The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705
Friday
May082020
The Commentariat -- May 9, 2020
There are weird videos on the Internets:
Chris Boyette of CNN: "The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action.Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on tribal land be removed, the governor's office said in a statement.... According to Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe checkpoint policies posted on its social media, its reservation residents may travel within South Dakota to areas the state has not deemed a Covid-19 'hotspot' if it's for an essential activity such as medical appointments or to get supplies unavailable on the reservation. But they must complete a health questionnaire when they leave and when they return every time they go through a checkpoint.South Dakota residents who don't live on the reservation are only allowed there if they're not coming from a hotspot and it is for an essential activity. But they must also complete a health questionnaire. Those from a South Dakota hotspot or from outside the state cannot come to the reservation unless it is for an essential activity -- but they must obtain a travel permit available on the tribe's website." Mrs. McC: Apparently in South Dakota, the Sioux are still expendable.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Fantasy. Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very soon. -- Donald Trump on Fox News, Friday morning ~~~
~~~ Reality. David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Mass unemployment on a scale that recalls the Great Depression has erased the economic gains of the past decade and now threatens to linger for years, fueling social discord and shaking an already-polarized political system.... Barely 51 percent of the population is employed, the lowest mark since records began, the Labor Department reported on Friday.... The unique character of this economic collapse, triggered by an ongoing public health crisis, may lead to an enduring decline in the demand for labor. While the pandemic rages, companies are developing new ways to operate with fewer people, replacing the lost workers with machines that are impervious to illness.... The conditions imposed in some states that are reopening for business make it unlikely that large numbers of ... jobs [in the leisure & hospitality sector] will quickly return.... High unemployment is likely to persist for years."
Lauren Egan, et al., of NBC News: "Two White House aides may have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past two days, but ... Donald Trump still held public events Friday with limited social distancing and without requiring participants to wear masks. Two dozen House Republicans gathered with Trump and other administration officials in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday afternoon to discuss the country's economic recovery from the pandemic. None of the attendees wore a mask.... Although attendees appeared to be sitting a few feet apart from one another around the State Dining Room, not all stayed at the recommended 6-foot distance. [Also, Louie Gohmert (Texas) was there, and (I supposed it's redundant to say) he said something stupid.]... Neither Trump nor first lady Melania Trump wore face coverings to a wreath-laying ceremony at the World War II Memorial in Washington on Friday morning. Multiple World War II veterans also attended, all of whom are older and particularly vulnerable if infected. When asked if Trump considered wearing a mask around the veterans to protect them, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said 'they made the choice to come here.'..." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yeah, it's the veterans' fault the Trumps didn't wear masks. In fairness, in the photos I saw, Donnie & Melanie did keep an appropriate distance from the vets at the event. ~~~
~~~ HOWEVER. Alex Horton & Adriana Usero of the Washington Post: "President Trump and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper gathered with World War II veterans in Washington on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe. Trump greeted a rank of seven veterans one by one from a distance of a few feet, apparently mindful of coronavirus concerns but not wearing a mask, a White House television pool video of the event shows. The veterans were not wearing masks. Esper, also without a mask, gathered with a few of the men for a photo a few minutes earlier and handed out 'challenge coins' from his pocket. At one point, a veteran grasped his elbow." ~~~
~~~ David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Friday continued to eschew key public health guidelines from his own administration -- meeting with Republican lawmakers and World War II veterans without a face mask -- while expressing confidence that he is protected from the coronavirus despite a second White House staffer testing positive this week. The president appeared puzzled that the aide, Katie Miller, the press secretary for Vice President Pence, had contracted the virus' out of the blue' after testing negative several times under a routine White House screening program put in place last month. During the event with GOP members, Trump suggested 'the whole concept of tests isn't great.'... 'We're dealing with an invisible situation. Nobody knows. All you can do is take precaution and do the best that you can.'... Several security officials with executive branch experience said in interviews Friday that the White House has taken a lax and risky approach that, in their view, reflected Trump's consistent efforts to minimize the threat from the virus.... Three visitors to the White House on Thursday said that few officials inside the complex were wearing masks.... Secret Service agents on Trump's protective detail, and officers who are taking the temperatures of all visitors to the White House grounds, also have routinely gone without masks...." ~~~
~~~ ** One Degree of Separation. Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.... Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff. Those staffers left the plane because they had been in contact with the staffer who tested positive, NBC News reported." Mrs. McC: As we discussed in yesterday's Comments, pence & friends were delivering masks to a nursing home, for Pete's sake, without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. And now he's off to Des Moines. Look out, Ioway. The virus is coming. ~~~
~~~ ** Update. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Katie Miller, the vice president's press secretary, was notified Friday about the result, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Miller confirmed to NBC News that she tested positive and said she was asymptomatic. The White House earlier in the day confirmed that a member of Pence's staff tested positive but did not disclose the individual's name. President Trump later appeared to confirm it was Miller.... Miller is a fixture around Pence and has attended the coronavirus task force meetings that he leads. She is married to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously the Immigrant Ghoul, who no doubt breathes down Trump's neck regularly, has been exposed to the virus. As Dan Diamond writes (linked next), Stephen Miller "is in constant proximity to ... Donald Trump and White House advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump." This must rattle Trump to no end. It would me. Remember, Trump became "lava level mad" at White House staff for not protecting him when he found out his valet had Covid-19. He's very afraid for his own health. It's ours he doesn't care about. And now. And now. The Immigrant Ghoul, whose plan is to use the coronavirus as an excuse to permanently cut "immigrant infestation" is the guy who probably has the cooties. The coronavirus smites the bad and the good, the just and the unjust. ~~~
~~~ Dan Diamond of Politico: "FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn will self-quarantine for 14 days after exposure to White House spokesperson Katie Miller, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, three administration officials said. The White House is conducting contact tracing and making a case-by-case determination on who else should self-isolate based on exposure to Miller. Hahn is asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus on Friday, two senior administration officials said." Mrs. McC: So why the hell is pence, Katie Miller's boss who certainly has had closer contact with her than Hahn has, jetting around the country instead of self-quarantining? ~~~
~~~ Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for ... Donald Trump's daughter, has not been around Ivanka Trump in several weeks. She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the source said." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'd like to be "tested out of caution," too. ~~~
~~~ Jane Winter & Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News: "Multiple members of the U.S. Secret Service have tested positive for COVID-19..., according to Department of Homeland Security documents reviewed by Yahoo News.... [There are] 11 active cases at the agency as of Thursday evening, according to a daily report compiled by the DHS.... There are 23 members of the Secret Service who have recovered from COVID-19 and an additional 60 employees who are self-quarantining. No details have been provided about which members of the Secret Service are infected or if any have recently been on detail with the president or vice president." ~~~
~~~ Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump is increasingly dismissing the consensus of health experts, scientists and some of his Republican allies that widespread testing is key to the safe end of restrictions meant to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, saying Friday that 'testing isn't necessary' and is an imperfect guide. The president has played down the need for testing as he overrides public health recommendations that would prolong the closures of schools, businesses and much of daily life. Although he is now tested every day with a rapid-result machine, Trump has questioned the value of extensive testing as the gap between available capacity and the amount that would be required to meet public health benchmarks has become clearer.... '... this is why testing isn't necessary. We have the best testing in the world, but testing's not necessarily the answer because they were testing them,' Trump said of the staff members [who tested positive]." ~~~
We have put in place the guidelines that our experts have put forward to keep this building safe, which means contact tracing. All of the recommended guidelines we have for businesses that have essential workers, we are now putting them in place here in the White House. So as America reopens safely, the White House is continuing to operate safely. -- White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Friday ~~~
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "McEnany claims both that the United States is reopening safely and that the White House is operating safely. But only one of these two -- the White House -- actually has the sort of testing regime the White House itself is now implicitly acknowledging is a prerequisite to safety.... But Trump is urging Americans to resume economic activity without fully deploying the federal government so that the rest of the country can enjoy the protections Trump and those around him do.... Trump is making a choice not to meaningfully take the steps necessary to extend this to the rest of us. Businesses everywhere are reopening in the grip of a level of frightening uncertainty that the White House is being spared, in part because of that very choice." ~~~
~~~ The Biggest Losers. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Now is the spring of our disgrace. Around the world, countries are winning the battle against the coronavirus and beginning a responsible return to work, school and leisure.... But the United States..., unwilling to do the hard work needed to beat the pandemic..., [is] quitting: forcing people back to work without protections people in other countries enjoy. The most powerful country in the world is failing.... Trump has abandoned attempts to control the pandemic, though there is no downturn in cases.... This is state-sanctioned killing. It is a conscious decision to accept 2,000 preventable deaths every day, because our leaders believe the victims are the poor schlubs who work in meat-processing plants, not 'regular folks,' as Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack memorably put it this week. It is deliberately sacrificing the old, factory workers, and black and Hispanic Americans, who are dying at higher rates."
Jason Dearen of the AP: "The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation's top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government emails obtained by The Associated Press. The files also show that after the AP reported Thursday that the guidance document had been buried, the Trump administration ordered key parts of it to be fast-tracked for approval. The trove of emails show the nation's top public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spending weeks working on guidance to help the country deal with a public health emergency, only to see their work quashed by political appointees with little explanation.... White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that the documents had not been approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. The new emails, however, show that Redfield cleared the guidance.... [After continued CDC inquiries about the status of the White House's review,] on April 30 the CDC's documents were killed for good.... Until May 7. That morning The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration had buried the guidance...."
** Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: Trump was convinced that the coronavirus pandemic was a national emergency back when the virus "ensnared many members of the global elite: American celebrities, world leaders, and those with close ties to Trump himself." But when it emerged that the victims were disproportionately minorities, poor people and old folks, "the outbreak was no longer a question of social responsibility, but of personal responsibility."
SNAFU. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "A complete breakdown in communication and coordination within the Trump administration has undermined the distribution of a promising treatment, according to senior officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.... The drug, remdesivir, hasn't made it to some of the high-priority hospitals where it's most needed, and administration officials have responded by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, sources said.... Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, donated hundreds of thousands of doses to the federal government after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus patients. More than 32,000 doses of remdesivir were shipped and delivered on Tuesday to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia. But many of these doses went to 'less impacted counties,' an administration official said. 'Some went to the wrong places, some went to the right places,' said one senior official. 'We don't know who gave the order. And no one is claiming responsibility.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Jared's Secret Boondoggle. Amy Brittain, et al., of the Washington Post: "Since the debut of Project Airbridge in March, the Trump administration has promoted the initiative as part of a historic mobilization 'moving heaven and earth' to source and deliver vast amounts of medical supplies from overseas to pandemic hot spots in the United States. Widely credited to ... Jared Kushner, the plan harked back to storied U.S. wartime efforts such as the Berlin Airlift. It called for the federal government to partner with a handful of medical supply companies, which could purchase emergency masks, gowns and gloves in Asia. The government would pay to fly the supplies to the United States ... as long as the companies sold half of the goods in parts of the country hit hardest by the pandemic. Almost six weeks after its launch, Project Airbridge has completed its 122nd flight, having cost taxpayers at least $91 million. But its impact on the pandemic is unclear and shrouded in secrecy: The White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the companies involved have declined to disclose where supplies have been delivered.... The White House has on several occasions overstated the amount of supplies the project has delivered.... For example..., Project Airbridge on average has delivered about 2.2 million surgical masks a day over the program's span. Yet Vice President Pence claimed in a news briefing in April that the program delivered 22 million masks daily.... 'The fact is you're using taxpayer dollars to distribute private resources,' said W. Craig Fugate, who led FEMA for eight years under President Barack Obama." ~~~
~~~ Elizabeth Spiers in a Washington Post opinion piece: "Jared Kushner's coronavirus response team, we learned this week, is fumbling because it's largely staffed with inexperienced volunteers. Of course it is. It's being run by one. Kushner's lack of experience and expertise has not been remedied in any way during his now three-plus years in the White House. After bungling many high-profile efforts to address various problems and often making them worse (see, Middle East, peace in), he keeps being handed more responsibilities with higher stakes.... In any normal administration, an adviser with Kushner's string of failures would be fired, but Kushner, like his father-in-law, keeps crediting himself with imaginary successes.... He has also continued to bash the actual experts.... This is basically Kushner's modus operandi, and it's painfully familiar to me because he was my boss when I was the editor in chief of the New York Observer, which he had bought when he was 25." Withering. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "A federal watchdog is recommending that ousted vaccine expert Rick Bright be reinstated while it investigates whether the Trump administration retaliated against his whistleblower complaints when it removed him from a key post overseeing the coronavirus response, Bright's lawyers said Friday. The Office of Special Counsel is recommending that Bright be temporarily reinstated for 45 days as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a multibillion-dollar agency that funds companies to develop tests, treatments and vaccines. The investigative office said it has found 'reasonable grounds to believe' that that the administration was retaliating against Bright.... Donald Trump, during a White House appearance, called Bright a 'disgruntled employee' when asked about the watchdog decision. 'I don't know who he is, but to me he's a disgruntled employee and if people are that unhappy they shouldn't work,' he said, adding, 'I hadn't heard great things about him.'" ~~~
Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The Small Business Administration did not direct private lenders to prioritize minority- and female-owned businesses as Congress intended when they started implementing a $669 billion loan program under the Cares Act, a federal watchdog concluded in a report released Friday. The findings from the SBA Office of the Inspector General add to growing concerns about whether $2 trillion in Cares Act stimulus funds are being distributed fairly amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus.... 'Because SBA did not provide guidance to lenders about prioritizing borrowers in underserved and rural markets, these borrowers, including rural, minority and women-owned businesses may not have received the loans as intended,' the report reads." Mrs. McC: Whoever wrote the SBA guidance knows what Trump thinks of minorities & women. If he isn't out sick with Covid-19, he'll probably get a promotion.
Alex Daugherty & Ben Wieder of the Miami Herald: "A Fort Myers-based oncology network that was Florida's largest recipient of federal coronavirus relief dollars for healthcare facilities admitted last week to participating in a criminal conspiracy that limited treatment options available to cancer patients in order to maximize profits. Florida Cancer Specialists, which employs 250 doctors in 100 facilities across Florida, admitted in federal court on April 30 that it worked with unnamed co-conspirators to limit cancer treatment options for patients, agreeing to pay a $100 million federal fine -- the largest amount allowed by law -- along with a $20 million state fine. At nearly the same time, Florida Cancer Specialists was awarded $67 million in federal funds from the CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress in March. The $67 million made Florida Cancer Specialists the largest recipient of funds in Florida from a $30 billion pot of money distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services to help healthcare facilities affected by the pandemic." Mrs. McC: Pretty smart getting the federal government to pay two-thirds of the fine it imposed on you.
California. William Feuer of CNBC: "Community spread of the coronavirus in California began in a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as other states allow their manicurists to reopen. Newsom has announced a four-phase plan to reopening the state's economy that begins on Friday. Unlike some other states that have announced reopenings, California nail salons won't be allowed to reopen until the state's phase 3. The state is currently shifting from phase 1 to phase 2. 'This whole thing started in the state of California, the first community spread, in a nail salon,' Newsom said at a news briefing. 'I'm very worried about that.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Friday he has signed an executive order that requires county officials to send vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter in the state. Newsom said California will work with people with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness and voters who do not speak English to ensure that in-person voting is still accessible to those who need it. But he said the access to mail-in voting would ensure that Californians would be able to cast ballots safely during the coronavirus pandemic." Mrs. McC: Gee, I remember when Gavin Newsom was a jerk married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a woman of such substance she now dates Donald Junior. Newsom was always a liberal, but kind of a flaky one. Now he's growed up to be a good governor. People change. Maybe.
** Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Former President Barack Obama, talking privately to ex-members of his administration, said Friday that the 'rule of law is at risk' in the wake of what he called an unprecedented move by the Justice Department to drop charges against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. In the same chat, a tape of which was obtained by Yahoo News, Obama also lashed out at the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as 'an absolute chaotic disaster.'... [Of the Flynn matter, Obama said,] 'That's the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic -- not just institutional norms -- but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly as we've seen in other places.' The Flynn case was invoked by Obama as a principal reason that his former administration officials needed to make sure former Vice President Joe Biden wins the November election against President Trump." Read on. Obama gets it.
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump praised Attorney General William P. Barr for the dramatic action announced Thursday that nullified a major case prosecuted by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.... 'Bill Barr is a man of unbelievable credibility and courage, and he's going to go down in the history of our country,' Mr. Trump said. The president said the outcome reflected well on Mr. Barr, who has expressed skepticism about Mr. Mueller's investigation. 'He's the opposite of Robert Mueller because you look at Mueller -- that was purely corrupt,' Mr. Trump said.... Mr. Trump gathered a group of 19 conservative House Republicans at the White House, along with senior aides and economic officials, to discuss reopening the American economy. A sizable portion of the session featured the president and his guests denouncing the Russia investigation, or the F.B.I.'s 'effort to create a coup,' as Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas put it." [This was yet another stupid thing Gohmert said.]
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against Michael T. Flynn ... even though he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, was extraordinary and had no obvious precedent, a range of criminal law specialists said on Thursday.... The move is the latest in a series that the department, under Attorney General William P. Barr, has taken to undermine and dismantle the work of the investigators and prosecutors who scrutinized Russia's 2016 election interference operation and its links to people associated with the Trump campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The closest precedent is when Barr advised Bush I to pardon six Iran-Contra co-conspirators. Back then, Barr didn't do as much for Bush as he's been willing to do for Trump: he's saved Trump from having to try to justify an unjustifiable pardon on the eve of an election. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Davd Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement in Raw Story: Legal experts weigh in on Barr's "shadow pardon" of Flynn. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Neal Katyal & Joshua Geltzer in a New York Times op-ed: In the Justice Department's] "view, federal investigators and prosecutors are a deep threat to the American people. That's the narrative about the handling of the Flynn case that began on far-right websites, then migrated to Fox News and has now -- appallingly -- been embraced by President Trump and his attorney general, Bill Barr. They're all peddling the idea that Mr. Flynn was 'set up' by the F.B.I. and the Justice Department.... Mr. Trump said his former adviser was 'tormented' by 'dirty, filthy cops at the top of the F.B.I.'... The point [of dropping the charges against Flynn] ... [is] to impugn federal law enforcement. Here's the tell. The Justice Department's new position isn't that Mr. Flynn didn't lie ... [but] that it was wrong for the F.B.I. to interview him in the first place. Look carefully at who the villain becomes in that narrative: not Mr. Flynn for lying, but the F.B.I. for asking the questions to which he lied in response." The authors recommend that Judge Emmet Sullivan, who must rule on the dismissal, should interrogate the prosecutors. ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump voiced uncertainty Friday over the future of his FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, a day after the Justice Department moved to throw out the guilty plea of the president's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. The president's comments in a phone interview with Fox News highlight the ongoing distrust between the White House and some senior law enforcement officials.... 'It's disappointing,' Trump said when asked about Wray's role in the ongoing reviews of the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation. 'Let's see what happens with him. Look, the jury's still out.' Trump faulted the FBI director for 'skirting' the debate surrounding the Russia investigation, although the agency and the Justice Department have insisted it has cooperated fully with officials reviewing the case." An Axios item is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race
Nelson Mandela Is a'Rollin' in His Grave. Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "With the Justice Department announcing Thursday that it would drop the case against Michael Flynn, officials close to ... Donald Trump are already gaming out ways to bring the former national security adviser back onto the national political stage. Of the nine senior Trump administration officials, campaign staff, outside advisers, and longtime associates of the president reached on Thursday, all said that they wanted Flynn to assume some public-facing role in service of the president, including potentially as an official Trump surrogate as Election Day inches closer.... 'Years ago when Nelson Mandela came to America after years of political persecution he was treated like a rock star by Americans,' John McLaughlin, one of President Trump's chief pollsters, told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening. 'Now after over three years of political persecution General Flynn is our rock star. A big difference is that he was persecuted in America.'" Mrs. McC: I see a Medal of Freedom on Flynn's chest. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Friday turned down a request from the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to designate another court to conduct an ethics inquiry into the circumstances surrounding a retirement from what is widely viewed as the second-most important court in the nation. In response to the request from Judge Sri Srinivasan, the circuit's chief judge, a legal adviser to Chief Justice Roberts said the request from last Friday did not meet the standards for transferring the inquiry to another judicial circuit to pursue. The issue arose from a March complaint filed by the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice, which asked the appeals court to determine whether political influence had inappropriately figured into the decision by Judge Thomas B. Griffith to retire, creating an election-year slot on the influential appeals court. The complaint noted that Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, had been encouraging eligible appeals court judges to retire so they could be replaced this year while Republicans still held the White House and Senate. In Judge Griffith's case, his decision to step down opened the way for President Trump to nominate Judge Justin Walker, 37, a federal district court judge in Kentucky who is a protégé of Mr. McConnell's. Judge Walker's confirmation hearing was Wednesday, a month after Mr. Trump named him."
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Christian Boone & Bert Roughton of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Two Glynn County commissioners say District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office refused to allow Glynn police to make arrests immediately after the Feb. 23 shooting death of Ahmaud Abery. Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Greg McMichael, 64, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after the fatal shooting [and after a video of the (alleged) murder circulated publicly]. 'The police at the scene went to her, saying they were ready to arrest both of them. These were the police at the scene who had done the investigation,' Commissioner Allen Booker, who has spoken with police, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael.' Greg McMichael, now retired, once worked as an investigator in Johnson's office. Commissioner Peter Murphy, who also said he spoke directly to Glynn County police about the incident, said officers at the scene concluded they had probable cause to make arrests and contacted Johnson's office to inform the prosecutor of their decision. 'They were told not to make the arrest,' Murphy said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Richard Penniman, better known as Little Richard, who combined the sacred shouts of the black church and the profane sounds of the blues to create some of the world's first and most influential rock 'n' roll records, died on Saturday morning. He was 87.... His influence as a performer was immeasurable. It could be seen and heard in the flamboyant showmanship of James Brown, who idolized him (and used some of his musicians when Little Richard began a long hiatus from performing in 1957), and of Prince, whose ambisexual image owed a major debt to his. Presley recorded his songs. The Beatles adopted his trademark sound, an octave-leaping exultation: 'Woooo!' (Paul McCartney said that the first song he ever sang in public was 'Long Tall Sally,' which he later recorded with the Beatles.) Bob Dylan wrote in his high school yearbook that his ambition was 'to join Little Richard.'" ~~~
~~~ Rolling Stone's obituary is here. Rolling Stone names 20 essential Little Richard songs.
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Reader Comments (18)
Let me.propose a parlor game, inspired by Malcom Gladwell's "Tipping Point" and a deceased right wing friend I've mentioned here before, who took great joy in pointing out specific incidents and actions that marked the exact moment when the country veered from its proper course and headed for perdition.
There are many such, of course, within recent memory. Election of the wrong presidents. Foreign adventures that killed hundreds of thousands mounted to assauge damages egos. A Senate standing by in solemn disregard, doing nothing about a prrsident who attempted to bribe a foreign country for his personal, political advantage.
Then there are all those reprehensible actions that go back to our beginnings, like our treatment of indiginous peoples and minoriites, and our mostly predatory economy neatly summarized by the privatize profit, socialize costs mantra....
....but I have to say The Pretender's and his flunky Billy Barr's perversion of the Justice Department has to be somewhere near the top of that list, As I remember, even John Mitchell's bending of law enforcement in the interests of himself and the I am not a crook Crook didn't attack the Constitutiojnally-enshrined principles of truth and justice so foundationally, in such a direct might makes right-- --the president can do anything because he's president and everyone and everything else is wrong--manner.
Right now I'm pointing at Barr.
Feel free to contribute your own. As I said, there are plenty.
In the meantime, I wondering how long Robert Mueller can take all these attacks on his work lying down. There have to be limits to the just following orders "good soldier" in him. If there are any at all, Barr is certainly testing them.
Then there are the Supremes,. What must they be thinking as Barr makes such a mockery of the Law? The SCOTUS will be hearing some interesting arguments next week on the limits of presidential power.
Will they set limits or not?Are they willing to go down in history as the Court of Empty Robes?
Yesterday during the "love fest" which took place in the State Dining room of the White House, the last sycophant who lathered that sticky succor all over Mr. Wonderful was that blond bombshell Debbie Lesko who is less a beauty and more of a "let's see how far I can go by sucking up as much as possible" kind of gal.
" You are the best––[directed at Trump)––-the very best person ever to lead us during this difficult period." She smiles and as she repeats how wonderful he is, something like pink foam forms around her mouth; we suddenly hear bells tinkling in the background.
And here's Mr. Wonderful telling us that his new term for this wonderfulness will be––TRANSITION TO GREATNESS.
A few tidbits from the Words of Mr. W:
Re: Katie Miller: "One day she tested negative and then for some reason she tested positive."
"The reason people aren't getting their money is because the Democrats wanted it to go through some complicated computer thing–-probably old ones–-"
"I rely on 50 talented governors––well, not all are talented, I can tell you that–-we are selling them more equipment than they need."
"We have great students of economics––and I'm one of them."
"All the jobs will come back very soon–-believe me-- a great transition–-probably the greatest transition in our history–-that's why I call it "Transition to Greatness."
The wearing of masks was brought up by a reporter and Trump, once again, managed to convince himself it just isn't necessary for him to don one–––which makes sense because wearing a mask protects the other from you and vice versa–-and since Fatty cares only about Fatty then–––––what he seems not to understand is:
THE POWER OF EXAMPLE
Now that White House denizens are showing up positive for the Trump Virus, I’m guessing that everyone in the building will be (if they aren’t already) tested every day or so. Given the fact that there is still an enormous dearth of testing kits available for average Americans, it’s a particularly hard slap in the face that Fatty, his nepotistic brats, and his retinue of incompetent flunkies, visitors to his royal fatness, and the standard White House staff and servants, numbering in the many hundreds, suck up thousands of test kits a week while in many parts of the country, tests will only be administered if a person seems already to have contracted the disease and is perhaps on the way to the morgue.
Those must be the “warriors”.
This Barr-Flynn episode represents another opportunity to praise Christopher Wray, one of blessed few of #45's decent appointments.
Hold firm, Mr. Wray. Or quit to write a tell-all...
Fatty, Forensic Pathologist!
“One day she [Katie Miller] tested negative, the next day, for some reason, she tested positive!”
Gee, what could that reason be? She must have gotten too close to a Democrat. Or a horrible brown or black person. Oh, wait. She’s Stevie (the Evil Racist) Miller’s wife? Ixnay on proximity to minorities.
So how could this happen? Must be one of those miracles that seem to follow in Fatty’s very wide wake.
This is the big brain of a very stable genius at work? “Went to sleep fine. Woke up dead?” Maybe he can call Bill (the tide goes in, the tide goes out; who knows how that happens?) O’Reilly for the answer.
We just cannot survive four more years with this brain damaged imbecile at the helm.
"We just cannot survive four more years with this brain damaged imbecile at the helm."
As horrible and terrifying of that possibility we have so many that are fine and dandy with another four years of this madness. If you clicked on the link I put on yesterday from "Scarface", the "You need a Bad Guy" is one of the reasons Fatty might just survive.
But what I really want to say to you is how you always make me laugh–-and that, dear friend, is priceless. Thank you.
To add to PD's lauding of the language of AK: EVERY day he (I presume he is a he-- but who knows for sure?!)comes out with the very best words to describe He-Who(m?)-Has-The-Best-Words but shall remain unnamed here...descriptive, seldom-used nouns and adjectives that really feed my soul. I am reduced to mutterings in comparison, and "names" such as Hattie's f***ing motherf***er. I so appreciate the phrasing and the naming. I look forward to the book when it comes out! (Come on, AK, you know you want to--)
Jeanne,
As for books, I’m thinking we’d be best served by a kind of contemporary Domesday Book. Instead of a survey of the kingdom’s wealth and assets, for purposes of taxation, it would be more a survey of death and assholes for purposes of vexation. And adding an O and excising an E provides the perfect title for the current horror inflicted on the land by the Horse’s Ass of the Apocalypse (aka Fatty): the Doomsday Book.
We really do need the sort of accounting we routinely see during wartime. You all must remember the nightly remembrance of military personnel who died every day during the Decider’s War of Choice. Granted, it would require hours of network time to review the hundreds who die every day so king douchebag can get re-elected. But if he’s a wartime president now and we’re all warriors for idiocy, then we need such an accounting.
The Doomsday Book would be a start to a necessary survey of Trump’s very own chthonic kingdom. Except it would have to be published serially, like those giant Dickens novels (think “Bleak House”) that took a year to wend their way to a conclusion. Unfortunately, the Fatty Doomsday Book might still be growing a year or two from now.
Incompetence has consequences.
One of the really frustrating things about Trump is that he doesn't know anything about anything. That means that all his thoughts and ideas come from his advisors and friends around him. Unfortunately for us his friends and staff are as stupid, selfish and callous as he is. He is easily manipulated by those around him, but never to the good of the country or world. He is a conman who is easily handled by other conmen.
Here is an explanation for masks that even trump could understand.
Read the Richard Pennimen obits in the Times and the Wapo. Wow! Had no idea how the record companies screwed him on royalties back in the day. It was especially stunning to learn that Pat Boone's recordings of Little Richard's songs were even more of a successful hit for Pat of the white buck shoes!
Remember some years back once seeing Pat Boone's Rolls Royce parked in front of the Mission Hills country club in Palm Springs. Gotta admit it was a nice looking set of wheels!
Glad you people of RC continue to fight the battle of the orange menace. Hope more and more start paying attention. I despair when I read the news each days. Find myself with the most evil thoughts of what should happen to some of these people.
How to deal with things? Gotta say, thanks Russia for vodka!
Jeanne -
Lest dragon-tatted Lisbeth Salander’s pithily worded teeshirt be misrepresented -
FUCK YOU
YOU
FUCKING FUCK
Unless you were referencing -
futhermucker.
I find both useful and remain open to others.
:)
All Hail The King - And Queen - Of Rock ‘n Roll
(exploited - and vilified - by many)
R.I.P. Little Richard
Re:
"Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus . . . who works in a personal capacity for ... Donald Trump’s daughter, has not been around Ivanka Trump in several weeks. She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the source said."
1) Why and for what does the princess need a personal assistant?
2) Did P.A. assist with the family escape to NJ for Passover?
3) If P.A. has not been around the princess for ‘several weeks’, was she tested / diagnosed ‘several weeks’ ago? If so, who tested her (how did she get tested)? And if ‘several weeks’ ago - let’s say ‘several’ might be 7 or 8 - wouldn’t that indicate a concern for (the dangers of) COVID while Tang was blithely understating it all?
Sorry. Not sure I’m even making sense to myself here / above.
Only certain how FURIOUS I am about all of this. I’m visualizing a poisoned arrowhead aimed at the egregious lying, minimizing, ignoring, etc etc etc to the nth degree of this administration’s* - and its maga-maniacals’- irresponsibly defiant refusals to “get with the program”. ANY program. That might mitigate this Plague. I imagine if Fatty were to succumb to Covid, it would be believed a Librul Plot.
Recently finished creative playtime (facetime) with my goddaughter whose 6th birthday is today. We’ll “visit” again tonight when she opens the gift I’d sent (this very cool set of rods & connectors for constructing igloos, tents, huts, etc.). I’ve tried to console her as I, too, had to cancel my own b-day plans in March. She’s so smart and beautiful (inside & out) and has been aching to spend real time with her Auntie . . . who worries about her health and that or her 16 yr old brother and her parents, with whom I’m (obviously) mega-close. We’re Family. However challenging this has been for me, I am reminded of how their lives - as young ones - have been been impacted by this terrifying, activity-ending sheltering-in and distancing from me - - only a few blocks away. Insane.
Positive Note To Close:
My block has been - just before 7 PM - blasting fab music until 7 when they play Sinatra’s “New York, New York”. Dsitanced & masked street dancing, ad hoc “musical instruments” and right now a medley of Little Richard’s tunes. Ordered my very first tambourine. For when I might join-in. Meanwhile - as right now - I dance on my rug to the beat/s.
take good care, all
Just saw the first campaign ad from the fucking fuck, occupier of the white house. Complete with cherry-picked quotes from Cuomo and Newsom.
Truly visceral reaction.
Little Richard, RIP, brother.
People who ripped you off (hello, Pat Boone, you cardboard vanilla cutout) made more money off your genius than you did, but none of them could come within several parsecs of you. If musical and artistic value could be translated into flora, you’d be a giant sequoia. Pat Boone, a desiccated weed.
Listening to Pat Boone’s horrific “Too-Tee Froo-Tee, O Roo-Tee”, one is struck, after barfing, that is, at how much money has been made by fifth rate white jagoffs like Pat Boone, by releasing spiritually bowdlerized, sterile covers of hair-raisingly great stuff.
Like making jambalaya out of instant white rice, spam, and ketchup packets from McDonalds, watered down with Vanilla syrup so his KKK fans might let their kids listen to Brylcreem white picket fence crap, rather than that horrible née-groe’s rip-it-up rock and roll.
P.S. loved Hattie’s referring to Mr. Penniman as the “king—and queen—of rock and roll”. Can you imagine, in your wildest sex and drugs and rock and roll flashback, Pat Boone at an interracial, bisexual sex party after a gig, like Little Richard? The best you could hope for would be a quick jerkoff to the Sears catalog bra section.
P.P.S. Little Richard, I stole a bunch of your hooks over the years. Being able to play “Long Tall Sally” got me a really good gig when I was in high school. Thanks, man.
@Akhilleus - In some parts of the country you can't get the test until they're about to cut your throat to stick the ventilator tube in, and even then the results won't come back for two weeks.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Trump doesn't understand what testing is supposed to be used for, and also doesn't understand that nothing human beings do will be perfect. How can he be surprised that she is infected even though she's tested every day? She has contact with people who are not tested every day. The best you can hope for from daily testing is to catch it early and try quack remedies. The testing is to find the infected people and isolate them. Is Mrs. Miller going to be isolated? Is her husband going to be quarantined? The stories (purposely?) don't tell us.Akhilleus-
You’ve got me laughing so uncontrollably - no complaints, mind you - that my surrounding neighbors may start fearing I’ve finally gone over the Covid Deep End. (tiny units, thin walls,). You really got my airways hacking at the Sears Catalogue. OMGOODNESS.
No Crediting Moi:
One of my dear friends, who first alerted me to Little Richard’s death (and considers himself, from time to time, as a “queen”), used the feminine descriptive, which was so right-on. I merely merged the two as I feel they both apply.