May 10, 2022

Afternoon Update:

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.'..." ~~~

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.

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."

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.... 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." Related story linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ 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: Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "A copy of the police report shared with Mother Jones confirms the complainant was Collins."

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The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Emmanuel Macron of France dashed Ukraine's hopes of joining the European Union soon during his address to the European Parliament on Monday. The membership process would likely take decades, Mr. Macron said, though he reiterated Europe's commitment to sending aid. A top E.U. leader flew to Budapest on Monday to try to sway Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary as talks over a proposed embargo on Russian oil stalled over Hungarian resistance. The visit did not yield a breakthrough. Russian forces have failed to establish air superiority over Ukraine and 'have blown through' many of their precision-guided munitions, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said on Monday. The Ukrainian military's fierce counteroffensive in the east has forced Russian forces to redeploy to the area around Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city. And in the south, Russia launched missile strikes into Odesa, the Black Sea port city, sending the president of the European Council and the prime minister of Ukraine into a bomb shelter." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "The Pulitzer Prize Board honored the journalists of Ukraine on Monday with a special citation 'for their courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting' during Russia's invasion and 'propaganda war.'"

Peter Baker & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "When President Biden signed a modern-day Lend-Lease Act on Monday, 81 years after the original version helped lead the way into World War II, he effectively thrust the United States even deeper into another war in Europe that has increasingly become an epic struggle with Russia despite his efforts to define its limits. Recent days have underscored just how engaged the United States has become in the conflict in Ukraine. In addition to the new lending program, which will waive time-consuming requirements to speed arms to Ukraine, Mr. Biden has proposed $33 billion more in military and humanitarian aid, a package that congressional Democrats plan to increase by another $7 billion. He sent the first lady for a secret visit to the war zone. And he provided intelligence helping Ukraine to kill a dozen generals and sink Russia's flagship."

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "... as ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke in Moscow's Red Square on Monday, he ... made no call for new sacrifice or mobilization, no threat of a nuclear strike, no stark pronouncement about an existential war with the West. Instead Mr. Putin, speaking on Russia's most important secular holiday, delivered a message for the broader Russian public: that they could keep on living their lives. The military would keep fighting to rid Ukraine, in his false telling, of 'torturers, death squads and Nazis,' but Mr. Putin did not make any new attempt to prepare his people for a wider conflict. The calibrated tone showed that while some Western officials had predicted Mr. Putin would use the May 9 holiday to double down on the war, he remains cautious about demanding too much from regular Russians."

Roger Cohen of the New York Times writes a summary of Sunday's developments in Ukraine. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Protesters doused Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, in bright red paint -- resembling blood -- as he was arriving at an event to honor Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II. Footage posted by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti showed the ambassador's face dripping with the liquid as he arrived to lay flowers at the Soviet Military Cemetery on a day of widespread celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The video was shared without audio. Videos shared to Twitter, however, showed huge crowds, with some people angrily shouting 'Fascists!' at a group of Russian officials, whose faces were stained in red. Others at the scene held flowers an Ukrainian flags." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

** Claire Miller & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "Taking pills to end a pregnancy accounts for a growing share of abortions in the United States, both legal and not. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade as expected, medication abortion will play a larger role, especially among women who lose access to abortion clinics.... It's a regimen of pills that women can take at home, a method increasingly used around the world. The protocol approved for use in the United States includes two medications. The first one, mifepristone, blocks a hormone called progesterone that is necessary for a pregnancy to continue. The second, misoprostol, brings on uterine contractions.... The Food and Drug Administration has approved medication abortion for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. World Health Organization guidelines say it can be used up to 12 weeks at home, and after 12 weeks in a medical office." It is safe & effective. "If Roe is overturned, about half of states are expected to ban abortion altogether, and medication abortion is expected to become a legal battleground." Read on if you or some you're close to might have a need for abortion medication. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Alito's opinion, after mocking the Roe decision for its 'discussion of abortion in antiquity,' then provides a discussion of abortion in medieval times: 'Henry de Bracton's 13th-century treatise explained that if a person has "struck a pregnant woman, or has given her poison, whereby he has caused an abortion, if the foetus be already formed and animated ... he commits homicide."'... Bracton [also has] a lot to say about monsters, duels, bastardy, concubines, sturgeon 'and other royal fish,' the 'pillory and the ducking-stool,' and 'a judgment with infamy.'... In Bracton's account, 'Women differ from men in many respects, for their position is inferior to that of men.'... And he explains that 'those born of unlawful intercourse, as out of adultery and the like, are not reckoned among children.' Those children 'born of prohibited intercourse ... are fit for nothing.' You won't find those passages in Alito's draft opinion... But this medieval court is just getting started." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Milbank is given to using hyperbole to make his points, but if you reflect on Milbank's Bracton citations, you may find yourself musing, "Hmm, I'll bet that's what Insufferable Sam thinks, too."

Ali Zaslav, et al., of CNN: "Members of the US Senate passed a bipartisan bill Monday that would expand security protection to the immediate family members of Supreme Court justices, following recent protests at some justices' homes. The Supreme Court Police Parity Act was approved by unanimous consent, meaning no senators objected to its quick passage. The legislation must also be passed by the House before going to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature." MB: How nice that all the Senators want to protect Ginni Thomas. I'm all for it, too. Now let's see them pass the Women's Health Protection Act by unanimous consent. Oh, protecting women? Ordinary women? Not gonna happen.

The Washington Post's Editors are aghast that protesters would picket the homes of Supreme Court justices over a little thing like rescinding women's rights to control their own bodies. MB: I could not disagree more. If these control freaks are going to alter and contract the life trajectories of half of Americans, those lives are changed forever, 24-7, not just when women are at work. So if Sadist Sam or Bart O'Beer has to notice protesters when he gets into his car or takes out the trash, tough. This inbred notion that women should behave in proper, "ladylike" fashion and address these little setbacks more politely just infuriates me.

Bill Chappell of NPR: "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says she won't enforce her state's 1931 abortion law -- and she's hoping the Michigan Supreme Court finds it unconstitutional, even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down its Roe v. Wade decision.... Michigan's 1931 law defined abortion as a felony. It came under attack by its own government last month, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued to vacate the ban. The push quickly gained new urgency after a draft opinion leaked that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights. If the Supreme Court overturns its abortion ruling, Michigan's law would again take effect, making it illegal to perform abortions in many circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest. The law also forbids using drugs to induce an abortion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: The powers-that-be at the Bangor Daily News should invite the headline writer to get a new job: "Pro-abortion chalk message appears on Susan Collins" Bangor sidewalk." The message was, "Susie, please, Mainers want WHPA --> vote yes, clean up your mess." Sorry, that's not pro-abortion. It's pro-woman. There's a helluva a difference. As for whatever nitwit called the cops about what Collins melodramatically called "defacement of public property in front of our home," puh-leze. Would you call the police on little girls who "defaced" your sidewalk with a chalked hopscotch court?

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Twenty Internet providers, including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, have agreed to provide high-speed service at a steep discount to low-income consumers, the White House announced Monday, significantly expanding broadband access for millions of Americans. The plan, a feature of the $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year, would cost qualifying households no more than $30 per month. The discounts plus existing federal Internet subsidies mean the government will cover the full cost of connectivity if consumers sign on with one of the 20 participating companies. The White House estimates the program will cover 48 million households, or 40 percent of the country. More than 11.5 million households have already signed up to claim government subsidies.... 'High-speed Internet is not a luxury any longer. It's a necessity,' President Biden said in remarks announcing the program at the White House Rose Garden."

Oh, Great! Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: QAnon adherents, "guns holstered on their hips, have been camping out near Sasabe, Ariz., as a self-appointed border force with the stated aim of protecting the thousands of migrant children who have been arriving from the evils of sex trafficking -- a favorite QAnon theme. They are the latest in what over the years has developed into a cottage industry of dozens of armed civilians who have packed camouflage gear, tents and binoculars and deployed along the southern border. [Jason] Frank, a QAnon influencer whose Facebook page in recent months has shown him pictured with such conservative celebrities as Donald J. Trump Jr., Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, has fashioned his team into a new style of border enforcers, motivated not so much by halting immigration as by guarding the country from other perceived threats -- in this case, an unfounded conspiracy theory that migrant children are being funneled into pedophilia rings.... Minors crossing the southern border as part of sex-trafficking schemes is unusual, according to groups that monitor and combat trafficking." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's clear to me that many of these conspiracy theorists are just lamebrains with too much time on their hands. You would think their friends at Hobby Lobby could get them into scrapbooking or stenciling or whatever.

Marie: Mark Meadows should go to jail, and not just for committing voter fraud: ~~~

~~~ Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: Mark Meadows "had taken the job as chief of staff on the principle that his most important task would be 'to tell the most powerful man in the world when you believed he was wrong,' he wrote in his memoir.... But instead..., Meadows went to extraordinary lengths to push Trump's false assertions -- particularly during a crucial three-week period starting with his trip to Atlanta and culminating in the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. A review of Meadows's actions in that period ... -- based on interviews, depositions, text messages, emails, congressional documents, recently published memoirs by key players and other material -- shows how Meadows played a pivotal role in advancing Trump's efforts to overturn the election. In doing so, Meadows 'repeatedly violated' legal guidance against trying to influence the Justice Department, according to a majority staff report of the Senate Judiciary Committee." (Also linked yesterday.)

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Top leaders in the Oath Keepers, the far-right extremist group, have been turning over phones and digital files and sitting for interviews with the FBI -- and detailing how they worked to benefit Donald Trump's campaign and communicated with others in the former President's orbit, according to court records and multiple sources familiar with the federal investigation." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The senior strategist for Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign said on Sunday night that he had lied to discredit a New York Times article that reported on Mr. McCain's close relationship with a female lobbyist, a claim that the candidate and the campaign attacked at considerable length at the time. The statement from Steve Schmidt, which he published in a late-night Substack post, was a remarkable turnabout for a former senior aide who once praised Mr. McCain as 'the greatest man I've ever known.' More than 14 years after The Times's article appeared and four years after the Republican senator's death, Mr. Schmidt let loose a furious personal assault on the credibility of Mr. McCain and his family.... Mr. McCain continued to deny until his death that he had a romantic relationship with [lobbyist Vicki] Iseman. Mr. Schmidt, however, said Mr. McCain had privately acknowledged an affair to him after The Times published its article." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Much ado.... I read Schmidt's Substack post earlier Monday, and IMO, it is a fine example of incoherent, drunk-rage writing. It's hardly a surprise that a presidential candidate lied about an affair or that a self-important campaign staffer still resents that some aspect of the affair has inconvenienced him.

Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on Monday to an array of news organizations for investigations that uncovered the tragic toll of the United States' air war in the Middle East, exposed the dangers of a Tampa lead smelter and pieced together the full picture of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The New York Times won the most Pulitzer Prizes this year of any outlet, including in the international reporting, national reporting and criticism categories. A Times reporter, Andrea Elliott, also won the award for nonfiction book. The Washington Post won the public service category, considered the most prestigious of the prizes, for 'The Attack,' a sprawling chronological examination of what led to the siege on the Capitol building and what transpired during the riot and its aftermath." ~~~

~~~ Here's the full list of Pulitzer Prize winners, via the New York Times.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Sunday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus -- the worst sort of Mother's Day surprise for the state's first mom governor. Aides said that Ms. Hochul was asymptomatic, and that the virus had been detected as part of the governor's testing routine in Albany." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Nevada. Swimming with the Fishes. An Upside to Climate Change. Marlene Lenthang of NBC News: "New human remains were found at Lake Mead in Nevada over the weekend, days after a decomposed body was found in a metal barrel at the lake's shrinking shoreline.... [The body in the barrel] was [the remains of a person] believed to have been killed between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s based on clothing and footwear the victim was found with, Las Vegas police said in a statement at the time. 'We believe this is a homicide as a result of a gunshot wound,' Lt. Ray Spencer said." So see? Missing persons cases, murder mysteries are a big step closer to solving.

Way Beyond

Philippines. Regine Cabato of the Washington Post: "With more than 85 percent of the vote counted, the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead Monday in elections, with more than twice the votes of his nearest competitor." (This is an update of a story linked earlier yesterday.)

May 9, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Bill Chappell of NPR: "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says she won't enforce her state's 1931 abortion law -- and she's hoping the Michigan Supreme Court finds it unconstitutional, even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down its Roe v. Wade decision.... Michigan's 1931 law defined abortion as a felony. It came under attack by its own government last month, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued to vacate the ban. The push quickly gained new urgency after a draft opinion leaked that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights. If the Supreme Court overturns its abortion ruling, Michigan's law would again take effect, making it illegal to perform abortions in many circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest. The law also forbids using drugs to induce an abortion."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Top leaders in the Oath Keepers, the far-right extremist group, have been turning over phones and digital files and sitting for interviews with the FBI -- and detailing how they worked to benefit Donald Trump's campaign and communicated with others in the former President's orbit, according to court records and multiple sources familiar with the federal investigation."

Philippines. Regine Cabato of the Washington Post: "With more than 85 percent of the vote counted, the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead Monday in elections, with more than twice the votes of his nearest competitor." This is an update of a story linked earlier today.

Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Protesters doused Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, in bright red paint -- resembling blood -- as he was arriving at an event to honor Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II. Footage posted by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti showed the ambassador's face dripping with the liquid as he arrived to lay flowers at the Soviet Military Cemetery on a day of widespread celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The video was shared without audio. Videos shared to Twitter, however, showed huge crowds, with some people angrily shouting 'Fascists!' at a group of Russian officials, whose faces were stained in red. Others at the scene held flowers and Ukrainian flags." ~~~

Roger Cohen of the New York Times writes a summary of Sunday's developments in Ukraine.

** Claire Miller & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "Taking pills to end a pregnancy accounts for a growing share of abortions in the United States, both legal and not. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade as expected, medication abortion will play a larger role, especially among women who lose access to abortion clinics.... It's a regimen of pills that women can take at home, a method increasingly used around the world. The protocol approved for use in the United States includes two medications. The first one, mifepristone, blocks a hormone called progesterone that is necessary for a pregnancy to continue. The second, misoprostol, brings on uterine contractions.... The Food and Drug Administration has approved medication abortion for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. World Health Organization guidelines say it can be used up to 12 weeks at home, and after 12 weeks in a medical office." It is safe & effective. "If Roe is overturned, about half of states are expected to ban abortion altogether, and medication abortion is expected to become a legal battleground." Read on if you or some you're close to might have a need for abortion medication.

Mark Meadows should go to jail, and not just for committing voter fraud: ~~~

~~~ Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: Mark Meadows "had taken the job as chief of staff on the principle that his most important task would be 'to tell the most powerful man in the world when you believed he was wrong,' he wrote in his memoir.... But instead..., Meadows went to extraordinary lengths to push Trump's false assertions -- particularly during a crucial three-week period starting with his trip to Atlanta and culminating in the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. A review of Meadows's actions in that period ... -- based on interviews, depositions, text messages, emails, congressional documents, recently published memoirs by key players and other material -- shows how Meadows played a pivotal role in advancing Trump's efforts to overturn the election. In doing so, Meadows 'repeatedly violated' legal guidance against trying to influence the Justice Department, according to a majority staff report of the Senate Judiciary Committee."

Oh, Great! Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: QAnon adherents, "guns holstered on their hips, have been camping out near Sasabe, Ariz., as a self-appointed border force with the stated aim of protecting the thousands of migrant children who have been arriving from the evils of sex trafficking -- a favorite QAnon theme. They are the latest in what over the years has developed into a cottage industry of dozens of armed civilians who have packed camouflage gear, tents and binoculars and deployed along the southern border. [Jason] Frank, a QAnon influencer whose Facebook page in recent months has shown him pictured with ... Donald J. Trump Jr., Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, has fashioned his team into a new style of border enforcers, motivated not so much by halting immigration as by guarding the country from other perceived threats -- in this case, an unfounded conspiracy theory that migrant children are being funneled into pedophilia rings.... Minors crossing the southern border as part of sex-trafficking schemes is unusual, according to groups that monitor and combat trafficking." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's clear to me that many of these conspiracy theorists are just lamebrains with too much time on their hands. You would think their friends at Hobby Lobby could get them into scrapbooking or stenciling or whatever.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Sunday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus -- the worst sort of Mother's Day surprise for the state's first mom governor. Aides said that Ms. Hochul was asymptomatic, and that the virus had been detected as part of the governor's testing routine in Albany."

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You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War II. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, punishers and Nazis. -- Vladimir Putin, in a demonstration Monday of how a rampaging, murderous dictator tries to justify his actions ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "... Vladimir V. Putin used his Victory Day speech on Monday to try to channel Russian pride in defeating Nazi Germany into support for this year's invasion of Ukraine. But contrary to some expectations he did not make any new announcements signaling a mass mobilization for the war effort or an escalation of the onslaught.... He also made plain his ever-more-open nostalgia for the Soviet empire, describing May 9, 1945, as a day of triumph for 'our united Soviet people.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: Putin "told the 11,000 assembled service personnel gathered to mark Victory Day, a commemoration of the Soviet Union's World War II role in defeating Nazi Germany, that Russian forces entered Ukraine as 'preemptive pushback' to what he claimed, without evidence, were Western plans to carry out attacks on eastern Ukraine. The United States and Western allies, while backing Ukraine and funneling in weapons and aid, have not entered the fight directly.... Meanwhile in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to the 8 million Ukrainians who died in World War II, saying: 'They fought for freedom for us and won. We are fighting for freedom for our children, and therefore we will win.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Putin is almost as good as Republicans at making up phrases designed to make something horrible sound reasonable. "Preemptive pushback"? Really? That's an internally inconsistent nonsense term akin to "drunk sobriety" or "boastful humility." ~~~

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

Zachary Basu of Axios: "The U.S., G7 and European Union agreed to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia ahead of its symbolic Victory Day holiday on May 9, including additional export controls and a commitment to phase out Russian oil." ~~~

~~~ Patrick Wintour & Andrew Sparrow of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia and the sacrifices its people made to defeat Nazi Germany in the second world war, leaders of the G7 group of leading western economies have said in a statement marking the 77th anniversary of the end of the global conflict. The statement, made on Sunday after a video conference between the G7 leaders and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was intended as a rallying call by liberal democracies in advance of Russia's 9 May Victory Day parade in Moscow."

Maura Forrest & Sue Allan of Politico: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a secret visit to Ukraine on Sunday, joining the list of VIPs who have visited the war-torn country since Russia's invasion began in February. Trudeau was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galadza as he raised the Canadian flag at the embassy in Kyiv and announced its reopening."

Darlene Superville of the AP: "Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.... Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility. Zelenska thanked Biden for her 'courageous act.'... Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, [Biden] toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel...." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Celebrating Mass Murder. Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "One day before a planned celebration in Russia that marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, an airstrike on a school in eastern Ukraine serving as a bomb shelter left as many as 60 people buried under rubble and feared dead, Ukrainian officials said, in what may prove to be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the nearly three-month-old war."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Democrats rang alarm bells on Sunday about the likelihood that Republicans would try to restrict abortion nationwide, two days after an interview was published in which Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said a ban was 'possible' if his party gained control in Washington.... 'If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies -- not only at the state level but at the federal level -- certainly could legislate in that area,' Mr. McConnell said when asked if a national abortion ban was 'worthy of debate.'... On the Sunday talk shows and in other public statements, Democratic senators said Republicans would not stop at letting the states decide the issue, but would most likely push for federal restrictions. That made it paramount, they said, that the Democratic Party maintain control of the Senate as it tries to codify abortion rights into federal law.'

Tom Sullivan in Hullabaloo: "A thread by British science fiction writer Charlie Stross attempts to simplify the (impending?) death of Roe to a single, universal idea: 'Big idea here: The US right's war on abortion is part of a bigger fight -- their war on the Enlightenment era concept of rights.... The solution is a basic right to bodily autonomy and self-determination....' Sullivan also cites a 1928 dissent by Justice Louis Brandeis: "The makers of our Constitution ... conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone...." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Brandeis based his opinion on the Fourth Amendment, a guarantee against unreasonable search & seizure. While ensuring a right to be let alone (i.e., a right to privacy) is commendable and (mostly) desirable, I would agree with the wingnuts that it is not in the U.S. Constitution. It's a human right, to be sure, but our Constitution is remarkably imperfect, and the Bill of Rights in particular is messy and limited in scope. In fact, one of the greatest U.S. feminists of all, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also thought Roe was wrongly decided; it should have been based instead on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This error by the Warren Court, IMO, is what has given the Supreme confederates an opening to strike it down. (Yeah, they probably would have done so anyway, but perhaps with an argument that looked even more ridiculous.)

Amy Phony Barrett explains why it's silly to complain about the overturn of Roe: "Just do your nine. Give it to a stork and the stork will give it to a lesbian. I would think that lesbians would be happy because now there's more babies for them to adopt. Until we ban that, too." ~~~

~~~ Mississippi Govenor Agrees. Amy Wang & Silvia Foster-Frau of the Washington Post: "Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception, sidestepping questions about what would happen next if Roe v. Wade is overturned. On CNN's 'State of the Union,' Reeves confirmed that, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, a trigger law passed in Mississippi in 2007 would go into effect that essentially outlaws abortions in the state, although it makes exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother. When asked if Mississippi might next target the use of contraceptives such as the Plan B pill or intrauterine devices, Reeves demurred, saying that was not what the state was focused on 'at this time.'" MB: Here's the thing, Li'l Darlin'. If you're gonna have sex-you-all intercourse, you're gonna have a baby.

Wisconsin. Luke Vander Ploeg & Addison Lathers of the New York Times: "The headquarters of an anti-abortion group in Madison, Wis., was set on fire on Sunday morning in an act of vandalism that included the attempted use of a Molotov cocktail and graffiti that read 'If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either,' according to the police. No one in the group, Wisconsin Family Action, was in the building at the time, and there were no injuries reported. Although the Molotov cocktail that was thrown through a window failed to ignite, the vandal or vandals started another fire nearby, the authorities said. The fire burned part of a wall." A madison.com report is here.

Mark Esper: How I Saved America from an Insane President* & Kept It a Secret from Voters So I Could Sell Some Books. Video & transcript of Norah O'Donnell's interview for "60 Minutes" of former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Esper tells O'Donnell Trump is a threat to American democracy. No kidding. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS in an interview broadcast Sunday he helped prevent a series of 'dangerous things that could have taken the country in a dark direction' during his time in the Trump administration.... He cited a proposal to 'take military action against Venezuela,' to 'strike Iran' and, 'at one point, somebody proposed we blockade Cuba.' Esper agreed with [Norah] O'Donnell that he had to keep pressing Trump to release $250 million in aid to Ukraine. 'It would be an argument after an argument. And I'd have to say, "Look, Mr. President, at the end of the day, Congress appropriated. It's the law. We have to do it,"' he [said]."

David Fahrenthold & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times highlight a ludicrous giveaway/"investment" of millions of dollars by the U.N.'s little-known Office for Project Services. "The story of these misbegotten investments was, at times, surreal.... But diplomats and former U.N. officials say the tale also demonstrates what critics say is a serious problem with the U.N.: a culture of impunity among some top leaders, who wield huge budgets with little outside oversight.... The top official at the Office for Project Services, Grete Faremo of Norway, announced early Sunday [shortly after this story dropped] that she was stepping down."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Philippines. Regine Cabato of the Washington Post: "Millions of Filipinos lined up in the blazing sun on Monday to vote for a new president, with the late dictator's son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., looking poised to lead the country his family once plundered billions from. The election is a test of truth and the memory of history for about 65 million registered voters in this archipelago, where the Marcos family has spent over a decade rehabilitating their name through an elaborate historical revisionism campaign on social media." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Perhaps democracy's biggest flaw: it's so destructible.

News Lede

New York Times: "A national manhunt for a corrections officer and the Alabama inmate she helped to escape last month ended Monday after a police pursuit resulted in a crash in Indiana, the authorities said. The inmate surrendered, and the officer fatally shot herself, they said. The former officer, Vicky White, had been on the run with the inmate, Casey White, whom she was not related to, since April 29, when they left the Lauderdale County Jail in Florence, Ala., for a courthouse appointment that was later revealed to be a fabrication. The crash occurred in Evansville, Ind., more than 200 miles north of the jail from which Mr. White had escaped, after the authorities there heard that the Whites were in a vehicle near the sheriff's office and began pursuing it. A U.S. marshals vehicle collided with the vehicle the Whites were in, causing it to roll over and crash during the pursuit.... With the vehicle wrecked...."

May 8, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Darlene Superville of the AP: "Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.... Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility. Zelenska thanked Biden for her 'courageous act.'... Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, [Biden] toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel...."

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The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet virtually with the leaders of the world's biggest economies on Sunday, following weeks in which the United States and its allies have promised billions of dollars in military aid to tip the war against Russia in Ukraine's favor.... The apparent Russian pullback from the area around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, contradicted the Russian narrative of victory in Ukraine and illustrated the complicated picture along the 300-mile front in eastern Ukraine.... C.I.A. Director William J. Burns said that Mr. Putin is 'in a frame of mind that he thinks he cannot afford to lose,' and so the stakes are high." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "Maj. Serhiy Volyna, whose forces are trapped at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works under a constant barrage of Russian fire, made a plea on Facebook for 'everyone to make the maximum effort to evacuate the military.' He described life at the plant as 'some hellish reality show.' Meanwhile, Russian forces bombed a school in Luhansk, leaving as many as 60 people trapped under the rubble and presumed dead, Ukrainian officials said."

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "The Kremlin entered the war expecting a quick and painless victory, predicting that the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky would fracture and that leading officials in the largely Russian-speaking eastern region would gladly switch sides. That has not happened.... In all but a tiny number of villages, Russia failed to flip local politicians to its side. The Ukrainian authorities have opened 38 cases of treason, all targeting low level officials in individual instances of betrayal.... Prominent, once Russian-leaning politicians including Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, and Hennady Trukhanov, the mayor of Odesa, also remained loyal and became fierce defenders of their cities." Assuming Ukrainian leaders in Russian-speaking areas would turn on their own country, Russians did little, if anything, to recruit those leaders' support.

David Stern, et al., of the Washington Post: "All women, children and elderly people had been evacuated from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol, officials said Saturday, concluding one chapter of a harrowing drama where thousands of civilians had been trapped for weeks amid an intense Russian assault.... Ukrainian fighters are still holed up at the sprawling complex, and a regional police leader told The Washington Post that three were killed Friday during the civilian evacuation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that diplomatic efforts were underway to try to free the remaining fighters as well as medics and the wounded. though he acknowledged that such a move 'is extremely difficult.'"

Marie: This makes me scream. The Washington Post is concerned that Bart O'Kavanaugh's neighbor Lacie Wooten-Holway "is breaking an unspoken contract of civility" by leading silent protests in front of I Like Beer's Chevy Chase house. Civlity??? Bart is about to take a profound civil right from millions of women & their families, and Wooten-Holway should be demure, ladylike and, as the WashPo puts it, "genial"? Fucking genial? The neighbors say should not be so "disrepectful" and steer clear of "bitter Washington politics"?

Maureen Dowd must have the New York Times' legal team on high alert this weekend as she muses about the sexual fantasies of repressed Supremes. Why, she describes Clarence Thomas a "pervy liar."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Afghanistan. AP: "Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public -- a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community. The decree says that women should leave the home only when necessary, and that male relatives would face punishment -- starting with a summons and escalating up to court hearings and jail time -- for women's dress code violations. It was the latest in a series of repressive edicts issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of which have been implemented. Last month for example the Taliban forbade women to travel alone, but after a day of opposition, that has since been silently ignored." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I checked an English-language translation of the Taliban's decree. Not surprisingly, the footnotes are full of Sam Alito citations.

Northern Ireland. Amanda Ferguson & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Sinn Fein on Saturday became the first nationalist party to dominate in Northern Ireland, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party lost hundreds of seats in local elections seen partly as a referendum on his leadership. Sinn Fein won the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland assembly, official results showed -- and along with that the power to name its leader Michelle O'Neill as first minister in the regional power-sharing government.... A Sinn Fein win doesn't have immediate implications for unification. Any changes to the status of Northern Ireland would require referendums on both sides of the border, and public support for a unified island isn't yet there. But Sinn Fein hopes it can build support over time."