Archive for 2017
August 4, 2017
LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuela Currency Disintegrates: Down 16% Today.
Positive spin? There’s nothing to buy, anyway.
HORSE, BARN DOOR: Sessions unveiling leak crackdown on heels of transcript bombshell.
The press briefing comes on the heels of one of the biggest leaks under this administration – the disclosure of transcripts of President Trump’s phone calls with two foreign leaders in January. Former federal prosecutors tell Fox News that leak likely constitutes a federal crime, and lawmakers of both parties have voiced concern about how that material got out and the security implications.
“Leaking the phone calls between our president and other heads of state is nothing short of a national disgrace,” Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, told “Fox & Friends” on Friday. “I want there to be bipartisan outrage.”
She noted the West Wing is a “small place” and finding the leakers might be “easier” than some realize.
It’s impossible for a President to conduct foreign policy under these conditions, which I suppose is the point.
ALL THE ROLLS THAT ARE FIT TO BUTTER:
Though of course bread and butter are eaten all over, the buttered roll (or roll with butter, as it is known in parts of New Jersey) is a distinctly local phenomenon. Mention its name outside the New York metropolitan area and you would very likely be met with blank incomprehension.
“Never heard of it growing up in Chicago,” said Michael Stern, a chronicler of regional fare and an author of the “Roadfood” book series, “and really not much beyond Fairfield County in Connecticut.” (Indeed, one can roughly trace the expansion of the buttered roll to the migration of New Yorkers to surrounding commuter suburbs.)
—“Ode to the Buttered Roll, That New York Lifeline,” Sadie Stein, the New York Times, yesterday.
As James Lileks bleats in response:
A Buttered. Roll.
I’ll grant you this: we didn’t have Buttered Rolls as such in Fargo. We had Rolls, with Butter. Perhaps that’s the difference. But when you went down to coffee in the basement after church, you got some rolls – often the type that split apart into three segments – and you put butter on them. Any holiday dinner, any family meal large enough to require a Relish Tray – rolls, with butter.
So the author (Sadie Stein, whose work I enjoyed in the Paris Review) has no idea, really, what life is like out here in the strange land west of Gotham? Nothing needs be known until it gets to New York, and then its presence in New York reflects only the genius of New Yorkers, who have gathered it into their syncretic paradise and made it special. Why? Because it’s special to them.
I could be mistaken, but I don’t believe that Saul Steinberg drew his classic “View of the World from 9th Avenue” cover as a how-to guide to life for cloistered Manhattanites.
IN THE MAIL: The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain.
Plus, fresh Gold Box and Lightning Deals.
HOW COULD WE LOWER THAT EVEN FURTHER? U.S. military says chance of ISIS in Iraq and Syria fleeing to other parts of the world “very low.”
THEY RAN HIM TO KEEP LE PEN OUT. HE DID THAT. Macron’s Popularity Plummets.
To put Macron’s current numbers in perspective, recall that he enjoyed a 62 percent approval rating at the start of his term in mid-May. A 26-point plunge in three months would be bad news for any leader, but especially for Macron, whose political appeal rests in large part on his image as a centrist unifier. To add another bleak data point to the picture, Macron is already less popular in France than Donald Trump is in the United States, with the YouGov poll putting his approval one point lower than the U.S. President’s current average of 37 percent.
There is no shortage of scapegoats for Macron’s current predicament. To begin with, Macron’s support was always softer than many appreciated. To be sure, he pulled off an impressive underdog victory—but he benefitted immensely from record abstentions, major party scandals, and a broad second-round coalition aimed at stopping Marine Le Pen. After his election, it is no surprise that reluctant Macron voters have reverted to a position of skepticism, especially after a series of controversial reforms and self-inflicted wounds.
Macron has famously suggested that he would govern like the Roman god Jupiter, an authoritative but distant figure operating above the political fray. But the events of recent weeks have brought him down to earth.
Well, to be honest, Jupiter’s not doing so great this century himself.
BEYOND DUCK-AND-COVER: Surviving a Nuclear Attack.
This piece by Lt. Colonel Dr. Eisenkraft (Ret.) covers the medical angle, which makes it a nice addition to articles linked here about surviving a general social-political collapse.
WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION: California State University to End Placement Exams and Remedial Classes for Freshmen.
IF ONLY OUR POLITICAL CLASS PROVIDED BETTER ALTERNATIVES: It’s Not Good To See So Many Generals In The White House. When you see generals in charge, it’s because the civilians did a lousy job. Which isn’t to say the generals will necessarily do better, but when you have the worst political class in American history, what do you expect?
ALLIES: Turkey Has Lost its Biggest Cheerleader: The U.S. Military.
Rebuilding confidence in the U.S.-Turkish relationships is going to be hard, because military to military ties between Turkey and the U.S. have been damaged, possibly beyond repair in the short-term. It used to be that in Washington, the strongest advocates for Turkey were people from the U.S. military. They had great impressions from working with Turks in NATO operations in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, they were grateful for Turkey’s part in winning the Cold War by blocking the Soviet Union’s access to the warm seas, and they were just very supportive of Ankara in general.
That is now the opposite. I would say that the people who have the most negative views of Turkey in Washington are, unfortunately, in the U.S. military as a result of a series of events, all of which took place under Erdogan’s watch. Turkey’s refusal to join the Iraq war in 2003, the collapse of Turkish-Israeli ties, the Turkish decision to buy Chinese air defense systems (although they backed down on that), Turkey’s recent decision now to buy Russian missiles, and Turkey’s lax policy in allowing radicals to cross into Syria in an effort to undermine Assad, all of these factors have hurt the relationship. And of course, from the Turkish perspective, the U.S. reticence to fully support Turkey against the Kurdish PKK group over the last decade – as well as the U.S. decision to fully support the Kurdish YPG against ISIS in Syria – has really soured the relationship.
Going back to the U.S. side, after 15 years of degrading ties, the U.S. military is probably one of Turkey’s weakest supporters in Washington, and that is just sad. Turkey has lost its biggest cheerleader in Washington, and I cannot see who will cheerlead for Turkey now in Washington.
That’s probably for the best.
IT’S LIKE ALL THE SOUND AND FURY IS JUST A DISTRACTION. The Atlantic: What Trump Has Quietly Accomplished. “With the Trump administration’s chaos sucking up all the attention, it’s been able to move forward on a range of its priorities, which tend to be more focused on regulatory matters anyway. It is remaking the justice system, rewriting environmental rules, overhauling public-lands administration, and greenlighting major infrastructure projects. It is appointing figures who will guarantee the triumph of its ideological vision for decades to come.”
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Mike Adams: My Resignation From UNC-Wilmington. “In a nutshell, as of last week, I have now accomplished the five main objectives I have set out to accomplish since the administration started to aggressively fight against the free speech and due process rights of professors and students in the UNC system. Having accomplished all of those goals, I have decided that it is time to start enjoying life instead of fighting against my employers in federal courtrooms and state legislative halls.” Read the whole thing to see what he’s been up to. And read to the end for the kicker.
WAIT, I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BLAME GEORGE W. BUSH FOR THOSE: No, New York Times, Trump is not responsible for Obama’s Russia mistakes.
Facing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, former President Barack Obama first reacted with boredom, then with mild sanctions, then with moderate sanctions. As Russia systematically broke its cease-fire agreements and expanded its control over Eastern Ukraine, Obama did even less than that. When the Russians then shot down a passenger airliner, killing 298 people, Obama did nothing.
Humility amidst failure? Not Obama. Just a month prior to the downing of MH-17, Obama gave a particularly ludicrous Ben Rhodes-written speech at West Point in which he praised himself for his Ukraine policy.
“Because of American leadership,” he said, “the world immediately condemned Russian actions; Europe and the G7 joined us to impose sanctions; NATO reinforced our commitment to Eastern European allies … And this mobilization of world opinion and international institutions served as a counterweight to Russian propaganda and Russian troops on the border and armed militias in ski masks.”
The rotting bodies of MH-17 render judgment on those words.
As do the bodies that followed. After all, Obama’s sustained weakness gave Putin confidence to turn Syria into rubble. Obama was the leader who allowed Russia to send repeated Trojan Horses against the American-led international order.
Then, when it came to Russia’s sustained attack on American democracy, Obama’s response was worse than nothing.
Yeah, nowadays it’s almost like Obama was never President at all.
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: ‘Trump is on the knife edge of DEATH’ North Korea demands SURRENDER from US.
DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Mattress Girl Discredited.
HMM: ‘Everything The President Wants To Do, McMaster Opposes,’ Former NSC Officials Say.
A Daily Caller exclusive:
“Everything the president wants to do, McMaster opposes,” a former senior official said in a wide-ranging interview. “Trump wants to get us out of Afghanistan — McMaster wants to go in. Trump wants to get us out of Syria — McMaster wants to go in. Trump wants to deal with the China issue — McMaster doesn’t. Trump wants to deal with the Islam issue — McMaster doesn’t. You know, across the board, we want to get rid of the Iran deal — McMaster doesn’t. It is incredible to watch it happening right in front of your face. Absolutely stunning.”
One former official characterized McMaster as a “sycophant” of retired Army Gen. David Petraeus.
I try not to lend too much weight to anonymous sources, but if true that’s a damning statement on a man who looked like one of Trump’s better picks.
AMAZING THAT THEY’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS WHILE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ASIANS: Harvard makes diversity history: Majority of incoming freshman class are not white. “Harvard University’s incoming freshman class will be unlike any since its founding in 1636 — the majority of students are non-white. The institution, which has made a concerted effort in recent years to become more diverse, confirmed that 50.8 percent of its class of 2021 are non-white.”
POLITICO LIKES TRUMP’S GENERALS (SURPRISE!) AND THE NEW YORK TIMES STILL LIKES COMMUNISM (SURPRISE!): That and more in Liz Sheld’s morning brief.