The Commentariat -- April 24, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Katie Rogers & Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "President Biden on Saturday recognized the mass killings of Armenians more than a century ago as genocide, signaling a willingness to test an increasingly frayed relationship with Turkey, long a key regional ally and an important partner within NATO. 'Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,' Mr. Biden said in a statement issued on the 106th anniversary of the beginning of a brutal campaign by the former Ottoman Empire that killed 1.5 million people. 'And we remember so that we remain ever vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.'" The Guardian's story is here. President Biden's full statement is here.

Craig Timberg & Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "While the world was distracted with ... Donald Trump leaving office on Jan. 20, an obscure Florida company discreetly announced to the world&'s computer networks a startling development: It now was managing a huge unused swath of the Internet that, for several decades, had been owned by the U.S. military. What happened next was stranger still." MB: I would summarize the rest of the story, but I don't understand a word of it. It's the most popular story on the WashPo site right now (1:45 pm ET Saturday), so I'm linking it. But I don't get it.

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Following her vote to impeach Donald Trump, Rep. Liz Cheney has received a groundswell of financial support from the most powerful figures in traditional GOP politics and the corporate world.... Almost the entire traditional Republican power structure is standing behind Cheney at this tough moment -- but not House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).... As House Republicans gather Sunday for a three-day retreat meant to unify around a new policy agenda, the former president, residing 170 miles south of the GOP's Orlando gathering, continues to be a divisive figure, pitting the small band of Republican lawmakers critical of him against the majority that remains loyal. And the fault line in the conference runs over Trump's role in cheering on the rioting criminals who ransacked the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6." MB: Frankly, I hope they get in a massive fistfight.

Montana. Iris Samuels of the AP: "Gov. Greg Gianforte [Violently R] on Friday signed a bill that prohibits state and local law enforcement in Montana from enforcing federal bans on firearms, ammunition and magazines. Supporters of the law have said it would protect the Second Amendment from stiffer gun control laws that could come from federal legislation or executive orders by President Joe Biden in the wake of several mass shootings that took place this year, including a recent shooting that killed eight people in Indianapolis. Opponents of the bill have said it would make it difficult for local law enforcement to collaborate with federal authorities on issues beyond gun access when such collaboration is essential to protect public safety, including in cases of domestic violence and drug offenses."

Texas. Let's Not Let the "Urban People" Vote. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Twenty-four-hour voting was one of a host of options Harris County[, Texas, (includes Houston)] introduced to help residents cast ballots, along with drive-through voting and proactively mailing out ballot applications. The new alternatives, tailored to a diverse work force struggling amid a pandemic in Texas' largest county, helped increase turnout by nearly 10 percent compared with 2016; nearly 70 percent of registered voters cast ballots, and a task force found that there was no evidence of any fraud. Yet Republicans are pushing measures through the State Legislature that would take aim at the very process that produced such a large turnout. Two omnibus bills ... are seeking to roll back virtually every expansion the county put in place for 2020. The bills would make Texas one of the hardest states in the country to cast a ballot in. And they are a prime example of a Republican-led effort to roll back voting access in Democrat-rich cities and populous regions like Atlanta and Arizona's Maricopa County, while having far less of an impact on voting in rural areas that tend to lean Republican.... In Texas, Republicans have taken the rare tack of outlining restrictions that would apply only to counties with population of more than one million, targeting the booming and increasingly diverse metropolitan areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas."

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Brady Dennis, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden used the waning hours of a White House climate summit to hammer home a message aimed as much at Americans as at the dozens of world leaders he had convened: Combating the Earth's warming is not simply a responsibility, but a chance to boost battered economies. 'Today's final session is not about the threat climate change poses,' Biden said Friday morning from the East Room. 'It's about the opportunity that addressing climate change provides, an opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs around the world in innovative sectors.'"

~~~ The New York Times has live updates of President Biden's virtual climate summit, Day 2, here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "Federal authorities are looking into whether a 2018 trip to the Bahamas involving Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz and several young women was part of an orchestrated effort to illegally influence Gaetz in the area of medical marijuana, people briefed on the matter told CNN. Prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section are examining whether Gaetz took gifts, including travel and paid escorts, in exchange for political favors, the sources said.... Gaetz has a long history of advocating for medical marijuana and has introduced several pieces of legislation seeking to loosen laws regulating the drug.... A number of his close associates have ties to the industry, including Jason Pirozzolo, a Florida doctor who founded a medical marijuana advocacy group and has in past news coverage in Florida been described as a "marijuana investor." According to reports, Pirozzolo accompanied Gaetz on the 2018 trip to the Bahamas that investigators are scrutinizing." (Also linked yesterday.)

Bumble-Busted. Marshall Cohen of CNN: "The Justice Department has charged a Capitol rioter who was turned in by someone he matched with on the dating app Bumble, after he bragged about his exploits on January 6. According to court documents, one week after the attack, Robert Chapman of New York told one of his Bumble matches that 'I did storm the Capitol' and said that he 'made it all the way into Statuary Hall.' He also claimed that he was interviewed by members of the media. The other Bumble user replied, 'we are not a match.' Prosecutors said the user then quickly reached out to the FBI and provided screenshots of the conversation. Investigators said in court filings that they corroborated Chapman's claims by comparing his Bumble profile picture to body camera footage from police officers who were inside the Capitol."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "An impassioned supporter of ... Donald Trump, on trial for allegedly advocating the 'slaughter' of influential Democrats after the U.S. Capitol riot, also espoused Nazi ideology and suggested to his father that Trump should override the election results and declare the United States a dictatorship as Adolf Hitler did in Germany generations ago, according to evidence presented by federal authorities in a Brooklyn courtroom Thursday. Brendan Hunt, that evidence suggests, was fixated on extremist ideas and conspiracy theories -- including that Democrats falsely portrayed covid-19 as a deadly epidemic to gain political advantage over Trump -- when on Jan. 8 he posted a video titled 'KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.'" MB: Not sure if Brendan is one of the people Sen. Ron Johnson called (a) a left-wing provocateur or (b) someone who wouldn't do anything to break the law. Since it's pretty difficult to label a neo-Nazi as "left-wing," maybe Brendan now can call Senator Ron as a character witness.

Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "An Oath Keepers leader's chilling correspondence with another person who allegedly fantasized about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 'head rolling down the front steps' persuaded a federal judge on Friday that he should be kept behind bars pending trial."

A Florida Man Will Summer at a New Jersey Resort. Leia Idliby of Mediaite: "Donald Trump is reportedly planning to move his post-presidency operation from Mar-a-Lago to New Jersey, according to Business Insider.... Trump and his aides are planning to temporarily relocate to Bedminster, New Jersey, where he owns a golf club...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Yesterday I wished everyone a Happy First Bleach Day! As Meredith McGraw & Sam Stein of Politico remind us, "One year ago today..., Donald Trump took to the White House briefing room and encouraged his top health officials to study the injection of bleach into the human body as a means of fighting Covid." Here's a Florida Man (et Fils) who probably did not celebrate Bleach Day. ~~~

     ~~~ DOJ Press Release: "A federal grand jury in Miami has returned an indictment charging a Florida man -- Mark Grenon, 62 -- and his three sons -- Jonathan Grenon, 34, Jordan Grenon, 26, and Joseph Grenon, 32 -- with fraudulently marketing and selling 'Miracle Mineral Solution,' a toxic industrial bleach, as a cure for COVID-19, cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, autism, malaria, hepatitis, Parkinson's, herpes, HIV/AIDS, and other serious medical conditions, and with defying federal court orders.... The Grenons claimed that ingesting MMS could treat, prevent, and cure COVID-19, according to the charges.... In prior official warning statements, the FDA had strongly urged consumers not to purchase or use MMS for any reason, explaining that drinking MMS was the same as drinking bleach and could cause dangerous side effects, including severe vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening low blood pressure."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Lena Sun & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Federal health officials lifted a pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Friday night after an extensive safety review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. The officials said the benefits of the single-shot vaccine far outweigh the risks from a rare and severe type of blood clot. The decision to lift the pause allows state and local officials to resume immediately giving the vaccine they have available on shelves, CDC officials said. The FDA has updated patient and health-care provider fact sheets for use as early as Saturday, and both agencies will publish additional education and communication materials by early next week." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Denise Lu of the New York Times: "The U.S. death rate in 2020 was the highest above normal ever recorded in the country -- even surpassing the calamity of the 1918 flu pandemic.... Since the 1918 pandemic, the country's death rate has fallen steadily. But last year, the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted that trend, in spite of a century of improvements in medicine and public health." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sheryl Stolberg & Chris Hamby of the New York Times: "The Biden administration said Friday that it did not know that a Baltimore factory had discarded millions of possibly contaminated doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine when President Biden last month released the company to ship vaccines manufactured there to Mexico and Canada. Canadian and Mexican officials said on Friday that they had assurances from AstraZeneca that the millions of doses they received were safe. Some of the doses have been distributed to the public in both countries, the officials said.... Vaccine production at the plant, operated by Emergent BioSolutions, has been halted. Up to 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine needed to be discarded because of the contamination fears. This week, inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration said Emergent had failed to fully investigate the episode, and they also found fault with the plant's disinfection practices, size and design, handling of raw materials and training of workers."

Atthar Mirza & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "The globe is quickly being split into coronavirus vaccine 'haves' and 'have-nots,' creating a gap that may define the next phase of the pandemic. Using publicly available figures from Our World in Data, The Washington Post found that nearly half -- 48 percent -- of all vaccine doses administered so far have gone to just 16 percent of the world's population in what the World Bank considers high-income countries. Through the summer and fall of last year, wealthy nations cut deals directly with vaccine-makers, buying up a disproportionate share of early doses -- and undermining a World Health Organization-backed effort, called Covax, to equitably distribute shots. So now, in a small number of relatively wealthy nations, including the United States, doses are relatively plentiful and mass immunization campaigns are progressing apace. But much of the world is still struggling to secure enough supply." ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Last July, during the presidential campaign, Joe Biden promised the universal health care advocate Ady Barkan that he wouldn't let intellectual property laws stand in the way of worldwide access to coronavirus vaccines.... Biden was unequivocal. 'It lacks any human dignity, what we're doing,' he said of Trump's vaccine isolationism. 'So the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And it's not only a good thing to do, it's overwhelmingly in our interest to do.'... Now that Biden is in power, his perception of our interest doesn't seem quite so clear. Last year, India and South Africa requested a waiver from World Trade Organization rules governing intellectual property for technology dealing with the pandemic.... A handful of rich nations, including the United States, oppose the waiver, but there's a widespread belief that if America changes its position, other countries will follow. Much of the world is waiting to see what Biden does. There's an enormous consensus in favor of a waiver."

Stupidest Senator Has More Horribly Stupid Advice. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) cast dark suspicions on the 'big push' to vaccinate American adults against the deadly coronavirus. The Wisconsin Republican, who's one of the Senate's most notorious sources of disinformation, told radio host and vaccine skeptic Vicki McKenna that the inoculations aren't necessary, reported Forbes. '[There's] no reason to be pushing vaccines on people,' Johnson said, adding that doses should be 'limited' only to those most vulnerable. 'If you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?... I'm getting highly suspicious [of the] big push to make sure everybody gets the vaccine.'..." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "A Maricopa County judge on Friday temporarily halted a Republican-led effort in Arizona to recount ballots from the 2020 presidential election, after Democrats filed a lawsuit arguing that the audit violated state election security laws. But the judge, Christopher Coury of Maricopa County Superior Court, said the pause would go into effect only if the state Democratic Party posted a $1 million bond to compensate a private company -- Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm based in Florida -- that Republicans have hired to review the ballots. In a statement on Friday afternoon, Democratic officials said they would not do so, but they vowed to continue the fight in court. Another hearing was set for Monday morning, and the judge emphasized that he expected the audit to move forward." An Arizona Mirror report is here.

Iowa. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "An Iowa woman who tried to kill two children in 2019 by hitting them with her car because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African or Mexican descent has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and hate crime charges, the authorities said. The woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 43, made the admission to two counts of hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors. She faces life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charges, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday." These were two separate incidents. MB: I suppose it's appropriate that this horrible woman attempted to murder two (possibly) ethnic-minority children by Jeep Cherokee, a vehicle whose name has been criticized by some Native Americans, including the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maryland. Emily Davies & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "Top Maryland officials are launching an investigation of all deaths in police custody that were overseen by the state's former chief medical examiner who testified in Derek Chauvin's defense, the Maryland attorney general and governor's offices announced Friday.... David Fowler, who was Maryland's chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019, served as a key witness for Chauvin, whose high-profile trial ended this week with a jury convicting the former Minneapolis officer of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Fowler broke with the Hennepin County medical examiner, among others, to classify Floyd's killing as 'undetermined' and not a homicide."

Minnesota. Chauvin Was Always a Bad Cop. Mike Levine of ABC News: "Late last year, as a team of Minnesota state prosecutors was preparing for the trial ... [of] Derek Chauvin..., they received a series of videos depicting Chauvin's handling of another case three years earlier that by their own description shocked them. The videos, from Sept. 4, 2017, allegedly showed Chauvin striking a Black teenager in the head so hard that the boy needed stitches, then allegedly holding the boy down with his knee for nearly 17 minutes, and allegedly ignoring complaints from the boy that he couldn't breathe. 'Those videos show a far more violent and forceful treatment of this child than Chauvin describes in his report [of the incident],' Matthew Frank, one of the state prosecutors, wrote in a court filing at the time. Now, the U.S. Justice Department may ... charge Chauvin for the 2017 incident. Two months ago, federal prosecutors in Minneapolis brought witnesses before a federal grand jury to provide testimony related to the incident, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported at the time. And this week, a source informed of the probe told ABC News that the investigation is still underway...."

North Carolina. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Seven sheriff's deputies have been placed on leave, and the governor of North Carolina [Roy Cooper (D)] is calling for the release of body-camera footage after deputies shot and killed a Black man on Wednesday, the authorities said.... Tommy Wooten II, the Pasquotank County sheriff, has said that the deputies were wearing body cameras and that the cameras were active at the time. He said the footage had been turned over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and could be released only by a judge."

Way Beyond

Russia. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The Russian president went up to the brink -- and then, with the eyes of the world upon him, stepped back from it. State television images on Friday showed Russian forces that had massed near Ukraine, sparking fears of an imminent full-scale war in Europe, being loaded onto trains and ships to be pulled back. The same day, the imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny announced he was ending his three-week hunger strike because his demands for independent medical care had, at last, sufficiently been met. The performative blend of fear, suspense and force that President Vladimir V. Putin deploys to affirm his power reached a crescendo this week, illuminating the ever-harder-line tactics to which he is prepared to resort to cement and project his influence. Yet it also became clear by Friday that Mr. Putin saw the anxiety he was able to induce at home and abroad as a tool to be modulated depending on changing circumstances or in the service of a broader aim. It was a distillation, in short, of Mr. Putin's tactical, high-stakes rule that evokes his past as an officer in the K.G.B.: keeping the adversary guessing and off balance, while also being prepared to exercise restraint as long as he can save face." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday, we were wondering in the Comments section what made Putin step back aggressive maneuvers against Ukraine. Troianovski provides an answer. ~~~

~~~ Zahra Ullah of CNN: "Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny said on Friday that he is ending his weekslong hunger strike. The announcement comes days after the Russian opposition leader was transferred to a prison hospital due to his deteriorating health." Breaking at 9:45 am ET. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

CNN: "A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft -- carrying four astronauts from three countries -- docked with the International Space Station early Saturday morning ET, beginning the crew's six-month stay in space. This mission, dubbed Crew-2, marks the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk's company and the first to make use of a previously flown, privately-owned rocket booster and spacecraft." The Washington Post is livebloggding developments here.

CNN: "Indonesia's Navy changed the status of its missing submarine from 'sub miss' to 'sub sank' on Saturday, as a naval chief presented debris believed to be from the vessel at a news conference. Authorities now expect to carry out an evacuation process to recover the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine and its crew when they pinpoint its exact location, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said. The latest update came as hopes faded for the 53 crew members, who were expected to have run out of oxygen early on Saturday. So far, no sign of them has been found, Yudo said."

The Commentariat -- April 23, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Marie: I do apologize for forgetting earlier to wish you all a Happy First Bleach Day! As Meredith McGraw & Sam Stein of Politico remind us, "One year ago today..., Donald Trump took to the White House briefing room and encouraged his top health officials to study the injection of bleach into the human body as a means of fighting Covid." I'm celebrating with a white rum cocktail and a slice of iced white cake with one powerful laser light-beam candle.

Lena Sun & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Breaking: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommended Friday that inoculations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine resume. The vaccine would carry a warning about a rare risk of blood clots in recipients. The director of the CDC has the final call on whether vaccinations should restart." Emphasis original. ~~~

~~~ Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: "The nationwide pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine should be lifted, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory committee recommended Friday. The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 10-4 with one abstention, that the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks, and that it will save lives. The panel did not specifically ask for a warning label, but recommended the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) add a label intended to make providers aware of the risk of a rare complication involving blood clots in women under the age of 50."

Stupidest Senator Has Another Horribly Stupid Idea. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) cast dark suspicions on the 'big push' to vaccinate American adults against the deadly coronavirus. The Wisconsin Republican, who's one of the Senate's most notorious sources of disinformation, told radio host and vaccine skeptic Vicki McKenna that the inoculations aren't necessary, reported Forbes. '[There's] no reason to be pushing vaccines on people,' Johnson said, adding that doses should be 'limited' only to those most vulnerable. 'If you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?... I'm getting highly suspicious [of the] big push to make sure everybody gets the vaccine.'..."

Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "Federal authorities are looking into whether a 2018 trip to the Bahamas involving Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz and several young women was part of an orchestrated effort to illegally influence Gaetz in the area of medical marijuana, people briefed on the matter told CNN. Prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section are examining whether Gaetz took gifts, including travel and paid escorts, in exchange for political favors, the sources said.... Gaetz has a long history of advocating for medical marijuana and has introduced several pieces of legislation seeking to loosen laws regulating the drug.... A number of his close associates have ties to the industry, including Jason Pirozzolo, a Florida doctor who founded a medical marijuana advocacy group and has in past news coverage in Florida been described as a "marijuana investor." According to reports, Pirozzolo accompanied Gaetz on the 2018 trip to the Bahamas that investigators are scrutinizing."

Denise Lu of the New York Times: "The U.S. death rate in 2020 was the highest above normal ever recorded in the country -- even surpassing the calamity of the 1918 flu pandemic.... Since the 1918 pandemic, the country's death rate has fallen steadily. But last year, the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted that trend, in spite of a century of improvements in medicine and public health."

A Florida Man Will Summer in Rural New Jersey. Leia Idliby of Mediaite: "Donald Trump is reportedly planning to move his post-presidency operation from Mar-a-Lago to New Jersey, according to Business Insider.... Trump and his aides are planning to temporarily relocate to Bedminster, New Jersey, where he owns a golf club...."

The New York Times has live updates of President Biden's virtual climate summit, Day 2, here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "An Iowa woman who tried to kill two children in 2019 by hitting them with her car because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African or Mexican descent has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and hate crime charges, the authorities said. The woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 43, made the admission to two counts of hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors. She faces life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charges, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday." These were two separate incidents. MB: I suppose it's appropriate that this horrible woman attempted to murder two (possibly) ethnic-minority children by Jeep Cherokee, a vehicle whose name has been criticized by some Native Americans, including the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Zahra Ullah of CNN: "Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny said on Friday that he is ending his weekslong hunger strike. The announcement comes days after the Russian opposition leader was transferred to a prison hospital due to his deteriorating health." Breaking at 9:45 am ET.

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Yes, We Can, Biden-Style. Lisa Friedman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday moved to put four years of official climate denial behind the United States, declaring that America would cut its global warming emissions at least in half by the end of the decade. Addressing 40 world leaders at the start of a two-day summit about the U.S. return to the Paris climate agreement, Mr. Biden sought to galvanize other countries to take more aggressive steps. He cast the challenge of avoiding catastrophic warming as an economic opportunity for America and the world, a striking contrast to his predecessor who had abandoned the agreement. 'This is a moral imperative, an economic imperative,' Mr. Biden said. 'A moment of peril, but also a moment of extraordinary possibilities.'" ~~~

~~~ Both the New York Times, here, and the Washington Post, here, have liveblogged President Biden's global climate summit. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "Climate activists gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to dump wheelbarrows full of cow poop near the White House in protest of President Biden's climate plan, which they say is 'bullshit' and does not go far enough to protect the environment. Videos posted on Twitter from the Earth Day demonstration featured a group of at least a dozen demonstrators pushing pink wheelbarrows downtown toward the White House, where Biden is hosting a two-day virtual climate summit with dozens of world leaders. The demonstrators then dumped the manure onto the street, along with signs and banners reading, 'Stop the bullshit,' and 'Declare climate emergency now!'" Article includes some tweeted videos. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These "activists" seem more like show-off troublemakers than real environmentalists. That cow manure is valuable mulch (just ask Forrest M.!), but it won't be used to grow sweet peas on a D.C. street.

Biden to Congress: Tax the Rich. Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The next phase of President Biden's $4 trillion push to overhaul the American economy will seek to raise taxes on millionaire investors to fund education and other spending plans, but it will not take steps to expand health coverage or reduce prescription drug prices, according to people familiar with the proposal.... The president is set to outline his so-called American Family Plan, which includes measures aimed at helping Americans gain skills throughout life and have more flexibility in the work force, before his first address to a joint session of Congress next week." ~~~

     ~~~ Dan Primack of Axios: "Stocks fell Thursday following media reports that President Biden wants to nearly double the capital gains tax paid by wealthy Americans.... Biden reportedly is considering a proposal of a 39.6% top rate on long-term capital gains, up from the current 20% rate. He also is expected to maintain an ACA-related investment tax, bringing the total federal rate to as high as 43.4%.... The S&P closed down 0.92%[.] The Dow fell 321 points or 0.94%[.]"

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday passed legislation aimed at combating a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic in a 94-1 vote, with GOP Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) the only 'no' vote. The bill now goes to the House, where Democrats are expected to soon take up their version of the legislation.... A California State University, San Bernardino study that looked at 16 cities found a 149 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 2020." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times' story is here. MB: Maybe the headline should be, "Hawley only Senator to favor discriminating against Asians."

Abrams Owns Sen. Foghorn Leghorn. Laura Bassett of MSNBC: "Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, went viral on Wednesday for embarrassing himself during a Tuesday hearing with Stacey Abrams about Georgia's new voter suppression law. What the senator had hoped would be a triumphant 'gotcha' grilling backfired.... Kennedy attempted to stump Abrams by asking her to list the specific provisions of the bill she finds racist and objectionable. Abrams, a Yale-educated attorney and one of the nation's foremost voting rights experts, proceeded to list from memory and in detail the many, many provisions that are designed to make it harder for Black people to vote. She didn't once glance down at any notes.... The remarkable confrontation ... epitomized a dynamic all too familiar for women and especially women of color. Kennedy didn't anticipate that Abrams ... would show up to a Senate hearing on the issue overprepared, quite possibly because that level of preparation has never been required of him. In fact, Kennedy has been known to downplay his background as an Oxford-educated lawyer. His Southern drawl seems designed to help him appear more folksy and relatable to his constituents. A former classmate of his from New Orleans described Kennedy's 'Southern-cornpone accent' and country-bumpkin persona as an 'affectation,' pure 'political theater' and 'about as authentic as a cow in a camel costume.'" ~~~

~~~ Matt Egan of CNN: "Progressive activists are calling on Ford, Target, Google, Bank of America and other major companies that have pledged to support voting rights to cut ties with the US Chamber of Commerce.... At issue is the Chamber of Commerce's fierce opposition to the Democrats' sweeping voting bill known as the For the People Act, which advocates say would counter efforts by Georgia and other states to impose new voting restrictions. The Chamber of Commerce has slammed the legislation, which last month was approved by the US House of Representatives..., in part because of new curbs on political advocacy by companies and associations. Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group, sent letters Wednesday to 25 companies that have a relationship with the Chamber of Commerce even though they signed last week's statement in the New York Times vowing to oppose discriminatory voting legislation. The campaign from activists underscores the enormous pressure companies are under to follow up their verbal support for voting rights with concrete action."

Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "For the second time in history, the House passed legislation Thursday to make the District of Columbia the nation's 51st state, bolstering momentum for a once-illusory goal that has become a pivotal tenet of the Democratic Party's voting rights platform. Democrats unanimously approved Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's Washington, D.C. Admission Act , describing it as a bid to restore equal citizenship to the residents of the nation's capital and rectify a historic injustice.... The bill, symbolically titled H.R. 51, now heads to the Senate, where proponents hope to break new ground -- including a first-ever hearing in that chamber. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer pledged Tuesday that 'we will try to work a path to get [statehood] done,' and the White House asked Congress in a policy statement to pass the legislation as swiftly as possible." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mary Jalonick of the AP: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, floating a new proposal to Republicans that would evenly split the panel's membership between the two parties. Pelosi first proposed a commission in February that would have had four Republicans and seven Democrats to 'conduct an investigation of the relevant facts and circumstances relating to the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol.' Republicans rejected it as inadequate.... It's unclear if the two sides will ever agree. Some Republicans allied with Trump have downplayed the severity of the insurrection.... The Republicans said the investigation should focus not just on what led to the Jan. 6 insurrection but also on violence in the summer of 2020 during protests over police brutality -- a touchstone among GOP voters and an idea that Democrats say is a distraction from the real causes of the violent attack. On Tuesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he'd had no discussions with Pelosi."

Tracy Jan & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration put up bureaucratic obstacles that stalled approximately $20 billion in hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and then obstructed an investigation into the holdup, according to an inspector general report obtained by The Washington Post. Congress requested the investigation into the delays to recovery aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 left residents of the U.S. territory without power and clean water for months. But, the report said, former Housing and Urban Development secretary Ben Carson and another former HUD official declined to be interviewed by investigators during the course of the examination that began in 2019. Access to HUD information was delayed or denied on several occasions.... Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis, appointed by Trump as top HUD watchdog, found unprecedented procedural hurdles set by the White House budget office -- in addition to an extended partial federal government shutdown that also produced delays." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a recent trend of leniency for minors convicted of serious crimes and said judges need not specifically find 'permanent incorrigibility' before sentencing juvenile murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole.... Donald Trump's three Supreme Court nominees were key to the 6-to-3 ruling, which was written by one of them, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.... The court upheld the life-without-parole sentence a Mississippi court imposed on a 15-year-old who stabbed his grandfather to death in a dispute over the boy's girlfriend." MB: That's odd, because Bart I-Like-Beer O'Kavanaugh sure granted himself leniency for his "youthful indiscretions," which allegedly included sexual abuse & attempted rape. Update: I see where Rachel Maddow agrees with me on this a hunnert percent. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times report, by Adam Liptak, is here.

David Brooks of the New York Times: "Those of us who had hoped America would calm down when we no longer had Donald Trump spewing poison from the Oval Office have been sadly disabused. There are increasing signs that the Trumpian base is radicalizing.... Since the election, large swathes of the Trumpian right have decided America is facing a crisis like never before and they are the small army of warriors fighting with Alamo-level desperation to ensure the survival of the country as they conceive it.... With this view, the Jan. 6 insurrection was not a shocking descent into lawlessness but practice for the war ahead.... With their deep pessimism, the hyperpopulist wing of the G.O.P. seems to be crashing through the floor of philosophic liberalism into an abyss of authoritarian impulsiveness. Many of these folks are no longer even operating in the political realm.... Apocalyptic pessimism has a tendency to deteriorate into nihilism, and people eventually turn to the strong man to salve the darkness and chaos inside themselves." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is worth remembering that Our Mr. Brooks was an acolyte of William F. Buckley, a right-wing "philosopher" who had no problem saying the quiet part out loud, justifying suppression of Black voters, for instance, as a necessity to sustain "civilized standards."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Tucker Carlson is worse than you thought:

Perhaps this is the story that @TuckerCarlson was trying to get ahead of. In his college yearbook, he listed himself as a member of the "Dan White Society."

Dan White was the man who murdered Harvey Milk. pic.twitter.com/TYklyfC8tS

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) April 21, 2021

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Tucker's homophobia is well-documented, but openly celebrating the man who cold-bloodedly assassinated the most prominent GLBTQ public official in America ... certainly draws a line under that. And there's no reason to think anything about his worldview has fundamentally changed."

Paul Farhi & Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post: "A nonpartisan political organization is facing blowback from its employees after hiring journalist Mark Halperin, whose career as a prominent TV pundit hit a wall after he faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment. Junior staffers at No Labels objected this week when the organization hired Halperin.... The internal dissension grew so heated that two employees who complained were granted paid leave -- to consider whether they want to stay, the organization said -- and a third is considering resigning over it.... Halperin's career as a political analyst collapsed at the start of the MeToo era in 2017 after at least a dozen women, including former colleagues, came forward with allegations against him ranging from unwanted touching to sexual assault." A Raw Story summary report is here.

Marcia Dunn of the AP: "SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk's rapidly expanding company. The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX's debut crew last May. They'll spend six months at the orbiting lab. It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the company's second astronaut flight." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging the flight of SpaceX's "Crew Dragon."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Matthew Perrone & Carla Johnson of the AP: "COVID-19 hospitalizations among older Americans have plunged more than 70% since the start of the year, and deaths among them appear to have tumbled as well, dramatic evidence the vaccination campaign is working. Now the trick is to get more of the nation's younger people to roll up their sleeves. The drop-off in severe cases among Americans 65 and older is especially encouraging because senior citizens have accounted for about 8 out of 10 deaths from the virus since it hit the U.S., where the toll stands at about 570,000[.] COVID-19 deaths among people of all ages in the U.S. have plummeted to about 700 per day on average, compared with a peak of over 3,400 in mid-January."

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

Brazil. A Tragedy of Authoritarianism. Ernesto Londoño & Flávia Milhorance of the New York Times: "Rail-thin teenagers hold placards at traffic stops with the word for hunger -- fome -- in large print. Children, many of whom have been out of school for over a year, beg for food outside supermarkets and restaurants. Entire families huddle in flimsy encampments on sidewalks, asking for baby formula, crackers, anything. A year into the pandemic, millions of Brazilians are going hungry. The scenes, which have proliferated in the last months on Brazil's streets, are stark evidence that President Jair Bolsonaro's bet that he could protect the country's economy by resisting public health policies intended to curb the virus has failed." MB: This is a tragedy in the classical sense: Brazilians elected this guy.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Jane Timm of NBC News: "A bill that would stop some voters from getting a ballot automatically mailed to them each election failed unexpectedly in Arizona's state Senate Thursday after a single Republican joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. GOP state Sen. Kelly Townsend explained her surprise 'no' vote on the state Senate floor amid a tense episode that saw the senator get into a heated confrontation with the bill's sponsor and the pair attempt to silence each other with parliamentary rules. 'I am for this bill, but I am not voting for it until after the audit,' she said, referring to an audit orchestrated by Senate Republicans of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County reportedly set to get underway this week. President Joe Biden narrowly won the state. Townsend added that other election-related bills had not been advanced. 'We have no business fast tracking everything and going home.'... The legislation, which passed the House earlier this week, had come under fire from Democrats, voting rights groups and business leaders in the state." MB: Sounds as if the bill will pass.

California. Derrick Taylor & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Felony charges were announced Wednesday against a Bay Area police officer who fatally shot a man more than two years ago, officials said. The same officer was placed on administrative leave last month after he shot a man who later died. The officer, Andrew Hall, of the Danville Police Department in California, was charged with felony voluntary manslaughter and felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm in the shooting death of Laudemer Arboleda in 2018, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. Officer Hall is a deputy with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and was assigned to the Police Department in Danville, whose police services have been provided through the sheriff's office...."

Minnesota. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Two days after the streets of Minneapolis were filled with people celebrating the conviction of a police officer for the murder of George Floyd, the city returned to a period of mourning on Thursday for another Black man killed by a police officer. Packed into a church for the funeral of Daunte Wright were politicians, faith leaders and relatives of other people killed by the police, including the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor and the families of Philando Castile and Oscar Grant. Many had come from across the country to pay respects to Mr. Wright, the 20-year-old man who was fatally shot by an officer in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center last week during a traffic stop.... On Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy for Mr. Wright to a grieving family and city." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, but I think Sharpton is a charlatan, a "religious" ambulance-chaser of sorts, who preys on families in pain to raise his own profile. And I'm not sure why he calls himself "The Rev" inasmuch as I don't know that he ever was ordained a minister of any church or pastored a church. Perhaps I'm being unfair or am just totally wrong, so feel free to argue with me.

New York City Mayoral Race. Dana Rubinstein & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: New York City's "gay community" was not impressed with mayor candidate Andrew Yang's interview with members of the Stonewall Democratic Club. "'He kept calling us "Your community," like we were aliens,' [one member] said.... To some Stonewall attendees, Mr. Yang's appearance only fueled concerns about whether he can discuss the problems at hand with sufficient depth and seriousness. More broadly, the reaction speaks to how polarizing Mr. Yang's personality can be -- eliciting sincere enthusiasm and disdain in seemingly equal measure." Politico's story is here.

North Carolina. Nick Valencia, et al., of CNN: "Neighbors on Thursday described a chaotic scene of North Carolina deputies trying to serve a warrant, a car pulling away and shots fired -- leaving one man dead. The shooting took place Wednesday morning in a working-class neighborhood of Elizabeth City in the northeastern corner of the state. The Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office said Thursday in a video statement that its special operations and tactical team was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Andrew Brown Jr. when the shooting occurred.... Chief Deputy Daniel Fogg said the arrest warrant was for felony drug charges and Brown had a history of resisting arrest. CNN could not immediately verify any previous resisting arrest charges against Brown.... Neighbors told CNN that deputies opened fire on the vehicle that Brown was driving, though it was unclear if the deputies started to fire before or after the car was in motion."

Ohio. John Futty of the Columbus Dispatch: "An Ohio criminal-justice professor who studies the fatal use of force by law-enforcement officers didn't hesitate to render an opinion after watching body-camera video of a Columbus police officer fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl Tuesday afternoon on the city's Southeast Side. 'My first impression is that the officer was legally justified in using deadly force,' said Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University professor.... '... from looking at the video, it appears to me that a reasonable police officer would have had a reasonable apprehension of an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death being imposed against an officer or someone else. That's the legal standard.'"

South Dakota Woke. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of the Washington Post: "In the tiny South Dakotan town called Faith, the high school Rodeo Club planned to hold its annual fundraising event next Monday night at the Legion Hall, complete with a pancake supper, bidding on pies and a 'Slave/Branding Auction.' For decades, Rodeo Club members offered a few days of their labor to a rancher in exchange for a donation -- and although there have long been calls for clubs across the state to stop labeling this slavery, the name in Faith has stuck. But this year, as a poster circulated on Facebook, Legion Hall host Glenda McGinnis said she received dozens of calls from people around the country wanting to know 'how such a racist and hurtful name could be used in 2021.'... McGinnis said the Rodeo Club's adviser called her Wednesday afternoon to cancel the event." MB: If you get a chance, read the story; they don't get out much in South Dakota.

Way Beyond

Israel. Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Israeli police say 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby. Tensions have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Residents braced for possible further unrest ahead of Muslim Friday prayers as police stepped up security and the U.S. Embassy appealed for calm. Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City's Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast." ~~~

~~~ Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Hours after Israeli soldiers shot and killed Osama Mansour [on April 6] at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the military announced that it had thwarted a car-ramming attack -- but the facts didn't seem to add up. By all accounts, Mansour had initially stopped his car when ordered to do so. His wife ... was sitting in the passenger seat. And after the soldiers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire killing him and wounding her, they declined to arrest her as an accomplice. Witnesses say the soldiers killed Mansour for no apparent reason, part of what rights groups say is a pattern of fatal shootings of Palestinians by Israeli forces under questionable circumstances."

Russia. Andrew Kramer & Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Russia's Defense Ministry ordered a partial pullback of troops from the border with Ukraine on Thursday, signaling a possible de-escalation in a military standoff that had raised alarm that a new war in Europe could be looming. The order came a day after President Vladimir V. Putin, in an annual state of the nation address, rattled off a list of grievances against Western nations, including threats of new sanctions." A BBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Vladimir Isachenov of the AP: "Russian troops began pulling back to their permanent bases Friday after a massive buildup that caused Ukrainian and Western concerns.... The concentration of Russian troops amid increasing violations of a cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Ukraine raised concerns in the West, which urged the Kremlin to pull its forces back.... Moscow has rejected Ukrainian and Western concerns about the troop buildup, arguing that it's free to deploy its forces anywhere on Russian territory. But the Kremlin also sternly warned Ukrainian authorities against trying to use force to retake control of the rebel east, saying it could intervene to protect civilians there. More than 14,000 people have been killed in seven years of fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Donbas."

The Commentariat -- April 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Both the New York Times, here, and the Washington Post, here, have liveblogged President Biden's global climate summit.

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

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday passed legislation aimed at combating a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic in a 94-1 vote, with GOP Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) the only 'no' vote. The bill now goes to the House, where Democrats are expected to soon take up their version of the legislation.... A California State University, San Bernardino study that looked at 16 cities found a 149 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 2020."

Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "For the second time in history, the House passed legislation Thursday to make the District of Columbia the nation's 51st state, bolstering momentum for a once-illusory goal that has become a pivotal tenet of the Democratic Party's voting rights platform. Democrats unanimously approved Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's Washington, D.C. Admission Act, describing it as a bid to restore equal citizenship to the residents of the nation's capital and rectify a historic injustice.... The bill, symbolically titled H.R. 51, now heads to the Senate, where proponents hope to break new ground -- including a first-ever hearing in that chamber. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer pledged Tuesday that 'we will try to work a path to get [statehood] done,' and the White House asked Congress in a policy statement to pass the legislation as swiftly as possible." A CNN story is here.

Tracy Jan & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration put up bureaucratic obstacles that stalled approximately $20 billion in hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and then obstructed an investigation into the holdup, according to an inspector general report obtained by The Washington Post. Congress requested the investigation into the delays to recovery aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 left residents of the U.S. territory without power and clean water for months. But, the report said, former Housing and Urban Development secretary Ben Carson and another former HUD official declined to be interviewed by investigators during the course of the examination that began in 2019. Access to HUD information was delayed or denied on several occasions.... Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis, appointed by Trump as top HUD watchdog, found unprecedented procedural hurdles set by the White House budget office -- in addition to an extended partial federal government shutdown that also produced delays."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a recent trend of leniency for minors convicted of serious crimes and said judges need not specifically find 'permanent incorrigibility' before sentencing juvenile murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole.... Donald Trump's three Supreme Court nominees were key to the 6-to-3 ruling, which was written by one of them, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.... The court upheld the life-without-parole sentence a Mississippi court imposed on a 15-year-old who stabbed his grandfather to death in a dispute over the boy's girlfriend." MB: Hmm, that's odd, because Bart I-Like-Beer O'Kavanaugh sure granted himself leniency for his "youthful indiscretions," which allegedly included sexual abuse & attempted rape.

Russia. Andrew Kramer & Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Russia's Defense Ministry ordered a partial pullback of troops from the border with Ukraine on Thursday, signaling a possible de-escalation in a military standoff that had raised alarm that a new war in Europe could be looming. The order came a day after President Vladimir V. Putin, in an annual state of the nation address, rattled off a list of grievances against Western nations, including threats of new sanctions." A BBC News story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ellen Knickmeyer & Christina Larson of the AP: "President Joe Biden is convening a coalition of the willing, the unwilling, the desperate-for-help and the avid-for-money for a global summit Thursday aimed at rallying the world's worst polluters to move faster against climate change. The president's first task: Convincing the world that the politically fractured United States isn't just willing when it comes to Biden’s new ambitious emissions-cutting pledges, but also able. Success for Biden in the virtual summit of 40 leaders will be making his expected promises -- halving coal and petroleum emissions at home and financing climate efforts abroad -- believable enough to persuade other powers to make big changes of their own." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The goal seems impossible to reach, but how much more possible would it be if the U.S. had been a consistent environmental leader over the last decades -- and not Donald Trump? ~~~

~~~ Stephanie Ebbs of ABC News: "Using Earth Day to relaunch the U.S. as a leader in the global effort to combat climate change, President Joe Biden is set to host world leaders for a virtual climate summit this week and is expected to announce a new goal for the U.S. to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions -- reportedly by perhaps as much as 50% by 2030.... Biden and his special envoy for climate John Kerry have been working to push other major polluters like China, India, and members of the European Union to set similarly ambitious goals, many of which will be represented at the summit." ~~~

~~~ Peter Fairley of the AP: “New research shows that renewable electricity can move Washington, Oregon and British Columbia off of fossil fuels, do so at an affordable price, and create jobs along the way. After decades of disinformation from fossil fuel producers and utilities, this may sound like a wishful vision. But building a cleaner and more equitable economy — and doing so in just a few decades to head off the worst effects of climate change — is backed by a growing body of regional and international studies. Innovation and mass production have made wind and solar power installations cheaper than most fossil-fueled power plants. The key to moving Cascadia’s economies away from fossil fuels is to make renewable electricity the region’s go-to 'fuel.' The new research highlights three mutually supporting strategies that squeeze out fossil fuels: increasing energy efficiency to trim the amount of power we need, boosting renewable energy to make it possible to turn off climate-wrecking fossil-fuel plants, and plugging as much stuff as possible into the electrical grid.”

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced on Wednesday a sweeping investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, signaling that the Biden administration will seek to combat police abuses around the country and apply stricter federal oversight to local forces.The Justice Department will examine whether the Minneapolis police routinely use excessive force or treat minorities unfairly. The inquiry will also scrutinize police training and accountability practices, among other issues.... The Minneapolis police have long faced accusations of racism.... Black people, who account for 20 percent of the city’s population, made up more than 60 percent of the victims in city police shootings from late 2009 through May 2019, police data shows. The police force pledged to cooperate with the federal inquiry.... President Biden had vowed as a candidate to fight excessive force by the police, and he called on lawmakers on Tuesday to resurrect the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a measure by Democrats aimed at curbing police misconduct and racial discrimination. Lawmakers in both parties said on Wednesday that they hoped Mr. Chauvin’s conviction could help revive the bill...." ~~~

~~~ Carrie Johnson of NPR: "One day after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force among the police department there. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new civil inquiry on Wednesday, the first such 'pattern or practice' investigation in the Biden administration, which has pledged to build trust between police and communities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)  ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & Tim Arango of the New York Times: "Derek Chauvin is being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in Minnesota’s only maximum-security prison.... He has been placed in an isolated wing of the prison [in Oak Park Heights, near St. Paul] because of fears for his safety, said Sarah Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for the state prison system.... Though prison officials say Mr. Chauvin is being isolated for his own safety, prisoners are often sent to the wing, known as the Administrative Control Unit, as a punishment. The cells are small and contain nothing more than a bench with a mattress pad, a combination toilet and sink, and a tiny shower. Prisoners are allowed to bring in necessities like clothing, toothpaste and soap, as well as a pen and paper. In some cases, they may also receive books, magazines or newspapers, but only if prison officials approve. The cells are monitored by cameras, and guards are expected to look in on prisoners every 30 minutes...."

Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "More than a century after the Ottoman Empire’s killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian civilians, President Biden is preparing to declare that the atrocities were an act of genocide, according to officials familiar with the internal debate. The action would signal that the American commitment to human rights outweighs the risk of further fraying the U.S. alliance with Turkey[.] Mr. Biden is expected to announce the symbolic designation on Saturday, the 106th anniversary of the beginning of what historians call a yearslong and systematic death march that the predecessors of modern Turkey started during World War I. He would be the first sitting American president to do so.... At least 29 other countries have taken similar steps — mostly in Europe and the Americas, but also Russia and Syria, Turkey’s political adversaries." A Guardian story is here.

Jeremy Herb of CNN: "The Senate narrowly voted to advance the nomination of President Joe Biden's nominee to be associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, setting up a final vote expected later Wednesday despite fierce opposition from most Republican senators. Vice President Kamala Harris was on hand in case she was needed for a possible 50-50 tie on the procedural vote for Gupta's nomination Wednesday, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska, broke with her Republican colleagues and joined all Democratic senators to advance the nomination 51-49." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New lede: "The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general in a narrow 51-49 vote after Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined with Democrats in support of President Joe Biden's Justice Department nominee." MB: One does have to wonder why 49 Republican senators are afraid of an effective attorney who happens to be a woman and an ethnic minority.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A Capitol Police official radioed units outside of the building on the morning of Jan. 6 and told them only to scout for anti-Trump troublemakers — not pro-Trump protesters, according to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who described what she said were details of an internal investigation conducted in the aftermath of the mob attack. Lofgren (D-Calif.) revealed the finding while she questioned Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton, who appeared before the House Administration Committee Wednesday to testify about security failures that precipitated the Jan. 6 attack.... Although the details are still disputed, Lofgren's comments are the first insight into specific concerns about the conduct of Capitol Police on the day of the insurrection."

Uh-oh. A $5,000 Pee? Olivia Beavers & Rachel Bade of Politico: "House Majority Whip James Clyburn is facing a possible $5,000 fine for evading the metal detectors off the House floor, which are part of the security protocols House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enacted after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The South Carolina Democrat was caught going around the detectors after he used the bathroom during a vote on Tuesday. If found guilty of violating the House's security rules, Clyburn ... would be the first Democrat to be fined under the new metal detector protocols.... Clyburn’s office denied the way a police referral described the incident. It's unclear exactly what the police referral account said.... Multiple House Republicans have faced the $5,000 fine, including one GOP member who similarly exited the chamber to use the same nearby bathroom."

Trump's “Eighth Wonder of the World” Collapses. Reuters, via CNBC: “Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn is drastically scaling back a planned $10 billion factory in Wisconsin, confirming its retreat from a project that former U.S. President Donald Trump once called 'the eighth wonder of the world.' Under a deal with the state of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday, Foxconn will reduce its planned investment to $672 million from $10 billion and cut the number of new jobs to 1,454 from 13,000. The Foxconn-Wisconsin deal was first announced to great fanfare at the White House in July 2017, with Trump boasting of it as an example of how his 'America First' agenda could revive U.S. tech manufacturing.... Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic devices, proposed a 20-million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Wisconsin that would have been the largest investment in U.S. history for a new location by a foreign-based company.”

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Shannon Pettypiece & Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "President Joe Biden announced a new tax credit Wednesday to reimburse small businesses that give workers paid time off to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as he touted reaching his goal of 200 million shots administered in his first 100 days. The tax credit, which will be funded by the Covid-19 relief bill passed last month, will be available to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, allowing up to $511 a day for each employee. Biden called on all companies, regardless of size, to offer paid time off, and offer other incentives, such as gift cards or bonuses, to encourage employees to get vaccinated. As the United States this week reached Biden’s goal of 200 million shots administered, vaccine supply is starting to outstrip demand in some areas." ~~~

     ~~~ Video of the full speech is here. ~~~

~~~ Dan Keating, et al., of the Washington Post: "Daily coronavirus vaccinations have slowed significantly for the first time since February, a sign that demand is slipping even though every American adult is now eligible for the shots. About 3 million Americans are getting vaccinated daily, an 11 percent decrease in the seven-day average of daily shots administered over the past week. The unprecedented drop is rivaled only by a brief falloff that occurred in February, when winter storms forced the closure of vaccination sites and delayed shipments nationwide.... Officials say they need to ramp up efforts to vaccinate hard-to-reach groups such as rural residents and homebound seniors, answer pointed questions from people leery of side effects and convince young people who don’t fear the virus that they, too, benefit from getting vaccinated...."

Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal regulators have found serious flaws at the Baltimore plant that had to throw out up to 15 million possibly contaminated doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine — casting doubt on further production in the United States of a vaccine that the government once viewed as essential in fighting the pandemic. The regulators for the Food and Drug Administration said that the company manufacturing the vaccine, Emergent BioSolutions, may have contaminated additional doses at the plant. They said the company failed to fully investigate the contamination, while also finding fault with the plant’s disinfection practices, size and design, handling of raw materials and training of workers."

California. Catherine Garcia of the Week: "After a tough fall and winter, with record numbers of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care units and a high death toll, California now has the lowest coronavirus case rate in the continental United States. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows California's seven-day rate of new cases is 40.3 per 100,000 people, compared to the nationwide rate of 135.3 per 100,000 people." ~~~

~~~ BUT. AP: "Oregon health officials reported 989 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday — the state’s highest daily case count since mid-January. The spike follows Oregon’s fourth consecutive week of surging daily cases and increasing hospitalizations. According to most recent data from the state health authority, last week there was a 27% increase in cases. The state’s positivity rate is 5.3%."

Beyond the Beltway

Reid Epstein & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Republican legislators in Oklahoma and Iowa have passed bills granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles strike and injure protesters in public streets. A Republican proposal in Indiana would bar anyone convicted of unlawful assembly from holding state employment, including elected office. A Minnesota bill would prohibit those convicted of unlawful protesting from receiving student loans, unemployment benefits or housing assistance. And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed sweeping legislation this week that toughened existing laws governing public disorder and created a harsh new level of infractions.... The measures are part of a wave of new anti-protest legislation, sponsored and supported by Republicans, in the 11 months since Black Lives Matter protests swept the country following the death of George Floyd.... G.O.P. lawmakers in 34 states have introduced 81 anti-protest bills during the 2021 legislative session — more than twice as many proposals as in any other year...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) 

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "... G.O.P. resistance to certain [voter suppression] legislation reflects an awkward and delicate dance within the party: As state lawmakers loyal to ... Donald J. Trump try to please him and his supporters by enacting new voting limits across the country, they are facing pockets of opposition from other Republicans who argue that some of the bills go too far or would hurt their own voters. These Republicans see themselves as moderating forces on bad bills. And they are instead proposing less stringent measures that they say will improve the efficiency and security of early voting now that so many more people are using it because of changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of Republicans willing to speak out is modest compared with the many Trump-friendly lawmakers in G.O.P.-controlled state capitols...."

Arizona. Bryan Pietsch of the New York Times: “Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have imposed some of the country’s most restrictive rules regarding L.G.B.T.Q. education, calling the bill 'overly broad and vague.' The bill, which was sponsored by eight Republicans and passed the Arizona Senate on a party-line vote, would prohibit schools from teaching about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and L.G.B.T.Q. history unless a student received 'signed, written consent' from a parent or guardian opting them in to the lessons. Students would also be unable to receive lessons about H.I.V./AIDS unless they were opted in to them. Parts of the bill 'could lead to serious consequences,' Mr. Ducey, a Republican, said in a letter explaining his veto.” The Hill's story is here.

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: “The superintendent of the public school district in Broward County, Fla., was arrested on Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging criminal investigation that began in the tumultuous months after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland. Robert W. Runcie, the superintendent, was charged with perjury, a felony, for lying to a grand jury that was impaneled to investigate 'possible failures in following school-related safety laws and mismanaging funds solicited for school safety initiatives,' according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The authorities also arrested Barbara J. Myrick, the district’s general counsel. She was charged with unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings, which is also a felony.”

Way Beyond

Russia. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: President Vladimir Putin “warned ominously of 'red lines' in Russia’s security that, if crossed, would bring a powerful 'asymmetric' response. He reminded Western leaders once again of the fearsomeness of his country’s modernized nuclear arsenal. And he boasted of Russia’s moral superiority over the West. Yet even as [he] lashed out at foreign enemies real or perceived in a state-of-the-nation speech on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Russians defied a heavy police presence to pour into the streets to challenge his rule. In Moscow, some gathered across the street from the Kremlin to chant, 'Go Away!'... Faulted for a lagging response to the coronavirus and with his popularity ratings declining, though still high, the Russian leader used the address to outline a vision for Russia as it emerges from the pandemic, one that promised numerous new economic subsidies but was silent about political rights.” A CBS News story is here.

Minnesota. In case you were wondering about the fate of the other Minnepolis officers involved in George Floyd's murder.... Denny Spewak of KARE TV (Minneapolis): "The fate of former Minneapolis Police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane depended largely on the outcome of Derek Chauvin’s trial. After a jury found him guilty Tuesday of three felony counts, the three other officers must now put together their own defense strategies for a joint trial that begins August 23. All of them face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. The State Attorney General’s Office also confirmed that it will argue next month in the Court of Appeals to add a third-degree murder charge against them. Michael Bryant, a KARE 11 legal expert..., said he expects any negotiations about possible plea deals – if they happen at all – to occur after Chauvin’s sentencing. He also said that he would expect a similar, though not identical, trial compared to Chauvin’s."

News Lede

CNBC: “The U.S. jobs market recovery accelerated its pace last week as fewer Americans headed to the unemployment line, the Labor Department reported Thursday.First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 547,000, well below the Dow Jones estimate for 603,000 and a new low for the Covid-19 pandemic era.”