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The Dictatorship

California governor invites Trump to tour devastation for himself

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California governor invites Trump to tour devastation for himself

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has invited President-elect Donald Trump to survey the damage from the Los Angeles wildfires personally and to meet with victims as the incoming president continues to cast blame on Newsom and other Democrats.

In a letter to Trump posted to social media on Friday, Newsom noted their joint 2018 tour of the ruins of the Camp and Woolsey fires. “As you prepare to assume the presidency once more, I invite you to come to California again — to meet with the Americans affected by these fires, see the devastation firsthand, and join me and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line,” Newsom wrote.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” he added.

Trump has seized on the deadly wildfires to attack Newsomone of his longtime Democratic targets. He has made false accusations against the governor over California’s water management and attributed the fires to Democratic “incompetence.”

Newsom in turn has bristled at Trump’s remarks at a time when his state is in the midst of a dire crisis.

“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down,” Newsom told CNN on air Wednesday as structures burned behind him. “This guy wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won’t.”

As of Saturday, at least 11 people are confirmed dead from the fires, and some of the largest blazes are still burning even as adverse weather conditions over the weekend threaten to spread the fires further.

Clarissa-Jan Lim

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking/trending news blogger for BLN Digital. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

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The Dictatorship

BREAKING: Delta flight arriving in Toronto from Minneapolis upside down on runway

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BREAKING: Delta flight arriving in Toronto from Minneapolis upside down on runway
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The Dictatorship

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The Dictatorship

Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse

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Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse

As last week got underway, it was clear that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon was off to an unfortunate start. When the former Fox News host arrived at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany, for example, he faced heckling and protests from military families.

“Protests by military families against a defense secretary are extremely rare,” NBC News reported.

As it turns out, this was among the best moments for Hegseth during his trip abroad.

The day after facing military families’ derision, the hapless Pentagon chief publicly said it was “unrealistic” to think Russia wouldn’t keep portions of Ukraine it took by force. He added that Ukrainian membership in NATO wouldn’t happen. It was a dramatic misstep: Before negotiations on a possible peace plan even began, Hegseth was already giving Russia what it wanted.

The mistake did not go unnoticed. Not only were U.S. allies taken aback, but Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chided the defense secretary of making a “rookie mistake.”

Hegseth tried to backpedal a day later, distancing himself from “something that was stated as part of my remarks” — a passive voice phrase for the ages — but around the same time, the Pentagon chief launched into some terribly odd comments about the use of force. “We can talk all we want about values. Values are important,” Hegseth said in widely derided comments. “But you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches.”

The unscripted comments appeared to reflect someone who was simply in over his head.

Making matters worse, as my BLN colleague Ja’han Jones noteHegseth apparently thought it’d also be a good idea to bring right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec with him on the overseas trip. Politico reported soon after that the activist “was in the room” when Hegseth “greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their private meeting.”

The report added“Posobiec — whose record of far-right activism includes promoting conspiracy theories and associating with white nationalists — has long been a controversial figure, and would have been considered fringe during prior administrations. But now, he’s in position to bear witness to key moments on one of the world’s most consequential issues.”

As the dust settled on the secretary’s trip, The New York Times reported“In all, it was a bruising, 72-hour crash course in the geopolitical realities of a job that critics complain Mr. Hegseth, a 44-year-old former National Guard infantryman and Fox News host, is unqualified to hold.”

It’s important, of course, to hold Hegseth accountable for his own failures, but let’s not forget that Trump bears responsibility for nominating the former television personality; JD Vance bears responsibility for ensuring the secretary’s confirmation; and 50 Senate Republicans bear responsibility overlooking Hegseth’s scandals, inexperience and bizarre ideology.

Steve legs

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

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