The Commentariat -- July 12, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Oscar Lopez & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "As the largest protest movement in decades swept Cuba, President Biden on Monday called on the Cuban government to heed the demands of thousands of citizens who took to the streets on Sunday to protest power outages, food shortages and a worrying lack of medicine. 'We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom,' Mr. Biden said in a statement. 'The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.'" An ABC News story is here.
Bob Herman of Axios: "More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest Census Bureau data.... Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine, without dinging their already-low incomes, could help boost the country's vaccination rates.... Vaccination has been politicized, but juggling work schedules and child care could be bigger factors than politics." According to a chart by the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey, which Herman republishes, 22 percent of people living households earning less than $25K have not been vaccinated; only 3.4% of those in households of $200K & up haven't been vaccinated.
Texas. Reid Epstein & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Democrats in the Texas Legislature are making plans to flee the state on Monday ahead of expected votes on new voting laws, and head to Washington to spotlight what they say is a crippling Republican assault on the ability to cast a ballot. The group had arranged for a pair of chartered flights from Austin with plans to arrive in the nation's capital by the early evening. It was unclear as of midday how many Democrats might flee and if it would be enough to prevent Texas Republicans from attaining a quorum, which is required to conduct state business. The cohort of Democrats were aiming to transform themselves into the nation's new symbols in the fight for voting rights, according to several people familiar with their plans. The goal is to apply pressure to Democrats in the U.S. Senate who so far have been unable to pass federal legislation to address the issue." An NBC News story is here.
Louisiana. Debbie Elliott of NPR: "Four-term Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards, who also served prison time for corruption, died Monday at his home in Gonzales, La. He was 93. A statement from his family said he'd been in hospice care for the past week with respiratory problems. Edwards was the last of the larger-than-life populists who once dominated Louisiana politics. He built his career on political patronage, public works, and sheer force of personality."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's interview on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News encapsulate[s] how the former president has come to publicly embrace the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf.... Trump [declared] that those involved were 'tremendous -- in many cases, tremendous people, tremendous people.' He'd just finished saying that those who overtook the building in an effort to block the finalization of his electoral defeat had 'no guns ... no nothing' (untrue; a rioter was charged with having a firearm, and the crowd had a variety of other weapons from clubs to chemical weapons) and celebrating them as being 'military people, and they're police officers, and they're construction workers.' He repeatedly praised the rioters as righteous and innocuous, as being in a 'lovefest' with the police officers at the scene who, he suggested, stood by near open doors.... From the start, Trump's politics included an often explicit embrace of violence.... The events of Jan. 6 were a natural consequence of his dishonest claims and his obvious approval of force -- and of the failure of his allies to demand any accountability." Bump also gives Bartiromo what-for.
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Perry Bacon of the Washington Post: "President Biden and his team have a logical strategy for how they are attempting to counter the racist, anti-democratic drift in the Republican Party. But it's wrong for this political moment. The administration is filing lawsuits against Republicans' voter suppression efforts, supporting legislation in Congress to defend voting rights and getting the Democratic Party to invest in voter registration initiatives. But while they won't acknowledge this publicly, Biden and his advisers are not pushing these democracy issues as hard as they have pushed covid-19 vaccinations, the economic stimulus bill or the infrastructure package they are trying to get passed. Biden is speaking Tuesday about voting rights, though it's unclear if that will be the start of a broader, sustained push." Bacon has a list of what Biden should do.
The Fed Makes Sure the Rich Get Richer & the Poor Get Poorer. Karen Petrou in a New York Times op-ed: "The Fed, which controls America's monetary policy, is mired in conventional thinking, even though its policy since 2008 has been unconventional in scale, scope and omnipotence. Adhering to its 'lower rates are better' axiom, the Fed has kept 'real' U.S. short-term interest rates at -- or even below -- zero, after taking inflation into account. The Fed now plans to keep rates ultra, ultra low until about 2023, even if inflation ticks up. This results in even wider wealth inequalities as the gap between rich and everyone else grows.... The Fed's approach is premised on trickle-down expectations, adopted in the early 2000s. U.S. central bankers believe the higher that markets fly and the more that the wealthy spend, the better that everyone else will be. In truth, this policy works only for the wealthy."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The top U.S. general in Afghanistan stepped down Monday, marking a symbolic end to 20 years of American military involvement here -- and coming as an ascendant Taliban threatens to topple the central government. Army Gen. Austin 'Scott' Miller, who has overseen the war effort for nearly three years, relinquished responsibility in a ceremony at the top U.S. military headquarters. President Biden said last week that the military withdrawal he ordered will be complete Aug. 31, but Miller's departure is among the only pieces left. Virtually all other troops, contractors and equipment already have exited, defense officials said on the condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity."
** Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "For much of the past decade, oil companies engaged in drilling and fracking have been allowed to pump into the ground chemicals that, over time, can break down into toxic substances known as PFAS -- a class of long-lasting compounds known to pose a threat to people and wildlife -- according to internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. in 2011 approved the use of these chemicals, used to ease the flow of oil from the ground, despite the agency's own grave concerns about their toxicity, according to the documents, which were reviewed by The New York Times. The E.P.A.'s approval of the three chemicals wasn't previously publicly known.... The documents, dating from the Obama administration, are heavily redacted because the E.P.A. allows companies to invoke trade-secret claims.... The Biden administration had made addressing PFAS a top priority, [an EPA spokesman said].... The presence of PFAS in oil and gas extraction threatens to expose oil-field employees and emergency workers handling fires and spills as well as people who live near, or downstream from, drilling sites to a class of chemicals that has faced increasing scrutiny for its links to cancer, birth defects, and other serious health problems."
Trump Praises Insurrectionists. David Cohen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Sunday widely praised those who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word 'love' to describe the tone of the event. Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, 'These were peaceful people, these were great people.' Speaking on 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo' on the Fox News Channel, he also said the rally participants were patriots, that some of them were unjustly arrested and jailed, and that a woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the insurrection was a great hero.... He added: 'Too much spirit and faith and love, there was such love at that rally, you had over a million people,' inflating the size of his rally crowd.... The remarks reflected recent efforts by Trump and his supporters to cast themselves as the aggrieved parties from the Jan. 6 riot...." ~~~
~~~ We Ignore Trump at Our Peril. Stephen Collinson of CNN: At CPAC, "Trump demonstrated his still unmatched capacity to sell outrage politics. But more than that, he demonstrated his ability to conjure an alternative belief system that is divorced from reality but that his supporters immediately adopt -- the hallmark of strongmen leaders throughout history.... Trump is not just popular at CPAC where the crowd greeted his speech with glee. That his populist extremism is now being implemented by GOP governors across states he won shows his enduring power.... The former President's threat to American democracy remains extreme."
Stephanie McCrummen of the Washington Post: "... a growing Christian movement that is nondenominational [and] openly political ... has become an engine of ... Donald Trump's Republican Party. It includes some of the largest congregations in the nation, housed in the husks of old Baptist churches, former big-box stores and sprawling multimillion-dollar buildings with private security to direct traffic on Sundays. Its most successful leaders are considered apostles and prophets, including some with followings in the hundreds of thousands, publishing empires, TV shows, vast prayer networks, podcasts, spiritual academies, and branding in the form of T-shirts, bumper stickers and even flags. It is a world in which demons are real, miracles are real, and the ultimate mission is not just transforming individual lives but also turning civilization itself into their version of God's Kingdom: one with two genders, no abortion, a free-market economy, Bible-based education, church-based social programs and laws such as the ones curtailing LGBTQ rights now moving through statehouses around the country.... Influential religious leaders ... helped organize nationwide prayer rallies in the days before the Jan. 6 insurrection, speaking of an imminent 'heavenly strike' and 'a Christian populist uprising,' leading many who stormed the Capitol to believe they were taking back the country for God."
Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "Far from being an innocuous domestic animal, a goldfish freed in fresh water is an invasive species, an organism that is introduced to an environment, can quickly reproduce, outcompete native species and destroy a habitat. And even though they get less attention than invasive organisms such as Asian carp or zebra mussels, goldfish appear to be a growing problem in bodies of water across the United States and around the world, triggering warnings from government officials in Virginia, Washington state, Australia, Canada and elsewhere.... Goldfish can live to be 25 years old, weigh as much as four pounds and measure well over a foot long.... Goldfish, like their common carp relatives, feed at the bottom of lakes, where they uproot plants and stir up sediment, which then damages the water's quality and can lead to algal blooms, harming other species.... Once goldfish are in one body of water, they can move on to others, and they can be tricky to evict."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Marie: Yesterday I saw this clip on CNN. It's from a CPAC "forum" held Saturday. It enraged me: ~~~
~~~ Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci ... called the anti-vaccine politics on display [at CPAC] 'horrifying.' Fauci was reacting to a talk in which anti-vaxxer Alex Berenson was roundly cheered by a CPAC audience for saying the US government had failed to 'sucker' 90 percent of Americans into getting vaccinated.... [Meanwhile,] Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina ... push[ed] the idea that ... if the federal government cultivated the ability to go door-to-door for vaccinations that would create the kind of infrastructure that could 'take your Bibles.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Here's a Partial Explanation. Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: Fox "News" "prime-time shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham ... and guests on their programs have said on the air that the vaccines could be dangerous; that people are justified in refusing them; and that public authorities have overstepped in their attempts to deliver them.... Mr. Carlson ... said the Biden plan [to send medical professionals door-to-door to vaccinate residents] was an attempt to 'force people to take medicine they don't want or need.' He called the initiative 'the greatest scandal in my lifetime, by far.'... Served up to an audience that is more likely than the general population to be wary of Covid vaccines, the remarks by Mr. Carlson and Ms. Ingraham echoed a now-common conservative talking point -- that the government-led effort to raise vaccination rates amounted to a violation of civil liberties and a waste of taxpayer dollars.... Newsmax covered Mr. Biden's outreach plan on its website with the headline 'Biden Blasted for "Sick" Door-to-Door Vaccine Campaign'; One America News Network greeted the proposal with the headline 'Joe Biden To Send Operatives To Harass Americans Into Taking COVID-19 Vaccines.'" ~~~
~~~ Caitlin Owens of Axios: "State Republican lawmakers around the country are pushing bills -- at least one of which [in Montana] has become law -- that would give unvaccinated people the same protections as those surrounding race, gender and religion.... These bills would tie the hands of private businesses that want to protect their employees and customers. But they also show how deep into the political psyche resistance to coronavirus vaccine requirements has become, and how vaccination status has rapidly become a marker of identity."
Beyond the Beltway
California. Amanda Morris of the New York Times: "Under the influence of a movement known as eugenics, whose supporters believed that those with physical disabilities, psychiatric disorders and other conditions were 'genetically defective,' more than 60,000 people across the United States were forcibly sterilized by state-run programs throughout the 20th century. They included more than 20,000 people over seven decades in California, under a eugenics law enacted in 1909.... Even after California repealed its eugenics law in 1979, it continued to sterilize women in prison, sometimes without ensuring that their consent was lawfully obtained, according to a 2014 state report that followed an exposé by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Now, under a budget passed by the legislature and awaiting the governor's approval, California is prepared to spend $7.5 million to find and pay an estimated 600 surviving victims of coerced sterilization..., an estimated $25,000 each. The move follows similar efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to compensate victims.... Not everyone who was forcibly sterilized under California's program had a disability. The vast majority were poor, and many were wards of the state from so-called 'broken homes.' Many had suffered previous abuse, and many were Black, Latino, Asian American or Native American."
Texas. Eva Ruth Moravec & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "New voting restrictions in Texas moved a step closer to becoming law this weekend after two committees advanced the legislation in a special session, setting up a floor vote in the coming days on a GOP proposal that civil rights leaders say would hurt communities of color. It was the second effort by Texas Republicans to pass such voting restrictions, after Democrats foiled a first attempt by staging a dramatic walkout in May, denying the Republican-majority legislature a quorum and forcing them to adjourn without voting on the measure. After the walkout, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vowed that he would call a special session later in the year and include the voting legislation. State GOP lawmakers filed two new bills last week -- one in the House and one in the Senate -- and debated them in hearings on Saturday. The two bills contain similar provisions, including banning 24-hour voting and ending drive-through voting, both of which were used in the state in the 2020 election to help people vote during the coronavirus pandemic."
Virginia. Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "... the stirring image of [Kasey] Meredith becoming VMI's first female regimental commander belied the misogyny she and other female cadets have endured since women were first admitted to the school in 1997 after a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. In the six weeks since her appointment was announced, Meredith ... had been the object of derision by VMI students on Jodel, a widely used anonymous social media app where female cadets are routinely dismissed as 'shedets' or 'sheeds.'... [An] independent investigation by the law firm Barnes & Thornburg ... found that sexism on the Lexington campus ... may be just as serious a problem as racism.... At a college where sexual contact between cadets on campus is forbidden, 'sexual assault is prevalent at VMI yet it is inadequately addressed by the Institute,' the report said.... In ... interviews, [VMI women] described an atmosphere of hostility toward women, with constant ridicule at their expense on Jodel, and an expectation of backlash from male cadets if they reported incidents in which they've been groped or raped.&"
Way Beyond
Cuba. Frances Robles of the New York Times: "Shouting 'Freedom' and other anti-government slogans, hundreds of Cubans took to the streets in cities around the country on Sunday to protest food and medicine shortages, in a remarkable eruption of discontent not seen in nearly 30 years. Hundreds of people marched through San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, with videos streaming live on Facebook for nearly an hour before they suddenly disappeared. As the afternoon wore on, other videos appeared from demonstrations elsewhere, including Palma Soriano, in the country's southeast. Hundreds of people also gathered in Havana, where a heavy police presence preceded their arrival.... In a country known for repressive crackdowns on dissent, the rallies were widely viewed as astonishing.... The protests were set off by a dire economic crisis in Cuba, where the coronavirus pandemic has cut off crucial tourism dollars. People now spend hours in line each day to buy basic food items. Many have been unable to work because restaurants and other businesses have remained on lockdown for months." CNN's story is here.
Haiti. The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Sunday are here: "A Haitian-born doctor based in Florida has been arrested as a 'central' suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the national police chief suggested at a Sunday news conference that he believes the suspect was plotting to become president. The doctor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, is now the third Haitian-born suspect with U.S. ties to be arrested." ~~~
~~~ Peter Beaumont of the Guardian: "Police in Haiti say they have arrested a new suspect in the assassination of the country's president, Jovenel Moïse -- a Haitian living in Florida who arrived on a private plane in June allegedly to act as a middleman between the alleged hitmen and the plot's unnamed masterminds. As Haiti descended ever deeper into a dangerous political chaos, with notorious gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier calling on Haitians to 'mobilise', the motive for the killing of Moïse remained clouded in mystery. The latest suspect was identified by police as Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian in his 60s living in Florida who describes himself as a doctor and has accused his homeland's leaders of corruption." MB: I don't think I want to know what Cherizier is called “Barbeque."
Further Yet
Sarah Betancourt of the Guardian: "The British entrepreneur Richard Branson has successfully flown to the edge of space and back in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane, days ahead of a rival launch by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the two billionaires raced to kick off a new era of space tourism. Seventeen years after Branson founded Virgin Galactic to develop commercial spacecraft and cater to future space tourists, the spaceplane went into sub-orbital flight on Sunday morning, reaching 55 miles (88km ) above Earth's surface. The launch was slightly delayed until 10.40ET due to weather conditions at the Virgin Galactic's operational base at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here.
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Reader Comments (9)
"In a recent opinion essay for The Daily Beast, Preston Padden, a former high-level executive at Fox Broadcasting, wrote that Fox News had “contributed substantially and directly” to “the unnecessary deaths of many Americans by fueling hesitation and doubt about the efficacy and safety of lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines.” He singled out the channel’s prime-time opinion programs for blame."
The above quote the ending of a piece in the NYT about the spread of dangerous disinformation that Fox spreads along with other right-wing channels., but since Fox has the largest audience the column concentrated on it. So–––given this, I assume the free speech amendment bars any kind of sanctions except companies removing their ads but since this has to do with people dying FROM this misinformation couldn't we do more to quell what we could very well call murder?
And then there's the CPAC video above that left Marie shaking with fury. If she and I went on the road hawking a medicine we concocted in our kitchen that promised to cure toe fungus but in actuality poisoned people ( Marie and I want to, let's say, diminish the population) wouldn't we be liable? Wouldn't we be put away for many a day?
This isn't about some sorry sods pushing false information about their "feelings" about CRT, this is about saving lives NOW!
Madison Cawthorn at CPAC also stated that the plan to go door-to-
door to push the vaccine has nothing to do with the vaccine. It's
a dry run or prequel to what is going to happen. They're going to
go door-to-door and confiscate your guns and bibles.
Welcome to my house, but your SOL here 'cause I got no guns
and if I want to read some fiction, I go to the local library.
This Cawthorn person is a real work in progress. He was home
schooled and then went to one of those Christian colleges where
he dropped out because of low grades, which he blamed on brain
damage from an auto accident. So he admits he has brain damage.
So what does a Republican with brain damage do when he can't
find a job? He runs for Representative where he'll fit right in with
the rest of the R loonies.
It's another cold, wet day in W. Michigan while parts of the country
are burning. Sounds a lot like climate change to me.
So, for those who carved out a pistol-shaped hole in their bible to hide the Saturday Night Special, won't they be confounded when the Feds confiscate bibles instead of guns, and then get the gun too?
The Lord certainly moves in mysterious ways.
Speaking of which, that article on the non-denominational Holy Rollers is really scary. Once they figure out how to handle poisonous snakes and levitate, its all over for the demons - which is everyone who is not one of them, I guess.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/562503-noem-hits-fellow-gop-governors-over-covid-19-mandates
I see the South Dakota governor, Ms. Noem, has called on other Republican governors to show "more grit," presumably like she has heroically exhibited.
Have always taken "grit" to mean a kind of earthy courage, a willingness to do the hard thing, to sacrifice one's own well-being on behalf of others, the kind of selfless conduct that leads to medals of honor..
But Noem's call for grit translates to an exhortation for others to do the sacrificing.
Open economies in the midst of a pandemic? It's workers who die.
Eschew vaccines? Again, others perish.
Support voter suppression measures? I'm guessing the governors can still vote.
Impose tax systems that benefit the rich at the expense of the majority? The majority takes the hit.
In no case do such actions impose burdens on Noem or other Republican governors she chides.
The ones showing real grit (or stupidity?) are those who choose to live in their states.
Other than terminology, this "Gods Government" Christian cultural movement sounds a lot like the government of Iran. But they won't make the Iranians mistakes, right?
@Ken: Here's real "True Grit"Hollywood style starring that Western honey bunny John Wayne––he and Noem would make a dandy team each riding high into the sunset while waving a tattered American flag.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sswaLbi9NF8
So the ones storming the cap and pooping in the hallways and injuring cops and looking for legislators to kill or maim are "patriots?" "Heros?" Well, that is impossible to even respond to. I am, in self-distancing, trying to just think of the followers and speakers of CZZZ as poor idiots, responsible for their own pathology and nonlearning of any kind. Of course, we all know that the Head Idiot, assisted by Moscow Mitch and Moron McCarthy, bears the brunt of destroying the country, which continues. I don't really care if the remaining Stupids don't get vaccinated-- may they die in increasing numbers. We will never be at "herd mentality" (courtesy Malaprop Monster)and it is a mistake to think we will. We all thought the SC would improve post-Scalia, the 2020 election would rid us of Pestilence Poopyhead, and the vaccines would mean the end of 2020, but it all continues in its glory. To be realistic, our expectations need to be adjusted. I must have signed five or six petitions on my phone the other day, all of which subject matter/issues I agreed needed to happen, but it seems futile. The people in power have to do it all, really, and they are too slow and weak.
On a better note, it's not as hot in PA as in the west, we survived all the visitors from last week, and the flowers continue. Daughter and I went to MD on a hike at a favorite trail, then to her past college campus and the gorgeous mall across the way, and it felt so normal...NORMAL...
On Gerson:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/12/gop-cpac-covid-anti-vaxxers-increase-american-deaths/
Such has long been the Republican Way.
When you exalt and purify selfishness, as the party has done for decades, everything becomes about personal gain, a point of view so limited that those who adopt it are rendered flat stupid.
Combined with an inability or unwillingness to comprehend community, or any kind of interconnectedness--social or environmental--you get the kind of social darwinism embodied in Jack London's "Sea Wolf"character Wolf Larsen, who thought nothing of anyone but himself. He learned nothing, too. He just died in the end, in a failed attempt to take everyone with him down with the ship, but not before he had destroyed all he could during the course of his miserable life.
Read that London novel sixty years ago and hadn't thought about it for years. Guess I should thank the Republican Party for reminding me of the pleasure it gave me back in my naive youth when I thought Wolf Larsen was some kind of sick extreme and didn't know there were millions of others like him.
Lewontin was a remarkable man, in my humble estimation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/science/richard-c-lewontin-dead.html?
I remember him from The New York Review. Always wondered why he stopped writing. Now I know...