Trump, shameless as usual, said he knew nothing about it.... [But Steve Bannon said the other day,] 'Now that the election is over, I think we can finally say that, yeah, actually, Project 2025 is the agenda.'" Thanks to laura h. for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

We have fought the good fight,
We have finished the race,
We have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for us
The crown of righteousness.

Marie: The question now is how we wear our crowns. Uneasy rests the head. There are a number of courses we can take. The test for each of us will be how we balance our possibilities, as they are not all mutually exclusive. Revolution and resistance may be best reserved for the young. But perhaps not. Perhaps some of us will show the resilience of children, the strength of young people, the wisdom of the aged. Absent evil, there are no heroes. For many of us, adjustment may be the best route. Maybe we can learn from those who have survived and even thrived in totalitarian states. In any event, I aim to find a place in this new world order.

Barak Ravid of Axios: "Donald Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday included two surprises: Elon Musk was also on the line, and Zelensky was somewhat reassured by what he heard from the president-elect, two sources with knowledge of the call tell Axios.... Three sources briefed on the call all told Axios that Zelensky felt the call went well and that it did not increase his anxiety about Trump's victory.... Musk also weighed in during the call to say he will continue supporting Ukraine through his Starlink satellites, the sources said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Rhodes in a New York Times op-ed: In this century, "the playbook for transforming a democracy into a soft autocracy was clear: Win power with a populist message against elites. Redraw parliamentary districts. Change voting laws. Harass civil society. Pack courts with judges willing to support power grabs. Enrich cronies through corruption. Buy up newspapers and television stations and turn them into right-wing propaganda. Use social media to energize supporters. Wrap it up in an Us versus Them message: Us, the 'real' Russians or Hungarians or Americans, against a rotating cast of Them: the migrants, the Muslims, the liberals, the gays, George Soros and on and on.... Republican policies from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush did far more than Democrats to create this mess. But Mr. Trump's crusade against the past elites of his own party -- from the Bush family to Mitch McConnell -- credentialed him with a public hungry for accountability, while the Harris campaign's embrace of Dick Cheney conveyed the opposite message." Rhodes has some suggestions for Democratic-led reform, but they don't seem much different from what Democrats have been attempting all along. (Also linked yesterday.)

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Nancy Pelosi ... suggested this week that it would have been better for the Democratic Party if President Biden had abandoned his re-election campaign sooner and the party had then held a competitive primary process to replace him. In an interview on Thursday with The New York Times, Ms. Pelosi said what was widely reported around the time Mr. Biden dropped out: that she believed it was implicitly understood that his exit would be followed by an internal party competition for a new nominee, instead of an anointment of Vice President Kamala Harris.... '... I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don't know that.... And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.'" An ABC News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments, reminds me that here's something we should know:

Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "Business leaders were swift to offer their congratulations to Donald Trump on his election victory, less than four years after they criticized him for his role in the January 6 insurrection. Some of tech's business leaders, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook all publicly congratulated Trump for his win." Read on. The list is long and nauseating. These people who prostrate themselves before him should know he is a rapidly-metastisizing malignancy, and they are doing their bit to grow the cancer. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kevin Collier, et al., of NBC News: "Bomb threats sent to polling places and ballot-counting locations in at least five battleground states across the U.S. Tuesday targeted mostly Democratic counties, an NBC News analysis has found. The full extent of who received the bomb threats is not clear. None are believed to have been deemed credible. NBC News compiled a list of 67 locations in 19 counties, based on local news reports and state and local election officials' statements, all of which appear to have received similar threats. Of the 67 locations, 56 were in 11 counties that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, including the eight most populated."

Eric Tucker & Larry Neumeister of the AP: "The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect. Investigators learned of the plan to kill Trump from Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset who spent time in American prisons for robbery and who authorities say maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots. Shakeri told investigators that a contact in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed him this past September to ... assemble a plan within seven days to surveil and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.... Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The DOJ's press release, which makes what is alleged to have gone down slightly clearer than does the AP report, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) said in a statement on Friday that he was recently notified by police that he was the target of a potential assassination plot and that a suspect was arrested near his Florida residence.... 'The individual in question was arrested not far from my home; he is a former felon who was in possession of a rifle, a suppressor, and body armor,' Moskowitz's statement said. 'Found with him was a manifesto that, among other things, included antisemitic rhetoric and only my name on the "target" list. There are many other details that I will not disclose as I do not want to interfere with an ongoing investigation.'"

Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "Disillusionment with the world that emerged from the Cold War has fueled a long-gathering revolt against the established order.... More dangers abound than when Mr. Trump won in 2016. In a world of rival powers where the post-1945 order seems largely dead, wars rage in Europe and the Middle East.... To this mire will now be added the chaotic, impulsive, high-risk approach to foreign policy described with near unanimity by Mr. Trump's top aides during his first term, as well as his expressed contempt for NATO and the European Union, anchors of postwar Western security and stability, and his threats of confrontation with China in the form of punishing tariffs. A turbulent world and a turbulent personality make for a dangerous mix." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Cohen's "explanation" for the rise of autocrats, including Trump, may seem to fit the what we're experiencing largely because part of that "explanation" is, "In the absence of a shared reality, or shared facts, or a shared threat, reason had no weight beside emotion," according to a French political scientist. But that excuse for stupid notwithstanding, how could millions upon millions of people say to themselves, "What would be best for me and and my family would be to relinquish the few rights and privileges we have"? Perhaps they think that having the ability to mow down their neighbors with their personal arsenals of assault weapons is the only right they need. But are they so dense that it does not occur to them that not only the neighbors but also the strongman have arsenals as well? Do they not understand that the strongman is far more likely to turn on them than to protect them once they have given him permission to dominate them?

Dan Lamothe & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon said Friday that it will send 'a small number' of U.S. defense contractors to Ukraine, where they will repair advanced American-made weapons, including F-16 fighter jets, Bradley fighting vehicles and air defense systems, donated by Western allies amid Russia's invasion. The development comes in the closing weeks of the Biden administration while there is deep uncertainty over ... Donald Trump's intent to sustain the extensive military and economic assistance Washington has provided the government in Kyiv over nearly three years of conflict. [President] Biden has steadfastly opposed putting Americans in harm's way to aid Ukraine, while Trump, who spoke with Ukraine's president after securing reelection Wednesday, has objected to the expense and vowed to bring the war to an end -- possibly on terms unfavorable to Kyiv. The U.S.-funded contractors will be far from the front lines and won't be fighting Russian forces, defense officials said...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Illinois. John O'Connor & Corey Williams of the AP: "A federal judge on Friday overturned Illinois' ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms. U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, of the Southern District of Illinois, issued a permanent injunction he said applies universally, not just to the lawsuit's plaintiffs. He decided, however, that the injunction would not take effect for 30 days. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul responded speedily, filing a notice of appeal Friday evening. The Protect Illinois Communities Act, signed into law in January 2023 by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, took effect Jan. 1. It bans AR-15 rifles and similar guns, large-capacity magazines and an assortment of attachments largely in response to the 2022 Independence Day shooting at a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park." McGlynn is a Trump appointee.

News Lede

New York Times: "About 100 firefighters were working to put out a brush fire in a heavily wooded section of Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Friday night, prompting officials to warn residents to stay away as they used drones to identify hot spots.... Mayor Eric Adams said in a post on X that the city was under a red flag warning for fire risk on Friday night because of dry conditions and strong winds."

The Conversation -- November 8, 2024

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Nancy Pelosi ... suggested this week that it would have been better for the Democratic Party if President Biden had abandoned his re-election campaign sooner and the party had then held a competitive primary process to replace him. In an interview on Thursday with The New York Times, Ms. Pelosi said what was widely reported around the time Mr. Biden dropped out: that she believed it was implicitly understood that his exit would be followed by an internal party competition for a new nominee, instead of an anointment of Vice President Kamala Harris.... '... I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don't know that.... And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.'" An ABC News report is here.

Ben Rhodes in a New York Times op-ed: In this century, "the playbook for transforming a democracy into a soft autocracy was clear: Win power with a populist message against elites. Redraw parliamentary districts. Change voting laws. Harass civil society. Pack courts with judges willing to support power grabs. Enrich cronies through corruption. Buy up newspapers and television stations and turn them into right-wing propaganda. Use social media to energize supporters. Wrap it up in an Us versus Them message: Us, the 'real' Russians or Hungarians or Americans, against a rotating cast of Them: the migrants, the Muslims, the liberals, the gays, George Soros and on and on.... Republican policies from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush did far more than Democrats to create this mess. But Mr. Trump's crusade against the past elites of his own party -- from the Bush family to Mitch McConnell -- credentialed him with a public hungry for accountability, while the Harris campaign's embrace of Dick Cheney conveyed the opposite message." Rhodes has some suggestions for Democratic-led reform, but they don't seem much different from what Democrats have been attempting all along.

Barak Ravid of Axios: "Donald Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday included two surprises: Elon Musk was also on the line, and Zelensky was somewhat reassured by what he heard from the president-elect, two sources with knowledge of the call tell Axios.... Three sources briefed on the call all told Axios that Zelensky felt the call went well and that it did not increase his anxiety about Trump's victory.... Musk also weighed in during the call to say he will continue supporting Ukraine through his Starlink satellites, the sources said."

Eric Tucker & Larry Neumeister of the AP: "The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect. Investigators learned of the plan to kill Trump from Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset who spent time in American prisons for robbery and who authorities say maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots. Shakeri told investigators that a contact in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed him this past September to ... assemble a plan within seven days to surveil and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.... Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured mulitple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement." ~~~

     ~~~ The DOJ's press release, which makes what is alleged to have gone down slightly clearer than does the AP report, is here.

Marie: Akhilleus, in today's Comments, reminds me that here's something we should know:

Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "Business leaders were swift to offer their congratulations to Donald Trump on his election victory, less than four years after they criticized him for his role in the January 6 insurrection. Some of tech's business leaders, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook all publicly congratulated Trump...." Read on. The list is long and nauseating. These people who prostrate themselves before him should know he is a rapidly-metastisizing malignancy, and they are doing their bit to grow the cancer.

~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Thursday named Susie Wiles, the Florida strategist who has run his political operation for nearly four years, as his White House chief of staff for his incoming administration.... In Ms. Wiles, Mr. Trump turned to an aide he knows well and who has worked closely with him, understands how he operates, is close with his family and to whom most of his current team is loyal. She will be the first woman ever to hold the job." MB: Ms. Wiles, the daughter of well-known sportscaster Pat Summerall, is -- like all those who have worked for Mr. Trump -- a pathetic masochist. Perhaps to compensate for fetish, Ms. Wiles says she enjoys spending her weekends combing local Facebook Marketplace and Craigslists ads for free kittens which she takes home and drowns in her Jacuzzi bathtub. Her daughters are grown with lives of their own, and her husband Lenny left her shortly after she went to work for Mr. Trump in 2016, making her, she says with a laugh, "a childless cat lady." Politico's story is here.

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Joe Biden walked into the Rose Garden on Thursday morning to concede his party's defeat, expressing confidence in the American electoral system and vowing to oversee a peaceful transfer of power. But underlying his remarks was a funereal mood, as cabinet members and staffers were escorted to their seats, exchanging hugs and sober glances before rising for a standing ovation when the president emerged.... Biden is now forced to welcome and legitimize a man he condemned, a man whose ouster -- as he has said repeatedly over the past five years -- was the entire reason he ran for president in the first place, and a man he has called a fascist and an existential threat to democracy. Biden is now pledging to honor and accept Trump in a way that Trump did not and would not do for him. Biden's fealty to democratic traditions requires him to courteously pave the way for a man who often dismisses them -- but whom the voters chose." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "Would Jerome H. Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, step aside if asked to do so by ... Donald J. Trump? Mr. Powell had a one-word answer on Thursday: 'No.' Could Mr. Trump fire or demote him if he refuses to go? Same answer. Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Powell to his post in 2018 but soon soured on him when he resisted the then-president's calls to lower interest rates. He considered firing or demoting Mr. Powell, but his advisers concluded that doing so would be difficult if not impossible. Since leaving office, Mr. Trump has continued to criticize the Fed, leading to speculation that he could try again to fire Mr. Powell -- or pressure him to resign.... His term as chair ends in May 2026."

Guardian Editors: "This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and is on course to take the popular vote -- giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate.... Presented with a choice between electing the first black, female president on a promise of a sunnier future, and a racist, misogynist, twice-impeached convicted felon hawking hatred and retribution, [the voters] picked Mr Trump." (Also linked yesterday.)

What? No Voter Fraud After All? Clarissa-Jan Lim of MSNBC: "In the months leading up to the election, Donald Trump and his Republican allies warned relentlessly of widespread voter fraud. Trump ... repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the election results unless he won. On Election Day, Trump ... suggested that there was voter fraud in Philadelphia and Detroit, two major cities in battleground states. Elon Musk's 'Election Integrity Community' discussion page on X was also rife with conspiracy theories about Democrats cheating. Yet on election night, as the results looked to be in Trump's favor, the claims tapered off.... Posts on X's 'election integrity' page grew self-congratulatory and 'the urgency to investigate wrongdoing subsided,' The Washington Post reported. Far-right channels on the Telegram platform ... suddenly grew quiet as well, according to The New York Times. And, most significantly, there was no more talk of voter fraud from Trump, who spent months sowing doubt about the integrity of the 2024 presidential election -- and who, to this day, refuses to concede the 2020 election."

Daniel Wu & Joseph Menn of the Washington Post: "The FBI and authorities in several states are investigating racist text messages sent to Black people nationwide this week saying they would be brought to plantations to work as enslaved people and pick cotton. People in at least a dozen states and D.C. have received the messages according to authorities and local media. The texts have spread alarm in the aftermath of a presidential election marked by ... Donald Trump and his campaign's use of inflammatory language against minorities." NPR's story is here.

Rebecca Solnit of the Guardian: "Our mistake was to think we lived in a better country than we do. Our mistake was to see the joy, the extraordinary balance between idealism and pragmatism, the energy, the generosity, the coalition-building of the Kamala Harris campaign and think that it must triumph over the politics of lies and resentment. Our mistake was to think that racism and misogyny were not as bad as they are, whether it applied to who was willing to vote for a supremely qualified Black woman or who was willing to vote for an adjudicated rapist and convicted criminal who admires Hitler. Our mistake was to think we could row this boat across the acid lake before the acid dissolved it.... The principal problems that got us to this bleakest moment in American history are intertwined. They are the crisis of masculinity, the failure of the mainstream news media and the rise of Silicon Valley...." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)

Anton Troianovski & Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday congratulated and lavished praise on Mr. Trump in his first comments on the U.S. election result, a sign that the Kremlin would move quickly to try to capitalize on the president-elect's apparent fondness for Russia and its autocratic ruler. Mr. Putin, speaking at a conference in Sochi, Russia, said Mr. Trump acted 'like a man' after surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., last summer, adding that Mr. Trump's stated desires to improve ties with Russia and end the Ukraine war 'deserve attention.' And he suggested that he expected Mr. Trump to act more freely in his second term, signaling a hope that Mr. Trump would finally follow through on his Russia-friendly rhetoric." MB: But who will be president of the Dictators' Club? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: It looks as if the U.S. may have more friends in Europe than I've let on: ~~~

~~~ A Coalition of the Horribles? Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "Far-right parties comprise the biggest parliamentary factions in the Netherlands, France, Austria and Italy; they are ascendant in Germany and Portugal, kingmakers in Sweden and Finland. Further to the east, in countries like Slovakia and Hungary, right-wing nationalism fuels the governments in power.... Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, long admired by the American right, saw in Trump's 'shining victory' a pathway to advance a more illiberal agenda in the West.... 'We have won,' said Alexander Dugin, an influential Russian ideologue credited with helping articulate the imperialist agenda underscoring Russia's war in Ukraine and for having supported disinformation efforts against [Vice President] Harris's campaign. 'The world will be never ever like before. Globalists have lost their final combat.'"

Stefanos Chen & Olivia Bensimon of the New York Times: "On Thursday, [Judge Lewis Liman] set the latest 'final' deadline [for Rudy Giuliani to turn over assets to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss], brushing aside repeated arguments that the possessions should remain with Mr. Giuliani while the case was under appeal. By the end of next week, he said, Mr. Giuliani had to either hand over all the items, or he could face civil contempt, a charge that could carry severe penalties, including possible jail time.... Those items ... were supposed to be handed over last week...."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: During the January 6, 2021, insurrection, "Zachary J. Alam ... punch[ed] the glass windows leading to the Speaker's Lobby. Using a helmet to finish smashing the glass, he created the space into which Ashli Babbitt then climbed, where she was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer. At his sentencing on Thursday, Alam told a federal judge ... his actions were justified because he believed the 2020 election was stolen, pointing to Donald Trump's victory in this year's presidential race as he quipped, 'four years later Americans were able to rectify the situation.' U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich pointed to his 'lack of remorse' as she sentenced him to eight years in prison, among the longest terms for a Jan. 6 defendant not affiliated with the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys groups. The sentence could be short-lived: Trump has promised to pardon Jan. 6 rioters.... 'But I will not accept a second-class pardon,' Alam said. 'I want a full pardon with all the benefits that come with it, including full compensation.'"

Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump's presidential election victory this week. The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it reflects the Fed's renewed focus on supporting the job market as well as fighting inflation, which now barely exceeds the central bank's 2% target. Thursday's move reduces the Fed's benchmark rate to about 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3% before September's meeting. The Fed had kept its rate that high for more than a year to fight the worst inflation streak in four decades. Annual inflation has since fallen from a 9.1% peak in mid-2022 to a 3 1/2-year low of 2.4% in September." (Also linked yesterday.)

Keeping Families Separated. Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Texas on Thursday struck down a new Biden administration program that sought to provide a path to U.S. citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to American citizens. The ruling, issued by Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, came months after 16 Republican-led states, led by Texas' attorney general, Ken Paxton, filed a lawsuit claiming that the administration lacked the legal authority to enact the program. In August, Judge Barker temporarily blocked the initiative, just days after it had gone into place. On Thursday, in a 74-page decision, he explained that the Biden administration did not have the authority to create the program, which would have been unlikely to remain in place after President-elect Trump took office in January." The CBS News story is here. MB: Barker is a Trump appointee. If Republicans can think of something cruel, they will do it.

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California. Heather Knight of the New York Times: "London Breed, San Francisco's first Black woman mayor who steered the city through the pandemic but also saw its quality of life sink, conceded her re-election race on Thursday. Ms. Breed said in a news conference at City Hall that she had called Daniel Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who has never held elected office, to congratulate him on his win.... Both Mr. Lurie and Ms. Breed are Democrats and San Francisco natives who grew up mere miles from each other, he in luxury and she in poverty."

California. Tran Nguyen of the AP: "California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce critic of ... Donald Trump, on Thursday called for lawmakers to convene a special session ahead of another Trump presidency to safeguard the state's progressive policies. Meanwhile, attorneys general in blue states across the country announced they were also gearing up for a legal fight. The move ... effectively reignited California's resistance campaign against conservative policies that state Democratic leaders started during the first Trump administration. 'The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack -- and we won't sit idle,' Newsom, who reportedly has ambitions on the national stage, said in a statement."

Illinois. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) held a press conference Thursday to discuss the aftermath of the election, issuing a warning that if anyone tries to come for my people,' they will have to 'come through me.'... The governor noted that in his state, he will continue working to protect all people, no matter what a second Trump term looks like. 'Perhaps this time may be different. But if it isn't, Illinois will remain a place of stability and competent governance,' Pritzker said."

Mississippi. Isabelle Taft of the New York Times: "The mayor of Jackson, Miss., a City Council member and the local district attorney have been indicted on federal corruption charges, with court documents unsealed on Thursday detailing a scheme in which F.B.I. agents posing as real estate developers paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to city officials. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat first elected to lead the state's capital in 2017, and the City Council member, Aaron Banks, were indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges. The Hinds County district attorney, Jody Owens, faces similar charges and was also accused of making false statements. All three men pleaded not guilty on Thursday in their first court appearances."

New Jersey. Ry Rivard of Politico: "New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy [D] forged a unique relationship with ... Donald Trump that could help the blue state when Trump returns to the White House.... 'If it's contrary to our values, we will fight to the death,' Murphy said in a Wednesday press conference on the election. 'If there's an opportunity for common ground, we will seize that as fast as anybody.'"

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Israel's wars are here: "The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday attacked Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon and a school in Gaza that it said was being used as a command center by Hamas militants. The IDF also said that its ground troops in southern Gaza had completed an operation on Thursday in which two Hamas militants who had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel were killed, and that its troops in northern Gaza had expanded operations in Beit Lahia. Hezbollah militants in Lebanon launched 125 projectiles at Israel, the IDF said. The recent fighting has killed dozens in Gaza, according to health officials there, while Lebanese officials said 52 people had been killed and 161 wounded on the previous day. Neither agency distinguishes between combatants and civilians."

News Lede

Washington Post: French Resistance fighter Madeleine "Riffaud ... died Nov. 6 at her home in Paris at 100.... As part of the Resistance, she collected guns, organized sabotage missions, recruited fighters and once shot and killed a German officer on a Sunday afternoon on a bridge over the Seine as crowds watched." She was among the Resistance fighters who, backed by Free French units & U.S. forces, freed Paris from the Germans in August 1944. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now, Trump will do his best to render meaningless the sacrifices & suffering of Riffaud & millions of others. And who cares? After all, those who gave of themselves for freedom and self-governance are suckers and losers.