Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Republicans more invested in Biden-Trump debate
Axios | Margaret Talev | 06/27/24

75% of Republicans in the May survey said they're likely to watch a televised debate between the rivals, compared with 61% of Democrats and 58% of independents.

A smaller subset describing themselves as "very likely" to watch included 45% of Republicans but just 30% of Democrats and 28% of independents.

"The big question is going to be, are they informed by what happens in this debate?" Jackson said. "Historically, more people learn about the debate from the news coverage than the actual debate.

"There are big swaths of Americans who are just not spending a lot of time with mainstream news coverage - but social media, friends, nothing. That speaks to the challenge: How do you reach people who are sort of unreachable?" ... Read more

House Republicans back Steve Bannon's Supreme Court appeal
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 06/27/24

Steve Bannon is praising House Republicans for supporting the former Trump adviser's emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to stay out of prison.

Why it matters: The Trump-aligned America First Legal filed an amicus brief to the high court with Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) on Wednesday in support of Bannon, who's due to report to prison to serve a four-month sentence by July for defying a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 attack.

The Department of Justice countered in a legal filing to the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Bannon's case doesn't meet the "extraordinary" criteria that would allow him to remain free as he appeals his conviction.

Driving the news: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Fox News' "Hannity" on Tuesday night that House Republicans were "working on filing an amicus brief with his appellate work there in his case because the January 6 committee was, we think, wrongfully constituted." ...

Inflation blame game: Who Republicans, Democrats say is driving high prices
Axios | Margaret Talev,Courtenay Brown | 06/26/24

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to blame the government for inflation while Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to blame corporate greed, according to the latest Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.

Why it matters: A messaging battle over who's most responsible for higher prices on goods and services in the post-pandemic world - and what to do about it - may take center stage when President Biden and former President Trump meet for Thursday night's debate.

Between the lines: On the surface, the survey's findings offer some comfort to Biden. They suggest most Democrats and half of independents still give him the benefit of the doubt. ... ... ... Read more

CHEAP AND LETHAL: THE PENTAGON'S PLAN FOR THE NEXT DRONE WAR
TheIntercept | Nick Turse | 06/17/24

WORRIED ABOUT a potential war with China, the Pentagon is turning to a new class of weapons to fight the numerically superior People's Liberation Army: drones, lots and lots of drones.

In August 2023, the Defense Department unveiled Replicator, its initiative to field thousands of "all-domain, attritable autonomous (ADA2) systems": Pentagon-speak for low-cost (and potentially AI-driven) machines - in the form of self-piloting ships, large robot aircraft, and swarms of smaller kamikaze drones- that they can use and lose en masse to overwhelm Chinese forces. ... Read more

Trump's Second Term: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | John Oliver | 06/20/24 | 29:14

Trump has convinced many Americans that stridency is a sign of strength while truth and humility signal weakness
TheGuardian | Robert Reich | date

I just turned 78, and frankly I'm scared about what might come down Thursday evening when the oldest candidates ever to compete in a presidential race debate each other.

I'm less worried that Joe Biden will suffer a mental lapse or physically stumble than I am that Biden will look weak and Donald Trump appear strong.

One of Trump's most successful ploys has been to frame the upcoming election as a contest between strength and weakness, and to convince many Americans that stridency and pugnacity are signs of strength while truth and humility signal weakness.

In 1960, when I watched John F Kennedy square off against Richard Nixon, character and temperament were the most important variables. ... Read more

Trump's Inflammatory Comments Matter More Than His Supporters Want to Admit
Politico | Nahal Toosi | 06/26/24

Days before Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration, a conservative foreign affairs analyst told me to ignore the president-elect's tweets. They won't represent the incoming president's foreign policy, he insisted, dismissing my astonishment in an exchange that went viral.

As Trump prepares to debate Joe Biden on Thursday, some of his backers are once again pushing that same notion. Don't worry about Trump's rhetoric, they insist. His policies will be more restrained and practical - even traditional.

It's a claim that's not flying with many of the foreign officials and other jetsetters who must deal with the fallout of Trump's words on the global stage. But that won't stop his defenders from trying.

"With a normal president, if they say something, we take it as a kind of final statement of policy. With Trump, we can't do that," Kroenig said when I pressed him on his sanguine views on Trump. "Sometimes it's just a rhetorical flourish. Sometimes it's ad-libbing. Sometimes it's an opening position in a negotiation, but not his final position." ... Read more

Trump's weird words: What's behind his rally rants
Axios | Erin Doherty | 06/25/24

In Donald Trump's rally-speak - the far-fetched stories he uses to entertain his loyalists - President Biden will be "jacked up" with drugs on debate night, fictional killer Hannibal Lecter is "a wonderful man," and sharks are bad.

Why it matters: Trump's bombastic speeches have always mixed anger, falsehoods, conspiracy theories and vague, sweeping plans. But recently he's gone deeper into bizarre tales and vulgarities.

Last month in Wildwood, N.J., he was accusing the Biden administration of allowing criminals into the U.S. when he took a rhetorical left turn to praise "the late, great Hannibal Lecter," the fictional serial killer played by Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs." "He's a wonderful man," Trump said. ... ... ... Read more

Trump's underwhelming business support
Axios | Felix Salmon | 06/25/24

By the numbers: Donations by CEOs of the country's 100 biggest companies haven't recovered since Trump became the Republican nominee in 2016.

He also received no donations from the group when he opposed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In 2020, when he was running as the incumbent, Trump managed to pick up the support of two Fortune 100 CEOs.

The last time a non-Trump Republican incumbent was running for president, in 2004, George W. Bush picked up the support of 42 CEOs. ... Read more

Trump says he would have "every right to go after" political enemies if elected
Axios | Erin Doherty | 06/06/24

Former President Trump said during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he'd have "every right to go after" his political opponents if he's elected in November.

Why it matters: It's the second time in as many days that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee has publicly suggested he would seek retribution against his political enemies.

The former president and his allies have ramped up their retribution rhetoric since Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in his New York criminal trial last week.

Driving the news: "When this election is over, based on what they've done, I would have every right to go after them," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity, when asked if he would use the justice system to go after his enemies. ... Read more

"Buying off witnesses constitutes alleged obstruction": Experts alarmed over Trump witness payouts
Salon | Charles R. Davis | 06/04/24

Before he broke down in tears on the witness stand in the civil fraud case brought against the Trump Organization, corporate controller Jeffrey McConney, overcome by how "very proud" he was of his work at the company, signed an agreement that netted him a $500,000 severance payment.

His colleague Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, did a lot better. Before he checked into Rikers Island, where he was sentenced to a five-month stint for lying under oath, the loyal accountant got a severance payout of $2 million; in exchange, the 76-year-old explicitly promised that he would never criticize the company and its owner, Donald Trump, or voluntarily "provide information to, or otherwise cooperate in any way with" law enforcement. ... Read more

If Biden Wins | Trump's Relationship With God | Kid Trolls His Congressman Father On C-SPAN | The Late Show | 06/05/24 | 10:21

Corporations are people by Robert Reich

Behind the Curtain: MAGA's jail plan
Axios | Mike Allen,Jim VandeHei | 06/05/24

If former President Trump wins in November, top supporters will push him to investigate, prosecute - and even try to imprison — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who won Trump's conviction in the hush-money case.

"Of course [Bragg] should be - and will be - jailed," Steve Bannon, one of the top voices of the MAGA movement, told us - saying for the record what many Trump supporters are privately plotting.

Why it matters: This column has reported extensively about all the norms Trump plans to shatter if returned to the White House. Nowhere would that be truer than at the Justice Department, which Trump wants to make his fief and retribution arm.

Bannon told us Bragg could be targeted using the 14th Amendment (equal protection) and Fourth Amendment (outlawing unreasonable searches and seizures by the government) "plus scores of other" laws. ... Read more

Scorching heat wave set to smash records across U.S. Southwest
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 06/05/24

The hottest temperatures to hit the U.S. West this year were building across California and the Southwest Tuesday into Wednesday - and they're expected to bring record temperatures to much of the region before expanding eastwards this week.

The big picture: Excessive heat warnings and watches extended from the central valley down through southern California's deserts, southern Nevada and southern and western Arizona, affecting over 27 million people on Wednesday morning. New temperature records have already been set in Texas, per preliminary National Weather Service data.

This shows Abilene reached a high of 106°F and San Angelo hit 111°F on Tuesday. "For San Angelo, this does tie the 5th hottest temperatures recorded here," the local NWS office noted. "The 4 hotter days all occurred in June of last year." ... Read more

Democracy on Trial (full documentary) | FRONTLINE | 2024 | 2:27:23

Why Trump may lose 2024: He’s a convicted felon along with his CFO, 2016 chair, WH aides & lawyers | MSNBC/TheBeat w/Ari Melber | 06/04/24 | 16:45

Biden warns China's economy is on the brink
Axios | Ivana Saric | 06/04/24

President Biden sounded off on what he characterized as the declining might and global influence of China's economy in a new interview with Time magazine published Tuesday.

Why it matters: China is one of the main U.S. rivals on the world stage. The two countries' relationship is fraught with geopolitical and economic tensions that could impact the global economy.

Driving the news: Biden said that "everybody talks about ... how strong China is and how powerful they are," but the president offered a bleaker assessment of China's economic future.

"You've got a population that's considerably older than the vast majority of the youth in Europe, that is too old to work," Biden told Time.

"Where is it going to grow? You've got an economy that's on the brink there. The idea that their economy is booming? Give me a break," he added. ... Read more

Fauci's raucous Hill return adds to scrutiny on NIH
Axios | Victoria Knight | 06/04/24

Anthony Fauci's return to Capitol Hill on Monday combined the attention-grabbing partisan infighting of the COVID era with recent, more intense bipartisan scrutiny of the National Institutes of Health, where he presided for a half-century.

Why it matters: Fauci faced sharp questioning about the disclosure that one of his top aides used a personal email address to avoid government oversight and renewed questions about whether NIH-funded research somehow gave rise to the virus.

Driving the news: Fauci denied using private emails to discuss government business during the pandemic and didn't reveal any communications with former aide David Morens, who wrote in an email exchange with a research nonprofit that Fauci's personal account could be used to skirt federal disclosure rules. ... Read more

Trump Is A Convicted Felon | I Didn't Say "Lock Her Up" | Rupert Murdoch Marries At 93 | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | 06/04/24 | 11:45

Looming over Trump's conviction: Reversal by the '13th juror'
Politico | Erica Orden | 06/02/24

The former president has made no secret that he plans to challenge the verdict against him in the hush money case - and attorneys say he has an extensive menu of legal avenues to pursue. Some think he has a decent chance of a reversal.

"There is an appeal that could have legs," said Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former federal prosecutor who was chief of the public corruption unit in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office.

Trump's first chance to challenge the verdict will come within 30 days of his sentencing on July 11, at which point he can turn to New York's First Judicial Department appellate court, not far from where he just stood trial. That court has such broad discretion to review jury findings that it's sometimes called "the 13th juror."

Their attack is expected to focus on a few key issues, including the legal theory that enabled prosecutors to transform 34 misdemeanor counts of falsifying business records into a felony case against the former president. ... Read more

Why is a group of billionaires working to re-elect Trump?
TheGuardian | obert Reich | 06/03/24

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What to know about Hunter Biden's federal gun trial that starts Monday
Axios | Alex Thompson | 06/03/24

Hunter Biden will face three felony gun charges in a trial starting Monday that carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if he's convicted.

Why it matters: Some Republicans will likely try to focus on the case, the first of two trials President Biden's son faces this year, in an attempt to draw attention from former President Trump's recent felony conviction in New York.

It is likely to exact a personal toll on President Biden and reveal the fractures within the president's family as he's locked in a tight 2024 race with Trump.

State of play: Special Counsel David Weiss charged Hunter Biden with crimes related to making false statements on a form when he purchased a firearm in 2018 that prosecutors allege he possessed while using a narcotic. ... Read more

The Air Force's new B-21 stealth bomber in flight
Axios | Colin Demarest | 06/03/24

The images, shared by the U.S. Air Force and manufacturer Northrop Grumman, provide a peek at a highly secretive aircraft considered critical to future long-haul missions and nuclear weapons use. ... Read more