August 2, 2022

Afternoon Update:

I like presidents who kill terrorists, not play golf with them. -- Forrest M., today's Comments thread

Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: "The world is just 'one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation. 'That was the dire warning from U.N. Secretary General António Guterres at a global meeting Monday on nuclear weapons. Officials underscored the geopolitical risks from Russia's war in Ukraine and simmering tensions in Asia and the Middle East -- as they review a 52-year-old landmark treaty that sought to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons." MB: A cheery outlook. But I suppose I should point out that this has long been the case.

Huizhong Wu & Eileen Ng of the AP: "U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday, becoming the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island claimed by China, which quickly announced that it would conduct military maneuvers in retaliation for her presence. Taiwan's foreign minister and other Taiwanese and American officials greeted Pelosi on the tarmac at Taipei's international airport. Her visit has ratcheted up tension between China and the United States because China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and it views visits by foreign government officials as recognition of the island's sovereignty. The speaker, who arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force jet, has sought for decades to focus attention on Chinese democracy movements. She traveled to Tiananmen Square in 1991, two years after China crushed a wave of democracy protests." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments here. ~~~

~~~ Nancy Pelosi, in a Washington Post op-ed, explains why she is visiting Taiwan: "By traveling to Taiwan, we honor our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan -- and all democracies -- must be respected." If you have a WashPo subscription, read the whole essay.

Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States.
Whaling voyage by one Ishmael.
BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN.

Ishmael, imagining the "grand programme of Providence," Moby Dick, pub. 1851 ~~~

~~~ A 20-Year War About Nothing. David Sanger of the New York Times: "The killing of Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan -- where planning for the Sept. 11 strikes began more than two decades ago, where the West once seemed poised to remake a fractured nation, and where the terrorist leader could feel comfortable again after the Taliban takeover last summer -- speaks volumes about what America accomplished in a 20-year experiment. It also says a lot about where it failed. On one level, it was a reminder of how little has changed.... On another level, it was a reminder of how surveillance, drones and remote killing have changed the nature of the hunt for the terrorist group's leadership.... If the original objective of going into Afghanistan was running these kinds of operations -- finding the masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the generation of terrorists who followed -- then maybe it was possible to pursue the mission without trying to remake the country."

** Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has filed its first lawsuit in the wake of a historic Supreme Court decision allowing states to outlaw abortion, arguing that a near-total ban on the procedure slated to take effect soon in Idaho would violate a federal requirement to provide medical care when the woman's life or health is at stake.Attorney General Merrick Garland said the lawsuit filed Tuesday is aimed at stopping Idaho's 'trigger' ban, which is set to take effect Aug. 25. The Idaho law allows doctors to be criminally prosecuted for providing abortions, Garland said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. He argued it could conflict with federal law that says patients seeking emergency medical treatment at a hospital accepting Medicare funds are entitled to any life-saving treatment." At 2:30 pm ET, this is a developing story. CNN's report is here. MB: Looks as if Garland can walk & chew gum at the same time.

Sinema Behaving Badly. Again. Burgess Everett of Politico: "Senate Democrats will probably start a climactic series of votes on their party-line energy, tax and health care bill this week with very little public indication of where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema stands. They're willing to risk it. While all of Washington waits on the Arizona Democrat, her previous treatment of high-profile issues shows she's unlikely to make any statement about how she sees the deal written by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer -- at least until it's on the floor. If the past is prologue, she'll also be a wild card on amendments that Republicans may offer in a bid to alter the bill on the Senate floor during votes later this week.... 'I'm going to approach it from the positive side and just say I anticipate Sen. Sinema will be on board,' said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)." MB: Prima donnas like Sinema & Manchin may love the public attention, but it's mostly negative attention. It's maddening, and it pleases no one.

The Secret Service Cover-up, Ctd. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general's office interfered with efforts to recover erased Secret Service texts from the time of the US Capitol attack and attempted to cover up their actions, two House committees said in a letter on Monday. Taken together, the new revelations appear to show that the chief watchdog for the Secret Service and the DHS took deliberate steps to stop the retrieval of texts it knew were missing, and then sought to hide the fact that it had decided not to pursue that evidence." A February 2022 memo from Thomas Kait, a deputy inspector general, morphed from "[criticizing] the DHS for refusing to cooperate with its investigation" to "instead [praising] the agency for its response to the internal review. The memo went from being a stinging rebuke that said 'most DHS components have not provided the requested information' to saying 'we received a timely and consolidated response from each component', the House committees said."

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in Tuesday's primary races.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden named a veteran emergency response official on Tuesday to manage the U.S. government's handling of the monkeypox outbreak as some of the nation's largest states declare states of emergency. The official, Robert Fenton, a regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and twice its acting head, will serve as the White House monkeypox coordinator. Alongside him, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the Division of H.I.V. Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will serve as his deputy. An early-morning statement issued by the White House said that the two men would be charged with overseeing the effort 'to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of tests, vaccinations and treatments.'"

Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: In "an extraordinary public statement..., former state Supreme Court justice [Michael Gableman --] hired by Republican lawmakers to probe the 2020 election [-- said in March 2022 that] Wisconsin should take a 'hard look' at canceling Joe Biden's victory and revoking the state's 10 electoral college votes.... But a newly unearthed memo shows that ... Gableman soon afterward offered a far different analysis in private. 'While decertification of the 2020 presidential election is theoretically possible, it is unprecedented and raises numerous substantial constitutional issues that would be difficult to resolve. Thus, the legal obstacles to its accomplishment render such an outcome a practical impossibility,' Gableman wrote to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. The contrasting public and private messages offer a glimpse into the dueling pressures facing Republicans in Wisconsin as they struggle to balance Trump's baseless demands for reversing the election with the legal and political realities on the ground."

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Kristen Welker, et al., of NBC News: “President Joe Biden announced Monday night that a U.S. counterterrorism operation over the weekend in Afghanistan killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the plotters behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.... Biden described al-Zawahiri as a 'mastermind' of the 9/11 attacks and said the terrorist leader also played a key role in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.... Two people briefed on the matter told NBC News it was a CIA drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri. Al-Zawahiri was killed at 6:18 a.m. local time at a safe house in downtown Kabul, according to an administration official. He was standing on a balcony during the time of the attack. No civilians or family members of al-Zawahiri were killed in the attack, the official said.” (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's lead story on the assassination of al-Zawahiri is here. The AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments. The Guardian's live briefings are here; they include a photo, released by the White House, of President Biden being briefed on the operation. ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "The seeds of the audacious counterterrorism operation had been planted over many months. U.S. officials had built a scale model of the safe house where al-Zawahri had been located, and brought it into the White House Situation Room to show President Joe Biden. They knew al-Zawahri was partial to sitting on the home's balcony. They had painstakingly constructed 'a pattern of life,' as one official put it. They were confident he was on the balcony when the missiles flew, officials said. Years of efforts by U.S. intelligence operatives under four presidents to track al-Zawahri and his associates paid dividends earlier this year, Biden said, when they located Osama bin Laden's longtime No. 2 -- a co-planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. -- and ultimate successor at the house in Kabul."

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House warned Monday that a potential visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could prompt China to take significant inflammatory actions in response, and urged Beijing not to take advantage of the trip or see it as a pretext for provocation." ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi began a fraught tour of Asia on Sunday that administration officials say they now expect will include a stop in Taiwan, despite China's increasingly sharp warnings in recent days that a visit to the self-governing island would provoke a response, perhaps a military one. Ms. Pelosi arrived in Singapore on Monday, after a weekend stopover in Hawaii to consult with American commanders responsible for the Indo-Pacific. She said in a statement that she was planning to travel on with a congressional delegation for high-level meetings in Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, and did not mention Taiwan. But it would not be unusual to omit Taiwan from an announcement given security concerns, and President Biden's aides said she was expected to proceed with the plan for the highest-level visit by an American official to the island in 25 years. Ms. Pelosi could still change her mind about traveling to Taiwan, administration officials said, but added that seemed unlikely." A related CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "As soon as [Democratic] party leaders announced [the new Schumer/Manchin climate change] bill last week, Republicans began attacking it in familiar terms. They called it a giant tax increase and a foolish expansion of government spending, which they alleged would hurt an economy reeling from rapid inflation. But outside estimates suggest the bill would not cement a giant tax increase or result in profligate federal spending. An analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a congressional nonpartisan scorekeeper for tax legislation, suggests that the bill would raise about $70 billion over 10 years. But the increase would be front-loaded: By 2027, the bill would actually amount to a net tax cut each year.... That analysis, along with a broader estimate of the bill's provisions from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, suggests that the legislation, if passed, would only modestly add to federal spending over the next 10 years. By the end of the decade, the bill would be reducing federal spending, compared with what is scheduled to happen if it does not become law." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republicans have three responses to any legislation proposed by Democrats: (1)It's a diabolical scheme to raise taxes & spend you money irresponsibly, or (2) they're taking away your freedoms, or (3) both. Here, and with the PACT burn-pit bill, they've chosen Option (1) off their short menu.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Two influential House Democrats called on Monday for two officials at the Department of Homeland Security's independent watchdog to testify to Congress about the agency's handling of missing Secret Service text messages from the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, accusing their office of engaging in a cover-up. In a letter sent Monday to Joseph V. Cuffari, the agency's inspector general, the heads of two congressional committees said they had developed 'grave new concerns over your lack of transparency and independence, which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office.' The letter from Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, and Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, renewed a demand the pair made last week that Mr. Cuffari step aside from the investigation. It also called for two of his office's top employees to testify this month."

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday sentenced Guy Wesley Reffitt, the first defendant to go on trial in the Justice Department's sprawling criminal inquiry into the Jan. 6 attack, to more than seven years in prison, the longest sentence to date in a case stemming from the Capitol riot. After a six-hour hearing, Judge Dabney L. Friedrich handed down a sentence at the low end of the guideline range. She noted that was still significantly longer than any given so far to any of the more than 800 people arrested in connection with the riot, many of whom have struck plea bargains." The NBC News story is here.

Jordain Carney & Anthony Adragna of Politico: "Senate Republicans are reversing course on a veterans health care bill, signaling they'll now help it quickly move to President Joe Biden's desk after weathering several days of intense criticism for delaying the legislation last week.... [Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer is expected to force another vote on the veterans bill this week, vowing Monday that he would bring it up 'in the coming days.... We're going to give Senate Republicans another chance to do the right thing,' he said. The New York Democrat will likely give Republicans an off-ramp by granting [Sen. Pat] Toomey [R-Pa.] a vote on his proposed amendment, which the Pennsylvania Republican and many of his colleagues say he's been requesting for months.... The amendment explanation has done little to curb Democratic charges that the GOP turned a non-controversial plan to help veterans exposed to Agent Orange and toxic burn pits into a political football."

"Election Integrity" = "Muscling Voters." Heidi Przybyla, now of Politico: "The Republican National Committee has been relying on a stable of the party's most prolific spreaders of false stolen-election theories to pilot a sweeping 'election integrity' operation to recruit and coach thousands of poll workers in eight battleground states, according to new recordings of organizing summits held this spring in Florida and Pennsylvania obtained by Politico. On the tapes, RNC National Election Integrity Director Josh Findlay repeatedly characterizes the committee's role as supporting in-state coalitions -- delivering staff, organization and 'muscle' in key states to the person they identify as the quarterback of the effort to create a permanent workforce: Conservative elections attorney Cleta Mitchell, who was a central figure in ... Donald Trump's legal strategy to overturn the 2020 election."

Kathellen Kingsbury of the New York Times: Columnist Nicholas Kristof is returning to the New York Times. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lena Sun & Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post on how to know, after you've had Covid-19, when you are no longer contageous. The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared a state of emergency on Monday to address a monkeypox outbreak, making the state the third in four days to elevate its public health response to the rapidly spreading disease. The declaration followed similar actions by New York on Friday and Illinois on Monday, and by the city of San Francisco on Thursday. Mayor Eric Adams of New York also declared a local emergency on Monday.'

Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "Less than a decade ago, the United States had some 20 million doses of a new smallpox vaccine -- also effective against monkeypox -- sitting in freezers in a national stockpile. Such vast quantities of the vaccine, known today as Jynneos, could have slowed the spread of monkeypox after it first emerged in the United States in mid-May. Instead, the supply, known as the Strategic National Stockpile, had only some 2,400 usable doses left at that point, enough to fully vaccinate just 1,200 people. The rest of the doses had expired.... At several points federal officials chose not to quickly replenish doses as they expired, instead pouring money into developing a freeze-dried version of the vaccine that would have substantially increased its three-year shelf life. As the wait for a freeze-dried vaccine to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration dragged on over the last decade, the United States purchased vast quantities of raw vaccine product, which has yet to be filled into vials. The raw, unfinished vaccine remains stored in large plastic bags outside Copenhagen, at the headquarters of the small Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic, which developed Jynneos and remains its sole producer."

Beyond the Beltway

State Primary Elections. Hannah Knowles & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A final stretch of primaries for state and federal offices kicks off Tuesday, setting the stage for a six-week battle inside a divided Republican Party pitting candidates loyal to ... Donald Trump and his false election claims against rivals looking to move past those fights in this fall's midterm elections.... Trying to overcome those economic head winds and low approval ratings for President Biden, Democrats argue the GOP's candidates -- and their campaigns against the democratic process itself -- will prove too extreme for general-election voters.... Tuesday's contests in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington state could elevate more Republicans who, like Trump, have baselessly undermined faith in elections and pitch themselves as populist fighters against not just Democrats but the GOP establishment."

Arizona. Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Mark Finchem -- a poster child for election deniers following the 2020 election -- is inching closer to becoming the chief election official in one of the most tightly divided battleground states in the country. Finchem, an Arizona state lawmaker, is running with ... Donald Trump's endorsement in Tuesday's Republican primary for secretary of state there. He has support from a coalition of other like-minded candidates running to be election administrators in their own states, which has gained traction in several other close 2020 swing states. And Finchem has a significant edge in a rare public poll of the secretary of state race published Friday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ The GOP primary candidates topping the polls for governor & secretary of state in Arizona ar rabid election deniers with plans to upend Arizona's election system. Never mind that there was no substantial fraud in the 2020 election. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Cooper of the AP: "Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Monday his investigators found just one dead voter after thoroughly reviewing findings from a partisan review of the 2020 election that alleged 282 ballots were cast in the name of someone who had died.... A spokesman for Brnovich ... said the dead person's ballot was not counted.... The finding by the Republican attorney general, who is running for U.S. Senate in Tuesday's primary, further discredits the review conducted last year. The review was led by an inexperienced firm, Cyber Ninjas, and conducted largely by supporters of Donald Trump who falsely believe the election was stolen from him." Trump has endorsed Brnovich's opponent Blake Masters, who is, according to Mother Jones, "a complete nightmare for democracy."

Missouri. Donald Trump had promised to endorse a candidate in Missouri's GOP primary for U.S. Senate. As a prime example of how unserious Trump is about governance, here's what he did: ~~~

~~~ Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: Donald Trump "injected more chaos into an already tumultuous [Republican primary] race [for U.S. Senate], simply endorsing 'ERIC' -- a first name shared by two rival candidates -- former governor Eric Greitens and state Attorney General Eric Schmitt -- as he suggested he was leaving it to voters to choose between them.... 'I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!' The unusual statement came hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'I will be endorsing in the Great State of Missouri Republican race (Nomination) for Senate sometime today!'" Both Erics thanked Trump for the endorsement. The Raw Story's report is here. MB: One of the Erics would be a horrible senator, and the other would be worse.

Florida. Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "... seven Florida clergy members -- two Christians, three Jews, one Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist -- ... argue in separate lawsuits filed Monday that their ability to live and practice their religious faith is being violated by the state's new, post-Roe abortion law. The law, which is one of the strictest in the country, making no exceptions for rape or incest, was signed in April by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), in a Pentecostal church alongside antiabortion lawmakers such as the House speaker, who called life 'a gift from God.' The lawsuits are at the vanguard of a novel legal strategy arguing that new post-Roe abortion restrictions violate Americans' religious freedom, including that of clerics who advise pregnant people. The cases are part of an effort among a broad swath of religious Americans who support abortion access to rewrite the dominant modern cultural narrative that says the only 'religious' view on abortion is to oppose it." MB: I wonder what stupid, irresponsible & irreverent thing Sam Alito will have to say about that.

Florida. Selene San Felice of Axios: "Last week, Florida education commissioner Manny Diaz told school districts to ignore federal guidelines aimed at protecting students and teachers from discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Diaz said the Biden administration's anti-discrimination language is not binding law and that following the guidelines could violate state law.... Educators will have to navigate conflicting guidance going into this school year. Teachers and schools could face lawsuits for violating the Parental Rights in Education law — dubbed 'Don't Say Gay.'" MB: Bottom line: confuse educators; hurt students.

Michigan. Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press: "A court order that sought to bar enforcement of a dormant law criminalizing most abortions in Michigan does not apply to county prosecutors, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The massively consequential ruling means the 1931 law banning all abortions except those done to protect the life of a pregnant person essentially takes effect immediately, said David Kallman, an attorney for Great Lakes Justc Center, a conservative organization representing several Michigan prosecutors who challenged the injunction. The decision could have a sweeping and drastic impact in the state, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and many other pro-abortion rights advocates have fought to maintain legal access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Tuesday are here: "Monday's grain shipment was 'the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the spread of the food crisis in the world,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. That cargo vessel, carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn, is en route to Lebanon under a deal brokered by the United Nations. Zelensky warned that Russia could still try to disrupt exports.... Brittney Griner has appeared again in a Moscow court for the first time since news broke of the Biden administration's proposal for a prisoner exchange with Russia to bring the WNBA player and another American prisoner, ex-Marine Paul Whelan, home.... The White House has announced an additional $550 million in security assistance for Ukraine."

August 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

** Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States killed the top leader of Al Qaeda in a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend, according to current and former U.S. officials. Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over the leadership of the group after the death of Osama bin Laden, was killed in the strike, the first attack in Afghanistan since American forces left last year and a significant victory for the Biden administration's counterterrorism efforts. U.S. officials said the strike was not conducted by the military. A former official said the operation was carried out by the C.I.A." ~~~

     ~~~ Kristen Welker & Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "President Joe Biden is expected to announce Monday night that a U.S. counterterrorism operation over the weekend in Afghanistan killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.... Biden will give remarks about the operation at the White House at 7:30 p.m. ET...."

David Sanger & Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi began a fraught tour of Asia on Sunday that administration officials say they now expect will include a stop in Taiwan, despite China's increasingly sharp warnings in recent days that a visit to the self-governing island would provoke a response, perhaps a military one. Ms. Pelosi arrived in Singapore on Monday, after a weekend stopover in Hawaii to consult with American commanders responsible for the Indo-Pacific. She said in a statement that she was planning to travel on with a congressional delegation for high-level meetings in Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, and did not mention Taiwan. But it would not be unusual to omit Taiwan from an announcement given security concerns, and President Biden's aides said she was expected to proceed with the plan for the highest-level visit by an American official to the island in 25 years. Ms. Pelosi could still change her mind about traveling to Taiwan, administration officials said, but added that seemed unlikely." A related CNN story is here.

Arizona. Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Mark Finchem -- a poster child for election deniers following the 2020 election -- is inching closer to becoming the chief election official in one of the most tightly divided battleground states in the country. Finchem, an Arizona state lawmaker, is running with ... Donald Trump's endorsement in Tuesday's Republican primary for secretary of state there. He has support from a coalition of other like-minded candidates running to be election administrators in their own states, which has gained traction in several other close 2020 swing states. And Finchem has a significant edge in a rare public poll of the secretary of state race published Friday."

Michigan. Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press: "A court order that sought to bar enforcement of a dormant law criminalizing most abortions in Michigan does not apply to county prosecutors, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The massively consequential ruling means the 1931 law banning all abortions except those done to protect the life of a pregnant person essentially takes effect immediately, said David Kallman, an attorney for Great Lakes Justc Center, a conservative organization representing several Michigan prosecutors who challenged the injunction. The decision could have a sweeping and drastic impact in the state, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and many other pro-abortion rights advocates have fought to maintain legal access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June."

Kathellen Kingsbury of the New York Times: Columnist Nicholas Kristof is returning to the New York Times.

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Hope Yen of the AP: "Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the Democrats' most conservative and contrarian members, declined on Sunday to endorse Joe Biden if the president seeks a second term in 2024 and refused to say whether he wants Democrats to retain control of Congress after the November elections. In a round of appearances on five news shows, the West Virginia senator also expressed hope that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., will back a Democratic package of climate, health care and tax initiatives that he negotiated.... 'I'm not getting into 2022 or 2024,' he said, adding that 'whoever is my president, that's my president.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Back in the old days, that might have been a prudent remark; today, it is dangerous to express any support for the anti-democracy party.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: “Although the House Jan. 6 committee has presented evidence of the carnage law enforcement faced at the Capitol that day, it has devoted little time to law enforcement's failure to predict and prevent the attack -- at least not publicly. But behind the scenes, sources tell NBC News, those failures have not been forgotten. As the committee prepares for an additional round of public hearings in September, it's expected to put more focus on the intelligence and law enforcement failures at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security that left police woefully underprepared for the mob that stormed the Capitol. Those failures will also be a key component of the committee's final report on Jan. 6." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Meghan Mistry of ABC News: "Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers may lose his Republican primary for an open state senate seat this week, after he testified to the Jan. 6 committee about the pressure campaign from ... Donald Trump and his associates to undo the presidential election results in the state.... After his testimony, Bowers faced criticism for telling a reporter that he would vote for Pres. Trump in 2024. He told Karl that's absolutely not the case.... 'I'll never vote for him,' Bowers [said]. 'But I won't have to, because I think America's tired....'... In an unusual move for a state legislature race..., Trump has campaigned against Bowers in Arizona. 'Rusty Bowers, he's a RINO ... coward who participated against the Republican party in the totally partisan unselect committee of political thugs and hacks the other day, and disgraced himself, and he disgraced the state of Arizona,' he told a crowd in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on July 22." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jim Jordan Opposed to Legislating. John Dorman of Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: Rep. Jim "Jordan [Rabid-Ohio] recently told Politico that Senate Republicans who join their Democratic counterparts in supporting legislation backed by [President] Biden are 'wrong.'" Since Democrats currently control both houses of Congress, under Jordan's model, no legislation can pass except perhaps the rare bill that Democrats favor & Joe Biden opposes. Which ain't much.

Some people have been wondering how Donald Trump would profit off Ivana Trump's death. Well, here's one rather macabre way:

Fore! Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert & Isabella Zavarise of Business Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: "The location of Ivana Trump's grave -- near the first hole of the golf course at Trump National Golf Club -- may have tax implications for the business owned by the former president. Tax documents from the Trump Family Trust, published by ProPublica, show the trust sought to designate a property in Hackettstown, New Jersey, as a non-profit cemetery company, though the course itself is 20 miles away in Bedminster. Ivana Trump..., Donald Trump's ex-wife, is the first person known to have been buried at the Trump-owned golf course. Under New Jersey state tax code, any land that is dedicated to cemetery purposes is exempt from all taxes, rates, and assessments." The has modified his cemetery proposal several times. The latest-known plan is for "a 284-plot cemetery, which would have gravesites available for sale." MB: Nice. I wonder if Donald will charge Ivana's estate for the lovely plot. Thanks to Bobby Lee & Akhilleus for the lead. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, TMZ picked up a photo of Ivana's grave, and, well, it's a hole in the ground labeled with a small, possibly slate slab engraved with Ivana's name & dates of birth & death. MB: In fairness to the Trumps, it is common practice to place a simple marker on a grave while a more elaborate one is being designed & made. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) In yesterday's thread, some commentators had some solemn thoughts on the final resting place of the first and former Mrs. Donald Trump -- assuming the first hole is indeed the final resting place. I can't help but think Ivana's remains may become a Traveling Corpse as the outcomes of various lawsuits somewhat temporarily place them hither & yon. She will not R.I.P. ~~~

~~~ Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert of Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: "... Donald Trump's 2007 plans to build a mausoleum with four obelisks on his golf course in New Jersey were rejected by city officials.... The mausoleum would have included 'four imposing obelisks surrounding its exterior and a small altar and six vaults inside,' according to NJ.com. But, after encountering opposition from city officials who called the design 'overwhelming and garish,' Trump floated the idea of redesigning the structure as a 'mausoleum/chapel,' The Washington Post reported." MB: Of course the Trump Memorial Cemetery & Shrine would be replete with phallic symbols. Remember, this was 2007, well before Trump became president*. Imagine what-all he has in mind now. And he'll get away with it. Bedminster is about 33 miles as the crow flies from Manhattan, but you'll be able to see the Shrine de Trump from Trump Tower.

Ann Marimow, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court's three liberal justices, in denouncing their colleagues' decision to eliminate the nationwide right to abortion, warned last month that returning this polarizing issue to the states would give rise to greater controversy in the months and years to come. Among the looming disputes, they noted: Can states ban mail-order medication used to terminate pregnancies or bar their residents from traveling elsewhere to do so?... It is possible, if not probable, that one or both of these questions will eventually work its way back to the high court." The authors relate some matters that already have arisen. MB: Those smug misogynists have created a 50-state legal morass that wont' be settled, well, ever. So besides depriving women of their rights, women -- as well as medical professionals --- don't and won't know just what options are left for pregnant people. And the federal courts, already clogged as John Roberts points out pretty much every year, will be overwhelmed.

Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "At least 29 states allow individuals other than police or security officials to carry guns on school grounds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As of 2018, the last year for which statistics were available, federal survey data estimated that 2.6 percent of public schools had armed faculty.... In the weeks after the Uvalde shooting, lawmakers in Ohio made it easier for teachers and other school employees to carry guns.... The law in Ohio has been especially contentious because it requires no more than 24 hours of training, along with eight hours of recertification annually.... The strategy is fiercely opposed by Democrats, police groups, teachers' unions and gun control advocates, who say that concealed carry programs in schools -- far from solving the problem -- will only create more risk."

Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The nation's biggest oil companies -- ExxonMobil and Chevron -- saw their profits roughly triple in the second-quarter as Russia's war in Ukraine upended global energy markets and left consumers stretching to cover record high pump prices.... The blockbuster results come a day after Europe-based Shell also posted record profits: The three, plus France's TotalEnergies, collectively earned nearly $51 billion in the most recent quarter, nearly twice what they brought in during the same three months in 2021, according to Reuters.... President Biden, facing criticism from the right over his handling of inflation and the economy, called out Exxon for making 'more money than God' in a June address.... Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth responded with a sharply worded letter admonishing the administration for its attempts, 'to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Massachusetts Clear Witch. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "Elizabeth Johnson Jr. is -- officially -- not a witch. Until last week, the Andover, Mass., woman, who confessed to practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch trials, was the only remaining person convicted during the trials whose name had not been cleared. Though she was sentenced to death in 1693, after she and more than 20 members of her extended family faced similar allegations, she was granted a reprieve and avoided the death sentence. The exoneration came on Thursday, 329 years after her conviction, tucked inside a $53 billion state budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. It was the product of a three-year lobbying effort by a civics teacher and her eighth-grade class, along with a state senator who helped champion the cause."

New York. Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A man was arrested on Friday after he was found with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle outside the Brooklyn home of an Iranian American journalist who was the target of an international kidnapping plot said to be orchestrated by an Iranian intelligence network last year, according to the journalist, a court document and a person briefed on the matter. The journalist, Masih Alinejad, 45, has been outspoken in her criticism of the Iranian government, writing two years ago that Iranian officials had unleashed a social media campaign that called for her abduction. In a federal indictment unsealed a year ago in Manhattan, four Iranians were charged with conspiring to kidnap her and forcibly return her to Iran." The particulars of the perp's suspicious behavior are, well, mighty suspicious.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates on developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "The key Black Sea port of Mykolaiv was hit by 'one of the most brutal shellings' since the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as dozens of Russian rockets destroyed homes, schools and infrastructure. Among those killed in the city was one of Ukraine's richest business executives, who founded an agriculture company that helped facilitate the country's grain exports. Finger-pointing continues over the attack on a detention center in Russian-occupied Donetsk that killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners. Russia claimed that it invited international monitors to investigate the Olenivka prison site, but the International Committee of the Red Cross says its request to do so has not been granted. 'Granting ICRC access to POWs is an obligation of parties to conflict under the Geneva Conventions,' it tweeted."

Dalton Bennett & Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "The first ship carrying grain departed a Ukrainian port [at Odessa] early Monday under a United Nations-brokered deal to ease a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: The city of "Nikopol, controlled by the Ukrainians, lies on the west bank of the Dnipro River. On the opposite bank sits a gigantic nuclear power plant -- Europe's largest -- that the Russian Army captured in March. The Russians have been firing from the cover of the Zaporizhzhia station since mid-July.... It is, in effect, a free shot. Ukraine cannot unleash volleys of shells in return using American-provided advanced rocket systems, which have silenced Russian guns elsewhere on the front line. Doing so would risk striking one of the six pressurized water reactors or highly radioactive waste in storage."

News Lede

New York Times: "One round of rainstorms after another blew through eastern Kentucky on Monday, deepening the misery of an already desperate region. Floodwaters again swallowed the roads that had recently reopened to allow emergency workers to scour the remote hills and valleys for survivors; creeks once again swelled into the streets of small towns where people had just begun the gloomy work of emptying houses of their waterlogged contents. Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky confirmed on Monday that the death toll from last week's floods had risen to 37, but warned that countless people were still missing."

July 31, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Although the House Jan. 6 committee has presented evidence of the carnage law enforcement faced at the Capitol that day, it has devoted little time to law enforcement's failure to predict and prevent the attack -- at least not publicly. But behind the scenes, sources tell NBC News, those failures have not been forgotten. As the committee prepares for an additional round of public hearings in September, it's expected to put more focus on the intelligence and law enforcement failures at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security that left police woefully underprepared for the mob that stormed the Capitol. Those failures will also be a key component of the committee's final report on Jan. 6."

Some people have been wondering how Donald Trump would profit off Ivana Trump's death. Well, here's one rather macabre way:

Fore! Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert & Isabella Zavarise of Business Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: "The location of Ivana Trump's grave -- near the first hole of the golf course at Trump National Golf Club -- may have tax implications for the business owned by the former president. Tax documents from the Trump Family Trust, published by ProPublica, show the trust sought to designate a property in Hackettstown, New Jersey, as a non-profit cemetery company, though the course itself is 20 miles away in Bedminster. Ivana Trump..., Donald Trump's ex-wife, is the first person known to have been buried at the Trump-owned golf course. Under New Jersey state tax code, any land that is dedicated to cemetery purposes is exempt from all taxes, rates, and assessments." The has modified his cemetery proposal several times. The latest-known plan is for "a 284-plot cemetery, which would have gravesites available for sale." MB: Nice. I wonder if Donald will charge Ivana's estate for the lovely plot. Thanks to Bobby Lee & Akhilleus for the lead. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, TMZ picked up a photo of Ivana's grave, and, well, it's a hole in the ground labeled with a small, possibly slate slab engraved with Ivana's name & dates of birth & death. MB: In fairness to the Trumps, it is common practice to place a simple marker on a grave while a more elaborate one is being designed & made.

Meghan Mistry of ABC News: "Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers may lose his Republican primary for an open state senate seat this week, after he testified to the Jan. 6 committee about the pressure campaign from ... Donald Trump and his associates to undo the presidential election results in the state.... After his testimony, Bowers faced criticism for telling a reporter that he would vote for Pres. Trump in 2024. He told Karl that's absolutely not the case.... 'I'll never vote for him,' Bowers [said]. 'But I won't have to, because I think America's tired....'... In an unusual move for a state legislature race..., Trump has campaigned against Bowers in Arizona. 'Rusty Bowers, he's a RINO ... coward who participated against the Republican party in the totally partisan unselect committee of political thugs and hacks the other day, and disgraced himself, and he disgraced the state of Arizona,' he told a crowd in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on July 22.

~~~~~~~~~~

So far, today is pretty much a no-news day. Let's keep it that way.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus again on Saturday morning, a rebound attributed to the Paxlovid treatment he was taking, but he has not experienced a recurrence of symptoms, the White House physician said. Mr. Biden 'continues to feel quite well,' the physician, Dr. Kevin C. O'Connor, said in a memo released by the White House. 'This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation,' he added. The positive test, however, means that Mr. Biden will resume 'strict isolation procedures,' as Dr. O'Connor put it, in keeping with medical advice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's report is here.

From Prima Donna #1 to Prima Donna #2. Hans Nichols of Axios: Sen. Kyrsten "Sinema [D-Az.] has given no assurances to colleagues that she'll vote along party lines in the so-called 'vote-a-rama' for the $740 billion [Schumer-Manchin] bill next week, according to people familiar with the matter.... Not only is Sinema indicating that she's open to letting Republicans modify the bill [during the vote-a-rama], she has given no guarantees she'll support a final 'wrap-around' amendment, which would restore the original Schumer-Manchin deal.... [For instance,] the private equity industry, which has contributed heavily to Sinema, is hopeful that she'll knock [out the $14BB provision on carried interest]." That could kill the deal. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

And to Big, Fat, Phony Liar #1. Thanks to Rockygirl for the lead. ~~~

Well, we lost all the texts about Trump telling Cuccinelli to collect all the votng machines & Secret Service agents assuring the director they had cuffed Trump in the limo & were returning him to the White House on January 6, but we do have Matt Gaetz caught on tape revealing state secrets to Roger Stone. ~~~

~~~ Jon Swaine & Dalton Bennett of the Washington Post: "As Roger Stone prepared to stand trial in 2019, complaining he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to incriminate Donald Trump, a close ally of the president repeatedly assured Stone that 'the boss' would likely grant him clemency if he were convicted, a recording shows. At an event at a Trump property that October, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) predicted that Stone would be found guilty at his trial in Washington the following month but would not 'do a day' in prison. Gaetz was apparently unaware they were being recorded by documentary filmmakers following Stone.... The lawmaker also told Stone during their conversation that Stone was mentioned 'a lot' in redacted portions of Mueller's report, appearing to refer to portions that the Justice Department had shown to select members of Congress confidentially in a secure room.... The committee's agreement not to discuss the redacted material with outsiders was formalized in a written deal with the Justice Department.... 'They're going to do you, because you're not gonna have a defense,' Gaetz told Stone.... At the time of the conversation, the committee was investigating whether Trump might have obstructed justice by floating possible pardons to Stone and other allies who were swept up in Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election.... Trump, who publicly praised Stone for not 'flipping' on him, commuted his prison sentence before it began and eventually pardoned him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This should, at the very least, get Matty Bumppo bumped off the Judiciary Committee.

Beyond the Beltway

Indiana. Arleigh Rodgers & Rick Callahan of the AP: "Indiana state senators narrowly passed a near-total abortion ban Saturday during a rare weekend session, sending the bill to the House after a contentious week of arguments over whether to allow exceptions for rape and incest. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 26-20 after about three hours of debate, passing the bill with the minimum 26 votes needed to send it on to the House, which Republicans also control. The bill would prohibit abortions from the time a fertilized egg implants in a uterus. Exceptions would be allowed in cases of rape and incest, but a patient seeking an abortion for either reason would have to sign a notarized affidavit attesting to the attack.... Only eight of Senate's 50 members are women.... Ten of the Senate's 11 Democrats voted against the bill, with the 11th member absent for Saturday's debate." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I wonder how many of these misogynistic control freaks realize they are making their states inhospitable to educated young people. If you were a new college grad, would you start your career in Indiana?

Way Beyond

China. Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Debris from a large Chinese rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean at 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, according to the U.S. Space Command. In an update posted on the social networking site Weibo, the Chinese Manned Space Agency said most of the debris had burned up on re-entry over the Sulu Sea, a body of water between the island of Borneo and the Philippines. The possibility, however slight, that debris from the rocket could strike a populated area had led people around the world to track its trajectory for days. The administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, issued a rebuke on Saturday, saying that China 'did not share specific trajectory information as their Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth.'"

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "Putin said Zircon hypersonic missiles 'have no equivalent in the world' and could ... evade any defense, and vowed to respond 'with lightning speed to anyone who decides to encroach on our sovereignty and freedom.'... The attack on Russia's Black Sea fleet headquarters, in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, sent a defiant message on Russia's Navy Day. The attack forced the cancellation of celebrations of Navy Day in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 where the Black Sea Fleet in headquartered. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a mandatory evacuation order for civilians still living in the war-torn eastern region of Donetsk, saying many were refusing to leave.... Russia says it has invited representatives of the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the deaths of Ukrainian prisoners of war -- many of whom were members of the Azov Regiment who surrendered in Mariupol -- at a detention center in Olenivka, in a Russian-occupied sector of Donetsk. Kyiv insists Russia was behind the deaths while Russian-backed separatists allege more than 50 prisoners of war were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack."

U.K. Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Prince Charles ... faced new scrutiny over the financing of his charities on Saturday after a report found that one organization had accepted a donation of 1 million pounds ($1.21 million) from the family of Osama bin Laden. As first reported by The Sunday Times of London, The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund received the donation in 2013 from the brothers Bakr and Shafiq bin Laden, half brothers of Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al Qaeda and architect of the Sept. 11 attacks. News of the payment follows a series of recent royal scandals, including a report in June that Prince Charles had accepted $3.1 million in cash donations from a Qatari billionaire between 2011 and 2015, some of which was received personally in a suitcase and shopping bags."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A fast-growing wildfire fueled by strong winds from thunderstorms and high temperatures in Northern California has grown to more than 51,000 acres in two days, becoming the state's largest wildfire so far this year and forcing evacuations in rural neighborhoods. The blaze, named the McKinney fire, began burning through dry timber on Friday in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, Calif., near the Oregon state line, the authorities said."

AP: "Samuel Sandoval, one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers who transmitted messages in World War II using a code based on their native language, has died. Sandoval died late Friday at a hospital in Shiprock, New Mexico, his wife, Malula told The Associated Press on Saturday. He was 98. Hundreds of Navajos were recruited from the vast Navajo Nation to serve as Code Talkers with the U.S. Marine Corps. Only three are still alive today: Peter MacDonald, John Kinsel Sr. and Thomas H. Begay."

New York Times: "Nichelle Nichols, the actress revered by 'Star Trek' fans everywhere for her role as Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer on the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, died on Saturday in Silver City, N.M. She was 89."