December 17, 2021
By Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News.~~~ Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats on Thursday began to accept the prospect that they may not be able to adopt a roughly $2 trillion package to overhaul the country's health care, education, climate, immigration and tax laws before the end of this year, threatening a major political setback for the final piece of President Biden's economic agenda.... In a statement, [Biden] said discussions remain ongoing with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), a key swing vote in the chamber who has expressed sustained concern about the size and scope of the economic package. But he appeared to leave open the door that the debate could easily drag into 2022. 'We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead,' Biden said, noting that he and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) are 'determined to see the bill successfully on the floor as early as possible.'" ~~~
~~~ Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Senate Democrats ended a frustrating day in a frustrating week with President Joe Biden acknowledging that his sweeping social spending bill will wait until next year -- a setback that comes as the party also spins its wheels on election reform.... Democrats faced no shortage of other issues.... The Senate parliamentarian is still reviewing key elements of the House-passed version of the legislation to ensure that it complies with Senate rules. [She nixed] immigration ... on Thursday night.... 'We missed an opportunity. But I'm not giving up,' [said] Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). 'Apparently Manchin's approach to this has changed a lot. I don't know where he is today or where he'll be tomorrow.'"
Paul Krugman of the New York Times on inflation: "... I believe that what we're seeing mainly reflects the inherent dislocations from the pandemic, rather than, say, excessive government spending. I also believe that inflation will subside over the course of the next year and that we shouldn't take any drastic action. But reasonable economists disagree, and they could be right.... [Today's] inflation hasn't followed a simple script. What we're seeing instead is a strange episode that exhibits some parallels to past events but also includes new elements." MB: A longer-than-usual column, with no clear answer. ~~~
~~~ Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "The latest sticking point over President Biden's ambitious Build Back Better agenda? You guessed it: inflation. Asked this week about his reservations toward the legislation, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told reporters that inflation is 'alarming. It's going up, not down. And I think that should be something we're concerned about.' Concerns about inflation are justified.... But inflation concerns are not a good reason to block this particular bill. They're also not a compelling reason to support this legislation, despite what the White House and its allies often argue. Realistically, the bill is likely to have little effect on price growth either way."
Zachary Basu of Axios: "The Senate voted 75-18 on Thursday to confirm Nicholas Burns, a widely respected former career diplomat, as U.S. ambassador to China.... Burns -- the first Senate-confirmed ambassador in Beijing in more than 14 months -- will inherit the most complex and high-stakes bilateral relationship in the world.... Burns' nomination in August drew bipartisan praise and support, but his confirmation was held up last month by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Rubio agreed to release the hold when the Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to ban imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang over forced labor concerns. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argued that the U.S. needs Burns at his post in order to effectively implement the bill, which is designed to punish the Chinese government for its genocide of Uyghur Muslims."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who is up for reelection in 2022, announced on Thursday that she supports getting rid of the 60-vote legislative filibuster for voting rights legislation. Hassan is the latest in a growing number of Senate Democrats who back changes to the Senate rules as voting rights legislation has been stuck in limbo for months -- though Democrats don't yet have the 50 votes needed in order to reform the filibuster." MB: Today was the first time in a while I've sent an email to a senator using my real address, this time giving her an attagirl.
Stephen Collinson of CNN: "If politics still turned on truth and facts, this would be the week when the lie-filled foundations of Donald Trump's movement imploded.... But it is the ex-President's greatest, most subversive victory that his empire of falsehoods will surely survive new disclosures that lay bare his own abuses of power and the voter-mocking deceit of his political and media enablers.... The House select committee probing the January 6 insurrection has released fresh details of the elaborate behind-the-scenes plot to subvert the certification of President Joe Biden's election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The House committee's revelations are effectively a condemnation of most of the Republican party -- all the way to the top. While House Minority "Leader" Kevin McCarthy may not have known just how deeply enmeshed Jim Jordan was in the plot to overturn the election, which the committee is now exposing, he knew some of it when he decided it would be a good idea to appoint Jordan to the very committee that is investigating Jordan. "Of the [five] Republicans McCarthy has put forth for the committee, [Jim] Banks [Indiana], Jordan and [Troy] Nehls [Texas] were among the 139 House Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential results in Arizona and Pennsylvania." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jan Wolfe & Patricia Zengerle of Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone will invoke the constitutional protection against self-incrimination during an interview on Friday with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Stone's lawyer said on Thursday. Stone's attorney, Grant Smith, said in an e-mail that his client will appear for a closed-door deposition before the House of Representatives committee on Friday but will not answer any questions, invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
Jacqueline Alemany & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob announced Thursday it had issued a subpoena to retired Army Col. Phil Waldron as it investigates the causes of the insurrection. Waldron worked with [Donald] Trump's outside legal team and circulated and briefed members of Congress on a PowerPoint presentation that outlined various proposals to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A version of the presentation that Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows handed over to the committee surfaced last week after the panel made some of its findings public." Politico's report is here.
Remember Gohmert! Kyle Cheney of Politico: "As Donald Trump and his allies squeezed then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly stop Joe Biden's presidency in the weeks ahead of Jan. 6, they used one particular tool that's been largely ignored ever since. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) sued Pence on Dec. 27, just as Trump was ratcheting up his pressure campaign against his vice president. Backed by a squad of lawyers associated with Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, Gohmert argued Pence should assert unilateral control over certification, governed only by the vague wording of the Twelfth Amendment. Gohmert's move forced Pence to publicly resist Trump's subversion of the election, only a week before the fateful Jan. 6 joint session of Congress. When the Justice Department stepped in to defend Pence from the lawsuit on Dec. 29, it marked the first time Pence signaled he wouldn't fold to Trump's demands.... What remains unknown is just how involved Trump was in Gohmert's legal strategy.... '[Gohmert's ill-fated suit -- he lost in multiple courts -- is] a significant detail in that it was part of a plan to isolate and coerce Pence,' said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)."
Another GOP 2020 Presidential Election Scam. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "'New documents show Kanye West's doomed White House campaign -- styled as an "independent" third-party effort -- appears to have disguised potentially millions of dollars in services it received from a secretive network of Republican Party operatives, including advisers to the GOP elite and a managing partner at one of the top conservative political firms in the country,' The Daily Beast reported Friday.... 'The Kanye 2020 campaign committee did not even report paying some of these advisers, and used an odd abbreviation for another -- moves which campaign finance experts say appear designed to mask the association between known GOP operatives and the campaign, and could constitute a violation of federal laws,' The Beast reported."
Ho Ho Ho. The lovely Mrs. Trump a/k/a Melanie has announced a new grift just in time for Christmas. It's an NFT (David Smith of the Guardian explains) featuring a portrait of Melanie that highlights her "cobalt blue eyes, providing the collector with an amulet to inspire." Not to worry; "a portion" of the proceeds will go to orphans! Please, Ma'am, may we have more? And you wonder why the old families of New York never invited the Trumps to their parties. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Robert Barnes & Anne Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court returned the lawsuit over Texas's restrictive abortion law to [the (conservative) Fifth Circuit] federal appeals court Thursday, rejecting a request by abortion providers to send the case to a district judge who had previously declared the law unconstitutional. The order came from Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who last week wrote the majority opinion that left in place the law, which bans most abortions after six weeks. The decision granted a narrow path for providers to challenge the law's unique enforcement structure. The Thursday order granted part of the request from abortion providers -- returning the case immediately rather than after the court's standard 25-day delay." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Maybe this is all an anti-science thing. Back in the dark ages when I was a schoolgirl, it was common to ask if one "believed in" evolution. A respect for this scientific hypothesis, including the survival-of-the-fittest theory, was posed largely as a faith-type question. And if you did "believe in" evolution, then you didn't believe in the Bible & God & Jesus & all that. So here are the confederate justices, proving their holy creds by demonstrating they don't "believe in" survival of the fittest by ensuring that women who are most unfit -- because they are most unwilling -- to rear a child are the very ones who must do so. Keeping 'em barefoot & pregnant is a religious belief as much as a social credo. Kinda warms a person to the Christmas story, doesn't it? ~~~
~~~ Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "The federal government on Thursday permanently lifted a major restriction on access to abortion pills. It will allow patients to receive the medication by mail instead of requiring them to obtain the pills in person.... The decision, by the Food and Drug Administration, comes as the Supreme Court is considering whether to roll back abortion rights or even overturn its landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal nationwide. The F.D.A.'s action means that medication abortion ... will become more available to women who find it difficult to travel to an abortion provider or prefer to terminate a pregnancy in their homes. It allows patients to have a telemedicine appointment with a provider who can prescribe abortion pills and send them to the patient by mail.... The current practice is that women who live in states that don't allow telemedicine for abortion must travel to a state that does -- although they don't have to visit a clinic. But legal experts said they expected supporters of abortion rights to try to find ways to make the pills available without requiring a patient to travel...." An NPR report is here.
Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "With the accuracy of a drone strike, the three justices appointed by ... Donald Trump and strong-armed through to confirmation by Senator Mitch McConnell ... are doing exactly what they were sent to the court to do. The resulting path of destruction of settled precedent and long-established norms is breathtaking.... The imminent evisceration of the constitutional right to abortion ... is only the beginning.... [The cases the conservative justices have chosen to hear from among the thousands they receive for review tell the real story.] Each involves a touchstone issue for conservatives: easing restrictions on firearms, overturning Roe v. Wade and elevating the place of religion in a secular society, in part by granting entitlement to public benefits as a matter of equal treatment."
Adam Goldman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "... the Justice Department is deep into an investigation of how the diary [of Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter,] found its way into the hands of supporters of [Donald] Trump at the height of the campaign. Federal prosecutors and F.B.I. agents are investigating whether there was a criminal conspiracy among a handful of individuals to steal and publish the diary. Those being scrutinized include current and former operatives for the conservative group Project Veritas; a donor Mr. Trump appointed to a political position in the final days of his administration; a man who once pleaded guilty in a money laundering scheme; and a financially struggling mother of two.... The investigation has focused new attention on how Mr. Trump or his allies sought to use the troubles of Mr. Biden's two surviving children to undercut him."
Judge Rejects Multi-Billion-Dollar Sackler Opioid Deal. Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday evening unraveled a painstakingly negotiated settlement between Purdue Pharma and thousands of state, local and tribal governments that had sued the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin for the company's role in the opioid epidemic, saying that the plan was flawed in one critical area. The judge, Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said that the settlement, part of a restructuring plan for Purdue approved in September by a bankruptcy judge, should not go forward because it releases the company's owners, members of the billionaire Sackler family, from liability in civil opioid-related cases. Although the Sacklers did not file for personal bankruptcy protection, they had made immunization from opioid claims an absolute requirement in exchange for contributing payments amounting to $4.5 billion to the agreement.... Within hours of the ruling, Purdue said it would appeal." The AP's story is here.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.
Lena Sun & Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "The nation's top public health official recommended Thursday that people seeking the safest and most effective coronavirus vaccines and boosters go with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots, instead of those made by Johnson & Johnson. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, endorsed the policy several hours after the unanimous vote from the agency's vaccine advisory panel, which cited concerns over the increased risk of a potentially fatal blood clot issue associated with the Johnson & Johnson shots." The article is free to nonsubscribers.
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The vast majority of active-duty troops in the Army and the Navy are vaccinated against the coronavirus, and the small number of those still refusing shots will soon be dismissed from the military, officials said on Thursday.... Thousands of troops requested religious exemptions, but none have been granted, officials said." A CNN report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Kentucky. Deon Hampton & Some employees who survived a tornado that leveled their candle factory are considering taking legal action against the company, according to an attorney who is representing some of the workers. The move by several injured Mayfield Consumer Products employees comes after five workers told NBC News that as the twister was bearing down on the city Friday their supervisors warned they could be fired if they tried to flee. At least eight workers died, Kentucky officials have said." See also Akhilleus' comment below. We should hope that if this case goes to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch does not write the majority opinion. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Louisiana. Ryan Young, et al., of CNN: "A judge in Lafayette, Louisiana, is taking a leave of absence and facing calls for her resignation after a video with racist language recorded at her home surfaced.... The video, appearing to show surveillance footage of an outdoor altercation with a burglary suspect being played on a television while people, who are not visible, view and comment on the footage using racist language, was shared with local media in Lafayette and is now being shared widely across social media.... In the video circulating online, a male voice can be heard saying, 'And Mom's yelling n***er, n***er." Then after what appears to be some jovial banter, a female voice is heard saying, 'We have a n ***er, It's a n***er, like a roach,' while laughing." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ MB: Presumably "Mom" and the "female" are Judge Michelle M. Odinet, who's facing calls for her resignation. Odinet is blaming her racist rant on a sedative she took. There is no sedative or other condition that would cause me to use the language she used because I just don't think that way. Would I use profanity to describe a person who was robbing me? Well, yes I would.
Virginia. Protecting Women? Sorry, We'll Be on Vacay. Reid Epstein & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Democrats have less than a month left controlling Virginia before Republicans take over the House of Delegates and the governor's mansion. With the clock ticking, many in the party want to seize what they see as a fleeting opportunity: protecting abortion rights by codifying them into state law. But Democratic leaders in the State Senate have dismissed the idea ... [because] several of the chamber's members don't want to change their vacation plans. One senator is traveling in Africa. Others are in Europe. And the majority leader is headed to Hawaii.... Democrats in the Virginia Senate argue that it would be impossible to call the chamber back to Richmond in the next month, and that even if they did, there was no guarantee that the party would have enough votes."
Way Beyond
Haiti. Evens Sanon & Peter Smith of the AP: "The remaining members of a U.S. missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago in Haiti have been freed, Haitian police and the group said Thursday. The spokesman for Haiti's National Police, Gary Desrosiers, confirmed to The Associated Press that the hostages had been released, but did not immediately provide additional details." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
Washington Post: "At least five people are dead after a powerful storm system of more than 20 tornadoes swept through the central United States on Wednesday with high winds that spread wildfires and knocked down power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity. Most of the fatalities occurred in vehicle crashes.... The National Weather Service confirmed that at least 21 tornadoes touched down in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. At least 13 of those touched down in Iowa, officials said Thursday."
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Reader Comments (18)
Liked this one:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/16/purdue-pharma-sackler-ruling/
Jennifer Rubin prompted this last night in her latest column on just how nutty Republicans have become. She was writing specifically about how many have swallowed the stolen election lies and how open they are to violence, but as I implied, it could have been a much longer piece.
Not everyone lives in a post-truth world, but it's clear most Republicans do. If they don't like something, they just create a more comfortable alternative and adopt it.
Inauguration crowd size.
No collusion with Russia. Witch hunt!
Cutting taxes on the rich creates jobs.
Perfect phone call to Ukraine's new leader. Absolutely perfect.
Covid is no worse than the flu.
Vaccines are dangerous, but bleach or Ivermectin will do the trick.
Global warming doesn't exist.
Antifa staged the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Trump won.
We're a Christian nation..just ask God.
And then they insist that everyone happily join them in the fantasy world they have created, or......else!
(Not offered as a complete list...)
**************
Had to look up NFT (for second time--ah, lamented memory) which made me wonder, another not for the first time, why anyone would think any kind of cryptocurrency could possibly have any value.
Since the value of this NFT stuff is always expressed in dollars, one might conclude that if it has any value at all, that value resides in the dollar--as questionable a value as that might be--and not in the NFT.
Kind of like a pet rock.
@Ken Winkes: Still, Ken, there's no accounting for "cobalt blue eyes."
Marie,
I'd bet on plastic.
Melanie 'the wife of the former president': I've seen mangy cats more deserving of attention and respect.
Ken: NFT is too close to NFL for me to devote attention. Good luck, though.
Finally, the rascist/reactionist judge: I stopped going to occasional morning coffee with the town fathers after one "leader" had to say "N" word three times before 8:30 am. You get to to retire next to a national park or Molokai all year long, and graciouslessness is the denouement of your life? My friend Suzy (and I would concur) would call these sorts of people Pig Fuckers.
NFT, eh? Hmmm. Something non-fungible is a sort of one of a kind thing, but does this accurately describe Melanie?
Nah. Like all the other Trumps, she’s a dime a dozen three card monte con artist, a cheap, chintzy knock off. But I certainly was impressed to learn that Melanie is a lover of “the arts”. Do any of the Trumps actually know what this means? By “art” I’m guessing she’s referring to salacious pictures of her in a tiny thong and leather boots, straddling the wing of a private jet, looking dangerously dangerous and pointing a weapon at someone or something off camera. Semi-naked bimbo with a gun. No wonder they love her.
Very artistic, Mel! (Remember when confederates were horrified by Michelle Obama’s bare arms?)
On the etymological side, the word fungible derives from the Latin word fungi, referring to a kind of performance, which, I grant you, could be appropriate, especially when you think of carny barkers and pickpockets as purveyors of a certain brand of street performance. But I prefer to go with fungi, the plural of fungus. Mold, mildew, and various types of parasitic fungi aptly describe the entire Trump brood, always coming up with new forms of fungi (and don’t forget that the Chief Fungus has a—very small—body part described by someone who would know, as a mushroom).
In which case, I’m gonna suggest that NFT could also stand for Neo-Fungal Trumpiness.
In Melanie’s case, make that cobalt blue fungus.
By the way, the first appearance of fungible came in 1649. Other words that showed up that year? Misrepresent and swampy. How prescient of those 17th century types.
Oh, one other word that debuted that year that definitely deserves a revival for all the Trumps: handcuff. Any color will do.
Does that "Ho ho ho" headline wrt Melanie refer to "Once, Twice, Three Times a Ho"? Or is it quote from Santa? Or an instruction to a mule to stop pulling?
I'm betting Door #1.
Have been obsessively following Scott Macfarlane’s most excellent Twitter feed re the Jan 6 cases. Several of the low-level misdemeanor defendants have pleaded guilty and have gotten probation, much to the “outrage” of some of the Twittdiots on the feed.
My theory is that the judges in those cases don’t want to make political martyrs of these low-level yahoos but instead are giving them just enough rope to hang themselves on - it’s quite likely that at least some of them will be in violation of their probation terms sooner rather than later, and then can be thrown in jail for that. Pretty smart, I think.
Melanie married the don because he was a real fun guy. Her english
wasn't too good at the time and she didn't know he was actually a
fungi.
Thanks Akhilleus. It's the inspiration for another chapter in my book:
Fun in the Garden.
As I recall, didn't Stormy lichen that oddly shaped member to a "toadstool"?
I betcha it's more akin to stinkhorn.
"Fun in the Garden," huh? Sounds like Volume 1 of a series:
"Fundamentals of Gardening"
"Funerals in the Garden"
"Fungus in the the Garden"
"Funiculars in the Garden" (or "How to Garden on a Hillside")
"Funky Chickens in the Garden"
Bonus pamphlet: "Funnels in the Garden" (or "How to Get Plant Fertilizer into a Bottleneck Sprayer")
"Funny Stuff in the Garden"
Good news, if all those severed yahoos don't decide to use their military training to storm the capitol.
I do mean that. We live in truly crazy times, because there are so many crazies out there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/us/politics/military-vaccine-mandate.html?
Yesterday there were stories about Manchin calling bullshit on reports that he wanted to take money from children, pulling the child tax credits from BBB. Looks like we found one of Manchin's tells. The last time Joe made news for screaming bullshit at reporters was when they said sources had told them Manchin was talking about leaving the Democratic Party. After saying it was all BS, Manchin had to come back and clarify that the stories actually true, but he had only told Schumer he might quit the party as a favor to the Democrats. His latest denial sounds eerily familiar.
Okay, two knee slappers today.
First, Forrest’s “fungi-fun guy” revelation. Very fungee.
Second, Marie’s reference to Funky chicken in the garden. The image of Fat Donald doing the Funky Chicken in Melanie’s sad, sad, sad, eviscerated Rose Garden is beyond surreal.
Also, honorable mention for toadstool/stinkhorn.
Who knew this band of crooks and con artists could be so funny?
@Akhilleus: And I'd give unwashed extra points for using the homonym "lichen" (in reference to fungus in the garden, no less) in place of "liken."
I see I have not been paying enough attention to the trial of Kim Potter, who shot dead Daunte Wright. Until today I didn't know he was pulled over for having an AIR FRESHENER in his car. What? What? I have an air freshener in my car. Admittedly, it is not hanging from the rearview mirror, which I guess was the infraction, but still. I'm an old white lady. It's very unlikely a cop will shoot me dead over an air freshener. This is horrifying.
My brief comment on Krugman, from yesterday:
"Good analysis, as is usual from Dr. Krugman.
One other factor he didn't mention, however, certainly plays into what's happening.
Over the last decade, in our illiberal democracy wealth has become even more concentrated, one clear sign of which is the continued growth of monopolies.
Gas prices are controlled by only a few corporations that have little incentive to compete. Food production (particularly meat, whose prices continue to leap upward) and distribution is also concentrated in a few corporate hands. Too no surprise, the stock market reflects the predictable result: corporate profits have increased far faster than inflation.
We're seeing all of what Dr.Krugman described, overlaid with a huge push for corporate profit taking.
Again in our kleptocracy, regardless of the economic conditions that affect the majority, the system is designed so that money and power rush to the top."