| Kurds attacked by Turkish-backed fighters day after Trump boasts of 'permanent' ceasefire Posted: 24 Oct 2019 09:13 AM PDT  Kurdish forces yesterday accused Turkish-backed fighters of violating the ceasefire in northeast Syria with a "vast" new ground offensive and pleaded with the US "to intervene immediately" to stop the assault. Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump boasted of establishing a "permanent" peaceful settlement in the area, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they were under assault from Turkish-backed Syrian rebels. "The SDF…holds the Turkish side responsible for the deterioration of the ceasefire process and calls on the American guarantor to intervene immediately to stop this aggression against our people," a spokesman said. Turkey said five of its soldiers were injured when Kurdish forces attacked near the border town of Ras al-Ain with mortars and drones. A car bomb also exploded in the Turkish-controlled town of Tal Abyad, wounding several people. The renewed fighting undercut Mr Trump's claim of "a major breakthrough" in northeast Syria and raised questions about his decision to retract sanctions on Turkey because it had halted its offensive. Mr Trump boasted of a 'permanent' ceasefire in northern Syria Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/REX While Mr Trump said the US had "a very good relationship" with Turkey, several of his senior officials lashed out in frustration at Ankara. "Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation," said Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, calling the Turkish military operation in Syria an "unwarranted invasion". Mr Trump's special envoy for Syria went further in his criticism, saying the US had seen evidence of war crimes committed by Turkish-backed rebels, and had demanded an explanation from Ankara. "Many people fled because they're very concerned about these Turkish-supported Syrian opposition forces, as we are. We've seen several incidents which we consider war crimes," James Jeffrey, special representative for Syria, told a House of Representatives hearing. The Syrian rebels, known as the National Army, have been accused of human rights abuses since the first days of the Turkish offensive. Footage has circulated in the last two weeks of Syrian rebels fighting alongside the Turkish military executing civilians at the side of the road, including Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have been accused of war crimes Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi An autopsy indicated that her legs and her jaw had been broken and that she was dragged by her hair until the skin of her scalp came out, before being repeatedly shot. The National Army said it was investigating the allegations. In recent days, footage has appeared which seems to show rebels mutilating the corpse of a female Kurdish fighter. The SDF appeared to be complying with the terms of a Russian-Turkish agreement and were withdrawing their forces 20 miles from the border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's president, said his forces would "crush" Kurdish fighters if they did not fully withdraw. Despite the fighting around Ras al-Ain, Russia said it believed the ceasefire deal signed by Vladimir Putin and Mr Erdoğan was holding. "We note with satisfaction that the agreements reached in Sochi are being implemented," said Sergei Vershinin, Russia's deputy foreign minister. Mr Erdoğan also mocked European fears over an influx of Syrian refugees from Turkey. "When we say we will open the gates, they are up in arms," he said. "The gates will be opened when the time comes." Turkey currently hosts more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees and Mr Erdoğan said he would send some of them to "safe zones" in northern Syria. It is not clear if refugees would go willingly to the area now that Assad's forces control much of the nearby territory.
|
| 'A sad day': Louisiana deputy and his school teacher wife face 60 counts of child porn and child rape accusations Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:15 PM PDT  Sheriff's deputy Dennis Perkins and his wife Cynthia Thompson Perkins, a teacher, were arrested on child pornography and rape charges in Louisiana.
|
| Toyota Recalls More Than 900,000 Vehicles to Replace Their Airbags Again Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:26 PM PDT  Toyota is entering the final phase of its Takata airbag replacement efforts with the announcement of a recall involving 928,000 Toyota, Scion, and Lexus models. These vehicles previously had thei...
|
| China calls for 'severe punishment' for those involved in UK truck deaths Posted: 24 Oct 2019 07:58 PM PDT  China called on Britain on Friday to seek "severe punishment" for those involved in the deaths of 39 people, believed to be Chinese nationals, found in a truck container near London, as a major state-backed paper said Britain should bear some responsibility for the case. For years, illegal immigrants have stowed away in trucks while attempting to reach Britain, often from the European mainland. In 2000, 58 Chinese were found dead in a tomato truck at the port of Dover.
|
| Thanks, North Korea: Iran's Submarine Fleet Could Do Some Damage in a War Posted: 24 Oct 2019 06:00 PM PDT  Should Washington be worried?
|
| View Photos of the BMW Alpina B3 Sedan Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:00 PM PDT |
| John Bolton's lawyers are reportedly arranging an impeachment deposition Posted: 25 Oct 2019 08:23 AM PDT ![John Bolton's lawyers are reportedly arranging an impeachment deposition]( "John Bolton's lawyers are reportedly arranging an impeachment deposition") John Bolton's tell-all might not come in print.Ever since he was either fired by President Trump or resigned last month, the former national security adviser has been expected to spill some presumably anti-Trump beans about his time in office. Now, he's reportedly looking to do so with the worst possible consequences for Trump: His lawyers are in talks with the House to arrange a deposition in the impeachment inquiry, multiple news sources report.The New York Times first reported, via two people briefed on the matter, that impeachment investigators have been talking with Bolton to plan "a date for him to be deposed behind closed doors." There's also a chance Bolton would be up for a live, on-camera impeachment interview, seeing as his former aide Fiona Hill reportedly testified that she and him were "alarmed" by Trump's pressuring of Ukraine. Former U.S. diplomat to Ukraine Bill Taylor told Congress the same thing about Bolton, per CNN. CNN and NBC News also learned that Bolton's lawyer has been talking with the House about an impeachment testimony.Bolton had seemingly been on bad terms with Trump in the months before his firing/resignation. He's reportedly working on a book that'll detail a tumultuous time in the White House, but these reported impeachment talks could signal he's ready for his criticism to have real consequences.
|
| Police Shooting Outside El Paso Walmart Leaves Shoppers Stuck in Store and Suspected Car Thief Dead Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:50 AM PDT  It comes months after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at another El Paso Walmart
|
| Wind-whipped fires rage across California as lights go out Posted: 24 Oct 2019 09:11 PM PDT  Fast-growing fires throughout California forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes Thursday as dry winds and high heat fed flames and fears in the state still jittery from devastating wildfires in the past two years. The dramatic fires and evacuations — near Los Angeles and in the wine country of Northern California — came against a backdrop of power shutoffs that utility companies said were necessary to stop high winds from toppling trees or blowing debris into power lines and starting fires. The state's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., warned that more widespread blackouts this weekend were expected to shut power across much of the San Francisco Bay Area.
|
| Death row inmate wants to choose lethal drug to be used in his execution in two weeks Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:23 PM PDT  A South Dakota man on death row is petitioning the state to use a lethal injection drug of his choosing, just two weeks from his planned execution date.Charles Russell Rhines has asked the state to use the same type of drug that was mandated for executions at the time of his conviction, which occurred in 1993 when protocol was to use an ultra-fast-acting drug and a chemical paralytic.
|
| Philippine vice president says time for Duterte to halt failed drug war; 'It's not working' Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:49 PM PDT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should allow the United Nations to investigate his war on drugs, and abandon a deadly campaign that has been failure and a dent on the country's international image, its vice president said on Wednesday.
|
| Iran vs. America's B-2 Stealth Bomber and F-35 Fighter (Who Wins?) Posted: 25 Oct 2019 12:01 AM PDT  Could Tehran challenge the U.S. Air Force in war? We have some answers.
|
| South African Leaders Trade Insults Over Harvard’s Economic Advice Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:05 AM PDT ![South African Leaders Trade Insults Over Harvard's Economic Advice]( "South African Leaders Trade Insults Over Harvard's Economic Advice") (Bloomberg) -- Seeking advice from Harvard University academics on how to boost a struggling economy would be seen as an astute move in most quarters, given the lauded institution's depth of expertise. South Africa's third-largest political party has other ideas.Harvard professors Ricardo Hausmann, Robert Lawrence and Dani Rodrik were among more than 50 experts who contributed to a plan published by South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in August that aims at pulling the continent's most-industrialized economy out of its longest downward cycle since 1945. It envisions the state relinquishing its near monopoly of electricity, port and rail services, relaxing rules to make it easier to do business and privatizing assets to stabilize its finances.The Economic Freedom Fighters, a populist group that split from the ruling party in 2013 and draws most of its support from disaffected youths with its fiery talk of nationalizing everything from land to banks, questioned the academics' contribution and motives.Floyd Shivambu, the EFF's deputy leader, told Parliament on Wednesday that Harvard gets funding from institutions that stand to benefit from the government's plans to break up the state power utility, and its staff couldn't be trusted to provide impartial, expert advice."Aren't you being a puppet of the capitalist establishment that is imposing its views through so-called intellectualism?" he asked. "There is nothing intellectual about the perspective -- it's just new-liberal drivel."Mboweni laughed off the criticism."If you want your ideological position to govern, you first have to win elections," the finance minister told Shivambu. "You are hung up about Harvard because of your intellectual inferiority."To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Mike CohenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Elizabeth Warren jumps to 7-point lead over Joe Biden in latest Quinnipiac poll Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:21 AM PDT  The result appears to be an outlier as Biden has led in every major national poll since Oct. 15, except for Thursday's from Quinnipiac.
|
| The argument Trump doesn't want his supporters to make Posted: 25 Oct 2019 02:55 AM PDT ![The argument Trump doesn't want his supporters to make]( "The argument Trump doesn't want his supporters to make") One somehow doubts that President Trump is grateful to Matthew Whitaker, the former acting attorney general, for comments he made on television recently concerning the ongoing Ukraine scandal. With his usual heedless candor, Whitaker insisted to his Fox News host on Wednesday that "abuse of power" by a president is not illegal and thus not necessarily grounds for impeachment.This is totally true, albeit in the same sense in which "corruption" and "lying" and "being a totally obnoxious ass" are not crimes. None of these things has a statutory definition. Thank you, Mr. Whitaker, for being the real last honest man in the GOP.Because this is really the only argument that remains available to the president and his defenders, isn't it? Whether Trump wants to admit it or not, his political fortunes now depend not on questions of fact but on whether anyone cares that he used the authority of his office to attack a political rival. That he has done so is now more or less beyond doubt. Insisting that he was motivated by anything except a desire to affect the outcome of the next presidential election is as pollyannaish as, well, suggesting that Hunter Biden was on the payroll of a Ukrainian natural gas company because of his vast knowledge of that sector in post-Soviet Eurasian republics -- or that Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch had a polite chat on the tarmac one afternoon about a new deluxe edition of Rumors rather than the investigation of his wife's emails then being conducted by the Obama administration.This is why Republican members of the GOP in Congress are now making procedural arguments about the supposed unfairness -- with special emphasis on the alleged secrecy -- of the impeachment process. What began by casting doubts on the credibility of the so-called "whistleblower" and continued with a series of niggling hang-ups about details is now a nakedly formalist exercise in saying "No fair!" as loudly as possible. They will continue to embarrass themselves with stunts like Wednesday's attempted storming of the Secure Classified Information Facility because there is nothing else that they can say or do.Is the process actually unfair? This does not seem to me to enter into the equation. All that matters is whether Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff have enough votes to impeach the president in the House (my guess is yes, though barely) -- and whether Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republican senators will stand by the leader of their party (once again, I think the answer is yes). Impeachment is a nakedly political process. There are no clearly defined criteria for what constitutes an impeachable offense -- only the willingness or unwillingness of the House to pursue impeachment. The remedy is worthy of the illness.A more interesting question is why Trump and defenders are in fact shying away from Whitaker's argument. It is not clear to me that it is such a bad one. Anyone who believes that the office of the presidency operates in a sphere outside "politics," in the sense of the word that means partisan elections, is being naive. Of course presidents do things in the hope that they will help them to be re-elected. Ours is an exhausting news cycle full of distractions. How many of Trump's supporters from 2016 are likely to change their minds because the leaders of a more or less insignificant republic half a world away received money they were due anyway after hearing America's mayor rant at them about a man whose chances of winning the Democratic primary are not nearly as certain as they appeared to be several months ago?This no doubt sounds very cynical. It is cynical -- as cynical as promising that Mexico would pay for the wall or giving Michael Cohen money to shut up Stormy Daniels or giving corporations tax breaks before insisting that they scale back their operations in China and stop laying off hard-working Americans.This is what this presidency has been like from the very beginning. Why would the end -- whether it comes next year or in 2021 -- be any different?Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
|
| Here's How Much the Priciest Toll Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Cost in the United States Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:57 PM PDT |
| The Latest: SC sheriff gets maximum of 1 year for misconduct Posted: 25 Oct 2019 08:14 AM PDT  A former South Carolina sheriff has been sentenced to the maximum of a year in prison on a misconduct charge for using his power and office to push a personal assistant into having sex with him. Judge G. Thomas Cooper told Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis on Friday not to squander the time he will spend behind bars and to think about what he did and what he can do to keep turning around his life. Solicitor Kevin Brackett asked for the maximum sentence.
|
| Guy Says He Can Enter Wormholes and Literally Make It Rain, Which, Hmm Posted: 24 Oct 2019 06:36 AM PDT  Lots to unpack here.
|
| Vietnam artist known for land rights, death row work briefly detained Posted: 25 Oct 2019 06:59 AM PDT  A Vietnamese artist who exhibited controversial works on land rights issues and death row inmates said he was briefly detained in the communist state intolerant of dissidence of any kind. Thinh Nguyen was picked up outside his Hanoi home by several men who were not in uniform, along with one uniformed officer, and was driven to back to his house, which doubles as his studio. "They asked many questions concerning my work," said Thinh, who has produced art and films about social issues in Vietnam.
|
| Taiwan's Secret Weapon Against China Is Straight Out Of World War II Posted: 25 Oct 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Meet the Black Dragon.
|
| Rep. Katie Hill Admits ‘Inappropriate’ Relationship With Staffer, Ethics Committee Launches Probe Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:59 AM PDT  Representative Katie Hill (D., Calif.) admitted Wednesday evening that she engaged in an "inappropriate" relationship with one of her campaign staffers and apologized for her actions."During the final tumultuous years of my abusive marriage, I became involved in a relationship with someone on my campaign," the California congresswoman said in a statement. "I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment. For that I apologize. I wish nothing but the best for her and hope everyone respects her privacy in this difficult time."The alleged relationship with the unnamed female campaign staffer, which occurred while Hill was campaigning in last year's midterm elections, was exposed by the blog RedState, which published a redacted topless photo of Hill and the woman, as a "throuple" with Hill's husband."I am going through a divorce from an abusive husband who seems determined to try to humiliate me," Hill said after the photo was published. "I am disgusted that my opponents would seek to exploit such a private matter for political gain. This coordinated effort to try to destroy me and the people close to me is despicable and will not succeed. I, like many women who have faced attacks like this before, am stronger than those who want me to be afraid."Meanwhile, Hill has denied a separate alleged relationship with her legislative director Graham Kelly but promised to cooperate with the House Committee on Ethics, which announced Wednesday that it will open an investigation into that matter, as the alleged relationships potentially violated House rules."Allegations that I have been involved in a relationship with Mr. Kelly are absolutely false," Hill said in a Tuesday statement.Hill said she has notified Capitol Hill police about the publication by "Republican operatives" of the compromising photos of her and the campaign staffer and said she will not comment further on the matter.Hill is openly bisexual and is the vice chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee.
|
| Democrats Have an Impeachment Momentum Problem Posted: 25 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- To understand where the impeachment inquiry has gone so far, and where it's likely to go next, you need to keep in mind one key concept. Hint: it's not quid pro quo.It's momentum.To date, House Democrats have built on the original whistle-blower's document by eliciting behind-closed-doors depositions from those officials in the State Department, Defense Department, and White House who are willing to defy Donald Trump's order not to participate. By leaking the headlines of their testimony, the Democrats have been able to dominate the news cycle for weeks.The polls seem to indicate that the public is listening, at least to some extent: since the formal inquiry was launched, the percent of people who support impeachment has risen from 39% to 49%. Impeachment supporters now narrowly outnumber impeachment opposers.Yet the Democrats are reaching the end of this phase of quasi-secret investigative depositions. And public hearings will pose a significant challenge to the Democrats' momentum.The first problem the Democrats will face is that much of the public — and all of the media — already knows the basic outlines of the story that will unfold in the public testimony. That's because of the basic fact that the Ukraine scandal is fairly simple: Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, and he conditioned military aid and a White House visit on a public announcement that such an investigation would take place.As Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders noted at the beginning of the impeachment inquiry, the simplicity of the narrative is a major virtue from their standpoint. The public neither wants nor would tolerate anything with the complexity of the Robert Mueller investigation.The downside of the simplicity, however, is that once the story is fixed in the public mind, there is going to be relatively little new to say about it. A lack of "new news" will slow the inquiry's sense of momentum.Sure, scandal aficionados can nerd out over the details of which Ukrainian prosecutor is connected to what network of Ukrainian oligarchs. And there's always some pleasure to be taken in observing just how remarkable are the public-service resumes of the so-called deep-state witnesses, like Ambassador William Taylor, who have testified against Trump. However, these will not sustain more than a single news cycle.The one significant twist still remaining in the current phase of desposition-taking will come when former national security advisor John Bolton either comes forward or definitively bows out.The arch-hawk is not much liked by Democrats, but neither were his fellow former George W. Bush administration officials pleased when he went to work for Trump. Nevertheless, Bolton is a patriot by his own lights. There has already been testimony that he referred to the alternative Ukraine policy being cooked up by White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and others as a "drug deal" that he wanted no part of. It's therefore conceivable that Bolton would be able to testify directly about the quid pro quo. It's also conceivable, however, that some of the knowledge he has might be subject to executive privilege. And Bolton is likely to take seriously the consequences of any testimony for the office of the national security advisor and for the presidency. The result could be either dramatic testimony or a dramatic refusal to testify.Once the Bolton issue is resolved, the move to public testimony will be unavoidable. That stage will give rise to the second major challenge to the Democrats' momentum: the Republican counterpunch in the form of a concerted attack on the very rival Trump asked Ukraine to investigate: Joe Biden. Once television cameras are in the room, Republican members of Congress can be expected to use their equal questioning time to hammer home Trump's allegation that Joe and Hunter Biden did something corrupt.The Democrats (not to mention the Bidens) are potentially vulnerable to this method of momentum-breaking. Although Biden has insisted that neither he nor his son did anything wrong, the reality is that Hunter Biden took a position on the Board of Directors of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company controlled by an oligarch who was under investigation for money-laundering by Ukrainian prosecutors. Joe Biden, as Vice President, sought the removal of the investigation's chief prosecutor. Although Joe Biden's actions were consistent with U.S. policy – American and IMF officials were frustrated with the prosecutor for not taking a stronger stance against corruption, and indeed, it seems that despite being assigned the Burisma case he basically ignored it – the basic sequence of events creates an appearance of impropriety.Republicans will use the Bidens to try to change the subject, because changing the subject means weakening the Democrats' momentum. It also is very likely that Republicans will seek to get into the weeds of the various conspiracy theories that surround the whole affair.The Democrats don't have a simple response to this, except to insist on their narrative and hope the public won't be distracted. To maintain momentum in the public hearings stage, they will have to try a "greatest hits" strategy, getting the existing witnesses in front of the public for brief and pointed hearings.Although momentum has been on the side of Democrats so far, many things can still change that. The path forward will have more twists and turns.To contact the author of this story: Noah Feldman at nfeldman7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Green Carmichael at sgreencarmic@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include "The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President." For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Chicago teachers strike enters seventh school day as talks continue Posted: 25 Oct 2019 04:04 AM PDT  About 300,000 students in Chicago missed classes for a seventh day on Friday as the city's teachers union and school district worked to resolve their contract deadlock over class sizes, support-staff levels and pay. Chicago Public Schools canceled classes for Friday, but the leader of the Chicago Teachers Union said good progress was made during negotiations on Thursday. "We had conversations that hopefully will give us a path to a settlement," CTU President Jesse Sharkey said at a Friday morning news conference.
|
| A Russian soldier shot dead 8 colleagues and injured 2 others at a military base in Siberia Posted: 25 Oct 2019 05:49 AM PDT  Russia's Interfax news agency said the attack came after the man had a "nervous breakdown caused by personal issues."
|
| The Latest: Employee: Brothers' were lured to their deaths Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:26 AM PDT  An employee of two slain Wisconsin brothers says he believes a Missouri cattleman promised to give the men money to lure them to his farm so he could kill them. Twenty-five-year-old Garland Nelson, of Braymer, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 35-year-old Nick Diemel and 24-year-old Justin Diemel, of Shawano County, Wisconsin. Rob Chubb managed the feeder cattle side of the business operated by the brothers.
|
| China arrests feminist activist Huang Xueqin after HK visit Posted: 25 Oct 2019 04:57 AM PDT ![China arrests feminist activist Huang Xueqin after HK visit]( "China arrests feminist activist Huang Xueqin after HK visit") Police in southern China detained feminist activist and journalist Huang Xueqin after she returned to the mainland from Hong Kong and Taiwan, her friends said Friday. Authorities in Guangdong province's Guangzhou city arrested Huang last Thursday on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," her friends said. The vague charge is commonly used against activists viewed as threatening by the ruling Communist Party.
|
| Iran Is Building 100-Knot Attack Speedboats Posted: 24 Oct 2019 10:00 PM PDT  This threat won't keep the U.S. Navy out of the Persian Gulf if Washington so desires. But it might pose such as ominous threat that it would deter an amphibious landing on the Iranian coast
|
| 2 passengers, emotional support French bulldogs booted off Norwegian Air flight Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:40 PM PDT  Two passengers and their emotional support French bulldogs were escorted off a Norwegian Air flight when their dogs started showing signs of distress.
|
| The Problem with President Pence Posted: 25 Oct 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Republican senators will soon be receiving an invitation to tear apart the GOP ahead of the 2020 elections, and they are going to decline to accept it.It's a trope of pro-impeachment commentary that it should be simple for Republican senators to swap out President Donald Trump, who puts them in awkward positions every day, for Vice President Mike Pence, an upstanding Reagan conservative who could start with a fresh slate in the runup to the 2020 election.The only flaw in this scenario is that it is entirely removed from reality.If Senate Republicans vote to remove Trump on anything like the current facts, even the worst interpretation of them, it would leave the GOP a smoldering ruin. It wouldn't matter who the Democrats nominated for 2020. They could run Bernie Sanders on a ticket with Elizabeth Warren and promise to make Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez secretary of the treasury and Ilhan Omar secretary of defense, and they'd still win.A significant portion of the Republican party would consider a Senate conviction of Trump a dastardly betrayal. Perhaps most would get over it, as partisan feelings kicked in around a national election, but not all. And so a party that has won the popular vote in a presidential election only once since 1988 would hurtle toward November 2020 divided.How does anyone think that would turn out?A lot of Trump supporters are going to want to blame the Republican establishment even if Trump loses in 2020 with the backing of the united party apparatus. Imagine what they will think if a couple of dozen Republican senators decide to deny him the opportunity to run for reelection, without a single voter having a say on his ultimate fate. It's hard to come up with any scenario better designed to stoke the populist furies of Trump's most devoted voters.Trump himself isn't going to get convicted by the Senate and say: "Well, I'm a little disappointed, to be honest. But it was a close call, and Mike Pence is a great guy, and I'm just grateful I had the opportunity to serve in the White House for more than three years."He won't go away quietly to lick his wounds. He won't delete his Twitter account. He won't make it easy on anyone. He will vent his anger and resentment at every opportunity. It will be "human scum" every single day.And it's not as though the media are going to lose their interest in the most luridly telegenic politician that we've ever seen. The mainstream press would be delighted to see Trump destroyed, yet sad to bid him farewell. The obvious way to square the circle would be to continue to give Trump lavish coverage in his post-presidency. He'd be out of the White House but still driving screaming CNN chyrons every other hour.In other words, Trump's removal wouldn't be a fresh start for Pence and the GOP; it would be more like getting stuck in the poisonous epilogue of the Trump era, awaiting the inevitable advent of the Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, or Pete Buttigieg era.All of this is why the "cracks in the Republican Senate" coverage is so ridiculous and overwrought. It depends on the idea that GOP senators — who, it is true, are continually frustrated by Trump's controversies — are on the verge of engineering their party's own destruction.It's possible to come up with a scenario in which Ukraine developments are much worse than imaginable right now, and Trump's support craters, even among Republicans. Then, you might have GOP senators voting to convict. This is just another path to the immolation of the party in 2020, though; there's no way it would snap back from a Nixonian meltdown at the top in less than a year.In short, Mike Pence might be elected president one day, but it's not going to be while presiding over a party that has just jettisoned Donald Trump.© 2019 by King Features Syndicate
|
| UPDATE 8-California wine country fire began near damaged PG&E tower, 2,000 flee Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:40 AM PDT ![UPDATE 8-California wine country fire began near damaged PG&E tower, 2,000 flee]( "UPDATE 8-California wine country fire began near damaged PG&E tower, 2,000 flee") A wind-driven wildfire that forced some 2,000 people to flee homes in Northern California's wine country on Thursday erupted near the base of a damaged high-voltage transmission tower owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co, utility and fire officials said. It said a PG&E technician inspecting the site on Thursday found the area taped off by state fire department personnel who brought to his attention "what appeared to be a broken jumper on the same tower".
|
| Investigation into custody battle involving 7-year-old's gender Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:27 AM PDT  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday night that the Texas attorney general's office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services are looking into a case regarding a 7-year-old whose gender identity is at the core of a custody battle.
|
| Authorities arrest 2 more in UK's gruesome truck deaths case Posted: 25 Oct 2019 08:50 AM PDT  British police arrested two more suspects Friday in connection with the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a container truck in southeastern England as the investigation into one of the country's worst human smuggling cases geared up. Police said the man and the woman, both 38 and from northwestern England, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. The remains of 11 people from the truck were transported Thursday by ambulance from the Port of Tilbury to a mortuary under police escort.
|
| Four dead in landslides, floods weeks after typhoon hit Japan Posted: 25 Oct 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Four people were killed and another person was missing in landslides and floods on Friday, local officials and news reports said, as Japan was hit by heavy rains just two weeks after a deadly typhoon barrelled through the country. A woman in her 60s was sent to hospital and another woman in her 40s was unaccounted for after landslides struck two houses in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo, said a local disaster management official. A separate landslide destroyed another house in Chiba, killing a man, public broadcaster NHK said, adding he appeared to be a person who had earlier been reported missing.
|
| Hezbollah Followers Fill Streets to Oppose Protest Demands Posted: 25 Oct 2019 10:05 AM PDT ![Hezbollah Followers Fill Streets to Oppose Protest Demands]( "Hezbollah Followers Fill Streets to Oppose Protest Demands") (Bloomberg) -- Followers of Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah took to the streets Friday, waving the armed movement's yellow flags and defending its leader against criticism after nine days of nationwide protests demanding the ouster of the political elite.In a televised speech, Hassan Nasrallah said the revolt was being exploited by political parties and unspecified foreign embassies and agencies, and could drag the country into chaos and civil war."Today the situation in Lebanon has become a regional, political and international target that is employing local groups. It's no longer about a popular movement, protests, health and employment demands, corruption," he said, questioning how protesters were funding their movement. Nasrallah called on his supporters not to engage demonstrators, after several were hurt in scuffles.As his speech ended, groups of apparent Hezbollah supporters who had been arguing and fighting with protesters began to leave the main centers. However, in the southern suburbs of Beirut -- Hezbollah's stronghold -- and the city of Tyre, large numbers of people on motorbikes took to the streets in his support.Hezbollah's show of strength and the appearance of party flags is a turning point in Lebanon's uprising, which had transcended for the first time the sectarian and party divisions that tend to dominate Lebanese politics.Hezbollah, which has both political and military wings, performed well in the last elections and is part of the largest coalition in parliament and in the government. A Shi'ite Muslim movement supported by Iran, it led for years the fight against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000, and later fought a war against it in 2006. The group also dispatched fighters to neighboring Syria to defend President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and its Lebanese proxy, during that country's eight-year-old civil conflict.Saudi Arabia Isn't Rushing to Bail Out Beirut Because of IranNasrallah called on the so-far leaderless street movement to name its representatives and answer the president's invitation Thursday for a dialogue to end the crisis that has paralyzed the country. Main thoroughfares have been blocked by demonstrators and banks and schools have been shut since the revolt broke out last week over proposed tax increases. President Michel Aoun's first address to the nation since the protests was met with disappointment on the streets where many were calling for concrete measures.Nasrallah urged the Lebanese public not to dismiss the government's zero-tax reform plan unveiled earlier this week to address key economic demands and avert a financial crisis. He has opposed calls for the government to resign and hold early elections, saying the economic situation was too fragile."A vacuum will lead to chaos," he said.Lebanon Pledges Bank Tax as Part of Sweeping Drive to End UnrestTo contact the reporters on this story: Lin Noueihed in Beirut at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net;Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Israel Has Spent The Last Decade Preparing For Its Next Ground War Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT  And it has more than tanks waiting for its enemies.
|
| Phoenix police officer involved in viral video stop of couple fired Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Phoenix Chief Jeri Williams announced that the officer involved in a viral video stop of Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper has been fired.
|
| Hillary Clinton Adviser Says She Has Not Ruled Out 2020 Run Posted: 24 Oct 2019 06:10 AM PDT  Longtime Clinton adviser Philippe Reines said Wednesday that Hillary Clinton has not ruled out running in 2020 and would consider doing so if she thought she had the best odds of beating President Trump."If she thought she had the best odds of beating Donald Trump I think she would think about it long and hard," Reines told Fox News host Tucker Carlson.Reines' remarks came a day after the New York Times reported that establishment Democratic donors have been discussing what a late presidential bid by Hillary Clinton would mean for the 2020 race.Carlson then asked whether the Democratic Party has moved too far left since Clinton last ran for her to be a viable candidate in 2020."Well, look, this is a huge if, but if she would jump in for whatever reason, and the party has moved someplace that she hasn't, then she won't get the votes," Reines responded. "If she would run and people would think she's too left, too right, too center, or whatever you want to call it, that's the beauty of it. They get to vote against whoever they want."Earlier this month, Clinton teased the possibility that she would throw her hat into the crowded Democratic primary field, responding to a tweet from President Trump goading her to enter the race with, "Don't tempt me. Do your job."However, Reines assured viewers that the unsuccessful 2016 Democratic nominee's decision to run again would not be based on "anxiety" about the current field of 2020 Democrats."She really likes a lot of the people running," he said. "She thought about some of them for her vice presidency.""But there might be a reason that she'd be the best person, not only to beat Donald Trump, but to govern after Donald Trump, which is a part we don't talk about much," Reines added. "And, look, you can make fun of her all you want, but 65 million people voted for her and that's second more to anyone except Barack Obama."Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren currently leads among the over a dozen Democratic 2020 candidates, trailed by former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
|
| Puerto Rico unveils $20 billion plan to revamp island's power grid Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:25 PM PDT  The so-called GridMod plan, developed with federal, local and private sector input, targets repair and reconstruction measures designed to strengthen the network and ensure its resilience against natural disasters like the devastating hurricanes that struck Puerto Rico in 2017, according to a statement from Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced's office. "The GridMod Plan will provide the safe, modern and resilient electricity network that our communities need and deserve," the governor said, adding that an improved power network will help boost the island's economy. Puerto Rico and its electric power authority known as PREPA filed for bankruptcy in 2017 just months before hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the power grid.
|
| Here's a map of the wildfires currently raging throughout the state of California Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:30 PM PDT  Strong winds paired with a fall heat wave made for a dangerous combination, as devastating California wildfires prompt evacuations and destroy homes.
|
| Navy SEALs have a problem, but it's not my client Edward Gallagher Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:08 PM PDT  Rear Adm. Collin Green should abandon his fixation on punishing Eddie Gallagher and learn from him, writes Timothy Parlatore, a former Navy officer
|
| 2 Burmese condemned for UK deaths seek Thai king's clemency Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:07 AM PDT  The families of two Myanmar migrant workers sentenced to death for the brutal murders of two British tourists in Thailand in 2014 have appealed to the Thai king to spare their lives. The mothers of Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, accompanied by other relatives, lawyers and a senior diplomat from Myanmar's Embassy in Thailand, submitted an official petition for clemency Thursday at Bang Kwang prison on the outskirts of Bangkok, where the two men are being held.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment