The Commentariat -- February 5, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Ben Leonard of Politico: "Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered more than 1,000 active-duty troops to help speed up state Covid-19 vaccination efforts, Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to the White House's Covid response team, announced Friday. Some of the military members will arrive for deployment in California within the next 10 days, beginning around Feb. 15, with more missions 'to come,' Slavitt said at a White House Covid response briefing on Friday. Austin approved a Federal Emergency Management Agency request to help 'augment and expedite vaccinations across the country.'..."
Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "The Senate endorsed President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package just before sunrise on Friday, voting along party lines over unified Republican opposition to approve a budget blueprint that would allow Democrats to enact it with no G.O.P. support. After a 15-hour voting session that stretched overnight, Vice President Kamala Harris arrived early in the morning to the Senate dais, where she cast her first tiebreaking vote. The Senate adopted the budget measure by a vote of 51 to 50 at about 5:30 a.m. In the marathon session -- known as a vote-a-rama and for which more than 800 amendments were drafted -- Senate Democrats maneuvered through a series of politically tricky amendments that Republicans sought to attach to their budget plan." This is an update of a report also linked below.
Worst President* Ever Granted Worst Pardons Ever. Beth Reinhard, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Constitution gives the president the virtually unchecked power to grant clemency. Trump's use of that power reflected how he viewed the presidency through the prism of his own interests and as a way to reward friends and spite enemies, according to longtime clemency advocates and people who participated in the process. His transactional approach largely sidelined low-level offenders who had waited years after filing petitions through the Justice Department and elevated those with personal connections to the White House -- or the money to pay someone with those connections. Even Trump allies who advised the White House on clemency say they were startled and disappointed by who was on the final list. In all, Trump granted 237 pardons and commutations, according to the Justice Department, the majority of which he issued in a frantic final session with White House lawyers during his last night as president.... 'Along with the devastating harm Trump wrought upon clemency as an institution are the unfathomable injustices of Trump diverting the power from those critically needing and warranting clemency to his menagerie of undeserving recipients,' said Larry Kupers, who ran the pardon office at the beginning of the Trump administration.... A cottage industry emerged of lawyers and lobbyists who sought to leverage their access to the White House for clients seeking pardons."
Quint Forgey of Politico: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Friday she was glad to be booted from her House committee assignments -- slinging a series of sharply partisan attacks while also conceding that she was 'sorry' for her past conspiratorial statements. In remarks to reporters outside the Capitol, the Georgia Republican claimed she had 'been freed' by the bipartisan vote on Thursday that stripped her of her seats on the House Budget and the House Education and Labor panels." ~~~
~~~ MTG Calls Colleagues "Morons." New York Times: "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, lashed out at Democrats on Friday in her first comments after the House voted to strip her of her committee assignments. 'I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time,' she wrote on her personal Twitter account, referring to the slim margin by which Democrats control the House. 'In this Democrat tyrannical government, Conservative Republicans have no say on committees anyway,' she said, adding, 'Oh this is going to be fun!'... Her defiance erased even the slim hopes of House Republican leaders that Ms. Greene, empowered by her devotion to Mr. Trump, would quiet down in the name of party unity after her rebuke." From the Times' political updates Friday. MB: She won't think it's so much fun when Trump get mad at her for all the attention she's getting. ~~~
~~~ Cristina Marcos & Mike Lillis of the Hill name the eleven Republican "morons" who voted to expel her from House committees: Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Fred Upton (Mich.); Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar, all from Florida; Reps. and John Katko, Chris Jacobs, & Nicole Malliotakis, all from New York; Rep. Chris Smith (N.J.); Rep. Young Kim (Calif.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.).
Mixed Messages. Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: ";On Jan. 4, the intelligence division of the United States Capitol Police issued a report listing all the groups known to be descending on the city and planning to rally for ... Donald J. Trump two days later, such as the Prime Time Patriots, the MAGA Marchers and Stop the Steal. The dispatch ... gave low odds that any of the groups might break laws or incite violence, labeling the chances as 'improbable,' 'highly improbable' or 'remote.' But the document ... never addressed the odds of something else happening: that the groups might join together in a combustible mix, leading to an explosion of violence. But just a day earlier the same office had presented a slightly more ominous picture. The Capitol Police's intelligence division ... warned of desperation about 'the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election' and the potential for significant danger to law enforcement and the public. The documents show how the police and federal law enforcement agencies produced inconsistent and sometimes conflicting assessments of the threat from American citizens marching on the Capitol as Mr. Trump sought to hold on to power. That lack of clarity in turn helps explain why the government did not bring more urgency to security preparations for a worst-case outcome."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.
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Michael Crowley & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "President Biden outlined a sweeping vision of restored American global leadership on Thursday, announcing an end to U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen and vowing to confront Russia and China. He also promised to work with allies to combat issues like the pandemic and climate change and announced a freeze on ... Donald J. Trump's planned troop redeployments from Germany. After two weeks of emphasis on domestic issues, Mr. Biden visited the State Department to turn his focus to foreign policy and make good on campaign promises to revitalize American diplomacy, alliances and moral authority. Speaking to diplomats at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, Mr. Biden said he intended to 'send a clear message to the world: America is back.'" ~~~
~~~ State Department video of Biden's speech is here. He begins at about 3:15 minutes in. ~~~
~~~ David Sanger & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday ordered an end to arms sales and other support to Saudi Arabia for a war in Yemen that he called a 'humanitarian and strategic catastrophe' and declared that the United States would no longer be 'rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions.' The announcement was the clearest signal Mr. Biden has given of his intention to reverse the way ... Donald J. Trump dealt with two of the hardest issues in American foreign policy. Mr. Trump regularly rejected calls to rein in the Saudis for the indiscriminate bombing they carried out in their intervention in the civil war in Yemen as well as for the killing of a dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, on the grounds that American sales of arms to Riyadh 'creates hundreds of thousands of jobs' in the United States. And he repeatedly dismissed evidence of interference by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in American elections and Russia's role in a highly sophisticated hacking of the United States government.... The administration has also announced a review of major American arms sales to the United Arab Emirates." ~~~
~~~ Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Pledging to rebuild international alliances and bolster the United States' moral standing, President Biden on Thursday outlined plans to 're-engage the world.' But first, he sought to win over the diplomats whose job it is to carry out his vision. With State Department employees tuning in from around the country and overseas, Mr. Biden promised 'to have your back' in a speech directed at career diplomats and Civil Service staff members who struggled under ... Donald J. Trump to promote American values abroad while they were under assault at home.... But with political appointees beginning to fill the top ranks at the State Department, career diplomats who said they stuck it out during the Trump administration expressed frustration about being passed over by loyalists to Mr. Biden." ~~~
~~~ Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Thursday said he plans to sign an executive order to rebuild the United States' refugee resettlement program 'to help meet the unprecedented global need' after four years of rollbacks under ... Donald Trump. 'It's going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged,' Biden said during a speech at the State Department. The United States admitted 11,814 refugees between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020 -- lower than any other year since the start of the refugee program decades ago.... Biden said Thursday that he would raise the annual cap on refugee admissions to 125,000 for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1...."
Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Biden is freezing plans to withdraw 12,000 American troops from Germany, administration officials said on Thursday, and has ordered the Pentagon to conduct a review of how American forces are deployed around the world. The move would halt a Trump administration plan -- which many national security experts had viewed as punitive -- to bring some American troops home from Germany and to shift other units to Belgium and Italy. That plan, which came last summer, rankled European leaders and angered both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who view the presence of American troops in Europe, and especially in Germany, as a cornerstone of the post-World War II order."
Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "At last year's National Prayer Breakfast..., Donald Trump brandished newspapers headlined 'Trump acquitted' and simply 'ACQUITTED' to boast of his recent impeachment victory; aimed thinly veiled attacks at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah); and challenged the notion that Christians should strive to love their enemies. At this year's online version of the event on Thursday, President Biden took a far lower-key approach, citing the recent assault on the Capitol to criticize violence and urge bipartisanship. 'We know now we must confront and defeat political extremism, White supremacy and domestic terrorism,' Biden said. Biden's message -- and the return of the event's historically lofty tone -- highlighted the president's effort to restore Washington institutions to their traditional, pre-Trump form. For nearly seven decades, the breakfast had marked a respite from Washington's partisan warfare, but after Trump's barb-filled blast last year, some supporters of the event even suggested suspending it."
HHS Grounds ICE Deportation Flight. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) canceled a deportation flight to west Africa because of allegations of brutality by Ice agents in the treatment of the deportees, the agency has said in a statement. The statement emailed to the Guardian and the cancellation of the deportation flight, so that would-be deportees can be interviewed as witnesses, marks a dramatic change in tone by the agency, which has hitherto deflected and denied earlier allegations of human rights abuses. The change suggests that the newly confirmed secretary for homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, may have begun to exert control over what some critics have described as a 'rogue agency'. A plane carrying Cameroonian, Angolan and Congolese asylum seekers was due to take off from Alexandria, Louisiana, at 3pm on Wednesday but was canceled with minutes to spare. Two days before the flight, a coalition of immigration advocacy groups published affidavits by Cameroonian detainees saying they had been assaulted by Ice officers and forced to put their fingerprints on documents authorising their own deportation to a country where they believed they risked prison, torture or extrajudicial killing."
Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "As lawmakers advanced President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday, the Senate dealt a setback to a major tenet of the plan: raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. By a voice vote, senators backed an amendment from Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, to 'prohibit the increase of the federal minimum wage during a global pandemic.' It was a signal that the wage hike would be difficult to pass in an evenly split Senate, where at least one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, was on record opposing it. 'A $15 federal minimum wage would be devastating for our hardest-hit small businesses at a time they can least afford it,' Ms. Ernst said on the Senate floor.... The Senate's leading proponent of the $15 minimum wage, Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, seemed unfazed. He said that his plan was to carry out the wage increase over five years and that he had never wanted to raise it during the pandemic." Includes info on several other votes the Senate took this morning re: amendments to the package. They were still going at 5 am ET.
Katie Lobosco of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren once again called on President Joe Biden to use executive authority to cancel student debt on Thursday -- but the President wants Congress to act first. 'The President has and continues to support canceling $10,000 of federal student loan debt per person as a response to the Covid crisis,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing. She added that that the President is 'calling on Congress to draft the proposal,' and 'looks forward to signing it.'... But some Democratic lawmakers are hoping for more. Schumer and Warren, along with Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, led dozens of other Democrats in reintroducing a bicameral resolution Thursday that calls on Biden to cancel $50,000 per borrower -- something they argue that he has the executive power to do. A similar resolution was introduced last year calling on the Trump administration to forgive student loan debt -- but former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos slammed that proposal as 'government gift giving.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Warren was on the teevee last night arguing that a $50,000 student debt cancellation would pay for itself. I haven't seen any analyses by independent economists, but there's a good chance she's right. Freeing young people from crushing debt could give them room to advance their careers in more risky -- and more profitable -- ventures. Assuming that the tax structure is fair -- ha ha ha -- that would increase the tax base.
Julian Barnes & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Senate Intelligence Committee will examine the influence of Russia and other foreign powers on antigovernment extremist groups like the ones that helped mobilize the deadly attack on the Capitol last month, the panel's new chairman said in an interview this week. As the executive branch undertakes a nationwide manhunt to hold members of the mob accountable, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, said it would be vitally important for the influential committee to do a 'significant dive' into antigovernment extremism in the United States, the ties those groups have to organizations in Europe and Russia's amplification of their message. With the power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans in place, Mr. Warner took over this week as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, after four years as its vice chairman. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Warner outlined his priorities, such as the spread of disinformation, the rise of antigovernment extremist groups, Chinese domination of key technologies, Russia's widespread hacking of government computer networks and strengthening watchdog protections in the intelligence agencies."
Invitation to a Perjury Rap. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "The House impeachment managers are requesting ... Donald Trump testify before or during his Senate impeachment trial, making the request in a letter Wednesday that raises the stakes of the trial scheduled to begin next week.... Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Trump's attorney Thursday requesting that Trump testify before or during the upcoming impeachment trial, which begins on Tuesday, arguing that his testimony was needed after he disputed the House's allegations that he incited the insurrection at the Capitol.... But Trump's legal team quickly responded by rejecting the invitation in a terse response to the House impeachment team, putting the decision back on the Democrats over whether to try to compel Trump's testimony with a subpoena.... 'Two days ago, you filed an Answer in which you denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment,' Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, wrote. 'You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense. In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021.'... Raskin ... [responded], 'We reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Andrew Desiderio & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Donald Trump will not testify in the Senate's upcoming impeachment trial, a spokesman for the former president said Thursday, explicitly rejecting a request from House Democrats.... Bruce Castor and David Schoen, Trump's lawyers for the trial, called Raskin's letter a 'public relations stunt' and said it confirms that 'you cannot prove your allegations' against Trump.... A senior aide on the House impeachment team said the request for Trump's testimony came in response to claims by Castor and Schoen earlier this week that the former president never 'intended to interfere with the counting of Electoral votes' on Jan. 6, and never 'made any effort to subvert the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election.'" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times report on Raskin's request & Trump's refusal to testify is here.
** "Movie at the Ellipse." Jason Stanley in Just Security: "On January 6, Trump supporters gathered at a rally at Washington DC's Ellipse Park, regaled by various figures from Trump world, including Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. Directly following Giuliani's speech, the organizers played a video To a scholar of fascist propaganda, well-versed in the history of the National Socialist's pioneering use of videos in political propaganda, it was clear, watching it, what dangers it portended. In it, we see themes and tactics that history warns pose a violent threat to liberal democracy. Given the aims of fascist propaganda -- to incite and mobilize -- the events that followed were predictable." Stanley outlines the principal tenets of fascism, & then describes -- sometimes frame-by-frame -- how the movie at the Ellipse mimics 20th-century fascist propaganda. Just reading about the film may creep you out. "The message of the video is clear. America's glory has been betrayed by treachery and division sown by politicians seeking to undermine and destroy the nation. To save the nation, one must restore Trump's rule.... How much of a role the White House or Trump himself may have played in deciding to show the video and sequencing it immediately after Giuliani's speech, we don't know. But it is worth noting that the New York Times recently reported that by early January, 'the rally would now effectively become a White House production' and, with his eye ever on media production, Trump micromanaged the details."
Matt Stevens & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Facing a union disciplinary hearing over his role in the attack on the Capitol..., Donald J. Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on Thursday, assailing the group in a grievance-filled letter. 'I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership,' Mr. Trump wrote in the letter to the union. 'Who cares!' He went on to say that he was resigning immediately.... Mr. Trump ... had been charged by the union with 'inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol' on Jan. 6. and of 'sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members,' according to a statement released last month by the union." Here's Politico's story. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump's resignation letter, posted by SAG-AFTRA, is a fun read, & the epitome of unintentionally-funny Trumpy. it is possible, BTW, that Trump's self-exile from SAG-AFTRA, could make it impossible for him to pursue some of his media performance dreams. I doubt you can star, for instance, in an NBC show "Presidential* Apprentice" if you're not a union member.
Daniel Lippman & Gabby Orr of Politico: "Former Vice President Mike Pence is joining the Heritage Foundation as a distinguished visiting fellow, the conservative think tank announced on Thursday. He will advise the organization's experts on issues as well as give a number of policy addresses at Heritage, according to the announcement. He will also write a regular column for the think tank's news outlet, the Daily Signal." MB: I suppose those columns will be as valuable as the ones he used to write, like how "smoking doesn't kill" & how "only the theory of intelligent design provides even a remotely rationale explanation for the known universe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The House voted largely along party lines Thursday to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her two committee assignments, a precedent-shattering move by Democrats to rebuke a Republican who has espoused extremist beliefs that she publicly renounced in part just hours before the vote.... The vote was 230-199, with 11 Republicans voting with Democrats to strip Greene of her committees. The vote came after Greene renounced some of her most egregious past remarks on the House floor, in a 10-minute speech that was more explanation than apology -- one that doubled down on her attacks against the media and her political enemies while omitting some of her most recent behavior.... 'I was allowed to believe things that weren't true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret,' she said.... She went on to describe the uproar about her comments as a 'cancel culture' attack on the free speech of conservatives.... While Republicans have suggested this week that partisan action against Greene would create a slippery slope -- endangering the rights of Democratic members in a future GOP-majority House -- [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi said she had no such concerns: 'If any of our members threaten the safety of other members, we'd be the first ones to take them off a committee. That's it.'" ~~~
~~~ The Hill's story is here. The New York Times' story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: What this tells you is this: The vast majority of House Republicans are good with encouraging the murder of their Democratic colleagues & leaders. Greene, BTW, did not express "remorse" for approving "a bullet to the head" of Pelosi and others, only that she "was allowed to believe" certain untrue things. What does "allowed to believe" even mean? Even political prisoners are "allowed to believe" whatever may be in their heads. An authority may be able to stop certain behavior, but it can't stop thought (although some Republicans seem to believe that Democrats are capable of "brainwashing" Americans in "re-education camps" or whatever). ~~~
~~~ Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in a dramatic address Thursday displayed a poster of a social media post from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) holding a gun next to three progressive Democrats during floor debate on a resolution to remove her from committees, warning that such rhetoric puts their lives in danger.... Hoyer walked from the Democratic side of the aisle to the well in the center of the chamber and held the poster up high to ensure that Republicans could see it.... 'I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle when they take this vote: Imagine your faces on this poster. Imagine it's a Democrat with an AR-15. Imagine what your response would be and would you think that that person ought to be held accountable?' Hoyer said.... Greene posted the photo on Facebook in September of herself next to images of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) with the caption "Squad's Worst Nightmare.' Facebook removed the image for violating its policies." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Republicans, including Kevin McCarthy , have tried to justify placing & retaining Margie Q on the education & budget committees by saying that her incendiary comments were made before she was a member of Congress, so she should not be held accountable now. But she has stood by them since being sworn in, and the fact that she thought picturing herself holding an assault weapon to the heads of sitting members of Congress (all women of color) was a good way to run for Congress, obliterates the GOP argument. ~~~
~~~ Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "On the morning of Feb. 3, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sat in the Capitol Rotunda for a service honoring fallen U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died during the Jan. 6 attack by domestic terrorists. On the evening of Feb. 3, McCarthy asserted that the big tent of the Republican Party should include those who have advocated political violence. All in a day's work for the United States' most disgraceful political leader.... [Speaking on the House floor, Marjorie Taylor Greene made what] might best be called a false-flag apology -- conceding just enough reality to sound sane, while leaving plenty of wiggle room for conspiratorial insanity. Greene's admission that the 9/11 attacks 'happened,' for example, did not include conceding a plane crashed into the Pentagon (which Greene has denied).... It [was] enough for McCarthy to declare a united Republican front, reaching all the way from Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), who voted for Trump's impeachment, to Greene, who supported the execution of Trump's enemies."
Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Since Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat, took to Instagram Live on Monday to describe what the Jan. 6 riot was like from inside the Capitol complex, critics have claimed that she wasn't where she said she was, or that she couldn't have experienced what she described from her location. These claims are false. While Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was not in the main, domed Capitol building when the rioters breached it, she never said she was. She accurately described being in the Cannon House Office Building, which is part of the Capitol complex and is connected to the main building by tunnels.... The false claims about her statements have spread widely online, much of the backlash stemming from an article on the ... RedState blog and a livestream from the right-wing commentator Steven Crowder. On Thursday, Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, tweeted, 'I'm two doors down from @aoc and no insurrectionists stormed our hallway.' But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez never said insurrectionists had stormed that hallway, and Ms. Mace herself has described being frightened enough to barricade her own door." The AP's fact-check is here.
Shia Kapos of Politico: "Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger got hit with his first formal rebuke late Wednesday from Republican officials in his district for voting to impeach ... Donald Trump. The LaSalle County Republican Central Committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution censuring the GOP congressman for taking actions 'contrary to the values' of the party...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Meet Your Typical Insurrectionist. Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "For $150, Brad Holiday's customers could purchase and download a package of dating tips and tricks he called his 'Attraction Accelerator.' The batch of files featured advice from Mr. Holiday, a self-styled Manhattan dating coach, about things like the best facial serums and pickup lines, and his thoughts on the viciousness of the opposite sex. But tucked between videos denigrating women and reviews of height-boosting shoes were other guides: how to defeat Communists, expose what he claimed were government pedophilia cabals, and properly wield a Glock. On Jan. 20, F.B.I. agents arrested the man, whose real name is Samuel Fisher, outside his apartment on the Upper East Side in connection with his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Stashed in his Chevrolet Tahoe, parked on East 88th Street, investigators found a shotgun, machetes and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, according to court records. Like many of the roughly 175 people arrested after the riot, Mr. Fisher left a trail of social media posts about his exploits. 'People died,' but it was great, Mr. Fisher wrote online after the attack, according to court records. 'Seeing cops literally run ... was the coolest thing ive ever seen in my life.' After his arrest, Mr. Fisher was ordered held without bail...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Isn't it amazing how many of Trump's supporters are virulent misogynists? As Nir writes, "Among [the Jan. 6 mob] were [was!] a handful of men like Mr. Fisher, whose large online footprint suggests a fierce devotion to a hypermasculine ethos of chauvinism, grievance and misogyny.... Some experts said men like Mr. Fisher were particularly attracted to Mr. Trump because they see him as emblematic of a certain kind of masculinity." Uh, yeah, the (alleged) rapist kind. ~~~
~~~ Then Again, There's Trump's Molly Pitcher. Andy Sheehan of CBS Pittsburgh: "The FBI raided the home of Rachel Powell, a Mercer County mother of eight suspected of playing a role in the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Agents swarmed the vacant house Thursday.... Neighbors say Powell and some of the younger children have not been seen for a week or more and are apparently hiding in an unknown location.... Powell can clearly be seen in videos taking a battering ram to the Capitol in the Jan. 6 assault. She's become known as the lady with the bullhorn, seeming to have knowledge of the Capitol building's floor plan, instructing insurrectionists where to go." ~~~
~~~ AND These Fun Jet-setters, Who Took a Jaunt to D.C. to Stage a Rebellion. Kevin Krause of the Dallas Morning News: "A third member of a group of North Texas real estate professionals who took a private plane to Washington, D.C., for a Donald Trump rally has been charged in federal court in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Frisco real estate agent Jason Lee Hyland is accused, along with Frisco real estate broker Jennifer 'Jenna' Ryan and Colleyville real estate agent Katherine 'Katie' Schwab, of being in a mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, federal court records show. Hyland, 37, is at least the 11th North Texan to be charged after the violent Washington uprising."
Marie: While I have completely ignored the breathless GameStop short-sale stories that grabbed the front pages of every news outlet, here's Paul Krugman of the New York Times to explain what the hoohah was all about: "... despite four years of Donald Trump, our society remains remarkably gullible. And it is not just members of the public who believe what they see on social media; far too many influential people still keep falling for fake populism."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
Jonah Bromwich & Ben Smith of the New York Times: "In the latest volley in the battle over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corporation has been sued by an obscure tech company that has accused his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the siege of the Capitol. The suit pits Smartmatic, which provided election technology in one county, against Donald J. Trump's longtime favorite news outlet and three Fox anchors, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro, all ardent supporters of the former president. A trial could reveal how Mr. Trump's media backers sought to cast doubt on an election that delivered a victory to Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a loss to an incumbent who refused to accept reality. Filed in New York State Supreme Court, Smartmatic's suit seeks at least $2.7 billion in damages. In addition to Mr. Murdoch's Fox Corporation, Fox News and the three star anchors, it targets Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sidney Powell, lawyers who made the case for election fraud as frequent guests on Fox programs...." CNN's story is here.
Once Again, NYT Management Is Remarkably White-guy-oriented. Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "Tempers are once again flaring between staff and management at the New York Times, this time over the publication's handling of inappropriate comments allegedly made by high-profile science reporter Donald G. McNeil, Jr. during a trip to Peru for high school students in 2019. In response to a letter from staffers 'outraged' because they believe the paper didn't take the McNeil incident seriously enough, top managers replied late Wednesday that they 'largely agree' with staff sentiment and promised to 'examine the way we manage behavioral problems among members of the staff,' according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.... Last week, following a damning report in the Daily Beast, the Times acknowledged that McNeil 'had used bad judgment by repeating a racist slur in the context of a conversation about racist language' during the trip.... More than 150 staffers ... wrote to management on Wednesday saying they 'feel disrespected' by McNeil's actions.... They said they want a further investigation of what happened and an apology from McNeil." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The odd thing about this is that Dean Baquet, the Times' executive editor, is black. But that doesn't seem to be enough to get the NYT to overcome its white-guy bias. I've been aware of their problem ever since 1981 when the Times sent reporters to hide in the bushes to spy on Patricia Bowman, who had accused William Kennedy Smith of violently raping her after they had been bar-hopping with Smith's uncle Ted Kennedy & Ted's son Patrick. Times management (i.e., white guys) was way surprised that its female reporters were enraged by the paper's treatment of Bowman. Because girls. I don't think the Times problem started in '81.
Pillow Fight. Ursula Perano of Axios: "March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg tweeted on Thursday that he and software developer William LeGate are launching a pillow company to compete against MyPillow, which is led by Trump supporter CEO Mike Lindell.... Hogg wrote that he and LeGate hope to 'sell $1 million of product within our first year' and to launch in about six months. '[W]e would like to do it sooner but we have strict guidelines on sustainability and [U.S.] based Union producers,' Hogg added."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "U.S. deaths from the coronavirus topped 454,000 Friday, even as cases declined nationwide amid a White House push for a more robust vaccine effort. New infections in the United States have dropped 17 percent over the past week but the daily death toll remains high. Public health officials have warned Americans to avoid large gatherings for the Super Bowl on Sunday."
Carolyn Johnson & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "harmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson submitted its single-shot coronavirus vaccine to U.S. regulators Thursday afternoon for emergency use authorization after the vaccine was shown to be robustly effective against illness in a global trial -- and especially at preventing severe disease and death.... If the vaccine receives regulatory clearance by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the third authorized shot in the United States -- a much-needed addition to the tools public health officials have to build immunity as virus variants spread. FDA officials announced that outside experts would discuss the vaccine at a public meeting three weeks from now, on Feb. 26. In a news release last week, the company announced its vaccine was 66 percent effective overall at preventing moderate to severe illness in a global clinical trial. It offered the best protection against severe cases of disease, proving 85 percent effective. There were no hospitalizations or deaths among people who received the vaccine. That result held up even in the South Africa portion of its trial...." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' story is here. Politico's story is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Virginia. Reid Wilson of the Hill: "Virginia legislators appear poised to abolish the death penalty in the coming days, a step that would make it the first Southern state to end the practice of capital punishment. A bill to end capital punishment passed the state Senate on Wednesday by a 21-17 margin. The state House of Delegates is set to take up companion legislation as early as Friday. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) supports an end to the death penalty." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
CNBC: "Job growth returned to the U.S. in January, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 49,000 while the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, the Labor Department said Friday in the first employment report of the Biden administration."
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