The Commentariat -- February 26, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia approved the plan for operatives to assassinate the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to a previously classified intelligence report released on Friday, a step by the Biden administration to remind the world of the brutal killing and temper relations with the Saudi government. Much of the evidence the C.I.A. used to draw that conclusion remains classified, including recordings of Mr. Khashoggi's killing and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that were obtained by Turkish intelligence. But the report does outline who carried out the killing, describe what Prince Mohammed knew about the operation and lay out how the C.I.A. concluded that he ordered it and bears responsibility for Mr. Khashoggi's death. The release of the report also signaled that President Biden, unlike his predecessor, would not set aside the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and that his administration intended to attempt to isolate the crown prince, although it will avoid any measures that would threaten ties to the kingdom.... The Biden administration also announced penalties against Saudi officials, including a travel ban and freezing of assets of the kingdom's former intelligence chief and sanctions against members of a paramilitary unit that took part in the assassination." An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The unclassified report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), confirmed classified conclusions reached by the CIA just weeks after the killing of the dissident writer, a Virginia resident and contributing columnist for The Washington Post.... The State Department ... announced a new visa restriction policy against anyone 'acting on behalf of a foreign government' involved in 'serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities.' But in a reflection of what officials described as the complications of bilateral relations with a traditional partner nation, the restrictions will not be applied against the 35-year-old crown prince.... Failure to impose direct penalties on Mohammed is not likely to sit well with lawmakers who for years have pushed for him to be held accountable.... Donald Trump, who had also been briefed [on the classified report], continued to [MB: falsely] insist there were no firm conclusions, asking, 'Well, will anybody really know?'... In an early 2019 measure..., Congress demanded that the ODNI produce an unclassified report of U.S. intelligence conclusions, including names of involved Saudi officials at all levels, and passed legislation giving the administration 30 days to release it. For the next two years, Trump ignored the law, while he and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner..., continued to develop a close relationships with Mohammed."

"Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!" Carol Lee & Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "When senators arrived at the Senate gym on Wednesday morning, they found that one of them had taped memes on the lockers welcoming [Ted] Cruz home and showing him in the short-sleeve polo shirt, jeans and Texas-flag mask that he had at the airport, according to two people familiar with the prank. 'Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!' was the 'welcome back' message typed at the top of the color printouts.... The rendering featured a manipulated photo of Cruz from his well-documented trip to Mexico, dragging his luggage across an arctic landscape while holding a tropical cocktail garnished with a slice of fruit in his other hand. He is shown walking toward an image of a masked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. with his arms crossed and wearing striped, knitted gloves -- a pose famously captured during January's inauguration."

Garance Burke, et al., of the AP: "A faction of local, county and state Republican officials is pushing lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories that echo those that helped inspire the violent U.S. Capitol siege, online messaging that is spreading quickly through GOP ranks fueled by algorithms that boost extreme content. The Associated Press reviewed public and private social media accounts of nearly 1,000 federal, state, and local elected and appointed Republican officials nationwide, many of whom have voiced support for the Jan. 6 insurrection or demanded that the 2020 presidential election be overturned, sometimes in deleted posts or now-removed online forums." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to CNN, CPAC has at least one breakout session dedicated to the Big Lie. Its main topic is something like "How Democrats Stole the 2020 Election" & there are subheadings that further break down the Big Lie, which is being presented as a Big Truth. Is there such a thing as "collective insanity"?

~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara Starr & Oren Liebermann of CNN: "The US military struck a site in Syria on Thursday used by two Iranian-backed militia groups following rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks, according to a US official. The strikes mark the military's first known action under President Joe Biden. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks, but were believed to be used by Iranian-backed Shia militias operating in the region. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the strikes took place 'at President Biden's direction' and were authorized not just to respond to recent attacks against American and coalition forces, but to deal with 'ongoing threats to those personnel.' Kirby said that Biden conducted the strikes after consulting with US allies, including coalition partners." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Qassim Abdul-Zahra of the AP: "A U.S. airstrike in Syria targeted facilities belonging to a powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, killing one of their militiamen and wounding a number of others, an Iraqi militia official said Friday. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.... Syria war monitoring groups said the strikes hit trucks moving weapons to a base for Iranian-backed militias in Boukamal."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Biden spoke for the first time Thursday with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, following weeks of speculation that relations were headed for a deep freeze as Biden has criticized Saudi human rights abuses, canceled arms sales to the kingdom and scheduled the imminent release of a U.S. intelligence report implicating Salman's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A White House statement after the call stepped carefully around the divisive issues, saying the two discussed 'renewed diplomatic efforts' to end the war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have died in Saudi air attacks using U.S.-supplied missiles." ~~~

~~~ Margaret Brennan & Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "The Biden administration is preparing a new policy that it will unveil following the imminent public release of a U.S. intelligence report regarding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, three sources confirm to CBS News. The policy guidelines will lay out consequences for future attacks on journalists working for U.S. outlets. It will put foreign governments in the U.S. government's crosshairs if they target journalists like Khashoggi, who was a Washington Post contributing columnist and U.S. resident. The directive will apply to all foreign governments...."

Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune: "President Joe Biden plans visit Texas on Friday in the wake of extensive winter storm damage in the state. The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston, according to a White House announcement." MB: Biden will meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The two are not exactly best buds. #CancunCruz, however, won't be in Texas, as usual. He's going to DisneyWorld! Ted is speaking at CPAC today, which is being held in Orlando, Florida; the "conference" of confederates usually gathers in D.C., but organizers moved it to Florida because of Florida's lax Covid-19 standards. Shouldn't Ted get some kind of Best Senate Vacationer award?

Axios: "The Senate voted 64-35 on Thursday to confirm former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the Department of Energy.... Granholm, only the second woman to head the department, will play a key role in President Biden's efforts to accelerate the U.S. shift to clean energy and help other countries do the same. Granholm said she hopes to strengthen solar and wind power usage, and to boost the development of clean-energy technologies, like electric vehicles." MB: Tolja senators prefer blondes. (Also linked yesterday.)

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Sen. John Kennedy apologized on Thursday for calling President Joe Biden's Interior Department nominee, Deb Haaland, a 'whack job.' The Louisiana Republican said he regretted the remark about Haaland, explaining that he was searching for another word [-- 'extremist' --] before calling her 'a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.'... His apology comes after women's rights activists and progressive Democrats spoke out to defend Biden's nominees of color, in the face of what they saw as a double standard applied to the aspiring budget chief's teetering nomination." MB: IOW, Kennedy considers falsely calling a member of Congress a "neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin extremist." to be A-OK. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS Secretary, in a Washington Post op-ed: "For several years, the United States has been suffering an upsurge in domestic violent extremism. The horror of seeing the U.S. Capitol, one of the pillars of our democracy, attacked on Jan. 6 was a brutal example of our suffering, and it compels us all to action.... I have designated domestic violent extremism as a National Priority Area for the first time, and will require state and local governments to spend 7.5 percent of their DHS grant awards combating this threat.... Americans have witnessed the costs of allowing politics to pervade intelligence. Since Inauguration Day, DHS has increased the development, production, and sharing of intelligence and other information central to countering domestic violent extremism." (Also linked yesterday.)

Defending the Capitol While Black. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The racist slurs hurled at Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer, during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol were cited as evidence this month in the Senate's impeachment trial of ... Donald J. Trump. Until this week, Officer Dunn had remained anonymous. Now, Officer Dunn, 37, who is Black and is a 13-year veteran of the force, and who grew up in nearby Prince George's County, Md., is ready to speak publicly about the violence and racism he experienced at the hands of a pro-Trump mob during that grim day in American history. Standing 6-foot-7 with a muscular frame, Officer Dunn is an imposing figure, but he says the bigotry and trauma he experienced that day were enough to intimidate anyone. Now that he is talking about his experience, he says other Black officers have told him that they, too, experienced racist slurs from the mob." Dunn's interview follows. Definitely worth reading.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Capitol Police is keeping its security posture high in response to intelligence that indicates some extremists who joined the Jan. 6 insurrection have discussed plans to attack the building during the State of the Union, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed Thursday. The chatter among extremists about trying to blow up the Capitol during the still-unscheduled presidential address, Pittman said, has prompted the Capitol Police to maintain the elevated presence it has kept since last month's riot.... 'We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desire that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible, with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,' Pittman said during testimony to a House Appropriations subcommittee.... Pittman said existing intelligence has underscored that insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol 'weren't only interested in attacking members and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.'... ~~~

"Pittman said she pulled former chief Steven Sund's phone records and confirmed he reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms at 12:58 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Sund has told lawmakers that he first reached out at 1:09 p.m. -- a timeline that one former sergeant-at-arms disputed in Senate testimony this week.... Former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving told senators he did not hear from Sund until 1:28 p.m. and that no formal request for National Guard assistance was lodged until after 2 p.m. Pittman's testimony appears to back up the narrative shared by Sund, who resigned shortly after violent insurrectionists threatened the presidential transfer of power." (Also linked yesterday.) MB: "The Capitol Police is" or "The Capitol Police are"? ~~~

~~~ The New York Times story, by Luke Broadwater, is here.

Adam Rawnsley, et al., of the Daily Beast: "A pickup truck parked at the United States Capitol and bearing a Three Percenter militia sticker on the day of the Jan. 6 riot belongs to the husband of freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, who approvingly quoted Adolf Hitler a day earlier.... In an email to The Daily Beast, Chris Miller, Rep. Miller's husband and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, conceded the truck belonged to him even as he pleaded ignorance about the militia group.... He says he 'never was member' of the militia and 'didn't know anything about 3% till fake news started this fake story and read about them.'... The link between the truck and Rep. Miller was first reported on Twitter on Thursday by the @capitolhunters account, which is organizing research about rioters seen in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from a large community of volunteers reviewing thousands of hours of footage.... Mary Miller, a Republican, is perhaps best known for speaking at a 'Moms for America' rally in front of the Capitol one day before the riot. 'Hitler was right on one thing: whoever has the youth has the future,' she told the crowd. She later apologized for the remarks...."

Yet Another Cost of Treason. Eric Flack, et al., of WUSA (D.C.): "More than 200 people now face local and federal charges in connection with the Capitol riot.... A WUSA9 analysis of cases currently filed in connection with the Capitol riot found more than 60 defendants who have already been granted taxpayer-funded representation either through the federal public defender's office or private counsel appointed through the Criminal Justice Act -- a 1964 law passed by Congress to ensure federal defendants had adequate legal representation as guaranteed by the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It's a law that will now help defend people accused of assaulting the very chambers where it was passed.... So many public defenders have been requested by and granted to defendants in the Capitol Riot, the Federal Public Defenders office is running out of staff, forcing judges to appoint court appointed counsel under the Criminal Justice Act." Bernie Grimm, a former federal prosecutor, says the costs for their defense will run in the millions of dollars.

Felicia Sonmez & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "The House voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time, Democrats control the White House, House and Senate.... It still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.... The legislation would amend federal civil rights laws to ensure protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and other areas. It is a top legislative priority of [President] Biden, who in a statement last week called the bill 'a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.'" ~~~

~~~ Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing sharp criticism after she posted an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child. The antagonizing move by Greene comes as the House is expected to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against LGTBQ Americans, later Thursday, after the Georgia Republican's attempt to block the act failed on Wednesday. It also follows a string of incendiary statements and actions by the freshman Georgia congresswoman.... Illinois Rep. Marie Newman, whose daughter is transgender, posted a video on Twitter of her hanging the pink and blue transgender pride flag outside her office Wednesday afternoon, captioning that Greene tried to block the act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is "disgusting, immoral, and evil,' adding, 'thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door' with winking and transgender flag emojis. That evening, Greene retweeted Newman's post and added a video of her hanging a sign that reads 'There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE ...Trust The Science!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the lead. RAS asks, "Can you guess which [post] Facebook removed?" CBS News Chicago/CNN: "... on Thursday, as Facebook temporarily removed a video Newman posted showing her displaying the transgender pride flag outside her office on Capitol Hill, labeling it as 'hate speech.' However, Facebook did not remove a video Greene posted showing her hanging an anti-transgender sign at the Capitol.... Facebook later restored the video, and the social media giant's policy communications director, Andy Stone, apologized for mistakenly flagging it as hate speech. 'Congresswoman, this plainly should not have happened. We've restored this content and you have our sincere apologies,' Stone wrote in a Twitter post." Thanks to RAS for the lead here, too. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "Tax records that ... Donald Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney. Prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, according to a source, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's last-ditch effort to keep the records private. The millions of pages of documents, sources say, contain Trump's tax returns spanning from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents relating to the preparation and review of tax returns, and work papers and communications related to the tax returns." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here. MB: Not sure if this is a forensic accountant's dream or nightmare.

Boehner's Audio Book Is Better than the Print Edition. Alayna Treene & Jonathan Swan of Axios: "John Boehner has been going off script while recording the audio version of his new memoir, using expletives and asides not in the book -- such as the former Republican House speaker saying, 'Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f[uc]k yourself.'... The book is appropriately titled, 'On the House: A Washington Memoir.' It promises to share 'colorful tales from the halls of power, the smoke-filled rooms around the halls of power and his fabled tour bus.'"

The Devil & Rush Limbaugh. Via Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Allyson Waller & Juliet Macur of the New York Times: "The sexual abuse crisis that has shaken American gymnastics deepened on Thursday when a coach of the 2012 women's Olympic team was charged with human trafficking and sexually assaulting a teenage girl, before killing himself a short time later. The charges against the coach and gym owner, John Geddert, once again highlighted the dark side of the marquee Olympic sport that was revealed in the investigation and conviction of Lawrence G. Nassar, the former United States national team doctor, who abused hundreds of girls and women. The Geddert case grew out of the Nassar investigation and Mr. Geddert was suspended by U.S.A. Gymnastics in 2018 after being accused of abuse. He announced his retirement days later. The accusations against Mr. Geddert, 63, revealed a previously unreported level of abuse at the hands of a coach who helped the 2012 team to a gold medal and had worked closely with Mr. Nassar." A CNN story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd., Etc.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments are here.

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Joe Biden said on Thursday that 50 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered across the US since he took office last month, outpacing his administration's goal to distribute 100m shots in his first 100 days in office. The moment came days after the US reached the devastating milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths -- far more than any other country in the world -- and before a meeting with America's governors on plans to speed vaccine distribution even further. 'The more people get vaccinated, the faster we're going to beat this pandemic,' Biden said at [a] White House ceremony, noting that his administration is on course to exceed his promise to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office." MB: President Biden & Dr. Jill Biden plan to visit a federally-funded mass vaccination center in Houston today.

Millions and millions of Republicans, who don't think Joe Biden won the election, support his Covid relief package. -- David Plouffe, on MSNBC Thursday afternoon ~~~

~~~ Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "In Washington, Republicans stand united in opposition to President Biden's first major legislative proposal, a $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan that they have labeled a bloated, budget-busting 'blue state bailout.'... While congressional Republicans take a scattershot approach to try to undermine the legislation, mayors and governors in their party push for the plan, saying their states and cities need the federal aid to keep police officers on their beats, reopen schools and help small businesses. Polling shows a significant number of Republican voters agree: More than four in 10 Republicans back Mr. Biden's aid package, according to polling from the online research firm SurveyMonkey for The New York Times. Over all, 72 percent of Americans said they supported the bill, a number that includes 97 percent of Democrats."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Democrats suffered a critical defeat in their bid to preserve President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday after the Senate's top rule enforcer said a plan to increase the federal minimum wage could not advance as part of it, effectively knocking out a crucial piece of his plan backed by progressives. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, told senators and staff that the provision, which would gradually increase the wage to $15 an hour by 2025, violated the strict budgetary rules that limit what can be included in the package, two aides said on Thursday. The aides disclosed the ruling on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on it. The House is expected to vote on the $1.9 trillion package as early as Friday, with the wage increase included, and it was not clear whether the decision would alter their plans. But it gave Republicans grounds to jettison the provision when the Senate considers the stimulus measure...." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, By the Way. Kelly Tyko of USA Today: "Costco is raising its minimum wage to $16 an hour, leapfrogging competitors including Target, Best Buy and Amazon. Costco CEO Craig Jelinek announced the increase Thursday at a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing on worker wages at large companies.... 'Since Costco's inception, the company has been committed to paying the employees very competitive retail wages and providing them broad and affordable health care benefits,' Jelinek said. 'Two years ago, we moved our starting hourly wage to $15 everywhere in the U.S. Effective next week, the starting wage will go to $16.' But the membership-based wholesale chain already is paying many of its 180,000 U.S. workers a much higher rate. Jelinek said the average wage for hourly workers is around $24 per hour. ~~~

     ~~~ Alina Selyukh of NPR: "'I want to note this isn't altruism,' [CEO Craig] Jelinek said. 'At Costco we know that paying employees good wages ... makes sense for our business and constitutes a significant competitive advantage for us. It helps us in the long run by minimizing turnover and maximizing employee productivity.'" ~~~

     ~~~ BUT GOP Senators Are Too Damned Dumb. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "A lot of arguments are being presented for and against the [$15/hour minimum wage].... But then there is that rhetoric that derives from the experiences of some of the most elite people in the world. Take Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). He tweeted his rationale for opposing such an increase. 'I started working by bussing tables at the Star Family Restaurant for $1/hour & slowly moved up to cook -- the big leagues for a kid like me-- to earn $6/hour. Businesses in small towns survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business,' [he tweeted].... Thune [is] appealing to his own experience of having earned $6 an hour [in 1979] as though that shows that the same wage should be sufficient now, when in reality it's the equivalent of nearly $23 in 2021 dollars.... Relying on a 40-year-old understanding of the buying power of the minimum wage is a good way to demonstrate a remarkably limited grasp of the American economy." ~~~

     ~~~ John Thune's Log-Cabin Story. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Mr. Thune has been rightly and roundly roasted for innumeracy.... On the merits, Mr. Thune ought to endorse a higher minimum wage. Instead, Mr. Thune and his allies are preventing the Senate from passing a bill that would make employers give millions of Americans a long overdue raise. They keep telling stories like Mr. Thune's to explain their opposition.... Mr. Thune is drawing the wrong lessons from his own life.... [The minimum wage] now stands at $7.25 an hour, worth roughly 40 percent less than in 1969.... If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would now be about $12 an hour. If it had kept pace with productivity growth, the minimum would top $24 an hour.... Mr. Thune's invocation of his own log-cabin story also trades on the widely shared misconception that minimum-wage jobs are a gateway to better pay.... Most workers who earn less than $15 an hour are adults in their prime working years, between the ages of 25 and 54. And millions of Americans remain in low-wage jobs throughout their careers."

Konstantin Toropin & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional.... US District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by ... President Donald Trump to the court in the Eastern District of Texas, stopped short of issuing a preliminary injunction, but said he expected the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respect his ruling and withdraw the moratorium. 'The federal government cannot say that it has ever before invoked its power over interstate commerce to impose a residential eviction moratorium. It did not do so during the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic. Nor did it invoke such a power during the exigencies of the Great Depression. The federal government has not claimed such a power at any point during our Nation's history until last year,' Barker wrote. Although the Covid-19 pandemic persists, he said, 'so does the Constitution.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Comments

[Akhilleus]

Down in Texas—where the fuck else?— current home of medieval stupidity and cruelty, a federal judge appointed by a fat real estate fraudster and liar, has ruled that landlords can start tossing those tenants out on the street who have lost their jobs and billions in income because that same fat fuck turbocharged a pandemic that has killed half a million people.

The ruling states that a moratorium on evictions is “unconstitutional”. Funny how these charlatans only wield the constitutional cudgel when it benefits the rich and the connected.

And this is a red flag warning that there will be much more of this sort of cruelty because Treason Turtle rammed through every Nazi pig put up for lifetime federal judgeships demanded by the most criminal, cruel, and vindictive liar to ever benefit from a stolen election.

Fatty may be on the golf course a lot more these days, but his “judges” are the ones who’ll be whacking unlucky Americans in the face with 9 irons.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/politics/judge-evictions-moratorium-unconstitutional/index.html

[Akhilleus]

One more thing about that Trumpy judge’s ruling. He sez “Well, we never kept landlords from kicking destitute people out on the street before, why should we start now?”

Yeah. Well, women couldn’t vote before they could and black people were slaves before they weren’t. This is that same fraudulent originalist casuistry. He also sniffs that the government didn’t exert powers during the Great Depression. Um, did this idiot even bother paying attention in school? Maybe the government didn’t block evictions, but it did a whole lot to help poor people get through those tough times.

“We’ve never done it that way before” is one of the classic stupid rationales for killing innovation and blocking progress, not to mention stomping on basic humanity.

Besides, throwing people out on the street means a lot more homeless families which end up being a severe drain on the economy. But never let good sense stand in the way of letting confederates “own the libs”. They did such a bang up job with that plan in Texas last week.

But we all know that Trump did plenty of things “we never did before”, nearly all horrible and inhuman. I bet this judge cheered every one.

[Ken Winkes]

Akhilleus,

Don't know anything about this Texas judge, his background, or the legal propaganda he has swallowed, but am thinking our unquestioned (and hypocritically applied) enthusiasm for private property rights has caused us a whole lot of trouble up to now and is guaranteed to bring us more (for one instance, evictions, my wife confirms, are the leading cause of homelessness) in our future.

That private property fetish is a problem itself, but as the gap between those who have and those who don't continues to widen (one of the signs of which is the increasing proportion of the population that rents rather than owns) there are bound to be ever more folks on the outside of closed doors knocking to get in.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: Thanks especially for your second comment. I've long considered the worst excuse for inaction to be “We’ve never done it that way before.” I'm meaning here not just government inaction but all kinds of inadequate responses to problems. I suppose people who find this to be a valid excuse might like to be called "traditionalists," but I consider them to be more animalistic; that is, non-human animals are more dependent upon instincts than on learned experience, albeit that is not entirely true. I had a cat who figured out how to open a closed door by jumping up & turning the knob. That cat was smarter than Judge Trumpbot, who would "traditionalize" us back to the Stone Age. The wheel? -- We've always dragged stuff around. Bronze? -- We've never mixed copper & tin.

While experience and practice are essential to innovation -- i.e., finding a new way of doing things -- people like Judge Trumpbot use experience as an excuse for irrational acts of cruelty. Look at John Thune: he morphed his personal experience into an excuse to deprive Americans of fair wages. "That's the way they did it at the Star Family Diner back in the day" is good enough for him. He hasn't the intelligence to put two things together: (a) what he earned at the diner in 1979 and (b) inflation. He is too stupid to govern. Why, he's dumber than my cat.

Thune might be surprised to learn that promoting innovation is part of his job description. Among the enumerated powers of the Congress in Article 1, Section 8 is this: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts...." Yo, John, one of the useful arts (or sciences, as economists prefer) is economics. You should have a chat with Paul Krugman about the minimum wage.

[Akhilleus]

Marie,

Quite. On all counts. Thune’s little tale of personal hard work and frugality 40 or 45 years ago is nothing more than a cheap card trick. But bottom dealing is a hoary practice among wingers.

Still and all, it requires the same ol’ cherry picking that Rs rely on to step on those they hate, or, in some ways worse, have zero concern for. Here’s an example: “We’ve never done it that way before” and “It was good enough for me when I was 16, so it should be good enough for poor people today” both require a large dose of ahistorical ignorance, and more than a dollop of hypocrisy.

What worked for Thune back then has little to no relevance today, and, as someone pointed out, his earning power at $6 or $7 an hour 40 years ago—when he was 19 or 20–far outstrips what adults with a family can do with almost the same amount decades later. So, Johnny, how come corporate tax codes are not the same now as they were in 1979, hmmm? What’s that? Times have changed? Oh, is that right? So, “It was good enough in 1979” only applies when it suits your agenda. Got it.

As for Judge Trumpy, as I mentioned, his fat benefactor never abided by his mantra of “We’ve never done it that way before”. And PLENTY of what he did was unconstitutional in ways no one ever believed possible. We never put babies in cages before. We never had a president who fomented insurrection and sent his thugs off to murder legislators before either. Where was your constitutional outrage then?

Fucking people.

[PD Pepe]

I kept asking the question last night while listening to the news exactly WHY these Republicans were against the $15/hr wage hike––what could their rationale be? Now we know from at least one: John Thune, who, along with that Texas judge, are dumber than M.B.'s damned Cat who, according to its owner, could run circles around those that can't even open their own minds, never mind their own doors.

"A lot of us Black officers fought a different battle than everybody else fought. I said to my buddy, “I got called [slur] a couple dozen times today.” I’m looking at him. He’s got blood on him. I’ve got bloody knuckles. We’re hurting. That’s when I said, “Is this America?” and I started crying. Tears are coming down my face. “Is this America?”

This testimony from Harry Dunn is riveting and heartbreaking. His question must be answered in the affirmative––time to fess up and stop prettifying our decrepitude.

We now have a new sheriff in town and just maybe he and his troops will actually change what needs to be changed and make that change even better than before. The wall––and the one that was touted by the Fat one––consists of a party that has put up their barriers in order to prevent the other party from having their balloons, cake, and accomplishments. It's the same old story only this time there's blood in the streets and the unmasked are the ones carrying the guns.

"MB: "The Capitol Police is" or "The Capitol Police are"?
I caught that yesterday––I would use "are" ––but I suppose "Is" could also be correct?

[citizen625]

How the right is trying to censor critical race theory: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/opinion/speech-racism-academia.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage.

By the way, the Texas judge is John Campbell Barker (born 1980). A snot nosed kid who'll be putting his mucous in the wheels of governing for years.

[Akhilleus]

PD,

“Police” is a collective noun (a collection of individuals). Most collective nouns take a singular verb (“The group is going...”, “The board is meeting...”, but some, like police and people, take the plural form of the verb, “People are saying...” and “Police are investigating”.

[Marie Burns]

@citizen625: Yep, and Barker is as bad as you'd expect a Trump appointee to be. He was confirmed 51-47 -- which I think means all Democrats voted against his confirmation.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: Collective nouns are a bitch (or bitches!). That's why I asked the question. For instance, as you write, the proper use of "group" would be "The group is going...." But that's not always true. If the "group" is divided, then the plural noun is used; e.g., "The group disagree about impeachment," Or "couple": "the couple is moving to Montana" vs. "the couple are going their separate ways." Since both "couple is" and "couple are" "sound right," it's almost impossible not to make mistakes in verb agreement, especially when speaking.

[PD Pepe]

IN PRAISE OF....

IN 1941 Walker Evans and James Agee published "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men"–-their Depression era volume of photographs and reporting about the 1936 trip to Alabama's "black belt." The book, however, was was devoted almost entirely to the lives of white share croppers. The stench of American neglect was, without any of the descriptions, visible in the pictures alone. Yet for all the scrutiny, a whole part of the region's population went unobserved–-all those Black farmers and their families who made up more than half of the population who lived there.

Fortune magazine , which had originally assigned the story, but never published it, had requested that the article cover whites, not Blacks, whose "plight" they did not consider "newsworthy."

Today, Catherine Coleman Flowers, who grew up in the Black part of this region, has written a book about her experience then but her book. "Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret" is about the neglect of this same region now. Her descriptions of the stench of sewer water in backyards is sickening. In talks today about reparations Ms Flowers might be one they call on to testify.

@AK; Yeah, I knows da rule, but I thank you for clarifying. These days one can never be too sure.

[Keith Howard]

A corrective:

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/02/eviction-moratorium-deemed-unconstitutional-by-federal-judge-in-texas.html

Note: This analysis by Yves Smith of NakedCapitalism.com is typical of the kind of work her estimable and highly respected blog publishes.

[Akhilleus]

Marie,

True. The thing about grammatical rules is that grammar came about to codify how people use(d) language, not the other way around (in other words, grammar didn’t exist first, the rules of which taught people what to do with language), so there are loads of exceptions.

You can really get into the tall grass with obscure grammatical sub-rules. Most of us abide by the basic rules, but usage is a moving target. I think some collective nouns are treated differently in British English, at least according to stuff I’ve read by Brit writers (but whada they know?). Mostly you have to go by what sounds right. “Couple” is one of those cases. Although I would mostly say “couple is” reflecting my sense that a couple is a single unit, I’ve heard “couple are” and have been able to maintain my equilibrium without much difficulty.

The “sounds right” idea can be flexible. “The committee of one hundred...” could stand either a plural or singular verb. Mostly you would say that “committee” would take a singular verb, “The committee is...”, but one could also jimmy the thing so that agreement is dictated by the object of the preposition: “The committee of one hundred were doing something, blah, blah, blah...”

Another weird sounding usage (to the uninitiated, that is) can be found regularly on sports pages. If the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat (not very often these days), one might see a headline like “Heat Fall to Celtics”. It only sounds weird if you’re not an habitué of sports reporting. (...a habitué?)

So, it is what is. And we is what we writes. Right?

[Akhilleus]

PD,

I read “Let us now...” many years ago, but never knew that the magazine instructed Agee and Evans to steer clear of non-whites. 1941 America, I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise.

I went to a retrospective of Evans’ work a couple of years ago and another of Dorothea Lange’s last year. Absolutely riveting stuff. Unforgettable. And both shows happily included a fair number of their photographs of African-Americans.

Evans, along with his contemporaries Lange and Russell Lee, compiled a broad photographic record of poor Americans during the depression. Their work for the FSA, the Farm Security Administration, covered Americans of many colors and races, but publications of their work by the FSA, edited out black and brown faces. The FSA was beholden to racists in congress for its funding and pointing out that whites weren’t the only group suffering wouldn’t sit well with the bigots.

Sadly, it still doesn’t, almost 100 years later.

[RAS]

"A WUSA9 analysis of cases currently filed in connection with the Capitol riot found more than 60 defendants who have already been granted taxpayer-funded representation either through the federal public defender's office or private counsel appointed through the Criminal Justice Act"
Didn't Trump offer to pay for any of his violent supporters if they got in legal trouble defending him? How about we send all the defenders' bills his way. Those poor public defenders are going to need hazard pay for dealing with all the crazies coming their way.

[Patrick]

Collective nouns and verbs. As Akhilleus noted, among other things, "proper" use is dependent on who's talking.

Your British diplomat will write or say " Her Majesty's government are ..." The U.S. diplomat's response will say "The U.S. Government is ..."

Neither thinks the other is wrong. But, if the U.S. dip had responded "The U.S. Government are ...", the Brit would know that that the Yank had been too long in the Commonwealth and due for redundancy.

[RAS]

"Senate Democratic leaders explore tax penalties on corporations paying below $15 an hour
The tax provisions represent a backdoor attempt to raise worker pay after the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled out the wage hike.
In a statement, Wyden said his plan would impose a 5 percent penalty on the payrolls of “big corporations” if any workers earned below a “certain amount.” The statement did not define big corporations nor the level of the wages that would trigger the penalty. Wyden also called for tax credits equal to up to 25 percent of wages to small businesses that pay their workers higher wages. The penalties and credits would aim to encourage firms to adopt a higher wage floor.
Some economists expressed concern the backup plan would reach far fewer lower-wage workers than a flat increase in the minimum wage."

[Akhilleus]

RAS,

These Trumpy traitors are all about anarchy and tearing down the hated guv’mint. Oh, until they need it.

Nice to see people with the courage of their convictions.

[Ken Winkes]

"Is there such a thing as collective insanity?" Marie asks, I presume knowing the answer is "yes."

My own answer is the same, but would specify religion, racism and Republicans and would add, modifying Mark Twain, to say that in many of these cases I know I'm repeating myself.

[Akhilleus]

“Idiocy” for $100, Alex...

Okay, because it’s Friday afternoon, I have a pop culture kvetch. There are a lot of smart people following RC (I’m guessing morons don’t) and a lot of youse guys are Jeopardy fans. It was sad losing Alex Trebek (I saw the guy more often than my best friends at times). So then the producers announced that super contestant Ken Jennings would take over as guest host.

I was a bit skeptical at first, and he had a slow start, but took off after the first week. Actually, he was great, and his obvious affection for Trebek greatly softened the transition. More importantly, like Alex, he knows a ton of stuff. They should just sign him up. He’s excellent. And he does so well with the guests, who should be the stars, not the host. But noooo...Jeopardy bigwigs want a guest host smack down.

So who is waiting in the wings? Green Bay Packers QB, Aaron Rodgers, who appeared on a Celebrity Jeopardy show five years ago. But if you’ve ever seen Celebrity Jeopardy, you know that a reasonably intelligent fifth grader could kick their asses. They feature categories like “Months Beginning with A”, “Vowels”, and “Christmas Songs Featuring Hoofed Animals”. I thought this was Jeopardy, not The Masked Singer.

There are a few choices that aren’t terrible. Anderson Cooper seems like a smart guy, but doesn’t he already have a gig? Mayim Bialik has a PhD in neuroscience, so smarts isn’t a problem, plus a woman as host would be cool, but again, she already has a gig.

But the worst, stupidest, most “I’ll take Con Men for $1,000, Alex” candidate: Dr. Oz. Dr. Fucking Oz!! Who was dragged before a Republican controlled Senate (replete with confederate liars, con artists, and ignorant rat bastards) for pushing bullshit medical cures that padded his own pockets. “Eat this brown thing I pulled out of my ass, just $3,000, and you’ll lose 80 lbs in three days!”

This is the guy to take over for Alex Trebek? Why not Ron Johnson?

Geeeez.

Okay, kvetch over.