The Conversation -- October 17, 2024
⭐ Confessions of a Suit. John D. Miller in a U.S. News opinion piece: "I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster.... I led the team that marketed 'The Apprentice,' the reality show that made Donald Trump a household name outside of New York City, where he was better known for overextending his empire and appearing in celebrity gossip columns. To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty.... At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.... To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was." Read on.
Marie: Decades ago, when Steve Martin was a stand-up comic, he did a joke where he gave advice on how to make a million dollars and not pay any taxes: "First, make a million dollars. Then, when the IRS asks you why you didn't pay any taxes, say 'I forgot.'" Well, I've got a joke that's not so funny. Because it works: "Here's how to make a billion dollars (or 247 billion) and take control of a major foreign country. First get 247 billion dollars; then, become a U.S. citizen & bribe Donald Trump."
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has reached a major milestone in its pursuit of expansive student debt relief, announcing on Thursday that over one million people have had their federal student debt canceled through a program that offers forgiveness to public service workers. For President Biden, whose student debt agenda has been repeatedly handicapped by Republican legal challenges, the announcement marked a modest but undeniable achievement. With just weeks until the election, the administration has reported approving around $175 billion in total student debt relief for nearly five million borrowers through all the actions taken during Mr. Biden's presidency."
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "An independent panel reviewing the failures that led to the attempted assassination of ... Donald J. Trump in July called on the Secret Service to replace its leadership with people from the private sector and focus almost exclusively on its protective mission. The recommendations, part of a report released Thursday commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security, outlined deficiencies that have already been identified in the months after the rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13. Those include the failure of the Secret Service to secure a nearby building where a rooftop would-be assassin fired eight shots toward Mr. Trump. That and other security lapses, members of the panel said, result from an absence of 'critical thinking' among agents and supervisors. The panel was particularly struck by a 'lack of ownership' conveyed by the agents it interviewed. Those involved in the security planning did not take responsibility in the lead-up to the event, nor did they own failures in the aftermath. And, the report added, they 'have done little in the way of self-reflection in terms of identifying areas of missteps, omissions or opportunities for improvement.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's the irony: every intellectual lapse the panel identifies in Secret Service leadership is one that the target of the assassination shares: absence of critical think, lack of ownership of mistakes, failure to take responsibility from the git-go right through the follow-up and "little in the way of self-reflection in terms of identifying areas of missteps, omissions or [making] opportunities for improvement."
The Miracle of Evolution: A Turtle Morphs into a Chicken. Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Mitch McConnell said after the 2020 election that ... Donald Trump was 'stupid as well as being ill-tempered,' a 'despicable human being' and a 'narcissist,' according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month. McConnell made the remarks in private as part of a series of personal oral histories that he made available to Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press. Tackett's book, 'The Price of Power,' draws from almost three decades of McConnell's recorded diaries and from years of interviews with the normally reticent Kentucky Republican.... Despite those strong words, McConnell has endorsed Trump's 2024 run...."
⭐ Josef Federman, et al., of the AP: Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man. Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settling of scores just over a year after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack that stunned the country. They also presented it as a turning point in the campaign to destroy Hamas, urging the group to surrender and release some 100 hostages still in Gaza. 'Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the start of the day after Hamas,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. U.S. officials expressed hopes for a cease-fire with Sinwar out of the picture."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Israel's wars are here: "The Israeli military said on Thursday that it was assessing whether Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed in the Gaza Strip. The military released no further details about the assessment, but four Israeli officials said the military was taking the body of a slain militant to a laboratory in Israel in order to assess whether its DN matches that of Mr. Sinwar." ~~~
Update: "The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that Yahya Sinwar, the powerful and elusive militant leader who has been the No. 1 target for Israel since the beginning of the war, had been killed in battle. Mr. Sinwar was viewed as the architect of the brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel that set off the 13-month war that has plunged the Gaza Strip into a humanitarian crisis and began a wider conflict that now includes the fighting in Lebanon."
The New York Times has an obituary of Sinwar here.
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Presidential Race
Nicholas Nehamas & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris sat for the most adversarial interview of her campaign on Wednesday, sparring with the Fox News anchor Bret Baier over the border, President Biden's mental fitness and whether ... Donald J. Trump is a threat to American democracy. For a Democratic presidential candidate, appearing on Fox News is about as close as going into the lion's den as it gets.... But Ms. Harris -- giving her first interview on Fox News in an attempt to reach millions of voters, especially conservative-leaning women, who have probably not heard much of her message -- largely steered the conversation in her preferred direction. Here are six takeaways from the interview. [1] She broke with Biden (a little).... [2] An aggressive Bret Baier pushed right-wing arguments.... [3] For Harris, the interview was largely meant to appeal to women ... [4] and those women saw the vice president being interrupted repeatedly.... [5] The interview showed the limits of her outreach to Republicans.... [6] Harris flipped a Trump transgender attack back on him." ~~~
~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A campaign ad released by ... Donald J. Trump in battleground states slams Vice President Harris for supporting taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for prisoners and migrants, concluding: 'Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.' But ... Trump appointees at the Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Justice Department, provided an array of gender-affirming treatments, including hormone therapy, for a small group of inmates who requested it during Mr. Trump's four years in office." ~~~
~~~ Fritz Farrow, et al., of ABC News: "Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday hammered ... Donald Trump as thin-skinned and a threat to U.S. democracy in a combative interview with Fox News.... The interview was testy throughout, including multiple exchanges in which Harris and Fox News anchor Bret Baier repeatedly spoke over each other." ~~~
~~~ Brian Stelter of CNN: "Fox is effectively a television extension of Donald Trump's campaign.... Analysts have described the vice president's appearance on Fox as a surprising visit to 'enemy territory.' [Bret] Baier has tried to position himself above that partisan fray as 'fair, balanced and unafraid,' as he says in his sign-off every night. But a review of Baier's emails and comments during the 2020 election aftermath suggests otherwise. And his recent social media activity shows that he is supremely aware of the Fox base's extreme disdain for Harris and distrust of the media. Baier, the anchor of Fox's 6 p.m. 'Special Report' newscast, is also the network's chief political anchor.... Baier expressed a remarkable degree of sympathy for the Trump base's unsupported screams about a stolen [2020] election."
Erica Green of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday made her most direct and expansive pitch yet to conservative and moderate voters, appearing in Pennsylvania with a phalanx of Republican elected officials who have set aside their party loyalties to try to defeat ... Donald J. Trump. At a campaign event in Bucks County, Pa., Ms. Harris tried to strike a unifying tone even as she castigated her opponent, casting her campaign as one that embraced anyone who believed that Mr. Trump should not serve a second term.... The gathering in Washington Crossing, Pa., [close to where George Washington crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessian garrison in Trenton] featured distinctly patriotic notes not found at other campaign events, including a large, red banner reading 'Country over party,' the presenting of the colors and the Pledge of Allegiance.... Ms. Harris laid out a broad, historically based argument about the sanctity of democracy.... As she recited how Mr. Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, she went out of her way to praise former Vice President Mike Pence, who has declined to endorse his former boss, for his 'courage and patriotism' in preventing Mr. Trump from 'overturning the will of the American people.'" ~~~
~~~ You can watch Harris's full speech here.
Here was Gov. Tim Walz in rural Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, discussing gun control to people who just might be gun owners. There's a punch line: ~~~
~~~ There's a somewhat hilarious update on those 34 felonies. See Rachel Maddow's live report, embedded below, & Megan Lebowitz's print story, linked below, which is based on Maddow's reporting.
~~~ And here's Walz talking about venture capitalist JayDee: ~~~
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 on Oct. 1 and has been in hospice care since February 2023, submitted his absentee ballot on Wednesday, according to Jason Carter, the former president's grandson. Jason Carter, the chairman of the Carter Center, said in a text message on Wednesday that his grandfather's ballot had been deposited at a drop box at a local courthouse. For weeks, according to the Carter family, the former president was privately playing down becoming a centenarian. Instead, Mr. Carter's relatives said, he was most eager about voting for Vice President Kamala Harris." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Gold & Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump faced blunt, direct questions in both English and Spanish from undecided Hispanic voters throughout [a Univision] town hall, which will be broadcast [Wednesday] at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Men and women from across the country came to Univision's Miami-area studio in Doral, Fla., and questioned the former president's positions on climate change, gun control and abortion rights, and his baseless claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.... Mr. Trump kept his composure, avoiding the hostility he often exhibits when similarly questioned by the news media. But Mr. Trump did not directly engage with many of the thoughtful questions from these voters. Skirting specific answers, he retreated to his standard campaign language, often talking up the achievements of his administration and making vague promises for the future.... When Mr. Trump was asked about immigration, a central issue of his presidential campaign this year, he also remained vague about his policy plans. In front of an audience of about 100 Latino voters, he did not once mention his pledge to undertake the largest deportation operation in American history." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: That was a televised town hall. A teevee network gave citizens the opportunity to discuss issues with a politician, in this case a politician running for office. The event was supposed to allow for the free flow of ideas (as much as that is possible in a made-for-television show). The town hall -- in its ideal form -- constitutes a useful, if not necessarily essential, tool for democracy, giving both the politician and the citizens a chance to learn from each other. But when is a televised town hall not a town hall? When the only people in attendance, including the moderator, are part of the cult of the politician, when all of the questions put to the politician are prescreened, and when these deceptions are kept secret from the television audience, to the point clues to the character of the audience are edited out. ~~~
~~~ Trump's Potemkin Town Hall. Hadas Gold & Liam Reilly of CNN: "Fox News hosted an all-women town hall with ... Donald Trump, billed as an opportunity for female voters to ask the Republican candidate questions that matter to them. The Georgia town hall, where Trump took questions on reproductive laws, transgender rights and other issues, aired Wednesday morning. But Fox News did not disclose that the female audience it selected for the event was packed with local Republican supporters and the network edited its broadcast to remove some of their vocal advocacy of Trump. The Georgia Federation of Republican Women wrote on its Facebook page Wednesday that the group helped host the event, posting photos from the venue and writing they were 'Super excited for the opportunity of hosting this event right here in Georgia!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is how the authoritarians do it. There is a dramatic and ironic contrast between Harris's "going into the lion's den," as the NYT put it, on the same day Trump granted an audience to his courtesans. When Trump calls Harris "weak," he is projecting again. ~~~
~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump declared himself the 'father of I.V.F.' in a town-hall event Tuesday focused on women's issues, an eyebrow-raising nickname that was his latest attempt to claim an advantage on a matter that has become a political liability. The Supreme Court justices Mr. Trump appointed enabled the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a ruling that he has praised and that opened the door to possible restrictions on in vitro fertilization.... Congressional Republicans have voted twice in the past four months to block bills that would protect the legality of I.V.F.... Mr. Trump said, as he has before, that he learned how significant the Alabama Supreme Court ruling was from Katie Britt, the state's junior senator and a Republican.... He added that he had asked Ms. Britt to explain to him what I.V.F. was before concluding that he supported it." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The first IVF baby was born in 1978. Donald Trump admits he didn't know what IVF was until last year when Britt became a U.S. senator. Forty-five years later. He is the "father of IVF" the way he is the historian who discovered that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. He thinks that when he occasionally learns something he didn't know before (even if millions of people already knew it), that he invented it. When the shrinks are writing down the symptoms of narcissism, they should add this one. ~~~
~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN: At the fake town hall, Trump "told a bunch of lies.... [He] made at least 19 false claims in the one-hour event that aired Wednesday morning..., notably including an absurd claim that he is 'the father of IVF.'"
Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that former President Trump did not lose in 2020 'by the words that I would use' -- some of his most extensive comments yet on the subject of the last presidential election results. '... on the election of 2020 -- I've answered this question directly, a million times -- no,' Vance said a campaign event in Pennsylvania when a reporter asked what message Vance thought it sent to independent voters when he didn't directly answer the question 'Did Donald Trump lose in 2020?... I think there were serious problems in 2020. So did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use,' Vance said." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Neal Katyal in a New York Times op-ed: "In 2024, the judicial branch may be unable to save our democracy. The rogues are no longer amateurs. They have spent the last four years going pro, meticulously devising a strategy across multiple fronts -- state legislatures, Congress, executive branches and elected judges -- to overturn any close election. The new challenges will take place in forums that have increasingly purged officials who put country over party. They may take place against the backdrop of razor-thin election margins in key swing states, meaning that any successful challenge could change the election.... In the courts, dozens of suits have already been filed.... State officials and local election boards also can wreak havoc by refusing to certify elections, and this time they will have new tools to manufacture justifications for undermining democracy.... State legislatures ... might make baseless allegations of fraud and interfere to get a different slate of electors appointed to the Electoral College, as happened in 2020.... The Congress has the power to swing the entire election."
Spencer Hsu & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "A Supreme Court ruling in June dealt a blow to the Jan. 6 prosecutions: More than 100 of the people at the Capitol riot, the high court said, had been improperly charged with obstructing an official proceeding. But Donald Trump was not among them, because he did far more than interrupt the proceedings at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, special counsel Jack Smith asserted in a new filing Wednesday. In the filing -- the first time Smith has formally given his view of how the Supreme Court's decision in Fischer v. United States affects the Jan. 6 prosecution of the former president -- the special counsel pointed to what he alleges were efforts by Trump and his allies to have slates of electors in states where President Joe Biden won cast their vote instead for him. That, Smith argued, qualifies as impairment of evidence and obstruction of an official proceeding, even under the Supreme Court's new, narrower guidance." The NBC News report, by Ryan Reilly, is here.
Trump Offers Stormy Daniels More Hush Money. Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "... Donald Trump this summer offered a financial incentive to adult film star Stormy Daniels if she agreed to keep quiet about Trump -- including about the relationship that became the center of the hush money payments that ended up the subject of a New York criminal trial -- ... MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reported on Wednesday.... In a [civil] case separate from the [criminal] hush money trial [in which Trump was convicted of 34 felonies], Daniels was ordered to pay for Trump's legal fees after she lost a defamation suit she filed against him. About two months after the hush money trial, Trump's lawyer told Daniels' representative that the former president would agree to a lower payment if she agreed not to make any disparaging comments about Trump.... In a statement to MSNBC, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung falsely asserted that the documents Maddow referenced 'were attained as part of an illegal, foreign hacking attack against President Trump and his team.'... MSNBC obtained the documents from Daniels' lawyer, not through a hack." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In October 2016, Donald Trump agreed to pay Stormy Daniels hush money, an agreement that eventually led to his conviction on 34 felony counts. Now, in October 2020, Trump has once again offered Daniels hush money. It isn't only that you can't teach an old dog new tricks; this old dog can't stop doing the old tricks. Here's Rachel Maddow reporting on her findings on last night's Chris Hayes show: ~~~
Okay, this is mighty gross opinionating, but I guess Trump deserves it: ~~~
Two stories from the "How Low Can They Go?" File Drawer: ~~~
⭐ 1. Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets: "An initiative called Progress 2028 that purports to be Kamala Harris' liberal counter to the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is actually run by a dark money network supporting ... Donald Trump. Building America's Future, the dark money group at the helm of the network, has steered money to a constellation of groups and initiatives boosting Trump's agenda and spreading messaging aimed at chipping away voters from Harris. The dark money group reportedly received over $100 million in funding from billionaire Elon Musk, along with other donors, the New York Times recently reported.... Some of the policies listed in Progress 2028 highlight disproven and misleading claims about Harris' positions. Policies listed include 'Empowering Undocumented Immigrants, Building Our Future' and 'Expanding Medicaid to Undocumented Immigrants.'... Some individuals have received text messages directing them to the Progress 2028 page.... Progress 2028 has also started pouring money into digital advertising.... Building America's Future ... has a history of fueling initiatives impersonating and parodying Democrats."
2. David Corn of Mother Jones: "In Arizona, older people recently received a mailer declaring Medicare had been cancelled. It had a big red stamp that proclaimed, 'Medicare Cancellation Notice.' Also emblazoned on its front was this: 'Warning: Rates are going up & plans are being cancelled. Details enclosed.' Its return address was the 'Department of Medicare Cancellation, Kamala Harris Administration.' That return address should have been a tip-off that this was not an official notification -- along with a scrawled add-on in cursive: 'I hope you can afford to lose your insurance! -- Kamala Harris XOXO.' It's hard to know whether any recipient saw this and received a shock, fearing their Medicare was being cut off. But the group that sent out this official-looking piece of campaign literature, Make America Great Again, Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, was spreading false and misleading information about Medicare and about Harris.... MAGA, Inc. is the top pro-Trump super PAC."
Sam Woods in McSweeney's on the dilemma of the undecided Hobbit, torn "between the Dark Lord determined to return to power and stay there until shadows drown all of Arda, or the Elf Galadriel, who seems to be great and exceedingly normal, but I just wish I knew more about her."
Justin Jouvenal Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for a Biden administration plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants burning fossil fuels, denying an emergency appeal by more than two dozen Republican-led states, utilities and others.... The Biden administration said the plan was calibrated to avoid economic harm and problems for the electric grid, and that the rule would protect communities from pollution and help the nation meet long-term goals to combat climate change. The initiative is one of the administration's most significant actions on global warming.... As is customary, the majority of the justices did not give a reason as to why they denied the emergency request on carbon emissions from power plants. But a statement attached to the denial order indicates that some justices may be inclined to eventually block or strike down the power plant regulations." MB: Usual suspects (Thomas, Kavenaugh, Gorsuch), except Alito recused himself for no specified reason.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and matriarch of a political dynasty, was remembered on Wednesday by three presidents, star musicians and many, many relatives during a memorial service in Washington. President Biden eulogized Mrs. Kennedy, who died last Thursday at 96, as 'a hero in her own right, full of character, full of integrity and empathy, genuine empathy.' Growing emotional, Mr. Biden credited her for encouraging him to stay in the Senate after a car accident killed his first wife and infant daughter in 1972. 'Ethel Kennedy would hear none of it,' Mr. Biden said in the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. 'Fact is, like she did for the country, Ethel helped my family find a way forward.'... Mr. Biden and two former presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, gave speeches. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi honored Mrs. Kennedy 'from an official standpoint and from a girlfriend standpoint.' Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the civil rights leader, compared Mrs. Kennedy to his mother, saying she built 'beautiful bridges of greater understanding.'"
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California. Ruth Graham & Orlando Mayorquín of the New York Times: "The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation's largest, has agreed to pay $880 million to 1,353 people who say they were sexually abused as children by Catholic clergy. The settlement, which experts said was the highest single payout by a diocese, brings Los Angeles's cumulative total in sex abuse lawsuits to more than $1.5 billion. The settlement was announced on Wednesday in a joint statement by lawyers for the plaintiffs and the archdiocese.... The agreement represents the near conclusion to decades of litigation against the archdiocese, with only a few suits remaining. Over the years, the archdiocese has sold off real estate, liquidated investments and taken out loans to cover the staggering costs of litigation."
Georgia. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A Georgia judge [-- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. --] on Wednesday blocked a series of rules approved this year by a pro-Trump majority of the state's election board, admonishing the board in stinging language that the rules are 'ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND VOID.' The judge struck down more than a half-dozen new rules, including one that allowed county election officials to launch investigations of irregularities, which critics feared would delay certification." CNN's report is here.
Montana Senate Race. "Little Black Girls." Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy of Montana wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, claiming it is meant to 'indoctrinate and enslave' students across the country, according to The Daily Montanan.... 'We formed that department so little Black girls could go to school down South and we could have integrated schooling. We don't need that anymore,' he [said].... [Sen. Jon] Tester [D-Mont.] slammed his GOP opponent and vowed to protect the public school system on Tuesday."
Texas Senate Race. Saul Elbein & Julia Mueller of the Hill have some takeaways from the debate between Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) & Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Allred is challenging Cruz for the Senate seat. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Italy. Emma Bubola of the New York Times: "Italy passed a law on Wednesday that criminalizes seeking surrogacy abroad, a move the country's conservative government said would protect women's dignity, while critics see it as yet another crackdown by the government on L.G.B.T. families, as the law will make it virtually impossible for gay fathers to have children. Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy. But the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to broaden the ban to punish Italians who seek it in countries where it is legal, like in parts of the United States. Analysts saw the legislation as a way for Ms. Meloni to assert her conservative credentials and appeal to her political base, which disproportionately opposes surrogacy and adoption by gay couples. Italy, home to the Vatican, already ranks low in Europe when it comes to civil liberties, and Italian critics say that by imposing further restrictions on gay families, Ms. Meloni has taken a particularly hard line."
Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Israel's wars is here: "The United States carried out strikes in Yemen using long-range B-2 stealth bombers to target underground weapons storage facilities used by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed militant group, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that there had been 'some improvement' in food aid delivery to northern Gaza in recent days, after no aid had entered for about two weeks and the Biden administration warned Israel that military aid could be affected if the flow of aid did not increase."
Ukraine, et al. Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden surged $425 million to Ukraine's defense against Russia on Wednesday.... Mr. Biden spoke by telephone to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine about the security package, which includes munitions, armored vehicles and other weapons, the White House announced. The package comes as Mr. Biden is set to travel to Germany on Thursday for a brief trip that is likely to be his last visit to Europe as commander in chief. He will use the opportunity to remind the world of the importance of alliances just three weeks before the U.S. presidential election." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Mitzi Gaynor, the bubbly actress, singer and dancer who landed one of the most coveted movie roles of the mid-20th century, the female lead in 'South Pacific,' but who abandoned film as the era of movie musical came to an end, died on Thursday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 93."
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Reader Comments (17)
Test.
So let me get this straight…Kamala Harris walks into what has been described as a campaign headquarters for Donald Trump and is grilled by one of Fox’s premiere supporters of the MAGA mob who screams that the last election was stolen. Trump, meanwhile, sits comfortably in the bosom of that very same mob, tricked out like a town hall, but which can be described charitably as a complete setup, an audience full of Trump voters, responding to pre-vetted questions, a total scam.
What does the AG Times do? Open the NYTimes site and here’s what you see: “Inside the $700 million Kamala Harris ad-checking factory!”
Holy shit, that sounds pretty squirrelly. Is she really spending all that money trying to trick voters? The National Enquirer, oops, I mean the AG Times wants to know.
What else? Oh…Donald Trump bravely faced tough questions from Hispanic voters but came out unscathed! Hooray!
Then: Can Kamala Harris really build 3 million new housing units? I mean, c’mon…
No mention of Fatty’s fake town hall. Maybe there’s something buried in some other page, but if you just scan the opening page of their website you see:
Harris spending a shit ton of money to massage her messaging.
Brave Sir Donald stands tall.
Harris makes a promise. But is this realistic?
This is how it will be until Election Day.
A fucking disgrace.
Harris Calling out Fox News Gas lighting in real time.
And once again we have Musk behind fake news with his bankrolling a fake Harris site about fake handouts to the scary migrants. All government contracts with Musk lead businesses should be immediately terminated. He is a national security threat. And adversarial to what this country aspires to be.
@RAS: Your link didn't work. I could try to find the proper link, but I'd have to sign into Xitter & do some stuff to get it, and I just don't have time this morning.
However, Chris Hayes, in his opening segment last night, demonstrated how after Harris said Donald Trump threatened to turn the military on citizens, Bret Baier showed an edited clip, then said, "See, Donald Trump didn't say that." Then Hayes showed the full clip -- rather than Baier's edited clip. Well, lo and behold, it turned out that Baier's techs actually CUT out the part where Trump threatened the "enemies of the people."
That's their "proof" over at Fox. Just cut the part that verifies something they don't like. Pretend it never happened. Present the edited clip to the viewers as "evidence" of your preferred version of things. Give these folks a Pulitzer! The Excellence in Editing award. I never watch Fox "News," but I'm just going to guess this utterly deceptive -- black is white and white is black -- type of edit makes it on air frequently.
Update: @RAS: Okay, I got it. And it turn out the X writer is talking about the same Chris Hayes segment I referenced above.
@RAS: The government can't cancel someone's contracts because the administration or DOJ doesn't like his political position. That IS "adversarial to what this country aspires to be."
On the other hand, it seems to me these PACs Musk & others are funding are involved in serious fraud. I don't know whether political deception -- if its aim is not to cause people to part with their money -- is illegal. In general, fraud does not have to lead to monetary loss but can cause other kinds of damage.
But there have to be a law or laws against something like "impersonation to attempt to misrepresent a candidate for office." Something like that.
Even if what these Trumpy PACs are doing is criminal, I don't think the donors would be found guilty for something the PAC did -- unless there was evidence the donors themselves specifically directed the PAC to run the deceptive ads or fake Websites or whatever.
You kinda would need a smoking gun like Stormy Daniels' video of the call from her lawyer (see Hayes/Maddow segment embedded above). And don't let Bret Baier anywhere near it.
@Marie:: Yeah, that's the clip I was trying to link to of Harris pushing back on Fox's attempt to give Trump a do over on his threats to half the country.
@Marie: It's not the politics, it's the threat to democracy here and abroad. It's the erratic behavior and drug use. And the undermining US allies (Ukraine) and US foreign policy. Also his contacts with dictators like Putin. All of it together is why I think Musk should be kept away from the government. And I'm sure in the contracts his company has signed are some heavy restrictions that he has crossed. Unfortunately his companies have become overly vital to our national interests here and abroad.
@RAS: I think if we found out what most of the top guys in companies that have military contracts with the U.S. government were doing, we'd be shaken to the core.
I agree that Elon is dangerous (see my not-so-funny joke at the top of the page.) He is just the sort of person the Founding Fathers were worried about when they decided that no foreign-born person could become president. But Elon figured out a way to get around that little impediment. He just bought him a president*.
All of that notwithstanding, it would be damned hard -- maybe impossible -- to legally void his contracts. Could there be something in the fine print about, you know, "moral turpitude" or "contacts with foreign adversaries"? Maybe. But then he'd have a defense like, "Oh yeah? Look at Lockheed or Raytheon or Boeing."
Update: And I sweartagod that when I wrote the comment above I hadn't seen this DOJ press release where they announced they've fined Raytheon almost $1BB for "a major government fraud scheme involving defective pricing on certain government contracts and ... violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its implementing regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)."
Greer Donley and Jill Wieber Lens describe the ‘Post-Birth Abortion’ Donald Trump Keeps Talking About" inThe Atlantic
The story of how a crucial option for women got weaponized—and then got weaponized again.
"Trump...portrays perinatal palliative care as something callous and murderous. As he put it at a 2019 rally, “The baby is born and you wrap the baby beautifully and you talk to the mother about the possible execution of the baby.” At least according to Trump, parents who choose perinatal palliative care are killing their child, acting just as reprehensibly, in his view, as someone who chooses an abortion."
The Onion, parody
"With the struggling newspaper admitting this was the final nail in its coffin, The New York Times announced this week that it would permanently cease publication, saying there was no way it could compete with The Onion’s newly relaunched print edition.
In an internal memo sent to the paper’s 5,800 employees, publisher A.G. Sulzberger said that while he had done everything in his power to keep The New York Times afloat, The Onion’s latest expansion into physical media had forced the company to reevaluate all parts of its business—from its glaringly inaccurate reporting, to its comparatively low circulation numbers, to its deeply unpopular brand, to its completely inept columnists."
Jonathan M. Katz
"The Times is ready for fascism
Are you?
But this is Donald Trump, and so it is all, as the wags like to say, “priced in.” It is priced in that he operates as the unreproachable head of a cult of personality. The fact that he grooves in his spare time to sexist anthems from the 1960s and racist hymns from the 1860s — priced in. Also priced in: Trump’s promise of expanded concentration camps in a second term. “Bloody” mass deportations. Stripping citizenship from people born in the United States. Ordering the U.S. military to shoot protesters opposed to him. All of these, and more, are now priced in
Trump’s fascism is so priced in that the Times does not consider a declaration by Trump’s own former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, that Trump is, quote, “a total fascist,” “a fascist to the core,” and “the most dangerous person ever” is not even worthy of a standalone story."
Another cancelled event
"Trump NRA rally in Savannah canceled
Former president was to make second visit to coastal Georgia city in less than a month for ‘Defend the 2nd’ event at Savannah Convention Center
The National Rifle Association on Thursday canceled an Oct. 22 rally featuring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump scheduled for the Savannah Convention Center.
The former president was to deliver the keynote speech at what the NRA titled a “Defend the 2nd” event, a reference to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that protects the right of Americans to own firearms. A Trump campaign official said the event was canceled due to a scheduling conflict."
Balloon Juice has a number of clips from the Univision town hall.
Speaking of the 2nd Amendment: I recently read "Ratification", (Pauline Maier S&S 2010), a detailed account of the state-by-state considerations of the Constitution, the proposed replacement for the Articles of Confederation. In 470 pages, plus voluminous notes, nary a mention that ANY state made a case about the issue of citizens bearing arms. For that matter, the Bill of Rights was itself not an issue per se, but it resulted AFTER the Constitution went into effect when the first Congress created amendments using the process set forth in the Constitution, to address other concerns that had arisen in the ratification process. The first Ten Amendments we now call "The Bill of Rights" were first known as such during a 1947 U.S. history education tour known as "The Freedom Train."
Those amendments mostly printed up guarantees of rights held by the people, which had not been incorporated in the original body. Many of the states' constitutions or charters had such lists of rights, and the Philadelphia constitution drafters thought such lists were unnecessary for the federal government. But the desire for such guarantees proved very strong in the states' ratifying conventions, and the promise of creation of such a post-ratification set of guarantees became crucial to key states' approvals.
In none of the heated debates in the states (and in several, approval was in deep jeopardy, primarily over opposition to allowing tax power to the feds) did any one at any time represent the citizens' right to bear arms as one of those inalienable rights. The 2nd was tacked on in the Congressional amendment process. And it clearly referred to militia activity.
I'm sure all that will be discussed in break-out study groups at this weekend's NRA Savannah conference.
Excuse me RAS: Regarding your Onion/NYT post, I thought The Onion was supposed to be parody.