Month: August 2024

Trump is blatantly tampering with witnesses. Nobody cares.

Pro-Publica with another expose that nobody notices:

Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump’s media company.

The benefits have flowed from Trump’s businesses and campaign committees, according to a ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign’s top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee.

These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.

Significant changes to a staffer’s work situation, such as bonuses, pay raises, firings or promotions, can be evidence of a crime if they come outside the normal course of business. To prove witness tampering, prosecutors would need to show that perks or punishments were intended to influence testimony.

White-collar defense lawyers say the situation Trump finds himself in — in the dual role of defendant and boss of many of the people who are the primary witnesses to his alleged crimes — is not uncommon. Their standard advice is not to provide any unusual benefits or penalties to such employees. Ideally, decisions about employees slated to give evidence should be made by an independent body such as a board, not the boss who is under investigation.

That wouldn’t be the Trump way. He doesn’t have a board. He has himself and his criminal spawn.

Until now, no presidential candidate could get away with this. But, as we know, Trump is special. He does what he wants.

The right’s attack on Gov. Walz for his extremely normal school policy is disgusting.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board sets the record straight on the “Tampon Tim” slam:

On Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. By Wednesday, the opposition had mobilized with lightning speed for its one of its first political attacks, dubbing Walz “Tampon Tim” in reference to a new state law providing free menstrual products to school students.

The nickname was trending nationally this week on Twitter, an indicator of its political currency. Chaya Raichik, whose scurrilous “Libs of TikTok” account on X (formerly Twitter) has more than 3 million followers, was one of the first to amplify it. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly added to the momentum, endorsing the nickname via tweet. Former First Lady Hillary Clinton weighed in from a different angle, with a tweet supporting the Minnesota measure.

Social-media users swiftly took sides as well, and as usual, facts and context were missing, especially from those who see the new law as evidence of a radical Minnesota under Walz’s leadership. But a closer, more informed look at the issue should yield a different conclusion. This is good and necessary policy. Providing free menstrual products is a practical, compassionate remedy to address an under-the-radar reason for student absenteeism. Some families can’t afford menstrual products, and when that happens students stay home instead of going to class, falling behind as they do.

There’s a lot of talk about closing educational achievement gaps in Minnesota and elsewhere, particularly for low-income students. The new state law, which has a price tag of about $2 million a year, is an actual solution to help address this, one that’s relatively low-cost. And there’s real-world data to back it up. New York City schools reported a 2.4% increase in attendance after a state law went into effect requiring free period products for students, according to the advocacy group Alliance for Period Supplies.

Minnesota is far from alone in providing this type of assistance. More than half of the nation’s 50 states have taken steps to help students who struggle to afford tampons and pads. Ohio, led by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, now requires period products in schools and has provided $5 million in funding for this, the Alliance for Period Supplies reports. Alabama and Georgia provide grants for schools to make free products available.

Other states, such as Washington, Nevada, Illinois and Utah, require schools to provide these products, though they didn’t fund them. To Minnesota’s legislators’ credit, the new law provides dollars to schools and is not an unfunded mandate.

Other background information is also useful as the dubious online debate continues.

The new law went into effect in January and applies to students in grades four through 12. The legislation itself was passed during the 2023 session as part of a broader educational bill, which Walz then signed. Rep. Sandra Feist, DFL-New Brighton, was the bill’s chief author in the Minnesota House. Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, a retired teacher and DFLer from Eden Prairie, championed the measure in Minnesota Senate.

But the most powerful advocates for it came from outside the State Capitol. Young Minnesotans reached out to Feist about this issue. After Feist introduced it, these students testified on its behalf as the legislation made its way through various committees. Among them was Elif Ozturk of Golden Valley, who is now 18 and will attend Columbia University this fall.

In an interview, Ozturk told an editorial writer she got involved after seeing other students struggle to afford these products in junior high. She spoke to counselors and was told that some students had to leave class or couldn’t attend because they lacked pads or tampons. Ozturk dug into the issue and discovered that other states had taken steps to help students’ access these products. She thought Minnesota should do the same.

“If we don’t talk about it, it’ll never be fixed. These people who are in power, predominantly old men, have no clue what young girls go through every single day,“ Ozturk said.

Other advocates for the law’s passage: school nurses, who testified movingly about how students struggle to afford these products and the educational and emotional consequences when they can’t.

A specific but ill-informed attack on the new Minnesota law is in dire need of a reality check. Critics contend, wrongly, that it mandates menstrual products in boys’ bathrooms. This has unfortunately been used to stoke ongoing culture wars over transgender individuals.

But the law’s actual language provides considerable flexibility for school districts to implement it, according to Deb Henton, the executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.

That might mean making these products available for free in various locations for all who need them, such as unisex bathrooms, girls’ bathrooms, the school nurse or the front office, but not necessarily in boys’ bathrooms. Henton, in an interview, lauded the “local control” the law provides for implementation, and said she’s fielded no concerns about its rollout.

At Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest school district, the free products are not found in traditional male-only bathrooms, a spokesman said. But they are provided for free to all in “nongendered bathrooms,” girls’ bathrooms or from health staffers.

There’s nothing radical about Minnesota’s new law. Instead it’s a smart, low-cost measure to address educational achievement gaps, one that many states are embracing. Weaponizing this measure is laughably out of touch and likely to backfire 

These wingnuts are determined to make women loathe them even more than they already do. This policy was nothing more than simple decency to help students deal with a situation they experience but which until fairly recently was considered shameful to even think about. That’s apparently what these crude throwbacks still believe that and want to take us back to. Also, they are liars. But you knew that.

And that’s the problem…

He’s really not doing well:

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “b—-” in private, according to a report by The New York Times, as the former president’s polling numbers plunge, and his campaign struggles to stick to an attack strategy against the sitting vice president.

In a statement to NYT, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said “that is not language President Trump has used to describe Kamala, and it’s not how the campaign would characterize her.”

However, sources close to Trump told NYTthat he has called Harris out of her name on multiple occasions—frustrated by her campaign’s control of the news cycle over the last three weeks.

On July 25,Trump sent angry texts to Miriam Adelson, widow of right-wing magnate Sheldon Andelson, complaining that the people running the super PAC, Preserve America, weren’t real Republicans, reported NYT. Sources said Trump called them “RINOS” or Republicans In Name Only.

“The texts were particularly jarring because Mrs. Adelson and Mr. Trump had a friendly meeting just a week earlier at the Republican National Convention,” NYT reported, which added that Adelson’s PAC was spending around $18 million a week on ads for Trump at the time.

[…]

As the main obstacle standing in the way of Trump’s re-election chances, Harris has proved that she is no President Joe Biden. She is younger, has more stamina—and how this has reflected in her polling has kept Trump’s campaign team on their toes, reported NYT.

Harris “has gotten the equivalent of the largest in-kind contribution of free media I think I have ever seen in all the years I’ve been doing presidential campaigns,” Trump campaign’s chief pollster Tony Fabrizio told NYT.

On Saturday, NYT reported that Harris currently has a lead over Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

“Two private polls conducted in Ohio recently by Republican pollsters—which Mr. Trump carried in 2020 with 53 percent of the vote—showed him receiving less than 50 percent of the vote against Ms. Harris in the state, according to a person with direct knowledge of the data,” NYT reported.

Overall, despite Trump’s attempts to denigrate Harris with names, such as “Laffin’ Kamala” and “Crazy Kamala,” as well as mocking her laugh and calling her “crooked,” and questioning her Blackness, sources told NYT that Trump seemed to be struggling with how quickly things have changed for him, his campaign and his safety.

“Mr. Trump has also been whipsawed by a seven-week roller-coaster-ride of events: an attempt on his life, the selection of a running mate, a nominating convention, his opponent’s withdrawal from the race,” reported NYT.

Adding to Trump’s challenges are “a potential Iranian assassination threat against him and new layers of security that have brought a bunker-like feel to his properties, more than at any time since he was in the White House,” reported NYT.

When Trump was asked by real estate scion Harrison LeFrak about how he planned to take back the narrative from Democrats and paint himself as a positive option for America’s future, NYT reported that Trump said: “I am who I am.”

He’s scared. That assassination attempt plus the prospect of going to jail has him waking up in a cold sweat every night. He could lose and he knows it.

Is he experiencing narcissistic collapse?

A narcissistic collapse happens when a narcissist believes that someone (or something) is threatening their ability to maintain their superficial inflated ego. People with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) often look down on others to maintain the positive images they hold about themselves. If their behavior is called out or challenged, their fragile self-esteem is damaged, resulting in intense reactions and abuse toward others.

Narcissistic collapse isn’t an official psychiatric term and hasn’t been extensively studied. However, some researchers and psychologists argue that collapse essentially disarms the false self associated with narcissism. Because narcissists are so insecure, they often feel empty and hollow–they need admiration from others to feel validated.

For example, if a spouse leaves them or a boss fires them, it disrupts the narcissist’s entire status quo. Instead of reflecting on what happened or trying to address the conflict appropriately, they can become hysterical, volatile, or rageful toward themselves or those around them.

Overt Vs. Covert Narcissistic Collapse

Overt narcissists, or grandiose narcissists, tend to be extroverted and present with high self-esteem. They typically come across as overly confident and self-important. Conversely, covert narcissists, or vulnerable narcissists, are more insecure and will often avoid confrontation.

…An overt narcissist may explode in a narcissistic rage outburst and engage in a more outward expression of collapse.

What Causes Narcissistic Collapse?

Research suggests that people with NPD rely on narcissistic supply to ensure their needs are met and their superior image is upheld. This supply consists of any source of validation, attention, or admiration. When the supply is jeopardized, the narcissist can become unhinged.

I’m guessing yes. This is what’s happening.

Trump’s biggest fans are worried he’s going to lose:

White supremacist, Hitler fan, and far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes shockingly revoked his support from Donald Trump’s campaign early Friday, announcing on social media that he and his allies believed that the presidential bid is headed for a “catastrophic loss.”

“Tonight I declared a new Groyper War against the Trump campaign,” Fuentes wrote on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after midnight, referring to a group of far-right activists known as groypers.

Fuentes explained that he and his far-right squad of online trolls “support Trump” but that they view his 2024 campaign as being “hijacked” by lobbyists, consultants, and donors that had aided Trump’s 2016 Republican opponents. All in all, Fuentes believed they were “blowing it.”

“Without serious changes we are headed for a catastrophic loss,” Fuentes wrote.

“This is NOT a purity spiral, this is about living up to the AMERICA FIRST credo put forth by Trump in 2016 which will ensure VICTORY in 2024,” Fuentes continued. “On Monday I will present a detailed statement of the facts, a mission statement, and a plan of action on my Rumble channel. STAY TUNED.”

They are going after Trump’s campaign managers LaCivita and Wiles demanding Trump fire them. When the base speaks …

From LGBTQ nation:

Jesse Watters, the unapologetically unfunny “funny guy” on Fox News, is at it again with weird commentary concerning Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president, Tim Walz.

Watters trained his well-known obsession with masculinity onto the Minnesota governor following Tuesday’s rally in Philadelphia rolling out the Dems’ new Harris-Walz ticket.

“The ‘Great Walz of China’ has a lot of red flags, but one is glaring. His body language,” Watters intoned.

“Here’s twitchy Tim on stage, waving profusely in a very unsettling matter, very unsettling. Men should not move this way. It’s not the way we move,” Watters said of all self-loathing men like himself (who’ve had exactly one job since they graduated from college: working at Fox News).

“And the handshake, probably the most telling. This is Walz and his wife shaking hands like business associates, followed by a weird hug,” Watters continued with more video “evidence” in search of an accusation.

With Walz’s supposed lack of testosterone teed up, Watters swooped in with the ultimate knock on the former Army sergeant-major’s unmasculinity: He’s gay for the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.

“Now, let’s compare that to Walz’s interaction with Kamala’s husband Doug,” leered Watters. “Interesting.”

“What’s going on here? And the hug is not the way you hug your wife. You hug your wife from the body. You don’t hug like this. Different than he hugged Doug.”

Watters’ claim that Walz might be gay follows the former Bill O’Reilly intern’s assertion that men who vote for women are “transitioning.”

After calling the “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom fundraiser last week a “struggle session” for “pale, hairy, flabby California artists,” Watters invoked the longtime Republican canard that Democrats are “weak.”

“I don’t see why any man would vote Democrat. It’s not the party of virtue, security, it’s not the party of strength. It’s definitely not the party of family. And to be a man and then vote for a woman just because she’s a woman is either childish, that person has mommy issues, or they’re just trying to be accepted by other women,” Watters blurted to his self-loathing female co-hosts on The Five.

“And I heard the scientists say the other day that when a man votes for a woman, he actually transitions into a woman,” he added.

The sad stand-up attempt earned eyerolls all around.

Even Trump stan and MAGA whack-job “Judge” Jeanine Pirro pushed back.

“I want to say one thing. The men who voted for me didn’t turn into women. Okay?”

The wannabe Man Show host has also accused President Joe Biden of not being masculine enough for his job, targeting his love of ice cream.

“A grown man – especially the president – should not be licking ice cream in public,” he added.

Like eating soup, Watters lectured on his show, “I don’t think it’s manly.”

But this fellow, who wears more make-up than his Ru Paul, and spends more time on his hair than Dolly Parton, is the picture of masculinity. What kind of body language is this?

He’s dancing to YMCA, by the way…

The Dark Tower’s foundations are cracking

A friend registered voters with HeadCount Thursday night at a Cake concert. He called yesterday to report he’d not seen this mood among volunteers and concertgoers since 2008. He had the names of a couple of eager, new volunteers to pass along. One woman, especially, could be a star.

Anand Giridharadas comments this morning on the phenomenon. With the joy-filled Harris-Walz campaign taking off like a rocket and the Trump campaign sinking like the Titanic, there are elements of both hope and relief going unnoticed.

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota embodies the dads and uncles who might have gone the way of loved ones lost to Fox News and right-wing propaganda but did not. In Walz, we see “an older white guy who is just happy and can’t wait for the future.” Mourning in America has turned into morning in America (emphasis mine):

It’s going to make people feel rage at what was stolen from them. And it’s going to show them, not tell them but show, what might yet be possible. There are years that could still be reclaimed.

Yes, the Trump tax cuts were bad. The immigration policy a catastrophe. The Covid policy a calamity. But this — this is unfathomable in scale. Millions of our people were turned into grist for the Murdoch mill, and broken, and from the shards of them a movement was made.

It’s one of these phenomena that underlie politics but isn’t often discussed when discussing politics. But trust me: people feel as strongly about this as about monetary policy or tax cuts. Their kinfolk were stolen by billionaires. Their minds, their hearts, their loving selves.

Dads who lovingly braided their daughters’ hair and practiced spelling bee words with them now malign their freedoms and the people they love and the families they have made. They were stolen. People want their families back. And this is going to become a theme of this campaign.

“Harris is winning the all-important battle — of vibes,” reads the headline on Fareed Zakaria Washington Post column this morning, placing EQ ahead of IQ:

This is a turning of the tables. Donald Trump and the Republicans have tended to be masters of the politics of emotion, emphasizing strength and evoking fear. But for now, Harris’s hopefulness — the sense of “joy” that Walz speaks of on the campaign trail — appears to be dominating.

From there, Zakaria gives a standard IQ analysis of the state of play.

But Giridharadas is onto something, something my friend saw on the ground. It is premature — and overstating things — but it almost feels as if Gollum and the One Ring have tumbled into the fires of Mt. Doom. An earthquake is shaking the foundations of the Dark Tower.

‘Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom.””

We are not there yet. The rotund opera star hasn’t sung and there is work ahead. But it’s time for the choir to sing, Walz told the Phoenix rally Friday night.

No message, no matter how well crafted and tested, Anat Shenker-Osorio advises, is any good if the choir (that’s you) won’t sing it. “This is my love language,” she tweeted when the video below posted. Get to it.

“We are neighbors. We are family. We are each other’s people. Damn the thieves. We must depose them and find each other again. And now we glimpse how,” Giridharadas concludes.

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Before and after

FKA Twitter exploded on Friday after another of those inexplicable New York Times headlines for which the paper has become known of late. The digital din was such that editors have since altered it.

Here’s the before:

And now the after:

James Fallows responded:

Imagine Tocqueville-style visitor to US of 2024 who travels around the country and concludes, “This is a nation consumed by war.”

—In comparison w times that *was* true: eg 1968 (and 1964-1975), 2001-2005 (and onward), Nov 1962, Feb 1991 (Gulf War), etc. Not to mention 1940s, early 1950s, etc.

—In comparison to what dominates airwaves + news cycles + campaign speeches: Immigration, inflation, abortion, voting and justice systems, “culture wars” + DEI, future of both parties, climate, taxes, etc.

This era’s wars are of profound importance. But “nation consumed”? (As so often the case, hed oversells the actual story. But headlines are all that most people ever see.)

David Simon, producer of The Wire (2002–08):

Ukraine is a nation consumed by war; Russia as well to a very real extent. Gaza is consumed by war; Israel to a real extent is consumed by war.

The New York Times, once a newspaper of record, is consumed by journalistic malpractice and malfeasance.

The article by Michael Crowley quotes Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace saying, “although the United States is not directly involved in the wars in Ukraine or Gaza, the risks of large-scale conflict have become higher.”

The rest of the article suggests that war has defined the Biden presidency and that a “wartime mood” pervades Washington. That’s not a sense one gets from watching any coverage. Is the world more unstable? Surely. Are Americans consumed by it? Their attention is more fixed upon the economy, health care, and immigration. And on the fate of democracy.

Fear is the fuel upon which GOP election-year hopes depends. The joy erupting among Democrats over the Harris-Walz campaign is loudly dousing it. Perhaps the Times with its “consumed by war” framing felt the need to tip the playing field back in Donald Trump’s direction.

But Trump considers the press the “enemy of the people.” That includes the Times. Should Trump win in November, placating him won’t save them from what comes next.

Reflecting on the Times headline, Brian Beutler tweeted:

A lot going on over there, but one subtle contributing factor is that in a professional culture where critical thinking is discouraged (don’t form opinions on issues, etc) analytical muscles atrophy, and these reported takes come out braindead.

One X user speculated that Rupert Murdoch was preparing to buy the newspaper of record.

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Snow Leopard Cubs

Resident snow leopard cubs at Utah’s Hogle Zoo had their first 8-week veterinary checkup on July 31, 2024.  

Hogle Zoo’s animal care and veterinary teams were joined by an ophthalmologist from MedVet to conduct the wellness exam. This 8-week checkup is a routine practice that allows our teams to evaluate the two cubs’ overall health. 

Dr. Lauren Smith, DVM, Dipl. ACZM, one of the zoo’s veterinarians, conducted a comprehensive health examination on the cubs, which included assessing their body conditions and administering necessary vaccinations. Dr. Jaycie Riesberg, an ophthalmologist from MedVet, performed detailed eye exams, and both cubs’ eyes looked great. Eye exams are a unique practice to snow leopards, who are especially prone to ocular issues. The animal care staff also weighed the cubs, with one weighing 4.6 lbs and the other 4.2 lbs. 

Since their birth in early June, the two cubs have stayed close to their mom without keeper intervention. This time behind-the-scenes was especially helpful for Babs, a very protective first-time mom, as it provided ample bonding time for the new family. Keepers also had time to slowly build Babs’ existing trust and training so she would feel comfortable while her cubs were away during their exams.

The 8-week checkup, standard timing to receive their first set of vaccinations, was the first time our animal care and veterinary teams have been hands-on with the cubs. 

After the checkup, the cubs were given a “straw bath,” covered in substrate with scents familiar to their mom to help them reunite calmly and comfortably. Both cubs did very well and are in great health!  

They’ll receive two more rounds of vaccinations before guests can expect to see them this fall. During this time behind-the-scenes, keepers are building trusting relationships with the cubs and beginning early training to help them participate in their future care. The animal care team is also assessing and modifying the cubs’ future outdoor habitats to ensure they can safely explore and navigate the space.   

Thanks to our amazing teams and partners for their commitment to care, and congratulations to the amazing first-time mom Babs on a clean bill of health for both her cubs. 

He was a corrupt monster. But at least he wasn’t an imbecile and had the good grace to see the writing on the wall. Of course, if he’d had Fox News and a Supreme Court like this one I have little doubt that he never would have resigned. He was smart enough to know after that Supreme Court ruling on the tapes and the collapse of GOP support he had no choice. That wouldn’t have happened today.

It hasn’t happened today and Trump is a thousand times more corrupt than Nixon and ten times as monstrous. The only thing saving us is his ignorance and at this point that doesn’t even matter.