The Ledes

Friday, February 28, 2025

New York Times: “Boris Spassky, the world chess champion whose career was overshadowed by his loss to Bobby Fischer in the 'Match of the Century' in 1972, died on Thursday in Moscow. He was 88.”

New York Times: “The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak. The maintenance workers who found them said they had not been in contact with the couple for two weeks. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that 'there were no apparent signs of foul play.'... The causes of their deaths had not been determined.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Thursday, February 27, 2025

CNBC: “Initial filings for unemployment benefits hit their highest level of the year last week in another potential signs of weakness in the labor market. Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 22 totaled a seasonally adjusted 242,000, up 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. The level of claims matched the highest since early October 2024 and comes amid questions over broader economic growth and worrying signs in recent consumer sentiment surveys.”

CNBC: “High mortgage rates and elevated home prices combined to crush home sales in January. Pending sales, which are based on signed contracts for existing homes, dropped 4.6% from December to the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this metric in 2001. Sales were down 5.2% from January 2024. These sales are an indicator of future closings.”

New York Times: “Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star, but who became one all the same, playing seemingly ordinary characters with deceptive subtlety, intensity and often charm in some of the most noted films of the 1970s and ’80s, has died, the authorities in New Mexico said on Thursday. He was 95. Mr. Hackman and his wife were found dead on Wednesday afternoon at a home in Santa Fe., N.M., where they had been living, according to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of Mr. Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64; and a dog, according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected.” ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New York Times: “An investigation was underway on Thursday after the prolific actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead along with their dog at a house in New Mexico, the local authorities said. The bodies of Mr. Hackman, 95, and Ms. Arakawa, 64, were found by sheriff’s deputies in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Santa Fe on Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The couple had lived in the Santa Fe area for years. Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that an associate of Mr. Hackman and his family had placed an emergency call on Wednesday afternoon after discovering the bodies of the actor and his wife.”

New York Times: “Michelle Trachtenberg, a touchstone of millennial youth culture who grew up onscreen, rising to fame as a troubled teenager on the supernatural 1990s series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and as a conniving young socialite on 'Gossip Girl,' was found dead on Wednesday in Manhattan. She was 39. The New York Police Department said in a statement that officers, responding to a 911 call just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, found Ms. Trachtenberg unconscious and unresponsive in a Manhattan apartment. She was pronounced dead by emergency medical workers, who had also responded.”

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Democrats' Weekly Address

Marie (Feb 23): As far as I can tell, there isn't any. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Democrats are so screwed up, they can't even put together a couple of minutes of video to tell us how screwed we are.

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

As we watch in horror the rapid destruction of our democratic form of government, it is comforting to remember there is life outside politics. I took a break a while ago to enjoy a brief lesson in the history of the moonwalk: ~~~

But it may go back even further:

And this chronological account is helpful:

New York Times: “Chuck Todd, the former 'Meet the Press' moderator and a longtime fixture of NBC’s political coverage, told colleagues on Friday that he was leaving the network. A nearly two-decade veteran of NBC, Mr. Todd said that Friday would be his last day at NBC.... Mr. Todd, 52, is the latest TV news star to step aside at a moment when salaries are being scrutinized — and slashed — by major media companies. Hoda Kotb exited NBC’s 'Today' show this month, and Neil Cavuto of Fox News and CNN’s Chris Wallace departed their cable news homes late last year.”

CNBC: “ CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday [Jan. 23] as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience.... The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people. For the most part, the job cuts won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract, said the people. CNN has about 3,500 employees worldwide.... NBC News is also planning cuts later this week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. While the exact number couldn’t be determined, the job losses will be well under 50....”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Aug092024

The Conversation -- August 9, 2024

Today is the 50th anniversay of Richard Nixon's resignation. Here are some "60 Minutes" clips of Nixon's presidency.

Fin Gómez & Nidia Cavazos of CBS News: "The nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), has done something it has not done since its founding in 1929 -- it endorsed a presidential candidate. The organization's political arm, the LULAC Adelante PAC, announced its endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday in a press release.... The endorsement comes with Harris set to hold rallies in Glendale, Arizona on Friday and Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. They are two critical battleground states with large Latino populations."

Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN: "A hearing on the next steps in the federal election subversion case against ... Donald Trump will take place on September 5 after a trial judge on Friday granted an extension sought by special counsel Jack Smith. Prosecutors with Smith's office said in a filing Thursday that they are still working through what the Supreme Court&'s decision earlier this summer -- which granted Trump sweeping immunity for official acts as president -- means for the case and how it proceeds."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: At the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, David "Dempsey ... repeatedly attacked police officers in the lower West Terrace tunnel for more than an hour, throwing poles and deploying bear spray at the line of officers protecting the Capitol. He then sprayed bear spray directly inside the mask of one officer, who testified that he thought he might die, and used a crutch to smash one officer's head, giving him a concussion. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced Dempsey, 37, to 20 years in prison Friday, the second-longest sentence of the approximately 950 defendants sentenced so far. Only Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, received a longer sentence of 22 years.... The judge also weighed Dempsey's lengthy criminal history in California for burglary, drug dealing, evading police and 'assault with a caustic chemical,' for spraying bear spray at anti-Trump protesters in 2020, one of multiple attacks he allegedly launched at political rallies.... [Dempsey's] family started an online fundraiser for him, which has raised more than $20,000, saying that 'he is being politically silenced for his beliefs in the Constitution.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm having trouble finding that part of the Constitution that guarantees a right to viciously attack police officers. Maybe it's somewhere around the same place that Donald Trump claimed yesterday the Constitution bars a political party from changing presidential nominees.

Neil Bedi, et al., of the New York Times: "For about two and a half minutes, at least five Pennsylvania law enforcement officers converged around the warehouse where a gunman had clambered onto a roof near a rally held by ... Donald J. Trump, struggling to reach the attacker before he shot at Mr. Trump, newly released police videos and a social media video show. The body-cam and dashcam footage, paired with an eyewitness video posted on YouTube, provide new insight into the presence of and the response by Pennsylvania law enforcement at the building where the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was positioned. They reveal for the first time the critical moments -- starting around 6:08 p.m. -- when officers establish Mr. Crooks's location, frantically try to find a way to get onto the roof and determine that he is armed. By around 6:11, Mr. Crooks opens fire." Video embedded below.

Presidential Race

NEW. Ezra Klein of the New York Times interviews Nancy Pelosi. Edited transcript of Klein's podcast. Fairly interesting. Update: And here's Biden campaign advisor Anita Dunn's take on the same story, as expressed in an interview Ryan Lizza of Politico Magazine conducted. (As for Pelosi, she told the New Yorker recently, "I've never been that impressed with [President Biden's] political operation.")

Bring in Da Joy! Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Ever since President Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic presidential nominee a little more than two weeks ago, the heady combination of Democratic relief and genuine enthusiasm for his replacement has transformed the Democratic ticket -- a metamorphosis turbocharged by Tuesday's addition of [Gov. Tim] Walz as Harris's No. 2.... 'All the things that make me mad about those other guys and all the things they do wrong, the one thing I will not forgive them for is they tried to steal the joy from this country. They try and steal the joy,' Walz ... said at a boisterous Detroit Metro Airport rally Wednesday for ... Vice President Kamala Harris. 'But you know what? You know what? Our next president brings the joy! She emanates the joy!'... [Meanwhile,] Donald Trump and ... Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are offering a dark and dystopian vision of Democratic rule, running an operation laden with name-calling and trolling and rife with grievance. Their calculation is that the country believes things are way off track and that their darker message will resonate with how voters see reality." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jared Mitovich of Politico: "Kamala Harris' presidential campaign updated its online biography of running mate Tim Walz's military service amid Republican efforts to question his record in the Army National Guard. On its website, the Harris campaign axed a reference to Walz as a 'retired command sergeant major' and now says that he once served at the command sergeant major rank -- a small change that nonetheless reflects his true rank at retirement from the Army National Guard.... Led by GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Iraq, Republicans have suggested that Walz inflated his credentials by calling himself a 'retired command sergeant major.' The Minnesota governor did serve as a command sergeant major but was reverted back to the rank of master sergeant when he left the military because he had not completed required coursework for the higher rank.... 'The son of an Army veteran who served as a command sergeant major, Walz was the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, where he passed legislation to help stem veterans' suicides,' the Harris campaign's biography of Walz now reads. In the original biography, the same sentence called Walz 'the son of an Army veteran and a retired Command Sergeant Major in the Army National Guard himself,' website archives show."

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Republicans have smeared Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz as an 'extremist,' 'communist' and 'left-wing radical.' They warn of the 'dangerously liberal' agenda that he's implemented as governor of Minnesota and that he might soon inflict upon the entire country.... The country should be so lucky. In general, Walz's state agenda has been politically smart, fiscally sound and family-friendly -- not to mention long overdue pretty much everywhere else in America. In fact, Democrats should seriously consider rebranding themselves as the 'MAMA' ticket: 'Make America Minnesota Already.'" Read on. Rampell's contrast between Walz & Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is, well, picture-perfect.

Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin in Politico Magazine: "'LIBERATE MINNESOTA!' raged Donald Trump. [Tim] Walz was in his second year as governor of Minnesota when the Covid-19 pandemic struck; like most governors, he imposed strict public health policies to contain the spread of the virus. And when Trump goaded on angry protesters who were targeting Walz and other governors, Walz found himself under siege. Trump's broadside, Walz said, 'brought armed people to my house.... [The beginning of the pandemic] was really the first time certainly in my political career and possibly my whole adult life that I did not feel you can count on the federal government for help.... [Then] on Jan. 6, when the Capitol riot happened we had that too, and there were, of course, legislators as well as some of these elements that believe the election was stolen, marched on the residence, and that's the one where it got way out of hand. The state patrol had to evacuate my 14-year-old, find the dog, take him to an off-site location." Read on.

Ha Ha! Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post -- with a little help from Virgil and maybe Dante -- takes Trump & Vance through the nine circles of HELL ON EARTH that Tim Walz has unleashed on Minnesota & that the Trump campaign warns Walz will impose upon the rest of us. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump tried on Thursday to shoehorn himself back into a national conversation that Vice President Kamala Harris has dominated for more than two weeks, holding an hourlong news conference in which he assailed Ms. Harris's intelligence and taunted her for failing to field questions similarly from journalists. Throughout the event, held in the main room at Mar-a-Lago..., Mr. Trump assailed the state of the U.S. economy, described the country as in mortal danger if he did not win the presidential election and falsely described his departure from the White House ... as a 'peaceful' transfer of power. Mr. Trump also flashed frustration when asked about the size of Ms. Harris's crowds while boasting about the attendance at his own rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and insisted that the group of hundreds that stormed the Capitol was relatively small. But he fixated on the size of the crowd that he initially gathered on the national mall, making comparisons to -- and declaring it was larger than -- the one drawn by Martin Luther King Jr. for his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. 'Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me,' Mr. Trump said....

"Mr. Trump insisted that he was 'not complaining' about the Democratic Party's late decision to replace President Biden atop the ticket -- as he proceeded to lodge a litany of such complaints. He has called the move to replace Mr. Biden with Ms. Harris 'unconstitutional,' but when challenged about what section of the U.S. Constitution would prohibit the change in the ticket, he acknowledged that perhaps it was not actually unconstitutional.... When a reporter asked about how muted his public schedule has been over the last few weeks, including this past week, Mr. Trump snapped, 'What a stupid question.'... He tiptoed toward identity politics as he described some of her appeal. 'She's a woman,' he said. 'She represents certain groups of people.'"

     ~~~ If Trump "tried to shoehorn himself back into a national conversation," he got a lot of help from major media. Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC was livid at the network press coverage and at the reporters in the room, who did not follow up and challenge Trump's stream of lies. ~~~

     ~~~ "A Seemingly Pointless Press Conference." Andrew Feinberg of the Independent: :... Donald Trump spent nearly an hour at his Palm Beach, Florida, social club on Thursday ranting to a room full of ... hand-picked ... reporters as he tries to grab the spotlight from a resurgent Democratic ticket....: ~~~

~~~ In its daily election liveblog yesterday, New York Times reporters covered a press conference Donald Trump held Thursday afternoon. See yesterday's Conversation for a few of the entries. There were many fact checks which I could not reproduce. So if you have time & a subscription, it's worth scrolling through the fact checks, if only to wonder at the shear volume of them. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Harris campaign issued its own fact-checks, and they run to two pages. The campaign prefaced their fact-checking effort with a few comments: "Donald Trump took a break from taking a break to put on some pants and host a p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ public meltdown. We have a lot to say about it. Here are some initial thoughts -- with more to come. He hasn't campaigned all week. He isn't going to a single swing state this week. But he sure is mad Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are getting big crowds across the battlegrounds. The facts were hard to track and harder to find in Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago meltdown this afternoon. He lied. He attacked the media. He made excuses for why he;s off the campaign trail. We're here to help because his staff clearly isn't." Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Well, I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him.... We thought maybe this was the end.... There was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing. And Willie was -- he was a little concerned. So I know him, but I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven't seen him in years. But he told me terrible things about her [i.e., Kamala Harris].... But he had a big part in what happened with Kamala. But he -- he, I don't know, maybe he's changed his tune. But he -- he was not a fan of hers very much, at that point. -- Donald Trump, responding to a reporter's question Thursday ~~~

~~~ The Secret Life of Donald Trump. Heather Knight & Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump told a jaw-dropping story on Thursday about nearly dying in a helicopter ride with Willie Brown, the former California politician and ex-boyfriend of his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.... [HOWEVER,] It wasn't the famous former San Francisco mayor on the helicopter flight at all. It was Gov. Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, who bears little resemblance to Willie Brown. There was also no emergency landing, and the helicopter's passengers were never in any danger at all, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was also on the flight. Jerry Brown, who left office in January 2019, said through a spokesman, 'There was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris.' 'I call complete B.S.,' Mr. Newsom said, laughing out loud.... Mr. Brown, 90, said the whole story was false." An NBC News report is here. MB: In short, this is not a Willie Brown story; it's a Walter Mitty story. Sad!

No Country for Old Men. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: "It has been 18 days since the 46th president was shoved aside by his own party, and the 45th president has yet to get over it. He agonized on Mr. Biden's behalf, telling a tale of treachery perpetrated against him by former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and, most of all, Vice President Kamala Harris.... This sudden outpouring of sympathy for a man he recently called 'a broken-down old pile of crap' was somewhat surprising. Perhaps there was some projection at play: Was the dismay Mr. Trump expressed for his erstwhile opponent really just dismay at the predicament in which he now finds himself?"

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Trump, who only three weeks ago thought he had this election in the bag, is freaking out over the ascendance of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket.... But rather than framing a sharp and coherent case against Harris [during his news conference], which his strategists so desperately want him to do, the former president on Thursday veered from grievance to grievance like a pinball."

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris and ... Donald J. Trump will face off in a televised prime-time matchup on Sept. 10, ABC News said on Thursday, setting up the latest crucial moment in an already unpredictable presidential campaign.... The ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis will serve as moderators. The debate will probably be held without a live audience, but the exact format and ground rules are still being determined.... Mr. Trump said at a news conference on Thursday that he would debate Ms. Harris on two other occasions, at events hosted by NBC News and Fox News. But the Harris campaign has not agreed to those debates, which were not part of the original debate schedule that Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump had agreed upon in May."

Robert Costa of CBS News: "President Biden said he is 'not confident at all' that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025 if ... Donald Trump is defeated. 'He means what he says.... All the stuff about "If we lose, there'll be a bloodbath, it'll have been a stolen [election],"' Mr. Biden told CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa.... The interview will air on 'CBS News Sunday Morning' on Sunday, Aug. 11. 'Look what they're trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes,' said Mr. Biden. Repeating a familiar maxim about elections and democracy, the president said, 'You can't love your country only when you win.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Since May, an unambiguously pro-Trump majority has controlled the [Georgia] state election board. And it got to work this week approving a raft of new rules that critics say could void valid votes, place onerous burdens on overtaxed election workers and potentially delay the certification of results.... The board's work is supposed to be done outside the fray of politics, and Trump's [praise of the new board members] suggested that if he loses the state, he would again mount a pressure campaign on the officials responsible for fairly and impartially overseeing elections, just as he did during his failed attempt to overturn his loss in 2020."


Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday asked for a three-week delay in ... Donald Trump's 2020 election obstruction case, saying the Justice Department needed more time to analyze the Supreme Court's ruling last month that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution after leaving office. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan had set a Friday deadline for both sides to propose how they wanted to proceed and set a hearing for Aug. 16 in the federal case in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court returned the case to her control last week.... Lawyers for Trump ... did not object to the [requested] delay."

~~~~~~~~~~

Texas. Asad Jung of the Texas Tribune: "Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Thursday that requires public hospitals in Texas to collect information on the immigration status of patients so that the hospitals can then track costs incurred for the care of undocumented migrants.... The order requires that public hospitals in Texas collect information regarding the costs of medical care provided to undocumented immigrants starting Nov 1, 2024. Direct covered hospitals would have to report data to the state health commission quarterly, beginning in March 2025."

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "A domestic flight in Brazil carrying 61 people crashed near São Paulo on Friday, killing everyone onboard, Brazilian officials said. Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, the governor of São Paulo state, said he had been informed that there were no survivors in the crash."

New York Times: "The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby were moving up the East Coast on Friday morning, prompting warnings for flash floods and tornadoes and causing airport delays at some of the major Northeast cities. 'Unfortunately, even in Debby's weakened state, dangerous flash flooding and severe weather will continue' through Saturday across portions of the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, Interior Northeast and New England, forecasters from the Weather Prediction Center said. The weather was causing delays at some airports in the region."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (21)

Lawrence O'Donnell:

"Donald Trump is not smart enough to answer questions."

Finally! ~13:42 in. Worth watching entire IMNSHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD-oTJ49nls

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered Commentergonzo

If Nixon had had the kind of kingly blanket immunity that Trump now has, we wouldn’t be remembering the day he resigned. Not only would he not have resigned, he would never have been investigated or held accountable for anything. And if he felt like it, he could have had Woodward, Bernstein, Ben Bradlee, and Katharine Graham assassinated, and by claiming it was an official act, escape all punishment.

But instead, he resigned. Because that’s how it used to be when laws still mattered for everyone in the United States of America.

Thanks, Supremes!

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Instructing doctors to inform on patients (as now directed by Texas Führer, Greg Abbott) is right out of the Authoritarian handbook. This is pure East German Cold War stuff where citizens were under orders to inform on their neighbors who might be considered enemies of the state.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Lawrence O’Donnell is right to be pissed at the ubiquitous largesse given to a decrepit, demented jackass by networks and the corporate media. Of COURSE they’ll cover Trump’s lie fest wall to wall because it’s more fun to see a whack job spouting nonsense and talking ragtime than to give up valuable air time to a serious, smart, literate candidate.

He’s also correct that it’s virtually impossible to fact check all the lies and wild-ass made up stories spun by the Fat Fascist, but that press conference thingy that Fatty convened offers a preview of what the upcoming “debate” will be like. Lie after lie after lie, shouting, tossing off insults, whining, wingeing, wailing, threatening, and at no time uttering the tiniest shred of a truthful statement.

The thing Harris has going for her is that, as a former prosecutor, she’s good on her feet. She knows how to go right for the jugular. The trick for her will be to taunt this thin-skinned imbecile and put him back on his heels. Get him to start ranting and she can turn it back on him. ‘Cause let’s be real. This debate thing will be purely performative. There’s no chance that any public forum involving Donald Trump will be a serious discussion of differing political views, any more than you would expect to get watching a howling drunk peeing on the sidewalk.

No. It will be up to Harris (the smart one) to get Trump (the stupid one) to show viewers what an unhinged, dangerous maniac he truly is. And not just an unhinged maniac, but one going downhill in cognitive decline faster than Ethan Frome on his toboggan, with pretty much the same end result for the country.

The corporate media will continue to help him out. It’s up to Harris and Walz, and us—the voters—to take him down.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Re Harris' UAW address:

How can I vote for someone who says that THE STRENGTH IS IN THE COLLECTIVE? (Clearly communist!!!!!!!!!!)

Or worse, who says she is "deeply honored" ... "for Tim and I to have the endorsement of the UAW."

After all we discussed last week about object pronouns.

Well. As George Will (whom I have not read since the mid-'90's) might say.

I can live with those clearly egregious faults.

BTW, notice that in addressing the UAW, Harris was talking about labor, middle class aspirations, freedoms, etc. Not a word about Orangemen or people who wear eye liner. Very nice.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Media influence

"Yes, Virginia. The Media Does Put A Thumb On The Scale"

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Vance talking to the void

The Trump-Vance campaign have the best crowds.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Today is National Kool Aid Day. I think I know of someone who
has drank (has drunk?) his share of orange Kool Aid.
He's running (scared?) for president of the USA.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

@RAS: Yes, the story of Trump's flip-flops on the debate is a wonder to behold, a wonder that none of the MSM articles I scanned adequately covered. This is a bit amazing, inasmuch as last night Lawrence O'Donnell knocked off the story in less than a minute, as I recall.

First, Trump said it wasn't faaaair that he had to debate not-Biden on Sept. 10, so he might not do it. Then he said he wouldn't do it. Then he said he would debate not-Biden if Fox hosted and "moderated" the debate and if he could have an audience of adoring MAGAts, but he still wasn't going to do the Sept. 10 debate, which ABC News was hosting, because George Stephanopolous (who had not bothered Trump when his opponent was Biden.) Then Trump said he had agreed to three debates, but he seems to have just made up two of them, and nobody else was in on this fictional "agreement." Then, in yesterday's presser, Trump said he had agreed to three debates, and maybe his team actually spoke to some of the networks to nail down the dates. This time one of three debates might have been the Sept. 10 debate that both Biden and not-Biden a/k/a Harris had committed to. Except when Trump made this announcement, he mixed up NBC and ABC, even though he worked for one of those networks, and that job made him a celebrity.

You kind of had to be following -- to an excessive, obsessive degree -- Trump's debate with himself about debates to glean all this from what you could get out of reading MSM stories. And you would have had to think about it to realize that Kamala Harris had been consistent about the debate schedule all along, and Trump was his usual flaky, unreliable confused self. Sad!

August 9, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Marie,

You don’t have to be consistent or make sense if you’re The Boss. Even less so if you’re The King, or the Dear Leader. Dictators and supreme boss types, the status Trump has always aspired to, don’t answer to anyone, and don’t have to make sense.

Trump has never even had to answer to stockholders as many corporate chiefs do. He has always been his own version of Law West of the Pecos, a pose in direct opposition to what it means to be American, which is why the MAGAts love him. Even the Supreme Court does his bidding. He doesn’t answer to them or to Congress, or anyone (except maybe certain judges, but they’ll all be jailed and hanged when the Dear Leader defeats that horrible, uppity brown bitch).

But none of them care for America either, so it’s okay. They love a certain warped, Foxified version of an America that never existed, Ronald Reagan’s movie set version of a white picket fence America with billboards advertising Brillcream and darkies shutting their stupid mouths and doing what they’re told, with women doing the dishes in dresses, there to be used as maids and baby factories for manly men, where there are only white Christian Men in charge, whom no one questions.

And isn’t it exhilarating to have such a Manly Man like the Donald in charge, to step on their enemies and hurt the libs and make everyone praise Jesus. He’s not confused or irrational. He just does that to stick it to the filthy ones.

This is the Donald and the MAGA horde corporate media forever normalizes, always wants the rest of us to “understand”.

We understand alright.

Vote. It’s the thing these fuckers fear most.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Help, hurt, or only cares about his personal fame?

Meanwhile, over in Davy Crockett territory…

It’s hard enough trying to decipher what goes on in the brain of most terminal narcissists but especially so when one of those brains is leaking oil faster than a 1968 junker, and the other has been partially devoured by worms.

Nonetheless…

Long question short…does RFK, Jr and his “I’m still famous, right?” campaign help or hurt the Fat Fascist? If he’s hurting Trump, will he drop out? He did beg him for a job, you may recall.

Or…

Does he even give a shit?

Don’t forget, as silly as this thing has been, what with revelations of very hungry worms, dead bears in Central Park, and fridges full of roadkill, third party candidacies have an impact. Give Hillary those Green Party and Libertarian votes (even a few), and Trump would have been toast.

Anyway, just something else to make this crazy election season even more unreal.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I see where the Orange Monster sez he had bigger crowds than MLK had when he gave his “I have a dream speech”. (Talk about dreaming…)

But hey…Fatty has a dream.

And so does Vance. His is just a little different.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Sorry, my post has links but they seem to have been disappeared.

I’ll try again.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Sorry, my post has links but they seem to have been disappeared.

I’ll try again.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I see where the Orange Monster sez he had bigger crowds than MLK had when he gave his “I have a dream speech”. (Talk about dreaming…)

But hey…Fatty has a dream.

And so does Vance. His is just a little different.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: Quite right about Nixon's resignation. I was working late and I watched him announce his resignation the night of August 8 on the TV in our small break room at KABC. I had the feeling his resignation vindicated my whole life's belief that Nixon was a bad dude. This was not something I figured out for myself. Way back in 1950, when I was 5 years old, my mother and father were talking about what a crap guy Nixon was when he won Helen Gahagan Douglas's congressional seat by insinuating she was a communist: "pink right down to her underwear."

The next night -- the 9th, when Nixon left the White House -- I worked late, too. The national network radio newsmen had a studio in our building, and after they wrapped up their last broadcast, we all went out to a bar to celebrate. At least one of the reporters had been on the plane that flew the Nixons from D.C. to California, and he said Pat got drunk as a skunk. (Of course nobody reported that. Those were the days.)

P.S. Nice Ethan Frome reference.

August 9, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

The most recent Trump sieg-heiling brownshirt, sentenced to 20 years for his “peaceful protest” on Jan. 5th, where Trump avers no one was hurt:

“The judge also weighed Dempsey’s lengthy criminal history in California for burglary, drug dealing, evading police and 'assault with a caustic chemical,' for spraying bear spray at anti-Trump protesters in 2020, one of multiple attacks he allegedly launched at political rallies.... “

A typical Trump thug. Or, as Fatty likes to call them, misunderstood political prisoners and patriots. Can you imagine this vicious prick singing the National Anthem? No? How ‘bout “ Deutschland über alles”?

Yeah, that’s more his speed, and that of every last one of those treason loving Trumpy punk bastards.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The AG “Let’s all hate Biden and Harris”
NY Times gets the gold medal in outrageously mendacious “journalism” as it compares the lying Biden-Harris team with the wonder that is Donald Trump:

Biden: warmonger and liar; Trump: peacemaker who can end wars at the push of a button….

This goes way beyond mere animosity toward Biden. This is fallacious rewriting of history on an epic scale.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The day after Nixon resigned, my wife and I arrived at our first overseas assignment in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ankara.

My very first job was to take down all the Nixon portraits in the embassy. There is joy in work, and an auspicious start in a job well done.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Patrick,

De-turkeyfieing Turkey must have been a rewarding task.

August 9, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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