Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in China, where he has met in the past two days for a total of more than ten hours with China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, and with Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Today, he met for 35 minutes with Chinese president Xi Jinping. Blinken called the talks “candid, substantive, and constructive.“
I feel safer in my country with President 46. The rhetoric is at a lower temperature, and the rest of the world must be relaxing also. Thank you President Biden!
From where I sit, my view (opinion) is that the Biden/Harris administration has been doing a phenomenal - okay, a very good - job, especially when compared against the previous administration and quite a few previous presidential administrations. So I ask myself, with the accomplishments that the Biden/Harris administration have made, why are Biden’s approval ratings so low ... his age, are the polls flawed, what is it that those polled are looking for? Yes, the exit from Afghanistan did not go well, ... yes, the situation at our southern border continues to be a problem, and yes, there was/is inflation - something not only experienced here in America, but something to have been expected when our world’s economies and markets were shutdown for almost two years, ... but look at the bi-partisanship accomplishments, the pieces of meaningful legislative actions that this administration has spearheaded and gotten passed, the success at helping NATO countries pull together in support of Ukraine ... from where I sit, Biden should be - at least - 10 points higher in the polls.
Yes Jim Riley, it is very disappointing, Biden deserves better. As for the Afghanistan exit, Trump earlier had essentially told the Taliban that we had enough, failed, and we are leaving. That left us with no negotiating leverage. We lost and no exit under those circumstance is pretty. The entire effort to invade and restructure Afghanistan was a major Bush blunder as well as a similar effort in Iraq. Rumsfeld, Chaney, and Rice totally misled us. Where were the foreign policy experts and the press?
George Regarding Afghanistan, spot on! After nearly 20 years Afghanistan clearly was a no win situation for the United States. Or, as was said about Vietnam, ‘there was no light at the end of the tunnel.’
Trump had already set a date for Americans to abandon Afghanistan. When President Biden came in, anyone thinking that there would be a controlled gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan were smoking something powerful.
Once the fragile Afghanistan military started a massive collapse, the maintenance of order for withdrawal of our military and those countless Afghans who had linked their lives to ther American occupiers had disappeared.
The Republicans, with their Benghazi bleeps getting fainter, may seek to resurrect Afghanistan as a ‘Biden humiliation.’ PSHAW! It was a Bush W/Cheney/Rumsfeld initial error that was compounded over nearly two decades.
President Biden boldly acknowledged that Afghanistan was over and did his best to evacuate troops and civilians in a very short time period.
With over 120,000 airlifted out in spite of the chaos, it was also one of the most successful humanitarian airlifts in history. And though seemingly in drips and drabs it continued for some time after the US withdrawal. Not enough? Yes. Still counts as a good.
Carmen Compare Afghanistan with the frantic final hours in escaping Vietnam, where virtually no accommodation was made for those Vietnamese who had risked their lives working with Americans. Oophs, that was under a Republican president.
Carmen On Vietnam, I can speak personally that, early on, there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel.’ During the Congo foreign hostage crisis in 1964, I was a ‘rambunctious’ diplomat who volunteered to operate alone in rebel-infested provinces with a M-16 and a .45. Speaking French added to my credentials for Vietnam.
In May 1965 and again in 1067 our ambassador in Saigon ‘invited’ me to join him. Twice I refused. It was crystal clear to me from 1) my experience with the military and from reading Robert Taplin’s and Bernard Fall’s books that Ho Chi Minh’s nationalism was stronger than American troops backing a crooked South Vietnamese regime.
It took nearly a decade for the US to acknowledge this after tens of thousands more American dead and well over a million more Vietnamese.
The Fourth Estate failed us during the Chaney/Bush administration - but they have been doing a pretty good job of making amends for those failures, by their actions since 2017 with trump, the MAGA-movement and the cult-of-trump!!!
MSM (or "Fourth Estate") has become obsessed with the bottom line: $$$ and ratings. That is painfully obvious now. I watch it only very sparingly. A medium like Substack that offers so many viewpoints without all the glib, slick bells and whistles, is what I prefer now. "Just the facts", with a minimum of hyperbole. Some of the issues before us now are far too complicated to simply reduce down to a few brief headlines or "grabbers". I prefer a more in-depth exploration and perspectives, so I rely more on print media now. I feel I can be more discerning.
I like the term "legacy media" (as an alternative to MSM), which I learned from folks who are part of the "progressive media ecosystem" on YouTube, like Brian Tyler Cohen and the MeidasTouch Network. Never thought I'd be spending so many hours a day watching pro-democracy reporters and pundits on YouTube. Between YouTube and Substack, I can finally engage with "the news" again, which I have not been able to do since newspapers stopped using ledes and all "hard news" in both The NYT and NPR became human interest features. Several years ago I taught an freshman composition class at a local community college, and my students revealed that they had not learned in High School about the "5 W's," and in place of the lede, they had been taught to write a "hook"—That is, our schools are now teaching our children to write CLICK BAIT!!!
Yes, and now Gannett has some of the same writers for the Register Guard and the Statesman Journal. It is disgusting. We have a couple online publications here in Salem which are better at certain things. We only take the SJ online for obits. Now I notice some people are saying read the obit at the funeral home site to avoid paying the rag. I also note that the O loves to bash Kotek and seem to be Beaver homers. We get news from a variety of sources mostly online although we do get the NYT as a paper. I read only the science section, the Sunday book review, and do the puzzle. I like to read the Atlantic daily. And of course, start every am with Heather.
I don’t know how much Eugene stuff migrates to Salem (we get a fair amount of Salem news) but Chris Pietch (photojournalist) now writes a third of our local articles. I got to know him when I went to Creswell as their daytime deputy and his kids were in band.
I continue to subscribe on line because local news is crucial, even if it is a fraction of the output.
“The entire effort to invade and restructure Afghanistan was a major Bush blunder as well as a similar effort in Iraq.” George, I’d just like to amplify, but also refine this remark. IMO the failure in Afghanistan started with letting bin Laden and the Taliban escape Tora Bora. Remember, that was not an operational failure, it was a command failure. Bush and Cheney already had their eyes on Iraq. We could never have dissuaded the Afghans from continuing corruption, but the big irony is that Afghans widely understood how corruption was crippling the country because they could see the difference in working with the Americans. Which is largely why things fell apart so fast. That’s what Biden didn’t understand. He didn’t appreciate how little confidence the people charged with holding things together, after the US pull-out, had in their leaders. But we were never serious about Afghanistan, and our failure in Iraq threw cold water on any chance that we ever would be.
Agreed. The Biden Administration is doing what we elected them to do. Governing.Biden is a good leader who chooses capable people and works with them. He also knows you don’t always get everything you want all at once and right away. This is such a flipping relief from the Republican noise machine.
Thanks HCR for the clear summary of foreign affairs. Much appreciated 😊
It is hard to understand why so much news reporting is all about bashing Biden. They seem to want a slick talking, good looking 45 year old with wisdom, knowledge and team building of an 80 year old. Not likely, haven't seen many white knights lately.
Why on earth would you want to give time to someone that spews one lie after another ,rather than someone that speaks the truth and requires that you have an operational brain in order to understand what he’s doing.
The answer to your ‘Why’ is that ridicule gets the attention of the intended audience, compliments do not!
Years ago there was a line in a fast food commercial ‘where’s the beef?’! Biden continues to prepare and deliver the beef, but all too many media outlets prefer to feed their audience a steady diet of gristle!
I believe the polls have been distorted, purposely. They almost always seem false to me. Especially the polls about how many people will vote for Trump. And Biden’s approval ratings.
That night in 2016 is one of the most memorable in my life. Like a nightmare and guess I'm afraid Mr. K will bring more bad news. Of course I know it has absolutely nothing to do with he, himself.
We the people are not included in the polls. If they have called...I don't answer my phone. If the media would quit talking about tfg we would all be better off. It isn't news worthy apparently to talk about accomplishments. However, Hunter is getting media attention today! I am sure people will blame President Biden for his son's failings!
Is it wise and prudent to judge current USA's actions a la Biden et al in terms of those executed by the worst - or one of the abject worse - presidential administrations in USA history?
To answer your very good question. Jim Riley, take a look at journalist postings on alternative sites - Scheerpost.com, Consortium News, Counter-punch, Popular Resistance, Common Dreams and the work of Chris Hedges, Richard Wolfe (economist), Andrew Bacevich (American historian,West Point Grad "The Ukraine Conflict Is Not About American Freedom"), Maj. Danny Sjursen(senior fellow at the Ctr for Internl Policy, Ralph Nader, Eve Ottenberg. Heather's deeply researched historical work from a view in largely in accord with and supportive of the Biden's Administration's can be rounded out by the larger context presented by these writers.
The conservative media bubble, specifically Fox News, has trashed Biden from day one. I realize that this is standard operating procedure for Fox when the opposition party is in power, but it has gotten ridiculous in their attempt to diminish Biden and minimize/ignore the obvious issues with Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress and elsewhere. Fox is still the leading cable news outlet. Therefore, a large chunk of the public is spoon fed this propaganda on a daily basis. The only good news here is that the overall audience for cable news is slowly, deservedly, shrinking.
You are delusional. Look at the new Harvard Harris poll.
Biden is trailing Trump by 6. His job approval is at 40%. Even worse are his numbers
on inflation, the economy, fear of a recession, government spending, the border and crime.
You might want to consider the words of Pauline Kael the NY times film critic, who after Nixon carried 49 out of 50 states against McGovern exclaimed, "I don't understand how Nixon won , all my friends voted for McGovern.
It might be time to leave the bubble for fresh air and a clearer world view.
In a culture where so many citizens claim to be Christians, an amoral, twice impeached and twice indicted creature holds the loyalty of tens of millions of people!
‘Public Good’ is not high on their list of attributes of a leader!
They may claim to be Christians, but they have no idea of how far they have strayed from the message in the first three Gospels. Now that they have gotten the SC abortion decision, they are busy stirring up anger over drag shows, certain books, pride parades, independent women, science, and anyone who is not white while denying what will probably do in the planet: climate change. I am waiting for my ex-classmate in Elkhart to post something positive about death star or against the indictments. So far she has been silent. I have mentioned a chapter in God: An Anatomy where the author shows how black became evil and led to white nationalism. Now I am reading The World the Plague Made and he also mentions the advent of racism and slavery. It is an interesting book, but a bit of a slog at times. He does have a sense of humor which shows up from time to time.
"The Public Good". Can get tricky, no? Quashing the planned strike by the railroad workers union? Not a peep about his campaign promise for Medicare for All/Single Payer? Disappearance of another campaign promise of $15 minimum wage? Inviting Private Equity into (destroying) Medicaid and Medicare? Billions poured into Ukraine while blue tarps homeless tents continue to expand in USA cities? Inflation?"In short, the rise in inflation has not been driven by anything that looks like an overheating labor market—instead it has been driven by higher corporate profit margins and supply-chain bottlenecks."(economic policy institute epi.com). And in the shadows like a backdrop, barely visible but energetically potent: USA stirring the pot for war with China and normalizing nuclear with Russia, its DOJ breaking the fundamental right of freedom of press with its murderousness unjust treatment of Assange, its approval of an immense new drilling Willow Project in Alaska ("despite a groundswell of public opposition, including more than 5.6 million letters sent to the White House and Dept of Interior." (earthjustice.org).
“In short, the rise in inflation has not been driven by anything that looks like an overheating labor market—instead it has been driven by higher corporate profit margins and supply-chain bottlenecks."
Correct. Corporations are actively working to unseat Biden by jacking prices.
So true. Repubs take corporate donations in exchange for lowering corporate taxes and removing regulations. Making the economy look bad (through speciously inflated prices) is just a corporate tactic to help Repubs win. Greedy pigs at the trough, all.
Me too! The first thing I thought of when reading this comprehensive report on Sec'y Blinken's visit was, would the former guy even know what the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum, and AUKUS are, never mind that we need to build a "matrix of relationships" with them? How in the world do we let US citizens know how important it is that our president know how to manage these relationships in today's global world realities?
Afghanistan was a complete catastrophe & The Ukraine conflict has devolved into another pointless war with no end in sight.
How can you feel safer when the Biden's took millions in cash from the Chinese, Ukrainians, & Romanians.
As the FBI 1023 alleges, Joe & Hunter (the bag man) each received $5,000,000 in bribes from a Ukrainian oligarch who has 17 recordings he kept as insurance.
BTW why did the Biden family set up 20 shell corporations that received payments for NO work done?
NO i don't feel safer knowing the president sold influence and favors to other countries
including the Ukraine where we have sent over $100 Billions dollars with no accountability.
Your response is as lazy as the former POTUS, and as filled with lies, except for the first phrase - "Afghanistan was a complete catastrophe," that the Biden administration was handed the thankless task of exiting. Also, there is plenty to correct in your note, but the simplest one is this: it is Ukraine, not the Ukraine.
We aren’t as easily triggered by obvious lies, false accusation and manufactured B.S. as the MAGA’s. Your post is absurd. We’re well aware the exit from Afghanistan was difficult and unnecessarily complicated by agreements made by the previous administration.
Perhaps you should refrain from commenting until AFTER you’ve familiarized yourself with the facts of this administration’s accomplishments. You’ll find many of your fears are unfounded and you’ll feel better about being an American.
I realize that I am almost alone here, but I think history will come to regard the final withdrawal from Afghanistan, plagued by errors and tragedies as it was, as America’s Dunkirk. If you look at what happened in the run-up and execution of Dunkirk, you’ll see a lot of parallels.
Jon, I think you're right. To have moved out that many folks is amazing. That we lost only 13 service members (11 Marines, one Navy Corpsman, and an Army soldier) in a strike attack during the evacuation is short of amazing; yet I see signs everywhere "Biden lied and 13 died". That fiasco lays at the feet of fpotus, not President Biden.
You’re not alone, there were actions made under and by the previous POTUS administration which almost assured a failed attempt at exiting Afghanistan in a safer and more benign manner ... we left too many of our Afghan supporters and their families behind.
Agreed, and we are treating those whom we depended upon for translations, etc. poorly indeed. It would not surprise me at all if those names were among those that were in the classified documents that ended up in the chandelier storage room there at Merde el Lardo.
We did. But that happened at Dunkirk, too. A British division (the 51st Highland?) was left at Calais and told to hold out, in order to allow more time to evacuate Dunkirk. And many British, and French (people forget that more than 100,000 of the troops evacuated from Dunkirk were French) troops were lost in the disorderly retreat due to poor planning and execution by the general staffs. Still, it was a signal achievement.
Jon Actually the British naval high command engaged in serious ‘worst case’ scenarios weeks before Dunkirk. They established contact with a network of private boat owners while also deciding that a number of destroyers would be sacrificed in this desperate rescue evacuation.
It was a miracle that 300,000 British and French troops were rescued. The last ditch efforts by brave French and British troops were critical. Also, the Germans blotched a massacre by stopping and permitting an extraordinarily difficult evacuation.
I am reminded of Glover’s Marbleheaders extraordinary rescue of Washington/s troops trapped in Brooklyn as General Howe and Admiral Howe dithered. Bad weather was a god send for the Americans.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
I hope you're getting something out of these ravings of yours, James A., because everyone here pretty much ignores you, except for the occasional irritated swat.
Actually, I like having trolls here. We all need to know what people are being told and what they believe. Probably 25-30% of the country believes what James A says, and many bigger lies. He is not insulting anyone here; let him post. It is dangerous to stay in the bubble. Take a test. Watch Fox News. See how long you can stand it.
How long can you stand watching Fox? That is like when my dad would make ice cream in our old crank ice cream maker we would see who could hold their finger in drain hole the longest. Dad would crank, add chipped ice and salt. Good memories, Fox will always be destructive memories.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
Remember the scene early in "Silence of the Lambs" when Jodie Foster's character first meets Lector (Anthony Hopkins) in prison? The sadistic warden kept his TV on 24/7 blasting a Jimmy Swaggart type preacher?!?
That's how I feel whenever I tune into Fox for even a few minutes. 🤣
Whoops, gotta run, I'm having an old friend for dinner!
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
Thank you, Jon. His purpose is malignant, and his self-description as an "intellectual" is laughable. Self-promotion while stirring the pot is apparently his goal.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
The unfounded allegations in your post, each lacking credible and verifiable sources, is unfortunate for your readership. It’s also why I would not ever subscribe. Journalism requires far more than spouting falsehoods.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
It would serve your efforts to covert pro-Biden people if you document your allegations. No footnotes, no facts, no truth. Another Trumper beating a fictitious drum.
Oh, yeah: AG Barr's son and daughter in law both had jobs in the previous administration. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
Funny how Hunter Biden's business failures suddenly became important when TFG was indicted for multiple crimes, including espionage.
Interesting from a psychological standpoint also is the insistence of fascist propagandists of accusing others of all of the same moral, intellectual, and legal flaws that characterize TFG and his acolytes. It's called projection, IIRC.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
The methodical and incremental accomplishments of Biden and his able Secretary of State Blinken inspire confidence that peace with China can be achieved and maintained. China needs the US far more than the US needs China. Thanks for laying out the details of the diplomacy.
Truly one of the best secretaries of State ever-cleaning up the incredible mess created by Bolton and Pompeo (self-serving traitors to our country), plus advancing our purpose to create stability and democracy throughout the world. Like our President, Mr Blinkin is calm, steady, pragmatic, tough when necessary, informed, intelligent, insightful, and appears to be a truly decent human. I’m in awe of him and his skill! The world is better because of his work.
He is reassuring the world that the United States is committed to democracy. He is stable, sure, and consistent, and not pandering to authoritarians and their regimes. After the extreme chaos of the former administration, Blinkin is reassuring the world that the US is now run by reasonable grown ups who employ diplomacy and decency in their dealings and restoring ties with our allies that were harmed by tfg’s crazy, self-serving agenda.
Yet again that which is asserted without evidence be dismissed without evidence?
Lets go line by line.
1) He is showing the world he is committed to democracy? Who? Yemen? North Korea? Iran? They could care less. I'm assuming you mean western countries like Europe? Lets get a little more exact. How is he "showing is committed to democracy"?
By trying to imprison his main political rival?
By weaponizing the FBI, IRS, & FISA to target political opponents?
By using Social Media to censor COVID and political critics?
By taking money from the Chinese, Ukrainians, Romanians?
2) He is not pander to authoritarians? What authoritarians? Like Ukraine? Besides being one'
of the most corrupt, its heavily authoritarian. It closed churches and jailed media critics and political rivals,
3) Extreme chaos of Trump? What chaos? There were no wars during Trump's tenure, and Russia didn't dare invade Ukraine because it feared strong push back. Trump didn't fumble the football in Afghanistan like Biden, and he didn't lead us into pointless and never ending war with Russia.
4) What grown ups? Kamala Harris? Blinken? Mark Millen, Lloyd Austin? This crowd couldn't park a bicycle straight. They completely whiffed on Afghanistan. They completely miscalculated Russia. We were told over and over that Russia wouldn't invade and their would be dire consequences if they did. In the end Russia did invade and we had egg on our face.
THIS IS REALLY SIMPLE. If the US didn't want Russia to invade they could have 50,000 troops on the Ukraine border - end of story.
As for self serving agenda, talk to the Biden's they took over $20,000,000 from China, Ukraine, Romania and others.
So rather than discussing Blinkin’s record, you’d like to trash our President. You’d rather a sexual offending, lying, cheating, morally bankrupt, multi-indicted bully to lead our country into authoritarianism. I feel sorry for you.
Of all the Cabinet positions, Sec’y of State is the most challenging. It’s the reason why HRC would have been a capable POTUS. It’s also why Vlad (and Comey) made sure it would not come to pass.
I told my husband in 2015, with the numerous Repubs running for President, that of all of.candidates, the only one capable of standing up to Putin was HRC. And Putin knew it.
… and tfg was, and still is, a most useful tool because he’s too egotistical, vain, moronic and such a wanna-be dictator that he should be disallowed from ever again holding elected office.
It’s so nice to see cabinet members that are not only competent, but exceptional This is after we suffered through those who were chosen for loyalty to the President instead.
Mary Hardt - thank you for this comment. tfg was a bull in a china shop from the beginning. Destruction of all that is valuable and beautiful. He selected multimillionaires in stark opposition to the function of government to put in charge of cabinet positions and federal programs. Top of the list in my mind will always be DeVos, who never went to nor sent any of her brood to public schools. If tfg had succeeded in obtaining a second term, he had no intention of there EVER being another President. Democracy, where an individual has a voice in the choice of representatives in the government, would be over. He STILL aims to start his own dynasty. That includes public executions of his perceived enemies.
Beverly, exactly. Don’t forget his putting Rick Perry in charge of the Energy Department. Perry had campaigned for President on the platform getting rid of the Energy Department, among others. This lead to his “oops” moment when he could only remember three of four departments.
Not certain the US needs China more than vice versa (China is an ancient and resilient civilization and we still have much to prove), but the rest of your points are spot on.
China is an unbroken, continuous civilization established over 3500 years ago. While Europe was a technological backwater after the end of the Roman Empire, China was a wealthy and sophisticated kingdom. That wealth, of course, on the backs of peasants. Still, their modern iteration as a totalitarian system has not been able to harness - not yet, at any rate - their potential.
How so does China need the US more? Three times the population to sell too domestically, global holdings in almost all industries, traditionally fast growing economy and vast trading partners globally.
I like Blinken as well, and I think the recent visit is smart, but I don’t think China relations have improved under this administration. Maybe this is a start.
Their economy is very dependent on trade with US. In spite of their many efforts to spread influence around the world, those countries are developing and cannot support the modern industrial output that China needs to grow. Biden's efforts to reinvigorate American manufacturing. redevelop high tech industries such as chip manufacturing, and more have meant that the US has recovered far better from the pandemic and economic downturn than China, and most developed nations.
Catholic is a step up from Methodist on the mythology ladder. At least Catholics leave their religion to trained professionals. Methodist is a DIY project carried out by amateurs.
Oh, my goodness. If I've hit a nerve, I'm sorry. I always thought of Methodism as a progressive step from Catholicism, members being literate enough to be able to study the Bible individually or in groups go directly to God, and not needing a (possibly pedophile) priest as a go-between. Actually I've known many well educated Catholics , but they all seem to have a superiority complñex about their religion, as being the only true religion, so in that way they are just like all other religions.
Don’t worry about hitting a nerve. I’m not sympathetic with anyone who thinks (on the basis on no credible evidence whatever) that there is a sentient entity in the universe with supernatural powers who takes an interest in individual Homo sapiens. My bias against Protestants derives from the fact that 80% of American Evangelical voters voted for Trump. That makes them subhuman in my view. Catholics have a far better political record. And, it appeals to me that they leave the complexities of theology to well-educated professionals and don’t waste time in their own lives trying to puzzle their way through a bunch of unmitigated horseshit in the supernatural realm.
The Biden Administration is managing a highly complex balancing act of countries and interests in a manner very unlike the ‘previous person’….thanks to Heathers input we can appreciate how important this well crafted and executed management is ….our supply chains stabilized and returned to our control and our technical advances, particularly those in the military sphere protected..
The notion of returning to the ‘former one’s’ gross and self serving management of such critical issues…genuinely appalling.
Amazing how defendant tfg is helping the prosecution every time he opens his mouth. At one time I was hoping the judge would put a gag order on him.....but now? Nope! Let him continue as a witness for the prosecution. smh
And, thank you for the breakdown of what is happening with Blinken's talks with China.....what a delicate issue he has to deal with.....appeasing the Chinese while also staying strong for the U.S.
Trump has not had to think about what he says before he says it. His money and strangely popular bombastic style has shielded him from any and all accountability, and the "GOP" has been more than happy to go along. Jack Smith appears to not suffer fools gladly, and that bodes ill for Trump.
mental and moral. Not that he ever offered much in the latter department, but his rhetoric at least has if anything, been sinking to new lows, along with his evident competence. And this not an aberration; the "Republican" party marched with him nearly step of the way; on a road to hell that's littered with bad intentions.
Why isn't that a bigger news issue? He seems so honestly declining. A well done psychological exam is in order. Really, to allow an individual with diminished mental capacity to even run for office especially federal office where the potential damage is multiplied is crazy. At least the nation should be sane enough to recognize that and have proper testing. Maybe court ordered prior to his trial??
The most dangerous of human states of mind is predatory sociopathy, and a free society cannot prohibit thoughtcrime. I suspect that we all have a touch of "Mr. Hyde" in our hearts, but that most of us learn to be civil. That said, fear, hate, greed, and hubris can and does spread though societies like a disease. It is part of our our nation's history and that of other lands as well. The monster in our nature never goes entirely away, but at better moments, we have brought it to heel.
Law is an essential and useful tool, but virtually any tool can be converted to a weapon, even a ploughshare, even a passenger aircraft, even the power of pardon. We constantly must choose to select for competent, responsible, compassionate behavior, or see life turn nasty, brutish and short.
He's SO obviously not in touch with reality in any way, shape, or form! I don't think anything he says really passes through his "mind" at all. It's just endless stream-of-consciousness (sp?) drivel.
If he hadn't had money, he'd be the sad and pathetic homeless guy, mumbling to himself on the street.
“Stable Genius” = “the ability to understand the process of shoveling Horse Pucky” Quote attributed by Dave Fake News reporter Dave to General Sherman T Potter
I lived in Taiwan many years back (a beautiful and dynamic 'province') and I am concerned that they continue to be able to live as they have for many decades - free of direct interference from the mainland. It appears that Blinken is proposing no change (and no 'independence') for Taiwan to perpetuate the status quo. Let's keep on keeping-on.
First, I want to say this is an outstanding account of the trade/supply chain that dudes we have had with China, and the rest of the world since the past president we had did away with all of it with a swoop of his pen.
If it’s remembered, Trump did away with all trade, everything, with the rest of the world. Removed us from NATO, and pulled us from every trade treaty we had with other countries. The United States was virtually sitting all alone, without any allies, no trade agreements with anyone, and tons and tons of food, animal carcasses, all dumped in the oceans because they couldn’t offload in foreign ports, or the incoming ships were not allowed into our ports so the spoiled food was dumped into the oceans off our coast.
This situation with China has been brewing for about 5 years. I’m really glad to see President Biden send Blinken over there to get this straightened out.
As for Trump going on Fox News this evening. He managed to give Special Prosecutor Smith more fuel to make his case against Trump. I swear, this guy doesn’t understand court orders. He just can’t keep his mouth shut, which in this case now, is a good thing. Every time he runs his mouth, he’s adding more and more years to his sentence. What an idiot!
I don't think we tore up every trade treaty, but Trump sure made a mess of things, including pandemic preparedness and mitigation. I don't know when and if it can be all straightened out, but the adults are back at the wheel. Odd how Republicans maintain their popularity when such a string of disasters has followed their their machinations for about half an century.
It is indeed that it is odd that Rethuglicans maintain their popularity all of these years. That is puzzling to me too. I assume ignorance and greed of their voters could be part of it...
And yet Fox anchor Bret Baier succeeded in holding Trump’s feet to the fire where journalists from more liberal organizations have failed. He adopted an intriguing approach. Just assume everything Trump says is a lie (sprinkled with unintended truths) and press on with the questions, in a calm but firm manner. Don’t engage with the lies except to swat them away with another question. And be prepared for anything. I was surprised Trump didn’t walk away, but I think it was this quiet attack (and the fact that Bret is not a woman) that kept him there.
Oh yes, i do agree, and they are so blatantly ignorant, Fox Spews is the ONLY thing they believe. I just wished there was some way that Fox Spews could be shut down permanently. Just look at the mayhem they have created.
Rupert recasts everything that repubs do. Just think of the idealistic images of chump. They never saw Anything else. Of course, the leadership did. And when they hopped on the crazy train, off the rails they went. And when our MSM followed Rupert’s entertainment news, well, we all were witness to the failure of our free press. Can they “right”themselves. Maybe by checking to see if it’s actually raining….
And, for our own survival, we can chose better vendors. I , like His Hubris, love cheeseburgers and fries, but have all but stopped eating them entirely. I think that electronic media, which I have technically helped to create, is rich with possibilities, yet is way too easily harnessed to one-way information flow, from the top down; which is inimical to democracy.
The exchanges that appear here I see as democracy-friendly, but the man who invented the first practical television said, in all seriousness, that he thought he had "created a monster". We are encouraged to just watch the game, and choose from menus prepared by others, but that's not really a republic. A well informed public is essential to the kinds of conversations that produce "liberty and justice for all". Just channel surfing means that no matter which channel, there might be nothing worthwhile on; and we wind up seeing only what others would have us see. If we are to be the masters of our own society's fate, we are accepting a share of responsibility as well as choice, and need to get a clue about what's really going down to be "good enough" citizen/managers of our own nation; with those we elect being scrupulously trustworthy fiduciaries of a thoughtful and ethical public will. What's the alternative?
They have their “sheep” that they keep in their pastures. About 74 million of them! Unbelievable how these rolls get easily sucked in to the GQP and their bulls**t!
The problem isn't that TFG and his enablers don't understand how the legal system works. It's that they don't care. Breaking the law is now a sign of tribal loyalty to them. Their plan is to eliminate the rule of law completely and turn our entire legal system into a theocratic police state. They're not even trying to hide it, beyond calling a dictatorship "illiberal democracy."
TFG doesn't care if he's convicted. He and his party hope it will motivate enough of their unhinged cult to start a terrorist insurrection against the USA. Combined with red states who will openly defy election laws and create their own slates for fascist electors in 2024 (because Election Fraud) and it could work. Let us recall that the Nazis did not have a working majority when they took power, and that their beloved leader had already spent time in jail.
IF TFG goes back in office, this will be the last election this country ever has. Democracy, as we now know it and live it, will be gone, forever. The United States 🇺🇸 will become Little Russia 🇷🇺, the Communist country in the East!
Donald does not understand why we have laws or that laws are different than rules. He only recognizes his whims as rules, and his private perogative to change his rules at any moment.
Expertise in foreign affairs. It’s a beautiful thing!
It’s tragic that millions of Americans have no clue what President Biden and his extraordinarily skilled team are accomplishing.
As for Trump, the two big remaining questions are whether Judge Cannon will violate judicial ethics with partisan rulings and a wild card juror won’t vote to convict despite the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
I'm assuming Jack Smith is quietly noting all that Trump is ranting about (for future indictments) and also considering what possible monkey wrenches could mess up his two current cases. Could he not launch a new case re shenanigans at Bedminster? (Not that he doesn't already have enough cases lined up, with this one defendant, to take him well into his retirement.)
Thank you Professor for mentioning the Pacific Islands Fourm, which includes the former UN chartered, US admimestered post WWII Micronesia Trusteeship including the now independent nations of Palau, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) along with Australia, New Zealand & 13 other Pacific nations. In square miles the Pacific Islands Forum nations cover a large portion of the Earth 's surface with diverse populations all of which are keenly aware of current US-China policies. Thank you Biden-Harris.
Bryan, you sound very well informed! I suspect many of us would benefit from some maps accompanying recent HCR newsletters as they cover areas of the world some of us have not kept up with very effectively.
Love comments from the 'Back Row'; given the broad scope of HCR Letter, I forgot about a photo exhibit :( But, essentially we are talking about Hawaii to Australia, the Southern Cross to the North Star. Biggggggggggggg. Ocean. :)
Thank you, during law school I was an activist for a 4 person "Pacific Network." I had a press card from the Marshall Island Journal edited by Giff Johnson who was the son of Professor Johnson ( RIP) of University of Hawaii fame via Michigan. Super family, Mom too.
JL Graham, I am so proud of our diplomats! They are working with other nations for peace, to protect trade for all of us. They are not dismissing the gifts and talents of nations with whom we trade.....but improving communication with respect for a world order that will benefit everyone.
And working where possible to stop a drug supply that is killing citizens worldwide.
Thank you Heather for mentioning Blinkin and Sullivan. I know there are many heroes who work daily, unseen heroes who work to protect our freedoms around the world.
Of all the classified documents Trump held, I wonder how many he has digital copies of. He has shown repeatedly that he cannot be trusted, leaving us to wonder what purpose he has of holding these documents, and who he feels may be interested in seeing them. Interested enough to pay (always his root motivation). What would be found if his properties and all his digital media were subjected to a thorough search for copies of the documents he held?
Dan, I agree with you that generally Trump's depravity is boundless but his ability to make 'digital copies', when he feels such a need to hoard paper copies of newspapers suggests he does not know how to make digital copies. I don't think I have touched newsprint since the 1990s.
Photocopiers produce digital copies, too. And can download directly to a thumb drive. Moreover, he never does any work--his flunkies do it all for him.
This brings up something mentioned here last week, the copier machine visible in the photo shown constantly of boxes in a storeroom. No one has ever mentioned it when showing photos on TV. Do these machines have internal memories (I just use and can refill the paper tray.) it’s placement certainly seems suspicious.
Indeed. Blinken is amazingly capable, calm and cool.
I heard him on the NPR quiz show "Wait, wait, don't tell me". Hard to believe, I know. Here's the thing. This guy who rarely smiles and speaks so carefully - is actually VERY funny!
Sorry to have missed it. Had picked up on his sense of humor. Two others who last night quite literally made me laugh: Andrew Weismann and Neal Katyal. Trump’s stupidities in the Fox interview had them so amused that they gave up lawyerly straight faces. Bradley Miss joined them and cracked them up. (And me.)
TRUMP PRESIDENCY: RANKED WORST IN 154 YEARS IN C-SPAN HISTORIANS POLL AND LIKELY TO BE NAMED WORST EVER
Ranking presidents can be subjective. Present-day Americans know little about American presidents and, when polled, often consider most recent presidents among the very best.
Among professional historians, there is some thought that one cannot tell until 20-30 years after a presidency. This certainly was true of President Truman, who in historical rankings soon after his retirement, ranked poorly. Now he is ranked as ‘great/near great.’ Eisenhower also rose sharply in his ranking years after his death.
By contrast, several once-high ranking presidents have plunged, most notably Andrew Jackson. Recently he has been highly criticized for his treatment of Native Americans, a matter not even mentioned in a Pulitzer Prize winning biography in 1945.
WHERE MIGHT TRUMP FIT?
Trump was included in a 2021 C-Span historians’ poll conducted before Trump had left office. His ranking was the worst of any president since the 1850s/1860s, when there were some real stinkers.
Among the 10 categories in which presidents were ranked, out of 44 presidents, Trump ranked in the bottom in 6:
Crisis management 41 of 44
Moral authority 44 of 44
International relations 43 of 44
Administrative skills 44 of 44
Relations with Congress 42 of 44
Equal justice for all 40 of 44
Performance within context of the period 42 of 44
Subsequently there were his BIG LIE on the 2020 presidential election, his involvement in the January 6th Capitol Building insurrection, and a bevy of civil and criminal suits.
I have been a student of American presidents most of my life. I taught American presidents for over 20 years (1992-2013). I have read many books on presidents [even President James Polk who, in my opinion, ranks among the near great.]
Alan Lichtman’s GREAT COURSES expansive lectures on 12 great American presidents I find illuminating. The PBS American Presidents series is equally insightful, though I feel that Reagan was given a soft soap touch. Sadly, Rosenman’s brilliant FOUR GIANTS AND A PIGMY is out of print.
For me, Trump is a slam dunk for worst American president ever. The relatives of James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and James Pierce will be delighted that they will never again be below Trump as the very worst American president.
TRUMP IS ASSURED OF BEING #1 AS THE WORST AND, AS CANDIDATE FOR THE 2024 PRESIDENCY, HE HAS THE [awrk] POSSIBILITY OF BEING EVEN WORSE.
Bratwurst, indeed. You should be on MSNBC with Weissman and Katyal. The three of you could compose the Gilbert and Sullivan I dream of as I watch the two of them grinning more and more.
Glad to see you back and in fine form. Having lived through Nixon, Reagan, and 2 Bushes, would like to see you rank them. I look back at TR when thinking of Republican presidents who, with the exception of Lincoln and Eisenhower, get good marks.
Keith, I know about bratwurst and have eaten it! My godmother and her mother who helped raise me, were Pennsylvania Germans. But the context is too perfect.
More lyrics, please. It’s my daughter who knows G&S from grade school. I only got to see the plays, but “the little list” rings a bell and fits the moment so well! Thank you.
Do you also think of DT in a high chair in the White House dining room as he throws the plates?
Virginia You might want to go to the C-Span historians ranking of American presidents website. I shan’t seek to condense various class assessments of recent presidents. My several sentence vignettes:
Nixon: A strategic, hateful fellow who scored high and low with Kissinger in foreign affairs. He was caught in his own web of vindictiveness.
Reagan: His high points were his sticking with Fed Chair Paul Volcker in the vexing effort to successfully kill stagflation and working with Gorbachev in ending the Cold War with a whimper rather than a bang. Otherwise, he would have been comfortable as part of the sappy The Sound of Music.
George H. W. Bush: A reasonably decent WASP who handled foreign affairs well. Domestically, he bravely raised taxes after the Reagan era and, with zippo charisma, ran out of steam when faced with James Carvelle’s “It’s the economic stupid.”
George W. Bush: A lightweight who commenced with a ‘trickle down’ tax cut and then sullied a patriotic September 11th surge with his Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld Iraq/Afghanistan nightmare that was devastating to America. He has never acknowledged that he was a doofus president.
Keith, thank you for the C-Span recommendation. As for W, I doubt he knows or cares.
My story about his father: met him and Barbara at their Mount Vernon in Alamo Heights, San Antonio, TX, house, 1962. Was so unimpressed by both and the house that I forgot the meeting until the elder George had been president for two years. (OMG, I met him.) Have you seen the week-end magazine section that Le Monde did on the Bush family around 2015? It confirmed my impressions. Sorry that I passed it on, as I too frequently do, without copying.
Virginia had contact with #41 when he was chairman of a group in which I was trustee, I found him decent and well informed, playing his cards close to his chest. I was surprised at his first appearance in a. Navy flight jacket [I believe he was the youngest Navy pilot in WW II with a distinguished f combat record.
In about 1970 I had a four-person dinner with his parents, Prescott Bush.
We made judgments from two obviously different points of view. You would see the family as a professional, I saw them as oil and money. What an interesting juncture of two patriotic Americans’ viewpoints. But you did see them from close and I thought of them at least in part as how they affected my life as an American (wars).
I am happy that Blinken was able to forge ahead with his plans to go to China. It is very important that our goal is to become less dependent upon China. We can still have some diplomatic conversations as to what that may mean for them but Biden/Harris plus, Blinken have put their foot down now. The Chinese should realize we are letting them nicely and we aren’t going to seek vengeance...yet. The supply chain fiasco plus the threats against Taiwan was, I believe, the last straw for this administration. KInda hoping we have tied at least one of their hands behind their back and have given them food for thought.
Fake 45’s interview with Fox was so incriminating. Big Mouth shouts crap about he may or may not have had papers on Iran. When I heard him say that, I laughed out loud! Jack Smith and team are taking so many notes. One way or another, Fake 45 is screwed, either by Smith, Letitia, Bragg, or Fani, or all of them. The fact that he is allowed to traipse around to rallies, keep his passport, stay at Bedminster or Mar-a-Lago, is preposterous. Which brings to another subject that Carol Leonnig and her WaPo team uncovered tonight and that was about Garland and Lisa Monaco. Appears they took their sweet time in even investigating Trump! Actually, they did nothing for a year...until he announced his plan to run for prez again. THAT’S when they got the ball rolling. Merrick simply needs to be replaced as AG in 2024 when Biden/Harris win the nomination again. I vote for Jack Smith.
The Carol Leonnig/ WAPO report is scrupulously detailed covering more than a 18 month period of "institutional caution" in the face of a coup & a wide spread overt conspiracy of bogus state "Electors".Jack Smith & Team has nearly caught up. Much more to come per Carol L.
Marlene, Carol Leonnig is an investigative journalist at the top of her field. I wish I could think of another word for it but it wouldn't be 'a diamond in the rough'; she's a diamond though, for sure; a journalist's journalist. She graduated from Queen Anne School, a former college preparatory school, and Bryn Mawr College in 1987.
Carol D. Leonnig '...was part of a team of national security reporters that won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for reporting, which revealed the NSA's expanded spying on Americans. Leonnig also received Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting in 2015 and in 2018 as part of the team that won the Prize for national reporting as a contributor to 10 stories on the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election with The Washington Post.[10] (Wikipedia) Her books are: 'A Very Stable Genius' and by Philip Rucker(2020); 'I Alone Can Fix It and by Philip Rucker(2021); 'Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service (2021). See link to her bio below.
I am with Lawrence O'Donnel on the WAPO FBI piece, and don't see what all the hoopla is about. The DOJ and the FBI had clearly been influenced by/ infiltrated by loyal trumpissts, so Garland and his team had to first take tge time to clean house before trusting agents and staff. And, as AG Garland has proven at least 3 times before, in these realy tough cases, his meticulous methods work. To the point where the guilty is hanging himself.
Agree, Mary Pat & Carol promises more. Ari Melbar referred to (paraphrasing) 'James Comey like behavior' among decision makers. I am not aware of the specific instutional failures other than Carol's work . We need a proven world class Prosecutor; we got one.
Bryan, have you turned a clear or blind eye to more than a year's delay in the investigation of Trump's and his cohorts' efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the planned insurrection at the Capital? Do you give Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI a pass for resisting such investigations? What has been lost in the pursuit of justice and the wellbeing of the US as a result? I wonder what Lawrence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard University. and '... the Nation’s preeminent constitutional scholar for the past half-century' has to say about the matter.
Nope, in fact, I just concurred with Rex Page's posting (another left coaster) "... slow walking to the point of no walking."
I love Lawrence Tribe on 1st Amendment issues. In law school I learned Larry's 1st American analytical tools. On 3 dimensional, slow walking (hat tip Rex) Federal bureaucracy analysis, I go with the WAPO Pulitzer Prize winner.
You have provided us with an important clarification about your opinion of Garland's 'no walking' at DOJ with reference to investigation of Trump and his cohorts. Thank you. I would add the necessity to review Christopher A. Wray's position as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and various aspects of the functioning of the FBI, including its staff.
Haven’t heard from Tribe, but Andrew Weissman, who seems to be a cool-headed analyst, said on O’Donnell last night that it’s clear from the Loenig report that DoJ’s nonaction is extremely unfortunate on several grounds, which he enumerated.
in fact Andrew Weissman backed Leonnig's work 100% & gave MSNBC's 4 PM afternoon show Dateline' credit for keeping the issues developing as opposed to the shallow, 'What's Garland doing?'.
The failures detailed in the Leonig report are plenty. They show that Garland and the FBI were doing what they appeared to be doing: slow-walking to the point of no walking. Precious time wasted that makes Jack Smith’s job a lot harder.
'Great journalism has shown Garland and Monaco well-intentioned but profoundly unwise in slow-walking the investigation into Trump and those around him. Their fear of looking political backfired badly. Whether the harm was irreparable remains to be seen.' ____Lawrence H. Tribe (Tweet)
4:19 PM · Jun 19, 2023
'... the Nation’s preeminent constitutional scholar for the past half-century'
While Mr. Tribe is preeminent in his academic field, he is not working inside the DOJ. I will agree to disagree with you on this one, Fern. I totally trust Merrick Garland. Stock up on popcorn and your favorite beverage!
Thank you MaryPat, Larry did not even analyze Monaco's speech at the University of Chicago to my knowlege. I guess there were no first Amendment issues.
When the institutional "slow walking" ambled to the "organized crime model" i.e. prosecute from the bottom to the top.virtually no one still discusses the extensive, well documented with admissible evidence public record of the prosecution of over 1000 J6 Perps. I still subscribe to the US DC DOJ teams' emails documenting their substantial work.
You can subscribe too. The fact filled emails should get interesting in the weeks ahead.
When I say "work" I mean declarations supporting search & arrests in all 50 states that continue to this day. And, hundreds of plea deals. I also mean the filing of "informations", pleadings, first amended complaints, second amended complaints, 3rd & in some cases 4th Amended complaints not to mentional numerous succeessful trials including those for seditious conspiracy certain to be used by one Jack Smith in the J6 indictments, plural.
Many Thanks, Bryan, for validating my thoughtful hunch (but hunch just the same) based more on my son's work on Discovery channel's "Unabomber" (his immediate boss was the director), and what I have learned over the years in these pages, than on inside info. So cool that the DOJ documents their progress in those emails and make them available to the public! Definately needed an organized crime model for all these goons!
I certainly agree to disagree with you on this one, MaryPat, but not without replying. You, Lawrence O'Donnell and I don't work for the DOJ either. Andrew Weissmann has, and he doesn't give Garland a pass. As far as bad decisions concerning the worst and most dangerous president in the country's history, while its democracy is being shredded, I give Garland an F.
PS Mr. Tribe is also the author of American Constitutional Law (1978), a major treatise in that field, and has argued before the United States Supreme Court 36 times; appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama to serve as the first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice and in 2021 by President Joseph R. Biden to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States; and has written 115 books.
Every time I wanted Merrick Garland to work faster I reminded myself of two things: 1) he is thinking of the jury (ONE juror could wreck the case and let DT go free) and 2) the politics argument. And I tried to put myself in his shoes. What we know now, we didn’t know two years ago.
Teri Kanefield points out that whoever was complaining to Carol Leonig is really just telling us from a disapproving view what Garland told us publicly from the start: that DOJ would work from the bottom up, following the evidence wherever it went.
Marlene, I fear Garland has started with the political deck stacked against him with not unreasonable claims that he is seeking revenge for the R's (Mitch) holding his SCOTUS nomination hostage. From what we know of the man, he would likely take GREAT precautions to avoid any appearance of vengefulness which could easily be translated into "dragging his feet" in any investigation. This was probably a significant contributor to why we have Jack Smith as special counsel.
Marlene, I love what you say here. I do have a semantics issue, however. Why are Letitia James and Fanny Willis referred to by their first names, and Jack Smith and Alvin Bragg referred to by their last names? In the courtroom vernacular, the Judge is always "Your Honor and never referred to by name, unless an attorney is referring to them, then it is "Judge Jones" or "Judge Rodriguez" while the attorneys are always addressed as "Mr. Bragg" or "Miss James". Utilizing first names implies familiarity while using surnames implies formality.
“Rather than walking a bipolar tightrope between Washington and Beijing,” Ignatius notes, “the administration is trying to build a matrix of relationships, with the United States as a key interlocutor in each node.”
We live in an ever more complicated world of moving parts and actors. This letter by HCR captures that for me. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrates, even if we had ignored the invasion, how destructive the actions of any one country might have on the world today. The food supply of hundreds of millions has been disrupted. This is only one of so many international disasters that Russia has unleashed.
We now more than ever need a more stable and responsible government and leadership in the US which the paragraph above in HCR’s letter points out. Stability and wisdom that Republicans have dismissed and disowned for the sake of their “buttons” to push for their own personal wealth and power. They often admire Putin which clearly tells us they have the wrong values. They are far more “tough guy” waffling between wars and aligning with the world’s dictators. The personal and group attacks that they dispense daily to separate Americans who they are against them, causing Christians to foolishly pronounce their faith while giving it up or worse using it against and to harm others is a human catastrophe of inhumane proportions.
We need a recovery that will require more than God can ever deliver unless we come to terms with our own responsibilities for the mess we have created and the gargantuan lift that the Biden administration is trying to make against the assaults of American extremism which emboldens leaders like Putin.
Zelensky is the hero . Without his standing up for freedom and for the freedom loving people of Ukraine who have sacrificed EVERYTHING..being willing to give his/their all....having faith that the US, as a freedom-loving nation would step in to help (as we and other nations have done) ....it too would have been swallowed up by Putin. As Putin and his minions have clearly shown, gold and other riches of the world are HIS FOR THE TAKING! And....we can not give up or give in....freedom is too important...the blood, the property, their beautiful culture, the very souls of Ukrainians are being sacrificed for this ideal, an ideal many of us TAKE FOR GRANTED, as we have lived within the ideal of freedom all our lives.
A major irony is that tfg has reverted to calling Democrats communists as an insult, all the while the right is in Putin's (the penultimate communist) corner. Go figure?
Emily - your words beautifully encapsulate the "souls of Ukranians" and the inspiration that their leader and their citizens have provided for all freedom-loving persons of our world.
That's my concern, AGD. Trump's shark like plodding in the transactional direction of his personal bottom line, was always tailor made for exploitation by the House of Saud, especially under its currently ambitious and ruthless leadership by MBS.
Let's not forget that Trump stupidly and irresponsibly torpedoed the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had so carefully reached, and didn't bat an eye when he heard that MBS had brutally murdered Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. He also greenlighted our military's assassination of Qussem Suleimani, the high ranking Iranian general.
His shoulder shrugging about Khashoggi's murder signaled an unheard of support for Saudi lawlessness. The Suleimani assassination was a shot across the bow at Iranian influence in the region, leaving the untoward combination of Saudi and Israeli influence at the high water mark, as was the scuttling of the nuclear deal, although the latter also had horrific consequences beyond that.
IMO, the “Big Con “ would have thwarted efforts by our intelligence community to communicate the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That was part of his agreement with Putin at Helsinki
Not seen interview, listened to Kaytal's clip on Twitter multiple times at slower speeds. Conclusion below is a huge stretch. Instead he denies having a secret attack plan against Iran. Hopefully someone has a different portion of the interview to back up this statement. "Trump seemed to agree that he had broken the law by retaining documents, saying he had not handed over to the National Archives the documents he kept because he wanted to take his personal material out of the boxes and was “very busy.”"
Breaking news for Trump: simply possessing so many secret documents add up to multiple felonies — even if they had been kept in a locked safe in the now-infamous bathroom.
2 or 3 sentences Max, the problem begins when tfg talks. As Chris Christie said today commenting on tfg's "INCOHERENT" Fox interview interview last night, "Trumps' words were looking for the nearest window to jump out of ...".
That's too funny. Seriously, the man has some very serious psychological issues. I'd venture to guess it has progressed to the point of actual physical brain damage.
If you had a close relative who behaved this way you'd be looking for an assisted living arrangement.
He called them his papers, suggesting he didn't understand the importance. I read that, somewhere, and it makes so much sense. Thank you to Dr. Richardson for all that you do.
Dump doesn’t read. Remember the shock at early reports that he wouldn’t read the standard pages long summaries prepared by diligent staff with important news for the day? As I understood from the reporting a standard practice for US presidents. Until that guy took office. No. They had to condense pages of key information to a few pages or paragraphs to hold his attention. Which I’m not sure he even read. It may explain some of his ignorance and
Not an issue. Discussion was about how he supposedly essentially confessed on national TV. We are not MAGAs, we are accurate with what we call 'facts'.
This clip is pretty damning. They are talking about the subpoena.
Baier: why not just hand them over then?
Trump: because I had boxes I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don’t want to hand them over to NARA yet... I was pretty busy.
“That was a massive amount of papers talking about Iran and other things.” Trump tries to imply that all he had was a pile of newspaper clippings etc. But if that were true, why would he say “I couldn’t declassify it now?” Newspaper clippings aren’t classified. I think that’s where the admission of guilt comes in, and it seems pretty clear to me.
I feel safer in my country with President 46. The rhetoric is at a lower temperature, and the rest of the world must be relaxing also. Thank you President Biden!
From where I sit, my view (opinion) is that the Biden/Harris administration has been doing a phenomenal - okay, a very good - job, especially when compared against the previous administration and quite a few previous presidential administrations. So I ask myself, with the accomplishments that the Biden/Harris administration have made, why are Biden’s approval ratings so low ... his age, are the polls flawed, what is it that those polled are looking for? Yes, the exit from Afghanistan did not go well, ... yes, the situation at our southern border continues to be a problem, and yes, there was/is inflation - something not only experienced here in America, but something to have been expected when our world’s economies and markets were shutdown for almost two years, ... but look at the bi-partisanship accomplishments, the pieces of meaningful legislative actions that this administration has spearheaded and gotten passed, the success at helping NATO countries pull together in support of Ukraine ... from where I sit, Biden should be - at least - 10 points higher in the polls.
Yes Jim Riley, it is very disappointing, Biden deserves better. As for the Afghanistan exit, Trump earlier had essentially told the Taliban that we had enough, failed, and we are leaving. That left us with no negotiating leverage. We lost and no exit under those circumstance is pretty. The entire effort to invade and restructure Afghanistan was a major Bush blunder as well as a similar effort in Iraq. Rumsfeld, Chaney, and Rice totally misled us. Where were the foreign policy experts and the press?
George Regarding Afghanistan, spot on! After nearly 20 years Afghanistan clearly was a no win situation for the United States. Or, as was said about Vietnam, ‘there was no light at the end of the tunnel.’
Trump had already set a date for Americans to abandon Afghanistan. When President Biden came in, anyone thinking that there would be a controlled gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan were smoking something powerful.
Once the fragile Afghanistan military started a massive collapse, the maintenance of order for withdrawal of our military and those countless Afghans who had linked their lives to ther American occupiers had disappeared.
The Republicans, with their Benghazi bleeps getting fainter, may seek to resurrect Afghanistan as a ‘Biden humiliation.’ PSHAW! It was a Bush W/Cheney/Rumsfeld initial error that was compounded over nearly two decades.
President Biden boldly acknowledged that Afghanistan was over and did his best to evacuate troops and civilians in a very short time period.
With over 120,000 airlifted out in spite of the chaos, it was also one of the most successful humanitarian airlifts in history. And though seemingly in drips and drabs it continued for some time after the US withdrawal. Not enough? Yes. Still counts as a good.
Carmen Compare Afghanistan with the frantic final hours in escaping Vietnam, where virtually no accommodation was made for those Vietnamese who had risked their lives working with Americans. Oophs, that was under a Republican president.
Carmen On Vietnam, I can speak personally that, early on, there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel.’ During the Congo foreign hostage crisis in 1964, I was a ‘rambunctious’ diplomat who volunteered to operate alone in rebel-infested provinces with a M-16 and a .45. Speaking French added to my credentials for Vietnam.
In May 1965 and again in 1067 our ambassador in Saigon ‘invited’ me to join him. Twice I refused. It was crystal clear to me from 1) my experience with the military and from reading Robert Taplin’s and Bernard Fall’s books that Ho Chi Minh’s nationalism was stronger than American troops backing a crooked South Vietnamese regime.
It took nearly a decade for the US to acknowledge this after tens of thousands more American dead and well over a million more Vietnamese.
Professor Wheelock, thank you for your comments, I value your affirmation.
I second!
I wish the Democrats would point that out every time President Biden is criticized for the unfortunately hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Fourth Estate failed us during the Chaney/Bush administration - but they have been doing a pretty good job of making amends for those failures, by their actions since 2017 with trump, the MAGA-movement and the cult-of-trump!!!
Jim, I disagree on the Fourth Estate. They have abandoned all hope of journalism and are (for the most part) peddling bothsidesism and clickbait.
MSM (or "Fourth Estate") has become obsessed with the bottom line: $$$ and ratings. That is painfully obvious now. I watch it only very sparingly. A medium like Substack that offers so many viewpoints without all the glib, slick bells and whistles, is what I prefer now. "Just the facts", with a minimum of hyperbole. Some of the issues before us now are far too complicated to simply reduce down to a few brief headlines or "grabbers". I prefer a more in-depth exploration and perspectives, so I rely more on print media now. I feel I can be more discerning.
I like the term "legacy media" (as an alternative to MSM), which I learned from folks who are part of the "progressive media ecosystem" on YouTube, like Brian Tyler Cohen and the MeidasTouch Network. Never thought I'd be spending so many hours a day watching pro-democracy reporters and pundits on YouTube. Between YouTube and Substack, I can finally engage with "the news" again, which I have not been able to do since newspapers stopped using ledes and all "hard news" in both The NYT and NPR became human interest features. Several years ago I taught an freshman composition class at a local community college, and my students revealed that they had not learned in High School about the "5 W's," and in place of the lede, they had been taught to write a "hook"—That is, our schools are now teaching our children to write CLICK BAIT!!!
Yes, and now Gannett has some of the same writers for the Register Guard and the Statesman Journal. It is disgusting. We have a couple online publications here in Salem which are better at certain things. We only take the SJ online for obits. Now I notice some people are saying read the obit at the funeral home site to avoid paying the rag. I also note that the O loves to bash Kotek and seem to be Beaver homers. We get news from a variety of sources mostly online although we do get the NYT as a paper. I read only the science section, the Sunday book review, and do the puzzle. I like to read the Atlantic daily. And of course, start every am with Heather.
I don’t know how much Eugene stuff migrates to Salem (we get a fair amount of Salem news) but Chris Pietch (photojournalist) now writes a third of our local articles. I got to know him when I went to Creswell as their daytime deputy and his kids were in band.
I continue to subscribe on line because local news is crucial, even if it is a fraction of the output.
“The entire effort to invade and restructure Afghanistan was a major Bush blunder as well as a similar effort in Iraq.” George, I’d just like to amplify, but also refine this remark. IMO the failure in Afghanistan started with letting bin Laden and the Taliban escape Tora Bora. Remember, that was not an operational failure, it was a command failure. Bush and Cheney already had their eyes on Iraq. We could never have dissuaded the Afghans from continuing corruption, but the big irony is that Afghans widely understood how corruption was crippling the country because they could see the difference in working with the Americans. Which is largely why things fell apart so fast. That’s what Biden didn’t understand. He didn’t appreciate how little confidence the people charged with holding things together, after the US pull-out, had in their leaders. But we were never serious about Afghanistan, and our failure in Iraq threw cold water on any chance that we ever would be.
Agreed. The Biden Administration is doing what we elected them to do. Governing.Biden is a good leader who chooses capable people and works with them. He also knows you don’t always get everything you want all at once and right away. This is such a flipping relief from the Republican noise machine.
Thanks HCR for the clear summary of foreign affairs. Much appreciated 😊
It is hard to understand why so much news reporting is all about bashing Biden. They seem to want a slick talking, good looking 45 year old with wisdom, knowledge and team building of an 80 year old. Not likely, haven't seen many white knights lately.
Eye balls, that’s what it’s about. Batsh*t crazy ranting gets more clicks than competent domestic proposals and vital foreign policy.
I agree that the media seems to consider Biden less titillating than the former guy and don’t emphasize his accomplishments.I am disappointed.
Why on earth would you want to give time to someone that spews one lie after another ,rather than someone that speaks the truth and requires that you have an operational brain in order to understand what he’s doing.
As Murdoch explain in his Dominion testimony, the relevant color is green.
What accomplishments?
Afghanistan? Ukraine conflict? Inflation? The border? Surging crime?
Fear of a recession? The economy?
Bad news sells.
And high drama!
The answer to your ‘Why’ is that ridicule gets the attention of the intended audience, compliments do not!
Years ago there was a line in a fast food commercial ‘where’s the beef?’! Biden continues to prepare and deliver the beef, but all too many media outlets prefer to feed their audience a steady diet of gristle!
Often it is just grease that has been used to fry all day.
The Cult of Personality rules American politics.
And a good deal of American life in general.
I believe the polls have been distorted, purposely. They almost always seem false to me. Especially the polls about how many people will vote for Trump. And Biden’s approval ratings.
Proof?
So, for example, the latest Harvard Harris poll which has terrible numbers for Biden. is wrong and you're right?
That which asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Right.
So leftists believe in science only when it benefits them? You might want to write Harvard
and them you know better. I'd love to hear that phone call.
Yet again, that which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
I believe the way I do. I didn’t claim my belief is right. Me being wrong seems to be important to you.
Polls tripped me flat on my face in 2016. I am just now getting over my dislike for Steve Kornacki, the former bearer of bad news.
How so?
That night in 2016 is one of the most memorable in my life. Like a nightmare and guess I'm afraid Mr. K will bring more bad news. Of course I know it has absolutely nothing to do with he, himself.
Just metaphor.
Pardon me. How could I forget?
Make that 50 points higher, what’s not to like about what he’s put together.
Unfortunately, people tend to look at the problems and not the successes with things going well.
We the people are not included in the polls. If they have called...I don't answer my phone. If the media would quit talking about tfg we would all be better off. It isn't news worthy apparently to talk about accomplishments. However, Hunter is getting media attention today! I am sure people will blame President Biden for his son's failings!
Maybe not. Hunter is taking responsibility and not fighting the charges.
Is it wise and prudent to judge current USA's actions a la Biden et al in terms of those executed by the worst - or one of the abject worse - presidential administrations in USA history?
To answer your very good question. Jim Riley, take a look at journalist postings on alternative sites - Scheerpost.com, Consortium News, Counter-punch, Popular Resistance, Common Dreams and the work of Chris Hedges, Richard Wolfe (economist), Andrew Bacevich (American historian,West Point Grad "The Ukraine Conflict Is Not About American Freedom"), Maj. Danny Sjursen(senior fellow at the Ctr for Internl Policy, Ralph Nader, Eve Ottenberg. Heather's deeply researched historical work from a view in largely in accord with and supportive of the Biden's Administration's can be rounded out by the larger context presented by these writers.
The conservative media bubble, specifically Fox News, has trashed Biden from day one. I realize that this is standard operating procedure for Fox when the opposition party is in power, but it has gotten ridiculous in their attempt to diminish Biden and minimize/ignore the obvious issues with Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress and elsewhere. Fox is still the leading cable news outlet. Therefore, a large chunk of the public is spoon fed this propaganda on a daily basis. The only good news here is that the overall audience for cable news is slowly, deservedly, shrinking.
You are delusional. Look at the new Harvard Harris poll.
Biden is trailing Trump by 6. His job approval is at 40%. Even worse are his numbers
on inflation, the economy, fear of a recession, government spending, the border and crime.
You might want to consider the words of Pauline Kael the NY times film critic, who after Nixon carried 49 out of 50 states against McGovern exclaimed, "I don't understand how Nixon won , all my friends voted for McGovern.
It might be time to leave the bubble for fresh air and a clearer world view.
An article in Bulwark about four tests for democracy is really on point and disturbing.
Exactly my reaction in the past week.
Joe Biden demonstrates focus on the Public Good.
It’s reassuring glimpse of the benefits of intelligence and experience.
In a culture where so many citizens claim to be Christians, an amoral, twice impeached and twice indicted creature holds the loyalty of tens of millions of people!
‘Public Good’ is not high on their list of attributes of a leader!
They may claim to be Christians, but they have no idea of how far they have strayed from the message in the first three Gospels. Now that they have gotten the SC abortion decision, they are busy stirring up anger over drag shows, certain books, pride parades, independent women, science, and anyone who is not white while denying what will probably do in the planet: climate change. I am waiting for my ex-classmate in Elkhart to post something positive about death star or against the indictments. So far she has been silent. I have mentioned a chapter in God: An Anatomy where the author shows how black became evil and led to white nationalism. Now I am reading The World the Plague Made and he also mentions the advent of racism and slavery. It is an interesting book, but a bit of a slog at times. He does have a sense of humor which shows up from time to time.
"The Public Good". Can get tricky, no? Quashing the planned strike by the railroad workers union? Not a peep about his campaign promise for Medicare for All/Single Payer? Disappearance of another campaign promise of $15 minimum wage? Inviting Private Equity into (destroying) Medicaid and Medicare? Billions poured into Ukraine while blue tarps homeless tents continue to expand in USA cities? Inflation?"In short, the rise in inflation has not been driven by anything that looks like an overheating labor market—instead it has been driven by higher corporate profit margins and supply-chain bottlenecks."(economic policy institute epi.com). And in the shadows like a backdrop, barely visible but energetically potent: USA stirring the pot for war with China and normalizing nuclear with Russia, its DOJ breaking the fundamental right of freedom of press with its murderousness unjust treatment of Assange, its approval of an immense new drilling Willow Project in Alaska ("despite a groundswell of public opposition, including more than 5.6 million letters sent to the White House and Dept of Interior." (earthjustice.org).
“In short, the rise in inflation has not been driven by anything that looks like an overheating labor market—instead it has been driven by higher corporate profit margins and supply-chain bottlenecks."
Correct. Corporations are actively working to unseat Biden by jacking prices.
Boy, are you spreading disinformation.
Mike S
So true. Repubs take corporate donations in exchange for lowering corporate taxes and removing regulations. Making the economy look bad (through speciously inflated prices) is just a corporate tactic to help Repubs win. Greedy pigs at the trough, all.
(Except Putin, I think he is clinching these days)
Yep, Sphincter Clamp “engaged “!!!
I'm not sure if I like that image or not!
🤢😂
You beat me to it.
Me too! The first thing I thought of when reading this comprehensive report on Sec'y Blinken's visit was, would the former guy even know what the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum, and AUKUS are, never mind that we need to build a "matrix of relationships" with them? How in the world do we let US citizens know how important it is that our president know how to manage these relationships in today's global world realities?
It's generally reassuring to have a POTUS who is a rational adult instead of a senile child who has temper tantrums and throws food at the wall.
Amen!
Safer?
Afghanistan was a complete catastrophe & The Ukraine conflict has devolved into another pointless war with no end in sight.
How can you feel safer when the Biden's took millions in cash from the Chinese, Ukrainians, & Romanians.
As the FBI 1023 alleges, Joe & Hunter (the bag man) each received $5,000,000 in bribes from a Ukrainian oligarch who has 17 recordings he kept as insurance.
BTW why did the Biden family set up 20 shell corporations that received payments for NO work done?
NO i don't feel safer knowing the president sold influence and favors to other countries
including the Ukraine where we have sent over $100 Billions dollars with no accountability.
Your response is as lazy as the former POTUS, and as filled with lies, except for the first phrase - "Afghanistan was a complete catastrophe," that the Biden administration was handed the thankless task of exiting. Also, there is plenty to correct in your note, but the simplest one is this: it is Ukraine, not the Ukraine.
Thank you, Michael Pressman. Well done response to a ridiculous troll.
We aren’t as easily triggered by obvious lies, false accusation and manufactured B.S. as the MAGA’s. Your post is absurd. We’re well aware the exit from Afghanistan was difficult and unnecessarily complicated by agreements made by the previous administration.
Perhaps you should refrain from commenting until AFTER you’ve familiarized yourself with the facts of this administration’s accomplishments. You’ll find many of your fears are unfounded and you’ll feel better about being an American.
I realize that I am almost alone here, but I think history will come to regard the final withdrawal from Afghanistan, plagued by errors and tragedies as it was, as America’s Dunkirk. If you look at what happened in the run-up and execution of Dunkirk, you’ll see a lot of parallels.
Jon, I think you're right. To have moved out that many folks is amazing. That we lost only 13 service members (11 Marines, one Navy Corpsman, and an Army soldier) in a strike attack during the evacuation is short of amazing; yet I see signs everywhere "Biden lied and 13 died". That fiasco lays at the feet of fpotus, not President Biden.
You’re not alone, there were actions made under and by the previous POTUS administration which almost assured a failed attempt at exiting Afghanistan in a safer and more benign manner ... we left too many of our Afghan supporters and their families behind.
Agreed, and we are treating those whom we depended upon for translations, etc. poorly indeed. It would not surprise me at all if those names were among those that were in the classified documents that ended up in the chandelier storage room there at Merde el Lardo.
Oh Ally, LOL. You just made me laugh this am. Merde el Lardo. Perfect. I call Tzar a Loco.
We did. But that happened at Dunkirk, too. A British division (the 51st Highland?) was left at Calais and told to hold out, in order to allow more time to evacuate Dunkirk. And many British, and French (people forget that more than 100,000 of the troops evacuated from Dunkirk were French) troops were lost in the disorderly retreat due to poor planning and execution by the general staffs. Still, it was a signal achievement.
Jon Actually the British naval high command engaged in serious ‘worst case’ scenarios weeks before Dunkirk. They established contact with a network of private boat owners while also deciding that a number of destroyers would be sacrificed in this desperate rescue evacuation.
It was a miracle that 300,000 British and French troops were rescued. The last ditch efforts by brave French and British troops were critical. Also, the Germans blotched a massacre by stopping and permitting an extraordinarily difficult evacuation.
I am reminded of Glover’s Marbleheaders extraordinary rescue of Washington/s troops trapped in Brooklyn as General Howe and Admiral Howe dithered. Bad weather was a god send for the Americans.
Presumably a copy and paste job from Newsmax or whatever propaganda outlet gets poured into his brain.
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
I hope you're getting something out of these ravings of yours, James A., because everyone here pretty much ignores you, except for the occasional irritated swat.
We don’t like trolls here. Go somewhere else.
Actually, I like having trolls here. We all need to know what people are being told and what they believe. Probably 25-30% of the country believes what James A says, and many bigger lies. He is not insulting anyone here; let him post. It is dangerous to stay in the bubble. Take a test. Watch Fox News. See how long you can stand it.
How long can you stand watching Fox? That is like when my dad would make ice cream in our old crank ice cream maker we would see who could hold their finger in drain hole the longest. Dad would crank, add chipped ice and salt. Good memories, Fox will always be destructive memories.
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
Remember the scene early in "Silence of the Lambs" when Jodie Foster's character first meets Lector (Anthony Hopkins) in prison? The sadistic warden kept his TV on 24/7 blasting a Jimmy Swaggart type preacher?!?
That's how I feel whenever I tune into Fox for even a few minutes. 🤣
Whoops, gotta run, I'm having an old friend for dinner!
No its all the people who live in the leftist bubble
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
Report him. I did last week.
Thank you, Jon. His purpose is malignant, and his self-description as an "intellectual" is laughable. Self-promotion while stirring the pot is apparently his goal.
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
The unfounded allegations in your post, each lacking credible and verifiable sources, is unfortunate for your readership. It’s also why I would not ever subscribe. Journalism requires far more than spouting falsehoods.
What in the hell are you talking about?
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight? This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html 100% FACTS
James.
Take it easy. You appear unhinged by posting the same content multiple times.
It’s ok to believe whatever you want. That is the nature of belief.
But. You should label beliefs as belief.
Not fact.
Biden is a good president.
Not according to the polling
See the new Harvard Harris poll
https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/HHP_June2023_KeyResults.pdf
1) 2/3 of country think we are headed in the wrong direction
2) Only 38% think the economy is in good shape
3) 50% of the country says their personal financial situation is worsening
4) 80% of country thinks we are heading into a recession (again)
5) Biden approval rating 40%
6) Immigration 38%
7) Crime 39%
8) Inflation 37%
The majority of Democrats don't want him to run again.
Trump leads Biden by 6 points in 2024 their presidential poll
Can you name a single noteworthy achievement?
Yes.
Biden conducts himself like an adult instead of a whiny, rich, white, spoiled 9 year old.
It would serve your efforts to covert pro-Biden people if you document your allegations. No footnotes, no facts, no truth. Another Trumper beating a fictitious drum.
I don't think this guy is trying to persuade anyone. He's just trying to attract attention in hopes of getting clicks on his blog.
In any case, what government job is it Hunter Biden supposedly has, exactly? I mean, is he he an official presidential adviser like Ivanka Trump? As assistant senior adviser like Jared Kushner? Not surprising, given that TFG's DOJ decided that nepotism laws didn't apply to the Executive Branch. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/11/facebook-posts/fact-checking-how-many-trump-relatives-and-friends/
Oh, yeah: AG Barr's son and daughter in law both had jobs in the previous administration. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
Funny how Hunter Biden's business failures suddenly became important when TFG was indicted for multiple crimes, including espionage.
Interesting from a psychological standpoint also is the insistence of fascist propagandists of accusing others of all of the same moral, intellectual, and legal flaws that characterize TFG and his acolytes. It's called projection, IIRC.
Or maybe it's just the inability of sociopaths to understand that normal people don't think the way they do. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928
Are you living a cave?
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
SORRY ! , James A < but Your " BROKEN RECORD" Method ...... IS ! BORING ! ( LORD ! ....HAVE MERCY! )
Ah Joe, how pathetic that you stoop to ‘photo bomb’ another writers newsletter in order to soil it with your screed!
Substack needs a moderator who will filter out poachers like James A!
Is this an excerpt from your new novel, a true work of fiction?
STFU
100% Truth
1) Afghanistan was a cluster f....
2) What is the end game after 1 1/2 in The Ukraine? There is no end in sight?
This isn't was we were promised
3) Hunter Biden took in over $11 Million from the Chinese and Ukrainians
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/analysis-hunter-bidens-hard-drive-shows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462
4) FBI admitted to the existence of a FD-1023, that alleges Biden took a $5,000,000 bribe.Asst FBI Paul Abatte admitted the FBI had the unclassified document.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5N7s0vRQk0&t=300s
5) Biden's set up 15 shell corporations to funnel over $10,000,000 dollars to Biden family members. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12068135/Republicans-dig-10-MILLION-foreign-money-linked-payments-Biden-family-members.html
100% FACTS
PLOP!
Rhetoric lower? He calls all the citizens who voted against him White Supremacists?
He has weaponized the FBI, IRS, and FISA against the country? He has chilled speech
and censored political opponents.
No comment.
What a brilliant reply
The methodical and incremental accomplishments of Biden and his able Secretary of State Blinken inspire confidence that peace with China can be achieved and maintained. China needs the US far more than the US needs China. Thanks for laying out the details of the diplomacy.
Blinken is an incredible Sec of State
Truly one of the best secretaries of State ever-cleaning up the incredible mess created by Bolton and Pompeo (self-serving traitors to our country), plus advancing our purpose to create stability and democracy throughout the world. Like our President, Mr Blinkin is calm, steady, pragmatic, tough when necessary, informed, intelligent, insightful, and appears to be a truly decent human. I’m in awe of him and his skill! The world is better because of his work.
Can you name a single accomplishment?
He is reassuring the world that the United States is committed to democracy. He is stable, sure, and consistent, and not pandering to authoritarians and their regimes. After the extreme chaos of the former administration, Blinkin is reassuring the world that the US is now run by reasonable grown ups who employ diplomacy and decency in their dealings and restoring ties with our allies that were harmed by tfg’s crazy, self-serving agenda.
Yet again that which is asserted without evidence be dismissed without evidence?
Lets go line by line.
1) He is showing the world he is committed to democracy? Who? Yemen? North Korea? Iran? They could care less. I'm assuming you mean western countries like Europe? Lets get a little more exact. How is he "showing is committed to democracy"?
By trying to imprison his main political rival?
By weaponizing the FBI, IRS, & FISA to target political opponents?
By using Social Media to censor COVID and political critics?
By taking money from the Chinese, Ukrainians, Romanians?
2) He is not pander to authoritarians? What authoritarians? Like Ukraine? Besides being one'
of the most corrupt, its heavily authoritarian. It closed churches and jailed media critics and political rivals,
3) Extreme chaos of Trump? What chaos? There were no wars during Trump's tenure, and Russia didn't dare invade Ukraine because it feared strong push back. Trump didn't fumble the football in Afghanistan like Biden, and he didn't lead us into pointless and never ending war with Russia.
4) What grown ups? Kamala Harris? Blinken? Mark Millen, Lloyd Austin? This crowd couldn't park a bicycle straight. They completely whiffed on Afghanistan. They completely miscalculated Russia. We were told over and over that Russia wouldn't invade and their would be dire consequences if they did. In the end Russia did invade and we had egg on our face.
THIS IS REALLY SIMPLE. If the US didn't want Russia to invade they could have 50,000 troops on the Ukraine border - end of story.
As for self serving agenda, talk to the Biden's they took over $20,000,000 from China, Ukraine, Romania and others.
So rather than discussing Blinkin’s record, you’d like to trash our President. You’d rather a sexual offending, lying, cheating, morally bankrupt, multi-indicted bully to lead our country into authoritarianism. I feel sorry for you.
Of all the Cabinet positions, Sec’y of State is the most challenging. It’s the reason why HRC would have been a capable POTUS. It’s also why Vlad (and Comey) made sure it would not come to pass.
I told my husband in 2015, with the numerous Repubs running for President, that of all of.candidates, the only one capable of standing up to Putin was HRC. And Putin knew it.
… and tfg was, and still is, a most useful tool because he’s too egotistical, vain, moronic and such a wanna-be dictator that he should be disallowed from ever again holding elected office.
It’s so nice to see cabinet members that are not only competent, but exceptional This is after we suffered through those who were chosen for loyalty to the President instead.
Mary Hardt - thank you for this comment. tfg was a bull in a china shop from the beginning. Destruction of all that is valuable and beautiful. He selected multimillionaires in stark opposition to the function of government to put in charge of cabinet positions and federal programs. Top of the list in my mind will always be DeVos, who never went to nor sent any of her brood to public schools. If tfg had succeeded in obtaining a second term, he had no intention of there EVER being another President. Democracy, where an individual has a voice in the choice of representatives in the government, would be over. He STILL aims to start his own dynasty. That includes public executions of his perceived enemies.
TFG was just following Putin's orders, to destroy as many administrative systems as possible.
Beverly, exactly. Don’t forget his putting Rick Perry in charge of the Energy Department. Perry had campaigned for President on the platform getting rid of the Energy Department, among others. This lead to his “oops” moment when he could only remember three of four departments.
Yes - confidence and peace! What can the extreme right fanatics be reading/listening to that they are so irate with Biden's decisions to keep us safe?
We don't look "manly" enough.
Which is what happens when you base your idea of manliness on bad 1980s frat boy comedies.
I hope you're right because they are everywhere doing stuff. What are they up to?
Not certain the US needs China more than vice versa (China is an ancient and resilient civilization and we still have much to prove), but the rest of your points are spot on.
See my response below about China needing the US.
China is an unbroken, continuous civilization established over 3500 years ago. While Europe was a technological backwater after the end of the Roman Empire, China was a wealthy and sophisticated kingdom. That wealth, of course, on the backs of peasants. Still, their modern iteration as a totalitarian system has not been able to harness - not yet, at any rate - their potential.
I am encouraged to hear of the widespread world " alliances " being nurtured and negotiated during Biden's administration.
How so does China need the US more? Three times the population to sell too domestically, global holdings in almost all industries, traditionally fast growing economy and vast trading partners globally.
I like Blinken as well, and I think the recent visit is smart, but I don’t think China relations have improved under this administration. Maybe this is a start.
Their economy is very dependent on trade with US. In spite of their many efforts to spread influence around the world, those countries are developing and cannot support the modern industrial output that China needs to grow. Biden's efforts to reinvigorate American manufacturing. redevelop high tech industries such as chip manufacturing, and more have meant that the US has recovered far better from the pandemic and economic downturn than China, and most developed nations.
What accomplishments? I can't think of any.
On the other:
1) We let China fly a spy balloon across our country and take aerial photographs of our military sites
2) We driven Russia into China's arms. The result is they are pushing to replace the dollar as the world currency
3) We let infect our population with COVID virus and did nothing about it
4) Trade and Intellect theft are as bad as ever.
We don't need China? Who in the hell is going to buy our debt? The Chinese own 11.9% of our national debt.
You are delusional.
He was raised a Methodist. I don't understand why he converted to Catholic.
Catholic is a step up from Methodist on the mythology ladder. At least Catholics leave their religion to trained professionals. Methodist is a DIY project carried out by amateurs.
Dang Rex.
At least Methodist ministers are not chasing 8 year old boys around the Narthex for a little “come to God” experience.
Uh… some of them are. Probably at about the same rate as among Catholic priests and Boy Scout troop-masters.
Oh, my goodness. If I've hit a nerve, I'm sorry. I always thought of Methodism as a progressive step from Catholicism, members being literate enough to be able to study the Bible individually or in groups go directly to God, and not needing a (possibly pedophile) priest as a go-between. Actually I've known many well educated Catholics , but they all seem to have a superiority complñex about their religion, as being the only true religion, so in that way they are just like all other religions.
Don’t worry about hitting a nerve. I’m not sympathetic with anyone who thinks (on the basis on no credible evidence whatever) that there is a sentient entity in the universe with supernatural powers who takes an interest in individual Homo sapiens. My bias against Protestants derives from the fact that 80% of American Evangelical voters voted for Trump. That makes them subhuman in my view. Catholics have a far better political record. And, it appeals to me that they leave the complexities of theology to well-educated professionals and don’t waste time in their own lives trying to puzzle their way through a bunch of unmitigated horseshit in the supernatural realm.
Blinken?
The Biden Administration is managing a highly complex balancing act of countries and interests in a manner very unlike the ‘previous person’….thanks to Heathers input we can appreciate how important this well crafted and executed management is ….our supply chains stabilized and returned to our control and our technical advances, particularly those in the military sphere protected..
The notion of returning to the ‘former one’s’ gross and self serving management of such critical issues…genuinely appalling.
Amazing how defendant tfg is helping the prosecution every time he opens his mouth. At one time I was hoping the judge would put a gag order on him.....but now? Nope! Let him continue as a witness for the prosecution. smh
And, thank you for the breakdown of what is happening with Blinken's talks with China.....what a delicate issue he has to deal with.....appeasing the Chinese while also staying strong for the U.S.
Trump has not had to think about what he says before he says it. His money and strangely popular bombastic style has shielded him from any and all accountability, and the "GOP" has been more than happy to go along. Jack Smith appears to not suffer fools gladly, and that bodes ill for Trump.
Appeasing? Well, satisfying, I hope.
Adding to his big-mouth problem is his mental decline, so evident in any public speech.
mental and moral. Not that he ever offered much in the latter department, but his rhetoric at least has if anything, been sinking to new lows, along with his evident competence. And this not an aberration; the "Republican" party marched with him nearly step of the way; on a road to hell that's littered with bad intentions.
Why isn't that a bigger news issue? He seems so honestly declining. A well done psychological exam is in order. Really, to allow an individual with diminished mental capacity to even run for office especially federal office where the potential damage is multiplied is crazy. At least the nation should be sane enough to recognize that and have proper testing. Maybe court ordered prior to his trial??
The most dangerous of human states of mind is predatory sociopathy, and a free society cannot prohibit thoughtcrime. I suspect that we all have a touch of "Mr. Hyde" in our hearts, but that most of us learn to be civil. That said, fear, hate, greed, and hubris can and does spread though societies like a disease. It is part of our our nation's history and that of other lands as well. The monster in our nature never goes entirely away, but at better moments, we have brought it to heel.
Law is an essential and useful tool, but virtually any tool can be converted to a weapon, even a ploughshare, even a passenger aircraft, even the power of pardon. We constantly must choose to select for competent, responsible, compassionate behavior, or see life turn nasty, brutish and short.
He's SO obviously not in touch with reality in any way, shape, or form! I don't think anything he says really passes through his "mind" at all. It's just endless stream-of-consciousness (sp?) drivel.
If he hadn't had money, he'd be the sad and pathetic homeless guy, mumbling to himself on the street.
If anyone is interested, the first 16 minutes of Lawrence O’Donnell is worthwhile: Bradley Moss has a brilliant take on this very topic!
Check out this video from The Last Word on @MSNBChttps://msnbc.app.link/V1y9n70QMAb
(45 can claim “insanity!”)
J L Graham.....I was just thinking.....tfg is reminding me of Sarah Palin.....lots of words, no substance.
Same playbook, based on Hitler's, revised by Putin.
Words and fury signifying nothing; it is epidemic in the Republican Party.
Ahhh, tfg will ever and always jump at every opportunity to show off his status as a "stable genius," amiright?
“Stable Genius” = “the ability to understand the process of shoveling Horse Pucky” Quote attributed by Dave Fake News reporter Dave to General Sherman T Potter
One blogger commented that even Hercules could not clean that stable.
I lived in Taiwan many years back (a beautiful and dynamic 'province') and I am concerned that they continue to be able to live as they have for many decades - free of direct interference from the mainland. It appears that Blinken is proposing no change (and no 'independence') for Taiwan to perpetuate the status quo. Let's keep on keeping-on.
First, I want to say this is an outstanding account of the trade/supply chain that dudes we have had with China, and the rest of the world since the past president we had did away with all of it with a swoop of his pen.
If it’s remembered, Trump did away with all trade, everything, with the rest of the world. Removed us from NATO, and pulled us from every trade treaty we had with other countries. The United States was virtually sitting all alone, without any allies, no trade agreements with anyone, and tons and tons of food, animal carcasses, all dumped in the oceans because they couldn’t offload in foreign ports, or the incoming ships were not allowed into our ports so the spoiled food was dumped into the oceans off our coast.
This situation with China has been brewing for about 5 years. I’m really glad to see President Biden send Blinken over there to get this straightened out.
As for Trump going on Fox News this evening. He managed to give Special Prosecutor Smith more fuel to make his case against Trump. I swear, this guy doesn’t understand court orders. He just can’t keep his mouth shut, which in this case now, is a good thing. Every time he runs his mouth, he’s adding more and more years to his sentence. What an idiot!
I don't think we tore up every trade treaty, but Trump sure made a mess of things, including pandemic preparedness and mitigation. I don't know when and if it can be all straightened out, but the adults are back at the wheel. Odd how Republicans maintain their popularity when such a string of disasters has followed their their machinations for about half an century.
It is indeed that it is odd that Rethuglicans maintain their popularity all of these years. That is puzzling to me too. I assume ignorance and greed of their voters could be part of it...
They are fed a nonstop diet of propaganda on Faux News that completely warps their world view
And yet Fox anchor Bret Baier succeeded in holding Trump’s feet to the fire where journalists from more liberal organizations have failed. He adopted an intriguing approach. Just assume everything Trump says is a lie (sprinkled with unintended truths) and press on with the questions, in a calm but firm manner. Don’t engage with the lies except to swat them away with another question. And be prepared for anything. I was surprised Trump didn’t walk away, but I think it was this quiet attack (and the fact that Bret is not a woman) that kept him there.
Yes to Bret's approach, but doubt tRump's feet got any burns as far as his fans are concerned. They will still believe.
Anyone working at his hooker ranches and casinos would always vote for Donald.
I didn’t watch, but hope others saw the crack that you described
Oh yes, i do agree, and they are so blatantly ignorant, Fox Spews is the ONLY thing they believe. I just wished there was some way that Fox Spews could be shut down permanently. Just look at the mayhem they have created.
Hi-viz ignorance. Bright yellow. Or orange.
Some seem to mistake pure ignorance mixed with pure shamelessness for courage or even competence.
Rupert recasts everything that repubs do. Just think of the idealistic images of chump. They never saw Anything else. Of course, the leadership did. And when they hopped on the crazy train, off the rails they went. And when our MSM followed Rupert’s entertainment news, well, we all were witness to the failure of our free press. Can they “right”themselves. Maybe by checking to see if it’s actually raining….
And, for our own survival, we can chose better vendors. I , like His Hubris, love cheeseburgers and fries, but have all but stopped eating them entirely. I think that electronic media, which I have technically helped to create, is rich with possibilities, yet is way too easily harnessed to one-way information flow, from the top down; which is inimical to democracy.
The exchanges that appear here I see as democracy-friendly, but the man who invented the first practical television said, in all seriousness, that he thought he had "created a monster". We are encouraged to just watch the game, and choose from menus prepared by others, but that's not really a republic. A well informed public is essential to the kinds of conversations that produce "liberty and justice for all". Just channel surfing means that no matter which channel, there might be nothing worthwhile on; and we wind up seeing only what others would have us see. If we are to be the masters of our own society's fate, we are accepting a share of responsibility as well as choice, and need to get a clue about what's really going down to be "good enough" citizen/managers of our own nation; with those we elect being scrupulously trustworthy fiduciaries of a thoughtful and ethical public will. What's the alternative?
“Trustworthy fiduciaries.” Lord where to find even one. Bill Moyers used to be my go to. Sure miss him…
They have their “sheep” that they keep in their pastures. About 74 million of them! Unbelievable how these rolls get easily sucked in to the GQP and their bulls**t!
The problem isn't that TFG and his enablers don't understand how the legal system works. It's that they don't care. Breaking the law is now a sign of tribal loyalty to them. Their plan is to eliminate the rule of law completely and turn our entire legal system into a theocratic police state. They're not even trying to hide it, beyond calling a dictatorship "illiberal democracy."
TFG doesn't care if he's convicted. He and his party hope it will motivate enough of their unhinged cult to start a terrorist insurrection against the USA. Combined with red states who will openly defy election laws and create their own slates for fascist electors in 2024 (because Election Fraud) and it could work. Let us recall that the Nazis did not have a working majority when they took power, and that their beloved leader had already spent time in jail.
IF TFG goes back in office, this will be the last election this country ever has. Democracy, as we now know it and live it, will be gone, forever. The United States 🇺🇸 will become Little Russia 🇷🇺, the Communist country in the East!
Except we won't be Communist. Robber baron capitalism exists quite easily with fascism, as history has shown
Donald does not understand why we have laws or that laws are different than rules. He only recognizes his whims as rules, and his private perogative to change his rules at any moment.
Expertise in foreign affairs. It’s a beautiful thing!
It’s tragic that millions of Americans have no clue what President Biden and his extraordinarily skilled team are accomplishing.
As for Trump, the two big remaining questions are whether Judge Cannon will violate judicial ethics with partisan rulings and a wild card juror won’t vote to convict despite the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
I'm assuming Jack Smith is quietly noting all that Trump is ranting about (for future indictments) and also considering what possible monkey wrenches could mess up his two current cases. Could he not launch a new case re shenanigans at Bedminster? (Not that he doesn't already have enough cases lined up, with this one defendant, to take him well into his retirement.)
Thank you Professor for mentioning the Pacific Islands Fourm, which includes the former UN chartered, US admimestered post WWII Micronesia Trusteeship including the now independent nations of Palau, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) along with Australia, New Zealand & 13 other Pacific nations. In square miles the Pacific Islands Forum nations cover a large portion of the Earth 's surface with diverse populations all of which are keenly aware of current US-China policies. Thank you Biden-Harris.
Yes! Australia's new Foreign Minister is working along the same lines with China. ("What's all the fuss about? We're trading partners.")
Bryan, you sound very well informed! I suspect many of us would benefit from some maps accompanying recent HCR newsletters as they cover areas of the world some of us have not kept up with very effectively.
(Meekly raises hand) Maps would help me greatly.
Love comments from the 'Back Row'; given the broad scope of HCR Letter, I forgot about a photo exhibit :( But, essentially we are talking about Hawaii to Australia, the Southern Cross to the North Star. Biggggggggggggg. Ocean. :)
Thank you, during law school I was an activist for a 4 person "Pacific Network." I had a press card from the Marshall Island Journal edited by Giff Johnson who was the son of Professor Johnson ( RIP) of University of Hawaii fame via Michigan. Super family, Mom too.
Thank you for such informative notes on the China visit and the subject-that-shall-not-be-named. Your letters are as bracing as a Maine swim.
It's been back to work for US diplomats after the last presidential term of food fights. Quite a lot of work apparently.
JL Graham, I am so proud of our diplomats! They are working with other nations for peace, to protect trade for all of us. They are not dismissing the gifts and talents of nations with whom we trade.....but improving communication with respect for a world order that will benefit everyone.
And working where possible to stop a drug supply that is killing citizens worldwide.
Thank you Heather for mentioning Blinkin and Sullivan. I know there are many heroes who work daily, unseen heroes who work to protect our freedoms around the world.
We take so much for granted.
And he never had played with a full deck…
And dealt off the bottom.
Of all the classified documents Trump held, I wonder how many he has digital copies of. He has shown repeatedly that he cannot be trusted, leaving us to wonder what purpose he has of holding these documents, and who he feels may be interested in seeing them. Interested enough to pay (always his root motivation). What would be found if his properties and all his digital media were subjected to a thorough search for copies of the documents he held?
Dan, I agree with you that generally Trump's depravity is boundless but his ability to make 'digital copies', when he feels such a need to hoard paper copies of newspapers suggests he does not know how to make digital copies. I don't think I have touched newsprint since the 1990s.
Photocopiers produce digital copies, too. And can download directly to a thumb drive. Moreover, he never does any work--his flunkies do it all for him.
When I consider the number of well-educated people who bowed, scraped and did his bidding ....
Yeah, Linda, flunkies. That does it for me.
This brings up something mentioned here last week, the copier machine visible in the photo shown constantly of boxes in a storeroom. No one has ever mentioned it when showing photos on TV. Do these machines have internal memories (I just use and can refill the paper tray.) it’s placement certainly seems suspicious.
Do you mean co-conspirators?
He certainly has staff willing to do these things for him.
Copiers however now send copies to email.
And there was a copier in with the boxes.
Let's also hope he's not holding onto some special doc he's planning on using as some sort of "get out of jail free" blackmail card.
My concern too.
If he is we should just hang him and be done with it, I know that won’t happen, but I would be happy to help build the gallows.
Anthony Blinken is a treasure of a Secretary of State. Finally, finally, calm, intelligent, rational diplomacy!
Indeed. Blinken is amazingly capable, calm and cool.
I heard him on the NPR quiz show "Wait, wait, don't tell me". Hard to believe, I know. Here's the thing. This guy who rarely smiles and speaks so carefully - is actually VERY funny!
Sorry to have missed it. Had picked up on his sense of humor. Two others who last night quite literally made me laugh: Andrew Weismann and Neal Katyal. Trump’s stupidities in the Fox interview had them so amused that they gave up lawyerly straight faces. Bradley Miss joined them and cracked them up. (And me.)
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/1150480731/wait-wait-for-jan-21-2023-with-not-my-job-guest-secretary-of-state-antony-blinke funny!
VERY Funny!!
And fluent in French...
As is our former presidential candidate and now climate representative, John Kerry. Heard him one morning in France.
I know! He can breeze through an interview. Accentless.
TRUMP PRESIDENCY: RANKED WORST IN 154 YEARS IN C-SPAN HISTORIANS POLL AND LIKELY TO BE NAMED WORST EVER
Ranking presidents can be subjective. Present-day Americans know little about American presidents and, when polled, often consider most recent presidents among the very best.
Among professional historians, there is some thought that one cannot tell until 20-30 years after a presidency. This certainly was true of President Truman, who in historical rankings soon after his retirement, ranked poorly. Now he is ranked as ‘great/near great.’ Eisenhower also rose sharply in his ranking years after his death.
By contrast, several once-high ranking presidents have plunged, most notably Andrew Jackson. Recently he has been highly criticized for his treatment of Native Americans, a matter not even mentioned in a Pulitzer Prize winning biography in 1945.
WHERE MIGHT TRUMP FIT?
Trump was included in a 2021 C-Span historians’ poll conducted before Trump had left office. His ranking was the worst of any president since the 1850s/1860s, when there were some real stinkers.
Among the 10 categories in which presidents were ranked, out of 44 presidents, Trump ranked in the bottom in 6:
Crisis management 41 of 44
Moral authority 44 of 44
International relations 43 of 44
Administrative skills 44 of 44
Relations with Congress 42 of 44
Equal justice for all 40 of 44
Performance within context of the period 42 of 44
Subsequently there were his BIG LIE on the 2020 presidential election, his involvement in the January 6th Capitol Building insurrection, and a bevy of civil and criminal suits.
I have been a student of American presidents most of my life. I taught American presidents for over 20 years (1992-2013). I have read many books on presidents [even President James Polk who, in my opinion, ranks among the near great.]
Alan Lichtman’s GREAT COURSES expansive lectures on 12 great American presidents I find illuminating. The PBS American Presidents series is equally insightful, though I feel that Reagan was given a soft soap touch. Sadly, Rosenman’s brilliant FOUR GIANTS AND A PIGMY is out of print.
For me, Trump is a slam dunk for worst American president ever. The relatives of James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and James Pierce will be delighted that they will never again be below Trump as the very worst American president.
TRUMP IS ASSURED OF BEING #1 AS THE WORST AND, AS CANDIDATE FOR THE 2024 PRESIDENCY, HE HAS THE [awrk] POSSIBILITY OF BEING EVEN WORSE.
I dub Trump BRATWURST.
Thank you for this excellent addition to the running commentary here.
Burp.
Bratwurst, indeed. You should be on MSNBC with Weissman and Katyal. The three of you could compose the Gilbert and Sullivan I dream of as I watch the two of them grinning more and more.
Glad to see you back and in fine form. Having lived through Nixon, Reagan, and 2 Bushes, would like to see you rank them. I look back at TR when thinking of Republican presidents who, with the exception of Lincoln and Eisenhower, get good marks.
Virginia Bratwurst is fatty pork on which one can put ketchup scraped from the wall.
As for Gilbert and Sullivan: “I got a little list. He never will be missed.’
Keith, I know about bratwurst and have eaten it! My godmother and her mother who helped raise me, were Pennsylvania Germans. But the context is too perfect.
More lyrics, please. It’s my daughter who knows G&S from grade school. I only got to see the plays, but “the little list” rings a bell and fits the moment so well! Thank you.
Do you also think of DT in a high chair in the White House dining room as he throws the plates?
Virginia Trump in Pirates of Pensance:
“Oh better far to Live and Die
Under the brave black flag I fly.
Than playa a sanctimonious part
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Always to ther cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to do;
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.)
(Many Pirate Kings suffered untimely deaths, often despatched by sudden executions.)
Virginia You might want to go to the C-Span historians ranking of American presidents website. I shan’t seek to condense various class assessments of recent presidents. My several sentence vignettes:
Nixon: A strategic, hateful fellow who scored high and low with Kissinger in foreign affairs. He was caught in his own web of vindictiveness.
Reagan: His high points were his sticking with Fed Chair Paul Volcker in the vexing effort to successfully kill stagflation and working with Gorbachev in ending the Cold War with a whimper rather than a bang. Otherwise, he would have been comfortable as part of the sappy The Sound of Music.
George H. W. Bush: A reasonably decent WASP who handled foreign affairs well. Domestically, he bravely raised taxes after the Reagan era and, with zippo charisma, ran out of steam when faced with James Carvelle’s “It’s the economic stupid.”
George W. Bush: A lightweight who commenced with a ‘trickle down’ tax cut and then sullied a patriotic September 11th surge with his Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld Iraq/Afghanistan nightmare that was devastating to America. He has never acknowledged that he was a doofus president.
Keith, thank you for the C-Span recommendation. As for W, I doubt he knows or cares.
My story about his father: met him and Barbara at their Mount Vernon in Alamo Heights, San Antonio, TX, house, 1962. Was so unimpressed by both and the house that I forgot the meeting until the elder George had been president for two years. (OMG, I met him.) Have you seen the week-end magazine section that Le Monde did on the Bush family around 2015? It confirmed my impressions. Sorry that I passed it on, as I too frequently do, without copying.
Virginia had contact with #41 when he was chairman of a group in which I was trustee, I found him decent and well informed, playing his cards close to his chest. I was surprised at his first appearance in a. Navy flight jacket [I believe he was the youngest Navy pilot in WW II with a distinguished f combat record.
In about 1970 I had a four-person dinner with his parents, Prescott Bush.
We made judgments from two obviously different points of view. You would see the family as a professional, I saw them as oil and money. What an interesting juncture of two patriotic Americans’ viewpoints. But you did see them from close and I thought of them at least in part as how they affected my life as an American (wars).
Excellent Keith! May I copy and share (with attribution)?
MaryPat I would be delighted/thrilled/ecstatic if you would make umbrellas, T shirts, and hats out of my assessment of Bratwurst, attributed or not.
THANKS! DONE!
Well, still working on the umbrellas.
I am happy that Blinken was able to forge ahead with his plans to go to China. It is very important that our goal is to become less dependent upon China. We can still have some diplomatic conversations as to what that may mean for them but Biden/Harris plus, Blinken have put their foot down now. The Chinese should realize we are letting them nicely and we aren’t going to seek vengeance...yet. The supply chain fiasco plus the threats against Taiwan was, I believe, the last straw for this administration. KInda hoping we have tied at least one of their hands behind their back and have given them food for thought.
Fake 45’s interview with Fox was so incriminating. Big Mouth shouts crap about he may or may not have had papers on Iran. When I heard him say that, I laughed out loud! Jack Smith and team are taking so many notes. One way or another, Fake 45 is screwed, either by Smith, Letitia, Bragg, or Fani, or all of them. The fact that he is allowed to traipse around to rallies, keep his passport, stay at Bedminster or Mar-a-Lago, is preposterous. Which brings to another subject that Carol Leonnig and her WaPo team uncovered tonight and that was about Garland and Lisa Monaco. Appears they took their sweet time in even investigating Trump! Actually, they did nothing for a year...until he announced his plan to run for prez again. THAT’S when they got the ball rolling. Merrick simply needs to be replaced as AG in 2024 when Biden/Harris win the nomination again. I vote for Jack Smith.
The Carol Leonnig/ WAPO report is scrupulously detailed covering more than a 18 month period of "institutional caution" in the face of a coup & a wide spread overt conspiracy of bogus state "Electors".Jack Smith & Team has nearly caught up. Much more to come per Carol L.
She has been a diamond in the rough!
Marlene, Carol Leonnig is an investigative journalist at the top of her field. I wish I could think of another word for it but it wouldn't be 'a diamond in the rough'; she's a diamond though, for sure; a journalist's journalist. She graduated from Queen Anne School, a former college preparatory school, and Bryn Mawr College in 1987.
She sure has been! Her expose on the Secret Service has been nothing short of amazing.
Carol D. Leonnig '...was part of a team of national security reporters that won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for reporting, which revealed the NSA's expanded spying on Americans. Leonnig also received Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting in 2015 and in 2018 as part of the team that won the Prize for national reporting as a contributor to 10 stories on the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election with The Washington Post.[10] (Wikipedia) Her books are: 'A Very Stable Genius' and by Philip Rucker(2020); 'I Alone Can Fix It and by Philip Rucker(2021); 'Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service (2021). See link to her bio below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_D._Leonnig
I am with Lawrence O'Donnel on the WAPO FBI piece, and don't see what all the hoopla is about. The DOJ and the FBI had clearly been influenced by/ infiltrated by loyal trumpissts, so Garland and his team had to first take tge time to clean house before trusting agents and staff. And, as AG Garland has proven at least 3 times before, in these realy tough cases, his meticulous methods work. To the point where the guilty is hanging himself.
Yes! Had guessed there were Trumpists in the DOJ, but this, except for Jeffery Clark, is the first confirmation. Thank you.
Looking at you, New York & DC FBI office, but need admissible facts.
Agree, Mary Pat & Carol promises more. Ari Melbar referred to (paraphrasing) 'James Comey like behavior' among decision makers. I am not aware of the specific instutional failures other than Carol's work . We need a proven world class Prosecutor; we got one.
Bryan, have you turned a clear or blind eye to more than a year's delay in the investigation of Trump's and his cohorts' efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the planned insurrection at the Capital? Do you give Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI a pass for resisting such investigations? What has been lost in the pursuit of justice and the wellbeing of the US as a result? I wonder what Lawrence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard University. and '... the Nation’s preeminent constitutional scholar for the past half-century' has to say about the matter.
Nope, in fact, I just concurred with Rex Page's posting (another left coaster) "... slow walking to the point of no walking."
I love Lawrence Tribe on 1st Amendment issues. In law school I learned Larry's 1st American analytical tools. On 3 dimensional, slow walking (hat tip Rex) Federal bureaucracy analysis, I go with the WAPO Pulitzer Prize winner.
You have provided us with an important clarification about your opinion of Garland's 'no walking' at DOJ with reference to investigation of Trump and his cohorts. Thank you. I would add the necessity to review Christopher A. Wray's position as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and various aspects of the functioning of the FBI, including its staff.
Haven’t heard from Tribe, but Andrew Weissman, who seems to be a cool-headed analyst, said on O’Donnell last night that it’s clear from the Loenig report that DoJ’s nonaction is extremely unfortunate on several grounds, which he enumerated.
in fact Andrew Weissman backed Leonnig's work 100% & gave MSNBC's 4 PM afternoon show Dateline' credit for keeping the issues developing as opposed to the shallow, 'What's Garland doing?'.
The failures detailed in the Leonig report are plenty. They show that Garland and the FBI were doing what they appeared to be doing: slow-walking to the point of no walking. Precious time wasted that makes Jack Smith’s job a lot harder.
Concur Rex
'Great journalism has shown Garland and Monaco well-intentioned but profoundly unwise in slow-walking the investigation into Trump and those around him. Their fear of looking political backfired badly. Whether the harm was irreparable remains to be seen.' ____Lawrence H. Tribe (Tweet)
4:19 PM · Jun 19, 2023
'... the Nation’s preeminent constitutional scholar for the past half-century'
While Mr. Tribe is preeminent in his academic field, he is not working inside the DOJ. I will agree to disagree with you on this one, Fern. I totally trust Merrick Garland. Stock up on popcorn and your favorite beverage!
Thank you MaryPat, Larry did not even analyze Monaco's speech at the University of Chicago to my knowlege. I guess there were no first Amendment issues.
When the institutional "slow walking" ambled to the "organized crime model" i.e. prosecute from the bottom to the top.virtually no one still discusses the extensive, well documented with admissible evidence public record of the prosecution of over 1000 J6 Perps. I still subscribe to the US DC DOJ teams' emails documenting their substantial work.
You can subscribe too. The fact filled emails should get interesting in the weeks ahead.
When I say "work" I mean declarations supporting search & arrests in all 50 states that continue to this day. And, hundreds of plea deals. I also mean the filing of "informations", pleadings, first amended complaints, second amended complaints, 3rd & in some cases 4th Amended complaints not to mentional numerous succeessful trials including those for seditious conspiracy certain to be used by one Jack Smith in the J6 indictments, plural.
Not too bad for "slow walkers".
Many Thanks, Bryan, for validating my thoughtful hunch (but hunch just the same) based more on my son's work on Discovery channel's "Unabomber" (his immediate boss was the director), and what I have learned over the years in these pages, than on inside info. So cool that the DOJ documents their progress in those emails and make them available to the public! Definately needed an organized crime model for all these goons!
Hunches become evidentiary theories that need investigation.
Theories become trial "proffers",
Ptoffers become direct trial evidence through witnesses with a proper foundation.
The Judge explains the law to juries not any attorney.
Juries make determinations about facts.
Those trier-of-fact determinations become Judgments.
Now repeat 100 times over a 30 year career.
"You live you learn".
I certainly agree to disagree with you on this one, MaryPat, but not without replying. You, Lawrence O'Donnell and I don't work for the DOJ either. Andrew Weissmann has, and he doesn't give Garland a pass. As far as bad decisions concerning the worst and most dangerous president in the country's history, while its democracy is being shredded, I give Garland an F.
PS Mr. Tribe is also the author of American Constitutional Law (1978), a major treatise in that field, and has argued before the United States Supreme Court 36 times; appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama to serve as the first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice and in 2021 by President Joseph R. Biden to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States; and has written 115 books.
Andrew Weissmann 🌻
@AWeissmann_
Today’s
@WashPostPR
story and my NYT Op Ed ⬇️ from July 2022 are of a piece. DOJ delayed on J6 case inexcusably. (TWEET) 11:07 AM · Jun 19, 2023
Every time I wanted Merrick Garland to work faster I reminded myself of two things: 1) he is thinking of the jury (ONE juror could wreck the case and let DT go free) and 2) the politics argument. And I tried to put myself in his shoes. What we know now, we didn’t know two years ago.
Good points. Plus, cleaning up the FBI. It makes his slow-walking more understandable.
Trump's privileges provide the ONLY credence to his statement he's been treated "unfairly."
Teri Kanefield points out that whoever was complaining to Carol Leonig is really just telling us from a disapproving view what Garland told us publicly from the start: that DOJ would work from the bottom up, following the evidence wherever it went.
Marlene, I fear Garland has started with the political deck stacked against him with not unreasonable claims that he is seeking revenge for the R's (Mitch) holding his SCOTUS nomination hostage. From what we know of the man, he would likely take GREAT precautions to avoid any appearance of vengefulness which could easily be translated into "dragging his feet" in any investigation. This was probably a significant contributor to why we have Jack Smith as special counsel.
Marlene, I love what you say here. I do have a semantics issue, however. Why are Letitia James and Fanny Willis referred to by their first names, and Jack Smith and Alvin Bragg referred to by their last names? In the courtroom vernacular, the Judge is always "Your Honor and never referred to by name, unless an attorney is referring to them, then it is "Judge Jones" or "Judge Rodriguez" while the attorneys are always addressed as "Mr. Bragg" or "Miss James". Utilizing first names implies familiarity while using surnames implies formality.
“Rather than walking a bipolar tightrope between Washington and Beijing,” Ignatius notes, “the administration is trying to build a matrix of relationships, with the United States as a key interlocutor in each node.”
We live in an ever more complicated world of moving parts and actors. This letter by HCR captures that for me. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrates, even if we had ignored the invasion, how destructive the actions of any one country might have on the world today. The food supply of hundreds of millions has been disrupted. This is only one of so many international disasters that Russia has unleashed.
We now more than ever need a more stable and responsible government and leadership in the US which the paragraph above in HCR’s letter points out. Stability and wisdom that Republicans have dismissed and disowned for the sake of their “buttons” to push for their own personal wealth and power. They often admire Putin which clearly tells us they have the wrong values. They are far more “tough guy” waffling between wars and aligning with the world’s dictators. The personal and group attacks that they dispense daily to separate Americans who they are against them, causing Christians to foolishly pronounce their faith while giving it up or worse using it against and to harm others is a human catastrophe of inhumane proportions.
We need a recovery that will require more than God can ever deliver unless we come to terms with our own responsibilities for the mess we have created and the gargantuan lift that the Biden administration is trying to make against the assaults of American extremism which emboldens leaders like Putin.
Zelensky is the hero . Without his standing up for freedom and for the freedom loving people of Ukraine who have sacrificed EVERYTHING..being willing to give his/their all....having faith that the US, as a freedom-loving nation would step in to help (as we and other nations have done) ....it too would have been swallowed up by Putin. As Putin and his minions have clearly shown, gold and other riches of the world are HIS FOR THE TAKING! And....we can not give up or give in....freedom is too important...the blood, the property, their beautiful culture, the very souls of Ukrainians are being sacrificed for this ideal, an ideal many of us TAKE FOR GRANTED, as we have lived within the ideal of freedom all our lives.
A major irony is that tfg has reverted to calling Democrats communists as an insult, all the while the right is in Putin's (the penultimate communist) corner. Go figure?
Emily - your words beautifully encapsulate the "souls of Ukranians" and the inspiration that their leader and their citizens have provided for all freedom-loving persons of our world.
Jesus and John Wayne https://g.co/kgs/1yLivq
How the Repugnants did it to us.
He’s already sold most of the important secrets to the Saudi government , including Iranian intelligence. The “Big Con” is a danger to world security
That's my concern, AGD. Trump's shark like plodding in the transactional direction of his personal bottom line, was always tailor made for exploitation by the House of Saud, especially under its currently ambitious and ruthless leadership by MBS.
Let's not forget that Trump stupidly and irresponsibly torpedoed the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had so carefully reached, and didn't bat an eye when he heard that MBS had brutally murdered Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. He also greenlighted our military's assassination of Qussem Suleimani, the high ranking Iranian general.
His shoulder shrugging about Khashoggi's murder signaled an unheard of support for Saudi lawlessness. The Suleimani assassination was a shot across the bow at Iranian influence in the region, leaving the untoward combination of Saudi and Israeli influence at the high water mark, as was the scuttling of the nuclear deal, although the latter also had horrific consequences beyond that.
IMO, the “Big Con “ would have thwarted efforts by our intelligence community to communicate the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That was part of his agreement with Putin at Helsinki
Jared’s $2 billion?
Great read tonight. Such a reasonable approach to keep lines of communication open -- always a potential.for growth and understanding.
And as ever, T is an idiot.
Not seen interview, listened to Kaytal's clip on Twitter multiple times at slower speeds. Conclusion below is a huge stretch. Instead he denies having a secret attack plan against Iran. Hopefully someone has a different portion of the interview to back up this statement. "Trump seemed to agree that he had broken the law by retaining documents, saying he had not handed over to the National Archives the documents he kept because he wanted to take his personal material out of the boxes and was “very busy.”"
Breaking news for Trump: simply possessing so many secret documents add up to multiple felonies — even if they had been kept in a locked safe in the now-infamous bathroom.
We can only surmise that he liked to read classified documents when going to the John...
There might be a reason he had to flush 15 times.
Subpoena trump’s municipal water bill from Mar-a-Lago.🧐
He can read? Asking for a friend. /s
2 or 3 sentences Max, the problem begins when tfg talks. As Chris Christie said today commenting on tfg's "INCOHERENT" Fox interview interview last night, "Trumps' words were looking for the nearest window to jump out of ...".
That's too funny. Seriously, the man has some very serious psychological issues. I'd venture to guess it has progressed to the point of actual physical brain damage.
If you had a close relative who behaved this way you'd be looking for an assisted living arrangement.
He called them his papers, suggesting he didn't understand the importance. I read that, somewhere, and it makes so much sense. Thank you to Dr. Richardson for all that you do.
We can surmise that his guests liked reading them too.
Dump doesn’t read. Remember the shock at early reports that he wouldn’t read the standard pages long summaries prepared by diligent staff with important news for the day? As I understood from the reporting a standard practice for US presidents. Until that guy took office. No. They had to condense pages of key information to a few pages or paragraphs to hold his attention. Which I’m not sure he even read. It may explain some of his ignorance and
and persistent use of the same Dumpedmemes over and over again. He doesn’t retain new information or anything much he doesn’t “create” himself.
Not an issue. Discussion was about how he supposedly essentially confessed on national TV. We are not MAGAs, we are accurate with what we call 'facts'.
Ah, but they have "alternative facts".
But, Jack has a charging allegations in a draft 'Statement of Facts' incorporated into multiple felony Counts.
In the end, reality always plays the t#umping suit.
Hes trying to influence potential jurors.
https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1670917466036269057?s=61&t=-jR3JSYfH5ncrYZd4PfdRA
This clip is pretty damning. They are talking about the subpoena.
Baier: why not just hand them over then?
Trump: because I had boxes I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don’t want to hand them over to NARA yet... I was pretty busy.
“That was a massive amount of papers talking about Iran and other things.” Trump tries to imply that all he had was a pile of newspaper clippings etc. But if that were true, why would he say “I couldn’t declassify it now?” Newspaper clippings aren’t classified. I think that’s where the admission of guilt comes in, and it seems pretty clear to me.
Spot on!