DL Open Thread: Saturday, December 2, 2023

Trump Pardoned Them.  They’re Helping His Presidential Run.  No other word but ‘transactional’ comes to mind:

Never before had a president used his constitutional clemency powers to free or forgive so many people who could be useful to his future political efforts. A Washington Post review of Trump’s 238 clemency orders found that dozens of recipients, including Arpaio, have gone on to plug his 2024candidacy through social media and national interviews, contribute money to his front-running bid for the Republican nomination or disseminate his false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Talk about a rogues’ gallery.  Among others: Steve Bannon, Rod Blagojevich, Dinesh D’Souza, Roger Stone, Bernard Kerik, Paul Manafort, Joe Arpaio, Michael Flynn, and Charles Kushner.  All helping Trump’s reelection campaign.

The former president has already made clear that he would consider clemency for the hundreds of people charged in connection with the violent, pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “Full pardons with an apology to many,” was how he put it in a 2022 interview.

The Uselessness Of A Limited Gag Order.  Trump just finds someone else to attack.  In this case, the judge’s wife.

Since Engoron was not protected under the intentionally narrow gag order, it’s unlikely that these reposts are in violation of that order. Trump has made or reposted a number of false claims and threats against Engoron, including one suggesting that Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James be subject to “citizen’s arrest.”

Trump is issuing clear threats to Engoron and other members of the court, showing that he’ll go to any lengths in his constant search for revenge. Their spouses, family, and friends are not off limits for Trump. To underscore this, a hearing just last week revealed hundreds of “serious and credible“ threats each day made against Engoron and Williams even before Trump began repeating Loomer’s “Engoron crime family” images.

Throw him in jail and end this lethal game of Whack-A-Mole.  Nothing else will stop him.

Coal Mine Reclamation Disaster Almost Here.  Why?  Lobbyists and congressionally-created loopholes:

From the earliest days of coal mining in the United States, mining operators took what they could from the hills and hollows and moved on to the next mine, often leaving a mess for residents to live with.

President Jimmy Carter’s signing of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was intended to stop that. The law required coal companies to clean up the damage and restore the hills and creeks, a process known as reclamation.

And there was supposed to be a backup funding plan. States were required to make mine operators post bonds as a type of insurance to cover reclamation costs if the companies went bankrupt. Bonds were to be set at amounts sufficient to reclaim the mined land and treat polluted water.

But Congress also created an industry-friendly alternative. Coal companies could post smaller bonds if they paid a production tax into a state-run fund that regulators could use to reclaim abandoned mines. Under federal law, these pooled systems were required to be as effective at cleaning up mines as full-cost bonding programs. Lawmakers charged OSMRE with ensuring the state programs worked.

Despite the (Reagan) administration’s confidence, West Virginia’s financial problems became apparent by the mid-1980s. One congressional audit documented delays in cleaning up abandoned mines. Another warned that the reclamation fund was millions of dollars short. Another that the program didn’t account for the escalating costs of treating contaminated streams.

Both the Bush and Clinton administrations warned the state that its program needed more money. But West Virginia officials again did little.

Award-worthy journalism from Pro Publica.  Read the whole thing.  You’ve got time.  Unless, like me, you’re marching in today’s Claymont Holiday Parade.

Rand Paul Applies Heimlich Maneuver On Joni Ernst.  Apparently the famed Senator/Rancher/Cattle Castrator was chowing down on a bull’s testicle, but just couldn’t handle it.  Rand Paul to the rescue.  Through a spokesperson, the bull was unavailable for comment.  There is, after all, such a thing as cattleus interruptus.

The Collin O’Mara Candidacy.  We’ll talk more about this next week, but the first question that comes to mind is:  Is this where the former BHL stalwarts will land?  Were their entreaties what ultimately impelled him to enter?  I don’t know the answers, but it’s at least an interesting development.

What do you want to talk about?