The Commentariat -- June 21, 2021
Late Morning Update:
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday that the N.C.A.A. cannot bar relatively modest payments to student-athletes in the name of amateurism. The decision, based on antitrust law, came as the business model of college sports is under increasing pressure. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the N.C.A.A. was not free to limit benefits tied to education for Division I football and basketball players. The decision allowed payments for things like musical instruments, scientific equipment, postgraduate scholarships, tutoring, study abroad, academic awards and internships. It did not permit the outright payment of salaries. The court rejected the N.C.A.A.'s argument that compensating athletes would alienate sports fans who prize students' amateur status." The AP's report is here. The ruling, written by Neil Gorsuch, is here.
Robert Klemko of the Washington Post: When left-wing activist outed Edward Dawson of Washington State for harassing two journalists in Washington, D.C., his boss fired him and his wife lost her job, too, possibly because of her online show of support for her violent, extremist husband. "The disclosure online of Dawson's personal information -- a phenomenon known as doxing -- is part of a growing effort by left-wing activists to punish members of far-right groups accused of violent behavior by exposing them to their employers, family and friends. The doxing of Dawson highlights the effect the tactic can have -- unemployment and personal upheaval followed by a new job that pays much less than his old one -- but also the limits of the technique: Dawson is unrepentant for his role in galvanizing a mob to harass [the journalists] and continues to espouse far-right views."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid updates for Monday are here.
Missouri. Corbin Bolies of the Daily Beast: “Days after St. Louis gun fanatic Mark McCloskey was forced to give up the guns he waved at protestors last year..., [he] took to Twitter Saturday to brag about his new purchase -- an AR-15. 'Checking out my new AR!' he wrote. McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, pleaded guilty Thursday to numerous misdemeanors in connection with an incident last year, in which they brandished guns at protesters during the racial justice protests last year. The couple was required to pay thousands of dollars in fines and, as part of their deal, had to give up the guns they waved."
~~~~~~~~~~
David Rothkopf in a USA Today op-ed: "Joe Biden has had more foreign policy experience than any other president in U.S. history.... The previous most experienced among our presidents when it came to foreign policy was George H.W. Bush. Add up his time in Congress, as ambassador to the United Nations, head of the U.S. Liaison Office in China, head of the CIA and vice president, Bush became president with 17 years of foreign policy experience. That is a third of the foreign policy experience Biden has had.... By virtue of his long experience, Biden's first months in office have been far more successful [than Clinton's, George W. Bush's, Obama's or Trump's].... Biden's recent trip to Europe is among the most successful ever for a new president.In complex affairs of state, experience matters.... If Biden's record stands the test of time, perhaps his and [George H.W.] Bush's relative success -- contrasted with the struggles of less experienced presidents -- will put an end to the notion that on-the-job training is adequate for the toughest job in the world."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden's national security adviser said on Sunday that the United States was preparing more sanctions against Russia in response to the poisoning of Aleksei A. Navalny, the country's most prominent opposition leader, days after Mr. Biden attended his first face-to-face summit meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin.... [Jake] Sullivan was vague when pressed on the timing of the sanctions or what they would include, saying only that additional action would come 'as soon as we develop the packages to ensure that we're getting the right targets.'... In April, the Biden administration imposed its first sanctions on Russia for the poisoning and imprisonment of Mr. Navalny. But those penalties were not specifically directed at Mr. Putin or the oligarchs who support him."~~~
~~~ Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a 'paramount priority' for the United States, emphasizing that diplomacy 'is the best way to achieve that.' Sullivan weighed in on the issue during appearances on the Sunday morning news shows one day after the election of Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was previously the country's ultraconservative judiciary chief."
Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "The subpoena that swept up the records of two Democratic congressmen [Adam Schiff & Eric Swalwell], their staff and family members in 2018 appears to have been the result of a leak investigation that initially included scrutinizing a senior aide on the House Intelligence Committee, and not the lawmakers themselves, sources told CNN. The Justice Department's original secret subpoena to Apple, sources say, was an effort to identify people connected with the staffer.... [White House Counsel Don] McGahn's records appear to have been swept up in a separate investigation by federal investigators in a similar manner to Schiff's and Swalwell's, according to a source familiar with the matter."
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "By ... just about any other measures, Republican states are failing to meet the basic needs of their residents. Among unvaccinated Americans, infection rates are climbing. More will get sick in those places, and some will die. Republicans are unwilling or incapable of meeting the challenge. This sorry sight is unsurprising given that Republicans have all but given up on the notion of governance. At the national level, they consume themselves with race-baiting..., assailing private companies (e.g., corporations that defend voting rights, social media platforms, book publishers) and perpetrating the most ludicrous and dangerous lie in memory -- that the 2020 election was stolen.... Democrats should be more blunt in castigating Republicans who are not even trying to serve their constituents. They should say it often and simply: Republicans have little to notion to offer anyone but the very rich."
Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "In a column for the Los Angeles Times, longtime political observer Doyle McManus pointed out that the Republican leadership is finding itself put into a corner by the more extreme elements in the party.... With Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) excusing the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6th and Rep. Andrew S. Clyde claiming the insurrectionists were merely 'tourists,' Republicans are now confronted with the optics of being the party that condones violence.... The problem, [McManus] wrote, is that a substantial number of the GOP's most fervent supporters have said they are fine with the use of force to hold political power.... 'In a survey by the conservative American Enterprise Institute after the riot in January, 56% of Republicans agreed that "the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it."'" McManus's (firewalled) LA Times column is here.
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "'Remember what today was like,' the Atlantic's David Graham wrote on Twitter ... shortly before midnight on Jan. 6].... 'Someone might try to convince you it was different very soon.'... As Graham predicted, people are trying to. It is very useful for Republicans, particularly Republicans loyal to Trump and his base, to try to diminish what occurred on Jan. 6." Bump runs down the ludicrous counterarguments, wherein Republicans describe the insurrection as more-or-less a tourist event or, at worst, an FBI false-flag operation.
Lindsey Calls Equal Access to Ballot a "Power Grab." Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that a sweeping Democratic-backed election reform bill was 'the biggest power grab in the history of the country.' 'In my view, S.R. 1 is the biggest power grab in the history of the country. It mandates ballot harvesting, no voter ID. It does away with the states being able to redistrict when you have population shifts. It's just a bad idea, and it's a problem that most Republicans are not going to sign -- they're trying to fix a problem most Republicans have a different view of,' Graham said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" MB: Lindsey is right: If you never had your fair share of the pie, then you take your fair share, technically you've "grabbed power." What Lindsey objects to is equality. And we knew that. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
One Place Not to Celebrate the First National Juneteenth: at You Super-Toney All-White Beach Club. GoLocalProv: "U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse [D] continues to defend his family's membership in the all-white private Bailey's Beach Club in Newport. GoLocal interviewed Whitehouse on Friday in Pawtucket and when asked if the private club had admitted any minorities since GoLocal first raised the issue in 2017, Whitehouse said, 'I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and I'm sorry it hasn't happened yet.' Both Whitehouse and his wife Sandra as well as their families have been members of the club for decades. Whitehouse did transfer his shares in the club to his wife years ago, and she is now one of the largest shareholders in the all-white club. The club's membership is a who's who Newport, Palm Beach, and New York wealth.... The interview took place on the eve of the new national holiday Juneteenth National Independence Day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marie: On Saturday, I shared with you the thrill of having received two $1,200 virtual tickets to Donald Trump's second inauguration, to be held August 15. Now -- who could have guessed? -- the announcement of certain other scheduled events is throwing the gala inauguration into question: ~~~
~~~ Vewy Q-ious. Ewan Palmer of Newsweek: "Anon supporters have acted with dismay and confusion after Donald Trump announced the December dates of his upcoming speaking tour with Bill O'Reilly, which coincides with when he is meant to have already been reinstated as president. Trump has confirmed the upcoming dates and locations for the events with the former Fox News host in a statement while sharing links for his supporters to buy tickets, which are being sold for at least $100.... QAnon supporters previously believed that Trump would return as president on March 4 based on a wild theory heavily lifted from the sovereign citizen movement. When that prediction failed to come true, as all of them have, they simply moved onto their next hopeful prophecy. Many QAnon supporters now believe that Trump will return in August -- a false claim widely pushed by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell-- if the disputed and disregarded audit in Arizona proves there was election fraud that cost him the election." Firewalled.
Marie: When Trump's DOJ was looking for leaks, they should have looked at their Fox "News" friends: ~~~
~~~ Tucker Carlson, Double Agent. Ben Smith of the New York Times: Tucker "Carlson, a proud traitor to the elite political class, spends his time when he's not denouncing the liberal media trading gossip with them. He's the go-to guy for sometimes-unflattering stories about Donald J. Trump and for coverage of the internal politics of Fox News (not to mention stories about Mr. Carlson himself). I won't talk here about any off-the-record conversations I may have had with him. But 16 other journalists (none from The Times; it would put my colleagues in a weird position if I asked them) told me on background that he has been, as three of them put it, 'a great source.' 'In Trump's Washington, Tucker Carlson is a primary supersecret source,' the media writer and Trump chronicler Michael Wolff writes in his forthcoming collection of essays, 'Too Famous.'" MB: Whatever your opinion of Tucker, you can still spell it a-s-s-h-o-l-e.
Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The U.S. economy is emerging from the coronavirus pandemic with considerable speed but markedly transformed, as businesses and consumers struggle to adapt to a new landscape with higher prices, fewer workers, new innovations and a range of inconveniences.... Prices are up. Housing is scarce. It takes months longer than normal to get furniture, appliances and numerous parts delivered. And there is a great dislocation between millions of unemployed workers and millions of vacant jobs.... There's dispute, among other things, about how many of these changes are temporary and how many are true fundamental shifts that will stick around for years and reshape behaviors."
Tom Perriello, in a New York Times op-ed: "... the persistent efforts by conservative [U.S.] bishops to arbitrate who among the faithful receives communion, while failing to practice the confession and penance they demand of others, reinforces why the American bishops so often stand alone.... I was always struck by the U.S. bishops' myopic focus. But my experiences with them during my brief time in Congress shocked me. As a representative, I saw them cherry-pick theology to promote partisan ends, favoring a future Supreme Court over their congregations struggling to afford care. At a time when the Church could model moral accountability for its decades of criminality and corruption, they opt instead for the partisan agenda of their largest donors and the misogyny inherent in their structure.... I pray this week that the American bishops reflecton Pope Francis's message that communion 'is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
NEW. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as White House officials debated whether to bring infected Americans home for care..., Donald Trump suggested his own plan for where to send them.... 'Don't we have an island that we own?' the president reportedly asked those assembled in the Situation Room in February 2020, before the U.S. outbreak would explode. 'What about Guantánamo? We import goods,' Trump specified.... 'We are not going to import a virus.' Aides were stunned, and when Trump brought it up a second time, they quickly scuttled the idea, worried about a backlash over quarantining American tourists on the same Caribbean base where the United States holds terrorism suspects. Such insider conversations are among the revelations in 'Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,' a new book by Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta that captures the dysfunctional response to the unfolding pandemic." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course by February 2020, there were already quite a few coronavirus carriers inside the U.S., so Trump's brilliant Guantánamo lepers' colony plan would not have worked anyway.
NEW. Arkansas Gubernatorial Race. digby: "This is the best introduction ad I've ever seen. If there's a more qualified, talented, perfect candidate to run for Governor against that nepotistic, dry socket Sarah Huckabee Sanders, I can't imagine who it would be:" ~~~
~~~ Thanks to RockyGirl for the link. ~~~
~~~ NEW. Tom Hilton, on Steve M.'s No More Mister Nice Blog, writes the voiceover script for a generic Democratic candidate's ad. He's on the right track. Thanks again to RockyGirl for the link.
Share Article
Reader Comments (6)
Not sure how far it will get him in Arkansas, but this is an amazing start to a campaign. This is the kind of stuff we Dems should be putting out 24/7 -
https://digbysblog.net/2021/06/its-about-time/
But we should also be doing this
https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2021/06/attacking-republican-brand.html
We can walk and chew gum at the same time.
I just watched the ad from Arkansas-- it is awe-inspiring. Imagine having the guts and the forward-thinkingness to forge ahead by members of the black community, when the bigots persist, supported by half the voting public. (I don't actually know the stats, but sometimes it feels like we hopeful nonbigots are being swallowed up by the repugnicans as a whole.) This guy sounds like a treasure, and if he can beat horrible Sarah, it will be all good.
Did not watch any of the "Sunday Shewz" yesterday and I feel quite good about that-- ignorance IS bliss. Have a good week, everyone...
Lindsey's (and before him, Moscow Mitch's) definition of a "power grab" in a democracy?
Is it the January 6 insurrection? The threats to murder elected Representatives and a Vice-President, the storming and trashing of the Capitol...
....or a bill to ensure voting rights for all?
Not that hard to figure, is it?
@Ken Winkes: Perfect antitheses, ain't they.
And if you don't think we are bit players in a rolling tragedy, just look at the fact that its' quite possible a corrupt, lying "legacy" candidate will beat an up-by-the-bootstraps nuclear physicist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/21/liz-cheneys-diagnosis-is-right-so-whats-cure/
Everett Eclectic said:
Very rational, Ms. Rubin.
"But in the sense you and Ms. Cheney use it, rationality has nothing to do with the Republican Party. None at all.
Or seen another way (the Republican Way), they are very rational. They just start from a different set of assumptions.
For them, it's not about democracy; it's about power and holding on to it.
They are in a war against democracy and have no issue with using any and all weapons they can employ against it.
Lying? Of course. Pandering to the ignorant? Certainly. Bending or breaking the rules? Subverting the Constitution? All of that and more. They let nothing, established norms, the law, stand in their way.
There is no Geneva Convention of political discourse or behavior for them. None. In their pursuit of power they have long since tossed anything that smacks of civilization or humanity on the scrap heap.
Knowledge or its lack has nothing to do with it. For their political purposes, Republicans do rely on the ignorance of their base, but most Republican leaders have knowledge aplenty.
They just ignore it, lie about it, or trample on it when it gets in their way."
Or: Those who think lack of knowledge is the problem…don’t know much. Republicans do know how to cheat.