The Conversation -- January 10, 2025
Hamed Aleaziz & Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Friday issued sweeping extensions of deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people from Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela in a move that makes it almost impossible for ... Donald J. Trump to swiftly strip the benefit when he takes office. The extension of Temporary Protected Status, as the program is called, allows the immigrants to remain in the country with work permits and a shield from deportation for another 18 months from the expiration of their current protection in the spring. Late last year, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken recommended the protections be extended in a series of letters.... President Biden has expanded who could receive the status, as war erupted in Ukraine and instability gripped countries like Venezuela and Haiti.... About 600,000 Venezuelans who currently have the protection will be allowed to renew and remain in the United States until October 2026, and approximately 232,000 immigrants from El Salvador will be able to do so. More than 100,000 Ukrainians will also be able to remain in the United States until October 2026. Some 1,900 people from Sudan will also be allowed to renew their status."
Tracey Tully & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have recommended a sentence of at least 15 years for Robert Menendez, New Jersey's former senator who was convicted of trading his political clout for bribes. The U.S. attorney's office is requesting a similarly long period of incarceration for Mr. Menendez's two co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes. The government asked the judge, Sidney H. Stein, to impose a sentence of at least 10 years for Mr. Hana and nine years for Mr. Daibes."
Contemptible Rudy, Ctd. Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "A federal district judge found Rudolph W. Giuliani in contempt of court on Friday for continuing to defame two Georgia women after the 2020 election. In May, Mr. Giuliani agreed to stop repeating lies about the women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a mother-daughter team of election workers in Fulton County, Ga., during the 2020 race. That agreement, the judge, Beryl A. Howell, of the District of Columbia, said was 'clear and unambiguous.' In November, Mr. Giuliani repeated accusations against the women at least four times, after Donald J. Trump won the 2024 presidential election."
At 10:45 am ET, MSNBC is airing audio of earlier proceedings in the New York criminal case against Donald Trump. Update: You can listen to that audio here. It's 32:30 minutes long. Justice Juan Merchan's remarks, which come at the end of the proceedings, are worth hearing. In effect, he makes clear that the punishment fits neither the crime nor the criminal but is necessitated by of the rights of the American people to have a president* unencumbered by criminal procedures & the consequences of his criminal behavior. ~~~
(Marie: And yet. And yet. The sentence reflects the bad judgment of the majority of American voters. It is an indictment of us.) ~~~
~~~ For his part, Trump either does not understand or pretends he does not understand what Merchan was talking about: ~~~
~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: "In both predictable and strange fashion..., Donald Trump framed the occasion of his official sentencing as a convicted felon as a win against 'Radical Democrats.' He also claimed that Judge Juan Merchan's ruling of 'unconditional discharge' was proof that 'THERE WAS NEVER A CASE.'... Shortly after the official sentencing procedure ended..., the president-elect took to social media to call the sentencing a loss for his political foes. 'The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt,' he posted, first on Truth Social. After repeating much of the same 'Witch Hunt' claims and alleging that the New York Southern District Court was working in coordination 'with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization,' Trump claimed the unconditional discharge 'proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED.'"
~~~ Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "After months of delay..., Donald J. Trump on Friday is set to become the first American president to be criminally sentenced. He is expected to avoid jail or any other substantive punishment, but the proceeding will still carry significant symbolic importance. It will formalize his status as a felon, making him the first to carry that dubious designation into the presidency." This is livebog. Stay tuned for amusing updates. ~~~
Kate Christobek & Ben Protess: "... Donald J. Trump's sentencing will allow him to begin mounting a formal appeal, but he did not wait for Friday to begin attacking his conviction. This week, Mr. Trump filed a civil action against the judge overseeing the case, challenging a pair of recent rulings that upheld his conviction. Both rulings rejected Mr. Trump's argument that, as a former and future president, he is entitled to immunity."
Maggie Haberman: "Trump is expected to join the courtroom remotely from Florida, where he returned yesterday after attending President Jimmy Carter's funeral service."
Bromwich: "[Joshua] Steinglass[, the prosecutor] says that the prosecutors agree with the expected sentence of unconditional discharge.... Steinglass ... is blasting Trump, saying that rather than expressing any remorse for his criminal acts, he has spread disdain 'for our institutions and the rule of law.'... 'This defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way,' Joshua Steinglass says."
Haberman: "Trump is now in a familiar pose, his arms crossed in defiance. He shakes his head again as Steinglass makes these remarks."
Christobek: "Steinglass, the prosecutor, noted that the probation report they received stated that the defendant sees himself as above the law and does not accept responsibility for his actions."
Bromwich: "[Todd] Blanche, [Trump's lawyer, who is with him at Mar-a-Lago,] as he has since he was retained, blasts the very legitimacy of the case. He says that it was 'started for what amounted to a third time' after Trump announced his intention to run for re-election, repeating Trump's frequent accusations of election interference.... Blanche is asserting the supremacy of the November election over the jury verdict in this courtroom, essentially saying that the political victory was the last word on the case."
Haberman: "Trump begins speaking. 'This has been a very terrible experience. I think it's been a tremendous setback' for New York and its court system, he says.... Trump seems to be reading from something in front of him. He is saying a version of what he has said before, that the payment to Stormy Daniels was a legal expense and that his accountants had logged it that way. He alludes to someone working with his 'opponent,' indicating President Biden.... Trump, as his lawyer Todd Blanche did, refers to 'legal experts' who he says thought the case shouldn't have been brought. He's going through a litany of people, from cable pundits to conservative legal experts....
"Trump calls Michael Cohen, his own former lawyer and fixer who was a key witness during the trial, a 'totally discredited person.' He says Cohen has 'no standing, he's been disbarred on other matters.' He says that Cohen was allowed to talk as if he was George Washington. 'But he's not George Washington.' Trump again falsely insists that the Justice Department is 'very involved,' and singles out Matthew Colangelo. He says they 'got them to move on me.' The lawyer sitting next to him, Todd Blanche, is his choice to be the No. 2 official at the Justice Department."
Bromwich: "'I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much,' Trump concludes.... Justice [Juan] Merchan is reflecting on his time on the bench, and some of the heinous crimes to which he's sentenced defendants in the past. He remarks that never before has the court been presented with such a 'unique and remarkable set of circumstances.' And yet the trial was a paradox, he says, because once the courtroom doors were closed, it was no different from the other trials held in this courthouse.... 'Donald Trump the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump the criminal defendant' would not be entitled to the protections of the presidency, Justice Merchan asserts. It is only that office that shields him from the seriousness of the verdict.... Justice Merchan, as expected, sentences Trump to an unconditional discharge. He wishes Trump 'godspeed' as he prepares to assume his second term in office. The judge leaves the bench."
Haberman: "... Justice Merchan just spelled ... out clearly that the protections are afforded to the office, not its occupant. Trump looks grim, sitting back a bit in his seat."
Marie: Oh, I recall when we were all pulling for John Fetterman: ~~~
~~~ AP: "Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman will become the chamber's first Democrat to meet with ... Donald Trump since the election and plans to travel to Trump's private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The trip marks Fetterman's continuing evolution from a leading surrogate for President Joe Biden into a Trump-friendly lawmaker since Trump won the premier battleground state of Pennsylvania in November. Fetterman since has shown surprising warmth to Trump, complimenting his political appeal, agreeing with him on some policies and embracing some of Trump's would-be Cabinet nominees. Fetterman said in a statement Thursday that Trump invited him to meet and that he accepted." (Okay, I'll admit that if a president*-elect from the other party asked me to meet with him, I most likely would, although I would not travel out-of-state or out-of-District to do so.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The nation bade farewell to former President Jimmy Carter on Thursday with a majestic state funeral for a man who saw himself as anything but, remembering a peanut farmer from Georgia who rose to the heights of power and used it to fight for justice, eradicate disease and wage peace not war. Five living presidents and a broad array of other leaders gathered at Washington National Cathedral to pay tribute to the 39th president, not only for his accomplishments during four years in the nation's highest office but also for his relentless humanitarian work in the four decades after he left the White House.... It was hard not to hear the implicit contrast drawn between Mr. Carter's fundamental decency, integrity and commitment and Mr. Trump's rough-hewed, combative and grievance-filled politics.... From the splendor of the cavernous cathedral, [Mr. Carter] was flown to Georgia, where he was to be buried later in the day in a simple plot outside the modest $240,000 one-story ranch house in Plains, Ga., where he lived most of his life."
President Biden delivered the eulogy for President Carter in the National Cathedral. I commend you to hear him. ~~~
~~~ Here is the New York Times liveblog of the funeral & other proceedings.
Michael Shear: “With Mr. Trump in the audience, Mr. Biden did not single him out by name. But he delivered a message laced with meaning that could have been aimed at the next president."
Peter Baker: "Among the foreign dignitaries on hand are Justin Trudeau, who just announced that he is stepping down as prime minister of Canada, and Martín Torrijos, the former president of Panama. Trudeau's father was prime minister when Carter was president, and Torrijos's father was the president of Panama who signed the treaty with Carter turning over the Panama Canal." (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Marie: When Donald & Melanie passed in front of Mike & Karen Pence, who were seated in the second row of pews, Mike rose & shook hands with Donald. Karen sat staring straight ahead, seeming to pretend the Trumps weren't there. President Obama had the misfortune of being seated right next to Donald Trump & seemed to be very polite to him. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This might not be the very best way to spend 10 minutes of your life, but I found Tim Miller's take jibed with my own. Perhaps you could listen while doing some productive chore:
⭐Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Thursday said that it would not block the Justice Department from releasing a report by the special counsel Jack Smith about the two now-closed investigations he conducted into ... Donald J. Trump. In a brief and unsigned order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, rejected an emergency request from Mr. Trump's legal team to stop the report from coming out. But the order does not necessarily mean the report will become public immediately. Both sections of Mr. Smith's two-volume report remain for the moment under an injunction put in place this week by a lower-court judge in Florida that is temporarily blocking their release.... In its order on Thursday night, the appeals court left the injunction in place but said that the Justice Department could take further action seeking to appeal it. Still, the injunction, which was issued by Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who oversaw the classified documents case, is scheduled to last only another three days. When it expires, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland could go ahead with his plans to release the portion of Mr. Smith's report concerning the election interference case. In the meantime, Mr. Trump's lawyers could try further to stop or delay the release of the report by asking the Supreme Court to step in." ~~~
~~~ A Politico report, by Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein, is here: "In short, the fate of Smith's report -- and whether some of it will be released publicly in the coming days -- remains a muddle."
⭐Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied ... Donald J. Trump's emergency bid to halt his criminal sentencing in New York, all but ensuring it would proceed as planned on Friday. In a brief unsigned order, a five-justice majority noted that Mr. Trump was not facing jail time and that he could still challenge his conviction 'in the ordinary course on appeal.' Although Mr. Trump had argued that being sentenced 10 days before his inauguration would distract from the presidential transition, the majority held, 'The burden that sentencing will impose on the president-elect's responsibilities is relatively insubstantial.'... Four of the court's conservative justices -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh -- noted dissents without providing reasons." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. received a call on his cellphone Tuesday. It was ... Donald J. Trump, calling from Florida. Hours later, Mr. Trump's legal team would ask Justice Alito and his eight colleagues on the Supreme Court to block his sentencing in New York for falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a pornographic film actress.... The call and its timing flouted any regard for even the appearance of a conflict of interest at a time when the Supreme Court has come under intense scrutiny over the justices' refusal to adopt a more rigorous and enforceable ethics code. The circumstances were extraordinary for another reason: Justice Alito was being drawn into a highly personalized effort by some Trump aides to blackball Republicans deemed insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump from entering the administration...." Read on for the details. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Eloise Goldsmith of Common Dreams: "... Congressman Jamie Raskin was among those Thursday who called for Alito's recusal from the high profile case.... Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, denounced the call as a 'breach of judicial ethics' in a statement Thursday, adding 'especially when paired with his troubling past partisan ideological activity in favor of Trump, Justice Alito's decision to have a personal phone call with President Trump -- who obviously has an active and deeply personal matter before the court -- makes clear that he fundamentally misunderstands the basic requirements of judicial ethics or, more likely, believes himself to be above judicial ethics altogether.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday blasted conservative Justice Samuel Alito for having a conversation with ... Trump amidst Trump's effort to have courts halt his criminal sentencing in New York. 'Brazenly unapologetic, Justice Alito has made impropriety the norm,' Blumenthal wrote on social media.... 'This inexcusable call w/ Trump certainly should compel recusal, disqualifying him from this case & much more. The Court's current supposed ethical standards are an unenforceable sham,' Blumenthal posted on the social platform X." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Obviously, Alito not only failed to recuse himself after his egregious breach of ethics, he sided with Trump in the case, effectively proving he is corrupt.
The Biggest Cheater. Hadas Gold of CNN: "... Donald Trump's team was given the questions asked by Fox News anchors at an Iowa town hall last January in advance by someone inside the network, according to a forthcoming book, in what would be a serious breach of journalism ethics. The report, which Fox said it plans to investigate, comes from the forthcoming book ... by Alex Isenstadt, a national political reporter at Politico.... Isenstadt told CNN the anecdote was based on 'multiple people with direct knowledge' of the event and that he was fully confident in the reporting....
"In 2022, CNN reported that [Fox personality Maria] Bartiromo had sent text messages to Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, outlining what she planned to ask in her interview with Trump in November 2020. The texts were revealed as part of Congress' investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.... Isenstadt reports that Trump seriously considered tapping ... Bartiromo as his running mate, before being talked out of it by his team." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: Gosh, Donald Trump cheated on not just one test but two -- that we know of. Contrast the Trump team's behavior that Gold outlines with that of Al Gore's team in 2000, when they received copies of George W. Bush's campaign debate book & other Bush campaign material. (Also linked yesterday.)
Is Trumpinosis a Communicable Disease? Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is likely to justify his plans to seal off the border with Mexico by citing a public health emergency from immigrants bringing disease into the United States. Now he just has to find one.... His advisers have spent recent months trying to find the right disease to build their case, according to four people.... [Besides looking for the presence of well-known diseases,] they also have considered trying to rationalize Title 42 [which can be used to impose public health restrictions] by arguing broadly that migrants at the border come from various countries and may carry unfamiliar disease -- an assertion that echoes a racist notion with a long history in the United States that minorities transmit infections.... The plan to invoke the border restrictions based on sporadic cases of illness or even a vague fear of illness -- rather than a major disease outbreak or pandemic -- would amount to a radical use of the public health measure in pursuit of an immigration crackdown."
Seb Starcevic, et al., of Politico: "A senior Greenlandic politician slammed Donald Trump Jr.'s visit to the island as 'staged,' and warned the United States not to 'invade us' given its historical treatment of Alaska's indigenous people. Pipaluk Lynge, an MP from Greenland’s largest party and chair of the parliamentary foreign and security policy committee..., [said,] 'No journalists were allowed to interview [Junior]. It was all staged to make it seem like we -- the Greenlandic people -- were MAGA and love to be a part of the USA,' Lynge said.... His welcome was not entirely warm, Lynge added. 'People were curious, but some took pictures giving him [the] finger at the airport ... Some wrote on Facebook: yankee go home,' she said... Local media said that the Trump Jr. camp passed out MAGA hats to residents on the day of the visit, while video footage from the trip showed the president-elect talking to cap-wearing Greenlanders on speakerphone during a lunch event."
Gaby Del Valle of the Verge: "As fires rage across Los Angeles..., the usual suspects have decided to blame the blazes on their political enemies. In a series of posts on Truth Social..., Donald Trump claimed firefighters' inability to get the fires under control was due to California Governor Gavin Newsom's water policies, including an effort to 'protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn't work!).' Meanwhile, on X, Elon Musk suggested that the fires were spreading due to the city fire chief's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. 'DEI means people DIE,' Musk wrote in a Wednesday night post.... But the rampant spread of the fires isn't due to the delta smelt, DEI, or even -- as Trump, Musk, and scores of mainstream publications have falsely claimed -- cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department's budget."
Faiz Siddiqui, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal officials are already dealing with surrogates from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's nongovernmental body before Donald Trump is sworn in again.... In recent days, aides with the nongovernmental 'Department of Government Efficiency' ... have spoken with staffers at more than a dozen federal agencies.... Musk and Ramaswamy have significantly stepped up hiring for their new entity, with more than 50 staffers already working out of the offices of SpaceX, Musk's rocket-building company, in downtown Washington.... While much about DOGE remains unclear -- including who is paying the salaries of these staffers or exactly how DOGE representatives work with the formal transition team -- the agency outreach reflects intensifying efforts by Musk and Ramaswamy to propose what they say will be 'drastic' cuts to federal spending and regulations.... Musk and Ramaswamy are encountering a slew of obstacles, including reluctance among congressional Republicans to approve deep budget cuts and a skeptical career civil service."
Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "Google is donating $1 million to ... Donald Trump's inauguration, following other tech giants in supporting an administration that will shape the company's historic antitrust case. Google will also live-stream the swearing-in ceremony on YouTube -- the second-most popular website in the world, behind Google itself -- and include a direct link on its homepage. Karan Bhatia, Google's global head of government affairs, said in a statement Thursday that the company is 'pleased' to support Trump's inauguration."
Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday came closer to passing a bill requiring the deportation of undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes after most Democrats joined Republicans to advance it. All but eight Democrats and one independent voted to begin debate on the bill, easily exceeding the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster. The legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week, appears to be on a smooth path to garnering the presidential signature of Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month. The vote reflected a major shift to the right among Democrats on immigration after their party's considerable electoral losses in November against Republicans...." The Hill's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "... some Democratic senators have thrown their support behind the exploitatively titled Laken Riley Act, which takes its name from a young nursing student murdered by an undocumented immigrant. But this is a terrible, demagogic bill. It would not have prevented its namesake's tragic death. Worse, it would complicate law enforcement's ability to prioritize public safety threats and give cranks in state government the ability to shut down legal immigration, nationwide. The bill was introduced last year as a messaging bill. It began with a preamble about why President Joe Biden was the absolute worst, followed by some bonkers anti-immigrant stuff that was unlikely to ever become law.... [Under the terms of the bill,] the Department of Homeland Security would be required to jail even falsely accused people indefinitely, at taxpayer expense."
Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday passed legislation that would impose sanctions on officials at the International Criminal Court, making a frontal assault on the tribunal in a rebuke of its move to charge top Israeli leaders with war crimes for their offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The bill instructs the president to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contributed to the court's efforts to 'investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person.'... The measure is one of several that were pushed through the House by Republicans last year but died in the Democratic-led Senate, and is now all but certain to be enacted now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress and Mr. Trump is taking office on Jan. 20." (MB: Either this means enough Democratic senators are expected to support the bill & overcome a filibuster, or the bill will not be subject to filibuster rules. I don't know.)
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Kentucky on Thursday struck down President Biden's effort to expand protections for transgender students and make other changes to the rules governing sex discrimination in schools, ruling that the Education Department had overstepped and violated teachers' rights by requiring them to use students' preferred pronouns. The ruling, which extends nationwide, came as a major blow to the Biden administration in its effort to provide new safeguards for L.G.B.T.Q. and pregnant students, among others, through Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. It arrived just days before those protections were likely to face more scrutiny under a Trump administration that is expected to be hostile to the new rules and could refuse to defend them in court. In a 15-page opinion, Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky wrote that the Education Department could not lawfully expand the definition of Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, as it had proposed last year." MB: Reeves is a Bush II appointee. Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ The order, via the court system, is here.
Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily halted a guilty plea hearing for the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks while it considers whether the deal he reached to avoid a death-penalty trial remains valid. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the order on the eve of a hearing at the U.S. military court at Guantánamo Bay in which a military judge was to question the accused plotter, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, about the settlement he reached this summer with military prosecutors. The court will decide, during the next administration, whether Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III successfully withdrew from the settlement on Aug. 2, two days after the retired Army general he put in charge of the case signed it. Two lower, military courts ruled that he had acted too late."
Sam Biddle of the Intercept: "Meta is now granting its users new freedom to post a wide array of derogatory remarks about races, nationalities, ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and gender identities, training materials obtained by The Intercept reveal. Examples of newly permissible speech on Facebook and Instagram highlighted in the training materials include: 'Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit.'... The changes are part of a broader policy shift that includes the suspension of the company's fact-checking program. The goal, Meta said Tuesday, is to 'allow more speech by lifting restrictions.'... Kate Klonick, a content moderation policy expert..., [said,] 'To pretend these new rules are any more 'neutral' than the old rules is a farce and a lie.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
New Mexico. Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "Alec Baldwin filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing New Mexico prosecutors and law enforcement officials of waging a 'malicious prosecution' against him after the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the 'Rust' film set."
North Carolina. Police Kill Pizzagate Shooter. Hank Sanders of the New York Times: "A man in North Carolina who fired a rifle inside a Washington restaurant in 2016 because he wrongly believed an internet conspiracy known as Pizzagate was fatally shot by the police in North Carolina over the weekend when he pulled out a gun during a traffic stop, the authorities said. The man, Edgar Maddison Welch, 36, of Salisbury, N.C., was a passenger in a car on Saturday night when an officer with the Kannapolis Police Department recognized him from a prior arrest and believed there was an outstanding warrant over a felony probation violation, Chief Terry L. Spry of the Kannapolis Police Department said in a statement on Thursday. When the officer confirmed his suspicion and went to arrest him, Mr. Welch pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officer, the police said. The police officer and a second officer ordered Mr. Welch to put his gun down. When he did not comply, they shot at him, the department said. Mr. Welch died on Monday at a hospital in Charlotte as a result of his injuries.
News Ledes
CNBC: "Job growth was much stronger than expected in December, likely providing the Federal Reserve less incentive to cut interest rates this year. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 256,000 for the month, up from 212,000 in November and above the 155,000 forecast from the Dow Jones consensus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday." ~~~
~~~ CNBC:"Stocks tumbled Friday after a hot jobs report dampened Wall Street's expectations for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. The ow Jones Industrial Average traded 627 points lower, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 shed 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 2%. U.S. payrolls grew by 256,000 in December, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected to see an increase of 155,000. The unemployment rate, which was projected to remain at 4.2%, fell to 4.1% during the month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note spiked to its highest level since late 2023 after the report."
New York Times: "The threat of more fires fueled by strong Santa Ana winds hung over Southern California on Friday as firefighters battled to contain the raging blazes that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of structures this week. More than 35,000 acres, an area twice the size of Manhattan, have burned in and around Los Angeles. A new fire, the Kenneth fire, broke out Thursday evening in West Hills, north of Calabasas, and grew rapidly to 1,000 acres in a matter of hours. The blaze shows 'we are absolutely not out of this extreme weather event,' said Kristin M. Crowley, the Los Angeles fire chief, at a news conference Thursday evening." This is a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times lists a few ways you can help the victims.
New York Times: "Anita Bryant, the singer and former beauty queen who had a robust and flourishing music career, including hit songs like 'Paper Roses,' in the 1960s and '70s, but whose opposition to gay rights -- she called homosexuality 'an abomination' -- virtually destroyed her career, died on Dec. 16. She was 84."
Share Article
Reader Comments (15)
Greetings and salutations to Marie and fellow Realitychexers,
I used to be a regular 'round these parts and I apologize to Marie for suddenly disappearing into the proverbial woods one cold day. Life hit fast and I had to protect my mental health from the daily assaults of the prior Drumpf regime. I commend Marie for continuing the daily battle against disinformation that has proliferated exponentially this last decade and is set for a SpaceX lift off with ol' Zuck now officially joining Team Bannon.
I'm glad to see many of you are keepin' on keeping on. After the reelection of our ageing Nero, I went through all the stages of grief, anger, hopelessness, and ended on something between rage & rebellion. America's descent will be hard and fast, but we have a civic duty to make it bumpy and uncomfortable for lots of deserving bad actors and misinformed people. Mockery and ridicule are sharp and dangerous objects for authoritarian regimes that depend on unrealities to project strength and competence.
For those elected officials still able to think independently in D.C. (few in numbers), our Dem reps (hopelessly naive the most lot of 'em) should make every day in Congress speeches interwined with history lectures from the Federalist Papers or presidential memoires, highlighting the chasm between American traditions and the perversity of the New Right's political agenda and the shamelessness of their very presence and livelihoods in Congress. Relentless shaming, obstruction, and subtle provocation should be on the schedule every single day for the next four years. History, truth and virtue are all on our side: we should wield them like daggers to inflict 1,000 cuts.
This requires discipline and an acknowledgement that our learned liberal instincts of "finding common ground" need to be strategically reassessed for each moment. Marie mentions above that poor Obama got stuck sitting next to Drumpf at Carter's funeral. It's a difficult and extremely uncomfortable situation to be in, but unfortunately Obama's chit-chatting and wry smiles with a man that is an obvious threat to democracy breaks down every narrative the Democrats and the left have been trying to create. How can the man be so dangerous as clips of him joking with Drumpf inevitably go viral? Obama is probably the best placed to among ex-presidents to defy the wrath of MAGA and he should have been cordial but cold shouldered to his unfriendly neighbor. You can tell Drumpf keeps trying to elicit Obama and maintain pseudo conversation with him so he doesn't look like the marginalized loser that he has been his whole life.
By the way, don't miss the moment when Obama willingly performs comfort blanky for Drumpf and Melania to not feel completely ostracized as they deserve when George W Bush and his wife Laura come in and ignore the Drumpfs. Obama ends up marginalizing himself as he forms the physical barrier between America's democracy and aspiring autocracy. All to soothe the feelings of a man who will be threatening their lives again over the next few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1U3tqhk4fY
@safari: So glad you're back. I looked for you on the Internet after you stopped contributing here, and I decided you had got married and were too busy with real life to mess with politics, at least for a while.
I agree with you about Obama. I think maybe if Michelle had been there (she was otherwise engaged in Hawaii), she could have curbed her husband's enthusiasm for chatting up Trump. I will say that your theory goes two ways, as Tim Miller pointed out in the discussion above: if Democrats are devils, as Republicans allege, how come Trump tried so hard to make small talk with a top devil?
Safari,
Hey man, great to see you again. Welcome back to the fight.
Yes, the Carter funeral offers beaucoup opportunities to “compare and contrast”, the ubiquitous request of teachers of writing skills for many years. Indeed, Carter, a man of decency, honesty, and grace, a mensch, who, even though screwed by both circumstances and Republican dirty tricks, bore his defeat with honor and grit, who then put his head down and went to work helping the least of us find homes and dignity.
Then there’s Trump, a disgrace of a human being who lashes out with lies and invective at the smallest bump in his gold plated highway, who schemes, scams, and keeps score to make sure he can grab hold of every loose nickel while whining about his victimhood and kicking those whom life has left behind. A disgusting example of the worst humanity has to offer who lies, steals, cheats, and threatens any who refuse to acknowledge that his place in life is his own doing and not the result of being born rich, white, connected, and without a shred of compassion for other humans less well off.
The example du jour of Trumpian mendacious iniquity is his vicious attack on California, a state that voted against him, as it suffers horrific fire damage. Rather than offering compassion and promising assistance as soon as he ascends the throne, he and his vicious army of hateful lemmings and lackeys are blaming the conflagrations on Democrats and liberals.
It’s less of a promise of what’s to come (been there, done that) and more proof what a despicable disgrace of a hate-filled, self absorbed gasbag of fecal fecundity this beast is at his stinking, existential core.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/trump-musk-california-democrats-wildfires-00197080
I know it's in bad taste to speak ill of the dead, so therefore, I won't
say one word about Anita Bryant.
So by the end of the day it will be official.
The nation will be led by a convicted felon, and not an honest felon like a robber who cracked his own safe or an assailant who did his own dirty work, but a sneaky, slimy worm who used his money to buy something and someone he had no right to, and something he had not done a lick of work to earn.
Sadly, it's beginning to seem the nation deserves him, representing as the Pretender does so much of the dishonesty, the scams and the seaminess that seem to permeate the early 21st century American culture.
A Pretender as the wages of sin.
--Ken doing his own Pat Robertson...
And welcome back, Safari.
The only thing that could somewhat save Obama's chumming it up with the Orange Menace is if he spilled the tea of what they "talked" about. Barry could do a Trump and just make up what Donald was telling him. "Trump told me that Elon is as much a moron as Junior. And is as desperate for attention as Junior, but smells even worse." "Trump was asking for money because he has gotten behind on his payments to Putin. He was glad the funeral was on the first floor."
Other than a badge of dishonor, what effect will Trump's felony conviction have on his reign? I seem to recall that numerous nations will not allow entry to felons. Would this possible interfere with US policies and politics?
Bobby Lee,
To answer your question, none. He’ll still be an unchecked criminal and scurrilous pig. But just the fact he’s tried everything he and his hack lawyers could think of, including running begging to the Supreme Court to please don’t let anyone pass sentence on his fat felonious ass indicates how much this means to him. That alone is reason to make his status as a convicted felon official.
He’s done far worse than business fraud, but like that other murderous gangster, Al Capone, the People need to get him on whatever charge we can.
A presidential bathroom
RAS,
Way too clean. Where are the Big Mac wrappers on the floor and the pictures of Fat Donald all over the place? You know, the fake magazine covers that depict him as greatest this and best that?
I’m guessing we won’t be seeing a flurry of fake, AI pictures of Brave Sir Donald racing to the rescue of burned out LA residents. No phony hagiographic imagery of Fatty “saving the cats and dogs” or wading hip deep through hurricane flood waters to save Appalachian Trump voters.
This is my mother's birthday. I think she would be 103-- my math is not that great... It would be appropriate for her to approve of the labeling of the Fat Fascist as the Fat Felonious Fascist. Because she died some 10+ years ago, she was not around to experience much of his First Assault on Decency and Honesty, and that is too bad. She would have been leading the charge at the Women's March. But we all are worse off than we were after the FBI and Fox got done fixing the 2016 election, because it all affirmed what we think about him. I'm afraid that I also agree that Obama was determined to make nice with someone who despised him and all people of color. It was sickening to see and here people talking about it. Most everyone avoided them like the plague. Melanoma's hair looked horrible-- and the expression on her face was like a bad smell. They are horrible people and I am with the ones not happy with Obama for breaking an unwritten rule-- don't make nice with traitors and zealots and liars and thieves and corrupt politicians. He would not have done that if Michelle had been there. This is probably the only accolade I could ever lay on Karen Pence but yeah, she did good...
And may all bad things happen to the whiny POS.
Re: people being nice to that rat bastard at the Carter funeral.
Right-wing traitors are whooping it up as proof that everyone there accepts Fatty as the king of the world and the unrivaled alpha male. In their warped brains and blackened little hearts there is no such thing as civility and common decency. To their way of thinking, the Dear Leader would never be nice to someone he hated, even at a state funeral. They’d get the back of his tiny hand. Thus, anyone demonstrating the kind of courtesy Trump routinely spits on must be weak and needing to kiss the ring.
Stupid or assholes? You make the call.
I’ll have a large pepperoni with a large side of karma, please.
Soooo…Pizzagate Man, shot down by police trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. This is the kind of dangerous prick the right attracts with their lies and hatreds.
By the way, were you wanting that pizza to go? We don’t deliver to hell. Sorry.
Trump 34