The Commentariat -- May 6, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Daniel Dale of CNN: "The top candidate to replace [Liz] Cheney [in the House GOP 'leadership'] is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik -- who promoted some of those election lies and sought to get the outcome of the election overturned. Stefanik, whom Trump endorsed Wednesday for the job of House Republican conference chair, supported a lawsuit that tried to get the Supreme Court to invalidate Joe Biden's victory. On January 6, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, she voted to reject some of President Joe Biden's electoral votes. Both before the riot and immediately afterward, Stefanik made false claims about the conduct of the election in some of the states Biden won. And in previous remarks, she amplified baseless claims that there were major "irregularities" with both voting and election software. Stefanik did not match Trump's incendiary language about the election being 'rigged' or 'stolen.' But using slightly more artful rhetoric, she aided his damaging campaign to undermine confidence in the result. Here's a look at some of Stefanik's election-related words and actions between early December and early January." MB: But, see, that's exactly why Stefanik is the top candidate.

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

Joel Achenbach & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus infections could be driven to low levels and the pandemic at least temporarily throttled in the United States by July if the vast majority of people get vaccinated and continue with precautions against viral transmission, according to a strikingly optimistic paper released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes as administration officials and leaders in many states are sounding more confident that the country can return to a degree of normalcy relatively soon. President Biden on Tuesday announced a new vaccination goal, saying he wants 70 percent of adults to have had at least one dose by July 4. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the modeling results give Americans a road map out of the pandemic -- so long as they continue to get vaccinated and maintain certain mitigation strategies until a 'critical mass of people' get the shots." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Hypocrites on Parade. Steve Peoples of the AP: "Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.... Polling suggests the Biden stimulus is overwhelmingly popular."

Florida. Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed broad legislation Thursday morning that imposes new rules on voting and new penalties for those who do not follow them.... Critics said the new law curtails poll access in a variety of ways that will intimidate, confuse and otherwise make it harder for people to vote by mail, which is popular in Florida."

Steven Mufson & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "China's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 surpassed those of the United States and the developed world combined, according to an analysis published Thursday by the research firm Rhodium Group. China's share of global emissions rose to 27 percent of the world's total, while the United States remained the second-largest emitter at 11 percent. India's share came third at 6.6 percent, edging the 27 nations in the European Union, which account for 6.4 percent, the report found. China, India and other developing nations have long noted that over the past century, the United States and Europe grew their economies while generating massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and that requiring the developing world to clamp down on emissions as they industrialize and bring millions of citizens into the middle class is unfair." MB: That's sort of a ridiculous argument; when the West industrialized, the technology to reduce greenhouse gases had not been invented, AND -- although there was no question that air particles were negatively affecting health -- people didn't understand climate change & how greenhouse gases accelerated it.

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Jim Tankersley & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden delivered a clear and punchy message to America's highest earners on Wednesday: I'm going to raise your taxes, but your vacation homes are safe. In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Mr. Biden defended with gusto his plans to increase taxes on high earners and the wealthy. He railed against high-earning chief executives and promised that his plans were 'about making the average multimillionaire pay just a fair share.... We're not going to deprive any of these executives of their second or third home, travel privately by jet,' Mr. Biden said after brief remarks on an economic aid program he signed into law this year. 'It's not going to affect their standard of living at all.... But I can affect the standard of living that people I grew up with.'" ~~~

~~~ Gabe Hiatt of Eater.com: President Biden stopped by D.C.'s Taqueria Las Gemelas to pick up lunch. "'He also came to let us know that we were the first restaurant to be approved for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in the country,' [restaurant co-owner Josh Phillips said]." Biden ordered quatro tacos y dos quesadillas -- for takeout. MB: And you thought I wasn't fluent in Spanish.

Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The Labor Department is rescinding a rule that made it harder for gig and contract workers to argue they were entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections, part of a push to undo Trump-era decisions that favored businesses and employers. The withdrawal of the 'Independent Contractor' rule, which limited the ability of workers to argue that they were misclassified as contractors when they should have been employees, will be published in the Federal Register today, and become effective on Thursday. Companies have increased the use of contractors in recent decades in part to lower labor costs. Employees are entitled to a range of benefits not afforded to contractors, including a minimum wage and overtime pay." (Also linked yesterday.)

Allan Smith of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is '100 percent' focused 'on stopping' President Joe Biden's administration.... 'One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration,' McConnell said, adding, 'We're confronted with severe challenges from a new administration, and a narrow majority of Democrats in the House and a 50-50 Senate to turn America into a socialist country, and that's 100 percent of my focus.'... McConnell's comments drew comparisons to remarks he made about then-President Barack Obama to the National Journal just prior to the 2010 midterms. 'The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,' McConnell said then...." MB: Pardon my arithmetic, but. If Mitch is "100% focused on stopping Joe Biden, then he's "0% focused on passing legislation to help the American people."

Fadel Allassan of Axios: Donald "Trump and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are openly supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican conference chair.... 'Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,' Trump said in a statement. 'Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!'... The public endorsements of Stefanik mark a new escalation in Republicans' internal feud over Cheney...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Olivia Beavers & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Liz Cheney is not fighting to hold onto her job as House GOP conference chair, even as top Republican leaders openly campaign to replace her in the No. 3 spot.... Cheney has been telling people that if holding onto her leadership role requires having to lie or stay quiet, she doesn't believe that's a price worth paying.... Behind the scenes, Cheney has not been making calls or engaging in the type of campaigning that's ordinarily necessary in politics to build a coalition of support ahead of a vote.... Now it appears all but certain that Cheney will be booted from leadership, raising serious questions about her political future. Cheney, who passed on a Senate bid last year..., just posted a record-breaking fundraising quarter. But she's also facing a tough primary race next year in Wyoming, with pro-Trump challengers already lining up to take her out." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Well, There's This. Liz Cheney in a Washington Post op-ed: "In public statements again this week..., Donald Trump has repeated his claims that the 2020 election was a fraud and was stolen. His message: I am still the rightful president, and President Biden is illegitimate. Trump repeats these words now with full knowledge that exactly this type of language provoked violence on Jan. 6. And, as the Justice Department and multiple federal judges have suggested, there is good reason to believe that Trump's language can provoke violence again. Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work -- confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. No other American president has ever done this." MB: That's how she begins, & there's more worth reading. However, she's Liz Cheney, so she has to get in her digs at Democrats & liberals. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times highlights the main points of Liz Cheney's WashPo op-ed. This Mother Jones post, by Abigail Weinberg, also provides a good summary & analysis.

Charles Blow of the New York Times remembers some of Liz's -- and daddy Dick's -- low marks. "... her present position does not expunge her past positions. The sword she's falling on is one she has spent her political career brandishing."

Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is concerned about being called as a witness by a commission looking into the events of January 6th, CNN reported Wednesday. There have been calls for such a commission, and Liz Cheney has said she supports creating it. CNN reporter Jamie Gangel said, 'Kevin McCarthy was not an innocent bystander to the big lie. For weeks months, leading up to January 6th, he was talking to the president every day, a couple of times a day. Then, on January 6th, he has that critical phone call with the president where he's pleading with him to call it off.'"

Axios: "Facebook's independent Oversight Board ruled to uphold the platform's suspension of former President Trump's account but told the social media giant to rethink the ban's 'indefinite' nature. The board found Trump's posts had 'severely violated' Facebook rules but questioned the 'indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension' and 'insisted' the company find a 'proportionate response' within six months." MB: Bottom line: Facebook will put us through this again. And again. That guy will forever be a threat to democracy, even after he's dead. Update: The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump and other Republicans expressed outrage Wednesday over the Facebook Oversight Board's decision to extend Trump's ban from the social media platform -- and at least one House lawmaker threatened that the company will 'pay the price.' [Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)]... In a statement, Trump called the decision 'a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country. Free speech has been taken away from the president of the United States because the radical left lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before.'" MB: Once again, Trump demonstrates that he has zero understanding of the First Amendment. As for the rest of the lunkheads, they think attempting to violently overthrow a valid presidential election is not nearly as bad as getting kicked off Facebook for inciting the insurrection. ~~~

I defer to you, Nick. -- Mark Zuckerberg, regarding a decision about Donald Trump's account ~~~

~~~ Adam Satariano & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: Nick "Clegg ... a former British deputy prime minister ... played perhaps the biggest behind-the-scenes role in decisions around Mr. Trump's account, colleagues said, an unlikely position for a British political veteran in such an important moment for American free speech. [MB: Bull!] He developed the main justification used by Mr. Zuckerberg for barring Mr. Trump, and he oversaw the creation of the board, including the selection of its members. The board's ruling on Mr. Trump tests the argument that Mr. Clegg championed inside Facebook: Instead of taking all the responsibility for moderation, the company should enlist a quasi-judicial board of outside experts to make the final decision.... Mr. Clegg joined Facebook in 2018 to oversee its policy and public relations team after his political star had faded." ~~~

~~~ ** "Facebook Whiffed." Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "It was not a close call in January to suspend [Donald Trump] indefinitely from the world's largest social media platform, with nearly 3 billion user accounts. The insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 made that obvious. And it should not have been a close call -- or anything to agonize about -- for Facebook to keep him off the platform permanently.... 'This verdict is a desperate attempt to have it both ways,' responded a London-based group of academics and advocates that calls itself the Real Facebook Oversight Board.... What was called for here was a clear, unambiguous message: That a hugely influential public official -- arguably the most powerful person in the world -- can't use Facebook to endanger the public welfare. And once he does just that, hundreds of times, he can't come back.... [Banning Trump worked.] Online misinformation about election fraud plummeted by 73 percent the week after various social media sites -- particularly Twitter -- banned Trump from their platforms in January, a research firm found." ~~~

It's the International Liberal Jewish Cabal! According to a Washington Examiner report or op-ed or something, Facebook's oversight board "is mostly tied to [George] Soros," according to a headline. No link. Isn't this the same gang who used a space laser to start California's deadly wildfires? You'll have to check with Margie Greene on that. No link.

Maggie Haberman & Ben Protess of the New York Times (May 4): "As a federal investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani escalates, his advisers have been pressing aides to ... Donald J. Trump to reach into a $250 million war chest to pay Mr. Giuliani for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election on Mr. Trump's behalf.' Leading the lobbying effort is Bernard Kerik. Kerik was once Giuliani's driver, and he was so good at it that Giuliani appointed New York City police commissioner. Then George W. Bush nominated Kerik to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a gig that didn't work out because Kerik's series of criminal acts soon began to surface, partially, as I recall, because of the FBI background check for the DHS job. Anyhow, Bernie landed in jail, but Trump pardoned him, so everything is good. They're all a bunch of incompetent mobsters of the type we recognize from "The Sopranos." Speaking of sopranos, a couple of pundits pointed out on the teevee Wednesday that Trump should pay up fast or Rudy will sing. ~~~

~~~ Gabby Orr & Paula Reid of CNN: "Allies of Rudy Giuliani continue to call on ... Donald Trump and Republicans to pay for his efforts around the election and, in turn, subsidize the mounting legal bills facing the former New York City mayor. Trump was recently informed directly by Giuliani associates of the increasing debts incurred by his onetime personal lawyer, one source told CNN. Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, also raised the issue in recent days with lawyers for Trump.... One of the most vocal is Giuliani's son Andrew, who worked in the Trump White House and told CNN, 'The nut may crack in the next 36 hours.' He called on Trump to 'take the lead on this one,' adding: 'He can be the hero.'... Andrew Giuliani said his father was reimbursed for travel-related expenses incurred after the 2020 election, when he visited Arizona and other states to argue election fraud lawsuits in court. He said his father has not, however, been paid for legal services." ~~~

~~~ In Andrea Mitchell's interview with Igor Novikov, former adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, he says that Rudy Giuliani wanted the Ukraine government to smear Joe Biden on multiple fronts & get a statement from Zelensky that Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for hacking into the Democratic party in 2016. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link:

Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Peloton announced Wednesday voluntary recalls of both its treadmill machines over safety concerns. The announcement marked a major reversal of Peloton's initial reaction and comes after weeks of discussions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In a statement, Peloton apologized for not acting more quickly to resolve the issue after reports of one death and dozens of injuries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Zack Whittaker of Tech Crunch: "My Peloton profile is set to private and my friend's list is deliberately zero, so nobody can view my profile, age, city, or workout history. But a bug allowed anyone to pull users' private account data directly from Peloton's servers, even with their profile set to private. Peloton, the at-home fitness brand synonymous with its indoor stationary bike and beleaguered treadmills, has more than three million subscribers. Even President Biden is said to own one. The exercise bike alone costs upwards of $1,800...." MB: You know, Zack, your first mistake was buying a pricey Peloton that probably makes your living room look like a gym. I have a $29 under-desk exercise bike. It calculates stuff, but -- to the best of my knowledge -- it does not reveal my private data to Joe Biden.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Thomas Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration came out on Wednesday in support of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, siding with international efforts to bolster production amid concerns about vaccine access in developing nations. The United States had been a major holdout at the World Trade Organization over a proposal to suspend some of the world economic body's intellectual property protections, which could allow drugmakers across the globe access to the closely guarded trade secrets of how the viable vaccines have been made. But President Biden had come under increasing pressure to throw his support behind the proposal, drafted by India and South Africa and backed by many congressional Democrats. Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, announced the administration's position on Wednesday afternoon...." The AP's report is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday struck down the nationwide moratorium on evictions imposed by the Trump administration last year and extended by President Biden until June 30, a ruling that could affect tenants struggling to pay rent during the pandemic. The decision, by Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the most significant federal ruling on the moratorium yet, and follows three similar federal court decisions. The Justice Department immediately appealed, and will seek an emergency stay of the decision, potentially delaying a final resolution of the case past the moratorium's planned June 30 expiration." Friedrich is a Trump appointee.

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

Iris Samuels of the AP: "The Blackfeet tribe in northern Montana provided about 1,000 surplus vaccines last month to its First Nations relatives and others from across the [U.S.-Canadian] border, in an illustration of the disparity in speed at which the United States and Canada are distributing doses. While more than 30% of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, in Canada that figure is about 3%.... More than 95% of the [U.S.] Blackfeet reservation's roughly 10,000 residents who are eligible for the vaccine are fully immunized, after [Montana] prioritized Native American communities -- among the most vulnerable U.S. populations -- in the early stages of its vaccination campaign."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. In Search of Bamboo. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) on Wednesday sent a letter outlining a string of problems that she said observers from her office have witnessed at a Republican-led recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona's largest county.... Ballots have been left unattended on counting tables. Laptop computers sit abandoned, at times -- open, unlocked and unmonitored. Procedures are constantly shifting, with untrained workers using different rules to count ballots.... [Hobbs] questioned whether procedures were in place to hire qualified, unbiased people to serve as ballot counters, noting that reporters have spotted former state Rep. Anthony Kern (R) among the ballot counters. Kern was on the November ballot and was photographed attending pro-Trump rallies in Washington on Jan. 6." According to a person working on the so-called audit, some of the processes the "auditors" are using to examine the ballots are designed to find traces of, uh, bamboo. Because of "unfounded accusations that 40,000 ballots were flown from Asia into Arizona." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Personally, I think they should be looking for sticky rice & green tea stains. Helderman outlines many of the irregularities in the GOP's supposed recount of a recount of a recount, but she doesn't mention that -- based on the small percentage of ballots they have examined -- the "auditors" can't possibly finish the process by the deadline, which is May 14. The Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, where the so-called recount is being held, has been reserved by a number of high school students for their graduation ceremonies shortly after May 14. ~~~

     ~~~ Uh-oh. Bob Christie of the AP: "The U.S. Department of Justice expressed concern Wednesday about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate's unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County. In a letter to GOP Senate President Karen Fann, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said the Senate's farming out of 2.1 million ballots from the state's most populous county to a contractor may run afoul of federal law requiring ballots to remain in the control of elections officials for 22 months. And Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan said that the Senate contractor's plans to directly contact voters could amount to illegal voter intimidation.... The Justice Department letter came six days after voting rights groups asked federal officials to intervene or send monitors to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix at the state fairgrounds, where the ballots are being recounted." Helderman briefly mentions the DOJ's letter.

Minnesota. Doha Madani & Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion for a new trial Tuesday after he was convicted last month of murdering George Floyd. Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, is alleging pretrial publicity affected Chauvin's right to a fair trial. The motion alleges the court abused its discretion by denying the requests for a change in venue and a new trial. Because the court failed to sequester the jurors or 'admonish them to avoid all media,' Nelson's filing said, they were subjected not only to prejudicial publicity but also to 'jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

South Carolina. Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state's execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs -- a measure meant to jump-start executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a 66-43 vote, will require condemned inmates to choose either being shot or electrocuted if lethal injection drugs aren't available. The state is one of only nine to still use the electric chair and will become only the fourth to allow a firing squad.... The Senate already had approved the bill in March, by a vote of 32-11.... After a routine final vote in the House and a signoff by the Senate, it will go to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who has said he will sign it." MB: Next up, guillotine. The representatives of the people are bloodthirsty barbarians, leading me to conclude that so are many of the people.

Way Beyond

Colombia. Julie Turkewitz & Sofía Villamil of the New York Times: "Colombians demonstrating over the past week against the poverty and inequality that have worsened the lives of millions since the Covid-19 pandemic began have been met with a powerful crackdown by their government, which has responded to the protests with the same militarized police force it often uses against rebel fighters and organized crime. This explosion of frustration in Colombia, experts say, could presage unrest across Latin America, where several countries face a combustible mix of an unrelenting pandemic, growing hardship and plummeting government revenue.... On Wednesday, after seven days of marches and clashes that turned parts of Colombian cities into battlefields, demonstrators breached protective barriers around the nation's Congress, attacking the building before being repelled by the police.... The clashes have left at least 24 people dead, most of them demonstrators, and at least 87 missing...."

France-U.K. Brexit Was an Excellent Idea. Sunita Patel-Carstairs & Alix Culbertson of Sky News: "A fleet of French fishing boats has descended on Jersey after threatening to blockade the island's main port over a post-Brexit fishing rights row. The UK has sent two Royal Navy ships to Jersey 'as a precaution' - HMS Severn and HMS Tamar are patrolling the waters around Jersey [Thursday] morning. And French authorities have confirmed to Sky News that a vessel, the Military Ops ship Athos, will be arriving 'imminently' to carry out a 'patrol mission' - while local reports suggest another is also en route. The deployment, France says, is to 'guarantee the safety' of people at sea and 'accompany' the flotilla of around 50 French fishing vessels currently protesting off St Helier over a lack of access to waters around the Channel island.... Jersey fisherman Josh Dearing described the scene at the port of St Helier as 'like an invasion'." MB: Fishing rights issues in the English Channel, I assume, were the sort of disputes that the E.U. courts used to work out.

News Lede

CNBC: "The U.S. employment picture improved sharply last week, with first-time claims for unemployment insurance hitting a fresh pandemic-era low. Initial claims totaled 498,000 for the week ended March 1, against the Dow Jones estimate of 527,000. That was down from the previous week's total of 590,000, which saw a substantial upward revision from the initially reported 553,000."

The Commentariat -- May 5, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Fadel Allassan of Axios: Donald "Trump and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are openly supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican conference chair.... 'Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,' Trump said in a statement. 'Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!'... The public endorsements of Stefanik mark a new escalation in Republicans' internal feud over Cheney...."

Olivia Beavers & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Liz Cheney is not fighting to hold onto her job as House GOP conference chair, even as top Republican leaders openly campaign to replace her in the No. 3 spot.... Cheney has been telling people that if holding onto her leadership role requires having to lie or stay quiet, she doesn't believe that's a price worth paying.... Behind the scenes, Cheney has not been making calls or engaging in the type of campaigning that's ordinarily necessary in politics to build a coalition of support ahead of a vote.... Now it appears all but certain that Cheney will be booted from leadership, raising serious questions about her political future. Cheney, who passed on a Senate bid last year..., just posted a record-breaking fundraising quarter. But she's also facing a tough primary race next year in Wyoming, with pro-Trump challengers already lining up to take her out."

Doha Madani & Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion for a new trial Tuesday after he was convicted last month of murdering George Floyd. Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, is alleging pretrial publicity affected Chauvin's right to a fair trial. The motion alleges the court abused its discretion by denying the requests for a change in venue and a new trial. Because the court failed to sequester the jurors or 'admonish them to avoid all media,' Nelson's filing said, they were subjected not only to prejudicial publicity but also to 'jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution.'"

Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Peloton announced Wednesday voluntary recalls of both its treadmill machines over safety concerns. The announcement marked a major reversal of Peloton's initial reaction and comes after weeks of discussions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In a statement, Peloton apologized for not acting more quickly to resolve the issue after reports of one death and dozens of injuries."

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

Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The Labor Department is rescinding a rule that made it harder for gig and contract workers to argue they were entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections, part of a push to undo Trump-era decisions that favored businesses and employers. The withdrawal of the 'Independent Contractor' rule, which limited the ability of workers to argue that they were misclassified as contractors when they should have been employees, will be published in the Federal Register today, and become effective on Thursday. Companies have increased the use of contractors in recent decades in part to lower labor costs. Employees are entitled to a range of benefits not afforded to contractors, including a minimum wage and overtime pay."

Axios: "Facebook's independent Oversight Board ruled to uphold the platform's suspension of former President Trump's account but told the social media giant to rethink the ban's 'indefinite' nature. The board found Trump's posts had 'severely violated' Facebook rules but questioned the 'indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension' and 'insisted' the company find a 'proportionate response' within six months." MB: Bottom line: Facebook will put us through this again. And again. That guy will forever be a threat to democracy, even after he's dead. Update: The New York Times report is here.

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Natasha Bertrand & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Biden administration will release its highly anticipated national strategy for fighting domestic terrorists in the coming weeks, the White House announced Tuesday, signaling a major break from ... Donald Trump's administration in addressing more directly the threats posed by White supremacists and right-wing militia groups. The expected release of the strategy comes after the White House said Tuesday that it has completed a sweeping assessment of the threat posed by domestic violent extremism, an issue that took on new urgency after the January 6 assault on the Capitol...."

Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "... the Biden administration ... [has initiated] a massive relocation of parents deported by one U.S. president and returned by another. In total, more than 1,000 families are expected to be reunited.... Last week, the Department of Homeland Security agreed to process the first few returning parents at the border."

Denitsa Tsekova of Yahoo! News: "President Joe Biden is planning to raise revenue to fund his infrastructure plans through numerous tax hikes that would mostly hit the top 0.7% of Americans, a new analysis found. 'The vast, vast majority of the population will not see any tax increases,' Steve Wamhoff ... [of] the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and co-author of the report, told Yahoo Money. 'This plan would really just ask the people who've been very, very successful and have done very well throughout recessions and pandemics... ask those lucky few to pay more.'" MB: If you're one of the lucky duckies whose taxes will be raised, congratulations on having more money than you need! Nevertheless, the proposed rise in your taxes is upsetting 100 percent of your GOP Senate friends. ~~~

~~~ Zachary Evans of Yahoo! News (May 3): "No Republican senator will back President Biden's infrastructure plan as written, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said at a press conference on Monday.... McConnell's reference to a '$4.1 trillion grab bag' would include Biden's roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package as well as his $1.8 trillion 'American Families Plan,' which invests heavily in education and childcare." MB: So that means Democratic Senators can pass a bill under reconciliation, meaning it will be whatever Joe Manchin says is okay.

Kadia Goba of Axios: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he's 'lost confidence' in Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during a moment of candor caught on a hot mic, a tape reviewed by Axios shows.... 'I think she's got real problems,' McCarthy told Steve Doocy off-air ahead of a live 'Fox and Friends' interview. 'I've had it with ... I've had it with her. You know, I've lost confidence. ... Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.' The comments, made amid seeming cross-talk with Doocy, outlined how the House conference chair could be removed by a vote from the chamber's Republican members." ~~~

~~~ Nancy Is a Mean Girl. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mocked House Republicans for reportedly looking for a 'non-threatening female' to replace No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney (Wyo.). Pelosi's office released a mock 'help wanted' ad as talks of ousting Cheney from leadership increase amid GOP frustrations with her anti-Trump stance. 'Word is out that House GOP Leaders are looking to push Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as House Republican Conference Chair -- their most senior woman in GOP leadership -- for a litany of very Republican reasons: she won't lie, she isn't humble enough, she's like a girlfriend rooting for the wrong team, and more,' the ad reads, referring to previous media reports about male Republican criticism of Cheney." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ From the Ashes of the Trumpster Fire

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: "... instead of Trump's Big Lie fading away, just the opposite is happening -- first slowly and now quickly. Under Trump's command and control from Mar-a-Largo, and with the complicity of most of his party's leaders, that Big Lie -- that the greatest election in our history, when more Republicans and Democrats voted than ever before, in the midst of a pandemic, must have been rigged because Trump lost -- has metastasized. It's being embraced by a solid majority of elected Republicans and ordinary party members -- local, state and national.... There is simply nothing more dangerous for a two-party democracy than to have one party declare that no election where it loses is legitimate, and, therefore, if it loses it will just lie about the results and change the rules."

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "A soldier in the Wisconsin National Guard was charged Monday in connection with the Capitol riot Jan. 6, becoming the fourth service member linked to the violent attempt to thwart the certification of Joe Biden's election as president. Abram Markofski and an associate were arrested Monday in Wisconsin and each charged with four counts related to the Capitol breach, including violent entry or disorderly conduct and entering restricted spaces, according to the Justice Department.... At least 41 military veterans have been federally charged in the riot, according to court documents and service records...."

** Judge Says Bill Barr Lied, Spun & Deceived. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Washington accused the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr of misleading her and Congress about advice he had received from top department officials on whether ... Donald J. Trump should have been charged with obstructing the Russia investigation and ordered that a related memo be released. Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court in Washington said in a ruling late Monday that the Justice Department's obfuscation appeared to be part of a pattern in which top officials like Mr. Barr were untruthful to Congress and the public about the investigation.... 'The fact that he [Trump] would not be prosecuted was a given,' Judge Jackson wrote.... She also singled out Mr. Barr for how he had spun the investigation's findings in a letter summarizing the 448-page report before it was released, which allowed Mr. Trump to claim he had been exonerated.... Judge Jackson said that the government had until May 17 to decide whether it planned to appeal her ruling, a decision that will be made by a Justice Department run by Biden appointees." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein, is here. Worth reading. Rachel Maddow covered the ruling in her opening segment Tuesday (embedded below). Maddow pointed out that seems mighty unlikely that the DOJ, "under new management," will appeal Jackson's decision. Marie: Barr's principal lie was that DOJ officials had advised him that Robert Mueller's team did not substantiate evidence that Trump had obstructed justice, so the DOJ could not prosecute. It occurs to me that there's no principle of stare decisis that runs from administration to administration, so there's no reason that Merrick Garland's DOJ couldn't reach a different -- and accurate -- conclusion that Trump committed prosecutable offenses. I doubt it, but maybe we yet shall see Donald in the dock. ~~~

Annals of Journalism, Ctd.

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "'Washington Week,' a calm redoubt in the shouty battleground of political television, is most closely associated with its longtime moderator Gwen Ifill, the pioneering journalist who broke barriers as a Black woman in the Washington press corps. Before her death in 2016, Ms. Ifill also became a mentor to [Yamiche] Alcindor, the White House correspondent at 'PBS NewsHour.' Starting with the episode on Friday, Ms. Alcindor, 34, will take Ms. Ifill's old chair at the helm of 'Washington Week.' She succeeds Robert Costa, a reporter for The Washington Post who took over in 2017 and left the show this year."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: CNN anchor Don Lemon raked former GOP senator-turned-CNN contributor Rick Santorum (R-PA) over the coals on Monday night after Santorum refused to apologize for his racist comments downplaying European settlers' genocide of Native Americans. 'I mean, Rick Santorum, really? Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and to try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?' Lemon said during his program shortly after fellow CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's interview with the contributor. '... It was horrible and insulting, and I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by this,' Lemon continued. 'I was sitting in my office, furious, because he's done it so many times. So many times.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) See also story of Tennessee legislator linked below.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Zeke Miller & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday set a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth as he tackles the vexing problem of winning over the 'doubters' and those unmotivated to get inoculated. Demand for vaccines has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their available doses unordered. Aiming to make it easier to get shots, Biden called for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and he will direct many pharmacies to do likewise." The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday told states that coronavirus vaccine supply they choose not to order will become available to other states -- the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution since President Biden took office, and part of an effort to account for flagging demand in parts of the country. Each state's share of the total U.S. adult population will still determine weekly allocations. But instead of allowing unordered doses to carry over week to week, the White House will steer untapped vaccine into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply. Those states will be able to order up to 50 percent above their weekly allocation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been released from a federal prison on furlough while he awaits potential placement to home confinement, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Silver, 77, began serving his more than six-year sentence at a prison in Otisville, New York, in August, after years of fending off going behind bars in a corruption case. He has been released to his home while awaiting a final decision on whether he can serve the rest of his sentence there in home confinement, the person said.... Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, was once one of the three most powerful state officials in New York. He was the Assembly's leader for more than two decades before his abrupt ouster in 2015 after the corruption allegations emerged."

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "The Three-Fifths Compromise, an agreement reached during the negotiations in 1787 to create the United States Constitution, found that, for the purposes of representation and taxation, only three-fifths of a state's enslaved people would be counted toward its total population. It is regarded as one of the most racist deals among the states during the country's founding. Yet in a speech in the Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday, one representative ... Justin Lafferty, a Republican from Knoxville..., defended the compromise, arguing that it was 'a bitter, bitter pill' that was necessary to curtail the power of slaveholding states and that helped clear the way to ending slavery -- remarks that were rebuked by critics, including Black colleagues, as insulting and demeaning." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One would think that by now public figures would know that white-splaining the beauty of American history to people of color is never wise. Apparently not. Last week, a Louisiana state representative said teachers should be teaching "the good, the bad and the ugly" of slavery. The rep's surname is "Garafolo." I'm going to assume he's white.

Texas. Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune: "With less than a month left in the legislative session ... HP, Microsoft, Unilever, Patagonia and two dozen other companies are urging state lawmakers not to pass new restrictions on voting. In the biggest pushback so far by business against the GOP's legislative bid to ratchet up the state's already restrictive voting rules, national companies joined in a statement voicing their opposition Tuesday with local businesses and several local chambers of commerce representing LGBTQ, Hispanic and Black members of the business community.... The statement does not address specific legislation, but comes as Texas Republicans press forward with bills in the name of 'election integrity' despite little to no evidence of widespread fraud and warnings from voting rights advocates and lawyers that many of them would be disproportionately harmful to voters of color."

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. No Surprise. Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that any gains in women's rights in Afghanistan made in the last two decades will be at risk after U.S. troops withdraw later this year. An unclassified report released Tuesday by the Director of National Intelligence says the Taliban remain 'broadly consistent in its restrictive approach to women's rights and would roll back much of the past two decades' progress if the group regained national power.'"

Israel. The Great Pumpkin. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel failed to form a new government by the midnight Tuesday deadline, putting his political future in jeopardy as he stands trial on corruption charges and prolonging a political deadlock that has only worsened after four elections in two years. Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, may now give a rival, eclectic camp of anti-Netanyahu parties a chance to form a government, which could oust Mr. Netanyahu from power after 12 consecutive years in office."

The Commentariat -- May 4, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday told states that coronavirus vaccine supply they choose not to order will become available to other states -- the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution since President Biden took office, and part of an effort to account for flagging demand in parts of the country. Each state's share of the total U.S. adult population will still determine weekly allocations. But instead of allowing unordered doses to carry over week to week, the White House will steer untapped vaccine into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply. Those states will be able to order up to 50 percent above their weekly allocation."

Nancy Is a Mean Girl. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mocked House Republicans for reportedly looking for a 'non-threatening female' to replace No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney (Wyo.). Pelosi's office released a mock 'help wanted' ad as talks of ousting Cheney from leadership increase amid GOP frustrations with her anti-Trump stance. 'Word is out that House GOP Leaders are looking to push Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as House Republican Conference Chair -- their most senior woman in GOP leadership -- for a litany of very Republican reasons: she won't lie, she isn't humble enough, she's like a girlfriend rooting for the wrong team, and more,' the ad reads, referring to previous media reports about male Republican criticism of Cheney."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: CNN anchor Don Lemon raked former GOP senator-turned-CNN contributor Rick Santorum (R-PA) over the coals on Monday night after Santorum refused to apologize for his racist comments downplaying European settlers' genocide of Native Americans. 'I mean, Rick Santorum, really? Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and to try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?' Lemon said during his program shortly after fellow CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's interview with the contributor. '... It was horrible and insulting, and I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by this,' Lemon continued. 'I was sitting in my office, furious, because he's done it so many times. So many times.'"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday took its first significant step under President Biden to curb climate change, moving to sharply reduce a class of chemicals that is thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the planet. In proposing a new regulation, Michael S. Regan, the E.P.A. administrator, said the agency aimed to reduce the production and importation of hydrofluorocarbons, which are used in refrigeration and air-conditioning, in the United States by 85 percent over the next 15 years. It's a goal shared by environmental groups and the business community, which jointly championed bipartisan legislation passed by Congress in December to tackle the pollutant." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Stratford of Politico: "The Biden administration has tapped Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to serve as the top official overseeing the federal government's $1.6 trillion portfolio of student loans and array of financial aid programs. The selection of Cordray, who previously was attorney general of Ohio and ran unsuccessfully to be governor, is a major victory for progressives who have been calling on the Biden administration to take more aggressive action on student loans and for-profit colleges."

Michael Shear & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden on Monday reversed himself and said he would allow as many as 62,500 refugees to enter the United States during the next six months, eliminating the sharp limits that ... Donald J. Trump imposed on those seeking refuge from war, violence or natural disasters. The action comes about two weeks after Mr. Biden announced that he was leaving Mr. Trump's limit of 15,000 refugees in place, which drew widespread condemnation from Democrats and refugee advocates who accused the president of reneging on a campaign promise to welcome those in need. Mr. Biden quickly backtracked, promising only hours later that he intended to increase refugee admissions. With Monday's announcement, the president formally bowed to the pressure." The AP's story is here.

Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC News: "The Biden administration will reunite four migrant families separated during the Trump administration this week, while its reunification task force estimates that over 1,000 families remain separated, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday.... But the immigrant advocacy organization Al Otro Lado, or AOL, said the Biden administration is taking credit for reunifications it did very little to facilitate. '... The only reason these mothers will be standing at the port of entry is because Al Otro Lado negotiated their travel visas with the Mexican government, paid for their airline tickets and arranged for reunification,' said Carol Anne Donohoe ... of Al Otro Lado.... The parents will be given humanitarian parole to come back to the U.S., said Michelle Brané, executive director of Biden's reunification task force." (Also linked yesterday.)

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, is quietly considering trying to use a fast-track budget maneuver to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants should bipartisan talks on providing a pathway to citizenship fall apart. Mr. Schumer has privately told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in recent weeks that he is 'actively exploring' whether it would be possible to attach a broad revision of immigration laws to President Biden's infrastructure plan and pass it through a process known as budget reconciliation, according to two people briefed on his comments. The move would allow the measures to pass the evenly divided Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes, shielding them from a filibuster and the 60-vote threshold for moving past one, which would otherwise require at least 10 Republican votes."

Trouble in Trumpland

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday escalated her feud with ... Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress, issuing a less-than-subtle swipe at the former president's latest attempt to claim the 2020 election was stolen from him. On Monday morning, Trump issued a statement from his Save America PAC proclaiming that the presidential election 'will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!' -- an attempt to appropriate the label given to the false claim by Trump and his Republican allies that last November's election was in fact won by the former president. Less than an hour later, Cheney (R-Wyo.), who faces renewed pressure from Trump-aligned forces within the Republican caucus to remove her from House leadership over her direct rebukes of the former president's falsehoods, swiped back on Twitter. ~~~

The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system. -- Rep. Liz Cheney, in a tweet, Monday ~~~

~~~ "The Wyoming Republican kicked up a new round of Republican agita last week when she said support for Trump-backed challenges to the 2020 Electoral College results should be disqualifying for any Republican seeking the party's 2024 presidential nomination. Some top Republicans -- including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy -- are reportedly waning in their support for Cheney amid the continued internal hostilities between her and the party's pro-Trump wing. Trump's missive comes as Arizona's Republican-commissioned audit of the election results in Maricopa County -- which includes the Phoenix metro area -- is ongoing. The former president has latched onto the effort.... Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, on Sunday derided the audit as a 'ludicrous' attempt to undermine [Joe] Biden's victory. McCain was one of Trump's fiercest GOP critics and became a top GOP surrogate during Biden's campaign." ~~~

Jamie Gangel & Michael Warren of CNN: "Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said on Monday her party cannot accept the 'poison' of the idea that the 2020 election was stolen and should not 'whitewash' the January 6 Capitol riot -- and Donald Trump's role in fomenting it. 'We can't embrace the notion the election is stolen. It's a poison in the bloodstream of our democracy,' Cheney said, speaking behind closed doors at a conference in Sea Island, Georgia. 'We can't whitewash what happened on January 6 or perpetuate Trump's big lie. It is a threat to democracy. What he did on January 6 is a line that cannot be crossed.' Cheney made her comments, confirmed to CNN by two people in the room, during an off-the-record interview with former House Speaker Paul Ryan before a crowd of donors and scholars at the annual retreat for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank." ~~~

Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: “Hours later, Trump released another statement, this time attacking Cheney by calling her a 'big-shot warmonger' and claiming that people in Wyoming 'never liked her much.'"

Alayna Treene of Axios: "House Republicans are moving closer to ousting Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from leadership, and are already considering replacements -- including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), congressional aides tell Axios.... Most members recognize Cheney can't be succeeded by a white man, given their top two leaders -- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) -- fill that demographic.... None of these women voted to impeach Trump.... Stefanik and Walorski objected to the Jan. 6 Electoral College certification of the presidential election." Wagner is not part of the Sedition Caucus. ~~~

~~~ Scott Wong & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Top allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are vowing to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the harshest critics of former President Trump in either party, from her leadership post by the end of the month. They argue that the No. 3 Republican has repeatedly contradicted McCarthy and his team, undermining the party's message and its efforts to take back the House majority in next year's midterm elections. 'There is no way that Liz will be conference chair by month's end,' one key McCarthy ally told The Hill on Monday. 'When there is a vote, it won't be a long conference; it will be fast. Everyone knows the outcome.'"

Rachel Lerman & Heather Kelly of the Washington Post: "It has been four months since ... Donald Trump was last allowed to post on Facebook, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was banned 'indefinitely.' Now the Facebook Oversight Board, an outside group funded and created by Facebook to review the social media giant's thorniest policy choices, has made a decision on the case. It is expected to announce on Wednesday whether Facebook can uphold its suspension of Trump or if it has to allow him back on the site.: MB: How can they not permanently oust Trump? As recently as this Monday morning, Trump doubled down on the Big Lie, trying to turn it inside out? BTW, Donald, you are permanently banned from commenting on Reality Chex, unless you decide to use us as a confessional platform & own up to your many crimes against humanity.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "always-shifting efforts to prove that he didn't lose the 2020 election, eternally encumbered by the fact that he did, have settled for the time being on an anomalous recount in Windham[, New Hampshire]'s 2020 state representative race. 'You're watching New Hampshire,' he told customers at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., during an apparently spontaneous speech there last week. 'They found a lot of votes up in New Hampshire just now. You saw that.' This, he said, was further evidence that the 2020 election was 'rigged.'" When it appeared that a Democratic candidate for the state legislature had lost by just 24 votes, she asked for a recount in November; the recount, however, revealed that she had lost by more than 400 votes. The town of 14,000 has not figured out what happened in the original count, and the state is investigating. Even if Windham's vote count for president had similarly undercounted Trump votes, New Hampshire still would have given Biden its Electoral College votes. ~~~

~~~ Aha! A Case of Intentional Voter Fraud. Rebekah Riess & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to casting a vote in the name of his deceased mother in an effort to reelect then-President Donald Trump, according to court records and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer's office. Bruce Bartman, 70, received the sentence Friday after entering a guilty plea to two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting. Bartman will also lose his right to vote for four years, pursuant to Pennsylvania statute.... Voter records show that Bartman used Pennsylvania's online voter-registration portal to register both his late mother, Elizabeth Bartman, and his deceased mother-in-law, Elizabeth Weihman, who died in 2019 -- illegally registering both as Republican voters, the district attorney's office said.... Stollsteimer, a Democrat, said..., 'Rather than earning national attention for efforts to restrict accessibility to voting, address the breakdown in the online voter registration systems that this defendant exploited to vote for a deceased relative.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Five years' probation? Bartman is lucky he's a white Pennsylvania man and not a black Texas woman. Crystal Mason got five years hard time for trying (and failing) to vote in 2016 because she didn't know she was ineligible to vote. Maybe the courts looked at her provisional ballot & discovered she had voted for Hillary.

The Liars' Party. Conservative Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "For the activist base of the Republican Party, affirming that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential contest has become a qualification for membership in good standing. For the party's elected leaders, accepting the clear result of a fair election is to be a rogue Republican like the indomitable Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) -- a target for Trump's anger, public censure and primary threats.... The GOP is increasingly defined not by its shared beliefs, but by its shared delusions. To be a loyal Republican, one must be either a sucker or a liar. And because this defining falsehood is so obviously and laughably false, we can safely assume that most Republican leaders who embrace it fall into the second category. Knowingly repeating a lie -- an act of immorality -- is now the evidence of Republican fidelity." ~~~

~~~ It's Working! Stephen Collinson of CNN: "With its cultish devotion to Donald Trump, the majority of the Republican Party is choosing a wannabe-autocrat over the political system that made the United States the world's most powerful nation and its dominant democracy. The ex-President is showing that he doesn't have to be in the Oval Office to damage faith in US elections and to trash truth, as his movement based on lies and personal homage takes an increasingly firm grip of the Republican Party. The widespread mistrust he continues to foster in the fairness of the US political system among millions of voters poses grave risks to democracy itself."

Mass Media Correction. David Bauder of the AP: "The Washington Post, New York Times and NBC News all issued similar corrections to stories regarding Rudolph Giuliani ... and his dealings in Ukraine. The corrections, to stories that ran last Thursday or Friday, take back reports that the former New York City mayor had been warned by the FBI that he was the subject of a Russian operation to influence the American election. NBC's online correction on Saturday was the most extensive, and it required both the headline and top of a story that ran a day earlier to be rewritten. The network said it had been told about an FBI briefing of Giuliani by 'a source familiar with the matter,' but later learned from a second source that the briefing had been prepared but not delivered.... Giuliani, on Twitter, said that the Times and Post 'must revealed their sources who lied and targeted an American citizen.'" ~~~

~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Incorrect information from government sources apparently led three separate news organizations to publish the same erroneous claim about Rudolph W. Giuliani last week that all three later corrected.... It appears that competitive pressures and a lack of a response from Giuliani and his representatives on deadline helped push the stories in the wrong direction.... Giuliani ... did not respond -- apparently because his phone and other electronic devices had been confiscated during the FBI raid.... 'We weren't rigorous enough,' conceded Times editor Dean Baquet in an interview Monday.... CNN also picked up on the inaccurate Post story, repeating its inaccurate claim during a segment Friday.... Giuliani -- who on Monday told Fox News in an interview that federal investigators were trying to 'frame' him -- tweeted Saturday: 'Where did the original false information come from?@MSNBC, @CNN, @nytimes, I couldn't quite hear your apology?'"

Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "A U.S. bankruptcy administrator asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the National Rifle Association's efforts to declare bankruptcy or appoint a trustee or examiner to oversee the gun rights organization -- a setback for the group at the close of a federal court hearing to consider its petition. The recommendation bolstered the arguments of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whose office has fought the NRA's attempts to relocate from New York to Texas, and came after senior NRA executives acknowledged in court testimony that they received lavish perks."

David Gelles, et al., of the New York Times: "Bill and Melinda Gates, two of the richest people in the world, who reshaped philanthropy and public health with the fortune Mr. Gates made as a co-founder of Microsoft, said on Monday that they were divorcing. For decades, Mr. and Ms. Gates have been powerful forces on the world stage, their vast charitable contributions affording them access to the highest levels of government, business and the nonprofit sector. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of some $50 billion, has had immense influence in fields like global health and early-childhood education, and has made great strides in reducing deaths caused by malaria and other infectious diseases.... The foundation said in a statement that Mr. and Ms. Gates would remain co-chairs and trustees and that no changes were expected at the organization.... The Gateses have been married for 27 years and have three children, ages 18 to 25."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "... more than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable -- at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever. Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers. How much smaller is uncertain and depends in part on how much of the nation, and the world, becomes vaccinated and how the coronavirus evolves." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Republicans, the science-averse, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists & the general collection of the loony brigade have decided to ruin daily life for those of us who behave responsibly. I despise those selfish, ignorant bastards. In fairness to these horrible people, many of them try, often successfully, to diminish our quality of life in other respects: they scoff at environmental science; they oppose fair wages for fair work; they treat people who don't belong to their tribe of idiots as second-class citizens; etc. ~~~

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration is expected by next week to grant expanded emergency use authorization to allow children as young as 12 to receive the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and German firm BioNTech, according to three federal officials familiar with the situation.... Shortly after the FDA decision, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee is expected to meet to recommend how the vaccine should be used." The AP's story is here.

Emily Rauhala & Erin Cunningham of the Washington Post: "Moderna will supply up to 500 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to a campaign backed by the World Health Organization starting late this year, giving a much-needed boost to a global initiative that has suffered from inequity, funding shortfalls and a severe supply crunch. The agreement, announced Monday soon after the WHO approved the company's messenger RNA vaccine for emergency use, comes amid growing calls for both vaccine-makers and wealthy nations to do more to address the vaccination gap between rich countries and the rest of the world." MB: Late this year? We're in the first week of May, for Pete's sake.

Joshua Eaton & Rachana Pradhan of NBC News: "Two national pharmacy chains that the federal government entrusted to inoculate people against Covid-19 account for the lion's share of wasted vaccine doses, according to government data obtained by Kaiser Health News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 182,874 wasted doses as of late March, three months into the country's effort to vaccinate the masses against the coronavirus. CVS was responsible for nearly half, and Walgreens was responsible for 21 percent, or nearly 128,500 wasted shots combined. CDC data suggest that the companies have wasted more doses than states, U.S. territories and federal agencies combined.... CVS said 'nearly all' of its reported vaccine waste occurred during" the Trump administration's poorly-planned rollout. "Overall, waste has been minuscule...."

Florida. Amanda Macias of CNBC: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Monday that immediately suspends all outstanding local Covid-19 emergency orders and related public health restrictions. 'The fact is, we are no longer in a state of emergency,' DeSantis said during a news conference.... Private businesses can still require masks and enforce social distancing and other protective measures. DeSantis signed a bill Monday that codifies the executive order into law, effective July 1.... The measure, which effectively ends all local pandemic-related restrictions, also bans vaccine passports."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida GOP Cuts off Nose to Spite Its Ugly Face. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Virtually every narrow Republican victor of the past generation -- and there have been many, including two of the state's current top officeholders, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott -- owes their victory, at least in part, to mail voting. Now, some Florida Republicans are reacting with alarm after the GOP-dominated state legislature, with DeSantis's support, passed a far-reaching bill Thursday night that puts new restrictions on the use of mail ballots. Not only are GOP lawmakers reversing statutes that their own predecessors put in place, but they are also curtailing a practice that millions of state Republicans use, despite ... Donald Trump's relentless and baseless claims that it invites fraud.... The potential fallout in the key swing state illustrates how the Republican Party is hurting itself in its rush to echo Trump&'s false allegations, they said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "The truth here is plain to see: Florida Republicans are trying to make it harder for the opposition's voters to participate, to the point where party operatives even floated the idea of exempting their own voters [-- seniors & military personnel --] from provisions that would accomplish this.... No matter how you cut this, the real aim is to make it harder to vote, and hope for the best." And, though Republicans are claiming they're passing these anti-voter laws to "restore confidence in elections, their real purpose "is to continue undermining confidence in our electoral system, often as justification for more voter suppression, not to restore it ... [even to the point that] Republicans who dared to vouch for the integrity of the 2020 outcome are facing censure and condemnation...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Israel. Josef Federman of the AP: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a midnight deadline on Tuesday to put together a new coalition government -- or be looking at the possibility of leading his Likud party into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. Netanyahu has struggled to secure a parliamentary majority since March 23 -- when elections ended in deadlock for the fourth consecutive time in the past two years. Despite repeated meetings with many of his rivals and unprecedented outreach to the leader of a small Islamist Arab party, Netanyahu has not been able to close a deal during a four-week window. That window was to expire at midnight, at which point the matter returns to President Reuven Rivlin in the absence of an agreement." MB: Not clear yet whether or not Bibi turned into a pumpkin.