The Commentariat -- September 22, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates near zero but indicated that rate hikes could be coming sooner than expected, and it significantly cut its economic outlook for this year. Along with those largely expected moves, officials on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee indicated they will start pulling back on some of the stimulus the central bank has been providing during the financial crisis. There was no specific indication, though, as to when that might happen."
Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the formation of a partnership between the United States and European Union to further the global Covid-19 vaccination effort. 'The United States is leading the world on vaccination donations. As we're doing that, we need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,' Biden said at a virtual meeting with leaders of the United Nations, World Health Organization and countries including the United Kingdom and Canada.... He also made official his administration's plan to purchase another 500 million vaccine doses to distribute to some of the world's poorest nations. News of the additional supply trickled out earlier this week, and will bring the United States' total commitment to 1.1 billion doses."
Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "President Joe Biden ... will hold a series of meetings with key Democrats Wednesday, including [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as party leaders try to salvage their two-part domestic agenda -- a massive social safety net expansion and bipartisan infrastructure bill -- amid a fresh round of hostage-taking from centrist and progressive members.... Biden's attempt at a kumbaya moment could hardly come at a more critical time, with the narrowly divided House nearing an uncertain vote Monday on the Senate's infrastructure deal."
Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet in person next month when they spoke by phone Wednesday, French and U.S. officials said, as the two leaders seek to make peace after a secret arms deal led to an unprecedented diplomatic rupture between Washington and its oldest ally. A White House statement suggested regret over the way the episode unfolded. 'The two leaders agreed that the situation would [have] benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,' the statement said. 'President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.'... The statement also said the ambassador to France would return to Washington next week. Macron had recalled Ambassador Philippe Etienne to Paris in the days after the announcement."
Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Two former GOP treasury secretaries held private discussions this month with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hoping to resolve an impasse over the debt limit that now threatens the global economy, according to four people aware of the conversations. The previously unreported talks involving the GOP economic grandees -- Henry Paulson, who served as treasury secretary under President Bush [II]; and Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Trump -- did not resolve the matter and the U.S. is now racing toward a massive fiscal cliff with no clear resolution at hand.... The backchanneling by Mnuchin and Paulson -- who had previously worked together at Goldman Sachs -- reflects the widespread alarm among economists and U.S. business interests about the consequences of an unprecedented default on the federal debt.
Elliot Spagat, et al., of the AP: “Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion. Haitians have been freed on a 'very, very large scale' in recent days, according to one U.S. official who put the figure in the thousands. The official ... has direct knowledge of operations.... The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations."
Texas. Abbott's "Steel Wall." Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles to line up for miles as a barricade along the border with Mexico, insisting the state was taking 'unprecedented steps,' as thousands of migrants still seek to cross into the United States." MB: The article does not make clear who -- if anyone -- is in the cars and what-all these people might be doing to dissuade immigrants from climbing over the parked vehicles. However, in a tweet embedded in the story, Abbott says, "Texas Dept of Public Safety troopers & Texas National Guard are stanching the flow of illegal migrants trying to cross into the Del Rio region." The Hill's story is here.
Marie: BTW, I heard two law experts, one on MSNBC -- Neal Katyal -- and one on CNN -- Jennifer Rodgers -- say that Donald Trump's lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times lacked merit, & Donald stands little chance of prevailing. Rodgers said she was surprised to see such a sloppily drafted complaint, and she doesn't understand why Donald Trump would want to expose himself in depositions, especially in a suit he is so likely to lose. Related story linked below.
Ukraine. Ivan Nechepurenko & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "A top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was shot at on Wednesday while being driven in his car outside Kyiv, in what the authorities said was an assassination attempt. The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was not injured in the attack, but the driver of the car was wounded and hospitalized, Irina Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in a statement that included a picture of the driver's side of Mr. Shefir's black Audi riddled with bullets."
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Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden defended the messy end to the of war in Afghanistan and made a case that the world can come together to confront global threats like climate change and the coronavirus in a Tuesday speech at the United Nations geared at easing allies' increasing qualms with American leadership. In his first address to the body as president, Biden also affirmed U.S. support for it and an alphabet soup of international partnerships and pledged support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change.... His measured address was notable mostly for its contrast to the boastful tone and sour reception that marked addresses by ... Donald Trump. Biden drew applause when he closed with a note that his speech was the first by a U.S. president in '20 years with the United States not at war.... Biden met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday, less than a week after the surprise announcement that Australia would purchase U.S.-made nuclear submarines, a major military challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times story, by David Sanger, is here. The transcript of the speech, which appears to be as delivered, is here, via the White House. ~~~
~~~ Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced plans Tuesday to double the funding the United States provides each year to help developing nations cope with the ravages of climate change and build greener economies. Speaking at the United Nations, Biden framed the move as part of a broader return to multilateralism, saying the world must work together to combat daunting challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, trade disputes and a rapidly warming planet. Biden said he intends to work with Congress to boost the U.S. annual contribution to the problem to $11.4 billion, an amount he said is necessary 'to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt.'"
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday both decried images of horse-mounted Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting Haitian immigrants in Texas and pledged a swift but thorough investigation into the matter.... Harris, in comments to CBS News, said she supports the investigation launched by Mayorkas into what she characterized as a 'horrible' episode and said she plans to talk to him directly about it later Tuesday.... 'I am going to let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,' Mayorkas said [during an appearance on CNN]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration is aiming to relocate the thousands of migrants camped along the U.S. border in Del Rio, Texas by the month's end. 'Our goal is to do so within the next 10 days or nine days,' Mayorkas said in response to questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Ok.). Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee that officials 'expect to see dramatic results within the next 48 to 96' hours, at which point they'll have a better grasp of the remaining task. Mayorkas said that the administration is continuing to ramp up 'the frequency and number' of repatriation flights for the migrants, the bulk of whom hail from Haiti." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Images of Border Patrol agents on horses, pushing back Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to try to reach U.S. soil, have prompted outrage among Democrats and called into question President Biden's decision to swiftly deport thousands who had been arriving en masse at a small Texas border town.... 'I urge President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to immediately put a stop to these expulsions,' Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on Tuesday. 'We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws.'... Asked if Mr. Biden had seen the images, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said: 'He believes that the footage and photos are horrific. They don't represent who we are as a country. And he was pleased to see the announcement of the investigation.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: No, Jen, this is who we are, and those CPB officers with whips/reins do legally represent the U.S. government. Admittedly, the Border Patrol has the least stringent employment standards among the agencies that employ law enforcement officers. Oh, and "A culture of racism within the Border Patrol has persisted throughout its history." And sexist. But these agents, however racist & ill-prepared to serve, still represent the United States.
Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "U.S. military officials have insisted since the last American troops withdrew from Afghanistan last month that they would be able to detect and attack Islamic State or Qaeda threats in the country from afar. But an errant drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, in Kabul on Aug. 29 calls into question the reliability of the intelligence that will be used to conduct the operations.... New details about the drone strike, which the Pentagon initially said was necessary to prevent an attack on American troops, show the limitations of such counterterrorism missions even when U.S. forces are on the ground." The American strike crew was tracking -- and hit -- the wrong white Toyota Corolla. "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a review of the Central Command's inquiry into the drone strike to determine, among other issues, who should be held accountable and 'the degree to which strike authorities, procedures and processes need to be altered in the future.'"
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday approved legislation to keep the government funded through early December, lift the limit on federal borrowing through the end of 2022 and provide emergency money for Afghan refugees and natural disaster recovery, setting up a fiscal showdown as Republicans warn they will block the measure in the Senate. The bill is urgently needed to avert a government shutdown when funding lapses next week, and a first-ever debt default when the Treasury Department reaches the limit of its borrowing authority within weeks. But it has become ensnared in partisan politics, with Republicans refusing to allow a debt ceiling increase at a time when Democrats control Congress and the White House.... Even with crucial funding for their states on the line, no [House] Republicans voted for the legislation.... And the prospects for passage in the 50-50 Senate appeared dim, as Republicans vowed they would neither vote for the legislation nor allow it to advance in the chamber, where 60 votes are needed to move forward." An NBC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Earlier, That Same Day. Democrats Behaving Badly, Republicans Behaving Worse. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Th U.S. government is careening toward an urgent financial crisis starting in 10 days, as a political standoff on Capitol Hill threatens to shutter the government during a pandemic, delay hurricane aid to millions of Americans and thrust Washington to the precipice of defaulting on its debt. The high-stakes feud stems from a fight to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling. Democrats have tied the increase to a bill that funds federal operations into December, setting off a war with Republicans, who refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden's broader agenda -- even if it means grinding the country to a halt.... With the clock ticking, the House is set to take the first steps Tuesday to adopt a measure that could stave off the political and economic crisis. But the bill already has run into early political head winds, even among Democrats.... [Despite making changes to accommodate disagreements,] their proposal still has no chance in the Senate, where Republicans largely have pledged to vote against combining the debt ceiling with government spending into one bill. The stalemate threatens to leave Congress with little time to resolve a set of disputes...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Benjamin Siegel of ABC News: "House Democrats on Tuesday removed $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system from their stopgap government funding bill, after progressives threatened to tank the measure over the military support for Israel. While Democratic leaders committed to approving the funding by year's end in another must-pass bill, the holdup was the latest episode in an ongoing intraparty debate over support for Israel. Republicans quickly took to social media to accuse Democrats of undermining Israel's security. They also planned a procedural vote to highlight Democrats' divisions -- which was rejected -- even as they had planned to vote against the initial measure when it included Iron Dome funding." ~~~
~~~ Marie: IOW, according to House Republicans, Democrats are terrible to nix Iron Dome funding that Republicans had already decided to nix. ~~~
~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The United States could plunge into an immediate recession if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the country defaults on its payment obligations this fall, according to one analysis released Tuesday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, found that a prolonged impasse over the debt ceiling would cost the U.S. economy up to 6 million jobs, wipe out as much as $15 trillion in household wealth, and send the unemployment rate surging to roughly 9 percent from around 5 percent.... Moody's 'best estimate' is that [the date the U.S. will default on its debt] is Oct. 20, although Treasury has not given a more precise day.... Failure to raise the debt limit would have catastrophic impacts on global financial markets.... Even resolving the matter before the debt ceiling is breached could hurt U.S. taxpayers and the American economy in the long term. The budget battles over the debt ceiling of 2011 and 2013 under the Obama administration ... [cost] the U.S. economy as much as $180 billion and 1.2 million jobs by 2015, according to Zandi and [Moody report co-author Bernard] Yaros."~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... this new version of the GOP is at once so radical and so lacking in responsible leadership that it is plunging headlong and unified toward forcing default on the full faith and credit of the United States. Congressional Republicans are inviting economic calamity.... Though crazies threatened default [in the past], grown-ups in the GOP -- Bob Dole, [John] Boehner, an earlier incarnation of Mitch McConnell -- pulled them back from the abyss. Until now. The crazies are in charge.... The hypocrisy is stunning. McConnell has voted to increase or suspend the debt limit 32 times, including thrice under Trump, who added $7.8 trillion to the debt, The Post's Jeff Stein reported. About 97 percent of the current debt existed before Joe Biden's presidency."
Trump, et al., Were Lying and They Knew It. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. The court papers, which were initially filed late last week as a motion in a defamation lawsuit brought against the campaign and others by a former Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, contain evidence that officials in the Trump campaign were aware early on that many of the claims against the companies were baseless.... The memo ... rebutted a series of allegations that [Trump attorney Sidney] Powell and others were making in public." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~
~~~ Blueprint for a Coup. Philip Bump of the Washington Post lays out how Trump, by memo and/or a mob, planned to grant himself a second term. You can read Trump attorney John Eastman's full election-theft memo here, which also is linked within the Gangel-Herb story linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Crucially, the memo was the culmination of months of work aimed at the Jan. 6 certification date, pulling together Trump's win-at-any-cost strategy with the then-President's willing accomplices in Congress. In the end, it represented the last known attempt Team Trump made at peacefully stealing a second term. After Pence rejected that effort, Trump's mob went after him and Congress.... [John] "Eastman was one of several speakers to address the D.C. rally Trump had beckoned -- the rally that turned into a mob.... 'We know there was fraud,' he said, falsely. 'We know that dead people voted.' Then, he aimed his fire squarely, and publicly, at Pence. 'All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1 o'clock, he let the legislatures of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it and the American people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not!'... 'All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people!' Trump would later the crowd that day. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
I knocked on Mary Trump's door. She opened it. I think they call that journalism. -- Susanne Craig of the New York Times, in a tweet Wednesday ~~~
~~~ Katerina Ang of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has sued his niece, Mary L. Trump, and the New York Times over the publication of a 2018 article detailing allegations that he 'participated in dubious tax schemes ... including instances of outright fraud' that allowed him to receive over $413 million from his father, Fred Trump Sr., while significantly reducing taxes. The suit, filed in a Dutchess County, N.Y., court on Tuesday, alleges that Mary Trump, the New York Times and at least three of its reporters 'engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records' about the former president;s finances. According to the lawsuit, Donald Trump suffered at least $100 million in damages as a result of the alleged actions.... The New York Times and the three reporters named in the suit -- David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner -- won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for their 18-month investigation that culminated in the article. Their work 'debunked [Trump's] claims o self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges,' according to the Pulitzer Prize board." An AP story is here.
#epicfail. Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity. But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data -- including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik's customers. Extremism researchers and political opponents have treated the leak as a Rosetta Stone to the far-right, helping them to decode who has been doing what with whom over several years. Initial revelations have spilled out steadily across Twitter since news of the hack broke last week, often under the hashtag #epikfail, but those studying the material say they will need months and perhaps years to dig through all of it." (Also linked yesterday.)
Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, described by some as the face of 'woke' capitalism, has revealed a new flavor in support of Democratic Rep. Cori Bush's 'People's Response Act,' which calls for a health-centered approach to policing. The 'Change Is Brewing' flavor -- comprising cold brew coffee ice cream with marshmallows and fudge brownies -- aims to help 'transform the nation's approach to public safety,' the company said in support of the legislation. 'It's time to divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free,' Ben & Jerry's said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Unsaid here is that many of the people Bush aims to help -- and at one point, even Bush herself -- could not afford to buy a pint of any flavor of Ben & Jerry's.
Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Human remains found in a national park in Wyoming were confirmed on Tuesday to be those of Gabrielle Petito, according to the F.B.I., which also said that the manner of death had been determined to be homicide.... The specific cause of death was still pending final autopsy results, the agency said. Michael Schneider, a special agent in charge with the F.B.I. in Denver, said in the statement that anyone with information about Brian Laundrie, Ms. Petito's fiancé, who had gone on a cross-country road trip with her this summer and had been named as a person of interest in the case, should contact the agency." ~~~>
~~~ Marie: I did hesitate to link this story, as I am in complete agreement with PD Pepe & citizen625, who wrote in yesterday's Comments thread about the extraordinary coverage that abductions or murders of young white women receive, and with Rockygirl who noted that "pretty, young, blond, and preferably wealthy white women" get the news coverage -- because as citizen writes, their misfortunes amount to news "clickbait." In fairness to the media, this is a prejudice so built-in to the American psyche that when I was a very young child, I thought Disney's Cinderella story was "more important" than "Snow White" because Cinderella was pictured as blonde & Snow White as brunette. (True, Cinderella wasn't rich, but presumably the Handsome Prince fixed that.) As a cute little red-haired girl, I wished I were blonde. When I was a little older, I began to rethink that, based on news coverage that suggested -- falsely -- that blonde women were more apt to be abducted & murdered.
Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "The family of Harry Dunn, a teen motorcyclist who died in an accident that became a high-level diplomatic dispute, reached a settlement in its U.S. civil suit against Anne Sacoolas, an American alleged to have been driving on the wrong side of the road in the East Midlands of England when she hit Dunn -- and who subsequently claimed diplomatic immunity. A criminal case in Britain is still pending, a family spokesman said. Last year, Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, launched a U.S. federal lawsuit claiming wrongful death and seeking financial damages from Sacoolas."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The White House on Wednesday will host a virtual summit on ending the coronavirus pandemic, as President Biden seeks to take a more visible role amid criticism that his administration has done too little on the global stage. The summit, which coincides with this week's United Nations General Assembly meetings, will be broken into four sessions, according to administration officials who previewed the event with reporters on Tuesday. Biden will chair the first session on the need to vaccinate the world...."
Stephanie Nolen & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "As President Biden convenes heads of state for a Covid-19 summit on Wednesday, pressure is growing on American drug companies -- particularly Moderna, the upstart biotech firm that developed its coronavirus vaccine with billions of dollars in taxpayer money -- to share their formulas with manufacturers in nations that desperately need more shots. Last year's successful race to develop vaccines in extraordinarily short order put companies like Moderna and Pfizer in a highly favorable spotlight. But now, with less than 10 percent of those in many poor nations fully vaccinated and a dearth of doses contributing to millions of deaths, health officials in the United States and abroad are pressing the companies to do more to address the global shortage. The Biden administration has privately urged both Pfizer and Moderna to enter into joint ventures where they would license their technology to contract manufacturers with the aim of providing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, according to a senior administration official. Those talks led to an agreement with Pfizer, expected to be announced on Wednesday, to sell the United States an additional 500 million doses of its vaccine at a not-for-profit price -- rather than license its technology -- to donate overseas."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "More people have died of covid-19 in the United States than are estimated to have died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Over 675,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the United States since Feb. 29, 2020, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's roughly how many died of influenza in the United States between 1918 and 1919 -- along with more than 49 million people killed globally during the 'deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.'" (The coronavirus has killed nearly 4.7 million people globally.)" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm loath to demonstrate my poor mastery of arithmetic, but it sure looks as if the U.S. accounts for about ten times more deaths per capita worldwide from Covid-19 than it did from the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That is, 675K/4.7MM (Covid) v. 675K/49MM (flu). Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
Florida. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has introduced the state's new surgeon general, who opposes vaccine and mask mandates amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Joseph Ladapo, who got his doctorate from Harvard Medical School and was a researcher at UCLA, began his role as Florida's top public health official Tuesday. 'Like Governor DeSantis, Dr. Ladapo is not against vaccines or masks -- he is against vaccine mandates and forced-masking,' Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for the government, told The Hill in a statement.... Pushaw said the only people criticizing DeSantis's new surgeon general are 'media activists' and that the doctor’s résumé 'speaks for itself.'" ~~~
~~~ Uh, Maybe Not. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "The man whom Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as his next surgeon general has a long history of questioning the science behind mask wearing and vaccinations as ways to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.... Newsweek reports that newly minted Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo appeared in a hydroxychloroquine-promoting video last year that was organized by a fringe group of medical professionals whose work was subsequently promoted by then-President Donald Trump.... Also making an appearance with Ladapo in the video was Dr. Stella Immanuel, who gained notoriety last year for her theories about demons coming to Earth and impregnating human women, as well as about physicians using 'alien DNA' to treat their patients."
Australia. Stranded in the Outback. Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "Welcome to covid-era Australia, where state border closures designed to keep the coronavirus from spreading have turned retired office workers into roadside nomads. When the pandemic began, many Australians found that the leaders of the country's six states and two territories, rather than the federal government, suddenly controlled the most vital things in people's lives, including who could go to work and where they could travel.... States and territories have shut their borders with New South Wales, where a delta variant outbreak that began in June has grown to average more than 1,000 cases a day recently. The closures have upended domestic travel and stranded scores of Australians internally, even as a vaccination ramp-up means some states -- and international airports --; will soon open up. People in Sydney could find it easier to fly to Singapore or Los Angeles than to Adelaide."
Beyond the Beltway
Alabama Works on a Rewrite of Its Racist Constitution. Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The last time Alabama politicians rewrote their State Constitution, back in 1901, their aspirations were explicitly racist: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.'... One hundred twenty years later, the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised Black voters and enforced segregation across Alabama are gone, but the offensive language written into the State Constitution remains. Now, as communities across the South reconsider racist symbols and statues, activists in Alabama who have labored for 20 years to convince voters that rewriting their Constitution is important -- and long overdue -- see an opportunity to get it done.... This month, a committee of lawmakers and lay people began the process of redrafting; their work will go before the voters next year to be ratified before the new Constitution can take effect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Arizona. Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror: "Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri announced that he will resign his seat after a recording surfaced in which he criticized his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for not supporting the Senate's review of the 2020 election, speculating that two of them were worried about what such a review would show about their own narrow victories in November in a newly released recording.... 'I think it [Biden's win] was done through dead people voting. I think it was multifaceted. I think there's a lot of cleanup here,' he ... [said] in a Jan. 22 phone call, which Gateway Pundit posted on Tuesday."
Texas. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed a new abortion bill into law, further restricting access to the procedure in the state. Senate Bill 4 -- which the Texas Legislature approved during the special session that ended on Sept. 2 -- bans the use of abortion-inducing drugs in the state seven weeks into a pregnancy, according to The Dallas Morning News. The bill also allows people who 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' breach the law to be criminally charged, according to The Dallas Morning News. The penalty for such an action would be a state jail felony, which comes with fines of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in prison." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Crazy Lawsuits May Bring Down Cruel Texas Anti-Abortion Law(s). Ruth Graham, et al., of the New York Times: "When the United States' most restrictive abortion law went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1, it worked exactly as intended: It effectively stopped all abortions in the second-most populous state. But its very ingenuity -- that ordinary citizens, and not state officials, enforce it -- has begun to unleash lawsuits that are out of the control of the anti-abortion movement that fought for the law. On Monday, a man in Arkansas and another in Illinois, both disbarred lawyers with no apparent association with anti-abortion activists, filed separate suits against a San Antonio doctor who publicly wrote about performing an abortion.... Legal experts said the lawsuits filed in state court might be the most likely way to definitively resolve the constitutionality of the Texas law, which has withstood legal tests. Two more sweeping challenges filed in federal court, brought by abortion providers and the Justice Department, raise difficult procedural questions.... From the anti-abortion movement's perspective, neither of the two men who filed suits this week is an ideal plaintiff." MB: No kidding.
Way Beyond
Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, told the United Nations general assembly he had come to showcase 'a new Brazil, with its credibility restored before the world'. But in a 12-minute address, in which the far-right populist preached unproven Covid remedies, denounced coronavirus containment measures and peddled a succession of distortions and outright lies about Brazilian politics and the environment, Bolsonaro did little to repair his country's mangled international reputation." ~~~
~~~ Adam Taylor & Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "While [Jair Bolsonario] devoted only a small part of his address to the pandemic, his presence at the assembly spoke volumes on it: As he has not been fully immunized, Bolsonaro appears to have broken U.N. rules that asked for all those who entered the General Assembly Hall to be fully vaccinated under an 'honor system.'... Anyone who enters the General Assembly Hall at U.N. headquarters tacitly attests that they are vaccinated under rules put in place to prevent the assembly from turning into a superspreader event.... Bolsonaro ... says he does not need to get vaccinated because he recovered from a mild case of covid-19 last year.... Later, Bloomberg News reported that a member of Bolsonaro's delegation, who hadn't been in contact with the president, tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in New York and was placed in isolation."
U.K. Don't know why anyone cares about this, but it seems to be newsy on both sides of the pond: ~~~
~~~ Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has admitted for the first time that he has six children, claiming in an interview on US television that he 'changes a lot of nappies'. The prime minister has previously tended to avoid questions about his notoriously complex family life. He has been divorced twice, and conceived a daughter during an extramarital relationship. But when an NBC interviewer put to him that he has six children, he replied: 'Yes.'" ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. William Booth, et al., of the Washington Post: "As host of the upcoming global summit on climate change in November, billed as a final 'moment of truth,' [U.K. Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and his diplomats have just six weeks to help secure ambitious, concrete commitments to slash emissions of greenhouse gases -- or manage failure.... On Monday, Johnson chaired a closed-door roundtable discussion at the United Nations, alongside U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, where he urged the assembled world leaders to increase their financial commitments and emissions targets.... Then on Tuesday, the prime minister headed to the White House -- by Amtrak, an emissions-conserving choice.... For its part, Britain has announced ambitious climate targets for 2030 and 2035 to help achieve net zero by 2050.... But ... a recent report by the Climate Action Tracker ... noted that there is a 'large gap' between Britain's targets and levels of action."
News Lede
New York Times: "Willie Garson, the actor best known for his role as Carrie Bradshaw's best male friend Stanford Blatch in 'Sex and the City,' has died. He was 57."
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Hardly news of the days:
Like Marie, I noted and nodded at Citizen, PD and Rockygirl's comments yesterday about the latest mysterious abduction and disappearance to grab the nation's attention. Such stories are so common I seldom read beyond the headlines.
As Marie says, the tropes have long been deeply embedded in the nation's psyche. Think I first became conscious of them when I was in my early teens lapping up Thomas B. Costain historical novels, at least one of which ("The Rose?") I remember featuring good and bad women characters, blonde- good, and the dark haired temptress definitely not to be trusted.
It was many years later that it occurred to me to wonder if other places and cultures might have happened on other color coding for the relative virtue and innocence of their women. That thought turned out to be a fundamental and ruinous crack in the foundation of my youthful certainty.
And let us not forget the other tropes that carry the story, particularly the Little Nell--Snidely Whiplash arrangement of innocent girl and evil man that is all about the relative power of the sexes that has been established in western cultures over the centuries.
One other note about blondes: There's also that common association of blonde with dumb, so Marie, wish I'd been around many years ago to tell you you should have been pleased with your own shade of hair.
In our family we're partial to redheads.
Once again Thomas Edsall has written another lengthy piece in which he presents various studies re: the maturation of males and the consequences thereof.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/opinion/economy-education-women-men.html
"The bigger question is how the country should deal with the legions of left-behind men, often angry at the cataclysmic social changes, including family breakdown, that have obliterated much that was familiar. In 2020 white men voted for Trump 61-38. Many of these men have now become the frontline troops in a reactionary political movement that has launched an assault on democracy. What's next?"
I might add here that in all these studies girls/ women present far ahead of boys/men in maturation and education; another reason males need to keep them down at the farm pregnant and busy feeding the pigs.
Trump makes everything worse. And if the U.S. defaults in a post-Trump America it will be doubly so.
Ken: Since we share the same ethnicity –-Irish/German we are bound to have some redheads in the family circle; apparently, you do. In my case there were a few strawberry blonds but I was the only one who had light auburn. I hated being called a redhead when I was very young–-I didn't want to be different but like Marie discovered, it was to our advantage later. None of my three sons have red hair and none of my grandchildren do except Diego , when in sunlight, has a dark red streak in his dark brown hair. I love that.
As far as blonds go––the question was "do they have more fun?" Those that bleached their hair evidently had great expectations that I imagine were rarely fulfilled and your comments re: famous figures in famous stories always seemed to present blonds as the heroines and brunettes as villainous. The latest in that vein was in the broadway musical "Wicked" in which the good witch had golden locks and the bad witch had dark hair and the song "Popular" –--which became popular-–- addresses this very difference.
Today in "The Jab"–-sent to me by that wily friend of mine––-is a photo of a large truck with a sign on its panel that says:
DON'T GET VACCINATED–– and below in smaller letters:
Wilmore Funeral Home
PD,
Will drop the redhead thing (for now) after these two additions.
My father had red hair, more dark than fiery, as did I, and as I came to learn, so did any number of characters in the James T. Farrell novels and stories, particularly the Danny O'Neill stories, that I read in my twenties featuring midwest Irish Catholics in the early 1900's.
But believe me, as you say, it was not all romance. I never understood its origin (tho' Farrell may have tried to explain it to me in later years), but as a child I encountered a definite prejudice against red headed boys. My father repeated this insulting line to me more than once: "Red-headed, freckle-faced sissy baby, sissy baby playing with the girls" hurled at him in his own youth, when I experienced the same in my own small northwest town. Apparently any difference at all, hair color, religion, was just too much for the local louts to handle.
Have one red-headed sister and a seventh-grade granddaughter with glorious red hair. Don't think she has encountered the same nastiness directed at her hair color that I did, and it sure makes it easy to find her on the soccer field.
Should I count that as progress?
Ken: Isn't it pretty to think so. Something Jake Barnes said to his lady love in "The Sun Also Rises." Perhaps we have evolved from that "nastiness" of yesteryear ––and am so sorry your Dad and you had to go through that crap–––but seems that girls with red hair stand out in a whole different way than boys with freckles and red hair. Read the Edsall piece ––-boys have a much harder road to tow right from the beginning.
I would like to think that this stridently misogynistic and supremely unconstitutional anti-choice law in Texas could be hobbled by a raft of greedy assholes bringing suit against doctors for performing a legal medical procedure, but leave us not forget who has the last say here. And it’s not the American people who, by a vast majority, favor a woman’s right to control her own life. No, it’s the savage, but cowardly Savonarolas on the Supreme Court.
And whatever happens with laws like the one in Texas (copycat laws are sure to spring up like foul weeds in other red states), no matter what lower courts decide, the ultimate decision will be made by the Supremes. And despite the fact that these laws are disgraceful and no matter what chaos they promote, we need to remember two things. First, wingers (on the Court, especially) never admit fault, never say they’re wrong, and more importantly, this is what they want. The eradication of choice in America.
Period.
I am disappointed that Biden has not yet fixed the war we got out of under trumpist rules, the Haitian mess of refugees, the other refugees, the Dreamers, the UN, the pandemic, climate change, wildfires, floods, tornados, hurricanes, China's perfidy, murder of "influencers" by their boyfriends, school boards, unruly mobs, police murders and murders BY police, drive-by shootings, school shootings, hypocrisy and felonious behavior by the infamous GQP, and irresponsibility of same...etc.
Does he not know that presidents don't get up before noon and quit at four? tsk tsk tsk
Jeanne,
Joe hasn’t been told about that new presidential tradition, Egg-Zecutive Time, five or six hours a day where the president* holes up in the residence in his tightie-whities, eating Doritos, Big Macs, and diet Cokes, and binge watching tee-vee shows featuring sycophantic liars who praise his every jet of flatulence as manna from heaven.