The Commentariat -- February 19, 2021

Afternoon Update:

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden delivered a stark warning to global leaders and policymakers on Friday that 'democratic progress is under assault' in many parts of the world, including the United States and Europe. 'Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values,' Biden said during remarks by video to the Munich Security Conference. 'They're not transactional. They're not extractive. They're built on a vision of the future where every voice matters. Where the rights of all are protected and the rule of law is upheld. None of us has fully succeeded in achieving this vision....' The speech came on a day when Biden is delivering his most extensive remarks on foreign policy as president and inviting Iran to begin face-to-face diplomacy. Earlier Friday, the president addressed leaders of the Group of Seven in a virtual meeting."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "A federal judge whose son was killed and whose husband was critically wounded in an attack at their home in New Jersey said in a televised interview released Friday that the gunman also had targeted Justice Sonia Sotomayor. U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas told CBS's '60 Minutes' in an interview that will air Sunday that authorities found a locker used by the killer, Roy Den Hollander, a lawyer who had a case before Salas and who committed suicide after killing her 20-year-old son, Daniel, in the summer. 'They found another gun, a Glock, more ammunition,' Salas said. 'But the most troubling thing they found was a manila folder with a work-up on Justice Sonia Sotomayor.'" The CBS News story is here.

Marie: Yesterday, I linked to a "Fresh Air" interview of Heather McGhee, who has written a book about how "discriminatory laws and practices that target African Americans also negatively impact society at large." Today, Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times has more on McGhee: "McGhee's book is about the many ways racism has defeated efforts to create a more economically just America. Once the civil rights movement expanded America's conception of 'the public,' white America's support for public goods collapsed.... McGhee is trying to shift the focus from how racism benefits white people to how it costs them." MB: Smarter confederates, like Mitch McConnell, have long since figured out McGhee's thesis, and they use racism as a tool to advance their nasty preference for "small government." So-called "conservatism" is about conserving "white privilege," but only for those at the tippy-top of the economic and/or power scales.

Andrew Freedman of the Washington Post: "The operators of Texas' electrical grid as well as state leaders and officials in surrounding states had ample warning that a winter storm would bring record cold that could cause power demand to spike and threaten electrical infrastructure, according to a review of publicly available data from the National Weather Service. In fact, forecasters warned of the Arctic outbreak's severity more than a week in advance, which might have been enough time to take some steps to help mitigate against the need to cut power to millions in Texas.... As early as Feb. 5, which was 10 days before the Arctic air moved into the South, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) highlighted the risk of unusually cold weather and winter storms across the central and southern U.S.."

If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you. -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, February 2016 ~~~

~~~ Hating on Ted Is a National Pastime. Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "For a politician long reviled not just by Democrats but also by many of his Republican colleagues in Washington, Mr. Cruz is now the landslide winner for the title of the least sympathetic politician in America.... Throughout his political career, Mr. Cruz has united politicians from former President George W. Bush to Senator Rand Paul in mutual distaste.... His opportunism often enraged fellow Republicans. After voting against federal aid for Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Cruz lobbied Congress five years later for billions of dollars as Texas cleaned up from Hurricane Harvey." ~~~

~~~ "One Night in Cancun." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: Ted Cruz's "brief tropical sojourn yielded at least two unflattering nicknames on social media -- Cancun Cruz and Flyin' Ted -- and prompted a Twitter-fueled news cycle that seemed to unite a broken nation.... Cancun-gate checked nearly every possible box of a scandal. The sad-sack black roller suitcase and oversize canvas tote, awaiting its beach debut! The fleece half-zip as part of the classic frumpy Dad ensemble! The 6 a.m. scramble to book a return flight! The politician seeming to blame his preteen daughters! The adorable family dog, possibly left home alone! The police escort! The leaked text messages, with a 'Real Housewives of Houston' mood!" ~~~

~~~ Some of Ted's few defenders argued that there's nothing a U.S. senator can do about a local distaster. Apparently Ted didn't agree with that a couple of years ago:

New York. Nick Niedzwiadek & Anna Gronewold of Politico: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) over-the-top angry phone calls "have become commonplace in recent years and transcend political affiliation and other dividing lines. Many describe receiving angry calls late in the evening, or at other inopportune times, and being unable to get off the phone with New York's most powerful official. Warnings and browbeating aren't unusual, say those familiar with the governor's approach.... Now, Cuomo's cutthroat tactics -- already the stuff of legend in Albany's halls of power -- have been on full display as the Democratic governor faces his biggest firestorm in years over his administration's handling of nursing home fatalities during Covid-19 and his unsparing treatment of lawmakers who have dared to step out against him."

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Lara Jakes, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States took a major step on Thursday toward restoring the Iran nuclear deal that the Trump administration abandoned, offering to join European nations in what would be the first substantial diplomacy with Tehran in more than four years, Biden administration officials said. In a series of moves intended to make good on one of President Biden's most significant campaign promises, the administration backed away from a Trump administration effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran. That effort had divided Washington from its European allies. And at the same time, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told European foreign ministers in a call on Thursday morning that the United States would join them in seeking to restore the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, which he said 'was a key achievement of multilateral diplomacy.'"

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will need preapproval from a senior manager before trying to deport anyone who is not a recent border crosser, a national security threat or a criminal offender with an aggravated felony conviction, according to interim enforcement memo issued by the Biden administration Thursday. The narrower priorities are expected to result in a drop in immigration arrests and deportations. Biden officials said the new guidelines -- which will be in effect for the next 90 days -- will allow the agency to make better use of its resources while prioritizing public safety threats." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden's allies on Capitol Hill on Thursday unveiled a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's immigration system, describing it as a humane response to four years of ... Donald J. Trump's assault on immigrants. The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, formally introduced by a dozen Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate, amounts to a lengthy wish list for pro-immigration activists and a down payment on Mr. Biden's campaign promise to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. It would allow virtually all undocumented immigrants to eventually apply for citizenship; increase legal immigration; add measures to secure ports of entry and speed processing of asylum seekers; and invest $4 billion in the economies of Central American countries to reduce migration.... The legislation ... drew the ire of some Republicans, who said it did not invest enough money in securing the border and would encourage illegal immigration and more foreign workers when Americans are already struggling."

Bad News for the Former Fraudster-in-Chief. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "As the Manhattan district attorney's office steps up the criminal investigation of Donald J. Trump, it has reached outside its ranks to enlist a prominent former federal prosecutor to help scrutinize financial dealings at the former president's company, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. The former prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, has deep experience investigating and defending white-collar and organized crime cases, bolstering the team under District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. that is examining Mr. Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization. The investigation by Mr. Vance, a Democrat, is focused on possible tax and bank-related fraud...." MB: Since Twump can't tweet, I'll do it for him: "IT'S A WITCH HUNT!!!" A Law & Crime report is here.

Best Sobriquet for Trump this week comes from contributor Jeanne, who described him as "used-prez Fatso." MB: I'm still laughing.

Marie: Not long ago, I suggested the feds should investigate Roger Stone's ties to the Proud Boys & Oath Keepers, with the idea that he may have served as a go-between for Trump & these groups. It turns out the feds were, in some respect, wa-a-ay ahead of me: ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Federal prosecutors investigated some of the Proud Boys, including their leader Enrique Tarrio, and their ties to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, in a previously undisclosed criminal probe in 2019 into whether the men intended to threaten a federal judge. The threat investigation did not lead to charges. But its existence, now revealed by CNN, sheds new light on how federal prosecutors had already looked into the far-right organization's ties to someone in ... Donald Trump's orbit ​before the siege of the US Capitol in January. Stone was accompanied on January 6 in DC by members of the paramilitary extremist group the Oath Keepers and Stone has long had close ties to prominent members of the fraternity-like pro-Trump group the Proud Boys. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are central to some of the most aggressive parts of the FBI and DC US Attorney's Office's Capitol siege investigation.... In February 2019, less than a month after Stone had been indicted for lying to Congress, he posted on Instagram a photo of the judge presiding over his case, Amy Berman Jackson. The photo showed crosshairs behind her head. Stone -- testifying at a court hearing in 2019 to explain the post -- said at the time that a person working with him on his social media accounts had chosen it. Then, at another hearing the same year, Stone named names. Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, had been helping him ​with his social media, Stone said under oath, as had [other Proud Boys]...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Whitney Wild & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Six US Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay, and 29 others have been placed under investigation, for their actions in the January 6 riot, a department spokesman said Thursday.... CNN reported in January that the USCP had placed at least 10 officers under investigation, and two others had been suspended. One of the suspended officers took a selfie with someone who was part of the mob that overtook the Capitol, according to Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio. Another wore a 'Make America Great Again' hat and started directing people around the building, Ryan said. Last month, [Acting Chief Yogananda] Pittman said the department 'has been actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies.'The suspensions and investigations come at a time of internal turmoil at the department as officers continue to grapple with the insurrection that led to the death of Officer Brian Sicknick. Members of the Capitol Police issued a vote of no confidence in the force's top leaders earlier this month."

Andrew Blankstein of NBC News: "A Federal Judge in California on Thursday sentenced a venture capitalist who donated nearly $1 million to ... Donald Trump's inaugural committee to 12 years in prison for falsifying records to hide his work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. officials. Imaad Zuberi was also fined $1.75 million and ordered to pay $15.7 million in restitution. Zuberi, 50, agreed to plead guilty in 2019 to tax evasion, filing false foreign agent registration records and providing almost $1 million in illegal campaign contributions to various presidential election campaigns and other candidates for elected office, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California."

Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "When he died in November, Alex Trebek ... left behind 14 suits, 58 dress shirts, 300 neckties and other clothes that he wore on the show, which taped five episodes a day, twice a week. His son, Matthew Trebek, along with the producer of 'Jeopardy!'..., decided to donate the clothes to formerly homeless and incarcerated men looking for a fresh start. So it was that Mr. Trebek's 'Jeopardy!' wardrobe -- which also included 25 polo shirts, 14 sweaters, 9 sport coats, 9 pairs of dress shoes, 15 belts, 2 parkas, and 3 pairs of dress slacks -- arrived about two weeks ago at the Doe Fund, a New York City nonprofit that provides services, housing and job opportunities to men who have been in prison or homeless."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Emily Rauhala, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned. At a Group of Seven meeting of leaders of the world's largest economies Friday, President Biden will announce an initial $2 billion in funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to be used by the Covax Facility, senior administration officials said in a briefing."

Beyond the Beltway

South Dakota. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "South Dakota's attorney general has been charged with careless driving but avoided more serious felony charges like manslaughter in connection with an accident in which he struck and killed a man with his car last September, prosecutors announced on Thursday. The attorney general,Jason Ravnsborg, a Republican, was also charged with using a mobile electronic device and failing to stay in his lane on the night of Sept. 12, Emily Sovell, the deputy state's attorney for Hyde County, said at a news conference. All three of the charges against Mr. Ravnsborg are misdemeanors, which each carry a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, Ms. Sovell said.... Mr. Ravnsborg told the authorities at the accident scene that he believed he had struck a large animal like a deer. It wasn't until the next day ... that Mr. Ravnsborg returned to the accident scene and discovered [Joe] Boever's body.... The family of Mr. Boever, 55, whose pickup truck had been disabled in a nearby ditch, criticized the outcome of the investigation." A TPM story is here.

Texas. Jack Healy, et al., of the New York Times: "Power began to flicker back on across much of Texas on Thursday, but millions across the state confronted another dire crisis: a shortage of drinkable water as pipes cracked, wells froze and water treatment plants were knocked offline. The problems were especially acute at hospitals. One, in Austin, was forced to move some of its most critically ill patients to another building when its faucets ran nearly dry. Another in Houston had to haul in water on trucks to flush toilets. But for many of the state's residents stuck at home, the emergency meant boiling the tap water that trickled through their faucets, scouring stores for bottled water or boiling icicles and dirty snow on their stoves. For others, it meant no water at all. ~~~

~~~ Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune: "Texas' power grid was 'seconds and minutes' away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday.... Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which operates the power grid that covers most of the state, said Texas was dangerously close to a worst-case scenario: uncontrolled blackouts across the state. The quick decision that grid operators made in the early hours of Monday morning to begin what was intended to be rolling blackouts -- but lasted days for millions of Texans -- occurred because operators were seeing warning signs that massive amounts of energy supply was dropping off the grid.... The worst case scenario: Demand for power outstrips the supply of power generation available on the grid, causing equipment to catch fire, substations to blow and power lines to go down."

Saving the Turtles. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The deadly winter storm that swept across Texas and parts of the South ... also created a catastrophe for animals statewide -- including for sea turtles prone to freezing in frigid waters. [Will] Bellamy, an Army and Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Haiti, spotted some turtles Tuesday with his son Jerome.... He alerted Capt. Christopher Jason, the commander of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in southeastern Texas, and his wife, Cheryl Jason. The commander grabbed his kayak, paddled into the cold waves and retrieved a lapful of cold-shocked turtles.... More than 1,100 turtles have since been plucked from Laguna Madre by a ragtag group of about 50 Navy pilots and flight students, military spouses, family members and military retirees, said Biji Pandisseril, the Navy installation's environmental manager. More turtles are still coming in, he said, and some have died. Green sea turtles, listed as a threatened species, feast on grasses found in the waters of Laguna Madre, but in winter weather, the chilling shallow water zaps strength from the coldblooded reptiles. They become immobile and unable to power their fins to warmer, deeper waters...."

Ted's Excellent Adventure. Shane Goldmacher & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "As Texas was battered by an icy storm and widespread power losses that left millions of residents freezing and fearing for their safety, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas left the state on Wednesday and traveled to Mexico for a previously planned family vacation, according to a person with direct knowledge of the trip.... 'With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,' Mr. Cruz said, adding that ... his family had lost heat and power. Mr. Cruz insisted that he and his staff had been 'in constant communication' with state and local leaders during his brief Cancún trip.... In a radio interview on Monday, [Cruz] said..., '... Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids.'..." As if Houston police didn't have enough to do in an outage crisis, Cruz requested that the police provide him "assistance upon arrival" at the Houston airport. Related story linked at the bottom of this entry. This is part of a live-blog. There's a full-blown story by Goldmacher & Fandos linked below. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: It seems Senator Ted & his staff were not exactly truthful. The "person with direct knowledge" described the Cancún excursion as a "previously planned family vacation." It turns out "previously planned" means "after the power went out" and "yesterday": Rebecca Shabad of NBC News reports that Cruz said Wednesday, "We had no heat and no power and yesterday my daughters asked if they could take a trip with some friends and Heidi and I agreed." As for Ted's "immediate return to Texas," Shabad reports, "A source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News that Cruz booked his return ticket at 6 a.m. Thursday but that he was initially booked to return home on Saturday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update Update. Although Cruz tried to blame the trip on his daughters, it turns out it was Ted's wife Heidi Cruz who demanded the vacation. ~~~

     ~~~ Shane Goldmacher & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Text messages sent from Ms. Cruz to friends and Houston neighbors on Wednesday revealed a hastily planned trip. Their house was 'FREEZING,' as Ms. Cruz put it -- and she proposed a getaway until Sunday. Ms. Cruz invited others to join them at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún, where they had stayed 'many times,' noting the room price this week ($309 per night) and its good security.... Houst[o]n police ... officers were seen accompanying [Ted Cruz] housupon his Thursday return." Also, at the time Heidi Cruz was planning the jaunt, she said the family was staying in the warm home of friends. ~~~

~~~ Frozen Snowflake: Dog Lovers' Alert. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: When Ted & the Cruz family abandoned their self-described "freezing" house, they left their small poodle in the house to bear the cold. A security guard on the property said he was tasked with taking care of the dog, appropriately named "Snowflake." PETA, ASPCA, take note. ~~~

Just drove by Ted Cruz’s house in Houston. His lights are off but a neighbor told me the block got its power back last night. Also, Ted appears to have left behind the family poodle. pic.twitter.com/TmLyGQkASy

— Michael Hardy (@mkerrhardy) February 18, 2021

     ~~~ You can see Snowflake sitting at the door. Writer Michael Hardy also reported that Snowflake was barking even before Hardy approached the house. MB: Either Snowflake routinely barks at passersby or s/he was distressed & calling for help.

~~~ Sauce for the Goose.... Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ... has repeatedly criticized politicians who vacationed or took part in leisure activities during times of crisis, a CNN KFile review finds. This past December, Cruz attacked Austin Mayor Steve Adler for going to Cabo, Mexico, during the coronavirus pandemic.... Cruz said in 2017 then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 'should go back to the beach,' referencing the outrage surrounding the governor's trip to a closed state beach with his family while the state's government was shut down.... In 2014, Cruz attacked then-President Barack Obama for attending a fundraiser during a crisis at the border in Texas and said the President spent too much time on the golf course.... A month earlier..., Cruz called Obama an 'absentee president,' who was 'not focused on the people who are hurting.'" ~~~

~~~ Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: Some in conservative media were willing to defend the indefensible, claiming that Ted was helping out the state by keeping his family from becoming a drain on the state's systems or wasn't needed in Texas because a U.S. senator can't do anything about a state problem.

~~~ The Texas Tribune has helpfully provided "13 curses to mutter against Ted Cruz while you boil snow to drink." MB: I tried to think of Ted living out each of the suggested curses, and it was a super-pleasant experience.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Republican politicians and right-wing media, not content with run-of-the-mill blame-shifting, have coalesced around a malicious falsehood instead -- the claim that wind and solar power caused the collapse of the Texas power grid, and that radical environmentalists are somehow responsible for the fact that millions of people are freezing in the dark, even though conservative Republicans have run the state for a generation.... [This is] raw denial of reality, not just to escape accountability, but to demonize one's opponents. And it's another indicator of the moral and intellectual collapse of American conservatism.... When two-thirds of Republicans believe that Antifa was involved in the assault on the Capitol, selling the base a bogus narrative about the Texas electricity disaster is practically child's play."

Marie: I'm all for FEMA's helping out Texans who are victims of Texas's piss-poor planning. But the federal government should not give or lend a nickel to the state or to its energy companies until Texas legislators return oversight to the feds so the energy companies can be forced to maintain adequate levels of surplus energy for emergencies, join power-sharing pacts, & upgrade their facilities so operations continue during storms & frigid weather.

Wa-a-ay Beyond

Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "NASA safely landed a new robotic rover on Mars on Thursday, beginning its most ambitious effort in decades to directly study whether there was ever life on the now barren red planet. While the agency has completed other missions to Mars, the $2.7 billion robotic explorer, named Perseverance, carries scientific tools that will bring advanced capabilities to the search for life beyond Earth. The rover, about the size of a car, can use its sophisticated cameras, lasers that can analyze the chemical makeup of Martian rocks and ground-penetrating radar to identify the chemical signatures of fossilized microbial life that may have thrived on Mars when it was a planet full of flowing water."

Getting a Vaccination in New Hampshire

Thanks to all who shared their own experiences getting (or not getting) vaccinated.

Note Update below:

Yesterday, I got my first anti-Covid-19 vaccination. The whole process was well-organized.

I signed up for a vaccination January 22, and the next day, the state gave me the go-ahead to sign up for an appointment. At that time, New Hampshire was relying on a CDC site, and I had to answer the same health questions – which were extensive – on both a New Hampshire site & a CDC site. I have heard that New Hampshire has since stopped relying on the CDC site. There also was a facility for allowing people to get their shots at the same time another family member or partner was getting hers. I received confirmation notices of the time and place of my appointment timely. A week or so later, the state sent me a reminder and asked me to again confirm my appointment. The day before yesterday, I received another reminder of my appointment and had to complete an update of my health condition, but this one was shorter than the ones I had completed in January.

The vaccination was administered in the garage of a defunct Sears store. The only part the state could have made clearer was the location. The state gave only the street address of the site, and of course the street address is not plastered all over a Sears store in a shopping mall. I had to check the Internet to figure out exactly where the site was. The state should have included something like “former Sears garage” with the street address.

At the site, the National Guard seemed to be running the whole operation. It went very smoothly. (Really.) What with the site's being a garage, it was a totally drive-up operation. I would not have had to get out of my car had I not needed to remove my coat. There was a line of cars. Guardsmen (and they were all men) approached me at several “stations” to ensure that I had an appointment. They all wore masks, as did I (I was double-masked.). One of them said he had my name on his list. I had to show him a photo ID (my drivers license). BTW, it was 28 degrees here during the time I was there, and these Guardsmen were standing out in the cold. There were some who were directing traffic. Again, all very orderly. When I got to the technician who would administer the shot, he asked me health questions again. He also asked to see my photo ID again. He gave me a card indicating what vaccination I had received (Pfizer) and told me I should make an appointment a month from yesterday to get my second shot. After that, I was directed to an area – this one run by local firemen – where I had to wait about 15 minutes to make sure I had no adverse reactions to the shot. The total process, from start to finish, took less than an hour. I thanked every single person who approached me for coming out in the cold to help me.

Today, I received an e-mail notice that I had completed my first appointment and an opportunity to sign up for the second shot. The next appointment date was not until March 23, so that slips the target date by about a week. I signed up.

The shot itself was pretty painless. My arm hurts a tiny bit today when I move it, and the vaccination did make me sleepy, as the technician warned me it might. I took an unscheduled three-hour nap yesterday, and I was not otherwise sleep-deprived.

Based on a news report in today's Washington Post, it appears my second shot will not be my last. According to the Post, because the Pfizer vaccine does not work well enough against the South African strain of the virus, “Pfizer and BioNTech announce[d] they were taking necessary steps to develop a booster shot or updated vaccine.”

Update. Oops! A Glitch in the System. I sent a friend of mine a copy of this post, and she wrote back to tell me that she had heard that I shouldn't schedule a second appointment because the "suggested" date on the card the technician gave me actually was a hard appointment. I noodled around the Internet & found a news report to that effect. So I called the state because I didn't want to miss my second shot on account of misinformation. Sure enough, my friend was right, and I should have ignored the email that directed me to make an appointment for the second shot. The state said I was scheduled for March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, so easy to remember!) same time, same place. So I cancelled the March 23 appointment. I am pretty sure the problem resulted from the state's attempt to coordinate with the CDC. The email telling me to make a second appointment came from the CDC, not the state. Nothing is perfect.

The Commentariat -- February 18, 2021

Afternoon Update:

You can watch NASA's Mars Rover landing live on NASA's page here. The New York Times has live updates here. MB: The Times also has what is supposed to be live video, but it took about 7 minutes to load. Update: "Touchdown confirmed."

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will need preapproval from a senior manager before trying to deport anyone who is not a recent border crosser, a national security threat or a criminal offender with an aggravated felony conviction, according to interim enforcement memo issued by the Biden administration Thursday. The narrower priorities are expected to result in a drop in immigration arrests and deportations. Biden officials said the new guidelines -- which will be in effect for the next 90 days -- will allow the agency to make better use of its resources while prioritizing public safety threats."

Ted's Excellent Adventure. Shane Goldmacher & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "As Texas was battered by an icy storm and widespread power losses that left millions of residents freezing and fearing for their safety, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas left the state on Wednesday and traveled to Mexico for a previously planned family vacation, according to a person with direct knowledge of the trip.... 'With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,' Mr. Cruz said, adding that ... his family had lost heat and power. Mr. Cruz insisted that he and his staff had been 'in constant communication' with state and local leaders during his brief Cancún trip.... In a radio interview on Monday, [Cruz] said..., '... Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids.'..." As if Houston police didn't have enough to do in an outage crisis, Cruz requested that the police provide him "assistance upon arrival" at the Houston airport. Related story linked at the bottom of this entry. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: It seems Senator Ted & his staff were not exactly truthful. The "person with direct knowledge" described the Cancún excursion as a "previously planned family vacation." It turns out "previously planned" means "after the power went out" and "yesterday": Rebecca Shabad of NBC News reports that Cruz said Wednesday, "We had no heat and no power and yesterday my daughters asked if they could take a trip with some friends and Heidi and I agreed." As for Ted's "immediate return to Texas," Shabad reports, "A source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News that Cruz booked his return ticket at 6 a.m. Thursday but that he was initially booked to return home on Saturday." ~~~

     ~~~ Update Update. Although Cruz tried to blame the vacation trip on his pre-teen daughters, it turns out it was Ted's wife Heidi Cruz who demanded the vacation.

Not long ago, I suggested the feds should investigate Roger Stone's ties to the Proud Boys & Oath Keepers, with the idea that he may have served as a go-between for Trump & these groups. It turns out the feds were, in some respect, wa-a-ay ahead of me: ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Federal prosecutors investigated some of the Proud Boys, including their leader Enrique Tarrio, and their ties to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, in a previously undisclosed criminal probe in 2019 into whether the men intended to threaten a federal judge. The threat investigation did not lead to charges. But its existence, now revealed by CNN, sheds new light on how federal prosecutors had already looked into the far-right organization's ties to someone in ... Donald Trump's orbit ​before the siege of the US Capitol in January. Stone was accompanied on January 6 in DC by members of the paramilitary extremist group the Oath Keepers and Stone has long had close ties to prominent members of the fraternity-like pro-Trump group the Proud Boys. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are central to some of the most aggressive parts of the FBI and DC US Attorney's Office's Capitol siege investigation.... In February 2019, less than a month after Stone had been indicted for lying to Congress, he posted on Instagram a photo of the judge presiding over his case, Amy Berman Jackson. The photo showed crosshairs behind her head. Stone -- testifying at a court hearing in 2019 to explain the post -- said at the time that a person working with him on his social media accounts had chosen it. Then, at another hearing the same year, Stone named names. Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, had been helping him ​with his social media, Stone said under oath, as had [other Proud Boys]...."

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Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden has said repeatedly that he wants to create a path to citizenship for all of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But even as he prepares to push hard for the broadest possible overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, he and his aides have started to signal openness to more targeted approaches that could win citizenship for smaller, discrete groups of undocumented immigrants. At a CNN town hall on Tuesday, he said such efforts would be acceptable 'in the meantime.'" In a private phone call with activists on Wednesday, top immigration aides to Mr. Biden said they supported what they called a 'multiple trains' strategy, which could target citizenship for 'Dreamers'...; farm workers who have toiled for years in American fields; and others." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden's allies on Capitol Hill plan to formally introduce his immigration overhaul in the House on Thursday morning, making good on his campaign promise to seek to modernize the nation's immigration system and provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented Americans. Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and Representative Linda T. Sánchez, Democrat of California, are expected to hold a news conference to unveil the legislation, which is based on a proposal Mr. Biden href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-sends-immigration-bill-to-congress-as-part-of-his-commitment-to-modernize-our-immigration-system/">announced on his first day in office. Mr. Menendez's office said in a news release that the lawmakers would be joined by 10 of their colleagues for the announcement. White House officials provided details of the measure, which will be called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, in a briefing with reporters Wednesday evening." An AP story is here.

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "President Biden is butting heads with key Democrats after he rejected Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer's call to cancel up to $50,000 in debt held by federal student loan borrowers. 'I will not make that happen,' Biden told a borrower inquiring about the proposal at a town hall hosted by CNN in Milwaukee Tuesday. He later said: 'I'm prepared to write off a $10,000 debt, but not 50 because I don't think I have the authority to do it.' Schumer (D-N.Y.) disagrees. On Wednesday, he put out a joint statement with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reiterating their belief that the Biden administration could use the same legal authority to cancel debt that ... Donald Trump's administration used last year to temporarily waive interest on federal student loans during the pandemic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday, NPR's "Fresh Air" indirectly addressed the issue: "Author Heather McGhee draws on a wealth of economic data to make the case that discriminatory laws and practices that target African Americans also negatively impact society at large." McGhee, who once headed Demos said, "At Demos, we once did a report showing where every member of Congress went to college and what it cost then and what it costs now just to remind the decision-makers, most of them white, that there's something drastic that changed. And it's not that young people became less industrious or less willing to sacrifice. It's that government walked away from the deal. And it really was around the same time that the college-going population became more diverse and that this conservative, anti-government ethos kicked in in our politics. And that has a lot to do - the social science is now very clear - with these racialized ideas of who is the public and what they deserve. And so you started to see this privatization of public colleges. So now the majority of states rely on tuition dollars for the majority of the costs of college. And we shifted at the federal level from grants to loans." Audio & the transcript of McGhee's interview with Dave Davies is here.

Dan Diamond & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "President Biden has selected Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filling a major role in his health-care leadership team, according to four people.... Brooks-LaSure served in the Obama administration as a senior CMS official who helped implement the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansion and insurance-market reforms. She also worked on Capitol Hill as a Democratic staff member for the House Ways and Means Committee, building ties with then-Rep. Xavier Becerra, Biden's choice to lead the Health and Human Services department and who sat on the committee at the time." A Politico story is here.

The Pentagon Worked Around Misogynist-in-Chief. Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Last fall, the Pentagon's most senior leaders agreed that two top generals should be promoted to elite, four-star commands. For then-Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tricky part was that both of the accomplished officers were women.... The two Pentagon leaders feared that any candidates other than white men for jobs mostly held by white men might run into turmoil once their nominations got to the White House. Mr. Esper and General Milley worried that if they even raised their names..., the Trump White House would replace them with their own candidates before leaving office. So the Pentagon officials ... held back their recommendations until after the November elections.... In the next few weeks, Mr. Esper's successor, Lloyd J. Austin III, and General Milley are expected to send the delayed recommendations to the White House, where officials are expected to endorse the nominations and formally submit them to the Senate for approval." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Makuch of Vice: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it once employed an American neo-Nazi terror leader now based in Russia after he posted what he said were letters of appreciation DHS and the Pentagon sent him thanking him for his service. Earlier this month, Rinaldo Nazzaro, 47, founder and leader of the Base, one of the most violent American domestic terror groups in years, posted three undated letters from U.S. agencies lauding him for his service. One was from DHS -- an agency tasked with thwarting terrorism in the U.S. -- and two were on Marine Corps letterhead. All spoke glowingly of Nazzaro. Since late 2019, nine members of the Base, the group he founded, have been arrested in the U.S. for alleged crimes as wide-ranging as an assassination plot, ghost-gun making, plans for train derailments, and a mass shooting. The Canadian government has designated it as a terrorist group.... 'I can confirm that Rinaldo Nazzaro worked at DHS from 2004 to 2006,' said a DHS spokesperson." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: News outlets are publishing scads of stories about the "Republican party in turmoil!" I find myself uninterested. I might link to a few of them that put forth any newsy developments, but the 19th "Trump & McConnell feuding" doesn't cut it for me. You won't have trouble finding such stories on your own.

For your viewing pleasure:

     ~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "The fall of a leader with authoritarian instincts is usually symbolised by toppled statues and looted palaces. For Donald Trump, perhaps inevitably, it was the demolition of a failed casino. On Wednesday the former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was reduced to rubble in 20 seconds by 3,000 sticks of dynamite. It had fallen into such disrepair that chunks of the building had been tumbling to ground.... By the time it finally closed its doors in 2014, Trump Plaza was the worst-performing casino in Atlantic City.... A year later, Trump announced his world-changing run for US president, often citing Atlantic City as proof of his business acumen."

Alberto Luperon of Law & Crime: ">A self-described fascist who attended the University of California, Los Angeles was one of the people who sat in the vice president's chair in the Senate chamber during the U.S. Capitol siege, according to an affidavit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Defendant Christian Secor, 22, of Costa Mesa, was arrested Tuesday morning, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Laura Eimiller told Law&Crime on the phone. In documents, authorities say tipsters stepped forward to identify Secor as the suspect wearing what the FBI described as a black jacket, black gloves, tan pants, a Make America Great Again ha featuring several stickers, and a T-shirt featuring 'an adulterated American flag' with the letters 'IMER' visible. He carried around a blue flag featuring the phrase 'America First.' Secor allegedly bragged about getting away with his actions at the U.S. Capitol.... Officials claimed Secor was among a group of rioters trying to push through a doorway blocked by 'no less than three police officers.' The group succeeded in opening the double doors, which let in dozens of others."

Marie: Richard Fausset & Campbell Robertson of the New York Times write an article headlined, "How a Hardcore Liberal Lawyer Joined the Pro-Trump Mob." The headline is false advertising; the story doesn't offer any "how-to"; the best it manages is to pinpoint the timing of McCall Calhoun's aversion to a local gun-control movement, which he opposed. I'm sure we all are aware of liberal causes with which we disagree or at least are not enthusiastic, and that hasn't turned us into "pro-Trump mobsters," who -- like Calhoun -- turn 180 degrees from supporting liberal & anti-racist causes to spewing violent threats against minorities and liberals, then joining the siege on the Capitol. I think people like Calhoun, who is 58, have developed a mental disease that makes them suddenly susceptible to conspiracy theories they would have scoffed at before they became ill. Whatever this disease is, it creates a profound personality change. The vast majority, IMO, of the Capitol rebels were lifetime nitwits -- white supremacists, neo-Nazis, rabid anti-abortionists, whatever. But a few, like Calhoun & the guy with the horns, are likely genuinely mentally ill.

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: Rush Limbaugh "was among the first [political commentators] to popularize -- and normalize, for many Republican politicians and voters -- the style of politics that would become synonymous with the Trump name. There was no person or subject that was off-limits for Mr. Limbaugh's ire. Black people, gay men and lesbians, feminists, people with AIDS, the 12-year-old daughter of a president, an advocate for victims of domestic violence.... He spun conspiracy theories about the supposed involvement of [President Bill] Clinton and his wife, Hillary, in the death of the former deputy White House counsel Vince Foster, and spread lies about former President Barack Obama's birthplace.... Few media stars were as crucial in making disinformation, false rumors and fringe ideas the right's new reality. And toward the end of the Trump presidency, Mr. Limbaugh's willingness to indulge the paranoia among Mr. Trump's most ardent supporters was especially powerful in misleading people to believe that bad news about their president ... was simply made up by his enemies or the result of a nefarious plot. (In the case of the virus, Mr. Limbaugh called it nothing more than a 'common cold.') In turn, Mr. Limbaugh rarely apologized for his comments and often attacked those who called him out, arguing that they were taking him too seriously or twisting his words out of context. Often, Mr. Limbaugh denied he had said what his critics claimed." Limbaugh's obit is linked under Wednesday's News Ledes. ~~~

~~~ Marie: As some of you know, I don't like to speak ill of the dead immediately after their deaths, in deference to their grieving families. But Erin Ryan of the Daily Beast gives me an excuse to make Limbaugh an exception: "Conventional etiquette dictates that we do not speak ill of the dead. But Rush Limbaugh isn't just any dead guy. He's a dead guy who made himself a multimillionaire many times over by targeting immigrants, women who use birth control, the preteen daughters of politicians, the Obamas, rape survivors, environmentalists, gay people, Asians, Latinos, Black people, and feminists.... He spoke ill of people who died of AIDS, of people who died by suicide, of people who were dying of Parkinson's disease, and unarmed Black children who were murdered under racist pretenses." That's my excuse, anyway, for linking Jeremy Peters' article, and I'm sticking with it.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments in Covid-19 Thursday are here: "The two coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna appear to be highly effective against the more transmissible variant of the virus first detected in Britain, according to new reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, in a potential boost to vaccination efforts around the globe. The vaccines, however, showed a decreased ability to neutralize the strain now dominant in South Africa, worrying some researchers and prompting Pfizer and BioNTech to announce they were taking necessary steps to develop a booster shot or updated vaccine."

The Washington Post's front-page tally of the number of Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 stands at 41.4 million this morning.

Marilynn Marchione of the AP: "Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths, health officials are reporting. Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black Americans losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years, according to preliminary estimates Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'This is a huge decline,' said Robert Anderson, who oversees the numbers for the CDC. 'You have to go back to World War II, the 1940s, to find a decline like this.' Other health experts say it shows the profound impact of COVID-19, not just on deaths directly due to infection but also from heart disease, cancer and other conditions."

David Lim of Politico: "The White House announced Wednesday a multipronged effort to bolster the United States' ability to test for Covid-19 in schools and homeless shelters, increase domestic manufacturing of testing supplies such as pipette tips, and boost genomic sequencing efforts needed to understand the spread of virus variants. Biden testing coordinator Carole Johnson described the $1.6 billion for testing as a 'pilot' that will serve as a bridge until Congress passes its massive $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill."

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "Millions of jobs that have been shortchanged or wiped out entirely by the coronavirus pandemic are unlikely to come back, economists warn, setting up a massive need for career changes and retraining in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has triggered permanent shifts in how and where people work. Businesses are planning for a future where more people are working from home, traveling less for business, or replacing workers with robots. All of these modifications mean many workers will not be able to do the same job they did before the pandemic, even after much of the U.S. population gets vaccinated against the deadly virus. Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates raised eyebrows in November when he predicted that half of business travel and 30 percent of 'days in the office' would go away forever. That forecast no longer seems far-fetched." (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Vaccinations for Rich, White Voters Only. Konstantin Toropin of CNN: "Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to move a pop-up vaccination clinic that his state has set up in an affluent community in Manatee County after he was confronted with allegations of political favoritism and preference for the wealthy at a news conference Wednesday.... 'If Manatee County doesn't like us doing this, then we are totally fine with putting this in counties that want it,' DeSantis said.... Manatee County announced on Tuesday that Florida's Division of Emergency Management would host a 'pop-up' vaccination spot at Lakewood Ranch this week for 3,000 Manatee County residents, according to a statement from the county. The vaccines, however, would be limited to people living in only two zip codes -- 34202 and 34211. Manatee County Commissioner Misty Servia, a Republican, criticized the selection of these two areas at a Board of County Commissioners work session on Tuesday. 'You're taking the Whitest demographic, the richest demographic in Manatee County and putting them ahead of everyone else," Servia said. 'The optics are bad ... very bad -- I'm really disappointed,' she added. Commissioner Reggie Bellamy, a Democrat, also [complained about the discrimination]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This, of course, is DeSantis using his position (1) to mete out lifesaving vaccinations to curry favor with those most likely to vote for him, without regard to the health needs of the entire community, and (2) to intimidate politicians who don't go along with the program. Despicable.

New York. Brendan Lyons of the Albany Times Union: "The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn have launched an investigation that is examining, at least in part, the actions of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's coronavirus task force in its handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic, the Times Union has learned. The probe by the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York is apparently in its early stages and is focusing on the work of some of the senior members of the governor's task force, according to a person with direct knowledge...." ~~~

~~~ Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "The Democratic leaders of the New York State Senate are moving to strip Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of unilateral emergency powers granted during the pandemic, setting up a remarkable rebuke for the governor from members of his own party. The Senate's measures, which could be voted on as soon as next week, underscore the deepening division between Mr. Cuomo and state lawmakers since the governor admitted to intentionally withholding critical data on virus-related deaths from the Legislature.... The Senate's action also illustrates a deepening fatigue in the Democratic-controlled State Legislature over Mr. Cuomo's broad use of powers, which have enabled him to control nearly every facet of the state's response to the virus, from ordering widespread shutdowns to managing the distribution of vaccines to feuding with state health officials." ~~~

~~~ MJ Lee & Mark Morales of CNN: After describing to reporters a virtual meeting regarding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of nursing home patients, Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim told CNN, "'Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for [Cuomo aide] Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience.' Cuomo proceeded to tell the assemblyman that 'we're in this business together and we don't cross certain lines and he said I hadn't seen his wrath and that he can destroy me,' according to Kim. DeRosa is a top aide to the governor who came under fire last week after she told state lawmakers in a private virtual meeting that the state had delayed sharing with the legislature the full scope of the Covid-related death toll of New York's nursing home residents because of concerns about a potential federal investigation by the Department of Justice." A New York Times story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Erin Douglas, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "While Texas Republicans were quick to pounce on renewable energy and to blame frozen wind turbines, the natural gas, nuclear and coal plants that provide most of the state's energy also struggled to operate during the storm. Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the energy grid operator for most of the state, said that the state's power system was simply no match for the deep freeze. Energy and policy experts said Texas' decision not to require equipment upgrades to better withstand extreme winter temperatures, and choice to operate mostly isolated from other grids in the U.S. left power system unprepared for the winter crisis. Policy observers blamed the power system failure on the legislators and state agencies who they say did not properly heed the warnings of previous storms or account for more extreme weather events warned of by climate scientists. Instead, Texas prioritized the free market." ~~~

~~~ Adding Insult to Injury: Let Your Pipes Burst. Alex Samuels of the Texas Tribune: "After enduring multiple days of freezing temperatures and Texans dripping faucets to prevent frozen pipes from bursting, cities across the state warned residents on Wednesday that water levels are dangerously low and may be unsafe to drink. They're telling Texans to boil tap water for drinking, cooking, brushing their teeth and for making ice -- as residents have been struggling to maintain power and heat while an unprecedented winter storm whips across the state. While activities such as showering and doing laundry are safe, cities under water boil notices are asking people to conserve water if at all possible. Approximately 590 public water systems in 141 Texas counties have reported disruptions in service, affecting nearly 12 million people as of late Wednesday afternoon, according to a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson. 'Water pressure is very low. Please do not run water to keep pipes from bursting,' Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted Wednesday morning."

~~~ Kate Shepherd of the Washington Post: "As millions of people across Texas struggled to stay warm Tuesday amid massive cold-weather power outages, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed his ire at ... frozen wind turbines. 'This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,' Abbott said to host Sean Hannity on Tuesday. 'Our wind and our solar got shut down, and they were collectively more than 10 percent of our power grid, and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis. ... It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary.' The governor's arguments were contradicted by his own energy department, which outlined how most of Texas's energy losses came from failures to winterize the power-generating systems, including fossil fuel pipelines, The Washington Post's Will Englund reported [linked below]. But Abbott's debunked claims were echoed by other conservatives this week who have repeatedly blamed clean energy sources for the outages crippling the southern U.S." (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News show to suggest that the crisis offered the country an important lesson: Democratic leadership is bad.... A decade ago, the state was warned that it should weatherize its systems. It generally didn't, though there are exceptions.... Abbott and [Rep. Dan] Crenshaw [R-Texas] were just part of the flurry of conservatives using the moment to bash renewable power, a bit of rhetorical judo leveraging the right's ongoing skepticism of wind and solar power and climate change.... Fox News ran multiple segments attacking renewable energy; the Wall Street Journal's editorial page made the same argument even as its reporting offered a more accurate presentation of the problem. Abbott's interview was jarring: The governor of a state sitting in a presumably warm, well-lit room, telling the country that millions of his states residents were sitting in cold, dark houses because of those devious Democrats -- and that they are coming for you next.... Because it's easier and less painful to blame Democrats in theory than to fix massive problems in reality."

~~~ Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Rick Perry, a former Texas governor who served as an energy secretary under ... Donald Trump, argued this week that Texans should be happy to go days without electricity if it meant thwarting the federal government.... Like many other Republicans, Perry also falsely claimed that renewable energy was the real reason for the blackouts." MB: Just one more reason Trump was the worst president* ever: a federal Energy secretary who believes the feds should not regulate energy.

~~~ Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: "Residents [of Colorado City, Texas,] turned to a community Facebook group to ask whether the small town planned to open warming shelters, while others wondered if firefighters could do their job without water. But when Colorado City's mayor chimed in, it was to deliver a less-than-comforting message: The local government had no responsibility to help out its citizens, and only the tough would survive. 'No one owes you [or] your family anything,' Tim Boyd wrote on Tuesday in a now-deleted Facebook post, according to KTXS and KTAB/KRBC. 'I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout!'... 'Only the strong will survive and the weak will [perish],' he wrote.... Boyd's tirade, which also demanded that 'lazy' residents find their own ways of procuring water and electricity, immediately drew backlash. Later on Tuesday, Boyd announced his resignation and admitted that he could have 'used better wording.'" MB: Chances Boyd is NOT a Trumpublican: zero. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: For Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents all of Texas and wants to represent all of us in the 50 states & sundry territories, Texas was just too damned cold. So, while Texans continued to freeze & go without water, Ted flew to Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday night.