The Conversation -- September 30, 2024

Marie: Man, am I glad I have Jim Comer (R-Ky.) protecting me from Commie Tim Walz. If not for Jim, the next thing you know, all the kidz would be speaking Mandarin. ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Brooks of the Hill: "House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday for information relating to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic nominee for vice president, and a vague alleged connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Comer said in a letter accompanying the subpoena -- issued on the day before the vice presidential debate between Walz and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance -- that his committee received whistleblower disclosures about 'serious concern among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel regarding a longstanding connection between' Walz and China."

     ~~~ Marie: I'm a little slow, so it just dawned on me what Trump means when he says that Kamala Harris was "mentally impaired," and she was "born that way." "Born that way" translates to an assumption that all non-white people are mentally deficient.

Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday tried to taunt ... Donald J. Trump into participating in another debate as she rallied supporters in Nevada.... 'The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues. And as you say here in Las Vegas, I'm all in. I'm all in. Even if my opponent is ready to fold.'... [Mr. Trump] has said he will not participate in another debate...."

New York Times Editors declare Kamala Harris "The Only Patriotic Choice for President."

Marshall Cohen & Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Donald Trump has escalated his long-running assault on the integrity of US elections as the 2024 presidential campaign enters its final stretch, using a new series of lies about ballots, vote-counting and the election process to lay the groundwork to challenge a potential defeat in November. Nonpartisan democracy experts say they're seeing many of the same warning signs that were blinking red before Election Day four years ago, when Trump flooded the zone with election lies and conspiracy theories that he amplified after losing to Joe Biden.... Trump has made at least 12 distinct false claims over the last two months that raise baseless doubts about the validity of a potential victory by Vice President Kamala Harris."

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: A Springfield, Ohio, owner of a metals manufacturing plant & his family have to take measures, including purchasing guns, to protect themselves from credible threats after the businessman praised his company's Haitian employees in national media outlets.

Lisa Rein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "At least a dozen employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs improperly accessed the medical records of vice-presidential nominees JD Vance and Tim Walz this summer, VA investigators found, in a violation of federal health privacy laws that is under criminal investigation. VA officials notified the Vance and Walz campaigns about the breaches after discovering the unauthorized viewing by employees at the agency's massive health-care arm, the Veterans Health Administration, according to people familiar with the investigation.... VA Inspector General Michael Missal's office has shared evidence with federal prosecutors on the actions of several employees in the health system, including a physician and a contractor...."

⭐ William Booth of the Washington Post: "If you are looking for a signal event, a real ping, to mark humanity's journey to slow global climate change, this is a thing. On Monday, the very last coal-powered electricity plant in Britain is closing. The coal age is over in the country that sparked the industrial revolution 200 years ago.... This was a country powered by coal -- dug by a million miners, used to make cheap energy, to generate heat, then steam, then electricity. Coa heated the homes, ran the trains and made the steel and cement. The first coal-fired electric plant in the world was built in England in 1882. The term 'smog' was coined here, too. Now Britain is the first in the global club of wealthy countries to quit coal -- relying instead on natural gas, nuclear power and a combination of renewable energy sources."

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Presidential Race

Stephanie Murray of the Arizona Republic: "Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris because of his conservative values -- not in spite of them -- he said Saturday in an interview announcing his support for the Democratic presidential nominee. Flake, R-Ariz., is crossing party lines to endorse a Democrat for the second presidential election in a row. He backed President Joe Biden over ... Donald Trump in 2020 and voted third-party rather than cast a ballot for Trump in 2016. 'I'm a conservative. I believe in the rule of law,' Flake said during an interview at The Nile Coffee Shop in Mesa on Saturday afternoon. 'First and foremost, I want to support a presidential candidate that respects the rule of law, somebody who, if they lose an election, wouldn't try to use the presidential powers to overturn that election.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Greta Reich of Politico: "Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will again not be voting for ... Donald Trump, despite Trump's endorsement of Hogan's bid for Senate in June. 'I didn't vote for him in 2016 or 2020,' Hogan said on CBS' 'Face the Nation' to guest host Robert Costa on Sunday, without saying who he would vote for. Hogan didn't vote for Democratic candidates ... in those years either. In 2016, he wrote in his own father, former Maryland Rep. Lawrence Hogan. In 2020, he wrote in former President Ronald Reagan.... Hogan, a Republican, is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, the current county executive of Prince George's County." Hogan also said Trump's attack of Kamala Harris as "mentally unstable" was "outrageous and unacceptable": "I think that's insulting not only to the vice president, but to people that actually do have mental disabilities." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "The editorial board for The New Yorker endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential bid on Sunday in a piece in which President Joe Biden's 'nationally televised disintegration' in his debate with Donald Trump was hailed as a 'gift' for Democrats. Sunday's endorsement of Harris was a notable pivot from a piece published by the outlet in March in which Biden was praised for remaining 'defiant' amid concerns about his mental acuity and age.... [In March,] The New Yorker praised Biden for remaining mentally sharp even if he appeared frail after he had sat down for an interview with [New Yorker] journalist Evan Osnos."

Talyler Mitchell of the Huffington Post: "At a rally on Sunday in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump casually seemed to suggest that one day of violence would put an end to crime. Trump declared that Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) should be put in charge for 'one really violent day.' 'One rough hour. And I mean real rough, the world will get it out and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it will end immediately,' he added without sharing any logistics.... His dangerous remark Sunday came on the heels of his saying that crime is skyrocketing, a false claim that the far right uses to fearmonger. He also echoed the lie that the supposed rise in crime is the fault of migrants." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I think Mitchell misunderstands Trump's alarming suggestion. She writes, "The concept mirrors a fictional film series called 'The Purge,' in which all crime is legal for 12 hours on a single day of the year." BUT ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Wren of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Sunday called for 'one real rough, nasty' and 'violent day' of police retaliation in order to eradicate crime 'immediately.'... 'One rough hour -- and I mean real rough -- the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,' Trump said.... Trump has a long history of endorsing police violence...." His campaign said Trump's suggestion was not a policy proposal but a "joke." MB: That is, Trump is not proposing that people be allowed to commit crimes for 12 hours but that the police be allowed to violently brutalize suspected criminals for 24 hours.

~~~ David McAfee of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump on Sunday admitted that he refused to pay his workers overtime.... Trump said, 'I hated to give overtime. I hated it. I shouldn't say this, but I'd get other people in. I wouldn't pay.'... The ... AFL-CIO said..., 'This isn't a gaffe and he didn't just misspeak -- Trump said this in Michigan on Friday and Pennsylvania today. Trump cut overtime for millions of Americans as President -- and his Project 2025 agenda will do it again.'"

~~~ Meryl Kornfield & Marianne LeVine of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump, in a speech that repeatedly painted a dark caricature of immigrants, seized on a recent report to claim falsely that thousands of immigrants with homicide records had been allowed to go free by the Biden administration. 'They're coming into our cities and our small towns, here in Pennsylvania and all over the country,' Trump said in a speech that meandered widely and made several other unsupported assertions. 'These towns are petrified. Even if they're not there yet, they will be there.'... Trump spent much of his two-hour speech on elaborate descriptions of the individuals purportedly roaming the nation, calling them 'stone-cold killers,' 'worse than any of our criminals,' 'monsters,' and people who ... 'don't care who they kill.'...

"Trump cited a new letter from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to falsely suggest that more than 13,000 immigrants convicted of homicide had been let into the United States on President Joe Biden's watch and then released. But allies of Vice President Kamala Harris and nonpartisan experts say Trump is badly misrepresenting the data. The people he cited entered the United States over several decades, including during the Trump presidency. And while they are listed as 'non-detained,' that means only that ICE is not detaining them; in many cases, they are being held by another agency, and are often serving prison sentences."

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: "... Mr. Trump and those around him have plied the plots against his life for political benefit.... Mr. Trump plans to return to Butler[, Pa. where a gunman winged him] for a rally on Oct. 5, and he relives these attempts on his life at nearly every campaign stop. Lately he has taken to saying that he has one of the most dangerous professions in the world.... He has bragged about the mortal danger in which he finds himself ('they only go after consequential presidents'); used it as evidence of divine intervention ('God has now spared my life -- it must have been God, thank you -- not once, but twice') and as inspiration for set design (he decorated the stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee with images of his bloodied face).... If he really is the most marked man in the world, why was he wandering around a football stadium [Saturday] in the Deep South [-- Tuscaloosa, Ala. --] in a state he does not need to campaign in, tossing out poultry [-- boxes of chicken --] and posing for selfies?" ~~~

     ~~~ Arrested Development. Marie: One of the few Democrats at the Alabama-Georgia game, a lawyer named Thomas Radney had a theory about why Trump went to the game: "'Alabama is going to vote for him by huge numbers,' he [told the Times], 'so the fact that he is here just proves what he wants is accolades and people waving, that's his whole deal. I want people to cheer for me.'" I suspect that when he was a boy, little Donnie saw the Leni Reifenstahl film "Triumph of the Will," which includes a scene of 700,000 Germans cheering Hitler at Nuremburg. The boy Trump -- perhaps with encouragement from papa Fred -- decided then and there that Hitler was a great man and one to be emulated. Trump is an old man now, but he never got past childish perceptions, so he is not that hard to figure out. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Looks as if Colin Jost & I are on the same wavelength. Watch to the end: ~~~

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "At a rally Friday in Walker, Mich., Trump said he was thinking of those in Alabama and other states hit by the storm, saying, 'We're with you all the way, and if we were there we'd be helping you. You'll be okay.' KamalaHQ, the Harris campaign's X account, immediately shared the video clip with its roughly 1.3 million followers, suggesting that the former president was downplaying a deadly disaster and showing a lack of empathy. 'You'll be okay,' the tweet read, along with the parenthetical note, '(Dozens of deaths have already been reported)'. On and off social media, the campaign and its supporters also hammered Trump for denying human-caused climate change, which scientists say is allowing hurricanes such as Helene to rapidly intensify. In addition, Harris allies highlighted that Project 2025 -- the road map for a second Trump administration drafted by conservative think tanks in Washington -- would privatize weather forecasting now done by federal agencies." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What Trump was "thinking of" was "Will I still be able to get to the Alabama-Georgia game so thousands of fans can cheer for their favorite president*, me?"

Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Senior Republicans distanced themselves Sunday from comments made by Donald Trump at campaign stops over the weekend that opponent Kamala Harris was born 'mentally disabled' and had compared her actions to that of 'a mentally disabled person'. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican..., said on CNN. 'I'm not saying she's crazy, her policies are crazy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ According to Joe DePaolo of Mediaite, what Lindsey actually said was, "I'm not saying she's crazy. I'm saying your party, your policies are batshit crazy." MB: I think I'll adopt DePaolo's citation.

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "A day after ... Donald J. Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, criticized the Ukrainian president Saturday during a campaign stop in [Newtown,] Pennsylvania.... Mr. Vance opened his speech by criticizing Mr. Zelensky for having toured an ammunition factory in Scranton with the state's governor, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. 'He came to campaign with the Democratic leadership of this country,' Mr. Vance said in Newtown. 'We spent $200 billion on Ukraine. You know what I wish Zelensky would do when he comes to the United States of America? Say thank you to the people of Pennsylvania and everybody else.'

     ~~~ Marie: Uh, JayDee, you ignorant sofa-slut, President Zelensky did say thank you to the people of Pennsylvania -- precisely when he was speaking in that ammo factory in Scranton, Joe Biden's hometown. Why, even the New York Times sez so. Cameron again: "In fact, Mr. Zelensky did use his visit to the plant to thank the United States for its support, as well as to thank the workers in Scranton for manufacturing artillery shells to support Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky told the 400 workers churning out shells to support the war effort that they 'have saved millions of Ukrainians.' He added in a message on social media that 'it is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail." And when President Zelensky went to NYC to "campaign" with Donald Trump a/k/a the Republican "leadership" of this country, Trump heaped insults upon him and the people of Ukraine who have suffered & died under Putin's war of aggression. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: How to combine (a) projection, (b) conspiracy theory & (c) xenophobia, and come out the other side with (d) a sort of "reasoned" prediction ~~~

     ~~~ Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "Elon Musk claimed Sunday that electing former President Donald Trump in November is the 'only way' to save the country from the tyranny of Democrats and illegal migrants. The billionaire SpaceX, Tesla, and X CEO claimed the Democratic Party would naturalize enough non-citizens as voters during a Kamala Harris presidency to turn the US into a 'one-party state.' 'Democracy is over' if Trump is not elected to a second term, Musk claimed." Remarkable. Just remarkable.

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Eduardo Medina & Tim Arango of the New York Times: "Raging floods and mudslides unleashed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene have dealt an 'unprecedented tragedy' in the mountains of western North Carolina, leaving at least 37 people dead in the region and communities struggling to cope without water, food, power, gasoline and cellphone service. Hundreds of miles from where it made landfall as a powerful hurricane, Helene has continued to wreak havoc across several states, with an overall death toll reaching more than 90 on Sunday. That total is expected to rise as rescue workers reach stranded communities. Some of the worst devastation was in the towns and cities nestled between the forested mountains of western North Carolina, with roads, power lines and water treatment facilities heavily damaged throughout the region. Local and federal officials along with the National Guard raced to deliver supplies to paralyzed areas, and repair and restore what they could, while dozens of other teams searched for people who fell victim to the raging floodwaters or were still looking to escape."

California. Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday vetoed a California artificial intelligence safety bill, blocking the most ambitious proposal in the nation aimed at curtailing the growth of the new technology. The first-of-its-kind bill, S.B. 1047, required safety testing of large A.I. systems, or models, before their release to the public. It also gave the state's attorney general the right to sue companies over serious harm caused by their technologies, like death or property damage. And it mandated a kill switch to turn off A.I. systems in case of potential biowarfare, mass casualties or property damage. Mr. Newsom said that the bill was flawed because it focused too much on regulating the biggest A.I. systems, known as frontier models, without considering potential risks and harms from the technology. He said that legislators should go back to rewrite it for the next session."~~~

     ~~~ Lara Korte & Jeremy White of Politico: "Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a sweeping California bill meant to impose safety vetting requirements for powerful AI models, siding with much of Silicon Valley and leading congressional Democrats in the most high-profile fight in the Legislature this year."

New York. Love in the Time of Corruption ... Can Be So Convenient! Alyce McFadden & Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: "A day after [New York City Mayor Eric] Adams pleaded not guilty to criminal charges including bribery and fraud, Sheena Wright, Mr. Adams's first deputy mayor, and David C. Banks, the schools chancellor, married on [Martha's Vineyard], according to three people familiar with their plans. Their marriage was said to have been planned for some time, and it followed a yearslong relationship during which they shared a home. But it might also allow Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright to claim spousal privilege, which gives them the right to decline to testify against each other in court, should that become necessary, legal experts said. The couple's home in Harlem was visited by federal authorities in early September. Both Mr. Banks's and Ms. Wright's phones were seized by investigators, who appeared to be conducting a separate inquiry from the one that resulted in Mr. Adams's indictment." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Austria, "Fortress of Freedom." Christopher Schuetze of the New York Times: "Austrian voters handed the Freedom Party of Austria a solid win in national elections on Sunday, rebuking establishment parties and notching another victory for a xenophobic party in Europe as the tide of far-right populism rises on the continent. But despite the nearly 30 percent who voted for the far-right Freedom Party and its pugilistic leader, Herbert Kickl, the victory in national parliamentary elections could turn out to be merely symbolic, as mainstream parties have promised to form a coalition government without him. Still, on Sunday Mr. Kickl, who campaigned on making Austria a 'fortress of freedom,' insisted he has a clear mandate to form a government and announced that he would be open to conversations about possible coalitions with all other parties in Parliament."

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Israel's wars are here: "Hamas on Monday said that its leader in Lebanon had been killed during an airstrike in the southern part of the country. The attack appeared to be the latest in a series of moves by Israel targeting the leadership of militias backed by Iran across the Middle East. Fatah Sherif al-Amin was killed with his family in a refugee camp for Palestinians, Hamas said in a statement." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates Monday are here: "Israel is continuing its bombardment in Lebanon, hitting an apartment building in Beirut's Cola neighborhood early Monday -- the first time it has targeted the capital's city limits with an airstrike since hostilities with Hezbollah escalated almost a year ago. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the airstrike killed at least four people and injured four others. Israel's military has not commented on the strike, which came after it hit Hezbollah targets across Lebanon and Houthi infrastructure in Yemen on Sunday."

News Lede

New York Times: "Kris Kristofferson, the singer and songwriter whose literary yet plain-spoken compositions infused country music with rarely heard candor and depth, and who later had a successful second career in movies, died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday. He was 88."

The Conversation -- September 29, 2024

Stephanie Murray of the Arizona Republic: "Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris because of his conservative values -- not in spite of them — he said Saturday in an interview announcing his support for the Democratic presidential nominee. Flake, R-Ariz., is crossing party lines to endorse a Democrat for the second presidential election in a row. He backed President Joe Biden over ... Donald Trump in 2020 and voted third-party rather than cast a ballot for Trump in 2016. 'I'm a conservative. I believe in the rule of law,' Flake said during an interview at The Nile Coffee Shop in Mesa on Saturday afternoon. 'First and foremost, I want to support a presidential candidate that respects the rule of law, somebody who, if they lose an election, wouldn't try to use the presidential powers to overturn that election.'"

Greta Reich of Politico: "Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will again not be voting for ... Donald Trump, despite Trump's endorsement of Hogan's bid for Senate in June. 'I didn't vote for him in 2016 or 2020,' Hogan said on CBS' 'Face the Nation' to guest host Robert Costa on Sunday, without saying who he would vote for. Hogan didn't vote for Democratic candidates ... in those years either. In 2016, he wrote in his own father, former Maryland Rep. Lawrence Hogan. In 2020, he wrote in former President Ronald Reagan.... Hogan, a Republican, is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, the current county executive of Prince George's County." Hogan also said Trump's attack of Kamala Harris as "mentally unstable" was "outrageous and unacceptable": "I think that's insulting not only to the vice president, but to people that actually do have mental disabilities."

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "A day after ... Donald J. Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, criticized the Ukrainian president Saturday during a campaign stop in [Newtown,] Pennsylvania.... Mr. Vance opened his speech by criticizing Mr. Zelensky for having toured an ammunition factory in Scranton with the state's governor, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. 'He came to campaign with the Democratic leadership of this country,' Mr. Vance said in Newtown. 'We spent $200 billion on Ukraine. You know what I wish Zelensky would do when he comes to the United States of America? Say thank you to the people of Pennsylvania and everybody else.'

     ~~~ Marie: Uh, JayDee, you ignorant sofa-slut, President Zelensky did say thank you to the people of Pennsylvania -- precisely when he was speaking in that ammo factory in Scranton, Joe Biden's hometown. Why, even the New York Times sez so. Cameron again: "In fact, Mr. Zelensky did use his visit to the plant to thank the United States for its support, as well as to thank the workers in Scranton for manufacturing artillery shells to support Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky told the 400 workers churning out shells to support the war effort that they 'have saved millions of Ukrainians.' He added in a message on social media that 'it is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail." And when President Zelensky went to NYC to "campaign" with Donald Trump a/k/a the Republican "leadership" of this country, Trump heaped insults upon him and the people of Ukraine who have suffered & died under Putin's war of aggression.

Love in the Time of Corruption ... Can Be So Convenient! Alyce McFadden & Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: "A day after [New York City Mayor Eric] Adams pleaded not guilty to criminal charges including bribery and fraud, Sheena Wright, Mr. Adams's first deputy mayor, and David C. Banks, the schools chancellor, married on [Martha's Vineyard], according to three people familiar with their plans. Their marriage was said to have been planned for some time, and it followed a yearslong relationship during which they shared a home. But it might also allow Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright to claim spousal privilege, which gives them the right to decline to testify against each other in court, should that become necessary, legal experts said. The couple's home in Harlem was visited by federal authorities in early September. Both Mr. Banks's and Ms. Wright's phones were seized by investigators, who appeared to be conducting a separate inquiry from the one that resulted in Mr. Adams's indictment."

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Presidential Race

Marie: I was so hoping a minority person would play JayDee: ~~~

Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: Kamala Harris's campaign trolled Donald Trump Saturday night during the televised University of Georgia vs. University of Alabama football game with the ad below which mocks Trump for his refusal to debate Harris again. "Her campaign also hired a plane to trail the words 'Trump's Punting on 2nd Debate' over Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday night, where Trump was attending the game. But the plane was not cleared to fly because of the weather." MB: Rats! (But the ad is primo.)

Maegan Vazquez & Sabrina Rodriguez of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris's mental capacity Saturday, falsely claiming she was born 'mentally impaired' and comparing her actions to that of 'a mentally disabled person.' The remarks prompted criticism from advocates for people with disabilities.... 'Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this [MB: 'this' being something about the U.S.-Mexico border] to happen to our country,' he said, elaborating on a claim backed by no evidence. He called Harris 'a very dumb person,' and repeatedly mispronounced her first name, an action some supporters see as demeaning and racist.... The former president has a history of mocking people with disabilities. And he has repeatedly questioned the intelligence of Black women.... Trump held his even in a small town [Prairie due Chien, Wisconsin] where the former president and Republicans have seized on a recent case where a Venezuelan immigrant with known gang ties was accused of assaulting a woman and her daughter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Colin Jost of SNL was wondering how such a mentally-impaired person could beat the MAGA socks off Trump in a debate. Video below.

About Those $100K Trump Watches. Marie: Read the post linked next with the cautious eye of someone who knows that the author is a highly-partisan anti-Trumper who admits he is only speculating. But his speculation does raise questions, questions which will not be answered any time soon: ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Meiselas of Meidas Touch: "Key to the controversy is the method of payment accepted for these [Trump] watches. Buyers can use Bitcoin, a digital currency favored for its anonymity. This capability to purchase high-ticket items like the $100,000 Tourbillon watch without traceable financial footprints ... opens the door to the possibility of moving large sums of money discreetly, circumventing traditional financial oversight and potentially violating campaign finance laws. Trump Watches are marketed globally..., complicat[ing] adherence to U.S. regulations designed to prevent foreign contributions to political campaigns. The website's caveat that international customers handle their own taxes and duties adds another layer of complexity, distancing the transactions from stringent regulatory scrutiny.... Further muddying the waters is the disclaimer on the Trump Watch website that the product images are for illustration purposes only, suggesting that what is marketed may not reflect the actual product, and that an actual product may not even yet exist. This vagueness is unusual for luxury goods...." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemiueux in LG&$: "The possibilities for campaign finance abuse here are abundant. I doubt, though, that Trump is interested in sharing any of the profits with his campaign as opposed to his own pockets, so the real danger here is probably more straightforward emoluments for implicit favors, and as Anthony Kennedy says as long as it's just implicit nobody can think there's anything shady going on." MB: Right. Trump has an amazing talent for making his big grifts progressively bigger & griftier at the same time he shrinks his own image from "The Apprentice"'s business mogul billionaire to B&W TV used-car salesman working off a melting asphalt lot in Tempe, Arizona.

Marie: MEANWHILE, here's how Rupert's New York Post manufactures criticism of Vice President Harris. Dana Kennedy, an "investigative reporter" at the NYPost writes that when Harris visited the U.S.-Mexico border Friday, she "was wearing ... what critics claimed was a $62,000 necklace from Tiffany's.... The gold, chain-link piece looks similar to Tiffany & Co.'s Bold Graduated Link Necklace in yellow gold that retails for the whopping price tag. It's unclear if Harris' necklace is the Tiffany item...." Yeah, it is unclear. Harris' husband is well-to-do, so maybe they can afford to buy a $62K necklace now & then. Then again, Kennedy has no idea if the necklace Harris wore Friday is from Tiffany's or if it's one of the necklaces that look just like it that I found online. These copycat necklaces range in price from $5.22 (that's five dollars and twenty-two cents) to $3,500. Just Google "chunky hardware gold chain necklace," Dana. Oh, and those whose criticisms of Harris Kennedy cites? Three X users.

⭐ "They're Bringing Drugs. They're Bringing Crime." They're U.S. Citizens. Natalie Kitroeff & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "Since 2019, when Mexico overtook China to become the dominant supplier of fentanyl in the United States, cartels have been flooding the country with the synthetic opioid. [Link fixed.] The amount of fentanyl crossing the border has increased tenfold in the past five years. Mexico has been the source of almost all of the fentanyl seized by U.S. law enforcement in recent years.... Donald J. Trump and other Republicans have blamed President Biden's border policies for the fentanyl pouring into the United States, playing on a widespread belief that undocumented immigrants are responsible for bringing it in. In reality, the largest known group of fentanyl smugglers is not made up of immigrants traversing the desert or moving through secret tunnels -- they are Americans coming through legal ports of entry. More than 80 percent of the people sentenced for fentanyl trafficking at the southern border are U.S. citizens, federal data shows.... Mexican drug cartels are turning thousands of Americans into fentanyl mules, deploying a torrent of couriers who can easily cross back and forth...." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You know those Midwestern white guys in their MAGA hats? The ones who hate immigrants? They are the mules.

Kenneth Vogel & Susanne Craig of the New York Times: "Soon after Donald Trump granted clemency to fraudster & scammer Adriana Camberos -- who had obtained access to Trump via well-placed acquaintances & a $50,000 campaign contribution from her brother -- "she and her brother Andres embarked on a new fraud, federal prosecutors in California said.... Ms. Camberos is among six people granted clemency by Mr. Trump and known to have been charged with new crimes after they received a second chance.... Other recipients of Mr. Trump's clemency grants have been investigated but not charged, The Times found. And at least three additional people have been convicted of crimes that predated their clemency grants.... According to an analysis in a law journal focused on criminal justice, only 25 of the nearly 240 clemency grants issued by Mr. Trump were vetted and recommended by the pardon attorney"s office." MB: The Trumpy explanation is that the new charges are the results of vindictive prosecutors set on undoing Trump's pardons to nice people. (Also linked yesterday.)

Meryl Kornfield & Hannah Allam of the Washington Post: "... JD Vance appeared Saturday at a town hall event organized by top Christian nationalist leaders who promote election denialism and portray Vice President Kamala Harris as a 'demon.' The event's host, Lance Wallnau, who emceed the live event and introduced Vance's first town hall on the campaign trail, is a leading figure in the fast-growing New Apostolic Reformation, a movement that preaches Christian supremacy through a blend of prophecy and hard-right politics.... Vance's appearance at Saturday's event was the latest example of the Trump campaign intersecting with once-fringe figures who now have wide followings. On Saturday, Vance ... described hisfaith journey and political beliefs as he courted the crowd in western Pennsylvania.... Polls show former president Donald Trump and Harris neck and neck in the crucial swing state."

Marie: JayDee is a little pudgy, but I don't know how he ever gets anything to eat: ~~~

     ~~~ Mike Bedigan of the Independent: "JD Vance suffered yet another embarrassing set back on the campaign trail, after being denied entry to a restaurant where he was supposed to speak -- and being forced to address supporters in the parking lot instead. According to reports, after showing up to Primanti Bros in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, a restaurant worker told the press that cameras were not allowed and that they did not want a 'campaign event.' The restaurant was reportedly full of customers waiting to greet Vance, who canceled their food orders after learning he wasn't welcome. Vance ended up glad-handing in the parking lot outside, according to NBC.... The latest food-shop-related gaffe led to many online questioning those that make advance arrangements for the Republican vice presidential nominee.... Just last week he was roundly mocked online over a trip to the supermarket, also in Pennsylvania, where he bemoaned the steep cost of eggs, claiming that Harris' economic policies had led to the price being $4. The problem?... [Video] footage ... [showed that] the price tag [on] a dozen eggs [pictured] behind him was actually $2.99." ~~~

     ~~~ To be fair, Fox "News" reported that customers at a nearby Primanti Bros were pissed off last month when restaurant employees kicked them out prior to a visit from Kamala Harris. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, it isn't the inflation Kamala Harris apparently single-handedly engineered that caused the rise in eggs to $2.99/dozen. Not sure how Trump & JayDee will link Harris to the latest bird-flu outbreak, but I know they can do it: ~~~

     ~~~ Filip Timotija of the Hill: "The rising price of eggs in the last year has been linked to bird's flu impact on the supply chain. Eggs' price tag has gone up by 28.1 percent in the last 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.... 'Bird flu is the number one reason for higher prices, absolutely,' Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst, told CNN.... The sickness of the birds has affected the total egg output, and lower production of eggs, in part, leads to an increase in prices."

David Bauder of the AP: "CBS News, hosting vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz for the general election campaign's third debate next week, says it will be up to the politicians -- not the moderators -- to check the facts of their opponents. The 90-minute debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday in a Manhattan studio..., will be moderated by the outgoing 'CBS Evening News' anchor Norah O'Donnell and 'Face the Nation' host Margaret Brennan."

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Marie: It's kinda hard to believe Florida Republicans had a worse Congressional [Wikilink] candidate in 2022 than [WashPo link] Anna Paulina Luna. But they did: ~~~

~~~ Florida Congressional Race 2022. Raquel Uribe of NBC News: "The Justice Department revealed an indictment Friday charging a Florida man with threatening to kill his political opponent in 2021. William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was charged with threatening two people, one of whom the DOJ said was his primary opponent in the 2022 election for Florida's 13th Congressional District. Braddock allegedly threatened to 'call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad' and make the primary opponent disappear, according to the indictment. The DOJ indictment did not name the alleged victims. One of Braddock's primary opponents and the race's eventual winner, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., contended in 2021 court documents that Braddock was stalking her and wanted her dead. A Florida court in 2021 granted Luna and a conservative activist and friend of hers, Erin Olszewski, a temporary restraining order. Braddock terminated his campaign in 2021 shortly after the judge granted the injunction."

Texas Voter Suppression Law Partly Halted. Xiomara Moore of the Texas Tribune: "A federal judge ruled on Saturday that part of a Texas law that enacted new voting restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution by being too vague and restricting free speech. The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, immediately halted the state's ability to investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, such as the investigation into the League of United Latin American Citizens by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Before today's ruling, a person who knowingly provided or offered vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation was committing a third-degree felony. This meant that organizers of voter outreach organizations and even volunteers could spend up to ten years in prison and fined up to $10,000 for giving or offering these services.... Many organizations -- including La Union del Pueblo Entero, LULAC, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund -- have filed lawsuits against many other provisions of the law, including voter assistance and mail-in ballot restrictions. The challenges to these provisions have not been ruled on yet."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Israel's wars are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here: "Israel continued heavy strikes on Lebanon early Sunday, claiming to attack dozens of Hezbollah targets. Lebanon was reeling from the killing of Hasan Nasrallah, the militant group's longtime leader, who was killed in an Israeli strike in a Beirut suburb on Friday. More than 1,000 people, including at least 87 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the past two weeks, health officials said." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement on the death of Hassan Nasrallah.

News Lede

Washington Post: "Towns throughout western North Carolina ... were transformed overnight by ... [Hurricane Helene]. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls.... The death toll grew throughout the Southeast as the scope of Helene's devastation came into clearer view. At least 49 people had been killed in five states -- Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. By early counts, South Carolina suffered the greatest loss of life, registering at least 19 deaths."

The Conversation -- September 28, 2024

⭐ "They're Bringing Drugs. They're Bringing Crime." Natalie Kitroeff & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "Since 2019, when Mexico overtook China to become the dominant supplier of fentanyl in the United States, cartels have been flooding the country with the synthetic opioid. The amount of fentanyl crossing the border has increased tenfold in the past five years. Mexico has been the source of almost all of the fentanyl seized by U.S. law enforcement in recent years.... Donald J. Trump and other Republicans have blamed President Biden's border policies for the fentanyl pouring into the United States, playing on a widespread belief that undocumented immigrants are responsible for bringing it in. In reality, the largest known group of fentanyl smugglers is not made up of immigrants traversing the desert or moving through secret tunnels -- they are Americans coming through legal ports of entry. More than 80 percent of the people sentenced for fentanyl trafficking at the southern border are U.S. citizens, federal data shows.... Mexican drug cartels are turning thousands of Americans into fentanyl mules, deploying a torrent of couriers who can easily cross back and forth...." Emphasis added.

Kenneth Vogel & Susanne Craig of the New York Times: Soon after Donald Trump granted clemency to fraudster & scammer Adriana Camberos -- who had obtained access to Trump via well-placed acquaintances & a $50,000 campaign contribution from her brother -- "she and her brother Andres embarked on a new fraud, federal prosecutors in California said.... Ms. Camberos is among six people granted clemency by Mr. Trump and known to have been charged with new crimes after they received a second chance.... Other recipients of Mr. Trump's clemency grants have been investigated but not charged, The Times found. And at least three additional people have been convicted of crimes that predated their clemency grants.... According to an analysis in a law journal focused on criminal justice, only 25 of the nearly 240 clemency grants issued by Mr. Trump were vetted and recommended by the pardon attorney's office." MB: And it seems the Trumpy explanation is that the new charges are the results of vindictive prosecutors set on undoing Trump's pardons to deserving people.

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Presidential Race

Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: "On her first trip to the southern border as the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered one of her party's toughest speeches on immigration and border policy in a generation. Even as she did, she tried to paint ... Donald J. Trump as a feckless chaos agent without the ability to deliver the hard-line results he has promised. Ms. Harris vowed to carry on President Biden's crackdown on asylum and to impose order on the southern border, demonstrating how much the politics of immigration have shifted for Democrats. Just one presidential cycle ago, Ms. Harris and most other candidates in the party's primary race had promised to decriminalize illegal border crossings." The Guardian's report is here.

A comparison of the statements made by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on Ukraine over the last 24 hours pic.twitter.com/ZRvsZsLM1P

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 27, 2024

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link. Via digby, who is of the view that the Orange Jesus is "The Greatest Embarrassment in American History." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "As [Ukraine's President Volodymyr] Zelensky stood silently beside him, Mr. Trump presented the Russia-Ukraine war as one that both sides wanted to end, including its instigator, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Trump did not fault the Russian leader for the invasion or for the illegal seizure of territory or for the thousands of Ukrainians he has bombed out of existence. Instead, the former president described the situation as if it were a dispute between two parties operating in good faith that could be resolved in a 'fair deal,' but only if he returns to the White House." MB: The reporters are kindly enough not to mention that Trump suggested that it was important for both parties to come to the table because it takes two to tango." I just can't think why digby sez Trump is "The Greatest Embarrassment in American History."

The Incredible Shrinking Trumplethinskin. David Moye of the Huffington Post: As people began walking out of a rally when Trump was speaking in Walker, Michigan, Friday, Trump insisted from the podium that the people who were leaving were not really leaving. Trump "became agitated during a Sept. 10 presidential debate when ... Kamala Harris bluntly said that 'people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.'" Trump said the rally-goers Friday were just lining up in the back of the hall in hopes of getting a photo with him. Right.

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: In a post on his failing social media site, "... Donald J. Trump threatened Friday to prosecute Google if he was elected to the presidency a second time, claiming that the tech company had been 'illegally' showing only 'bad stories' about him and only 'good' ones about Vice President Kamala Harris. It was the latest instance of Mr. Trump threatening to prosecute his perceived opponents should he return to office. This month, he called for the prosecution of lawyers, political donors and operatives if they engaged in 'unscrupulous behavior.' Mr. Trump said at a news conference on Thursday that the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be prosecuted in connection with the security lapses by which a mob of his own supporters attacked the Capitol during the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. And on Friday, in Michigan, he called for an attorney general 'somewhere, like in a Republican territory' to investigate Ms. Pelosi and her husband over reports that Mr. Pelosi had sold Visa stock ahead of the Justice Department's filing an antitrust lawsuit against the company.... Google said it did not manipulate search results to favor any candidate." A CNBC story is here.

Marie: I have overstayed my nonpaying welcome at TPM, but Scott Lemieux in LG&$ has republished a part of two of Josh Marshall's posts:

     ~~~JayDee Wants Goons to Monitor Your Periods, Ladies. Josh Marshall of TPM (republished in LG&$): "JD Vance is a major menstrual surveillance hawk. When the Biden administration pushed for updated HIPAA regulations to prevent sheriff's departments and other law enforcement agencies from pulling women's medical records for their menstrual surveillance programs (which they termed 'compassionate laws protecting unborn children and their mothers'), Vance was one of only 28 members of Congress (and only 8 senators) to sign a letter protesting the new regs, which, per the letter, 'interfere with valid state laws protecting life.' (You can see the letter here. It's a doozy.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux: "This should also be a reminder that Alito's repeated assertions in Dobbs that the right to choose to have an abortion can be neatly separated from the entire well-established framework of personal autonomy rights is nonsensical on every level. And Dobbs did not return the country to the pre-Roe status quo; given the different surveillance capacities of the state and the greater fanaticism of the anti-abortion mob, it will be much worse." MB: The purpose of the surveillance, of course, is chilling, but the methodology is downright creepy. I doubt even the church-lady president of the Republican Women's Club would want sheriff's deputies rifling through her files at her OB/GYN's office. And, Dear, that's what will happen if JayDee gets his way.

Peter Jamison of the Washington Post: "Vice-presidential nominee JD Vance has a go-to explanation for his evolution from outspoken critic to impassioned defender of Donald Trump: He says he was converted by Trump's achievements in the White House.... But ... in the direct messages -- sent during Trump's final year in office to an acquaintance over ... Twitter -- Vance harshly criticized his future running mate's record of governance.... 'Trump has just so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism (excepting a disjointed China policy),' Vance wrote in February 2020.... 'I've already turned down my appointment from the emperor,' Vance wrote ... after his interlocutor referred to the possibility of a government appointment by 'Emperor Trump.' Pressed by his acquaintance about what job he had been offered, Vance replied, 'I'm not going to say over twitter messenger.' Neither Trump nor Vance has ever disclosed that he was offered a role working [in the Trump administration." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm sure you're not surprised, but what we have in JayDee is not just a liar but a "practical politician," where "practical" means willing to roll over & repeatedly defend the indefensible if that is in his self-interest. JayDee is as trustworthy as Trump.

Mark Sherman of the AP (republished by Yahoo! News): "The Supreme Court on Friday refused an emergency appeal from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign seeking to have his name added to New York's ballot. Kennedy has been trying to get his name off ballots in key battleground states since he suspended his campaign in August and endorsed ... Donald Trump. But he has simultaneously tried to stay on the ballot in states like New York where his presence is unlikely to make a difference in the battle between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris."

Ha Ha. Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: "California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) introduced a bill on Friday that would prevent sitting presidents from dismissing criminal prosecution against themselves, including through coercion of an attorney general or anyone acting on the president's behalf. The Investigative Integrity Protection Act seeks to require a three-judge court hearing before any charges against a president are dropped, according to a release."

Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The special counsel, Jack Smith, has asked a federal judge to make public a substantial amount of the evidence that he and his deputies have collected during nearly two years of investigating ... Donald J. Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a court filing unsealed on Friday. In the filing, Mr. Smith described the sorts of information about Mr. Trump that he would like to reveal in a public version of a lengthy secret brief that he submitted under seal on Thursday evening to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case in Federal District Court in Washington.... Mr. Smith told Judge Chutkan that the public version of his brief should include quotations and summaries of grand jury testimony from -- and interviews with -- several chief witnesses in the case, including top White House officials like former Vice President Mike Pence. But to protect lesser-known witnesses from harassment, Mr. Smith said the names of people not already identified in the indictment should be redacted." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: A federal judge [Tanya Chutkan] on Friday gave lawyers for Donald Trump four days to challenge the partial public release of a nearly 200-page special counsel filing on why the former president can be criminally prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election."

Laurie Brookins of the Hollywood Reporter: "On Thursday, [Donald] Trump debuted a pair of watches available for sale: a dive model ... that is limited to 1,000 pieces and retails for $499 or $799 depending on style, and a seemingly high-end tourbillion design that is depicted as being crafted of 18-karat gold and embellished with diamonds on the bezel. Limited to 147 pieces, that model is listed for an astounding $100,000. All pieces display Trump's name prominently on the dial.... Word quickly spread among the status-watch community, which was overwhelmingly unimpressed. 'This is cobbled together, patently unoriginal and vastly overpriced,' says Ariel Adams, founder and editor of A Blog to Watch.... A marketing director of a well-known Swiss brand..., [said], everyone [in my collectors' group chat] was laughing' ... [at] the more expensive piece. 'When you look at all of them, they scream Chinese-made watch. None of them is worth the asking price.'... '[The tourbillon watch] is as ersatz as the man himself,' added Adam Craniotes, founder ... of ... an international network of watch collectors...."

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Alabama. Hansi Lo Wang of NPR: “The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, alleging a state program violated federal law by removing voters from its election rolls too close to this fall's general election.... The National Voter Registration Act sets what's known as a 'quiet period' before federal elections for most states. Alabama and other states covered by the federal law are not allowed to systematically remove names fewer than 90 days before a federal election. On Aug. 13, 84 days before this fall's Election Day, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, announced an effort to 'remove noncitizens registered to vote' in the state. According to a press release, Allen identified and instructed county election officials to remove from their voter rolls 3,251 registered Alabama voters who had been 'issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security.'... But in a statement, the Justice Department characterized this process as a 'systematic voter removal program' that has ensnared U.S. citizens, both those born in the United States and those who were naturalized...."

New York. Dana Rubinstein, et al., of the New York Times: "A muted but defiant [New York City] Mayor Eric Adams, in back-to-back appearances inside a federal courthouse in Manhattan and outside its granite facade on Friday, professed his innocence of criminal charges including bribery and fraud and stood by as his lawyer railed against the evidence in a case that threatens to topple his embattled administration. 'I am not guilty, your honor,' Mr. Adams said at his midday arraignment before Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker in a 26th-floor courtroom in Lower Manhattan, as reporters looked on from the gallery and via livestreams in several overflow courtrooms." ~~~

~~~ Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of bribery, wire fraud and taking illegal campaign donations, even as state investigators seized the electronic devices of one of his top advisers at the airport -- the latest indication of multiple, wide-ranging corruption probes related to City Hall.... The Manhattan district attorney's office and the New York City Department of Investigation met Adams's top adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, at an arrivals gate at JFK International Airport, Lewis-Martin's lawyer said. The law enforcement personnel intercepted her electronics as part of a separate investigation, said a person with knowledge of the matter...." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times live-updated developments Friday in the NYC Mayor Eric Adams indictment matter: "Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty on Friday in a Lower Manhattan courtroom to five felony counts, including bribery and fraud charges. Mr. Adams is accused of accepting more than $100,000 in illegal gifts in exchange for using his political influence to help Turkey." (Also linked yesterday.)

North Carolina. Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: "The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Friday overturned a lower court's decision to accept the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's mobile One Card as valid voter identification. The ruling supported the plaintiff's argument that the digital ID would make it easier for ineligible voters to cast ballots and violate a state law that prohibits mobile use during voting. An unnamed group of three judges approved the appeal from the Republican National Committee and the N.C. Republican Party unanimously today which can be appealed at the federal level. DNC attorneys say that preventing its use could confuse or even disenfranchise up to 40,000 people who work or attend the school so close to the election according to ABC."

Virginia, et al. Hi, I'm Having a Fabulous Family Dinner with My Fake Wife & Fake Daughters. Annie Karni & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "... male Republicans struggling to appeal to female voters ... are unleashing their spouses to make the pitch on their behalf. Their ads often feature women in softly lit living rooms and pristine kitchens vouching for their husbands' characters.... Other times, candidates film footage of a wholesome family gathering around the dining room table. In at least one case, such a gathering includes a candidate at the dinner table in a family-like tableau with a woman and children who are not related. The campaign of Derrick Anderson, a former Army Green Beret who is running in a competitive race for an open seat in Virginia's Seventh District, has posted footage of him posing with a woman and her three daughters in what looks like a photo that might be used for an annual holiday card. In another scene filmed for potential use in a campaign ad, Mr. Anderson is seated around the dining room table with the same woman and three girls, chatting and smiling. But the people ... are the wife and children of a longtime friend. Mr. Anderson, who announced this month that he was engaged, does not have any children of his own. His campaign website says he lives with his dog and does not display any of the photos."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Israel's wars are here. "Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed the death of Hassan Nasrallah, its longtime leader, in an airstrike on the organization's underground headquarters near Beirut, hours after Israel said he had been killed in a major escalation of its rapidly expanding campaign against the Iran-backed group. After two weeks of back-and-forth attacks that have threatened to spiral into an all-out regional war, Israel said that Mr. Nasrallah was killed in a major airstrike on Friday, when its air force dropped more than 80 bombs on a group of residential buildings in the Hezbollah-dominated area known as the Dahiya."

Bassem Mroue & Melanie Lidman of the AP: "Israel said Saturday that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese militant group after months of fighting. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah. If the claim is true, Nasrallah is by far the most powerful target to be killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The military said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leadership met at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut."

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamiin "Netanyahu bulldozed his way through his visit [to the United Nations], castigating Israel's critics and the United Nations itself, offering no diplomatic concessions, and ordering an airstrike in Beirut that may have killed Israel's long hunted archnemesis, the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The strike landed even as Mr. Netanyahu delivered defiant remarks to a U.N. General Assembly hall -- largely emptied after dozens of diplomats walked out in protest -- in which he triumphantly declared of Israel's multiple conflicts: 'We are winning.'"

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Israel's wars are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

Washington Post: "Rescue teams raced to submerged homes, scoured collapsed buildings and steered thousands from overflowing dams as Helene carved a destructive path Friday, knocking out power and flooding a vast arc of communities across the southeastern United States. At least 40 people were confirmed killed in five states since the storm made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 behemoth, unleashing record-breaking storm surge and tree-snapping gusts. 4 million homes and businesses have lost electricity across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, prompting concerns that outages could drag on for weeks. Mudslides closed highways. Water swept over roofs and snapped phone lines. Houses vanished from their foundations. Tornadoes added to the chaos. The mayor of hard-hit Canton, N.C., called the scene 'apocalyptic.'" An AP report is here.