Virtually everything Donald Trump says is a lie. More specifically, it is dishonest in a way that reveals the truth. Often it is the lie of projection — in which he attributes a characteristic to someone else that is actually his own quality. Other times, it is the lie of opposites — the transparent attempt of an insecure man to convey that something is great (when it's grim) or dire (when it's fine).
In that context, the excerpts from Trump's interview with Reuters are extremely telling.
Let's start with an easy one — the mood in the White House. Says Trump: "The mood in the White House is fantastic. ...The White House is functioning beautifully. ...Energy is doing levels that we've never done before. ...There's not a thing that we're not doing well in. The White House is functioning beautifully, despite the hoax made up by the Democrats."
"The Democrats" haven't said bupkis about the mood in the White House. That would be anonymous sources in the White House, disclosing to the press on almost continual basis that the mood in the White House is terrible, that the dynamic is deeply dysfunctional, that Trump has no stamina, and that staff morale is in the shitter.
And because virtually everything Trump says is a lie, by insisting that the mood around the White House is "fantastic," he's confirming reports that his White House is a nightmare shitshow.
So now let's look at what else Trump had to say.
He didn't know Don Jr. was taking that meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya: "No. That I didn't know. Until a couple of days ago, when I heard about this. No I didn't know about that." Trump knew.
This is his answer to a question about whether his attorneys are defending him effectively: "The problem is, I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. This isn't a question of defense. I didn't do anything. I had no relationship to Russia. So I said, what can the legal team do?" He did something.
He definitely thought he would win and totally wants to be president: "I actually always thought I'd win, to be honest with you, because I've been winning my whole life, to be honest with you, but we started a campaign as a non-politician, and many people were skeptical. Some weren't, some people who know me weren't...but many were skeptical." He can't believe he's president and hates every minute of it.
This is his answer to a question about whether he trusts Vladimir Putin: "Do I feel I can trust anybody, okay? I'm a very suspicious person. I am not a person that goes around trusting lots of people. But he's the leader of Russia. It is the second most powerful nuclear power on earth. I am the leader of the United States. I love my country. He loves his country. He's for Russia." Trump is disloyal as fuck and is Putin's puppet.
More on Putin: "I was very tough with President Putin." He wasn't.
And yet more, this time on election meddling: "First question — first 20, 25 minutes — I said, 'Did you do it?' He said, 'No, I did not, absolutely not.' I then asked him a second time, in a totally different way. He said, 'Absolutely not.' Somebody did say if he did do it, you wouldn't have found out about it. Which is a very interesting point." Trump thinks he's more clever than Putin, and can catch him out by detective work he learned watching Law & Order re-runs. (You're no Lennie Briscoe, Trump.) He also finds useful a rationale that suggests his own willful ignorance, stupidity, and/or dishonesty are proof that Putin doesn't fully own him.
And finally, on whether he colluded with Russia: "There was zero coordination. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. There's no coordination, this was a hoax, this was made up by the Democrats." It's true. He colluded. "This is the greatest con job in history, where a party sits down the day after they got their ass kicked, and they say, 'Huh, what's our excuse?'" He is running the greatest con job in history. "It just continues and continues, and honestly it's a disgrace, and it's very bad for our country. And the Russians must be laughing, because this narrative is so bad for us as a country." He is a disgrace and is very bad for our country. The Russians are laughing at him, and he knows it.
There's more where that came from. It's quite a scary interview, put through the Trump translator. The overall feeling is that this is a profoundly corrupt man, in deep over his head. He's scared, he's desperate, and he's stuck in a place of fearful misery with no idea how to escape or change his circumstances.
Which would frankly be a suitable fate for the braggadocious and reckless Trump, were it not for the fact that the fate of the entire nation is now inextricably tied to his.
Trump's Reuters Interview Is a Pile of (Telling) Lies
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Drazil: "If you could retire from your work-for-pay tomorrow and be financially independent, how would you spend your time?"
I would probably still spend a good deal of my time doing political writing, but I would spend more time engaging in other forms of activism, and I would travel more, especially to see distant friends.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by garden creatures.
Recommended Reading:
Colin Lecher: Here's How the Internet's Net Neutrality Day of Action Is Unfolding
Monica Roberts: [Content Note: Trans hatred] Texas Anti-Trans Hate Bills 46 and 50 Filed
Yessenia Funes: [CN: Environmental racism] EPA Proposes to Remove Protections for Alaskan Watershed That Is Home to 30 Native Villages
Christine Grimaldi: [CN: War on agency] Mike Pence Had a Meeting with Anti-Choice Activists He Doesn't Want You to Know About
Brian Broome: [CN: Homophobia; racism] Why I Believed the Lie That Black Men Are More Homophobic Than Everyone Else
Fannie Wolfe: [CN: Online abuse] Quote of the Day: The Cyber-Troll Profile
Andrew Liszewski: [CN: Moving GIF at link] Fluid Artist Crystal Ma's Messy Painting Style Is So Wonderfully Soothing to Watch
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Here Is Something Nice
Preface: This shouldn't be special, but it is. Andy Murray doesn't get a cookie for exhibiting basic decency, but he does get credit for raising the bar on what we can expect from male players in any sport.
Sir Andrew Murray is NOT amused with your casual sexism! #wimbledon pic.twitter.com/a6pTpHCFSr
— Jamie (@_JamieMac_) July 12, 2017
Tennis player Andy Murray is seated at a table during a press conference. Offscreen, a male reporter begins to ask him a question.Judy Murray, who is Andy Murray's mother, responded on Twitter.
Reporter: Sam is the first U.S. player to reach a major semi-final since twenty-oh-nine. How would you describe—
Murray: Male player.
Reporter: I beg your pardon?
Murray: Male player, right? Yeah.
Reporter: Yes. First male player, that's for sure.
The reporter laughs and others in the room laugh. Andy Murray stares at him, unsmiling, waiting for the rest of his question.
That's my boy. ❤️ https://t.co/ldZUQ2wbZj
— judy murray (@JudyMurray) July 12, 2017
Previous Andy Murray: Wimbledon Open Thread and Oh, Andy Murray.
Daily Dose of Cute
I don't know that position can possibly be comfortable, but she lies that way often enough that it must be!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Rep. Sherman Introduces Article of Impeachment Against Trump for Obstruction of Justice
Democratic U.S. Representative from California Brad Sherman has introduced and circulated among his colleagues an Article of Impeachment [pdf] against Donald Trump, alleging that Trump engaged in obstruction when he fired James Comey.
I have introduced H.Res. 438 Articles of #Impeachment of Donald J. Trump for Obstruction of Justice. Statement here: https://t.co/0gKr8ZFg3c pic.twitter.com/yUTDAnPFuJ
— Rep. Brad Sherman (@BradSherman) July 12, 2017
Wow. Centered on firing Comey. I thought the first impeachment attempt would center on emoluments, but obstruction comes at ya fast. https://t.co/62bv51D3KT
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 12, 2017
Sherman, who has served in the House for two decades, "circulated an Article of Impeachment to all Members of the House, Democrat and Republican, seeking their input and support," according to a press release from his office.
In a letter to his colleagues [pdf], Sherman writes:
I would hope that the Article, once submitted, would receive expeditious consideration by the Judiciary Committee. However, if it becomes clear that such consideration is not forthcoming, I (after consultation with colleagues and leadership) will make a privileged motion that the entire House of Representatives immediately debate the Article. At that point, I expect there will be a Motion to Table, thus triggering our first impeachment-related vote.Sherman says that he is introducing the Article not because he wants to change national policy and certainly not because he wants to elevate Mike Pence to the presidency ("I served with Mike Pence in Congress for twelve years and I disagree with him on just about everything. I never dreamed I would author a measure that would put him in the White House."), but "to begin a long process to protect our country from abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and impulsive, ignorant incompetence."
I am very much in favor of that. Thank you, Rep. Sherman.
We Resist: Day 174
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
* * *
Here are some things in the news today:
Earlier today by me: The World Is Literally Falling Apart and Good Grief, This Guy and Take Action to Preserve Net Neutrality Today and An Observation.
REMINDER: KEEP CALLING YOUR SENATORS TO TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON TRUMPCARE.
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Sahil Kapur and Laura Litvan at Bloomberg: Senators Explore Bipartisan 'Plan B' to Troubled GOP Health Bill. "More than half a dozen Republican and Democratic senators have discussed alternatives to the embattled GOP health-care bill, even as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans a vote next week to muscle the Obamacare repeal measure through the Senate. Talks about a bipartisan fallback are based on the idea that Obamacare insurance markets have problems and would need to be fixed if the health-care bill dies. For Democrats, it would avert a repeal of a signature achievement that they admit needs improvement. For some GOP moderates, it would be a concrete act that would help their constituents amid a maelstrom of partisan bickering." What it would mean for actual people who need health insurance...? WHO CARES POLITICS IS A GAME NOTHING MATTERS THE UNIVERSE IS AN ILLUSION.
[CN: Disablist language] Nicole Lafond at TPM: Cruz: It's 'Crazy' to Go to August Recess Without Repealing Obamacare.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is joining the group of Republican senators who are willing to give up their August vacation in order to come up with a plan to repeal Obamacare, saying it would be "catastrophic if we fail to deliver on that promise."Republican Congresspeople are the laziest shits on the planet, but they'll WORK DAY AND NIGHT to take away your healthcare!
Appearing on the Sean Hannity show on Fox Monday night, the conservative senator said he's been spending "every waking moment" trying to come up with a plan to unify his party on health care.
"For seven years Republicans have promised the voters, 'If you elect us, the one thing we said is we will repeal Obamacare.' … I am trying to bring together conservatives and moderates and leadership and the administration, get everyone on the same page and say 'Let's deliver on the promise when it comes to Obamacare,'" he said. "I think the voters would naturally say 'To heck with all of you' if we can't get our act together and get it done."
He said he has no plans to take the August recess until the GOP can get something put together.
"It's crazy that we would be taking a recess. There are a bunch of us, myself included, that have been urging leadership back from January, 'Let's not take any recesses. Let's work weekdays, let's work weekends, let's work until we get the job done,'" he said.
* * *
Christopher Wray, Donald Trump's nominee to replace James Comey as FBI Director, is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing today, and it's going pretty much exactly as you'd expect.
Senator: Is Russia our adversary?
— Jamie Ford (@JamieFord) July 12, 2017
Chris Wray: *turns on fog machine*
Senator:
Chris Wray: I believe I've answered your question.
Christopher Wray just equivocated on whether Russia was the enemy of the United States or not.
— Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) July 12, 2017
Disqualified.
Game over.
WTF, man.
Christopher Wray sounding REALLY dodgy in these FBI hearings…
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) July 12, 2017
He's answering questions like he knows Trump is watching.
— Racer X (@RacerX09255851) July 12, 2017
FBI nominee Christopher Wray squirms his way through a question on Russian election interference. Does not inspire confidence. https://t.co/QLK5YUu9wf
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) July 12, 2017
"Does not inspire confidence." LOL. Yeah.
* * *
Emily Shugerman at the Independent: Jared Kushner 'Tried and Failed to Get a $500m Loan from Qatar Before Pushing Trump to Take Hard Line Against Country'. "Jared Kushner tried and failed to secure a $500m loan from one of Qatar's richest businessmen, before pushing his father-in-law to toe a hard line with the country, it has been alleged. This intersection between Mr Kushner's real estate dealings and his father-in-law's international issues highlights the difficulties of an administration besieged with an unprecedented number of conflicts of interest." Difficulties, lol! Indeed!
Rachael Bade at Politico: Gowdy Fumes at Trump Administration over Latest Russia Controversy. "House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy lashed out at the Trump administration Tuesday over the 'drip, drip' in the ongoing Russia controversy, sarcastically suggesting that officials get checked for amnesia about any contacts with Russia. ...'If you had a contact with Russia, tell the special counsel about it! Don't wait until the New York Times figures it out!' an exasperated Gowdy said in a brief interview outside the Capitol Tuesday. ...Gowdy, frustration evident, suggested the Russia matter has become a distraction for Hill Republicans. 'I don't want to talk about it at all,' he admitted." I'll bet he doesn't.
By way of reminder: "Gowdy is helping lead the House Intelligence Committee's probe of Russia's interference in the election." So.
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis at the Huffington Post: Hillary Clinton Campaign Aide to Press: We Told You Russia Was a BFD. "Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's campaign communications director, recounts how she tried to repeatedly get reporters to write about Russia, to little effect. 'It was so surreal. I felt as if I had been catapulted into another dimension where we would have these surreal conversations about the Russians and Trump and Mike Flynn and Carter Page and Donald Trump Jr. saying, 'We're really invested in Russia,'' she explains. 'And no one in the press really cared.'" Welp.
Cough.
Aaron Rupar at ThinkProgress: House Republican Threatens New Clinton Investigations Unless Democrats Stop Talking About Russia. "During a CNN interview Wednesday morning, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) issued a threat — if Democrats don't move on from the enlarging scandal surrounding the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia, Republicans will have no choice but to further investigate the Clintons. ...Republican members of Congress have repeatedly tried to distract from Trump's scandals by trying to gin up new ones surrounding Hillary Clinton." What assholes.
[CN: Sexual violence; rape apologia; misogyny] Linda Yang at Broadly: Betsy DeVos to Meet with Men's Rights Groups, Reports Say. "The Secretary of Education, who is expected to soon make a decision on amending the Obama administration's guidance on college sexual assault, plans to meet with both rape survivors and groups that dismiss sexual assault allegations. ...While the Department of Education has scheduled meetings with sexual assault advocate groups such as the National Women's Law Center, Know Your IX, and End Rape on Campus, they have also reached out to SAVE: Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, Families Advocating for Campus Equality, and National Coalition for Men, a group that describes itself as 'dedicated to the removal of harmful gender-based stereotypes, especially as they impact boys, men, their families, and those who love them.'"
This is absolutely disgusting. And exactly what we should expect from the administration of a confessed sex abuser. https://t.co/LhlAPVEv9Z
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 12, 2017
Remember how I said all last fall that the 2016 election was a referendum on how this nation views women? Yeah. Well, here we are.
[CN: Homophobia; transphobia] SPLC Hatewatch Staff: Attorney General Jeff Sessions to Address Anti-LGBT Hate Group in Closed-Door Event. "Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly will be delivering a speech to the anti-LGBT hate group Alliance Defending Freedom at 5.30 PM PDT today, July 11, at ADF's Summit on Religious Liberty in California. The event is closed to the press, and no venue information has been released. Civil rights and Department of Justice reporter at Buzzfeed Dominic Holden Tweeted about the scheduled remarks. According to his Twitter feed, he asked the DOJ why Sessions was speaking at this anti-LGBT event and whether it signaled a new Department of Justice position in court. The DOJ declined to comment. Right Wing Watch noted that the event is closed to the press and pointed out that ADF is the largest of the religious right organizations battling LGBT and reproductive rights around the world." Goddammit.
[CN: Animal harm] Tatiana Schlossberg at the New York Times: Era of 'Biological Annihilation' Is Underway, Scientists Warn. "From the common barn swallow to the exotic giraffe, thousands of animal species are in precipitous decline, a sign that an irreversible era of mass extinction is underway, new research finds. The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, calls the current decline in animal populations a 'global epidemic' and part of the 'ongoing sixth mass extinction' caused in large measure by human destruction of animal habitats. The previous five extinctions were caused by natural phenomena. Gerardo Ceballos, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, acknowledged that the study is written in unusually alarming tones for an academic research paper. 'It wouldn't be ethical right now not to speak in this strong language to call attention to the severity of the problem,' he said." Fucking hell.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
An Observation
Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton's email "scandal" warranted 600 days of news coverage, there was never any serious suggestion that she deliberately compromised national security.
At it's worst, the suggestion was that she might have inadvertently done so (and when that failed to pan out, then it became all about "optics"), but never that she'd conspired to commit treason.
And yet. The caterwauling in the media about HER EMAILS. For almost two years.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been colluding with Russia so brazenly and openly that the same political media who couldn't believe there wasn't something to Clinton's emails now can't believe there is something to the allegations that Trump is doing exactly what we can all see with our own eyes that he is doing.
The hostility toward Clinton over optics, versus the unending excuse-making for Trump, is breathtaking to behold.
The truth is this: We are where we are in large part because an enormous number of people refuse to afford women any good faith at all, but will afford endless amounts of good faith to white men.
Take Action to Preserve Net Neutrality Today
Don't wreck the net—stand up for a fair and open internet. Protect #NetNeutrality
— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) July 12, 2017
Dominic Rushe at the Guardian:
Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and a host of other tech giants will join with online activists, librarians, minority rights, and free speech groups today in a day of protest against the Trump administration's plans to roll back rules in what critics charge is a "war on the open internet."In an era where online organizing is so crucial to fighting back, and online communities indispensible to so many of us, the idea of Net Neutrality being rescinded is absolutely chilling.
The "day of action" — which supporters claim will be the largest online protest in history — comes as the new head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US telecoms and media watchdog, prepares to defang tough rules protecting internet access in the US following pressure from cable companies and other internet service providers (ISPs).
Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight For the Future, the not-for-profit group organizing the day of action, said the protest came at a critical moment for the internet. "The internet has had a profoundly democratizing impact on our society. If we lose these protections, then we will lose all that diversity," she said.
We need to make calls to preserve Net Neutrality NOW.
If you are in the U.S., contact your senators and representatives, even if they are Republican, and let them know you want and expect them to preserve Net Neutrality.
Script: "I'm calling to let [elected official] know that I am very concerned about the erosion of Net Neutrality. I want and expect [elected official] to side with internet users and defend Net Neutrality."
Today we join #BattlefortheNet to save #NetNeutrality
— 5 Calls 🇺🇸 (@make5calls) July 12, 2017
1. Call Reps ➡️ https://t.co/u1QOgYqUQK
2. Leave a comment ➡️ https://t.co/IDiVpCswDn pic.twitter.com/taNwWoh8xi
This is urgent. We need to make noise — and lots of it.
Good Grief, This Guy
Last night, Donald Trump Jr. did an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, because of course he did. You don't need to waste your life watching the whole thing, or even extended clips, because this three seconds pretty much encapsulates the entire thing.
Don Jr. to Sean Hannity tonight: "Someone sends me an email. I can't help what somebody sends me."
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) July 11, 2017
Amazing. pic.twitter.com/NCTuCW8PaZ
"Someone sent me an email. I can't help what someone sends me."
Even if it were reasonable for Don Jr. to claim that an interlocutor for the Russian government just spontaneously sent him an email suggesting collusion without even the merest semblance of an idea that it would be well-received, and it isn't, the fact is that he responded to said email by exclaiming in return, "I love it... Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?"
I suppose we're meant to believe he "can't help" how he replies to emails someone sends him, either.
* * *
In related news...
Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman at the New York Times: Rancor at White House as Russia Story Refuses to Let the Page Turn.
As Air Force One jetted back from Europe on Saturday, a small cadre of Mr. Trump's advisers huddled in a cabin helping to craft a statement for the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to give to The New York Times explaining why he met last summer with a lawyer connected to the Russian government. Participants on the plane and back in the United States debated how transparent to be in the statement, according to people familiar with the discussions.Emphasis mine. To be clear: The White House crafted a statement for Don Jr., the president read and approved that statement, and then Don Jr. issued that statement, which turned out to be mendacious garbage, to the New York Times.
Ultimately, the people said, the president signed off on a statement from Donald Trump Jr. for The Times that was so incomplete that it required day after day of follow-up statements, each more revealing than the last. It culminated on Tuesday with a release of emails making clear that Mr. Trump's son believed the Russian lawyer was seeking to meet with him to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
The scope of the cover-up of what the White House clearly understands to be something worth covering up is so obvious that even Bill Kristol can understand what's happening.
WHOA. Don Jr.'s false statement Sat. was drafted by WH aides & seen by Trump. This wasn't Jr being dopey. This was an attempted WH cover-up.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 12, 2017
Trump has long been raging around the West Wing because the allegations of collusion with Russia just won't go away (since they're accurate), and now it's getting even worse — and even closer to home (literally).
So now he's getting to read cool headlines like "'Category 5 hurricane': White House under siege by Trump Jr.'s Russia revelations" at the Washington Post and "White House aides feeling 'helpless' as Trump Jr. scandal explodes" at Politico.
And note that those headlines are doing their damnedest to make it seem like the Russia stuff is just "happening to" Trump, like an act of god, as opposed to being a shit maelstrom of his own making.
The "fake news" is still being pretty fair to him, all things considered.
Not that he deserves it. Not that that's ever stopped them.
Naturally, the investigation just continues to broaden with every new revelation. At Yahoo News, Michael Isikoff reports that new details have emerged on the Moscow real estate deal that led to the Trump-Kremlin alliance, while at McClatchy, Peter Stone and Greg Gordon report: "Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign's digital operation — overseen by Jared Kushner — helped guide Russia's sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016."
Everything's coming up Russia for Trump, who is reduced to whining (again) that the entire thing is a witch hunt in defense of his corrupt son.
My son Donald did a good job last night. He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2017
There are millions of people who believe him. They, like the president and his son — and virtually everyone around them — are dangerously wrong. And that continues to be bad news for the rest of us.
The World Is Literally Falling Apart
Jugal K. Patel at the New York Times: An Iceberg the Size of Delaware Just Broke Off a Major Antarctic Ice Shelf.
A chunk of floating ice that weighs more than a trillion metric tons broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded and providing a glimpse of how the Antarctic ice sheet might ultimately start to fall apart.Back in early June, I mentioned that scientists were raising the alarm that the section of Larsen C was "hanging by a thread." That was the same week Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a global climate change agreement.
A crack more than 120 miles long had developed over several years in a floating ice shelf called Larsen C, and scientists who have been monitoring it confirmed on Wednesday that the huge iceberg had finally broken free.
The event fundamentally changes the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to Project Midas, a research team from Swansea University and Aberystwyth University in Britain that had been monitoring the rift since 2014.
"The remaining shelf will be at its smallest ever known size," said Adrian Luckman, a lead researcher for Project Midas. "This is a big change. Maps will need to be redrawn."
Larsen C, like two smaller ice shelves that collapsed before it, was holding back relatively little land ice, and it is not expected to contribute much to the rise of the sea. But in other parts of Antarctica, similar shelves are holding back enormous amounts of ice, and scientists fear that their future collapse could dump enough ice into the ocean to raise the sea level by many feet. How fast this could happen is unclear.
That decision did not, of course, cause Larsen C to snap. It does not bode well for the future of the Antarctic, however. Which is inextricably tied to our own collective future.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Lostshadows: "What thing for children do you really wish had been around when you were a kid?"
The belief that it's important to have female protagonists in children's films.
That's not to say it never happened when I was a kid, nor that there's sufficient parity now, but it's way the hell better than it was 40 years ago.
Discussion Thread: Self-Care
What are you doing to do to take care of yourself today, or in the near future, as soon as you can?
If you are someone who has a hard time engaging in self-care, or figuring out easy, fast, and/or inexpensive ways to treat yourself, and you would like to solicit suggestions, please feel welcome. And, as always, no one should offer advice unless it is solicited.
Here Is Something Nice
Katie Mettler at the Washington Post: A Riptide Swept Away a Florida Family — Then Beachgoers Formed a Human Chain.
Six members of a single family — four adults and two young boys — and four other swimmers had been swept away by a powerful and deceptive riptide churning below the water's surface.There is much more of this amazing story, and I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
...There was no lifeguard on duty, and law enforcement on the scene had opted to wait for a rescue boat. People on the beach had no rescue equipment, only boogie boards, surf boards and their arms and legs.
"Form a human chain!" they started shouting.
...By then, Ursrey and the other eight people stranded with her had already been in the water for nearly 20 minutes, fighting for their lives.
...Tabatha Monroe and her wife, Brittany, in Panama City for a birthday getaway, were the first two to hear the boys' panicked cries for help. The couple had just gone into the water when they saw the boys far from shore. They swam over and grabbed hold of their boogie boards.
But when they tried towing them back to shore, the women couldn't break free of the current. ...So much water went up Tabatha Monroe's nose that she was sure she would drown, she told The Post.
"I was exhausted," she said.
On shore, the human chain began forming, first with just five volunteers, then 15, then dozens more as the rescue mission grew more desperate.
...At one point, the 67-year-old woman told the rescuers "to just let her go" and save themselves. Instead, Ursrey's husband and nephew held Franz's body up as they struggled to keep their own heads above water.
"That's when the chain got the biggest," Ursrey said. "They linked up wrists, legs, arms. If they were there, they were helping."
Nearly an hour after they first started struggling, just as the sun prepared to set, all 10 of the stranded swimmers were safely back on shore.
The entire beach began to applaud.
One of the women who was involved in the rescue said in a Facebook post about the incident: "To see people from different races and genders come into action to help TOTAL strangers is absolutely amazing to see!! People who didn't even know each other went HAND IN HAND IN A LINE, into the water to try and reach them. Pause and just IMAGINE that. ... At the end when we got the last person in, our chain grew to 70 strangers holding hand in hand to save these people."
It is amazing. And if there were any fuckwads standing on the beach screaming at people in need of help, "You shouldn't have gone in the water if you aren't able to save yourselves from drowning!" or "Only moochers depend on other people to save their lives when they're having a heart attack in the ocean!" or "Let the market save you!", we haven't heard a damn thing about it.
Because history will only remember the people who stood on the beach and formed a chain to help their fellow humans, and will forget anyone whose sneering judgment overwhelmed their compassion.
Daddy Trump Ain't Happy with Junior
During the off-camera (ridiculous) White House press briefing today, Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a statement by Donald Trump about his son Donald Trump Jr., who's at the center of the latest Russia crisis:
Trump's statement, as read by @SarahHuckabee: “My son is a high quality person. I applaud his transparency." https://t.co/7w3MMB7Gon
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) July 11, 2017
Male reporter: —with Donald Trump Jr., that meeting. Have you had a chance to get the sense of what he feels about this entire story as it continues to unfold? What's your sense on that, and then a follow-up?Damn! That is cold as ice!
Huckabee Sanders: Um, I've a quick, ah, statement that I'll read from the president, ummm. "My son is a high-quality person, and I applaud his transparency." And, beyond that, I'm gonna have to refer everything on this matter to Don Jr.'s counsel and outside counsel and won't have anything else to add beyond that today.
Consider that Trump otherwise constantly speaks in superlatives, i.e. "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen." https://t.co/y85bbtfAe7
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
No one will understand how cutting that statement is better than Don Jr.
And yet, here is the president, ostensibly still standing by his son, even as he has essentially confessed to committing federal crimes and possibly treason.
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
We Resist: Day 173
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
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Here are some things in the news today:
Earlier today by me: Tim Kaine: "This Is...Potentially Treason" and Um, This Doesn't Help You, Dude and We Must Take Back the White House from Putin NOW.
REMINDER: KEEP CALLING YOUR SENATORS TO TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON TRUMPCARE.
Lesley Clark at McClatchy: Republican Base Howls at Prospect of Congressional Failure on Obamacare. "The voters who elected Republicans to Washington on a promise to root out Obamacare are growing increasingly disillusioned. In Appalachian mountain towns that increasingly cater to well-heeled tourists and here in Canton, North Carolina, a blue-collar town in the shadow of a giant paper mill, are voters who have been staunch supporters of the Republican Party's push to repeal the 2010 healthcare law, believing that requiring Americans to obtain insurance is government overreach. Now, as Senate Republicans return to Washington this week still shy of the votes to make it happen, those people who say they've come through for the party are watching with mounting disbelief." This whole thing is worth a read, for a lot of reasons, not least of which is how successfully the GOP has misrepresented and demonized the Affordable Care Act.
Tierney Sneed at TPM: Obamacare Repeal's Latest Moving Target: A Cruz Idea to Push Stingy Plans.
As Congress enters its final stretch before the August recess—the deadline the Senate has imposed on passing its Obamacare repeal bill—the next round of negotiations appears to be focused a proposal being offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that would put in jeopardy some of the Affordable Care Act's protections for pre-existing conditions.Take note: Republican Senators are actively searching for a way to vote for this shit. And why? Because they spent so much time convincing their constituents that Obamacare was jobs-killing garbage that must be repealed (see story immediately above) that now their jobs are dependant on actually repealing it, no matter how many people they will harm in the process.
At least one conservative senator, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), has drawn a hard line in support of including the proposal in the final package, and outside groups are amping up the pressure to see it added. However, Republican rank-and-file and even GOP Senate leadership has hinted that tweaks to the amendment may be needed to get the broader conference to swallow it, amidst the other side deals being offered to earn 50 votes in support.
Under the Cruz amendment, the Consumer Freedom Option, insurers would be allowed to sell stingy—albeit cheaper—plans that do not comply with Obamacare regulations as long as they sell at least one compliant plan that includes all of the ACA's pre-existing conditions protections. Such a system invites severe market segmentation and without a massive amount of government assistance, sick people who need the ACA-compliant plans may be priced out of the market entirely.
...The Cruz amendment has been sent to the CBO for analysis that leadership hopes to present in the days to come to determine whether the Senate GOP conference—with many Republicans wary of breaking their vows to protect pre-existing conditions—can stomach it.
David Nather at Axios: What's Next If the Senate Health Bill Fails. "The health care storyline won't end. It will be like a season finale — with the next season beginning the next day. Here are the political realities: Conservatives will push for a repeal-only bill next. ...The ACA will be run by an administration that hates it. By now, HHS Secretary Tom Price and CMS administrator Seema Verma have spent so much time promoting the law's failures that they'd have trouble switching gears and trying to make the law work." There's more at the link.
Jen Ferris at Rewire: 'Aquatic Town Hall' Targets NC Senator's Lake Home to Protest ACA Repeal. "More than three dozen constituents of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) boarded boats and traveled en masse to the shore of his Lake Norman, North Carolina, home on Friday. Why? Because for many of them, their senator holds the key between life and death. ...'My daughter will die without the Affordable Care Act,' said Sheila Hamden, a Charlotte resident and captain of one of the boats. Hamden's daughter, who has a chronic illness that her family prefers not to disclose, floated in the warm lake water while her mother shouted through a megaphone at Tillis' house. 'Senator Tillis, don't let my daughter die,' Hamden called across the water toward Tillis' 4,000-square-foot home in one of Charlotte's ritziest suburbs."
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Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng at the Daily Beast: Trump Aides Freaking Out Over Don Jr.'s Russia Email: The 'Sum of All Fears'. "In an email to Donald Trump Jr., a friend offered to connect the president's eldest son to a 'Russian government attorney' who could relay 'very high level and sensitive information' as 'part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.' 'I love it,' Trump Jr. responded in writing. He forwarded the email to campaign chief Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and one of his closest advisers. The revelation of these emails immediately sent shockwaves through the White House. 'This is sum of all fears stuff. It's what we've all been dreading,' said one White House official who is now exploring the possibility of retaining an attorney, a step described as purely precautionary."
Former @HillaryClinton spox @brianefallon "It's impossible to believe the President himself did not know about this" https://t.co/vEcnJBKcYO
— Josiah Daniel Ryan (@JosiahRyan) July 11, 2017
To that point, Josh Marshall at TPM: Oh Boy. "Philip Bump at the Post just flagged this Trump speech from June 7th, four days after Don Goldstone's first contact with Don Jr and two days before the meeting at Trump Tower on June 9th. Trump promises big news about Hillary Clinton's crimes in a speech on 'probably' June 13th."
Meanwhile, veep Mike Pence is scrambling to distance himself, with his office putting out a statement reading: "The Vice President is working every day to advance the President's agenda, which is what the American people sent us here to do. The Vice President was not aware of the meeting. He is not focused on stories about the campaign, particularly stories about the time before he joined the ticket."
This is wickedly weaselly. This statement might as well say, "Pence is up to it in his neck. Thank you and have a nice day." https://t.co/e8q5BEBdgk
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
Always good to remember when Pence tries to distance himself w/ timelines that he was recruited to the ticket by Manafort. https://t.co/CCglRLr4HT
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
Pence is a lying liar, and he needs to be removed from office as swiftly and decisively as his boss.
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Ari Berman at the Nation: Meet the Vote Suppressors and Conspiracy Theorists on Trump's 'Election Integrity' Commission. "The Trump administration has assembled a who's who of discredited advocates of voter suppression, led by Kobach, who's lost four lawsuits to the ACLU in Kansas. He's joined by former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell, who tried to disenfranchise countless voters during the 2004 election in Ohio, and by Hans von Spakovsky, a former official in the Bush Justice Department whom six attorneys in the department's voting section called 'the point person for undermining the Civil Rights Division's mandate to protect voting rights.' The latest addition to the committee is J. Christian Adams, who served alongside von Spakovsky in the Bush Justice Department. ...Since he left DOJ, Adams has been suing states and counties to force them to purge their voting rolls, as Mother Jones reported — a preview of the types of suppressive tactics the Trump DOJ is prepping and the commission will no doubt recommend in its report."
Olivia Solon at the Guardian: 'First Amendment of the Internet': What Is Net Neutrality and Why Is It at Risk? "About 200 internet companies and activist groups are coming together this week to mobilize their users into opposing US government plans to scrap net neutrality protections. The internet-wide day of action, scheduled for Wednesday 12 July, will see companies including Facebook, Google, Amazon, Vimeo, Spotify, Reddit, and Pornhub notify their users that net neutrality — a founding principle of the open internet — is under attack. The Trump administration is trying to overturn Obama-era regulation that protected net neutrality, and there is less than a week left for people to object."
[Content Note: Nativism] Esther Yu Hsi Lee at ThinkProgress: Trump Administration May Make It Harder for International Students to Study in the U.S. "Donald Trump's restrictionist immigration policies could close the door on the best and brightest international students who want to study in the United States. International students may soon have to annually apply for permission to study in the country thanks to a preliminary proposal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Washington Post reported. ...The proposed changes are necessary, officials say, because given national security concerns the government needs to more closely monitor foreign students." NOPE. That's a bullshit excuse invented to justify authoritarian, nativist, white supremacist policy. Period.
[CN: Abuse and harassment] Monica Anderson at Pew Research Center: Key Takeaways on How Americans View — and Experience — Online Harassment. "A new Pew Research Center survey finds that harassment is a common feature of online life for many adults. Most Americans say that such harassment is a major problem, and many look to a host of institutions — such as online companies and law enforcement — to curtail online abuse. Here are nine key takeaways from the report... 5. Americans are divided on the balance between free speech and making others feel welcome online. When asked which they feel is more important, 45% of Americans say it is more important that people are able to speak their minds freely online, versus 53% who say it is more important that people are able to feel welcome and safe online. At the same time, a slight majority of Americans (56%) agree with this statement: 'Many people take offensive content they see online too seriously.' By comparison, 43% agree with the statement, 'Offensive content online is too often excused as not being a big deal.'" There is much more at the link.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
We Must Take Back the White House from Putin NOW
The timing of the disclosure of Don Trump Jr.'s meeting with Veselnitskaya makes it look a lot like a Russian play to me.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
That's incredibly worrying. Putin didn't get exactly what he wanted (i.e. lifted sanctions), so here's a shot over the bow at Don Jr.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
Suffice it to say, I don't believe it's a coincidence. And this is why it's incredibly damaging that the GOP won't step up in defense of US.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
If he is allowed to control the flow of information that determines whether Trump stays in office, we are already fucked. It's already over.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
Now we are going to let Putin dictate when Trump's potentially treasonous presidency comes to an end? JFC NO. Nope. No.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
This is why the Republicans must prioritize country over party and join the Democrats in calling for swift removal of Trump and Pence.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
We cannot have that. We absolutely cannot. Putin cannot be allowed to decide through this media manipulation who our president is or isn't.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
This is the last chance. If it doesn't happen now, and we let Putin dictate the terms of Trump's presidency, it's over. We've lost.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 11, 2017
