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PBC News & Comment, 1.16.20: Lev Parnas Is The New John Dean

Your humble host covered Watergate, and sees interesting parallels, starting with Lev Parnas in role similar to whistleblower John Dean…–Dean was critical Watergate witness who had told Nixon about a “cancer on the presidency”; Lev Parnas exposes the Trump-Giuliani chain of command and all of the team members, including VP Pence and AG Barr

–from the PBC tax deductible music archives, John Landecker’s “Make a Date With The Watergate” find it here at the 3-minute mark

–as a frequent critic of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, PBC recommends her excellent January 15 interview with Parnas, watch it here

–at The Intercept, Lee Fang reveals the dark side of Robert Hyde, who is a bit like Martha Mitchell, the boozy wife of the attorney general who went to jail

–at WashPost, Philp Bump comments on Parnas’ handwritten notes

–the impeachment ritual has occurred; articles delivered to Senate, Chief Justice serves up oaths that will be widely violated

–just before the impeachment drama, Senate passed NAFTA 2.0 89-10

–BIG SURPRISE at WashPost….2 positive op-eds about Sanders in one day!  David Byler and Megan McArdle

–on the CNN Iowa debate, Matt Taibbi calls CNN “villainous and shameful” and Kevin Gosztola notes the roles of Clinton allies

–and here is a bizarre take from identity-politics-delusionist Virginia Heffernan

The Intercept reviews 2017 debate over Iran sanctions, and Sanders was the only Demprez candidate to vote no

–Sanders was one of 10 senators who voted against NAFTA 2.0 today

–China’s response to Phase 1 deal signed yesterday is muted, as experts say the deal could make things worse for US

–Germany confirms Trump used tariff threat to prod Europeans to dispute Iran nuclear agreement, as Rouhani threatens Europe

Dem Sens. Leahy and van Hollen demand that Trump impose sanctions on Egypt for death of American taxi driver held since 2013

–NYC commission announces plan to help taxi drivers trapped in exploitive loans used to buy medallions, made worthless by Uber

–reporter Abby Martin’s talk at Georgia Southern U was cancelled after she refused to sign pledge not to support BDS

–former hardline DHS secretary Kirtjen Nielsen was abused by Trump for not being tough enough

–Virginia is 38th state to (finally) pass Equal Rights Amendment

–FBI arrests 3 men from neo-Nazi group The Base, alleging they planned violence at Monday’s pro-gun rally in Richmond