In the last days of his presidency, Trump personally ordered a super-sensitive classified binder of intelligence—about Russia interfering in the election on his behalf—to be delivered to him.
On his way out the door, Trump absconded with boxes of classified material.
The binder contained raw intelligence on Russian agents, including sources and methods. It was never returned. It is still missing.
I still think they’re missing the news. The news is not that House Republicans are trying to aid Israel. The news is that House Republicans have declared their first and most important priority: starving the IRS of the funds needed to collect money owed by billionaire tax cheats.
“The sight of Elon Musk charging towards Wikipedia with his trademark guile and delicacy was so predictable that it was almost relaxing. He saw a collective resource that people prized and he wanted to hurt it.”
Every day, the leading GOP presidential candidate promises that, if elected, he will act as a vengeful, rageful dictator. He vows to bend the military, the justice system, and the free press to his will. He will put his enemies on trial. His favorite word is “treason”: anyone who opposes him will be punished as a traitor.
This is Handmaid’s Tale stuff. We are the dystopia now.
I remember when even anti-abortion politicians were careful to say they would never criminalize the pregnant women. Now Nebraska is imprisoning a mother who helped her teenage daughter with an abortion pill.
@JamesGleick imprisoned vs sentenced is splitting hairs. The fact is what these two women did in the US would be illegal in most of Europe due to abortion limits being well under 20 weeks. The legality of it doesn't change on whether it was done in a clinic or at home.
Or indeed whether the cause of the intentional termination were pills or something else.
As always, the NY Times takes an incoherent, confused, self-contradictory, rambling performance (full of actual lies) and does its gosh darn best to make sense out of it. Trump must have meant SOMETHING, they seem to feel, so let’s figure out what it is.
Meanwhile, they feature their third story this week reminding us that Biden is old, old, old. Though, unlike Trump, he has remained focused, coherent, and effective in his job.
Starlink must be nationalized. It’s no longer just a hypothetical possibility that leaving it in private control might damage U.S. national security. That is happening now. https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/111025127137415613
This AP story demonstrates how eager some political reporters are to say Trump’s crimes don’t matter. It says the electorate is divided. It says “about half” approve of the indictments. It quotes three of the people polled: all Republicans.
In fact, only a dwindling minority are still able to defend Trump. If you skip the prose and look at the ACTUAL POLL RESULTS, you learn that only 15% of those polled said Trump did “nothing wrong” in Georgia and 21% at the Capital.
@JamesGleick A comment I made elsewhere maybe bears repeating: This would be a very different world if journalists took their profession as seriously as they expect us to.
I thought I’d seen it all, but no. The lead news analysis in the New York Times, by its longtime chief White House correspondent, puts this unprecedented moment in American history into perspective:
“Another jury, another indictment.”
“surreally routine”
“The novelty … has somehow worn off.”
“short attention spans … seen this before”
“priced into the market, as the Wall Street types would put it”
First quote—GOP consultant: “white noise … it all blurs together”
@JamesGleick What’s most impressive is the recursive nature of Baker’s “work.”
“I’m bored. I say I’m boring in the most powerful media platform in teh country. Readers read that this is boring. I talk to readers and they say they’re bored. Q.E.D.!”
@tomlevenson They should at least have required Baker to read the indictment before writing about how boring it is. It turns out not to be the least bit boring. It is comical and tragical in turn. Also not boring: the prospect of the nation glued to their televisions watching this trial.