Wednesday
Apr242024
The Conversation -- April 24, 2024
Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden signed a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia's military assault after months of congressional gridlock put the centerpiece of the White House's foreign policy in jeopardy. 'It's a good day for world peace,' Mr. Biden said from the State Dining Room of the White House. 'It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer, and it continues America's leadership in the world and everyone knows it.'... But even as he hailed the package on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the process should have 'been easier, and should have gotten there sooner.... But in the end we did what America always does. We rose to the moment.'... 'Imagine if instead we had failed,' Mr. Biden said as he admonished 'MAGA Republicans' for allowing Ukrainian officials to run low on artillery. The White House first sent a request for the security package in October, but Republicans -- many of them egged on by ... Donald J. Trump -- said the United States was bearing too much of the burden. Mr. Trump, who has long expressed admiration for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, has made clear that he would not back Ukraine if he wins in November." ~~~
~~~ Cristiano Lima-Strong of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced Wednesday he has signed legislation to ban or force a sale of TikTok, just hours after Congress dealt the video-sharing platform's Chinese ownership a historic rebuke following years of failed attempts to tackle the app's alleged national security risks. The Senate approved the measure 79 to 18 late Tuesday as part of a sprawling package offering aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, with the House having passed it Saturday. Biden confirmed that he signed the bill into law during a White House address on Wednesday, though he did not directly address the language targeting TikTok."
Will Hobson of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department announced Tuesday it has agreed to pay nearly $139 million to victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, settling legal claims brought over the department's failure to investigate allegations that could have brought the convicted child molester to justice sooner and prevented dozens of assaults. One of the largest of its kind in Justice Department history, the settlement brings to a close the last major legal case in an ugly chapter of Olympic sports in this country. Nassar's prolific abuses occurred over a span of decades at international events including the Olympics, as well as at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked, and local gymnastics centers in Michigan and around the country."
Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), who represented New Jersey in the House for more than a decade, has died at the age of 65. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) confirmed Payne's death in a statement on Wednesday." @12:45 pm ET Wednesday, this is a developing story.
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on Wednesday over whether Idaho's near-total abortion ban overrides a federal law that protects patients who need emergency care in a case that could determine access to abortions in emergency rooms across the country. In a lively argument, questions by the justices suggested a divide along ideological lines, as well as a possible split by gender on the court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, appeared skeptical that Idaho's law, which bars doctors from providing abortions unless a woman's life is in danger or in cases of ectopic or molar pregnancies, superseded the federal law. The argument also raised a broader question about whether some of the conservative justices, particularly Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., may be prepared to embrace language of fetal personhood, that is, the notion that a fetus would have the same rights [as] the pregnant woman." This is the pinned item in a liveblog. ~~~
[Marie: Personally, I am not prepared to embrace the language of Alito personhood, as I definitely don't think Insufferable Sam should have the same rights as a pregnant woman.]
Pam Belluck: "Justice Sotomayor asks Idaho's lawyer if it's true that the state's ban would prevent abortion in a situation where a woman would otherwise lose an organ or have serious medical complications.... 'Yes, Idaho law does say that abortions in that case aren't allowed,' he said."
Belluck: "The [U.S.] solicitor general reminds the justices of a crucial point: In the kinds of pregnancy emergencies in which an abortion is typically required, there is no chance for a live birth. In most of those cases, including when a woman's water has broken much too early, the pregnancy could not be viable and by making her wait for an abortion until she is on the brink of death, it is just causing additional suffering for the woman, the solicitor general says."
Elizabeth Dias: "This frank discussion about what can happen to pregnant women's bodies -- the dysfunction of their bodily systems, the loss of their reproductive organs and fertility, their other organs shutting down -- shows the challenges anti-abortion activists face as their mission of ending abortion, once largely theoretical, has become utterly concrete for so many Americans."
Marie: Earlier today, I wrote that "as far as I can tell, David Pecker hasn't testified to anything that implicated Trump in any illegal activity. If Trump talks a publisher into running fake negative stories about his opponents or quashing negative stories about himself, it's tawdry, but it's not illegal.... Pecker's NDAs with Trump's lady friends and others are not illegal, either, even if the intent is to deceive readers & the millions of voters who scan the Enquirer at the check-out lane." But this afternoon on MSNBC, my law guru Andrew Weissmann remarked that Pecker was providing in-kind as well as actual cash contributions to the Trump campaign. So it occurs to me that if Trump didn't report those contributions -- and we can be fairly certain he didn't -- then he violated federal campaign finance law and maybe state election law, too.
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Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday night to give final approval to a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending it to President Biden and ending months of uncertainty about whether the United States would continue to back Kyiv in its fight against Russian aggression. The vote reflected resounding bipartisan support for the measure, which passed the House on Saturday by lopsided margins after a tortured journey on Capitol Hill, where it was nearly derailed by right-wing resistance. The Senate's action, on a vote of 79 to 18, provided a victory for the president, who had urged lawmakers to move quickly so he could sign it into law. And it capped an extraordinary political saga that raised questions about whether the United States would continue to play a leading role in upholding the international order and projecting its values globally." ~~~
~~~ Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday celebrated the impending passage of $60 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine ahead of a final vote, while lamenting the fact that it took months to secure enough Republican support to land it. At a press conference, the Kentucky Republican pinpointed two men responsible for that delay: former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and ... Donald Trump. 'The demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,' McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.... 'And then our nominee for president didn't seem to want us to do anything at all,' McConnell said. 'That took months to work our way through it.'" MB: Based on this report, it appears McConnell can criticize Trump without mentioning his name.
Sapna Maheshwari & David McCabe of the New York Times: "A bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance -- or ban it outright -- was passed by the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to be signed quickly into law by President Biden. Now the process is likely to get even more complicated. Congress passed the measure citing national security concerns because of TikTok's Chinese ties. Both lawmakers and security experts have said there are risks that the Chinese government could lean on ByteDance for access to sensitive data belonging to its 170 million U.S. users or to spread propaganda. The proposed law would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States if ByteDance sold it within 270 days, or about nine months, a time frame that the president could extend to a year. The measure is likely to face legal challenges, as well as possible resistance from Beijing, which could block the sale or export of the technology. It's also unclear who has the resources to buy TikTok, since it will carry a hefty price tag." The Verge has a report here.
** Tami Luhby of CNN: "Millions of salaried workers will soon qualify for overtime pay under a final rule released by the US Department of Labor on Tuesday. The new rule raises the salary threshold under which salaried employees are eligible for overtime in two stages. The threshold will increase to the equivalent of an annual salary of $43,888, or $844 a week, starting July 1, and then to $58,656, or $1,128 a week, on January 1, 2025. About 4 million more workers will qualify for overtime when the rule is fully implemented in January, the agency estimates. In its first year, the rule is expected to result in an income transfer of about $1.5 billion from employers to workers, mainly from new overtime premiums or from pay raises to maintain the exempt status of some affected employees."
** Julian Mark of the Washington Post: "The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday banned noncompete agreements for most U.S. workers, a move that will affect an estimated 30 million employees bound by contracts that restrict workers from switching employers within their industry. The agency voted 3-2 to issue the rule, with commissioners in the majority saying they saw a mountain of evidence that noncompete agreements suppress wages, stifle entrepreneurship and gum up labor markets. The new rule makes it illegal for employers to include the agreements in employment contracts and requires companies with active noncompete agreements to inform workers that they are void [except for senior executives].... The rule is set to take effect after 120 days, but business groups vowed to challenge it in court.... The rule, recommended by President Biden as part of a 2021 executive order, is the latest step in a major effort by the FTC to expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement." ~~~
~~~ Andrea Hsu of NPR: "The vote was 3 to 2 along party lines." ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "This is the most pro-labor administration since FDR and it's not remotely close."
~~~ Marie: Many of these noncompete agreements are as ridiculous as they are coercive and unfair; the workers who change jobs do know any "company secrets" about the company they left that they might share with a new employer, nor do they get substantial or unique on-the-job training that they could transfer from one job to another. I hope the businesses that bring cases against the FTC lose, but we have the Supreme Court we have, and those old boys don't think the gummit should be telling biniss what to do. ~~~
~~~ Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court appeared prepared to side with Starbucks in its request to curtail the National Labor Relations Board's authority in determining whether fired union activists should get their jobs back in a case that was argued before the court Tuesday."
The Trials of Trump, Ctd.
Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan is off to an ominous start for the former president, and it might not get any easier in the days ahead. The judge presiding over the case, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule soon on a request from prosecutors to hold Mr. Trump in contempt of court for attacking witnesses and jurors alike. And the first witness -- David Pecker, longtime publisher of The National Enquirer -- will return to the stand on Thursday after the trial's weekly Wednesday hiatus.... Already, Mr. Pecker has delivered some compelling testimony, transporting jurors back to a crucial 2015 meeting with Mr. Trump and his fixer [at] Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. Prosecutors called it the 'Trump Tower conspiracy,' arguing that Mr. Pecker, Mr. Trump and Michael D. Cohen, who was then Mr. Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, hatched a plot at the meeting to conceal sex scandals looming over Mr. Trump's campaign.... [Mr. Pecker's account] bolstered the prosecution's argument that the men were protecting not just Mr. Trump's personal reputation, but his political fortunes." ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's trial in Manhattan held a fiery hearing on Tuesday about whether to find Mr. Trump in criminal contempt for repeatedly violating the provisions of a gag order. While the judge, Juan M. Merchan, did not issue an immediate ruling, he engaged in a heated back-and-forth with one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, scolding him for his failure to offer any facts in his defense of the former president. 'You've presented nothing,' Justice Merchan told the lawyer, Todd Blanche, adding soon after: 'You're losing all credibility with the court.'" ~~~
~~~ Josh Margolin, et al., of ABC News: "The U.S. Secret Service held meetings and started planning for what to do if ... Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement, officials familiar with the situation told ABC News. Merchan on Tuesday reserved decision on the matter after a contentious hearing. Prosecutors said at this point they are seeking a fine. 'We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty,' assistant district attorney Chris Conroy said, 'But the defendant seems to be angling for that.'" ~~~
~~~ Tuesday was another court day for our nation's No. 1 (alleged!) criminal. Here is the New York Times' liveblog of the proceedings. See yesterday's Conversation for some of the reporters' observations. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ At long last, the New York State court system has published the April 22 transcript of the proceedings. The link to it is here. The April 22 transcript is here. ~~~
Jed Shugerman, in a New York Times op-ed, argues that "the Manhattan D.A. has made a historic mistake. Their vague allegation about 'a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election' has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud.... If convicted, Mr. Trump can fight many other days -- and perhaps win -- in appellate courts. But if Monday's opening is a preview of exaggerated allegations, imprecise legal theories and persistently unaddressed problems, the prosecutors might not win a conviction at all." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Shugerman says he was of the impression that the fraudulent business records were "entirely internal." If that's the case, they didn't defraud anybody. So far, as far as I can tell, David Pecker hasn't testified to anything that implicated Trump in any illegal activity. If Trump talks a publisher into running fake negative stories about his opponents or quashing negative stories about himself, it's tawdry, but it's not illegal. Politicians -- and others -- do some version of that all the time. Pecker's NDAs with Trump's lady friends and others are not illegal, either, even if the intent is to deceive readers & the millions of voters who scan the Enquirer at the check-out lane. Updated above. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Alter, in a Substack post, partially refutes Shugerman: "Rumor has it that the DA plans to employ a little-known New York statute that bars conspiring to interfere in an election." MB: I don't know what-all that law says, but I suspect that every campaign ever conducted in the state of New York has violated it.
The Incredible Shrinking Bully. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "For months, the news coverage of Donald Trump's legal ordeal eagerly amplified the four-times-indicted former president's narcissistic spin: He would use his trials to his benefit, dominating the 2024 campaign.... How wrong they were. When the criminal trial actually began, reality hit home. Rather than dominate the proceedings or leverage his court appearance to appear in control and demonstrate no court could corral him, Trump day by day has become smaller, more decrepit and, frankly, somewhat pathetic. The judge is in control, not Trump.... Trum's apparent naps in court have generated mocking commentary on social media and the late-night comedy shows.... The candidate who criticizes Biden's energy has trouble staying conscious. (Meanwhile, the president set a vigorous campaign schedule crisscrossing Pennsylvania.)... Unable to mask his emotions in the midst of a narcissist's worst nightmare, Trump has never looked so small, so weary and so feeble."
Marie: What most struck me about yesterday's testimony was how it amplified what a sleazebag Trump is. While many of Manhattan's elite hang out with one another a posh parties and swanky events, Trump pals around with the head guy at a fake supermarket tabloid. Like the elites, Trump & Pecker do each other favors, but the mutual assistance arrangement between Trump & Pecker is so vulgar. I don't usually shower in the afternoon, but after spending some time reading Pecker's testimony, I really could not help but try to wash it off.
Trump's Immunity Claim Relies on the Big Lie. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: In arguing to the Supreme Court that he is immune from prosecution, "Mr. Trump used a tactic on which he has often leaned in his life as a businessman and politician: He flipped the facts on their head in an effort to create a different reality.... In Mr. Trump's telling..., [his plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results] are official acts that he undertook as president to safeguard the integrity of the race and cannot be subject to prosecution.... Mr. Trump's immunity claim is breathtaking. In one instance, his lawyers went so as far as to say that a president could not be prosecuted even for using the military to assassinate a rival unless he was first impeached. But the wholesale rewriting of the government's accusations -- which first appeared six months ago in Mr. Trump's motion to dismiss the election interference case -- may be the most audacious part of his defense."
Presidential Race
Pennsylvania Primary Races. Chris Cameron & Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and President Biden scored overwhelming primary victories in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, facing opponents who had long since dropped out of the race. Mr. Trump appeared to take 83 percent of the vote against Nikki Haley, his former rival in the Republican primaries. Still, Ms. Haley won the votes of more than 155,000 Pennsylvanians across the state that is considered essential to victory in November, although she ended her campaign more than a month ago.... Mr. Trump has shown little interest in winning Ms. Haley's endorsement and has made few attempts to reach out to her supporters.... On the Democratic side, Mr. Biden, who grew up in Scranton, Pa., took nearly 95 percent of the vote. Representative Dean Phillips, who was on the ballot but dropped out of the race last month, got about 5 percent of the vote."
Meredith McGraw & Kimberly Leonard of Politico: "If the opening week of Trump's hush-money trial laid bare the courtroom's constraints on Trump, no single 24-hour stretch demonstrated the extreme asymmetry of the unfolding campaign more than Tuesday. There was Biden making campaign stops with fawning supporters of abortion rights in Tampa, Florida, while Trump was sitting in a 'freezing' Manhattan courtroom, with barely any supporters in sight.... On Tuesday, while Trump in New York was listening to the judge in his case snap at his attorney, Biden surrounded himself with allies, including several lawmakers, candidates and abortion-rights leaders who took the stage before him. They praised Biden for supporting abortion rights and tore into Trump for appointing the deciding Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade."
This isn't about states' rights, it's about women's rights. -- President Joe Biden, Tuesday in Florida ~~~
~~~ Seung Min Kim of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday blamed Donald Trump for Florida's upcoming abortion ban and other restrictions across the country that have imperiled access to care for pregnant women, arguing Trump has created a 'healthcare crisis for women all over this country.' Biden's campaign events at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa placed the president in the epicenter of the latest battle over abortion restrictions. The state's six-week abortion ban is poised to go into effect May 1 at the same time that Florida voters are gearing up for a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. Biden said that millions of women are facing 'pain and cruelty.' 'But it's not inevitable. We can stop it. When you vote, we can stop it,' he said.... 'There was one person who was responsible for this nightmare,' Biden said. 'And he's acknowledged it and he brags about it -- Donald Trump.'"
Edward-Isaac Dovere of CNN: "Joe Biden will land a major union endorsement Wednesday from North America's Building Trades Unions, whose leaders say the president has his infrastructure bill largely to thank for it. In making one of their earliest ever presidential endorsements, NABTU leaders are kickstarting an eight-figure organizing program to try to deliver their 250,000 members in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden.... The backing from NABTU, which has 3 million members nationwide, is more enthusiastic than its 2020 backing of Biden.... It's 'almost like the perfect leader was sent at the perfect time for working people,' NABTU President Sean McGarvey told CNN about Biden in an interview announcing the endorsement." ~~~
~~~ ** Marie: This conversion of a union leader is remarkable. Watch at least through McGarvey's videotaped statement: ~~~
Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in at NBC News, April 24, 2020: "President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of an 'injection' of disinfectant into a person infected with the coronavirus as a deterrent to the virus during his daily briefing Thursday."
Some people are celebrating the anniversary:
Four years ago today, Trump told Americans to inject bleach on national television pic.twitter.com/9VdGe9hn3w
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 23, 2024
Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo and others wish everyone a Happy Disinfectant Injection Day. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Marie: Even though we remember this example of Trump's stupid suggestion as quite hilarious, the more important effect was that his comment was negligent and dangerous. New York Times, April 24, 2020: "In Maryland, so many callers flooded a health hotline with questions that the state's Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning that 'under no circumstances' should any disinfectant be taken to treat the coronavirus. In Washington State, officials urged people not to consume laundry detergent capsules. Across the country on Friday, health professionals sounded the alarm. Injecting bleach or highly concentrated rubbing alcohol 'causes massive organ damage and the blood cells in the body to basically burst,' Dr. Diane P. Calello, the medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, said in an interview. 'It can definitely be a fatal event.' Even the makers of Clorox and Lysol pleaded with Americans not to inject or ingest their products."
Top News in the NYT, April 23, 2020: "The official who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug embraced by President Trump as a coronavirus treatment, and that the administration had put 'politics and cronyism ahead of science.'... In a scorching statement, Dr. [Rick] Bright ... assailed the leadership at the health department, saying he was pressured to direct money toward hydroxychloroquine, one of several 'potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections' and repeatedly described by the president as a potential 'game changer' in the fight against the virus." (Also linked yesterday.)
Victoria Kim, et al., of the New York Times: "Columbia University was emerging from a night of tense standoff early Wednesday, after school administrators and pro-Palestinian protesters had negotiated into the early morning over a large encampment that has engulfed a part of the campus. A midnight deadline set by the university late on Tuesday for protesters to disband passed without signs of police moving onto the campus to quell the demonstrations that have upended the final weeks of the spring semester and challenged the school's leadership. Around 3 a.m., a statement from the university said student protesters had agreed to remove a significant number of the tents erected on the lawn, ensure non-students would leave, and bar discriminatory or harassing language among the protesters."
Dan Froomkin of Press Watch: "Mainstream-media reporters covering the growing wave of college protests against Israel's war in Gaza have adopted an overwhelmingly negative tone about something they should be celebrating: the peaceful free expression of college students understandably devastated by the pulverizing of Gaza and the slaughter of over 34,000 Palestinians by the Israeli military. The root cause of this journalistic dysfunction is that too many reporters have embraced the toxic presumption that any anti-Gaza-war protest is inherently antisemitic, and that any such protest legitimately makes Jewish students feel unsafe. That's actually a grotesque viewpoint: it both smears peaceful protesters (many of whom are Jewish) and trivializes real antisemitism."
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Arizona Senate Race. Flippity-Flip-Flop. Alex Tabet of NBC News: "Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake said in an interview with an Idaho media outlet that 'unfortunately,' her state's near-total abortion ban dating from 1864 is not being enforced.... Her comments came in response to criticism from a group that opposes abortion rights, Idaho Chooses Life. ... [and flipped] back on comments she made against the law earlier this month, when she called state legislators asking them to repeal it.... 'This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are,' said Lake in a video posted to X on April 11th.... Those comments also represented a change of tune from Lake on the ban. In 2022, while she was running for governor of Arizona, Lake called the law a 'great law.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: What's the problem? Lake is 100% consistent: you can count on her to always say what she thinks is expedient in each situation.
New York Congressional Race. Sad News! Anthony Izaguirre of the AP: "Former U.S. Rep. George Santos on Tuesday said he is dropping his longshot bid to return to Congress, months after he was expelled from the House while facing a slew of federal fraud charges. Santos, who was running as an independent candidate for the 1st Congressional District in New York, said he was withdrawing from the race in a post on the social media platform X. The announcement came after the disgraced former congressman's campaign committee reported no fundraising or expenditures in March, raising speculation that his campaign had failed to get off the ground." MB: Perhaps you will be kind enough to help George think up a new career now that "Congressman" appears to be out. Remember, no specialized education or experience required; Santos can just make up a job-appropriate CV (if he doesn't already have one on file).
Pennsylvania Congressional Race. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Representative Summer Lee, a first-term progressive Democrat, won her primary contest in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, fending off a moderate challenger in a race that centered on her stance on the war in Gaza.... The congresswoman was winning by an overwhelming margin with counting nearly complete late Tuesday, underlining the strength of her position as an incumbent this year after she out-raised her opponent with widespread backing from Democratic officials. Ms. Lee, who in 2022 was elected the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress and later joined the group of left-leaning lawmakers known as the Squad, defeated Bhavini Patel, a city councilwoman in Edgewood, Pa.... The seat is considered safely Democratic in the general election."
Tennessee. Jonathan Mattise of the AP: "Protesters chanted 'Blood on your hands' at Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday after they passed a bill that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed. The 68-28 vote in favor of the bill sent it to Republican Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. If he signs it into law, it would be the biggest expansion of gun access in the state since last year's deadly shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville. Members of the public who oppose the bill harangued Republican lawmakers after the vote, leading House Speaker Cameron Sexton to order the galleries cleared."
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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "President Biden said he will sign a $95 billion foreign aid bill as soon as it reaches his desk Wednesday, after the Senate approved it in a 79-18 vote. The measure contains $26 billion in funds for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza and other places.... Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) lauded the bipartisan show of support in a news conference after the vote. Nine Republican senators flipped their votes to support the legislation on Tuesday after voting against an earlier version of the aid in February. Top U.N. officials called for an international investigation into allegations of mass graves at hospitals in Gaza, following reports that hundreds of bodies were recovered at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. The Israel Defense Forces said its forces did not create the graves in Khan Younis."
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Reader Comments (13)
Tennessee gun knobbers say “Hold my beer!”
You thought it was bad when three 9 year olds and three adults were shot to death in a Nashville school a few months ago? Well! Tennessee Party of Traitors legislators have the answer: Guns for everyone!
Yup. Now teachers and staff members will be allowed—and encouraged—to show up for work, at schools, armed to the teeth. Cuz what we need is some pistol packin’ cafeteria lady and nine or ten teachers to open fire in an OK Corral shootout whenever some other NRA all star shows up lookin’ fer trouble.
What could go wrong?
And as an extra added attraction…the teachers, janitors, cafeteria ladies, and those ladies at the front desk will get concealed carry licenses AND…guess what? Parents are not allowed to know who is packing heat, cuz FREEEEDOM!
And, as usual, first amendment rights in red states only extend to the gun knobbers, book burners, election deniers, and white supremacists. When citizens showed up to protest the vote, they were kicked out. Can’t concentrate on passing out deadly weapons when pain in the ass citizens are protesting, now can you?
But what if the cafeteria lady ends up shooting a bunch of kids instead of the “bad guy with a gun”?
“Republicans rejected a series of Democratic amendments, including parental consent requirements, notification when someone is armed, and the school district assuming civil liability for any injury, damage or death due to staff carrying guns.”
So, no liability if the wrong people gets kilt.
But this isn’t a new idea…
“About half of the U.S. states in some form allow teachers or other employees with concealed carry permits to carry guns on school property, according to the Giffords Law Center, a gun control advocacy group.”
Tennessee just added some nice extras to the Guns for Everyone idea.
Next: concealed carry for first graders! Cuz why not? I mean, what if some little tyke shows up wearing a Biden pin? Gotta be prepared, amirite?
It just keeps getting better, don’t it?
@Akhilleus: Well, they're not down to arming first-graders, yet, but some states are fine with older teens carrying guns. As you know, I rely on Wikipedia for 99% of my "research," so here ya go:
"As of 2023..., 19 states allow individual colleges and universities to make decisions on whether to prohibit or permit the carrying of a concealed weapon on their campuses; 12 states (either because of state legislation or judicial decision) permit the carrying of concealed weapons on public post-secondary college campuses; and two states (Utah, West Virginia) have a specific state law requiring all public colleges and universities to allow the carrying of concealed weapons on their property."
This is not a civilized country.
An interesting by product of watching these “four years ago” clips is the way they point out how much Fatty’s speech has declined. Four or five years ago, he was still able to muster complete sentences, at least for a short period.
It’s not like he could ever have reminded you of Winston Churchill or Barack Obama—his nasally whine, rote delivery, and fifth grade vocabulary took care of that.
But listen to him today. He can barely eke out a four or five word phrase. And his vocabulary has shrunk to about ten words that get repeated over and over.
Then there’s this business of falling asleep in court. It’s impossible to miss how much worse he is now than just a few years ago. Plus, the courtroom situation must be scarily damaging to his fragile ego. This is guy who orders his house staff to line up and applaud him whenever he returns to Marred-a-Lardo, like a scene out of Downton Abbey when some peer of the realm shows up for a visit.
A staff member follows him around with a wireless printer to keep feeding him sycophantic press clippings that support his sense of personal wonderfulness. But here he is having to sit down, shut up, and take it, as he listens to what people in the real world think of him. No wonder his little brain shuts down and he lapses into momentary unconsciousness.
This is a warped, weird, damaged guy who lives in a bubble wherein he’s the best at everything and everyone loves him.
But yeah, let’s give this guy the nuclear codes again.
Marie,
Quite right. In fact, the craze for guns for everyone currently in vogue means that, compared to an earlier time in American history, cities in Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia (as mentioned in your Wikipedia citation) are less safe than Wild West towns like Tombstone. And certainly less civilized.
Interesting, in’it, how places like Arizona reach back to the nineteenth century to find precedence for laws curtailing women’s reproductive rights (making life much less safe for them—and their families) but completely ignore laws and regulations from that period that made life safer for everyone?
“The ‘Old West’ conjures up all sorts of imagery, but broadly, the term is used to evoke life among the crusty prospectors, threadbare gold panners, madams of brothels, and six-shooter-packing cowboys in small frontier towns – such as Tombstone, Deadwood, Dodge City, or Abilene, to name a few. One other thing these cities had in common: strict gun control laws…’Tombstone had much more restrictive laws on carrying guns in public in the 1880s than it has today,’ says Adam Winkler, a professor and specialist in American constitutional law at UCLA School of Law. ‘Today, you're allowed to carry a gun without a license or permit on Tombstone streets. Back in the 1880s, you weren't.’ Same goes for most of the New West, to varying degrees, in the once-rowdy frontier towns of Nevada, Kansas, Montana, and South Dakota.”
Soooo…let’s bring back laws that make life more dangerous and less civilized, but completely ignore those from the same period that made life safer and more civilized.
Because…well…I’m actually stumped as to the because…
Oh, wait! Because Party of Traitors! And uncivilized thugs.
Got it.
Hey, I’m sorry. That turtley asshole, Mitch McConnell, does not, repeat, does NOT get to take a victory lap over the vote for aid to Ukraine. This weaselly scumbag was nowhere to be seen or heard when House Traitors were holding up the works. He wants to criticize Trump (but not by name—very brave, Mitch), but says he’ll still vote for him.
You did nothing to help, so STFU and retire already, testudo bastard.
The Biden administration may be more labor friendly than others since FDR, but the SCOTUS sure isn't. It is elitist and authoritarian, or let's just say ..."businesslike."
This conservative SCOTUS is very closely tied to business interests by cords other than outright bribes. This Court's interests run along the lines of "ownership hath its privileges," and they see protecting those interests to be their first duty.
The way I put it the other day: "The two main training grounds for authoritarianism are business and religion. Both are top-down organizations, reliant on an obedient workforce that lives in the fear of God, the biggest Boss of them all."
"The press helps MAGA target jurors. And it's just not Fox.
Trump has always benefited from unthinking, celebrity-obsessed media.
Journalists can be an important check on those with power. Trump’s trial, though, is serving as an illustration of how an unthinking press can be weaponized by authoritarians and authoritarian movements to target everyday people and weaken democratic institutions.
It’s also a reminder that Trump’s New York trial for hush money payments and false business filings is itself in part about Trump’s relationship with tabloids and the press. It was those relationships which helped him to silence critics and avoid consequences while he clambered into the White House. And it’s those relationships which will be crucial to his campaign if he’s to win again."
Jamison Foser on some of the shitty NYT reporting.
"New York Times is an active and eager participant in a right-wing culture war intended to demonize and destroy any institutions that might provide the slightest bit of resistance to Trumpist authoritarianism."
Daily Kos
"Fed Chair Jerome Powell reveals the cause of persistent inflation - economy is becoming uninsurable."
Mr. Trump Gets a Bonus
After reading this, I have to wonder - where's the money for this come from? Share of revenues? Cashing in stock grants? (If he tries to cash in the grants, what will happen to the stock value?) Using shares as collateral for large loans?
I don't get it.
@BKDad: A lot I know, but it looks to me as if the "bonus" isn't even on paper. It's just a digital acknowledgment that he now owns an additional 36 million shares. As it stands now, he can't sell any of his shares till September, so no one can say what they're worth.
Elizabeth Dias: “This frank discussion about what can happen to pregnant women’s bodies — the dysfunction of their bodily systems, the loss of their reproductive organs and fertility, their other organs shutting down — shows the challenges anti-abortion activists face as their mission of ending abortion, once largely theoretical, has become utterly concrete for so many Americans."
Texas's abortion ban went into effect in December 2021! We have been hearing the heart wrenching stories of the consequences for Two and a Half Years already. And They Keep Happening. It is no problem at all for the forced birthers, it is exactly what they have always wanted. And with the minority rule, gerrymandering, voter suppression and complete control of the supreme court and many state governments there is no need whatsoever for them to moderate their demented hopes of the future. The Christian God decreed it and so it will be so. And eventually even the referendums, when they happen, will be watered down to keep allowing these atrocities to continue (just like Florida did with it's referendum to restore voting rights for felons).
So sad. Meadows and Ghouliani indicted in AZ. Life is a ruin for them, and I applaud it. I was just out there, and I saw very few Dumpie signs and flags, which surprised me. I don't doubt that I will be disappointed on a daily basis going forward, but tonight: Huzzahs!