December 7, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call Tuesday morning focused on growing tensions over Ukraine as Russia masses troops along the border, prompting fears of a Russian invasion of the Eastern European nation." At 1:25 pm ET, this story appears to be "in progress." MSNBC just received the White House's call readout.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under ... Donald J. Trump, on Tuesday informed the committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol that he was no longer willing to cooperate with its investigation, reversing a deal he reached with the panel just last week to sit for an interview and provide documents.... Instead, he proposed that Mr. Meadows answer questions in writing through what he called an 'orderly process' that would create a 'clear record of questions and related assertions of privilege.' The turnabout was the second in two weeks by Mr. Meadows, who had initially refused to comply with a subpoena from House panel in line with a directive from Mr. Trump, but told the panel last week that he would be willing to provide documents and sit for a voluntary interview." CNN's story is here.

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.

Ben Hubbard & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "The French police arrested a Saudi man on Tuesday in connection with the assassination of the dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi, but French authorities warned that they were still verifying his identity. A French judicial official confirmed that the man, identified as Khalid Alotaibi, 33, was arrested at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey, just before he was to board a flight for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A man by that name is accused of being a member of the team that killed Mr. Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.... If his identity is confirmed, France could extradite him to Turkey to face charges there." A BBC News report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

President Biden, in a proclamation, on "a date which will live in infamy." ~~~

     ~~~ Audrey McAvoy of the AP: "A few dozen survivors of Pearl Harbor are expected to gather Tuesday at the site of the Japanese bombing 80 years ago to remember those killed in the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II."

Ellen Nakashima & Rick Maese of the Washington Post: "The United States will not send President Biden or any U.S. government official to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February to protest China's human rights abuses, the White House announced Monday, in a pointed snub to a country seeking to use the Games to enhance its global standing. Though largely symbolic -- the diplomatic boycott does not affect the ability of American athletes to participate in the Games -- it will be seen as a major affront by Washington's greatest military and economic competitor as China seeks to distract from its increasingly repressive policies at home and aggression abroad."

Trumped-up Charges? Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The defense team for a cybersecurity lawyer who was indicted in September by a Trump-era special counsel asked a judge on Monday to set a trial date sooner than the prosecutor wants -- while disclosing evidence recently turned over to them that appears to contradict the charge. The materials could make it harder for the special counsel, John H. Durham, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the cybersecurity lawyer, Michael Sussmann, is guilty of the charge against him: making a false statement to the F.B.I. during a September 2016 meeting about possible links between Donald J. Trump and Russia. The newly disclosed evidence consists of records of two Justice Department interviews of the former F.B.I. official to whom Mr. Sussmann is accused of lying, each of which offers a different version of the key interaction than the version in the indictment. That official [-- James A. Baker --] is the prosecution's main witness.... Mr. Baker's accounts ... have been inconsistent...."

Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, is cooperating with the January 6 committee, a significant development that will give investigators insight from one of the highest-ranking Trump officials, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee's activities. CNN is also reporting for the first time that the committee subpoenaed Short a few weeks ago. Short remains one of Pence's closest advisers and is a firsthand witness to many critical events the committee is examining, including what happened to Pence at the Capitol on January 6 and how ... Donald Trump pressured the former vice president not to certify the presidential election that day."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican who emerged as one of ... Donald J. Trump's most loyal and pugnacious allies, announced on Monday that he would resign from Congress after 19 years to become the chief executive officer of Mr. Trump's new media and technology company. Mr. Nunes faced almost impossible odds in being re-elected to the Central Valley district that his family has farmed for three generations. A new map emerging from an independent citizens' redistricting commission was almost certain to flip it from a district Mr. Trump won handily to one President Biden would have won. But political analysts and politicians in the district had predicted that Mr. Nunes ... would jump to a newly created, Republican-friendly district.... Mr. Nunes's decision to take over Mr. Trump's fledgling media enterprise instead of the influential House panel that writes tax and health care policy signals where he thinks power lies in the Republican Party and the conservative movement." Politico's story is here. Thanks to Ken W. for the lead. In yesterday's thread, unwashed speculated on the role of Devin Nunes' Cow in the Trump media empire. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Being a member of Congress cannot be a fun job. But there's hardly a worse, more humiliating job in the U.S. than "Donald Trump employee." ~~~

     ~~~ digby is bearish: "The odds of this enterprise ever making any money are very long. Trump is a terrible businessman and what Nunes knows about running a company and social media is confined to suing a twitter user and losing. Should work out great."

~~~ Matthew Goldstein & David Enrich of the New York Times: "Securities regulators have opened investigations into the planned merger of a nascent social media company backed by ... Donald J. Trump with a so-called blank-check company that raised nearly $300 million in an initial public offering in September. The investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority were disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing by Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the special purpose acquisition company that intends to merge with Trump Media Technology Group. Both regulators are looking for information regarding the trading in shares of Digital World. The S.E.C. is also looking into 'documents and communications' between Digital World and Trump Media.... The investigation ... comes after The New York Times reported that the chief executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, had talks with representatives of Trump Media as far back as March about doing a deal." The report is part of the Times' business updates for Monday. The Washington Post story is here. MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a business deal involving Donald Trump could be suspect. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) CNBC has a story here.

Emma Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months after ... Donald Trump lost the November election, lawyer Sidney Powell raised large sums from donors inspired by her fight to reverse the outcome of the vote. But by April, questions about where the money was going -- and how much there was -- were helping to sow division between Powell and other leaders of her new nonprofit, Defending the Republic.... Records reviewed by The Washington Post show that Defending the Republic raised more than $14 million, a sum that reveals the reach and resonance of one of the most visible efforts to fundraise using baseless claims about the 2020 election. Previously unreported records also detail acrimony between Powell and her top lieutenants over how the money -- now a focus of inquiries by federal prosecutors and Congress -- was being handled." MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a fundraising scheme cooked up by Donald Trump's lawyer could be suspect. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Audra Burch & Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The Justice Department announced on Monday that it had closed an investigation into the abduction and murder of Emmett Till, the African American teenager whose gruesome killing by two white men more than six decades ago in Mississippi helped begin the civil rights movement. In a news release dated Dec. 6, federal officials said there was not enough evidence to pursue charges in the case, which was reopened after a historian claimed in a book that Carolyn Bryant Donham, the central witness whose account of an encounter with Emmett led to his death, had recanted the most salacious portions of her story -- that he had grabbed her and made sexually suggestive remarks. Citing the statute of limitations and Ms. Donham's denial that she had ever changed her story, the Justice Department said it could not move forward with prosecuting her for perjury." A Politico report is here.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former senator Robert J. Dole, who died Sunday at age 98, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Monday."

Bob Dole, in a Washington Post op-ed. Dole "drafted early in 2021 to be published around the time of his death": "We have overcome our biggest challenges only when we focused on our shared values and experiences. These common ties form much stronger bonds than political parties. I cannot pretend that I have not been a loyal champion for my party, but I always served my country best when I did so first and foremost as an American.... By leading with a shared faith in each other, we become America at its best: a beacon of hope, a source of comfort in crisis, a shield against those who threaten freedom. Our nation's recent political challenges remind us that our standing as the leader of the free world is not simply destiny. It is a deliberate choice that every generation must make and work toward. We cannot do it divided."

Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11, the election of Barack Obama and the destabilizing presidency of Donald Trump, died Dec. 6 at a hospital in New York City. He was 66. He had sudden cardiac arrest on Nov. 24 while visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, said his wife, Margaret 'Pooh' Shapiro, and did not regain consciousness. He had been treated for heart ailments in the past." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: “Federal health authorities issued a warning Monday against travel to several European countries as well as Jordan and Tanzania amid growing fears of the omicron variant, telling people to make sure they are fully vaccinated if they must visit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said to avoid travel to France, Portugal, Cyprus, Andorra and Liechtenstein, grouping all in a Level 4 category that represents a 'very high' level of the coronavirus."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Donald Trump lobbied hard to get former Sen. David Perdue (R) to run against current Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, ensuring a nasty primary race.

Illinois. Sonia Rao of the Washington Post: "Former 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett, facing six felony disorderly conduct charges for allegedly filing a false police report about being the victim of a hate crime, took the stand in a Chicago courtroom Monday to testify in his own defense. He reiterated his stance that there 'was no hoax.'"; Politico's report is here.

New York. Billionaire Thief. Tom Mashberg of the New York Times: "Michael H. Steinhardt, the billionaire hedge fund pioneer and one of New York's most prolific antiquities collectors, has surrendered 180 stolen objects valued at $70 million and been barred for life from acquiring any other relics, the Manhattan district attorney's office said in a statement Monday. The prosecutor's office struck an agreement with Mr. Steinhardt after a four-year multinational investigation that determined that the seized pieces had been looted and smuggled from 11 countries, trafficked by 12 illicit networks and appeared on the international art market without lawful paperwork, the office said." MB: I think the old fart should go to jail.

New York. Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A woman who says she had a years-long sexual relationship with Jeffrey Epstein told jurors on Monday that Ghislaine Maxwell played a key role in facilitating their encounters, first telling her that Epstein was a philanthropist interested in helping young people and then encouraging her to give him massages. The former British model, actress and musician testified in Maxwell's sex-trafficking trial under the pseudonym Kate, although she has been named in interviews she has given in the past about alleged abuse by Epstein. Because she was not under the legal age of consent when she was involved with Epstein, jurors in U.S. District Court in Manhattan were told she is not one of Maxwell's alleged sex-trafficking victims."

Texas. Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department sued Texas on Monday over the state's plan to redraw its voting districts, saying it would essentially make ballots cast by Black and Latino voters count for less than those of others. In announcing the suit, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said that the redistricting plan that the state's Republican-led legislature approved in October violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which says that voters cannot be denied equal access to the political process based on their race or ethnicity. The suit was the second in a little over a month to be filed by the Justice Department challenging Texas over voting. The department sued the state in early November over a new voting law that it argued would disenfranchise Texans who do not speak English, people with disabilities, older voters and those who live outside the United States." Politico's story is here.

Way Beyond

Germany. Geir Moulson of the AP: Chancellor Angela Merkel is "leaving office at age 67 to praise from abroad and enduring popularity at home. Her designated successor, Olaf Scholz, is expected to take office Wednesday. Merkel, a former scientist who grew up in communist East Germany, is bowing out about a week short of the record for longevity held by her one-time mentor, Helmut Kohl, who reunited Germany during his 1982-1998 tenure."

Haiti. Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Three more of the 17 missionaries who were kidnapped by a notorious street gang in Haiti in October have been released, Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said Monday. The three, who were freed Sunday night, 'are safe and seem to be in good spirits,' the organization said in a statement. Two other members of the group were released last month; 12 remain in captivity."

December 6, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Goldstein & David Enrich of the New York Times: "Securities regulators have opened investigations into the planned merger of a nascent social media company backed by ... Donald J. Trump with a so-called blank-check company that raised nearly $300 million in an initial public offering in September. The investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority were disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing by Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the special purpose acquisition company that intends to merge with Trump Media Technology Group. Both regulators are looking for information regarding the trading in shares of Digital World. The S.E.C. is also looking into 'documents and communications' between Digital World and Trump Media.... The investigation ... comes after The New York Times reported that the chief executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, had talks with representatives of Trump Media as far back as March about doing a deal." The report is part of the Times' business updates for Monday. The Washington Post story is here. MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a business deal involving Donald Trump could be suspect.

Emma Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months after ... Donald Trump lost the November election, lawyer Sidney Powell raised large sums from donors inspired by her fight to reverse the outcome of the vote. But by April, questions about where the money was going -- and how much there was -- were helping to sow division between Powell and other leaders of her new nonprofit, Defending the Republic.... Records reviewed by The Washington Post show that Defending the Republic raised more than $14 million, a sum that reveals the reach and resonance of one of the most visible efforts to fundraise using baseless claims about the 2020 election. Previously unreported records also detail acrimony between Powell and her top lieutenants over how the money -- now a focus of inquiries by federal prosecutors and Congress -- was being handled." MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a fundraising scheme cooked up by Donald Trump's lawyer could be suspect.

Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11, the election of Barack Obama and the destabilizing presidency of Donald Trump, died Dec. 6 at a hospital in New York City. He was 66. He had sudden cardiac arrest on Nov. 24 while visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, said his wife, Margaret 'Pooh' Shapiro, and did not regain consciousness. He had been treated for heart ailments in the past."

~~~~~~~~~~

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources. The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing."

Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "[A family] photo was posted on Twitter by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Saturday, along with the caption: 'Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.... Everyone in the image is holding a long gun.... Both Democratic and Republican elected officials, Michigan residents still reeling from the school shooting last week that left four dead, and parents of gun violence victims all took to Twitter to criticize Massie's Christmas photo. Meanwhile, some conservative politicians, pundits and media personalities jumped to his defense.... 'I'm pro second amendment, but this isn't supporting right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish,' Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "In describing the photo, [conservative commentator Charles] Sykes, [speaking on MSNBC,] called it nothing more than a 'd*ck pic,' photos that men send unsolicited to women of their penis to show off their masculinity. Sykes explained that Massie's need to show off how big his gun is.... [Host Lindsey] Reiser came back after the panel discussion and apologized to 'families' who may have been watching and heard Sykes refer to Massie's guns the way he did." MB: Yeah, "What's a dick pic, Mommy?"

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Bob Dole, the plain-spoken son of the prairie who overcame Dust Bowl deprivation in Kansas and grievous battle wounds in Italy to become the Senate majority leader and the last of the World War II generation to win his party's nomination for president, died on Sunday. He was 98." (Also linked yesterday.) Dole's Washington Post obituary is here. An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Leaders from across the political spectrum offered tributes to Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee who died on Sunday, hailing him as a war hero and statesman who dedicated his life to public service. 'Bob Dole was a man to be admired by Americans,; President Biden said on Twitter. 'He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor.'" Biden's full statement is here. ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "President Biden has ordered U.S. flags at the White House, federal buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, embassies and consulates to be flown at half-staff until Dec. 9 to honor former senator Robert J. Dole...." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times repeats some of Bob Dole's acerbic jokes. Some are funny; some not so much.

Betsy Swan & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "A former D.C. National Guard official is accusing two senior Army leaders of lying to Congress and participating in a secret attempt to rewrite the history of the military's response to the Capitol riot. In a 36-page memo, Col. Earl Matthews, who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon roles during the Trump administration, slams the Pentagon's inspector general for what he calls an error-riddled report that protects a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours. Matthews' memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by Politico, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals -- Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff -- 'absolute and unmitigated liars' for their characterization of the events of that day.... Matthews' memo does not insinuate that Gen. Charles Flynn's actions on Jan. 6 were shaped by his brother [Michael], who has been subpoenaed by the select committee, and does not mention Michael Flynn."

News from the Funny Papers. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The double negative, a common grammatical elephant trap, claimed a high-profile victim on Saturday night. Donald Trump. In a statement, the former president said: 'Anybody that doesn't think there wasn't massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!' There was no massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote. But Trump thinks, or at least says, that there was massive election fraud. Though his own formula would therefore make him 'very stupid, or very corrupt', his claims have had deadly effect, stoking the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January." When a person who claims to have "a very good brain" turns out to be "very stupid, or very corrupt," it's "Sad!" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Props to PD Pepe & Forrest M. for pointing out in yesterday's thread how very smart Dr. Margie Greene (or, as she's known in the home of the unwashed, Majorette Traitor Gangrene) is: ~~~

Every single year more than 600,000 people in the US die from cancer. The country has never once shut down. Not a single school has closed. And every year, over 600,000 people, of all ages and all races will continue to die from cancer. -- Majorie Taylor Greene, in a tweet

** Trump, One-man Super-spreader, Ctd. Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post follow Donald Trump's seven-day reckless coronavirus trail: "From the day he tested positive until his hospitalization [about a week later], Trump came in contact with more than 500 people, either those in proximity to him or at crowded events, not including rallygoers, according to a Washington Post analysis of the president's interactions during that period. That seven-day window reveals a president and chief of staff who took a reckless, and potentially dangerous, approach to handling the coronavirus, including Trump's own positive test. Trump and [Chief-of-Staff Mark] Meadows hid Trump's positive test not just from the public, but also from his inner circle and from his top public health officials. He took part in a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden three days later, never revealing the test result to Biden or event organizers. And Trump took no extra precautions, such as mask-wearing or social distancing, to protect those he came in contact with in the days following the positive test. By the end of October, more than two dozen people in Trump's orbit would test positive for the coronavirus."

Louisiana. AP: "A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the Norwegian Breakaway had arrived in the city. The ship departed New Orleans on Nov. 28. The Louisiana Department of Health said in a late Saturday news release that over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico." MB: "Breakaway" is an appropriate name for a ship carrying passengers with breakaway cases of the virus.

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Santa's Got a Gun. Jacklyn Peiser of the Washington Post: The Colorado Springs sheriff's department tweeted out a photo of a man dressed as Santa Claus who had stopped in the sheriff's office to get a concealed-carry permit. The tweet, according to the sheriff, "was meant to advertise concealed handgun permits, [but] was swiftly met with outrage and condemnation. Three hours later, the department in Colorado Springs apologized.... 'What is your message to children here?' [one person] tweeted. 'Santa has a legally concealed weapon? For protection against elves, reindeer, children who take a peek on Xmas eve? There is enough anxiety among children already.'" MB: I dunno. It's beginning to look a lot like an iconic American image of Christmas, isn't it? ~~~

Guess who came in to receive his Concealed Handgun Permit today? 🎅

Did you know the El Paso County Sheriff's Office has issued 49,750 Concealed Handgun Permits with another 2,560 awaiting to be issued?

For more info please visit our website: https://t.co/AbGrPigOUZ pic.twitter.com/ELmffXcfjA

— EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) December 3, 2021

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Richard Fausset & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and ally of Donald Trump, plans to announce on Monday that he will run in a Republican primary against the state's incumbent governor, Brian Kemp, according to people familiar with Mr. Perdue's plan. Mr. Trump has vowed to orchestrate Mr. Kemp's defeat as payback for the governor's refusal to help overturn the former president's November election loss in the state. The news of Mr. Perdue's pending announcement, first reported on Sunday by Politico, illustrates both the grip the former president still wields over the G.O.P. and his willingness to upend state races entirely because of his personal pique toward Republicans he feels are insufficiently loyal to him.... The Republican nominee will likely face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war chest."

North Carolina Senate Race. Natalie Allison of Politico: "Donald Trump brokered a deal this weekend to clear the North Carolina GOP Senate field for Rep. Ted Budd, the candidate he endorsed in June but who has failed to emerge so far as the clear frontrunner. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump pledged to endorse former GOP Rep. Mark Walker, who is currently in third place in the Senate primary, if Walker leaves the race and runs again for the House instead, according to multiple sources present at the gathering."

Tennessee. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Symbols of the Confederacy filled the room where an all-White Tennessee jury last year decided to convict Tim Gilbert, a Black man. Gold lettering on the door welcomed people to the 'U.D.C. Room' honoring the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Framed on the wall: the flag known as the 'Blood Stained Banner.' A portrait of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis watched over the deliberations. Three state appeals court judges agreed last week that Gilbert, 55, deserves a new trial on counts of aggravated assault and other charges. They said that some evidence in Gilbert's trial was improperly admitted and that officials failed to show that the Confederate memorabilia did not interfere with the verdict. The defendant had said the decorations 'embolden' juries to act with racial prejudice." MB: The only surprise to me is that there are three state judges in Tennessee who found the memorabilia racist. Good for them.

Way Beyond

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis returned Sunday to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the site of one of the definitive moments of his papacy, seeking to elevate the plight of migrants -- what he called a 'shipwreck of civilization' -- to the top level of global concerns, along with the pandemic and climate change.... Francis' remarks came at one of the concluding, and in many ways culminating, events of a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece meant to renew focus on migration, an issue he has never wavered on, even as the world's attention has faltered. And when the world has paid attention, it has usually been in a way opposite from how he had hoped. Migrant flows have fueled nationalist and populist surges in majority-Catholic countries like Italy and Poland. Hungary has claimed that its antimigrant policies and border towers protect Christian culture. And while Europe's populist season has somewhat abated, a politically amenable hard line against asylum seekers has seeped into the status quo."

Myanmar. New York Times: "A court in Myanmar on Monday sentenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's ousted civilian leader, to four years on charges of inciting public unrest and breaching Covid-19 protocols. She is facing a series of rulings that could keep her locked up for the rest of her life. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in a military coup in February, had been facing a maximum imprisonment of 102 years on a total of 11 charges." This is a live-updates page. An AP story is here.

Russia. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "When cybersleuths traced the millions of dollars American companies, hospitals and city governments have paid to online extortionists in ransom money, they made a telling discovery: At least some of it passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow. The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital. The United States has targeted several companies in the tower as it seeks to penalize Russian ransomware gangs, which encrypt their victims' digital data and then demand payments to unscramble it.... That this high-rise in Moscow's financial district has emerged as an apparent hub of such money laundering has convinced many security experts that the Russian authorities tolerate ransomware operators. The targets are almost exclusively outside Russia, they point out, and in at least one case documented in a U.S. sanctions announcement, the suspect was assisting a Russian espionage agency."

December 5, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Bob Dole, the plain-spoken son of the prairie who overcame Dust Bowl deprivation in Kansas and grievous battle wounds in Italy to become the Senate majority leader and the last of the World War II generation to win his party's nomination for president, died on Sunday. He was 98."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here.

Props to PD Pepe & Forrest M. for pointing out in today's thread how very smart Dr. Margie Greene (or, as she's known in the home of the unwashed, Majorette Traitor Gangrene) is:

Every single year more than 600,000 people in the US die from cancer. The country has never once shut down. Not a single school has closed. And every year, over 600,000 people, of all ages and all races will continue to die from cancer. -- Majorie Taylor Greene, in a tweet

News from the Funny Papers. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The double negative, a common grammatical elephant trap, claimed a high-profile victim on Saturday night. Donald Trump. In a statement, the former president said: 'Anybody that doesn't think there wasn't massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!' There was no massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote. But Trump thinks, or at least says, that there was massive election fraud. Though his own formula would therefore make him 'very stupid, or very corrupt', his claims have had deadly effect, stoking the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January." When a person who claims to have "a very good brain" turns out to be "very stupid, or very corrupt," it's "Sad!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: Donald "Trump appears to have exposed dozens, if not hundreds, of people, including his 77-year-old opponent, to a potentially deadly illness. It was a remarkable demonstration of his selfish indifference to the health and welfare of everyone around him.... When asked about this news, on Wednesday, President Biden said, simply, that he did not 'think about the former president.' I think this dismissal is a mistake.... The news of Trump's decision to endanger everyone around him was an opportunity to ... emphasize the many and overlapping disasters he inherited from the former president and how both Trump and his party were poor stewards of the United States and the American people. A sharp remark would have put Trump's failure back in the news and forced other Republicans to respond to it -- on Biden's terms."

Luke Broadwater & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Members of the select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol are pressing to overhaul the complex and little-known law that ... Donald J. Trump and his allies tried to use to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that the ambiguity of the statute puts democracy itself at risk. The push to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887 -- enacted more than a century ago in the wake of another bitterly disputed presidential election -- has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as more details have emerged about the extent of Mr. Trump's plot to exploit its provisions to cling to power. Mr. Trump and his allies, using a warped interpretation of the law, sought to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to throw out legitimate results when Congress met in a joint session on Jan. 6 to conduct its official count of electoral votes. It was Mr. Pence's refusal to do so that led a mob of Mr. Trump's supporters to chant 'Hang Mike Pence,' as they stormed the Capitol, delaying the proceedings as lawmakers fled for their lives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lisa Kim of Forbes: "Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted a Christmas photo of his family Saturday in which they're all holding guns and smiling in front of a Christmas tree, with the caption: 'Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo,' days after a mass shooting at a Michigan high school sparked renewed calls for gun control measures. In the photo, Massie appears to be holding an M60 machine gun while seated next to his youngest daughter, who sports an Uzi -- his wife, three other children and another man hold assault-style rifles." Joe.My.God. has the Massies' mow-'em-down "Christmas" photo.

Brian Stelter of CNN: "CNN said Saturday that anchor Chris Cuomo has been 'terminated' by the network, 'effective immediately.' The announcement came after an outside law firm was retained to review information about exactly how Cuomo aided his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when the then-governor was accused of sexual harassment.... 'While in the process of [a] review, additional information has come to light,' CNN's statement [said]. 'Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.' While the contours of Chris Cuomo's involvement with the governor's office were reported several months ago, the specifics were detailed in a massive document dump on Monday. The documents -- released by New York Attorney General Letitia James after an investigation into the governor -- showed that Chris Cuomo, while working as one of CNN's top anchors, was also effectively working as an unpaid aide to the governor." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Grynbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, Debra S. Katz, a prominent employment lawyer, informed CNN of a client with an allegation of sexual misconduct against Chris Cuomo. Ms. Katz said in a statement on Saturday that the allegation against the anchor, which was made by a former junior colleague at another network, was 'unrelated to the Gov. Andrew Cuomo matter.' It was not fully clear what role the allegation played in CNN's decision to dismiss Mr. Cuomo. Ms. Katz is also the lawyer for Charlotte Bennett, a onetime aide to Andrew Cuomo who accused the former governor in February of sexual harassment."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ellen Francis & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Most vaccines are safe to use as boosters and give people more immunity against the coronavirus, according to a new study of seven of them. The mRNA vaccines by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, with partner BioNTech, and Moderna appeared to give the highest boost of antibodies 28 days after the extra dose, although other vaccines in the study may take more time to build up better immunity."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Generalissimo DeSantis. Steve Cortono of CNN: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control. DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday as a way to further support the Florida National Guard during emergencies, like hurricanes. The Florida National Guard has also played a vital role during the pandemic in administering Covid-19 tests and distributing vaccines. But in a nod to the growing tension between Republican states and the Biden administration over the National Guard, DeSantis also said this unit, called the Florida State Guard, would be 'not encumbered by the federal government.' He said this force would give him "the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible." DeSantis is proposing bringing it back with a volunteer force of 200 civilians, and he is seeking $3.5 million from the state legislature in startup costs to train and equip them." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Blest of Vice: "Nearly two dozen states have active state guards, including California, New York, and Texas. But some state guards have previously been a hotbed of far-right extremism. In 1987, Utah Gov. Norman Bangerter 'dismantled and reorganized' the Utah State Guard from more than 400 people to fewer than three dozen, after a review found the force included 'convicted felons, mental cases, and neo-Nazis.' One member was found to have traveled to Idaho to train members of the Aryan Nation in combat." Ken W. provides a link to a Daily Beast story on Ron's little project. (Firewalled.) And Akhilleus (and others) commented on the little general's plans in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "The Michigan high school student accused of fatally shooting four classmates had numerous conversations with school counselors in the day and hours before the shooting, before staff sent him back to class despite finding images of bullets on his phone and disturbing drawings at his desk, the superintendent told parents in a detailed letter. Those conversations will be part of an independent investigation into the school's actions, the superintendent of Oxford Community Schools, Tim Throne, said. In a lengthy note to families on Saturday, Throne ...detailed the school's account of the events preceding the shooting...." CNN's report is here. MB: The most shocking aspect of the counselors' inaction, IMO, was that they knew there were firearms in the Crumbley home, yet they sent Ethan back to the classroom without checking his person, his backpack or his locker. Read the story & decide for yourselves. ~~~

~~~ Kathleen Foody & Corey Williams of the AP: "A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not guilty pleas to each of the four involuntary manslaughter counts against them during a hearing held on Zoom. Jennifer Crumbley sobbed and struggled to respond to the judge's questions at times and James Crumbley shook his head when a prosecutor said their son had full access to the gun used in the killings. Judge Julie Nicholson assigned bond of $500,000 apiece to each of the parents and required GPS monitoring if they pay to be released, agreeing with prosecutors that they posed a flight risk." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wisconsin. Laura Thornton, in a Washington Post op-ed: "On Nov. 10, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Republican state lawmakers proposed a hostile takeover of election management in their state. As Johnson told the New York Times, 'Unfortunately, I probably don't expect [Democrats] to follow the rules. And other people don't either, and that's the problem.' Johnson's conclusion: The current system of bipartisan oversight by both parties should be abolished, and Republican legislators must be in control of the elections in which they are competing.... The proposed Wisconsin power grab is shocking in its brazenness. If this occurred in any of the countries where the United States provides aid, it would immediately be called out as a threat to democracy.... Yet we are conspicuously failing to hold ourselves to the same standard.... Wisconsin's shenanigans are just the latest in a series of actions to undermine the most basic democratic principles we demand of others: One person, one vote. Neutral election management. Majority rule. Acceptance of election results. Peaceful transition of power. Don't storm your legislature and attack people and then pretend it didn't happen."

Way Beyond

Christina Goldbaum of the New York Times: "Nearly four months since the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan is on the brink of a mass starvation that aid groups say threatens to kill a million children this winter -- a toll that would dwarf the total number of Afghan civilians estimated to have been killed as a direct result of the war over the past 20 years. While Afghanistan has suffered from malnutrition for decades, the country's hunger crisis has drastically worsened in recent months. This winter, an estimated 22.8 million people -- more than half the population -- are expected to face potentially life-threatening levels of food insecurity, according to an analysis by the United Nations World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization.... Such widespread hunger is the most devastating sign of the economic crash that has crippled Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power. Practically overnight, billions of dollars in foreign aid that propped up the previous Western-backed government vanished and U.S. sanctions on the Taliban isolated the country from the global financial system, paralyzing Afghan banks and impeding relief work by humanitarian organizations."