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‘I can’t believe I’m in Saudi Arabia’

‘I can’t believe I’m in Saudi Arabia’

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Lindsey Hilsum writes: In June the circus came to town. Nothing remarkable, you might think, except that the town was Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where until two years ago all forms of entertainment were banned. The previous week, the head of the General Entertainment Authority—sometimes called the Ministry of Fun—had been fired because a female performer in another circus had worn a tight-fitting, flesh-colored outfit that had sparked protests on Twitter (75 percent of Saudis use social media,…

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The belligerence of male entitlement and the cowardly rituals of male bonding

The belligerence of male entitlement and the cowardly rituals of male bonding

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The Associated Press reports: He let his anger flare repeatedly, interrupted his questioners and cried several times during his opening statement. She strived to remain calm and polite, despite her nervousness, and mostly held back her tears. Throughout their riveting, nationally televised testimony on Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh served as Exhibits A and B for a tutorial on gender roles and stereotypes. Amid the deluge of reaction on social media, one prominent observation: Ford, as a woman,…

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As soon as Kavanaugh got into dangerous waters, Republican senators ditched prosecutor Mitchell

As soon as Kavanaugh got into dangerous waters, Republican senators ditched prosecutor Mitchell

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  Philip Bump notes: [Arizona prosecutor Rachel] Mitchell had been stepping in for Republican senators during the day’s questioning, a tactic that helped the majority avoid the spectacle of men grilling a woman about an attack she says she experienced. There was no break in that pattern — until the July 1 question. Matthew Zeitlin writes: July 1 was a Thursday. Kavanaugh’s defense also relied on his insistence that the gathering could not have happened on a weeknight. “The event…

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How Trump’s rebukes unite a fractious Iran

How Trump’s rebukes unite a fractious Iran

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Azadeh Moaveni writes: President Donald Trump went to the United Nations on Tuesday to try to weaken and isolate Iran. He called the Islamic Republic the principal U.S. adversary and blamed its leaders for “sowing chaos, death and destruction.” He vowed to push ahead with sanctions and economic strangulation so severe that Iran will be forced to change its aggressive behavior in the region or crack under the pressure. But instead of weakening Iran, Trump is actually uniting the Iranian…

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How Rod Rosenstein protects the Mueller investigation

How Rod Rosenstein protects the Mueller investigation

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Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes write: Greatness in not the right word for Rosenstein. Whatever happens today, he will never measure up to Attorney General Elliot Richardson, who was fired by President Richard Nixon for his refusal to dismiss Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Saturday Night Massacre. But for whatever reason, and by whatever means, Rosenstein has grown immeasurably in the role he has played. He has become an essential bulwark in the defense of American institutions of…

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Trump engages in collective assault on all victims of sexual abuse

Trump engages in collective assault on all victims of sexual abuse

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The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Wednesday placed himself at the center of the anguished national debate over sexual assault, suggesting in his defense of embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh that the #MeToo movement was “very dangerous” and unfairly threatened an entire class of powerful men. Trump’s expansive argument cast doubt on the credibility not only of the three women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, but also on scores of other women who have claimed…

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White House views Trump lackey with ‘biblical view of justice’ as good replacement for Rosenstein

White House views Trump lackey with ‘biblical view of justice’ as good replacement for Rosenstein

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The New York Times reports: Convinced that the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, was ready to resign after the revelation that he suggested President Trump was unfit for the job, senior White House aides got to work last weekend installing a replacement. Matthew G. Whitaker, the chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, would become the acting No. 2 official at the Justice Department, his White House counterpart, John F. Kelly, told him over the phone on Saturday…

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Men who value other men more than women

Men who value other men more than women

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Jia Tolentino writes: As with Trump’s spasmodic talk about Tic Tacs and magnets [in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape], the stories about Kavanaugh seem to show sex—and sexual assault—as something that men do for other men. Christine Blasey Ford, who attended the all-girls Holton-Arms School while Kavanaugh attended the all-boys Georgetown Prep, has accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly corralling her into a bedroom at a high-school party, and, while a friend egged him on and both boys laughed, pushing her down…

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Maryland authorities have no choice but to investigate the latest allegations against Kavanaugh

Maryland authorities have no choice but to investigate the latest allegations against Kavanaugh

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Mark Joseph Stern writes: On Wednesday, attorney Michael Avenatti revealed a sworn declaration by his client, Julie Swetnick, alleging that, while in high school, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh targeted women for group sexual assault. Swetnick’s horrific allegations, put forth under penalty of perjury, describe “numerous boys” drugging and raping young women in Maryland during the early 1980s. Her declaration contradicts Kavanaugh’s statements while bolstering the accusation of Christine Blasey Ford, who claims a very drunken Kavanaugh and his friend…

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How Rosenstein can protect the Mueller investigation — even if he’s fired

How Rosenstein can protect the Mueller investigation — even if he’s fired

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Neal Katyal writes: Thursday’s meeting between Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and President Trump carries the highest of stakes: Besides special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Rosenstein is the most important person involved in the investigation of the Trump administration’s possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election. That is by design. The special counsel regulations, which I had the privilege of drafting in 1999, make Rosenstein what corporate mavens call a “key man.” If Rosenstein is removed,…

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How the Koch brothers built the most powerful rightwing group you’ve never heard of

How the Koch brothers built the most powerful rightwing group you’ve never heard of

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Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Caroline Tervo, and Theda Skocpol write: The cries of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” rang throughout the marbled walls of the Wisconsin state assembly chamber. Disgusted Democratic politicians, some of whom had been up for over 60 hours by this point, punctuated their chants by throwing papers – and even drinks – at their Republican counterparts. Police officers had to be summoned to physically restrain one Democratic representative yelling “Cowards!” across the aisle. The source of this confrontation, in the…

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Satellite images show ‘runaway’ expansion of coal power in China

Satellite images show ‘runaway’ expansion of coal power in China

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The Guardian reports: Chinese coal-fired power plants, thought to have been cancelled because of government edicts, are still being built and are threatening to “seriously undermine” global climate goals, researchers have warned. Satellite photos taken in 2018 of locations in China reveal cooling towers and new buildings that were not present a year earlier at plants that were meant to stop operations or be postponed by orders from Beijing. The projects are part of an “approaching tsunami” of coal plants…

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Skripal suspect ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga

Skripal suspect ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga

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Bellingcat Investigation Team reports: Bellingcat and its investigative partner The Insider – Russia have established conclusively the identity of one of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal, and in the homicide of British citizen Dawn Sturgess. Part 1 and Part 2 of Bellingcat’s investigation into the Skripal poisoning suspects are available for background information. In these previous two parts of the investigation, Bellingcat and the Insider concluded that the two suspects – traveling internationally and appearing…

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As a ‘stumbling’ drunk, Kavanaugh sang, ‘I look like a fool’

As a ‘stumbling’ drunk, Kavanaugh sang, ‘I look like a fool’

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The Washington Post reports: On Monday night, Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh said in a nationally televised interview that in his younger years, he was focused on sports, academics and “service projects.” But it was his comments about drinking that rankled some Yale University classmates, prompting them to speak out for the first time. Liz Swisher, who described herself as a friend of Kavanaugh in college, said she was shocked that — in an interview focused largely on his…

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Brett Kavanaugh and the cruelty of male bonding

Brett Kavanaugh and the cruelty of male bonding

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Lili Loofbourow writes: For what it’s worth, and absent evidence or allegations to the contrary, I believe Brett Kavanaugh’s claim that he was a virgin through his teens. I believe it in part because it squares with some of the oddities I’ve had a hard time understanding about his alleged behavior: namely, that both allegations are strikingly different from other high-profile stories the past year, most of which feature a man and a woman alone. And yet both the Kavanaugh…

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I used to vet judicial nominees. Here’s why Kavanaugh needs the FBI

I used to vet judicial nominees. Here’s why Kavanaugh needs the FBI

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Mike Zubrensky writes: From August 2010 to January 2017, I served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy. In the role, I supervised the vetting of about 300 judicial nominees and reviewed the FBI’s background investigation report for each nominee. We initiated a supplemental investigation of a judicial nominee on numerous occasions. These would occur after the FBI had already conducted basic background vetting, but when there were factual discrepancies in an FBI…

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