Dahlia Lithwick: “I loved Oprah’s Golden Globes speech on Sunday. It was mesmerizing, pitch perfect, and gave voice to many lifetimes of frustration and vindication with eloquence and a full authority she has earned. But I found the strange Facebook response of ‘Oprah 2020’ weirdly discordant and disorienting. Oprah’s speech—in my hearing—wasn’t about why she needs to run for office. It was about why the rest of us need to do so, immediately.”
Daily Archives
January 8, 2018
40 posts · Monday
Trump Struggles to Silence Talk of His Mental Health
“The White House is struggling to contain the national discussion about President Trump’s mental acuity and fitness for the job, which has overshadowed the administration’s agenda for the past week,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump privately resents the now-regular chatter on cable television news shows about his mental health and views the issue as ‘an invented fact’ and ‘a joke’ much like the Russia probe.”
Republicans Look to Author for Possible Senate Bid
Top Senate Republicans have quietly reached out to J.D. Vance — the star author of Hillbilly Elegy — about running for Senate in Ohio after the abrupt withdrawal of GOP candidate Josh Mandel last week, Politico reports.
Why the 25th Amendment Won’t Be Invoked
Vanity Fair: “This is the palace-coup amendment of the Constitution. Chances of it being deployed against Donald Trump in his present state are close to zero, for two reasons. The first is that it’s almost impossible to execute, and it will destroy those who get behind it, even if they succeed (to say nothing of if they fail). The second is that an official palace coup against Trump is barely necessary, at this point. In many ways, it has already happened.”
“What can be easy for people to forget, because the White House is always a big deal, is this: Trump is a weak president. He has low approval ratings. He has little control over his own party. He has almost as little control over his own White House… Trump also spends less and less time in the office, according to Axios, often clocking in at 11 A.M. and out about five hours later. The rest of his day—what aides call ‘executive time’—is supposedly spent at home making calls and watching TV, which suggests that a lot of Americans are better prepared for the presidency than we’d known.
“In this sense, a palace coup may already be an episode in the rearview mirror—something that happened slowly and unofficially as Trump squandered his capital and aggravated every problem he faced. Today, with Robert Mueller investigating the White House, most Republicans, less by design than by accident, may have Trump where they want him.”
Does Trump Know the National Anthem?
President Trump was on the field before the college football national championship game and the video suggests he did not know the words to the national anthem.
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
Pence Plans Active Role in 2018 Midterms
Vice President Mike Pence “is jumping into the midterm elections, planning visits soon to Nevada and Pennsylvania and helping recruit a candidate in Ohio amid an aggressive push to retain Republican control of Congress,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Pence, in an interview at his White House office Monday, conceded that history shows it is difficult for the president’s party to stave off midterm election losses, but said that economic gains could help Republicans strengthen their grip on the Senate.”
Fusion GPS Still Digging Into Trump’s Russia Ties
New York Times: “But the work has not stopped. Fusion continues to look into ties between Mr. Trump and Russia, according to several people briefed on the research. Mr. Simpson’s specific areas of focus, and information about any current benefactors, are closely guarded.”
Trump Renominates ‘Not Qualified’ Court Picks
President Trump “resubmitted 21 judicial nominees to the Senate whose nominations expired in 2017 ― including two rated ‘not qualified’ to be federal judges by the American Bar Association,” the HuffPost reports.
Trump Weighs Limited Strike on North Korea
“As one sign of how fraught the confrontation with North Korea remains despite the tentative onset of diplomatic activity, consider this: U.S. officials are debating whether it’s possible to mount a limited military strike against North Korean sites without igniting an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The idea is known as the ‘bloody nose’ strategy: React to some nuclear or missile test with a targeted strike against a North Korean facility to bloody Pyongyang’s nose and illustrate the high price the regime could pay for its behavior. The hope would be to make that point without inciting a full-bore reprisal by North Korea.”
“It’s an enormously risky idea, and there is a debate among Trump administration officials about whether it’s feasible. North Koreans have a vast array of artillery tubes pointed across the Demilitarized Zone at Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with which they could inflict thousands of casualties within minutes if they choose to unleash all-out barrage.”
Romney Was Treated for Prostate Cancer
“Mitt Romney — who is said to be eyeing a bid for U.S. Senate from Utah — was treated last summer for prostate cancer,” NBC News reports.
“Romney’s treatment, which involved surgery at the University of California-Irvine Medical Center, was successful, and he has a good prognosis.”
White House Considers Puzder for Another Job
Politico: “Spotted at the White House recently: Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s first pick for labor secretary, who dropped out of the confirmation process in February amid allegations of domestic abuse.”
Now, the White House is considering Puzder for a yet-to-be-determined slot in the administration… t’s not clear what role Puzder might take, these people said, though it would have to be a non-Senate-confirmed slot given his withdrawal as labor secretary.”
Royce Will Not Run Again
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) announced he would not run for re-election in November, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is the eighth panel chairman to announce his retirement or run for another office ahead of the 2018 midterms.
[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]It’s hard to imagine a more helpful retirement for Democrats. Hillary Clinton won Royce’s district by nine points in 2016.[/alert]
Top Kentucky Lawmaker Steps Aside
Kentucky House Speaker Jeff Hoover (R) resigned from his leadership position, “more than two months after acknowledging he secretly settled a sexual harassment claim and paid to keep it quiet,” the AP reports.
In a blistering speech on the House floor, before stepping down, Hoover denounced his critics — including Gov. Matt Bevin (R) — for telling what he called lies from the “deepest pit of Hell.”
Brownback Will Get Another Shot at Trump Job
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is going to get another chance to join the Trump administration, the Kansas City Star reports.
“President Trump will formally renominate the Kansas Republican late Monday to become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom… Brownback was first nominated last July but failed to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate after resistance from Democrats over his record on LGBT rights.”
Mueller Signals He Wants Interview with Trump
Special counsel Robert Mueller “has raised the likelihood with President Trump’s legal team that his office will seek an interview with the president, triggering a discussion among his attorneys about how to avoid a sit-down encounter or set limits on such a session,” the Washington Post reports.
Said one source: “This is moving faster than anyone really realizes.”
“However, the president’s attorneys are reluctant to allow him to sit down for open-ended, face-to-face questioning without clear parameters.”
Bannon Was Against Trump Before He Was For Him
“Before Donald Trump and Steve Bannon were enemies, they were allies. And not long before that, Bannon was part of an effort to sink Trump’s presidential hopes — even if Trump didn’t know it,” CNN reports.
“A conservative watchdog group led by Bannon tried to discredit Trump in the early stages of the 2016 Republican presidential primary by shopping a document alleging that Trump had ties to mobsters.”
The Case Against an Oprah Run
Ben Smith: “So the case against Oprah is just that: She may, in fact, be what Trump pretends to be — a self-made business success story whose words resonate across the country. But Democrats don’t want to improve on Trump. They want to reverse him. And that’s where governors and senators with deep experience, proven political chops, and an unglamorous sense of normalcy come in.”
“Trump has also made a strong case to Oprah on why she shouldn’t run. To run for president is to ensure, demand even, that at least 40% of Americans hate you. The one recent political poll on Oprah hints at this: She had a surprisingly high, 33%, unfavorable rating. Who dislikes Oprah? When you put her in a political context, Republicans do, it turns out. And Oprah has had her ups and downs, and would be signing on for the sort of hostile examination of her own career that nobody would welcome.”
CNN: Six times Oprah stoked — or shot down — 2020 speculation.
