The Conversation -- August 2, 2024
** Democrats Choose Harris. Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegate votes to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday, though the results are not yet official. The DNC will not make an official announcement of results until Monday evening, when the virtual voting process closes for delegates to next month's Democratic National Convention."
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Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Thursday's massive multi-country prisoner swap with Russia -- touted by the US as the largest since the end of the Cold War -- marked a major diplomatic achievement and legacy-defining moment for President Joe Biden less than six months before he leaves office. The prisoner exchange, which included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, was Biden's first major foreign policy action since announcing last month he was ending his reelection bid and endorsing his Vice President Kamala Harris. The agreement involved months of complex negotiations with allies and adversaries alike, involving seven countries and 24 prisoners. Biden and Harris greeted Whelan, Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Thursday night after the freed Americans had touched down on US soil. Their families were also waiting on the tarmac to receive them. 'I was absolutely convinced we could get it done,' Biden told reporters after watching the emotional family reunions. 'I meant it when I said, "Alliances make a difference." They stepped up and took a chance for us, and it mattered a lot.'"
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The enthusiastic greetings that played out over about half an hour in the dark of a steamy Maryland night offered a moment of unbridled joy in a world of foreign affairs that has more often thrown fire and chaos at the president. And for [President] Biden, they provided a seeming vindication of the type of patient, multilateral diplomacy that he proudly practices but that has so far proved unable to halt wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden's national security adviser, had held back tears as he told reporters earlier in the day that a multicountry agreement, which released 24 prisoners from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia, had been a 'vintage Joe Biden' act of statecraft. As he took question after question from waiting reporters, Mr. Biden seemed intent on reminding everyone what exactly that meant."
** Jennifer Hansler, et al., of CNN: "A large-scale prisoner swap between the US and Russia is under way, according to a source familiar, and it is expected to include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a number of Americans. The parties have agreed to a prisoner transfer and the prisoners are expected to be in the care of US officials, according to a senior administration official. The deal would end a nightmare that lasted more than five years for Whelan and more than a year for Gershkovich. Both men were designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ A CNN liveblog is here. The New York Times' liveblog of developments Thursday in the prisoner swap is here. Yesterday's Conversation republishes some of the reporters' entries. (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Here is the transcript of President Biden's remarks, as delivered, via the White House.
Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "On Thursday, seven different planes touched down in Ankara, Turkey, and exchanged passengers, bringing to a successful close an intensive diplomatic effort that took place almost entirely out of public view.... The deal between longtime adversaries [was] negotiated mostly by spies and sometimes through secret messages hand-delivered by couriers.... And it reached its conclusion even as President Biden, who got personally involved in the negotiations at key points, was slowly losing hope of continuing his re-election bid following a disastrous televised debate that took place two days after the C.I.A. gave the Russians what proved to be [a] decisive new offer."
One Day in the Life of an American Hero. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Even in the world of presidential multitasking, July 21 turns out to have been an extraordinary, whipsaw Sunday for President Biden. At 12:09 p.m., he picked up the phone at his vacation house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., to talk with the prime minister of Slovenia as part of a high-stakes diplomatic gamble to seal a complicated, multinational prisoner swap. Just 97 minutes later, he posted a world-stunning letter online abandoning his bid for re-election..., climaxing the biggest crisis of his political career and signaling the end of his presidency after a half-century in public life. By any measure, it was one of the darkest moments of his time in elective office.... And yet it would lead to one of the most joyous days of his presidency barely a week and a half later as he orchestrated the release of imprisoned Americans from the dungeons of Russia. For Mr. Biden and his team, the successful negotiation to free 16 people held by Russia on Thursday, including three American citizens and a U.S. permanent resident, offered sweet validation even as the clock is now ticking toward his final curtain call in office." A related Politico story is here. ~~~
Now, That's a Reporter. Zachary Leeman of Mediaite: "Included in an extensive [Wall Street Journal] report on Evan Gershkovich's arrest in Russia and the developments that led to his release, announced Thursday, is the detail that the 32-year-old reporter actually asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for an interview before leaving prison.... As reported in the Journal's coverage, Russia arresting Americans and leveraging them for prisoner swaps has been common under Putin. The paper had actually been reporting on 'Russia's hostage-taking spree' at the time Gershkovich was detained." Worth reading for the details of how Gershkovich's ask came about.
Maria Sacchetti & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security's chief watchdog Thursday issued its long-awaited findings on the Secret Service's handling of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying the protective agency had looked into the possibility of protests but 'did not anticipate' the level of violence that occurred that day, according to a copy of the report sent to Congress.... The report said the Secret Service did not sweep the bushes at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in Washington, where a pipe bomb had been placed the night before. The explosive did not detonate, but Kamala Harris, then the vice president-elect, had walked within 20 feet of the device, the report said. The report praised agents for safeguarding top officials that day but also said it could improve communication with law enforcement and other procedures.... The report from the office of Inspector General Joseph Cuffari is based on interviews with more than 100 Secret Service personnel and over 183,000 emails and attachments as well as video footage from the agency."
Senate Republicans Ax Expansion of Child Tax Credit; Vance AWOL. Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans blocked legislation Thursday to cut taxes for working families and extend some corporate tax breaks, dooming a bipartisan compromise that the House had overwhelmingly approved and raising the stakes on taxes for this fall]s elections. The $79 billion legislation would have expanded eligibility for the child tax credit, or CTC, among the lowest-income families and adjusted payments for inflation for the 2024 and 2025 filing years. It also would have bolstered certain business tax credits -- including deductions for research and development, interest expenses and investments in equipment -- that were limited in an effort to cap the total costs of ... Donald Trump's 2017 tax cut law.... [J.D. Vance, who pretends to support measures to encourage parents to bear more children,] missed Thursday's vote for a campaign event in Arizona and earlier in the week falsely accused Vice President Harris of opposing the child tax credit. The vice president supports the legislation, and the Biden administration issued a statement Thursday urging passage." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ BTW, see Patrick's commentary at the end of yesterday's thread re: the flawed NYT report on the Senate vote. The Times report is here; I don't recommend it, as the Times has not improved it since Patrick criticized it. Headlines and ledes matter. A lot. A busy reader should not have to search down the page to get an accurate picture of what happened, particularly when what happened was quite straightforward.
Presidential Race
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: Democratic delegates began online voting Thursday in a process that almost certainly will result in [Vice President] Harris formally becoming the party's nominee, since she is the only candidate who qualified and most of the delegates have already endorsed her. Yet her official selection will mark a significant milestone, making her the nation's first Black woman to become a major-party presidential nominee and capping one of the most tumultuous months in recent American political history. Parties typically nominate their ticket at their in-person convention, but Democratic leaders were concerned that early ballot deadlines in several states could make it risky for them to wait until the Democratic National Convention, which is to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. They set up a virtual nomination process that started Thursday morning and could last until Monday, though Harris could clinch the nomination sooner."
Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign survived a brutal few weeks of fund-raising in July to bounce back so dramatically before the end of the month that she more than doubled the amount of money raised by ... Donald J. Trump, her campaign announced on Friday. The Harris campaign, which for the first 20 days of July was the Biden campaign, said it had raised $310 million during the month, including $200 million in just seven days after President Biden dropped out of the race. The Trump campaign and its own allies said on Thursday that they had collected $139 million in July, an enormous sum but well short of what the Harris campaign said it had brought in amid a huge burst of enthusiasm about her candidacy. The Harris campaign raised almost as much in July as the Biden campaign had raised in March, April, May and June combined."
Toluse Olorunnipa & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump took to his social media site to suggest that U.S. negotiators had gotten the short end of the bargain, without expressing any gladness that the captives returned home safely. 'How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash? Are they giving us cash (Please withdraw that question, because I'm sure the answer is NO)?' Trump wrote on Truth Social about the deal with Russia. 'Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs?' Trump falsely claimed he freed Americans held abroad with 'never any cash.' In 2017, Trump authorized a $2 million payment to North Korea to bring home American college student Otto Warmbier.... It's unclear whether the money was ever paid.... Speaking to reporters at the White House, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that no money was exchanged in Thursday's deal.... Trump has argued that only he would be able to free U.S. citizens imprisoned abroad.: ~~~
~~~ Okay, that's what a bitter, quarrelsome old nitwit says, but let's hear from a bright young Yale man: ~~~
~~~ Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) suggested Thursday that fear of a second Trump administration motivated Russia to agree to the historic prisoner swap with the U.S.... '... we have to ask ourselves: Why are they coming home? And I think it's because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump's about to be back in office, so they're cleaning house,' he said. 'That's a good thing, and I think it's a testament to Donald Trump's strength.'... President Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about Vance's remarks during a White House briefing Thursday. 'I don't follow,' he said, before moving to the next question." ~~~
~~~ An Older Man with Similarly Lame Thoughts. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said he thinks that Russia agreed to the prisoner swap ... because they think former President Trump is 'going to win' the upcoming election.... 'The reason why Russia wanted to do the deal now is that they think that President Trump's gonna win and they don't want to deal with him,' Burgum said [on Fox]." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Jadie's & Dougie's arguments might be a tad more convincing (and I mean "a tad") but for this, reported by Olorunnipa & Arnsdorf (linked above): "For the first year of Gershkovich's detention, Trump remained conspicuously silent on it, part of a long-standing pattern of avoiding criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Poor Donald is such a bully-boyish bumpkin that he still thinks "I know you are but what am I?" is an effective response to being called weird. Irie Sentner of Politico reports. Sad. It is quite difficult to spend most of your adult life as a rich person living in Manhattan without developing any sophistication whatsoever, but Trump has managed to remain more of a rube than Neil Simon's hilarious "Out of Towners." It's uncanny.
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump continued on Thursday to pretend not to know that Vice President Kamala Harris is biracial.... Harris was born in Oakland, California to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. The former president shared a post from conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer on his Truth Social platform in which she falsely claimed Harris 'is NOT black and never has been.' She posted a copy of Harris's purported birth certificate, which lists her father's 'color or race' as Jamaican. Her mother is listed as Caucasian."
Here's a New York Times link to commentary by columnist Jamelle Bouie re: Donald Trump's appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention. (You have to turn on the audio.) (Also linked yesterday.)
In yesterday's Comments, Patrick reminded us that it wasn't only Kamala Harris who turned Black:
~~~ Marie: What with Beyonce's song "Freedom" serving as a sort of soundtrack for Harris' presidential campaign, it's fair to say that the very good brain of Trump has discovered a conspiracy all us White people should greet with fear & awe. (It is possible that Trump got the idea that Harris "turned Black" from this SNL sketch and that he has Harris mixed up with Beyonce. Should we be surprised he can't tell the difference?)
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Asked on Wednesday what he would do on 'Day 1' of a new presidency during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Mr. Trump said..., 'I bring energy way down, I bring, interest rates are down, I bring inflation way down.'... The president exerts no direct control over interest rates. The Federal Reserve sets a key policy rate, which then trickles out to influence borrowing costs across the economy, and the Fed is independent from the White House." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "'Weird' deprives the MAGA cult of the claim to speak for 'the people.'... Ultimately, it signifies normal Americans are laughing at them, something felon and ... Donald Trump loathes (as do all narcissists). If nothing else, it undermines his attempt to project power, invincibility and domination.... But reliance on 'weird' comes with serious potential downsides.... There is a long, sad history of writing off fascists as buffoons.... [Those who call Trump 'weird'] certainly must not downplay the threat to the most vulnerable Americans and the life-or-death implications of Trump's views.... Trump's misplaced vanity, narcissism and ignorance are laughable. But we should never forget that those very qualities make him impervious to shame and contemptuous of social norms and legal restraints.... Mockery is fine and serves a useful political and marketing purpose, but Vice President Harris and her team must be careful not to downplay the existential danger to the democratic experiment." (Also linked yesterday.)
Vance Supports Neo-Nazi Content. Hunter Walker of TPM: J.D. "Vance has had a six-figure stake in Rumble, an online video platform. The company has played host to Russian propaganda and to far-right personalities.... It has also featured even more extreme content, including explicitly neo-Nazi images and themes like this song touting the 'Reich' and calling for Jews to be placed in ovens from a 'dissident rapper' with a dedicated page on the site. The site features a plethora of channels and videos dedicated to the concept of 'white genocide,' which is a core belief for white supremacists. It also hosts channels for explicitly white supremacist organizations including VDare and Patriot Front.... Donald Trump Jr.... signed a seven-figure podcast deal with the company last year."
Eric Lipton & David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: "... technologies that might have protected Mr. Trump from getting shot on July 13 did not -- either because they malfunctioned, were improperly deployed or the Secret Service decided not to use them in the first place. The Secret Service, for instance, turned down offers to use a surveillance drone at the Butler Farm Show rally site. The agency also did not bring a system to boost the agent' device signals in an area with poor cellular service. And some of the equipment the agency did bring, including a system to detect drone use by others, did not work when it was most needed. The result was that a 20-year-old gunman had a technological advantage over a $3 billion federal agency. The acting Secret Service director, Ronald Rowe Jr., told Senate lawmakers in a hearing this week that the agency had the tools that could have spotted [the gunman] and allowed agents to interrogate him before the shooting, but failed to properly use them."
** Criminal to the Core: 200 Pounds of $100 Bills. Aaron Davis & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Five days before Donald Trump became president in January 2017, a manager at a bank branch in Cairo received an unusual letter from an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service. It asked the bank to 'kindly withdraw' nearly $10 million from the organization's account -- all in cash. Inside the state-run National Bank of Egypt, employees were soon busy placing bundles of $100 bills into two large bags.... Four men arrived and carried away the bags, which U.S. officials later described in sealed court filings as weighing a combined 200 pounds and containing what was then a sizable share of Egypt's reserve of U.S. currency. Federal investigators learned of the withdrawal ... early in 2019. The discovery intensified a secret criminal investigation that had begun two years earlier with classified U.S. intelligence indicating that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign....
"Within months of learning of the withdrawal, prosecutors and FBI agents were blocked by top Justice Department officials from obtaining bank records they believed might hold critical evidence.... The case ground to a halt by the fall of 2019 as Trump's then-attorney general, William P. Barr, raised doubts about whether there was sufficient evidence to continue the probe of Trump.... In June of 2020, the prosecutor Barr appointed to take over the office leading the case closed the probe, citing 'a lack of sufficient evidence to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt.'... Over the course of his presidency, Trump shifted U.S. policy in ways that benefited the Egyptian leader, a man he once called 'my favorite dictator.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Stuffing 200 pounds of $100 bills into bags for delivery to Trump is so mobsterish it's a bad cliche, although I suppose these bags o'cash were carried around by diplomatic couriers rather than your typical goombah bagman.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department attorney who became a central figure in Donald Trump's bid to seize a second term he didn't win, should be suspended from practicing law for two years, a Washington, D.C., disciplinary panel ruled Thursday. The oversight panel, authorized by the D.C. bar, rebuked Clark for aiding Trump's effort to use the Justice Department's might to undermine the results of the 2020 election. As part of that effort, Clark proposed a plan to persuade Republican-led legislatures to appoint pro-Trump presidential electors in states Joe Biden won. Clark's role in the scheme violated his code of professional ethics as an attorney and even threatened to destabilize the country, the panel found.... [The panel's] recommendation will now come before the D.C. Bar's Board of Professional Responsibility, which will make its own recommendation to the D.C. Court of Appeals. The full process could take another year to reach its conclusion."
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Arizona. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Abraham Hamadeh, an election denier who ran for attorney general in Arizona in 2022, won the Republican primary for the state's Eighth Congressional District on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Hamadeh, a former prosecutor in Maricopa County, defeated Blake Masters, another Republican who has supported ... Donald J. Trump's lies about the 2020 election. The victory by Mr. Hamadeh in the district, which encompasses suburbs north and west of Phoenix, came after an unusual last-minute turn in the race: Mr. Trump endorsed both candidates the weekend before the primary, effectively declaring that he had no preference for who won. Mr. Hamadeh emerges from a bitter primary fight, in which he and Mr. Masters lobbed harsh personal insults at each other as they tried to distance themselves from a field that also included Ben Toma, Arizona's speaker of the House, and Trent Franks, a former U.S. representative.... Mr. Hamadeh will most likely be favored this fall in his race against his Democratic opponent, Gregory Whitten, who did not face a primary challenger in the reliably Republican district." (Also linked yesterday.)
Tennessee Senate Race. Kimberlee Kruesi & Jonathan Mattise of the AP: "U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a top Republican ally of ... Donald Trump, will square off this fall in Tennessee against Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson, whose progressive profile rose nationally when her GOP colleagues tried to boot her from office over a gun control protest on the chamber floor. Both women fended off primary challenges Thursday...."
Virginia Congressional Race. Asshole Loses Recount. Ally Mutnick & Olivia Beavers of Politico: "In just two terms [in office, Rep. Bob] Good [R-Va.] built enemies in every wing of the Republican Party -- and that opposition came out in force to align itself with state Sen. John McGuire, who defeated Good to clinch the GOP nomination for a red-leaning seat in south-central Virginia after an official recount of the June 18 primary concluded Thursday.... 'Bob Good is universally recognized to be an asshole,' said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who endorsed McGuire."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Middle East crisis is here.
Ronen Bergman, et al., of the New York Times: "Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American.... The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran. Mr. Haniyeh was in Iran's capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard." (Also linked yesterday.)
Venezuela. Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: "The United States on Thursday night recognized Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo González, as the winner of the country's disputed election. The announcement, by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, comes despite a claim by the country's authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, and by the government-controlled electoral body, that Mr. Maduro had won the Sunday election. Mr. Maduro has yet to produce clear evidence of a victory, and election officials have failed to provide a vote count. Mr. González's campaign says it has receipts from more than 80 percent of voting machines that indicate he won by an insurmountable margin." ~~~
~~~ Samantha Schmidt & Matthew Brown of the Washington Post: "The United States on Thursday said opposition candidate Edmundo González defeated President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela's presidential election and called for negotiations to ensure a peaceful transition of power.... 'Now is the time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people,' [U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said]."
News Lede
CNBC: "Job growth in the U.S. slowed much more than expected during July and the unemployment rate ticked higher, fueling fears of a broader economic slowdown, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls grew by just 114,000 for the month, down from the downwardly revised 179,000 in June and below the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000. The unemployment rate edged higher to 4.3%, its highest since October 2021."
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Not the best words
"The MAGA Abuse of the English Language
Modern Republicans have distorted our political lexicon. Here's how to correct it."
Brian Klaas
The Uncanny Mr. Trump
Interesting that Marie used the word uncanny to describe Trump’s inability to see the world with more sophistication than a child, in other words, to be able to comprehend and deal with the world as an adult.
Freud would agree. In fact, he wrote an entire essay on “The Uncanny”:
“Freud's thesis: unheimlich, the uncanny = revelation of what is private and concealed, of what is hidden; hidden not only from others, but also from the self…and as an essential psychological apprehension of all that is terrible – to all that arouses dread and creeping horror …”
In Trump’s case, it may be some creeping sense that he isn’t the god he deems himself to be, how desperately requires the world to see him. Being challenged by a black woman, for instance, demands that he attack immediately so as to stave off feelings that only a healthy adult sensibility could handle properly. The unsophisticated whiny child can see only terror and danger, and so must lash out.
One other interesting use of the word is a term applied to computer generated characters that look human, to a certain extent, but don’t get there all the way. The queasy feeling these characters generate—almost human, but not quite, is described as the viewer being dumped into the “Uncanny Valley”.
Here again, is an excellent description of characters like Fatty and Shady Vance, and a whole passel of MAGA characters: almost human, but not quite, familiar to an extent, but unfamiliar in a way that is unsettling and weird. This combination of familiar but unsettling unfamiliarity is applied by literary theorists to the monsters that populate gothic literature, Frankenstein’s monster or blood sucking vampires. Both of which apply to Trump: the Orange Monster.
Uncanny, in’it?
For your viewing, um, displeasure? Uncanny Valley characters.
Derrick van Orden called Bob Good an "asshole?" Pot, have you met kettle? I guess it "takes one to know one"-- still delving into the youth-like braying that MAGAland does on a regular basis as adults.
JD Vance (yes, he is now agin the periods after his initials) and his name is the third (fourth??) version of his name that he's used, including the last name which is his third, called Kamala Harris a "chameleon." Again, takes one to know one.
It was nice to see the returnees on the turmac last night-- and of course the Orange Maniac has had a lot to say about the success of this venture, which he decries, amidst the slagging of her for racial and ethnic reasons in his own jagged mind-like protrusions. He and good ol' Hillbilly Vance are desperately grabbing for any nasty slurs they can think up to cover for the fact that this was a Biden success and had nothing to do with them. We all know those people by now. And they are mindless S***stains on the body politic.
Everything comes around again: this morning the BBC featured an interview about the swap with Maria Blahblahblah, (I don't remember much about that whole kit and kaboodle) who was incarcerated here for her "work" with the NRA, as I recall, and was revealed to be a Russian agent at that time. After her jail term ended, she was dumped back to Russia, where she is a muckymuck in Vlad's political party. I wanted to toss my phone against a tree, but resisted. No bad actor ever truly goes away unless visited by death...
The Real Trump
Some years ago, director Ron Howard released a picture about firefighters in Chicago. “Backdraft” was a prime example of Howard’s skill as a storyteller, with an engaging story and a great cast. Always enjoyed the movie. But one scene always struck me as a tad unbelievable, although useful to the narrative.
A vicious arsonist, played wonderfully by the late Donald Sutherland, is on the verge of being released from prison. He has, it appears, successfully conned the parole board into believing he was a changed man. Just as they are about to let this creep go, an arson investigator, played by the always reliably effective Robert DeNiro, intervenes with a few simple questions:
“Ronald, what do you do to old ladies?”
“I burn them.”
“And what about the world, Ronald, what would you like to do to the world?”
“Burn it all!”
Ronald had to drop the pretense and show his true colors.
Just like Trump at that convention of black journalists last week in Chicago.
During his coronation at the RNC, the Orange Monster tried out a new scam. He was a changed man. Not gonna be an asshole anymore.
Until Chicago, when he showed his true colors. The true racist came roaring back when challenged by a black woman to explain his past viciousness toward people of color.
“Donald, what do you really think of black women?”
“Nasty, rude, deceitful!”
That’s the real Trump. And now I get that scene. Vicious criminal assholes can’t hide who they really are.
Scott Lemieux at LG&M blog has some simple rules regarding the imminent choice in the Veepstakes.
Don’t put any Senate seats at risk.
Do no harm.
The first rule is obvious. Given the razor thin majority in the Senate it behooves Democrats (ie, Harris) to maintain that edge at all costs. As for the second rule, one only has to look at the raging dumpster fire that is the Shady Vance pick.
So don’t pick anyone whose past or present statements, political positions, or Amazon books wish list could piss off a substantial sector of your base. The choice doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) perfectly anodyne, but it shouldn’t be someone people are already concerned about.
I’m guessing we’ll hear her choice any day now.
On the other side, it’s very possible the Orange Monster will dump Cat Lady/Couch Humper Man and go with someone else, if for no other reason than to try to retake the headlines.
Could he pick someone worse? Never put it past Fatty to go even lower, stupider, and more insane. “Do no harm” is something he has never tried in his life.
President Biden’s observation that “Alliances make a difference” should remind everyone of the alliances Trump favors: dictators, liars, murderers, war mongers, and crooks.
Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig, writing in The Washington Post (from research for their forthcoming book)
"Federal investigators learned of the withdrawal (of almost $10 M in $100 bills from the state-run National Bank of Egypt) , which has not been previously reported, early in 2019. The discovery intensified a secret criminal investigation that had begun two years earlier with classified U.S. intelligence indicating that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign."
Secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt. Case Closed
@Akhilleus: I used to be a fan of Ron Howard's. After he was a child actor but before he became a big-time director & producer, I would occasionally run into him in Southern California. He was such a pleasant guy. But I can't quite forgive him for "Hillbilly Elegy," even tho I'll have to admit that the slimy, slippery lizard JayDee probably would have fooled me, too, back in the day. I guess I'll get over it if he produces a glowing biopic of Kamala Harris.
Marie,
Having avoided “Hillbilly Scatology” as if it were the bastard child of Sweeney Todd and Typhoid Mary, I was not aware of Ron Howard’s connection. Not all of his films have been home runs, but he may have been inveigled by Shady’s self-serving fiction.
The thing is, life in rural Appalachia is no joke, but if it meant so much to Shady Vance, he might have used some of his Peter Thiel gifted millions to try to make life better for those people. But no, his only foray into that region was a VC investment into a scam agro company in Kentucky, a company that imploded under a tsunami of lawsuits. Appalachia Savior, Shady, jumped ship the second he heard about the legal problems. Why risk his own millions? Fuck those people.
No wonder Trump picked him. He’s a vicious opportunistic asshole whose mantra is “Me first”.
Black Jobs
Laura,
Wow! Sleazy (illegal) secret millions from a foreign government accepted by Trump to help him win an American election. No way!
(Just kidding. Of course he did.)
I read the Davis/Leonnig WaPo article this morning at breakfast, and ended up with mixed impressions. First, it is very believable that Sisi gave $10 million to DiJiT to help his 2016 campaign, even though at the time the smart money was on Hillary. But, that withdrawal from the Heliopolis Branch could have gone anywhere. There is nothing but the coincidence of time (late 2016) and amount ($10 million) that made it look like a DiJiT-Sisi deal. But it could well have been. Or it could have been money laundering, which DiJiT clearly engaged in using his international real property holdings. Real estate is particularly useful in laundering big amounts of cash -- check out ownership and transactions in Miami, Panama City Panama, London, NYC, etc. DiJiT is in all those markets. But so are many others. Egyptian oligarchs need such services.
But I also put myself in the position of Ms. Liu, when the feebs were pushing her to subpoena DiJiT's financial records. Unless you already knew what you were looking for and where it was (i.e., unless you had a reliable snitch), you would be setting off on a fool's errand. DiJiT has hundreds of companies, each probably has dozens of accounts, they're all spread through dozens of countries. You can get 200 lbs of Benjamins into dozens of accounts in dozens of countries in almost no time, if you are practiced in money laundering. And those deposits can keep moving around. It is not impossible to untangle, but it would take forever.
So, in my opinion, if I were Liu I would have pressed the investigators to find a reliable snitch and corroborator. Failing that, I would have done, hate to say, what the DOJ did -- decide to close the case without prejudice.
And I am sort of surprised that WaPo printed this (rather than let the authors write a book), because it is standard that you won't get record responses from investigators, prosecutors or administrators. The policy is that until people are charged, knowledgeable DOJ people can't talk about suspects.
Also, the story talks a lot about DOJ and FBI (because that's where their non-official sources are) but almost nothing about the CIA. I'd be willing to bet that Langley knows more about this than shows up in the story. $10 million bag jobs are not unheard of in that neighborhood.
It is possible that this story may cause some rocks to be turned over, and then be consequential. As of now it is pretty circumstantial. Not inaccurate - just not fully cooked.
Typical Republican
Mark Robinson "GOP candidate who called abortion 'genocide' admits his wife had one in new TV ad"
Oh, the Traitors are Johnny-on-the-Spot with counterfactuals (if Trump were President, blah, blah, blah) or (Putin is deathly afraid that Trump will win and so rather than have to deal with Hulk Trumpo, decided to take advantage of Sleepy Joe).
Counterfactual thought games are great for late night, bong-fueled dorm room wanking, but are useless in realpolitik situations where facts outweigh counterfactual jagging off by orders of magnitude.
But jagging off is what the Traitors do best.
“If only I were there! The war would never have begun, they’d all be too scared of what I’d do.”
Right. This is delusional fan fiction. Fan fiction about fictional stuff that has never happened.
“But what if Luke Skywalker wasn’t Darth Vader’s son? The emperor could have killed him and Vader wouldn’t care!! Aieeeee! The whole thing would have ended right there!”
Yeah. Great. We’re taking about shit that might have happened to fictional characters, like “What if Trump really were smart?! World leaders would do whatever he said!”
Sorry. That’s a counterfactual too far.
Morons.
Re the last entry of AK-- The kindly BBC broadcast I heard today also had a reporter in South Korea, doing a story on a higher level guy from North Korea who just defected, I guess. The piece went on to quote Fatso, who just can't wait to get back together with his bestie, Kim Jon Yuck, because he just knows their true love will continue. So he was quoted as saying he knows Kim misses and loves him too, so screw all you people doing high level prisoner swaps cuz he, Fat-With-Even-Worse-Hair-Than-Usual has a lover who is developing nuclear weapons, and wants him, Fathead, back in office soon. So, ya know, once a Dictator On Day One, always a dictator, sleeping with one eye open to the profit possible for him with other dictators who love him...
When we hear stories like the Egypt one, I would imagine there is more than a kernel of truth to it...Fatlips-Tiny-Hands doesn't miss a trick where gobs of money can be made.