The Commentariat -- April 15, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Arrested Development. Here's how little Jimmy Jordan behaved when he was a toddler & his parents told him it was time for bed:

The New York Times' live updates of Derek Chauvin's murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Thursday announced tough new sanctions on Russia and formally blamed the country's premier intelligence agency for the sophisticated hacking operation that breached American government agencies and the nation's largest companies. In the broadest effort yet to give more teeth to financial sanctions -- which in the past have failed to deter Russian activity -- the actions are aimed at choking off lending to the Russian government. In an executive order, President Biden announced a series of additional steps -- sanctions on 32 entities and individuals for disinformation efforts and for carrying out the Russian government's interference in the 2020 presidential election. Ten Russian diplomats, most of them identified as intelligence operatives, were expelled from the Russian Embassy in Washington. The country also joined with European partners to sanction eight people and entities associated with Russia's occupation in Crimea." Politico's story is here.

Virginia. Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "The Virginia Military Institute, under fire for its treatment of minorities, has selected its first Black superintendent in the school's 182-year-old history. Cedric T. Wins, a retired Army Major General and 1985 VMI graduate, was appointed Thursday to the top job in a unanimous vote by the college's Board of Visitors, the body that oversees the Lexington school. Wins, 57, who grew up in Hyattsville, Md., and was the first in his family to attend college, has been leading the nations oldest state-supported military college since Nov. 13, when he was appointed as interim superintendent. He replaced retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, 80, who resigned Oct. 26, seven days after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) ordered an investigation into the school, and nine days after The Washington Post chronicled rampant racism on the campus."

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Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden formally announced Wednesday that the United States will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, saying in a speech from the White House that more time and more troops have failed to end the conflict and that is now time to close down America's longest war. Biden did not declare a military victory. He said instead that a perpetual presence does not serve U.S. interests. 'It is time for American troops to come home,' he said in televised remarks from the Treaty Room, the same location where President George W. Bush announced that the war in Afghanistan had begun in 2001.... Biden said he had spoken with Bush in recent days to tell him of the decision.... Biden said the deal [Donald] Trump struck with the Taliban isn't perfect, but said he would substantially abide by it." The AP's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: "President Joe Biden visited Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday with a specific plot of land in mind: Section 60, where America's most recent war dead are buried.Biden's visit came shortly after he announced plans to end the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan later this year, marking the end of a two-decade conflict that has killed 2,488 service members and wounded 20,722. The president said he has carried a card with him for 12 years that he regularly updates with the exact number of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'There's no comforting distance of history in Section 60,' Biden said Wednesday ahead of his visit. 'The grief is raw. It's a visceral reminder of the living cost of war. That exact number -- not an approximation or a rounded off number, because every one of those dead are sacred human beings who left behind entire families -- an exact accounting of every single, solitary one, needs to be had,' he added." ~~~

~~~ John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Afghanistan on Thursday for meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who is heading up negotiations with the Taliban, to reassure them that Washington's support for the war-torn country will continue despite the U.S. decision to withdraw all military forces by Sept. 11.... Ghani and his advisers met Blinken and his aides at Kabul's ornate presidential palace." An ABC News story is here.

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is set to announce on Thursday a string of long-awaited measures against Russia, including far-reaching financial sanctions, for the hacking of government and private networks and a range of other activity, according to people who have been briefed on the moves. The sanctions will be among what President Biden's aides say are 'seen and unseen' steps in response to the hacking, known as SolarWinds; to the C.I.A.'s assessment that Russia offered to pay bounties to militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops; and to Russia's yearslong effort to interfere in United States elections, according to American officials and others who have been briefed on the actions. The moves will include the expulsion of a limited number of diplomats...." CNN's story is here.

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "House lawmakers are bracing for scathing testimony Thursday about the intelligence failures and operational lapses that left Capitol Police woefully underprepared for the deadly pro-Trump riot on Jan. 6, after preliminary internal reviews exposed several glaring concerns. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton is leading an ongoing investigation into why campus law enforcement failed to contain and ultimately was overwhelmed by a mob seeking to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's victory in the 2020 election. He has disclosed his initial findings and recommendations to lawmakers in two confidential reports.... To date, Bolton's investigation has uncovered an alarming level of disorganization within the Capitol Police -- such that officials tasked with analyzing intelligence warnings leading up to the riot lacked the training to do so effectively, and that the units designated to respond to civil disturbances at the Capitol were operating with outdated rosters and inadequate equipment, according to the summaries."

** Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "As the Capitol was overrun on Jan. 6, armed supporters of ... Donald Trump were waiting across the Potomac in Virginia for orders to bring guns into the fray, a prosecutor said Wednesday in federal court. The Justice Department has repeatedly highlighted comments from some alleged riot participants who discussed being part of a 'quick reaction force' with stashes of weapons. Defendants have dismissed those conversations as bluster. But in a detention hearing for Kenneth Harrelson, accused of conspiring with other members of the Oath Keepers militia group to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election win, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Nestler said the government has evidence indicating otherwise. 'This is not pure conjecture,' Nestler said[, citing cellphone and video evidence].... Judge Amit Mehta called the evidence among the 'most troubling and most disconcerting' he has seen in nearly a dozen cases related to Oath Keepers." MB: Frankly, the report reads like a war story. ~~~

     ~~~ A BuzzFeed News story is here. MB: I feel pretty confident that the reason Trump reportedly was so pumped that day was that he was waiting for his allies to heroically cross the Potomac (even if He Donald was not standing bravely at the bow a la Washington crossing the Delaware), shoot up the Capitol and vanquish Trump.

Keith Alexander, et al., of the Washington Post: "A U.S. Capitol Police officer has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing for fatally shooting Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to breach a set of doors deep in the Capitol during the January siege, federal prosecutors in D.C. announced Wednesday. Authorities determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove Babbitt's civil rights were violated, and that it was reasonable for the officer to believe he was firing in self-defense or in defense of members of Congress and aides who were fleeing the House chamber. Prosecutors did not identify the officer." Politico's story is here.

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The D.C. National Guard's deployment of helicopters to quell racial justice demonstrations in Washington last summer, a chilling scene in which two aircraft hovered extremely low over clusters of protesters, was a misuse of military medical aircraft and resulted in the disciplining of multiple soldiers, the Army said Wednesday.... Senior officials, including then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, have maintained that the mission was to observe crowds and help police track people's movements, and they have dismissed assertions that the maneuvers were intended to frighten and scatter protesters.... But a redacted investigative report released Wednesday appears to contradict those claims, with some soldiers involved in the operation telling investigators they believed their mission was to deter looting and vandalism with their helicopters. 'Be loud ... fly low over the crowds,' said one unidentified member of the Lakota crew, describing the mission parameters as they understood them.... [The brigadier general who oversaw the deployment] did not direct the helicopters to scatter protesters, the report found, but an unidentified subordinate misunderstood or 'modified' the general's intent and told others the mission included crowd dispersal."

Shawna Chen of Axios: "In a rare bipartisan vote of 92-6, the Senate advanced legislation aimed at improving anti-Asian hate crime tracking and identification.... The bill had looked initially unlikely to garner the 60 votes necessary to end debate and move to a final vote. But Republicans decided to not filibuster, in part because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose wife Elaine Chao is Taiwanese American, signaled openness to working on it with Democrats prior to final passage, the Associated Press reports." MB: Once again we see the GOP Humanitarian Rule in action: Approve humanitarian bills only if you are personally affected.

Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "Legislation to make D.C. the 51st state advanced from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Wednesday, paving the way for approval by the full House for the second consecutive year -- possibly as soon as next week. The Democratic-majority committee voted along party lines to pass the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, quashing every Republican amendment during Wednesday's markup session."

Ryan Grim of the Intercept: "Congressional Democrats plan to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources.... The bill would add four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13 from the current nine. The bill is led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, Subcommittee chair Hank Johnson, and freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones. In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Ed Markey of Massachusetts. The number of justices on the Court, which is set by Congress, has fluctuated throughout the course of the nation's history, reaching as many as ten seats before settling on nine in 1869. In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz suggested that, if Hillary Clinton were elected, the Republican Senate should keep Justice Antonin Scalia's seat empty, effectively bringing the number of justices down to eight."

Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "A House committee on Wednesday approved legislation to create a commission to make recommendations on paying reparations to the descendants of enslaved people, the furthest the bill has advanced since it was first introduced more than 30 years ago. As expected, the vote broke on party lines, 25 to 17." A CBS News report is here.

Jose Pagliery & Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast: "As new details emerge about Rep. Matt Gaetz's role in an alleged sex ring, The Daily Beast has obtained several documents showing that the suspected ringleader of the group, Joel Greenberg, made more than 150 Venmo payments to dozens of young women, and to a girl who was 17 at the time.... Gaetz made only one previously unreported transaction in the newly obtained documents: a payment from [Gaetz] ... to [Greenberg] ... for $300 on November 1, 2018, with the love hotel emoji ... in the memo field. The Daily Beast was unable to tie that transaction directly to any woman, but confirmed that Greenberg booked one night for that date at The Alfond Inn, a luxury hotel in Winter Park, Florida.... In the Venmo transactions..., there are at least 16 payments in 2017 totaling nearly $5,000 to a woman who would later go on to date Matt Gaetz." The story is subscriber-firewalled. Here's a Raw Story summary report. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It looks as if Greenberg's job was to pimp for Gaetz (and others). Greenberg is described in most stories as a good friend of Gaetz', but Gaetz may have been more a client that a buddy.

From Tucker's Lips to a GOP Congressman's. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday morning..., a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was meeting to examine the root causes of migration from Central American countries.... when Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) ... [said], 'For many Americans..., what seems to be happening ... is we're replacing ... native-born Americans to permanently transform the landscape of this very nation.' He went on to [blame Biden administration policies for increased immigration from these countries].... He simply throws it out with an indifferent 'people are saying' line, as though it were not the subject of intense national controversy.... The irony is that Perry was at the heart of the efforts in January to 'transform the landscape of this very nation' by overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.... [This is] a reminder that the effort to cast immigrants as dangerous invaders aided by cynical leftist politicians may have started with self-identified white nationalists but isn't stopping at [Tucker] Carlson. It's progressing to others in the conservative media and, now, to the House."

Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died in a federal prison early Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently from natural causes, the person said." Update: Madoff's New York Times obituary is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "After considering whether to reinstate the [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine, a panel of expert advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined on Wednesday that it needed more time to assess a possible link to a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder."

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

Get Your Shots or Get Out. Ezekiel Emanuel, et al., in a New York Times op-ed: "The next coronavirus surge seems to be underway.... We need to sharply reduce coronavirus infections to turn the tide.... The best hope is to maximize the number of people vaccinated, especially among those who interact with many others and are likely to transmit the virus. How can we increase vaccinations? Mandates. Vaccines should be required for health care workers and for all students who plan to attend in-person classes this fall -- including younger children once the vaccine is authorized for them.... Employers should also be prepared to make vaccines mandatory for prison guards, E.M.T.s, police officers, firefighters and teachers if overall vaccinations do not reach the level required for herd immunity." ~~~

     ~~~ Florida. Brittany Chang of Business Insider, republished at MSN: "Florida and cruise companies could be locked in a battle over vaccine requirements as the state puts a ban on vaccine passports while cruise lines continue to mandate the jabs for passengers and crew. On April 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning vaccine passports and local businesses from requiring this proof of vaccination. This ban applies to cruise lines as well...." ~~~

~~~ GOP State Legislators Push Anti-Vaxxer Bills. Anna Merlan of Vice News: "Legislators in at least five states ... have introduced a so-called 'Vaccine Bill of Rights.' The text of these bills is strikingly similar...: They're all based on a document released in January by a group called America's Frontline Doctors (AFLD), a pseudo-medical collection of physicians and not-at-all-physicians devoted to spreading the worst possible information about COVID. Resolutions using language similar or identical to the group's have been proposed by Republican lawmakers in Wyoming..., Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and South Carolina.... In several proposed 'Bill of Rights' resolutions, there's language that explicitly seeks to bar [so-called] vaccine passports, saying that 'such required documentation pose[s] substantial risks to personal privacy and equal treatment before the law for all citizens.' The text of many of these proposed pieces of legislation also says that employers [including hospitals] should be prohibited from mandating vaccines for any of their employees..., [and that schools should be prevented from mandating vaccinations for returning students].<" ~~~

~~~ Russ Bynum of the AP: "With coronavirus shots now in the arms of nearly half of American adults, the parts of the U.S. that are excelling and those that are struggling with vaccinations are starting to look like the nation's political map: deeply divided between red and blue states.... Americans in blue states that lean Democratic appear to be getting vaccinated at more robust rates, while those in red Republican states seem to be more hesitant.... Out in front is New Hampshire, where 65% of the population age 18 and older has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following close behind are New Mexico, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts at 55% or greater. All have a history of voting Democratic and supported President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, at the bottom are five states where fewer than 40% have rolled up their sleeves for a shot. Four of them -- Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee -- lean Republican and voted for Donald Trump last fall. The fifth is Georgia, which has a Republican governor and supported GOP presidential candidates for nearly three decades before narrowly backing Biden." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Absolute proof that Trump won Georgia. Election fraud!!! Recount, recount!!

~~~ Patrick Murray of Monmouth University Polling: "About 1 in 5 American adults remain unwilling to get the Covid vaccine, even as more people are getting the shot. The Monmouth ... University Poll also finds that President Joe Biden continues to get positive job ratings overall as well as high marks for his handling of the pandemic. Nearly half of the public feels the country is heading in the right direction, which is an eight-year high in Monmouth's national polling."

** Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has decided to allow women to receive abortion pills by mail for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, the latest development in an issue that has increasingly taken center stage in the American abortion debate. In a letter sent Monday to two leading organizations representing reproductive health physicians, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration said that the agency would temporarily stop enforcing its requirement that the first of two drugs needed to terminate an early pregnancy be dispensed in a medical clinic. The new policy counters a Supreme Court decision in January that sided with the Trump administration, which had appealed a federal judge's decision last July to suspend the requirement."

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Scott Bauer & Mike Householder of the AP: "A white former suburban Minneapolis police officer was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. The charge against former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter was filed three days after Wright was killed during a traffic stop and as the nearby murder trial progresses for the ex-officer charged with killing George Floyd last May." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ According to this Fox "News" story, at the time a policewoman shot him dead, Daunte Wright had an outstanding warrant for armed robbery. The police who stopped him were trying to arrest him on the warrant. Policy bodycam video shows that "As an officer attempts to handcuff him, Wright pries himself loose and jumps back into his car." Potter then shot him as he sped away. MB: The media often portray Wright's story as a case in which police kill a Black man because of a minor violation: an expired vehicle license. Meanwhile, family members talk about how sweet he was. Assuming the Fox story is true, it appears Wright had jumped $100,000 bail, imposed for an alleged attempted robbery at gunpoint. Shooting an accused felon dead was not justified, but IMO, shooting out his tires or taking other non-lethal offensive action would have been.

Minnesota. Mark Berman & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "When the video of George Floyd gasping for air under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin emerged last year, it told a story that was painfully familiar to Anton Black's family. Black encountered police on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the fall of 2018, when officers responding to a call about a possible kidnapping wrestled the 19-year-old to the ground. Video footage released later showed the officers in Greensboro, Md., struggling with Black before pinning him down. Black died, and no officers were charged in his death. Then came Floyd's death last year, another video of a Black man being held down by police and dying. The cases, Black's family said in a court filing, were 'chillingly similar.' Now they are connected in another way: Among the experts Chauvin's defense is expected to call this week is the former Maryland medical examiner -- David Fowler -- who deemed Black's death an accident, a determination his family pilloried in a federal lawsuit filed in December." MB: Fowler is on the stand now @ 11 am ET Wednesday. Sure hope the judge lets the prosecution examine Fowler's history. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York State. Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Cariol Horne acted to keep a white officer from using what she saw as excessive force. Fifteen years later, a judge said her firing was wrong. It was a cold November day in Buffalo when Officer Cariol Horne responded to a call for a colleague in need of help. What she encountered was a white officer who appeared to be 'in a rage' punching a handcuffed Black man in the face repeatedly as other officers stood by. Officer Horne, who is Black, heard the handcuffed man say he could not breathe and saw the white officer put him in a chokehold. At that point..., she forcibly removed the white officer and began to trade blows with him. In the altercation's aftermath, Officer Horne was reassigned, hit with departmental charges and, eventually, fired just one year short of the 20 on the force she needed to collect her full pension.... On Tuesday, in an outcome explicitly informed by the police killing of George Floyd, a state court judge vacated an earlier ruling that affirmed her firing, essentially rewriting the end of her police career, and granting her the back pay and benefits she had previously been denied." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. MB: If you have a NYT subscription, read the whole story. (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's story is here.

News Ledes

Yahoo! News: "New weekly jobless claims plunged to a pandemic-era low after last week's unexpected jump, with the labor market's choppy recovery closely following the trajectory of new COVID-19 infections.... Here were the main metrics from the [Department of Labor] report, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg: Initial jobless claims, week ended April 10: 576,000 vs. 700,000 expected and a revised 769,000 during the prior week[.] Continuing claims, week ended April 3: 3.731 million vs. 3.700 million expected vs. 3.727 million during the prior week[.] Initial unemployment claims were expected to hold at or above the 700,000 level for a third consecutive week, remaining close to levels from November. Instead, new claims unexpectedly broke below the Great Recession-era high of 665,000 new claims filed in March 2009 for the first time in more than a year."

CNBC: "A fresh batch of stimulus checks sent consumer purchases surging in March as the U.S. economy continued to get juice from aggressive congressional spending. Retail sales rose 9.8% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That compared to the Dow Jones estimate of a 6.1% gain and a decline of 2.7% in February. Sporting goods, clothing and building materials led the gains in spending and contributed to the best month for retail since the May 2020 gain of 18.3%, which came after the first round of stimulus checks."

The Commentariat -- April 14, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Derek Chauvin's murder trial Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Mark Berman & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "When the video of George Floyd gasping for air under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin emerged last year, it told a story that was painfully familiar to Anton Black's family. Black encountered police on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the fall of 2018, when officers responding to a call about a possible kidnapping wrestled the 19-year-old to the ground. Video footage released later showed the officers in Greensboro, Md., struggling with Black before pinning him down. Black died, and no officers were charged in his death. Then came Floyd's death last year, another video of a Black man being held down by police and dying. The cases, Black's family said in a court filing, were 'chillingly similar.' Now they are connected in another way: Among the experts Chauvin's defense is expected to call this week is the former Maryland medical examiner -- David Fowler -- who deemed Black's death an accident, a determination his family pilloried in a federal lawsuit filed in December." MB: Fowler is on the stand now @ 11 am ET. Sure hope the judge lets the prosecution examine Fowler's history.

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

Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died in a federal prison early Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently from natural causes, the person said." Update: Madoff's New York Times obituary is here.

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Cariol Horne acted to keep a white officer from using what she saw as excessive force. Fifteen years later, a judge said her firing was wrong. It was a cold November day in Buffalo when Officer Cariol Horne responded to a call for a colleague in need of help. What she encountered was a white officer who appeared to be 'in a rage' punching a handcuffed Black man in the face repeatedly as other officers stood by. Officer Horne, who is Black, heard the handcuffed man say he could not breathe and saw the white officer put him in a chokehold. At that point..., she forcibly removed the white officer and began to trade blows with him. In the altercation's aftermath, Officer Horne was reassigned, hit with departmental charges and, eventually, fired just one year short of the 20 on the force she needed to collect her full pension.... On Tuesday, in an outcome explicitly informed by the police killing of George Floyd, a state court judge vacated an earlier ruling that affirmed her firing, essentially rewriting the end of her police career, and granting her the back pay and benefits she had previously been denied." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. MB: If you have a NYT subscription, read the whole story.

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What Melville Knew:

And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this: --

"Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States."
"Whaling voyage by one Ishmael."
"BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN."

Ishmael, Moby Dick, 1851 ~~~

~~~ ** Endless War to End, Says He. Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Biden has decided to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 20 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon launched the country into its longest war, United States officials said Tuesday. The decision will keep more than 3,000 American troops on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 withdrawal deadline announced by the administration of ... Donald J. Trump. But it signals what Mr. Biden plans to present as a definitive end to America's 'Forever War.'" CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post tapes a few notes of caution to the decision to withdraw. ~~~

     ~~~ Juan Cole, on the other hand, writes that "It is long past time ... for the US to exit." However, he adds, "My own view is that if the US wanted to withdraw without risking a security debacle, it would have to do so through diplomacy. In particular, the US should seek an agreement between India and Pakistan that Afghanistan will be neutral territory, an agreement to which Kabul would assent.... Some American analysts want to stay in Afghanistan in hopes of making it a democracy. Afghanistan, however, is too complex a nation-building problem to solve with the kind of resources the US has been willing to put in." Cole explains why economically poor countries are also poor candidates for democracy. Afghanistan exemplifies his point.

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to 'de-escalate tensions' following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border. Biden also told Putin the U.S. would 'act firmly in defense of its national interests' regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House. Biden proposed a summit meeting in a third country 'in the coming months' to discuss the full range of U.S.-Russia issues, the White House said. The call comes as concern rises in the West about a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Burns of the AP: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration. 'This planned increase in U.S. personnel underscores our commitment to Germany and the entire NATO alliance,' Austin said in a notable counterpoint to the Trump administration's repeated complaints that Germany is a weak partner on defense and security." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hansi Lo Wang of NPR: "In a historic move, President Biden is naming Robert Santos, one of the country's leading statisticians and the American Statistical Association's president, as his intended nominee to head the U.S. Census Bureau. If confirmed by the Senate, Santos, who is Latinx, would be the first permanent director of color for the federal government's largest statistical agency.... The White House announced Santos as Biden's intended nominee in a statement released on Tuesday. Depending on the timing of a confirmation, Santos could finish the term left open by former Director Steven Dillingham that is ending this year. Dillingham was the Trump-appointed director who quit in January after whistleblowers filed complaints about Dillingham's role in trying to rush out an incomplete data report on noncitizens. Santos could be reappointed after the end of a first term, according to federal law." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As far as I can tell from the photo accompanying the story, I would not peg Santos as a "person of color." However, the designation seems to be appropriate here because, "'When I fill out the census form, I check the Latino-Hispanic-Mexican American box,' Santos said in a 2019 interview with North Texas member station KERA. 'And when it comes to race, I mark "other" and insert "mestizo" because that's how I feel about race and ethnicity.'"

** Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Capitol Police had clearer advance warnings about the Jan. 6 attack than were previously known, including the potential for violence in which 'Congress itself is the target.' But officers were instructed by their leaders not to use their most aggressive tactics to hold off the mob... like stun grenades -- according to a scathing new report by the agency's internal investigator. In a 104-page document, the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, criticized the way the Capitol Police prepared for and responded to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The report ... will be the subject of a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.... The report offers the most devastating account to date of the lapses and miscalculations around the most violent attack on the Capitol in two centuries.... The report ... reserves some of its harshest criticism for the management of the agency's Civil Disturbance Unit, which exists to prevent tragedies like Jan. 6.... In particular, Mr. Bolton focused in on an embarrassing lack of functional shields for Capitol Police officers during the riot. Some of the shields ... 'shattered upon impact' because they had been improperly stored in a trailer that was not climate-controlled.... Others could not be used by officers ... because the shields were locked on a bus." A CNN report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times lists the report's key findings.

Meagan Flynn & Paul Duggan of the Washington Post: The memorial to Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans "was the second time in less than three months that mourners were gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to honor a fallen police officer. Evans, like Brian D. Sicknick before him, was protecting members of Congress and others on Capitol Hill from a violent incursion and died in the line of duty. Evans, 41, was Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Michael Schmidt & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "A former local official in Florida indicted in the Justice Department investigation that is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz has been providing investigators with information since last year about an array of topics, including Mr. Gaetz's activities, according to two people briefed on the matter. Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, disclosed to investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, the people said." MB: Last week we learned that Greenberg probably would cooperate as part of a plea deal. Apparently that ship sailed a long time ago -- yet Greenberg still has been indicted on dozens of charges. ~~~

~~~ Marc Caputo & Matt Dixon of Politico: "The details of [a] September 2018 trip [to the Bahamas] are sparse, but they are critical to the allegations against [Matt] Gaetz, the Florida congressman currently the subject of a federal sex-crimes investigation that is threatening his career.... Also among those on the trip: the former minor who is key to the investigation, whose presence on the trip was previously unreported. [According to one witness, the young woman had already passed her 18th birthday.]... Conspicuously absent from the 2018 Bahamas trip was ... Joel Greenberg.... This winter ... federal agents executed a search warrant and seized his iPhone, according to ... three people who were told of the matter by Gaetz, who changed his phone number in late December. Around that time, the sources said, federal agents also seized his former girlfriend's phone." ~~~

~~~ David Shortell & Paula Reid of CNN: "The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community in suburban Orlando was to put away their cellphones, according to two women in attendance who spoke to CNN in recent days. The men inside, a who's who of local Republican officials that often included Rep. Matt Gaetz, did not want the night's activities documented. The partygoers, at times dressed in formal wear from a political event they'd just left, mingled and shared drugs like cocaine and ecstasy. Some had sex. Gaetz ... behaved like a 'frat type of party boy,' she said, sometimes taking pills she believed were recreational drugs. Details of the parties, which have not been previously reported, were described to CNN by two women who attended several of them over the past few years."

In yesterday's thread, Akhilleus mentioned hearing the following on the radio yesterday. He didn't seem to like it much. ~~~

~~~ Susan Davis of NPR: "A growing number of working-class voters were drawn to Donald Trump's Republican Party, and now top Republicans are searching for ways to keep those voters in the fold without Trump on the ballot. 'All of the statistics and polling coming out of the 2020 election show that Donald Trump did better with those voters across the board than any Republican has in my lifetime since Ronald Reagan,' Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told NPR. 'And if Republicans want to be successful as a party, win the majority in 2022, win back the White House in 2024, I think we have to learn lessons that Donald Trump taught us and how to appeal to these voters.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mike Allen of Axios: "A constellation of Trump administration stars today will launch the America First Policy Institute, a 35-person nonprofit group with a first-year budget of $20 million and the mission of perpetuating former President Trump's populist policies." MB: The organization's board members & employees (or whatever they will be) include people you've heard of & never hope to meet. And to paraphrase Akhilleus: populist, my ass.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Ken Vogel & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Long before he emerged as a potential champion of journalism with his bid for Tribune Publishing, the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss quietly created a sophisticated political operation to advance progressive policy initiatives and the Democrats who support them. The organization, called The Hub Project, was started in 2015 by one of Mr. Wyss's charitable organizations, the Wyss Foundation, partly to shape media coverage to help Democratic causes.... If he succeeds in his bid for Tribune Publishing, a chain that includes The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and The Daily News, he could help shape news coverage for millions of readers. In making this bid, Mr. Wyss teamed with Stewart W. Bainum Jr., a major donor to Democrats and the chairman of Choice Hotels, an international hotel chain."

Racists Are the "Real Victims." Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "Here is how [Tucker] Carlson defined ['replacement theory'] in the process of defending it last week: 'The Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.' Why people should be offended by this mystifies Carlson. 'Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it,' he continued.... There is a reason, of course, that 'everyone' wants to make a racial issue out of this. Because it is a putrescent pile of racist myths and cliches. Nearly every phrase of Carlson's statement is the euphemistic expression of white-supremacist replacement doctrine. This is what modern, poll-tested, shrink-wrapped, mass-marketed racism looks like. Carlson is providing his audience with sophisticated rationales for their worst, most prejudicial instincts. And the brilliance of Carlson's business model is to reinterpret moral criticism of his bigotry as an attack by elites on his viewers. Public outrage is thus recycled into fuel for MAGA victimhood." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Mitch Smith & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... the abrupt halt in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of concerns about potential blood clots upended plans to vaccinate some of the country's hardest-to-reach populations. In California, mobile vaccine clinics in rural areas were canceled. In Chicago, vaccination events for restaurant employees and aviation workers were postponed indefinitely. And at colleges in Ohio, New York and Tennessee, where the one-dose vaccine offered a chance to quickly inoculate students before they left campus for the summer, appointments were called off en masse.... In much of the country, public health officials said they were able to offer other vaccines to people who had been scheduled to receive a Johnson & Johnson shot." ~~~

~~~ Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post examine U.S. health officials' decision to pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccination. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Last night Chris Hayes noted on MSNBC that some birth control pills are associated with thousands of times more blood clots than is the J&J vaccine. I thought that was pretty interesting until I read this U.S. News story citing an expert who urges against comparing clots associated with J&J & those associated with birth control pills. So I'll butt out of any pretense of understanding the science here.

Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday that his company has ramped up production of its two-shot coronavirus vaccine and will be able to deliver a total of 300 million doses to the U.S. ahead of schedule. Bourla said on Twitter that Pfizer can deliver 10% more doses to the U.S. by the end of May than it had previously agreed to produce -- up to 220 million from 200 million."

In today's thread, contributor Forrest M. has some actual news -- and first-person knowledge -- of, uh, Covid-19 hesitancy (okay, make that "total vaccination aversion").

Beyond the Beltway

"Greater Idaho." AP (via OregonLive): "Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical on Monday when pitched a plan to lop off about three-fourths of Oregon and add it to Idaho to create what would become the nation's third-largest state geographically.... If everything falls in line with Oregon, supporters envision also adding adjacent portions of southeastern Washington and northern California to Idaho." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Minnesota. Madeline Holcolme of CNN: "Hundreds of protesters gathered for a third night of protests to express anger over the police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb as prosecutors decide whether to press charges against the officer authorities say shot him. Washington County Prosecutor Pete Orput told CNN that he hopes to have a charging decision regarding former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Wednesday." ~~~

~~~ Shaun Hubler & Jeremy White of the New York Times: "The chief of police for Brooklyn Center, Minn., where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white officer on Sunday, said on Monday that ... the officer, Kimberly A. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, had intended to deploy her Taser, the chief said at a news conference, but had shot her service pistol instead. Tasers look and feel different from pistols in a number of ways, and most police forces -- including Brooklyn Center's -- have standard precautions and protocols in place to prevent the sort of mix-up that can be deadly.... Tasers are often produced in bright colors, or with neon accents, to distinguish them from pistols.... Pistol models weigh significantly more than a typical Taser.... Brooklyn Center Police Department protocol dictates that officers wear their guns on their dominant side and Tasers on the opposite side of their bodies, to reduce the risk that they will confuse the two weapons.... It appears that several aspects of how Officer Potter handled her weapons may have violated the protocol laid out in the manual, even if she had drawn her Taser and not her firearm." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Russ Thebault of the Washington Post: "In the span of just a couple of hours Monday evening, a Minneapolis suburb appears to have fundamentally refashioned its leadership after a local police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop the day before. Brooklyn Center, Minn., which erupted in protest Sunday as word of 20-year-old Daunte Wright's death spread, now has a new city manager and -- at least temporarily -- a new de facto leader of the police department after a city council vote that granted the mayor 'command authority' over the agency. The overhaul is likely to give Mayor Mike Elliott the power to fire the police chief and police officers, one legal expert told The Washington Post.' (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mohamed Ibrahim & Mike Householder of the AP: "A white police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb resigned Tuesday, as did the city's police chief -- moves that the mayor said he hoped would help heal the community and lead to reconciliation after two nights of protests and unrest. The resignations from Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon came two days after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Minnesota. Shaila Dewan & Tim Arango of the New York Times: "As the defense began its case after 11 days of testimony against [former Minneapolis policeman Derek] Chauvin, [Chauvin's attorney Eric Nelson] signaled key strategy: shifting the jurors' focus to [George] Floyd's use of illicit drugs." Update: The AP's story is here.

Wisconsin. Doha Madani of NBC News: "The Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot Jacob Blake, a Black man who was paralyzed from the waist down after the shooting in August, has returned to work and will not face discipline, the police department announced Tuesday. The officer, Rusten Sheskey, returned from administrative leave in late March. He was 'found to have been acting within policy and will not be subjected to discipline,' according to a statement Tuesday from Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis. The determination was made after an outside investigation and an independent expert review, the statement said."

Way Beyond

Egypt. Another Fine Mess. Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: "In the latest complication to the ill-fated voyage, Egypt has seized the Ever Given over its owners' 'failure to pay an amount of $900 million,' the state-run news outlet Ahram Gate reported. That amount represents the total compensation that Egypt says it is owed for the six-day blockage of the Suez Canal, including lost revenue from ships that ordinarily would have traveled through the canal during that time, as well as costs for damage to the crucial waterway and the equipment and labor deployed in the 144-hour scramble to free the ship.... 'The vessel will remain here until investigations are complete an compensation is paid,' Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), told Egyptian state television last week, according to the Wall Street Journal. 'The minute they agree to compensation, the vessel will be allowed to move.' But the National Union of Seafarers in India argues that refusing to let the crew off the ship amounts to holding them for ransom." CNN's story is here.

Iran. Farnaz Fassihi, et al., of the New York Times: "Iran said Tuesday that it would begin enriching uranium to a level of 60 percent purity, three times the current level and much closer to that needed to make a bomb, though American officials doubt the country has the ability to produce a weapon in the near future. Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, did not give a reason for the shift, but it appeared to be retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iran's primary nuclear fuel production plant as well as a move to strengthen Iran's hand in nuclear talks in Vienna. The Israeli attack on Sunday diminishes Iran's capacity to enrich uranium to 60 percent but it is unclear for how long." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Israel's attack is just one more reminder that our ostensible allies' national interests are not always the same as ours.

The Commentariat -- April 13, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Biden has decided to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 20 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon launched the country into its longest war, United States officials said Tuesday. The decision will keep more than 3,000 American troops on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 withdrawal deadline announced by the administration of ... Donald J. Trump. But it signals what Mr. Biden plans to present as a definitive end to America's 'Forever War.'" CNN's story is here.

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to 'de-escalate tensions' following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border. Biden also told Putin the U.S. would 'act firmly in defense of its national interests' regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House. Biden proposed a summit meeting in a third country 'in the coming months' to discuss the full range of U.S.-Russia issues, the White House said. The call comes as concern rises in the West about a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula." ~~~

~~~ Maybe Biden should call Idaho's governor, too. ~~~

~~~ "Greater Idaho." AP (via OregonLive): "Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical on Monday when pitched a plan to lop off about three-fourths of Oregon and add it to Idaho to create what would become the nation's third-largest state geographically.... If everything falls in line with Oregon, supporters envision also adding adjacent portions of southeastern Washington and northern California to Idaho."

Robert Burns of the AP: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration. 'This planned increase in U.S. personnel underscores our commitment to Germany and the entire NATO alliance,' Austin said in a notable counterpoint to the Trump administration's repeated complaints that Germany is a weak partner on defense and security."

The New York Times' live updates of Day 12 of Derek Chauvin's murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's liveblog is here.

Shaun Hubler & Jeremy White of the New York Times: "The chief of police for Brooklyn Center, Minn., where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white officer on Sunday, said on Monday that ... the officer, Kimberly A. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, had intended to deploy her Taser, the chief said at a news conference, but had shot her service pistol instead. Tasers look and feel different from pistols in a number of ways, and most police forces -- including Brooklyn Center's -- have standard precautions and protocols in place to prevent the sort of mix-up that can be deadly.... Tasers are often produced in bright colors, or with neon accents, to distinguish them from pistols.... [Pistols] ... pistol models weigh significantly more than a typical Taser.... Brooklyn Center Police Department protocol dictates that officers wear their guns on their dominant side and Tasers on the opposite side of their bodies, to reduce the risk that they will confuse the two weapons.... It appears that several aspects of how Officer Potter handled her weapons may have violated the protocol laid out in the manual, even if she had drawn her Taser and not her firearm." ~~~

~~~ Russ Thebault of the Washington Post: "In the span of just a couple of hours Monday evening, a Minneapolis suburb appears to have fundamentally refashioned its leadership after a local police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop the day before. Brooklyn Center, Minn., which erupted in protest Sunday as word of 20-year-old Daunte Wright's death spread, now has a new city manager and -- at least temporarily -- a new de facto leader of the police department after a city council vote that granted the mayor 'command authority' over the agency. The overhaul is likely to give Mayor Mike Elliott the power to fire the police chief and police officers, one legal expert told The Washington Post." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mohamed Ibrahim & Mike Householder of the AP: "A white police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb resigned Tuesday, as did the city's police chief -- moves that the mayor said he hoped would help heal the community and lead to reconciliation after two nights of protests and unrest. The resignations from Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon came two days after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center."

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

Racists Are the "Real Victims." Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "Here is how [Tucker] Carlson defined ['replacement theory'] in the process of defending it last week: 'The Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.' Why people should be offended by this mystifies Carlson. 'Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it,' he continued.... There is a reason, of course, that 'everyone' wants to make a racial issue out of this. Because it is a putrescent pile of racist myths and cliches. Nearly every phrase of Carlson's statement is the euphemistic expression of white-supremacist replacement doctrine. This is what modern, poll-tested, shrink-wrapped, mass-marketed racism looks like. Carlson is providing his audience with sophisticated rationales for their worst, most prejudicial instincts. And the brilliance of Carlson's business model is to reinterpret moral criticism of his bigotry as an attack by elites on his viewers. Public outrage is thus recycled into fuel for MAGA victimhood."

~~~~~~~~~~

Dan Diamond & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "President Biden has selected Anne Milgram, a former state attorney general, prosecutor and longtime advocate for reform of the criminal justice system, to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, the White House announced on Monday.... The DEA has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration.... Donald Trump relied on several acting administrators to steer the roughly $3 billion agency, which investigates violations of the nation's drug laws."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was waging his baseless assault on the election results last fall when Kristen Clarke, head of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, opened her inbox to a stream of vicious threats over her efforts to fight back and protect the rights of voters. Openly misogynistic, littered with racial epithets, the messages were of the variety that seeks to debase and intimidate prominent minority women.... On Wednesday, Clarke will appear at a Senate confirmation hearing as President Biden's nominee to lead the Justice Department's civil rights division.... Her confirmation path is expected to be contentious, however. At the Lawyers' Committee, Clarke was at the forefront of legal efforts to sue the Trump administration on voting rights, immigration, changes to the U.S. Census and the tear-gassing of protesters outside the White House last summer. She spoke out frequently against Trump and former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William P. Barr."

The Guardian & agencies: "The Biden administration has struck an agreement with Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras to temporarily increase border security in an effort to stop migrants from reaching the US border. The agreement comes as the US saw a record number of unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border in March, and the largest number of Border Patrol encounters overall with migrants on the southern border -- just under 170,000 -- since March 2001. According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Mexico will maintain a deployment of about 10,000 troops, while Guatemala has sent 1,500 police and military personnel to its southern border and Honduras deployed 7,000 police and military to its border 'to disperse a large contingent of migrants' there. Guatemala will also set up 12 checkpoints along the migratory route through the country."

Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The number of unaccompanied minors in US Customs and Border Protection custody, akin to jail-like conditions, has dropped 45%, according to the latest government data, amid an ongoing effort by the Biden administration to find suitable spaces to accommodate kids after facing scrutiny for overcrowded facilities. As of Sunday, there were 3,130 children in the custody of CBP, an agency not intended to care for children for prolonged periods of time, marking a drop from the peak -- 5,767 on March 28 -- since the government started providing data, indicating progress in alleviating Border Patrol stations." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is encouraging news, but let's not credit the Biden administration. Rather, we should give props to Ted Cruz who hid in the reeds on the banks of the Rio Grande & popped up occasionally, scaring the bejeezus out of the kids attempting to cross into the U.S.

A New Direction for CBP. Nick Miroff, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden is preparing to nominate Tucson police chief Chris Magnus to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, selecting a critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies to run the country's largest federal law enforcement agency as it contends with the biggest increase in migrants arriving at the southwest border in two decades. Magnus has led the Tucson police department since 2016 and has prominently associated himself with the reform movement favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that emphasizes a less-aggressive, community-based policing model." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lara Seligman & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "President Joe Biden plans to nominate Pentagon veteran Christine Wormuth to be the first female Army secretary, the White House announced on Monday. Wormuth, a former top policy official at the Defense Department during the Obama administration, recently led Biden's Pentagon agency review team through one of the most contentious transitions in modern history, and has been in and out of the Pentagon since she began her public service career in the policy office in 1996."

Kylie Atwood & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "The Biden administration recently decided to keep the Trump-appointed US ambassador on the job in Moscow for the foreseeable future, two senior administration officials told CNN, demonstrating a willingness to nurture areas of stability in the US-Russia relationship after it got off to a tumultuous start. John Sullivan has been on the job for almost a year and a half. He is viewed by administration officials as a steady hand as the administration ramps up the pressure on Russia for taking actions to undermine the US and democratic values broadly. President Joe Biden is still deciding on other ambassadorial posts, and the White House said Monday the President had not decided on the 'vast majority' of positions."

Patrick Kingsley, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House was saying almost nothing in public on Monday about the apparent explosion inside Iran's Natanz facility, below more than 2 feet of reinforced concrete, which destroyed the power supply that keeps the centrifuges spinning at supersonic speeds, enriching uranium. 'The U.S. was not involved in any manner,' the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said Monday.... White House and State Department officials said they had no idea whether the Iranians would show up in Vienna again on Wednesday, when the talks [to reboot a nuclear agreement] were scheduled to resume. In Tehran, lawmakers asked Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to suspend the talks, saying that Iran should not be engaged in negotiations when it is under attack.... Mr. Zarif, in a statement broadcast by Iranian state television, said that ... '...we will take our revenge on the Zionists.'..."

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz said that President Joe Biden's recent announcement that Palestine will receive $250 million in U.S. funding will lead to Americans and Israelis getting killed. Cruz told the Breitbart News Sunday radio show that he believes no taxpayer money should go to the Palestinian Authority, which he believes directly fund anti-Israel and anti-American terrorists.... U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced Wednesday how the State Department funds are set to help Palestine, noting that $75 million is for 'economic development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza.' And Blinken said $10 million will go toward 'peacebuilding' with Israel in partnership with the United Nations." MB: It's easier to understand the totality of Ted's "political philosophy" if you understand that part of that belief system is the idea that humanitarian aid is self-defeating.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) & other Republicans are trying to paint Joe Biden as "not in charge" because Biden is not "engaging" like a bull in a china shop, as the former guy did. MB: IOW, they got nuthin'.

Play It Again, John. Charlie Savage & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The special counsel scrutinizing the Russia inquiry, a Trump-era leftover, appears to be retreading ground that an inspector general explored in 2019.... [John] Durham has keyed in on the F.B.I.'s handling of a notorious dossier of political opposition research ... and questioned witnesses who may have insight into the matter. In particular, Mr. Durham[, using a subpoena,] has obtained documents from the Brookings Institution related to Igor Danchenko, a Russia researcher who worked there a decade ago and later helped gather rumors about Mr. Trump and Russia for that research, known as the Steele dossier...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Fox "News" White Immigrant CEO Good with Tucker's Anti-Immigrant Racism. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch dismissed the Anti-Defamation League's demand that the company fire host Tucker Carlson, telling the organization in a letter that his company saw no problem with comments Carlson made about the racist 'great replacement' theory.... According to Murdoch, "A full review of the guest interview indicates that Mr. Carlson decried and rejected replacement theory. As Mr. Carlson himself stated during the guest interview: 'White replacement theory? No, no, this is a voting rights question.'"... In response, ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote that Carlson's "'attempt to at first dismiss' the replacement theory 'while in the very next breath endorsing it under cover of 'a voting rights question' does not give him free license to invoke a white supremacist trope. In fact..., it's worse, because he's using a straw man -- voting rights -- to give an underhanded endorsement of white supremacist beliefs while ironically suggesting it's not really white supremacism. While your response references a "full review" of the interview, it seems the reviewers missed the essential point here.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Noah Weiland, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination. All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition. Nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far, and roughly nine million more doses have been shipped out to the states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." CNN's story is here.

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

I can't believe I'm linking this. Surely the story is on a par with Trump's short-timer acting AG Matt Whitaker's big-dick toilets: ~~~

~~~ Big Ass Lands Job at Big Ass Fans, Promoting Pricey "Covid-Killing" Big Ass Fans. Ty Pendlebury of CNET: "Big Ass Fans, the Kentucky-based maker of a virus-killing smart fan, is seeking to boost its COVID-19 credentials by adding the former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to its ranks. Former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is now the strategic health and safety advisor for Big Ass Fans' Clean Air Systems. Redfield was appointed to the CDC by ... Donald Trump.... He's now found a new role at a time when some former Trump administration employees are having trouble landing new jobs. Shortly after the onset of the pandemic last year, Big Ass Fans introduced the Haiku UV-C. The smart ceiling fan, which starts at $1,750, uses UV light to kill viruses, bacteria, mold and other harmful airborne agents. Independent tests have also suggested the fan can kill SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes COVID-19."

Michigan. Noah Weiland & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Biden administration and Michigan's Democratic governor are locked in an increasingly tense standoff over the state's worst-in-the-nation coronavirus outbreak, with a top federal health official on Monday urging the governor to lock down her state. As the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, publicly called again for a surge of vaccine supply, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a White House news conference that securing extra doses was not the most immediate or practical solution to the outbreak. She said that Michigan -- whose metro areas include 16 of the 17 worst outbreaks in the nation -- needed to enact shutdown measures to stamp out the crush of infections."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Variety, republished by NBC News: "Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith will move production on their big-budget, runaway slave thriller 'Emancipation' out of Georgia in protest over the state's controversial new voting restrictions."

Minnesota. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "The officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop near Minneapolis mistakenly confused her gun for her Taser, police officials said on Monday, quickly releasing video as they tried to ease tensions in a state on edge over the Derek Chauvin trial. In a brief clip of body camera video, officers from the Brooklyn Center Police Department can be seen trying to handcuff the driver, Daunte Wright, before he suddenly lurches back into his car. One of the officers, whose name has not been released, aims a weapon at Mr. Wright and shouts, 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' She fires one round, and Mr. Wright groans in pain. 'Holy shit, I just shot him,' the officer can be heard shouting." ~~~

~~~ Griff Witte & Mark Berman of the Washington Post: Derek Chauvin's "trial hurtled toward its conclusion on Monday, with final arguments in the case ... expected next week, even as authorities were racing to stave off a second night of unrest after [Daunte] Wright's death. Officials announced curfews, schools suspended in-person classes, professional sports teams canceled games and businesses boarded up after a first night that included peaceful protests -- but also clashes between police and demonstrators, as well as looting of local businesses."

Mississippi. April Is Secret Confederate Heritage Month. Donna Ladd of the Mississippi Free Press: According to the Sons of the Confederates Facebook page, Gov. Tate Reeves has declared April to be Confederate Heritage Month. The news has not appeared on the Secretary of State's proclamation page nor in new media. MB: It's kinda like Tate put a white pointy hood on it.

Virginia. Laura Vozzella & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) on Monday said he had launched a broad civil rights probe of the police officers and department involved in the violent traffic stop of a Black Army officer. Also Monday, the town of Windsor announced that a Virginia State Police investigation of the incident had begun and that town officials had turned over 'numerous requested documents.'"