May 25, 2022

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the massacre of children and teachers at a grade school in Uvalde, Texas are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

There were 27 school shootings with injuries or deaths this year.... The Gun Violence Archive ... has counted 212 mass shootings that have occurred so far this year, as of Tuesday. -- Jaclyn Diaz of NPR

The President of the Murder Capital of the World:

~~~ Matt Viser & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "President Biden, in remarks that intermingled despair and anger, attempted to shame Congress on gun control Tuesday while openly questioning why the country he now leads has been incapable of coming up with an antidote to the mass shootings that show no signs of abating. A father who has lost two of his own children, a man who has delivered perhaps more eulogies than any living politician, and a president who is confronting numerous challenges was forced, once again, to console a country reeling from tragedy.... It was the second time in the course of 10 days that an 18-year-old in body armor carried a rifle into a building full of unsuspecting people, interrupting everyday life for everyday Americans with terror, mayhem and bloodshed.... Vice President Harris deviated from her scheduled remarks at an evening gala for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.... 'Enough is enough. Enough is enough.... 'As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action.'" ~~~

     ~~~ And there's this, from the report: "Several Republicans said Tuesday that they wanted to wait for more information about the shooting before discussing potential action." Two mass murders in 10 days, one targeting Black grocery-shoppers and one targeting little schoolchildren, and they need "more information"?

Sen. Chris Murphy Tuesday, in the Murder Capital of the World:

~~~ Colby Itkowitz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut who once held a 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor on the need for stricter gun laws in the United States, returned there Tuesday night to plead with his colleagues to find a way to put politics aside and work together to stop the carnage of mass shootings.... The aftermath of Sandy Hook was the closest Congress has come in the past decade to passing any meaningful changes to the nation's gun laws, but when a modest bill to strengthen background checks came to a vote in the Senate, only four Republicans voted for it, while four Democrats, none of whom are still serving, voted against it. Since then, there has been only frustration and anger after mass shootings in places of worship, in stores, at a concert, at a nightclub, at a yoga studio and in schools, making many fear that anyplace in the United States could be next. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged Republicans with robbing the lives of young children.... House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) encapsulated the shock and anger felt by Democrats toward their Republican colleagues, also noting that legislation passed in the House last year had been languishing in the Senate.... House Democrats passed two bills in March 2021 to strengthen the country's gun laws by closing what they see as loopholes and expanding background checks for gun purchasers." Politico's report is here.

How many more times will Senate Republicans express outrage at horrific shootings like the one today in Uvalde, Texas, and then block meaningful, bipartisan background-check legislation supported by nine out of ten Americans and most responsible gun owners? -- Rep. Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader, Tuesday

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on Twitter that he was 'completely sickened and heartbroken,' that he was 'lifting up in prayer' for the community and that there had 'been too many of these shootings.' Cruz, as well as ... Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), is scheduled to speak Friday at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston, about 275 miles from Uvalde.

Just to be clear fuck you @tedcruz you fucking baby killer. -- Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) ~~~

~~~ Emily Cochrane & Katie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Within hours of the shooting in Uvalde, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, moved to clear the way to force votes as early as Thursday on legislation that would strengthen background checks for gun purchasers, pushing to revive measures with broad appeal that Republicans have blocked in the past. The pair of bills would expand criminal background checks to would-be gun buyers on the internet and at gun shows and lengthen the waiting period for gun buyers flagged by the instant background check system to allow more time for the F.B.I. to investigate. The measures, passed by the House in 2019 and again last year, have languished in the Senate amid Republican opposition. Even as they publicly mourned the massacre that killed 19 children and two adults on Tuesday, Republican senators gave little indication that their positions had changed." The Hill has a story here.

Here's what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted when he was running for governor in 2015: "I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the pace Texans. @NRA"

Steve M.: "... while we're waiting for more information [about the shooter], a parasite named John Cardillo -- a blue-check right-wing commentator with nearly 300,000 followers including J.D. Vance and several GOP members of Congress, posted this: 'If initial reports are accurate and this mass murderer of children was an illegal alien who was being chased by the Border Patrol, Democrats should never again be allowed to hold an elected office in the United States.'... The governor himself said that [the shooter] is a U.S. citizen who appears to have attended Uvalde High School.... Tell me why I shouldn't believe that Cardillo knew exactly what he was doing -- spreading a rage-inducing falsehood, because inducing rage is the right's prime directive. It's what right-wingers do every waking hour of their lives.... Benjamin Goggin [tweeted] 'People have taken the photo of an unassociated trans person with the trans pride flag and are claiming its the Texas shooter Salvador Ramos.... This comes on the heels of Twitter announcing their crisis misinformation policy less than a week ago, where they promised to attach warnings to misleading claims in crisis situations... guess it still needs some work!'... [Business Insider reported,] '... Arizona GOP congressman Paul Gosar spread a false and transphobic claim that the suspected shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien." Gosar tweeted the claim even though authorities had already identified the suspect as an 18-year-old male resident of Uvalde, where the shooting occurred.'"

From the New York Times' live updates of Tuesday's primary election results: "Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia won the Republican nomination for a second term on Tuesday, resoundingly turning back a primary challenge that had been engineered by Donald J. Trump and delivering the former president his biggest electoral setback of the 2022 primaries. Seeking retribution for Mr. Kemp's decision to certify the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, Mr. Trump had personally recruited former Senator David Perdue to run for governor, worked to clear the field for him, recorded television ads, held a rally and even transferred $2.64 million from his political accounts to help him.... ~~~

~~~ "Stacey Abrams will advance to Georgia's general election for governor after running in the state's Democratic primary unopposed.

~~~ "Representative Lucy McBath, who gained national prominence as a gun control and racial justice activist after her teenage son was shot and killed, defeated on Tuesday Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux for the Democratic nomination in the Seventh District of Georgia, according to The Associated Press. Ms. McBath currently represents a nearby district. But under the once-in-a-decade redistricting process, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed into law a new map that transformed Ms. McBath's district so that it overwhelmingly favored Republicans. The Seventh, a version of which Ms. Bourdeaux currently represents, became strongly Democratic under the new lines, and Ms. McBath chose to run there instead. ~~~

~~~ "Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Republican official who famously rebuffed former President Donald J. Trump's requests to 'find' enough votes to help him overturn the 2020 election, defeated a Republican primary challenge on Tuesday. Mr. Raffensperger, who serves as Georgia's top elections official as secretary of state, won his G.O.P. primary against Representative Jody Hice, a Republican congressman who voted to overturn the 2020 election and who was backed by Mr. Trump. ~~~

~~~ "Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who became the first Black senator from Georgia, overpowered his primary challenger on Tuesday to win the chance to secure a full six-year term in November, according to The Associated Press. ~~~

~~~ "Herschel Walker accepted the Republican nomination for the Georgia Senate seat held by Raphael Warnock, dishing out red meat to the partisan crowd by telling them he was ready to save the country from 'a bunch of maniacs too drunk with power' who 'don't even like this country.' ~~~

~~~ "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose far-right beliefs and confrontational behavior earned her opposition in both parties, won the Republican primary in her Northwest Georgia House district, beating a businesswoman who had garnered support among some in the G.O.P. establishment. ~~~

~~~ "In Georgia, Chris Carr successfully defended a primary challenge from John Gordon, a candidate backed by ... Donald Trump, to secure the party's nomination for attorney general. ~~~

~~~ "Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama won the Republican nomination for governor, according to The Associated Press, surpassing 50 percent of the vote despite facing a barrage of attacks from primary challengers on her right. Ms. Ivey had shifted her messaging in the homestretch of the race to embrace ... Donald J. Trump -- who did not endorse her or any of her competitors -- and to vilify the left. ~~~

~~~ "Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who aided Donald J. Trump's effort to subvert the 2020 election and won his endorsement for a Senate seat, only to have the former president turn on him as he slid in the polls, survived that humiliation on Tuesday, earning a place in a Republican primary runoff. Mr. Brooks, a six-term congressman from Huntsville, will face Katie Britt, a former lobbyist, in a runoff election on June 21 after neither received more than 50 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. ~~~

~~~ "The race in the Texas 28th Congressional District hasn't been called, but the incumbent Henry Cuellar has maintained a narrow lead over his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros. ~~~

~~~ "Rochelle Garza, a civil rights lawyer who fought for abortion access for undocumented teenage migrants in federal custody, won the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general on Tuesday, defeating the former mayor of Galveston. ~~~

~~~ "Ken Paxton has easily defeated George P. Bush in the runoff for Texas attorney general. It's quite a fall for the Bush dynasty, whose name remains ubiquitous in the state.... Mr. Paxton, whose victory was called by The Associated Press, has been under criminal indictment for securities fraud since 2015, and his own former top aides have accused him of bribery and corruption. ~~~

~~~ "Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary for two years under ... Donald J. Trump, defeated a former radio show host Tuesday to win the Republican nomination for Arkansas governor, according to The Associated Press."

With a concentration on Georgia, Shane Goldmacher & Maya King of the New York Times summarize the election results here. ~~~

~~~ Michael Bender & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times analyze the results vis-à-vis the vengeance of Trump: "Donald J. Trump barreled into Georgia vowing to marshal voters against his enemies and punish Republicans who crossed him in 2020. Instead, Georgia voters punished him for meddling in their state. Mr. Trump picked losers up and down the ballot, most strikingly missing the mark on a third governor's race in three weeks. The dismal record, particularly for chief executives, illustrates the shortcomings of Mr. Trump's revenge tour. Since leaving the White House, and the structure it provided, the former president has erratically deployed his political power, often making choices on a whim or with little clear path to execution. That approach has repeatedly left him empty-handed and raised new doubts about the viselike grip he has held on the Republican Party.... House and Senate bids -- where Mr. Trump's endorsement record as yet is nearly unblemished -- can more easily harness national political winds."

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Participants in an insurrection against the U.S. government can be barred from holding office, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled Tuesday. The decision came in the case of Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R), who before losing his House primary this month faced a challenge from North Carolina voters arguing that his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack made him ineligible for future public service. Cawthorn suggested his case was moot given his primary loss, but the court disagreed, given that the election had not yet been certified and because the same issue could come up in another campaign.... The appeals court sided with the voters, without ruling on whether Cawthorn personally engaged in an insurrection or on whether the process state officials planned to use to decide this question was constitutional."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "On Sunday, amid a growing number of signs that he has lost his hot hand in Republican primaries, [Donald] Trump elevated the idea of 'civil war' against an 'enemy [coming] from within' the United States. Republican leaders responded, as usual, with silence.... Trump was, once again, amplifying a favorite theme of the violent far right.... As ugly as things have been with Trump holding an iron grip over the GOP, they could actually get worse if he feels his grasp slipping and becomes even more incendiary in his provocations.... The casual expectation of violence is spreading." Milbank cites remarks by Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, and GOP Reps. Madison Cawthorn & Marjorie Taylor Greene. "Precisely because of such people, the United States actually is at risk of civil war -- more than at any point in recent history.... A partial democracy, which the United States now is, faces three times the risk of falling into civil war."

Tyler Pager & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Biden is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday aimed at bolstering police accountability, a move that could re-energize federal reform efforts as the nation marks the second anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, according to multiple people briefed on the announcement.Floyd's family members, civil rights advocates and law enforcement officials are expected to join the president at the White House for a signing ceremony at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Biden will call for the creation of national standards for the accreditation of police departments and a national database of officers with substantiated complaints and disciplinary records, including those fired for misconduct, the people briefed on the matter said. The executive order also will instruct federal law enforcement agencies to update their use-of-force policies." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "A commission established by Congress last year has suggested new names for nine Army bases that honor Confederate officers, as the American military continues an examination of its history with race that was intensified in the summer of 2020, after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The commission's recommendations, if approved by Congress and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, would see Fort Bragg -- named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg -- renamed Fort Liberty, the only one of the bases that would be renamed for an abstract idea and not a person. In the past, Army bases were largely named for white male soldiers. But the commission's recommendations cover a multicolored swath of Americans, including women and minorities -- two long-ignored populations that have served in or supported the army since its inception.... The Army has long come under fire for honoring treasonous Confederate generals...."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Defense attorneys for longtime Proud Boys leader Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio and U.S. prosecutors released 22 minutes of video on Tuesday that recorded his movements in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including his meeting in an underground parking garage with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the extremist group Oath Keepers. The existence of the video and the interest of FBI and House investigators in it have been reported previously -- including in Tarrio's indictment in March on charges of conspiring to attack Congress that day -- but clips of the recording had not been made public.... Also present at the garage meeting were leaders of two right-wing pro-Trump groups: Joshua Macias, a scheduled speaker the following day, and Bianca Gracia, a Jan. 6 event organizer with White House ties." Includes a 4-minute clip.

Devan Cole of CNN: "A majority of Americans -- 54% -- now say they disapprove of the job the Supreme Court is doing following the leak of the draft opinion showing the justices are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a new poll released Wednesday[.] The Marquette Law School poll findings represent a dramatic change from how Americans viewed the court in March, the last time the survey was conducted. Then, 54% of respondents said they approved of the nine justices and 45% said they disapproved. Now, only 44% approve."

"The Age of Constitutional Argument Is Over." Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "I have spent years ... have, in urgent conversation about due process and undue burdens, extrapolating from the opacities of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.... There is no burden from an undesired pregnancy that is undue, or at least one that can't be alleviated by putting the baby in a basket and leaving it somewhere safe, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested during the oral argument in December -- an idea that Justice [Samuel] Alito incorporated in his draft opinion.... Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously argued that the Constitution's explicit guarantee of equal protection [might have put the right to abortion on firmer footing]... Since nothing else seems to be working, I'll swing for the fences. The 13th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, prohibits both slavery and 'involuntary servitude.' What is forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy to term if not involuntary servitude?... [But] the message of the Alito draft is that the age of constitutional argument is over."

Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention announced Tuesday that they were preparing to release a secretly maintained list of hundreds of ministers and church workers they say are credibly accused of sexual abuse. The existence of the list was revealed Sunday in a bombshell report on the denomination's handling of sexual abuse over the course of the past two decades. The report, produced by a third-party investigator and totaling almost 300 pages, alleged that the denomination's top leaders had suppressed reports of sexual abuse, opposed proposals for reform, and denigrated and discouraged abuse victims who approached them for help. One of the report's most shocking revelations was the existence of an internal list of 703 suspected abusers, compiled by an employee of the denomination's executive committee, its national leadership body." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Walmart pulled 'Juneteenth ice cream' from its freezers and apologized Tuesday after a social media backlash and accusations of commercializing a holiday meant to commemorate the end of American slavery. The retail giant was set to sell 'swirled red velvet and cheesecake' ice cream in a container adorned with Pan-African colors and an image of two Black hands high-fiving each other.... Walmart's website on Tuesday offered a wide array of Juneteenth products, including a T-shirt with a word cloud of social justice and Black empowerment themed phrases in the shape of Africa and Juneteenth party decorations. Another product listing features a White model wearing a black tank top with the words 'Because my ancestors weren't free in 1976,' an apparent mistaken reference to American independence in 1776." MB: In fairness to Walmart, thousands of companies commercialize every holiday, no matter how sacred or solemn.

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Senate Race. Walker Lies About a Lie He Told Repeatedly. Daniel Dale & Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "Herschel Walker, the former football star who is now the Republican nominee for a US Senate seat in Georgia, is piling dishonesty upon dishonesty on the subject of his college education. In December, Walker's campaign website falsely claimed that he had graduated from the University of Georgia, the school he left after his junior season to play professionally.... In April, CNN's KFile team revealed that Walker himself had made the false graduation claim for years -- and that Walker had even asserted that he graduated in the top 1% of his University of Georgia class. But when Walker was challenged about his graduation deception in an interview last week with FOX 5 Atlanta anchor Russ Spencer, Walker declared he had never once said he graduated from the University of Georgia." MB: Obviously, Dale & Kaczynski don't know the rule: IOKIYAR.

Indiana. Casey Smith of the AP: "Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted Tuesday to override the GOP governor's veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in girls school sports and join about more than a dozen other states adopting similar laws in the past two years. State senators voted 32-15 in favor of overriding Gov. Eric Holcomb following the same action in a 67-28 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb had said in his veto message that bill did not provide a consistent policy for what he called 'fairness in K-12 sports' when he unexpectedly vetoed it in March. The override votes were nearly party line and no lawmakers changed their votes from earlier this year. Four Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting to uphold the veto. In the House, three Republicans voted to sustain the veto, while one Democrat supported overriding it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michigan Gubernatorial Race. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Five of 10 Republican candidates for the gubernatorial nomination in Michigan are ineligible to appear on the ballot because of invalid signatures on their nominating petitions, the Michigan elections bureau said in a report Monday, upending the race little more than two months before the August primary. Those the elections bureau said were ineligible include former Detroit police chief James Craig and businessman Perry Johnson, who have been considered the leading candidates for the GOP nomination for Michigan governor. Others were Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown and Michae Markey. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will meet Thursday morning to discuss the election bureau's report and rule on whether the candidates can appear on the Aug. 2 primary ballot."

New York. Jonah Bromwich & Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "Even as she acknowledged that 'people are dying' in New York City's troubled jails, a federal judge on Tuesday refrained from stripping control of Rikers Island from local officials, instead ordering the city to revise its plan for addressing violence and disorder at the compound. The judge, Laura T. Swain, made the decision at a hearing on Tuesday after listening to arguments from the United States Attorney's Office in Manhattan and others who had raised the possibility of appointing an independent official to run New York City's jails, something that has never happened in the jail system's history. Judge Swain had given the city Department of Correction three weeks beginning last month to come up with a plan to remedy the crisis in the jail complex, where city staffing practices have left gang members in charge of some jail areas, and detainees to languish without food or medical care. But as jail officials were formulating their plan, two detainees died, the city was held in contempt in state court over its failure to provide timely medical care and questions emerged about whether the jail system properly documented a serious head injury suffered by a detainee in April."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "As the fourth month dawned in the war in Ukraine, the battle was narrowing on Wednesday to a 75-mile-wide sliver of land in the heart of the eastern Donbas region, where Russia's concentrated firepower and shortened supply lines were helping its forces make progress toward a handful of key cities.... Representatives from Finland and Sweden were in Turkey on Wednesday to meet with high-level officials in an effort to address President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's opposition to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "Russian forces are inching closer to the strategic city of Severodonetsk -- but their overall military performance 'remains poor,' according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank.... Meanwhile, the European Union is still trying to overcome opposition from Hungary to a deal on an embargo on Russian oil.... The British government approved the sale of Chelsea Football Club after sanctions were placed on the London-based club's longtime owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich."

Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "Newly declassified U.S. intelligence shows that a Russian naval blockade has halted maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, in what world leaders call a deliberate attack on the global food supply chain that has raised fears of political instability and shortages unless grain and other essential agricultural products are allowed to flow freely from Ukraine. Russia's navy now effectively controls all traffic in the northern third of the Black Sea, making it unsafe for commercial shipping, according to a U.S. government document obtained by The Washington Post."

Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: "Eight Russian soldiers and mercenaries were charged on Tuesday with the murder of the mayor of a small Kyiv suburb and her family, Ukraine's prosecutor general said. The mayor, Olha Sukhenko, was found in a shallow grave in her village, Motyzhyn, about 30 miles west of Kyiv, on April 2, after Russians withdrew from their positions around the capital. Her husband and son were buried with her. The prosecutor general, Irina Venediktova, said five of the accused men were soldiers in the Russian Army and three were part of the private military group Wagner, which is run by a businessman close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... Ms. Venediktova ... publish[ed] the names and photographs of all eight men."

Alan Rappeport & Eshe Nelson of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will start blocking Russia from paying American bondholders, increasing the likelihood of the first default of Russia's foreign debt in more than a century. An exemption to the sweeping sanctions that the United States imposed on Russia as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine has allowed Moscow to keep paying its debts since February. But that carve-out will expire on Wednesday, and the United States will not extend it, according to a notice published by the Treasury Department on Tuesday."

Chico Harlan & Stefano Pitrelli of the Washington Post: "European energy companies appear to have bent to ... Vladimir Putin's demand that they purchase natural gas using an elaborate new payment system, a concession that avoids more gas shut-offs and also gives Putin a public relations victory while continuing to fund his war effort in Ukraine. The system, which involves the creation of two accounts at Gazprombank, enables Europe to say it is technically paying for natural gas in euros, while Russia can say it is receiving payment in rubles -- a requirement Putin imposed on 'unfriendly' nations."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: At Davos, "former U.S. secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger said Monday that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to help end the invasion, suggesting a position that a vast majority of Ukrainians are against as the war enters its fourth month.... Kissinger urged the United States and the West to not seek an embarrassing defeat for Russia in Ukraine, warning it could worsen Europe's long-term stability.... The 'status quo ante' [advocated] by Kissinger ... refers to restoring a situation in which Russia formally controlled Crimea and informally controlled Ukraine's two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that part of his conditions for entering peace talks with Russia would include a restoration of preinvasion borders." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Israel/Palestine. Zeena Saifi, et al., of CNN on the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: "... Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by a bullet to the head at around 6:30 a.m. on May 11. She had been standing with a group of journalists near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp, where they had come to cover an Israeli raid. While the footage does not show Abu Akleh being shot, eyewitnesses told CNN that they believe Israeli forces on the same street fired deliberately on the reporters in a targeted attack. All of the journalists were wearing protective blue vests that identified them as members of the news media.​... Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

The Texas Tribune's report of the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, is here.

CNN reports on-air that all of the victims were in one fourth-grade classroom, where the shooter barricaded himself. Tactical forces broke into the room & killed him. The shooter wore some kind of body armor. He had written on TikTok, "Kids, be scared."

May 24, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Tyler Pager & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Biden is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday aimed at bolstering police accountability, a move that could re-energize federal reform efforts as the nation marks the second anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, according to multiple people briefed on the announcement.Floyd's family members, civil rights advocates and law enforcement officials are expected to join the president at the White House for a signing ceremony at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Biden will call for the creation of national standards for the accreditation of police departments and a national database of officers with substantiated complaints and disciplinary records, including those fired for misconduct, the people briefed on the matter said. The executive order also will instruct federal law enforcement agencies to update their use-of-force policies."

Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention announced Tuesday that they were preparing to release a secretly maintained list of hundreds of ministers and church workers they say are credibly accused of sexual abuse. The existence of the list was revealed Sunday in a bombshell report on the denomination's handling of sexual abuse over the course of the past two decades. The report, produced by a third-party investigator and totaling almost 300 pages, alleged that the denomination's top leaders had suppressed reports of sexual abuse, opposed proposals for reform, and denigrated and discouraged abuse victims who approached them for help. One of the report's most shocking revelations was the existence of an internal list of 703 suspected abusers, compiled by an employee of the denomination's executive committee, its national leadership body."

Indiana. Casey Smith of the AP: "Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted Tuesday to override the GOP governor's veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in girls school sports and join about more than a dozen other states adopting similar laws in the past two years. State senators voted 32-15 in favor of overriding Gov. Eric Holcomb following the same action in a 67-28 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb had said in his veto message that bill did not provide a consistent policy for what he called 'fairness in K-12 sports' when he unexpectedly vetoed it in March. The override votes were nearly party line and no lawmakers changed their votes from earlier this year. Four Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting to uphold the veto. In the House, three Republicans voted to sustain the veto, while one Democrat supported overriding it."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: At Davos, "former U.S. secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger said Monday that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to help end the invasion, suggesting a position that a vast majority of Ukrainians are against as the war enters its fourth month.... Kissinger urged the United States and the West to not seek an embarrassing defeat for Russia in Ukraine, warning it could worsen Europe's long-term stability.... The 'status quo ante' [advocated] by Kissinger ... refers to restoring a situation in which Russia formally controlled Crimea and informally controlled Ukraine's two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that part of his conditions for entering peace talks with Russia would include a restoration of preinvasion borders."

Israel/Palestine. Zeena Saifi, et al., of CNN on the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: "... Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by a bullet to the head at around 6:30 a.m. on May 11. She had been standing with a group of journalists near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp, where they had come to cover an Israeli raid. While the footage does not show Abu Akleh being shot, eyewitnesses told CNN that they believe Israeli forces on the same street fired deliberately on the reporters in a targeted attack. All of the journalists were wearing protective blue vests that identified them as members of the news media.​... Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maya King of the New York Times: "The United States' political focus will shift to the South on Tuesday with elections in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas that will signal voters' views on national issues and the strength of ... Donald J. Trump's endorsement power." King runs down some of the top contests.

Josh Boak & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden opened his last day in Asia on Tuesday by holding talks with a trio of Indo-Pacific leaders that includes Australia's new prime minister on his first full day on the job and India's Narendra Modi, with whom differences persist over how to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Biden, Modi and Japan's Fumio Kishida launched the Quad summit by welcoming Australia's Anthony Albanese to the club and expressing awe at his determination to join the informal security coalition by rushing to Tokyo immediately after being sworn in on Monday.... Biden will meet separately with Albanese and with Modi after the four-way gathering of the security group known as the Quad."

** Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has revised rules governing the use of force by law enforcement agencies overseen by the Justice Department, requiring federal agents to intervene when they see officials using excessive force or mistreating people in custody. The rule change was circulated on Friday and posted on the department's website on Monday -- two days before the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, who died beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer as other officers looked on.... The changes represent the first revision of the department's use-of-force policy in 18 years.... The new rules will apply to the Justice Department's entire work force, including agents and officers with the F.B.I., the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The department does not have the authority to impose the requirements on local police forces or sheriff's departments, though the Biden administration intends for the document to be used as a template for localities." The Washington Post broke the story. MB: A 180 from Trump's urging officers to rough up suspects.

Jordan Libowitz & Caitlin Moniz of CREW: "The Secret Service has spent nearly $2 million of taxpayer money at Trump properties, literally paying Donald Trump for the right to protect him and his family, according to government records obtained and analyzed by CREW. Newly acquired records show roughly $1.75 million being paid to Trump's businesses; however, these records appear to be incomplete. Previously published records, by CREW and others, which do not appear to be included in the documents, account for thousands more in Secret Service spending at Trump properties, bringing the likely grand total closer to $2 million."

Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House Ethics Committee said Monday that it is investigating a trio of GOP lawmakers over allegations ranging from accepting a 'free or below-market-value trip' to Aruba to engaging in an improper relationship with a staffer. One of the lawmakers, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), is a freshman who lost his GOP primary battle last week. The other two are Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) and Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.)." CNN's story on the investigation into Cawthorn is here. CNN's report on the investigation of Jackson is here.

The Trump & Rudy Show Gets Ready for Prime Time. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to stage six public hearings in June on how Donald Trump and some allies broke the law as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.... According to a draft schedule reviewed by the Guardian, the select committee intends to hold six hearings, with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump's schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Fear of Cream Pie. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "According to a Daily Beast review of court transcripts in a lawsuit a protester has brought against Donald Trump, his former attorney Michael Cohen explained in detail a conversation he overheard between the former president and his head of security that contradicts what Trump previously testified under oath.... Cohen was a last-minute witness in a lawsuit brought against Trump where he is accused of siccing his security team on protesters outside of Trump Tower before he became president. In a previous deposition, Trump has denied involvement. However, as the new report states, Cohen gave testimony that he was in the room when the protesters were discussed and, under questioning, stated Trump asked security head Keith Schiller, 'Did you see that there's a demonstration going on? Get rid of them,' to which Schiller reportedly replied, 'Okay, boss.'... As a side note, the Beast report also reveals Cohen also testified Trump lived in fear of being 'pied' after it happened to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.... 'For some reason that upset Mr. Trump terribly. We were all instructed that if somebody was to ever throw anything at him, that if that person didn't end up in the hospital, we'd all be fired[.]' You can read more here -- subscription required." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The list of Trumpophobias is getting longer. He's afraid of germs. He's afraid of blood. He's afraid of women's bodily fluids, especially breast milk & menstrual flows.He's afraid of slopes & stairs. He's afraid of "dangerous fruit." He's afraid of cream pies.

The U.S. Constitution, as written and ratified, is a sort of contract between the government and the governed. The body of the Constitution, in general, defines the government's power over the people. The Bill of Rights and a number of subsequent Amendments, in general, define the people's power. Case by case, the confederate Supremes are chipping away at the people's power. ~~~

~~~ Supremes Take the "Justice" Out of the Justice System. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "The US supreme court on Monday gutted constitutional protections that for years have provided a federal lifeline to innocent prisoners facing prolonged incarceration or even execution following wrongful convictions stemming from poor legal counsel given to them by the states. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the newly-dominant rightwing majority of the nation's highest court barred federal courts from hearing new evidence that was not previously presented in a state court as a result of the defendant's ineffective legal representation. The decision means that prisoners will no longer have recourse to federal judges even when they claim they were wrongfully convicted because their lawyers failed to conduct their cases properly. The decision eviscerated the supreme court's own precedent in a move that the three liberal justices called 'illogical' and 'perverse'. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor slammed the decision, warning it would leave 'many people ... to face incarceration or even execution without any meaningful chance to vindicate their right to counsel'. The ruling in Shinn v Ramirez was written by Clarence Thomas...." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times report, which did not make the online main page, is here. The Washington Post report is here. MB: Because, relatively speaking, not many people will be convicted of major crimes they did not commit because their attorneys were negligent, I suppose this decision doesn't sound very important, or at least not to the editors at the New York Times. Likely fewer people will die because of this decision than will die because of the Supremes' expected decision to overturn Roe. But Monday's decision is still the rescission of a fundamental Constitutional right and, inevitably, it will affect poor people -- who cannot afford high-priced legal counsel -- much more than it will wealthier defendants. Ever since the Supreme Court decided Gideon in 1963 & Miranda in 1966, Americans have believed they have a right to adequate counsel. That is not true any more.

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico report on testimony in John Durham's prosecution of David Sussmann, an attorney who brought information to the FBI about the Trump campaign's possible interactions with Alfa Bank, a Putin-linked financial institution.

** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... with its endemic corruption, repression of sexual minorities, de facto state control of media, constitutional manipulation and an electoral system designed to give supermajorities to the ruling party whether the votes are there or not, there is little that is democratic about [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban's democracy. For American conservatives, however, the degradation of Hungarian democracy is a feature, not a bug, of Orban's rule.... Hungary ... is a showcase for how a reactionary movement in an ostensibly free society might seize control of the state to reshape society in its own image. And the goal, for both Orban and his American admirers, is the suppression of 'wokeness,' a pejorative for a broad range of progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality.... Which is to say that this CPAC session may have been held in Hungary so that conservatives can learn a little more about how they might unravel American democracy in order to impose their cultural and ideological vision on the country.... For all the talk [among U.S. 'conservatives'] of 'America First,' there is a deep disdain among members of this group for both Americans and the American political tradition." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If there is anything or several things in your political belief system that makes you think you should vote Republican, let Bouie's column be your guide. If you care anything for your own Constitutional freedoms, for women, for LGBTQ people, for non-White people, for, for, for, then you cannot in good conscience vote for Republicans. So swallow your conservative impulses & vote Democratic.

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) on Monday sued Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold the CEO of Facebook parent company Meta liable for data abuses and for misleading Facebook users about their privacy protections. The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleges that Zuckerberg directly participated in decisions that enabled the Trump-allied political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to siphon the personal data of millions of users. Racine sued the company over its data practices in 2018 in a case that is ongoing, but he is now seeking to fine Zuckerberg personally over his role in the events."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The sultans of Silicon Valley are in a political snit, with some billionaires suddenly turning against Democrats. It's not just Elon Musk. Other prominent players, including Jeff Bezos, have lashed out at the Biden administration, and we now know that Oracle's Larry Ellison participated in a call with Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham about overturning the 2020 election.... It's hard ... to imagine what kind of bubble Musk lives in that he could declare Democrats 'the party of division and hate.'... What's going on here, I'd argue, isn't mainly about greed (although that, too). It is, instead, largely about fragile egos.... What wealth can't always buy ... is admiration. And that's an area in which the tech titans have suffered major losses.... The rich are different from you and me: They are usually surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Monday blocked Catholic University from auctioning off a gingham dress worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz,' one day before it was set to be put up for bids that some expected to generate up to $1.2 million for the school's drama department. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe ruled that a Wisconsin woman's lawsuit claiming ownership of the dress had enough merit to proceed, and that the garment could not change hands while the case is pending in federal court in Manhattan.... The dress at issue is one of six authenticated by experts as having been worn in the famous 1939 film by Garland.... In 1973, the dress was given as a gift to the Rev. Gilbert V. Hartke, the longtime head of Catholic University's drama department who died in 1986.... Earlier this month, Hartke's niece, Barbara Ann Hartke, sued to block the sale after learning about the plans to auction the dress from news reports.... Catholic University countered that the dress was gifted to the institution, and that Gilbert Hartke's vow of poverty as a Dominican priest means he didn't intend to personally own anything of value."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Pfizer and BioNTech said on Monday that preliminary findings of a clinical trial of children younger than five showed three doses of their coronavirus vaccine produced a strong enough immune response to meet the criteria for regulatory authorization.... A spokeswoman for Pfizer said comprehensive results from the trial will be disclosed next month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has a story, which is free to nonsubscribers, on the Pfizer clinical trial of young children.

Beyond the Beltway

How Democracy Dies. Ron Brownstein on CNN: "Proponents of Donald Trump's discredited lie about rampant fraud in 2020 are running for positions of authority over election administration in virtually every state expected to decide the 2024 presidential race, an explosive trend dramatically underscored by Tuesday's bitterly contested Georgia Republican primary.... Republicans across the country are steadily nominating candidates echoing Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election in contests for governor, attorney general and secretary of state.... Republican candidates echoing Trump's disproven claims of fraud about 2020 have already been nominated, or are seeking nominations, for positions with control over election machinery in all five of the states that flipped from supporting Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020 -- Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Republican candidates touting similar arguments are also in strong positions to win GOP nominations for key election positions in states just outside that inner circle of most competitive contests, including secretary of state races in Nevada, Minnesota and Colorado.... And ... Republican legislators are moving a flurry of bills to change the rules for both voter access and election administration."

Florida. Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Monday ruled it is unconstitutional for Florida to bar social media companies from banning politicians, in a major victory for tech companies that are fighting another appeals court ruling that allowed a similar law in Texas to take effect. In a detailed, 67-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the court -- all appointees of Republican presidents, including one named by Donald Trump -- unanimously rejected many of the legal arguments that conservative states have been using to justify laws governing the moderation policies of major tech companies after years of accusing the tech companies of bias against their viewpoints.... The panel found that tech companies' moderation decisions are protected by the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from regulating free speech."

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Former Senator David Perdue ended his Trump-inspired campaign for governor of Georgia with a racist appeal to Republican primary voters on Monday, accusing Stacey Abrams, the Black woman who is the presumptive Democratic nominee, of 'demeaning her own race' in how she has described the state's problems.... Mr. Perdue cast Ms. Abrams as an outsider in a state that has been her home since high school."

Texas Congressional Race. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "The latest battle in the fight for power in the Democratic Party between centrists and liberals will be decided [in Texas] Tuesday, in a runoff between Rep. Henry Cuellar and challenger Jessica Cisneros that has pitted top members of Congress against left-leaning activists. Tens of thousands of primary voters will decide whether to nominate Cuellar, 66, the only antiabortion Democrat in the U.S. House, or go with Cisneros, an immigration attorney who turns 29 on Tuesday. Cisneros has focused sharply in the closing stage of the race on abortion, while Cuellar has kept his campaign pointed toward border security. Tuesday's vote will test the potency of these two polarizing issues in a region that has shifted to the right in recent elections. Cisneros, who's raised $4.5 million, has called Cuellar the 'Joe Manchin' of Texas, comparing him to the conservative West Virginia Democrat whose votes have blocked liberal priorities on health care, child care and abortion rights."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Guardian's live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: President Volodymyr "Zelensky, speaking Monday via video to the forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that sanctions should be pushed to the maximum, 'so that Russia and every other potential aggressor who wants to wage a brutal war against a neighbor knows exactly what this is leading to.' Also Monday, Germany's energy minister indicated that the European Union's deadlock over a Russian oil embargo may be nearing resolution.... In another new coalition effort, 20 nations agreed to provide Ukraine with new weapons including U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, 'rocket systems' and howitzers, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said.... Mr. Zelensky said an attack on a military training center in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine last week had killed 87 people, far more than initially estimated, making it one of the deadliest strikes since the Feb. 24 invasion began." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "European leaders condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as it reached its three-month mark Tuesday. Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin 'made a big strategic mistake' in invading Ukraine, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of 'trying to trample the aspirations of an entire nation with tanks.' Russia has increased the intensity of its operations in Donbas.... A regional official said Severodonetsk remains under Ukrainian control but is being pummeled by nearby Russian forces who are 'destroying the city completely.'... Yet a semblance of normality appears to be returning to some other parts of Ukraine. More than 2 million Ukrainians have crossed back into the country since Feb. 28, border authorities said.... Since last fall, the United States has boosted its military presence in Europe by about 30 percent to approximately 102,000 troops."

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "A midlevel diplomat at Russia's United Nations mission in Geneva, [Boris] Bondarev on Monday became the most prominent Russian official to resign and publicly criticize the war in Ukraine since the invasion on Feb. 24.... 'Those who conceived this war want only one thing -- to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity,' Mr. Bondarev said in [an] email [to colleagues].... 'I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy,' Mr. Bondarev wrote.... Mr. Bondarev's message was the latest instance of unrest in the Russian elite to emerge in the public eye.' A related NYT item was linked yesterday. The AP's story is here, and also was linked yesterday afternoon. MB: Let's hope Bondarev doesn't have to go back to Russia.

The AP reports on how life in Russia has changed since Putin invaded Ukraine: "Moscow's vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.... While the multinationals were leaving, thousands of Russians who had the economic means to do so were also fleeing, frightened by harsh new government moves connected to the war that they saw as a plunge into full totalitarianism. Some young men may have also fled in fear that the Kremlin would impose a mandatory draft to feed its war machine. But fleeing had become much harder than it once was -- the European Union's 27 nations, along with the United States and Canada had banned flights to and from Russia.... Many significant independent news media shut down or suspended operations." Russian businesses too are having difficulties.

Paca, Paca, Frappuccini. Jacob Bogage & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Starbucks announced Monday that it will exit the Russian market, joining such corporate giants as McDonald's, ExxonMobil and Netflix in pulling out of the country over its invasion of Ukraine. The coffee giant has 130 shops in Russia, which account for less than 1 percent of its annual revenue, according to CNBC.... Nearly 1,000 companies had curtailed operations in Russia as of Monday, according to a widely followed list maintained by Yale University."

The Remarkable Compassion of the Trump Family Mob. Even when one of them pretends to give a damn, she just can't pull it off. Thanks to a friend for the link:

What a perfect metaphor for the utterly useless vanity that is Ivanka Trump: her standing at a double-sided, self-serve buffet table pretending to serve a little boy for a photo-op.

(Note to wardrobe: “No aprons. No hair nets! NO EXCEPTIONS!”) https://t.co/GFhEOLvj6N

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) May 23, 2022

News Ledes

New York Times: "Global stocks fell on Tuesday, giving back some of Monday's gains and returning to the downward drift in recent week...."

AP: "Two people were dead and more than a dozen children hospitalized as multiple medical centers cared for people injured in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, hospital officials said Tuesday. Police have said the suspected shooter is in custody. Thirteen children were taken by ambulance or bus to Uvalde Memorial Hospital after an active shooter was reported at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio, officials with the hospital said.." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: At 4:46 pm ET, MSNBC reported that Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that 14 children & one teacher are dead; the suspect, who is "not at large," is 18 19 years old. Abbott not saw the suspect is dead. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Some outlets, including the New York Times & NBC News, are reporting that 19 children and three adults, including the shooter, died today.

May 23, 2022

Afternoon Update:

The Trump & Rudy Show Gets Ready for Prime Time. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to stage six public hearings in June on how Donald Trump and some allies broke the law as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.... According to a draft schedule reviewed by the Guardian, the select committee intends to hold six hearings, with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump's schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack."

Fear of Cream Pie. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "According to a Daily Beast review of court transcripts in a lawsuit a protester has brought against Donald Trump, his former attorney Michael Cohen explained in detail a conversation he overheard between the former president and his head of security that contradicts what Trump previously testified under oath.... Cohen was a last-minute witness in a lawsuit brought against Trump where he is accused of siccing his security team on protesters outside of Trump Tower before he became president. In a previous deposition, Trump has denied involvement. However, as the new report states, Cohen gave testimony that he was in the room when the protesters were discussed and, under questioning, stated Trump asked security head Keith Schiller, 'Did you see that there's a demonstration going on? Get rid of them,' to which Schiller reportedly replied, 'Okay, boss.'... As a side note, the Beast report also reveals Cohen also testified Trump lived in fear of being 'pied' after it happened to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.... 'For some reason that upset Mr. Trump terribly. We were all instructed that if somebody was to ever throw anything at him, that if that person didn't end up in the hospital, we'd all be fired[.]' You can read more here -- subscription required." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The list of Trump's phobias is getting longer. He's afraid of germs. He's afraid of blood. He's afraid of women's bodily fluids, especially breast milk & menstrual flows.He's afraid of slopes & stairs. He's afraid of "dangerous fruit." He's afraid of cream pies.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Pfizer and BioNTech saidon Monday that preliminary findings of a clinical trial of children younger than five showed three doses of their coronavirus vaccine produced a strong enough immune response to meet the criteria for regulatory authorization.... A spokeswoman for Pfizer said comprehensive results from the trial will be disclosed next month."

Nick Cumming-Bruce & Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "A diplomat in Russia's mission to the United Nations in Geneva quit his post on Monday, expressing shame over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and describing it as a crime against both countries. Boris Bondarev, a counselor in the Russian mission since 2019 who described himself as a 20-year veteran of Russia's Foreign Ministry, announced his resignation in an email sent to diplomats in Geneva on Monday. His resignation is the most high-profile gesture of protest so far made by a Russian diplomat over the war in Ukraine. 'For 20 years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year,' Mr. Bondarev said, referring to the date that President Vladimir V. Putin sent Russian forces into Ukraine.... Mr. Bondarev went on to deliver a stinging critique of Russia's foreign service and its chief diplomat, Sergey V. Lavrov.” MB: Let's hope Bondarev doesn't have to go back to Russia. The AP's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Baker & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden has enlisted a dozen Asia-Pacific nations to join a new loosely defined economic bloc meant to counter China's dominance and reassert American influence in the region five years after his predecessor withdrew the United States from a sweeping trade accord that it had negotiated itself. The alliance will bring the United States together with such regional powerhouses as Japan, South Korea and India to establish new rules of commerce in the fastest-growing part of the world and offer an alternative to Beijing's leadership. But wary of liberal opposition at home, Mr. Biden's new partnership will avoid the market access provisions of traditional trade deals, raising questions about how meaningful it will be.... 'We're going to help all of our country' economies grow faster and fairer.' The president sat alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Fumio Kishida of Japan for the rollout of the [Indo-Pacific Economic Framework], while other leaders joined the event by videoconference."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden indicated on Monday that he would use military force to defend Taiwan if it were ever attacked by China, dispensing with the 'strategic ambiguity' traditionally favored by American presidents and repeating even more unequivocally statements that his staff tried to walk back in the past. At a news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan during a visit to Tokyo, Mr. Biden suggested that he would be willing to go further on behalf of Taiwan than he has in helping Ukraine, where he has provided tens of billions of dollars in arms as well as intelligence assistance to help defeat Russian invaders but refused to send American troops.... The White House quickly tried to deny that the president meant what he seemed to be saying. 'As the president said, our policy has not changed.' the White House said in a statement hurriedly sent to reporters.... Taiwan ... has never been granted the same U.S. security guarantees as Japan, South Korea or America's NATO allies, and so the comment was seen as significant." An AP story is here.

It's Always Something. Russell Goldman of the New York Times: "President Biden raised the alarm on Sunday about monkeypox, a viral infection fast spreading around the world, and warned that the disease, which can be spread as easily as through handling a contaminated object, is something 'that everybody should be concerned about.' Monkeypox, rarely seen outside Africa, has been found in recent weeks in Europe and the United States. As of Saturday, 92 cases and 28 suspected cases had been identified in 12 countries outside of those African nations where it is endemic, according to the World Health Organization. There has been one confirmed case in the United States -- a man in Boston was diagnosed last week -- but public health officials believe case numbers will soon increase." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Here's a Washington Post article by Ashley Parker & others that essentially says that in ten years Joe Biden has failed to get Congress to enact any gun control legislation. (At 10 pm Sunday, this brilliant bit of analysis is prominently placed on the WashPo Website.) Way down in Para. 12, we finally read about Republicans: "Now as president, Biden has yet to receive from the Democratic-controlled Congress any major piece of legislation aimed at preventing mass shootings. Most Republicans remain opposed to any proposed changes, arguing that new restrictions would have little impact on the frequency of mass shootings and would impinge on Americans' constitutional right to bear arms." What complete bull. Parker & Co. make it sound as if it's Biden's fault Republicans oppose gun control. And "the Democratic-controlled Congress" has a Senate with fewer than 50 "real" Democrats, where a 60-vote majority is required to pass legislation.

Michael Conroy of the AP: "A military plane carrying enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles arrived Sunday in Indianapolis, the first of several flights expected from Europe aimed at relieving a shortage that has sent parents scrambling to find enough to feed their children. President Joe Biden authorized the use of Air Force planes for the effort, dubbed 'Operation Fly Formula,' because no commercial flights were available. The formula weighed 78,000 pounds (35,380 kilograms), White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew from South Korea to Japan.... The flights are intended to provide 'some incremental relief in the coming days' as the government works on a more lasting response to the shortage, Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Sunday." (Also linked yesterday.)

The League of Extraordinary Grifters. Kate Kelly & David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "Shortly before the 2020 election, Trump administration officials unveiled a U.S. government-sponsored program called the Abraham Fund that they said would raise $3 billion for projects around the Middle East.... With no accounts, employees, income or projects, the fund vanished when Mr. Trump left office. Yet after [Jared] Kushner and [Steven] Mnuchin crisscrossed the Middle East in the final months of the administration on trips that included trying to raise money for the project, each quickly launched a private fund that in some ways picked up where the Abraham Fund had ended.... Within three months, Mr. Mnuchin's new firm had circulated detailed investment plans and received $500 million commitments from the Emiratis, Kuwaitis and Qataris, according to previously unreported documents prepared by the main Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which itself soon committed $1 billion. Mr. Kushner's new firm reached an agreement for a $2 billion investment from the Saudis six months after he left government.... An examination of the two men's travels toward the end of the Trump presidency raises other questions about whether they sought to exploit official relationships with foreign leaders for private business interests."

"How Trump's 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures." Nick Corasaniti, et al., of the New York Times: A New York Times “analysis exposes how deeply rooted lies and misinformation about ... Donald J. Trump's defeat have become in state legislatures, which play an integral role in U.S. democracy. In some, the false view that the election was stolen -- either by fraud or as a result of pandemic-related changes to the process -- is now widely accepted as fact among Republican lawmakers, turning statehouses into hotbeds of conspiratorial thinking and specious legal theories.... Election and democracy experts say they see the rise of anti-democratic impulses in statehouses as a clear, new threat to the health of American democracy. State legislatures hold a unique position in the country's democratic apparatus, wielding a constitutionally mandated power to set the 'times, places and manner of holding elections.' Cheered on by Mr. Trump as he eyes another run for the White House in 2024, many state legislators have shown they see that power as license to exert greater control over the outcome of elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Lonely Life of the Vanquished Autocrat. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump is not having a good weekend, if the postings on his TRUTH Social account are any indication of his mood. In multiple posts, some directly from his account and some shared (or 'ReTruthed' ...) from others, Trump conveyed his vexation with a wide range of targets including Twitter, the Wall Street Journal, and his former endorsee Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks. Oh, and Trump also shared what seemed to be a call for civil war. TRUTH Social got off to a bumpy start earlier this year..., and Trump himself went months without posting. [He] seemed to be making up for lost time this weekend, dropping rants on a variety of topics and echoing the daily Festivus-style airing of grievances tone of his former Twitter account. One post that drew particular notice was shared from an account called 'MAGA King Thanos' that added the caption 'Civil war' to a screenshot of a Lara Logan post from the President of El Salvador saying that the 'most powerful country in the world' was 'falling so fast' and '[s]omething so big and powerful can't be destroyed so quickly, unless the enemy comes from within.'"

Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention on Sunday released a major third-party investigation that found that sex abuse survivors were often ignored, minimized and 'even vilified' by top clergy in the nation's largest Protestant denomination. The findings of nearly 300 pages include shocking new details about specific abuse cases and shine a light on how denominational leaders for decades actively resisted calls for abuse prevention and reform. Evidence in the report suggests leaders also lied to Southern Baptists over whether they could maintain a database of offenders to prevent more abuse when top leaders were secretly keeping a private list for years." A CBS News report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post devotes a column to explaining to dummies why "racism is bad for White people, too."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russia's war and its fallout ... are expected to loom over the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.... Both Russian government officials and all Russian nationals, who normally have a prominent presence at the annual summit, have been barred from attending.... Ukraine has deployed a delegation of considerable influence to the forum as it seeks to make the case that foreign governments must continue sending military and humanitarian aid to put a stop to Russian aggression. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who on Sunday called the forum 'the world's most influential economic platform,' will help open the gathering with a virtual address.... More than 350 cultural and historic sites across Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged by Russian forces since the invasion, Ukrain's culture minister said on Sunday. President Biden is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday to discuss Ukraine. They are attending a summit in Japan." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' summary of Sunday's developments is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "The battle for Severodonetsk is becoming a focal point in the war as Russia seeks to capture one of the last major cities in a key eastern province still under Ukrainian control after its seizure of southeastern port city Mariupol. The head of the Luhansk region said Russian troops are bombarding Severodonetsk constantly, using 'scorched earth' tactics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that fighting in eastern Ukraine is becoming increasingly bloody, with up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers killed each day.... [At Davos,] Ukrainian artists have turned a venue in the Swiss resort town that usually showcases Russian business leaders - formerly known as 'Russia House' -- into an exhibition of possible Russian war crimes.... President Biden, in Japan for economic and security talks with regional leaders, in a joint statement with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio called Russia's invasion of Ukraine the 'greatest immediate challenge' to the established world order." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here

Lorenzo Tondo of the Guardian: "Ukraine has said it will not agree to ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region on Sunday. 'The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty,' said Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a Twitter post. The Polish president,Andrzej Duda, offered Warsaw's backing, telling politicians in Kyiv that the international community had to demand Russia's complete withdrawal and that sacrificing any of Ukraine's territory would be a 'huge blow' to the west." The Washington Post's story is here.

Shaun Walker of the Guardian: "A court in Kyiv has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for the killing of a Ukrainian civilian, in the first verdict in a trial related to war crimes carried out by the Russian army during its invasion of Ukraine. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old sergeant, was found guilty of killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in Sumy region during the first days of the invasion. The verdict was delivered on Monday lunchtime by judge Serhii Ahafonov at a packed courtroom, with dozens of Ukrainian and foreign television cameras crammed into the small room. The judge said although Shishimarin cooperated with the investigation and expressed remorse, the court could not accept his claim he had not meant to kill Shelipov when he fired at him."

Israel. Steve Hendrix & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "After decades of demolition, rebuilding and a more than 20-year legal battle, Israel's highest court this month gave the military permission to permanently evict more than 1,000 Palestinians [from the West Bank] and repurpose the land for an army firing range.... The demolitions have sparked expressions of concern from Washington ahead of a planned June visit to Israel by President Biden, coming at a time of mounting instability in Israel's coalition government and the recent approval of more than 4,200 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.... The European Union urged Israel to halt the demolitions. A United Nations human rights panel warned that the 'forcible transfer' of residents would amount to 'a serious breach of international and humanitarian and human rights laws.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "At least seven people were killed and more than a hundred were plucked out of the sea on Monday after a passenger ferry caught fire in the Philippines, the latest maritime tragedy to hit the archipelago."

New York Times: “Heavy pre-monsoon rains in India and Bangladesh have washed away train stations, towns and villages, leaving millions of people homeless as extreme weather events, including heat waves, intense rainfall and floods, become more common in South Asia. More than 60 people have been killed in days of flooding, landslides and thunderstorms that have left many people without food and drinking water and have isolated them by cutting off the internet, according to officials. The devastation in India's northeast, one of the worst affected regions, has submerged railway tracks, bridges and roads. In the remote state of Assam, 31 of its 33 districts have been affected by floods, impacting the lives of more than 700,000 people, officials said on Saturday. At least 18 people have already died in the state because of floods and landslides, according to news reports. At least 33 people were killed in the neighboring state of Bihar by lightning strikes and heavy rain in its 16 districts...."