May 13, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Friday, writing for The Atlantic, Canadian author Margaret Atwood -- author of the patriarchal dystopia 'The Handmaid's Tale' -- said that the Supreme Court's impending decision to strike down Roe v. Wade creates the nightmarish world she was depicting.... Atwood ... [wrote] that she actually stopped writing the novel multiple times because she considered its premise to be too extreme to be taken seriously. 'Silly me,' she commented.... You can read more here. (Firewalled.) MB: The Handmaid's Tale was published in 1985. That, of course, was before any of the imbeciles who intend to vote to overturn Roe were on the Court.

John Henley & Ruth Michaelson of the Guardian: "The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has cast doubt on Finnish and Swedish membership of Nato, saying he does not have a positive opinion of the two Nordic nations joining the military alliance after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.... Membership of Nato would require ratification by all existing members.... The comments appeared directed at the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey regards as a terrorist organisation, although they appeared to encompass the communities of Kurdish origin in Scandinavia as a whole.... Sweden has a large Kurdish diaspora, and prominent Swedish citizens of Kurdish origin currently include six members of parliament."

AP: "WNBA star Brittney Griner had her pre-trial detention in Russia extended by one month Friday, her lawyer said. Alexander Boykov told The Associated Press he thinks the relatively short extension indicated that Griner's case would go to trial soon. The 31-year-old American basketball player has been in custody for nearly three months."

Kelvin Chan & Tom Krisher of the AP: "Elon Musk said Friday that his plan to buy Twitter is 'temporarily on hold,' raising fresh doubts about whether he'll proceed with the $44 billion acquisition. Musk tweeted that he wanted to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. Musk has been vocal about his desire to clean up Twitter's problem with 'spam bots' that mimic real people and appeared to question whether the company was underreporting them. But Twitter has disclosed in regulatory filings that its bot estimates might be low for at least two years, leading some analysts to believe that Musk could be raising the issue as a reason to back out of the deal." ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Satariano & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: “First, in a pre-dawn tweet, Mr. Musk said the deal was on hold. He said he wanted more details about the volume of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Then, about two hours later, Mr. Musk tweeted again. He was 'still committed' to the acquisition, he said, without providing any more details." MB: The richest man in the world thinks it's ever so much fun to mess with people. Especially when it puts him back on the front page.

Adam Cancryn of Politico: "A painful and foreboding reality is setting in for the White House as it enters a potentially dangerous stretch of the Covid fight: It may soon need to run its sprawling pandemic response on a shoestring budget. Just two months after the administration unveiled a nearly 100-page roadmap out of the crisis, doubts are growing about Congress' willingness to fund the nation's fight. It has forced Biden officials to debate deep cuts to their Covid operation and game out ways to keep the federal effort afloat on a month-by-month basis. Among the sacrifices being weighed are limiting access to its next generation of vaccines to only the highest-risk Americans...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I was trying to decide when to get my second booster: now, or in the fall, when the risk of contracting the virus is supposed to rise sharply. I guess I'll get it now.

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that investigations of parents with transgender children for possible child abuse could continue, after an emergency appeal by state officials including Gov. Greg Abbott. The ruling reversed an appeals court decision that had temporarily halted the inquiries statewide. But the court said that officials could not resume the investigation into the plaintiffs that had brought the lawsuit, a family and a doctor, acknowledging that the inquiry would cause 'irreparable harm' and leaving in place the injunction as their case proceeds to trial. In its 12-page opinion, the court found that the appeals court had 'abused its discretion' in issuing a statewide order at this point in the legal process."

Israel/Palestine. New York Times: "Israeli police officers on Friday assaulted mourners at the funeral procession of a prominent Palestinian American journalist killed this week in the occupied West Bank, forcing pallbearers to nearly drop the coffin. Video showed police officers in Jerusalem beating and kicking pallbearers carrying the coffin that contained the body of the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, striking other mourners with batons, and forcing one man to the ground. During the commotion, the pallbearers were pushed backward, causing them to briefly lose control of one end of the coffin.... The incident at the funeral procession lasted for roughly a minute, and followed a tense standoff between paramilitary police and mourners in which at least one empty plastic bottle was thrown in the direction of the police." The article is part of a liveblog. The AP's report is here.

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John Hudson of the Washington Post: “President Biden juggled the competing demands of his foreign policy agenda on Thursday as he hosted a summit with Southeast Asian leaders at the White House while managing the United States’ response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two-day summit in Washington is aimed at showing Biden’s commitment to Asia, where the United States is in a 'competition with China to win the 21st century,' as the president often says.... U.S. officials hope the gathering of Asian leaders can strengthen the region’s commitment to a rules-based order in the face of China’s growing military and economic clout.”

Anatoly Kurmanaev & Jack Nicas of the New York Times: "A gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders next month hosted by the United States and meant to showcase America’s resurgent leadership in the region is at risk of becoming a public relations debacle. Less than three weeks before the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, there are fears that rather than highlighting the Biden administration’s vision for a part of the world that ... Donald J. Trump largely ignored, the event could expose America’s weakening ability to advance its agenda in the region. A growing number of Latin American and Caribbean heads of state, including the presidents of Mexico and Brazil — the region’s two largest nations — are considering not even showing up, threatening to deliver a humiliating blow to the White House."

I’ll tell ya, there’s never been a better time for the supreme court to force women to have more kids than right now. -- Jimmy Kimmel, on the baby formula shortage ~~~

~~~ Marianna Sotomayor & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Biden and lawmakers from both parties are scrambling to address a growing lack of baby formula in many stores that has made it difficult for some parents to feed their young children. On Thursday, Biden received an update from retailers and manufacturers, including Wal-Mart, Target, Reckitt and Gerber. Then administration officials announced they would cut bureaucratic red tape in hopes of getting more formula to stores more quickly, call on the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to crack down on formula price-gouging, and increase imports of formula to boost the domestic supply.... Some House Republicans ... accused the Biden administration of prioritizing providing formula to migrant mothers arriving at the southern border after images of stocked shelves and pallets of baby formula were taken by border agents at processing centers." An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic, the Biden administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border. This is yet another one in a long line of reckless, out-of-touch priorities from the Biden administration when it comes to securing our border and protecting Americans. — Joint statement by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) President Brandon Judd, May 12 ~~~

This is a ridiculous faux outrage. The shortage of baby formula is a serious issue that the administration is seeking to address. But at the same time, the administration cannot be faulted for following the law and providing baby formula to undocumented immigrants. Anyone who suggests this is the result of specific Biden policies, i.e., his 'reckless, out-of-touch priorities,' earns Four Pinocchios. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Jeanna Smialek & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, was confirmed to a second four-year term at the head of the central bank on Thursday — keeping him in one of the most consequential jobs in the United States and world economy at a moment of rapid inflation and deep uncertainty. Mr. Powell, who was first chosen as a Fed governor by former President Barack Obama and then elevated to chair by ... Donald J. Trump, was renominated by President Biden late last year. The Senate approved Mr. Powell by a 80-19 vote. Several Republicans and Democrats voted against the nomination." An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) 

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Moscow is withdrawing forces from around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where it has been losing ground, Ukrainian and Western officials say, in one of Russia’s biggest setbacks since its retreat from Kyiv last month. Officials say the Kremlin will probably redirect troops to the southeast, where it is said to be bolstering its forces in Izium, a city it captured last month. Izium, about two hours southeast of Kharkiv, has become a crucial operations center for Russia, which is said to be making gains in the eastern Donbas region, where fighting has been relentless." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: “A 21-year-old Russian soldier will stand before a Kyiv court on Friday in the first war crimes trial of the conflict, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office. In the hearing set to start at noon local time, Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian in northeast Ukraine in late February.... In the coming days, Sweden is set to hold a parliamentary debate over joining NATO, after Finland’s leaders said their country must apply to enter the defense alliance 'without delay.'” ~~~

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

The New York Times' summary of Thursday's developments in the war are here.

What a Dick! Alyssa Lukpat & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky on Thursday single-handedly delayed a bipartisan effort to quickly send $40 billion in aid to Ukraine, which Congress had tried to fast-track amid the escalating brutality of Russia’s war. The Senate needed unanimous consent to waive procedural hurdles and approve the humanitarian and military aid package, which the House passed 368-to-57 on Tuesday. Mr. Paul, a Republican and a libertarian who generally opposes U.S. spending on foreign aid, objected, halting what had been an extraordinary effort to rapidly shepherd the largest foreign aid package through Congress in at least two decades. Mr. Paul had sought to alter the bill to include a provision requiring that an inspector general monitor the spending, and was not satisfied with a counteroffer from party leaders to have a separate vote on that proposal.... The Senate is still expected to approve the aid package, but Mr. Paul’s objection will delay a vote until at least next week." The AP's report is here. See Akhilleus' commentary below.

U.K. Boris & Natasha Sergei. Jane Bradley of the New York Times: "One of the biggest donors to Britain’s Conservative Party is suspected of secretly funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party from a Russian account, according to a bank alert filed to Britain’s national law enforcement agency. The donation, of $630,225, was made in February 2018 in the name of Ehud Sheleg, a wealthy London art dealer who was most recently the Conservative Party’s treasurer. The money was part of a fund-raising blitz that helped propel Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his party to a landslide victory in the 2019 general election.... The money originated in a Russian account of Mr. Sheleg’s father-in-law, Sergei Kopytov, who was once a senior politician in the previous pro-Kremlin government of Ukraine. He now owns real estate and hotel businesses in Crimea and Russia.... [Barklays] bank, which maintained some of the accounts used in the transaction, flagged the donation as both suspected money laundering and a potentially illegal campaign donation."

Daniel Boffey of the Guardian: Igor Pedin, a 61-year-old man, & his dog walked 225 km [140 miles], from his home in war-ravaged Mariupol to find relative safety in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. The story of their journey is interesting.

** Luke Broadwater & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued subpoenas on Thursday to five Republican members of Congress, including Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, who had refused to meet with the panel voluntarily. The committee’s leaders had been reluctant to issue subpoenas to their fellow lawmakers. That is an extraordinarily rare step for most congressional panels to take, though the House Ethics Committee, which is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by members, is known to do so. ~~~

~~~ "The panel said it was demanding testimony from Mr. McCarthy, of California, who engaged in a heated phone call with ... Donald J. Trump during the Capitol violence; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who coordinated a plan to try to replace the acting attorney general after he resisted Mr. Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud; Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was deeply involved in the effort to fight the election results; Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, the former leader of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus; and Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who has said Mr. Trump has continued to seek an unlawful reinstatement to office for more than a year. All five have refused requests for voluntary interviews about the roles they played in the buildup to the attack...." An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors have begun a grand jury investigation into whether classified White House documents that ended up at ... Donald J. Trump’s Florida home were mishandled, according to two people briefed on the matter. The intensifying inquiry suggests that the Justice Department is examining the role of Mr. Trump and other officials in his White House in their handling of sensitive materials during the final stages of his administration. In recent days, the Justice Department has taken a series of steps showing that its investigation has progressed beyond the preliminary stages. Prosecutors issued a subpoena to the National Archives and Records Administration to obtain the boxes of classified documents, according to the two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.... ~~~

~~~ "Despite Mr. Trump’s role in helping incite the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and his other efforts to disrupt the counting and certification of the election, there has been no indication to date that the Justice Department has begun examining any criminal culpability he might have in those matters." (Also linked yesterday.) The Raw Story has a summary report here.

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: “A House committee has opened an investigation into the U.S. Postal Service’s $11.3 billion plan to purchase mostly gas-powered mail-delivery trucks, ordering the mail agency to turn over confidential records on their environmental impact and costs. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who chairs the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, told Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a letter sent Wednesday night that his agency may have 'relied on flawed assumptions' to justify buying a fleet in which only 1 in 10 of the new vehicles would run on cleaner electric power.”

Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: “Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) this week blasted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for his stance on a number of issues facing the court, including abortion rights.... [Thomas commented last week,] 'We are becoming addicted to wanting particular outcomes, not living with the outcomes we don’t like.'... Earlier this year, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot revealed text messages between Ginni Thomas and former President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows that showed Thomas urging Meadows to fight to keep Trump in power after the 2020 presidential election.” Emphasis added. Jeffries' response to Thomas' complaint is spot-on: ~~~

Virtual Book Burning. David Ingram of NBC News: “E-reader apps that became lifelines for students during the pandemic are now in the crossfire of a culture war raging over books in schools and public libraries. In several states, apps and the companies that run them have been targeted by conservative parents who have pushed schools and public libraries to shut down their digital programs, which let users download and read books on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. Some parents want the apps to be banned for their children or even for all students. And they’re getting results.... 'The terrifying thing is that they can be censored with the flip of a switch, without due process, without evaluating the substance of the claims,' said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association.”

Seth Masket in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "t’s not clear where historians will ultimately draw the line, but one could make a good case that the looming Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision marks the end of a Democratic century. The moral arc of the universe may have seemed like it was bending toward a liberal vision of the social world, but in fact much of that vision — including the New Deal and the Warren Court — was something of an historical anomaly, created by chance. The judicial branch is a lagging indicator of party power, with lifetime-appointed jurists remaining powerful long after the president who nominated them has left office. Much of what’s happened within the judiciary over the past century has been an echo of a period of electoral dominance by the Democrats."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: “The coronavirus has been spreading across North Korea 'explosively' since late last month, killing six people and leaving 187,800 people in quarantine, the country’s state media reported on Friday. Health officials made the rare admission of an emerging public health crisis after the country reported its first outbreak of the virus — after long insisting it had no infections and refusing outside humanitarian aid to fight any spread.”

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “President Biden, anticipating the milestone of one million American lives lost to Covid-19, said in a formal statement on Thursday that the United States must stay committed to fighting a virus that has 'forever changed' the country.... The statement came hours before Mr. Biden convened his second Covid-19 summit, aimed at injecting new urgency into the global coronavirus response. At the summit, both Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who was representing the United States in the opening session with world leaders, used the gathering to mark the coming milestone. Mr. Biden also issued a proclamation on Thursday ordering flags at the White House and all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff until next Monday to mark the one million deaths.” An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Linda Qiu of the New York Times: “The country’s largest meatpackers successfully lobbied the Trump administration in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic to keep processing plants open despite knowing the health risks to their workers, according to a congressional report released on Thursday. The report, prepared by a select House committee, describes the extent of the meat industry’s influence on the administration’s response to the pandemic: Companies stoked 'baseless' fears of an imminent meat shortage in an effort to prevent plant closures. The legal department of Tyson Foods drafted the initial version of an executive order ... Donald J. Trump issued in April 2020 declaring processing plants as 'critical infrastructure.' And industry concerns prompted the government to adjust its federal recommendations on worker safety at a meatpacking plant.... About 59,000 workers at meatpacking plants contracted the virus from March 1, 2020, to Feb. 1, 2021, and 269 eventually died, the committee said in October.” CNN's report is here.

Beyond the Beltway

America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army. -- Judge Ryan Nelson, Ninth Circuit Trump appointee

Thank the Lord those young revolutionary soldiers had semiautomatic weapons instead of those pesky single-shot muskets. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ California. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “An appeals court panel ruled on Wednesday that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under the age of 21 violated the right to bear arms found in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Judge Ryan Nelson, writing for a two-to-one majority in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, struck down a ruling by a federal judge in San Diego that upheld what Judge Nelson called an 'almost total ban on semiautomatic' rifles for young adults.” MB: Meant to link this earlier. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the reminder. (Also linked yesterday.)

May 12, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Luke Broadwater & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued subpoenas on Thursday to five Republican members of Congress, including Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, who had refused to meet with the panel voluntarily. The committee's leaders had been reluctant to issue subpoenas to their fellow lawmakers. That is an extraordinarily rare step for most congressional panels to take, though the House Ethics Committee, which is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by members, is known to do so.

~~~ "The panel said it was demanding testimony from Mr. McCarthy, of California, who engaged in a heated phone call with ... Donald J. Trump during the Capitol violence; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who coordinated a plan to try to replace the acting attorney general after he resisted Mr. Trump's false claims of widespread fraud; Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was deeply involved in the effort to fight the election results; Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, the former leader of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus; and Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who has said Mr. Trump has continued to seek an unlawful reinstatement to office for more than a year. All five have refused requests for voluntary interviews about the roles they played in the buildup to the attack...." An AP report is here.

Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors have begun a grand jury investigation into whether classified White House documents that ended up at ... Donald J. Trump's Florida home were mishandled, according to two people briefed on the matter. The intensifying inquiry suggests that the Justice Department is examining the role of Mr. Trump and other officials in his White House in their handling of sensitive materials during the final stages of his administration. In recent days, the Justice Department has taken a series of steps showing that its investigation has progressed beyond the preliminary stages. Prosecutors issued a subpoena to the National Archives and Records Administration to obtain the boxes of classified documents, according to the two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.... ~~~

~~~ "Despite Mr. Trump's role in helping incite the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and his other efforts to disrupt the counting and certification of the election, there has been no indication to date that the Justice Department has begun examining any criminal culpability he might have in those matters."

Jeanna Smialek & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, was confirmed to a second four-year term at the head of the central bank on Thursday -- keeping him in one of the most consequential jobs in the United States and world economy at a moment of rapid inflation and deep uncertainty. Mr. Powell, who was first chosen as a Fed governor by former President Barack Obama and then elevated to chair by ... Donald J. Trump, was renominated by President Biden late last year. The Senate approved Mr. Powell by a 80-19 vote. Several Republicans and Democrats voted against the nomination." An AP report is here.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Biden, anticipating the milestone of one million American lives lost to Covid-19, said in a formal statement on Thursday that the United States must stay committed to fighting a virus that has 'forever changed' the country.... The statement came hours before Mr. Biden convened his second Covid-19 summit, aimed at injecting new urgency into the global coronavirus response. At the summit, both Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who was representing the United States in the opening session with world leaders, used the gathering to mark the coming milestone. Mr. Biden also issued a proclamation on Thursday ordering flags at the White House and all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff until next Monday to mark the one million deaths." An ABC News story is here.

America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army. -- Judge Ryan Nelson, Ninth Circuit Trump appointee

Thank the Lord those young revolutionary soldiers had semiautomatic weapons instead of those pesky single-shot muskets. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ California. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "An appeals court panel ruled on Wednesday that California's ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under the age of 21 violated the right to bear arms found in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Judge Ryan Nelson, writing for a two-to-one majority in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, struck down a ruling by a federal judge in San Diego that upheld what Judge Nelson called an 'almost total ban on semiautomatic' rifles for young adults." MB: Meant to link this earlier. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the reminder.

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Alice Ollstein & Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Senate once again failed to advance abortion rights legislation Wednesday, in a largely symbolic effort Democrats mounted in response to the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. In a 49-51 vote, the Senate rejected the Democratic legislation, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and all Republicans voting against the measure. While the outcome was no surprise and mirrored a similar vote on abortion protections the Senate took in February, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested the court's draft opinion, published by Politico last week, had raised the stakes.... Both Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who support abortion rights, opposed the Democratic bill. They see that legislation as too expansive and are instead pushing a narrower alternative that would codify the Roe and Casey decisions the Supreme Court is expected to overturn." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "... Democrats' failure to advance the bill capped a calculated and yearslong Republican effort, across all levels of government, to chip away at abortion rights, by electing lawmakers who oppose them, installing judges at the state and federal levels who are hostile to them and pressing forward with legislation in states around the nation to strictly limit them and test the boundaries of Roe. Democrats, by contrast, appeared to have little in the way of a plan for what would come next now that their legislative path to preserve abortion rights is effectively closed off, except to frame the stakes for voters who they hoped would be moved to punish Republicans."

     ~~~ Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out that senators representing about 30 percent of the population defeated a bill which senators representing 70 percent of the people voted for. Marie: When you consider that the bill was necessitated by the anti-woman opinions of four so-called justices (and a fifth who still may vote with them) who were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote, we need to get over the idea that we live in a functioning democracy. This is a country run by a minority consisting of recidivist rubes and radical reactionaries. ~~~

~~~ The Ultimate in Mansplaining: Women Are Like Sea Turtles. María Paúl of the Washington Post: "Standing [on the Senate floor] by a poster showing turtle hatchlings next to babies, Sen. Steve Daines (R) on Tuesday argued that under a bill proposed by Democrats, the eggs of sea turtles and eagles would have more protections than human fetuses.... The senator's analogy sparked outrage on social media.... 'When sea turtles are attacked something is actually done and people are held criminally responsible,' California Democratic congressional candidate Eric Garcia wrote. 'Women on the other hand are called liars and get their Human Rights taken away.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

In a way, leaking a confidential document is a perfect metaphor for the court's disregard for privacy. -- Prof. Sherry Colb ~~~

~~~ ** The Supreme Sieve. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The disclosure of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade, along with related reports of the court's internal workings, has transformed a decorous and guarded institution into one riven by politics.... In addition to posting the draft opinion, which was dated Feb. 10, Politico reported that five members of the court -- Justices Alito, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch -- had voted to overturn Roe shortly after the challenge to it was argued in December. 'That lineup remains unchanged as of this week,' Politico reported last week. On Wednesday, it provided an update: 'None of the conservative justices who initially sided with Alito have to date switched their votes.' Politico added that Justice Alito has not circulated a revised version of his draft and that no other justice has circulated a concurring or dissenting opinion."

Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: Josh Gerstein, "one of the two Politico reporters who obtained the Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, questions whether Chief Justice John Roberts has the legal authority to order his fellow justices and their clerks to cooperate in an internal investigation into who leaked the document.... Roberts denounced the leak ... [and ordered] the marshal of the court to conduct an investigation to identify the leaker.... But as Gerstein pointed out, the 98-page draft opinion published by Politico was not a classified document and did not contain sensitive personal information like Social Security numbers that would make it illegal to publish. The journalist did allow that a 'very broad' interpretation of laws prohibiting the 'theft of government property' could be invoked by the Justice Department.... But he expressed doubt that Roberts or the Justice Department would go that route.... Attorney General Merrick Garland is already on record saying it is 'flatly wrong for the Justice Department to be involved in subpoenaing reporters directly or even coming after reporters for their phone records, email records or otherwise.'"

Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "Underscoring the nation's widening divide as the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Wednesday proposed a series of tax incentives explicitly aimed at recruiting employers from states that restrict reproductive and L.G.B.T.Q. rights. The governor's announcement -- which came as Senate Democrats failed to pass legislation that would have codified abortion rights across the country -- was an overt challenge to the Republican governors of Florida and Texas, where recent laws have limited classroom speech on gay rights and access to abortions. It also served as an invitation to Disney, which has said it will relocate some 2,000 California positions to a new Florida campus."

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. A summary of developments Wednesday, by Mark Landler, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Finland's leaders announced Thursday that they would seek NATO membership..., a potential tectonic shift to the military alliance and Europe's security order.... The Finnish leaders said membership -- which would double NATO's land border with Russia -- would bolster Finland's security and the defense alliance.... Ukraine said its troops were pushing back Russian forces around the second-largest city of Kharkiv, as airstrikes hit the Chernihiv region further north. With the conflict disrupting European crop exports and driving up food costs around the globe, President Biden has unveiled new policies to ramp up U.S. agricultural production.... Many Ukrainian refugees who have fled the fighting into Russia are reportedly being forced to submit to strip searches and interrogations, put through 'filtration camps' or stripped of their documents. Moscow has dismissed the allegations. Ukraine's prosecutor general said the country will try a Russian soldier who is in custody. The 21-year-old would be the first to stand trial on a war crimes charge in the conflict." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here: Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement, "Finland joining Nato is a radical change in the country's foreign policy. Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising."

Jon Henley of the Guardian: "Finland must apply to join Nato without delay in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine, its president and prime minister have said, confirming a historic change in the Nordic country's security policy after decades of military non-alignment. Sauli Niinistö and Sanna Marin made the call in a joint statement, adding: 'We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Another of myriad reasons to be glad Donald Trump isn't still president*. He probably would oppose Finland's NATO application as retaliation against Finns making fun of him for his claim that President Niinistö told him Finns raked the forest floors to prevent fires.

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "While inflation remains painfully high, the pace of higher prices showed some signs of easing in April, as prices rose 8.3 percent compared with a year ago and 0.3 percent compared to the month before, the slowest increase since last summer. Data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics may give policymakers some nascent hope that soaring inflation may be starting to slow down, even as households continue to feel the pain. For example, March prices rose at a sharper pace, 8.5 percent compared to previous year.... The cost of shelter, food, airfare and new cars were the largest contributors to the April data." CNBC's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Myah Ward of Politico: "The president traveled the country on Wednesday, sharpening his lines of attack against the Republican Party as primary season kicks into full gear. Throughout the day, he laid into the GOP and baited ... Donald Trump, even testing a new nickname for his predecessor: the great MAGA king.... [President] Biden is moving into full-fledged campaign mode.... At a DNC fundraiser later Wednesday, the president called his 2020 victory against Trump a 'low bar,' and dug into his favorite phrase of late, 'MAGA Republicans,' twice calling these politicians 'petty,' 'mean-spirited' and 'extreme.'"

Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "The Interior Department confirmed Wednesday that it will not hold three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska that had been scheduled to take place, taking millions of acres off the auction block. The decision, which comes as U.S. gas prices have reached record highs, effectively ends the possibility of the federal government holding a lease sale in coastal waters this year. The Biden administration is poised to let the nationwide offshore drilling program expire next month without a new plan in place.... Interior spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz cited a lack of interest from oil companies, as well as legal obstacles and a time crunch, as reasons for nixing the planned auctions." A CBS News story is here.~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to the WashPo report, "A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute found that a lapse in the program would cost tens of thousands of jobs and billions in lost state and local revenue." First, a study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute is suspect on its face. Second, I've heard O&G companies are not drilling on land they've already leased. So if the new leaseholders are going to just sit on their leases, the failure to lease the areas won't cost any jobs or state revenues. BTW, if you think the government should have let the the areas in question because gas prices are so high, selling these leaseholds today would not lower gas prices for a decade.

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "President Biden has authorized the National Archives and Records Administration to hand over an eighth tranche of presidential records from the Trump White House to the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In a letter released Wednesday by the National Archives, Biden again declined to assert executive privilege over the records -- the latest batch sought by the committee after the Supreme Court rejected ... Donald Trump's bid to block such releases."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Attorney John Eastman urged Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to retabulate the state's popular vote -- and throw out tens of thousands of absentee ballots -- in order to show Donald Trump with a lead, according to newly unearthed emails sent in December 2020, as Trump pressured GOP lawmakers to subvert his defeat. This recalculation, he posited in an exchange with one GOP state lawmaker, 'would help provide some cover' for Republicans to replace Joe Biden's electors from the state with a slate of pro-Trump electors, part of a last-ditch bid to overturn the election results.... The exchange was part of a batch of emails obtained from the University of Colorado, where Eastman worked as a visiting professor at the time he was helping Trump strategize ways to remain in power. The emails were obtained via public records requests by the Colorado Ethics Institute, which sent them along to the Jan. 6 select committee last month.... The Denver Post first reported on the existence of the emails." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Eastman's plan is a bit complicated, but it all flows from this: just throw out the type of ballots that favored Biden. I don't know that it's against the law to plan an illegal act that is never executed, but for a lawyer to advise another person to break the law should at least cost him his license to practice. ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The emails were the latest evidence of just how far Mr. Trump and his allies were willing to go in the weeks after Election Day to keep him in power -- complete with anti-democratic plans to install fake pro-Trump electors and reject the votes of Biden supporters." ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Note that Eastman says, almost as an aside, that state legislators have the 'authority' to appoint new electors even if the popular vote totals don't justify it. 'Eastman's view is that the legislature has absolute power in terms of picking presidential electors,' elections expert Richard L. Hasen told me, even if that means 'ignoring the will of the voters' or 'the legislature's prior rules on how to pick those electors.'... 'This shows the country one more strategic booby trap that was improvised by Trump's team that can sit there for use by bad-faith actors in future elections,' [Rep. Jamie] Raskin [D-Md.] told me." (Also linked yesterday.)

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Democrat Joe Biden is 'the best person' to lead the US, the Republican senator and fervent Donald Trump supporter Lindsey Graham said in tapes released on Monday [on CNN] by the authors of a bestselling political book. The South Carolina senator was speaking on and shortly after 6 January 2021 to Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns.... A spokesperson for Graham told CNN: 'The Joe Biden we see as president is not the one we saw in the Senate. He's pursued a far-left agenda as president.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump wanted to court-martial two prominent retired military officers for their perceived slights and disloyalty, his former defense secretary Mark T. Esper alleges in a new book.... Trump, Esper recounts in 'A Sacred Oath,' had developed a disdain for Stanley McChrystal and William H. McRaven, popular and influential leaders who, in retirement, criticized the president." MB: There are two reasons Trump considers any efforts to hold him accountable are "witch hunts": (1) he believes he can do no wrong; (2) he assumes others are as scheming & retaliatory as he is. So a double helping of paranoid narcissism with a side dish of projection. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump was released from a judicial order holding him in contempt of court on Wednesday, ending an embarrassing two-week period for the former president.... A New York State judge, Arthur F. Engoron, held Mr. Trump in contempt late last month after finding that he had failed to comply with the terms of a December subpoena sent by the attorney general, Letitia James, requesting documents from his personal files. The judge ordered Mr. Trump to pay $10,000 a day until he complied, leading to a $110,000 penalty. On Wednesday, Justice Engoron withdrew the contempt order, but set a few conditions, including requiring Mr. Trump to pay the fine. The judge ruled that if Mr. Trump and his company did not meet the conditions by May 20, he would reinstate the contempt order and retroactively apply the $10,000-a-day fine." (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump International Hotel in Washington is now officially out of business after the Trump family on Wednesday completed its sale to a Miami investor group, which plans to reopen it as a Waldorf Astoria.... The deal with the investor group, CGI Merchant Group, for a reported price of $375 million covers only the operation of the hotel, which is housed in a building leased from the federal government."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Andrew Pantazi of the Jacksonville Tributary: "A 2nd Judicial Circuit Court judge struck down Jacksonville's congressional districts in a ruling against Florida's redistricting process. Circuit Judge Layne Smith said, 'I am finding the enacted map is unconstitutional because it diminishes African Americans' ability to elect candidates of their choice.' He ordered the state to adopt a map that maintains an east-to-west version of Jacksonville's 5th Congressional District, stretching from Duval to Gadsden counties. The ruling came after a Wednesday hearing that saw plaintiffs argue that Gov. Ron DeSantis' congressional map, which eliminated Jacksonville's current Black ability-to-elect district, violated the state constitution. The governor's office said it will appeal the ruling." MB: Since the suit will likely end up in the Florida Supreme Court, which is dominated by wingers, it seems to me DeSantis will still win his voter-suppression game. (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's story, which is here, notes that DeSantis appointed Judge Smith to the bench.

Florida. Dana Goldstein & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times (May 9): "To help explain its puzzling rejection of dozens of math textbooks, the state of Florida released nearly 6,000 pages of reviewer comments this week and revealed an often confusing, contradictory and divisive process. A conservative activist turned textbook reviewer was on the lookout for mentions of race. Another reviewer ... flagged a word problem comparing salaries for male and female soccer players. As part of the official review process, the state assigned educators, parents and other residents to review textbooks, in part to determine whether they adhered to Florida's teaching standards for math.... Reviewers were asked to flag 'critical race theory,' 'culturally responsive teaching,' 'social justice as it relates to CRT' and 'social-emotional learning,' according to the documents.... The various reviewers seldom agreed on whether those concepts were present -- and, if they were, whether the books should be accepted or rejected for including them." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, the DeSantis gang brought in a bunch of amateurs & challenged them to hunt for whatever they thought was "woke." Naturally, the amateurs wanted to come up with some work product, so they rejected books for specious reasons. A+ and a gold star for each of them.

Florida. Patricia Mazzei & Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "Families of the victims of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla., that killed 98 people last year have reached a $997 million settlement to compensate them for their staggering losses of life. The settlement, revealed at a court hearing on Wednesday and still pending final approval, includes insurance companies, developers of an adjacent building and other defendants in the extensive civil case. It comes six weeks before the first anniversary of the tragedy on June 24."

Florida. Julian Mark of the Washington Post: A man who said he had no idea how to fly landed a Cessna at Palm Beach International Airport after the plane's pilot became ill & "incoherent." The man had help from air traffic controllers, one of whom was a flight instructor. MB: First thing to know: how to operate the radio.

Texas. Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "... the state of Texas allocated none of the $1 billion in federal funds it received to protect communities from future disasters to neighborhoods in Houston that flood regularly, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD has now found the exclusion of those majority Black and Hispanic urban communities to be discriminatory. The state 'shifted money away from the areas and people that needed it the most,' disproportionately benefiting White residents living in smaller towns, the agency concluded.... Even after HUD's finding of discrimination, the agency said it does not have the power at this time to suspend the rest of the $4.3 billion in disaster mitigation money awarded to the state under criteria approved by the Trump administration."

Texas. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Texas woman whose five-year prison sentence for illegally casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election prompted outrage among voting-rights activists will have her case reconsidered by an appeals court, the state's highest criminal court ruled on Wednesday. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that a lower appeals court had incorrectly upheld parts of the conviction of the woman, Crystal Mason, who had voted in the general election in 2016, when she was a felon on probation, and filled out a provisional ballot that was never officially counted or tallied. Ms. Mason has insisted that at the time, she did not know she was ineligible to vote and had been advised by a poll worker to submit her provisional ballot. The Second Court of Appeals in Tarrant County had said in 2020 that Ms. Mason's unawareness 'was irrelevant to her prosecution.' But the Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed, opening a channel for the conviction to be overturned." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently those brilliant judges on the Second Court of Appeals have never heard to criminal intent, even though Mason's lawyers say "that Texas's election laws stipulate that a person must knowingly vote illegally to be guilty of a crime."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Eleven people died and 31 others were rescued on Thursday after a boat carrying migrants capsized about 10 miles north of Desecheo Island, [Puerto Rico], the U.S. Coast Guard said. The agency said that the crew of a Customs and Border Protection aircraft sighted a capsized vessel shortly before noon. The crew reported people in the water who did not appear to be wearing life jackets, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard said the vessel was 'suspected of taking part in an illegal voyage.' Most of the people on the boat were from Haiti, but two of the survivors were from the Dominican Republic, said Jeffrey Quiñones, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The boat set off from the Dominican Republic and was en route through the treacherous Mona Passage to the western side of Puerto Rico, he said."

New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration has revoked the licenses of two pilots who attempted to swap planes in midair over the Arizona desert last month, calling their actions in the stunt, in which one plane crashed, 'reckless' and 'egregious.'... The F.A.A. also fined Luke Aikins, whom the agency called the lead pilot, $4,932 for abandoning his pilot seat and operating his plane in a 'careless and reckless' manner, after an investigation announced shortly after the April 24 stunt. Mr. Aikins and Andy Farrington, a fellow sky diver and pilot, planned to send their single-engine Cessna 182 planes into synchronized nosedives at 14,000 feet and then jump out to swap cockpits midair. But when they attempted the switch as they flew over the desert in Eloy, Ariz., Mr. Farrington couldn't enter the plane Mr. Aikins had jumped from, according to an F.A.A. emergency revocation order. The plane spun out of control and crashed nearby, midway between Phoenix and Tucson. No spectators were present and no one was injured in the stunt, which was livestreamed by Hulu.... Red Bull, the energy-drink company, called the event 'Plane Swap' and advertised it as a 'first-of-its-kind jump.'"

New York Times: "When Naomi Judd, the Grammy-winning country music singer, died last month, her daughter Ashley Judd said that she had lost her mother to the 'disease of mental illness.' On Thursday, Ms. Judd was more candid, saying in a television interview that her mother had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Tennessee, and encouraging people who are distressed to seek help." CNN's story is here.

May 11, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Alice Ollstein & Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Senate once again failed to advance abortion rights legislation Wednesday, in a largely symbolic effort Democrats mounted in response to the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. In a 49-51 vote, the Senate rejected the Democratic legislation, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and all Republicans voting against the measure. While the outcome was no surprise and mirrored a similar vote on abortion protections the Senate took in February, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested the court's draft opinion, published by Politico last week, had raised the stakes.... Both Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who support abortion rights, opposed the Democratic bill. They see that legislation as too expansive and are instead pushing a narrower alternative that would codify the Roe and Casey decisions the Supreme Court is expected to overturn." ~~~

~~~ The Ultimate in Mansplaining: How Women Are Like Sea Turtles. María Paúl of the Washington Post: "Standing [on the Senate floor] by a poster showing turtle hatchlings next to babies, Sen. Steve Daines (R) on Tuesday argued that under a bill proposed by Democrats, the eggs of sea turtles and eagles would have more protections than human fetuses.... The senator's analogy sparked outrage on social media.... 'When sea turtles are attacked something is actually done and people are held criminally responsible,' California Democratic congressional candidate Eric Garcia wrote. 'Women on the other hand are called liars and get their Human Rights taken away.'"

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Attorney John Eastman urged Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to retabulate the state's popular vote -- and throw out tens of thousands of absentee ballots -- in order to show Donald Trump with a lead, according to newly unearthed emails sent in December 2020, as Trump pressured GOP lawmakers to subvert his defeat. This recalculation, he posited in an exchange with one GOP state lawmaker, 'would help provide some cover' for Republicans to replace Joe Biden's electors from the state with a slate of pro-Trump electors, part of a last-ditch bid to overturn the election results.... The exchange was part of a batch of emails obtained from the University of Colorado, where Eastman worked as a visiting professor at the time he was helping Trump strategize ways to remain in power. The emails were obtained via public records requests by the Colorado Ethics Institute, which sent them along to the Jan. 6 select committee last month.... The Denver Post first reported on the existence of the emails." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Eastman's plan is a bit complicated, but it all flows from this: just throw out the type of ballots that favored Biden. I don't know that it's against the law to plan an illegal act that is never executed, but for a lawyer to advise another person to break the law should at least cost him his license to practice. ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Note that Eastman says, almost as an aside, that state legislators have the 'authority' to appoint new electors even if the popular vote totals don't justify it. 'Eastman's view is that the legislature has absolute power in terms of picking presidential electors,' elections expert Richard L. Hasen told me, even if that means 'ignoring the will of the voters' or 'the legislature's prior rules on how to pick those electors.'... 'This shows the country one more strategic booby trap that was improvised by Trump's team that can sit there for use by bad-faith actors in future elections,' [Rep. Jamie] Raskin [D-Md.] told me."

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Democrat Joe Biden is 'the best person' to lead the US, the Republican senator and fervent Donald Trump supporter Lindsey Graham said in tapes released on Monday [on CNN] by the authors of a bestselling political book. The South Carolina senator was speaking on and shortly after 6 January 2021 to Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns.... A spokesperson for Graham told CNN: 'The Joe Biden we see as president is not the one we saw in the Senate. He's pursued a far-left agenda as president.'"

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump was released from a judicial order holding him in contempt of court on Wednesday, ending an embarrassing two-week period for the former president.... A New York State judge, Arthur F. Engoron, held Mr. Trump in contempt late last month after finding that he had failed to comply with the terms of a December subpoena sent by the attorney general, Letitia James, requesting documents from his personal files. The judge ordered Mr. Trump to pay $10,000 a day until he complied, leading to a $110,000 penalty. On Wednesday, Justice Engoron withdrew the contempt order, but set a few conditions, including requiring Mr. Trump to pay the fine. The judge ruled that if Mr. Trump and his company did not meet the conditions by May 20, he would reinstate the contempt order and retroactively apply the $10,000-a-day fine."

Florida. Andrew Pantazi of the Jacksonville Tributary: "A 2nd Judicial Circuit Court judge struck down Jacksonville's congressional districts in a ruling against Florida’s redistricting process. Circuit Judge Layne Smith said, 'I am finding the enacted map is unconstitutional because it diminishes African Americans' ability to elect candidates of their choice.' He ordered the state to adopt a map that maintains an east-to-west version of Jacksonville's 5th Congressional District, stretching from Duval to Gadsden counties. The ruling came after a Wednesday hearing that saw plaintiffs argue that Gov. Ron DeSantis' congressional map, which eliminated Jacksonville's current Black ability-to-elect district, violated the state constitution. The governor's office said it will appeal the ruling." MB: Since the suit will likely end up in the Florida Supreme Court, which is dominated by wingers, it seems to me DeSantis will still win his voter-suppression game.

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "While inflation remains painfully high, the pace of higher prices showed some signs of easing in April, as prices rose 8.3 percent compared with a year ago and 0.3 percent compared to the month before, the slowest increase since last summer. Data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics may give policymakers some nascent hope that soaring inflation may be starting to slow down, even as households continue to feel the pain. For example, March prices rose at a sharper pace, 8.5 percent compared to previous year.... The cost of shelter, food, airfare and new cars were the largest contributors to the April data." CNBC's report is here.

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump wanted to court-martial two prominent retired military officers for their perceived slights and disloyalty, his former defense secretary Mark T. Esper alleges in a new book.... Trump, Esper recounts in 'A Sacred Oath,' had developed a disdain for Stanley McChrystal and William H. McRaven, popular and influential leaders who, in retirement, criticized the president." MB: There are two reasons Trump considers any efforts to hold him accountable are "witch hunts": (1) he believes he can do no wrong; (2) he assumes others are as scheming & retaliatory as he is. So a double helping of paranoid narcissism with a side dish of projection.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden, on the defense for months over rising inflation, sought to convince Americans on Tuesday that he understood the pain they were feeling from rising prices and that his administration was taking steps to address higher costs for fuel, food and other goods. Mr. Biden delivered his remarks a day before another economic report [-- The Consumer Price Index --] was expected to show uncomfortably high prices.... Republicans have spent months blaming Mr. Biden for rising prices, viewing it as a winning issue ahead of the midterm elections.... On Tuesday, Mr. Biden tried to flip the argument, castigating Republicans for complaining about rising prices while offering 'extreme' policy ideas that he said would help the wealthiest Americans and big corporations rather than working families.... Mr. Biden targeted what he called 'the ultra-MAGA agenda.'..." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Video of the full speech is here.

Jeanna Smialek & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Senate confirmed Lisa D. Cook as a Federal Reserve governor on Tuesday, making her the first Black woman to hold that influential policy post. Her confirmation came after Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-to-50 tie in the Senate, moving the Biden administration one step closer to reshaping the leadership team at the central bank. Ms. Cook, an economist at Michigan State University who has researched racial disparities and labor markets, was nominated alongside a slate of other officials.... If those additional nominees are confirmed, Mr. Biden will have nominated or renominated five of the Fed's seven governors." ~~~

     ~~~ Ted Barrett & Ali Zaslav of CNN: "All Republicans opposed Cook, with several complaining that she is not qualified for the position, despite having a doctorate in economics and being a professor at Michigan State University." MB: As I was flipping through the dial Tuesday night, I heard David Gergen -- not exactly your far-left wacko -- say that he felt young Black women were the Americans who were saving democracy for the rest of us. And that, I would guess, is what frightens those Republican senators the most. Of course Cook is "unqualified," in their estimation. Why, you just have to look at her!

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "With intelligence officials warning that Moscow is counting on a protracted war in Ukraine to drain the determination of the United States and its allies, Congress has forged ahead with overwhelming support in deepening the United States' commitment. The House voted 368 to 57 in favor of a $39.8 billion aid package for Ukraine late Tuesday, bringing the total U.S. financial commitment to roughly $53 billion over two months.... The Senate still needs to vote on the proposal. While Russia appeared to be nearing one of its stated aims, complete control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, top U.S. intelligence officials said that would neither satisfy ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia nor bring the war to an end.... Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Russia now controls 80 percent of the Donbas, as the region is known, but said they were managing to carry out successful counterattacks to push Russian troops back toward the border farther north." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "Putin is readjusting his goals to go beyond capturing Donbas and is seeking to consolidate control of a land bridge linking Russia, Donbas and Russian-held Crimea to the south, [U.S.] Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Tuesday.... The conflict is directly affecting gas supplies as Ukraine said it would stop the transit of some Russian gas running through its borders into Europe starting Wednesday morning local time, due to 'the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes.' The move could impede the flow of about one-third of Russian gas exports through Ukraine, the country's state-owned energy company Naftogaz said. That set up a potential dispute with Russia's Gazprom, which called a Ukrainian proposal to shift the transit of gas to another station in Ukrainian territory 'technologically impossible.'... The Finnish Parliament's defense committee recommended NATO membership. The country's official decision on whether to join the alliance could come as soon as this week." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's "full report" is here: "Russian and Ukrainian forces appear to be settling into a gruelling and deadly stalemate in Ukraine's east, amid warnings from a senior US military official that neither side can win in the present circumstances."

Julia Ioffe in Puck: Vladimir "Putin's childhood taught him many lessons that shape his thinking and actions to this day: that might makes right, that existing hierarchies can only be changed through violence, that force is the only language that matters, that power is always a zero-sum game." MB: A long piece, and you have to "sign in." But interesting, in a horrifying way.

Josh Gerstein, et al., of Politico: "Justice Samuel Alito's sweeping and blunt draft majority opinion from February overturning Roe remains the court's only circulated draft in the pending Mississippi abortion case, Politico has learned, and none of the conservative justices who initially sided with Alito have to date switched their votes. No dissenting draft opinions have circulated from any justice, including the three liberals. That could explain why no second draft of Alito's majority opinion has been distributed, as typically the two sides react to one another's written arguments and recast their own." It's not known what CJ Roberts will do.

Ivana Saric of Axios: "Eliminating a woman's right to seek an abortion would have 'very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades,' Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said while testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Tuesday.... 'Roe v. Wade, in access to reproductive health care, including abortion, helped lead to increased labor force participation,' Yellen said. 'It enabled many women to finish school, that increased their earning potential. It allowed women to plan and balance their families and careers. And research also shows that it had a favorable impact on the well being and earnings of children,' she added. Yellen noted that other research has also made clear that denying women access to abortions increases 'their odds of living in poverty or in need for public assistance.'" Includes video.

Libby Cathey of ABC News: "... Senate Democrats on Wednesday will force a vote to advance a bill that would enshrine abortion rights into federal law. The Women's Health Protection Act would codify the Roe v. Wade ruling while also banning requirements some states have put into place related to abortion care, such as waiting periods and mandatory doctor visits before the procedure. But without the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP-led filibuster, the legislation is all but certain to fail in the Senate, sending Democrats scrambling for alternatives."

Amy Wang & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. said Tuesday that he would support legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, a dramatic shift for one of the few remaining Democrats in Congress with relatively conservative views on abortion rights. Casey, of Pennsylvania, said that he will vote yes to advance debate on the Women's Health Protection Act this week and that he will support the bill if there is a vote on its final passage. He added that the 'circumstances around the entire debate on abortion' had changed since the House last voted on the bill nearly three months ago.... The Senate is poised to vote Wednesday on advancing the bill, an effort likely to fail because of Republican opposition. Casey is the son of Robert P. Casey, who waged a battle as Pennsylvania governor against Planned Parenthood that ultimately led to the landmark 1992 Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey."

Laura Vozzella & Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "As abortion rights activists picketed outside the Alexandria home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Monday night, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin popped up on Twitter to say state police were nearby and 'closely monitoring' the protests. Then came the backlash -- from conservatives, who demanded that the new Republican governor order the troopers to arrest the demonstrators under a state law prohibiting picketing outside private residences -- even though it's up to local police, not state troopers, to enforce that law. 'Picketing or disrupting the tranquility of home is expressly illegal in the Commonwealth,' Jack Posobiec, a podcaster and promoter of the false claims known as Pizzagate, tweeted to his 1.7 million followers ... -- one of several such tweets from conservatives." ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: One young woman held a great sign: "Don't like me at your house? Get out [of] my uterus." ~~~

~~~ According to Sanjana Karanth of the Huffington Post, "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called the police on Saturday over a chalk drawing on a public sidewalk by her home that politely asked the Maine Republican to protect abortion rights by codifying Roe v. Wade. Police in Bangor, Maine, responded Saturday night to investigate the water-soluble message that asked Collins to support the Women's Health Protection Act, which effectively keeps abortion rights legal at the federal level in the event that the Supreme Court overturns the 1973 ruling guaranteeing abortion access. 'Susie, please... Mainers want WHPA --> vote yes, clean up your mess,' the message read, according to the police report. ... Bangor police spokesman Wade Betters confirmed to HuffPost that a complaint was made about the chalk message, saying it was not threatening and no crime was committed. He said the city's public works department washed off the chalk." (This and a related story also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not completely convinced there is evidence that Collins is the "concerned citizen" who called the cops on the chalk artist, but it is highly likely. ~~~

     ~~~ Wait, Wait! UPDATE. Desperately Silly Susan. Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "A copy of the police report shared with Mother Jones confirms the complainant was Collins." Something is seriously wrong with that woman. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Arwa Mahdawi of the Guardian: "While some people were upset that five out of nine unelected judges (two of whom have been accused of sexual misconduct) have the power to take away women's bodily autonomy, CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin (who reportedly exposed himself on Zoom) had a meltdown over the impropriety of the leak itself. 'The idea that a decision of this magnitude could leak is really a shattering experience for the justices and the court,' he told viewers, breathlessly.... It seems that large swathes of the US have decided the most outrageous thing that has happened in the past week is that some of the peaceful protests sparked by the leaked Roe v Wade opinion have taken place outside the homes of the conservative judges involved.... Many of the people clutching their pearls about the protests making judges' personal lives 'miserable' (as the Washington Post put it) don't seem to be quite so bothered about how miserable it might be for a woman to be forced to give birth."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has raised the possibility of a nationwide abortion ban if his Republicans gain control of government, but he promises that -- pinky swear! -- 'I will never support smashing the legislative filibuster on this issue or any other.' And I totally believe him! I've always believed Mitch McConnell." Milbank goes on to relate a long list of remarks McConnell made that -- surprise! -- turned out not to be true.

Katherine Tully-McManus & Eleanor Mueller of Politico: "The House voted Tuesday to allow close to 10,000 of its employees to bargain collectively and form unions, the biggest expansion of congressional staffer rights in three decades. The move comes amid a swelling tidal wave of grievances from staff, along with efforts by leadership and lawmakers to stem burnout and brain drain among employees who serve vital roles in the legislative branch, including serving constituents, conducting oversight of federal agencies and drafting legislation. The resolution codifies House employees' right to organize and bargain collectively, including aides in personal offices, district offices and committee staff. The measure expands rights already given to other workers in the Legislative Branch, including Capitol Police, the Library of Congress and professional tour guides.... The measure providing collective bargaining rights does not need Senate approval, as it only applies to operations within the House." The Washington Post's report is here.

Josh's Mickey Mouse Stunt. Brad Dress of the Hill: "Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced legislation on Tuesday that would strip 'woke corporations like Disney' of special protections enabling companies to hold copyright material for decades. The Copyright Clause Restoration Act would limit copyrighted material to 56 years and apply the new rule retroactively, meaning Disney and other companies could immediately lose some copyright protections if the law were passed.... After lobbying from Disney, Congress passed a law in 1998 that extended copyright protections for corporations, giving them ownership for 95 years from original publication or 120 years from creation. The law was dubbed the Mickey Mouse Protection Act." ~~~

     ~~~ Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: Hawley's "measure would apply retroactively only for firms with a market capitalization above $150 billion that operate in the motion picture industry. Basically, companies like Disney.... A law punishing an individual entity could be unconstitutional." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: GOP presidential hopefuls think the path to the White House is paved in stunts & Trumpy stunts. But Hawley, Cruz, et al., will never outdo Florida's Ron DeSantis, the now & forever top GOP stuntman. See news of the latest DeSantis stunt, linked below.

What a Moron! Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump was not joking when he asked aides whether China had a 'hurricane gun' it was using America, according to a new report by Rolling Stone magazine." Trump asked the question several times from the beginning of his presidency* till some time in 2018. "'This patently boneheaded line of inquiry from Trump ... was merely one instance in an administration overflowing with Trump's rampantly absurd, conspiracy-theory-powered ideas and policy proposals, many of which were ignored or shot down, thus avoiding additional atrocities.' In 2019, it was reported Trump wondered about detonating nuclear weapons to stop a hurricane. That was the same hurricane season of the infamous SharpieGate scandal."

Edgar Sandoval, et al., of the New York Times: "[A baby formula] shortage has been a challenge for families across the country, but it is especially palpable at grocery stores and food banks in San Antonio, a Latino-majority city in South Texas where many mothers lack health insurance and work at low-wage jobs that give them little opportunity to breastfeed. Across the city, baby food aisles are nearly empty and nonprofit agencies are working overtime to get their hands on new supplies. The shortage became acute with a recall of a defective brand this year after at least four babies were hospitalized with bacterial infection and at least two babies died. But the recall has been exacerbated by relentless supply-chain woes and labor shortages.... Republicans have seized on the widening anxiety among parents to blame President Biden, arguing that the administration has not done enough to ramp up production.... The F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Robert M. Califf, said in a statement on Tuesday. 'We are doing everything in our power to ensure there is adequate product available where and when they need it.'"

Matt O'Brien, et al., of the AP: "Elon Musk said he will reverse Twitter's permanent ban of ... Donald Trump should the Tesla CEO conclude his deal to acquire the social media company for $44 billion. Musk, speaking virtually at a Future of the Car summit hosted by the Financial Times, said Twitter's Trump ban was a 'morally bad decision' and 'foolish in the extreme.' He said permanent bans of Twitter accounts should be rare and reserved for accounts that are scams or automated bots." MB: Apparently the Professor Pangloss of Tech believes a 75-year-old man who has told multiple whoppers daily since he learned to talk can reform and use a Twitter account to impart truth & knowledge to the masses. (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "Actor and activist James Cromwell has gone from 'Succession's' Uncle Ewan to real-life supergluin' -- pasting his hand to a midtown Manhattan Starbucks counter on Tuesday to protest the coffee chain's extra charge for plant-based milk.... Cromwell sat on the Starbucks counter wearing a 'Free the Animals' T-shirt and read a statement denouncing the surcharge for vegan milk alternatives. 'When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals and the environment suffer?' he demanded as fellow activists streamed the protest on Facebook."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded in the United States in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, as gun-related homicides surged by 35 percent, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday. 'This is a historic increase, with the rate having reached the highest level in over 25 years,' Dr. Debra E. Houry, acting principal deputy director of the C.D.C. and the director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said at a news briefing."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Ryan Dailey in the Tallahassee Democrat: "Calling it a 'blockbuster day for freedom,' Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that will require public-school students to observe 'Victims of Communism Day' on Nov. 7 each year. The new law, which went into effect immediately, describes the day as being geared toward 'honoring the 100 million people who have fallen victim to communist regimes' across the world. The law also gives DeSantis authority to extend observance of the day beyond public schools, as it requires that Victims of Communism Day 'be suitably observed by public exercise in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the governor may designate.' DeSantis signed the measure (HB 395) at the Freedom Tower in Miami, where Cuban refugees who fled to South Florida in the 1960s were processed as they arrived in the United States." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. A Washington Post story is here. MB: There are so many things wrong with the Florida Dear Leader's new law that I can't begin to cover them. In yesterday's thread, Akhilleus made a good start, but by no means ran the gamut. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I myself was a schoolchild in Florida, and if we had had a governor like DeSantimonious, my mother and I would have ended up in the gulag. It so happened my high school saw fit to invite a Joe McCarthy sort of lady to give a speech to a large assembly of us impressionable teens. After listening for ten minutes, I walked out. My English teacher chased after me & ordered me to go sit back down. I told her I would not sit & listen to a string of lies that slandered decent Americans. The teacher called my mother down to the school to inform her why I was being expelled. My mother was one of those moms who expected her daughter to stick up for herself, but when I told my mother the parts of the anti-commie lady's speech I had heard, Mom too became enraged & ended up giving the English teacher a dressing-down. After my mother's speech, the teacher gave up on our family, and I didn't miss any school.

Nebraska Gubernatorial Primary Results. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent backed by the state's powerful Ricketts political machine, has won the Republican primary for Nebraska governor, defeating a scandal-marred millionaire who had the backing of ... Donald J. Trump. The Associated Press declared Mr. Pillen the winner over his main rivals, Charles W. Herbster, a Trump-endorsed agribusiness executive who funded his own campaign and, in the race's final weeks, was accused of groping women, and Brett Lindstrom, a state senator who appealed to the moderate wing of the party." Politico's story is here.

Vermont. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Vermont man lured his mother on a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016, killed her and sank the boat in a scheme to inherit his family's estate, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday. An indictment unsealed in federal court in Burlington, Vt., on Tuesday, accuses Nathan Carman, 28, of Vernon, Vt., of murdering his mother, Linda Carman, while boating in September 2016 and making false reports to the authorities about what had happened on the high seas.... In 2013, as another part of his scheme, Mr. Carman grabbed his Sig Sauer rifle and shot and killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, who became wealthy by building and renting nursing homes and other real estate ventures, in Windsor, Conn., the indictment states. Mr. Carman was not charged with that killing, according to the indictment."

West Virginia Congressional Primary Results. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Representative Alex Mooney handily defeated a House colleague and fellow Republican, David McKinley, in a primary in West Virginia that again proved both the power of an endorsement by ... Donald J. Trump and the weight that right-wing ideology holds with Republican primary voters. Mr. Mooney, a four-term House Republican known more as a conservative warrior than a legislator, used Mr. Trump's endorsement to overcome a distinct disadvantage: The redrawn district he was running in included far more of Mr. McKinley's old district than Mr. Mooney's.... It was a thorough repudiation of Mr. McKinley's pragmatism, which led him to vote for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill co-written by West Virginia's centrist Democratic senator, Joe Manchin III, and for the creation of a bipartisan commission to examine the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol." A Guardian story is here.

Way Beyond

Israel/Palestine. Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "A journalist for Al Jazeera was fatally shot in the West Bank city of Jenin early Wednesday, the news network and the Palestinian health ministry said, blaming Israeli forces for her death. The circumstances surrounding the shooting of the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American, were not immediately clear but it happened during clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinian gunmen in the city. Al Jazeera, citing the health ministry, said the journalist had been shot in the head by Israeli forces during a raid."

Russia. Valerie Hopkins & Misha Friedman of the New York Times: Maria V. Alyokhina, the leader of the dissident punk band Pussy Riot who has been jailed in Russia many times on trumped-up charges, escaped Russia "disguised ... as a food courier to evade the Moscow police who had been staking out the friend's apartment where she was staying. She left her cellphone behind as a decoy and to avoid being tracked. A friend drove her to the border with Belarus, and it took her a week to cross into Lithuania." (Also linked yesterday.)

U.K. A Slo-Mo Abdication. Ed Owens in a Guardian op-ed: "Due to her failing health, Queen Elizabeth II was not present at yesterday's state opening of parliament -- arguably her most important ceremonial performance in the calendar year. Last night's palace press release explaining that Prince Charles would stand in for his mother follows a pattern of recent similar announcements, the subtext of which is clear: the Queen is not well enough to fulfil the role expected of her.... The word 'abdication' has been taboo in the House of Windsor ever since Edward VIII gave up his role as king in 1936 to marry the woman he loved.... Other European royal families have embraced abdication as a positive way of passing on the responsibilities of monarchy to the next generation.... In Britain..., over the past decade, honours investitures, royal tours and other parts of the monarch's routine have been delegated to members of her family."