The Smoke Eater For January 28, 2020
Bolton's blubbering, Bloodsport 2020, and battlefield phones.
Good day, this is The Smoke Eater, for Tuesday, January 28, 2020, and this is my fight song.
Quick Hit
* Republicans are crying about John Bolton's big book of secrets * 2020 Democrats can't decide whether to increase the peace or embrace the hate * China has cooties * Soldiers in the Middle East are told to use encrypted chats *
NOTE: Yesterday's issue went out late because my platform, Substack, went screwy. I've hacked together a back-up system, just be sure to follow me on social media in case there's more 21st century problems. I'll be in Iowa this weekend to cover the caucuses (Patreon subscribers should look out for super secret stuff). As usual, The Smoker Eater is ad-free and supported by its lovely readers. Please, help me eat and pay bills next month by tipping me on Ko-Fi, or subscribing to my Patreon. Anything helps!
"Et tu, Bolton?"
The New York Times gossips that former national security adviser John Bolton privately groused to Attorney General Bill Barr that Trump seemed to be granting personal favors to autocratic leaders after phone calls. Barr reportedly responded by saying Trump also seemed to be mucking about with independent DOJ investigations. The DOJ disputed the story, saying Trump never colluded with dictators, granted them "personal favors," or used "undue influence." The NYTimes executive editor, Dean Baquet, pushed back in saying, "No one has questioned the accuracy of our report."
Senate Republicans are growing increasingly worried they might actually have to call witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial now that bits of Bolton's book are leaking. With the president's TV lawyers intent on running the Chewbacca defense and stealing drink coasters (true!), senators are restlessly picking their noses, sneaking in snacks and cellphones, and chugging milk (also true!).
Meanwhile, Trumpland has been losing (what's left of) their minds. Senators are ignoring reporters when they're not attacking them, and casting Bolton as the Brutus of this Shakespearean tragicomedy. The red-faced talking heads of conservative media have been flapping their jowls about the Bolton's disloyalty," saying he's acting like a "RINO," and calling him a greedy sell out only interested money (as opposed to Trump who, according to White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, watches, "foreign aid being sent overseas and making sure it’s used wisely, and there is no corruption tied to it,").
Bloodsport 2020
McClatchy reports Democratic party bosses are worried their old machines won't filter out all the showboats in Iowa. The Washington Post fuels that fire with a report on how a bitter debate over fracking could upend Democratic support in Pennsylvania. There's also a real fear that mud slinging could not only drag the primaries all the way out to Milwaukee this summer, but also create a exploitable fissures in the party.
Determined to spend his way into the hearts and minds of Democratic primary voters, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg is courting Jewish and Latino voters in Florida while his rivals scramble around early primary states. Bloomberg's campaign has launched a Jewish voter coalition in South Florida, taking aim at Trump's Middle East policy and attempts to frame Democrats as anti-Semitic. Bloomberg also announced his support for Puerto Rican statehood, a sharp contrast with other 2020 candidates, as part of his pitch to the broader Hispanic community. The Florida Politics blog notes statehood would make Puerto Rico eligible for tax credits and social services, like Medicaid.
Though he's only been in the race since mid-November, Bloomberg has already spent $270 million, more than any other presidential candidate, and pocketed a number of key congressional endorsements as he rockets up the polls. Progressives are now asking the DNC to include Bloomberg in the 2020 debates in the hopes of scoring a million dollar wound. Politico adds that Bloomberg's camp has similarly lobbied for inclusion in the debates, and is holding prep sessions.
The Daily Beast reports on a thinly sourced whisper campaign among "loosely affiliated" Democratic insiders who are afraid Bernie Sanders is setting the party of up for failure in the fall. One real concern is Sanders' reluctance to reign in his troll army, who both the New York Times and Washington Post detail at length, brigade around social media with profane actions and comments; occasionally harassing and threatening people off-line.
Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg will probably spend the day fighting this story that details his campaign's internal and external problems with black and Latino people. As the candidate struggles to resonate among voters of color, current and former staffers told The New York Times that senior officials seemed to ignore and/or marginalize them, leaving some to feel as though their presence was a token to diversity.
Joe Biden might have a shitty day too. First there's a ho-hum piece about his on-again-off-again campaign in New Hampshire, and a rather dull story about his closing message in Iowa. Then there's this report on a seemingly shady (and confusing) land deal involving Biden's brother, James, and a former Senate staffer-turned-lobbyist/sportsball referee. James Biden, like Billy Carter and Roger Clinton, has a history of half-witted schemes and screw ups. It's not clear if the elder Biden is/was ever aware of what his little brother is/was up to.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hoping to capitalize on her "year of organizing" in Iowa with a strong finish, but her recent backsliding in the polls has some political wizards wondering if she can pull it off now that her staffers have tried to curb expectations.
Meanwhile, in Not-America…
We should know more about Jared Kushner's mysterious plan for peace in the Middle East after Trump has a chat with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his primary political rival, Benny Gantz, today. The New York Times reports the plan will include a new map of the Israeli borders, with sovereignty over much of the Jordan Valley, and, per the NYTimes, "conditions greater Palestinian autonomy on demilitarization and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state." The Palestinian's are not happy, nor are they expected to accept the deal. ISIL has also voiced its butthurt. In a related story, Bibi withdrew his request for immunity from the Israeli parliament, saying he didn't want his corruption trial to hurt his work with the Trump administration.
French defense minister Florence Parly met with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper yesterday to lobby the US to keep a military presence in Africa. Among the concerns is the rising presence of Russia and China, and increasingly bold terrorist nut jobs.
Ukraine has officially joined the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and bought its first set of toys. This system allows Ukraine to buy new toys to defend itself from Russian aggression through NATO instead of going through intermediaries, Ukraine's Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk tells Interfax.
Don't Panic (Yet)
The death toll from the cronoavirus grew again, and Russia and Honk Kong have taken dramatic steps to limit travel to and from China. Chinese President Xi Jinping is defending his handling of the epidemic after criticisms the country attempted to downplay the extent of the outbreak. Global markets took a dramatic downturn yesterday over fears of the virus, though the trend seemed to be trying to reverse itself in US markets after more loses overnight. Bean counters are fretting that the virus may hamper growth in the global economy now that everyone is afraid of catching China's deadly cooties.
The Digital Divide
ProPublica details how corporations realized they were losing money each time they were caught deleting evidence, so they lobbied to have laws changed. It's now harder to make a case for destroying digital evidence, and the fines have been lowered in the event someone is caught.
The super rich at Davos want to make themselves feel good with an astroturf social media campaign that tells stupid people how much they care about the planet they've pillaged.
Motherboard has a story about how anti-virus company, Avast, has been harvesting and selling data. Jumpshot, a subsidiary of Avast, even bragged on social media that it collects, "Every search. Every click. Every buy. On every site."
One More Thing...
Members of the 82nd Airborne deployed to the Middle East in the wake of the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani have been asked by military leaders to use encrypted messaging apps, Military Times reports. Maj. Richard Foote says, "All official communication on government cell phones within [Task Force] Devil has been recommended to use Signal or Wickr encrypted messaging apps." Foote stressed soldiers aren't talking shop on the apps and that extra layers of security have been added. Foote clarifies, "'Official communication' in this setting refers to coordination of assets, sharing of meeting time changes, etc. There is no operational discussion on these platforms."
Secure communication systems have been a conundrum for just about every military throughout history. In the old'n timey days messengers on foot or horse back could be intercepted just like radio signals could be scooped up during the 20th century. The first cyber security policy came about after a Disney movie scared Ronald Reagan, but it be a decade before Washington realized how vulnerable our increasingly interconnected world was.
It's good that the military is (finally) treating privacy and security as a battlefield threat, but there's a Catch-22: Encrypted messaging apps present a slippery slope for government transparency requirements. They have auto-delete functions. This is great if a cellphone falls into the wrong hands, but it poses a serious conundrum for constitutional ethicists, transparency advocates, security geeks, and privacy nerds.
OK, now here's a warm and fuzzy critter video! IT'S FIONA!
Can you believe it's been three years? She's gotten so big!
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