May 9, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Bill Chappell of NPR: "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says she won't enforce her state's 1931 abortion law -- and she's hoping the Michigan Supreme Court finds it unconstitutional, even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down its Roe v. Wade decision.... Michigan's 1931 law defined abortion as a felony. It came under attack by its own government last month, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued to vacate the ban. The push quickly gained new urgency after a draft opinion leaked that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights. If the Supreme Court overturns its abortion ruling, Michigan's law would again take effect, making it illegal to perform abortions in many circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest. The law also forbids using drugs to induce an abortion."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Top leaders in the Oath Keepers, the far-right extremist group, have been turning over phones and digital files and sitting for interviews with the FBI -- and detailing how they worked to benefit Donald Trump's campaign and communicated with others in the former President's orbit, according to court records and multiple sources familiar with the federal investigation."

Philippines. Regine Cabato of the Washington Post: "With more than 85 percent of the vote counted, the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead Monday in elections, with more than twice the votes of his nearest competitor." This is an update of a story linked earlier today.

Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Protesters doused Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, in bright red paint -- resembling blood -- as he was arriving at an event to honor Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II. Footage posted by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti showed the ambassador's face dripping with the liquid as he arrived to lay flowers at the Soviet Military Cemetery on a day of widespread celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The video was shared without audio. Videos shared to Twitter, however, showed huge crowds, with some people angrily shouting 'Fascists!' at a group of Russian officials, whose faces were stained in red. Others at the scene held flowers and Ukrainian flags." ~~~

Roger Cohen of the New York Times writes a summary of Sunday's developments in Ukraine.

** Claire Miller & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "Taking pills to end a pregnancy accounts for a growing share of abortions in the United States, both legal and not. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade as expected, medication abortion will play a larger role, especially among women who lose access to abortion clinics.... It's a regimen of pills that women can take at home, a method increasingly used around the world. The protocol approved for use in the United States includes two medications. The first one, mifepristone, blocks a hormone called progesterone that is necessary for a pregnancy to continue. The second, misoprostol, brings on uterine contractions.... The Food and Drug Administration has approved medication abortion for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. World Health Organization guidelines say it can be used up to 12 weeks at home, and after 12 weeks in a medical office." It is safe & effective. "If Roe is overturned, about half of states are expected to ban abortion altogether, and medication abortion is expected to become a legal battleground." Read on if you or some you're close to might have a need for abortion medication.

Mark Meadows should go to jail, and not just for committing voter fraud: ~~~

~~~ Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: Mark Meadows "had taken the job as chief of staff on the principle that his most important task would be 'to tell the most powerful man in the world when you believed he was wrong,' he wrote in his memoir.... But instead..., Meadows went to extraordinary lengths to push Trump's false assertions -- particularly during a crucial three-week period starting with his trip to Atlanta and culminating in the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. A review of Meadows's actions in that period ... -- based on interviews, depositions, text messages, emails, congressional documents, recently published memoirs by key players and other material -- shows how Meadows played a pivotal role in advancing Trump's efforts to overturn the election. In doing so, Meadows 'repeatedly violated' legal guidance against trying to influence the Justice Department, according to a majority staff report of the Senate Judiciary Committee."

Oh, Great! Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: QAnon adherents, "guns holstered on their hips, have been camping out near Sasabe, Ariz., as a self-appointed border force with the stated aim of protecting the thousands of migrant children who have been arriving from the evils of sex trafficking -- a favorite QAnon theme. They are the latest in what over the years has developed into a cottage industry of dozens of armed civilians who have packed camouflage gear, tents and binoculars and deployed along the southern border. [Jason] Frank, a QAnon influencer whose Facebook page in recent months has shown him pictured with ... Donald J. Trump Jr., Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, has fashioned his team into a new style of border enforcers, motivated not so much by halting immigration as by guarding the country from other perceived threats -- in this case, an unfounded conspiracy theory that migrant children are being funneled into pedophilia rings.... Minors crossing the southern border as part of sex-trafficking schemes is unusual, according to groups that monitor and combat trafficking." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's clear to me that many of these conspiracy theorists are just lamebrains with too much time on their hands. You would think their friends at Hobby Lobby could get them into scrapbooking or stenciling or whatever.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Sunday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus -- the worst sort of Mother's Day surprise for the state's first mom governor. Aides said that Ms. Hochul was asymptomatic, and that the virus had been detected as part of the governor's testing routine in Albany."

~~~~~~~~~~

You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War II. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, punishers and Nazis. -- Vladimir Putin, in a demonstration Monday of how a rampaging, murderous dictator tries to justify his actions ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "... Vladimir V. Putin used his Victory Day speech on Monday to try to channel Russian pride in defeating Nazi Germany into support for this year's invasion of Ukraine. But contrary to some expectations he did not make any new announcements signaling a mass mobilization for the war effort or an escalation of the onslaught.... He also made plain his ever-more-open nostalgia for the Soviet empire, describing May 9, 1945, as a day of triumph for 'our united Soviet people.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: Putin "told the 11,000 assembled service personnel gathered to mark Victory Day, a commemoration of the Soviet Union's World War II role in defeating Nazi Germany, that Russian forces entered Ukraine as 'preemptive pushback' to what he claimed, without evidence, were Western plans to carry out attacks on eastern Ukraine. The United States and Western allies, while backing Ukraine and funneling in weapons and aid, have not entered the fight directly.... Meanwhile in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to the 8 million Ukrainians who died in World War II, saying: 'They fought for freedom for us and won. We are fighting for freedom for our children, and therefore we will win.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Putin is almost as good as Republicans at making up phrases designed to make something horrible sound reasonable. "Preemptive pushback"? Really? That's an internally inconsistent nonsense term akin to "drunk sobriety" or "boastful humility." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's "full report" is here.

Zachary Basu of Axios: "The U.S., G7 and European Union agreed to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia ahead of its symbolic Victory Day holiday on May 9, including additional export controls and a commitment to phase out Russian oil." ~~~

~~~ Patrick Wintour & Andrew Sparrow of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia and the sacrifices its people made to defeat Nazi Germany in the second world war, leaders of the G7 group of leading western economies have said in a statement marking the 77th anniversary of the end of the global conflict. The statement, made on Sunday after a video conference between the G7 leaders and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was intended as a rallying call by liberal democracies in advance of Russia's 9 May Victory Day parade in Moscow."

Maura Forrest & Sue Allan of Politico: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a secret visit to Ukraine on Sunday, joining the list of VIPs who have visited the war-torn country since Russia's invasion began in February. Trudeau was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galadza as he raised the Canadian flag at the embassy in Kyiv and announced its reopening."

Darlene Superville of the AP: "Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.... Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility. Zelenska thanked Biden for her 'courageous act.'... Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, [Biden] toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel...." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Celebrating Mass Murder. Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "One day before a planned celebration in Russia that marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, an airstrike on a school in eastern Ukraine serving as a bomb shelter left as many as 60 people buried under rubble and feared dead, Ukrainian officials said, in what may prove to be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the nearly three-month-old war."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Democrats rang alarm bells on Sunday about the likelihood that Republicans would try to restrict abortion nationwide, two days after an interview was published in which Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said a ban was 'possible' if his party gained control in Washington.... 'If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies -- not only at the state level but at the federal level -- certainly could legislate in that area,' Mr. McConnell said when asked if a national abortion ban was 'worthy of debate.'... On the Sunday talk shows and in other public statements, Democratic senators said Republicans would not stop at letting the states decide the issue, but would most likely push for federal restrictions. That made it paramount, they said, that the Democratic Party maintain control of the Senate as it tries to codify abortion rights into federal law.'

Tom Sullivan in Hullabaloo: "A thread by British science fiction writer Charlie Stross attempts to simplify the (impending?) death of Roe to a single, universal idea: 'Big idea here: The US right's war on abortion is part of a bigger fight -- their war on the Enlightenment era concept of rights.... The solution is a basic right to bodily autonomy and self-determination....' Sullivan also cites a 1928 dissent by Justice Louis Brandeis: "The makers of our Constitution ... conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone...." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Brandeis based his opinion on the Fourth Amendment, a guarantee against unreasonable search & seizure. While ensuring a right to be let alone (i.e., a right to privacy) is commendable and (mostly) desirable, I would agree with the wingnuts that it is not in the U.S. Constitution. It's a human right, to be sure, but our Constitution is remarkably imperfect, and the Bill of Rights in particular is messy and limited in scope. In fact, one of the greatest U.S. feminists of all, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also thought Roe was wrongly decided; it should have been based instead on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This error by the Warren Court, IMO, is what has given the Supreme confederates an opening to strike it down. (Yeah, they probably would have done so anyway, but perhaps with an argument that looked even more ridiculous.)

Amy Phony Barrett explains why it's silly to complain about the overturn of Roe: "Just do your nine. Give it to a stork and the stork will give it to a lesbian. I would think that lesbians would be happy because now there's more babies for them to adopt. Until we ban that, too." ~~~

~~~ Mississippi Govenor Agrees. Amy Wang & Silvia Foster-Frau of the Washington Post: "Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception, sidestepping questions about what would happen next if Roe v. Wade is overturned. On CNN's 'State of the Union,' Reeves confirmed that, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, a trigger law passed in Mississippi in 2007 would go into effect that essentially outlaws abortions in the state, although it makes exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother. When asked if Mississippi might next target the use of contraceptives such as the Plan B pill or intrauterine devices, Reeves demurred, saying that was not what the state was focused on 'at this time.'" MB: Here's the thing, Li'l Darlin'. If you're gonna have sex-you-all intercourse, you're gonna have a baby.

Wisconsin. Luke Vander Ploeg & Addison Lathers of the New York Times: "The headquarters of an anti-abortion group in Madison, Wis., was set on fire on Sunday morning in an act of vandalism that included the attempted use of a Molotov cocktail and graffiti that read 'If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either,' according to the police. No one in the group, Wisconsin Family Action, was in the building at the time, and there were no injuries reported. Although the Molotov cocktail that was thrown through a window failed to ignite, the vandal or vandals started another fire nearby, the authorities said. The fire burned part of a wall." A madison.com report is here.

Mark Esper: How I Saved America from an Insane President* & Kept It a Secret from Voters So I Could Sell Some Books. Video & transcript of Norah O'Donnell's interview for "60 Minutes" of former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Esper tells O'Donnell Trump is a threat to American democracy. No kidding. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS in an interview broadcast Sunday he helped prevent a series of 'dangerous things that could have taken the country in a dark direction' during his time in the Trump administration.... He cited a proposal to 'take military action against Venezuela,' to 'strike Iran' and, 'at one point, somebody proposed we blockade Cuba.' Esper agreed with [Norah] O'Donnell that he had to keep pressing Trump to release $250 million in aid to Ukraine. 'It would be an argument after an argument. And I'd have to say, "Look, Mr. President, at the end of the day, Congress appropriated. It's the law. We have to do it,"' he [said]."

David Fahrenthold & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times highlight a ludicrous giveaway/"investment" of millions of dollars by the U.N.'s little-known Office for Project Services. "The story of these misbegotten investments was, at times, surreal.... But diplomats and former U.N. officials say the tale also demonstrates what critics say is a serious problem with the U.N.: a culture of impunity among some top leaders, who wield huge budgets with little outside oversight.... The top official at the Office for Project Services, Grete Faremo of Norway, announced early Sunday [shortly after this story dropped] that she was stepping down."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Philippines. Regine Cabato of the Washington Post: "Millions of Filipinos lined up in the blazing sun on Monday to vote for a new president, with the late dictator's son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., looking poised to lead the country his family once plundered billions from. The election is a test of truth and the memory of history for about 65 million registered voters in this archipelago, where the Marcos family has spent over a decade rehabilitating their name through an elaborate historical revisionism campaign on social media." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Perhaps democracy's biggest flaw: it's so destructible.

News Lede

New York Times: "A national manhunt for a corrections officer and the Alabama inmate she helped to escape last month ended Monday after a police pursuit resulted in a crash in Indiana, the authorities said. The inmate surrendered, and the officer fatally shot herself, they said. The former officer, Vicky White, had been on the run with the inmate, Casey White, whom she was not related to, since April 29, when they left the Lauderdale County Jail in Florence, Ala., for a courthouse appointment that was later revealed to be a fabrication. The crash occurred in Evansville, Ind., more than 200 miles north of the jail from which Mr. White had escaped, after the authorities there heard that the Whites were in a vehicle near the sheriff's office and began pursuing it. A U.S. marshals vehicle collided with the vehicle the Whites were in, causing it to roll over and crash during the pursuit.... With the vehicle wrecked...."

May 8, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Darlene Superville of the AP: "Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.... Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility. Zelenska thanked Biden for her 'courageous act.'... Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, [Biden] toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel...."

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet virtually with the leaders of the world's biggest economies on Sunday, following weeks in which the United States and its allies have promised billions of dollars in military aid to tip the war against Russia in Ukraine's favor.... The apparent Russian pullback from the area around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, contradicted the Russian narrative of victory in Ukraine and illustrated the complicated picture along the 300-mile front in eastern Ukraine.... C.I.A. Director William J. Burns said that Mr. Putin is 'in a frame of mind that he thinks he cannot afford to lose,' and so the stakes are high." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "Maj. Serhiy Volyna, whose forces are trapped at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works under a constant barrage of Russian fire, made a plea on Facebook for 'everyone to make the maximum effort to evacuate the military.' He described life at the plant as 'some hellish reality show.' Meanwhile, Russian forces bombed a school in Luhansk, leaving as many as 60 people trapped under the rubble and presumed dead, Ukrainian officials said."

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "The Kremlin entered the war expecting a quick and painless victory, predicting that the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky would fracture and that leading officials in the largely Russian-speaking eastern region would gladly switch sides. That has not happened.... In all but a tiny number of villages, Russia failed to flip local politicians to its side. The Ukrainian authorities have opened 38 cases of treason, all targeting low level officials in individual instances of betrayal.... Prominent, once Russian-leaning politicians including Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, and Hennady Trukhanov, the mayor of Odesa, also remained loyal and became fierce defenders of their cities." Assuming Ukrainian leaders in Russian-speaking areas would turn on their own country, Russians did little, if anything, to recruit those leaders' support.

David Stern, et al., of the Washington Post: "All women, children and elderly people had been evacuated from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol, officials said Saturday, concluding one chapter of a harrowing drama where thousands of civilians had been trapped for weeks amid an intense Russian assault.... Ukrainian fighters are still holed up at the sprawling complex, and a regional police leader told The Washington Post that three were killed Friday during the civilian evacuation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that diplomatic efforts were underway to try to free the remaining fighters as well as medics and the wounded. though he acknowledged that such a move 'is extremely difficult.'"

Marie: This makes me scream. The Washington Post is concerned that Bart O'Kavanaugh's neighbor Lacie Wooten-Holway "is breaking an unspoken contract of civility" by leading silent protests in front of I Like Beer's Chevy Chase house. Civlity??? Bart is about to take a profound civil right from millions of women & their families, and Wooten-Holway should be demure, ladylike and, as the WashPo puts it, "genial"? Fucking genial? The neighbors say should not be so "disrepectful" and steer clear of "bitter Washington politics"?

Maureen Dowd must have the New York Times' legal team on high alert this weekend as she muses about the sexual fantasies of repressed Supremes. Why, she describes Clarence Thomas a "pervy liar."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Afghanistan. AP: "Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public -- a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community. The decree says that women should leave the home only when necessary, and that male relatives would face punishment -- starting with a summons and escalating up to court hearings and jail time -- for women's dress code violations. It was the latest in a series of repressive edicts issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of which have been implemented. Last month for example the Taliban forbade women to travel alone, but after a day of opposition, that has since been silently ignored." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I checked an English-language translation of the Taliban's decree. Not surprisingly, the footnotes are full of Sam Alito citations.

Northern Ireland. Amanda Ferguson & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Sinn Fein on Saturday became the first nationalist party to dominate in Northern Ireland, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party lost hundreds of seats in local elections seen partly as a referendum on his leadership. Sinn Fein won the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland assembly, official results showed -- and along with that the power to name its leader Michelle O'Neill as first minister in the regional power-sharing government.... A Sinn Fein win doesn't have immediate implications for unification. Any changes to the status of Northern Ireland would require referendums on both sides of the border, and public support for a unified island isn't yet there. But Sinn Fein hopes it can build support over time."

May 7, 2022

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukrainian officials have warned citizens to prepare for heavier Russian attacks in the lead-up to Victory Day on Monday, when the Kremlin will commemorate the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany with military parades in hundreds of Russian cities. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine implored citizens on Friday to heed air-raid sirens and local curfews.... Earlier in the day, Mr. Zelensky said that negotiations for peace between Ukraine and Russia could not resume until Russian forces returned to the positions they had held before Moscow's invasion.... President Zelensky met with the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and discussed how to increase pressure on Russia. He also addressed Iceland's Parliament virtually." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here: "The Pentagon is buying laser-guided rockets and drones for Ukraine's military, a U.S. defense official said Friday, while the United States will also send an additional $150 million worth of weapons and equipment suited for the open terrain of Donbas. President Biden the same day urged lawmakers to approve additional funding that would 'strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.' The president will sign the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act -- which speeds up the process of sending aid to Ukraine -- on Monday, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, and a day of portentous significance in Russia." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here.

Liz Sly, et al., of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined his conditions Friday for entering peace talks with Russia, demanding a restoration of preinvasion borders, the return of more than 5 million refugees, membership in the European Union and accountability from Russian military leaders before Kyiv would consider laying down its arms. Zelensky's slate of requirements, which he listed during an online forum organized by Chatham House, are in direct conflict with the military objectives Russian leaders have articulated as they bear down on the Donbas region and southern Ukraine -- inflicting additional casualties Friday in apparent violation of a cease-fire."

Gaia Pianigiani of the New York Times: "After weeks of investigation, Italian authorities announced late Friday evening that they had impounded a nearly $700 million superyacht, saying that its owner had 'significant economic and business links' to 'prominent elements of the Russian government.' According to U.S. officials, the prominent element is none other than ... Vladimir V. Putin. In recent days, the Scheherazade, as the enormous luxury ship is named, showed signs of readying to set sail, apparently aiming to leave before the Italian government could seize it. But late Friday, Italian police boarded the yacht -- which is 459 feet long, with two helicopter decks, a gym and a swimming pool convertible into a dance floor -- and told the crew that the ship was not going anywhere." MB: Yeah, but it's pretty tacky, IMO:

** Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: “... Alito will forever be known as the supreme court justice who destroyed a woman's right to control her own body and who set the US on a regressive course pointing back to the 17th century.... [Alito's] draft draws heavily from two treatises written by an English jurist, Sir Matthew Hale, describing abortion as a 'great crime'.... No matter that Hale was writing in 1673. Or that ... his distinguished career included securing the executions of two women as witches and writing the definitive text for a marital rape exemption that said that husbands cannot be culpable of raping their wives because 'by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself'....

~~~ "Alito leans on Hale and other voices from the distant past to underline his main contention: that 'the Constitution makes no reference to abortion' and as a result there can be no constitutional right. He glides over the fact that the constitution ... makes no reference to airplanes, car license plates or Snapchat, though that hasn't prevented the nine justices applying constitutional laws to those fields. Alito's other central argument in scuppering Roe is that constitutional rights have to be 'deeply rooted in the Nation's history and traditions'. Yet, interestingly, that standard makes no appearance in the US constitution either." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Ken Armstrong of ProPublica: "When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ... detailed his justifications for overturning Roe v. Wade, he ... chose to [favorably] quote from Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century English jurist whose writings and reasonings have caused enduring damage to women for hundreds of years. The so-called marital rape exemption -- the legal notion that a married woman cannot be raped by her husband — traces to Hale. So does a long-used instruction to jurors to be skeptical of reports of rape. So, in a way, do the infamous Salem witch trials, in which women (and some men) were hanged.... Alito's opinion resurrects Hale, a judge who was considered misogynistic even by his era's notably low standards.... Alito ... invokes 'eminent common-law authorities,' including Hale, to show how abortion was viewed historically not as a right, but as a criminal act." ~~~

~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Justice Samuel Alito approvingly referenced a man who supported the death penalty for witches in the leaked draft of his efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade.... 'Samuel Alito reaches back to legal writings in 17th century England to show that the right to abortion services is not deeply rooted in our history. He cites Sir Edward Coke, writing in 1644, that abortion is a crime,' [Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC] explained. 'In 1644, in England, they were still having witch trials ending in the execution of the convicted witches. And Sir Edward Coke helped English law define witches when he re-wrote English law in 1604 to make it even more cruel in witchcraft trials.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Missing from Alito's footnotes (as far as I know!): Henry VIII & the Marquis de Sade.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday that the judiciary is threatened if people are unwilling to 'live with outcomes we don't agree with' and that recent events at the Supreme Court might be 'one symptom of that.' Thomas, speaking to judges and lawyers at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference, did not speak directly about the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, a colossal breach of the court's procedures. But he referred a couple of times to the 'unfortunate events' of the past week, and in a question-and-answer session led by a former clerk, he said he worried about declining respect for institutions and the rule of law." MB: Thomas seems completely oblivious to his central role in the Court's decline.

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... the demise of Roe will exacerbate America's antagonisms, creating more furious legal rifts between states than we've seen in modern times.... We will have two wildly different abortion regimes in this country. About half the states are expected to mostly prohibit abortion; according to the Guttmacher Institute, in 11 states there won't even be exemptions for rape and incest. A bill moving through the Louisiana Legislature would allow prosecutors to charge those having abortions with homicide. Blue states, meanwhile, are casting themselves as abortion sanctuaries. The right won't be content to watch liberal states try to undermine abortion bans.... The death of Roe will intensify our national animus, turning red states and blue into mutually hostile legal territories." ~~~

~~~ Goldberg writes, "The point is not that abortion bans are comparable to slavery in a moral sense...." Actually, they are comparable. As Margaret Atwood writes in a Guardian op-ed (extracted from her book of essays, Burning Questions) "Enforced childbirth is slavery."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A son of a Brooklyn judge who dressed as a cave man and helped lead the charge against police lines and barricades in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was sentenced to eight months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to felony civil disorder. Aaron Mostofsky, 35, an aspiring architect, admitted to being one of the first 12 people to enter the Capitol's broken Senate-wing doors and windows shortly after 2:13 p.m., while wearing a raccoon fur pelt and stealing a police shield and bulletproof vest." The AP's report is here.

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "A California judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that Donald Trump filed against Twitter, the latest blow to the former president's high-profile battles with major tech companies over their decisions to suspend his accounts in the fallout of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit, which Trump initially filed last year in Florida along with suits targeting Google and Facebook, was viewed as part of a broader strategy to appeal to conservatives who have long argued that social media companies unfairly censor their viewpoints.... In the ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Trump's argument that Twitter was operating as a 'state actor' when it suspended his account in January 2021, calling it not plausible. Trump had claimed that Twitter was constrained by the First Amendment's restrictions on government limitations of free speech because it had acted in cooperation with government officials." Legal experts said Trump didn't have a case, but Trump used the lawsuit as a fundraiser. A CNBC report is here.

Let me tell you 'bout a man.
What man?
A man with a van.

Trump Mobster Caught on Tape. Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "On Oct. 17, 2020, influential GOP donor Steven F. Hotze ... [called] the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Ryan Patrick, a Trump appointee, who recorded the conversation." Patrick is the son of radical right Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, to whom Hotze had given nearly $100K in campaign donations. In the phone conversation, Hotze asked for help in apprehending a repairman driving a white van, someone Hotze had a private investigator following. The PI was prepared to ram the van, Hotze said, because it was supposedly shuttling phony ballots around. "Two days after the call, the private investigator Hotze had named ran a white van driven by an air-conditioning repairman off the road in Houston and held the driver at gunpoint during a futile search for forged ballots, county prosecutors allege. Police have said the man was innocent. His truck contained repair parts." The Houston DA is using the taped conversation as evidence in a criminal case against Hotze. During a deposition taken in a civil suit brought by the repairman, Hotze claimed he had no knowledge of the surveillance & never spoke to law enforcement about the matter.

Regrets, He Has a Few. Speaking of big-donor losers, Dan Zak of the Washington Post reports that Gordon Sondland, the hotelier who bought the E.U. ambassadorship from Donald Trump and then figured, unfortunately, in Trump Impeachment No. 1, has written a memoir. He thinks he did the right thing getting Trump together with Volodymyr Zelensky. His mistake, he says? Accepting "help" from Rudy Giuliani. MB: The only person who ever came out ahead enlisting Rudy's help is Borat.

Starbucks Sucks, Ctd. Kate Rogers of CNBC: "The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Buffalo, N.Y., issued a complaint Friday accusing Starbucks of 29 unfair labor practice charges that included over 200 violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The complaint stems from claims made by Starbucks Workers United against the company in Buffalo, where the union organizing effort began in August. In the complaint, viewed by CNBC, the NLRB accuses Starbucks of interfering with, restraining and coercing employees seeking to unionize in various ways. The regional office of the independent federal agency said the coffee giant threatened and intimidated workers by closing down stores in the area, reduced workers' compensation, enforced policies against union supporters in a discriminatory way, engaged in surveillance and fired workers, among other alleged violations."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Congressional Race. Kate Brumback of the AP: "Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accepted a judge's findings Friday and said U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is qualified to run for reelection despite claims by a group of voters that she had engaged in insurrection. Georgia Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot issued a decision hours earlier that Green was eligible to run, finding the voters hadn't produced sufficient evidence to back their claims. After Raffensperger adopted the judge's decision, the group that filed the complaint on behalf of the voters vowed to appeal."

Indiana. He's a Murderer (Allegedly!), But He's Our Murderer. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "An Indiana man who is accused of killing his cancer-stricken wife as she was seeking a divorce won his GOP primary this week from jail and will be on the ballot in November -- if he has not been convicted. Andrew Wilhoite was charged in March with killing his wife, Elizabeth 'Nikki Wilhoite, 41. She had completed her last chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer and was seeking a divorce after she found out her husband had been having an affair, according to the Lebanon Reporter. When the Lebanon, Ind., couple got into a domestic dispute in late March, Andrew Wilhoite 'allegedly struck her in the head' with a concrete, gallon-sized flower pot, placed her in his car and dumped her body in a nearby creek, according to the Indiana State Police.... [Andrew] Wilhoite, who initially lied about her whereabouts but later admitted to killing her, won his Republican primary on Tuesday for one of the three open seats on the Clinton Township Board."

Way Beyond

Northern Ireland. AP: "Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein was widely expected to become the largest group in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time, with vote-counting in this week's election resuming Saturday. If Sinn Finn emerges victorious, it will be entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast for the first time since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921. A Sinn Fein win in the election would be a milestone for a party long linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs, bullets and other forms of violence to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of unrest. It would also bring Sinn Fein's ultimate goal of a united Ireland a step closer." ~~~

~~~ U.K. Elliot Smith of CNBC: "The U.K.'s ruling Conservative Party has lost a slew of seats in local elections across England, dealing a potential blow to embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.... The Conservatives have suffered losses across England in the results declared so far, after voting was held Thursday.... Vote counting is now underway in Scotland, where results are expected to be more unfavorable to the Conservatives, along with Wales and Northern Ireland, with results expected Friday evening or Saturday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates of elections results are here.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "In perhaps the most shocking result in the 148-year history of the Kentucky Derby, an 80-1 shot who wasn't even included in the race until Friday sneaked up the rail at the last furlong to win. Rich Strike, who got a place in the 20-horse field only when Ethereal Road scratched a day earlier, and whose trainer, jockey and owner all were Derby first-timers, capitalized on a ferocious stretch duel between favorites Epicenter and Zandon, catching them from behind...."

Washington Post: "An explosion at a historical five-star hotel in Old Havana on Friday morning killed at least 26 people and destroyed much of the building, Cuban officials said. The cause of the explosion was unclear, officials said, but preliminary investigation pointed to a gas leak. Dozens more were injured in the blast that rocked the Hotel Saratoga, across from the Cuban Capitol, around 11 a.m. Friday. On Saturday, officials released the names and ages of the dead; they included a pregnant woman and four children aged 10 to 17."