Thursday
Apr082021
The Commentariat -- April 8, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "President Joe Biden announced a series of executive actions on Thursday to reduce gun violence and urged Congress to pass broader gun-control legislation.... 'This is an epidemic, for God's sake, and it has to stop,' Biden said in a Rose Garden speech. The White House's moves include directing the Department of Justice to craft a rule addressing the spread of untraceable 'ghost guns' and publish an example of 'red flag' legislation for states to follow." ~~~
Patricia Mazzei & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A former local official in Florida who faces an array of federal charges, including a sex trafficking count, is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer said on Thursday in an indication that the defendant could cooperate as a key witness against Representative Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation. A plea by the former elected official, Joel Greenberg, could significantly strengthen the Justice Department's hand as it investigates Mr. Gaetz and others.... The prosecutor, Roger Handberg, made the disclosure about Mr. Greenberg's case at a six-minute status hearing at the federal courthouse in Orlando, as did Mr. Greenber's lawyer, Fritz Scheller. Mr. Greenberg had been scheduled to go on trial in June, but both sides set a May 15 deadline for a plea deal. If they do not reach an agreement, the case would go to trial, they agreed.... 'I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,' Mr. Scheller told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing." CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Hmm. If Greenberg wasn't prepared to flip on Gaetz, I doubt Greenberg's lawyer would have tagged Gaetz. So another bad day for Congressman Elvis. BTW, much has been made of the fact that Bill Barr approved the Gaetz investigation. But it's my opinion -- not shared by anyone whose opinion I've read -- that Barr didn't have much of a choice, once Gaetz's name came up in connection with evidence previously gathered against Greenberg. So I would not give Barr any props for applying "equal justice under the law" to a Trump supporter. Rather, he was stuck with evidence inadvertently obtained against Gaetz.
Shayna Jacobs & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, acting on a grand jury subpoena, took possession of financial records Thursday morning from the apartment of Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of a top Trump Organization officer. Jennifer Weisselberg was married to Barry Weisselberg -- the son of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg -- from 2004 to 2018. She has previously said that she had seven boxes of financial records from both her ex-husband and his father, some of which were obtained through divorce litigation. On Thursday, she loaded three boxes and a laptop computer onto a valet cart and wheeled them from her building to a black Jeep with dark-tinted windows that was waiting outside."
The New York Times' live updates of Day 9 of Derek Chauvin's murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.
Sara Murray & Jason Morris of CNN: "A top Georgia Republican said Wednesday that Rudy Giuliani's false claims of election fraud -- which were presented before state lawmakers -- created momentum for a package of voting rights restrictions that recently became state law. 'This is really the fallout from the 10 weeks of misinformation that flew in from former President Donald Trump,' Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said on CNN's 'New Day.' 'I went back over the weekend to really look at where this really started to gain momentum in the legislature, and it was when Rudy Giuliani showed up in a couple of committee rooms and spent hours spreading misinformation and sowing doubt across, you know, hours of testimony.'"
David Corn of Mother Jones: "So now we have to hear John Boehner whine about what happened to the Republican Party?... What he did not say ... is that he shares the blame for the rise of extremism in the Republican Party.... Boehner became speaker in 2011 because of the tea party.... Boehner never tried to to tamp down conservative anger and paranoia. He did not tell the birthers to knock it off. He egged on the Obama hatred, allowing the Benghazi-istas to run free and wild. He whipped up extremism on the right to achieve power and then discovered he couldn't ride that tiger. In 2015, he left the House for calmer days as a merlot-sipping (gulping?) lobbyist.... The beast Boehner fed ... became the base for Trump and Trumpism." Thanks to unwashed for the link.
Shannon Liao of the Washington Post: :In a viral video with over 300,000 views since it was posted to Twitter April 6, professional esports player Lee 'Fearless' Eui-seok spoke out against hateful, anti-Asian acts he has experienced since coming to the United States. His comments have attracted attention across the esports industry and provided another example of the harassment and violence Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have faced throughout the country, particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. Lee, a professional esports player and a member of the Overwatch League's Dallas Fuel team, was asked by a fan during a live stream what it's been like for him since moving to Texas this year. 'Being Asian here is terrifying, seriously,' he said in comments translated from Korean. 'People keep trying to pick fights with us. Every time they see me, it's like Americans will come up to us and there's even people who cough on us.... It's my first time ever experiencing racism. And it's always -- it's pretty severe. And ... lots of them just try to scare us.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's so-called news is chockful of politicians embarrassing themselves in sleazy sex stories: Matt Gaetz cavorting in the Bahamas with "female escorts" paid for by a weed enthusiast' Andrew Cuomo groping an unwilling aide in his office; an erstwhile Alabama U.S. Senate candidate lying about, then admitting, an extramarital affair. So is it relatively sweet that a husband and wife schemed to stay together by faking her death after she cheated the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Large companies like Apple and Bristol Myers Squibb have long employed complicated maneuvers to reduce or eliminate their tax bills by shifting income on paper between countries.... President Biden sees ending that practice as central to his $2 trillion infrastructure package, pushing changes to the tax code that his administration says will ensure American companies are contributing tax dollars to help invest in the country's roads, bridges, water pipes and in other parts of his economic agenda. On Wednesday, the Treasury Department released the details of Mr. Biden's tax plan, which aims to raise as much as $2.5 trillion over 15 years to help finance the infrastructure proposal. That includes bumping the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, imposing a strict new minimum tax on global profits and cracking down on companies that try to move profits offshore."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden is expected to unveil a series of executive actions addressing gun violence on Thursday, weeks after back-to-back mass shootings left 18 people dead and pushed the issue of gun legislation to the forefront for an administration tackling multiple crises. Mr. Biden is also expected to announce his intent to nominate David Chipman, a gun control advocate, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, officials said. The bureau has not had a permanent director since 2015. The moves come as Mr. Biden has been under pressure to address gun violence, but has made clear that pushing legislation through a blockade of Republican opposition is not currently feasible. Officials reiterated on Wednesday that the proposals the president planned to unveil with Merrick B. Garland, the attorney general, were only a start and that the president would continue to call on Congress to take action." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "David Chipman, President Joe Biden's planned nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has a long history at the agency and sports credentials in gun control advocacy sure to excite firearm safety groups. If confirmed, Chipman will lead the agency that enforces gun laws at a critical point in Biden's early tenure, as the President looks to take fresh action on the issue in the wake of two deadly shootings last month.... Chipman, if confirmed, would return to the agency where he worked for 25 years as a special agent.... He currently serves as a senior policy adviser at the organization led by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who became a gun control advocate after being shot in 2011."
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia ... on Wednesday reaffirmed his vow to protect the filibuster in the evenly divided Senate and suggested reluctance to his party repeatedly using a fast-track budget process to advance legislation without Republican votes. Mr. Manchin has long been one of the most stalwart defenders of the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate in the upper chamber, even as it threatens to derail key elements of President Biden's agenda. Despite previously toying with possible reforms to the procedural hurdle, he has repeatedly swatted away queries about what could drive him to vote to outright abolish the filibuster, even as Democrats have gamed out various scenarios in which he might relent. In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, Mr. Manchin vowed that there was 'no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,' and he urged party leaders to compromise on legislation instead of trying to work around Republican opposition." The Hill has a story here.
Major Garrett, et al., of CBS News: "Federal investigators are looking into a Bahamas trip Matt Gaetz allegedly took in late 2018 or early 2019 as part of an inquiry into whether the Florida representative violated sex trafficking laws, multiple sources told CBS News. Gaetz was on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon named Jason Pirozzolo, who allegedly paid for the travel expenses, accommodations, and female escorts, the sources said. Investigators are trying to determine if the escorts were illegally trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of sex with the congressman.... Investigators also want to know if Gaetz was accepting paid escorts in exchange for political access or legislative favors, the sources said. In a July 2018 podcast, Pirozzolo told Ganjapreneur.com that Gaetz was working to introduce federal legislation that would boost medical research of cannabis.... Gaetz introduced the Medical Cannabis Research Act in April 2018 and again in January 2019, though it never came to a vote." ~~~
~~~ Gail Collins of the New York Times wishes for a better sex scandal than slimy Matt Gaetz's contribution to our national oeuvre. "If Americans love a sex scandal, they prefer it to involve somebody who's reasonably important.... As it stands, Gaetz is a spectacularly unproductive Florida Republican who never managed, during his first two terms in the House, to get a single bill that he sponsored signed into law. (We are still crossing our fingers for that post-office-naming he co-sponsored.) Meanwhile, by Forbes's count, he has appeared on Fox News at least 179 times since taking office." ~~~
~~~ Marie: My problem with the Gaetz scandal is that it involves at least one actual victim: a teenaged girl. The same was true of Anthony Weiner's offences. Or Gary Condit's, whose lover was a young adult but was also a murder victim, and there's nothing remotely funny about that. Way back in the late 1970s John Jenrette did a little better when he had sex on the Capitol steps; alas, the real scandal was that he took bribes (oh, and shoplifted a necktie) and, to make matters even less spicy, the lady on the steps was his Playboy-"model" wife. Today's Congressmen simply are not very good at cooking up sex scandals that give us the freedom to laugh our heads off. Collins kindly provides us with a brief history of better American sex scandals.
And the Grift Goes On. Tim Miller of the Bulwark shares a fundraising text message he received from the National Republican Congressional Committee that is a knock off those deceptive fundraising emails the Trump campaign sent out. Thanks to RAS for the link. Marie: The post is kind of a fun read, especially because Miller -- a Republican who looks like a Democrat -- is a good writer. But for me, the bottom line is this: it's not easy being a Republican. Those who are plugged in to social media must get "offers" like this 20 times a day. And they may get plenty through the mail, too, especially if they ever "accepted" such an "offer." You can see why so many Republicans "don't trust the government" when the very government men who promise to "get the government out of my Medicare" are constantly scamming them. ~~~
~~~ Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "The political arm of House Republicans is deploying a prechecked box to enroll donors into repeating monthly donations -- and using ominous language to warn them of the consequences if they opt out: 'If you UNCHECK this box, we will have to tell Trump you're a DEFECTOR.' The language appears to be an effort by the National Republican Congressional Committee to increase its volume of recurring donations, which are highly lucrative, while invoking ... Donald J. Trump's popularity with the conservative base. Those donors who do not proactively uncheck the box will have their credit cards billed or bank accounts deducted for donations every month.... The Democratic platform, ActBlue, also allows some groups to precheck recurring donation boxes, including the political arm of House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The D.C.C.C. noted that it has a pop-up window telling donors who made a recurring donation that they did so immediately after the contribution is processed." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If the recurring donation is revealed "after the contribution is processed," that's a hassle. You would have to figure out how to contact ActBlue & order them to undo your unintended repeat donations. So not a lot better than the GOP grift. I have made numerous contributions to Democrats thru ActBlue, and they have not caught me up -- yet -- in this scam. I can't recall if I had to uncheck a box or if I just didn't check the recurring donation box.
Quint Forgey of Politico: "Twitter will not allow the National Archives to make ... Donald Trump's past tweets from his @realDonaldTrump account available on the social media platform..., in the latest display of Silicon Valley's power over communications channels used by the U.S. government. The statement came as the National Archives and Records Administration has been working to create an official online archive of Trump's tweets as president, including those that prompted Twitter to permanently suspend him earlier this year as a threat to public safety. NARA already maintains archives for the institutional and personal accounts of many other former Trump administration officials, in which the old tweets live on the Twitter platform and users can retweet, like and otherwise interact with them.... NARA spokesperson James Pritchett said that while the National Archives 'is still exploring the best way' to make the @realDonaldTrump archival content public, the agency would defer to Twitter on whether that archive should be available on the social media site and would still post the preserved tweets to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library website.”
Trump Crime Family Hires Criminal Defense Attorney. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that ... Donald Trump's family business has retained Ronald Fischetti, a high-powered criminal defense lawyer, as New York prosecutors continue to investigate Trump's finances."
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "John Boehner, the Republican former House speaker, issues a stinging denunciation in his new book of Donald J. Trump, saying that the former president 'incited that bloody insurrection' by his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that the Republican Party has been taken over by 'whack jobs.' The criticism from Mr. Boehner in his book, 'On the House: A Washington Memoir,' represents an extraordinary public rebuke by a former speaker of the House toward a former president from his own party and shows how much the Republican Party has shifted since Mr. Boehner left Congress in 2015.... Nodding to the divisions between the parties in Congress now, he writes, 'Whatever they end up doing, or not doing, none of it will compare to one of the lowest points of American democracy that we lived through in January 2021.' Mr. Trump, he goes on, 'incited that bloody insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons, perpetuated by the bullshit he'd been shoveling since he lost a fair election the previous November.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Unlike many "memoirs" that are ghostwritten, Boehner's book appears to be written "in his own words."
White House Mystery Solved. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Dave Chappelle appears to have cleared up the curious case of the 'dirty notes' that were found in the White House by Donald Trump's incoming aides. Celebrities left mocking messages for the new Trump administration during one of the last White House parties thrown by the Obamas, the comedian said on the new episode of supermodel Naomi Campbell's 'No Filter' YouTube series, released Tuesday. 'Remember when the Trump administration moved in, they said the Obama staff left dirty notes for us in all the drawers and all the cabinets?' Chappelle recalled. 'I saw this happening. I'm not going to say who did it,' he continued. 'But it was celebrities, writing all this crazy shit and putting them all over there. I saw them doing it, so when I saw it on the news I laughed real hard.'"
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "A highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in Britain has now become the most common source of new infections in the United States, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday -- a worrisome development that comes as officials and scientists warn of a possible fourth virus surge. Federal health officials said in January that the B.1.1.7 variant, which began surging in Britain in December and has since slammed Europe, could become the dominant source of coronavirus infections in the United States, leading to a wrenching increase in cases and deaths." A UPI story is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Alabama. Connor Sheets & Kyle Whitmire of AL.com: "After initially denying reports of an affair, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill [R] on Wednesday afternoon told AL.com that he had 'an inappropriate relationship' with a 44-year-old woman and will not make an anticipated run for the U.S. Senate.... In an interview with AL.com on Wednesday morning, Merrill denied having had an affair and accused [the woman,] Cesaire McPherson, of 'stalking' and 'harassing' him.... McPherson provided Al.com with a recording of an October 2020 conversation between her and Merrill.... In the 17-minute recording, Merrill and McPherson discuss various sexual acts they performed during dozens of romantic encounters that McPherson says took place between November 2017 and November 2020. During the conversation, Merrill ... told her they had met for the last time and that he was seeking help from the Lord to stay away from her. After being played a portion of the recording Wednesday, Merrill, who is married with two children, told AL.com 'there's no excuse' for his extramarital relationship." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I really don't know why people so often give God & Jesus the responsibility to end "inappropriate relationships."
California. Kevin Draper of the New York Times: "Tiger Woods was speeding when he crashed his sport-utility vehicle in February, reaching speeds of more than 80 m.p.h. in a 45 m.p.h. zone on winding road near Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The vehicle struck a tree at an estimated 75 m.p.h. and was sent airborne, eventually stopping in some brush.... He added that there were no signs of impairment or intoxication, and that Woods was wearing his seatbelt. The captain of the Lomita Sheriff's Station, James Powers, said that data was obtained from the vehicle's event data recorder.... The data showed that Woods had hit the accelerator throughout the crash, and that the pressure applied to the pedal was 99 percent. Powers said he believed that Woods inadvertently hit the accelerator while trying to brake.... Woods was not cited, Villanueva said, because under California law that typically requires either an independent witness or a law enforcement officer to witness the excessive speed. He said that Woods did not receive any special treatment.... Woods crashed his car on a windy and tricky stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard that is known for car crashes near Rancho Palos Verdes...." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Georgia. Ha! Kate Brumback of the AP: "A district attorney in Atlanta said Wednesday that she will not pursue charges against a Georgia state lawmaker who was arrested during a protest of the state's sweeping new election law. 'After reviewing all of the evidence, I have decided to close this matter,' Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in an emailed statement. 'It will not be presented to a grand jury for consideration of indictment, and it is now closed.' Rep. Park Cannon, a Democrat from Atlanta, was arrested March 25 after she knocked on the door to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's office while he was on live television speaking about the voting bill he had just signed into law. Police charged her with obstruction of law enforcement and disruption of the General Assembly. She was released from jail later that evening." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kentucky. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Kentucky on Wednesday became the only state in the country with a Republican-controlled legislature to expand voting rights after a bitter presidential election that tested the country's democratic institutions and elevated ballot access as an animating issue for both parties. In a signing ceremony on Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, hailed the bill as a bipartisan effort that cut against the push in other Republican legislatures to put up barriers to voting.... The reasons that Kentucky Republicans have diverged on voting rights range from the political to the logistical. For one, they had an easier sell: With sweeping new rules allowing the election to be held safely during the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans in Kentucky had one of their best cycles in years, with both Senator Mitch McConnell and Mr. Trump easily winning in the state. And expanding voting access in Kentucky was a low bar to clear; the state had some of the tightest voting laws in the country before 2020, with not a single day of early voting, and strict limits on absentee balloting." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Minnesota. Amy Forliti, et al., of the AP: "Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd's neck area -- and was bearing down with most of his weight -- the entire 9 1/2 minutes the Black man lay facedown with his hands cuffed behind his back, a use-of-force expert testified at Chauvin's murder trial. Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution witness, said Wednesday ... that the force used against Floyd was excessive." The Washington Post's story is here.
New York. Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "A woman who has accused Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of groping her in the Executive Mansion gave a fuller account in a published report on Wednesday, detailing how she believed the governor had groomed her for months with a series of tight hugs and sexually suggestive comments. She said in an interview with The Times Union of Albany that Mr. Cuomo asked invasive questions about her personal life, recalling that at one point last year, the governor told her, 'Oh, if you were single, the things that I would do to you.'... [Then,] in late November, she said the governor summoned her to his ... office at the Executive Mansion. The woman told The Times Union that Mr. Cuomo closed the door and reached under her blouse.... The governor grasped one of her breasts over her bra.... In a text exchange with The New York Times on Wednesday, the woman confirmed the details that she told the Times Union, as well as the fact that she had spoken to investigators deputized by [New York AG Letitia] James." Both this story & the Times Union story are subscriber-firewalled. Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Battle of the Sleazy Scions? Ivana Saric of Axios: "Andrew Giuliani, a former Trump White House staffer and the son of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, told the Washington Examiner he plans to run for governor of New York in 2022.... Despite a flood of sexual misconduct allegations and a federal investigation into his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still expected to run for reelection next year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
West Virginia, Mountain Mama. Andrea Sacedo of the Washington Post: "Last May, Rodney Wheeler dialed 911 with a frantic plea for help: His wife had just plunged hundreds of feet over a steep cliff in a West Virginia national park. Authorities quickly launched a massive search for Julie Wheeler, 44. For days, hundreds of volunteers, police, and professional rescuers trekked along the base of the New River where her husband said she had fallen.... But ... three days after she supposedly fell off a cliff, authorities found her hiding inside a closet in the couple's Beaver, W.Va., home. In fact, the couple had tried to elaborately fake her death to help her avoid federal sentencing in a health-care fraud scheme.... On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Rodney Wheeler, 48, to two months in prison and six months of home confinement for his role in the plot.... In 2016, a Veterans Affairs office hired [Julie's] company to help a veteran diagnosed with spina bifida. But investigators later found that Wheeler inflated her work hours to get nearly $470,000 in inappropriate fees...." Julie previously was sentence to 54 months in prison for the healthcare & fake death frauds. "A judge also ordered her to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm thinking a fake drowning would have worked better, since a body could float be carried away. I suppose the problem is that West Virginia is landlocked. Still, the couple could have taken a trip to, say, the Chesapeake Bay to go sailing. Apparently this couple is not too bright.
Way Beyond
Russia. AP: "A lawyer for imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has complained of serious back and leg pain in custody, says doctors have found him to be suffering from two spinal hernias. Vadim Kobzev told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday that Navalny also has a spinal protrusion and is beginning to lose sensation in his hands. Navalny went on a hunger strike last week to protest what he called poor medical care in a Russian prison. On Tuesday, the leader of the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors union was detained by police after trying to get into the prison to talk to doctors." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Washington Post story is here.
News Ledes
CNBC: "First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose more than expected last week despite other signs of healing in the jobs market, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time claims for the week ended April 3 totaled 744,000, well above the expectation for 694,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total represented an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised 728,000. The four-week moving average edged higher to 723,750."
Two People Who Should Not Have Had Guns:
AP: "A man opened fire Thursday at a [Bryan,] Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper prior to his arrest, authorities said. Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the suspect, whose name wasn't immediately released, is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location where the shooting happened."
CNN: &"Five people were killed -- including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two young grandchildren -- in a shooting at a home near the South Carolina city of Rock Hill on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. A sixth person also was injured in the shooting, and authorities eventually found a suspect in the suspect's home nearby, York County sheriff's officials said early Thursday without elaborating. Investigators believe the suspect was the only assailant, and are trying to figure out why anyone would have gunned down Dr. Robert Lesslie and some members of his family, sheriff's spokesman Trent Faris said. The slain grandchildren were ages 5 and 9, the York County Coroner's Office said." ~~~
~~~ AP Update: "Former NFL player Phillip Adams fatally shot five people, including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren before killing himself early Thursday. York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson told a news conference that investigators had not yet determined a motive for Wednesday's mass shooting."
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Reader Comments (18)
Interesting note from "Sunburn section" of Florida Politics that Ron DeSantis is the third republican to be involved in the Gaetz affair, having received a "Target" notification.
@Bobby Lee: Say what? DeSantis is an investigation target? That would be super, but I'm surprised.
Under "Feel Good Stories", https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/04/07/former-trump-cabinet-officials-corporate-seats/. It appears working for the Orange Turd was not so good for one's future financial condition.
I have decided that Joe Manchin couldn't care any less that the filibuster survive. He remains a Democrat just in case he can be the most powerful (and currently most hated--) but he votes and whines like a repugnican just in case he has to regroup as an R in the event of a regime/administration change. Must admit, although I knew and disliked him from previous votes and blab sessions, I didn't know he was this wedded to his plan. We knew his daughter is a greedy pig, so apples/trees... What's in it for him? Must be something...
" ... why people so often give God & Jesus the responsibility to end "inappropriate relationships." "
Maybe because their rates are low? In the short run. And a lot of these folks only think in the short run.
When Joe (Me, Me, Me) Manchin uses the phrase “under no condition” I’m thinking he means “no condition without enough zeros after some other number”. I have never believed that Manchin was some kind of staunch idealist, firmly resolved to stick to his beliefs no matter what. He’s an opportunist and he sees a very big opportunity right now. Biden should just buy him off before he destroys this once in a generation chance to right grievous wrongs and get the country back on track. Neither of those goals appeal to Manchin. Something will.
Very interesting to learn about the "uncheck the box" scheme. My spouse, who is not computer savvy, was caught in this by Act Blue last summer. I balance our bank statements, and after a couple months of noticing small amounts - I think it was $10 - being deducted regularly from his bank account via PayPal, I found the money was going to Act Blue. He said he had intended a one-time contribution only and we were able to get it stopped. Beware, those unobtrusive check-boxes are showing up everywhere online - not just on political websites.
The Financial Times is reporting that companies ranging from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to Amazon and Google, and including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, are trying to head off new legislation in Texas that they say would upend the economics of wind and solar power in the state.
https://www.ft.com/content/39091187-ce77-4bc5-8903-441d5fa7a5d4
Republicans in Texas are shooting themselves in the foot while attempting to sabotage renewable energy by promoting yet again another Big Lie, with legislation that neither enhances electric reliability nor lowers consumer costs. A letter from The American Council on Renewable Energy asserts the bills “appear to be premised on the assumption that renewable energy was disproportionately responsible for the state’s February power outages, a thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.that would ‘inappropriately and unfairly’ impose new and significant costs on renewable energy projects.”
The letter sent to Texas Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan points out that “Renewable energy development helped the state realize more than $380 million in state, local and property tax revenues last year, along with lease payments to farmers, ranchers and other landowners totaling nearly $250 million. These important revenues, including payments that school districts and local governments have been collecting and counting on, are placed at risk by the legislative proposals now under consideration.”
The letter suggests that “Such changes would undercut previous investment decisions and erode confidence that the state will continue to provide the financial stability necessary for future energy investment.”
https://acore.org/institutional-investors-express-serious-concerns-with-retroactive-anti-renewables-legislation-being-proposed-in-texas/
David Corn of Mother Jones tells John Boehner to just STFU.
@Patrick: I guess that makes sense. Even the weekly "recurring payments" a/k/a offertories are apt to be cheaper than a divorce.
Headlines that annoy me
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/08/985217680/with-his-legacy-in-mind-biden-seeks-u-s-transformation-with-infrastructure-plan
Wouldn't it be possible for someone to have the good of the country, not himself, in mind?
Not in self-centered America, I guess...
MB. Got to eat humble pie on my earlier comment. A convoluted sentence construction led me to misread that Hasley BeShears, a former official under DeSantis is the target of the letter. My apologies.
Hasley BeShears ... really? Sounds like a Hiasson character. A minor hustler in something like "Strip Mall Winger" or "Off Season Sauce".
It can't be a real person.
@Patrick:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halsey_Beshears
Yep, we have assorted characters with al sorts of cool monikers down here in the swamp state.
BTW: Just saw over on The Hill that Fox has hired Mike Pompeo as a contributor. First appearance tomorrow on Fox and Friends.
In the original Goldmacher piece about Trump's fleecing of his cult pointed out that WinRed was responsible for 3% of all credit card fraud complaints to begin this year. I guess that may not have all been Trump alone. I've also seen charts that Biden has refunded $20 million compared to Trump's $120 million.
In a NYT piece on today's mass gun deaths in SC, the local policer's quote ends the story:
“It doesn’t happen here,” he said. “So it’s one of those strange things that a lot of people are going to have a hard time understanding.”
They're kind of slow down there in Mayberry. Next week: GRAVITY! What is it, anyway?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/south-carolina-shooting.html?action=click&module=In%20Other%20News&pgtype=Homepage
What I did during the Plague Year
Currently reading a book about the history of the calculus. Couldn’t help making a comparison between a true genius and a fraudulent one.
Isaac Newton, actual genius 1666-1667 Annus Mirabilis
Figured out a theorem for handling binomial equations.
Created the calculus.
Formulated the theory of gravity, the law of universal attraction.
Little donnie trumpy, self described genius 2020-2021 Annus Horribilis
Killed 500,000 Americans to get re-elected.
Attempted the destruction of democracy.
Destroyed the burgeoning economy he was handed.
Incited a riot based on lies to keep him in power, the law of universal revulsion.
Leave us not forget that Newton played no role in the spread of the bubonic plague that shut down London and large swaths of England in 1665-6. Fatty went out of his way—let me say that again: went OUT OF HIS WAY—to spread the coronavirus that still plagues the world.