May 17, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Rip Van Garland Awakens. Glenn Thrush & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has asked the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack for transcripts of interviews it is conducting, which have included discussions with associates of ... Donald J. Trump, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The move, coming as Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appears to be ramping up the pace of his painstaking investigation into the Capitol riot, is the clearest sign yet of a wide-ranging inquiry at the Justice Department. The House committee has interviewed more than 1,000 people so far, and the transcripts could be used as evidence in potential criminal cases, to pursue new leads or as a baseline text for new interviews conducted by federal law enforcement officials.... On April 20, Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, and Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote to Timothy J. Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel, advising him that some committee interviews 'may contain information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting.'"

Chris Megerian of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the poison of white supremacy and said the nation must 'reject the lie' of the racist 'replacement theory' espoused by the shooter who murdered 10 black Americans in Buffalo. Speaking to victims' families, local officials and first responders, Biden said America's diversity is its strength and the nation must not be be distorted by a 'hateful minority.'... Biden spoke after he and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects Tuesday at a makeshift memorial of blossoms, candles and messages of condolence outside the Tops supermarket...." The Washington Post's report is here.

Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, urged Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and the network's top executives in a letter on Tuesday to 'immediately cease the reckless amplification of the so-called "Great Replacement" theory on your network's broadcasts' in the wake of a deadly racist rampage in Buffalo. The letter, which followed remarks Mr. Schumer gave on the Senate floor Monday, may signal a new effort by Democrats and others to raise pressure on the cable network and its top-rated host and moneymaker, Tucker Carlson.... 'For years, these types of beliefs have existed at the fringes of American life,' Mr. Schumer wrote in his letter, which was also copied to Mr. Carlson personally. 'However, this pernicious theory, which has no basis in fact, has been injected into the mainstream thanks in large part to a dangerous level of amplification by your network and its anchors.'" ~~~

     ~~~ A copy of the letter, via the New York Times, is here. As Garrett Haake pointed out on MSNBC, Schumer's letter is effectively confirmation that the Senate itself will do nothing to deter gun violence because there are not 60 votes for even the most innocuous gun control legislation.

The New York Times is liveblogging events in Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday, including President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden's visit. President Biden is scheduled to deliver public remarks at 1:00 pm ET.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Replacement theory used to be a fringe doctrine, but these days, in at best thinly disguised form, it is attracting significant mainstream support within the G.O.P. And this mainstream acceptance helps it spread. As The Times has documented, Tucker Carlson's Fox News show has amplified the doctrine more than 400 times. And lest you dismiss Carlson as a mere media figure, remember David Frum's dictum: 'Republicans originally thought Fox worked for us. Then we discovered that we work for Fox.'" Krugman misses the days when voodoo economics, "a crank economic doctrine -- the claim that tax cuts pay for themselves -- became in effect the official Republican party line." Despite the fact that voodoo economics never inspired any acts of terrorism, he reckons "that the embrace of crank economics presaged the general moral collapse of the Republican establishment ...[and] opened the door for paranoia and conspiracy theorists of all kinds -- and the consequences have been deadly."

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "On Jan. 6, 2021..., a top Trump appointee at the U.S. State Department met with two activists who had been key to spreading the false narrative that the presidential election had been stolen. The meeting came as Trump's allies were pressing theories that election machines had been hacked by foreign powers and were angling for Trump to employ the vast powers of the national security establishment to seize voting machines or even rerun the election.Robert A. Destro, a law professor at Catholic University of America then serving as an assistant secretary of state, confirmed to The Washington Post he met with the two men -- Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann and Michigan lawyer Matthew DePerno -- in the midst of the tumultuous day. The two men have previously claimed to have huddled on Jan. 6 with State Department leaders, who Oltmann has said were sympathetic to the claims that a 'coup' was underway to steal the presidency from Trump. They have not identified with whom they met. Destro's acknowledgment is the first independent confirmation that they successfully gained the high-level audience.... Oltmann and DePerno played important behind-the-scenes roles in crafting the baseless allegations that the election was stolen from Trump...."

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "An intelligence subcommittee will hear testimony from two Pentagon officials on observations [of 'unexplained aerial sightings'] by military pilots and others. Pentagon officials testifying at a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday showed a previously classified video of an unidentified aerial phenomena, a fleeting color video of a reflective spherical object speeding past a military fighter jet.... 'We have detected no emanations within the U.A.P. task force that is, that would suggest it's anything nonterrestrial in origin,' [the deputy director of naval intelligence Scott] Bray said, referring to unidentified aerial phenomena." The AP's report is here.

Carolyn Johnson & Laura McGinley of the Washington Post: "Federal regulators authorized a coronavirus booster shot Tuesday for school-age children, making a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available to 5-to-11-year-olds as cases rise nationally. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the booster for use at least five months after children are fully vaccinated with the two-shot primary series.... Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scheduled to meet Thursday and are expected to recommend the booster, which was shown in laboratory tests to strengthen children's immune defenses -- particularly against the omicron variant." An NBC News report is here.

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Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "The most hotly anticipated event so far in the 2022 primary season will unfold today in Pennsylvania, where voters of both parties will make crucial decisions in competitive races for Senate and governor.... North Carolina is also holding primaries that will decide the fate of Representative Madison Cawthorn, who has been plagued by scandals and made many enemies among fellow Republicans...." This is a liveblog.

Politico's story on today's primaries, by Steven Shepard, is here: "Of the 20 separate dates on the 2022 midterm primary calendar, none is more important -- and potentially dramatic -- than this Tuesday."

Nathaniel Rakich of 538: "Tuesday is the busiest election day of the year so far, as five states -- Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- hold their 2022 primaries. And for the GOP, it will be another test of whether to move on from ... Donald Trump. Coming off Nebraska last week -- his first loss of the year -- Trump has endorsed candidates in seven major primaries on Tuesday, which should give us a clearer answer as to his power in the party. And even in races where Trump has no skin in the game, Republicans are considering nominating someone in his incendiary, illiberal mold -- which could make it harder for the GOP to pick up seats in November. All told, it's the highest-stakes primary day yet. Here are the 16 (!) Republican primaries to keep an eye on[.]

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden will travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to denounce the racist massacre in a predominately Black neighborhood as 'terrorism motivated by a hateful and perverse ideology,' according to a White House official, who said Mr. Biden would also call for stricter gun control measures.... It remained unclear how directly the president would link such violence to the political statements of his opponents."

Shane Goldmacher & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The massacre at the grocery store on Saturday trained a harsh light on the 'great replacement theory,' which the authorities say he used to justify an act of racist violence -- and on how that theory has migrated from the far-right fringes of American discourse toward the center of Republican politics. Republicans across the spectrum were quick to denounce the killings. But fewer party leaders appeared willing to break with the politics of nativism and fear the party has embraced to retain the loyalties of right-wing voters inspired by Donald J. Trump.... Last year, far-right Republican members of Congress circulated plans to create an 'America First Caucus,' where the section on immigration talked about the importance of 'uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.' The idea was scrapped but those involved continued to make waves for their flirtation with white nationalism.... Republicans have used rhetoric that suggests a tacit willingness to try to appeal to elements of the far right. Ahead of November's midterm elections, Republican candidates have ramped up warnings about the threats being posed to what is cast as real or traditional America. Often unsaid is what that bygone era looks like: white, male-dominated, Judeo-Christian and heterosexual."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Over the past week, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the third-ranking House Republican, has blasted President Biden for providing infant formula to undocumented immigrants while 'American mothers' suffer amid a nationwide formula shortage. She has attacked Democrats and 'pedo grifters,' borrowing language from the baseless pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory that claims there is a Satan-worshipping cabal of liberal pedophiles.... And after the deadly mass shooting in Buffalo..., Ms. Stefanik is under scrutiny for campaign advertisements she has circulated that play on themes of the white supremacist 'great replacement' theory.... Like [Donald] Trump, Ms. Stefanik's response when under fire is to attack her attackers. Like Mr. Trump, she vehemently defends herself against charges of holding any racist views, while at the same time using rhetoric that energizes far-right and fringe groups. On Monday, she released a lengthy statement attacking the media for reporting on statements she has made that echo replacement theory claims, but never disavowed the ideology, and did not condemn racism or white supremacy."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and a former member of G.O.P. leadership in the House, on Monday called out her party's leaders for enabling the spread of white nationalism after a gunman who believed racist ideology killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket. 'The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,' Ms. Cheney wrote on Twitter. 'History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.' Her statement came as Republicans in Congress were angrily pushing back against accusations that their language and actions have perpetuated the kind of racism and xenophobia that were apparently behind the massacre." An ABC News story is here.

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Fox News host Tucker Carlson distanced himself and the network from the alleged shooter in Saturday's killing of 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket, who allegedly wrote a document endorsing 'great replacement theory' -- a once-fringe racist idea that's been a refrain for Carlson and other prominent conservative media figures. In doing so, Fox News's most-watched host argued Monday night that the lengthy document allegedly posted by Payton Gendron -- which invoked the idea that White Americans were at risk of being 'replaced' by people of color because of immigration and higher birthrates -- was not politically motivated, and that the response by Democrats to the mass shooting was an attack on free speech.... 'So what is hate speech? Well, it's speech that our leaders hate,' he said.... Gendron's alleged document does not mention that he watched Carlson or his show." MB: TuKKKer is counting on his listeners not to know what free speech and hate speech mean. It's a safe bet he's right.

Nikki Ramirez & Chloe Simon of Media Matters: "Fox News programming went virtually silent on the racist conspiracy theory that reportedly inspired a mass shooting over the weekend, largely refusing to mention the so-called 'great replacement' theory by name in its coverage of the massacre. Fox's decision to avoid the topic stood in stark contrast to its cable news competitors, which discussed the shooter's racist motivations at considerable length. It also represented an about-face for Fox, which has previously been more than happy to spread racist 'replacement' paranoia." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course the Little Foxes tried to blame the mass murder on "mental health issues," but here's a problem with their characterization: the (alleged) murderer's "mental health issue" was a declaration he planned to commit a murder-suicide. That, and only that, was why he was sectioned.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "This past weekend's massacre in Buffalo has put a deserved spotlight on Elise Stefanik, Tucker Carlson, Newt Gingrich, Matt Gaetz, J.D. Vance and others trafficking in the racist 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory. But ... elected Republicans haven't merely inspired far-right extremists. They have become far-right extremists.... [A] study, released on Friday by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a decades-old group that tracks right-wing extremism, found that more than 1 in 5 Republican state legislators in the United States were affiliated with far-right groups.... The far-right groups range from new iterations of the tea party and certain antiabortion and Second Amendment groups to white nationalists, neo-Confederates and sovereign citizen entities that claim to be exempt from U.S. law.... One Arizona state senator, Wendy Rogers, gained national attention for a speech to a white-nationalist conference in February during which she called for violence."

Ray Stern of the Arizona Republic: "The Arizona Senate will investigate a social media post from state Sen. Wendy Rogers that suggested the shooter in a mass killing in Buffalo, New York, last weekend was a federal agent and part of a federal conspiracy. The Senate voted 24-3, with three members not voting, to move forward with an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.... An effort to expel Rogers, pushed by Democrats, failed on a 11-15 vote.... On Saturday, following the shooting deaths of 10 people at a Buffalo store, Rogers posted on the social media site Telegram, 'Fed boy summer has started in Buffalo.' Numerous political observers and journalist said that Rogers statement meant that she was calling the shooting was a 'false flag' operation by federal authorities.... Rogers, a Trump-endorsed, first-term politician who belongs to the Oath Keepers and has espoused conspiracy theories, was censured by her Senate peers on March 1 after she promoted hanging political enemies during an appearance at an event hosted by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and threatened to destroy fellow Republicans' careers."

Audra Burch & Luke Vander Ploeg of the New York Times: "The racist slaughter at a Buffalo grocery store on Saturday is the latest episode in a troubling rise of violence against African Americans, built upon historic racial fault lines and a polarized social climate.... About 64.9 percent of the 8,052 reported hate crime incidents that year were based on race, ethnicity or ancestry bias, according to the F.B.I. Within that category, Black Americans made up more than half of the victims.... Experts who track data caution that federal numbers are incomplete, and that some of that spike might be the result of increased awareness and more willingness to report such crimes. Yet they say the attention to social justice might itself have spurred more violence targeting Black Americans."

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine says it has given up fighting at the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol, allowing hundreds of its fighters who had been taking a last stand there to be moved to Russian-controlled territories.... Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian forces were struggling to advance and experiencing setbacks, including near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where a small group of Ukrainian soldiers managed to reach the border with Russia. And ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia appeared as isolated as ever, when in a meeting with the country's five closest military allies, only Belarus spoke in support of his war.... President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey repeated his harsh criticism of Sweden as a haven for Kurdish separatists whom he regards as terrorists, raising new questions about his support for Sweden and Finland's NATO membership. Top U.S. senators of both parties have struck a deal over a draft bill that would expand a 1996 war crimes law to give American courts jurisdiction over cases involving atrocities committed abroad even if neither party is a U.S. citizen, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "Sweden signed the country's application to join NATO, bringing the country a step closer to membership. Both Sweden and Finland are expected to submit their applications to the military alliance this week, beginning an accession process that is expected to move quickly.... Vladimir Putin downplayed the move on Monday, saying 'Russia has no problems with Finland and Sweden, and in this sense, expansion at the expense of these countries does not create an immediate threat for us.'... In the eastern region of Luhansk, Russian forces shelled a hospital in Sievierodonetsk, according to the regional governor. International officials have tallied more than 200 attacks on medical facilities since Russia's invasion. The U.S. Senate voted 81 to 11 to advance a bill Monday that would secure nearly $40 billion in aid for Ukraine, setting the stage for final passage this week." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here.

Rachel Pannett & Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian fighters have ended their weeks-long defense of a besieged steel plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol, as hundreds of combatants -- dozens of them seriously wounded -- were evacuated from the complex Monday. 'Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address, as the delicate evacuation continued. 'We hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys. Among them are the seriously wounded, they are being provided with medical aid.'... The Russian bombardment of the Azovstal plant appears to have persisted in recent days.... The complex evacuation is being coordinated with the help of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.... Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Anna Malyar, said 53 seriously wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, a nearby town which is controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Another 211 were transported to another Russian-aligned village, Olenivka, she said. Moscow and Kyiv are brokering a prisoner swap to secure their release."

Jon Henley of the Guardian: "Turkey has said it will not approve Sweden and Finland joining it as Nato members, hours after Stockholm followed Helsinki in a historic Nordic security policy shift by formally confirming that it intended to apply for membership of the alliance. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said diplomatic delegations from the two countries, which have reversed decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, should not even bother coming to Ankara to discuss the move. 'We will not say yes to those [countries] that apply sanctions to Turkey to join the security organisation Nato,' Erdoğan said. 'They say they will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn't bother.'... The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has repeatedly said the two Nordic countries would be 'welcomed with open arms', but the process requires unanimity among the alliance's 30 existing members. Turkey's objections, even if aimed at extracting concessions, could delay the process. The Swedish defence minister, Peter Hultqvist, said on Monday that Stockholm was working hard to overcome Ankara's reservations...."

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin has become so personally involved in the Ukraine war that he is making operational and tactical decisions 'at the level of a colonel or brigadier', according to western military sources. The Russian president is helping determine the movement of forces in the Donbas, they added, where last week the invaders suffered a bloody defeat as they tried on multiple occasions to cross a strategic river in the east of Ukraine. The sources added that Putin is still working closely with Gen Valery Gerasimov, the commander of the Russian armed forces, in contrast to claims made by Ukraine last week that the military chief had been sidelined."

Russia Bombs Ukraine's Future. Jason Dearen, et al., of the AP: "The Ukrainian government says Russia has shelled more than 1,000 schools, destroying 95. On May 8, a bomb flattened a school in Zaporizhzhia which, like School No. 21 in Chernihiv, was being used a shelter. As many as 60 people were feared dead. Intentionally attacking schools and other civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Experts say wide-scale wreckage can be used as evidence of Russian intent, and to refute claims that schools were simply collateral damage. But the destruction of hundreds of schools is about more than toppling buildings and maiming bodies, according to experts, to teachers and to others who have survived conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, in Syria and beyond. It hinders a nation's ability to rebound after the fighting stops, injuring entire generations and dashing a country's hope for the future."

Show Me the Money. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen urged European nations on Tuesday to step up their spending to support Ukraine.... While the European Union and international financial institutions have also been making large aid contributions, Ms. Yellen said that more must be done. 'I sincerely ask all our partners to join us in increasing their financial support to Ukraine,' Ms. Yellen said in a speech at the Brussels Economic Forum, according to her prepared remarks. 'Our joint efforts are critical to help ensure Ukraine's democracy prevails over Putin's aggression.' The Treasury secretary is in the midst of a weeklong trip to Europe, with stops in Warsaw, Brussels and Bonn, Germany, where she will meet her counterparts at the Group of 7 finance ministers summit. Aid to Ukraine is expected to be a central topic at that meeting."

Trying to Wipe the Tarnish Off the Golden Arches. Aaron Gregg, et al., of the Washington Post: "McDonald's is done with Russia after more than three decades of investment, concluding that doing business there is 'no longer tenable' as the war in Ukraine stretches into a third month. The fast food giant's decision to seek a local buyer for hundreds of Russian stores marks the first time it has given up on a major international market, chief executive Chris Kempczinski noted Monday in a letter addressed to the 'Global McFamily.'... Renault, which has been called out by name by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Monday that it sold its 68 percent stake in Russia's biggest automaker, AvtoVAZ, to the government. The sale price was 1 ruble, according to Reuters, albeit with a six-year option to buy back the shares; last year, the French carmaker valued its Russian assets at nearly $2.3 billion.... More than 900 companies -- including Ikea, Intel, Uber, Adidas and BP -- that made 'principled exits' from the country, as described in a widely followed list from Yale University."

Charlie Savage & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Biden has signed an order authorizing the military to once again deploy hundreds of Special Operations forces inside Somalia -- largely reversing the decision by ... Donald J. Trump to withdraw nearly all 700 ground troops who had been stationed there, according to four officials familiar with the matter. In addition, Mr. Biden has approved a Pentagon request for standing authority to target about a dozen suspected leaders of Al Shabab, the Somali terrorist group that is affiliated with Al Qaeda, three of the officials said.... Together, the decisions by Mr. Biden, described by the officials on the condition of anonymity, will revive an open-ended American counterterrorism operation that has amounted to a slow-burn war through three administrations. The move stands in contrast to his decision last year to pull American forces from Afghanistan, saying that 'it is time to end the forever war.'"

David Sanger of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Monday announced a partial lifting of sanctions on Cuba, including expanding flights beyond Havana and restarting a program to reunify Cuban families in the United States, its first moves toward fulfilling President Biden's campaign promise to reverse many of the sanctions imposed by his predecessor. The changes, which also include relaxing the ban on remittances, were announced after a lengthy review of Cuba policy. They go into effect at a time when food and medicine shortages have created new waves of Cubans trying to reach U.S. shores. While administration officials have said the actions would 'center on human rights and empowering the Cuban people,' they were immediately denounced by Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a Cuban American Democrat who is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee." A Miami Herald story is here.

Christina Jewitt of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Monday reached an agreement with Abbott Laboratories on the steps needed to reopen the company's shuttered baby formula plant, which could begin to ease the shortage of infant formula that has frightened and exasperated parents nationwide. The F.D.A. must still grant approval, once the company has taken the steps, for production to resume at the plant in Sturgis, Mich. It has been shut down since February after several babies who had consumed formula that had been produced there fell ill and two died. Abbott described the agreement with the F.D.A. as a 'consent decree' and said it would require federal court approval. Once the agency permits the plant to reopen, the company said production could begin within about two weeks and could translate to more formula on shelves in six to eight weeks. The company said it will continue flying formula in from a plant in Ireland. It was unclear how soon the F.D.A. might approve the plant reopening. Abbott's plant has been offline since February, when the F.D.A. discovered a deadly bacteria, called cronobacter, while swabbing in and near production lines. Abbott disputed that characterization...." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: I'd still like to know why it took three months plus for Abbott to clean up its act. Who caused the delay?

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday made it more difficult for federal courts to review the factual determinations that can lead to the deportation of noncitizens. The technical ruling split the court 5 to 4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing the majority opinion and fellow conservative Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joining liberal justices in dissent. Barrett and the majority went further than the federal government had advocated. She said that while Congress had granted the attorney general 'room for mercy' in providing relief to those who had entered the country illegally, it was different for judicial intervention. 'Federal courts have a very limited role to play in this process,' wrote Barrett. 'With an exception for legal and constitutional questions, Congress has barred judicial review of the attorney general's decisions denying discretionary relief from removal. We must decide how far this bar extends -- specifically, whether it precludes judicial review of factual findings that underlie a denial of relief. It does.'"

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of Senator Ted Cruz in his challenge to a federal law that limits how political campaigns can repay candidates for money they lend their own campaigns. The ruling was the latest in a series of decisions dismantling various aspects of campaign finance regulations on First Amendment grounds. The court split along ideological lines, 6 to 3, in deciding that Mr. Cruz, Republican of Texas, was entitled to be reimbursed using postelection donations for money he had lent his campaign in 2018. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said the challenged law 'burdens core political speech without proper justification,' violating the First Amendment."

Marie: So, on Monday, the Supreme confederates decided to make it harder for immigrants to obtain relief but easier for wealthy, shady politicians. Nice.

** Judd Legum of Popular Information: "There are few meaningful limits remaining on money in politics.... On Monday, the Supreme Court made the situation a little bit worse. [In this 6-3 decision,] Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, says wealthy candidates loaning their campaigns large amounts of cash is an essential part of the democratic process.... [Justice Elena] Kagan says [in her dissent] that by greenlighting, in the aggregate, unlimited donations that will go directly into the pocket of the candidate, the majority's 'decision can only bring this country's political system into further disrepute.' While Roberts claims loan repayments have no provable corrupting influence, Kagan notes that the majority has no "reason to second-guess Congress's experience-based judgment about the specially corrupting effects of post-election donations to repay candidate loans." She also provides several examples of the corrupting influence of post-election loan repayment in states where the restriction is not in place[.]" Worth reading to the end.

Faiz Siddiqui & Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk said Tuesday his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter 'cannot move forward' until the social media company's CEO shows proof that less than 5 percent of the platform's users are fake. Musk's tweet comes a day after he said he might try to renegotiate for less and accused Twitter of potentially misleading him about the percentage of fake accounts on the website, in the clearest signal yet that he could seek to exit the deal." MB Translation: If I'm to spend billions of dollars, you have to put me on the front page more often. I'm the World's Richest Man, and the media should acknowledge that every day.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Citing high community transmission and rising hospitalizations from a fifth wave of coronavirus cases, New York City health officials on Monday strongly recommended that all individuals wear medical-grade masks in offices, grocery stores and other public indoor settings citywide. The new recommendations, issued in a health advisory by the city health commissioner, came as the city approached the orange, or 'high' alert level for Covid-19, a benchmark it expects to hit in the coming days."

You Can Get Covid Again & Again. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "... the coronavirus has become more adept at reinfecting people. Already, those infected with the first Omicron variant are reporting second infections with the newer versions of the variant -- BA.2 or BA2.12.1 in the United States, or BA.4 and BA.5 in South Africa. Those people may go on to have third or fourth infections, even within this year, researchers said in interviews. And some small fraction may have symptoms that persist for months or years, a condition known as long Covid.... Earlier in the pandemic, experts thought that immunity from vaccination or previous infection would forestall most reinfections.The Omicron variant dashed those hopes. Unlike previous variants, Omicron and its many descendants seem to have evolved to partially dodge immunity."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Andrew Pantazi of the Jacksonville Tributary: "A Tallahassee judge lifted a stay in a Florida redistricting lawsuit, ordering election officials to begin using a map that preserves a Black congressional district in North Florida. The new map, drawn by a Harvard professor, only affects the North Florida congressional districts, re-instating a Duval-to-Gadsden 5th Congressional District to protect Black voters' ability to elect their preferred candidates. Circuit Judge J. Layne Smith ordered the new map last Wednesday, saying that he found 'the enacted map is unconstitutional because it diminishes African Americans' ability to elect candidates of their choice.' But Florida appealed, automatically staying the decision until Smith's new order lifting the stay Monday. The state's lawyer said he would file a motion Tuesday asking the 1st District Court of Appeal to reinstate a stay, halting Smith's order and keeping the earlier map signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis."

Virginia. Alyssa Lukpat of the New York Times: "After months of conflict, the foundation that runs President James Madison's Virginia estate agreed on Monday to accept 11 people recommended by a group of descendants of enslaved people who worked there to its governing board. In a statement on Monday, the Montpelier Foundation, which runs the 2,650-acre estate outside Orange, Va., that belonged to the nation's fourth president, said: 'This historic and unprecedented vote by the board of directors means that the foundation has achieved its long-sought goal of parity on the Board for descendants of Montpelier's formerly enslaved population.'"

Way Beyond

France. Norimitsu Onishi & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "President Emmanuel Macron appointed Élisabeth Borne, the low-key minister of labor and a former minister of the environment, as his new prime minister on Monday, in line with his promise to prioritize environmental issues in his second term and a long-expressed wish to select a woman for that role. Weeks before legislative elections, the choice of a woman and particularly Ms. Borne, long regarded as close to the Socialist Party, was meant to appeal to left-leaning voters whose support will help determine control over Parliament."

U.K. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Just days after she missed the state opening of Parliament, one of the most important dates in the royal diary, [Queen Elizabeth II] attended an equestrian extravaganza near Windsor Castle, and the crowd ... offered a standing ovation at the close of a chilly Sunday evening.... The queen was photographed clapping and grinning from ear to ear." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, a Sticky Wicket for the Heir. Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "When Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrive in Canada on Tuesday to kick off a royal tour in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's seven decades on the throne, they'll find themselves confronting the painful and enduring legacies of British colonization and empire. The pair, who begin their three-day tour in Newfoundland and Labrador, will take part in what their itinerary describes as a 'solemn moment of reflection and prayer' at a Heart Garden, planted in memory of the thousands of Indigenous children who died at residential schools and to honor survivors and their families.... But in a country where demonstrators against the mistreatment of Indigenous people have in recent years toppled statues of British monarchs -- including of Elizabeth and her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria -- some want more.... 'It was the whole colonial power structure that was responsible for the residential school system,' said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. 'I think they should definitely apologize.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "A cache of online postings suggests months of preparation and planning preceded Saturday's racist massacre in Buffalo and shows how the suspect evaded a state law that could have prevented him from owning a gun. New York's so-called red-flag law took effect in 2019, allowing judges to bar people believed to be dangerous from possessing firearms. Yet Payton S. Gendron, the 18-year-old man accused of killing 10 people at a Tops supermarket on Saturday, was able to buy an assault-style weapon despite having been held for a mental health-evaluation last year after making a threatening remark at his high school." ~~~

~~~ Verge: "The alleged gunman behind the attack in Buffalo, New York that left 10 dead and three injured on Saturday used Discord to discuss and share plans ahead of the assault, according to Bloomberg. As far back as December, the suspect is reported to have used a private server on the popular chat service to describe his intentions to carry out an attack. He later shared links to Discord logs describing his attack plan and white supremacist views, according to Bloomberg.... 'Discord wanted to ensure "another event like Charlottesville isn't planned on our platform". As soon as we became aware of it we took action against it and removed the server in accordance with our policies against violent extremism,' a Discord spokesperson told Bloomberg." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If someone used Reality Chex to outline his plans to kill or otherwise harm people, I can assure you I would call the authorities immediately. There's no indication in the report that Discord notified anybody.

May 16, 2022

Evening Update:

Christina Jewitt of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Monday reached an agreement with Abbott Laboratories on the steps needed to reopen the company's shuttered baby formula plant, which could begin to ease the shortage of infant formula that has frightened and exasperated parents nationwide. The F.D.A. must still grant approval, once the company has taken the steps, for production to resume at the plant in Sturgis, Mich. It has been shut down since February after several babies who had consumed formula that had been produced there fell ill and two died. Abbott described the agreement with the F.D.A. as a 'consent decree' and said it would require federal court approval. Once the agency permits the plant to reopen, the company said production could begin within about two weeks and could translate to more formula on shelves in six to eight weeks. The company said it will continue flying formula in from a plant in Ireland. It was unclear how soon the F.D.A. might approve the plant reopening. Abbott's plant has been offline since February, when the F.D.A. discovered a deadly bacteria, called cronobacter, while swabbing in and near production lines. Abbott disputed that characterization...." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: I'd still like to know why it took three months plus for Abbott to clean up its act. Who caused the delay?

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Wake Up & Smell the Stinkbugs. Jonathan Lemire of Politico: "To the frustration of many Democrats and some of his closest advisers, President Joe Biden has steadfastly spent more than a year in office insisting on trying to work across the aisle with Republicans. It's produced some notable legislative successes. But it's also been colored by a fair dose of in-your-face GOP obstructionism. Now, more than a year later, Biden no longer believes that most Republicans will eventually drop their fealty to Donald Trump and show a willingness to engage. He himself admitted he was wrong."

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Since Jan. 6 of last year, a growing chorus of activists, historians and political commentators have spoken of 'democracy on the brink' or 'democracy in peril.' What they mean is that, thanks to a paranoid, delusional and potentially violent new strain in our nation's politics, Americans may not be able to count on future elections being conducted fairly -- or the results of fair elections being accepted. And at least some news organizations are taking heed.... [Alex] Koppelman underscored what we should all be clear about by now: that most of the Republican Party publicly touts the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election but that the vote was rigged and victory stolen from him."

     ~~~ Marie: In a column urging journalists to make clear the danger Republicans pose to democracy, it took her till Paragraph 8 to begin to finger Republicans. This isn't making anything "clear" to the average newspaper reader, who barely gets past the headline, which, BTW, in this case, isn't any more helpful: "Democracy is at stake in the midterms. The media must convey that."

Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "The supreme court is 'dangerous to families and to freedoms in our country', Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday, as justices prepare to finalize a draft ruling stripping almost half a century of abortion rights in the US. The House speaker railed against conservative judges appointed by ... Donald Trump in an interview Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, in which she urged Democrats to keep their 'eye on the ball' to protect other freedoms she sees under threat. 'Beware in terms of marriage equality, beware in terms of other aspects,' she said. '... This is not just about terminating a pregnancy. This is about contraception, family planning.... This is a place where freedom and the kitchen table, issues of America's families, come together.'"

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post "Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. calls himself an originalist, someone who thinks the Constitution should be interpreted only by how it would have been understood by the Founders when they wrote it." So Brockell examines what abortion was like when the Founders were founding. Notably, measures to abort an embryo or early-term fetus were not considered abortions at all; "... most religious and legal scholars at the time did not think 'ensoulment' began at the moment of conception but at the time of 'quickening' -- when a pregnant person can feel fetal movement, generally between 16 and 22 weeks." Abortion was common: "... most homes would have had a medical manual ... [that] included recipes for concoctions that could induce menses that had been 'blocked' or 'suppressed' -- a common way to refer to early pregnancy." Especially since poisoning was a common method, abortion was dangerous. Abortion also was not illegal anywhere in the U.S. until 1821: decades after the Founders wrote the Constitution. And even that law -- passed in response to a scandal in which a preacher poisoned his pregnant lover -- should be viewed as more of a "poison-control measure," a scholar argued. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Another thing that becomes clear from reading Brockell's report is that Alito heavily cherry-picked the historical record to support his false suggestion that abortion was commonly prohibited back in the day. Alito isn't just an anti-woman fanatic; he's a sneaky, prevaricating anti-woman fanatic.

Nebraska. Devan Cole of CNN: "Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said Sunday that he will call a special session of his state's legislature to pass a total ban on abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this term. 'Nebraska is a pro-life state. I believe life begins at conception, and those are babies too,' Ricketts told CNN's Dana Bash ... when asked if he thought the state should require a young girl who was raped to carry the pregnancy to term. 'If Roe v. Wade, which is a horrible constitutional decision, gets overturned by the Supreme Court, which we're hopeful of, here in Nebraska, we're going to take further steps to protect those preborn babies.' 'Including in the case of rape or incest?' Bash asked. To which the governor replied: 'They're still babies, too. Yes.'"

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russia appears to be shifting its immediate ambitions on the eastern front of its invasion of Ukraine, as battlefield setbacks and dwindling troop numbers drain its war effort. Instead of attempting to encircle large numbers of Ukrainian troops from Izium south to Donetsk City, Russia is likely now trying to complete a takeover of the Luhansk area in the south, according to the Institute for the Study of War.... Russia may have lost a third of the ground forces it committed to the war in Ukraine, British intelligence officials said on Sunday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "Russia called Finland and Sweden's moves toward joining NATO a 'mistake' that could have 'far-reaching consequences' -- as both Nordic nations dispatched troops to participate in large-scale exercises by the military alliance. Republican U.S. senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), visited Helsinki after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend. The U.S. Senate is expected to advance the approval of a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Monday, with a final vote as soon as Wednesday. The remaining authorized aid is set to run out Thursday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's "full report" is here.

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sweden's ruling party dropped the country's historic military nonalignment on Sunday and agreed to join NATO, shortly after Finland's leaders officially announced they would do the same. The moves were major steps in ending decades of military neutrality for the two Nordic nations, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continued to dramatically shift security considerations in Europe. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said their accession would be a 'turning point for security' in Europe. 'Their membership in NATO would increase our shared security, demonstrate that NATO's door is open, and that aggression does not pay.'"~~~

     ~~~ Edward Wong & Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: Jens Stoltenberg, "the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said Sunday that the security bloc would grant fast-track membership to Sweden and Finland, raising the pressure on Vladimir V. Putin, who justified his invasion of Ukraine by what he cast as the need to keep the military alliance away from Russia's borders."

When You've Lost the Bloggers.... Anton Troianovski & Marc Santora of the New York Times: "The destruction wreaked on a Russian battalion as it tried to cross a river in northeastern Ukraine last week is emerging as among the deadliest engagements of the war, with estimates based on publicly available evidence now suggesting that well over 400 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded. And as the scale of what happened comes into sharper focus, the disaster appears to be breaking through the Kremlin's tightly controlled information bubble. Perhaps most striking, the Russian battlefield failure is resonating with a stable of pro-Russian war bloggers -- some of whom are embedded with troops on the front line -- who have reliably posted to the social network Telegram with claims of Russian success and Ukrainian cowardice.... As the news of the losses at the [Donets R]iver crossing in Bilohorivka started to spread, some Russian bloggers did not appear to hold back in their criticism of what they said was incompetent leadership."

Nicholas Confessore & Karen Yourish of the New York Times: "At the extremes of American life, replacement theory -- the notion that Western elites, sometimes manipulated by Jews, want to 'replace' and disempower white Americans -- has become an engine of racist terror, helping inspire a wave of mass shootings in recent years and fueling the 2017 right-wing rally in Charlottesville, Va., that erupted in violence. But replacement theory, once confined to the digital fever swamps..., has gone mainstream. In sometimes more muted forms, the fear it crystallizes ... has become ... commonplace in the Republican Party -- spoken aloud at congressional hearings, echoed in Republican campaign advertisements and embraced by a growing array of right-wing candidates and media personalities. No public figure has promoted replacement theory more loudly or relentlessly than the Fox host Tucker Carlson, who has made elite-led demographic change a central theme of his show since joining Fox's prime-time lineup in 2016. A Times investigation published this month showed that in more than 400 episodes of his show, Mr. Carlson has amplified the notion that Democratic politicians and other assorted elites want to force demographic change through immigration, and his producers sometimes scoured his show's raw material from the same dark corners of the internet that the Buffalo suspect did." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the No. 3 House Republican, and other GOP lawmakers came under scrutiny Sunday for previously echoing the racist 'great replacement' theory that apparently inspired an 18-year-old who allegedly killed 10 people.... While Stefanik has not pushed the theory by name, she and other conservatives have echoed the tenets of the far-right ideology as part of anti-immigrant rhetoric that has fired up the Republican base.... It marks a rapid transformation for Stefanik, who has sought to firmly align herself with former president Donald Trump and his nativist 'Make America Great Again' agenda over the last year after she replaced Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as GOP conference chair.... [In one 2021 ad, Stefanik's campaign committee wrote,] '[Democrats'] plan to grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.'... Other Republicans in Congress have been pushing the theory in more explicit terms. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) ... said during a subcommittee hearing ... last year that many Americans believe 'we're replacing national-born American -- native-born Americans -- to permanently transform the political landscape of this very nation.' ... Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) ... [said] in a tweet [that Tucker Carlson] 'is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Party of Racists. Cas Mudde of the Guardian: "There is no easy fix to dealing with far-right terror. But we should stop assuming Republicans can help, when they are part of the problem[.]... The Grand Old Party has become a far-right party that advances racist arguments in both implicit and explicit form.... Just a few days before the terrorist attack [in Buffalo], a poll showed that nearly half of Republicans believe the conspiracy theory.... [As for the terrorist himself,] there are few if any real 'lone wolves.' Far-right terrorists are part of a larger subculture, online and offline, which is connected to the broader conservative movement.... If [President] Biden and the Democrats really want to fight white supremacy, including institutional racism, they must do it without the Republican party." ~~~

~~~ Martha Hamilton & Aaron Wiener in the Washington Post: "... while the great replacement theory has inspired horrific violence in the past five years, it's a lot older than that. More than 70 years ago, a U.S. senator published a book warning of the same destruction of White civilization. Theodore G. Bilbo, a Democrat, had twice been governor of Mississippi before he served in the U.S. Senate from 1935 to 1947, when 'the growing intolerance among many whites toward public racism and anti-Semitism' led to his fall, according to an account in the Journal of Mississippi History.... Bilbo saw an existential threat in the growing ranks of American-born descendants of enslaved Africans. His solution? Ship them back.... 'A White America or a mongrel America -- you must take your choice!'... Bilbo's [political] career built on racism and anti-immigrant bigotry ... ended [when he died of cancer in 1947]. But the bigotry lingers on."

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "One federal appeals court judge in D.C. has hired only male law clerks for the past two decades. Another judge allegedly refused to speak to a staffer for weeks after a child-care emergency caused the assistant to depart work early one day.... These and other complaints appear in a confidential workplace survey conducted for the federal trial and appeals courts in the nation's capital, an institution regarded as a steppingstone to the Supreme Court. It details instances of gender discrimination, bullying and racial insensitivity, while underscoring the stark power imbalance between judges with life tenure and the assistants who depend on them for career advancement.... Current and former courthouse employees who acknowledged having witnessed misconduct described their reluctance\>to file formal complaints against their superiors...." MB: Worth noting: Merrick the Reluctant served as chief judge from 2013 to 2021, and -- as far as we know -- he did nothing to address these problems.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "When the Trump administration >assigned a prosecutor in 2019 to scour the Russia investigation for any wrongdoing..., Donald J. Trump stoked expectations among his supporters that the inquiry would find a 'deep state' conspiracy against him. Three years later, the team led by the special counsel, John H. Durham, on Monday will open the first trial in a case their investigation developed.... But rather than showing wrongdoing by the F.B.I., it is a case that portrays the bureau as a victim. The trial centers on whether Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer with ties to Democrats, lied to the F.B.I. in September 2016, when he relayed suspicions about possible cyberconnections between Mr. Trump and Russia. The F.B.I. looked into the matter, which involved a server for the Kremlin-linked Alfa Bank, and decided it was unsubstantiated.... Mr. Sussmann had told an F.B.I. official that he was not acting on behalf of any client. Prosecutors contend he concealed that a technology executive and the Hillary Clinton campaign were his clients to make the allegations seem more credible."

Australian Exceptionalism. Damien Cave of the New York Times: "If the United States had the same Covid death rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved.... At the milestone of one million deaths in the United States, the nations that did a better job of keeping people alive show what Americans could have done differently and what might still need to change.... Australia restricted travel and personal interaction until vaccinations were widely available, then maximized vaccine uptake, prioritizing people who were most vulnerable before gradually opening up the country again.... Dozens of interviews, along with survey data and scientific studies from around the world, point to a lifesaving trait that Australians displayed from the top of government to the hospital floor, and that Americans have shown they lack: trust, in science and institutions, but especially in one another."

"Uh, Well, No." Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post: ">Anthony Fauci said Sunday he would not return to his position as chief White House medical adviser if Donald Trump was reelected president in 2024. The infectious disease expert was asked by CNN's Jim Acosta if he would have confidence in Trump's ability to deal with a public health emergency should Trump serve another term as president. 'Would you want to stay on in your post?' Acosta added. 'Uh, well, no,' Fauci said. 'To the second question.... The first question ... if you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think at best you could say at best it wasn't optimal. I think just history will speak for itself about that. I don't need to make any further comment on that. It's not productive.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Maryland. Tiffany May of the New York Times: "Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced late Sunday night that he was recovering from 'a minor stroke,' the second Democratic lawmaker to fall ill from the ailment this year. Mr. Van Hollen, 63, said in a statement posted on Twitter that he had been admitted to George Washington University Hospital, which is in the District of Columbia, 'after experiencing lightheadedness and acute neck pain' while delivering a speech. An angiogram showed that he had had a 'minor stroke in the form of a small venous tear' at the back of his head."

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the front-runner for his state's Democratic Senate nomination, said on Sunday that he had had a stroke on Friday and was recovering.... The incident has kept him off the campaign trail for the final weekend before Tuesday's primary election in one of the nation's most closely watched Senate contests. It was unclear when he would return to in-person campaigning.... 'I'm well on my way to a full recovery,' [he said." The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Pennsylvania, et al. Colby Itkowitz & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: Three top candidates for statewide elections in Pennsylvania attended the "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6, 2021. "The trio are part of a phalanx of Republican candidates nationwide who ... strongly embraced Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.... Should the candidates win their elections, some would be in position to play a critical role in the administration of the presidential vote in 2024."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Two months before Payton Gendron allegedly killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, he was confronted by a security guard at the store during a trip on which he compiled detailed plans of the location, according to a document posted online last month by a writer who identified himself as Gendron. 'I've seen you go in and out ,,, What are you doing?' the guard told Gendron on March 8, according to an account in the document. Gendron replied that he was 'collecting consensus data' before making excuses and leaving for his car, according to the account, adding: 'In hindsight that was a close call.'"

New York Times: "A Las Vegas man who the authorities say opened fire on a Taiwanese congregation at a Southern California church on Sunday -- killing one person and injuring five others before the pastor and congregants overpowered and hogtied him -- was motivated by hatred, the Orange County sheriff said on Monday. The suspect, David Chou, 68, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from China, was charged with murder and five felony counts of attempted murder for what Don Barnes, the sheriff, described at a news conference on Monday as a 'politically motivated hate incident' prompted by grievances against the Taiwanese community."

May 15, 2022

Ellie Silverman & Kyle Swenson of the Washington Post: "Protesters gathered in Washington and at hundreds of events across the country on Saturday, including in New York City, San Antonio and Los Angeles, to rally for abortion rights.... The liberal groups that organized Saturday's protests designed the events as a resounding message to leaders that the majority of Americans support upholding Roe. In Washington, generations -- from babies and children to mothers and grandmothers who say they've been protesting for the right to an abortion for far too long -- gathered on the National Mall to send it. They voiced anger over the wave of abortion bans and restrictions taking hold in states across the country." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An AP report is here.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times takes on the Washington Post editors: "Having captured the court for their own ends, conservative legal elites have not been shy about their efforts to pressure the court to rule in their favor. Which is to say that in evaluating the recent protests, we have one important question to answer: Who has the right to speak directly to the Supreme Court? The elites who shape the court or the people who must live under it?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "There is an astonishing preponderance of Catholics on the Supreme Court -- six out of the nine justices, and a seventh, Neil Gorsuch, was raised as a Catholic and went to the same Jesuit boys' high school in a Maryland suburb that Brett Kavanaugh ... did, Georgetown Prep.... This Catholic feels an intense disquiet that Catholic doctrine may be shaping (or misshaping) the freedom and the future of millions of women, and men. There is a corona of religious fervor around the court, a churchly ethos that threatens to turn our whole country upside down.... Last year, at Thomas Aquinas College in California, Justice Samuel Alito fretted that there was growing cultural hostility toward Christianity and Catholicism. 'There is a real movement to suppress the expression of anything that opposes the secular orthodoxy,' he said. During her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Amy Coney Barrett tried to reassure Democrats who were leery of her role as a 'handmaid' in a Christian group.... The group has a male-dominated hierarchy and a rigid view of sexuality reflecting conservative gender norms and rejecting openly gay men and women. Men, the group's decision makers, 'headed' their wives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Foreign ministers from NATO countries were set to finish a weekend of meetings in Berlin on Sunday, with their counterparts from Finland and Sweden present, amid vague Russian threats of retaliation over the suddenly very real prospect of the two Nordic countries joining the military alliance. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Berlin on Saturday night for the talks, the latest example of how repercussions from Russia's invasion of Ukraine have undermined ... Vladimir V. Putin's war aims.... On the battlefields, Ukrainian forces reclaimed territory in the country's northeast on Saturday, driving Russian forces away from the city of Kharkiv and going on the offensive near the occupied town of Izium. Despite those gains, military and civilian leaders warned that the war was entering a new, slow-moving phase that could last a long time.... Turkey is working to negotiate a safe exit for the wounded Ukrainian soldiers sheltering in the bunkers of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. The situation there is growing more dire, with the remaining fighters surviving on dwindling rations." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a New York Times summary of what happened Saturday.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The UK's Ministry of Defense says Russia now looks to have suffered losses to a third of the ground combat force it committed in February, with the loss of equipment and low morale meaning it is unlikely to accelerate its rate of advance in the next month.

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, visited Ukraine on Saturday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, leading the latest delegation of American lawmakers to the country as the United States deepens its commitment to Kyiv's fight against the Russian invasion. The surprise visit by Mr. McConnell, who was accompanied by three other Republican senators, comes as the Senate is working to pass a $40 billion emergency military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine.... The trip, a rare international visit for Mr. McConnell, highlights the widespread bipartisan support for Ukraine in Washington...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) "is the only member of the House to hold a perfect 16-for-16 record opposing legislation to support Ukraine and oppose Russia, according to House records and a Democratic analysis provided to The Washington Post.... Little by little, however, with each proposal [to aid Ukraine], a few more Republicans would sign up [to oppose the legislation & resolutions]: eight Republicans opposed suspending trade privileges for Russia in mid-March; 17 Republicans opposed a resolution supporting Moldova, whose leaders fear their Ukraine-bordering nation could be Putin's next target; 19 opposed a similar resolution in support for Georgia.... [Massie's] views remain a minority, but his allies in this cause include some of the closest allies to Trump, who ... has espoused his own fondness for Putin." On Monday Trump, who once called him a 'third-rate grandstander,' endorsed Massie in the GOP primary." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Elisabetta Povoledo, et al., of the New York Times: "The Ukrainian rap and folk band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, as European viewers and juries delivered a symbolic, pop culture endorsement of solidarity behind Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion."

Ron Lieber of the New York Times: We should stop talking about "student loan forgiveness" and apologize to the kids we've told to get a higher education, then saddled them with huge debt. "Among the 26 nations that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey, only Britain has higher average tuition for public universities than the United States." Read on. MB: Lieber does an excellent job of shaming everybody from Joe Biden on down, but here's one thing he doesn't mention: banks aggressively pitch students to take out loans. I went back to get an advanced degree in the 1990s. I did not apply for a loan of any kind, as my tuition was free and I had a roof over my head. Nevertheless, the university obviously sold my name and address to banks because I received at least half-a-dozen letters from banks telling me they would send money. It's no wonder; lending money to students under government loan programs is a sure deal for banks because the government guarantees the loans.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: Two 4th District Court of Appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump on a three-judge panel ruled that undocumented immigrants have fewer rights than American citizens. "An appeal to the full bench of 4th Circuit judges is likely.... Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg of the Legal Aid Justice Center, an immigrant rights group that filed a brief in favor of the detainees, called the decision 'a radical outlier' from other appellate courts.... 'The Biden Administration should not continue to press legal arguments that immigrants are somehow lesser 'persons' than U.S. citizens within the meaning of the Due Process Clause.'"

If you'd like to know more about Elon Musk, Marc Fisher and others wrote a long profile of the nasty bastard for the Washington Post.

Felix Salmon, now of Axios: "Elon Musk has agreed to pay $44 billion for Twitter, which is much more than it's worth. His actions indicate that he doesn't want to pay that much -- he still wants the company, just not at that price. So the big question in the markets is: Will he end up buying the company, and, if so, how much will he end up paying?" Salmon goes on to explain Musk's contractual obligations to Twitter and a few ways the contretemps might play out.

Beyond the Beltway

Pennsylvania Gubernatorial race. Zach Montellaro, et al., of Politico: "Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano on Saturday landed the coveted endorsement of ... Donald Trump with days to go before the gubernatorial primary. The prospect of Trump's endorsement of Mastriano, a leading voice in the movement to overturn the 2020 election results and who was present at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, had alarmed local and national Republicans concerned about his ability to win a general election.... Mastriano -- who also has ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory -- was already leading in the polls in the fractured primary, despite being well outspent on TV by candidates like former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain and businessman David White.... Trump had been skeptical of Mastriano, according to another person familiar, but was impressed by his lead in the polls and focus on the 2020 election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

U.A.E. Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan became the president of the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, formalizing the rise of a 61-year-old prince who has deftly wielded his country's oil wealth to become one of the most influential leaders in the Arab world and a close partner of the United States."

U.K. When Boris Was a Boy. David Segal of the New York Times: "Simon Kuper has written a book that captures Boris Johnson and other future Conservative politicians when they were ambitious and misbehaving [Oxford] undergrads, planning their rise to power.... The book profiles a group of future leaders at a moment when few outside elite circles knew their names, and it taxonomizes Oxford the way a nature documentary might explain predators and prey on the Serengeti Plain."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A gunman who opened fire inside a Southern California church on Sunday, killing one person and critically wounding four others, was overpowered by congregants who then hogtied him, preventing further bloodshed, the authorities said. The shooting occurred at 1:26 p.m. inside the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, Calif., about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles in a community largely made up of retirees and one that has a well-established Asian community. Most of the victims were of Taiwanese descent, though officials were still investigating if they had been targeted, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department." An AP report is here.

Washington Post: "The suspect in the Buffalo supermarket massacre purchased the primary weapon allegedly used in the shooting -- a used Bushmaster XM-15 semiautomatic rifle -- from a licensed dealer near his hometown but said he then illegally modified the gun so he could use a high-capacity magazine. The suspect, 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron, described how he amassed his arsenal in lengthy online postings that authorities believe he wrote in the weeks before the massacre on Saturday." ~~~

~~~ New York Times: Asked about his plans after graduation for a school project last spring, "Payton Gendron, a senior, said he wanted to commit a murder-suicide, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter. He claimed to be joking, the official said. But the state police were summoned to investigate and took Mr. Gendron, then 17, into custody on June 8 under a state mental health law, police officials said Sunday. He had a psychiatric evaluation in a hospital but was released within a couple of days.... Two weeks later, Mr. Gendron graduated and fell off investigators' radar. On Saturday..., authorities say he kill[ed] 10 people and wounding three others in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent United States history." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "A teenage gunman entranced by a white supremacist ideology known as replacement theory opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo[, New York,] on Saturday, methodically shooting and killing 10 people and injuring three more, almost all of them Black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history. The authorities identified the gunman as 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, a small town in New York's rural Southern Tier. Mr. Gendron drove more than 200 miles to mount his attack, which he also livestreamed, the police said, a chilling video feed that appeared designed to promote his sinister agenda. Shortly after Mr. Gendron was captured, a manifesto believed to have been posted online by the gunman emerged, riddled with racist, anti-immigrant views that claimed white Americans were at risk of being replaced by people of color. In the video that appeared to have been captured by the camera affixed to his helmet, an anti-Black racial slur can be seen on the barrel of his weapon." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the same white supremacist theory that poor little rich white boy Tucker Carlson has been promoting on Fox "News." Take him off the air. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a statement from President Biden on the mass murder.