WHITE HOUSE APPRENTICE

Trump successfully turns his administration into a spinoff from his TV show: "You're fired! And you're fired!"

https://www.axios.com/trump-acknowledges-disloyal-officials-list-5e7df59a-5f82-445e-8411-56fd49ef0e11.html
Trump acknowledges lists of disloyal government officials to oust 

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-remove-disloyal-officials-good-for-america
Trump Claims Purging Officials Who Are ‘Disloyal’ To Him Is Good For America

[NB: He still can't distinguish "good for me" from "good for the country." When do we get to say "You're fired!" to HIM?]

Why did the stock market plummet?

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-only-part-of-the-story-behind-the-dow-drop-5da5d27f-c2b5-4ce0-9101-21e84533eb13.html
As someone has certainly told you by now, the Dow fell by more than 1,000 points yesterday, its worst day in more than two years, erasing all of 2020's gains. Most news headlines assert that the stock market's momentum was finally broken by "coronavirus fears," but that's not the full story. . . . [read on]

Trump's excuse: it's Bernie's fault! https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/25/trump-says-markets-are-down-over-bernie-sanders-worries/

https://www.axios.com/bernie-sanders-trump-economy-socialism-0f35498b-b2a7-48d8-81b3-ed02962defc7.html

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/25/1921951/-Trump-repeats-Fox-claim-that-falling-markets-are-Bernie-Sanders-fault-not-pandemic-fears

Two things you don't want to hear in the same sentence: "Trump" and "health crisis"

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/25/21152514/trump-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-us-cases-vaccine
Trump says coronavirus is “under control.” It’s not.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/us-coronavirus-outbreak-inevitable-cdc-117389
U.S. coronavirus outbreak inevitable, CDC official says

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hints-coronavirus-vaccine-is-very-close-heres-the-scarier-reality
“Now is the time for businesses, hospitals, communities, and schools to be preparing,” a top U.S. health official said.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/despite-cdc-warning-trump-doesnt-sound-too-concerned-about-coronavirus
President Donald Trump has treated the global coronavirus outbreak like most obstacles in his way — as a messaging opportunity. . . . [read on]

More: https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/sen-kennedy-grills-chad-dhs-his-abysmal
GOP Senator Grills Acting DHS Chief On His Abysmal Ignorance About Coronavirus

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/larry-kudlow-coronavirus-misinformation_n_5e556f11c5b64c1d5620ddb1
National Economic Director Larry Kudlow on Tuesday claimed the coronavirus is “contained” in the United States after public health officials warned earlier in the day that the virus will likely begin spreading throughout the country. . . . 

Trump in India: If we have a trade deal, I win! If we don't have a trade deal, I win!

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/in-india-trump-hails-no-trade-deal-as-a-win-117306

In investigation news . . .

Roger Stone's defense team: "Waaah! We didn't vet the jurors carefully, and ended up with one we didn't like!"

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/stone-defense-admits-they-failed-to-google-potential-jurors-ahead-of-trial

Trump keeps attacking judges -- especially women and minorities

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/stone-hearing-judge-juror-trump-tweet

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/02/25/why-is-trump-attacking-justice-sotomayor/

AG Bill Barr wants to change the FISA rules

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/484570-barr-says-hell-make-surveillance-reforms-after-damning-watchdog

In other news . . .

The Dems have a wild and wooly debate. Sanders as the front runner got attacked, and Bloomberg got his share too. Biden did well. The moderators lost control of the stage. There need to be 3 or 4 people up there, not 7

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/26/a-messy-debate/
A Messy Debate 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/democratic-debate-2020-highlights-key-moments-117540
Dems yell, scold and interrupt in tense South Carolina debate 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484658-candidates-engage-in-most-negative-debate-so-far
Democrats duke it out in most negative debate so far

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/26/debate-democrats-analysis-117655
Democrats needed a good debate, but got a bad one

https://thehill.com/homenews/morning-report/484663-the-hills-morning-report
Sanders takes incoming during intense SC debate

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/26/biden-democratic-debate-117654
Biden finally shows up to the debate stage — just in time

Highlights: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/5-takeaways-south-carolina-democratic-debate_n_5e55ed27c5b649ec432f7710
5 Takeaways  

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484660-five-takeaways-from-the-democratic-debate
Five takeaways 

https://www.axios.com/south-carolina-democratic-debate-takeaways-2f4c1c11-61f2-4838-9be7-9b515b543b4e.html
4 takeaways

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/25/21153585/democratic-debate-highlights-south-carolina-warren-sanders-bloomberg-filibuster
5 key moments

Winners and losers: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/democratic-debate-takeaways-117653

https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/484661-winners-and-losers-from-the-south-carolina-debate

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/25/1922082/-Winners-and-losersfrom-the-South-Carolina-Democratic-debate

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/25/21153608/winners-losers-democratic-debate-south-carolina-cbs  

Hmmm . . .  now Acting DNI Grenell will not replace the staffer who gave the briefing to the House Intel Committee about Russian election interference

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/484631-grenell-asks-top-intel-official-to-remain-in-role-amid-lawmaker 

Trump couldn't get his favorite in as the permanent DNI the first time, because there was a real question whether he could get confirmed. Now Trump wants to try again

https://digbysblog.net/2020/02/john-ratcliffe-bad-penny/ 

Trump hires a college senior for a major position 

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/484641-white-house-hires-college-senior-as-top-trump-official-report

Kid throws rocks (allegedly), gets shot and killed. The Supreme Court rules no consequences for the guy who shot him

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21152643/supreme-court-hernandez-mesa-bivens-border-guard-cross-mexico 

"Religious freedom" is being used to justify bigotry. And the Supreme Court may go along

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21150692/supreme-court-religion-discrimination-lgbtq-foster-fulton-philadelphia-first-amendment 

Mitch McConnell wastes the Senate's time with two extreme anti-abortion bills that were never going to pass

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/25/1922010/-To-hell-with-protecting-the-nation-s-health-Senate-GOP-tried-again-to-legislate-women-s-bodies

A nasty GOP fight in Georgia

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/25/1921923/-The-fight-between-Trump-allies-Sen-Kelly-Loeffler-and-Rep-Doug-Collins-may-be-getting-nastier

An "elderly man baby"

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/trump-moronically-attacks-ginsberg-and 
Trump Moronically Attacks Justices Ginsberg And Sotomayor

Rush Limbaugh is making a fool of himself

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/25/quote-of-the-day-2483/
“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump. Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus…You think I’m wrong about this? You think I’m missing it by saying that’s…Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”
           — Rush Limbaugh 

More: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/484506-limbaugh-claims-coronavirus-is-being-weaponized-to-bring-down-trump

Here's why Trump hates CNN's Jim Acosta. Enjoy

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/jim-acosta-wallops-trump-over-record-truth

Bernie releases a list of how he plans to pay for his proposals. Good. Does it add up?

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484472-biden-camp-hits-sanders-for-incomplete-list-of-how-to-pay-for-proposals

Bernie says AIPAC promotes bigotry

https://www.salon.com/2020/02/25/bernie-sanders-wont-attend-aipac-conference-saying-israel-lobby-provides-platform-for-bigotry/

Bonus item: How to stop Trump . . . with a time machine

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/24/1920614/-Cartoon-It-s-about-time 

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

REVENGE IS TWEET

Payback time

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/24/1921591/-Trump-is-prepping-a-massive-purge-of-officials-seen-as-disloyal
Trump is prepping a massive purge of officials seen as disloyal 

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/white-house-reaction-axios-report-deep-state-hit-list
WH Vows To ‘Take Appropriate Action’ Against Officials Deemed Disloyal

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/lindsey-graham-promises-even-more
Lindsey Graham Promises Even More Investigations Into Trump's 'Enemies' 

More: https://www.vox.com/2020/2/24/21150672/joseph-maguire-trump-dismissed-acting-dni-vacancies-act-explained
WH national security adviser denies reports that Trump was angry over a DNI briefing to lawmakers that Russia is meddling in 2020, with a preference for Trump. “That’s not true. I was in that meeting and the president was not angry with Joe Maguire”...

I asked a senior White House official if Trump really removed Maguire over the Russia briefing. Official didn’t mince words. “That’s absolutely why. Anyone from here on out that opposed POTUS will get fired.”

That bad, I asked? “Yup,” official said. “He’s not f***ing around.”

Here's what you get when you fire anyone you can't get along with

https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/1231630399455010819
“He is on his third chief of staff, his fourth national security adviser, his fourth defense secretary, his fifth secretary of homeland security, his sixth deputy national security adviser and his seventh communications director.”

Now Trump wants his circle of WH advisors to be even smaller -- he doesn't trust anyone else

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/trump-wants-fewer-people-in-the-white-house/

[NB: Soon it will be just him and Jared and Ivanka. But that's not the real point here. The issue isn't his desire to surround himself with "loyalists" -- it's that he plans to continue to do illegal things, especially in his dealings with other countries, and he doesn't want any more witnesses or whistleblowers.]

Talk about thinning out a crowd: here is what Trump's speech in India looked like as he started -- and then what it looked like while he was still speaking

Before: https://twitter.com/Scavino45/status/1231961437276377096

Later: https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1231934511732023297

"Millions and millions" https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-02-24/donald-trump-says-he-expects-millions-and-millions-during-his-india-visit 

Trump speech generator: "X is bigger/better/higher/stronger than ever before"

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/484461-trump-declares-us-india-relationship-stronger-than-ever-before

Trump wants two liberal Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves from any cases involving him. That's absurd, and another example of him refusing to respect the separation of powers

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/484457-trump-suggests-sotomayor-ginsburg-should-have-to-recuse-themselves-on 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supreme-court-recuse_n_5e54c109c5b66729cf615054

In investigation news . . .

Assange lawyers now say that Trump's new DNI was also in the plot

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/24/assange-grenell-intelligence-117244 
Attorneys for Julian Assange, who is fighting a U.S. extradition request on espionage and computer hacking charges, plan to introduce evidence in the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition hearing involving President Donald Trump’s new intel chief Richard Grenell. Gareth Peirce, a lawyer representing Assange in his extradition proceedings in London, plans to argue this week that the process to try to extradite her client was abused from early on. Representatives for Assange’s defense team say they expect to introduce recordings and screenshots of communications of a close Grenell associate, including a secondhand claim that Grenell was acting on the president’s orders. . . . [read on]

AG Bill Barr started interfering with DOJ prosecutors long before the Roger Stone sentencing showdown

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/24/1921702/-Federal-prosecutors-felt-under-seige-by-AG-Barr-s-meddling-months-before-Stone-s-sentencing

In other news . . .

If you haven't seen this: Seven minutes. . . 

https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/13/china-cctv-bbc-reporter/ 

Trump's diet

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/trump-braces-for-beef-free-menu-in-india/
A person close to the president said Trump has salad with a meal every now and then — but other than that, “I have never seen him eat a vegetable.” [read on]

This is what the Trumpification of the conservative movement looks like

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/24/1921702/-Federal-prosecutors-felt-under-seige-by-AG-Barr-s-meddling-months-before-Stone-s-sentencing

Ken Cuccinelli passed the Peter Principle a long time ago

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ken-cuccinelli-coronavirus-map_n_5e54dd40c5b66729cf618d35 
A top official in President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security department and a member of the White House task force on the coronavirus outbreak struggled to find a map of the outbreak on Monday. And he appealed to Twitter for help. . . . 

This actually surprises me

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/484394-trump-trails-democratic-challengers-among-catholic-voters-despite 
Trump trails Democratic challengers among Catholic voters

People are starting to think seriously about Bernie as the potential nominee

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/polls-show-bernie-can-win/
Polls Show Bernie Can Win

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/23/bernie-barrels-super-tuesday-delegate-117028
’Nearly insurmountable’: Bernie barrels toward Super Tuesday delegate windfall

More: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/23/sanders-democratic-establishment-panic-mode-117065
Sanders sends Democratic establishment into panic mode

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/bernie-sanders-nomination-electable-democrats-socialist-unpopular.html
At the heart of Sanders’s campaign is a hard-core socialist vanguard which is indifferent to the Democratic Party except as a potential vessel for the Bernie revolution. Their calculation is perfectly rational. Even if Sanders is likely to lose, the small chance of success is worth the risk to a party they don’t care for to begin with. What is odd is watching rationalizations take hold among a much larger group of progressives who very much do care about denying Trump a second term, and who have explained away the risks of a Sanders nomination with a series of fallacies. . . . [read on]

Bernie had a great victory in Nevada. Why pick this moment to praise Fidel Castro?

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/24/21147388/bernie-sanders-cuba-60-minutes-nicaragua 

More: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/484351-florida-democrat-sanderss-castro-comments-ill-informed-insulting

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484392-sanders-comes-under-fire-for-castro-comments
 

Bernie's "weaknesses"

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/02/24/the-real-hidden-weakness-of-sanders-campaign/

More: https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/sanders-isnt-trumps-challenger-so-much-as-his-sequel/

Here's the fact. Sanders hasn't undergone a really scathing, sustained attack. In 2016 Hillary was afraid to, because she didn't want to alienate his supporters (a lot of whom abandoned her anyway). The current Dem field has been pretty mild with him. And Trump has been openly praiseful at times (you have to ask yourself WHY, when you look at how he talks about every other candidate).

But there is no doubt that the day he becomes the nominee Bernie would get the very worst that the GOP slime machine can dish out -- and any Sanders supporter who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention. Barack Obama, gentleman pol, was attacked as a MUSLIM BORN IN KENYA. What will they say about an avowed socialist who honeymooned in the Soviet Union and has kind words to say about Castro?

But we might not need to wait. Michael Bloomberg, who couldn't care less about garnering Bernie's support, is loading up the cannon. He may not ever become the nominee himself, but he is aiming to make sure that Sanders isn't

https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/bloomberg-prepares-media-onslaught-against-sanders/

More: https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/02/why-bernie-sanders-should-welcome-negative-ads-against-him/

[NB: Some readers have been a little hard on me for not being more pro-Bernie. If I am a "progressive," isn't the test of that supporting the most progressive candidate since Norman Thomas? I don't mind the criticism, but no -- I reject the premise of that critique. There is no point in promoting a progressive candidate who can't win, when the alternative is Trump. There is no point in running on a platform of positions that will never, ever, ever pass. There is no point in making litmus-test judgments that divide the party into "with us or against us" camps. I am a progressive AND I am a pragmatist, and though I could certainly be wrong I think that Sanders will be an electoral catastrophe, including no ability (or inclination, as far as I can see) to support down-ballot candidates who could win the Senate and who need to keep the House. Argue with that if you want to.]
 
Is Elizabeth Warren the best prospect as a Bernie alternative?

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/24/1921456/-Elizabeth-Warren-is-the-only-candidate-who-can-stop-Bernie-Sanders-if-that-s-really-your-goal

Black voters in South Carolina are abandoning Joe Biden for . . . Tom Steyer?

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/484254-biden-blames-steyer-for-drop-in-south-carolina-african-american

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/reports-clyburn-to-endorse-biden-as-former-vps-lead-with-black-voters-shrinks

More: https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/24/steyer-stirs-debate-over-payments-in-south-carolina/

Bonus item: John Oliver on Michael Bloomberg

https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-urges-the-country-to-not-vote-for-mike-bloomberg

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***