October 12, 2021
Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "Jonathan and Diana Toebbe seemed like an ordinary suburban couple, but the F.B.I. said they were would-be spies -- and sloppy ones.... For now, the big questions surrounding the couple -- what country they are accused of trying to sell the nuclear secrets to, and what motivated them to take the risk -- remain unanswered." MB: I'm guessing Australia because (1) the country is an ally that cooperated with the FBI, (2) Australia needed some U.S. nuclear submarines to protect itself Chinese threats, and (3) Diana said she wanted to move to Australia. ~~~
~~~ When can you get $10,000 for half a peanut butter sandwich? When it
(a) has an image of the Virgin Mary embedded in the Wonder Bread;
(b) is signed by Donald Trump;
(c) has an SD card containing nuclear sub secrets embedded in the peanut butter.
Kevin Freking of the AP: "Members of the House are scrambling back to Washington on Tuesday to approve a short-term lift of the nation's debt limit and ensure the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December. The $480 billion increase in the country's borrowing ceiling cleared the Senate last week on a party-line vote. The House is expected to approve it swiftly so President Joe Biden can sign it into law this week."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: On his Sunday show, Fox "News" host Chris Wallace asked again and again "for a straight answer [from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on whether or not Joe Biden was legitimately elected president,] and, over and over, Scalise offered the same evasive one.... [Scalise is] intentionally trying not to say that Biden won fairly because that position is anathema to the loudest part of his party's base. And to avoid saying that, he's seizing not upon unproven claims of fraud but a similarly inflated assertion that states made it too easy to vote. He doesn't allege that this led to more fraud or anything along those lines, though others have; he]s simply claiming that because states made it easier to vote, that was the equivalent of an illegitimate Biden win or an election being stolen.... [That is,] elections in which Democrats vote more heavily should necessarily be treated as suspect. It's toxic and dangerous ... to suggest that the election was tainted by legally cast votes for the candidate you hoped would lose."
Marie: I'm not sure anyone is surprised by the likes of Steve Scalise & Chuck Snake-in-the-Grassley. Steve brought his KKK outfit to Washington, D.C. & still keeps it in his closet, even though two people of color saved his life a few years back. He and Chuck -- who, like Trump, thinks it's super-polite to compliment people who aren't white Christians by throwing stereotypes at them (Chuck: hard-working Koreans; Donald: good businessman Jews) -- both have been ardent supporters of Trump all along. The lot of them are contemptible foes of democratic principles. And they always have been.
Republicans Miles Taylor & Christie Todd Whitman, in a New York Times op-ed, urge Republicans to vote for "centrist" Democrats: "... for now, the best hope for the rational remnants of the G.O.P. is for us to form an alliance with Democrats to defend American institutions, defeat far-right candidates, and elect honorable representatives next year -- including a strong contingent of moderate Democrats.... Concerned conservatives must join forces with Democrats on the most essential near-term imperative: blocking Republican leaders from regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.... As long as [GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy] embraces Mr. Trump's lies, he cannot be trusted to lead the chamber, especially in the run-up to the next presidential election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Conservative Max Boot of the Washington Post: "I'm a single-issue voter. My issue is the fate of democracy in the United States. Simply put, I have no faith that we will remain a democracy if Republicans win power. Thus, although I'm not a Democrat, I will continue to vote exclusively for Democrats -- as I have done in every election since 2016 -- until the GOP ceases to pose an existential threat to our freedom." ~~~
~~~ ** Conservative Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "It is increasingly evident that the nightmare prospect of American politics -- unified Republican control of the federal government in the hands of a reelected, empowered Donald Trump in 2025 -- is also the likely outcome.... Every new tranche of information released about Trump's behavior following the 2020 election -- most recently an interim report from the Senate Judiciary Committee -- reveals a serious and concerted attempt to overthrow America's legitimate incoming government.... It is clear that this same lawless, reckless man has a perfectly realistic path back to power. The GOP is a garbage scow of the corrupt, the seditious and their enablers, yet the short- and medium-term political currents are in its favor.... Democrats need to significantly outperform Republicans in national matchups to obtain even mediocre results in presidential and Senate races." But they don't seem to be paying attention.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The conservative Claremont Institute, which employs the lawyer who provided a road map for ... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, decided to issue a statement Monday defending Eastman.... The defense is among the most carefully worded straw-man arguments in modern political history. Essentially, the statement isn't disputing that Eastman provided a ready-made procedure for Trump and Pence to get the election overturned --; he clearly and unambiguously did so -- it's that he didn't explicitly say Pence should overturn it himself. This, though, is a distinction without much of a difference."
Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "The vice president the of Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys had his home in Newark, Delaware, raided by then FBI this Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Aaron Whallon Wolkind, 37, had his computer, phone, and other electronics seized by federal agents who were looking for evidence related to the alleged planning of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Although Wolkind was handcuffed during the raid, he was not arrested or charged."
Luz Lazo & Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "Southwest Airlines faced a fourth day of disruptions Monday -- after canceling hundreds of flights over the weekend -- a sign of airlines' struggles to capitalize on a growing appetite for travel amid a pandemic that has scrambled the industry and left some carriers stretched thin.... The airline on Monday canceled 363 flights -- about 10 percent of scheduled departures -- while more than 1,300 were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.... Southwest reiterated Monday that inclement weather and air traffic control disruptions in Florida on Friday triggered the problems. Federal regulators said that air traffic control staffing shortages caused delays out of Florida but that airlines generally are experiencing operational issues because of their own staffing and aircraft issues.... Southwest on Monday countered reports about employee protests [against the company's vaccine mandate], saying that 'the weekend challenges were not a result of Employee demonstrations, as some have reported.' The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association also rejected speculation of pilot protests as 'false claims.'"
Marie's Sports Report. Ken Belton & Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: "When the vaunted N.F.L. coach Jon Gruden was confronted with a racist email he had sent in 2011 to insult the head of the players' union, he said he went too far but didn't have 'a blade of racism' in him. But league officials as part of a separate workplace misconduct investigation that did not directly involve him have found that Gruden, now the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, casually and frequently unleashed misogynistic and homophobic language over several years to denigrate people around the game and to mock some of the league's momentous changes. He denounced the emergence of women as referees, the drafting of a gay player and the tolerance of players protesting during the playing of the national anthem, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times." ~~~
~~~ ** Update/New Lede: "Jon Gruden stepped down Monday as the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders football team hours after The New York Times detailed emails in which he had made homophobic and misogynistic remarks, following an earlier report of racist statements about a union leader. His resignation was a striking departure from the football league for a coach who had won a Super Bowl, been a marquee analyst on ESPN and returned to the N.F.L. in 2018 to lead the resurgent Raiders, which he had coached years before.... Mark Davis, the owner of the Raiders, said in a statement that he had accepted the resignation. Rich Bisaccia, the Raiders' special teams coordinator, was elevated to interim head coach, the team said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: AND there you have the difference between a flawed man and an utter jackass. Gruden quickly resigned in shame from what I assume was a high-paying & prestigious job. And then there's Donald Trump & 98% of Republican "leaders."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.
Texas. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued an executive order banning all state entities, including private employers, from enforcing vaccine mandates, the latest escalation in the Republican's resistance to public health measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.... Abbott also called on the Texas state Legislature to pass a law with the same effect.... The executive order is just the latest action from Abbott meant to hamper the adoption of public health measures that experts say are necessary to curb the pandemic. The Texas governor, who contracted Covid-19 in August, has previously banned government vaccine mandates, vaccine passport requirements and school districts from requiring masks."
U.K. Helen Collis of Politico: "Delaying a lockdown in the U.K. and failing to prioritize social care caused thousands of avoidable deaths, according to a parliamentary report on lessons learned to date from the coronavirus pandemic. The joint investigation published Tuesday by the House of Commons' science and health committees is lawmakers' first stab at digging into why the U.K., which was initially praised for its pandemic preparedness planning, saw cases skyrocket and deaths far outnumber many comparable countries. To date, deaths associated with the coronavirus in the U.K. stand at more than 150,000, placing the country in the Top 10 worldwide for total fatalities, according to World Health Organization data." MB: I wonder why our Congress doesn't do a study like this for the U.S.
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "The elections office in Georgia's heavily Democratic Fulton County said on Monday that two workers had been fired for shredding voter registration forms, most likely adding fuel to a Republican-led investigation of the office that critics call politically motivated. The workers, at the Fulton County Board of Elections, were dismissed on Friday after other employees saw them destroying registration forms awaiting processing before local elections in November, the county elections director, Richard Barron, said. Both the county district attorney and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state's chief elections official, were asked to conduct inquiries into the matter, the chairman of the Fulton County Commission, Robb Pitts, said in a statement. But it was Mr. Raffensperger who first revealed the allegations of shredded registration forms, issuing a blistering news release demanding that the Justice Department investigate 'incompetence and malfeasance' in the agency."
Michigan. Eric Lutz & Erin McCormick of the Guardian: "Residents of a majority-Black city in Michigan have been advised by the state not to use tap water for drinking, bathing, or cooking 'out of an abundance of caution' owing to lead contamination. For at least three years, residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, have been suffering from lead-contaminated water with what experts describe as insufficient intervention from state and local officials. This month, the state promised to expand free water distribution in the city and reaffirmed its commitment to comply with federal lead regulations. Activists, who say Benton Harbor's poor water quality is a sign of environmental injustice and have been calling on the state to take action for years, say these are steps in the right direction, but more remains to be done."
Way Beyond
Australia. Punctuation Matters! Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "A missing apostrophe in a Facebook post could cost a real estate agent in Australia tens of thousands of dollars after a court ruled a defamation case against him could proceed. In the post last year, Anthony Zadravic, the agent, appears to accuse Stuart Gan, his former employer at a real estate agency, of not paying retirement funds to all the agency's workers.... The post ... read, 'Oh Stuart Gan!! Selling multi million $ homes in Pearl Beach but can't pay his employees superannuation,' referring to Australia's retirement system.... Less than 12 hours after the post was published on Oct. 22, Mr. Zadravic ... deleted it. But it was too late. Mr. Gan ... filed a defamation claim against Mr. Zadravic. On Thursday, a judge in New South Wales ruled that the lack of an apostrophe on the word 'employees' could be read to suggest a 'systematic pattern of conduct' by Mr. Gan's agency rather than an accusation involving one employee. So she allowed the case to proceed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: More consequential punctuation: That extra comma in the poorly-worded Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed the Supremes to decide that the Amendment applied to gun rights for individual citizens, not just "a well regulated militia."
U.K. AP: "British police have announced they will not take any action against Prince Andrew after a review prompted by a Jeffrey Epstein accuser who claims that he sexually assaulted her." A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (9)
Watch for a Trump-Gruden ticket in 24.
“Hey Mom, today can I have a sandwich with Skippy and nuclear sub plans?”
“No, Junior, you had that yesterday. How about a baloney sandwich and the Facebook algorithm that enables traitors and bigots to wreck the country?”
“Gee, Mom, the kids would love that!”
Jack,
Good idea but Gruden apologized. Admission of wrongdoing is a non-starter for the Fat Fascist. Lie, cheat, steal, indulge in sexual assault, rape, and all manner of racist and misogynistic attacks, threaten your political opponents with assassination, send thugs to murder your VP, and commit nine forms of treason before breakfast, but NEVER say you’re sorry. Not even phony baloney sorry like Gruden.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/11/why-west-has-itself-blame-russian-corruption/
No kidding! The Age of American innocence is long over. (I'd place its end at the point the nation thought the best response to the Vietnam quagmire and its turmoil was electing an actor as president...)
If not entirely to blame, we are at least willing partners; or as have said repeatedly, capitalism without regulation makes greed paramount, and unregulated, ravening greed consumes everything.
Time for me to order Sarah Chayes' new book on corruption in America.
Few paid attention to her expose of Afghani corruption. After all, that was "those people."
Reminds me of Marie's frequent response to the meme uttered at our obvious moral shortcomings, the equivalent of "thoughts and prayers:" "We're better than that."
No, we're not.
"MB: I wonder why our Congress doesn't do a study like this for the U.S." Because as every R knows, 'if you measure it, you can manage it'. The Scalise Republicans are so scared of change that they're terrified when their shadow moves during the day. Now, we know how Galileo felt: imagine a mob with Turtle, Orange, and Mother Pence coming for you. Actually, they are coming for us to steal our democracy that many of us richly don't deserve.
Gruden has had this karmic moment coming since he neglected to mention that the team in Tampa that won the Bowl was built by Tony Dungy. A black man. Now, the teaching moment in the Gruden story is that admission of transgressions will redeem his reputation. I.e. his income just went from north of $10 million/yr. to zero. Just like businesses in Georgia admitted voter suppression was bad for business (until it left the front pages), the Fascists will respond when it costs them money and power and prestige. Cancelled!
MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON:
This is the title of Adam Schiff's new book. Rachel, as she often does, reads to us transcripts of all kinds and last night she read long passages from this book and later had Schiff on himself. He travels back to the beginning when Trump first threw his hat into the ring–-the Russian connection, the lies, the hold this man had on his party along with millions of Americans shuffling on to the bandwagon. My takeaway if I can whittle it down is Schiff is making it very clear that the damage to American Democracy is homegrown and self-actualized.
As good as it is to know that quite a few notable Republicans are urging others in their party to vote for conservative Democrats, it isn't enough. We need a cleansing ––-the Jan.6 committee is crucial in this reckoning. And after the revelations, what then? I have often thought of this country operating in its teenage years and felt confident we would continue in its maturation but I fear we are going backwards in a most terrible-two kind of way.
And yet––we see great gains in racial recognition, sexual preferences, climate urgency, and so forth but these gains are being stymied by those who refuse to move forward because within these gains they lose power–--even the anti-vaxers fight for their rights to remain in control even if it kills them.
No Superman goona save us from ourselves but maybe the new guy in the sky who has emerged as bisexual can give us a leg up if he doesn't get shot down by Grudens.
AK, I respectfully disagree. What Gruden had to say about women and gays and especially football players who protest during the National Anthem is so deplorably on point that I predict that within days he will walk back his apology as fervor grows on the right to make him the poster boy for Cancel Culture. After all, if your beloved culture is steeped in misogyny, racism, and homophobia, you might identify Gruden as a potential white knight who can return us all to happier days when a white guy had carte blanche to belittle everyone in other demographics.
However, between the first and second Gruden revelations, we almost began a fruitful discussion about inherent racism, the difference between "I'm not a racist" (Gruden) and "I've fought my whole life to overcome the racism that I carry from my childhood" (me). Denial is always anathema to recovery.
Jack,
Good point. Some idiot ESPN guy was trying to claim that those emails were years ago and that Gruden probably had left all that racism in the past. Right. Sure.
Here’s the thing, and it’s not to say that we can’t learn even as we get older (I’m still hoping to play the saxophone some day), but your moral core is set pretty early on. If you’re a racist sonovabitch in your forties, you ain’t likely to change much over the next ten or twenty years.
And you’re right, Gruden may walk back his apology, but only because if he ever wants to coach black players again, he won’t be able to do it wearing a pointy white hat.
Remember how confidently most pundits vowed that they were positive that The Worst Person In The World would not run for 2024, since he WAS impeached twice and lost the election and he HATES to lose? Remember that? Yeah, I do, and now, they are all showing very concerned faces, and writing sincere columns about the death of democracy and in particular, Democratic ideas and leadership. I think I am done with revering anyone in the press at all, not counting reputable blogs I read daily. And I am tired of the fact that they are covering Fatso as if he IS a candidate, which he is. His rise, his followers, and now, his press... Goes to show you: evil and ignorance are stronger than knowledge and basic goodness. "Centrist Democrats" should be hanged at sunrise too. I am so tired of this s***.