Ethical behavior is not a matter of following a rule, but examining how a precept might guide one, case by case. —Gary Snyder
Greetings from the far left coast where we have thus far dodged the heat dome that has settled in over a sizable portion of the country. It's warm but nothing like other places. We have a heat advisory warning until 9 p.m. and a red flag warning for critical fire weather conditions in the Willamette Valley with the area of most concern south of Portland until 8 p.m. Present temperature is 93 at the airport, considerably warmer in other parts of the state. Glad I ran at 7 this morning, temperature in the 60s, nice breeze along the waterfront.
And onward, ha, into the muck! There is no escape from the dingbattery, chicanery, and shameless mendacity that is the Trump brand. Mona Charen, who has never been accused of being anything shy of way conservative, laid down a withering critique in The Bulwark earlier this week (Trump: Can We Please, Please Wait to Have My Criminal Trial Until After the Election?, July 12, 2023).
Charen opens with the move by Trump's attorneys to delay his trial in the case of the classified documents until after the 2024 election.
It makes for amusing reading as the lawyers note that they require more time for security clearances and yet cannot quite admit that classified documents were indeed taken…The complaint further attempts to protect Trump by hiding behind the skirts of the presidential campaign…Judge Cannon was rebuked twice by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for giving too much deference to the former president. This will be the first big test of whether she has absorbed the lesson.
Charen proceeds to take aim at Trump's absurd claim that during his presidency America was respected all over the world. At which she asks rhetorically, or maybe not, "Did you spit out your coffee?" The claim unfortunately "enjoys some currency even among non-cultists. Ask your average Republican whether Trump restored America’s image around the world and they are quite likely to say yes."
This isn’t a case of both sides having a fair point. This is bonkers. Trump was perceived as a boob and a fool the world over. (And BTW, it caused many of our friends to doubt Americans’ sanity, too.) He was a global laughingstock. Literally.
Remember when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly and launched into his typical bombastic BS about his administration accomplishing more than almost any in history? The assembled delegates, who are VERY accustomed to political exaggeration and even inanity, burst out laughing.
More and more I think Joe Biden would have done the country a service if in the aftermath of the 2022 elections where Democrats fared better than anticipated he had announced that he would not seek a second term as president. Yes, his first term has exceeded expectations. He has racked up notable accomplishments. Nonetheless, the Republican majority in the House makes him in effect a lame duck for the remainder of this term whether he runs next year or not. Polls should always be taken with a pillar of salt, and I am an eternal pessimist under the best of circumstances, but there is no getting around the numbers. How can they be so bad under the circumstances? Well. They are.
Stepping aside would have cleared the decks for a field of capable and, let it be said, younger Democrats to vye for the nomination. Pete Buttigieg and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer come to mind off the top of my head. There would be others, no doubt too many, and too ready to assemble the old circular firing squad for which the party is infamous.
One down side to such imaginings is that it would surprise no one if Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were to jump on any opening for yet another crack at the White House. I have a soft spot for both of them but see no reason to think either could win a national election or govern effectively if one should somehow come to be seated behind the big desk in the Oval Office. There would doubtless also be a raft of other candidates, some with platforms to which I would be amenable in principle, but with the same slim to no chance of winning a general election or governing effectively should they find themselves in the White House. For all my wishful thinking, there is no assurance we would end up with a better nominee than Biden.
The mysterious case of the disappearing whistleblower. For some time now the Honorable James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been fuming about the unknown whereabouts of a whistleblower said to have the goods to bring down the Biden Crime Family. Comer suspects the nefarious machinations of the DOJ, FBI, CIA Deep State are behind the whistleblower's disappearance.
Lo and behold on Monday the DOJ "unsealed an indictment charging Israeli-American think tank director Gal Luft with failing to register as a federal agent working to advance Chinese interests, arms trafficking, lying to federal agents and violating U.S. sanctions on Iran." Zut alors!
Luft was indicted on November 1, 2022, and arrested in Cyprus on February 17, 2023. It was only this week that the indictment was unsealed and made public. Philip Bump at The Washington Post points out that the timeline is a key point:
This has been the pattern on the right for months. Anyone making any allegation against Biden and/or his family is accepted as inherently credible, however shaky the evidence or, as in the case of Luft, however obvious the conflict of interest. Not only are anti-Biden claims taken at face value, any skepticism about those allegations or, again as in the case of Luft, external indicators of unreliability are themselves folded into a voluminous conspiracy theory.
The timeline is important. It appears [and has now been confirmed]…the indictment was handed down last fall…his initial arrest was in February. It is not clear why the indictment was unsealed now, but it is not the case that the charges are new. In other words, the understood order of events suggests not that he was charged because he made public allegations but, instead, that he made public allegations after he had been charged. (Bump, Indictment)
Jonathan V. Last at The Bulwark notes that it is possible both that Luft is guilty and that he has genuine evidence about wrongdoing by Hunter Biden.
Luft’s defense is either that this entire thing is made up of whole cloth—which would be…something—or that none of what he did was illegal.
I tell you this as someone who has known a lot of DC think thank heads: This isn’t what the head of a think tank does. This is shady as shit.
If even 10 percent of what the government alleges is true, then Gal Luft isn’t Arthur Brooks. He’s Paul Manafort.
Last is reserving judgement until evidence is produced in court, but, he writes,
when you’re asked to take the word of a fugitive making videos for the New York Post over career prosecutors making sworn statements with their entire careers and livelihoods on the line…I gotta be honest. I’m leaning toward trusting the government. At least as a provisional reading of the situation. (The Ballad)
Back when I thought myself a young radical firebrand I never would have thought that one day I would be defending the FBI, the feebs themselves, CIA, and the rest, but good grief. The stuff thrown out by Comer, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, and the rest is just nuts. And a sizable portion of the country believes it.
Philip Bump, Indictment of GOP’s ‘missing’ informant becomes conspiracy fodder, Washington Post, July 11, 2023
Jonathan V. Last, The Ballad of Gal Luft: Whistleblower, Grifter, Soldier, Spy, The Bulwark, July 11, 2023
Martin Pengelly, ‘Missing witness’ who accuses Biden of China corruption charged with being China agent, The Guardian, July 11, 2023
Andrew Solender, Democrats demand GOP investigate its own indicted whistleblower, Axios, July 12, 2023
Memo from the film desk. Fellini's Amarcord, an old favorite I have seen many times, is enjoying a run at the Academy Theater up on Stark Street in Portland's Montavilla neighborhood. It will be a treat to see it again.
The Night of the 12th (2022) opened yesteray at Living Room Theaters downtown. It is billed as winner of six French Academy Awards (César Awards), including Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The trailer is intriguing.
New at Portable Bohemia Substack:
Fourth Thoughts, July 4, 2023. This morning I find myself reflecting upon what this day might possibly mean to us in a time marred by divi-sion, rancor, and strife. The customary morning roundup of news and opinion soon showed that I am not alone. Two columns in particular struck me…read more>>
This Writing Life, July 7, 2023. On a springtimish Saturday afternoon in early June I took the 75 bus to the south end of the line in Milwaukie and wandered down to Wind Horse Coffee & Tea for an espresso and journal session. I took a seat at a sidewalk table, pleasant breeze, clouds banished from sky…read more>>
The Barbie Dilemma, July 11, 2023. I will be blunt here and hope that I do not ruffle too many feathers. The Barbie movie sounds pretty silly. I would not give it a second thought if not for the association with Greta Gerwig. Gerwig directed…read more>>
No Country for Old Coaches, July 14, 2023. Senator Coach Tommy Tuberville is engaged in a campaign to undermine the readiness of the American military by holding up promotions to high-level positions. One need not be a hardcore politics junkie to recognize Tuberville’s use of a profoundly undemocratic tactic…read more>>
Keep the faith.
Stand with Ukraine.
yr obdt svt
