The Commentariat -- September 17, 2021

Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "President Biden's announcement of a deal to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines has strained the Western alliance, infuriating France and foreshadowing how the conflicting American and European responses to confrontation with China may redraw the global strategic map. In announcing the deal on Wednesday, Mr. Biden ... appears to have alienated an important European one and aggravated already tense relations with Beijing. France on Thursday reacted with outrage to the announcements that the United States and Britain would help Australia develop submarines, and that Australia was withdrawing from a $66 billion deal to buy French-built submarines. At its heart, the diplomatic storm is also a business matter -- a loss of revenue for France's military industry, and a gain for American companies. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's foreign minister, told Franceinfo radio that the submarine deal was a 'unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision' by the United States, and he compared the American move to the rash and sudden policy shifts common during the Trump administration.... The deal also seemed to be a pivot point in relations with China, which reacted angrily." MB: Hey, as long as the U.S. military-industrial complex is happy. I do wonder whose bright idea this was. ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "The United States acknowledged on Thursday that it only gave France a few hours; notice of its deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, a move that French officials have denounced as a major betrayal by one of its closest allies. France had been trying to strike its own, multibillion dollar deal with Australia, and French officials said that the new agreement ... was an affront.... 'This is not done between allies,' Jean-Yves Le Drian, the foreign minister, said in an interview with Franceinfo radio, calling the deal a 'unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision.':

The Haitians Under the Bridge. Arelis R. Hernández & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Haitian migrants who have crossed the Rio Grande in recent days are sleeping outdoors under a border bridge in South Texas, creating a humanitarian emergency and a logistical challenge U.S. agents describe as unprecedented. Authorities in Del Rio say more than 10,000 migrants have arrived at the impromptu camp, and they are expecting more in the coming days. The sudden influx has presented the Biden administration with a new border emergency at a time when illegal crossings have reached a 20-year high and Department of Homeland Security officials are straining to accommodate and resettle more than 60,000 Afghan evacuees."

Charlie Savage & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation [-- John Durham --] obtained a grand jury indictment on Thursday of a prominent cybersecurity lawyer, [Michael Sussmann,] accusing him of lying to the F.B.I. five years ago during a meeting about Donald J. Trump and Russia.... [Sussmann] is accused of falsely telling a top F.B.I. lawyer that he was not representing any client at the meeting about those suspicions. Prosecutors contend that he was instead representing both a technology executive and the Hillary Clinton campaign.... Mr. Sussmann's defense lawyers, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, have denied the accusation, insisting that he did not say he had no client and maintaining that the evidence against him is weak. They also denied that the question of who Mr. Sussmann was working for was material, saying the F.B.I. would have investigated the matter regardless. 'Michael Sussmann was indicted today because of politics, not facts,' they said on Thursday." Politico's story is here.

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Calling ... Donald J. Trump 'a cancer for the country,' Representative Anthony Gonzalez, Republican of Ohio, said in an interview on Thursday that he would not run for re-election in 2022, ceding his seat after just two terms in Congress rather than compete against a Trump-backed primary opponent. Mr. Gonzalez is the first, but perhaps not the last, of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to retire rather than face ferocious primaries next year in a party still in thrall to the former president."

Former President* Endorses Violent Insurrection. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump voiced solidarity Thursday with people being prosecuted in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, issuing a statement ahead of a rally planned Saturday in Washington to protest their treatment. 'Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election,' Trump said in a statement.... In an interview with the Federalist on Thursday, Trump ... [said], 'On Saturday, that's a setup.'... 'If people don't show up they'll say, "Oh, it's a lack of spirit." And if people do show up, they'll be harassed.'"

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "The relationship between Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Donald Trump is so frayed that the Senate GOP Leader hopes he will never again have to talk to the former president.... After McConnell congratulated Joe Biden from the Senate floor on December 15th, Trump reportedly called McConnell and 'spewed expletives.' 'Mr. President, the Electoral College has spoken. That's the way we pick a president in this country,' McConnell explained[, according to a new book by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa]. 'You lost the election, the Electoral College has spoken,' was reportedly the last thing McConnell said." The story, first reported in Business Insider (firewalled) is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: According to the Woodward-Costa book, "then-CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly discussed Trump's plans and state of mind on November 10th. 'We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. He is acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum,' Haspel reportedly said. Based on a Business Insider firewalled report, which is here.

Karen Hao of the MIT Technology Review: "In the run up to the 2020 election, the most highly contested in US history, Facebook's most popular pages for Christian and Black American content were being run by Eastern European troll farms. These pages were part of a larger network that collectively reached nearly half of all Americans, according to an internal company report, and achieved that reach not through user choice but primarily as a result of Facebook's own platform design and engagement-hungry algorithm. The report, written in October 2019 and obtained by MIT Technology Review from a former Facebook employee not involved in researching it, found that after the 2016 election, Facebook failed to prioritize fundamental changes to how its platform promotes and distributes information. The company instead pursued a whack-a-mole strategy that involved monitoring and quashing the activity of bad actors when they engaged in political discourse, and adding some guardrails that prevented 'the worst of the worst.'" Emphasis added.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.

Arlette Saenz of CNN: "The US government is buying more doses of monoclonal antibody treatments for Covid-19, and the Biden administration is taking over distributio in order to avoid shortages of the key therapeutics. The moves come as demand for monoclonal antibodies has increased as cases surged due to spread of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates in some areas of the country. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered immune system proteins that kickstart an immune response against an infection. The US Department of Health and Human Services says that as of September 10, 2.17 million doses of monoclonal antibodies have been shipped to all sites, and 938,000 doses have been used since December. About 43% of the distributed doses have been used as of September 3. An HHS spokesperson said seven states have accounted for 70% of orders for the therapy. Those seven states are Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. 'Given this reality, we must work to ensure our supply of these life-saving therapies remains available for all states and territories, not just some,' the HHS spokesperson said." ~~~

~~~ Florida. Which Raised DeSantis' Dander. Arek Sarkissian of Politico: "On Thursday, [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis ripped into [President] Biden's plan to distribute doses of monoclonal antibody treatments to states across the nation. Florida and six other Southern states ... took up 70 percent of the orders in early September. That lopsidedness prompted the Biden administration to start redistributing the more than 158,000 doses made available this week -- and provoked DeSantis to attack the president for taking the therapies away from Floridians. 'We've been handed a major curveball here, with a really huge cut from HHS and the Biden administration,' DeSantis said at a press conference in Broward County.... White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday defended Biden's plan to cut Florida's allotment of the antibody treatments, saying the administration is increasing the distribution of antibody treatments in September by 50 percent."

Marie: Sorry, I have not been paying enough attention to what Celebrities-I've-Never-Heard-of are saying. But I do belatedly want to award the Stupid Prize to anybody who decided not to get a Covid-19 vaccine because a rapper called Nicki Minaj tweeted that a friend of her cousin became impotent AND his balls swelled up AND his fiancee called off their wedding -- after he got a Covid vaccine. (Prizes first awarded yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: As Akhilleus pointed out in yesterday's Comments thread, TuKKKer -- who until this week probably couldn't name a single rapper -- got such a hard-on from this story that he asked on-air for the Big-Balls Guy from Trinidad to call him for a possible appearance on Fox "News" prime-time.

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

Idaho. Rebecca Boone of the AP: "Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, on Wednesday asked state health leaders to allow 'crisis standards of care' because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources. Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U.S. states, with only about 40% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Only Wyoming and West Virginia have lower vaccination rates. Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive. Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This doesn't affect only Covid patients. If you need immediate health care in Idaho, no matter what the reason, your chances of survival will be depend on a triage worker. If your chances look bad, you're dead. This is third-word-country-style health care. And the immediate cause is freeedumb. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Hannah Knowles of the New York Times: "Leaders of Idaho's most populous county were deluged with constituent emails last month as they prepared to choose the newest member of a once-obscure regional health board. A doctor who served on the board for 15 years had just been let go over his support for pandemic restrictions. Hundreds wrote in for Ryan Cole, a doctor -- backed by the Ada County Republican Party -- who has called coronavirus vaccines 'fake.' The Republican commissioners of the county -- which encompasses the state capital, Boise -- said they welcomed Cole's 'outsider' perspective and willingness to 'question' established medical guidance. They appointed him over the protests of their lone Democratic colleague." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It used to be annoying to live in an area dominated by Republicans. Now it's life-threatening.

Beyond the Beltway

New York. What Could Possibly Be Wrong with That? Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "New York Attorney General Letitia James has been talking with her advisors and supporters about potentially running for governor next year, according to people familiar with the matter. In the weeks since James' investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended early last month, she and her political advisors have been testing the waters...." MB: Let's see: you order a report that determines the governor is guilty of wrongdoing, forcing him to resign. After getting him out of the way, you run for his job. (Also linked yesterday.)

South Carolina. Southern Gothic, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The prominent South Carolina lawyer whose life has unraveled in the months since his wife and son were fatally shot was arrested on Thursday after he admitted to trying to stage his own murder earlier this month, but he maintained that he had no involvement in the killing of his family. Alex Murdaugh, the lawyer, was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report, all felonies, in connection with the suicide scheme, which his lawyers said was meant to ensure that his other son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy."

News Lede

New York Times: "Jane Powell, whose pert good looks and lyrical soprano voice brought her Hollywood stardom before she was out of her teens -- but whose movie career peaked when she was still in her 20s with a starring role in one of the last great MGM musicals, the 1954 extravaganza 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' -- died on Thursday at her home in Wilton, Conn. She was 92."

Comments

[Forrest Morris]

I find it disconcerting that so many people will disregard the
evidence presented by thousands of scientists and doctors but
will bow down to a rapper who probably gets her "news" from
Tucker Carlson, or worse.

[NJC]

DDE's Farewell Address is beautifully written -- after 29 drafts! -- and worth another look:
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp

[P.D. Pepe]

Today I feel even more like we are living in some bizzarro world where up is down and left is right and the moon, some scientist says, is really made of blue cheese. So when I read this headline in Huff-Po, it corresponded:

Clarence Thomas Criticizes Judges for Veering into Politics:

Here he was giving a talk at a Catholic U.––a rare occurrence since he rarely gets out and about––and said this:

"The court was thought to be the least dangerous branch and we may have become the most dangerous––and I think that's problematic."

Well, shucks, I says to myself–-it's almost as good as Bill Barr coming out (in a book) and saying how fucked up Trump is. Thomas, of course would undue Roe in a nano second but the fact that he's disturbed at the politicalization of the court is stunning. By the way, some in the audience yelled "We still believe Anita Hill!"
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clarence-thomas-politics-supreme-court_n_6143d555e4b0d808bf26d9d8

M.B. Me too wonders whose bright idea it was re: leaving the French out in the rain.

[Akhilleus]

Trumpy attorneys general in red states are all up in arms about Biden trying to save their lives and slow down the new variants of COVID filling up hospitals around the country because freeeeedom, calling vaccine mandates “government overreach”. They also think taxes are government overreach too, so make of that what you will.

But how ‘bout some actual overreach…

“ Pennsylvania Republicans moved on Wednesday to seek personal information on every voter in the state as part of a brewing partisan review of the 2020 election results, rubber-stamping more than a dozen subpoenas for driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

The expansive request for personal information, directed at Pennsylvania’s Department of State and approved in a vote by Republicans on a State Senate subcommittee, is the first major step of the election inquiry. The move adds Pennsylvania to a growing list of states that have embarked on partisan-led reviews of the 2020 election, including a widely criticized attempt to undermine the outcome in Arizona’s largest county.”

Now that there is some gen-yoo-wine gold plated overreach. And it’s also, comme d’habitude, illegal and unconstitutional.

Of course it’s a sop to Fatty (who, according to this new Woodward book, had to be told by his lawyers that he couldn’t just call up “his” Supreme Court justices—the ones who aren’t at all “political” (*chortle, guffaw*) and order them to throw out all the Biden votes so’s he could continue being King Donald). But more dangerously, it’s another attempt to screw democracy by inserting ever more fear, paranoia, and corruption into the system, a ploy to intimidate and bully citizens who refuse to vote their way. “You don’t vote for us, we’ll track you down.”

This is over-and-above-reach.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/us/politics/pennsylvania-election-audit-republicans.html

[Ken Winkes]

Along with the sub deal with Australia and pissing off France and New Zealand in the process, this one would support the impression we've got China entirely under control:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/17/economy/china-cptpp-application-intl-hnk/index.html

Or maybe not.

Somebody in the State Department must know what he or she is doing, but it's hard to tell. The whole operation seems stumblebum to me.

Brings an old Tom Lehrer lyric to mind.

"In German oder English I know how to count down, and I'm learning Chinese, says Wernher Von Braun."

[Jeanne]

Yes, Marie, how remiss of you to not cover the Nicki Menaj hysteria-- honestly, things are so ridiculous there is virtually no use in listening to most of the"breaking news" crapola on the airwaves. Joy Reid gave a shout-out to her to cease and desist on high-flying fantasy stories two days ago, based on her effect on communities of color. I'm sure the story is a Little Lie, but it's on all networks.

I note that Fatstuff Orange Monster has decided to stay relevant, while babbling nonsense online, again covered by all. Where's the mute button when I need it?

Yes, the PA lege is populated with morons in thrall to the above Attention Hog. I wrote to the prez pro temp of the so-called Senate, but he has covered his a** this week, by joining a lawsuit against Gov. Wolf re masking, as a parent, not a legislator. The Big Lies live! (Too many to be ONE Lie anymore--) Every morning there is a report on how 90 people invaded some school board meeting or other about freeeedumb-- and one by one, the boards kowtow by announcing a three-week delay of the mandate, allowing "parents" to get doctors' excuses for their little darlings to NOT wear masks. Meanwhile, there is a doc in Reading who put a fake form on the internet, for do-it-yourself excuses, sight unseen. Honest to god, there is no approaching these morons. PA is belatedly turning into AZ-- fraudit started.

Idaho...whodathunkit...ha. The only people I feel sorry for are the health care professionals caught by the oversupply of idiots. The stupids piling on at school boards are proving that public education in this country is woefully inadequate-- they think their patriotism/civics knowledge consists of flying stupid flags and calling in the networks to announce that they regret no vaccine now they are dying.

Back to the eternal cleanup after a basement flood two weeks ago--I have new respect for water!

[citizen625]

The Aryan Nations 'Nice people on both sides' didn't disappear: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/protests-armed-white-vigilantes/2020/06/04/09e17610-a5bb-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html. When they talk about anti-vaxxers, there is a good chunk of them Neo-Nazis within that community. You gotta love a rapper and Nazi making nice with one another politically. Politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Let's call Clarence, Amy, and poor lil' Kavanaugh what they are: disingenuous liars with a nicer class of haircut than most liars. They're not even good liars; they're good enough liars.

[RAS]

Maybe our fellow Americans can help Tucker with his vaccine research and send him pictures of all our post-vaccine bollocks for him to do medical analysis on.