January 10, 2022

New York Times: "With the threat of Russian military action in eastern Ukraine stirring concern across Europe, American and Russian officials met on Monday to try and find a diplomatic path to ease tensions and avoid the potential for bloodshed. The official delegations, led by a Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei A. Ryabkov, and the American deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, sat down at the U.S. Mission in Geneva just after 9 a.m. local time, the StateDepartment said. This is a liveblog.

Lighting the U.S. the Trump Way.Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "Before Donald Trump launched his war against energy-efficient appliances, incandescent lightbulbs were on their way out. Federal rules required retailers to take them off their shelves by 2020 and sell replacements that would save customers money and energy instead. That transition didn't happen. Now the Biden administration is working to reinstate those rules and a dozen other efficiency regulations weakened under the former president -- an unglamorous but effective way to cut energy use and fight climate change. But the Energy Department faces delays, bureaucratic obstacles and a huge backlog of long-overdue standards affecting dozens of household appliances, threatening the government's ability to slash greenhouse gas emissions.... As of last month, 33 energy efficiency standards for home appliances and equipment including gas furnaces, freezers and clothes dryers are overdue for updates, the department said, after Trump officials failed to act on them for four years. As many as 30 more will come due by the end of Biden's term."

He Can Dish It Out But.... Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, announced on Sunday that he was refusing to cooperate with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, joining a growing list of allies of ... Donald J. Trump who have adopted a hostile stance toward the panel's questions.... Mr. Jordan was deeply involved in Mr. Trump's effort to fight the election results, including participating in planning meetings in November 2020 at Trump campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., and a meeting at the White House in December 2020." Politico's report is here.

The Conspiracy Widens. Ivana Seric of Axios: "Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham named 'a lot of names' during their phone call about the events of Jan. 6, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told CNN.... Raskin, a member of the House select committee investigating the insurrection, invited Grisham to testify before the committee after the two had a 'candid' phone call about what was happening in the White House that day.... According to Raskin, Grisham named a 'lot of names I had not hear before' and 'identified some lines of inquiry that had never occurred to me' during the course of their phone call...." (The CNN link is to an item in a January 7 liveblog.

Joseph Choi of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday accused Republicans across the country of carrying out a 'legislative continuation' of Jan. 6, 2021, through new election laws that she said 'undermine our democracy.'"

Joseph Choi of the Hill: "House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) lambasted Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Sunday for saying a vote on changing voting rights laws must be bipartisan.... 'I am, as you know, a Black person, descended of people who were given the vote by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 15th Amendment was not a bipartisan vote. It was a single-party vote that gave Black people the right to vote,' Clyburn told [Bret] Baier [of Fox 'News']. 'Manchin and others need to stop saying that because that gives me great pain for somebody to imply that the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution is not legitimate because it did not have bipartisan buy-in,' he added."

Alayna Treene of Axios: "President Biden, Democratic leaders and their emissaries are trying to convince Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to pass a sweeping federal elections bill with a menu of filibuster alternatives. The problem is speaking with him is 'like negotiating via Etch A Sketch,' sources with direct knowledge of his recent meetings tell Axios.... 'You think you're just about there. You think you've got an agreement on most of the things and it's settling in. And then you come back the next morning and you're starting from scratch,' said the one source who made the Etch A Sketch analogy. To date, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) haven't wavered in their opposition to lowering the 60-vote threshold for passing major legislation or creating a one-time carve-out to bypass the filibuster. That's made the conversations largely futile." MB: Or, to put the obvious more bluntly, Manchin is a slimy bastid who does not negotiate in good faith.

Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post examine how important Fox "News" was to setting Donald Trump's policy priorities. Not only were Fox "News" personalities acting as advisors to Trump -- a relationship they did not reveal to their audience -- but Trump would make some decisions based on what their guests said. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Brady Dennis & Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "U.S. greenhouse gas emissions roared back in 2021, the latest indicator that the country remains far off track from meeting President Biden's ambitious climate change targets for the end of this decade. A 17 percent surge in coal-fired electricity helped drive an overall increase of 6.2 percent in greenhouse gas emissions compared with the previous year, according to an analysis published Monday by the Rhodium Group. While emissions remained below pre-pandemic levels, it marked the first annual increase in reliance on the nation's dirtiest fossil fuel since 2014, the independent research firm said." MB: Let's ask Joe Manchin how he's going to fix that for the grandkids.

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 afternoon.)

Bruce Haring of Deadline: "... Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for Covid-19, her office said in a statement. Ocasio-Cortez, who is fully vaccinated and has had a booster shot, is 'experiencing symptoms and recovering at home,' her office said in a statement.... The congresswoman caused a recent stir by vacationing without a mask in Florida, which has few requirements for pandemic protections. Critics pointed out that her home state of New York has many restrictions."

Australia. Damien Cave & Matthew Futterman of the New York Times: "Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis star, won a legal victory on Monday in his bid to avoid deportation from Australia, as a judge ordered the government to release him from detention and restore a visa it had canceled because Djokovic has not been vaccinated for Covid-19."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "The owner of a Georgia auto-repair shop who dumped 91,500 oil-covered pennies in a former employee's driveway was not just creating a sticky mess..., the U.S. Department of Labor said. He was also retaliating against the former employee for having complained to the department that he had not received his final paycheck, the agency said in a lawsuit that accuses the shop owner of violating federal labor law. The lawsuit represents the latest turn in an employment dispute that gained nationwide attention last year after the former employee's girlfriend posted a video of the oily pennies on Instagram, attracting the sympathies of thousands of people who said they, too, had contended with difficult bosses.... 'By law, worker engagement with the U.S. Department of Labor is protected activity,' Steven Salazar, district director of the department's wage and hour division in Atlanta, said in a statement. 'Workers are entitled to receive information about their rights in the workplace and obtain the wages they earned without fear of harassment or intimidation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: New York City "Mayor Eric Adams, setting aside prior misgivings, allowed a bill that would grant more than 800,000 noncitizens the right to vote in municipal elections to become law on Sunday.... The measure applies to legal residents, including those with green cards and so-called Dreamers who were brought to the country illegally as children but were allowed to remain under a federal program known as DACA." The AP's story is here.

Virginia. Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "Over three tumultuous years, [Gov. Ralph] Northam recovered from the scandal [of appearing in blackface in his medical school yearbook] to become what Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) [-- a former Virginia governor himself --] calls the most consequential Virginia governor of the modern era. Northam led a Democratic majority in the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty, expand access to the vote, legalize marijuana and pass a long list of other changes, large and small. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Kazakhstan. Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "At least 5,800 people have been detained and more than 2,000 injured during several days of violence last week in Kazakhstan, government officials said on Sunday, after protests ignited by a fuel price hike set off a political crisis and prompted the president to seek help from a Russia-led security alliance to restore order. The protests, which started last weekend in western Kazakhstan and spread thousands of miles east, also left the country's most populous city, Almaty, in disarray. On Sunday, government officials said that the chaos had been 'gradually stabilizing,' and that thousands of people had been swept up in an 'anti-terrorist' operation.... On Sunday, the Kazakh Health Ministry said that at least 164 people had died in the violence, including 103 in Almaty. But that figure was called into question later when the message was deleted from an official Kazakh government channel on Telegram.... The Information Ministry told Orda.kz, a local news site, that the message had been posted after a technical error."

Myanmar. Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "Myanmar's ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was convicted Monday and sentenced to four years in prison for possessing walkie-talkies in her home and for violating Covid-19 protocols. Altogether, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison so far, with many more charges pending against her.... Her defenders have said the walkie-talkies belonged to her security detail, and that the charges were bogus and politically motivated."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Robert A. Durst, the scion of a New York real estate dynasty whose life dissolved in a calamity of suspicions over the unsolved disappearance of his first wife, the execution-style murder of a longtime confidante and the killing and dismemberment of an elderly neighbor, died early Monday as a prisoner in Stockton, Calif. He was 78."

New York Times: "After New York City's deadliest fire in decades, Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday that the door to the apartment where the blaze started may have failed to close as it was supposed to." This is a liveblog.

New York Times: "Bob Saget, the standup comic and actor known as Danny Tanner on 'Full House' and the host of 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' was found dead on Sunday in Florida. He was 65. His death was confirmed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which said that Mr. Saget was found unresponsive in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. The cause of death was not known, but the Sheriff's Office said there were no signs of foul play or drug use."

January 9, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post examine how important Fox "News" was to setting Donald Trump's policy priorities. Not only were Fox "News" personalities acting as advisors to Trump -- a relationship they did not reveal to their audience -- but Trump would make some decisions based on what their guests said.

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

Virginia. Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "Over three tumultuous years, [Gov. Ralph] Northam recovered from the scandal [of appearing in blackface in his medical school yearbook] to become what Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) [-- a former Virginia governor himself --] calls the most consequential Virginia governor of the modern era. Northam led a Democratic majority in the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty, expand access to the vote, legalize marijuana and pass a long list of other changes, large and small.

Georgia. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "The owner of a Georgia auto-repair shop who dumped 91,500 oil-covered pennies in a former employee's driveway was not just creating a sticky mess..., the U.S. Department of Labor said. He was also retaliating against the former employee for having complained to the department that he had not received his final paycheck, the agency said in a lawsuit that accuses the shop owner of violating federal labor law. The lawsuit represents the latest turn in an employment dispute that gained nationwide attention last year after the former employee's girlfriend posted a video of the oily pennies on Instagram, attracting the sympathies of thousands of people who said they, too, had contended with difficult bosses.... 'By law, worker engagement with the U.S. Department of Labor is protected activity,' Steven Salazar, district director of the department's wage and hour division in Atlanta, said in a statement. 'Workers are entitled to receive information about their rights in the workplace and obtain the wages they earned without fear of harassment or intimidation.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

David Sanger & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Biden administration and its allies are assembling a punishing set of financial, technology and military sanctions against Russia that they say would go into effect within hours of an invasion of Ukraine, hoping to make clear to President Vladimir V. Putin the high cost he would pay if he sends troops across the border. In interviews, officials described details of those plans for the first time, just ahead of a series of diplomatic negotiations to defuse the crisis with Moscow, one of the most perilous moments in Europe since the end of the Cold War. The talks begin on Monday in Geneva and then move across Europe." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday, I inadvertently misrepresented Whyte O.'s skepticism about U.S. intervention in other nations' affairs. What Whyte most objects to intervention based on fear of "the other" and, worse, at the behest of U.S. capitalists; for instance, on behalf of United Fruit in Central America.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times reflects on the "topsy-turvy" nature of Thursday's commemorations of the Capitol insurrection: Democrats greeted Darth Vader Dick Cheney "warmly," while supposed "law & order" Republican members of Congress "deserted the Capitol en masse on a day of appreciation for the bravery of the police, dead and alive, who risked their lives holding back the horde...." Meanwhile, a former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant was shaming a U.S. Senator for accurately describing the coup attempt as a "terrorist attack." But there was some encouraging news, MoDo concluded: "At least Joe Biden finally seemed to recognize that the old days are gone and that the Republicans are not going to be working with him. MB: And there's even more encouraging news: even MoDo, sister of Kevin, realizes "Trump's coup attempt is in its second stage."

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is examining whether Donald Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy on 6 January that connected the White House's scheme to stop Joe Biden's certification with the insurrection, say two senior sources familiar with the matter. The committee's new focus on the potential for a conspiracy marks an aggressive escalation in its inquiry as it confronts evidence that suggests the former president potentially engaged in criminal conduct egregious enough to warrant a referral to the justice department. House investigators are interested in whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy after communications turned over by Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows and others suggested the White House coordinated efforts to stop Biden's certification, the sources said." MB: This is different from bringing a possible obstruction or dereliction of duty charge for failure to try to stop the mob violence. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "President Biden and former President Barack Obama honored Harry M. Reid on Saturday as a loyal son of Nevada who rose to become a plain-spoken but pivotal leader in the Senate, where he steered landmark Democratic legislation while tolerating little vanity or praise. 'Harry cared so much about his fellow Americans and so little what anyone felt of him,' Mr. Biden said at a memorial service for Mr. Reid, who died late last month at 82, at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. 'He was all Searchlight and no spotlight,' the president added, referring to the mining outpost in Nevada where Mr. Reid grew up.... The memorial service also included testimonials from other prominent Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, a sign of Mr. Reid's influence on his party. Vice President Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, as well as Jill Biden, the first lady, were also seated in the audience."

Marie: Following well-established Republican tradition, Mike Pompeo lies about everything. According to experts consulted by the Kansas City Star Mike's most recent whopped was his claim that he lost 90 pounds in six months simply by improving his diet & working out at home for half-an-hour five or six days a week. The experts' "Their response? Absolutely not, almost certainly not, and hahaha." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Beyond the Beltway

A Florida Man.... AP: "Authorities said they found homemade explosives, including hand-style grenades and a pipe explosive, along with nails and duct tape while searching the home of a Florida man arrested after he was spotted running away from a Jan. 6 anniversary rally. Pinellas County [Clearwater, St. Pete] Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Garrett Smith, 22, was near a political assembly supporting a jailed Oath Keeper who is charged with participating in the Capitol riot last year. When they searched his backpack, they found a pipe-style explosive device and a checklist detailing items to bring including armor, helmet, shaded goggles, a gas mask, duct tape and flammable rags. Deputies said they also found a helmet with a logo on it that had been seen at other protests in cities such as Portland, where Smith had spent time."

Iowa. Freedom Fear of the Press. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Republican leaders in the state Senate told journalists last week they will no longer be allowed to work on the chamber floor, a change that breaks with a more than 140-year tradition in the Iowa Capitol. The move raised concerns among free press and freedom of information advocates who said it is a blow to transparency and open government that makes it harder for the public to understand, let alone scrutinize, elected officials. The new rule denies reporters access to the press benches near senators' desks, a proximity current and former statehouse reporters told The Washington Post is crucial for the most accurate and nuanced coverage. The position allows reporters to see and hear everything clearly on the Senate floor and to get real-time answers and clarifications during debates. Beginning this session, reporters will be seated in a public upper-level gallery."

New Hampshire. Dan Balz of the Washington Post interviews Bill Gardner, New Hampshire's nominally Democratic secretary of state, who is retiring after 45 years on the job. Gardner is at least partially responsible for New Hampshire's retaining its status as "first in the nation" to hold presidential primary elections.

New York. Troy Closson of the New York Times: "An Asian immigrant in New York died last week after he was left in a coma by a brutal assault in April that the police said was a hate crime, officials said. The man, Yao Pan Ma, was pushing a grocery cart full of bottles and cans that he had collected on April 23 when he was ... attacked in East Harlem. He fell onto the sidewalk, was kicked in the head and stomped on several times, the police said. Mr. Ma, 61, was placed on a ventilator and remained hospitalized since the assault occurred.... The man arrested in the attack, Jarrod Powell, 49, was charged with attempted murder and two counts of assault as a hate crime at the time. The Manhattan district attorney's office said on Saturday that upgraded murder charges were expected to be filed."

South Dakota Senate Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Senate Republican, announced on Saturday that he would seek re-election, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by colleagues prompted him to put aside concerns about the future of his party and pursue a fourth term.... The South Dakotan, who turned 61 on Friday, had recently told associates that he was considering retirement, complaining about the strain of congressional service and privately expressing concern about ... Donald J. Trump's continuing grip on the Republican Party. But by seeking re-election in a heavily conservative state, Mr. Thune is well positioned to win again and potentially succeed Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, as the chamber's top Republican." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Washington State. Austin Jenkins of NW News Network: "In a surprise announcement Thursday, the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee [D] announced that he's drafting legislation to make it a crime for elected officials and candidates for public office to make false statements about election outcomes with the goal of inciting lawlessness. Inslee said such a law could withstand free speech challenges and is necessary to guard against ongoing attacks on democracy.... Hugh Spitzer, a University of Washington law professor..., said it would be difficult to make criminal charges stick in a case against a state official or candidate for making false statements about an election." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No kidding. However, I can see why Inslee wishes such a law were constitutional & enforceable: On Trump insurrection day, "Inslee was rushed to a safe room after pro-Trump supporters, including some who were armed, breached the security gate at the governor's residence in Olympia and made their way to the front portico.... 'They brought AR-15s to my front door and tried to get in...,' Inslee said Thursday."

News Ledes

New York Times: "At least 19 people, including nine children, were killed in a fire in a Bronx apartment building on Sunday morning, according to a city official who was not authorized to speak publicly, in what officials described as one of the city's worst fires in recent memory." The Times is live-updating developments at the linked page.

New York Times: "Dwayne Hickman, the affable, apple-cheeked actor whose starring role in the revered sitcom 'The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis' would dog him for more than half a century, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 87."

January 8, 2022

Afternoon Update:

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

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is examining whether Donald Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy on 6 January that connected the White House's scheme to stop Joe Biden's certification with the insurrection, say two senior sources familiar with the matter. The committee's new focus on the potential for a conspiracy marks an aggressive escalation in its inquiry as it confronts evidence that suggests the former president potentially engaged in criminal conduct egregious enough to warrant a referral to the justice department. House investigators are interested in whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy after communications turned over by Trump;s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and others suggested the White House coordinated efforts to stop Biden's certification, the sources said." MB: This is different from bringing a possible obstruction or dereliction of duty charge for failure to try to stop the mob violence.

South Dakota Senate Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Senate Republican, announced on Saturday that he would seek re-election, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by colleagues prompted him to put aside concerns about the future of his party and pursue a fourth term.... The South Dakotan, who turned 61 on Friday, had recently told associates that he was considering retirement, complaining about the strain of congressional service and privately expressing concern about ... Donald J. Trump's continuing grip on the Republican Party. But by seeking re-election in a heavily conservative state, Mr. Thune is well positioned to win again and potentially succeed Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, as the chamber's top Republican." A CNN story is here.

Marie: Following well-established Republican tradition, Mike Pompeo lies about everything. According to experts consulted by the Kansas City Star Mike's most recent whopped was his claim that he lost 90 pounds in six months simply by improving his diet & working out at home for half-an-hour five or six days a week. The experts' "Their response? Absolutely not, almost certainly not, and hahaha."

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Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden flew to Colorado on Friday to console residents suffering from swift wildfires that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes, while pointing to the devastation as evidence of the urgent need to address natural disasters rooted in the global climate crisis.... Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, met with firefighters and families.... This week, Mr. Biden approved a disaster declaration in Boulder County, freeing up federal funds for temporary housing, home repairs and loans.... The blaze in Colorado was a reminder of how many millions of Americans in the West are now on the front lines of devastation from a warming climate prone to long droughts and extreme wind conditions."

Nick Niedzwiadek & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday invited President Joe Biden to deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on March 1." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday afternoon aboard Air Force One that [President] Biden has accepted [Speaker] Pelosi's invitation." Sure sounds like Pelosi's people & Biden's people got together & agreed on a date for the SOTU before Pelosi issued her "invitation." Sounds like a left-wing conspiracy to me.

Claudia Grisales of NPR: "Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, says members expect this month to ask former Vice President Mike Pence to voluntarily appear.... Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, shared the timing plans for the Pence ask in an interview with NPR.... He described Pence's appearance as critical, especially as the former vice president ultimately issued a letter before the Jan. 6 proceedings that said he would not step out of his ceremonial role."

Marie: RAS raised an excellent point in yesterday's Comments. Why weren't Republicans at least at Thursday's ceremonies honoring the police officers who saved their lives? Where was Mitt Romney? Where was Mike Pence, for Pete's sake? Our last image of the veep might have been of his broken, limp body dangling from the gallows in front of the Capitol if not for D.C. and Capitol police. Republicans' ingratitude is stunning.

     ~~~ Update: When I suggested that Mitch McConnell might have arranged to have the funeral of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (d. 12/19/21) take place on January 6 so a majority of senators could scoot down to Georgia for the rites as an excuse to miss the Capitol insurrection commemoration, Patrick countered: "Maybe Addison M. McConnell was involved, but I think that by now these R's are like flocks of starlings, or schools of mullet, they all move as one without a command discernible by humans. (They may hear the commands; they are not humans?)"

Charlie Savage of the New York Times weighs in on the latest Ted Cruz debacle: "... on Thursday..., the Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused Senator Ted Cruz of purposefully lying because he had continued to call the events of Jan. 6 a terrorist attack, including at a Senate hearing this week. Mr. Cruz, Republican of Texas, apologized.... Mr. Carlson, who has insinuated that Jan. 6 may have been a plot to justify a 'purge' of Trump-supporting 'patriots,' rejected Mr. Cruz's explanation, citing his consistent use of that term over the past year to describe the Capitol attack.... Mr. Carlson declared that 'by no definition' was Jan. 6 'a terror attack.' But Congress has enacted a statute that defines domestic terrorism as criminal offenses that are dangerous to human life, lack a foreign nexus and appear to be seeking 'to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.'... Mr. Carlson asked Mr. Cruz, 'How many people have been charged with terrorism on Jan. 6?' The answer is zero.... Congress ... has not created any stand-alone federal crime called ['terrorism.'] As a result, it is not possible for prosecutors to charge any of the Jan. 6 rioters 'with terrorism' regardless of whether they committed terrorist acts." ~~~

~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN: In his interview by Tucker Carlson, Ted" Cruz claimed, 'The way I phrased things yesterday -- it was sloppy and it was frankly dumb.' Carlson immediately interjected to say, 'I don't buy that,' noting that Cruz is known to be a precise speaker.... In fact, he had described the Capitol riot as a terrorist attack or broadly described rioters as terrorists over and over for months -- at least 17 previous times in official written statements, in tweets, in remarks at Senate hearings and in interviews." ~~~

~~~ AND Chris Hayes is so mean to Cancun Ted: ~~~

The Insurrection in Song. Thanks to Forrest M. for this link:

Fox "News" has published an opinion piece about Tucker Carlson & January 6 controversies subtitled, "The yelling is getting louder and wilder and still more disconnected from reality." Oh, wait. No. The piece is by Tukkker.

Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "NATO foreign ministers met virtually on Friday to prepare their responses to Russia's ongoing military buildup near Ukraine amid general skepticism about Moscow's willingness to de-escalate and negotiate in earnest. After the meeting, the NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, warned that 'the risk of conflict is real' involving a further Russian invasion of Ukraine. But he asserted that the 30-member alliance was united in its desire for peaceful diplomacy. If diplomacy fails, he said, the alliance is prepared to continue supporting the integrity and independence of Ukraine both 'politically and practically' while creating 'significant consequences' that 'carry a heavy price for Russia.'... The meeting was a chance to confirm allied agreement about how to respond to varying Russian actions, and, importantly, an opportunity for Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to consult with allies and brief them about the U.S. position before U.S.-Russia bilateral talks next week in Geneva." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I get that isolating Russia as much as possible & imposing harsh economic sanctions are about all its adversaries can do here, short of some more bellicose tack. But looming over these "solutions" -- in my mind -- is what happened when other Western powers, including the U.S., tried to bring Germany to its knees after World War I. It is possible that the Russian people will blame Putin for forcing them into bread lines; on the other hand, they're apt to show some national pride & resent the countries that sanctioned theirs -- just as 20th-century Germans did. As for a better solution on dealing with Russian aggression, I don't have one. Update: Whyte O. suggested yesterday that given our history of gumming up nearly every attempt to "spread democracy around the world," perhaps we should let Russia & Ukraine work out their differences themselves.

Sad News. Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Cyber Ninjas, the company that led a partisan review of 2020 ballots in Arizona, is closing down following a scathing report by election officials and the threat of $50,000 a day in fines. 'Cyber Ninjas is shutting down. All employees have been let go,' Rod Thomson, the company's representative, said in a text message Thursday evening. The Florida-based company, founded in 2013, has less than a dozen employees, according to its LinkedIn page.... Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah said he would impose a $50,000 fine against Cyber Ninjas every day until it hands over documents related to the so-called audit after the Arizona Republic newspaper filed a public records request, The Associated Press reported Thursday." MB: Seems to me that even if Cyber Ninjas closes down, principals of the defunct company will have to provide the court-ordered docs or pay the daily fines. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Clay Risen of the New York Times: "Lani Guinier, a legal scholar whose work on voting rights and affirmative action led President Bill Clinton to nominate her in 1993 to be an assistant attorney general, only to withdraw her name two months later in the face of a Republican campaign against her, died on Friday at an assisted living facility in Cambridge, Mass. She was 71."

Lori Aratani & Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "... an epic travel meltdown [is] in its third week that has forced the cancellation of more than 27,000 flights since the first signs of trouble on Christmas Eve, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. What began as a pandemic-related challenge quickly snowballed into a multitiered test -- coupling the uncertainties of omicron with the more familiar headache of winter weather.... The disruption for airlines and travelers is on track to become the most severe since more than 56,000 flights were canceled in a single week at the outset of the pandemic, when people didn't want to fly.... [Also,] About one-third of flights nationwide that have taken off in the past two weeks have been late, with the average delay topping 50 minutes on some days...."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed skeptical on Friday that the Biden administration has the legal power to mandate that the nation's large employers require workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or to undergo frequent testing. A federal workplace safety law, they indicated during a two-hour argument, did not provide legal authority for the sweeping emergency measure. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch said the states and Congress, rather than a federal agency, were better situated to address the pandemic. Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the challenged regulation appeared to reach too broadly in covering all large employers. Justices Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh suggested that the governing statute had not authorized the agency to impose the mandate clearly enough...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) NPR's report, by Nina Totenberg, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Liptak slyly notes that the Supremes have imposed strict Covid protocols for their workplace. But, you know, if a liberal does it, it must be wrong. ~~~

~~~ Oh, Guess What? Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Ohio's solicitor general,Ben Flowers, participated in Supreme Court oral arguments [against] the Biden administration's vaccine mandates remotely on Friday after testing positive for Covid. He had been vaccinated and boosted against the disease [MB: which almost certainly is why he reportedly had mild symptoms].... The Supreme Court had required participants to take a PCR test Thursday, which detected the virus in Flowers, Irwin said, 'so for that reason, he is arguing remotely.' Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill also made remote arguments before the court against the mandates on Friday 'in accordance with Covid protocols,' according to a statement her office gave to Reuters, but the statement did not elaborate further." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

So who decides? Should it be the agency full of expert policymakers and completely politically accountable through the President?... This is ... a politically accountable policy. It also has the virtue of expertise.... So, on the one hand, the agency with their political leadership can decide. Or, on the other hand, courts can decide. Courts are not politically accountable.... Courts have no epidemiological expertise. Why in the world would courts decide this question? -- Justice Elena Kagan, oral arguments, Friday

** Yo, Elena, Here's the Reason. Dahlia Lithwick & Mark Stern of Slate: "A majority of the justices on the Supreme Court ... see [Covid-19] as an opportunity. This unprecedented pandemic ... has forced the executive branch to act swiftly and creatively at each stage of the crisis. Facing an often-deadlocked Congress, President Joe Biden has drawn on old statutes to establish new regulations to stop the coronavirus from spreading and killing more people. Yet in so doing, he has given the Supreme Court's Republican-appointed justices a chance to hobble his whole agenda. And during oral arguments over Biden's vaccine mandates on Friday, these justices made it painfully clear that they will also seize this moment to grind down the federal government's ability to perform even its most basic functions as well.... The nihilism, hypocrisy, and armchair epidemiology on display [during oral arguments] at times bled into rank anti-vax-ism.... That's because these justices emerged from a conservative legal movement that has grown obsessed with obliterating 'the administrative state' -- the hundreds of federal agencies that actually implement laws passed by Congress." Firewalled. ~~~

~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "... the oral argument in the first case, NFIB, suggests that the Court's 6-3 conservative majority is inclined to hand down a very broad decision -- one that won't simply hobble many of the Biden administration's efforts to quell a pandemic that has killed nearly 830,000 Americans, but that could also fundamentally rework the balance of power between elected federal officials and an unelected judiciary." MB: It would be ironic that an authoritarian president* put together a Court that would hobble the presidency; it would be, I say, because these same justices who are so upset that a Democratic President is saving American lives will find carveouts & excuses for all manner of overreach by a right-wing president.

     ~~~ Marie: AND they don't care if they kill you for going to work. The whole bunch of confederate lunkheads sound a lot like brother Neil Gorsuch: if your working conditions will kill you, you have a duty to die.

Florida. Allan Smith of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state's top emergency management official confirmed Thursday that 800,000 to 1 million Covid test kits in the state's stockpile recently expired without being used.... The issue of the expiring tests was first raised by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor. In a Dec. 30 statement, she said: 'It's come to my attention that Governor DeSantis' Department of Health has a significant number of COVID-19 tests stockpiled that are set to expire imminently.'... State officials had already requested a three-month extension on the tests' use from federal officials when they were last set to expire in September, only for the tests to again sit unused.... Christina Pushaw, a DeSantis spokesperson, told NBC News that ... demand plummeted in the state during the fall months.... Yet last week, Floridians reportedly waited up to three hours to get a Covid test as cases and potential exposures spiked.... Speaking with Fox News on Thursday, DeSantis said that 'not every single person needs to be going out always getting tested,' particularly young, healthy people who aren't at high-risk with the disease."

Walter Einenkel of the Daily Kos: "Cirsten Weldon was a right-wing social media darling of sorts, at least in the QAnon wing of the field. Her MAGA posts, anti-vaxx rhetoric, and willingness to embrace wild and fantastic conspiracy theories gained her tens of thousands of followers. Weldon was a firm 'COVID-is-a-hoax' believer who made videos where she yelled at people waiting in line for vaccines that 'The vaccines kill, don't get it!' She also believed Dr. Anthony Fauci should be executed. According to reports, Weldon passed away Thursday from COVID-19 in a hospital in Camarillo, California."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge on Friday sentenced both Travis McMichael, the man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery, and his father to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but issued a lesser sentence of life with the possibility of parole to the other white man convicted of murdering Mr. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man whom they had chased through their neighborhood. The three men -- Travis McMichael, 35; his father, Gregory McMichael, 66; and their neighbor, William Bryan, 52 -- were convicted of murder and other counts in state court in November, resulting in mandatory life sentences.... The lead prosecutor, Linda Dunikoski, asked the judge to deny the possibility of parole to the McMichaels, arguing that they had displayed a reckless history of 'vigilantism' before the killing. She noted that the elder Mr. McMichael had referred to Mr. Arbery as an 'asshole' as his body lay in the street and authorities responded. 'There's been no remorse and certainly no empathy from either man,' she said. She said that Mr. Bryan should be eligible for parole in part because he had cooperated with investigators."

New York. The Arrogance of Power. As many liberal New Yorkers anticipated, newly-installed NYC Mayor Eric Adams is already looking like a very bad mayor. But very Trumpy!

Wisconsin. Adam Brewster of CBS News: "Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson is expected to run for reelection and kick off his campaign next week, according to two sources familiar with his decision. For months, the incumbent Republican declined to say whether he would seek a third term in the U.S. Senate."

Way Beyond

Italy(/Spain). Foiled by the Googles. Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Ever since he broke out of Rome's Rebibbia prison 20 years ago where he was facing murder charges, Gioacchino Gammino had managed to evade capture. He fled to Spain, changed his name and cut off ties with his family, creating a new life for himself, at one point working as a chef in an Italian restaurant. But last month, Italian investigators finally tracked down Mr. Gammino, 61, in a town northwest of Madrid, thanks in part to ... Google Maps.... Investigators had used the Google tools to look up a fruit and vegetable store -- 'El Huerto de Manu' -- that they believed could have ties to the fugitive, and happened upon an image of a man standing in front of the store.The man in the image had the same size and build as Mr. Gammino...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)