November 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Monday he's nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell's stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession in which the Fed's ultra-low rate policies helped bolster confidence and revitalize the job market. Biden also said he would nominate Lael Brainard, the lone Democrat on the Fed's Board of Governors and the preferred alternative to Powellamong many progressives, as vice chair. A separate position of vice chair for supervision, a bank regulatory post, remains vacant, along with two other slots on the Fed's board. Those positions will be filled in early December, Biden said. His decision strikes a note of continuity and bipartisanship at a time when surging inflation is burdening households and raising risks to the economy's recovery." The Washington Post's story is here.

One of These Men Has Way Too Much Money. Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times: "Former President Barack Obama's private foundation announced on Monday that it had been promised a donation of $100 million from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The gift, the largest yet for the Obama Foundation, was one in a series of splashy donations by Mr. Bezos, one of the world's richest men, in recent months. Last week, Mr. Bezos announced $96.2 million in grants to groups working to end family homelessness. Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist, in addition to traveling to space on a ship made by his rocket company, Blue Origin." MB: That's nice. And it has no bearing on the fact that you and Amazon should pay much higher taxes, Jeff.

Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "The United States for the first time was added to a list of 'backsliding democracies' in a report released Monday by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 'The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale,' the International IDEA's Global State of Democracy 2021 report said. The study, which analyzed trends from 2020 to 2021, found that more than a quarter of the world's population now lives in democratically backsliding countries, which International IDEA defines as nations seeing a gradual decline in the quality of their democracy. 'The world is becoming more authoritarian as nondemocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by adopting their tactics of restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law...,' the report found. 'The number [of countries] moving in the direction of authoritarianism is three times the number moving toward democracy.'" A CBS News story is here.

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "A month ago, new coronavirus cases in the United States were ticking steadily downward and the worst of a miserable summer surge fueled by the Delta variant appeared to be over. But as Americans travel this week to meet far-flung relatives for Thanksgiving dinner, new virus cases are rising once more, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Federal medical teams have been dispatched to Minnesota to help at overwhelmed hospitals. Michigan is enduring its worst case surge yet, with daily caseloads doubling since the start of November. Even New England, where vaccination rates are high, is struggling, with Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire trying to contain major outbreaks." MB: And let me just reiterate my contempt for those who, for no good reason, have chosen not to be vaccinated or not to have their children vaccinated, thus making the holidays more dangerous for everyone.

New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "An eight-month impeachment investigation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo by the New York State Assembly found 'overwhelming evidence that the former governor engaged in sexual harassment,' reinforcing the conclusions reached in a damning report by the state attorney general. In a 46-page report released on Monday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee also found that Mr. Cuomo used state workers and other public resources to write, publish and promote his memoir about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a likely violation of state ethics laws. The inquiry also concluded that Mr. Cuomo 'was not fully transparent regarding the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of Covid-19,' and its findings had led one committee member to say that there 'would be a very reasonable inference' that there was some correlation between Mr. Cuomo's $5.1 million book deal and his administration's manipulation of nursing home death data." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's acknowledge here that the state Assembly is controlled by Democrats, who -- it turns out -- know how to police their own, unlike Republicans who are good with Republicans who instigate a violent insurrection or threaten the lives of Democrats.

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Sara Murray of CNN: "Laurie Snell -- the estranged wife of Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell -- was awarded primary physical custody and sole legal custody of the couple's three children, according to a judge's order that was made public Monday. Parnell will still have partial physical custody of the children various weekends each month. The decision comes amid a contentious divorce and custody proceedings between Snell and Parnell, who are still legally married but have been separated for years. Snell has accused her husband of choking her and injuring their children -- all claims that Parnell has denied. While Parnell has enjoyed ... Donald Trump's endorsement in his Pennsylvania Senate bid, the allegations from his estranged wife have taken a toll on Parnell's campaign...."

Wisconsin. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Law enforcement has identified a suspect who allegedly drove through a Christmas parade after fleeing from a knife fight in Waukesha, Wis., on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 -- a violent end to the otherwise festive scene where children were dancing in the street and a marching band played 'Jingle Bells.' A law enforcement official told The Washington Post that suspect Darrell Brooks, 39, was at the scene of a reported knife fight, then sped away in the red SUV when police arrived at that scene. Brooks was allegedly behind the wheel when it drove into the parade route.... The law enforcement official told The Post that Brooks has a number of prior criminal arrests, but investigators have not yet found anything tying the vehicular violence to any sort of terrorism or ideology. So far, it appears his main intent was to escape the police at the prior incident, the official said."

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Ha Ha. Republicans in Disarray. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the em> Washington Post: "The show of force from Donald Trump's staunchest congressional allies began almost immediately after 13 House Republicans voted this month in favor of a massive infrastructure bill that handed President Biden one of the biggest victories of his tenure.... The continuing turmoil in the House GOP conference over how and whether to punish members who back anything supported by Democrats shows how an emboldened group of far-right House members is gaining influence over the Republican Party in Congress. These representatives are positioning themselves to further purify the House GOP conference as a branch of Trump's 'Make America Great Again' movement.... Besides targeting the Republicans who backed the infrastructure bill..., these lawmakers in recent weeks have led the charge to recast the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the effort to overturn the 2020 election results as defiant acts by patriots, not insurrectionists; opposed mask mandates in the House; and defended Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.)...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Ben Smith of the New York Times: Last week, two prominent Fox "News" contributors, Jonah Goldberg & Stephen Hayes, who are business partners, quit their Fox gigs because they were sickened by the encouragement to violence in Tucker Carlson's streaming video about January 6. "'Patriot Purge' -- through insinuations and imagery -- explored an alternate history of Jan. 6 in which the violence was a "false flag" and the consequence has been the persecution of conservatives." Fox, for the most part, has given over its content to pro-Trump, far-right views in a programming determination it calls "respecting the audience." More on TuKKKer's pro-white-guy-violence propaganda linked below. NPR's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Hayes & Goldberg explain on their site "The Dispatch" why they ditched Fox "News."

** Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Experts say that even as gerrymanders become ever more egregious, the legal avenues to overturn them are becoming narrower.... More and more states -- mostly Republican like Ohio and Texas, but now Democratic ones like Illinois -- are drawing maps that effectively guarantee that the party in power stays in power.... The racial impact of the maps is sweeping. The government accountability watchdog group Common Cause said a quarter of the 36 state legislative seats held by African Americans, all Democrats, would be likely to flip Republican.... The Supreme Court in 2019 ended a decades-long debate over the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering, saying it was up to Congress, not the courts, to fix politically skewed maps. The court also has made it harder to prove that political districts were drawn to reduce minority voters' clout...." (Also linked yesterday.) Related story under "Beyond the Beltway -- Georgia." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Okay then, just as our good friends the Supremes say, Congress alone can fix it! Oh, wait, ~~~

~~~ Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: Kyrsten Sinema (D-ish-Az.) "said this week she remains firmly opposed to changing federal election laws on a partisan basis, signaling that a planned last-ditch voting rights push that party leaders and activists are planning for the closely divided Senate in the coming months is likely to fail." MB: If she's so smart, why is she playing dumb? (Also linked yesterday.)

Katelyn Fossett, in Politico Magazine, interviews historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez on why Republicans are hung up on manly manliness. MB: What's somewhat (tho not entirely) new here, no doubt thanks to Trump, is a shift from "traditional family values" where the white guy is king of his castle, to the white militant man using violence to quell his "enemies."

Joshua Zitser of the Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "Kyle Rittenhouse's criminal defense attorney [Mark Richards] told Insider that he thinks it is 'disgusting' that some prominent Republicans have tried to cash in on his client's acquittal." Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz & Madison Cawthorn all claim they are bidding to hire Rittenhouse as an intern. "Richards also spoke negatively of Donald Trump Jr. tweeting that a gun rights organization would "award" Rittenhouse with an AR-15." According to Ali Veshi of MSNBC, Gosar said Rittenhouse should get the Congressional Medal of Freedom. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Hours after Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges Friday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced that he would not only interview the teen on Monday, but also had a film crew following the 18-year-old throughout the murder trial as part of an upcoming documentary for Fox Nation.... 'I did not approve of that,' [one of Rittenhouse's attorneys, Mark] Richards, told CNN's Chris Cuomo of the film crew. 'I threw them out of the room several times. I don't think a film crew is appropriate for something like this.' Richards said part of the efforts by Rittenhouse's family and a family adviser to raise money to help pay for the 18-year-old's defense included having Carlson's team present for filming. The attorney described the film crew's presence as 'a definite distraction.'"

Facebook Allows Racist Content to Mollify "Conservative Partners." Elizabeth Dwoskin, et al., of the Washington Post: A team of Facebook "researchers urged executives to adopt an aggressive overhaul of its software system that would primarily remove only ... hateful [racist] posts before any Facebook users could see them. But Facebook's leaders balked at the plan. According to two people familiar with the internal debate, top executives ... feared the new system would tilt the scales by protecting some vulnerable groups over others. A policy executive prepared a document ... that raised the potential for backlash from 'conservative partners,' according to the document.... The previously unreported debate is an example of how Facebook's decisions in the name of being neutral and race-blind in fact come at the expense of minorities and particularly people of color.... 'Even though [Facebook executives] don't have any animus toward people of color, their actions are on the side of racists,' said Tatenda Musapatike, a former Facebook manager...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So I guess it's settled: "c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e" is just another way to spell "racist."

Not. Making. This. Up. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: RentAHitman.com "promised ... confidentiality. It boasted of industry awards. It showed off testimonials of satisfied customers, including one from Laura S., who had 'caught my husband cheating with the babysitter.' The website bragged about complying with HIPPA, which it said was 'the Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964,' a nod to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the law passed in 1996 to protect patients' medical information. The trouble ... [is] that RentAHitman.com is a fake website. It's not run by 'Guido Fanelli,' as it claims, but by Bob Innes, a 54-year-old Northern California man who forwards any serious inquiries to law enforcement.... About 650 to 700 people have contacted him since he first registered the website in 2005...." Apparently, you can check out the site here. Gotta wonder what their "industry awards" might be.

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.

Beyond the Beltway

California. "The Flash Mob Robbery." Jessica Lipscomb of the Washington Post: "Drivers blared their horns Saturday evening as dozens of thieves carrying luggage and bags darted from a Nordstrom department store near San Francisco [Walnut Creek] and hopped into cars waiting for them outside. All but three of the 80 or so looters escaped, police said.... The spectacle Saturday night was one of several incidents of looting and shoplifting reported at high-end retail stores around the Bay Area over the weekend.

Georgia. Stephen Fowler of NPR: "As Georgia grows more Democratic, its members of Congress will not. Republicans in Georgia are set to approve a new congressional map that adds to their representation in the U.S. House even as they voted to trim their own majority in the state legislature. Monday, the Georgia General Assembly will give final passage to a bill that creates nine congressional districts favoring Republicans and five heavily-Democratic districts. The new map swings a northern Atlanta suburban seat more than 25 points to the right and likely pits two Democratic incumbents into a primary challenge."

Vermont Senate Race. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Vermont Rep. Peter Welch [D]announced Monday he will run for Senate next year to fill the seat held by retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy [D].... It was widely anticipated that Welch would launch a bid for Leahy's seat; as the representative for Vermont's at-large House district since 2007, Welch is the only other member of the state's congressional delegation besides independent Sen. Bernie Sanders." The Washington Post's story is here.

Wisconsin. Scott Bauer & Mike Householder of the AP: "An SUV sped through barricades and into a parade of Christmas marchers in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday, killing multiple people as it hit more than 20 adults and children in a horrifying scene captured by the city's livestream and the cellphones of onlookers. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said 'some; people had been killed but would not give an exact number. A person was in custody, as was the SUV, he said, but he did not give any indication of motive." The Washington Post's report, which has been updated, is here.

Way Beyond

China. Matthew Futterman of the New York Times: "Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star who disappeared from public life for more than a week after she accused a former top government official of sexual assault, appeared in a live video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee and other officials with the organization on Sunday. The video assuaged some concerns about Peng's immediate well-being. However, it fell short of what tennis officials, who still have not been able to establish independent contact with Peng, have been demanding since the Chinese government began attempting to censor any discussion of Peng's allegations and her largely disappearing after posting them on one of China's main social media outlets earlier this month, creating a standoff between two of the world's leading sports organizations."

Haiti. Maria Abi-Habib of the New York Times: "Two of the 17 people with an American missionary group who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a month ago have been released, the organization said Sunday. The hostages, who included women and children, were seized by one of Haiti's most fearsome gangs on Oct. 16 as the missionary group visited an orphanage outside the capital, Port-au-Prince. In announcing that two of them had been released, the group, Christian Aid Ministries, based in Ohio, said it would not make public their names or say why they were freed. But the group said that those released are 'safe, in good spirits, and being cared for.' The ministry urged discretion to protect those still in the hands of the gang members."

Sudan. Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "After four weeks under house arrest, Sudan's ousted prime minister was reinstated on Sunday after he signed a deal with the military intended to end a bloody standoff that led to dozens of protester deaths and threatened to derail Sudan's fragile transition to democracy. At a televised ceremony in the presidential palace, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok appeared alongside Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief who ousted him from power on Oct. 25, and signed a 14-point agreement that both men hailed as an important step forward."

November 21, 2021

Late Morning Update:

** Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Experts say that even as gerrymanders become ever more egregious, the legal avenues to overturn them are becoming narrower.... More and more states -- mostly Republican like Ohio and Texas, but now Democratic ones like Illinois -- are drawing maps that effectively guarantee that the party in power stays in power.... The racial impact of the maps is sweeping. The government accountability watchdog group Common Cause said a quarter of the 36 state legislative seats held by African Americans, all Democrats, would be likely to flip Republican.... The Supreme Court in 2019 ended a decades-long debate over the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering, saying it was up to Congress, not the courts, to fix politically skewed maps. The court also has made it harder to prove that political districts were drawn to reduce minority voters' clout...." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Okay then, just as our good friends the Supremes say, Congress alone can fix it! Oh, wait, ~~~

~~~ Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: Kyrsten Sinema (D-ish-Az.) "said this week she remains firmly opposed to changing federal election laws on a partisan basis, signaling that a planned last-ditch voting rights push that party leaders and activists are planning for the closely divided Senate in the coming months is likely to fail." MB: If she's so smart, why is she playing dumb?

Joshua Zitser of the Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "Kyle Rittenhouse's criminal defense attorney [Mark Richards] told Insider that he thinks it is 'disgusting' that some prominent Republicans have tried to cash in on his client's acquittal." Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz & Madison Cawthorn all claim they are bidding to hire Rittenhouse as an intern. "Richards also spoke negatively of Donald Trump Jr. tweeting that a gun rights organization would "award" Rittenhouse with an AR-15." According to Ali Veshi of MSNBC, Gosar said Rittenhouse should get the Congressional Medal of Freedom.

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Michael Scherer, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and members of his inner circle have reassured allies in recent days that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, as they take steps to deflect concern about the 79-year-old president's commitment to another campaign and growing Democratic fears of a coming Republican return to power. The efforts come as the broader Democratic community has become increasingly anxious after a bruising six-month stretch that has seen Biden's national approval rating plummet more than a dozen points, into the low 40s, amid growing concerns about inflation, Democratic infighting in Washington and faltering public health efforts to move beyond the covid-19 pandemic. The message is aimed in part at tamping down the assumption among many Democrats that Biden may not seek reelection...."

Jasmine Wright of CNN: "Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff achieved another first in their historic roles when they affixed a white mezuzah to the right-hand side of the doorway of the vice presidential residence. The moment the sacred object was affixed to the Naval Observatory's wooden entryway marked the first time an executive home has carried the abiding sign of sanctity of a Jewish home, according to Rabbi Peter Berg of Hebrew Benevolent Congregation (The Temple) in Atlanta, which loaned the mezuzah. Berg led the private ceremony at the Naval Observatory in October. Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president, and Harris is the first woman and first woman of color to hold her title." MB: Probably just nailed up the mezuzah to make all the white-Christian-nation people even crazier. MichaelFlynnskin just rent himself in half.

Michael Laris & Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's "role overseeing hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investments puts Buttigieg at the center of one of the Biden administration's chief accomplishments, with implications for his boss's future and his own. He was handed the resources to uncork ambitious projects across the country, elevating local ideas and reshaping federal transportation priorities. About $1 billion in grants the department awarded Friday offers a taste of the administration goals as it eyes much bigger spending through the infrastructure package. Buttigieg prioritized equity and environmental criteria in making the awards and shifted emphasis away from road-building efforts the Trump administration favored." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So if Republicans take over at least one House of Congress, I predict with 100 percent certainty that Republicans will expend a helluva lot of energy drumming up & "investigating" fake scandals about how Pete has mismanaged something or the other. If Democrats manage to hold onto both Houses -- unlikely -- Republicans will still make up scandals about Pete, but they won't be able to do much fake "investigating." With great power comes a great target on your back.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: Speaker Nancy Pelosi's efforts to shepherd the Build Back Better bill through the House "-- fraught with challenges and littered with near-death experiences for the bill -- finally paid off on Friday with House passage of the $2.2 trillion social policy and climate change package. Along the way, Ms. Pelosi, who is known for delivering legislative victories in tough circumstances, was forced repeatedly to pull back from a floor showdown on the bill as she labored to unite the feuding liberal and moderate factions in her caucus. A crucial but less-seen part of her task was sounding out and cajoling a pair of Democratic holdouts in the Senate, [Joe] Manchin [W. Va.] and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who were opposed to major elements of [President] Biden's plan and had the power to upend whatever delicate deal Ms. Pelosi was able to strike."

Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "More than two months after the United States' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the federal government is still in the process of resettling roughly 45,000 Afghans housed in temporary camps on U.S. military bases after they were airlifted from their home country. Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico is among eight facilities that became hubs for one of the largest humanitarian resettlement operations in U.S. history. Biden administration officials say about 73,000 Afghans have arrived in the United States since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Holloman received 7,100, half of them children, between late August and early October. They include Afghans who risked their lives to aid the U.S. government during its two-decade war effort in their country, officials say. Others are relatives of those who served or of U.S. citizens, as well as many others who felt at risk in Taliban-held Afghanistan."

Aya Elamroussi of CNN: "Authorities are searching for the man who escaped an Atlanta airport security checkpoint after a weapon was discharged Saturday, frightening travelers and temporarily grounding flights at one of world's busiest airports the weekend before Thanksgiving. Officials believe the weapon that was discharged at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was in a bag belonging to Kenny Wells, a passenger who, police say, ran away with the weapon in hand. Wells, 42, is wanted on warrants accusing him of carrying a concealed a weapon at a commercial airport, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm and reckless conduct, Atlanta Police Department Airport Precinct Commander Reginald L. Moorman said.... Saturday's incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m., when the passenger's property was flagged for a 'secondary search' after the X-ray screening at the security checkpoint detected a 'prohibited item,' Robert Spinden, the TSA's federal security director for Georgia, said during a news conference. 'During that secondary search, the passenger lunged into his property, grabbing a firearm that was located inside, which ultimately discharged,' Spinden said. 'The passenger then fled the security checkpoint through an adjacent exit lane with his firearm.'"

Brakkton Booker of Politico: Kyle "Rittenhouse's acquittal, scholars say, sends a signal to those who want to take up arms to defend property or attend politically or racially charged events: There is legal ground for you to use your weapon. Just claim fear. Those protections though likely will not extend to everyone. 'I don't have to tell you this, there is no set of circumstances, no reading of the law, no rendering of the imagination, in which a Black person could get away with this,' said Cornell William Brooks, former president and CEO of the NAACP, who now teaches at Harvard University. 'What this case says legally may be good for Kyle Rittenhouse. What it says culturally is dangerous in terms of racialized violence.'... [Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor,] says there’s a throughline from the armed vigilante presence in Kenosha unrest to the Jan. 6 attack by supporters of ... Donald Trump, who at his urging, sought to stop the certification of now-President Joe Biden's electoral college victory."

Beyond the Beltway

Ohio. AP: Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a map of new congressional districts on Saturday that will be in effect for the next four years, despite objections from Democrats and voting rights groups. DeWine said in a statement that, compared with other proposals from House and Senate lawmakers from both parties, the Senate legislation he signed 'makes the most progress to produce a fair, compact, and competitive map.'... Democrats blasted the Republican-led mapmaking process as unfair, partisan and cloaked in secrecy.... The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave the map an F grade. The new law creates at most three safe Democratic districts out of 15 new U.S. House seats in a state where voters are split roughly 54% Republican, 46% Democratic."

Texas. AP: "U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a trailblazing Black Democrat in Texas who has served in Congress for nearly 30 years, announced Saturday that she will not seek reelection next year. Johnson, 85, is a political fixture in her hometown of Dallas, where early in her career she became the first Black woman to serve the city in the state Senate since Reconstruction. She grew up in the segregated South and was elected in 1992 to Congress, where she became the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. 'There is a good reason I should stay: I am a personal friend to the president, I have gained some respect and influence,' Johnson said during her announcement. But she said plans to keep a promise she made after winning the Democratic primary in March that her current term would be her last."

Way Beyond

Russia. Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: Marina Butina, former Russian spy (or something), is now a member of the Russian Duma representing the Kirov region. She got her job either as a reward for her U.S. shenanigans or because of her ambush interview of Russian political prisoner Aleksei Navalny, which was very favorable to the state.' MB: In recent photos, she looks very smart. You won't come across a more ambitious person than Butina.

November 20, 2021

President Biden does the annual Stupid Pet Trick. An AP story is here:

Katie Rogers & Lawrence Altman of the New York Times: "President Biden's personal physician [Kevin O'Connor] said on Friday that he was a 'healthy, vigorous, 78 year old' who was fit to carry out his duties, after the president underwent a full medical evaluation and briefly transferred powers to the vice president so he could undergo a colonoscopy."

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Kamala D. Harris on Friday became the first woman to serve as acting president of the United States, as President Biden was briefly placed under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy. Biden underwent the procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Friday morning. Harris was acting president for about an hour and twenty-five minutes, according to the White House.... Harris worked 'from her office in the West Wing during this time,' the White House said." ~~~

     ~~~ Wait! Wait! Harris Is the Real President All the Time! Claire Goforth of the Daily Dot (Nov. 17): "On Monday, President Joe Biden signed his big infrastructure bill into law. [Shortly thereafter,] Vice President Kamala Harris tweeting a video of the bill signing.... The presidential seal is blurred in the video." This excited numerous conspiracy theorists like one Paul McCullough, who tweeted, "Because he's not the real president. Totally fraudulent election. The truth will come out!" Others seemed to think everything in the video was fake, including the bill and the image of the President himself. Alas, the truth that came out is a bit simpler: "Federal law dictates that the seal can't be used for any type of advertisement, such as campaigning. Thus, the seal had to be blurred because Harris tweeted the video from her personal Twitter account, rather than the official vice president account."

Odious DeJoy Could Be on the Way Out. Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Friday announced plans to nominate two former federal officials to the U.S. Postal Service's governing board, replacing key allies of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, including its Democratic chairman. The move was a surprise to postal officials and even members of Congress, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, and casts doubt on DeJoy's future at the agency. It potentially gives liberals on the panel two crucial votes to oust the postal chief, who can be removed only by the board.... The White House on Friday, confirming a Washington Post report on the decision, announced it would nominate Daniel Tangherlini, who served as the administrator of the General Services Administration during the Obama administration, to replace Ron A. Bloom. Derek Kan, a Republican and the former deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, would replace Republican John M. Barger."

Julian Barnes & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "American intelligence officials are warning allies that there is a short window of time to prevent Russia from taking military action in Ukraine, pushing European countries to work with the United States to develop a package of economic and military measures to deter Moscow, according to American and European officials. Russia has not yet decided what it intends to do with the troops it has amassed near Ukraine, American officials said, but the buildup is being taken seriously and the United States is not assuming it is a bluff."

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will propose reinstating a Clinton administration-era rule to ban logging and road building in more than half of North America's largest temperate rainforest[, Alaska's Tongass National Forest].... The restrictions had managed to stay in place for years because of a series of court battles, but the Trump administration wiped them out last fall.... The proposed rule would protect critical habitat and prevent the carbon dioxide trapped in the forest's ancient trees from escaping into the atmosphere, but Alaska's governor and congressional delegation say it would hurt the timber industry. Alaska Native leaders, environmentalists and tour operators argue that protecting the region's remaining wild landscapes will sustain the state's economy in the long term." MB: Well, yes, it does seem likely that banning logging would hurt the timber industry.

Emily Cochrane & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The House on Friday narrowly passed the centerpiece of President Biden's domestic agenda, approving $2 trillion in spending over the next decade to battle climate change, expand health care and reweave the nation's social safety net, over the unanimous opposition of Republicans. The bill's passage, 220 to 213, came after weeks of cajoling, arm-twisting and legislative legerdemain by Democrats. It was capped off by an exhausting, circuitous and record-breaking speech of more than eight hours by the House Republican leader, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, that pushed a planned Thursday vote past midnight, then delayed it to Friday morning -- but did nothing to dent Democratic unity." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.... I urge everyone to express their views peacefully, consistent with the rule of law. -- President Joe Biden in a statement

I'm disappointed in the verdict, I have to tell you. I think it speaks for itself. But I also have spent the majority of my career focused on what we need to do to ensure that the criminal justice system is more fair and just, and we still have a lot of work to do. -- Former President-for-a-Moment Kamala Harris, remarks Friday ~~~

~~~ Mark Guarino, et al., of the Washington Post: "A jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on all counts Friday, more than a year after the teenager fatally shot two people and wounded a third amid unrest over a police shooting in Kenosha, a case that set off searing national debates over guns, race, vigilantism and self-defense."

Marie: This is an indictment (1) of the U.S. gun culture; (2) of the Supreme Court confederates for encouraging that gun culture; (3) of the Wisconsin open-carry law; (4) of the Kenosha police who let a kid who did not even look of age prance around town with a loaded AR-15 during a riot; and (5) of irresponsible parents who allowed their irresponsible child to go on a murderous excursion. Although race was not mentioned during the trial, it should not be lost upon us that Rittenhouse associated himself with the white supremacist Proud Boys and the men he killed and maimed were participating in a Black Lives Matter protest. Whether in the acquittal of the murderers of three civil rights workers in 1964 Mississippi or the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the U.S. "justice" system, both in the South & in the North, protects white supremacists even when they murder anti-racist activists.

Steve M. posts a few responses from the right. He concludes, "This is what Republicans say to one another when they don't believe anyone else is paying attention. This is what no New York Times reporter on a rural diner safari has ever managed to elicit from them. But it's what they really think." ~~~

~~~ Anti-Defamation League: "As soon as the jury announced its verdict, online extremist spaces erupted in cheers and self-congratulatory rhetoric. Supporters heralded the Rittenhouse verdict as a victory for the principle of self-defense and providing legal precedent for violent responses to perceived threats, and some argued that people no longer need to avoid acting during tense situations for fear of legal repercussions...." The extremist posts, tweets & messages the ADL republishes are horrible.

Charles Blow of the New York Times: "... perhaps the most problematic aspect of this case was that it represented yet another data point in the long history of some parts of the right valorizing white vigilantes who use violence against people of color and their white allies.... The idea of taking the law into one's own hands not only to protect order, but also to protect the order, is central to the maintenance of white power and its structures."

Not Just Racists, But Misogynists, Too. Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "So upbeat [is the GOP outlook] that it apparently is cool with the fact that in three Senate races -- Georgia, Missouri and Pennsylvania -- it has leading candidates who have been accused of harassing, abusing, threatening or otherwise mistreating women.... The allegations, the candidates' responses, the warmth of the party's embrace -- the creeping not-so-casual misogyny is indicative of the dark path down which ... Donald Trump continues to lead the G.O.P.... For devout Trumpists, accusations of toxic masculinity can even be a comfort of sorts, a kind of corrective to a #MeToo movement that many in the MAGAverse consider excessive and anti-man.... Under Mr. Trump, the Republican Party has undergone a fundamental shift, swapping a fixation on character and morality and so-called Family Values for a celebration of belligerence, violence, and, yes, toxic masculinity." Cottle provides numerous examples of the "new GOP." Emphasis added.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge on Friday squarely placed the blame for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Donald Trump, suggesting that the former president's role in seeding lies about the 2020 election -- and the effect it had on his followers -- has been an underappreciated part of the entire episode. Judge Amit Mehta issued his commentary as he delivered a 14-day jail sentence to Jan. 6 rioter John Lolos -- a sentence Mehta said he shortened in part to reflect the fact that Lolos was responding to Trump's call.... 'People like Mr. Lolos were told lies, told falsehoods, told our election was stolen when it clearly was not,' Mehta [said], adding that the defendants were paying for conduct that was largely enabled by Trump and his allies. 'We're here today deciding whether Mr. Lolos should spend 30 days in jail when those who created the conditions that led to Mr. Lolos' conduct, led to the events of Jan. 6 [haven't been] held to for their actions and their word.' 'In a sense, Mr. Lolos, I think you were a pawn,' Mehta continued." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, Judge, if people are going to believe the "news" disseminated by Fox "News," Facebook & the right-wing mediasphere in general, they are going to make terrible mistakes (see also Rittenhouse). Normal Americans had every reason to know that Donald Trump and his allies are congenital liars and that Joe Biden won the presidential election. Citizens have an obligation to be discerning. If they are not, they should suffer the consequences. Yes, Trump is responsible for inciting the insurrection, but the "pawns" themselves should accept responsibility for their own acts of stupidity & violence.

Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal and state investigators are examining an attempt to breach an Ohio county's election network that bears striking similarities to an incident in Colorado earlier this year, when government officials helped an outsider gain access to the county voting system in an effort to find fraud. Data obtained in both instances were distributed at an August 'cyber symposium' on election fraud hosted by MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, an ally of ... Donald Trump.... Together, the incidents in Ohio and Colorado point to an escalation in attacks on the nation's voting systems by those who have embraced Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud.... Investigators with the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) believe a government official appears to have facilitated the attempted breach of the election network in Lake County, a spokesman for LaRose said."

This Man Has Too Much Money. Karen Matthews of the AP: "A rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution sold at Sotheby's in New York for $43.2 million, a record price for a document or book sold at auction. The buyer, hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, will loan the document to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, for public exhibition, Sotheby's announced Friday. Griffin, the founder and CEO of multinational hedge fund Citadel, outbid a group of 17,000 cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world who crowdfunded to buy it over the last week.... The museum opened in 2011 and was founded by Alice Walton, the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton.... This printing of the Constitution was last sold in 1988, when real estate developer and collector S. Howard Goldman bought it at auction for $165,000. Proceeds from Thursday's sale will benefit a foundation established by Goldman's widow, Dorothy Tapper Goldman, to further the understanding of constitutional principles."MB: Okay, that's nice, but all these people have/had too much money.

The New York Times has some great still pictures of Friday morning's lunar eclipse.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Lauran Neergaard, et al., of the AP: "The U.S. on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.... Under the new rules, anyone 18 or older can choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose. For anyone who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the wait already was just two months. And people can mix-and-match boosters from any company.... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to agree before the new policy became official late Friday. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky endorsed [the] recommendation from her agency's scientific advisers...." The New York Times story is here. A Washington Post story, which is free to nonsubscribers, is here.

Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two new reports Friday highlighting the dangers of covid-19 to pregnant people and their fetuses or babies, particularly since July, when the highly contagious delta variant took hold in the U.S. One report examines covid -- associated deaths during pregnancy.... The second report focuses on stillbirths -- a usually rare event that has been more strongly linked to covid-19 since delta became dominant.... The reports' authors emphasize the importance of preventive measures including vaccination, which the CDC recommends for pregnant women. Only about 30 percent of pregnant Americans are vaccinated, a rate far lower than the population as a whole." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A former university professor has been indicted on charges that he set four wildfires in national forests while on an 'arson spree' in California this summer, prosecutors said. The former professor, Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, was charged with four counts of arson to federal property, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, Phillip A. Talbert, announced on Thursday. Some of the fires were ignited behind firefighters as they worked to extinguish the flames of the Dixie fire, which consumed more than 960,000 acres as one of the largest wildfires in California history." Maynard has denied the charges.

Florida. Jason Dearen of the AP: "In June, three Florida prison guards who boasted of being white supremacists beat, pepper sprayed and used a stun gun on an inmate [of color] who screamed 'I can't breathe!' at a prison near the Alabama border, according to a fellow inmate [Jamaal Reynolds] who reported it to the state. The next day, the officers at Jackson Correctional Institution did it again to another inmate, the report filed with the Florida Department of Corrections' Office of Inspector General stated.... Both incidents occurred in view of surveillance cameras, he said.... But the inspector general's office did not investigate, corrections spokeswoman Molly Best said.... Some Florida prison guards openly tout associations with white supremacist groups to intimidate inmates and Black colleagues, a persistent practice that often goes unpunished, according to allegations in public documents and interviews with a dozen inmates and current and former employees in the nation's third-largest prison system." Read on.

Georgia. When Will This Lawyer Wear His White Hood to Court? Russ Bynum of the AP: "The defense attorney who caused an outcry by saying Black pastors should be barred from the murder trial over Ahmaud Arbery's death declared in court Friday that a courthouse rally and other actions supporting the slain Black man's family were comparable to a 'public lynching' of the three white defendants.... [Attorney Kevin] Gough renewed a request for a mistrial the day after the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King III joined hundreds of pastors, most of them Black, praying and rallying at the steps of the Glynn County courthouse. The event was organized after Gough last week objected to Sharpton sitting in the back row of the courtroom with Arbery's parents.... He told the judge his client's right to a fair trial was being violated by a 'left woke mob.' Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley dismissed the mistrial motion with little discussion." ~~~

~~~ Devon Sayers, et al., of CNN: "A defense attorney for one of the three White men accused of chasing and killing Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery asked prosecutors for a plea deal and was declined, an attorney for Arbery's mother told CNN. William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr.'s lawyer 'asked for a plea deal before resting their case. Prosecutors declined any plea offer,' Lee Merritt, an attorney for Wanda Cooper-Jones, said Friday. The district attorney's office that is prosecuting the case declined to comment about being approached about a plea deal." (Also linked yesterday.)

Wisconsin. More Disturbing News from the Badger State. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Republicans in Wisconsin are engaged in an all-out assault on the state's election system, building off their attempts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential race by pressing to give themselves full control over voting in the state. The Republican effort -- broader and more forceful than that in any other state where allies of ... Donald J. Trump are trying to overhaul elections -- takes direct aim at the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, an agency Republicans created half a decade ago that has been under attack since the chaotic aftermath of last year's election.... Last week, [U.S.] Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, said that G.O.P. state lawmakers should unilaterally assert control of federal elections, claiming that they had the authority to do so even if Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, stood in their way -- an extraordinary legal argument debunked by a 1932 Supreme Court decision and a 1964 ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. His suggestion was nonetheless echoed by Michael Gableman, a conservative former State Supreme Court justice who is conducting the Legislature's election inquiry." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hey, Sens. Joe, Krysten, et al., as we may have mentioned, you-all could fix this by suspending the filibuster & passing voting rights legislation.