The Conversation -- September 4, 2023

Sabrina Siddiqui & Catherine Lucey of the Wall Street Journal: "Voters overwhelmingly think President Biden is too old to run for re-election and give him low marks for handling the economy and other issues important to their vote, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll that offers a stark warning to the 80-year-old incumbent ahead of the 2024 contest.... And Biden is tied with ... Donald Trump in a potential rematch of the 2020 election, with each holding 46% support in a head-to-head test.... Although the candidates are only three years apart, 73% of voters said they feel Biden is too old to seek a second term, compared with 47% of voters who said the same of the 77-year-old Trump. Two-thirds of Democrats said Biden was too old to run again. By an 11-point margin, more voters see Trump rather than Biden as having a record of accomplishments as president -- some 40% said Biden has such a record, while 51% said so of Trump. By an eight-point margin, more voters said Trump has a vision for the future. And by 10 points, more described Trump as mentally up to the presidency." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As you know, I don't often link poll reports, but this one was so horrifying, I thought I'd share it. The notion that Trump could boast more "accomplishments" than Biden is mind-blowing. Fox "News" or Facebook must be sending subliminal messages to viewers & users. On the other hand, I do think Biden should drop out of the race now. As the reporters point out, he would be 86 at the end of a second term. That's just too old. Trump would be 82; not that it matters, because he probably would refuse to leave office. BTW, I don't know why I was able to link to the WSJ story, since I don't have a subscription. But I got a possible clue: at first, the page showed up blank & contained a notice that I'd have to buy a subscription to read the story; then the whole article appeared, and at the end of the URL, there's an extension that reads, "mod=followamazon". So I suspect my Amazon Prime account is giving me access. If you're logged into an Amazon Prime account, you too might be able to link WSJ stories, or at least some WSJ stories. Or maybe not.

Fatima Hussein of the AP: "President Joe Biden, who often says he's the most pro-union president in history, touted the importance of unions and applauded American workers in building the economy during a Labor Day appearance in Philadelphia on Monday.... 'This Labor Day we're celebrating jobs, good-paying jobs, jobs you can raise a family on, union jobs,' Biden told the crowd gathered Monday. Instead of standing at the podium, the president held the microphone in his hand and walked around the stage behind signs that read 'UNION STRONG.'"

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The paintings above, by Judy Taylor, are part of a series on the history of labor in Maine. They now hang in the Maine State Museum. They were designed for and hung in 2008 in the state's Department of Labor. In 2011, Gov. Paul LePage (R) had the murals removed from the Labor building and put in storage because LePage thought they were too pro-labor FDR's secretary of labor, Frances Perkins, is depicted in the first mural pictured above.

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "Many ... indicators suggest that labor's long decline is over. Heralds of change include well-publicized organizing efforts in new sectors of the economy, broad public sympathy for the Hollywood writers' struggle, and big wage gains by workers increasingly willing to strike for them. There is also President Biden, the most outspokenly pro-labor president since Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.... On Wednesday, Biden's Labor Department proposed a rule that would make an estimated 3.6 million salaried workers eligible for overtime pay. The week before, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), transformed by Biden's appointments, issued a decision that will boost union organizing after decades in which management held the upper hand. On top of that, the day before, the NLRB issued another rule requiring prompt union elections, a further blow against employer delaying tactics.... And in June, the NLRB made it harder for employers to classify workers as 'independent contractors,' allowing them to join unions and access other labor law protections."

Jessica Contrera & Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "Around the turn of the 20th century, at least 18 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 15 were employed. [Lewis] Hine's searing images of those children remade the public perception of child labor and inspired the laws to ban it.... Hine's photos showed the price [of child labor]: unsafe working conditions, dangerous machinery and business owners who refused to educate the children or limit their working hours.... Now, conservative lawmakers in a handful of states are seeking to relax child labor protections. Their efforts come amid a renewed focus on child labor sparked largely by recent reporting on the prevalence of undocumented immigrant children working at meatpacking plants, auto factories and other dangerous job sites." Includes photographs.

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Tennessee. Speaking of Labor. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A woman gave birth alone in a jail cell in Tennessee on Tuesday after seeking medical attention for more than an hour, the authorities said, raising questions about the care provided to the woman and her baby.... The woman, whose name has not been made public, was incarcerated at the Montgomery County Jail in Clarksville, Tenn., about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, when she notified a deputy at 11:31 a.m. about a 'medical concern,' according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. A nurse arrived a few minutes later, the sheriff's office said. The nurse assessed the woman and then left to consult with other medical staff members. Another nurse arrived at 11:54 a.m. to 'conduct a follow-up assessment,' according to the sheriff's office. The medical staff members left to continue to 'assess the situation and order additional medical tests,' the sheriff's office said. However, at 12:41 p.m., a deputy went to the cell and 'discovered that the inmate had given birth while in her cell,' the sheriff's office said. The deputy helped the woman while medical staff members were alerted. The woman and her baby were taken to a hospital, where they remained in stable condition...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So we're supposed to believe that two nurses and numerous "medical staff" couldn't figure out that a woman was in labor and about to give birth. My guess is that the woman was screaming, "The baby's about to come! The baby's about to come!" or something like that. The sheriff's cover story is bull.

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "With television ads and text messages, direct mail and billboards, supporters of the embattled Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, have embarked on an escalating campaign of political pressure, backed by hard-right billionaires, aimed at trying to sway the outcome of Mr. Paxton's upcoming impeachment trial. The targets of their efforts are narrow: the 19 Republican members of the State Senate who will act as jurors in the trial, set to begin on Tuesday, and decide whether allegations of corruption and abuse of power are serious enough to warrant permanently removing and barring Mr. Paxton from office. But the effort to save Mr. Paxton, who is seen by many hard-core conservatives as their legal standard-bearer, is also the latest proxy in the broader fight over the future direction of the party, both in Texas and nationally." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the range of deplorable GOP politicians, on a scale of 1 to 10, Ken Paxton is a 10.

The Conversation -- September 3, 2023

This is a yooge electronic billboard the Republican Accountability Project has posted in Times Square:

     ~~~ A related Georgia Public Radio story is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead.

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Michael Shear & Nicholas of the New York Times: "President Biden offered his support and condolences to a Florida community hit hard by Hurricane Idalia after being snubbed by Ron DeSantis, the state's Republican governor and a potential rival for the presidency. Mr. Biden and Jill Biden ... took an aerial tour of Live Oak, a small town east of Tallahassee; received a briefing from federal and local emergency medical workers; and met with members of the community. In brief remarks, the president vowed that the federal government would support those affected for as long as it takes to recover. 'We're not going anywhere,' he said. 'The federal government, we're here to help.'" ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "'Nobody can deny the impact of climate crises -- at least nobody intelligent can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore. Just look around, around the nation and the world for that matter,' [President] Biden said while in Live Oak, Fla. 'Historic floods, intense droughts, extreme heat, deadly wildfires that have caused serious damage that we've never seen before.'" ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Bidenon Saturday praised Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) while visiting Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia after he was snubbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. 'I'm very pleased, the guy who we don't agree very much at all, the distinguished former governor and senior senator, he came, talked about to me and to you all [about] what an incredible job the federal government was doing and I found that reassuring,' Biden said in remarks in Live Oak, Fla. 'And, so, I think we can pull all of this together....'... Biden told reporters he wasn't disappointed that DeSantis didn't join the visit. 'No, I'm not disappointed. He may have had other reasons,' the president said. 'But he did help us plan this, he sat with FEMA and decided where we should go, where it would be the least disruptive.'" MB: IOW, President Biden could not have been more gracious, and Ron DeSantis has proved himself to be a bigger jerk than Rick Scott, which is quite a feat. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for not meeting with President Biden while he visited the state Friday to survey hurricane damage, calling the decision 'absolutely outrageous.' 'There's a 1 percent to 2 percent chance it's logistics. There's a 98 percent to 99 percent chance it's the optics,' Kinzinger said in a CNN interview Saturday. 'Ron DeSantis, at the cost of the benefit to Florida, has decided his political campaign cannot have him meet with Joe Biden, the President of the United States, who ultimately will be signing the checks that Florida is going to be begging for,' he continued." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tara Suter of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) responded Saturday to recent White House criticism of her saying she would vote against funding the government if the House decides not to open an impeachment inquiry against the president. 'The White House is attacking me for demanding an impeachment inquiry before I'll vote to fund one penny to our over bloated $32 TRILLION dollar in debt failing government,' Greene wrote in a lengthy thread on X...-Twitter.... Greene on Thursday also placed other conditions on her vote, including eliminating funding for Ukraine, withholding funding for 'Biden's weaponization of government,' and eliminating any remaining COVID-related mandates."

** Shania Shelton of CNN: "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a longtime fixture of Democratic politics with turns as Energy Secretary and United Nations ambassador under the Clinton administration, died on Friday, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement said in a statement. He was 75." Richardson's New York Times obituary is here. (Also linked yesterday.) President Biden's statement is here.

Girl Troubles

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. -- A. Lincoln, 1858 ~~~

~~~ ** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times likens the "federalism" recently imposed by the extremist Supremes to the federalist structure that governed the practice of slavery before the Dred Scott decision: "The reason to compare these proposed limits on travel within and between states to antebellum efforts to limit the movement of free or enslaved Black people is that both demonstrate the limits of federalism when it comes to fundamental questions of bodily autonomy. It is not tenable to vary the extent of bodily rights from state to state, border to border."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times writes about anxiety among girls and young women; it's worth a read. (Also linked yesterday.)

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Alabama. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian, in the Observer: "Kenneth Smith is one of two living Americans who can describe what it is like to survive an execution, having endured an aborted lethal injection last November during which he was subjected to excruciating pain tantamount, his lawyers claim, to torture. Nine months later Smith has been singled out for another undesirable distinction. If the state of Alabama has its way, he will become the test dummy for an execution method that has never before been used in judicial killings and which veterinarians consider unacceptable as a form of euthanasia for animals -- death by nitrogen gas.... Death penalty experts have decried what is in effect a human experiment." MB: We really should stop pretending we are part of the "civilized world." The only European country that still has the death penalty is Belarus, which, as you'll see in the story linked below, is so uncivilized, it's been disinvited from the Nobel Prize ceremonies.

Florida. Fredreka Schouten of CNN: "A Florida judge on Saturday struck down congressional district lines for northern Florida advocated by Gov. Ron DeSantis, ruling that the Republican governor's map had improperly diluted Black voting power. Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh concluded that the congressional boundaries -- which essentially dismantled the seat once held by Al Lawson, a Black Democrat -- violated the state's constitution, which protects minority-access districts. Marsh's order blocks the state from using the map in congressional elections and orders the legislature to draw a new one. The DeSantis administration is expected to quickly appeal the case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.... Most of the judges on Florida's high court have been appointed by DeSantis, now in his second term. A separate federal challenge to the state's congressional map is still pending."

Minnesota, et al. "It Takes a Lot of Water to Make a Perfect Fry. "Dionne Searcey & Mira Rojanasakul of the New York Times: In the land of 10,000 lakes, big farmers are draining the aquifers. "By turning on the taps in the depths of [one of the worst droughts on record], R.D. Offutt and other farmers in the state -- where thousands of wells irrigate potatoes and other water-intensive crops like corn, soybeans and sugar beets -- blew through limits designed to protect aquifers that supply drinking water to millions of people.... The water helped R.D. Offutt [which accounted for nearly a third of the water extracted] to achieve its objective of creating long, smooth potatoes that effortlessly sail through the slicers at frozen food processors so Americans could have one of their favorite foods: McDonald's French fries.... [The drainage] exposed how dependent much of the state has become on aquifers that are fragile and often poorly understood. The increasing overuse of groundwater is a nationwide problem, a New York Times data investigation found, with big cities and industrial farms alike draining aquifers at alarming rates." ~~~

     ~~~ Water, Water Everywhere, And Not a Drop to Drink. Marie: There is an existential irony in living in a country where people may die of thirst even as the sea is gradually drowning the coastlines. But, hey, ask most Republicans, like presidential* hopeful & boy pharma baron Vivek Ramaswamy, and he'll tell you climate change is a hoax.

Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: "The Nobel Foundation reversed course on Saturday and said it would not invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize award ceremony, acknowledging that an earlier decision to extend invitations had prompted backlash. Both Russia and Belarus were disinvited from the ceremony last year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The exclusion was part of a diplomatic campaign by the West to isolate the government of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The organization also retracted Iran's invitation after a harsh government crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted after the death of a young woman who had been detained by the country's morality police."

News Lede

New York Times: "Thousands of attendees at the Burning Man festival in a remote stretch of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada were told on Saturday to conserve food, water and fuel after heavy rainfall trapped them in thick mud. The event, which takes place in Black Rock City and began on Sunday, was interrupted by heavy rains on Friday night, and organizers directed attendees to shelter in place as rain poured over the area.... Black Rock City is a temporary community that pops up each year in the middle of a vast desert ... for Burning Man. The makeshift town hosts more than 60,000 people every year and is a three-hour drive from the nearest airport, which is more than 100 miles away in Reno.... Burning Man, which has been around since the 1980s, is a self-described 'community and global cultural movement' that is premised on countercultural principles, such as radical self-expression.... The event features art installations and culminates with the burning of a giant sculpture of a man, giving it its name."

The Conversation -- September 2, 2023

** Shania Shelton of CNN: "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a longtime fixture of Democratic politics with turns as Energy Secretary and United Nations ambassador under the Clinton administration, died on Friday, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement said in a statement. He was 75." Richardson's New York Times obituary is here.

Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Biden on Saturday praised Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) while visiting Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia after he was snubbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. 'I'm very pleased, the guy who we don't agree very much at all, the distinguished former governor and senior senator, he came, talked about to me and to you all [about] what an incredible job the federal government was doing and I found that reassuring,' Biden said in remarks in Live Oak, Fla. 'And, so, I think we can pull all of this together....'... Biden told reporters he wasn't disappointed that DeSantis didn't join the visit. 'No, I'm not disappointed. He may have had other reasons,' the president said. 'But he did help us plan this, he sat with FEMA and decided where we should go, where it would be the least disruptive.'" MB: IOW, President Biden could not have been more gracious, and Ron DeSantis has proved himself to be a bigger jerk than Rick Scott, which is quite a feat. ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for not meeting with President Biden while he visited the state Friday to survey hurricane damage, calling the decision 'absolutely outrageous.' 'There's a 1 percent to 2 percent chance it's logistics. There's a 98 percent to 99 percent chance it's the optics,' Kinzinger said in a CNN interview Saturday. 'Ron DeSantis, at the cost of the benefit to Florida, has decided his political campaign cannot have him meet with Joe Biden, the President of the United States, who ultimately will be signing the checks that Florida is going to be begging for,' he continued."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times writes about anxiety among girls and young women; it's worth a read.

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Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Friday that he would meet with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Saturday during a visit to tour the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, the Category 3 storm that hit the state's Gulf Coast and swept across the Southeast this week. But Mr. DeSantis's office said Friday that the governor had no such plans.... Asked on Friday night about the statement from the governor's office, a White House official, who was not authorized to discuss private conversations between the president and the governor, said: 'The president informed the governor yesterday before his visit to FEMA. The governor did not express concerns at that time. The visit was closely coordinated with FEMA, state and local officials to ensure there is no impact to ongoing response operations.'... 'We have to deal with supporting the needs of the people who are in harm's way or have difficulties,' Mr. DeSantis said earlier this week when asked about Mr. Biden. 'And that has got to triumph over any type of short-term political calculation or any type of positioning. This is the real deal. You have people's lives that have been at risk.'" Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let us put aside childish things, and accept that Ron DeSantis is a genuine wimp, afraid to stand beside the leader of the free world, lest he look as small and smarmy as he is. Oh, wait, DeSantis isn't just afraid of the President; he's also afraid of 15-year-old kids: ~~~

~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A New Hampshire teenager says he was manhandled by Ron DeSantis' security guards at a campaign event earlier this summer after he asked a question.... 'Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power,' the teenager asked the GOP presidential candidate [at a June event], 'a key principle of American democracy that we must uphold?' DeSantis tried to sidestep the question by saying Americans shouldn't remain stuck in the past..., and the exchange went viral.... Mitchell told The Daily Beast that members of the governor's team grabbed and physically intimidated him at two later campaign stops, on the Fourth of July and on Aug. 19.... Seven other sources confirmed Mitchell's accounts...." MB: But, hey, it takes a real leader to send out a goon squad to bully a teenager.

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The White House condemned the 'extreme' and 'hardcore fringe' of the Republican party after one high-profile, hardcore extremist, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, said she would not vote to fund the government this month without an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden. Without a new spending measure, government funding will run out on 30 September, with federal workers furloughed and agencies shuttered.... Nodding to the May deal to raise the debt ceiling, [White House spokesman Andrew] Bates said House Republicans 'already made a promise to the American public about government funding, and it would be a shame for them to break their word and fail the country because they caved to the hardcore fringe of their party'." (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Hard-right House Republicans are threatening to block a stopgap bill to keep the government funded unless it includes a security crackdown along the U.S.-Mexico border, escalating fears of a shutdown within weeks and injecting the supercharged politics of immigration into an already fraught stalemate over federal spending. Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, whose demands for deep cuts have already stymied agreement on a spending package for the coming year, now say they are unwilling to support even a temporary measure to prevent a lapse in federal funding without a sweeping border measure that has little chance of making it through Congress.... It is the latest complication for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he seeks to bridge the considerable rifts within his party over spending and prevent a shutdown that is all but certain to tarnish Republicans politically.... The situation could prompt the largest mutiny Mr. McCarthy has faced from the far right since he struck a deal with President Biden to suspend the debt ceiling and avoid a disastrous federal default. Behind the scenes, Mr. McCarthy is toiling to persuade far-right lawmakers to abandon the tactic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to McCarthy, he made a deal with the devils before he made the deal with President Biden. McCarthy was always ridiculous to think these loons would put country before destructive "principles."

Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "A four-line letter, signed by the attending physician of Congress and released by Senator Mitch McConnell on Thursday, suggested that his recent spells of speechlessness were linked to 'occasional lightheadedness' perhaps brought on by his recovery from a concussion last winter or 'dehydration.' But seven neurologists, relying on what they described as unusually revealing video of Mr. McConnell freezing up in public twice recently, said in interviews Thursday and Friday that the episodes captured in real time likely pointed to more serious medical problems.... The neurologists ... caution[ed] that they could not diagnose the minority leader from afar.... [But] while several possibilities were suggested, including mini-strokes, doctors said that the spells appeared most consistent with focal seizures, which are electrical surges in one region of the brain.... Whether caused by seizures or mini-strokes or something else, spells like Mr. McConnell's would not preclude most patients from working or socializing normally, doctors said. Still, experts said that seizures carried some elevated risk of cognitive or behavioral problems and could affect older patients differently." (Also linked yesterday.)

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and a number of his co-defendants pleaded not guilty this week in a sprawling racketeering case charging the former president and 18 of his allies with conspiring to overturn his narrow election loss in Georgia in 2020.... As of Friday, more than half of the defendants, including [Rudy] Giuliani and [John] Eastman, had pleaded not guilty and waived their right to a formal arraignment.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. Dan Friedman & David Corn of Mother Jones: "An FBI whistleblower filed a statement asserting that [Rudy] Giuliani 'may have been compromised' by Russian intelligence while working as a lawyer and adviser to Trump during the 2020 campaign. That contention is among a host of explosive assertions from Johnathan Buma, an FBI agent who also says that an investigation involving Giuliani's activities was stymied within the bureau.... According to Buma's account, Giuliani was used as an asset by a Ukrainian oligarch tied to Russian intelligence and other Russian operatives for a disinformation operation that aimed to discredit Joe Biden and boost Trump in the 2020 presidential race. Moreover, Buma says he was the target of retaliation within the bureau for digging into this.... As Republicans keep trying to gin up a controversy over the Bidens, Burisma, and other matters, Buma's statement reinforces the case that this supposed Biden-Ukraine scandal was egged on or orchestrated by Russian intelligence. And it contradicts the narrative pushed by Trump and his defenders that the FBI and Justice Department have been in cahoots with Democrats." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ According to the reporters, other FBI whistleblowers may be preparing to release statements backing up Buma's 22-page statement, which he sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July. ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Marshall of TPM: "It's important to remember, just as it was with those IRS agents and Hunter Biden, that it's in the nature of line agents to get a kind of tunnel vision about what they're investigating and what they think is out there.... The other part of the story is that Giuliani being fed garbage by Russian intelligence agents wouldn't be a surprise.... Giuliani acting as the conduit for Russian intelligence to sabotage the 2020 presidential election is hardly a controversial proposition. It's basically a given. Indeed, it's the predicate of the actions that got Donald Trump impeached back in 2019.... [The story of Hunter Biden's laptop] has simply never been plausible.... My best guess is that the likely theft of the data if not the laptop itself was part of the Ukrainian/Russian shenanigans Giuliani was part of in 2019.... Someone (take your pick from the usual suspects) knew about Hunter's life on the skids and got these into the hands of people who could advance Republican interests with them. It's worth finding out who that was. And it's almost certainly part of the Giuliani story." It's worth reading Marshall's full essay.

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Two more members of the Proud Boys were sentenced to prison on Friday for their roles in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with a ground commander in the far-right group, Ethan Nordean, given 18 years, and Dominic Pezzola, the man who set off the initial breach of the building by smashing a window with a riot shield, getting 10 years. The sentences imposed on Mr. Nordean and Mr. Pezzola were the third and fourth to have been handed down this week to five members of the far-right group who were tried in May for seditious conspiracy and other crimes in one of the most significant prosecutions to have emerged from the Capitol attack.... Mr. Nordean rocketed to fame within the Proud Boys in June 2018 when a video of him knocking out a left-wing protester in Portland, Ore., with a single punch the year before went viral. Mr. Pezzola, a flooring contractor from Rochester, N.Y., is best known for having appeared in video clips from Jan. 6 with a scraggly beard and a wild mane of hair, hammering on a window at the Capitol with a stolen police riot shield. The videos were prominently featured not only at the Proud Boys' landmark trial in Federal District Court in Washington, but also at public hearings held by the House committee that investigated Jan. 6." The AP's report is here. ~~~

Here is ProPublica's report on Clarence Thomas' financial disclosure, released Thursday. Also, here is the outlet's link to the statement by Thomas' attorney Elliot Berke, which accompanied the disclosure. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Berke wrote (in what I think was a 5- or 6-page statement), "The attacks on Justice Thomas are nothing less than ridiculous and dangerous, and they set a terrible precedent for political blood sport through federal ethics filings." Yeah, well, as several teevee commentators pointed out last night, Thomas' disclosure, such as it was, was consistent with ProPublica's findings. The disclosure did not refute any of ProPublica's reporting, and it did not address some of the findings of ProPublica and other outlets, principally the New York Times story about Thomas' dodgy financing of his fancy Walmart RV/bus. What sets "a terrible precedent" is not dogged investigative reporting of gross abuses but Thomas' arrogant refusal to adhere to minimal ethical standards, even to the point of failing -- for decades -- to make required disclosures. ~~~

~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$ extensively site a Slate article (don't know the author) on Thomas' belated, partial disclosure. Lemieux: "... if you know Thomas's body of work involving criminal defendants, these assertions that he cannot possibly be expected to conform to the strict letter of the law when disclosing the many expensive gifts bestowed on him by his many close personal friends who happen to be billionaires will be particularly infuriating[.]" The gist is that it's A-Okay by Thomas to condemn a person to death even if there is ample evidence he received inadequate counsel -- at the same time everyone should overlook as inconsequential his own gross errors of omission. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "Clean-up on Aisle Three." Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) went after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his delayed disclosure of gifts and luxury vacations from a conservative donor Thursday, pledging to fully investigate the justice.... 'This late-come effort at "Clean-up on Aisle Three" won't deter us from fully investigating the massive, secret, right-wing billionaire influence in which this Court is enmired,' Whitehouse said Thursday, an apparent reference to Article Three of the Constitution, which regulates the Supreme Court.... He pushed back on claims from Thomas attorneys' that previous disclosure form omissions were simply mistakes, and that the trips only needed to be disclosed because of recent rule changes. 'These are highly contestable and significant, but largely unsupported, assertions. They matter,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024. Erica Orden of Politico: "If Donald Trump wants to be on the ballot next year in all 50 states, he might first have to win an unprecedented courtroom battle over the 'insurrection clause' of the 14th Amendment. Under a legal theory that's gaining traction among Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans, that seldom-used clause arguably disqualifies Trump from ever holding office again due to his attempts to undermine the 2020 election and his role in stoking the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. There are two ways the theory might be tested. One strategy is for politicians, advocacy groups or even ordinary voters to file lawsuits seeking judicial declarations that Trump is ineligible to run. This strategy is already in its infant stages, with two obscure plaintiffs filing lawsuits in New Hampshire and Florida in recent days. The other, more politically perilous option would be for one or more states to embrace the theory outright and simply refuse to list Trump on their ballots. That might force Trump to file his own lawsuits asking courts to order his candidacy restored in those states. Either scenario could thrust the courts, and likely the Supreme Court, into an unsettled debate over the meaning of the insurrection clause...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The other day, Ron Fein of Free Speech for People asserted on MSNBC that the Fourteenth Amendment provision is similar to but perhaps even more important than some other Constitutional limitations on presidential qualifications. He has a point. Would you rather have a president* who tried to retain power by overturning a free and fair election OR someone who (1) wasn't yet 35 years old, or (2) wasn't born in the U.S. or (3) had already served two terms as president? (1) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will be 34 years old on January 20, 2025. (2) Secretary of Energy & former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.) was born in Canada. (3) Barack Obama. I rest my case.

Weird News. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Multiple sources have told The Daily Beast that scandal-plagued CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp held an 'exorcism' in his office to rid it of potential 'evil spirits' left behind by staff members who quit their jobs after their requests for raises were denied. The publication writes that both Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, decided that the exorcism ritual would be the best way to cleanse the office from the negative energies left behind by the staffers." The Schlapps called the Daily Beast "Satin's publication." MB: Look, how many human resources departments do you think have thought of using exorcisms as part of their program to improve staffing efforts? It's, like, innovative! But speaking of a place rife with evil spirits, Mercedes, who worked in the Trump White House, should have done the collegial thing & advised the Bidens to conduct an exorcism when they got to the White House. (Also linked yesterday.)

** Marie: Yesterday, a contributor posted a couple of videos which suggest that Covid-19 vaccinations can kill you, and you're much better off to somehow build up natural immunity. I expressed my skepticism, but I based my skepticism on nothing but intuition. However, late in the day, contributor Julia posted a couple of comments that suggest the videos posted are serious bull. Julia points out that the presenter in the first video, who bills himself as Dr. John Campbell, is a retired U.K. nurse educator who has repeated false and provided misleading commentary about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, according to Wikipedia. So it looks as if my intuitive skepticism was warranted, and I'll be getting that booster this fall (which I would have done anyway). And a big thank-you to Julia.

News Lede

New York Times: "Jimmy Buffett, the singer, songwriter, author, sailor and entrepreneur whose roguish brand of island escapism on hits like 'Margaritaville' and 'Fins made him something of a latter-day folk hero, especially among his devoted following of so-called Parrot Heads, died Saturday at 76." ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement on Buffett's passing.