The Commentariat -- September 17, 2021

Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "President Biden's announcement of a deal to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines has strained the Western alliance, infuriating France and foreshadowing how the conflicting American and European responses to confrontation with China may redraw the global strategic map. In announcing the deal on Wednesday, Mr. Biden ... appears to have alienated an important European one and aggravated already tense relations with Beijing. France on Thursday reacted with outrage to the announcements that the United States and Britain would help Australia develop submarines, and that Australia was withdrawing from a $66 billion deal to buy French-built submarines. At its heart, the diplomatic storm is also a business matter -- a loss of revenue for France's military industry, and a gain for American companies. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's foreign minister, told Franceinfo radio that the submarine deal was a 'unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision' by the United States, and he compared the American move to the rash and sudden policy shifts common during the Trump administration.... The deal also seemed to be a pivot point in relations with China, which reacted angrily." MB: Hey, as long as the U.S. military-industrial complex is happy. I do wonder whose bright idea this was. ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "The United States acknowledged on Thursday that it only gave France a few hours; notice of its deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, a move that French officials have denounced as a major betrayal by one of its closest allies. France had been trying to strike its own, multibillion dollar deal with Australia, and French officials said that the new agreement ... was an affront.... 'This is not done between allies,' Jean-Yves Le Drian, the foreign minister, said in an interview with Franceinfo radio, calling the deal a 'unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision.':

The Haitians Under the Bridge. Arelis R. Hernández & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Haitian migrants who have crossed the Rio Grande in recent days are sleeping outdoors under a border bridge in South Texas, creating a humanitarian emergency and a logistical challenge U.S. agents describe as unprecedented. Authorities in Del Rio say more than 10,000 migrants have arrived at the impromptu camp, and they are expecting more in the coming days. The sudden influx has presented the Biden administration with a new border emergency at a time when illegal crossings have reached a 20-year high and Department of Homeland Security officials are straining to accommodate and resettle more than 60,000 Afghan evacuees."

Charlie Savage & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation [-- John Durham --] obtained a grand jury indictment on Thursday of a prominent cybersecurity lawyer, [Michael Sussmann,] accusing him of lying to the F.B.I. five years ago during a meeting about Donald J. Trump and Russia.... [Sussmann] is accused of falsely telling a top F.B.I. lawyer that he was not representing any client at the meeting about those suspicions. Prosecutors contend that he was instead representing both a technology executive and the Hillary Clinton campaign.... Mr. Sussmann's defense lawyers, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, have denied the accusation, insisting that he did not say he had no client and maintaining that the evidence against him is weak. They also denied that the question of who Mr. Sussmann was working for was material, saying the F.B.I. would have investigated the matter regardless. 'Michael Sussmann was indicted today because of politics, not facts,' they said on Thursday." Politico's story is here.

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Calling ... Donald J. Trump 'a cancer for the country,' Representative Anthony Gonzalez, Republican of Ohio, said in an interview on Thursday that he would not run for re-election in 2022, ceding his seat after just two terms in Congress rather than compete against a Trump-backed primary opponent. Mr. Gonzalez is the first, but perhaps not the last, of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to retire rather than face ferocious primaries next year in a party still in thrall to the former president."

Former President* Endorses Violent Insurrection. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump voiced solidarity Thursday with people being prosecuted in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, issuing a statement ahead of a rally planned Saturday in Washington to protest their treatment. 'Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election,' Trump said in a statement.... In an interview with the Federalist on Thursday, Trump ... [said], 'On Saturday, that's a setup.'... 'If people don't show up they'll say, "Oh, it's a lack of spirit." And if people do show up, they'll be harassed.'"

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "The relationship between Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Donald Trump is so frayed that the Senate GOP Leader hopes he will never again have to talk to the former president.... After McConnell congratulated Joe Biden from the Senate floor on December 15th, Trump reportedly called McConnell and 'spewed expletives.' 'Mr. President, the Electoral College has spoken. That's the way we pick a president in this country,' McConnell explained[, according to a new book by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa]. 'You lost the election, the Electoral College has spoken,' was reportedly the last thing McConnell said." The story, first reported in Business Insider (firewalled) is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: According to the Woodward-Costa book, "then-CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly discussed Trump's plans and state of mind on November 10th. 'We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. He is acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum,' Haspel reportedly said. Based on a Business Insider firewalled report, which is here.

Karen Hao of the MIT Technology Review: "In the run up to the 2020 election, the most highly contested in US history, Facebook's most popular pages for Christian and Black American content were being run by Eastern European troll farms. These pages were part of a larger network that collectively reached nearly half of all Americans, according to an internal company report, and achieved that reach not through user choice but primarily as a result of Facebook's own platform design and engagement-hungry algorithm. The report, written in October 2019 and obtained by MIT Technology Review from a former Facebook employee not involved in researching it, found that after the 2016 election, Facebook failed to prioritize fundamental changes to how its platform promotes and distributes information. The company instead pursued a whack-a-mole strategy that involved monitoring and quashing the activity of bad actors when they engaged in political discourse, and adding some guardrails that prevented 'the worst of the worst.'" Emphasis added.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Arlette Saenz of CNN: "The US government is buying more doses of monoclonal antibody treatments for Covid-19, and the Biden administration is taking over distributio in order to avoid shortages of the key therapeutics. The moves come as demand for monoclonal antibodies has increased as cases surged due to spread of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates in some areas of the country. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered immune system proteins that kickstart an immune response against an infection. The US Department of Health and Human Services says that as of September 10, 2.17 million doses of monoclonal antibodies have been shipped to all sites, and 938,000 doses have been used since December. About 43% of the distributed doses have been used as of September 3. An HHS spokesperson said seven states have accounted for 70% of orders for the therapy. Those seven states are Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. 'Given this reality, we must work to ensure our supply of these life-saving therapies remains available for all states and territories, not just some,' the HHS spokesperson said." ~~~

~~~ Florida. Which Raised DeSantis' Dander. Arek Sarkissian of Politico: "On Thursday, [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis ripped into [President] Biden's plan to distribute doses of monoclonal antibody treatments to states across the nation. Florida and six other Southern states ... took up 70 percent of the orders in early September. That lopsidedness prompted the Biden administration to start redistributing the more than 158,000 doses made available this week -- and provoked DeSantis to attack the president for taking the therapies away from Floridians. 'We've been handed a major curveball here, with a really huge cut from HHS and the Biden administration,' DeSantis said at a press conference in Broward County.... White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday defended Biden's plan to cut Florida's allotment of the antibody treatments, saying the administration is increasing the distribution of antibody treatments in September by 50 percent."

Marie: Sorry, I have not been paying enough attention to what Celebrities-I've-Never-Heard-of are saying. But I do belatedly want to award the Stupid Prize to anybody who decided not to get a Covid-19 vaccine because a rapper called Nicki Minaj tweeted that a friend of her cousin became impotent AND his balls swelled up AND his fiancee called off their wedding -- after he got a Covid vaccine. (Prizes first awarded yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: As Akhilleus pointed out in yesterday's Comments thread, TuKKKer -- who until this week probably couldn't name a single rapper -- got such a hard-on from this story that he asked on-air for the Big-Balls Guy from Trinidad to call him for a possible appearance on Fox "News" prime-time.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Idaho. Rebecca Boone of the AP: "Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, on Wednesday asked state health leaders to allow 'crisis standards of care' because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources. Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U.S. states, with only about 40% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Only Wyoming and West Virginia have lower vaccination rates. Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive. Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This doesn't affect only Covid patients. If you need immediate health care in Idaho, no matter what the reason, your chances of survival will be depend on a triage worker. If your chances look bad, you're dead. This is third-word-country-style health care. And the immediate cause is freeedumb. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Hannah Knowles of the New York Times: "Leaders of Idaho's most populous county were deluged with constituent emails last month as they prepared to choose the newest member of a once-obscure regional health board. A doctor who served on the board for 15 years had just been let go over his support for pandemic restrictions. Hundreds wrote in for Ryan Cole, a doctor -- backed by the Ada County Republican Party -- who has called coronavirus vaccines 'fake.' The Republican commissioners of the county -- which encompasses the state capital, Boise -- said they welcomed Cole's 'outsider' perspective and willingness to 'question' established medical guidance. They appointed him over the protests of their lone Democratic colleague." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It used to be annoying to live in an area dominated by Republicans. Now it's life-threatening.

Beyond the Beltway

New York. What Could Possibly Be Wrong with That? Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "New York Attorney General Letitia James has been talking with her advisors and supporters about potentially running for governor next year, according to people familiar with the matter. In the weeks since James' investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended early last month, she and her political advisors have been testing the waters...." MB: Let's see: you order a report that determines the governor is guilty of wrongdoing, forcing him to resign. After getting him out of the way, you run for his job. (Also linked yesterday.)

South Carolina. Southern Gothic, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The prominent South Carolina lawyer whose life has unraveled in the months since his wife and son were fatally shot was arrested on Thursday after he admitted to trying to stage his own murder earlier this month, but he maintained that he had no involvement in the killing of his family. Alex Murdaugh, the lawyer, was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report, all felonies, in connection with the suicide scheme, which his lawyers said was meant to ensure that his other son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy."

News Lede

New York Times: "Jane Powell, whose pert good looks and lyrical soprano voice brought her Hollywood stardom before she was out of her teens -- but whose movie career peaked when she was still in her 20s with a starring role in one of the last great MGM musicals, the 1954 extravaganza 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' -- died on Thursday at her home in Wilton, Conn. She was 92."

The Commentariat -- September 16, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Marie: Sorry, I have not been paying enough attention to what Celebrities-I've-Never-Heard-of are saying. But I do belatedly want to award the Stupid Prize to anybody who decided not to get a Covid-19 vaccine because a rapper called Nicki Minaj tweeted that a friend of her cousin became impotent AND his balls swelled up AND his fiancee called off their wedding -- after he got a Covid vaccine.

Rebecca Boone of the AP: "Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, on Wednesday asked state health leaders to allow 'crisis standards of care' because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources. Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U.S. states, with only about 40% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Only Wyoming and West Virginia have lower vaccination rates. Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive. Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This doesn't affect only Covid patients. If you need immediate health care in Idaho, no matter what the reason, your chances of survival will be depend on a triage worker. If your chances look bad, you're dead. This is third-word-country-style health care. And the immediate cause is freeedumb.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

What Could Possibly Be Wrong with That? Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "New York Attorney General Letitia James has been talking with her advisors and supporters about potentially running for governor next year, according to people familiar with the matter. In the weeks since James' investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended early last month, she and her political advisors have been testing the waters...." MB: Let's see: you order a report that determines the governor is guilty of wrongdoing, forcing him to resign. After getting him out of the way, you run for his job.

~~~~~~~~~~

Karoun Demirjian & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Wednesday threw his full support behind the Pentagon's top uniformed officer, who has come under fire after a new book revealed he privately conferred with his Chinese counterpart to avert armed conflict late in the Trump administration. 'I have great confidence in General Milley,' Biden told reporters at the White House, following calls from ... Donald Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill for the removal of Gen. Mark A. Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Trump, in denying he had ever contemplated attacking China, called the general's actions 'treason.'... Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for Milley, issued a statement Wednesday largely confirming what's disclosed in the book, 'Peril'..., and saying that Milley had acted constitutionally and within his established responsibilities." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Butler's full statement.~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's charge is, comme d'habitude, hyperbolic, silly & probably a reflection of his ignorance. Milley told China's military leader that the U.S. had no plans to attack China, which is exactly what Trump is now claiming was his own position. In addition, one of the jobs of the chairman of the joint chiefs is to talk with his counterparts around the world to put out any possible bellicose accelerants. I suppose Trump is upset that Milley told the brass not to launch a nuclear attack, but since Trump says he had no intention to do so, what's the problem? ~~~

     ~~~ Lara Seligman & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Claims in an upcoming book that a frantic Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart are greatly exaggerated, according to two people familiar with the discussions.... [One] official said the calls [to China's Gen. Li] were not out of the ordinary, and the chairman was not frantically trying to reassure his counterpart. The people also said that Milley did not go rogue in placing the call, as the book suggest. In fact, Milley asked permission from acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller before making the call, said one former senior defense official, who was in the room for the meeting. Milley also briefed the secretary's office after the call, the former official said.... In an interview Wednesday, Miller told Politico that Milley almost certainly told him he was going to call his Chinese counterpart, but he didn't recall getting a detailed readout of the call after.... Miller said that if the Woodward and Costa report is accurate, 'it would be completely inappropriate and completely contrary to civilian oversight of the military if he was conducting foreign policy activities or national security activities of that nature, but I don't know ... if it's true or not.'"

AUKUS! Tyler Pager & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced Wednesday the United States and Britain will share highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology with Australia, a major departure from past policy and a direct challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood. Biden made the announcement alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who joined the president virtually, as they unveiled a new three-way defense alliance, which will be known as AUKUS. Britain is the only other nation to share U.S. nuclear submarine propulsion technology, an agreement dating back decades and aimed largely at countering the old Soviet Union.... The arrangement could also lead to damaged relations with France, with one former French ambassador to the United States saying on Twitter the countries 'stabbed' France in the back.... In a joint statement, the French minister of foreign affairs and minister of the armed forces said the decision was 'regrettable' and 'contrary to the letter and spirit of the cooperation that prevailed between France and Australia.'" ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's story, by Kevin Liptak & Maegan Vazquez, is here.: "The new plan will mean the cancellation of a $90 billion deal Australia had already made with France for conventional submarines.... The decision also sparked tensions between New Zealand and Australia, with NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issuing a statement on Thursday saying Canberra's nuclear-powered submarines would be banned from her country's waters."

** Juliet Macur of the New York Times: "Sitting at a witness table alongside three of her former gymnastics teammates, Simone Biles broke down in tears while explaining to a Senate committee that she doesn't want any more young people to experience the kind of suffering she endured at the hands of Lawrence G. Nassar, the former national team doctor. 'To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar, but I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,' Ms. Biles, 24, said Wednesday.... Ms. Biles and hundreds of other girls and women -- including a majority of the members of the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics teams -- were molested by Mr. Nassar, who is now serving what amounts to life in prison for multiple sex crimes. His serial molestation is at the center of one of the biggest child sex abuse cases in American history. McKayla Maroney, an Olympian in 2012, also testified, describing in detail how Mr. Nassar repeatedly abused her.... In 2015..., she described her abuse to an F.B.I. agent during a three-hour phone call.... 'Not only did the F.B.I. not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,' Ms. Maroney testified.... In a remarkable turn, the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, acknowledged the agency's mishandling of the case and apologized to the victims." Read on, if you want to be utterly disgusted all over again.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "The FBI director, Chris Wray, is facing new scrutiny of the bureau's handling of its 2018 background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, including its claim that the FBI lacked the authority to conduct a further investigation into the then supreme court nominee. At the heart of the new questions that Wray will face later this week, when he testifies before the Senate judiciary committee, is a 2010 Memorandum of Understanding that the FBI has recently said constrained the agency's ability to conduct any further investigations of allegations of misconduct. It is not clear whether that claim is accurate, based on a close reading of the MOU, which was released in court records following a Freedom of Information Act request. The FBI was called to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation process in 2018, after he was accused of assault by Christine Blasey Ford.... The FBI closed its extended background check of Kavanaugh after four days and did not interview either Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh. The FBI also disclosed to the Senate this June -- two years after questions were initially asked -- that it had received 4,500 tips from the public during the background check and that it had shared all 'relevant tips' with the White House counsel at that time. It is not clear whether those tips were ever investigated." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Collins & Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "The extremist forums that cheered on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack have soured on the planned Saturday rally in Washington, insisting without evidence that the event is a secret government plot to arrest more people involved in the riot. Users in extreme far-right Facebook groups and extremist forums such as TheDonald and 4chan, which previously hosted pictures of users streaming into Washington hotel rooms and even maps of the Capitol tunnel system in the days before the Jan. 6 riot, are largely steering users away from the upcoming event. Those posting on these forums say they largely believe the event to be a setup for a 'false flag' event or 'honeypot,' in which they'll be entrapped and coerced to commit violence by federal agents." ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Ever since a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, Republicans have been trying to shift the national conversation away from that dark, violent day.... Then, a former campaign operative of ... Donald J. Trump announced that he was organizing hundreds of protesters to return to the Capitol on Saturday for a rally in support of the defendants charged in connection with the deadly assault.... Many Republican lawmakers ... said they wanted nothing to do with the event. Not a single member of Congress has confirmed his or her attendance.... Nevertheless, the 'Justice for J6' rally, to be held at noon on Saturday at the foot of Capitol Hill, has created a predicament for Republicans, who are caught between a hard-right base including many voters who consider the rioters righteous and a desire to distance themselves from the attack and its political fallout.... In shunning the event, Republicans are following the lead of Mr. Trump himself, who has been uncharacteristically silent about it even though he has in the past defended the mob." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Maddow reported that protective fencing was going up around the U.S. Capitol in anticipation of the wingnut gathering. She ran video of the fencing operation in progress.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A 20-year Marine veteran and former marksmanship instructor from Florida became the second defendant in the largest Jan. 6 Oath Keepers conspiracy case to plead guilty and agree to cooperate fully with prosecutors in hopes of reducing his prison term. Jason Dolan, 45, of Wellington, Fla., admitted Wednesday to two federal counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress as it met to confirm President Biden's 2020 election win, felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In a plea deal with prosecutors, both sides agreed that Dolan, who has no prior convictions, could face 63 to 78 months under advisory federal sentencing guidelines. However, the government agreed to request a lower term at sentencing in exchange for his 'substantial assistance.'" MB: Huh. Pretty lame for a heroic political prisoner.

Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "John H. Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation, has told the Justice Department that he will ask a grand jury to indict a prominent cybersecurity lawyer on a charge of making a false statement to the F.B.I., people familiar with the matter said. Any indictment of the lawyer -- Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at the Perkins Coie law firm, and who represented the Democratic National Committee on issues related to Russia's 2016 hacking of its servers -- is likely to attract significant political attention. Donald J. Trump and his supporters have long accused Democrats and Perkins Coie -- whose political law group, a division separate from Mr. Sussmann's, represented the party and the Hillary Clinton campaign -- of seeking to stoke unfair suspicions about Mr. Trump's purported ties to Russia. The case against Mr. Sussmann centers on the question of who his client was when he conveyed certain suspicions about Mr. Trump and Russia to the F.B.I. in September 2016. Among other things, investigators have examined whether Mr. Sussmann was secretly working for the Clinton campaign -- which he denies."

Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "Some months after Attorney General Merrick Garland's Department of Justice signaled it would back ... Donald Trump in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge refused on Wednesday to let that development prevent the litigation from proceeding in his courtroom. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trump's request for a stay of all proceedings, without comment."

Ha Ha. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "New reporting from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reveals that former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) did extensive research on psychological disorders in preparation for dealing with ... Donald Trump.... A New York-based Republican donor who also happens to be a doctor reached out to Ryan and warned him that he would 'need to understand what narcissistic personality disorder is.'... The doctor sent him more information about the condition, including an email with 'thoughts on how to best deal with a person with anti-social personality disorder.' Ryan subsequently did more research of his own and grew more convinced that Trump really was a pathological narcissist."

Thomas Edsell in the New York Times: Scholars argue that opposition to abortion is about patriarchy, racism, sexism, gender identity, religiosity & local sovereignty. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. MB: Since I'm not a scholar, I see the anti-abortion casus belli as falling within that spectrum of those other illiberal views that reflect a closed, parochial mindset.

Elisabetta Povoledo, et al., of the New York Times: "Pope Francis weighed in on Wednesday on a debate roiling the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, where conservative bishops are pushing for guidelines that would deny communion to politicians, like President Biden, who support abortion rights. 'I have never refused the eucharist to anyone,' Francis said, though he added that he did not know of any instance when such a politician had come to him for communion. Bishops, the pope said, should be pastors, not politicians."

Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Four amateur astronauts lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center [in Florida] Wednesday evening, making history by becoming the first all-civilian crew to reach orbit in a fully commercial mission operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX and paid for by a billionaire entrepreneur. The launch, dubbed Inspiration4, was the first step in what is planned to be an audacious three-day journey in orbit around the Earth by a group of people who just months ago ... didn't expect to fly to space."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

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

Dan Keating, et al., of the Washington Post: "One in 500 Americans have died of covid-19.... People older than 85 make up only 2 percent of the population, but a quarter of the total death toll. One in 35 people 85 or older died of covid, compared with 1 in 780 people age 40 to 64.... Death rates for younger groups, 40 to 64 years old, are much lower, but racial inequities grow larger.... Covid kill[s] Blacks and Hispanics more than three times as often as Whites, and Native Americans almost nine times as much." The article explains some of the reasons structural racism is a factor in increased Covid-19 deaths.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden on Wednesday called the results of California's recall vote 'a resounding win' for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically citing the state's strong vaccine requirements.... The results of Tuesday's recall -- which weighed whether to oust Newsom from office before the end of his term -- turned out to be a vote of confidence by California voters in his approach, Biden said. 'This vote is a resounding win for the approach that he and I share to beating the pandemic: strong vaccine requirements, strong steps to reopen schools safely, and strong plans to distribute real medicines -- not fake treatments -- to help those who get sick,' Biden said in a statement." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The [California] recall does offer at least one lesson to Democrats in Washington ahead of next year's midterm elections: The party's pre-existing blue- and purple-state strategy of portraying Republicans as Trump-loving extremists can still prove effective with the former president out of office, at least when the strategy is executed with unrelenting discipline, an avalanche of money and an opponent who plays to type.... For Republicans eying [President] Biden's falling approval ratings and growing hopeful about their 2022 prospects, the failed recall is less an ominous portent than a cautionary reminder about what happens when they put forward candidates who are easy prey for the opposition." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eric Bradner & Dan Merica of CNN: "California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a decisive answer to the question of whether voters would penalize those who enacted strict policies aimed at slowing the coronavirus pandemic.... Republicans sought a replay of 2003, when actor Arnold Schwarzenegger attracted support across ideological lines and voters decided to boot then-Gov. Gray Davis. This time, though, the party's leading candidate, talk radio host Larry Elder, stuck much closer to conservative orthodoxy -- making it difficult to attract the sort of broad bipartisan support that it takes for a GOP candidate to win in deep-blue California.... Here are five takeaways from California's recall election[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: It might be worth bearing in mind that Californians know Gavin Newsom is a jerk. I mean, he married Kimberly Guilfoyle, (Don Jr. loud-mouthed girlfriend) then cheated on her with the wife of his campaign manager. But they also know Gavin is no Larry Elder. However, I don't see much of a "lesson" for Democrats in the recall election. Newsom is so far (there are still millions of votes to count) getting a slightly higher percentage of votes than he did when he was elected in 2018. So yeah, it's a wipeout. But it was a wipeout then, too.

Massachusetts. Joanna Slater of the Washington Post: "Boston voters will choose between two women of color when they elect their next leader -- a contest that has always been won by White men, until now -- after Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George emerged victorious from a diverse slate of candidates in a preliminary election Tuesday. The race is a milestone that reflects a shift in the city's demographics and self-image. It also sets up a showdown between the progressive and moderate factions of the Democratic Party. Wu, a Harvard-educated daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, is a longtime city council member. A proponent of rent control, free public transportation and a new Green Deal for the city, she counts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as a supporter and mentor. Essaibi George, who identifies as Arab American, grew up in the diverse neighborhood of Dorchester, where she was raised by immigrant parents from Tunisia and Poland.... Analysts say her base of support -- particularly among older, moderate Democrats and White voters -- represents more continuity....

"For some of Boston's Black residents, the results of the preliminary election were disappointing. Two Black women, acting mayor Kim Janey and City Council member Andrea Campbell, each received nearly 20 percent of the votes, behind George's 22 percent (Wu won 33 percent)."

Pennsylvania. Elise Viebeck & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania on Wednesday approved subpoenas for a wide range of data and personal information on voters, advancing a probe of the 2020 election in a key battleground state ... Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted with baseless claims of fraud. The move drew a sharp rebuke from Democrats who described the effort as insecure and unwarranted and said they would consider mounting a court fight. Among other requests, Republicans are seeking the names, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses and methods of voting for millions of people who cast ballots in the May primary and the November general election. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) called Wednesday's vote 'merely another step to undermine democracy, confidence in our elections and to capitulate to Donald Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.'"

South Carolina. Southern Gothic Saga, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina lawyer who is at the center of multiple investigations after his wife and son were shot and killed at the family's home in June, plans to turn himself in on Thursday on charges that he staged his own assassination, even as he continued to deny any involvement in the killing of his family.... The stunning turn came on the same day that authorities in South Carolina announced they had opened an investigation into the 2018 death of a housekeeper at Mr. Murdaugh's home. The death of the housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, 57, was attributed in court documents to a 'trip and fall' accident, but Angela Topper, the coroner in Hampton County, S.C., said the death was never reported to her office and no autopsy was conducted.... The [Murdaugh] case has already captured attention because of the Murdaugh family's powerful history in the South Carolina Lowcountry, where members of the family served as top prosecutors for a five-county region for more than eight decades." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So that's four killings, an attempted murder & an embezzlement scheme since 2018: Murdaugh's wife & son, a young woman the son killed in an alcohol-fueled boating accident, and the housekeeper, Alex Murdaugh's shooting as part of an insurance scam, and a charge by his law partners that he embezzled millions from the firm.

News Lede

CBS News: "The number of U.S. workers filing for first-time unemployment benefits edged up to 332,000 last week from a pandemic low, a sign that rising COVID-19 infections could be weighing on the economy. The numbers are an increase from 312,000 the prior week -- the lowest weekly claims figure since the pandemic slammed the economy in March 2020."

The Commentariat -- September 15, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The [California] recall does offer at least one lesson to Democrats in Washington ahead of next year's midterm elections: The party's pre-existing blue- and purple-state strategy of portraying Republicans as Trump-loving extremists can still prove effective with the former president out of office, at least when the strategy is executed with unrelenting discipline, an avalanche of money and an opponent who plays to type.... For Republicans eying [President] Biden's falling approval ratings and growing hopeful about their 2022 prospects, the failed recall is less an ominous portent than a cautionary reminder about what happens when they put forward candidates who are easy prey for the opposition." ~~~

~~~ Eric Bradner & Dan Merica of CNN: "California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a decisive answer to the question of whether voters would penalize those who enacted strict policies aimed at slowing the coronavirus pandemic.... Republicans sought a replay of 2003, when actor Arnold Schwarzenegger attracted support across ideological lines and voters decided to boot then-Gov. Gray Davis. This time, though, the party's leading candidate, talk radio host Larry Elder, stuck much closer to conservative orthodoxy -- making it difficult to attract the sort of broad bipartisan support that it takes for a GOP candidate to win in deep-blue California.... Here are five takeaways from California's recall election[.]" ~~~

~~~ Marie: It might be worth bearing in mind that Californians know Gavin Newsom is a jerk. I mean, he married Kimberly Guilfoyle, (Don Jr. loud-mouthed girlfriend) then cheated on her with the wife of his campaign manager. But they also know Gavin is no Larry Elder.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "The FBI director, Chris Wray, is facing new scrutiny of the bureau's handling of its 2018 background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, including its claim that the FBI lacked the authority to conduct a further investigation into the then supreme court nominee. At the heart of the new questions that Wray will face later this week, when he testifies before the Senate judiciary committee, is a 2010 Memorandum of Understanding that the FBI has recently said constrained the agency's ability to conduct any further investigations of allegations of misconduct. It is not clear whether that claim is accurate, based on a close reading of the MOU, which was released in court records following a Freedom of Information Act request. The FBI was called to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation process in 2018, after he was accused of assault by Christine Blasey Ford.... The FBI closed its extended background check of Kavanaugh after four days and did not interview either Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh. The FBI also disclosed to the Senate this June -- two years after questions were initially asked -- that it had received 4,500 tips from the public during the background check and that it had shared all 'relevant tips' with the White House counsel at that time. It is not clear whether those tips were ever investigated."

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

~~~~~~~~~~

It appears that we are enjoying an overwhelmingly 'no' vote tonight here in the state of California, but 'no' is not the only thing that was expressed tonight. We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic. We said yes to people's right to vote without fear of fake fraud and voter suppression. We said yes to women's fundamental constitutional right to decide for herself what she does with her body, her faith, her future. We said yes to diversity. -- Gavin Newsom, to reporters, late Tuesday ~~~

~~~ Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "A Republican-led bid to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom of California ended in defeat late Tuesday.... The vote spoke to the power liberal voters wield in California.... But it also reflected the state's recent progress against the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 67,000 lives in California. The state has one of the nation's highest vaccination rates and one of its lowest rates of new virus cases -- which the governor tirelessly argued to voters were the results of his vaccine and mask requirements.... The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Newsom, who had won in a 62 percent landslide in 2018, less than an hour after the polls closed on Tuesday. About 66 percent of the eight million ballots counted by 10 p.m. Pacific time said the governor should stay in office.... Considered a bellwether for the 2022 midterm elections, the recall outcome came as a relief to Democrats nationally." The AP' story is here. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post is running a tally of the vote. At 5 am ET, more than 64% of voters voted no on the recall, and almost 36% voted yes. The tally also appears on the Post's front page at this time.

~~~ Thomas Fuller, et al., of the New York Times: "In a state famous for its acts of direct democracy..., detractors of this year's special election say the recall process is democracy gone off the rails, a distraction from crises that require the government's attention, and a waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.... Many voters who went to the polls on Tuesday said the election was an unwelcome distraction that preoccupied Mr. Newsom.... The election, which is costing the state $276 million to administer, has at times had a circus atmosphere to it, not least when one of the 46 candidates on the ballot brought a large bear to a campaign rally. No one in the state's Democratic leadership is suggesting the elimination of recalls, which are baked into the State Constitution. But many are vowing to make it more difficult for them to qualify for the ballot, or to change the rules on how a successor is chosen.... It will take a referendum to decide whether to change this particular referendum.... Critics of the recall process say it is fundamentally antidemocratic. With a simple majority, voters could recall Mr. Newsom, who was well ahead in the polls in the final days of campaigning. But his replacement would be chosen by plurality." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It isn't just that the recall is anti-democratic, as the article well explains, but it is also a useful tool for Republicans in a majority-Democratic state. For statewide offices, recalls are about the only way a Republican can win an election (unless she's a popular celebrity). ~~~

     ~~~ A related KGO (San Francisco) story is here.

** Milley, Pelosi Agreed Trump Was Crazy. Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol..., Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took top-secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to 'Peril,' a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa. Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the assault, 'was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.' Milley worried that Trump could 'go rogue,' the authors write.... In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons.... Milley's fear that Trump could do something unpredictable came from experience. Right after Trump lost the election, Milley discovered the President [secretly] had signed a military order to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021, before he left the White House." Read on. Whodathunk, for instance, that Dan Quayle would save the day? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. The Washington Post's story, by Isaac Stanley-Becker, is here: "Twice in the final months of the Trump administration, the country's top military officer was so fearful that the president's actions might spark a war with China that he moved urgently to avert armed conflict. In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People's Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story by Michael Schmidt is here: "... the book details how Mr. Trump's presidency essentially collapsed in his final months in office, particularly after his election loss and the start of his campaign to deny the results. Top aides -- including General Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General William P. Barr -- became convinced that they needed to take drastic measures to stop him from trampling on American democracy or setting off an international conflict, and General Milley thought that Mr. Trump had declined mentally in the aftermath of the election, according to the book." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "In their new book 'Peril,' Bob Woodward and Robert Costa document how top Republicans struggled to manage Donald Trump's exit from the White House while also trying to convince him to help the party down the road. Filled with scenes of backbiting, temper tantrums, and expletive-filled phone calls, the book depicts a GOP in chaos, desperately trying to preserve its relationship with Trump." ~~~

~~~ ** Pence Is No Hero. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Ever since Mike Pence announced on Jan. 6 that he lacked power to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election in Congress, it's been widely suggested that the vice president was one of the few heroes in this ugly tale. But new revelations in the forthcoming book by Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa cast doubt on this account. And the new details also hint at lines of inquiry about Jan. 6 that will shape aspects of the House select committee's examination of those events." ~~~

~~~ Steve M.: "I think [Trump] was unlikely to drop a bomb on a foreign enemy under the circumstances -- one important reason being that the people he truly hates are his domestic enemies.... General Milley's efforts to prevent the president from doing something rash and irreversible seem understandable (and reminiscent of the last days of Nixon) -- but to your right-wing relatives, what Woodward and Costa are reporting just confirms everything they've suspected throughout Trump's time in politics: that a globalist Deep State exists, that it spent the years of Trump's presidency seeking to thwart everything he tried to do, and that this cabal cares more about China than it does about America. Marco Rubio has already called on President Biden to fire General Milley, but that's mild compare to what's coming...."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "Senior advisers in the Trump administration in February 2020 privately discussed the government's 'critical mistakes' in preparing for the coronavirus, countering optimistic claims ... Donald Trump made in public, according to emails obtained by the House select subcommittee on the pandemic. 'In truth we do not have a clue how many are infected in the USA. We are expecting the first wave to spread in the US within the next 7 days,' adviser Steven Hatfill wrote to Peter Navarro, the president's trade director, on Feb. 29, 2020.... After receiving Hatfill's message -- accompanied by an admonishment that 'from now on, the Government must be honest' -- Navarro privately warned Trump in a March 1, 2020, memo that the federal response was 'NOT fast enough' and that a 'very serious public health emergency' was looming. Trump continued to downplay the virus's risks in public, assuring Americans the pandemic was being contained and that his government was being "totally proactive" in its response.'"

Brady Dennis, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States and Europe will launch an international push to reduce global methane emissions by nearly a third by 2030, as part of a broader effort to more aggressively combat climate change, according to people familiar with the plan and a planning document provided to The Washington Post. U.S. and European Union officials plan to ask other key nations to sign on to the Global Methane Pledge as soon as this Friday, when President Biden and leaders of major economies gather for a virtual, closed-door meeting on climate and energy issues."

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "An FBI agent accused of failing to properly investigate former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar -- and lying about it later -- has been fired by the FBI, days before a high-stakes public hearing into the bureau's flawed investigation of the child sex-abuse case involving Simone Biles and other world-famous gymnasts. Michael Langeman, who as a supervisory special agent in the FBI's Indianapolis office interviewed gymnast McKayla Maroney in 2015 about her alleged abuse at the hands of Nassar, lost his job last week, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.... A July report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz harshly criticized Langeman -- without naming him -- as well as his former boss, Jay Abbott, for their handling of the Nassar case.... FBI firings are relatively rare; most investigators facing serious discipline choose to retire or resign before they can be terminated."

Manu Raju of CNN: "Senate Democrats are proposing new legislation to overhaul voting laws after months of discussions to get all 50 of their members behind a single bill, allowing their caucus to speak with one voice on the issue even though it stands virtually no chance of becoming law.... The new proposal will almost certainly fall well short of the 60 votes needed to break a GOP-led filibuster. Plus Democrats lack the votes to change the rules and weaken the filibuster as many in their party want them to do, meaning the plan is expected to stall when the Senate casts a procedural vote on the matter next week. The proposal, which will be introduced by Senate Rules Chair Amy Klobuchar, also has the endorsement of Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who had been the lone member of his caucus to oppose his party's more sweeping overhaul -- known as the For the People Act -- which passed the House earlier this year." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday...., Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, used a hearing intended for sworn testimony from the secretary of state on the Afghanistan withdrawal to allege that President Biden is mentally incompetent. Risch first devoted his opening statement to continuing the long-running Republican narrative. 'We know for a fact the president of the United States is somewhat disadvantaged here in that someone is calling the shots. He can't even speak without someone in the White House censoring it or signing off on it,' the senator claimed. 'As recently as yesterday, in mid-sentence, he was cut off by someone in the White House who makes the decision that the president of the United States is not speaking correctly.... This is a puppeteer act.' Then, as the first Republican questioner, Risch used his time to elaborate on the slander.... [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken chuckled as he replied that the loose-lipped Biden 'speaks very clearly and very deliberately for himself.'" Risch continued in this vein. "The episode is worth unpacking because it shows, in miniature, how misinformation infects the Republican Party, rapidly spreads through partisan media and contaminates elected GOP leaders -- who amplify and defend the falsehood, even when it's shown to be wrong." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Risch's lie is ludicrous, and he has to know it. He based it on a report that staff cut off President Biden during a reporters' pool spray. At nearly every presidential pool spray in recent American history, staff cut off the Q&A after a predetermined period of time. The president or president* may want to continue the back-and-forth, or he at least wants to appear to be happy to answer questions, so staff are assigned to play their part by cutting short the session. Risch's own staff probably has done the same for him. As a supporter of a president* who actually was/is mentally unstable, Risch is trying to project Trump's mental deficiencies onto a Democratic president. ~~~

~~~ Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post's fact-checker, dives into the particulars and gives Risch (and the RNC, which initiated the fake story), four Pinocchios for their "bogus claim."

Zachary Cohen of CNN: "A few months before rioters stormed the US Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security restricted the flow of open-source intelligence reports about 'election-related threats' to law enforcement, citing First Amendment concerns, according to documents reviewed by CNN. The revelations not only add to a growing concerns about intelligence gathering, but they also raise questions about a key staffer on the committee investigating the insurrection and his previous role in determining how threat information that came from public sources, was shared with law enforcement prior to the Capitol attack. Joseph Maher, who changed the protocols around disseminating open-source information as head of DHS' intelligence arm, is now on the staff of the House Select Committee on January 6." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "You can draw a straight line from the 'war on terror' to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, from the state of exception that gave us mass surveillance, indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition and 'enhanced interrogation' to the insurrectionist conviction that the only way to save America is to subvert it.... It is with all of this in mind that I found it galling to watch George W. Bush speak on Saturday.... In Shanksville, Pa..., Bush voiced his dismay at the stark polarization and rigid partisanship of modern American politics.... Bush spoke as if he were just an observer.... But ... Bush was an active participant in the politics he now bemoans.... Bush was noteworthy for the partisanship of his White House and the ruthlessness of his political tactics, for using the politics of fear to pound his opponents into submission.... His critique of the Trump movement is not wrong, but it is fatally undermined by his own conduct in office." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Three former American intelligence officers hired by the United Arab Emirates to carry out sophisticated cyberoperations admitted to hacking crimes and to violating U.S. export laws that restrict the transfer of military technology to foreig governments, according to court documents made public on Tuesday. The documents detail a conspiracy by the three men to furnish the Emirates with advanced technology and to assist Emirati intelligence operatives in breaches aimed at damaging the perceived enemies of the small but powerful Persian Gulf nation. The men helped the Emirates, a close American ally, gain unauthorized access to 'acquire data from computers, electronic devices and servers around the world, including on computers and servers in the United States,' prosecutors said. The three men worked for DarkMatter, a company that is effectively an arm of the Emirati government. They are part of a trend of former American intelligence officers accepting lucrative jobs from foreign governments...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't understand why these guys weren't charged with treason, but they weren't. To use skills learned in the employment of the U.S. government against that government looks like treason to me. I would welcome the advice of anybody who wants to explain me out of my perception.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department asked a federal judge late Tuesday to issue an order that would prevent Texas from enacting a law that prohibits nearly all abortions, ratcheting up a fight between the Biden administration and the state's Republican leaders. The Justice Department argued in its emergency motion that the state adopted the law, known as Senate Bill 8, 'to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights,' reiterating an argument the department made last week when it sued Texas to prohibit enforcement of the contentious new legislation. 'It is settled constitutional law that "a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability,"' the department said in the lawsuit. 'But Texas has done just that.'"

How Amy ... Might Know She's a Political Hack. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Justice Amy Coney Barrett's recent remarks in Louisville, alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the architect of the frantic rush to put her on the Supreme Court in 2020 even as people were voting in the presidential election, set off gales of laughter, much eye-rolling and a new appreciation for the necessity of term limits for justices.... Are we really to believe that the conservative justices who held up the former president's anti-Muslim travel ban, who knocked down an extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who undercut unions' ability to organize, who repeatedly tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act and who adhered to a disingenuous if not tortured reading of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act just coincidentally stumbled onto positions supported by the right-wing promoters of their nominations and confirmations?... When the highest court is now a forum for raw exercise of political power, a president's picks should not be empowered to serve for decades." (Also linked yesterday.)

Heather Long & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "U.S. poverty fell overall in 2020, a surprising decline that is largely a result of the swift and large federal aid that Congress enacted at the start of the pandemic to try to prevent widespread financial hardship as the nation experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. Census reported that the official poverty rate rose slightly in 2020 to 11.4 percent, up from a record low 10.5 percent in 2019, but that figure mostly reflects cash payments to Americans. After accounting for all the government aid payments, the so-called supplemental poverty measure declined to 9.1 percent in 2020 from 11.8 percent in 2019. The decline in the poverty rate means that millions of Americans were lifted out of severe financial hardship last year, the U.S. Census said. Poverty is defined as having an income of less than $26,200 a year for a family of four." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Charlie Smart of the New York Times: "Hospitals in the southern United States are running dangerously low on space in intensive care units, as the Delta variant has led to spikes in coronavirus cases not seen since last year's deadly winter wave. One in four hospitals now reports more than 95 percent of I.C.U. beds occupied -- up from one in five last month. Experts say it can become difficult to maintain standards of care for the sickest patients in hospitals where all or nearly all I.C.U. beds are occupied."

New Hampshire. Reid Wilson of the Hill: "A New Hampshire state representative said Tuesday he had formally left the Republican Party in protest of what he said was an emerging strain of anti-vaccination rhetoric coming from state House leaders. State Rep. William Marsh, an ophthalmologist who has won election to four terms in the state House, said he had met with the town clerk of Brookfield to change his registration to affiliate with Democrats. 'I have come to realize a majority of Republicans, both locally and in the NH House, hold values which no longer reflect traditional Republican values...,' Marsh wrote in a press release. He said he had been content to ride out the rest of his term without attracting any attention until state Republican leaders held a rally Tuesday in opposition to President Biden's vaccine mandates for federal and private sector workers." MB: It sure takes a lot for some Republicans to "come to realize" this ain't your father's GOP.

Beyond the Beltway

South Carolina. The Murdaugh Saga, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Alex Murdaugh, the prominent South Carolina lawyer whose wife and son were shot and killed in June, asked a former client to kill him this month so his other son could collect a $10 million insurance payment but survived being shot in the head, the police said on Tuesday night. It was the latest startling twist in a series of mysteries that have brought intense scrutiny to the Murdaugh family and the rural slice of South Carolina where their family has held sway for more than a century, though the central question of who killed Mr. Murdaugh's wife and son remains unsolved. The former client, Curtis Edward Smith, 61, of Walterboro, S.C., was arrested and charged with assisted suicide, aggravated assault and battery, and insurance fraud in connection with the shooting on Sept. 4, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said. The state police agency said that Mr. Murdaugh, 53, had admitted to the scheme on Monday and that Mr. Smith had admitted to being at the scene and getting rid of the gun."

Way Beyond

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis on Tuesday rejected in stark terms the use of the cross as a political tool, an apparent swipe at nationalist forces in Europe and beyond that have used the imagery of Christianity for personal gain.... 'The cross is not a flag to wave, but the pure source of a new way of living,' Francis said, adding that a Christian 'views no one as an enemy, but everyone as a brother or sister.'"

Denmark-ish. This Is Horrifying. Let Them Eat Kelp. Rachel Pannett of the Washington Post: "The slaughter of nearly 1,500 dolphins in the remote Faroe Islands has revived a debate about a centuries-old tradition that environmentalists condemn as cruel. The pod of white-sided dolphins was driven into the largest fjord in the North Atlantic territory by hunters in speed boats and on Jet Skis on Sunday, where they were corralled into shallow waters and killed. Many locals defend the hunt as an important local custom, with meat and blubber shared by the local community of the semi-independent Danish territory, which is located halfway between Scotland and Iceland. But the size of this year's hunt -- which conservationists estimate is the largest in Faroese history, and possibly the largest single-day hunt ever worldwide -- may be too much to feed the rocky archipelago's population of around 50,000 people."

Germany. Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "After a decade and a half, the era of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming to an end. Having chosen not to run in national elections this month, she will become the country's first premier to leave power of her own volition. If negotiations to form a new government drag on after the Sept. 26 vote, she could overtake Helmut Kohl as modern Germany's longest-serving leader.... Her admirers have hailed her as everything from the leader of the free world to a contemporary Joan of Arc -- grand portrayals she has always spurned.... President Barack Obama, among her most enduring advocates, described her as an outstanding global political leader. But she leaves a complicated legacy. Some applaud her humble, consensus-driven political style. Others see a lack of bold leadership, particularly in the face of a more aggressive Russia and rising Chinese power. In 2015, she opened the door to more than 1 million refugees, mostly from war-battered Syria. But Merkel's watch has also seen a surge in nationalist sentiment that has propelled the far right into parliament. While dubbed the 'climate chancellor' for her environmental promises, she leaves office with Germany the world's biggest producer of air-choking brown coal." (Also linked yesterday.)

Haiti. Maria Abi-Habib & Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "Haiti's chief prosecutor said on Tuesday that there was evidence linking the acting prime minister to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and prohibited him from leaving the country until he answers questions about it. Last week, the prosecutor issued a police summons for the prime minister, Ariel Henry, requesting that he testify about contact he had with one of the chief suspects in the killing. Phone records show that Mr. Henry spoke with the suspect -- Joseph Badio, a former intelligence official -- in the hours after Mr. Moïse was killed in July in his home in Port-au-Prince, the capital."

North Korea. Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Wednesday, just two days after it announced a test of a new long-range cruise missile, in what is likely a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The projectiles were identified as short-range ballistic missiles by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. If confirmed, it would be the first such test since March. North Korea's back-to-back weapons tests come amid stalled nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington and puts renewed pressure on the Biden administration's efforts to end North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile program."

News Lede:

New York Times: "Norm Macdonald, the acerbic, sometimes controversial comedian familiar to millions as the 'Weekend Update' anchor on 'Saturday Night Live' from 1994 to 1998, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 61." ~~~

~~~ And do watch Norm tell the story where "a moth walks into a podiatrist's office," which is embedded in the NYT obituary. (It's here, too.) MB: Norm was an original in a genre where almost everything has been done. ~~~

~~~ Remember how Trump often claimed he had invented the term "fake news"? From the Washington Post's obituary of Norm Macdonald: "Mr. Macdonald often introduced 'Weekend Update' by saying, 'Now for the fake news.'... He was one of the first comedians on SNL to joke about Donald Trump, then a publicity-seeking real estate developer in New York. When Trump's second marriage to Marla Maples was breaking up, Mr. Macdonald joked, 'According to Trump, Maples violated part of their marriage agreement when she decided to turn 30.'" Norm's story about meeting Trump during a break in Jimmy Fallon's show seems to be true.