Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated President Biden’s retention of classified documents and portrayed him as a senile old man in his report, is testifying to Gym Jordan’s Fishing Expedition Committee today. Note that as of yesterday Hur is no longer an employee of the Justice Department and is testifying as a private citizen. And he’s got an attorney with a history of defending right-wingers. I have no sense of how that’s been going.
But this morning the DoJ released a slightly redacted transcript of the interview between Biden and Hur, and news outlets are discovering that Hur mischaracterized Biden’s statements rather badly. See Matt Gertz T Media Matters, News outlets that trumpeted Hur’s story now discover “context” and “nuance” in transcript. It seems the full transcript shows that the President sometimes stumbled on names and dates but otherwise knew what he was talking about. So the New York Times and Wshington Post and other news outlets are walking back the truckload of stories they ran questioing Biden’s mental fitness.
I have no doubt that Gym and other MAGAs will latch on to something Hur says today so they can continue to flog their claim that Joe Biden is too senile to put on his own socks. But both sides can play that game.
In other news: GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado has announced he’ll be leaving the House at the end of next week. He’s not going to bother to finish his term. I’m reading that House seats can’t be filled with an appointed replacement, so there would have to be a special election to replace Buck. And the Republican majority in the House keeps shrinking.
In more other news: You probably won’t be surprised to learn that there is no migrant-fueled crime wave going on.
Republican politicians and sympathetic media outlets are claiming that America is in the midst of a violent “crime wave,” driven in part by undocumented immigrants. New data, however, demonstrates that there was not a spike in violent crime in 2023. Instead, across America, rates of violent crime are dropping precipitously — and the decline is especially pronounced in border states. …
… Notably, the two border states that have completed their Uniform Crime Reports saw particularly sharp declines in murder in 2023, with 15% drop in Texas and 8.8% drop in Arizona. Both states also saw significant declines in violent crime overall. If undocumented immigrants were driving a violent crime surge, as Republicans and some media outlets suggest, you would expect to see it show up in the data from Texas and Arizona.
See the linked article from Popular Information for data and sources. Basically this is preliminary data from fifteen states that eventually will go into the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report. But there are studies and data going back years showing that migrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born good ol’ boys.
You’ll remember last week that MTG was using the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed while out on an exercise run, to make some point about migrants. Being murdered while running appears to be a whole sub-genre of violent crime. Most of the victims are women, but not always — remember Ahmaud Arbery? Of course you do. (Ahmaud Arbery was from Georgia, too, but I don’t remember MTG getting worked up about him the way she’s worked up about Riley Laken. Odd.) A lot of these murders are unsolved. When they are solved, the perpetrator (when the victim is a woman) tends to have a history of violence against women. See, for example, the Eliza Fletcher murder.
Now see Will Leitch, The Murder on My Running Trail, at New York Magazine. The author lives in the same community as Riley Laken and runs on the same trail she took on the day she was murdered. And his wife is a runner, too. “She has told me how often she feels watched on her runs,” Leitch writes. “How she has been followed. How she has been spit at. How she was even once swung at. I have never had any of those fears, not once. Because I am a man.”
The murder of Riley Laken shook the Athens, Georgia, running community hard.
Riley’s murder, the first homicide on campus in more than 30 years, sent a wave of terror through Athens, but it hit the running community particularly hard. Fear was palpable among women runners in the first 24 hours after her death, and their stories made it clear that what I — along with many of my fellow male runners — had thoughtlessly considered a safe, solitary activity has always been far more fraught for half the population. Women spoke of the precautions they constantly have to take, from going out with running buddies to avoiding isolated areas to carrying alert systems, weapons, or even Tasers with them anytime they leave the house. (My primary concern when I set out is whether I remembered my headphones.) Riley’s assault and murder — one of several involving women runners in recent years — was a reminder that every time women go for a run, they have to be conscious of the possibility of male violence. Or, more accurately: They have to be as conscious of the possibility of male violence as they always are. My wife reminded me of the Margaret Atwood quote: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”
That was the conversation until an undocumented immigrant was charged with the murder. Suddenly everyone stopped talking about male violence. And every Republican politician in Georgia blamed Joe Biden for Riley Laken’s death.
It’s like violent crime doesn’t count until a migrant is the perpetrator. But here’s something else I found today about homicides in the U.S.
In 2020, there were 2,059 females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents that were submitted to the FBI for its Supplementary Homicide Report. 12 The key findings of this study, expanded upon in the following sections, dispel many of the myths regarding the nature of lethal violence against females.
- For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 89 percent of female victims (1,604 out of 1,801) were murdered by a male they knew.
- Eight times as many females were murdered by a male they knew (1,604 victims) than were killed by male strangers (197 victims).
- For victims who knew their offenders, 60 percent (967) of female homicide victims were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers.13
- There were 298 women shot and killed by either their husband or intimate acquaintance during the course of an argument.
Odds are that at least some of those women are killed in Georgia. But in MTG’s world their deaths don’t count.
In other misdirected violent crime news, by now you’ve heard that Sen. Katie Britt, in her State of the Union rebuttal for the ages, told a graphic story about sex trafficking in Texas and blamed it on President Biden. Turns out this happened 20 years ago, during the George W. Bush administration, and in Mexico. As far as I know, Britt has yet to apologize for telling a lie.
Update: Aaron Blake at WaPo provides an account of what went on in the hearing today.
The GOP is trying to capture the women's vote. So they are the party that's not indifferent to crimes against women. On the Violence Against Women Act that was renewed in 2021, the vote tells it all: (Source CNN)
"The final tally was 244 to 172 with 29 Republicans voting with Democrats in support."
In the same article:
"The Democratic-controlled House voted in 2019 to reauthorize the legislation after it expired, but the reauthorization did not pass the GOP-controlled Senate."
Biden needs to go there with facts and names – it's time to name the names of anyone trying to campaign on the tragic murder of Riley Laken if they voted AGAINST the Violence Against Women Act.
Paul Waldman, Bathe in the Pain of the "Beautiful" Murdered Woman
There's trouble in MAGA-land. Steve Bannon criticized Trump for selling out (I think he used that expression) over Trump's sudden desire NOT to ban Tic-Toc after Trump was visited by an investor with hundreds of million in Tic-toc. Today, Alex Jones is ranting at Trump because Trump took credit for the speedy development of the Covid vaccines. Yes, Trump instituted a program to develop the VAX and sunk a huge amount of taxpayer money in what was actually a success. But Vax-deniers are not OK with Trump declaring the Vax worked. Trump is also under fire for saying Medicare and SS are on the block for cuts. Naturally, Trump was not specific but the GOP has wanted to privatize Social Security for forever. They've wanted to cut benefits for future recipients and replace them with a system that would channel federal money to private investors putting the future retirees at risk.
There's a pattern here. Trump wants to mend fences with women voters by proposing a 16-week federal abortion ban. The promise is false but it leaves voters expecting Trump will protect abortion when the fetus people want Trump to advocate for a complete ban. The fetus people see the bottom of the bus and are not happy.
Other pundits are suggesting that Trump is going to raise big money by selling out of years of opposition to Tic-toc, making nice with Bush beer, and giving a wink-nod to Wall Street that Trump's OK about goring Senior Safety Net programs. If future policy is for sale by Trump, his best buddies (Bannon and Jones) are sending up flares of opposition. MAGA would disbelieve Biden if he predicted the sun will rise in the East but when MAGA luminaries who wouldn't know the truth if it bit them on the butt slam Trump for corruption or going back on his word, it will resonate.
So what? None of these people who are firing public shots across Trump's bow are going to vote for Biden, These people who think they do (or should) have influence are going public as Trump goes "off the reservation." I know that's politically incorrect but totally applicable. MAGA and evangelicals expect and demand Trump stays within the policy boundaries they set. When Trump does it for money or to placate a demographic MAGA wants to dominate (not compromise with), the whole Trump act is at risk. He looks like a conventional politician. The result will be lower turnout for Trump in November.
When one of those mouthpieces calls him a RINO that's when the fun starts.
It's apparent that Sen. Britt has morphed into a MAGAT.
And MAGAT'S never apologize for telling a lie.
They double-down on the lie.
The Republican Party is no more.
They are now a wholly owned subsidiary in tRUMP's MAGA Party.
It's been really remarkable watching the Republican Party devolve.
But the devolution did NOT start with tRUMP.
It began with Newt Gingrich's assault on decency, back in the mid-90's.
More specifically, in 1994 – when the Republicans won the House majority. And Newt became Speaker.
tRUMP was the accelerant that turned the embers of Totalitarianism into the raging flames of Autocracy/Tyranny/Despotism.
The 2024 election is the physical manifestation of an "Existential" crisis.
It's apparent that Sen. Britt has morphed into a MAGAT.
And MAGAT'S never apologize for telling a lie.
They double-down on the lie.
The Republican Party is no more.
They are now a wholly owned subsidiary in tRUMP's MAGA Party.
It's been really remarkable watching the Republican Party devolve.
But the devolution did NOT start with tRUMP.
It began with Newt Gingrich's assault on decency, back in the mid-90's.
More specifically, in 1994 – when the Republicans won the House majority. And Newt became Speaker.
tRUMP was the accelerant that turned the embers of Totalitarianism into the raging flames of Autocracy/Tyranny/Despotism.
The 2024 election is the physical manifestation of a nation facing an "Existential" crisis.
Let's hope that American democracy will survive.
VOTE!!!
Immigration was not the MAGA plan A according to Paul Krugman. Plan A was to run with the economy as the big problem. Unfortunately, (for the doomsday cult) the economy is by almost all measures is in Goldilocks territory, if not beyond. Krugman did not put it quite the way I do, but I am still working with the cult leader notion that comes from a different author.
I too have anticipated the MAGA plan was to rage against Biden's economy. The usual town cranks have been seeding their position with comments linking almost any gloom to a down economy, which they were being pimped about by right wing media. It was obvious they were not coming up with this connection, as they had no data to back their bold conclusions and persisted even when marker after marker had changed to a more positive note. Even the always gloomy gold bugs were going a bit quiet, and the silence in that quarter was almost deafening. Anyway, new records in the stock market quelled the leftover 401 statement shock from the Trump disaster. Krugman called it right in his recent column. The economic disaster crisis the MAGA planned to use for political gain had to get abandoned. The MAGA cult had to ramp up a pending immigration crisis to run on, even if they had to scuttle their own bill with many of their ideas on how to fix border problems. It is no state secret who tanked it for political exploitation motives.
How can they save us and kill our democracy without a pending crises to save us from? Rather than getting a chicken in every pot, we will get an immigrant on the top shelf of our refrigerator if we don't vote for the cult. Only the cult knows how to fix the problem, and no solution is acceptable without the use of Concertina wire and machine gun towers. We will also have to accept any level of inhumane treatment of them and any American citizen who gives them more than cockroach status. That just won't fit into our new autocracy. To get that a crisis is needed even if it has to be fabricated. Yes, we would admit to the errors in the response to the state of the union address. but we don't admit errors. It was a perfect address. It will be a perfect solution and a final and perfect solution to many, many, problems. Most of these problems we created or fabricated, but our plan was to run against the economy, and this was all done in a rush because Biden got it working too well. That Krugman is a problem. He rubs our nose in all our mistakes which we must deny…I'm not buying into any of it. To people my age this is a history rerun. We remember Nixon, the crook who denied his crookedness.
I know less and less people alive remember Nixon, but some of us suffered serious consequences when he stalled the end of the war in Viet Nam because he needed it for his political aims. It was many years before this "state secret" was unclassified and made public. Trump apparently is doing the Nixon thing today. Cutting deals and manipulating in his interest without regard to the consequences we (especially younger people) will have to endure. Many died needlessly from Nixon's deceptions and more suffered through life. It was a wrong that never will get righted. The best we can do is learn from the Nixon mistake and not make a bigger one with even a bigger crook. It is late. It is way past Trump's jail time or at least his rubber room time. No citizen deserves a future on a path paved with lies, deceit, misinformation, and collaboration with adversarial foreign states for some miscreant politician's gain. That's what we got from Nixon. Trust me it was a horrible trip for many. This is the real crisis that we need to avoid and fear. Nixon had supporters too, but most did not give him cult leader status. That got bad enough. We don't need to try to find out how bad things can really get with this crook. Some of us had enough education with the real time Nixon. This would be a repetition on steroids.
I see old Ken Buck (GQP-CO) has thrown in the towel, Friday is his last day. It took the news media a day or so to fiqure it out but apparently this puts the brakes on Bobo's (GQP-movie theatre handjob-CO) bid to run in his district, which she had planned to do seeing she only won her last election by 300 something votes? Anyway CO has a law that a special election must be held and that no sitting member of the house can run. So Bobo would have to resign her seat and run in a special general where she will almost certainly lose! Once again thank you Ken Buck, you’ll remember he voted against GYM for speaker I think three times.! Of course Bobo blamed it on the "Swamp". Interesting that anything a that goes against a GQP'er is the "swamp" or the "deepstate", sure makes it easy when you don't have to really define your adversaries!
I wonder what bank robber Willie Sutton ("I rob banks because that's where the money is") would say about a thief actually relocating a bank to his own backyard.
RNC finance department moved to Palm Beach; if that does not become the top headline news item I,,, wait, altered photos of princess Kate! OMG!!!