I realize that Tony Soprano is wearing Italian spiral sausages, not sausage links, but they’re close enough. Besides, the look of disgust on his snooty mother-in-law’s face made it a must post featured image. Lady, your daughter married a gangster, what did you expect?
That was how I began a 2024 link post and I couldn’t top it for meaty humor, so I repeated it. You’ve heard the old line about Pete and Repeat, right? Even though I go by Peter not Pete, I don’t mind repeating myself.
Six packs are associated with beer, not sausages but what’s a little artistic license among friends? It’s time to stop grinding the sausage and encase it for your perusal. I’m not sure if that analogy works but I’m safe since there’s no such thing as the analogy police.
We begin our link fest with a trio of pieces about the personalist grifting of the Trump crime family.
Grifter’s Paradise: Donald Junior got married in the Bahamas. The Insult Comedian skipped the nuptials. Nobody ever said he was a good father. He does enough for his namesake by letting him feed at the MAGA troth.
It turns out that a Russian oligarch close to Putin not only attended the wedding but paid for chunks of it. His name is Umar Kremlev, a name that evokes the Kremlin or a kruller. He’s a “generous” guy who Bettina Trump describes as a close friend. Oy just oy.
People don’t do “favors” like this without expecting something in return.
Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski have the details at PROPUBLICA.
Does this make Don Junior’s new wife a Bahama Mama? Discuss amongst yourselves to the bass stylings of Alphonso Johnson:
Jared Kushner’s Dollar Diplomacy: Jared Kushner looks like just another pasty white boy with a poker face but his father-in-law thinks he’s a master negotiator. He’s been dispatched to deal with some of the world’s trickiest problems among them Gaza and the Iran War. These efforts have failed but his attempts to capitalize on his position have succeeded. He’s raking in the dough while failing upward.
The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins has the details.
Just change million to billion and Jared’s your crooked son-in-law:
Empire Of Grift: Our third anti-corruption piece comes from the estimable Anne Applebaum. She takes us on a crook’s tour of the world of corruption that has been aided and abetted by MAGA foreign policy. Nothing is sacred, everything is for sale.
For the details, get thee to The Atlantic.
The Curious Case Of The Charlottesville Neo-Nazi Marcher: Marshall Rawson was one of the guys shouting “Jews must not replace us” in 2017. In 2026, he’s poised to win a seat in the Florida lege.
Nobody on the Republican side has denounced the man or his candidacy. I’m old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan and Poppy Bush denounced Gret Stet Fuhrer Wannabe David Duke for running as a Republican. Rawson is the kind of guy who celebrates Duke’s birthday. It makes me wanna, well, puke.
Christopher Mathias has the details at TPM.
Let’s cross the pond for a historical long read from The Guardian.
The Register Of British Slave Traders is the culmination of years of research into the UK’s sordid slavery story. The list includes monarchs, MPs and merchants; some known, others obscure. But they’re all infamous.
David Conn has the details at The Guardian.
Let’s close on a more positive note with a tribute to Gloria Steinem by her friend and Ms. Magazine colleague, Letty Cottin Pogrebin.
What Was Gloria Steinem Really Like? The glorious Gloria was kind, thoughtful, generous, and eager to share the spotlight. That makes her the opposite in every way of the Current Occupant of The White House. We need more Glorias and fewer Donalds.
Ms. Pogrebin has the details at the Gray Lady.
The last word goes to Bill McGarvey: