Month: September 2022

Waiting to see that orange jumpsuit

benfell

Oh, I am an idiot. Those of you with some high technology skills will either be annoyed or amused.

From what I can see on the Dreamhost panel, it appears that it has been 18 days since I migrated to their hosting. I forgot to deal with the MX settings. Completely forgot. So I haven’t been receiving email on either disunitedstates.org or disunitedstates.com from non-Gmail users.

Because Google thought it had the domain for MX, it continued to relay mail correctly, or at least as I would expect, from Gmail users.

I own several domains. My email is scattered across them for reasons I don’t even remember anymore. So I was continuing to receive some email. Enough that I wasn’t suspicious. Though I should have been.

I didn’t even have a clue until one of my credit card companies sent me a letter complaining. I was baffled. I figured Google had had an outage. SMTP, which is how email gets relayed across the Internet, after all, is a protocol that’s older than some of the kids who manage SMTP servers. It creaks along, but shit happens.

No, this was my fault. Entirely my fault.

This likely explains why I haven’t been hearing from Puck News lately.

It was only when Ukraine started seriously hitting my radar that I realized I hadn’t heard from Puck News in a while, because the brilliant Julia Ioffe is at Puck News, and I rely upon her for analysis of what’s happening in Ukraine and Russia.

It should all be fixed now, and there’s a whole bunch of email suddenly waiting for me, but it may still need time for the corrections to propagate.

Sigh. I’m hitting publish for now.

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Jennifer Rubin, for one, seems satisfied that the Department of Justice will indeed press charges against Donald Trump.[1] But her logic seems to accept that the Department must wait until it has completed all the investigations into all the allegations against Trump before it can press any charges at all—this seems to me absurd and my trust in the dithering[2] Merrick Garland is so low at this point that I will not believe it until, frankly, I see Trump in an orange jumpsuit.

Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Justice Dept. says it would accept Trump’s candidate for special master,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/12/trump-classified-special-master/

Greg Sargent, “Trump faces a new threat: Scrutiny of ‘stop the steal’ money scam,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/13/trump-doj-subpoenas-jan-6-save-america-pac/

Jennifer Rubin, “Trump’s legal problems multiply as his excuses disappear,” Washington Post, September 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/trump-unsealed-affidavit-doj-brief/

Religious ‘freedom’

Do you remember that article about how religious privilege is for conservative Christians only?[3] I was sure thinking about that when I saw the Reuters headline.[4]

But it appears the Supreme Court ruling really directs the case back to the same state courts that have so far declined to allow Yeshiva University to discriminate against the Yeshiva University Pride Alliance. The university can return to the Court once it has exhausted that path.[5]

“Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett dissented,” likely, judging from Alito’s dissent, because they would have allowed the university to discriminate.[6]

Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court requires Yeshiva University to allow LGBT student club,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-requires-yeshiva-university-allow-lgbt-student-club-2022-09-14/

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure


Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

In pool video from the scene [of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse], [Joe] Biden could be heard commenting on the number of bridges in Pittsburgh. He also said: “We are going to fix all of them. That’s not a joke.”[7]

I’m sorry, I just can’t believe it anymore:


As I observe the interminable road work around Pittsburgh, in which it seems many projects are never, ever actually completed, I am more and more inclined to accept the sentiment of my passengers that contractors are “milking” these projects and that they are “make work” projects more to preserve employment than they are to actually accomplish anything.

I’m certainly willing to accept that more money is needed for infrastructure work in Pittsburgh. But I think there also needs to be an end to what must be rampant corruption as well.[8]

Daniel Gilman, “There are 43,000 deficient bridges in the US/29 in the City. . . .,” Twitter, September 14, 2022, https://twitter.com/danielgilman/status/1570151445776957441

Bill Peduto, “The ‘average’ formula to repair/replace a bridge is . . .,” Twitter, September 15, 2022, https://twitter.com/billpeduto/status/1570230022044258304

  1. [1]Jennifer Rubin, “Trump’s legal problems multiply as his excuses disappear,” Washington Post, September 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/trump-unsealed-affidavit-doj-brief/↩
  2. [2]Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha, “Merrick Garland Weighed Search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago for Weeks,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/merrick-garland-weighed-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-for-weeks-11660601292↩
  3. [3]Katherine Stewart and Caroline Fredrickson, “Bill Barr Thinks America Is Going to Hell,” New York Times, December 29, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/opinion/william-barr-trump.html↩
  4. [4]Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court requires Yeshiva University to allow LGBT student club,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-requires-yeshiva-university-allow-lgbt-student-club-2022-09-14/↩
  5. [5]Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court requires Yeshiva University to allow LGBT student club,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-requires-yeshiva-university-allow-lgbt-student-club-2022-09-14/↩
  6. [6]Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court requires Yeshiva University to allow LGBT student club,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-requires-yeshiva-university-allow-lgbt-student-club-2022-09-14/↩
  7. [7]Margaret J. Krauss et al., “Bridge collapses in Frick Park, hours before Biden arrives in Pittsburgh to discuss infrastructure,” WESA, January 29, 2022, https://www.wesa.fm/2022-01-28/bridge-collapses-in-frick-park↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “It is what it is,” Not Housebroken, December 31, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/12/31/it-is-what-it-is/↩

Awkward Uncle Lindsey Graham

benfell

Inquiry

Quantitative

Surveys


Fig. 1. Graph showing the deterioration of response rates by the Pew Research Center, February 27, 2019, fair use.[1]

There is a new blog post entitled, “Nate Cohn embarrassingly goes for luck rather than rigor.”

Nate Cohn, “Yes, the Polling Warning Signs Are Flashing Again,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/12/upshot/polling-midterms-warning.html

Ukraine


Fig. 2. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[2] fair use.

Somehow I am suddenly not receiving newsletters from Puck News and I’m not sure I’ve got this fixed. Julia Ioffe, who is among the stellar journalists there, finally has a new piece out. There isn’t much about the Ukrainian offensive, but I’ll let her introduce Evgenia Markovna Albats:

Evgenia Markovna Albats, who is always addressed by her stately patronymic, is the doyenne of independent Russian journalism. At 64, she has the stripes to prove it. Back in the 1980s, she was one of the first Soviet journalists to actually report on the K.G.B. (Her story about tracking down the former N.K.V.D. interrogator who sent a legendary Soviet scientist to his death in the Gulag absolutely floored me.) She has also written vividly about being a woman in the late Soviet era, and what it was like to give birth in a perestroika-era hospital plagued by shortages of everything from clean needles to running water.

In the years since, she has covered the wars in Chechnya, gotten a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, and founded and run an independent Russian news magazine called The New Times (since shuttered by the authorities) that was an absolutely crucial outlet for investigative reporting on the corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime.[3]

I’m generally not a fan of interviews, but this one is worthwhile. Albats thinks there may be a junta takeover in the Kremlin by spring. It won’t last long, because it will lack legitimacy,[4] but it would at least get Vladimir Putin out of power and pave the way for something else.

Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160

Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Isobel Koshiw, Lorenzo Tondo, and Artem Mazhulin, “Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia,’” Guardian, September 10, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/10/ukraines-publicised-southern-offensive-was-disinformation-campaign

Allison Quinn, “Moscow Officials Urge Putin to GTFO: ‘Everything Went Wrong,’” Daily Beast, September 10, 2022, https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-officials-urge-vladimir-putin-to-give-up-power

Associated Press, “Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days,” September 11, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-kharkiv-9e5363cd199fd7f01cba14efa4678e5f

Steve Hendrix, Serhii Korolchuk, and Robyn Dixon, “Amid Ukraine’s startling gains, liberated villages describe Russian troops dropping rifles and fleeing,” Washington Post, September 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/11/kharkiv-liberated-retreat-izyum-russia/

Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/

Hugo Bachega, “Ukraine’s rapid gains stun Russia,” British Broadcasting Corporation, September 12, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62874557

Elena Becatoros and Hanna Arhirova, ““Ukraine claims to have reached Russian border as counteroffensive maintains momentum,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-claims-to-have-reached-russian-border-as-counteroffensive-maintains-momentum/

Shane Harris and Ellen Nakashima, “Intelligence points to potential turning point in Ukraine war,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/12/ukraine-russia-retreat-us-intelligence/

Insider, “Municipal deputies in 18 Moscow and St. Petersburg districts demand Putin’s resignation,” September 12, 2022, https://theins.ru/en/news/254943

Isabelle Khurshudyan et al., “Ukraine extends battlefield gains as Kremlin reels from setback,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/12/ukraine-russia-war-retreat-kharkiv/

Merlyn Thomas, “Ukraine war: Russians ‘outnumbered 8-1’ in counter-attack,” British Broadcasting Corporation, September 12, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62874557

Julia Ioffe, “Fear and Loathing in Moscow,” Puck News, September 13, 2022, https://puck.news/fear-and-loathing-in-moscow/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 3. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Justice Dept. says it would accept Trump’s candidate for special master,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/12/trump-classified-special-master/

Greg Sargent, “Trump faces a new threat: Scrutiny of ‘stop the steal’ money scam,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/13/trump-doj-subpoenas-jan-6-save-america-pac/

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Buyer’s remorse?

From the halls of Congress to the campaign trail, Republicans attacked [Lindsey Graham’s bill to ban abortion after 15 weeks nationwide, except when the life of the woman is at risk or the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest] as a distraction that divides the GOP and reminds voters that most of them see the party as too extreme on abortion.[5]

What’s catching my eye here is that the bulk of the coverage focuses not on the bill itself,[6] but the bipartisan backlash. Republicans generally would prefer to focus on other topics,[7] so think of Lindsey Graham as that awkward uncle, bringing up sensitive subjects that folks were really hoping to avoid at a holiday meal.

The more significant implication of this, of course, is that Republicans realize[8] that the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade[9] is a real problem for them electorally. Some of them are backpedalling,[10] but then there’s that awkward uncle:[11]

There’s a narrative forming in America that the Republican Party and the pro-life movement is on a run. No, no, no, no, no, no. We welcome the debate. We welcome the vote in the United States Senate as to what America should look like in 2022.[12]

There is an odd righteousness here that I think is characteristic of white Christian nationalism. So persuaded are these politicians of their own righteousness that they will risk their party’s electoral prospects, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Nate Cohn, yes, the same Nate Cohn whose analysis I trashed in that new blog post,[13] thinks, fairly obviously, it might cost them,[14] although it may be difficult to distinguish this effect from the impact of the Mar-a-Lago search.[15] I think it’s really these two factors taken together that vastly improve Democrats’ prospects this November.[16]

Jonathan Allen, Marc Caputo, and Scott Wong, “‘Bad idea’: Republicans pan Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban,” NBC News, September 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-graham-introduces-bill-ban-abortion-nationwide-15-weeks-rcna47530

Christopher Cadelago and Jonathan Lemire, “Lindsey Graham saves Biden’s big day,” Politico, September 13, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/13/lindsey-graham-joe-biden-abortion-00056505

Nate Cohn, “Why Things May Really Be Different for This Midterm Election,” New York Times, September 13, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/upshot/midterm-election-trump-dobbs.html

Caroline Kitchener et al., “Abortion is now banned in these states. See where laws have changed,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe/

Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/

Banking

So you say you’ve had bad customer service experiences with banks? Have you ever had to rob the bank for your own money?

Yes, I mean, go into the branch with a gun, and demand only the money in your account with that bank?

That’s what they’re having to do in Lebanon.[17]

Timour Azhari and Issam Abdallah, “Woman holds up Lebanese bank for $13,000 of her own money, advocacy group says,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/woman-holds-up-lebanese-bank-13000-her-own-money-advocacy-group-says-2022-09-14/

Pittsburgh driving for the uninitiated


Fig. 1. Screengrab from KDKA (probably the television station) video, via Harrisburg Patriot-News, October 28, 2019,[18] fair use.

The Apple updates to iOS 16 and WatchOS 9 have meant changes, removing at least one of my reasons for thinking I should revert to Google Maps on unfamiliar territory. I think the other problem is solved as well, but somewhat surprisingly, I still haven’t actually confirmed this.

  1. [1]Courtney Kennedy and Hannah Hartig, “Response rates in telephone surveys have resumed their decline,” Pew Research Center, February 27, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/27/response-rates-in-telephone-surveys-have-resumed-their-decline/↩
  2. [2]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  3. [3]Julia Ioffe, “Fear and Loathing in Moscow,” Puck News, September 13, 2022, https://puck.news/fear-and-loathing-in-moscow/↩
  4. [4]Julia Ioffe, “Fear and Loathing in Moscow,” Puck News, September 13, 2022, https://puck.news/fear-and-loathing-in-moscow/↩
  5. [5]Jonathan Allen, Marc Caputo, and Scott Wong, “‘Bad idea’: Republicans pan Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban,” NBC News, September 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-graham-introduces-bill-ban-abortion-nationwide-15-weeks-rcna47530↩
  6. [6]Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/↩
  7. [7]Jonathan Allen, Marc Caputo, and Scott Wong, “‘Bad idea’: Republicans pan Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban,” NBC News, September 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-graham-introduces-bill-ban-abortion-nationwide-15-weeks-rcna47530; Christopher Cadelago and Jonathan Lemire, “Lindsey Graham saves Biden’s big day,” Politico, September 13, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/13/lindsey-graham-joe-biden-abortion-00056505; Caroline Kitchener et al., “Abortion is now banned in these states. See where laws have changed,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe/↩
  8. [8]Jonathan Allen, Marc Caputo, and Scott Wong, “‘Bad idea’: Republicans pan Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban,” NBC News, September 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-graham-introduces-bill-ban-abortion-nationwide-15-weeks-rcna47530; Christopher Cadelago and Jonathan Lemire, “Lindsey Graham saves Biden’s big day,” Politico, September 13, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/13/lindsey-graham-joe-biden-abortion-00056505; Caroline Kitchener et al., “Abortion is now banned in these states. See where laws have changed,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe/; Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/↩
  9. [9]Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion,” Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-eliminates-constitutional-right-to-abortion-11656080124↩
  10. [10]Jonathan Allen, Marc Caputo, and Scott Wong, “‘Bad idea’: Republicans pan Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban,” NBC News, September 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-graham-introduces-bill-ban-abortion-nationwide-15-weeks-rcna47530; Christopher Cadelago and Jonathan Lemire, “Lindsey Graham saves Biden’s big day,” Politico, September 13, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/13/lindsey-graham-joe-biden-abortion-00056505; Caroline Kitchener et al., “Abortion is now banned in these states. See where laws have changed,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe/; Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/↩
  11. [11]Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/↩
  12. [12]Lindsey Graham, quoted in Amy B. Wang and Caroline Kitchener, “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks,” Washington Post, September 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/↩
  13. [13]David Benfell, “Nate Cohn embarrassingly goes for luck rather than rigor,” Not Housebroken, September 13, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/09/13/nate-cohn-embarrassingly-goes-for-luck-rather-than-rigor/↩
  14. [14]Nate Cohn, “Why Things May Really Be Different for This Midterm Election,” New York Times, September 13, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/upshot/midterm-election-trump-dobbs.html↩
  15. [15]David Benfell, “More questions than answers as Donald Trump flags come down,” Not Housebroken, September 10, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/28/more-questions-than-answers-as-donald-trump-flags-come-down/↩
  16. [16]David Benfell, “The really, really, really wild wildcards in the 2022 and 2024 elections,” Not Housebroken, August 17, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/17/the-really-really-really-wild-wildcards-in-the-2022-and-2024-elections/↩
  17. [17]Timour Azhari and Issam Abdallah, “Woman holds up Lebanese bank for $13,000 of her own money, advocacy group says,” Reuters, September 14, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/woman-holds-up-lebanese-bank-13000-her-own-money-advocacy-group-says-2022-09-14/↩
  18. [18]David Wenner, “Sinkhole swallows part of bus in downtown Pittsburgh,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, October 29, 2019, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/10/sink-hole-swallows-pittsburgh-bus.html↩

Vladimir Putin is finished? Maybe.

benfell

I’m off to get the updated COVID-19 booster. I’m mostly caught up.

Ukraine


“Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

Mike Martin writes in the Telegraph:

[The Ukrainians] have [retaken over 2,500 sq km of Russian-occupied Ukraine] by punching a hole through thinly-guarded Russian front lines east of Kharkiv, and severing the Russian lines of logistics, forcing the withdrawal of large contingents of Russian soldiers from multiple locations, but most importantly Izyum and Kupyansk.

Without these two cities, Russia cannot effectively supply its forces in the north-east or the east of the country, and so further collapses, withdrawals and surrenders of Russian forces are to be expected.[2]

If that seems hyperbolic, consider what Russian forces did as they withdrew: They abandoned “military vehicles, ammunition, and equipment,”[3] dropped their rifles, donned civilian clothing, and ran.[4] This is simply not a true fighting force.

I don’t know that Martin is quite right to suggest a turning point has been reached.[5] On the other hand, while I’m not sure he has adequately reckoned for the fact that the Ukrainians, too, have suffered heavy losses, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you he’s wrong. We might soon have a proper answer.

Martin also speculates that this may mean Vladimir Putin’s downfall.[6] As local Russian officials call for his resignation,[7] I can’t tell you Martin is wrong here either. But then Martin wonders about the aftermath.[8] And that just might be something we ought to be thinking about more seriously.

Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160

Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Isobel Koshiw, Lorenzo Tondo, and Artem Mazhulin, “Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia,’” Guardian, September 10, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/10/ukraines-publicised-southern-offensive-was-disinformation-campaign

Allison Quinn, “Moscow Officials Urge Putin to GTFO: ‘Everything Went Wrong,’” Daily Beast, September 10, 2022, https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-officials-urge-vladimir-putin-to-give-up-power

Associated Press, “Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days,” September 11, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-kharkiv-9e5363cd199fd7f01cba14efa4678e5f

Steve Hendrix, Serhii Korolchuk, and Robyn Dixon, “Amid Ukraine’s startling gains, liberated villages describe Russian troops dropping rifles and fleeing,” Washington Post, September 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/11/kharkiv-liberated-retreat-izyum-russia/

Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

My guess is that the latest filing by Donald Trump’s lawyers[9] is meant 1) to build a conspiracy theory case, and 2) play for yet more time.

Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Trump’s lawyers suggest seized documents may not be classified,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/12/trump-classified-special-master/

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/↩
  3. [3]Hugo Bachega, “Ukraine’s rapid gains stun Russia,” British Broadcasting Corporation, September 12, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62874557↩
  4. [4]Steve Hendrix, Serhii Korolchuk, and Robyn Dixon, “Amid Ukraine’s startling gains, liberated villages describe Russian troops dropping rifles and fleeing,” Washington Post, September 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/11/kharkiv-liberated-retreat-izyum-russia/↩
  5. [5]Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/↩
  6. [6]Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/↩
  7. [7]Allison Quinn, “Moscow Officials Urge Putin to GTFO: ‘Everything Went Wrong,’” Daily Beast, September 10, 2022, https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-officials-urge-vladimir-putin-to-give-up-power↩
  8. [8]Mike Martin, “Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights,” Telegraph, September 11, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/11/putin-finished-ukrainians-have-ropes-stunning-victory-sights/↩
  9. [9]Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Trump’s lawyers suggest seized documents may not be classified,” Washington Post, September 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/12/trump-classified-special-master/↩

Vladimir Putin’s futility

benfell

Ukraine


“Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

“Retreat is part of the art of war,” says Serhiy Kuzan, a military expert at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center.[2] So, too, are maneuver, feint, and diversion, which the Ukrainians have recently done well, and which the Russians have recognized and reacted to poorly.[3] Incompetents remain in command of Russian forces:

“This is a significant event,” said Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “It doesn’t mean Russia will be forced out of Ukraine anytime soon. But they keep not learning lessons right, keep not doing basic things right.”

“The overall situation now favors Ukraine, especially in the medium term,” Lee said.[4]

But at some point, you have to look further up the chain of command. A while ago, I wrote,

Isaac Chotiner’s interview with Andrei Soldatov[5] is the second I’ve seen in which the subject doubts that Vladimir Putin is indeed a madman.[6] But Soldatov also points to 1) Putin’s seemingly psychopathic reaction when questioned about deaths he is responsible for; 2) Putin’s increasingly small circle of people he trusts, suggesting paranoia; 3) a hierarchy of power in which underlings are afraid to report truthfully to their superiors; and 4) Putin’s apparent conviction that he knows better than anyone else,[7] something also observed by Stephen Kotkin in David Remnick’s interview.[8] I’m not a psychologist but neither are these otherwise extremely well-informed folks affirming Putin’s sanity, and I think there are definitely questions here to be asked of a psychologist.[9]

I don’t think we know precisely what information Vladimir Putin is getting. He must have some inkling that he is failing to achieve his objectives. He must have some inkling that his commanders are fools.[10] He must have some inkling that the general mobilization Russian right-wing bloggers call for[11] may be necessary[12] but will not be sufficient to solve these problems. He must have some inkling that he is losing.

And none of this can really be new to Putin. These failures have been apparent for months, indeed even from the failure to take Kyiv.[13] But whether because of delusion or because of inability, he has not solved the problem.

Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160

Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Isobel Koshiw, Lorenzo Tondo, and Artem Mazhulin, “Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia,’” Guardian, September 10, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/10/ukraines-publicised-southern-offensive-was-disinformation-campaign

Allison Quinn, “Moscow Officials Urge Putin to GTFO: ‘Everything Went Wrong,’” Daily Beast, September 10, 2022, https://www.thedailybeast.com/moscow-officials-urge-vladimir-putin-to-give-up-power

Associated Press, “Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days,” September 11, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-kharkiv-9e5363cd199fd7f01cba14efa4678e5f

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Isobel Koshiw, Lorenzo Tondo, and Artem Mazhulin, “Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia,’” Guardian, September 10, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/10/ukraines-publicised-southern-offensive-was-disinformation-campaign↩
  3. [3]Associated Press, “Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days,” September 11, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-kharkiv-9e5363cd199fd7f01cba14efa4678e5f; Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/; Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160; Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/; Isobel Koshiw, Lorenzo Tondo, and Artem Mazhulin, “Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia,’” Guardian, September 10, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/10/ukraines-publicised-southern-offensive-was-disinformation-campaign↩
  4. [4]Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/↩
  5. [5]Isaac Chotiner, “The Purges in Putin’s Shrinking Inner Circle,” New Yorker, March 22, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-purges-in-putins-shrinking-inner-circle↩
  6. [6]Isaac Chotiner, “The Purges in Putin’s Shrinking Inner Circle,” New Yorker, March 22, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-purges-in-putins-shrinking-inner-circle; David Remnick, “The Weakness of the Despot,” New Yorker, March 11, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin↩
  7. [7]Isaac Chotiner, “The Purges in Putin’s Shrinking Inner Circle,” New Yorker, March 22, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-purges-in-putins-shrinking-inner-circle↩
  8. [8]David Remnick, “The Weakness of the Despot,” New Yorker, March 11, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Where does Vladimir Putin stop?” Not Housebroken, August 29, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/04/where-does-vladimir-putin-stop/↩
  10. [10]Max Boot, “Putin is trapped in a quagmire and doesn’t know how to get out,” Washington Post, May 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/09/putin-victory-day-russia-ukraine-quagmire/; Christian Esch, Susanne Koelbl, and Fritz Schaap, “Putin’s Disaster and What Could Happen Next,” Spiegel, May 6, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/putin-s-disaster-and-what-could-happen-next-a-e8c89bfa-b7a3-4e32-908a-7642a301eda6↩
  11. [11]Pjotr Sauer, “‘We have already lost’: far-right Russian bloggers slam Kremlin over army response,” Guardian, September 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/08/we-have-already-lost-far-right-russian-bloggers-slam-kremlin-over-army-response↩
  12. [12]Christian Esch, Susanne Koelbl, and Fritz Schaap, “Putin’s Disaster and What Could Happen Next,” Spiegel, May 6, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/putin-s-disaster-and-what-could-happen-next-a-e8c89bfa-b7a3-4e32-908a-7642a301eda6↩
  13. [13]Max Boot, “Putin is trapped in a quagmire and doesn’t know how to get out,” Washington Post, May 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/09/putin-victory-day-russia-ukraine-quagmire/; Christian Esch, Susanne Koelbl, and Fritz Schaap, “Putin’s Disaster and What Could Happen Next,” Spiegel, May 6, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/putin-s-disaster-and-what-could-happen-next-a-e8c89bfa-b7a3-4e32-908a-7642a301eda6↩

Y’all know I’m a pessimist even by pessimists’ standards. But here’s reason for hope.

benfell

Ukraine


“Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160

Steve Hendrix et al., “Russian troops in big retreat as Ukraine offensive advances in Kharkiv,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

I was in Westmoreland County much of this afternoon and evening (Saturday). I saw campaign yard signs in the style of Donald Trump campaign signs, but supporting local candidates, where I would expect to additionally see signs of various sorts supporting Trump. I saw “Let’s Go Brandon” (code for “Fuck Joe Biden[2]) signs. But I only saw two actual signs supporting Trump. I wasn’t counting bumper stickers, but these also seemed much less common.

Westmoreland County is much more conservative than Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is and where I live. Of all the counties surrounding Allegheny, I think Westmoreland is, visibly at least, the most anti-abortion. When facemasks were required for the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed to me that a substantial majority of the population defied the requirements. If Trump’s support has evaporated here, he’s in real trouble.

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Ben Smith, “Brandon Just Wants to Drive His Racecar,” New York Times, December 19, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/business/brandon-brown-lets-go-brandon.html↩

Donald Trump’s fall

benfell

Ukraine


“Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

Well, now . . .

In a matter of days, Ukraine retook swaths of its Kharkiv region, where Russians had fought ferociously for months, spending lives and ammunition to take over cities, sometimes a building at a time. . . .

“Kupyansk is undoubtedly a tasty target for the Ukrainian Armed Forces insofar as it is an intersection of railroads and highways and is a logistical base that supplies materiel for practically all our troops west of the Siverskyi Donets River, so the stakes are very high,” Russian military expert Mikhail Khodaryonok said.[2]

Earlier, the commander leading Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Ukraine had full control of Balakliya and also controlled part of Kupyansk, an important strategic rail hub seen as crucial to Russia’s war effort in the region.[3]

Julia Ioffe[4] was very far from alone in forecasting a long, grinding war. As near as I could tell, this was pretty much a universal consensus. There are, of course, questions about whether the Ukrainian advance can be sustained, but for now, it very much appears that Ukraine is putting western-supplied weapons to good use.[5]

Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/

Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160

Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. John Fetterman as mayor of Braddock, photograph uncredited and undated, via Next Pittsburgh,[6] fair use.

Dana Milbank, “And on the eighth day, God said: Let Mastriano win Pennsylvania,” Washington Post, September 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/09/doug-mastriano-prophet-julie-green/

Gilead

Evangelical Protestants

Fig. 1. “You shall have no other gods before me.”[7] Photograph posted to Twitter by Antonia Lee Donnelly, February 16, 2020,[8] fair use.

Dana Milbank, “And on the eighth day, God said: Let Mastriano win Pennsylvania,” Washington Post, September 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/09/doug-mastriano-prophet-julie-green/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

With regard to Sarah Palin’s loss in a special election in Alaska, this is the factor I find most salient:

Sure, it’s possible that Alaskans are just sick of Sarah Palin. She abandoned them, leaving her governorship with a year left on her term under a cloud of ethics complaints. She bought a house in Arizona and had middling success at becoming a reality-television star. None of this seemed to work in Palin’s favor; in July, an Alaska Survey Research poll found her to have a positive–negative rating of 31–61 among the state’s registered voters. Maybe Alaska didn’t want its prodigal daughter to return.[9]

But that’s an incomplete explanation for Mary Peltola’s victory because, well, Alaskans had a Republican alternative, Nick Begich, III. They didn’t choose him either. At the very least, in Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, voters preferred the Democrat to Palin and there weren’t enough who chose Begich.

Molly Jong-Fast believes the ranked-choice system should have worked in favor of Republicans.[10] I would question that, given Palin’s strong negatives. Everything I heard from Alaska is that Alaskans were really, really unhappy with Palin, pretty much for the reasons Jong-Fast states.

Are Alaskans really holding a grudge this long? I’ve never even been to Alaska but I’m thinking that, yes, they most definitely are. I am absolutely not, certainly not without visiting the state, ready to discount the Republican complaint that ranked-choice worked against them.[11]

Jong-Fast also points to two other factors that might have influenced the vote:

  • First, abortion rights.[12] Jong-Fast writes that

    Since Friday, June 24, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, there have been five congressional special elections. In every single one of these, the Republican candidate has underperformed against the partisan lean of his or her district.”[13]

  • Second, Jong-Fast suspects that anti-intellectualism, which has propelled the political careers not only of Palin, but of Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Donald Trump, and countless other Republicans, may have backfired.[14] This would be quite a turn. U.S. anti-intellectualism dates back at least a thousand years and to another continent.[15]

We’ll see it all play out again this November, as all three candidates in Alaska will vie for a new term following the one that Peltola will now complete.[16] But I gotta tell you, as the scandal over Trump’s mishandling of classified documents develops[17] and another scandal about his fundraising fraud resurfaces,[18] Trump flags and yard signs seem to be disappearing in southwest Pennsylvania where previously they were ubiquitous. I’ll continue looking, but their sudden absence seems as striking as that of Confederate flags following the January 6 coup attempt.[19]

There’s no small risk in attributing a statewide result to national factors—this applies to Jong-Fast’s consideration of abortion rights and Trump[20]—particularly in a state as remote as Alaska, yet such factors may be compelling here as it’s looking more and more like Democrats may do far better than expected in November,[21] like white Christian nationalism has overstepped, and like Trump is now dead politically.

I am very much wishing I could be on the ground in more places, especially including Alaska right now. I might have more insight to offer.

Greg Sargent, “MAGA Republicans are seething with rage because Biden hit his target,” Washington Post, September 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/02/biden-speech-philadelphia-trump-maga-republicans-democracy/

Eric Tucker, “Trump search inventory released, reveals new details on docs,” Associated Press, September 2, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d

Andrew Kaczynski and Samantha Woodward, “Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information,” CNN, September 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/politics/trump-jail-sentences-mishandled-classified-information-kfile/index.html

David Frum, “Biden Laid the Trap. Trump Walked Into It,” Atlantic, September 4, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/trump-pennsylvania-rally-republicans/671344/

Lauren Gambino and David Smith, “Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?” Guardian, September 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/midterm-democrats-victory-republicans-trump

Charlie Savage, “As Midterms Near, Election Rule Raises Dilemma for Trump Inquiries,” New York Times, September 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/04/us/trump-investigations-midterm-elections.html

Jess Bravin and Aruna Viswanatha, “Judge Grants Donald Trump’s Request for Independent Review of Mar-a-Lago Documents,” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-partly-grants-donald-trumps-request-for-independent-review-of-mar-a-lago-documents-11662395427

Charlie Savage, “‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry,” New York Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/trump-special-master-aileen-cannon.html

Eric Tucker, “Judge grants Trump bid for special master in Mar-a-Lago case,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-09-05/judge-grants-trump-bid-for-special-master-in-mar-a-lago-case

Ann E. Marimow and Devlin Barrett, “Judge’s special-master order a test of Trump’s post-White House powers,” Washington Post, September 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/

J. Oliver Conroy, “Why did a judge grant Trump’s request for a ‘special master’?” Guardian, September 7, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/07/why-did-judge-grant-special-master-trump

Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/

Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. seeks to regain access to classified Mar-a-Lago documents,” Washington Post, September 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/08/justice-appeals-trump-documents-special-master/

Alan Feuer et al., “Trump’s Post-Election Fund-Raising Comes Under Scrutiny by Justice Dept.,” New York Times, September 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/us/politics/trump-save-america-pac-subpoenas.html

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160↩
  3. [3]Robyn Dixon, Steve Hendrix and Liz Sly, “Russia confirms big retreat near Kharkiv as Ukraine offensive advances,” Washington Post, September 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/10/ukraine-kharkiv-russia-retreat-izyum/↩
  4. [4]Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Wood Chipper,” Puck News, May 17, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-wood-chipper/↩
  5. [5]Thomas Grove and Evan Gershkovich, “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Front-Line Cities,” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-major-advance-ukraine-drives-russians-out-of-key-eastern-city-11662807160↩
  6. [6]Kim Lyons, “Braddock Mayor John Fetterman keeps on truckin’ in his quest for the Senate,” Next Pittsburgh, March 11, 2016, https://nextpittsburgh.com/features/the-challengers-braddock-mayor-john-fetterman-keeps-on-truckin/↩
  7. [7]Exod. 20:3.↩
  8. [8]Antonia Lee Donnelly, “Now I've seen everything,” Twitter, February 17, 2020, https://twitter.com/DonnellyAntonia/status/1229227422836559873↩
  9. [9]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  10. [10]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  11. [11]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  12. [12]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  13. [13]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  14. [14]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  15. [15]David Benfell, “Barack Obama asks, ‘Why is it that the folks that won the last election are so mad all the time?’” Not Housebroken, November 4, 2018, https://disunitedstates.org/2018/11/04/barack-obama-asks-why-is-it-that-the-folks-that-won-the-last-election-are-so-mad-all-the-time/↩
  16. [16]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  17. [17]Scott R. Anderson et al., “What We Do and Don’t Know About the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago Search,” Lawfare, August 9, 2022, https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-fbis-mar-lago-search; Isaac Arnsdorf et al., “Trump is rushing to hire seasoned lawyers — but he keeps hearing ‘No,’” Washington Post, August 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/16/trump-lawyers-fbi-raid/; Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/; Devlin Barrett et al., “Mar-a-Lago search appears focused on whether Trump, aides withheld items,” Washington Post, August 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/09/trump-fbi-search-mar-a-lago/; Devlin Barrett et al., “FBI searched Trump’s home to look for nuclear documents and other items, sources say,” Washington Post, August 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/; Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey, “Agents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago seized 11 sets of classified documents, court filing shows,” Washington Post, August 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/12/trump-warrant-release/; Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Mar-a-Lago affidavit says many witnesses interviewed, 184 classified files returned in January,” Washington Post, August 26, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/26/trump-affidavit-released/; Josh Dawsey et al., “FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search followed months of resistance, delay by Trump,” Washington Post, August 23, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/23/trump-records-mar-a-lago-fbi/; Josh Dawsey and Jacqueline Alemany, “Archives asked for records in 2021 after Trump lawyer agreed they should be returned, email says,” Washington Post, August 24, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/24/trump-records-archives-2021/; Igor Derysh, “‘Lawyers are giggling’: Legal experts scratch their heads at Trump’s ‘very strange’ new DOJ lawsuit,” Salon, August 23, 2022, https://www.salon.com/2022/08/23/lawyers-are-giggling-legal-experts-scratch-their-heads-at-trumps-very-strange-new-doj/; Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha, and Sadie Gurman, “FBI Recovered Eleven Sets of Classified Documents in Trump Search, Inventory Shows,” Washington Post, August 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-recovered-eleven-sets-of-classified-documents-in-trump-search-inventory-shows-11660324501; Renato Mariotti, “Espionage Isn’t the Strongest Case Against Trump. It’s Simpler Than That,” Politico, August 14, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/14/trump-classified-documents-doj-opinion-00051584; Amber Phillips, “What could the Mar-a-Lago search mean for Trump legally?” Washington Post, August 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/07/what-is-presidential-records-act-how-did-trump-violate-it/; William Rivers Pitt, “An Enron-Inspired Law May Be a Sharper Legal Threat to Trump Than Espionage Act,” Truthout, August 30, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/an-enron-inspired-law-may-be-a-sharper-legal-threat-to-trump-than-espionage-act/; Jennifer Rubin, “Trump’s risk of indictment for his document snatch just skyrocketed,” Washington Post, August 23, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/23/trump-documents-indictment-risk-skyrocket/; Jennifer Rubin, “Former GOP Justice lawyers: Trump’s in a heap of trouble,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/; Tierney Sneed, “Justice Department ordered to release redacted Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit,” CNN, August 25, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-fbi-raid/index.html; Perry Stein et al., “Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley, “Trump Tells His Lawyers: Get ‘My’ Top Secret Documents Back,” Rolling Stone, August 23, 2022, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-tells-lawyers-get-my-top-secrets-documents-back-1234580501/; Betsy Woodruff Swan, Kyle Cheney, and Nicholas Wu, “FBI search warrant shows Trump under investigation for potential obstruction of justice, Espionage Act violations,” Politico, August 12, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/12/search-warrant-shows-trump-under-investigation-for-potential-obstruction-of-justice-espionage-act-violations-00051507; Eric Tucker, “Trump search inventory released, reveals new details on docs,” Associated Press, September 2, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d; Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo, “Trump says FBI conducting search of Mar-a-Lago estate,” Associated Press, August 8, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-9e8d683afe87389407950af7ccfdbdd6; Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent, “Merrick Garland’s surprise announcement calls the Trump-GOP bluff,” Washington Post, August 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/11/garland-announcement-trump-fbi-bluff/; Marcy Wheeler, “Trump's Timid (Non-Legal) Complaints about Attorney-Client Privilege,” Empty Wheel, August 14, 2022, https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/08/14/trump-claims-the-ssa-receipt-includes-privileged-materials/; Jan Wolfe, Alex Leary, and Sadie Gurman, “Mar-a-Lago Boxes Had More Than 700 Pages of Classified Papers, National Archives Letter Says,” Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/letter-to-trump-lawyer-highlights-national-archives-concern-over-sensitive-materials-before-mar-a-lago-search-11661271403↩
  18. [18]Josh Dawsey, “Trump campaign has finally stopped their fundraising emails. They raised more than $200 million after the election with hundreds of pitches to donors to help overturn it,” Twitter, January 12, 2021, https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/1348808128754823169; Alan Feuer et al., “Trump’s Post-Election Fund-Raising Comes Under Scrutiny by Justice Dept.,” New York Times, September 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/us/politics/trump-save-america-pac-subpoenas.html; Simon Lewis, “Trump unveils $207 million fundraising haul after election in effort to overturn result,” Reuters, December 3, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fundraising/trump-unveils-207-million-fundraising-haul-after-election-in-effort-to-overturn-result-idUSKBN28E012; Peter Slevin, “Trump’s Election-Fraud Bluster Finds an Audience,” New Yorker, December 5, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/donald-trumps-election-fraud-bluster-finds-an-audience↩
  19. [19]David Benfell, “More questions than answers as Donald Trump flags come down,” Not Housebroken, September 5, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/28/more-questions-than-answers-as-donald-trump-flags-come-down/↩
  20. [20]Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/↩
  21. [21]Lauren Gambino and David Smith, “Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?” Guardian, September 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/midterm-democrats-victory-republicans-trump; Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/; Molly Jong-Fast, “Sarah Palin Could Be a Harbinger,” Atlantic, September 8, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/6319112fda4cea0020f70f7c/sarah-palin-alaska-congressional-race-trumpism/; Nathaniel Rakich, “Yes, Special Elections Really Are Signaling A Better-Than-Expected Midterm For Democrats,” FiveThirtyEight, August 24, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/yes-special-elections-really-are-signaling-a-better-than-expected-midterm-for-democrats/; Austin Sarat and Dennis Aftergut, “Americans are starting to get it: we can’t let Trump – or Trumpism – back in office,” Guardian, August 30, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/30/trump-republicans-voters-midterms-democrats↩

Donald Trump is through, whether he is even capable of realizing it or not

benfell

As I continue using Apple Maps in Pittsburgh, I’m seeing more of the blemishes. I’m still seeing a lot of advantages to Apple maps, but the problems probably mean newcomers should stick with Google Maps until they gain some familiarity with the territory.

Pittsburgh

Gentrification


Fig. 1. The old Hazelwood library branch. It has been replaced with a new branch on Second Avenue. Photograph by author, May 1, 2020.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA], the city’s economic development agency, discussed the emerging OwnPGH program on Thursday during its board meeting as a step toward finalizing the effort. The URA and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh [HACP] would run OwnPGH to help first time homebuyers who make 80% or less of the area median income [AMI]. If approved, OwnPGH would provide grants of up to $50,000 and HACP would add an additional $40,000 in deferred mortgages. . . .

Under the new program, homeowners who purchase a place through OwnPGH will be required, for 30 years, to only sell to other buyers who make 80% of AMI or less.[1]

Eric Jankiewicz, “URA weighs joining Housing Authority to aid new homeowners,” Public Source, September 8, 2022, https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-affordable-housing-ownpgh-homebuyer-assistance-urban-redevelopment-ura/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

I don’t think I saw a single yard sign or flag supporting Donald Trump today (Friday). It’s quite a shift.

At this point, it very much looks to me like Donald Trump is through, whether he recognizes it or not. Only the most insane still support him.

This does not, by any means, mean we’re done with white Christian nationalism. Trump didn’t create the bigots. He made them feel comfortable displaying their bigotry. They might now feel embarrassment because their hero has been exposed, but they remain bigots. And neither did he create white Christian nationalism or the tendencies of conservatism that have united as white Christian nationalists.

Greg Sargent, “MAGA Republicans are seething with rage because Biden hit his target,” Washington Post, September 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/02/biden-speech-philadelphia-trump-maga-republicans-democracy/

Eric Tucker, “Trump search inventory released, reveals new details on docs,” Associated Press, September 2, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d

Andrew Kaczynski and Samantha Woodward, “Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information,” CNN, September 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/politics/trump-jail-sentences-mishandled-classified-information-kfile/index.html

David Frum, “Biden Laid the Trap. Trump Walked Into It,” Atlantic, September 4, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/trump-pennsylvania-rally-republicans/671344/

Lauren Gambino and David Smith, “Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?” Guardian, September 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/midterm-democrats-victory-republicans-trump

Charlie Savage, “As Midterms Near, Election Rule Raises Dilemma for Trump Inquiries,” New York Times, September 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/04/us/trump-investigations-midterm-elections.html

Jess Bravin and Aruna Viswanatha, “Judge Grants Donald Trump’s Request for Independent Review of Mar-a-Lago Documents,” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-partly-grants-donald-trumps-request-for-independent-review-of-mar-a-lago-documents-11662395427

Charlie Savage, “‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry,” New York Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/trump-special-master-aileen-cannon.html

Eric Tucker, “Judge grants Trump bid for special master in Mar-a-Lago case,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-09-05/judge-grants-trump-bid-for-special-master-in-mar-a-lago-case

Ann E. Marimow and Devlin Barrett, “Judge’s special-master order a test of Trump’s post-White House powers,” Washington Post, September 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/

J. Oliver Conroy, “Why did a judge grant Trump’s request for a ‘special master’?” Guardian, September 7, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/07/why-did-judge-grant-special-master-trump

Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. seeks to regain access to classified Mar-a-Lago documents,” Washington Post, September 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/08/justice-appeals-trump-documents-special-master/

Alan Feuer et al., “Trump’s Post-Election Fund-Raising Comes Under Scrutiny by Justice Dept.,” New York Times, September 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/us/politics/trump-save-america-pac-subpoenas.html

Queen Elizabeth

I wasn’t going to say anything about Queen Elizabeth’s death here. There is a weird sentimentality and romanticization of royalty that attached to her but certainly not to her alone and which implicates colonization and the British Empire. And that’s frankly something I want more time to consider.

But ya know, Pittsburgh just had to get in on the act.

Around 6 a.m. Thursday, Uju Anya, a professor in [Carnegie-Mellon University’s] department of modern languages, posted the following message to the 84,000 followers of her personal Twitter account.

“I heard the chief monarch of a thieving and raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”[2]

The controversy reached me indirectly and I responded,

1/5 I certainly do not advocate wishing anyone an “excruciating” death, as a professor at @CarnegieMellon seems to have done, unless they have–there are numerous examples of this–personally and willfully been cruel to others.

Firing this professor would be the wrong answer.

Remarkably, #BlackTwitter has not jumped all over my case. At least not yet. Perhaps it got lost in the noise.

Jesse Bunch, “Carnegie Mellon University professor’s critical tweet about Queen Elizabeth II goes viral,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2022/09/08/carnegie-mellon-university-professor-tweet-about-queen-elizabeth-ii-goes-viral-uju-anya/stories/202209080145

  1. [1]Eric Jankiewicz, “URA weighs joining Housing Authority to aid new homeowners,” Public Source, September 8, 2022, https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-affordable-housing-ownpgh-homebuyer-assistance-urban-redevelopment-ura/↩
  2. [2]Jesse Bunch, “Carnegie Mellon University professor’s critical tweet about Queen Elizabeth II goes viral,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2022/09/08/carnegie-mellon-university-professor-tweet-about-queen-elizabeth-ii-goes-viral-uju-anya/stories/202209080145?cid=pm&source=ams&sourceid=↩

The Department of Justice appeals

benfell

I can personally attest to the arrival of at least one spotted lanternfly in Allegheny County, specifically at the Sonoco station at 310 Cedar Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Northside, where I stopped for gas.

There, as I was dumping some trash in the bin, was a creature such as I had seen numerous times in photographs. This time, however, it was in real life.

I did what I was supposed to do, which was not what some would consider the vegan thing. I did not preserve the evidence.

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022, public domain.[1]

Jennifer Rubin, “Former GOP Justice lawyers: Trump’s in a heap of trouble,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/

Amber Phillips, “Takeaways from Biden’s warnings about Republican threats to democracy,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/biden-democracy-speech-takeaways/

Greg Sargent, “MAGA Republicans are seething with rage because Biden hit his target,” Washington Post, September 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/02/biden-speech-philadelphia-trump-maga-republicans-democracy/

Eric Tucker, “Trump search inventory released, reveals new details on docs,” Associated Press, September 2, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d

Andrew Kaczynski and Samantha Woodward, “Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information,” CNN, September 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/politics/trump-jail-sentences-mishandled-classified-information-kfile/index.html

David Frum, “Biden Laid the Trap. Trump Walked Into It,” Atlantic, September 4, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/trump-pennsylvania-rally-republicans/671344/

Lauren Gambino and David Smith, “Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?” Guardian, September 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/midterm-democrats-victory-republicans-trump

Charlie Savage, “As Midterms Near, Election Rule Raises Dilemma for Trump Inquiries,” New York Times, September 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/04/us/trump-investigations-midterm-elections.html

Jess Bravin and Aruna Viswanatha, “Judge Grants Donald Trump’s Request for Independent Review of Mar-a-Lago Documents,” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-partly-grants-donald-trumps-request-for-independent-review-of-mar-a-lago-documents-11662395427

Charlie Savage, “‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry,” New York Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/trump-special-master-aileen-cannon.html

Eric Tucker, “Judge grants Trump bid for special master in Mar-a-Lago case,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-09-05/judge-grants-trump-bid-for-special-master-in-mar-a-lago-case

Ann E. Marimow and Devlin Barrett, “Judge’s special-master order a test of Trump’s post-White House powers,” Washington Post, September 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/

J. Oliver Conroy, “Why did a judge grant Trump’s request for a ‘special master’?” Guardian, September 7, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/07/why-did-judge-grant-special-master-trump

Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. seeks to regain access to classified Mar-a-Lago documents,” Washington Post, September 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/08/justice-appeals-trump-documents-special-master/

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[2] fair use.

Patrick Damp, “Car hit by gunfire in the Strip District,” KDKA-TV, September 9, 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/car-hit-by-gunfire-in-the-strip-district/

  1. [1]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/↩
  2. [2]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩

Apple Maps is a surprise winner against Google Maps in Pittsburgh

benfell

Pittsburgh driving for the uninitiated


Fig. 1. Screengrab from KDKA (television?) video, via Harrisburg Patriot-News, October 28, 2019,[1] fair use.

I have been evaluating Apple Maps for the past two days. So far, it’s a surprise winner over Google Maps. I have also added to the page on other hazards.

Ukraine


“Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[2] fair use.

The Kremlin is tolerating criticism of its war in Ukraine that pushes for a Russian national mobilization.[3] So yes, I’m wondering if such a mobilization is next.

Pjotr Sauer, “‘We have already lost’: far-right Russian bloggers slam Kremlin over army response,” Guardian, September 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/08/we-have-already-lost-far-right-russian-bloggers-slam-kremlin-over-army-response

  1. [1]David Wenner, “Sinkhole swallows part of bus in downtown Pittsburgh,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, October 29, 2019, https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/10/sink-hole-swallows-pittsburgh-bus.html↩
  2. [2]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  3. [3]Pjotr Sauer, “‘We have already lost’: far-right Russian bloggers slam Kremlin over army response,” Guardian, September 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/08/we-have-already-lost-far-right-russian-bloggers-slam-kremlin-over-army-response↩

Surprise, surprise, surprise! White supremacist gangsters are listed in a leaked Oath Keepers database!

benfell

Gilead

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 1. Image credited to Darnella Frazier, made from a video posted to Facebook, of Minneapolis white supremacist gangster Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck, May 25, 2020, via ABC News,[1] fair use.

The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.

It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.[2]

White supremacist gang officials contacted by the Associated Press often denied involvement with the Oath Keepers and criticized the January 6 coup attempt.[3]

Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, “Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list,” Associated Press, September 7, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26

Right-wing militias

Military


Fig. 2. Image of unstated origin and unknown date posted to Quora by Karl Burkhalter,[4] fair use.

This most recent effort by the Anti-Defamation League[5] is by no means the first report of extremist participation in the military[6] and some of these extremists used their military training to prepare for the January 6 coup attempt.[7]

Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, “Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list,” Associated Press, September 7, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 3. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Jennifer Rubin, “Former GOP Justice lawyers: Trump’s in a heap of trouble,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/

Amber Phillips, “Takeaways from Biden’s warnings about Republican threats to democracy,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/biden-democracy-speech-takeaways/

Greg Sargent, “MAGA Republicans are seething with rage because Biden hit his target,” Washington Post, September 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/02/biden-speech-philadelphia-trump-maga-republicans-democracy/

Eric Tucker, “Trump search inventory released, reveals new details on docs,” Associated Press, September 2, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d

Andrew Kaczynski and Samantha Woodward, “Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information,” CNN, September 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/politics/trump-jail-sentences-mishandled-classified-information-kfile/index.html

David Frum, “Biden Laid the Trap. Trump Walked Into It,” Atlantic, September 4, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/trump-pennsylvania-rally-republicans/671344/

Lauren Gambino and David Smith, “Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?” Guardian, September 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/midterm-democrats-victory-republicans-trump

Charlie Savage, “As Midterms Near, Election Rule Raises Dilemma for Trump Inquiries,” New York Times, September 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/04/us/trump-investigations-midterm-elections.html

Jess Bravin and Aruna Viswanatha, “Judge Grants Donald Trump’s Request for Independent Review of Mar-a-Lago Documents,” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-partly-grants-donald-trumps-request-for-independent-review-of-mar-a-lago-documents-11662395427

Charlie Savage, “‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry,” New York Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/trump-special-master-aileen-cannon.html

Eric Tucker, “Judge grants Trump bid for special master in Mar-a-Lago case,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-09-05/judge-grants-trump-bid-for-special-master-in-mar-a-lago-case

Ann E. Marimow and Devlin Barrett, “Judge’s special-master order a test of Trump’s post-White House powers,” Washington Post, September 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/

J. Oliver Conroy, “Why did a judge grant Trump’s request for a ‘special master’?” Guardian, September 7, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/07/why-did-judge-grant-special-master-trump

Gig economy (neoliberal wet dream)

Bezzle


Fig. 4. Uber driver Boubacar Sow drives in New York. Photograph by Kevin Hagan via the Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2019,[8] fair use.

Reality might finally be catching up with Uber and Lyft, at least in San Francisco:

The drop in ridership is of course partly due to the pandemic. But the rising prices, along with continued issues over how the companies treat their drivers, suggests that critics who have long doubted the ride-hailing business model were largely correct. The trajectory of the firms, and their impact on their hometown of San Francisco, also shows the outsize effects of the extraordinary boom in venture financing that marked the 2010s but is now in retreat.[9]

Kevin Truong and Annie Gaus, “San Francisco, Birthplace of Ride-Hailing, Becomes the Center of Its Decline,” San Francisco Standard, August 30, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/technology/san-francisco-birthplace-of-ridehailing-becomes-the-center-of-its-decline/

  1. [1]Catherine Thorbecke, “Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes, complaint says,” ABC News, May 29, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/US/derek-chauvin-knee-george-floyds-neck-minutes-complaint/story?id=70961042↩
  2. [2]Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, “Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list,” Associated Press, September 7, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26↩
  3. [3]Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, “Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list,” Associated Press, September 7, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26↩
  4. [4]Quora, “Do you agree with the Marine Corps’ decision to ban the public display of the Confederate flag?” n.d., https://www.quora.com/Do-you-agree-with-the-Marine-Corps-decision-to-ban-the-public-display-of-the-Confederate-flag↩
  5. [5]Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, “Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list,” Associated Press, September 7, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26↩
  6. [6]Lois Beckett, “How the US military has failed to address white supremacy in its ranks,” Guardian, June 24, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/24/us-military-white-supremacy-extremist-plot; Bryan Bender, “The military has a hate group problem. But it doesn’t know how bad it’s gotten,” Politico, January 11, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/11/military-right-wing-extremism-457861; Missy Ryan, Paul Sonne, and Razzan Nakhlawi, “Seeking to combat extremists in ranks, the military struggles to answer a basic question: How many are there?” Washington Post, February 9, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/military-extremist-threat-lloyd-austin-/2021/02/09/198794c8-66f9-11eb-bf81-c618c88ed605_story.html; Leo Shane, III, “Signs of white supremacy, extremism up again in poll of active-duty troops,” Military Times, February 6, 2020, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/02/06/signs-of-white-supremacy-extremism-up-again-in-poll-of-active-duty-troops/; Nan Levinson, “The Far Right in Uniform,” TomDispatch, April 6, 2021, https://tomdispatch.com/the-far-right-in-uniform/; Jason Wilson, “US militia group draws members from military and police, website leak shows,” Guardian, March 3, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/us-militia-membership-military-police-american-patriot-three-percenter-website-leak; Jason Wilson, “Revealed: neo-Confederate group includes military officers and politicians,” Guardian, June 28, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/28/neo-confederate-group-members-politicians-military-officers↩
  7. [7]Gina Harkins, “Veterans Used Their Military Training to Plot Violence in Capitol Riot, Feds Say,” Military.com, February 15, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/02/15/veterans-used-their-military-training-plot-violence-capitol-riot-feds-say.html↩
  8. [8]Eliot Brown, “Uber Wants to Be the Uber of Everything—But Can It Make a Profit?” Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-wants-to-be-the-uber-of-everything-11556909866↩
  9. [9]Kevin Truong and Annie Gaus, “San Francisco, Birthplace of Ride-Hailing, Becomes the Center of Its Decline,” San Francisco Standard, August 30, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/technology/san-francisco-birthplace-of-ridehailing-becomes-the-center-of-its-decline/↩