The Conversation -- February 17, 2024
Ryan Lizza in Politico Magazine talks to Rep. Jim Himes (D-Ct.) about the day "all hell broke loose"; that is, the day Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the loose-lipped chair of the House Intelligence Committee sent a "Dear Colleague" letter announcing "a serious [but unspecified] national security threat." "In [a committee] meeting, I objected to communicating this," Himes said. At the same time, the committee was dealing with renewal of a foreign intelligence-gathering program, and some members of Congress wanted to make significant changes to it, changes that top national security officials believed would cripple the program.
Dr. Lawrence Altman, in STAT, who has reported on the health of every president since Ronald Reagan, on what age is too old to be president: :... there is no direct correlation between a leader'shealth and performance in office."
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Just as Trump has remade the Republican Party in his own nasty and selfish image, he wants to remake America in his own nasty and selfish image. Trump doesn't seem to subscribe to any of the verities about this country. He doesn't believe America is exceptional. He only believes that Trump is exceptional -- an exception to all the rules that the rest of us live by. If American laws get in his way -- like counting votes to choose a president -- he tries to smash them.... If American values get in his way -- like our distaste for authoritarians like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban -- he mocks those values."
Elon Musk's X Is Largely Fake. Matt Binder of Mashable: X "published [a] press release, lauding Super Bowl LVIII as one of the biggest events ever on the social media platform with more than 10 billion impressions and over 1 billion video views. However, it appears that a significant portion of that traffic on X could be fake, according to data provided to Mashable by CHEQ, a leading cybersecurity firm that tracks bots and fake users. According to CHEQ, a whopping 75.85 percent of traffic from X to its advertising clients' websites during the weekend of the Super Bowl was fake. 'I've never seen anything even remotely close to 50 percent, not to mention 76 percent,' CHEQ founder and CEO Guy Tytunovich told Mashable regarding X's fake traffic data. 'I'm amazed ... I've never, ever, ever, ever seen anything even remotely close.'... [By comparison, o]ut of more than 40 million visits from TikTok, only 2.56 percent were determined to be fake. Facebook sent 8.1 million visits and 2.01 percent of the monitored visits were classified as inauthentic. And over on Instagram, only 0.73 percent of the 68,700 visits from the platform were fake."
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** Andrew Kramer & Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: "Aleksei A. Navalny, an anticorruption activist who for more than a decade led the political opposition in President Vladimir V. Putin's Russia, died Friday in a prison inside the Arctic Circle, according to Russian authorities. His death was announced by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, which said that Mr. Navalny, 47, lost consciousness on Friday after taking a walk in the prison where he was moved late last year. He was last seen on Thursday, when he had appeared in a court hearing via video link, smiling behind the bars of a cell and making jokes. Leonid Volkov, Navalny's longtime chief of staff, said he was not yet ready to accept the news that Mr. Navalny was dead. 'We have no reason to believe state propaganda,' Volkov wrote on the social platform X. 'If this is true, then it's not "Navalny died," but "Putin killed Navalny," and only that. But I don't trust them one penny.'" Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Jonathan Lemire & Alexander Ward of Politico: "The shock waves of Alexei Navalny's death rippled across the Atlantic. In Washington, President Joe Biden blamed Vladimir Putin for the dissident's shock demise. Hours earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris did the same in Munich. On Capitol Hill and in the halls of a swank hotel in the Bavarian capital, lawmakers in both parties called for punishing Russia and further arming Ukraine. And in the electoral arena, both the Biden campaign and Nikki Haley, the last major Republican challenger to Donald Trump, assailed the former president for his past praise of Putin.... 'Putin did this. The same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends,' Haley said in a social media post. 'The same Trump who said: "In all fairness to Putin, you're saying he killed people. I haven't seen that."'... Even Speaker Mike Johnson, who has long hinted he wouldn't bring the $95 billion aid bill for Ukraine and other hot spots to the floor, hinted at a change of heart. 'In the coming days, as international leaders are meeting in Munich, we must be clear that Putin will be met with united opposition,' he said in a fiery statement."
~~~ Marie: "Hinted" Johnson wouldn't bring the aid bill to the floor? How about "quashed" the bill? Also, not sure how "fiery" Johnson's statement is. Johnson is a Putin's puppet's puppet, a puppet by proxy. Finally, what would be way more effective that releasing "fiery" (or not) statements, Mikey, would be to push through the Ukraine aid bill, you sniveling little weasel.
Anton Troianovski & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden said that there was 'no doubt' that President Vladimir V. Putin's government was behind the death of Aleksei A. Navalny, the outspoken dissident who Russian authorities said had died at a remote Arctic prison on Friday.... President Biden praised Mr. Navalny's activism and his courage in returning to Russia after being poisoned in 2020. 'Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for the truth,' Mr. Biden said. He also repeated denunciations of ... Donald J. Trump, who said recently that he would 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO allies that do not spend enough on their militaries, calling Mr. Trump's comments 'dangerous' and 'outrageous.'" This is the pinned item in a liveblog about Navalny's apparent death. (Also linked yesterday.)
Connor O'Brien & Lara Seligman of Politico: "The Biden administration and leaders on Capitol Hill used the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to inject fresh urgency into approving funding for Ukraine on Friday, saying now is the moment to break the legislative stalemate and strike a blow against Vladimir Putin. 'This tragedy reminds us of the stakes of the moment,' President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House. 'History is watching the House of Representatives. The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.'... A bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled a new emergency spending bill that would grant over $47 billion to assist Ukraine, placing renewed pressure on Republican leaders to finally hold a vote on an aid package.... Despite a big bipartisan vote [for aid to Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan in the Senate], the bill has hit a roadblock in the House as Speaker Mike Johnson has quashed a vote on the measure."
"Brainwashed." Laura Kelly of the Hill: "The GOP chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was bullish Friday on the chamber delivering U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite the 'brainwashing' of some within his caucus who oppose foreign spending because of the crisis at the southern border. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was committed to eventually moving President Biden's national security supplemental request, though the pathway remains unclear amid fierce pushback from the far right of the GOP. Speaking during a discussion hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, D.C., McCaul said Johnson faces two challenging options: bring the supplemental to the floor and face a potential move to oust him from the far right, or let Ukraine backers in the party force the vote and undermine his power."
Marie: In the short run, Navalny's martyrdom may not save Russia from Putin, but it could save Ukraine from Putin & the U.S. (and other democracies) from Trump.
Marie: Shall we ask Tucker Carlson how nice Russian prisons are? Now that Putin has murdered Russia's leading dissident, I do wonder if TuKKKer will be floating any more videos about how much better Russia is than the U.S. Marveling over the low prices in a fake Moscow grocery store (story linked yesterday), TuKKKer said, "... you start to realize that ideology maybe doesn't matter as much as you thought, corruption." "Ideolology" tends to matter quite a lot, TuKKKums, when it permits the state to murder you for protesting and other exercises of free speech. Oh, looky here.... ~~~
~~~ Jim Rutenberg & Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "'This is what Putin's Russia is, @TuckerCarlson,' Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, wrote on X after the news of Mr. Navalny's death broke on Friday. 'And you are Putin's useful idiot.' Naomi Biden, President Biden's granddaughter, also weighed in, pointing to a video that Mr. Carlson had recently posted in which he contrasted the supposed splendors of Russia under Mr. Putin's leadership with the 'filth and crime' of the United States. 'Has anything aged so poorly, so quickly before?' Ms. Biden wrote on X.... Earlier this week, [Mr. Carlson] appeared to offer a blasé opinion regarding Russia's treatment of Mr. Navalny.... Asked at a conference in Dubai on Monday why he had not questioned Mr. Putin about Russia's free speech crackdown, Mr. Navalny's jailing or suspected political assassinations, Mr. Carlson said those were 'the things that every other American media outlet talks about.' (Mr. Carlson was, in fact, the first Western media figure to interview Mr. Putin in more than two years.) But, Mr. Carlson said then, 'leadership requires killing people -- sorry, that's why I wouldn't want to be a leader' -- comments that came under still more criticism after Mr. Navalny's death....
"Speaking with a state television host, Mr. Putin said he was disappointed that Mr. Carlson had not asked 'so-called sharp questions' because he wanted the opportunity to 'respond sharply' in his own answers.... Mr. Putin's mockery of Mr. Carlson came as the former Fox host was basking in the aftermath of his interview by offering a steady stream of praise for Russia and Mr. Putin, whose leadership he has extolled as superior to Mr. Biden's."
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "Navalny's strength, resilience and courage contrast with the fecklessness of so many Americans dealing with Putin. From Donald Trump to Tucker Carlson, a remarkable number of American leaders and their mouthpieces roll over before the Russian president.... The most fundamental test of our fortitude is simple: Will the United States continue to support Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russian invaders? I hope Navalny's sacrifice helps us find the will to stand up to Putin.... So many brave Russians -- journalists, lawyers, political figures -- have died after challenging the authorities. It's baffling how many Americans have responded in the opposite way, by acting as Putin's poodles.... It is profoundly troubling when American sycophants seem eager to whitewash Putin's brutality, largely ignore his victims and score political points at home in ways that burnish Russian dictatorship and diminish American democracy.... May Navalny's heroic sacrifice wake them up." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Nothing will wake up Donald Trump. Nothing. He dreams of being able to murder his opponents. And he admits to that when he says he aspires to a second presidential* term of "retribution."
The Trials of Trump & the Trump Gang
The Biggest Loser. Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of nearly $355 million plus interest that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash. The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron caps a chaotic, yearslong case in which New York's attorney general put Mr. Trump's fantastical claims of wealth on trial. With no jury, the power was in Justice Engoron's hands alone...: The judge delivered a sweeping array of punishments that threatens the former president's business empire as he simultaneously contends with four criminal prosecutions and seeks to regain the White House.
"Justice Engoron barred Mr. Trump for three years from serving in top roles at any New York company, including portions of his own Trump Organization. He also imposed a two-year ban on the former president's adult sons and ordered that they pay more than $4 million each. One of them, Eric Trump, is the company's de facto chief executive, and the ruling throws into doubt whether any member of the family can run the business s in the near term. The judge also ordered that they pay substantial interest, pushing the penalty for the former president to $450 million, according to the attorney general, Letitia James. In his unconventional style, Justice Engoron criticized Mr. Trump and the other defendants for refusing to admit wrongdoing for years. 'Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "... there's nothing 'unconventional' about a judge excoriating defendants for being sociopaths. This is just another elite media attempt to bothsides the unbothsideable. Also, Joe Biden is old." ~~~
~~~ Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "'Overall, Donald Trump rarely responded to the questions asked and he frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches on issues far beyond the scope of the trial. His refusal to answer the questions directly, or in some cases, at all, severely compromised his credibility,' Engoron wrote. In his decision Engoron said the defendants' 'fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences'... In Friday's verdict, Engoron overturned his initial ruling, saying that 'the cancellation of the business licenses is no longer necessary' as he is ordering the appointment of two court monitors to oversee 'major activities that could lead to fraud'." ~~~
~~~ The AP story, by Michael Sisak, is here. CNN has a liveblog on developments. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump said on the teevee that people will be moving out of New York because they're so upset by this verdict, and "There won't be a New York anymore." Right. He's shocked, shocked he should be given a massive fine when he's "done a perfect job."
Richard Fausset, et al., of the New York Times: "Defense lawyers for Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia found themselves frustrated in efforts to extract damaging information from a key witness [Terrence Bradley] on Friday, as they sought to disqualify the lead prosecutors in the election interference case.... Once he took the stand in the afternoon, he continued to assert attorney-client privilege over many matters.... After adjourning, Judge [Scott] McAfee said he would meet in private with Mr. Bradley and his attorney to discuss questions regarding attorney-client privilege and an accusation of sexual assault against Mr. Bradley while he worked with Mr. Wade. Mr. Bradley emphatically denied the allegation, and the judge did not allow further testimony about it from other witnesses.... The judge said he would then determine a date for lawyers to make their closing arguments on the conflict-of-interest question. It could happen late next week, or the following week, he said...." This is the pinned item in a liveblog. For more details, see the liveblog. Some items from the liveblog are republished in yesterday's Conversation.
Presidential Race
Edward-Isaac Dovere of CNN: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced Friday that he will not mount a 2024 campaign for president.... Manchin has been on a national listening tour as he weighed jumping in as a third-party presidential candidate, potentially on the No Labels ticket. He has criticized President Joe Biden for being too liberal but also said that he would refuse to be part of any effort that would help Donald Trump return to the White House."
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has told advisers and allies that he likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with three exceptions, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother, according to two people with direct knowledge.... So far in this Republican nominating contest, in which primary voters generally reward candidates for opposing abortion rights, Mr. Trump has avoided answering the question of whether he'd support a national ban. Instead, he talks about abortion as if it's a real-estate transaction. He has taken credit for giving 'great negotiating power' to anti-abortion activists." ~~~
~~~ Natasha Korecki, et al., of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's campaign and abortion rights advocates ripped into ... Donald Trump on abortion Friday following a [New York Times] report that he has given private signals in favor of a national ban on abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy that would include exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the woman's life is in danger.... The Trump campaign in a statement blasted [the] reporting ... as 'fake news.'... Biden himself released a lengthy statement laying out the impact of Roe v. Wade's reversal, including the passage of stringent anti-abortion laws in conservative states.... 'The choice is very simple. Kamala and I will restore Roe v. Wade and make it once again the law of the land. Donald Trump will ban abortion nationwide.'" ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... Donald Trump appointed the three justices who proved pivotal to the outcome in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.... Dobbs, he pointed out in a statement, was 'the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation' and was 'only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court.' It was, he continued, 'my great honor to do so!'... But ... many Americans don't seem to blame the former president for the actions of the Supreme Court majority he assembled during his term.... Trump, somehow, gets a mulligan." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Bouie ruminates on why Trump fans give Trump that mulligan, and he puts it down to Trump's celebrity status. But the fact is that most voters are adult enough to realize that political candidates seldom if ever agree with all of their own policy preferences, so voters usually must give passes to their own preferred candidates. I recall when Barack Obama continued to oppose gay marriage; I thought that was stupid, mean and shortsighted, but I came up with rationalizations to give him a pass. It took Obama's vice president Joe Biden -- a deeply-religious Roman Catholic -- to get out over his skis & force Obama to advocate same-sex marriage.
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The FBI's former top spy hunter in New York was sentenced in Washington on Friday to 28 months in prison for concealing at least $225,000 in payments he received from a former Albanian intelligence official while working for the bureau. Charles McGonigal will serve his punishment on top of a 50-month prison term he received separately in New York last year for illegally conspiring with a Russian oligarch who wanted to be removed from a U.S. sanctions list. McGonigal, 55, is one of the highest-ranking FBI agents ever convicted of criminal charges, and federal prosecutors on Friday urged U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to stack the sentences after the 22-year veteran of the bureau admitted to committing the very violations he was sworn to investigate.... McGonigal now has been sentenced to a combined 6½ years behind bars for ... two offenses...."
Another Impeachment in Search of a Crime. Steve Benen of MSNBC: "After a year of obsessive investigations, GOP officials simply haven't uncovered any incriminating evidence against [President Joe Biden].... Some Republicans, frustrated by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's lack of progress, have begun describing the crusade with words and phrases such as 'clueless,' 'disaster,' and 'parade of embarrassments.'" So when the FBI arrested Alexander Smirnov, the parade's grand marshal, for 'provid[ing] false derogatory information to the FBI' about Joe and Hunter Biden, Comer's investigation collapsed. "I have no doubt that the House Republicans' crusade against Biden will continue, even after their star witness was charged with lying to the FBI, and their entire case against the president has unraveled in humiliating fashion." ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "On the day that Bill Barr aggressively intervened in the parallel impeachment inquiry and Hunter Biden prosecutions last summer [-- June 7, 2023 --] David Weiss' office sent out a final deal that would resolve Hunter's case with no jail time and no further investigation. Within weeks, amid an uproar about claims in an FD-1023 that David Weiss now says were false, Weiss reneged on that deal. With the indictment yesterday of Alexander Smirnov, the source of those false claims, Weiss confesses he is a direct witness in an attempt to frame Joe Biden, even as he attempts to bury it.... If Merrick Garland is going to appoint Special Counsels for these kinds of things, one should be appointed here.... But David Weiss can't lead that investigation. He's a witness to that investigation." MB: As usual, Wheeler provides a lengthy proof, which lost me. But I suppose we are assured that Merrick the Unready is unready to address Barr, Weiss and others' participation in a frame-up of the POTUS. Also Joe Biden is old.
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Billionaires complaining that workers want a living wage, and are
trying to unionize if they don't get one.
Corporations like Space-X (Elon Muck), Amazon, Trader Joe's,
Starbucks and many others.
I don't understand how they can claim that the US Labor Board is
unconstitutional. Does everything affeting our lives have to be
mentioned in the constitution?
Guess I'd have to be a Republican to come up with an answer to that.
Having first hand knowledge of union organizing, I personally know
how far companies will go to destroy unions or keep them out. I was
retaliated against after convincing about a hundred of our workers
that we needed to unionize.
What did the company do? They immediately put me and a cohort on
the night shift. It was great. You get off work at 3:00 A.M., sleep a
few hours, and have the afternoon to play. That one didn't work so
they tried other things that also didn't work.
That's why we still need the Labor Relations Board.
https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2024-02-16/amazon-joins-companies-arguing-us-labor-board-is-unconstitutional
They never miss a chance to glorify the Dear Leader or to try to distract from his many crimes and treasonous actions by indulging in the most insulting hyperbole to point out how unfaaaair it is that anyone dare to try to hold him accountable for…anything.
The latest? PoT testicle cozies now compare Trump to Navalny.
I am not even kidding.
Oh, and Biden and the Democrats are just like Putin, because they want Trump to “die in prison, like Navalny”.
So he’s sent by god, he’s Jesus Christ, he’s the savior, he never lies, he’s the greatest president ever, and now he’s Navalny. What else is he? Joan of Arc? Albert Einstein? The fucking Easter Bunny?
Let’s flip this around. “Navalny was just like Trump.”. Was Navalny a phony billionaire who raped women then bragged about it? Did he live in his own gigantic country club? Cheat at golf every day? Was he able to stay out of jail by using every trick in the Russian Justice system to laugh at consequences? Did he start an insurrection to keep Putin out of power? Did he defraud banks around the world?
The sycophantic hagiography never ends.
@Akhilleus: That's disgusting.
I don't believe that Jesus was a real person but an ideal of a Jewish messiah who would lead his people out from under Roman oppression and establish a moral Jewish state. In the myth, when he wasn't able to do that, he sacrificed himself for his people. That is much like the real Nevalny, and it's no wonder Russians see him as a thwarted messiah in a league with the mythological Jesus.
If people want to imagine Jesus as an unscrupulous, lying, narcissistic bastard with no moral values, then I find that mighty sick, but I'm all for religious freedom, so fine. Let them see Trump as the Second Coming. It's blasphemous, as far as devout Christians are concerned, but it doesn't upset me, because Jesus is a mythological figure we all imagine in different ways and one way could be as a horrible person.
But Nevalny was real up until yesterday, and it's no wonder that Pontius Putin had to kill him. He was a handsome, strong man with a leader's qualities and a high moral character -- in other words, a living ideal -- who aimed to lead his country out of the shadow of an ugly, corrupt, cruel little dictator. To compare Trump to him is worse than blasphemy, because it impugns the character of a real hero and martyr for his country.
Those Trumpists can go to hell. Oh wait, there is no afterlife.
BTW, Philip Bump of the Washington Post has more on this: “The reality is that Trump and many of his allies see him much more as America’s Putin, the strong hand that is needed to fend off hazily defined opponents. It’s why, as president, Trump didn’t address Navalny or challenge Putin, unlike Biden. It’s why, back in 2015, Trump even defended Putin’s targeting of journalists with a Carlson-esque 'our country does plenty of killing, too.'”
Marie,
Life of Brian, on the other hand, is all true:
Marie,
So…wait…Trump is Putin AND Navalny?? At least to the demented MAGAts who worship him as the alpha and the omega? But it’s more than that. Much stupider. If he is their god, which it certainly seems like, then the Α and Ω canard means he is the beginning and the end of the universe, of all reality. But if he’s the murderer and the murdered, how does that stack up with his place as their eternal god?
Cultish idiocy has no logic. So, for many of the MAGAts, nothing really matters but the idol. Not truth, logic, or consistency. Certainly not America or democracy.
How did a thuggish liar, rapist, weaselly rich kid who has had everything in life handed to him become an avatar for so many?
It’s all about hatred, stupidity, victimhood, racism, and love of violent retribution against those who don’t go along with their mental and moral retardation.
But what does that say about the supposed thoughtful media and political supporters who sidle up to such insanity?
Worse…what does it say about both sides media ass wipes whose ubiquitous apologies and whataboutisms allow such obvious evil to flourish, as they obediently assail those who would oppose this god of evildoers?