A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
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Donald Trump’s Inanity Goes Nuclear—Literally |
By David Corn April 15, 2023 |
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Donald Trump says a lot of stupid things. He utters a ceaseless stream of false statements. And it’s always easy to deride or castigate him for his lies and ignorance (as well as for his demagogic bigotry, narcissistic obsession, and authoritarian declarations). He provided plenty of ammo for this a few nights ago when he was interviewed by Tucker Carlson on Fox. Trump once again displayed an undying devotion to Vladimir Putin by praising him as “smart” and dismissing the horrific and genocidal Ukraine war as merely a “bad year” for the Russian leader. Trump also claimed that during his arraignment in Manhattan court employees were sobbing at the unfairness of it all. (“Absolute BS,” a law enforcement source told Yahoo News.) And Trump confused viewers by claiming “nuclear warming” was a bigger problem than “global warming.” That last one prompted guffaws online and caused me to tweet, “What is he talking about?” Nuclear warming is not a thing.
But sometimes Trump’s dumb remarks deserve more than a snide retort because they are about damn serious matters. If you watch that entire section of that interview in which he referred to nuclear warming, you can see that he was trying to talk about nuclear war, not nuclear warming. Here’s what he said:
When I listen to people talking about global warming, that the ocean will rise in the next 300 years by one-eighth of an inch and they’re talking about, this is our problem. Our big problem is nuclear warming, and nobody even talks about it. The environmentalists talk about all this nonsense in many cases… But nobody talks about nuclear, the problem, the biggest problem we have in the whole world. It’s not global warming. It’s nuclear warming. All it takes is one madman.
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Of course, Trump was foolish and wrong with this climate change denialism. (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a sea level rise of 10 to 12 inches along the US coastline in the next 30 years.) But he was right to point to nuclear weapons as a profound threat to the world and human civilization. Yet it was insanely absurd for him to assert that “nobody even talks about it.” As if he’s the only person who has pondered the threat of nuclear devastation. There are many government officials and policy advocates who work full time on the issue of nuclear nonproliferation. (A few years ago, I wrote about Trump’s apparent belief that nuclear war was inevitable.)
What was even more bonkers about Trump’s professed concern about “nuclear warming” was that when he was president he did nothing to advance the cause of nuclear arms control. In fact, he undercut it and put the nation and the world in a worse spot. As the Trump administration was coming to an end, the Brookings Institution summed up his awful record on arms control:
Trump withdrew from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty without trying political and military measures to press the Kremlin to end its violation and come back into compliance. Trump administration officials also considered conducting a nuclear test that would have ended a long-standing moratorium and triggered nuclear tests by other countries, eroding the U.S. nuclear knowledge advantage.
The Trump administration unilaterally abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that reduced Iran’s ability to produce fissile material, then found itself isolated when calling for more sanctions on Tehran. While Kim Jong Un exchanged “beautiful” letters with President Trump, North Korea increased its nuclear weapons stockpile and produced larger and larger missiles.
The one bit of good news: The Trump administration did not withdraw from New START. That said, the administration failed to extend the treaty. It can be extended for up to five years, and the Russians offered the full extension. Instead of agreeing, the Trump administration miscalculated the degree of Moscow’s interest and demanded conditions for a one-year extension. The Russians refused, and negotiations collapsed in late October 2020. Not so good. One consequence: After Trump pulled out of the INF Treaty, which limited medium-range nuclear missiles, Russia upped its deployment of these weapons.
When Trump entered the White House, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock stood at two and a half minutes to midnight. When Trump left office, it was at one minute and 40 seconds to ka-boom. This shift was not all Trump’s fault, but his policies were one of the factors that prompted these experts to believe the threat of nuclear war had increased. The Bulletin noted, “Governments in the United States, Russia, and other countries appear to consider nuclear weapons more-and-more usable, increasing the risks of their actual use” and “US and Russian nuclear modernization efforts continued to accelerate, and North Korea, China, India, and Pakistan pursued ‘improved’ and larger nuclear forces.”
In late 2020, the Arms Control Association concluded that Trump and his team “have dithered and delayed on nuclear arms control matters,” adding Trump “has only dismantled nuclear risk reduction agreements.”
A few weeks into office, President Joe Biden achieved what Trump couldn’t: He won a five-year extension of the New START Treaty with Russia that was about to expire and that limits the strategic nuclear arsenals of each nation. Unfortunately, Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the accord—the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow—in February.
It’s easy to be distracted by Trump’s inanity. Yeah, I laughed when I heard him prattle on about “nuclear warming.” But it’s important to recognize the policy damage he did as president and how on this front he made the world more dangerous. It's true, as Trump suggested, that our national political discourse doesn’t focus enough on nuclear policy and nonproliferation. It’s also true we don’t talk nearly enough about how Trump made all that worse. Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
More on That Disappearing Columbia Journalism Review Town Hall |
If you’ve paid attention to recent editions of Our Land, you should be up to speed on my reporting on that terribly misguided article written by former investigative reporter Jeff Gerth for the Columbia Journalism Review that slammed media coverage of the Trump-Russia scandal and boosted Donald Trump’s bogus claim that the Russia matter was all a hoax. In the last issue, I criticized a town hall mounted by CJR to discuss the article, noting that folks who had signed up for the virtual event had not been notified of its rescheduling after it was initially postponed and that this session had inexplicably not been recorded. I missed it because I was not informed of the new date and time, which coincided with Donald Trump’s arraignment. As that issue was going to press, I learned that media critic Dan Froomkin had captured the closed captioning of the town hall and that those captions were subsequently posted by national security blogger Marcy Wheeler.
I’ve since been able to review this remnant of the event, which is far from perfect documentation of what was said. From what I can tell, none of the questions I had submitted for Gerth and CJR were asked. My queries mostly focused on Gerth’s omission of the key elements of the scandal: Vladimir Putin successfully attacked the 2016 election to help elect Trump, and Trump aided and abetted that assault by denying it had occurred. The captions buttress what attendees had said about the town hall: This gabfest was mainly an in-the-tank defense of Gerth’s article and a related matter: CJR deciding not to publish an article it had commissioned that critically examined the Nation magazine’s denialist cover of Trump and Russia. (CJR and the Nation at that time were launching a joint project on climate change.)
After reading the captions, I see one point that is still worth making. During the event, Gerth dismissed the Russian hack of the Democratic Party, noting that it had merely caused a kerfuffle at the Democrats’ national convention when pilfered documents were released showing Democratic insiders had denigrated Bernie Sanders. What Gerth disingenuously ignored was the Russian hack of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta’s emails, which were subsequently disseminated by WikiLeaks on a daily basis in the last four weeks of the election. This major piece of Moscow’s secret hack-and-leak operation was devastating for the Clinton campaign, producing scooplets practically every day that consumed the political press and placed a major drag on the Clinton effort. The Russian attack—which Trump both encouraged and denied was occurring—was one of several factors that determined the outcome of the 2016 race. Gerth barely mentioned this crucial part of that assault in his article and apparently sidestepped it entirely during the town hall. It’s as if a sportswriter covering a full baseball season concentrated on a preseason game and largely skipped the World Series. This shows that Gerth was not the right person for this assignment and that this virtual town hall was not a productive response to his piece.
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The Best Endorsement for Our Land |
I was thinking of including in this issue one of my intermittent pleas for readers to sign up for the premium version of Our Land, which gives subscribers more good stuff, including access to the interactive Mailbag; reviews of movies, television shows, books, and music; MoxieCam™; and—coming soon—Zoom get-togethers. But then I spotted this note from reader Alan Hopper, and I thought I’d let him make the case.
I had been getting your Our Land email for free for over a year and could not muster the strength to cough up $5 a month until today. I see you on MSNBC—where you are always reasoned and great—but your eulogy to your former editor was such a wonderful romp that I felt guilty. My guess is you are a true ink-stained wretch still trying to carve out a living in the barren landscape that once was print media. Your email on Clarence and Ginni this weekend was so well written. You are one of the last of a dying breed of reporters, and I am proud that I can be a small part of keeping your voice afloat.
Many thanks, Alan. I much appreciate it. And I would note that the premium subscribers indeed keep this boat afloat and make it possible for others (including those who cannot afford a subscription) to receive the truncated version. So if you do subscribe, you are helping me, Mother Jones, and all the readers of Our Land—and, I hope, benefitting yourself, as well. |
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Dumbass Comment of the Week |
I had a scoop this week. I reported on a trip that a group of scholars made in 2019 to the Dallas mansion of rightwing billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. During that visit, several toured Crow’s personal collection of historical artifacts and were stunned to see Nazi memorabilia and “racialist” items related to slavery. The article cited an exchange of letters I had obtained between the academics and Crow (now well-known as a benefactor of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who paid for luxury vacations for Thomas and bought property from him) in which the scholars expressed their concern about Crow’s collection and Crow defended his collectibles. Crow wrote that his loot all related to the “good and bad of American history” and “I have things that relate to some American opponents such as Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and the communist states, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China, but none of these are presented in a way that would be easy or obvious for the public to see unless someone is opening cases or cabinets where we keep these materials.” I understand that collecting Nazi knick-knacks (which for Crow included paintings Hitler made, a signed copy of Mein Kampf, and Nazi medals and uniforms) does not make one a Nazi fan. Still, it strikes me as odd that someone would collect Nazi linen to commemorate American history.
Yet right-wing provocateur Ben Shapiro believes that makes sense. Defending Crow from criticism for his Nazi booty—what Crow in that 2019 letter referred to as his “WWII-related stuff”—Shapiro declared, “I mean, that seems like a reason you might own this stuff is to remember the things that you hate.” |
Really? Is it that difficult to remember why we hate Hitler? Is Crow’s collection of swastika-embossed napkins there to remind him that he despised how the Nazis set their tables? Imagine what Shapiro would say if a prominent Democrat collected eating utensils used by Osama bin Laden.
The GOP and the right claim to be “pro-life.” But they often seem to be part of a death cult. Last week, I reported how Trump loyalists protesting his arraignment across the street from the New York City courthouse waved a large flag proclaiming “Trump or Death.” And the recent mass shootings have once more demonstrated that Republicans are willing to sacrifice the lives of Americans—including schoolkids—to worship at the altar of gun fetishists, the NRA, and the gun industry. Even when a Republican dares to take modest steps toward preventing gun violence, he or she can expect swift retribution.
After the horrendous shooting in Nashville, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday signed an executive order strengthening background checks for gun purchases, and he urged lawmakers to pass red flag legislation that would temporarily remove guns from dangerous people. Steve Bannon responded by calling him a “Gutless RINO Cuck.” (RINO stands for Republican In Name Only.)
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Lee is trying to lessen gun deaths, and Bannon questions his masculinity. I’d like to see the two in an arm-wrestling match. Yet Bannon loses this week to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for Scott’s impressive display of incomprehensibility. Scott, who days ago announced he had set up an exploratory committee for a presidential run, was asked a simple question: “Would you support a federal ban on abortion?” He replied:
I would simply say that, uh, the fact of the matter is when you look at the issue of abortion, one of the challenges that we have is we continue to go to the most restrictive conversations without broadening the scope and taking a look at the fact that—I’m 100-percent pro-life. I never walk away from that. But the truth of the matter is that when you look at the issues on abortion, I start with a very important conversation I had at a banking hearing when I was sitting at my office and listening to Janet Yellen, the secretary of the Treasury, talk about increasing the labor force participation rates for African American women who are in poverty by having abortions. I think we’re just having the wrong conversation.
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Is your head spinning? Seems like Scott’s was. He didn’t know what to say. Naturally he turned to…Janet Yellen. At a subsequent campaign stop—no doubt, after being briefed by aides—he did state that he supports a 20-week federal ban on abortion and would consider a 15-week limit. But for his impressive gobbledygook, Scott takes home the prize. The judges hope he sends a thank you note to Yellen. |
A few readers have shared my obsession with the Gerth article and CJR’s response.
A.E. Ellsworth wrote:
Your observation re: Gerth's attempt to control the narrative at the expense of transparency is spot on. I so appreciate your candor, and the comments you included from reliably accurate sources like Marcy Wheeler and Joe Conason. The journalistic malfeasance you, Wheeler, and Conason called out is a growing frustration for fact-seekers.
PS: A fellow journalist recently referred to you as the most underrated, consequential journalist of our times. I heartily agree!
I’m going to take that as a compliment. Richard Raborn emailed:
Although President Barack Obama reached out to Putin, Hillary Clinton personally insulted Putin after his [fraud-ridden 2012] “election”? Would that not explain a strong personal motivation to support any candidate against Hillary Clinton?
Indeed, Putin had much reason to oppose Hillary Clinton, no matter who the GOP nominee was going to be in 2016. But the Republican candidate turned out to be Trump, who had repeatedly and inexplicably praised Putin and even tried to use Putin’s office to seal a huge tower deal in Moscow. All the better for Putin. He had even more incentive to attack the 2016 election—to hurt Clinton and to help Trump. Tamadhur Al-Aqeel took a different position on my coverage of the CJR article:
Your experience and expertise would be welcomed on something more substantial than a feud with CSJ.- I think this is all winding down, Tamadhur. Other readers wrote in about my recent article recalling past Clarence and Ginni Thomas controversies I covered that are still relevant today.
Scott Ablegate emailed:
You are spot on in referencing the fundamentalist belief in “spiritual warfare.” Speaking as a retired Episcopal priest I can tell you that this notion has little support in the Bible. That said, spiritual warfare is a familiar trope in the church battles that rage through Christian churches including my own. During the last 40 years or so, conservative Episcopalians tied the acceptance of women into the priesthood and the full inclusion of LGBT people into the wider Episcopal church through marriage and ordination as a call to arms against evil in the name of “spiritual warfare.” I strove mightily as a parish priest to bring parishioners into a more moderating approach through dialogue and education. However, I — like many priests considered to be progressive liberals — failed to get to first base with conservatives, for they saw themselves on a mission. I do believe Clarence Thomas and the likes of Justice Samuel Alito and far right politicians see them themselves as serving a larger divine cause that ultimately supersedes constitutional and other norms. Loved American Psychosis the most significant book I read last year.
Erik Skamser had a strong reaction to a particular sentence in that article:
“In an age of hyper-tribalized politics in which the Supreme Court is critical to the disposition of so many crucial and contentious issues in American society, it’s important for the justices to do all they can to ensure that the court functions fairly and is not being unduly influenced by big-money and political interests—and that the public can trust the guys and gals in robes.”
Where did this come from? It’s certainly true in the abstract, but how long has it been since the kangaroo court— er, Supreme Court— tried to be fair or impartial? I love your reporting and have had a lot of respect for you for many years. But that section of your newsletter wasn’t written by ChatGPT, was it? I am not allowed to say. Ellen Hall emailed:
I became a subscriber many months (or maybe a year?) ago, and I especially love your “Watch, Read & Listen” segments. Most of the subjects of your entries I'm already a fan of, and almost all the others become new favorite—TV and music mostly. Loved your Springsteen clips, first saw him in the mid-1980s at Boston Garden (I paid a scalper $200 for each ticket, they probably go for $2,000 now). I saw another clip a few days ago of Madison Square Garden, “Jungleland.” It was magical. Maybe you already know about these, but Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet have a couple of cover albums that I've added to my playlist, really interesting songs. Anyway, just want to thank you and let you know that I always eagerly look forward to Our Land showing up in my inbox.
Ellen is right. Hoffs and Sweet did a series of three albums called Under the Covers comprised of fresh versions of well-known songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. There’s a compilation of the best of those tracks. I enjoyed each of those albums. Here’s one track from that project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=148BZKiVaBg Pat Hollarn wrote in from Florida:
There is so much to write about this week, especially if you live in King Ron’s fantasy land, where “free” now means “scared to death,” particularly if you speak up. So, as I do most days now—living alone at nearly 89 with my very best friend, Beckett—staying home with my best friend is my favorite activity. He’s about my age in dog years and has one of the highest intellects of most around here. He’s a very large (125 lbs.), 10-year-old black and tan Doberman. While I agree with everything you think and write about (especially music), Beckett and Moxie also share the same thoughts. What a pair they would be, and such a gorgeous picture, too.
Speaking of which…. |
“I was thinking.” “Yes, Moxie?” “Well, maybe, it was more like intuiting.” “Okay.”
“No, I was probably only engaging in pattern recognition.” “And…?” “Can you just throw the darn ball?” |
Read Recent Issues of Our Land |
April 11, 2023: The Trump-Russia town hall that disappeared; Matt Taibbi on the run; the Milk Carton Kids reappear; Adam Sandler’s slam-dunk in the Hustle; and more April 8, 2023: Clarence and Ginni Thomas, enough already!; the Trump circus in NYC; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Special Arraignment Edition); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
April 4, 2023: Why Fox can survive its mega-scandal; Bruce Springsteen’s rock ‘n’ roll revival; a new rock-chick-lit novel from Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles; and more. April 1, 2023: Trump’s indictment is yet another stress-test for America; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 28, 2023: A Reagan bombshell reminds us of the GOP’s reliance on dirty tricks; elite bonding; Shrinking respects and breaks the sitcom formula; and more. March 25, 2023: The real perversion in Trump’s porn-star-hush-money caper; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Possible Trump Indictment Edition); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 21, 2023: The Iraq War: a personal remembrance of dissent; Los Angeles Times columnist Jean Guerrero’s stunning investigative memoir; and more March 18, 2023: Is anti-wokeness all the GOP has?; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Mike Pence); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 15, 2023: A debate (of sorts) over the Columbia Journalism Review’s huge Trump-Russia fail; Iris DeMent sings out about our current troubles; and more. March 7, 2023: I visit paradise (the Tucson Festival of Books); do we need the blood and guts of All Quiet on the Western Front?; and more. |
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Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
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