The Commentariat -- September 5, 2021
Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Joe Biden will visit all three 9/11 memorial sites to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and pay his respects to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day. Biden will visit ground zero in New York City, the Pentagon and the memorial outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 was forced down, the White House said Saturday. He will be accompanied by first lady Jill Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for a separate event before joining the president at the Pentagon, the White House said. Harris will travel with her spouse, Doug Emhoff."
Robert Burns of the AP: "Top U.S. national security officials will see how the failed war in Afghanistan may be reshaping America’s relationships in the Middle East as they meet with key allies in the Persian Gulf and Europe this week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are traveling to the Gulf separately, leaving Sunday. They will talk with leaders who are central to U.S. efforts to prevent a resurgence of extremist threats in Afghanistan, some of whom were partners in the 20-year fight against the Taliban. Together, the Austin and Blinken trips are meant to reassure Gulf allies that President Joe Biden’s decision to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan in order to focus more on other security challenges like China and Russia does not foretell an abandonment of U.S. partners in the Middle East."
Julie Watson & Bernard Condon of the AP: "Veteran-led rescue groups say the Biden administration’s estimate that no more than 200 U.S. citizens were left behind in Afghanistan is too low and also overlooks hundreds of other people they consider to be equally American: permanent legal residents with green cards. Some groups say they continue to be contacted by American citizens in Afghanistan who did not register with the U.S. Embassy before it closed and by others not included in previous counts because they expressed misgivings about leaving loved ones behind. As for green card holders, they have lived in the U.S. for years, paid taxes, become part of their communities and often have children who are U.S. citizens. Yet the administration says it does not have an estimate on the number of such permanent residents who are in Afghanistan and desperately trying to escape Taliban rule."
MoDo Notices the Great American Debacle. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: “One coast is burning. The other is under water. In between, anti-abortion vigilantes may soon rampage across gunslinging territory.... America is reeling backward, strangled by the past, nasty and uncaring.... We feel the return of dread.... With a memory like a goldfish, America circles its bowl, returning to where we have been, unable to move forward, condemned to repeat a past we should escape.” Etc., etc. etc. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Oh, wait, wait; that's not MoDo.
The “Great Reassessment.” Heather Long, et al., of the Washington Post: “There are 10 million job openings, yet more than 8.4 million unemployed are still actively looking for work.... This weekend, the employment crisis will hit an inflection point as many of the unemployed lose $300 in federal weekly benefits and millions of gig workers and self-employed lose unemployment aid entirely.... There is a massive reallocation underway in the economy that’s triggering a 'Great Reassessment' of work in America from both the employer and employee perspectives. Workers are shifting where they want to work — and how. For some, this is a personal choice. The pandemic and all of the anxieties, lockdowns and time at home have changed people. Some want to work remotely forever. Others want to spend more time with family. And others want a more flexible or more meaningful career path. It’s the 'you only live once' mentality on steroids. Meanwhile, companies are beefing up automation and redoing entire supply chains and office setups. The reassessment is playing out in all facets of the labor market this year....”
What Hillary Knew. Colbert King of the Washington Post: “While celebrating the Supreme Court’s June 27, 2016, decision rejecting of two restrictive provisions in a Texas House bill regulating abortion, [Hillary] Clinton warned in a campaign release that the fight for the right to access health care, and for women to make their own decisions about their bodies and their futures, was 'far from over.... The fact that our next president could appoint as many as three or four justices in the next four years' is a striking reminder 'that we can’t take rulings like today’s for granted.'... 'Just consider Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive nominee. The man who could be president has said there should be some form of ‘punishment’ for women seeking abortions. He pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. And last year, he said he’d shut down the government rather than fund Planned Parenthood.'”
Amy Wang of the Washington Post: “Leaders of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are calling out House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for making 'baseless' claims regarding ... Donald Trump’s involvement in that day’s violence. In a joint statement Saturday, committee chairman Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized a Thursday interview by McCarthy, in which he said the FBI had concluded Trump had 'no involvement' in the insurrection.... 'We’ve received answers and briefings from the relevant entities, and it’s been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless,' they continued. Thompson and Cheney also pointedly noted that McCarthy’s statements — including remarks he gave on the House floor on Jan. 13, a week after the insurrection — 'are inconsistent with his recent comments.'... On Jan. 13, McCarthy said in a House floor speech that Trump 'bears responsibility' for the Capitol attack and even floated the idea of censuring Trump....” CNN's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's Thompson & Cheney's statement, via the House.
Jonathan Greenblatt, Director of the Anti-Defamation League, in a CNN opinion piece, says the organization was wrong to oppose "the location of the then-proposed Park51 Islamic Community Center & Mosque near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan." He says it's important to make this admission now, when anti-Muslim conspiracy theories & other expressions of hate are being used to discourage the settlement of Afghan refugees.
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: “Richard B. Spencer, the most infamous summer resident in [Whitefish, Montana], once boasted that he stood at the vanguard of a white nationalist movement emboldened by ... Donald J. Trump. Things have changed. 'I have bumped into him, and he runs...,' said Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent targeted in an antisemitic hate campaign that Andrew Anglin, the founder of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, unleashed in 2016 after Mr. Spencer’s mother made online accusations against Ms. Gersh. Leaders in Whitefish say Mr. Spencer, who once ran his National Policy Institute from his mother’s $3 million summer house here, is now an outcast in this resort town in the Rocky Mountains, unable to get a table at many of its restaurants. His organization has dissolved. Meanwhile, his wife has divorced him, and he is facing trial next month in Charlottesville, Va., over his role in the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi march there, but says he cannot afford a lawyer. The turn of events is no accident. Whitefish, a mostly liberal, affluent community nestled in a county that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 and 2020, rose up and struck back. Residents who joined with state officials, human rights groups and synagogues say their bipartisan counteroffensive could hold lessons for others....”
The New York Times features on its front page links to three stories about cryptocurrencies:
~~~ Eric Lipton & Ephrat Livni: "The boom in companies offering cryptocurrency loans and high-yield deposit accounts is disrupting the banking industry and leaving regulators scrambling to catch up." ~~~
~~~ Ephrat Livni & Eric Lipton: "The development of Bitcoin and thousands of other cryptocurrencies in a little over a decade has changed the definition of money — and spawned a parallel universe of alternative financial services, allowing crypto businesses to move into traditional banking territory. Here’s what is happening in the fast-growing crypto finance industry, a sector that has officials in Washington sounding alarm bells." ~~~
~~~ Why Bitcoin Is Really Bad for the Planet. Jon Huang, et al., of the New York Times: "Cryptocurrencies have emerged as one of the most captivating, yet head-scratching, investments in the world. They soar in value. They crash. They’ll change the world, their fans claim, by displacing traditional currencies like the dollar, rupee or ruble. They’re named after dog memes. And in the process of simply existing, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, one of the most popular, use astonishing amounts of electricity.... The process of creating Bitcoin to spend or trade consumes around 91 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, more than is used by Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million. That usage, which is close to half-a-percent of all the electricity consumed in the world, has increased about tenfold in just the past five years.... Much of the electrical energy gets consumed ... [in] the maintenance of the vast Bitcoin public ledger.... The system wastes energy by design." MB: Like Robert Frost's milkweed pod, "... waste was of the essence of the scheme."
Sarah Kaplan & Andrew Ba Tran of the Washington Post: "Nearly 1 in 3 Americans live in a county hit by a weather disaster in the past three months, according to a new Washington Post analysis of federal disaster declarations. On top of that, 64 percent live in places that experienced a multiday heat wave — phenomena that are not officially deemed disasters but are considered the most dangerous form of extreme weather. The expanding reach of climate-fueled disasters, a trend that has been increasing at least since 2018, shows the extent to which a warming planet has already transformed Americans’ lives. At least 388 people in the United States have died due to hurricanes, floods, heat waves and wildfires since June, according to media reports and government records." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oddly enough, even though I don't live in one of those counties, I got hit by the dregs of Hurricane Ida as her heavy rains knocked over a huge tree. The tree fell on my power lines & knocked two smaller trees onto the lines, too. The power company came out with tree trimmers & freed the lines, but I still will have to have the half-fallen tree trunks cut down. The point is, you don't have to be part of the statistics to suffer the consequences.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Ken W. contributes this post by an anonymous doctor. S/he must speak for tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and other hospital workers. MB: I feel just as this doctor does, but s/he and others who experience the heartache first-hand must feel it a thousand times more vividly than I do. Donald Trump's limp & confusing Covid response, including his discouragement of mask-wearing, is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. But at least he did what he knew how to do (shout at subordinates) to facilitate rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines. Now the mini-Trumps like Ron DeSantis & Greg Abbott, along with millions of Trump's nitwit followers who refuse to take the vaccine, refuse to wear masks, and actively promote unsafe health practices are all murderers, too.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here.
Florida. There's This. Adriana Licon & Kelli Kennedy of the AP: "Florida is in the grip of its deadliest wave of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, a disaster driven by the highly contagious delta variant. While Florida’s vaccination rate is slightly higher than the national average, the Sunshine State has an outsize population of elderly people, who are especially vulnerable to the virus; a vibrant party scene; and a Republican governor who has taken a hard line against mask requirements, vaccine passports and business shutdowns." ~~~
~~~ AND This. Debbie Lord of Cox Media: "Florida businesses, government entities and schools will soon face fines of up to $5,000 fines for asking a customer or visitor to show proof they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. A bill signed in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis will allow the state to issue fines beginning Sept. 16 if people are asked to show proof they have received a COVID-19 vaccine before being allowed in businesses, schools or government buildings."
Way Beyond the Beltway
AP: "Pope Francis is encouraging countries to welcome Afghan refugees who are seeking a new life. During his appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Francis also prayed that displaced persons inside Afghanistan receive assistance and protection."
Afghanistan. Adam Nossiter of the New York Times: "Taliban fighters violently suppressed a women’s protest Saturday in Kabul, while 70 miles to the north ex-Afghan army and militia members battled the Islamist group in Panjshir Province, as pockets of anti-Taliban resistance continued to flare up. Several of the women, who were demanding inclusion in the yet-to-be named Taliban government, said they were beaten by Taliban fighters — some of the first concrete evidence of harsh treatment of women by the group."
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How a Small Town silenced a Neo-Nazi ( hello Richard Spenser) Hate Campaign:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/us/politics/nazi-whitefish-charlottesville.html
SUNDAY IN THE GARDEN WITH GOD: (part two)
I haven't posted any get-togethers with God for––let's say–-probably two years or more? He hasn't shown up nor has he given me a ring-a-ding––forgot my birthday last year and will probably forget it this year as well. BUT–--lordy, lordy. who showed up this morning as I was picking tomatoes but the man himself–-standing there between the Big Boys and the wee cherries.
"Good god! you gave me a scare! But am delighted to see you again" I said.
He smiled, said he was on his way to Texas to interfere with the Devil himself.
"And that would be Gov. Greg Abbott, I presume?" He nodded, yes.
"And what , pray tell, will you be doing?" I asked
By that time we were sitting under the large birch–-since we both have the white skin of the Irish we needed to get out of the sun.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you, revealing the few powers I have left wouldn't be cricket--mums the act, as it were. Suffice it to say it's more ground work with the pro-choice folks–-give them a leg up, so to speak."
"Well, good to hear you finally decided to poke your nose into something important instead of spending your time watching game shows and munching on Tostitos. People keep praying to you for all sorts of things––although, some try and go through that son of yours."
"Ha!" he cackled, "Yeah, always got a kick out of that 'three personed god' thing–- got me off the hook for a whole lot of misadventures."
"So, I asked, Why me? why this visitation after so many years?"
He rubbed his eyes, took off his straw hat and said:
"I keep an eagle eye on Reality Chex–-your buddy Ken's Sunday Sermons tickle my fancy and Marie carries the day just the way I had hoped--but YOU–-you need my help now and then–-keep the faith, girl, chin up and all that jazz–-we'll win in the end–-TRUST Me."
"Interesting that just yesterday I wrote about Trust. I do so hope you are right. Say––care for coffee and a sweet bun or do you have to run?"
"Sorry", he said, "time is of the essence––by the way, this birch looks like it has some fungus on the lower trunk, you may want to consult someone like Forest Morris to check it out. Oh, and by the way, tell Akhilleus and the rest of that stellar crew, they makes my days–-it's the nights I watch game shows and munch on Tostitos."
And with a wave and a nod he was gone––vanished, like the spirit that he is–-but as I walked back into the house the sun suddenly sunk and dark clouds appeared. It's tough, I thought, going to Texas these days, especially for someone like my pal God (Whom I have created) who is on the side of sanity. And, sadly, so many think otherwise.
The Texans with mistresses better be extra careful now that the ladies aren't the only ones who can be punished for a pregnancy.
Maybe the GOP can put out a PSA, "Wrap it up boys or your good ol' time may cost you ten grand."
I wonder if many of the men realize that they have also been put in the crosshairs of this Texas law.
@RAS: I can hardly wait till one of the Texas legislators himself is sued under the law. It's bound to happen. Sooner rather than later, I hope.