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Friday's Mini-Report, 10.20.17
Today's edition of quick hits:
* The deadly attack in Niger: "A senior congressional aide who has been briefed on the deaths of four U.S. servicemen in Niger says the ambush by militants stemmed in part from a 'massive intelligence failure.'"
* Afghanistan: "A suicide bomber detonated explosives in a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Friday as worshipers were gathering for evening prayer, killing at least 32 people in the latest in a series of attacks against Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan."
* Things are not all right in Puerto Rico: "Back-up diesel generators in Puerto Rico that have provided a lifeline for hospitals and other critical facilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria are starting to break down and need fixing."
* It'd be nice if the sitting president were a reliable source of national-security information, but he's not: "President Trump misrepresented a recent report on crime in Britain with a Twitter message Friday blaming 'Radical Islamic terror' for an uptick in reported crime, critics in the United Kingdom say."
Donald Trump vs. Generals: A brief history
As we discussed earlier, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked this afternoon to defend a discredited story Chief of Staff John Kelly shared yesterday. She replied, "If you want to go after Gen. Kelly that's up to you but I think that that – if you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that that's something highly inappropriate."
This is problematic for all kinds of reasons, but let's take a moment to focus on Trump's own record on showing deference and respect towards American military leaders with stars on their shoulder.
“I know more about ISIS than the generals do,” he insisted during the campaign. “Believe me.” Several months later, Trump added that U.S. military leaders “don’t know much because they’re not winning,” As recently as September 2016, the Republican said American generals “have been reduced to rubble,” adding, “They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing to our country.”
During the Democratic National Convention, Trump was especially disrespectful towards retired four-star General John Allen. Politico reported at the time:
Trump then proceeded to pounce on criticisms levied against him by Allen, who Thursday night gave an impassioned speech framing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a leader who possessed the needed experience to helm the United States military.
"They had a general named John Allen. I never met him, and he got up and started talking about Trump, Trump, Trump," the Republican nominee said before unleashing his counterassault. "You know who he is? He's a failed general. He was the general fighting ISIS. I would say he hasn't done so well, right?" Trump said.
It was around this time that the GOP candidate tweeted, "General John Allen, who I never met but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = BAD"
Confronted with evidence, White House won't acknowledge falsehood
As part of the White House's offensive against Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Chief of Staff John Kelly delivered dramatic remarks to the press yesterday, including an anecdote intended to highlight the Florida Democrat's pettiness and offensive partisanship.
It was a lengthy, 300-word story about the dedication of an FBI field office in Miami, which was being named after two FBI agents who'd been killed in a firefight in the city. As Kelly explained it, Frederica Wilson "stunned" the audience by speaking about how she was "instrumental in getting the funding for that building" from President Obama, when she should've shown more dignity at the event.
It was a striking anecdote, which we now know wasn't true. The Sun-Sentinel published the video today of Wilson's remarks, and pretty much every relevant detail from Kelly's story was wrong: she didn't mention Obama; she didn't mention the money; and she didn't take credit for the building. What's more, the audience didn't seem at all "stunned" by Wilson, who actually received applause at the end of her remarks.
Kelly's anecdote may have been powerful, but it was also fictional.
Given the circumstances, I thought it was likely Kelly would apologize. But when a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to comment on the fact that the chief of staff was wrong, she replied:
"If you want to go after Gen. Kelly that's up to you but I think that that -- if you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that that's something highly inappropriate."
This followed a White House written statement that stood by Kelly's remarks, which we now know weren't true.
Trump raises new questions with outreach to US Attorney nominees
For those who enjoy following White House scandals, Donald Trump's presidency has been a treasure trove, to the point that it's challenging at times to keep up. It's quite common for the president and his team to face legitimate controversies, which would ordinarily jolt a normal administration, that soon fade from the headlines to make room for a new controversy.
For example, I've long been fascinated by Trump's decision in the spring to summarily fire 46 U.S. Attorneys, without warning or explanation, with each of these federal prosecutors told on a Friday afternoon to submit their resignations and clean out their offices before close of business. One of the U.S. Attorneys, who'd specifically been told he could stay on, was among the prosecutors sent packing.
At the time, the president and his team didn't have any replacement U.S. Attorneys lined up. The White House just wanted nearly four dozen prosecutors to leave their jobs immediately.
The questions grew a little louder three months ago, when Trump reportedly had a private meeting with a prospective U.S. Attorney, D.C.'s Jessie Liu, before her nomination was made official.
Politico reported yesterday that this wasn't an isolated incident.
President Donald Trump has personally interviewed at least two potential candidates for U.S. attorney positions in New York, according to two sources familiar with the matter — a move that critics say raises questions about whether they can be sufficiently independent from the president.
Trump has interviewed Geoffrey Berman, who is currently at the law firm Greenberg Traurig for the job of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ed McNally of the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres for the Eastern District post, according to the sources.
The presidential chat with Geoffrey Berman is of particular interest because the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York will have jurisdiction over Trump Tower. The person who used to have this job, Preet Bharara, is the same U.S. Attorney who was fired in March despite having been told he could remain at his post.
"It is neither normal nor advisable for Trump to personally interview candidates for US Attorney positions, especially the one in Manhattan," Bharara tweeted Wednesday.
Friday's Campaign Round-Up, 10.20.17
Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a campaign rally in Virginia last night in support of Ralph Northam, former President Barack Obama told a crowd in Richmond, "We need you to take this seriously. Our democracy is at stake. Elections matter. Voting matters. You can't take anything for granted. You can't sit this one out."
* As some Republican incumbents fret over possible even-further-to-the-right primary rivals, Donald Trump has reportedly assured three Republican senators -- Nebraska's Deb Fischer, Mississippi's Roger Wicker, and Wyoming's John Barrasso -- that he'll support their re-election bids.
* On a related note, though Deb Fischer is not seen as a vulnerable incumbent, Steve Bannon has reportedly been in contact with former state Treasurer Shane Osborn about a possible GOP primary.
* In the wake of Trump repeatedly disparaging U.S. intelligence professionals, a variety of former CIA officials have decided to run for Congress as Democrats.
* Following up on an item from the other day, Tom Steyer, a progressive California billionaire, has launched a new television ad, pressing Democratic candidate to "take a stand" on Donald Trump's impeachment. The size of the ad buy in support of the commercial is not yet clear, but the Washington Post reports the TV spot "will be supplemented by a seven-figure social media buy."
* Speaking of new ads, the far-right Club for Growth launched its new ad campaign this week in support of a Republican tax plan that, at least for now, doesn't exist.
As uninsured rate starts to climb, Trump won't avoid blame
In recent years, health care advocates had a trump card to play when asked if the Affordable Care Act was working: the uninsured rate had dropped to the lowest point on record.
There were all kinds of reasons to tackle health care reform, but at the core of the ACA was the goal of bringing health security to Americans who lacked it. And on this aspect of the debate, progressives have enjoyed the better hand: once "Obamacare" became law, the number of insured Americans improved, and kept improving throughout Barack Obama's second term.
A new report on the uninsured rate, compiled by Gallup and Sharecare, suggests we've started to replace progress with regress.
The percentage of U.S. adults lacking health insurance rose in the third quarter of 2017 to 12.3%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter and 1.4 points since the end of 2016. The uninsured rate is now the highest recorded since the last quarter of 2014 when it was 12.9%.
To be sure, this may look like a modest uptick, affecting a relatively small percentage of the population. But (a) that doesn't make bad news good; (b) if your family is part of that increase, you probably don't care how small the percentage is; and (c) there is widespread concern throughout the health care sector that the uninsured rate will continue to move in the wrong direction as a direct result of Donald Trump's aggressive antics, each of which appear designed to deliberately make the U.S. system worse.
The politics of this may seem bizarre, since political leaders generally don't take an issue, make it one of the centerpieces of their governing agenda, and then leave the nation worse off on purpose. But Trump World doesn't seem to think this will be a problem -- because they'll just blame the deterioration of the health care system on the Affordable Care Act itself.
It's like watching arsonists set fire to a sound structure and then blaming the building for being flammable.
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About The Rachel Maddow Show
Launched in 2008, “The Rachel Maddow Show” follows the machinations of policy making in America, from local political activism to international diplomacy. Rachel Maddow looks past the distractions of political theater and stunts and focuses on the legislative proposals and policies that shape American life - as well as the people making and influencing those policies and their ultimate outcome, intended or otherwise.
