Patterico's Pontifications

8/30/2024

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:01 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item:

That was then, this is now:

Pressed by Bash on her reversals on fracking and decriminalizing illegal border crossings, Harris sought to explain why her positions had changed.

“How should voters look at some of the changes that you’ve made?” Bash asked Harris. “Is it because you have more experience now and you’ve learned more about the information? Is it because you were running for president in a Democratic primary? And should they feel comfortable and confident that what you’re saying now is going to be your policy moving forward?”

Harris said despite the shifts in position, her values had not changed.

“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” she said. “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed – and I have worked on it – that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”

Her campaign later said Harris does not continue to support the Green New Deal, a wide-ranging proposal to address climate change first introduced in 2019.

Additionally:

Harris said she would renew a push for comprehensive border legislation that would tighten migration into the United States and vowed to “enforce our laws” against border crossings.

“We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence,” she said.

She also hewed closely to President Joe Biden’s strong support of Israel and rejected calls from some in the Democratic Party that Washington should rethink sending weapons to Israel because of the heavy Palestinian death toll in Gaza.

She said she supports a strong Israel but “we must get a deal done” to get a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

Second news item

Trump making efforts to moderate his stand on abortion (to reach suburban women, who for some mysterious reason, just aren’t supporting him in massive numbers):

Trump, in a brief interview with NBC News, said he didn’t agree with the six-week ban adopted in Florida after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“I think the six week (ban) is too short — it has to be more time,” Trump told NBC News. “I told them I want more weeks.”

Trump also weighed in on IVF treatments:

“I’m announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment,” the former president said at a campaign event in Potterville, Michigan.

“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely. And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes, so that parents that have a beautiful baby will be able, so we’re pro family,” Trump continued.

Clearly, these positions are an affront to the pro-life community. And his willingness to expand Obamacare is an interesting move for someone who once tried to repeal Obamacare.

Apparently, Trump has changed his mind:

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has reversed his position on Florida’s restrictive abortion policies within just 24 hours. On Thursday, in an NBC News interview, Trump indicated he was against the state’s six-week abortion ban, calling it “too short” and stating his preference for allowing more time. “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” Trump said.

However, by Friday, facing intense backlash from his right-wing base, Trump changed course. Speaking to Fox News’ Bryan Llenas, Trump endorsed Florida’s six-week abortion ban and confirmed he would vote against Florida Amendment 4, a ballot measure that would protect abortion rights under the state constitution. Despite reiterating discomfort with the six-week limit, Trump dismissed Florida Amendment 4 by lying about the bill. “The nine months is just a ridiculous situation,” Trump claimed, adding, “I will be voting no for that reason.”

Third news item

When they tell you who they are, believe them. When they show you who they are, believe them, and then decide if they are someone who deserves your vote:

Former President Donald Trump spent Wednesday night reposting a string of pictures on Truth Social of Vice President Kamala Harris depicted as a communist, in an orange prison jumpsuit and hiding from reporters. But he’s under fire for one image in particular that implied his Democratic rival traded sexual favors to advance her political career.

The images originally posted by @Beware_of_penguin shows an older photograph of Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed by the comment: “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently,” referring to the fact that Harris once dated San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Clinton’s husband had an affair with a White House intern.

And the misogynistic pig wonders why suburban women aren’t supporting him. . .

Trump’s spokesperson stumbled when asked about the post.

Fourth news item

President Zelensky coming to US:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he would eventually present a peace plan to President Biden and the current White House candidates, Vice President Harris and former President Trump.

Zelensky, speaking at a news conference in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, touched on the four-stage plan, saying the country’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was the first pillar.

“Second direction is Ukraine’s strategic place in the security infrastructure of the world,” Zelensky said, according to CNN. “Third direction is the powerful package of forcing Russia to end the war in a diplomatic way, and the fourth direction is economical.”

Ukraine’s leader said he plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. While there, he plans to meet with Biden and will present the plan. Due to the uncertainty of who is going to win the 2024 election, Zelensky said he planned to share the plan with both Trump, the GOP nominee, and Harris, the newly-minted Democratic nominee.

Fifth news item

Regarding Donald Trump using Section 60 at Arlington Cemetery for a photo op:

Federal law prohibits campaign or election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries. A defense official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said the Trump campaign was warned about not taking photographs in Section 60 before their arrival and the altercation.

Sixth news item

Asking federal court to “indefinitely delay” sentencing:

Donald Trump asked a federal court late Thursday to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, seeking a pathway to overturn his felony conviction and indefinitely delay his sentencing scheduled for next month.

Lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee asked the federal court in Manhattan to seize the case from the state court where it was brought and tried, arguing that the historic prosecution violated Trump’s constitutional rights and ran afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.

Have a great weekend.

–Dana

8/23/2024

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:30 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

A Republican speaks at the DNC:

How can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election? How can a party claim to stand for liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine, an attack pitting tyranny against democracy, a challenge to everything our nation claims to be, and it retreats? It equivocates. It nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin. And his running mate, who has said, “I don’t care what happens in Ukraine.”

How can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gift our forebearers fought for?

. . .

Listen, all we’re asked to do is summon the courage to stand up to one weak man.

Second news item

The Taliban’s ongoing quest for “legitimacy” before the world:

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.

The laws were issued Wednesday after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman said. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” after seizing power in 2021.

These obscene, tiny would-be men are successfully removing women from public, leaving only black-shrouded silent ghosts in their midst. I’ve never seen such chickenshit males. They shut down those that they are afraid of, lest the “walking coffins” find the bold courage that the women of Iran have found in the “Woman. Life. Freedom.” protests.

Third news item

In a nutshell:

Harris warned of the consequences of a second Trump term.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, Harris said.

“But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”

“Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails,” she said.

Fourth news item

Yet again exposing their anti-Semitic underpants:

Fifth news item

From President Zelensky:

I am grateful to the United States for imposing additional strong sanctions against Russia today.

Nearly 400 sanctions targets in a new US package will further weaken Russia’s ability to wage an aggressive war against Ukraine.

Pressure on the aggressor must be maintained and increased constantly as long as Russia continues its aggression. I thank the U.S. for its leadership in this important effort.

Together with all our partners, all peace-loving nations, we must restore respect to the UN Charter and force Russia to make peace.

Sixth news item

Yep:

If the Republicans had nominated a person who offered minimal lip service to American values, was not a criminal, & didn’t instigate an attack on the Capitol, 80% of Kamala’s speech would’ve been moot.

Seems like nominating someone who couldn’t clear that bar was a mistake.

Seventh news item

More awfulness:

Bullets were found in the bodies of the six Israeli hostages retrieved from Gaza this week, the Israeli military and the Hostage Families Forum campaign group said on Thursday.

The military told Reuters it retrieved another four bodies alongside its hostages, presumed to be Hamas militants, and that those bodies did not show signs of bullet wounds.

The comments came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency of sealing a deal for a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants there…A total of 109 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza. About a third of them are thought to be dead, with the fate of the others unknown.

Eighth news item

Making bank for Trump:

Late last year, former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of car dealership owner Bernie Moreno for Ohio’s Senate seat – elevating an untested candidate who’d never held public office over several other more prominent Republicans.

Two days later, Moreno’s campaign spent about $17,000 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and then followed up by spending an additional $79,000 the next month – making him one of the Florida club’s top political spenders.

He wasn’t alone. With glitzy Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, stays at Trump’s hotels, and flights on the former president’s private jet, Republican candidates and political groups are on track to spend more on Trump’s businesses this year than any year since 2016, according to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data.

Trump himself has been the biggest spender, both this year and over the last decade. Between his three presidential campaigns, Trump and associated political groups have funneled more than $28 million in campaign donations to his businesses – helping convert the enthusiasm of his political supporters into personal profit.

Other Republicans have followed suit, spending millions at Trump’s properties in an apparent attempt to curry favor with the former president and signal their allegiance to him to GOP voters.

Ninth news item

We are all um, “normal,” like you:

The sight at the Democratic convention on Wednesday night of Tim Walz’s 17-year-old son leaping to his feet, with streaming eyes, a hand to his chest with a cry of “That’s my Dad” was heart piercing.

As the mother of Georgie, a 38-year-old on-the-spectrum son who still lives with me, I recognized him immediately as one of “ours,” a sweet, unfiltered, slightly bewildered-looking young man who wasn’t quite sure what was expected of him in this epic moment of political adulation…

[F]or people who are different and have no support, the world can be bleak. Their loneliness can be agonizing. Some people assume the school days are the hardest, but it’s the years after that are the social desert. Having a friendly, forgiving workplace to go to is critical. It’s often their only taste of community and what makes them such reliable and rewarding employees. The work from home movement has been a killer for people with special needs, often depriving them of the only social connections they have.

Whether on the left or right side of the political aisle, just be kind. It really isn’t that hard.

Tenth news item

The very last sentence says it all:

At the beginning of August, a coalition of bipartisan senators organized a meeting with Sullivan. Sullivan has at various times held meetings with the senators to discuss Ukraine. But during this encounter, the delegation had one, unified message: The administration needs to change its stance now before it is too late, according to a person who was briefed on the meeting.

Their argument was similar to one they and many others, including Ukrainians, have made before. The U.S. should lift all restrictions, they say, because if it doesn’t and Ukraine loses, the administration will be known as the one that didn’t do enough when it could.

That framing has at times angered senior officials in the White House who insist Washington has done more than any other country to help support Kyiv and that it shouldn’t have to risk its own national security for Kyiv. Officials in certain corners of the administration, particularly inside the White House, have told the Ukrainians that the U.S. will eventually want to reset relations with Moscow and lifting the restrictions could upend those efforts.

So now we know why the Biden administration has consistently been slow to provide needed weapons to Ukraine. It’s just another way that the White House doesn’t want to ruffle Moscow’s feathers. At first, it was the fear of escalation with Russia. That myth has been laid to rest, however. Now it’s concern that we won’t be able to re-establish relations with Russia. Unbelievable.

Kasparov has it right:

The other possibility is what I warned about, that the White House is propping up a war criminal dictator in the hope of normalizing relations with him. Russia is already falling apart, stop trying to rescue it. Accelerate it and start planning for a brighter post-Putin future.

Have a great weekend.

–Dana

8/16/2024

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 7:58 am



[ guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

They remain strong and tenacious:

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in his address on Aug. 15 that Ukrainian forces had captured the entire Russian town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian troops had taken control of more than 80 settlements in Kursk Oblast during the ongoing operation, Zelensky added.

Ukraine is establishing a military administration in the town of Sudzha, according to Zelensky.

From the White House on the incursion:

US officials are assessing how the incursion might reshape the political and military dynamics of the war, as well as the implications for Washington’s long-shifting stance on how Ukraine can use American-supplied arms.

The stunning raid, catching both Russian and apparently Western leaders by surprise, highlights one of the riskiest dilemmas for the Western-backed defence of Ukraine: President Biden has consistently tried to empower Kyiv to push back Russia’s invasion without risking an American escalation with Moscow. As President Putin has always tried to portray the conflict as a war between Russia and the West, Mr Biden has sought to put clear limits on US policy to deflate that narrative and prevent a conflagration.

. . .

As for the use of US weapons, spokespeople from the White House, Pentagon and State Department won’t officially confirm whether they are being used, but it seems overwhelmingly clear that they are, given Ukraine’s reliance on US and Nato weapons systems. Vladislav Seleznyov, a former spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff, told Voice of America that US-provided HIMAR rocket launchers had been critical to the advance.
US approval for the use of its weapons by Ukraine in the Kursk incursion is certainly being implicitly given.

Reminder:

Russia depends on the will of others more than many people realize. A lot of Russia’s capability to sustain the war in Ukraine is not inherent and is, therefore, vulnerable. The Kremlin acquired some of its capabilities by force, manipulation, or by exploiting Western resources and sanctuaries.

Second news item

Kamala’s plans:

“Price gouging” is the focus of Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic agenda, her presidential campaign says. She’ll crack down on “excessive prices” and “excessive corporate profits,” particularly for groceries.

. . .

In a news release Wednesday, her campaign said the first 100 days of her presidency would include the “first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries — setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries.”

What are these “clear rules of the road” or the thresholds that determine when a price or profit level becomes “excessive”? The memo doesn’t say, and the campaign did not answer questions. . .

The report suggests the model Harris is referring to is a recent bill from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And that is not a good thing:

It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk.

At best, this would lead to shortages, black markets and hoarding, among other distortions seen previous times countries tried to limit price growth by fiat. (There’s a reason narrower “price gouging” laws that exist in some U.S. states are rarely invoked.) At worst, it might accidentally raise prices.

Third news item

Protesters to be limited at Democratic National Convention:

A coalition of activist groups planning a massive protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week are crying foul after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issued last-minute denials of requests to set up stages and sound systems for rallies in parks near the United Center.

In an emergency petition filed in U.S. District Court late Wednesday, the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention, which has a pending civil rights lawsuit against the city over protest preparations, called the move a bait-and-switch violation of their constitutional rights.

. . .

In their nine-page motion for an injection, however, the activist groups say the real motive for the last-minute, “made-up process” was to try and silence their protests against the Israeli military action in Gaza and other concerns. Activists have estimated that as many as 20,000 participants from across the country could be in Chicago for the event.

“The DNC has an interest in minimizing the exposure of Democratic officials to protests, particularly around the issues plaintiffs seeking to protest,” the motion stated. “The reason the city is denying … the opportunity to use stages and a sound system is because, at the behest of the DNC, they do not want the speeches heard.”

History at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago being what it is, this would seem to likely provoke protesters to show up at the convention in angry droves.

Fourth news item

But of course:

Former President Trump’s legal team requested on Wednesday that the judge in his hush money case delay sentencing until after the November presidential election.

Why it matters: Trump’s sentencing for the 34 felony counts he was convicted of is scheduled on Sept. 18. The Republican presidential nominee’s lawyers said in a letter that proceeding with the date would constitute election interference.
“Setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar,” attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the request to Judge Juan Merchan, who has overseen the case.

Fifth news item

I’m glad he’s sober now, but too bad he fibbed about the arrest, whether by allowing his campaign to do so or by his own omission:

When Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving.

According to court and police records connected to the incident, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska. Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, showing he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time.

But in 2006, his campaign repeatedly told the press that he had not been drinking that night, claiming that his failed field sobriety test was due to a misunderstanding related to hearing loss from his time in the National Guard. The campaign also claimed that Walz was allowed to drive himself to jail that night.

If the media considered that it was important to report on George W. Bush’s DUI, then it’s equally as important to report on Tim Walz’s as well.

Sixth news item

Why doesn’t Trump hold our military members in the highest regard?

Shameful.

Seventh news item

Eighth news item

Have a great weekend.

—Dana

8/15/2024

Elite Universities Still Plagued By Pesky Jewish Students Who Just Won’t Shut-Up

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:39 am



[guest post by Dana]

Third Ivy League university president bites the dust:

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday following months of criticism from students, donors and members of Congress over how she handled pro-Palestinian protests on campus, she announced in a letter addressed “to the Columbia community.”

…Elite colleges have struggled to balance the right to protest with student safety — none more so than Columbia, which became the epicenter of the student protest movement.

From Shafik:

“I have had the honor and privilege to lead this incredible institution, and I believe that — working together — we have made progress in a number of important areas,” she said on Wednesday.

“However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community.” Shafik said her departure from the role “would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”

Really?? Is the challenge to “overcome divergent views”? I would think the challenge is to listen to divergent views and try to find common ground. If that is not possible, then one must recognize and accept that a fellow student has the right to their own beliefs and views. Maybe work thoughtfully to persuade them to understand your own view or leave it alone. However, none of this involves screaming, harassing, threatening, getting physical, or preventing students who don’t share your views from accessing classes and moving thorough the campus, freely and without risk.

Ironically, a federal judge took another prominent university to task for not ensuring the safety of Jewish students and their access to classes:

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week against UCLA, saying the prestigious school cannot allow Jewish students to be barred from accessing classes and campus.

The ruling Tuesday is the first of its kind against a university pertaining to anti-Israel protests that roiled American college campuses this year.

Three Jewish students had filed a complaint against the regents of UCLA in June saying that the university in Los Angeles devolved into a “hotbed of antisemitism” in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war and that the school failed to ensure the safety of Jewish students and full access to campus facilities.

From U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi:

“Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom,” he wrote…“If any part of UCLA’s ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas become unavailable to certain Jewish students, UCLA must stop providing those ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas to any students,” Scarsi wrote.

Demonstrating UCLA’s deep concern for the Jewish plaintiffs (and by extension, other Jewish students not a part of this lawsuit), the school responded to the temporary injunction:

A spokesperson for UCLA criticized the ruling to the Los Angeles Times, saying it would “improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground.” They added that the school is “considering all options moving forward”; the university had previously indicated it could appeal. UCLA’s fall semester for law students begins this month.

I’m reading this as: UCLA believes that it really is *that* difficult to ensure a specific group of students be able to attend class and move around the campus freely, without restraint or harm. And if that’s the case, it’s not the Jewish students that are the problem…

–Dana

8/14/2024

Riding Her Momentum, VP Harris Toys with Rolling Out Her Putrid Ideas

Filed under: General — JVW @ 10:19 pm



[guest post by JVW]

Now that Kamala Harris has spent the last twenty-four days avoiding having to stake out any positions on hot-button issues, buttressed along by a compliant media which is content to honor her vow of silence at least until the Democrats convene in Chicago next week, the current Vice-President apparently feels comfortable that she can tease out some of her dumbest ideas. Behold:

I’m not going to waste anybody’s time explaining why price controls, even those described as anti-“price gouging,” are such a horrible idea and what the quite foreseeable unforeseen consequences of this nonsense are. I know that most readers here (with a few notable exceptions) understand this fully. But for as ridiculous as the policy is, this likely represents moderately smart politics. Among the shrinking number of undecided voters, I would hazard a guess that a majority of them actually do believe that a “ban” on “price-gouging” is workable and wise. And this sort of cynical pandering is a way to deflect attention from the fact that inflation has run rampant during the Biden years. Sure, some of that is the inevitable supply-chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, but it has become more and more clear even among progressives that the Democrats’ obsession with haphazardly throwing around fiat money has exacerbated the problem.

Perhaps Team Kamala is counting on the Council of Economic Advisors or even skittish Congressional Democrats to put the kibosh on price controls should she be elected, or at the very least to undermine them in such a way that they serve as nothing more than a harmless PR stunt designed to impress the mush-minds. But as we start to hear more policy prescriptions from the Democrat ticket, it will likely be quite difficult for them to restrain their inner Naderism and hostility to certain forms of capitalism. A competent and thoughtful Republican nominee could do a lot of damage pointing out the folly of these harebrained schemes, but alas, that’s not whom the GOP chose to nominate this year. So much the worse.

– JVW

8/9/2024

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:37 am



[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Getting the ducks lined up:

Seven battleground states are sending fake electors and others who worked to upend the 2020 election results to represent their state parties at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where they will officially anoint Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.

The fake electors and other election deniers identified by CNN include several who are currently facing criminal charges for their efforts in helping Trump try to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. They hail from the states that were central to that plot last presidential cycle: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, according to lists published by state parties and other documents obtained by CNN.

They’ve been selected to serve as national committee members, delegates or alternates with one clear task: Make Trump’s nomination official.

Second news item

During a campus event focused on Jewish life on campus:

Three deans at Columbia University have resigned from the school after text messages that officials said contained antisemitic tropes were revealed.

The messages occurred in a group chat during an event at the university called “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present, and Future,” and were discovered by The Washington Free Beacon. Last month, President Minouche Shafik said the messages “revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also, disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes” before removing the three from their positions on campus.

Good riddance.

Third news item

Ukraine humiliates Putin with surprise attack:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its war as a major Ukrainian incursion across the Russian border stretched into a third day.

Pro-Kyiv forces stormed into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Tuesday morning, deploying around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armoured vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian army.

It appears to be the most significant Ukrainian attack into Russia since the war began, with independent analysts suggesting Kyiv’s troops had advanced up to 10 kilometres into Russia.

Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,” Zelensky said in his evening address, without directly referring to the offensive.

“Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.

Analysis from ISW:

The lack of a coherent Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and the reported rate of Ukrainian advance indicates that Ukrainian forces were able to achieve operational surprise along the border with Russia. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have struggled to achieve operational surprise in the past year and a half of fighting due to the partially transparent battlefield in Ukraine. Ukraine’s ability to achieve operational surprise highlights that the widespread visual and sensor-based transparency that both sides have established does not translate into a fully transparent battlefield, however, and that the belligerents in Ukraine can leverage ambiguity around operational intent to achieve operational surprise.

Read why the attack on Kursk, specifically, adds to the humiliation for Putin.

Fourth news item

Taylor Swift shows cancelled in Vienna due to terrorist threat:

Austrian police have detained three men over the alleged plot, including two other Austrian youths aged 17 and 15.

The country’s top law-enforcement official, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, on Thursday told reporters that one of the suspects, aged 19, was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”.

Mr Haijawi-Pirchner said the man had confessed to a plan which he began devising in July to use knives and home-made explosives to try to kill as many people as possible outside the stadium.

Authorities say they found bomb-making materials during a raid on the man’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna.

When he was arrested on Wednesday, authorities claimed the man had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

“The main perpetrator has confessed that he was supposed to carry out a suicide attack with two accomplices,” said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

“The suspects actually had very specific and detailed plans … to leave a bloodbath in their wake.”

Fifth news item

Harris/Walz campaign updated/edited/changed/corrected website’s record of Tim Walz’s military service:

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign updated its online biography of running mate Tim Walz’s military service amid Republican efforts to question his record in the Army National Guard.

On its website, the Harris campaign axed a reference to Walz as a “retired command sergeant major” and now says that he once served at the command sergeant major rank — a small change that nonetheless reflects his true rank at retirement from the Army National Guard. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, served for 24 years in the National Guard before retiring in 2005 from the military to run for the U.S. House, where he became the most senior enlisted soldier to serve in Congress.

Led by GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Iraq, Republicans have suggested that Walz inflated his credentials by calling himself a “retired command sergeant major.” The Minnesota governor did serve as a command sergeant major but was reverted back to the rank of master sergeant when he left the military because he had not completed required coursework for the higher rank with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.

Vance’s accusation:

Questions about the final months of Tim Walz’s 24-year National Guard career have triggered a flurry of questions and confusion among military members and veterans, and Wednesday drew a sharp accusation from Walz’s vice presidential opponent, Republican J.D. Vance. In a bitter attack at a rally in Michigan, Vance claimed Walz “abandoned” his guard unit in 2005, just before a deployment to Iraq.

“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did?,” Vance said Wednesday in Shelby Township, Michigan. “He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.”…

You can read the timeline of Walz’s military service at the link above.

Sixth news item

We’ll believe it when we see it:

President Biden, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are calling on Israel and Hamas to take part in a final round of negotiations next week to finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the three leaders said in a joint statement on Thursday.

…U.S. officials said in recent days that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal is the only way to calm regional tensions that reached a new height after Israel assassinated a top Hezbollah military commander in Beirut and Hamas’ political leader in Tehran last week.

Seventh news item

Why no media pushback on this self-serving gibberish?:

Trump was asked at a news conference whether he thought there would be a peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. He insisted there was a peaceful transfer when he lost in 2020, though he challenged the results legally all the way up to the Supreme Court and has continued to falsely claim the election was fraudulent and rigged.

Pressed on whether he thought there was a peaceful transfer of power in January 2021, Trump launched into a defense of his Jan. 6 rally outside the White House, which preceded the violence at the Capitol.

“I think the people that — if you look at Jan. 6, which a lot of people aren’t talking about very much, those people were treated very harshly when you compare them to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed,” Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “Nobody was killed on Jan. 6. But I think the people of Jan. 6 were treated very unfairly.

“The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken before was that day,” he continued. “And I’ll tell you, it’s very hard to find a picture of that crowd. … If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours. Same real estate. Same everything. Same number of people, if not, we had more.”

“We actually had more people. They said I had 25,000, and he had 1 million people. And I’m OK with it, because I liked Dr. Martin Luther King,” Trump concluded.

I think this is my first time posting anything from Lawrence O’Donnell, and yet I agree with his analysis. The media is on track to once again help to get Trump elected:

MISCELLANEOUS

Iran’s leaders continue to demonstrate their fear of Iranian women and their collective power:

Have a good weekend.

–Dana

8/7/2024

In A Nutshell: Why Trump Must Be Defeated

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:35 am



[guest post by Dana]

This:

I’m a conservative NeverTrumper. I would absolutely prefer a more moderate VP pick, but I also know that I belong to a microscopic constituency.

So I’ll just have to content myself with, “not being a felon and a sex abuser,” “not attempting a coup,” and “not sacrificing Ukraine to an authoritarian maniac” as the main wins for voting for Harris.

100 years from now, people will talk about the Ukraine war as pivotal. I’m not sure that any other issue is going to reach that conflict in importance.

There’s also the huge bonus of prying the conservative movement away from a deranged man who will sacrifice any person or any principle for the sake of power.

If conservatism is going to have a viable future, then Trump has to lose. He is draining the entire right of any meaningful ideology or ethos.

Trump’s hold over the once-viable Republican party must be broken because – yet again – the country can handle four years of bad policy, but it cannot survive a president who torches the Constitution.

—Dana

8/6/2024

Patterico at The Bulwark: Trump May Not Be Able to Dismiss His Federal January 6 Case

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:50 am



I am pleased to be publishing a piece this morning at The Bulwark. It is a relatively concise (1,100 word) version of an argument I made in a more sprawling (10,000 words) fashion at my Substack. In it, I take on the conventional wisdom that if elected again in November, Trump will easily be able to dismiss the federal January 6 case against him. If the Substack was too long for you, try the Bulwark piece. Here is the nub of the argument:

The Supreme Court has said that “the salient issue” is “whether the Government’s later efforts to terminate the prosecution” are “tainted with impropriety.”

It is difficult to conceive of anything more “tainted with impropriety” than a criminal defendant ordering the dismissal of his own criminal case.

And it is hard to imagine a defendant more “well-connected” than one in charge of the Department of Justice, with the power to dismiss charges against himself. For these reasons, Trump’s request for dismissal would be closely scrutinized by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, the judge presiding over the federal January 6th case.

As for the concern that it violates the separation of powers for the judiciary to make the prosecution proceed on a case, I argue that this concern does not apply:

Judge Chutkan need not, and indeed cannot, tell the Department of Justice to pursue this prosecution during Trump’s presidency. It is the longstanding view of the Department of Justice and the Office of Legal Counsel that DOJ may not prosecute a sitting president. If Judge Chutkan denied the government’s motion to dismiss, DOJ would not immediately resume the prosecution. Rather, Judge Chutkan would order proceedings in the case to be stayed until Trump is no longer president. At that time, the Department of Justice could decide whether to resume the prosecution.

In short, the January 6th case will not move forward while Trump is president, whether it is dismissed or not. The choice is not between dismissing the case or forcing the prosecution to immediately proceed. The choice is whether the decision to proceed will be made by a Department of Justice headed by the defendant or by a future Department of Justice with no such obvious conflict of interest. Put that way, a ruling denying dismissal does not seem far-fetched at all.

I am a lifetime member of The Dispatch and had considered submitting it there–but for this piece, The Bulwark seemed like a more natural fit. I am a fan of many of the writers and podcasters at The Bulwark and am happy to have my debut there. Hope you enjoy it.

Pro-Hamas College Kids FAFO

Filed under: General — JVW @ 6:25 am



[guest post by JVW]

I guess I’m on a roll with stories from the Dog Trainer [Note: I’m drafting this one and the one on Chevron leaving California on Friday night while everyone argues in the Weekend Open Thread. It’s high time I start showing up around here.] I saw this story published on Friday which in may ways melted my cold, cold heart.

Since police arrested her twice this spring at UCLA — accusing her of failing to obey orders to leave pro-Palestinian encampments — Asil Yassine has spent the summer navigating court dates and uncertainties.

No criminal charges have been filed in one case, although it has not been dismissed. In the other, an arraignment is coming up in late August. The consequences of her arrests are piling up.

Yassine was temporarily banned from campus and could not attend her graduation, where she would have received a doctorate in human development and psychology. The university placed holds on her records and she still has not received her diploma. Without proof of her degree, her work this summer at a psychology office won’t count toward her license.

So ironic from the generation which popularized the acronym FAFO, used in the title of this post. It’s almost as if that concept applies to them every bit as much as it does to their antagonists, which must have come as quite the surprise to the heroic (in their own minds) young darlings. Anyway, more woe unto them:

Many students have already seen charges dismissed. But cases remain unresolved for hundreds of people at campuses with the highest numbers of arrests, according to an analysis of data gathered by The Times, the Associated Press and other newsrooms that partnered in the research.

About three months since 231 UCLA protesters were arrested, most on misdemeanor charges, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office has not received referrals involving those cases, a spokesman said. The city attorney typically handles misdemeanor charges. There is a one-year period in which charges can be filed in misdemeanor cases.

I’ll have a great deal of respect for the city attorney’s office if they let some of these little twerps stew for a year wondering if any when charges will be filed, especially if they end up filing them at the last minute. Meanwhile, spare a thought for the poor young campus radical facing increasing, uh, peril:

Along with the legal limbo of those arrested, many students face uncertainty in their academic careers as they confront confidential university disciplinary proceedings.

Some remain steadfast, saying they would have made the same decisions to protest even if they had known the consequences. Others have struggled with the aftermath.

“For me, the process with the university has been the hardest,” said Yassine, who was among 206 people arrested for failure to disperse on May 2, less than two days after vigilantes attacked the UCLA encampment. She was also among 25 people arrested on June 10 after joining another short-lived encampment.

Yassine signed an agreement with UCLA to not violate its policies again, which lifted the hold on her records. But she still has not received her diploma or transcript.

“I don’t think the arrests will lead to charges against me but the cases are still in limbo over my head,” Yassine said. “But the degree issue will set back my license by at least six months.”

Behold the moment when a bratty little self-involved college kid learns that actions have consequences. I just can’t find it in me to have one iota of sympathy for the plight that young Dr. Yassine now faces. And of course she sees this as a matter of her free speech being abridged, ignoring the trespassing, vandalizing, menacing, violence, and destruction she and her merry band of nitwits brought to campus:

Yassine, the UCLA psychology doctoral graduate, also said she was proud of the encampments. She believes she protested for the right cause, no matter the consequences.

“I’m never surprised by the repression of speech in favor of Palestinian liberation and human rights,” she said. “That has been true since the day I was born.”

“I’ve been concerned all summer long about my cases, degree and licensing. But that issue is nothing compared to what is happening in Palestine.”

If she’s proud of her actions then she ought to be honor-bound to reject any offer of a plea bargain. But this is an election year and Los Angeles is a Democrat-dominated town, so I would expect that everything will be quietly settled and Dr. Yassine can move along with a career in human development and psychology which will probably lead her to a tenured position at some other higher education institution chock-full of leftist malcontents and lunatics like herself. And that’s how this nonsense perpetuates itself.

– JVW

8/5/2024

California Says Good-bye to the Petroleum Industry

Filed under: General — JVW @ 6:46 am



[guest post by JVW]

In other news, bored with chasing away aerospace jobs, California decides to drive out the oil industry too. Even the Dog Trainer can’t help but take notice:

With the announcement Friday that it was moving its headquarters from California to Texas, Chevron Corp. became perhaps one of the last dinosaurs to slip into the tar pit, a symbol of California’s monumental transition from a manufacturing and production state to the brave new world of services.

In the popular imagination, California has long been seen as Hollywood, sunshine and beaches that attracted millions of new residents and built its sprawling cities. But in reality the great magnet of growth for decades was the production of things: think the aerospace industry, petroleum and agriculture.

The transition away from manufacturing has been going on for decades, exemplified by Silicon Valley, which churns out the ideas for high-tech devices but leaves the actual production to others, overseas, and the sprawling ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which offload the vast flow of manufactured goods from abroad.

Yes, because “services,” especially in non-tangible things like apps and social media, can’t just be made anywhere, right? Amazingly enough the reporter, 30-year LAT veteran Don Lee, gets this and he adds a very lightly-cloaked warning that perhaps this is not the economic nirvana that Gavin Newsom and the Tech Bros believe it is:

The transition away from manufacturing has been going on for decades, exemplified by Silicon Valley, which churns out the ideas for high-tech devices but leaves the actual production to others, overseas, and the sprawling ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which offload the vast flow of manufactured goods from abroad.

And Mr. Lee is willing to interview an accademic who actually believes it might not be such a great thing for the state which once produced one-fifth of the world’s oil to suddenly shut down the wells:

The downshift reflects just how far the state has staked its fortunes away from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy and, in particular, away from gas-powered cars to become the center of the electric vehicle industry

“Oil and gas has shaped California into what it became, but it has been in a tremendous decline,” said Andreas Michael, an assistant professor of petroleum engineering at the University of North Dakota. Chevron’s move out of the state, he said, “is a milestone in that decline, and it’s very sad to see.”

But lest the reader get the impression that the state might be really remiss in chasing away such a key industry, the Dog Trainer comes back and finds another academic — one in the humanities, naturally — to declare that this might all be Chevron’s fault:

Sarah Elkind, a San Diego State University history professor who has chronicled the profound impact of oil production on people’s health and industry overall in Los Angeles, wondered out loud whether Chevron was leaving California to get away from regulatory scrutiny.

“It’s unfortunate corporations will relocate their workforces in places that have fewer environmental regulations rather than working in ways that lead to healthy and vibrant communities,” she said.

Sure Sarah, because what corporation wouldn’t want to pay the danegeld in order to operate in a state run by absolute nutcases, so many of whom have contempt for capitalism? And, again to his credit, Mr. Lee is willing to acknowledge this:

Recently Elon Musk said he is moving his companies SpaceX and X from California to Texas, and over the last decade there have been scores of other California companies in tech and other industries that have fled the state, with many attributing it to the state’s high operating costs and other policies that they see as not supportive of business.

Of course Greasy Governor Gavin’s office disagrees and outright dismisses Chevron’s relocating its headquarters (and 2,000 jobs) from San Ramon to Houston:

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office downplayed the significance of Chevron’s relocation news Friday and highlighted the growth and opportunities in clean energy for California, which it said already has six times more jobs than fossil fuels employment.

“This announcement is the logical culmination of a long process that has repeatedly been foreshadowed by Chevron,” said Alex Stack, a spokesman for the governor’s office. “We’re proud of California’s place as the leading creator of clean energy jobs — a critical part of our diverse, innovative and vibrant economy.”

And, as with Spain in the 1990s, pretty much every one of those “clean energy jobs” is heavily dependent upon subsidies from our dead-broke federal government. Way to think things through, Sacramento Democrats.

Back to someone who knows a thing or two about California oil and reminds us what could be, had the state not been captured by the Green Energy mob:

“And I don’t think we’ve hit bottom yet,” said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, an industry expert who until this year oversaw oil fields for the California Department of Conservation’s energy management division. Los Angeles County alone still has thousands of oil wells. “We have billions of barrels of recoverable oil in California, but they’re just in the ground.”

Someday maybe we’ll come to our senses, but there’s going to be a pretty significant reckoning first.

– JVW

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