Michael Tomasky/Daily Beast (if still behind a paywall, won’t be in a day):
How Trump's Parade of Lies Finally Caught Up With Him
Iran blinked, but Trump got no credit for it and for good reason: He’s devalued the authority of his position speaking for America with his endless stream of lies.
At any rate, the American informed the Frenchman that U.S. intelligence services had in recent days taken some shocking photos of Soviet missiles being placed in Cuba. The American had on the table before him a file folder filled with surveillance photos. He went to push it in the direction of the Frenchman (whom I’ll now just call de Gaulle for the sake of simplicity).
“No,” said President de Gaulle, according to Brzezinksi. “I don’t need to see these photos. If the President of the United States says it, that’s good enough for me.” He pushed the folder back toward Bohlen, unexamined.
Brzezinski paused. “Could you imagine,” he asked his gobsmacked audience, “a foreign leader reacting that way today?”
The answer of course was no—this was at a time when the Bush administration was talking about Saddam Hussein and mushroom clouds and other sheer, factless pieces of propaganda; and when it was bullying and browbeating rotating members of the U.N. Security Council, notably Mexico and Chile, to get on board to support a war resolution or else.
But compared to today, George W. Bush seems almost credible, and 2002 quaint.
ABC:
Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, feel less safe after strike: POLL
Overall attitudes about Trump and the consequences of his actions against Iran largely were driven by Independents, a critical target for both parties in electoral politics. The poll showed a majority of Independents, 57%, and all U.S. adults, 56%, disapproving of Trump's handling of the situation with Iran, with 43% of both Independents and U.S. adults approving.
Trump is lying again. He always lies.
NY Times:
Seven Days in January: How Trump Pushed U.S. and Iran to the Brink of War
The story of that week, and the secret planning in the months preceding it, ranks as the most perilous chapter so far in President Trump’s three years in office.
The president’s decision to ratchet up decades of simmering conflict with Iran set off an extraordinary worldwide drama, much of which played out behind the scenes. In capitals from Europe to the Middle East, leaders and diplomats sought to head off a full-fledged new war while at the White House and Pentagon, the president and his advisers ordered more troops to the region.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler was so alarmed he dispatched his brother to Washington for a clandestine meeting with Mr. Trump. European leaders, incensed at being kept in the dark, scrambled to keep Iran from escalating. If it did, Americans developed plans to strike a command-and-control ship and conduct a cyberattack to partly disable Iran’s oil and gas sector.
Check the impeachment polling from Civiqs on top, and then there’s MSN:
Molly Jong-Fast/Daily Beast:
Women Really Need to See Harvey Weinstein’s A** Nailed to the Wall
Harvey Weinstein is sorry, so sorry, he got caught. Harvey Weinstein is not going to beg his 80-plus accusers for forgiveness. No, Harvey Weinstein has decided that he’s gonna try and beat the rap. And look, it’s worked for numerous powerful men in the past.
Our president had at least 23 sexual assault allegations against him. Weinstein is making a political calculation that like impeachment, sexual assault (and rape) are political battles fought in the court of public opinion. The good news for these women is that unlike Trump, who has the MAGA army on his side, Harvey Weinstein doesn’t have a cult to defend him.
But sadly that doesn’t mean he won’t get away with it.
Powerful, affluent men have been getting away with rape and sexual assault and sexual harassment since the dawn of time. In fact, it’s actually more unusual for men like Harvey Weinstein to be held responsible than it is for them to not.
To make that point even further, MIT is coming to grips with its Jeffrey Epstein problem:
The fact-finding has taken four months – longer than what was initially expected. As detailed in the report, the process expanded as new facts were found. The report being made public today makes for uncomfortable reading, especially for all of us who love MIT and are dedicated to its mission.
The Committee is troubled that MIT had a relationship with Epstein and that it was moreextensive and lasted longer than has been publicly reported. The solicitation of donations led to multiple campus visits by Epstein that involved various faculty members and, in at least one visit,some students. All of this was fundamentally incompatible with MIT’s values and flew in the face of the community’s ongoing efforts to combat sexual assault and abuse, and to address broader issues related to gender and power.
The Committee is disappointed by the errors in judgment in accepting donations from Epstein and in keeping them secret. While it is true that MIT did not have in place a policy for vetting controversial donors or accepting money from them, the report makes clear there were multiple opportunities to stop the Epstein donations and halt efforts by Joi Ito and Seth Lloyd to cultivate him as a donor. It is regrettable that no one with the knowledge, opportunity and the authority to do so stepped up to end the Epstein funding.
Richard Galant/CNN:
Cracks emerge in Trump's wall of GOP support
Some cracks emerged last week in the formerly solid wall of Republican support for President Donald Trump. They were small in number -- and dwarfed by the vast pro-Trump majority on the right. Whether they will matter in the long run is another question. But they were surprising nonetheless:
Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom GQ has called the "Trumpiest congressman," was among three Republicans voting for a resolution Thursday to require Trump to gain congressional approval for any more military action against Iran. He joined the Democrats who, as historian Jeremi Suri put it, "are shining a bright light on abuses of presidential military power."
GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah called a Wednesday briefing from Trump administration officials after the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani the "worst briefing I've had on a military issue" during his nine years in the Senate and called it "un-American" and "unacceptable." Sen. Rand Paul agreed: "An insult to the Constitution," he told reporters.
And Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who Trump has called one of his "great, great friends in the media," lambasted the President's decision to approve the drone strike that killed Soleimani in Iraq. Dean Obeidallah wrote, "This is the worst possible time for Trump to have cracks in his base."
John Fea/USA Today:
'Evangelicals for Trump' was an awful display by supposed citizens of the Kingdom of God
Trump mocked his enemies, trafficked in half-truths, instilled fear and expressed zero humility. My fellow evangelicals loved every minute of it.
I have spent my entire adult life in the evangelical community. I had a born-again experience when I was 16 and never looked back. I teach history at a Christian college with evangelical roots. As a historian, I study American evangelicalism.
But I have never seen anything like what I witnessed as I watched President Donald Trump speak to a few thousand of his evangelical supporters at King Jesus International Ministry, a largely Hispanic megachurch in Miami, during the kickoff to his “Evangelicals for Trump” campaign.
It is no coincidence that this rally took place two weeks after Christianity Today, the historic voice of moderate evangelicalism, called for Trump’s removal from office. The magazine’s editor, Mark Galli, described the president's character as “grossly immoral” and warned his fellow evangelicals that their ardent support was damaging to their Christian witness.