October 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 98th birthday Saturday by seeing family members and taking calls in his modest living room in Plains, Ga., the small town where he began his improbable campaign for the nation's highest office nearly half a century ago."

Trump Knocks McConnell, Makes Racist Remark(s) about Chao. Asawan Suebsaeng & Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: "'He has a DEATH WISH,' Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, while also adding a racist dig at McConnell's wife Elaine Chao, who is Asian American and a former member of Trump's own cabinet. 'Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!' Chao was born in Taiwan.... The screed came after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to fund the US government until Dec. 16 to avoid a shut down at midnight." MB: Chao was a lousy transportation secretary, except when it came to carrying out her corrupt projects (befitting of any post in a Trump administration), but no one should make racist remarks about her.

Washington Post Editors endorse Democrat Wes Moore for governor of Maryland: "The candidates are not merely a study in policy contrasts. They exist in different worlds. Mr. Moore has staked out the aspirational high ground as a liberal intent on tackling high crime, unaffordable housing, child poverty, and the racial wealth and opportunity gaps. [Republican Dan] Cox's political views are rooted in hard-right resentment -- at President Biden's 2020 victory, which he falsely denies; at pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, which saved countless lives; at critical race theory, a chimera wielded to stoke racial anger; at climate change forecasts, which he regards as phony."

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Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package that would keep the government open through mid-December, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine. The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse, clearing it for President Biden's signature. It would keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills. The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New Lede: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Biden signed it soon afterward, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine."

Jennifer Schussler of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday issued an executive order re-establishing the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory board that was dissolved five years ago after its members resigned in protest over ... Donald J. Trump's reaction to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. The announcement reverses the outcome of one of the stormier episodes in Mr. Trump's mutually antagonistic relationship with artists and cultural figures. In a group resignation letter in August 2017, the committee ... decried what it called Mr. Trump's 'support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans,' saying 'the false equivalencies you push cannot stand.' In response, the White House issued a statement saying Mr. Trump had already been planning to dissolve the group, describing it as 'not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Besides, the committee probably refused to recommend purchasing this nice masterpiece, which somehow found its way to spot in the hall outside Trump's temporary HQ in the Oval Office. I guess a person could contemplate the painting while awaiting her audience with the King.

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "'A woke military is a weak military,' former CIA director Mike Pompeo tweeted Tuesday. A few weeks earlier at CIA headquarters, in Langley, Va., current CIA director William J. Burns had a different perspective: cutting the ribbon on a new statue of abolitionist and military spy Harriet Tubman, a move some might decry as 'woke' for an intelligence agency. Burns shared ribbon-cutting duties with Tina Wyatt, a descendant of Tubman's who was invited to the private ceremony.... CIA employees proposed the statue project after attending a team-building program in Maryland, where Tubman was raised and where she eventually led scores of enslaved people to freedom. It is a reproduction of a statue by artist Brian Hanlon that stands in front of the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn, N.Y., and was made with the artist's permission." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, I saw the Pompeo anti-"woke" ad referenced in this Fox "News" story. It ran on CNN or MSNBC, and it's disgusting, probably as a roll-over in early-primary states markets. And it's a reminder that the next Republican president* will be worse than Trump, because he (and mostly likely not she) probably will be less ham-handed than Trump. Instead of blurting out atrocious, bigoted remarks, the new president* will say them softly, over inspiring, patriotic theme music.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was welcomed by her colleagues on Friday at an investiture ceremony at the court that was attended by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The proceedings were 'purely ceremonial,' the court's public information office noted, as Justice Jackson has been a member of the court since she was sworn in on June 30. But the event was nonetheless stately and steeped in history." MB: Yeah, welcome to a hot mess. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post channels Sam Alito to explain the divine right of confederate Supremes to rule with impunity: "All I know is that the legitimacy of the Supreme Court is something that ought to be taken on faith, as a matter of dogma -- which, coincidentally, is also a pretty great way of making judicial decisions. Yes, I'm sure I have that right.... But to call my court's integrity into question -- the temerity! This kind of horrible disrespect is the sort I will not suffer in silence. All I want is to live my life as I choose, holding sway over the entire nation without pushback or criticism. Yet at every turn my benevolence is met with treachery and complaint.... So stop questioning my authority!"

Merrick Garland Is Tired of Trying to Reason with Aileen Cannon. Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Justice Department moved to quickly dismantle the independent review of documents seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, contending that the review -- ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon -- is impeding its criminal investigation. In a 15-page filing asking a federal appeals court to speed its consideration of the issue, prosecutors complained the 'special master' review prevents DOJ from accessing thousands of non-classified records recovered from the former president's estate.... Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators' efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.... The filing also hints at prosecutors' irritation with Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed days after his defeat in the 2020 election. The Justice Department noted that she has repeatedly overruled decisions made by the special master she appointed at Trump's suggestion...."

Trump Legal "Team."Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... just a few weeks after ... Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago..., he finds himself in a battle, trying to persuade Trump to go along with his legal strategy and fighting with some other advisers who have counseled a more aggressive posture. The dispute has raged for at least a week, Trump advisers say, with the former president listening as various lawyers make their best arguments.... [Kise] remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems..., but on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.... Trump seems, at least for now, to be heeding advice from those [lawyers] who have indulged his desire to fight." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Donald Trump is very upset Maggie Haberman didn't choose him as a fact-checker. But then, ironically enough, she proves in a tweet (showing a photo of her questions & Trump's handwritten answers) that she did, which is to say that the World's Greatest Fact-Checker even lied about fact-checking. For some reason, Haberman did not accept his fact-checking as, you know, conclusive.

[The Second Amendment] is about maintaining within the citizenry the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary. -- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

[The Second Amendment was] designed purposefully to empower the people to resist the force of tyranny used against them. -- Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) ~~~

~~~ ** Jamie Raskin, former professor of Constitutional law & now Maryland MOC (D), in a New York Times op-ed (September 27) explains the Second Amendment to some his dimwitted colleagues: "It is essential to reject the myth that frustrated citizens have a Second Amendment right to raise arms against the government -- an outrageous betrayal of our Constitution.... Of the more than 900 people charged with crimes tied to Jan. 6 -- including smashing windows, assaulting Capitol officers and conspiring to overthrow or interfere with the government -- not a single charge has been dismissed by any federal (or state) court on the grounds that the Second Amendment or any other part of the Constitution gives them the right to engage in violent insurrection against the government.... The Constitution treats insurrection and rebellion as political dangers, not protected rights. Article I gives Congress the power to 'provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.'" [Raskin also cites Article IV & the 14th Amendment, which grant the federal government the power to put down "domestic violence" and "rebellion."] "The Supreme Court has been clear that the Second Amendment's reference to a 'well-regulated militia' means well-regulated by the government."

Marie: Maybe Reality Chex should go commercial. How about I try to get a big oil company to back me? RAS found this ad that would be perfect: ~~~

     ~~~ Via RAS, via Crooks & Liars, via Common Dreams, by director Adam McKay. Thanks, everybody!

Marie's Question of the Day: Why is it that so many (alleged!) virulent, murderous racists (WashPo link) look as if they could play Evil Santa? Even without makeup, these horrible miscreants are ready for their closeup. (Currently -- at 7 am ET -- photos of these fat pink fucks' faces also appear on the front page of the WashPo, so you can see what I mean without clicking on a firewalled page.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times: "... while officials along much of [the southwest Florida] coastline responded [ahead of Hurricane Ian] with orders to evacuate on Monday, emergency managers in Lee County held off, pondering during the day whether to tell people to flee, but then deciding to see how the forecast evolved overnight.... Lee County, which includes the hard-hit seaside community of Fort Myers Beach, as well as the towns of Fort Myers, Sanibel and Cape Coral, did not issue a mandatory evacuation order for the areas likely to be hardest hit until Tuesday morning, a day after several neighboring counties had ordered their most vulnerable residents to flee.... [the Lee County] delay, an apparent violation of the meticulous evacuation strategy the county had crafted for just such an emergency, may have contributed to catastrophic consequences that are still coming into focus as the death toll continues to climb. At least 16 storm-related deaths have been identified in Lee County, the highest toll anywhere in the state...."

    ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Lee County, this is the best they ever have done. It's true the messages came late, but I received four phone calls from Lee County emergency services (even though I haven't lived there for several years). I have never received advisory phone calls or text messages from Lee County prior to this so I have relied on weather reports to assess my own situation. To get elected a county commissioner in Lee County, you have to be a Republican. And you know, Republicans don't want to impinge upon your freeeedom.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: The most frustrating part of national reporting on Hurricane Ian is that reporters have no idea what area or town they're describing. So, for instance, CNN & MSNBC have reported massive destruction in Fort Myers -- over videos of massive destruction in Fort Myers Beach, a barrier island some 10 miles away from Fort Myers. Or they showed areas of North Fort Myers -- an unincorporated, low-lying area separated from Fort Myers by a mile-plus-wide river -- as Fort Myers. If the shots are wide enough, locals can tell what they're looking at, but others don't know. It's reasonable to assume this geographical ignorance is a commonly repeated error and that the networks often misinform viewers in this manner.

Georgia. Kate Brumback of the AP: "A federal judge on Friday found that Georgia election practices challenged by a group associated with Democrat Stacey Abrams do not violate the constitutional rights of voters, ruling in favor of the state on all remaining issues in a lawsuit filed nearly four years ago. 'Although Georgia's election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the VRA,' U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote, referring to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He detailed his reasoning in a 288-page order." MB: President Obama appointed Judge Jones.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Ukrainian forces say they have surrounded Russian forces in the eastern city of Lyman, pressing their counterattacks in a region that Moscow now claims as its own. Ukrainian forces advanced on the key transport hub overnight even as Russia put on a show of celebrating its annexation of Ukrainian territory with a grand ceremony and a pop concert in Moscow.... Ukrainian state firm Energoatom said the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant went missing, and accused a Russian patrol of detaining him after he left the facility Friday in his car. 'For the time being, there is no information on his fate,' the nuclear operator said early Saturday, appealing to the U.N. nuclear watchdog for help.... A U.N. resolution calling on 'all states' not to recognize Russian annexation failed to pass at the Security Council on Friday after Russias veto. Four nations, including China and India, abstained from voting on the resolution, which condemned Russia's 'illegal, so-called referenda' in Ukraine.... The United States sees no indications Russia is about to use nuclear weapons but is taking the threat 'very seriously,' U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday."

Vlad the Imperial. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Amid patriotic pageantry hyped up by the fervor of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a flagrant violation of international law that stands to escalate and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, sharpen Moscow's confrontation with the West and add to the Kremlin's growing global isolation. At a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, attended by senior political and military officials, members of parliament and even Russian war bloggers, Putin on Friday signed so-called accession treaties to absorb the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Patriotic music played ahead of the signing ritual, in which Putin sat at one white gold-trimmed desk and four proxy leaders of the occupied regions sat at another. Once the documents were signed, Putin and the four proxy leaders held hands and chanted 'Russia! Russia! Russia!' to cheers and applause from the audience." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ MB: You can see where Trump was a failed wannabe Putin. He tried to annex Greenland by buying it from Denmark, when all he had to do was get "his" generals to drop a few bombs, then hold a ceremony in a room furnished with gaudy Trumpian furniture, sign an executive order & lead a chant of "USA! USA!" What a wimp! ~~~

~~~ Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "The United States and its allies hit back at Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday, slapping sanctions on more than 1,000 people and companies including arms supply networks as President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin he can't 'get away with' seizing Ukrainian land. The Russian annexation, though expected, escalated an already heated conflict that's become fraught with potential nuclear implications." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "President Biden condemned Russia's claimed annexation of captured Ukrainian territory on Friday, responding to Moscow's latest escalation with a range of sanctions and a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin that the United States would defend 'every single inch' of NATO territory from a potential attack.... World leaders rallied around Mr. Biden in a forceful collective denunciation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.... Even among Russia's traditional allies, no country stepped forward to recognize the annexation." ~~~

~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukraine is applying for 'accelerated ascension' into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia's move to illegally annex four of the country's partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under collective defense obligations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. A New King Is Minted. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday. The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Ledes

NBC News: "The death toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to more than 77 as one of strongest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving in its wake a trifecta of misery --- dangerous flooding, power outages and massive destruction."

Washington Post: "Hurricane Ian made landfall for the second time this week on Friday, crashing into coastal South Carolina as a Category 1 storm that brought lashing rains and storm surge but appeared unlikely to wreak the sort of devastation that was still emerging in Florida. There, the vast parameters of the damage became more evident as emergency crews pulled people and bodies from streets -- some still flooded and others dry but strewn with wreckage. About 34,000 Floridians had filed for federal emergency aid, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said. At least 23 people had been determined to be victims of the storm as of Friday evening, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said, but officials cautioned that confirming causes of death was a slow and deliberate process and said the toll was likely to rise as medical examiners completed more autopsies" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Hurricane Ian developments are here.

September 30, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package that would keep the government open through mid-December, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine. The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse, clearing it for President Biden's signature. It would keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills. The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War...."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was welcomed by her colleagues on Friday at an investiture ceremony at the court that was attended by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The proceedings were 'purely ceremonial,' the court's public information office noted, as Justice Jackson has been a member of the court since she was sworn in on June 30. But the event was nonetheless stately and steeped in history." MB: Yeah, welcome to a hot mess.

Trump Legal "Team."Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... just a few weeks after ... Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago..., he finds himself in a battle, trying to persuade Trump to go along with his legal strategy and fighting with some other advisers who have counseled a more aggressive posture. The dispute has raged for at least a week, Trump advisers say, with the former president listening as various lawyers make their best arguments.... [Kise] remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems..., but on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.... Trump seems, at least for now, to be heeding advice from those [lawyers] who have indulged his desire to fight."

Ukraine, et al. Vlad the Imperial. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Amid patriotic pageantry hyped up by the fervor of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a flagrant violation of international law that stands to escalate and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, sharpen Moscow's confrontation with the West and add to the Kremlin's growing global isolation. At a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, attended by senior political and military officials, members of parliament and even Russia war bloggers, Putin on Friday signed so-called accession treaties to absorb the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Patrioti music played ahead of the signing ritual, in which Putin sat at one white gold-trimmed desk and four proxy leaders of the occupied regions sat at another. Once the documents were signed, Putin and the four proxy leaders held hands and chanted 'Russia! Russia! Russia!' to cheers and applause from the audience." ~~~

     ~~~ MB: You can see where Trump was a failed wannabe Putin. He tried to annex Greenland by buying it from Denmark, when all he had to do was get "his" generals to drop a few bombs, then hold a ceremony in a room furnished with gaudy Trumpian furniture, sign an executive order & lead a chant of "USA! USA!" What a wimp! ~~~

~~~ Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "The United States and its allies hit back at Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday, slapping sanctions on more than 1,000 people and companies including arms supply networks as President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin he can't 'get away with' seizing Ukrainian land. The Russian annexation, though expected, escalated an already heated conflict that's become fraught with potential nuclear implications." ~~~

~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukraine is applying for 'accelerated ascension' into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia's move to illegally annex four of the country's partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under collective defense obligations."

U.K. A New King Is Minted. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday. The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week."

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Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday approved a temporary spending package to keep the government funded past a Friday deadline and send another significant round of emergency aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, punting negotiations on a longer-term funding measure until after the November elections. The legislation, which would extend government funding through Dec. 16, passed 72 to 25. That sent it to the House, which was expected to quickly pass the measure, sending it to President Biden for his signature before funding was scheduled to lapse at midnight Sept. 30." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Little Miss Trumpy Judge Steps in to Save Trump from His Lies. Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday eased several demands a special master had imposed on ... Donald J. Trump's lawyers in conducting a review of documents the F.B.I. seized from his residence last month, overruling an arbiter she had appointed herself. In a six-page order, Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida set aside requirements the special master, Judge Raymond J. Dearie, put in place in recent days that would have tested excuses Mr. Trump has made in connection with the trove of documents taken from his estate, Mar-a-Lago. Judge Cannon also rejected a swift timetable Judge Dearie had set to resolve the review of the documents, slowing the matter down.... The first provision Judge Cannon set aside was a measure that had asked Mr. Trump's lawyers to certify by Friday the accuracy of the F.B.I.'s inventory of the property it seized from Mar-a-Lago --and to indicate whether there was anything that agents did not take from the compound." An ABC News story is here.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Michael Kruse, in Politico Magazine, writes about reporter Maggie Haberman, who has been reporting on Donald Trump for decades.

Luke Broadwater & Stephanie Lai of the New York Times: "Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas and a conservative activist who pushed to overturn the 2020 election, told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that she never discussed those efforts with her husband, during a closed-door interview in which she continued to perpetuate the false claim that the election was stolen.... In her statement [which she read in the beginning of her testimony], a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Ms. Thomas called it 'an ironclad rule' that she and Justice Thomas never speak about cases pending before the Supreme Court.... 'She answered all the committee's questions,' [her lawyer] said in a statement."

It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit. But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line. -- Justice Samuel Alito, to the Wall Street Journal

Thank you, Kind Sir, for generously allowing us to disagree with your specious, 12th-century arguments depriving women of Constitutional rights. And you can imagine how heartily sorry I am for leaving the impression that I thought you had any integrity to question. Just to be on the safe side, I'll apologize for agreeing with Akhilleus, when he recently accused one of your fellow justices of being corrupt just because said justice's wife accepted bribes in a substantial amount, bribes which went into the family's joint account, bribes upon which the couple did not pay the taxes owing. I suppose we could be accused of questioning the justice's integrity. Oh, for shame. It does look as if we "crossed an important line" here, and I don't know what to do about it. Except maybe dig in and double down, you hateful, cruel, arrogant bastid. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "When Republican-appointed justices ignore precedents they'd previously said they'd uphold, it undermines the court's legitimacy. When Republican-appointed justices deliver overtly political speeches, it undermines the court's legitimacy. When Republican-appointed justices take aim at fundamental American principles, such as the separation of church and state, in displays of raw power, it undermines the court's legitimacy. Alito is apparently of the opinion that the current court's critics have crossed an important line. But in reality, if anyone's gone too far in an irresponsible direction, it's Alito." MB: And what about when a Republican-appointed justice sends his wife up to Capitol Hill to declare that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election?

Hailey Fuchs, et al., of Politico explore how Supreme Court justices, especially CJ John Roberts, Clarence Thomas & Amy Barrett, protect their spouses' substantial incomes from scrutiny, even though some of the sources of the spouses' incomes come from clients who pose conflicts of interest for the justices. For instance, "In the Supreme Court's notoriously porous ethical disclosure system, Barrett not only withholds her husband's clients, but redacted the name of [her husband's law firm] itself in her most recent disclosure." MB: IOW, "We're corrupt and there's nothing you can do about it."

Michael Stratford of Politico: "The Biden administration is scaling back its debt relief program for millions of Americans over concerns about legal challenges from the student loan industry as well as a new lawsuit from Republican-led states. In a reversal, the Education Department said on Thursday it would no longer allow borrowers who have federal student loans that are owned by private entities to qualify for the relief program. The administration had previously said those borrowers would have a path to receive up to $10,000 or $20,000 of loan forgiveness.... The student loans that are guaranteed by the federal government but held by private entities account for a relatively small, and shrinking, subset of all outstanding federal student debt.... The privately held federal student loans featured prominently in the new lawsuit filed by GOP attorneys general on Thursday." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Six Republican-led states took legal action Thursday to block President Biden from wiping away billions of dollars in student loan debt, even as the administration tried to avoid a court challenge by reducing the number of people eligible for relief. A lawsuit filed in federal court by Leslie Rutledge, the Republican attorney general of Arkansas, accuses Mr. Biden of vastly overstepping his authority last month when he announced the government would forgive as much as $20,000 per person in student loan debt, a far-reaching move that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated could cost $400 billion over the course of the next three decades." MB: Because it would be terrible if young people, especially those from poor families, didn't enter their adult lives with huge debt.

Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday overcame doubts from agency scientists and approved a fiercely debated drug for ALS, a move that heartened patients and advocates who pushed for the medication but raised concerns among some experts about whether treatments for dire conditions receive sufficient scrutiny."

Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "A wife and husband from Maryland have been charged with conspiring to provide the Russian government with personal medical records from the US government and military, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment. Anna Gabrielian, an anesthesiologist practicing in Baltimore, along with her husband, Jamie Lee Henry, a major and doctor in the US Army, allegedly provided 'individually identifiable health information,' which is protected under federal law, to an FBI undercover agent posing as a Russian government employee." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the 'put it on the credit card mentality' he had come to Washington to oppose.... Nearly a decade later, as his state confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis ...[went on Tucker Carlson's show [to outline] his request for full federal reimbursement up front for 60 days and [to urge] the Biden administration to do the right thing.... The present circumstances have inspired a less swaggering posture toward a leader whom Mr. DeSantis has long called 'Brandon' as a recurring troll, aimed at the man he might like to succeed.... 'Ironically,' said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida, 'there's nobody in America that Ron DeSantis needs more than Joe Biden.'"

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Two unauthorized migrants were shot, one of them fatally, by two men in a pickup truck that approached them as they walked along a roadway in West Texas, according to court documents filed on Thursday. After the shooting, which took place on Tuesday evening, the truck was found parked at a home in Hudspeth County, a rural area east of El Paso that runs from the border with Mexico to the state line of New Mexico. Two men were arrested in connection with the shooting, law enforcement officials said: Michael Sheppard, the warden at a local privately run detention center, and his twin brother, Mark Sheppard. Both men were charged with manslaughter, according to affidavits filed by investigators in the case." MB: Manslaughter? Sounds like cold-blooded murder to me. The article includes details of the circumstances in which one of the men shot the migrants. A Texas Tribune story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ryan Devereaux of the Intercept: "For Michael Sheppard, it was the latest in a string of allegations of violence against immigrants going back years, with claims so severe that a federal prosecutor at one point sought the attention of the FBI. As The Intercept reported in 2018, Sheppard, in his capacity as warden of ICE's Sierra Blanca facility, was accused of participating in and overseeing the sadistic abuse of group of African migrants and asylum-seekers. In interviews with legal advocates, 30 men from Somalia described a 'week of hell' in which they were pepper-sprayed, beaten, threatened, taunted with racial slurs, and subjected to sexual abuse by officials answering to Sheppard and in some cases by Sheppard himself.... The 2018 report was only the latest in a series to document highly abusive conditions in the Sierra Blanca facility under Sheppard's watch."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.: "... Vladimir Putin will formally move Friday toward annexing four regions in Ukraine, after staging referendums that were widely denounced as illegal. In a grand ceremony at the Kremlin, he is expected to sign so-called 'accession treaties' for parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Putin signed two decrees late Thursday recognizing occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as 'independent' territories, a step toward annexation. Moscow already recognizes the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent republics. Russian officials have warned that once Russia absorbs the Ukrainian territories, it will use all means to defend them, including nuclear weapons." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here.

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Queen Elizabeth II died of 'old age,' according to her death certificate, which was released on Thursday by the registrar general of Scotland. The certificate, which lists her occupation as Her Majesty the Queen, also notes that the queen died at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle.... The report offers no further details about the cause of her death, which came two days after she was photographed standing and smiling as she greeted Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss. The time of death, just after 3 p.m., is more revealing, coming more than three hours before Buckingham Palace announced it at 6:30 p.m. That indicates none of her family saw the queen just before her death, aside from King Charles III and his sister, Princess Anne, who were both already in Scotland on official duties." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday associated with Hurricane Ian are here. Access to the page is free to nonsubscribers. The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here.

September 29, 2022

Afternoon Update:

It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit. But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line. -- Justice Samuel Alito, to the Wall Street Journal

Thank you, Sir, for generously allowing us to disagree with your specious, 12th-century arguments depriving women of Constitutional rights. And you can imagine how heartily sorry I am for leaving the impression that I thought you had any integrity to question. Just to be on the safe side, I'll apologize for agreeing with Akhilleus, when he recently accused one of your fellow justices of being corrupt just because said justice's wife accepted bribes in a substantial amount, bribes which went into the family's joint account, bribes upon which the couple did not pay the taxes owing. I suppose we could be accused of questioning the justice's integrity. Oh, for shame. It does look as if we "crossed an important line" here, and I don't know what to do about it. Except maybe dig in and double down, you hateful, cruel, arrogant bastid. -- Marie

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday approved a temporary spending package to keep the government funded past a Friday deadline and send another significant round of emergency aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, punting negotiations on a longer-term funding measure until after the November elections. The legislation, which would extend government funding through Dec. 16, passed 72 to 25. That sent it to the House, which was expected to quickly pass the measure, sending it to President Biden for his signature before funding was scheduled to lapse at midnight Sept. 30."

Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "A wife and husband from Maryland have been charged with conspiring to provide the Russian government with personal medical records from the US government and military, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment. Anna Gabrielian, an anesthesiologist practicing in Baltimore, along with her husband, Jamie Lee Henry, a major and doctor in the US Army, allegedly provided 'individually identifiable health information,' which is protected under federal law, to an FBI undercover agent posing as a Russian government employee."

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Queen Elizabeth II died of 'old age,' according to her death certificate, which was released on Thursday by the registrar general of Scotland. The certificate, which lists her occupation as Her Majesty the Queen, also notes that the queen died at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle.... The report offers no further details about the cause of her death, which came two days after she was photographed standing and smiling as she greeted Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss. The time of death, just after 3 p.m., is more revealing, coming more than three hours before Buckingham Palace announced it at 6:30 p.m. That indicates none of her family saw the queen just before her death, aside from King Charles III and his sister, Princess Anne, who were both already in Scotland on official duties."

~~~~~~~~~~

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's request that a judge intervene in the criminal investigation into his hoarding of government documents by appointing a special master increasingly looks like a significant blunder, legal experts say.... An appeals court ruling last week and a letter the Justice Department filed late Tuesday about subsequent complaints [Mr. Trump's] legal team had filed under seal to [special master Judge Raymond] Dearie suggest that the upsides to obtaining a special master are eroding and the disadvantages swelling.... The appeals court panel, including two Trump appointees, allowed investigators to again scrutinize the material that poses by far the gravest legal threat to Mr. Trump.... Since that review is no longer delaying or diverting the criminal inquiry, it is not clear what benefits remain for Mr. Trump.... Judge Dearie appears to be organizing the document review in ways that threaten to swiftly puncture the former president's defenses.... Mr. Trump, through his lawyers, is chafing at other orders from the special master, their Sept. 25 letter shows.... The Justice Department appeared to relish Mr. Trump's growing discomfort." ~~~

     ~~~ Marcy Wheeler has more on Trump's request under seal, a request which -- as Sanger indicates -- has since been released. Both Sanger & Wheeler make this point: "If Trump complies with [Dearie's] order to confirm or deny the inventory, it will require him to admit there are 103 documents bearing classification marks that he didn't turn over in response to a subpoena, an element of the obstruction and possibly the Espionage Act offense." And both note that Trump "claims the government seized 200,000 pages of documents from his home." MB: That's a lot of stuff to steal: 400 reams (although some of the documents seized may have legitimately belonged to Trump, so we'll make that 399 reams).

How Dumb Is Trump? Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "As president, Donald Trump weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico[, Maggie Haberman writes in a new book,] after one of his leading public health officials came into the Oval Office, wearing a dress uniform, and said such facilities should be handled by putting 'lead to target' to stop the flow of illicit substances.... White House officials said the official, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir, often wore his dress uniform for meetings with Trump, which confused him. [MB: Giroir is a pediatrician, not a military admiral.] 'The response from White House aides was not to try to change Trump's view, but to consider asking Giroir not to wear his uniform to the Oval Office anymore,' Haberman writes...." This article is full of answers to "How dumb is Trump?" and "How narcissistic is Trump?" ~~~

~~~ AND Martin Pengelly of the Guardian reports on more Haberman scoops revealed in her new book Confidence Man.

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "A former military police officer from Texas -- who excitedly planned for physical violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, engaged in hand-to-hand battle with police there for nearly 90 minutes, then lied about being in Washington when questioned by the FBI -- was sentenced Wednesday to slightly more than four years in prison. Federal prosecutors sought eight years in prison for Lucas Denney, 45, of Mansfield, Tex., arguing that Denney's helmet, tactical vest and hardened gloves qualified as body armor and therefore should increase his sentencing range by 30 months. But U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss rejected the 30-month enhancement and then issued a sentence of 52 months. That was below the recommended range of 57 to 71 months established by the federal guidelines, which are advisory."

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Wednesday hosted the first White House summit in nearly a half-century dedicated to combating hunger, with administration officials announcing they had secured $8 billion of public and private-sector commitments toward helping provide more food and better nutrition by 2030.... The conference also featured several members of Congress ... and several Cabinet officials. It also included José Andrés, the chef and founder of World Central Kitchen, and New York Mayor Eric Adams (D). Some 500 people, as well as 1,000 others virtually, attended various panels and brainstorming sessions during the day-long conference." ~~~

~~~ Uh-Oh. How Dumb Is Biden? John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In his remarks Wednesday at a White House hunger conference, President Biden searched the audience for former congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.).... Walorski died in a car crash in early August. She was one of four lawmakers who sponsored bipartisan legislation to hold the conference.... Asked later about Biden's comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Walorski had been 'top of mind' for Biden because he is planning to see her family Friday at a signing ceremony for a bill that renames a veterans clinic after her. In August following Walorski's death, Biden and first lady Jill Biden issued a statement extending their condolences, saying they 'appreciated her partnership' on facilitating the conference on hunger." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The ABC News story is here.

Jeff Stein & Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will approve a legal waiver allowing Puerto Rico to receive a shipment of diesel fuel that has been held off the island's coast, following an uproar among officials in the island. The administration faced intense blowback in recent days from members of Congress and the governor of Puerto Rico, who clamored for an exemption for federal law to allow a BP tanker carrying the fuel to access an island port as the commonwealth reels from Hurricane Fiona. The ship cannot do so because of the Jones Act, a 1920 shipping law that requires goods shipped between points in the United States to be carried on U.S.-flagged ships. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the administration had approved a 'temporary and targeted' waiver after consultation with the Energy, Transportation and Defense departments." A Politico story is here.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a Washington Post op-ed: "... over the course of our history, many [public] lands were named using a hateful and derogatory term for Indigenous women. It's a word that carries with it a history of brutality, misogyny and dehumanization. This month, we succeeded in removing it from the names of nearly 650 federal land units. The word is 'squaw' -- a term so offensive that I have never used it except in issuing the order to make the name change, and beyond this sentence I will not repeat it here or anywhere."

Today's Gossip Page

TMZ: Marjorie Taylor Greene's "husband, Perry Greene, beelined it to court Tuesday and filed to divorce the Congresswoman from Georgia after 27 years of marriage ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ. Marjorie and Perry tied the knot back in August 1995 when she was still in college at the University of Georgia ... and they had 3 children together, who are now all over the age of 18."

Nicholas Kulish, et al., of the New York Times: "Less than two years after announcing their intention to give away a vast fortune together, the billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and her husband, Dan Jewett, a former science teacher, are parting ways. Ms. Scott filed a petition for divorce in the King County Superior Court in Washington State on Monday, according to a copy of the filing. The breakup punctuates an eventful period for Ms. Scott, who in less than four years got divorced from her longtime husband, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave away more than $12 billion to nonprofits and married an instructor at the prestigious school attended by her children. Court records show Mr. Jewett did not contest the divorce. The petition says any division of property is laid out in a separation contract, agreed to by the couple, which is not public."

Beyond the Beltway

Mississippi. Brett Favre Is One Corrupt Guy. Katie Strang & Kalyn Kahler of the Athletic: "From 2018-2020, Brett Favre's charitable foundation, Favre 4 Hope, which has a stated mission to support disadvantaged children and cancer patients, donated more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation during the same years that Favre was working to finance a new volleyball center at the school.... His charitable foundation, which received public donations, significantly increased its contributions to USM's athletic fundraising arm. Tax records show that Favre 4 Hope gave the USM Athletic Foundation $60,000 in 2018, when no other charity received more than $10,000. The next year, it gave [USM Athletic ]$46,817; the next highest gift ... was $11,000. In 2020, Favre 4 Hope sent USM's Athletic Foundation $26,175; no other organization received more than $10,000. Tax records also show that in 2015, when Favre's daughter was a volleyball player at Oak Grove High in Hattiesburg, the Favre 4 Hope foundation donated $60,000 to that school's booster club, the largest grant made by Favre 4 Hope that year. The Oak Grove Booster Club subsequently granted $60,349 to the high school with the stated purpose being: 'assist to build athletic facility.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I read that Favre earned $140MM during his football career, and that amount did not include the millions he earned in commercial endorsements. Yet the "disadvantaged" child he was helping with his "charitable work" was his own child & her volleyball pals -- at the expense of actual needy children & being paid for, in part, by people who thought they were contributing to needy children & cancer patients. Despicable. I hope he ends up in jail, and it does seem likely he broke some fraud laws.

Ohio Congressional Race. Majewski Tells Another Lie about His Military Career. Brian Slodysko & James Laporta of the AP: "Republican J.R. Majewski has centered his campaign for a competitive Ohio congressional seat around his biography as an Air Force veteran. But one of the big questions that has surfaced is why Majewski was told he could not reenlist in the Air Force after his initial four years were up. Majewski's campaign said last week that he was punished and demoted after getting in a 'brawl' in an Air Force dormitory in 2001. Military records obtained since then by The Associated Press, however..., indicate Majewski's punishment and demotion were the result of him being stopped for driving drunk on a U.S. air base in Japan in September 2001. The documents, which were provided to the AP and independently authenticated, present yet another instance where the recorded history of Majewski's service diverges from what he has told voters ... while using his veteran status as a leading credential."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: “The United States is preparing for a protracted conflict in Ukraine, ramping up weapons production and more than doubling its commitment of powerful long-range rocket artillery systems, according to senior U.S. defense officials.... A new U.S. weapons package for Ukraine, worth $1.1 billion, will include 18 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, a 'core component of Ukraine’s fighting force in the future,' a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday.... As Moscow is set to annex four occupied regions of Ukraine, the White House said Wednesday that it was working with 'allies and partners to impose additional economic costs on Russia' and others that supported the staged referendums in those areas.... Serbia, which has close ties to Moscow, won’t recognize the results of the staged referendums in four regions of Ukraine, President Aleksandar Vucic said Wednesday, Reuters reported.... The damage to the Nord Stream pipelines could result in the largest-ever single release of methane into the atmosphere, experts said.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Unbelievable. Really. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: “... on Tuesday night, [Tucker] Carlson ... strongly suggested the United States is responsible for explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines — and, at times, seemed to more explicitly blame the United States.... Carlson’s supposed evidence for this being a U.S. operation is decidedly weak.” MB: Actually, the source of “the largest-ever single release of methane” is TuKKKer's ass. ~~~

~~~ Katie Lillis, et al., of CNN: "European security officials on Monday and Tuesday observed Russian Navy support ships in the vicinity of leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines likely caused by underwater explosions, according two Western intelligence officials and one other source familiar with the matter.  It’s unclear whether the ships had anything to do with those explosions, these sources and others said – but it’s one of the many factors that investigators will be looking into. Russian submarines were also observed not far from those areas last week, one of the intelligence officials said." ~~~

~~~ Karen McVeigh & Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks. Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide."

Yousur Al-Hlou, et al., of the New York Times: “In phone calls to friends and relatives at home, Russian soldiers gave damning insider accounts of battlefield failures and civilian executions, excoriating their leaders just weeks into the campaign to take Kyiv.... The Ukrainian capital was supposed to fall in a matter of days. But plagued by tactical errors and fierce Ukrainian resistance, President Vladimir V. Putin’s destructive advance quickly stalled, and his forces became bogged down for most of March on the city’s outskirts. From trenches, dugouts and in occupied homes in the area around Bucha, a western suburb of Kyiv, Russian soldiers disobeyed orders by making unauthorized calls from their cellphones to their wives, girlfriends, friends and pare`````nts hundreds of miles from the front line.”

News Ledes

Washington Post: “Ian is a hurricane once again — a storm system that re-intensified Thursday evening as it churns toward South Carolina with 75 mph winds and what the National Hurricane Center called 'life threatening' flooding and storm surge. It’s set for yet another U.S. landfall, this time near Charleston around midday on Friday.In its wake, Ian left a path of devastation in Florida.... In an evening briefing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said “we absolutely expect to have mortality from this hurricane,” but stressed such tolls remain unconfirmed and would become 'apparent over the coming days.' There had been more than 700 confirmed rescues thus far, he added.” This is a continuation of updates linked below. Access to is free to nonsubscribers. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday related to Hurricane Ian are here. Access to the updates is free to nonsubscribers. The New York Times' updates for Thursday are here.

Washington Post: “Bill Plante, who became a fixture of American television sets as a globe-trotting CBS News correspondent, covering the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, four U.S. presidents and more than half a century of national and world affairs, died Sept. 28 at his home in Washington. He was 84.” The CBS News obituary is here.

New York Times: “Six people were shot on Wednesday at a school campus in Oakland, in a burst of gunfire that erupted minutes before hundreds of students were scheduled to be dismissed for the afternoon. The shootings — which left two adult victims hospitalized with life-threatening injuries ... — came amid a rash of gun violence in the Northern California city, where the authorities have recorded at least eight gunshot deaths in the past nine days. Police said all of the victims were over 18 and had 'some affiliation' with Rudsdale Newcomer High School, one of four programs at the East Oakland school complex.”