The Conversation -- June 24, 2025
Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: “A preliminary classified U.S. report says the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.... The early findings conclude that the strikes over the weekend set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.... Before the attack, U.S. intelligence agencies had said that if Iran tried to rush to making a bomb, it would take about three months. After the U.S. bombing run and days of attacks by the Israeli Air Force, the report by the Defense Intelligence Agency estimated that the program was delayed less than six months.... The findings suggest that ... [Donald] Trump’s statement that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated was overstated, at least based on the initial damage assessment. Congress had been set to be briefed on the strike on Tuesday..., but the session was postponed. Senators are now set be briefed on Thursday.”
Adam Liptak & Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: “The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in the case of eight men it seeks to deport to South Sudan, asking the justices to make clear that an order they issued on Monday was intended to apply to the group. The clarity was apparently needed because the Supreme Court on Monday had issued only a brief order letting the government send migrants to countries with which they have no connection without giving them a chance to argue they would face torture. The court provided no explanation of its reasoning. The Supreme Court’s order paused an injunction issued by Judge Brian E. Murphy, of the U.S. District Court in Boston, who had forbidden the deportations of all migrants to third countries unless they were afforded due process. Soon after the Supreme Court ruled, lawyers for the men filed an emergency motion with Judge Murphy asking him to continue blocking the deportations of eight men currently held in Djibouti.
“In a brief order Monday night, the judge denied the motion as unnecessary. He said that he had issued a separate ruling last month, different from the one the Supreme Court had paused, protecting the men in Djibouti from immediate removal. That left the fate of the men unclear, as ... [Donald] Trump and a top aide cried foul. Judge Murphy 'knew absolutely nothing about the situation' and was 'absolutely out of control,' Mr. Trump wrote on social media. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff..., said, 'Expect fireworks tomorrow when we hold this judge accountable for refusing to obey the Supreme Court.'”
Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “A senior Justice Department official, Emil Bove III, told subordinates he was willing to ignore court orders to fulfill the president’s aggressive deportation campaign, according to a whistle-blower complaint by a department lawyer who has since been fired. The account by the dismissed lawyer, Erez Reuveni, paints a disturbing portrait of his final three weeks on the front lines of the Trump administration’s legal efforts to ship immigrants overseas, often with little notice or recourse. In Mr. Reuveni’s telling, Mr. Bove discussed disregarding court orders, adding an expletive for emphasis, and other top law enforcement officials showed themselves ready to stonewall judges or lie to them to get their way. Mr. Reuveni’s account, which was obtained by The New York Times, was filed to lawmakers and the Justice Department inspector general on Tuesday, just one day before Mr. Bove is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a nomination to a federal appeals court....
“Mr. Bove’s boss, Todd Blanche, called Mr. Reuveni’s description of events 'falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee and then leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations.' Mr. Blanche denounced this article as 'a false hit piece a day before a confirmation hearing,' criticizing The Times for publishing it. 'The claims about Department of Justice leadership are utterly false,' he said in a statement. The filing, however, suggests a copious trail of emails, texts and phone records that would support Mr. Reuveni’s version of events.” MB: Bove and Blanche, as you recall, worked together as private lawyers to defend Felonious Trump. ~~~
~~~ The account, submitted by the Government Accountability Project to the DOJ inspector general and others, is here. (Unfortunately, it is a pdf provided by the NYT, so firewalled.)
Scott Nover of the Washington Post: “In a hearing Monday to determine the future of Voice of America, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth scolded the government for not complying with his preliminary injunction from April. Lamberth lamented the 'paucity' of information provided by the Trump administration about how it is complying with the statutory obligations for running Voice of America and its parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, as ordered in an April injunction. At one point, Lamberth asked the assistant U.S. attorney representing the government, Brenda González Horowitz, why he should not start a contempt trial for violating his injunction. While the federal circuit court for Washington stayed parts of Lamberth’s injunction in May that brought staffers back to work, the government did not appeal a requirement of the order that required it to uphold the statutory obligations of the agency.”
Kate Conger & Kenneth Vogel of the New York Times: “Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization, sued the Federal Trade Commission on Monday, claiming that the agency was waging a 'campaign of retribution' against the group on behalf of the Trump administration and Elon Musk. The F.T.C. started investigating Media Matters last month over whether the organization had illegally colluded with other advertising advocacy groups to pinch off revenue from X, Mr. Musk’s social media company, and other right-leaning sites. Media Matters reported in 2023 that ads on X appeared alongside antisemitic content. Media Matters said in its lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission had employed 'sweeping governmental powers to attempt to silence and harass an organization for daring to speak the truth.' The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., claimed that the agency was trying to limit the organization’s free speech rights, and asked a judge to immediately halt the investigation.”
The New York Times is liveblogging the Democratic primary election, being held today, for New York City mayor: “After months of campaigning, caustic debates and a deluge of attack ads, the consequential Democratic primary for mayor of New York City will come to a head today as voters stream to the ballot box in blistering heat. The contest has narrowed into a two-man sprint between Andrew M. Cuomo, the state’s scandal-plagued former governor, and Zohran Mamdani, an assemblyman and democratic socialist with a short track record, with a crowded field of nine rivals trailing behind. Polls suggest the outcome is a tossup. By Tuesday night, the city is certain to know which candidate is in the lead. But because New Yorkers will be voting under a ranked-choice system, unless one candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes outright, the final result will not be determined until July 1. That is when voters’ backup choices are scheduled to be tabulated. Whoever prevails will become the front-runner in the general election....”
~~~~~~~~~~
All Must Obey World's Supreme Leader
Kareem Fahim, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump claimed in a social media post Monday that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, hours after Iran fired missiles toward an American air base in Qatar retaliating for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities with a less-than-furious attack that caused no casualties. There was no immediate corroborating announcement from the Israeli government. Iran’s top diplomat said that Iran’s military had halted its operations but appeared to take issue with the framing of the U.S. announcement, writing on social media that there had been no agreement on 'ceasefire or cessation of military operations.' Trump’s announcement followed a streak of social media posts in which he thanked Iran 'for giving us early notice' on the missile attack, while also calling it a 'very weak response.' A day earlier, he floated the possibility of 'regime change' in Iran — prompting White House officials to later explain that the official U.S. posture that it did not strike the Iranian nuclear sites to bring about a regime change had not changed.”
Yamiche Alcindor of NBC News: “In an exclusive phone interview with NBC News tonight, Trump [said of] the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, '... I’m very happy to have been able to get the job done.'... Asked how long the ceasefire would be, Trump said: 'I think the ceasefire is unlimited. It’s going to go forever.' He added that the war is completely over, saying he does not believe Israel and Iran 'will ever be shooting at each other again.'” Also, please tell the Nobel Peace Prize committee that my address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., USA 20500.
Joe Walsh, et al., of CBS News: "Israel and Iran said Tuesday they are complying with a ceasefire agreement announced by ... [Donald] Trump. Mr. Trump said on Truth Social just after 1 a.m. ET Tuesday that a ceasefire he announced earlier between the two countries 'IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!'"
The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Iran/Israel/U.S. war are here: “The fate of a truce announced by ... [Donald] Trump that went into effect early Tuesday hung in the balance, as the Israeli military said Iran had fired another missile barrage and vowed to retaliate. The claim from Israel’s military came just hours after the country had joined Iran in agreeing to the truce, spurring cautious hopes for an end to 12 days of unprecedented warfare between the adversaries, and as both sides seemingly claimed victory in the conflict. Iran’s military denied firing missiles after the cease-fire went into effect, according to Iranian state news outlets — adding to the uncertainty. Mr. Trump’s announcement, on the eve of the NATO summit, could give the president a chance to take a victory lap at the gathering — if the truce holds. The timing of it had caught some of his own officials by surprise, and both sides continued to trade fire in the last moments before confirming a truce was in effect.... In the last moment before the cease-fire was meant to take effect, both sides continued to trade fire.”
Update: “... [Donald] Trump lashed out at Israel and Iran on Tuesday over concerns that both sides had violated an hours-old cease-fire, intensifying the uncertainty over the fragile deal that he had helped broker to end the deadly conflict. In expletive-laced remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump accused both sides of launching attacks, pledging to 'see if I can stop it.' In a Truth Social post, the president warned Israel not to 'drop those bombs' and demanded the country 'bring your pilots home now.' It was unclear whether either side had breached the cease-fire. Israel’s military accused Tehran of firing missiles after the deal went into effect on Tuesday and vowed to retaliate. Iran’s military denied doing so, according to Iranian state news outlets.” ~~~
SO THEN. BBC News: "... speaking to reporters before heading to the Nato summit in The Hague..., [Trump said,] 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing.'... [Earlier, in a social media post, Trump wrote,] 'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!'"
AND THEN. From the Guardian's live updates: “Donald Trump has posted once more on his Truth Social, insisting the ceasefire is 'in effect'. Trump posted: 'ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”
Here's an update of the New York Times' liveblog for Monday on the Israel/Iran/U.S. war: “Iran appeared poised to strike an American base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East, according to Iranian and Israeli officials with knowledge of the matter. A senior White House official confirmed that the United States is aware of a potential attack by Iran against the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The base, which serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Central Command, is considered a prime potential target should Iran retaliate over American strikes on its nuclear installations over the weekend. Earlier in the day, the United States and Britain warned their citizens in Qatar to shelter in place. The warnings came as Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Tehran on Monday and promised more 'in the coming days,' pressing on with its bombing campaign a day after the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear sites. The new Israeli barrage, which a military spokesman said targeted a paramilitary headquarters, a notorious prison and access routes to the Fordo nuclear enrichment site that the U.S. military bombarded over the weekend, came as Iran fired salvos of missiles that sent Israelis to huddle in shelters. The strikes came despite calls from world leaders for de-escalation, and as ... [Donald] Trump’s decision to join Israel’s campaign against Iran raised fears that the war would intensify.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Here's a second update: “Iran on Monday launched a missile attack on an American base in Qatar, the largest American military installation in the Middle East, in what appeared to be calculated retaliation for U.S. strikes on three critical Iranian nuclear sites. Even as it attacked, there were signs that Iran might have been looking for an off-ramp from a confrontation with the United States. The Iranian officials said their government had given advance notice that the missile strike was coming, to minimize potential casualties, and ... [Donald] Trump responded with an olive branch online.”
Jess Bidgood of the New York Times: Donald Trump narrated the war on his social media account. “Armistices may never be the same again.”
Because Nothing Is Ever Trump's Fault. Hannah Sampson of the Washington Post: “The State Department is warning Americans around the globe that they could face travel difficulties and hostility due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. In a security alert issued Sunday afternoon, less than a day after U.S. bombers struck nuclear sites in Iran, the department urged 'worldwide caution.' The advisory did not mention the strikes from the United States. 'The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,' the alert says. 'There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.'”
Marie: I'll admit I avoided reading the various stories about how Trump got from promoting international peace to "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." But yesterday RAS pointed out this New York Times story, with lead reporter Mark Mazzetti, that shows how Trump listened to they pro-strike hype at Fox "News" to make his decision: "The president was closely monitoring Fox News, which was airing wall-to-wall praise of Israel’s military operation and featuring guests urging Mr. Trump to get more involved." Also central to the story -- and not a bit surprising to us -- is how the military brass was petrified that President* Looselips would tell all -- which he came close to doing: "All the while, Mr. Trump was making blustery statements indicating he was about to take the country into the conflict.... [Trump's] public pronouncements generated angst at the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command, where military planners began to worry that Mr. Trump was giving Iran too much warning about an impending strike." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: I suppose it's kind of comforting to know that Trump's press secretary is as ignorant of history as he is. The amazing part of Leavitt's ignorance is not that one needs to be a student of ancient history to have heard the phrase "peace through strength." People, even on Fox "News" no doubt, repeat it regularly as an argument for maintaining, threatening to use and/or using military power to ensure hegemony. Thanks to RAS for the link.
We've linked to stories about some of these folks before, but "Trump's poor choices for national security staffing have new relevance after Iran bombing": ~~~
⭐ Hearts of Darkness. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries where they are not citizens, temporarily blocking a decision by a lower-court judge who said migrants must have a 'meaningful opportunity' to contest their removal. The court’s order, which drew a sharp dissent from the three liberal justices, was the latest of several allowing ... Donald Trump to move forward with a major change in policy while litigation on the issue continues in lower courts. Each has been made as part of the court’s 'emergency docket.'... Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote a nearly 20-page dissent, criticizing the administration for violating the lower-court order and trying to send migrants to 'a nation [South Sudan] the State Department considers too unsafe for all but its most critical personnel.... Rather than allowing our lower court colleagues to manage this high-stakes litigation with the care and attention it plainly requires,' the liberals wrote, the majority was 'rewarding lawlessness' by halting an order the administration has repeatedly defied.” Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, is here. MB: I'd like to send six Supremes to South Sudan. ~~~
~~~ Steve Vladeck on "the Court's disastrous ruling...[: Justice Sotomayor's] dissent makes three distinct arguments, all of which should have militated against the relief the majority (again, with no analysis) provided.... The ruling going to have massive (and potentially harmful) effects.... Even more importantly, here is one of the most stark examples to date of the Trump administration overtly defying rulings by a federal district judge. Indeed, it did so twice in this case. For the Court to not only grant emergency relief in this case, but to offer nary a word of explanation either in criticism of the government’s behavior, or in defense of why it granted relief notwithstanding that behavior, is to invite — if not affirmatively enable — comparable defiance of future district court orders by the government.... But it’s impossible to imagine that the Trump administration will view it any other way."
Judge Says Pam Blondie Is Full of It. Glenn Thrush & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “In early June, Attorney General Pam Bondi unveiled the indictment of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant mistakenly deported to El Salvador.... She predicted he would be easily convicted. On Sunday night, 16 days later, a federal magistrate judge gave a far different assessment of the evidence presented so far: The department’s case had serious problems, relied heavily on deals with multiple informants, included dubious claims about his actions that bordered on 'physical impossibility' and was rife with hearsay testimony. The judge, Barbara D. Holmes, ordered Mr. Abrego Garcia to be released, but conceded he was likely to be detained for immigration violations as his case moves through the courts....
“Although Judge Holmes did not mention Ms. Bondi by name, her 51-page ruling represented a rejection of efforts by top administration officials to publicly discredit Mr. Abrego Garcia by suggesting that he was a prominent member of the violent street gang MS-13, and that he trafficked women and minors.... [Ms. Bondi] has disregarded departmental norms to level lurid public accusations at Mr. Abrego Garcia without first detailing evidence in court filings, or through the sworn testimony of federal law enforcement officials. The attorney general’s actions are in line with what her boss wants.”
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “For the second time in less than a week, a federal judge in Boston rejected efforts by the Trump administration to bar international students at Harvard, blocking a presidential proclamation that would prevent new students from abroad from enrolling at the school.... [Donald] Trump had sought to bar the students using a law designed to safeguard national security. In a strongly worded ruling on Monday, Judge Allison D. Burroughs sided with lawyers for Harvard who had argued that such presidential power was intended to be used against foreign enemies, not international students. The judge’s order temporarily stops the presidential proclamation from going into effect. Judge Burroughs, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, issued a similar decision on Friday. In that ruling, she temporarily blocked another effort by the Trump administration to keep international students out of Harvard through other means. In her ruling on Monday, Judge Burroughs noted that the issues at stake involved 'core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded — freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech' and that free speech, particularly in the academic arena, 'must be zealously defended and not taken for granted.'” ~~~
~~~ Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory. Michael Schmidt & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: “Harvard University, battered by a devastating conflict with the Trump administration that has jeopardized its elite standing, is facing a problem as it weighs a possible truce with ... [Donald] Trump: how to strike a deal without compromising its values or appearing to have capitulated.... Unlike many other powerful institutions that have struck bargains with Mr. Trump, Harvard, the nation’s oldest and richest university, spent much of this spring as the vanguard of resistance to the White House, credited by academic leaders, alumni and pro-democracy activists for fighting the administration and serving as a formidable barrier against authoritarianism. Despite a series of legal wins against the administration, though, Harvard officials concluded in recent weeks that those victories alone might be insufficient to protect the university.” MB: Yes, how does one pretend to defend academic freedom while kowtowing to an ignorant bully who wants to run the university?
Medicos Try to Save Americans from RFKJ. Lena Sun & Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post: “Professional medical societies, pharmacists, state health officials and vaccine manufacturers, as well as a new advocacy group, are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to upend the nation’s decades-old vaccine system.... The groups are discussing ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers and giving greater weight to vaccine recommendations from medical associations. And they are asking insurance companies to continue covering shots based on professional societies’ guidance instead of the federal government’s, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the conversations.... The moves come as Kennedy has replaced members of the key federal vaccine advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that decides which vaccines are recommended for whom and whether they’ll be covered by insurance. Kennedy fired the 17-member committee earlier this month and handpicked eight new members, several of whom are vaccine critics.
“But the extraordinary effort to create parallel systems of recommending, and perhaps even providing, vaccines faces major challenges.... There is no guarantee that health plans will cover every shot without guidance from the CDC panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. States, which determine school vaccine entry requirements, may make different decisions. And potential competing recommendations could sow confusion among doctors as well as patients if it becomes unclear which recommendations to follow.” ~~~
~~~ GOP Senator/Doctor Suddenly Notices His Obvious Gross Mistake. Rachel Roubein & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: “Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) is calling for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department to delay a much-anticipated meeting of an influential vaccine advisory panel, citing concerns over the backgrounds of new members handpicked by Kennedy and potential bias against certain shots. Earlier this month, Kennedy abruptly dismissed the 17-member committee charged with making immunization recommendations for the United States — an unprecedented move that marked an escalation of his overhaul of federal vaccination policy. Kennedy then named eight members to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, including at least three people who have criticized the use of mRNA coronavirus vaccines. The newly reconstituted panel is set to meet for the first time Wednesday and Thursday.... The call for the delay marks one of the first times Cassidy has directly asked ... Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services to alter how it’s handling vaccine policy, though he did not directly mention Kennedy by name. Specifically, Cassidy called for the meeting to be delayed until the panel is 'fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation — as required by law — including those with more direct relevant expertise.'” Politico's story is here. MB: I'd say Dr. Cassidy forgot the "first do no harm" bit.
Good Luck, Trees! Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Trump administration said on Monday that it would open up 58 million acres of back country in national forests to road construction and development, removing protections that had been in place for a quarter century. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans to repeal the 2001 'roadless rule' that had preserved the wild nature of nearly a third of the land in national forests in the United States. Ms. Rollins ... said the Clinton-era rule barring road construction and logging was outdated and 'absurd.'... 'Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,' Ms. Rollins said in a statement. She said the repeal 'opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation’s forests.'” Looks like a gift link. The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course it's common sense to build roads through the national forests, if only to make it easier to get the vacuum cleaners in to vacuum the forest floors. As for development, well yes, a vacuum cleaner store in a strip mall would be just the thing.
Stef Kight of Axios: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski is leaving the door open to caucusing with Democrats if they managed to produce enough midterm upsets to create a 50-50 tie in 2027.... 'There is some openness to exploring something different than the status quo,' she told the GD Politics podcast. She called caucusing with Democrats as an independent an 'interesting hypothetical,' but added she has plenty of disagreements with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) conference."
~~~~~~~~~~
Florida. “Alligator Alcatraz.” Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Florida is building a detention facility for migrants nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' turning an airfield in the Everglades into the newest — and scariest-sounding — holding center designed to help the Trump administration carry out its immigration crackdown. The remote facility, composed of large tents, and other planned facilities will cost the state around $450 million a year to run, but Florida can request some reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, a Trump ally who has pushed to build the detention center in the Everglades, has said the state will not need to invest much in security because the area is surrounded by dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons. A spokesperson for the attorney general said work on the new facility started on Monday morning.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Coddling the Fat Toddler. Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: “NATO leaders are tiptoeing around rifts at a two-day summit starting Tuesday, straining for a veneer of unity. But among Ukraine’s European backers, reality is setting in that the Trump administration has no willingness to provide fresh military aid to Kyiv, and assistance approved during the Biden era is running out. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated as a VIP guest at NATO summits. But this year, Zelensky is being relegated to the background as officials try to avoid irking ... Donald Trump. Trump might meet Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit, but NATO officials are trying to keep them apart as much as possible in public — a recognition of Trump’s occasionally volcanic disdain for the Ukrainian leader.”
11 Comments
Reader Comments (11)
Lee's latest effort to transform public property into a Republican piggy bank had this household mightily astir yesterday.
My wife, who is active in the local land trust, was marshaling forces against Lee's madcap plan, as were thousands of the like-minded across the West.
The latest: Republican Senators might have put a stop to Lee's effort--for now.
https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/06/23/mike-lee-hints-at-changes-public-land-sales/
Now maybe Lee can get back to the Heritage Foundation's important work of selling public schools and highways....
Rebecca Solnit, in Meditations in an Emergency, on On Feminism, Creeps, and New York City's Election
"That [Cuomo is] back and that a number of prominent Democratic Party politicians, including Bill Clinton, who undermined his own presidency with inappropriate workplace sex and lies about that sex, have endorsed him suggests that he and they don't think that an outrageous lack of respect for the rights of half the population is disqualifying. Tomorrow [today]when New Yorkers vote we'll find out what the public thinks, though the fact that these crimes that emerged in 2021 have received little coverage in mainstream media, despite their recentness and Cuomo's lack of repentance, seems to be part of why his candidacy has gotten as far as it has. (The New York Times issued a non-endorsement endorsement of Cuomo, seemingly panicked that a left-leaning Muslim might win.)
....
A report on Fox News this week declares, "According to the poll, 43% of White men, spanning all age groups, say they are self-censoring their speech at work, and an additional 25 million men claim they’ve not been given jobs or promotions because of being White men."
....who doesn't self-censor at work, if self-censor means that you can't blurt out every inappropriate, offensive, irrelevant, and salacious thought you may have? I mean, it's called civilization because we're supposed to walk around wearing clothes, pooping only in private, and not saying and doing threatening, insulting, and offensive things to casual acquaintances and professional colleagues. The workplace is not your frat party or your therapist's office – or at least it shouldn't be, but it too often has been; see: Cuomo, Hegseth, Clinton, above. It's a place in which to behave with respect for others or it should be. "
Gilad Edelman, in The Atlantic, on Chris Murphy's evolution toward populism.
Murphy has emerged as one of the most vocally freaked-out Democrats in Washington
"Why is a standard-issue Northeast progressive who parts his hair so neatly and has worked in politics his entire life suddenly talking like a would-be class warrior? Over the past three years, Murphy has been on an intellectual journey, influenced as much by the Trumpist right as by the Sanders left. He has come to think that the Democratic Party can regain working-class support only by calling out the powerful corporate villains who he believes are to blame for the country’s problems."
Balloon Juice has some links of Trump's murder bill getting cut down.
And why is the Atlantic now publishing blather about Chris Murphy, who has been on a mission since Sandy Hook, related to gun violence? Is everyone in the world now kowtowing to Fat Hitler? Why did this person in the Atlantic call him freaked out? Why choose those words? Well, there is another reason to not read everything in the Atlantic. I am beginning to feel like this is not winnable. The country apparently likes the know-nothings in charge, and the ones who are NOT know-nothings will be deported or silenced in some other way.
Does no one see the obvious ploys of Fat Hitler? He did not like someone else (Israel and Iran) getting the credit and headlines on Faux so he jumped in, sent 125 planes over there, dropped bombs on who-knows-what, and the Rs are applauding his "skill" at negotiating and also dropping bombs-- it is simply amazing. And when accused by the Rs in congress (stupid Hawley, notably) of simply "hating Trump" I say, yeah. I hate him with the white hot of 1000 suns. And I hate all the others (lookin' at you, Hawley and Lee and others) I have named numerous times. We are so in deep shit. No one right of center is behaving like a human being. So just shut up about Chris Murphy, Atlantic. No subscription from me.
Love how the Fat Felon is screaming at both the Israelis and the Iranians, like Sister Mary Elephant to the Stop Shooting! No more bombs!!!
I guess he forgot about the 30,000 pound bombs he dropped.
He wants the war to be over NOW! This minute! So’s he can get his Nobel Peace Prize for “stopping” the war he just turned up the volume on to eleven.
All that’s missing is the hammering of fists on the high chair tray.
But the MSM treat him like a serious expert on foreign policy.
Meant to post this yesterday, but with all the winning going on, I just can’t stop celebrating.
RAS’s link to the Trumpy/Hirohito self-congratulatory message about his very amazing bombing run, hit an association nerve regarding the role of cults in national delusions.
I just recently finished Richard Flanagan’s “Narrow Road to the Deep North”, an impressive and ambitious piece of writing. Beautiful, but tough, tough, tough, especially through the book’s middle section dealing with the inhuman, vicious treatment of Australian POWs at the hands of their Japanese captors. (Spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the book.)
Men starved and repeatedly beaten were often forced to crawl, if they were unable to walk, to work building a railroad through the jungle, with hand tools, for the glory of the emperor. Heads were cut off, bodies torn apart as their guards informed them of their great luck in being able to die for the glory of the emperor.
I didn’t, at that point, connect that insanity with the current MAGA cult until later in the book when one of the more vicious of the Japanese torturers, now hunted as a war criminal after the surrender, expressed outrage that any would try to hold him to some kind of principles of Justice he did not recognize as applying to his actions. He was working for the glory of the emperor after all. He killed those stupid prisoners for the Dear Leader. How dare they try to hold him accountable for anything!
At that point it was hard not to make the connection. Masked men are beating up pregnant women and innocent civilians for the glory of Trump! Healthcare is being taken away so the Dear Leader can use that money for his obviously higher purpose. How dare any accuse them of criminal or even immoral actions!
No, the MAGAts aren’t chopping off heads (yet) but the delusions of the cult are exactly the same now as in the jungles of Siam in 1943.
Just listen to Taco Belle, Nazi Barbie KKKaroline. The Dear Leader is not to be questioned! Whatever he does is miraculous!
It’s a cult. And this country’s foreign and domestic policies are being run by the leader and supported without question for “the glory of the emperor”.
Love how Himmler Miller is promising to go after a judge for “refusing to obey the Supreme Court”. Miller was the one who suggested when, in a moment of insanity, the Nazi Court ruled against Fat Hitler, that the Dear Leader need not abide by the Court’s rulings.
Jeanne - what is wrong with 'freaked out' ? Everybody who pays attention to what the r's are doing - and especially what the orange monster says and does ought to be freaked out (or is that expression not used outside of Texas in the 70's?)
The piece gave me more information on a senator i know little about, but who, thankfully, is speaking out on the aims of the republican party and their billionaires - like this:
"the president had directed the Department of Justice and Department of Treasury to investigate ActBlue, the primary Democratic Party fundraising platform, for supposedly facilitating election fraud. This, Murphy told me, was “a crystal-clear signal that their agenda is nothing less than the destruction of the opposition.” In light of those threats, he said, he felt a moral responsibility to rally public opposition. “I think we are getting close to the point where we are going to have to see hundreds of thousands of people out in the streets, not tens of thousands of people.”
@laura h. & @Jeanne: It seems evident from the tone of his article that Edelman is "freaked out" that Chris Murphy is freaked out. I have been a little surprised that Murphy evolved somewhat dramatically when Trump won re-election, but Murphy's rapid evolution seems quite reasonable to me. And he is far from alone.
I felt fairly alone for the decades I saw Republicans as being almost wholly undemocratic. Clearly some other people sort of got it. Otherwise, we would not have jokes like IOKIYAR. We would not have GOTV movements on the left. Every place you look, every bit of GOP legislation you see was essentially anti-democratic. It has all been about ways to get things for themselves or for their donors or for elites or for White people. Republicans are selfish bastids, and it's refreshing to see more Democrats get that.
Trump made GOP hatred of democracy really hard not see, so it's not surprising to me that not just Bernie & AOC get it. Joe Biden got it, and so does Chris Murphy. So do a lot of Republicans, like those who appear on MSNBC. So I don't know what Edelman's problem is.
BTW, Edelman is right that Kamala Harris didn't get it, but that's because she didn't understand anything about economics and she had financial backing from people who wanted to make sure she didn't espouse or even believe in populist-type economics. Unless someone set her straight, she was never going to be a transformational president the way Trump is. And that god for that.
As for Murphy's running for president, he should take oratorical lessons from Barack Obama and go for it, IMO.
Re: Chris Murphy, I find the guy to be appropriately and necessarily pissed. Unlike the made for (Fox) TV PoT scumbags who try to come off genuinely outraged about everything that doesn’t slither out from MAGA world, Murphy is refreshingly authentic. He is animated by genuine anger about the skeezy schemes and anti-Democratic affronts perpetrated almost hourly by Fat Hitler and his cult, unlike the usual suspects on Faux who screech and yammer about what victims they are, then collect their daily winnings and snicker all the way to the electoral bank.
Fuck them.
More Murphies, please.