The Commentariat -- October 2, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ellen Knickmeyer of the AP: "The first Women's March of the Biden administration headed straight for the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday, part of nationwide protests that drew thousands to Washington to demand continued access to abortion in a year when conservative lawmakers and judges have put it in jeopardy. Demonstrators filled the streets surrounding the court, shouting 'My body, my choice' and cheering loudly to the beat of drums. Before heading out on the march, they rallied in a square near the White House...." MB: Best sign I saw was at the Austin, Texas rally: "Texas, where a virus has reproductive rights and a woman doesn't". The signmaker is right.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: Kyrsten Sinema is a hot pink mess (or words to that effect).
Kyle Cheney & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "The committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection and ... Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election will issue 'criminal referrals' to witnesses who refuse to obey subpoena deadlines, Chair Bennie Thompson said Friday.... The panel is also considering offering limited immunity to some witnesses who might be reluctant to share incriminating information with the committee."
AP: "Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied an emergency appeal from a group of teachers to block New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public school teachers and other staff from going into effect. Sotomayor ruled on Friday, after the teachers filed for the injunction with her on Thursday to keep the mandate from going into effect. Under the mandate, the roughly 148,000 school employees had until 5 p.m. Friday to get at least their first vaccine shot. Those who didn't face suspension without pay when schools open on Monday."
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "The woman who has accused Corey Lewandowski of making unwanted sexual advances last weekend has sent a statement to police outlining her allegations against the former Trump adviser. Trashelle Odom, an Idaho-based Trump donor, alleged that while seated next to Lewandowski at a Las Vegas charity dinner, Lewandowski described his genitalia, boasted about his sexual performance and touched her repeatedly, Politico reported on Wednesday. Odom also alleged that Lewandowski intimidated her by claiming that he wielded enormous power over the former president's orbit and that he had committed violent acts earlier in his life."
Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "A template letter [made to sound like a concerned parent expressing impassioned opposition to school mask mandates] circulated by Independent Women's Forum offers a glimpse into a well-resourced campaign [by the Koch fortunate & other GOP megadonors] against public health regulations." MB: Oh, don't tell me this anti-mask campaign isn't about politics; I strongly suspect the idea is to make kids sick so President Biden looks bad for not being able to take control over Covid-19. If that isn't these rich freeedumb-lovers' central motive, I'm sure that find undermining a Democratic President a felicitous side-effect -- even if kids get sick & die.
Philippines. Dynastic Ambitions. Jim Gomez & Joeal Calupitan of the AP: "Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday announced he was retiring from politics and dropping plans to run for vice president in next year's elections when his term ends, paving the way for his politician daughter to make a possible bid for the top post. Speaking before reporters, Duterte said many Filipinos have expressed their opposition to his vice-presidential bid in surveys and public forums."
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Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden attempted to quell an internal Democratic rebellion on Friday, pleading with lawmakers to compromise and stay patient as he tried to revive a $1.2 trillion infrastructure proposal and salvage his broader economic agenda from imminent collapse. Biden made the overture during a rare meeting on Capitol Hill in the midst of an intense, acrimonious fight over two pieces of legislation that Democrats were struggling to untangle.... Democrats did not appear to have an immediate way to advance either tranche of spending, stymied by internecine conflicts among their own divided liberal and centrist ranks. For the second time in as many days, party leaders also delayed a planned House vote on the measure to improve the nation's infrastructure.... In comments that appeared directed toward moderates, the president acknowledged the infrastructure package 'ain't going to happen' until Democrats reached agreement over their second tax-and-spending bill." ~~~
~~~ Lisa Mascaro & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden pledged Friday on Congress' home ground to 'get it done' as Democrats strained to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public works bill after days of frantic negotiations resulted in no deal. Biden huddled with House Democrats in a private meeting that was part instructional, part morale booster for the tattered caucus of lawmakers, telling them he wanted both bills passed regardless of the time it takes. He discussed a compromise topline of $1.9 trillion to more than $2 trillion, according to lawmakers in the room." ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Weisman & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Biden ... put his own $1 trillion infrastructure bill on hold on Friday, telling Democrats that a vote on the popular measure must wait until Democrats pass his far more ambitious social policy and climate change package. In a closed-door meeting with Democrats on Capitol Hill, Mr. Biden told Democrats for the first time that keeping his two top legislative priorities together had become 'just reality.'... To buy negotiating space, the House passed a stopgap measure to extend federal highway programs that expired on Friday, and the Senate planned to pass the measure as early as Saturday."
Here's Nancy Pelosi's letter to the Democratic caucus, which remarks on their meeting with President Biden Friday.
Don't Bother Me with this "Public Service" Stuff. Jonathan Weisman & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "With Democrats pleading for a deal on a hard-fought social safety net bill, one of the key holdouts, Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, left Washington on Friday. The reason, her spokesman said, was a medical appointment for a foot injury. But on Saturday, she is also scheduled to attend her political action committee's 'retreat' with donors at a high-end resort and spa in Phoenix, three different sources confirmed.... The senator, who is not up for re-election until 2024, has met repeatedly with White House negotiators, but some Democrats say she has not been engaged in the intense negotiations needed to at least come to agreement on a 10-year cost of the bill.... Earlier this week, Ms. Sinema's 'Sinema for Arizona' fund-raising arm held a Capitol Hill event with five business lobbying groups, many of which fiercely oppose the bill she is supposed to be negotiating." MB: I do hope some protesters do locate the "high-end resort & spa" and show Kyrsten's donors what they think of her little outings.
Even David Brooks of the New York Times is disgusted with the holdouts and with the American people who don't seem to care about the transformative nature of the Biden agenda. Brooks writes that a $4 trillion spending package is necessary because "the Democratic spending bills are economic packages that serve moral and cultural purposes.... [The Democrats' bills show] the cultural transformation that good policy can sometimes achieve."
Jeff Stein & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Senior White House officials privately explored as recently as this week whether the Biden administration could continue making payments even after the federal government breaches the nation's debt ceiling, according to three people familiar with the matter. The review concluded that the White House would be unable to avoid falling behind on obligations and catastrophic economic consequences even if the administration effectively tried to spend in defiance of the debt ceiling, according to one of the officials familiar with the deliberations.... As part of their internal review, White House officials have circulated internal memos with a range of untested theories should Congress fail to resolve the debt ceiling standoff, including the creation of a $1 trillion 'coin' idea that has been popular among some liberals for years...." ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The fact that Republicans routinely [spout] nonsense is why the Biden administration should mint a $1 trillion platinum coin or declare that the Constitution gives it the right to issue whatever debt is needed to fund the government -- or use some other trick I haven't thought of to ignore the looming crisis.... While this radicalized [Republican] party cheerfully authorizes trillions in borrowing whenever it holds the White House, it weaponizes the debt limit whenever a Democrat is president.... Now..., Democrats control both houses of Congress, but Republicans are using the filibuster to block an increase in the debt ceiling with only weeks to go before we hit a wall and default on payments -- and they aren't even making specific demands. They simply don't want to share any responsibility for governing.... Underlying all of this is the belief that voters will blame [President] Biden for bad things that happen on his watch, even if Republicans deliberately caused those bad things to happen."
Paul Weber of the AP: "The Biden administration on Friday urged a federal judge to block the nation's most restrictive abortion law, which has banned most abortions in Texas since early September and sent women racing to get care beyond the borders of the second-most populous state. But even if the law is put on hold, abortion services in Texas may not instantly resume because doctors still fear that they could be sued without a more permanent legal decision. That worry underscores the durability of Senate Bill 8, which has already withstood a wave of challenges. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, presided over a nearly three-hour hearing but did not say when he will rule." ~~~
~~~ Katie Benner & Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "... Wiiliam T. Thompson, a lawyer for the State of Texas, asserted that the federal government had no grounds to be arguing the case, because the law did not harm it.... Brian Netter, a lawyer for the Justice Department, argued on Friday that, contrary to Texas' claims, Senate Bill 8 did directly harm the federal government because it violated the constitutional principal that federal law took precedence over state law if a conflict arose between the two.... He said that the federal government also had to challenge the law because it effectively deprived a group of citizens a constitutional right." Thompson told Judge Pitman that the vigilante process that is at the center of the state law's enforcement mechanism "uses the normal and lawful process of justice in Texas." MB: Well, it isn't normal, it isn't lawful, and there's no justice involved.
Colby Hall of Mediaite: "A shocking new poll from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia reveals that over half of Trump voters surveyed, and 41% of Biden voters, are in favor of blue and/or red states seceding from the union."
Pretending to Be a Hero Is So Trumpy. Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN: "During a rally in Georgia over the weekend..., Donald Trump invited Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark to the stage, implying he was the Marine in a viral video who lifted a child over a wall at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. 'We're also honored to be joined by one of the Marines who bravely served in Kabul during the withdrawal,' Trump said, 'and helped evacuate children over ... the airport wall. You saw him. He did a great job.' Clark told the audience Saturday: 'I am the guy that pulled the baby over the wall and it's definitely probably one of the greatest things I've ever done in my entire life.'... A US Marine Corps spokesperson said Clark was not the individual who lifted the child over a wall in the viral image and that Clark is now being investigated for his appearance at the rally."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Julie Bosman & Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "The United States surpassed 700,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Friday, a milestone that few experts had anticipated months ago when vaccines became widely available to the American public. An overwhelming majority of Americans who have died in recent months, a period in which the country has offered broad access to shots, were unvaccinated. The United States has had one of the highest recent death rates of any country with an ample supply of vaccines. The new and alarming surge of deaths this summer means that the coronavirus pandemic has become the deadliest in American history, overtaking the toll from the influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which killed about 675,000 people."
Matthew Perrone of the AP: "In a potential leap forward in the global fight against the pandemic, drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental pill for people sick with COVID-19 reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half. If cleared by regulators, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, adding a whole new, easy-to-use weapon to an arsenal that already includes the vaccine. The company said it will soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize the pill's use. A decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could come within weeks after that, and the drug, if it gets the OK, could be distributed quickly soon afterward." The Washington Post's report is here.
California. Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "California's governor on Friday issued the nation's first statewide Covid-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren, saying they would be required as soon as next fall to be inoculated against the coronavirus to attend public and private schools in the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom's order adds the coronavirus vaccine to other inoculations, such as for measles and mumps, that are required for nearly seven million students to attend K-12 schools in person. The mandate will first apply to seventh through 12th grades, and then kindergarten through sixth grades, but only after the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval to a vaccine for those age groups. The mandate is one of the largest announced during [the] coronavirus pandemic.... Another sweeping order that requires health care workers to be vaccinated took effect on Thursday in California, following similar -- and in some cases, even more stringent -- mandates in New York, Rhode Island, Maine, Oregon and the District of Columbia." The AP's report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Fraduit a Bigger Sham Than We Knew. Michael Wines & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "The circuslike review of the 2020 vote commissioned by Arizona Republicans took another wild turn on Friday when veteran election experts charged that the very foundation of its findings -- the results of a hand count of 2.1 million ballots -- was based on numbers so unreliable that they appear to be guesswork rather than tabulations. The organizers of the review 'made up the numbers,' the headline of the experts' report reads. The experts, a data analyst for the Arizona Republican Party and two retired executives of an election consulting firm in Boston, said in their report that workers for the investigators failed to count thousands of ballots in a pallet of 40 ballot-filled boxes delivered to them in the spring. The final report by the Republican investigators concluded that President Biden actually won 99 more votes than were reported, and that ... Donald J. Trump tallied 261 fewer votes. But given the large undercount found in just a sliver of the 2.1 million ballots, it would effectively be impossible for the Republican investigators to arrive at such precise numbers, the experts said.... Nonetheless, the review has been embraced by Mr. Trump and his followers even as its findings have been overwhelmingly refuted." ~~~
~~~ Marie: AND another thing: it took the experts only a few weeks to complete their analysis & report; it took the Cyber Ninjas months to "complete" their fraudit. Of course the experts probably failed to count all the bamboo strands in each paper ballot, which one imagines is time-consuming.
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Reader Comments (9)
New Britain (CT) High School warns against #Slapateacher challenge on Tic Toc that is spreading across the country. This is alarming and infuriating–--we have enough problems with Facebook, Instagram and other social media. Amazing how hate has gotten such a leg up lately.
https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-tik-tok-slap-a-teacher-20211001-hj3syochljcrljbwdogfbzwygi-story.html
And speaking of hate––-Fatty pops up! The story above about false statements re: the Kabul military person that lifted children over a fence is so typical–––Trump is like an ointment that flies fly into, get stuck and die. He's toxic. I want him finished–-forever!
I can't recall when I last posted a column by Maureen Dowd but having read her latest this morning it deserves mention. She presents Sinema whose name rhymes with 'cinema', as being in her own film, even dressing like someone who is bound to be noticed along with various wigs and pink hair on occasion and mentioning her bi-sexuality. One could almost conclude this senator is playing a role of a lifetime just for fun while being the stick that's causing the stuck and the stink.
So kudos to Dowd for dissing and dressing up this woman whose antics are suspect and infuriating. Also thought the Hemingway quote was quite good.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/opinion/kyrsten-sinema-congress.html
Can you sue yourself? It would take the sting out of the Texas abortion law if you could pay yourself the ten grand and it is first come first serve so only one person can sue an individual.
Also Merck definitely needs to add horses to the packaging of their covid pill in order for there to be a chance any of the wingers will take it.
One more story that knocked my socks off: Prosecutors in Wyoming consider charging librarians for stocking "obscene" books in section for children. At the end of this information there is a slide that shows 10 banned books ( and reasons why) and this is what caused the bare feet. Most all of them had been my childhood readings as well as my children's–– hence––according to thems that ban––we have been corrupted. I have no idea who those "thems" are but can conclude their noggins are one step below fleas although on second thought maybe their bites might be the same.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/librarians-charged-for-stocking-books_n_61578e1de4b050254232eba7
Paying bills this morning the old-fashioned way, writing checks and putting them in the mail later today.
Presume they will still get to their destination before the due date.
But now, with the promised delayed first-class delivery, I'm thinking: no worries; I will forward any accrued late fees directly to Mr. DeJoy.
@RAS: Interesting point, which as yet has no answer. According to Texas Monthly, "Each lawsuit has a minimum statutory damage amount of $10,000, with the damages collected by the plaintiff as a sort of bounty. There’s no upper limit on the amount for which a defendant can be sued. It’s not clear yet if a person who gets sued under SB 8 can be sued by multiple parties or if the first lawsuit to be adjudicated will be the only one that results in damages. The law, as written, allows unlimited lawsuits, which could be filed by anyone anywhere in the country."
That is, as the law is written, hundreds of strangers could sue you and the court could award each of them, say, $10 million.
I don't think you can sue yourself, but you might be able to make an arrangement with a trusted relative or friend to sue you if you thought you'd be liable under the law and are likely to be outted -- for instance, you contribute to Planned Parenthood & your donation is public record (or even if there's a public record of your pledge to a Texas abortion clinic -- whether or not you fulfill the pledge). However, since it may be possible for several people or entities to sue one person for one instance of aiding & abetting an abortion, it's impossible to say if the ruse would work.
You would still incur some court (and maybe travel) costs, even if you kept the litigation to a minimum & didn't hire lawyers.
For the unvaccinated, the Merck pills should cost $50,000 each.
@NiskyGuy and hopefully Medicare will not cover!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/us/politics/john-eastman-trump-memo.html#commentsContainer. One seditious maggot a slight bit more clever than RudyG. It really is a shame that lawyers are held to such low standards of integrity. Maybe we'd do better finding leaders if we looked at bricklayers or plumbers or moms instead of lawyers.