CSotD: Front Page Gossip
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The big news of the day is that Senators Tillis and Cornyn have resolved their doubts about confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general, since he has fulfilled two conditions: One, to sit down and talk with a group of Epstein victims, and the other, to certify an end to the proposed slush fund for paying off Jan. 6 rioters and the provision to make Trump family members immune from tax audits.
And 103,051 vehicles cross the Brooklyn Bridge per day, which means that, if you purchased it, you could set up a toll booth, charge each car a dollar and start making a profit within a month. As it happens, I own the bridge and am looking to sell it and retire.
However, Anderson points out that the Epstein victims who had that sit-down with Blanche said it seemed he was just there to satisfy the requirement and that not only was nothing accomplished in the meeting, but he was brusque and rude, more offensive and patronizing than sympathetic to their experiences and their plight.
But, of course, to be fair, he was asked to meet with them, and he met with them. There was never anything said about coming away with any solutions or, indeed, any fresh information whatsoever. He did what he was asked to do.
Markstein joins a flood of commentators who feel that Blanche’s assurance that the “Payoffs for Punks” has been canceled is not worth the paper it’s written on. This isn’t simply the analysis of cartoonists and columnists, but of experienced attorneys like Joyce Vance and law journalist Adam Kasfeld, both of whom provide detailed analysis of what appears to be a bogus memo that guarantees nothing.
Meidas quotes University of N.C. law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick:
Others might have a different impression, but I see nothing in Blanche’s letter that would prevent him from reviving the fund the moment that he is confirmed. Sen. Cornyn is a former state attorney general and judge on the Texas Supreme Court, so I imagine he is aware of this as well.
Ramirez depicts Tillis and Cornyn as true, ethical GOP elephants among a flock of sheep, but the result of their principled objections to Blanche’s nomination appears to have been a sham, given that they raised issues that seemed important but then apparently knuckled under and allowed themselves to be fobbed off with meaningless lip service.
With the nomination likely to clear committee and be presented to the Senate as a whole, we’ll see how many Republicans challenge it and how many are willing to pretend Blanche’s purported backoff is genuine and binding.
Incidentally, Blanche didn’t actually renounce the proposal to make the Trump family immune from tax audits, simply saying that it does not apply to future years, only to those completed when it is finally confirmed. This would relieve the president from paying taxes on $2 billion to $3 dollars he has made as a side gig, as well as making his boys and his son-in-law similarly able to enjoy their current income tax-free.
Speaking of which …
The on-again, off-again approach to war with Iran has a lot of people shaking their heads, but it apparently has at least a few people running to their brokers.
Another Meidas tip sends readers to Xitter and a posting by the Hormuz Report, which tracks the strait but also keeps an eye on the overall situation between the U.S. and Iran. It’s quite a lengthy posting for social media, but begins thusly:
A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reports and Trump administration insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
It goes on to provide several examples of major trades made moments before the president riles oil prices with an announcement of a standdown or a purported deal.
Oddly enough, when I looked for major, western-based coverage of this apparent scandal, I found no new reports but a flurry last spring that indicates both House members and Senators were calling for investigations into insider trading of oil stocks relative to the war.
There were also reports then of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice looking into it, and that the White House cautioned staff against insider trades.
I didn’t find any results, however, and the Iranian report suggests that all that scrutiny didn’t resolve things.
Ohman cites the current Red Scare as a possible defense against accusations of profiteering.
Though it should be noted that, since January, the central government has taken equity positions in 30 private industries, worth approximately $27 billion. The exact parameters of this style of economy is often debated in the sophomore dorm at 2 a.m., but in most other places, government ownership of the means of production is accepted as a feature of communism.
Meanwhile, back at the Reflecting Pool, Dear Leader is furious with Jeanine Pirro for breaking with the official explanation for the peeling paint in dismissing charges against the former Olympian at the center of a planned show trial. Cases against three other purported “vandals” have also been dropped.
Pirro was summoned to the White House yesterday amid speculation that she was about to be sacked, but the president reportedly decided against it. However, her announcement that damage to the pool was caused by poor workmanship clashes with the vandalism theory that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the president continue to promote.
Elsewhere in Peyton Place, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is also reportedly on Dear Leader’s bad side, at least in part because of a speech in which he said the government supports those who follow legal procedures in pursuit of citizenship, an interpretation that clashes with official policy of deporting as many non-citizens as possible.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Still no word from The Little Man Who Isn’t There, though he’s providing plenty of fodder for cartoonists, meme-generators and at least one wiseguy. Kentucky Governer Andy Beshear would like to have him either reappear or resign, but even Beshear’s demands are met with what you might call grave silence.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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