September 19, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Haq Khan, et al., of the Washington Post: "American Mark Frerichs, a civilian contractor who was abducted in Kabul over two years ago, was freed in exchange for an Afghan detainee held in U.S. federal prison, U.S. and Afghan officials said Monday.... President Biden applauded the freeing of Frerichs, who U.S. officials said was now in U.S. care in Doha, Qatar.... U.S. officials said Frerichs's release capped months of negotiations between senior U.S. officials and the Taliban.... To obtain his freedom, the official said, the U.S. government released detainee Bashir Noorzai (also known as Haji Bashir Noorzai) -- a warlord and drug trafficker with ties to the Taliban -- who was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in federal prison after being lured to the United States and arrested in 2005."

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Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday evening that ... Donald J. Trump had been 'totally irresponsible' for keeping top-secret documents at his residence and private club in Florida, but he said he had not asked for specifics about the documents in order to stay out of the Justice Department's potential decision to charge Mr. Trump criminally.... Mr. Biden told [Scott] Pelley that he had not been briefed on the documents that F.B.I. agents seized last month during their search of Mr. Trump's home..., and that he had not spoken to anyone about what national security secrets might have been revealed by the documents' storage in Mr. Trump's home. He also reiterated that he had not been notified of the search ahead of time....

"In the interview, Mr. Biden expressed optimism over inflation, which hit a 40-year high this summer. The president stressed falling gasoline prices and focused on the monthly rate of price increases, which slowed in July and August, even though annual inflation continues to top 8 percent.... 'We still have a problem with Covid,' he said, according to a transcript provided by '60 Minutes.' 'We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.... Mr. Biden told Mr. Pelley that he had not made a 'firm decision' on whether to seek a second term in the White House, though he said it remained his intention. Asked whether, as the nation's oldest president, he was fit for the job, Mr. Biden replied, 'Watch me.'" A Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ CBS News: During the interview, President Biden said the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China attacked the island. "After the interview, a White House official said U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed. Officially, the U.S. maintains 'strategic ambiguity' on whether American forces would defend Taiwan, but the Taiwan Relations Act obligates the U.S. to help equip Taiwan to defend itself." ~~~

     ~~~ "60 Minutes"' transcript of the interview is here. Includes video.

Speaking of "Totally Irresponsible," Not to Mention, Totally Crazy. Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump appeared to more fully embrace QAnon on Saturday, playing a song at a political rally in Ohio that prompted attendees to respond with a salute in reference to the cultlike conspiracy theory's theme song. While speaking in Youngstown in support of J.D. Vance, whom he has endorsed as Ohio's Republican nominee for the Senate, Mr. Trump delivered a dark address about the decline of America over music that was all but identical to a song called 'Wwg1wga' -- an abbreviation for the QAnon slogan, 'Where we go one, we go all.' As Mr. Trump spoke, scores of people in the crowd raised fingers in the air in an apparent reference to the '1' in what they thought was the song's title.... What was once a flirtation with a movement that the F.B.I. has warned could increasingly turn violent now appears to be a full embrace.... Mr. Trump's speech in Ohio ... seemed intended to delegitimize officials in the F.B.I. and Justice Department.... 'We are a nation that has weaponized its law enforcement against the opposing political party like never ever before,' Mr. Trump told the crowd. 'We've got a Federal Bureau of Investigation that won't allow bad, election-changing facts to be presented to the public.'... Those complaints were followed by series of other false claims." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Last week, former SDNY prosecutor Geoffrey Berman revealed in a new book that Trump & Bill Barr had repeatedly attempted to get him to help Trump's political buddies & prosecute his political enemies. The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked the DOJ to investigate.

Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "... organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women's March [of January 2017]. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women's March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans." The article goes into detail about how the trolls operated, particularly on how they attacked one leader of the march movement, Linda Sarsour. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Ascent of the Crazy. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A dozen Republican candidates in competitive races for governor and Senate have declined to say whether they would accept the results of their contests, raising the prospect of fresh post-election chaos two years after Donald Trump refused to concede the presidency. In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark. While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond. On the Democratic side, 18 said they would accept the outcome and one did not respond to The Post's survey." A New York Times story is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

United Kingdom

The Guardian's live updates of event surrounding the funeral of Elizabeth II are here. The Guardian's schedule of events (BST) is here. The Order of Service for the state funeral is here. MB: This will probably be one of the best funeral services in the history of the world. I think I'll watch. ~~~

     ~~~ Although Guiseppe Verdi's funeral was pretty terrific:

     ~~~ Marie: Can't recall, but I may have embedded the Met's synchronized recording of "Va, pensiero," performed during the pandemic, because it's pretty amazing.

Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "An elaborate plan is set for Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral Monday, when a service will take place at London's Westminster Abbey before her coffin is buried at Windsor Castle. The proceedings will begin at 10:44 a.m. British Summer Time (5:44 a.m. Eastern), when the Royal Navy will hold a procession to transport the queen from Westminster Hall, where she is 'lying at rest,' to nearby Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth got married there in 1947 and was crowned there in 1953." The article provides info on where to watch. MB: A friend of mine watched a service honoring Elizabeth last week on C-SPAN, which the article doesn't mention. My friend said the C-SPAN feed provided some voice-over info on what-all was going on, but otherwise there was no talk. So if you want to watch without listening to the incessant blather of news anchors, you might try C-SPAN.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "With a framed photograph of Queen Elizabeth II perched to his right, President Biden on Sunday paid homage to a monarch he had twice declined to bow to on the advice of his mother, but one he had also admired. 'She was the same in person as her image: decent, honorable and all about service,' Mr. Biden said one day before the queen's funeral, after writing a message in the official book of condolences at Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace in London and attending a viewing of her coffin at Westminster Hall. 'It's a loss that leaves a giant hole.'" A related Guardian story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: “As the eye of Hurricane Fiona barreled west into the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico was left early Monday with a knocked-out energy grid, widespread flooding and continued heavy rains, with conditions remaining too dangerous for officials to assess the scope of the crisis. But it was immediately clear that the island would have a difficult recovery process, with as much as 30 inches of rain in some places."

New York Times: "Maximilian Lerner, an Austrian-born Jew who during World War II was among the many soldiers recruited to a secret military intelligence and psychological warfare training center, where they learned espionage and intelligence skills that helped the United States Army as it swept across Europe, died on Sept. 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 98.... Mr. Lerner was one of the last 30 or 40 of the so-called Ritchie Boys, a group named for the secret Army camp in Maryland that served as an intelligence training center during the war. An estimated 11,000 soldiers -- 2,000 to 3,000 of them European Jews, mostly from Germany -- graduated the full course from Camp Ritchie, where they learned to interrogate prisoners of war and civilians, interpret and translate for foreign officials, and read codes and ciphers."

September 18, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "... organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women's March [of January 2017]. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women's March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans." The article goes into detail about how the trolls operated, particularly on how they attacked one leader of the march movement, Linda Sarsour.

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** David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the United States today finds itself in a situation with little historical precedent. American democracy is facing two distinct threats, which together represent the most serious challenge to the country's governing ideals in decades. The first threat is acute: a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties -- the Republican Party -- to refuse to accept defeat in an election.... The second threat to democracy is chronic but also growing: The power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion. The run of recent Supreme Court decisions -- both sweeping and, according to polls, unpopular -- highlight this disconnect.... Senators representing a majority of Americans are often unable to pass bills, partly because of the increasing use of the filibuster. Even the House, intended as the branch of the government that most reflects the popular will, does not always do so, because of the way districts are drawn. 'We are far and away the most countermajoritarian democracy in the world,' said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University.... '... the Republican Party -- upper level, midlevel and grass roots -- is a party that can only be described as not committed to democracy,' Mr. Levitsky said." Leonhardt goes into the reasons for the crisis. You probably know most of them, but you may not know all of them. A worthwhile read. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The rule of law means that the law treats each of us alike: There is not one rule for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless; a rule for the rich, another for the poor.... [The rule of law] is fragile, it demands constant effort and vigilance. -- Attorney General Merrick Garland, at a naturalization ceremony Saturday ~~~

~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "An emotional Attorney General Merrick B. Garland addressed new citizens on Saturday at Ellis Island, the site of his family's American origin story, and warned that the country had become dangerously divided by political factionalism, which has imperiled the democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Garland was presiding over the oath of allegiance for 250 naturalized citizens at the iconic immigration processing center, on the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787. As the new Americans rose to recognize their home countries -- about 60 of them, with origins from Albania to Yemen -- he told them that the United States 'wholeheartedly welcomes you.' During a 10-minute speech in which he repeatedly stopped to collect himself, the attorney general recounted the tale of his grandmother's flight from antisemitism in what is now Belarus before World War II, and the narrow escape to New York made by his wife's mother, who fled Austria after Nazis annexed the country in 1938." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. DeSantis, Stuntman Not Ready for Trump Time. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: Ron DeSantis' Martha's Vineyard "stunt failed to make its intended point [that liberals don't care about poor people]. The same was true of a previous stunt, in which DeSantis touted the arrests of 20 former felons for election fraud. The intended message was that Florida, and presumably the entire country, needed to be on constant alert to block fraudulent voters. But in the days and weeks after the arrests, an investigation by The Tampa Bay Times found that the state had actually cleared those residents to vote. As far as they knew, they hadn't broken the law. If anything, they had been entrapped as part of a scheme to make DeSantis a more attractive candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.... To a typical person ... he looks a lot like a bully, someone willing to play high-stakes games with people's lives for the sake of his own ego and advancement." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, I heard on the teevee that Fox "News" & other right-wing outlets are characterizing Gov. Charlie Baker's effort to relocate the asylum-seekers at a Cape Cod military facility is evidence that the liberals on Martha Vineyard got rid of the Venezuelans as quickly as they could. Apparently, liberals have to permanently adopt an immigrant family or two to prove they care.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Mazars USA, the longtime accounting firm for ... Donald J. Trump that cut ties with him and his family business this year, has begun turning over documents related to his financial dealings to Congress. After a yearslong legal fight, the House Oversight Committee has received a first trove of documents from the firm, which recently entered into a legal settlement agreeing to produce a range of financial documents from several years before Mr. Trump took office and during his early presidency. Mazars said in February it could no longer stand behind a decade of annual financial statements it had prepared for the Trump Organization. More tranches of documents are expected to follow."

Jacqueline Alemany & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, according to testimony given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnny McEntee, according to people familiar with his testimony, told investigators that Gaetz told him during a brief meeting 'that they are launching an investigation into him or that there's an investigation into him,' without specifying who was investigating Gaetz. McEntee added that Gaetz told him 'he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.' Gaetz told McEntee that he had asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon.... [A spokesman for Gaetz wrote in an email,] '... President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, "Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon." Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump's statement.'"

Mike Masnick of Tech Dirt: "As far as I can tell, in the area the 5th Circuit appeals court has jurisdiction, websites no longer have any 1st Amendment editorial rights. That's the result of what appears to me to be the single dumbest court ruling I've seen in a long, long time.... However, thanks to judge Andy Oldham, internet companies no longer have 1st Amendment rights regarding their editorial decision making.... Without giving any reason or explanation at all, it reinstated the [Texas] law and promised a ruling at some future date. This was procedurally problematic, leading the social media companies (represented by two of their trade groups, NetChoice and CCIA) to ask the Supreme Court to slow things down a bit, which is exactly what the Supreme Court did. Parallel to all of this, Florida had passed a similar law, and again a district court had found it obviously unconstitutional. That, too, was appealed, yet in the 11th Circuit the court rightly agreed with the lower court that the law was (mostly) unconstitutional. That teed things up for Florida to ask the Supreme Court to review the issue.... I wish I had confidence that [the Supremes] would not contradict themselves, but I'm not sure I do.... The future of how the internet works is very much at stake with this one." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "In addition to being substantively ridiculous, [the Fifth Circuit Court] literally chides the companies for citing Supreme Court precedents that are, you know, fully binding on the court rather than starting with 4Chan historical analysis...["] 'Rather than mount any challenge under the original public meaning of the First Amendment, the Platforms instead focus their attention on Supreme Court doctrine.'... This [opinion] is by no means an outlier for the Fifth Circuit -- it is not a 'court of law' in any meaningful sense."

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Federal judges voted not to reappoint a New Mexico jurist after an internal investigation showed she subjected employees to insults, outbursts and threats of termination, according to a court order published Wednesday. A court committee that reviewed the allegations said the judge, Carmen E. Garza, created what seemed to be 'an abusive and hostile work environment' in her chambers for more than a decade, behavior that included manipulating staff to undermine fellow judges and courthouse employees, and making 'derogatory and egregious statements' about colleagues. There was also some evidence, the order states, that Garza 'engaged in retaliatory conduct' after the vote against her reappointment.... It was remarkable for court leaders to publicize their preliminary findings and to identify the judge by name.... The judiciary's 30,000 employees lack the same workplace rights afforded to other government and private-sector workers.... Unlike Senate-confirmed District Court judges, magistrates are appointed to eight-year terms."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of people waited up to 24 hours to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday, their individual acts of mourning commingling into a vast national expression of bereavement.... With foreign leaders and royalty arriving in London for her funeral on Monday, the endless river of ordinary people was joined by dignitaries from the sovereign's far-flung realms: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia.... The Queue, which snakes across the Thames and winds for miles along the river's south bank to Southwark Park, has quickly become a kind of cultural phenomenon.... At 6 p.m., Prince William and Prince Harry took up positions next to the catafalque to stand vigil over their grandmother, who died on Sept. 8.... The brothers were joined at the catafalque by their six cousins, the children of Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.... The queen's coffin will lie in state at the Palace of Westminster until Monday morning, when it will be carried to Westminster Abbey for the funeral service."

September 17, 2022

Afternoon Update:

** David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the United States today finds itself in a situation with little historical precedent. American democracy is facing two distinct threats, which together represent the most serious challenge to the country's governing ideals in decades. The first threat is acute: a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties -- the Republican Party -- to refuse to accept defeat in an election.... The second threat to democracy is chronic but also growing: The power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion. The run of recent Supreme Court decisions -- both sweeping and, according to polls, unpopular -- highlight this disconnect.... Senators representing a majority of Americans are often unable to pass bills, partly because of the increasing use of the filibuster. Even the House, intended as the branch of the government that most reflects the popular will, does not always do so, because of the way districts are drawn. 'We are far and away the most countermajoritarian democracy in the world,' said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University.... '... the Republican Party -- upper level, midlevel and grass roots -- is a party that can only be described as not committed to democracy,' Mr. Levitsky said." Leonhardt goes into the reasons for the crisis. You probably know most of them, but you may not know all of them. A worthwhile read.

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Although the government believes the district court fundamentally erred in appointing a special master and granting injunctive relief, the government seeks to stay only the portions of the order causing the most serious and immediate harm to the government and the public. -- Defendant's Motion, Donald J. Trump v. United States of America ~~~

~~~ ** Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department asked an appeals court on Friday to let the F.B.I. regain access to about 100 sensitive documents taken from ... Donald J. Trump's residence in Florida but did not try to block the appointment of an outside arbiter to review other materials. In a 29-page filing, the department asked the appeals court not to submit the roughly 100 files marked as classified through the vetting process of the arbiter, known as a special master -- acquiescing to the review for 11,000 other documents seized from Mr. Trump's home and resort, Mar-a-Lago. The review has frozen the government's access to the material as it investigates Mr. Trump's handling of the documents.... Mr. Trump would suffer no harm if the government reclaimed and examined material that did not belong in his possession anyway, the department added.... The department also rejected Mr. Trump's argument that he could assert executive privilege to block criminal investigators, who are part of the executive branch, from gaining access to the executive branch-owned materials as part of their work." Politico's story is here.

** Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Months before National Archives officials retrieved hundreds of classified documents in 15 boxes from ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, they were told that none of the material was sensitive or classified and that Trump had only 12 boxes of 'news clippings,' according to people familiar with the conversations.... During a September 2021 phone call with top Archives lawyer Gary Stern, former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin ... said he had talked to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who made the assertion about the dozen boxes of clippings, the people familiar with the call said. Trump's team was aware of no other materials, Philbin said, relaying information he said he got from Meadows. The characterization made in the call vastly misrepresented the scale and variety of documents, including classified records, eventually recovered by the Archives or the FBI. Philbin said that Meadows also told him no documents had been destroyed.... Stern had sought the call because he believed there were still more than two dozen boxes of materials that Trump had.... In the year since the call, Archives and Justice Department officials have recovered 42 boxes of records from Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., property.... Some White House advisers had previously said Meadows was deeply involved in the final packing at the White House." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The good news for Marky-Mark is that he will not have to wait for a special-order orange jumpsuit; I think he'll fit right into a prêt-à-porter number. But wait. He's innocent! ~~~

Mr. Meadows did not personally review the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and did not have a role in examining or verifying what was or wasn’t contained within them. -- Ben Williamson, spokesman for Mark Meadows ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump had told advisers a version of what Mr. Meadows is said to have told Mr. Philbin, that the boxes contained news clippings and personal effects, according to people familiar with the events. Aides to Mr. Trump had told others that there were only 12 boxes of material, which is what Mr. Meadows is also said to have relayed to Mr. Philbin.... Mr. Meadows went to Mar-a-Lago and discussed the boxes of material with Mr. Trump during the summer of 2021, as archives officials were trying to get the materials sent to them. Mr. Philbin was trying to facilitate the return while avoiding being drawn further into the dispute...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Haberman & Schmidt are fingering Trump as the instigator of the "12 boxes of news clippings" lie. More importantly, so is Meadows. No doubt Trump will blame some hapless usher or maybe Kash Patel (would serve Patel right) for packing the classified docs. Ergo, the "I declassified them all" lie Trump told Hugh Hewitt the other day will probably be replaced with, "I had no idea there were any classified docs in the boxes." (Uh, "... or in my desk drawer or in my closet.")

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post:"Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the classified documents ... Donald Trump allegedly hoarded at his home are the kind that required a military escort when she was secretary of state.... Clinton told 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers that when she read top-secret material, an officer 'would come into my office and would have a handcuff that was attached to a suitcase in order to show me something that was so secret he literally had to have it tied to his hand.' The officer would watch Clinton read it and sign that she had reviewed it, and then he would take it back, she recalled. The idea that Trump reportedly squirreled away top-secret information on a foreign government's nuclear capabilities and the like at a country club prompted Clinton to say: 'I don't care what political party you are.... This is a threat to our national security.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Crazier & Crazier. David Klepper & Ali Swenson of the AP: "After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words 'The Storm is Coming.' In QAnon lore, the 'storm' refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.... He's published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn't know much about QAnon, he couldn't disprove its conspiracy theory.... Trump's recent postings have included images referring to himself as a martyr fighting criminals, psychopaths and the so-called deep state. In one now-deleted post from late August, he reposted a 'q drop,' one of the cryptic message board postings that QAnon supporters claim come from an anonymous government worker with top secret clearance." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has some thoughts about Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Guy.

Marie: I have no idea whether or not Akhilleus is an eminent immigration lawyer disguised as a Greek warrior in need of a podiatrist, but this comment (in yesterday's thread) sounds good to not-a-lawyer me: "Here's a thought: Section 274(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly transport undocumented persons across state lines. -- Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott should be immediately arrested." ~~~

~~~ Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "Massachusetts authorities announced Friday that they will move approximately 50 migrants from the island of Martha's Vineyard to a military base in Cape Cod so they can find shelter and chart next steps. The move is voluntary for the migrants, the state said. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the migrants will be offered 'shelter and humanitarian supports' in dormitory-style rooms at Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne. State and local officials will also ensure migrants have food, shelter and other services. Baker said he plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to aid in the relief effort. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) surprised federal and state officials on Wednesday by sending migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to the affluent resort island.... In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual gala on Thursday night,[President] Biden lashed out at Republicans. 'Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,' he said. 'What they're doing is simply wrong, it's un-American, it's reckless.'" The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a major reason the U.S. has not done a better job of dealing with immigration problems is that Congressional Republicans refuse to participate in realistic solutions. So when heartless Republican governors play games using human beings as pawns in order to curry favor with their racist, xenophobic base, it is heartless Republican members of Congress who have exacerbated the problems these governors think they are so brilliantly highlighting. ~~~

~~~ William Melhado, et al., of the Texas Tribune & Boston Globe: "Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chartered the flights, though his administration did not respond to questions as to why Florida taxpayers paid to transport people from Texas to Massachusetts in a political stunt meant to draw attention to the increasing number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border[.] ~~~

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times look at the legal implications of DeSantis' and Abbott's stunts. "Under American law, any migrant has the right to [claim asylum], starting a process ... that ... faces a yearslong backlog, meaning that these migrants ... are living in a state of immigration limbo. It is not illegal for a state government to pay for [their] travel. But if there is evidence the migrants were lied to by state officials about where they were going or what awaited them, as some attorneys have alleged, the migrants could pursue tort suits for fraud or severe emotional distress, according to Heidi Li Feldman, a professor at Georgetown University. Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director for Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston who is representing some of the migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard, said his clients were denied their constitutional right to due process, since the trip to Massachusetts likely means they will be unable to attend their immigration court appointments in San Antonio, Texas.... While critics have compared the actions of Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Abbott to human trafficking or kidnapping, multiple lawyers cast doubt on the possibility that they could be prosecuted for such crimes because no evidence has surfaced that the migrants boarded the flights or buses unwillingly." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, I don't see how one can argue the people went "willingly" when they were induced to get on the plane under false pretenses. It's still kidnapping, for instance, whether a kidnapper snatches a child off the street or induces her into his car by promising her they'll go to the store & buy her a teddy bear.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Return of the Condor. Alice Li, et al., of the Washington Post: "Once pushed to the brink of extinction, condors are soaring in Northern California skies again with the help of an Indigenous tribe and a team of scientists. Among the world's tallest trees, next to the world's biggest ocean and along the state's longest highway, the largest birds in North America are returning to Northern California after a 130-year absence.... The Northern California Condor Restoration Program, the native Yurok Tribe and government agencies have introduced a program to blend the species back into the natural landscape of the Pacific Northwest over the next two decades.... Researchers say the population declined due to lead poisoning, which was caused by ingesting fragments of lead ammunition in carcasses killed and left by hunters, as well as habitat destruction and poaching.... The Yurok Tribe and government partners drafted a plan to release condors into Redwood National Park. The towering old-growth coastal redwoods provided ample space for them to nest and rest, while the birds could forage in vast open prairies. Consistent winds also help the birds glide for extended periods of time...."

New Hampshire Senate Race. General Chickenshit. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, [a retired army general and] the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had 'come to the conclusion' that the 2020 presidential election 'was not stolen,' after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.... He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.... Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform.... [Sen. Maggie] Hassan's [D] campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc's reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc had promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.... At least 10 [GOP] candidates in competitive races, including the Senate nominees Blake Masters in Arizona, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Ted Budd in North Carolina, have updated their websites to downplay endorsements from Mr. Trump or to soften anti-abortion language." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Yeshiva University abruptly announced on Friday that it had placed all undergraduate club activities on hold, the latest maneuver in the legal battle by the Modern Orthodox Jewish institution to keep from recognizing an L.G.B.T.Q. student group. The move came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered the university to recognize the student group. In a 5 to 4 vote, the justices said the university would first have to make its arguments in New York State courts before returning to the Supreme Court.... The move by Yeshiva 'is a throwback to 50 years ago when the city of Jackson, Mississippi, closed all public swimming pools rather than comply with court orders to desegregate,' [a lawyer for the students] said." MB: Time to protest, kids.

Pennsylvania. David Wildstein of the New Jersey Globe: "New Jersey is serving as an incubator for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, with two statewide candidates being New Jersey natives and longtime residents. Gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano was a registered voter in New Jersey for 28 years until July 2021 when election officials changed his status to inactive. Records show that Mastriano voted from his family's Hightstown home from 1982, when he turned 18, through the 2010 general election. He remained on the voter rolls until a sample ballot was returned roughly six months after the death of his mother last year. Dr. Mehmet Oz lived and voted in New Jersey until 2021, when he moved to Pennsylvania to seek a U.S. Senate seat. He remains on New Jersey's voter rolls as a resident of Cliffside Park and could legally vote in his home state this November if he chose to not vote in Pennsylvania." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the name David Wildstein sounds familiar to you, it should. Think, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Texas. David McCabe of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court's order blocking a Texas law that stops large social media platforms from removing political posts, a blow for tech companies that say their content moderation decisions are protected by the Constitution.... The Fifth Circuit ... is known to be conservative.... One member of the three-judge panel dissented from portions of the ruling. The law makes it possible for individuals or the Texas attorney general's office to sue social media platforms with more than 50 million monthly users in the United States for taking down political viewpoints." MB: This sounds like the We Love Trump Law.

Virginia. Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "In a major rollback of LGBTQ rights, the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will require that transgender students in Virginia access school facilities and programs that match the sex they were assigned at birth and is making it more difficult for students to change their names and genders at school." MB: Again, cruelty is the point.

Wisconsin. A.J. Bayatpour of WKOW Madison: "Speaking at a Republican dinner event in Appleton last week, newly-released audio captured Michael Gableman suggesting revolution was the 'only way to keep government honest.'... Gableman broached the subject of Americans being too comfortable to carry out a rightful revolution.... 'It's that very comfort that is keeping us from what our founders knew to be the only way to keep an honest government, which is revolution,' Gableman said. 'Thomas Jefferson said that the Tree of Liberty must be watered by the blood of revolution every generation.'" MB: Gableman is the wingnut former state supreme court justice whom Wisconsin assembly speaker Robin Vos hired to examine the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Wikipedia, "Gableman's fourteen month investigation resulted in various unsubstantiated accusations against municipal clerks and members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, but found nothing of substance." Vos fired Gableman as soon as Vos won his primary election.

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 for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Ukrainian authorities and United Nations monitors are investigating a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izyum. Military and police investigators at the site said there are 445 single graves and at least one mass grave containing 17 bodies. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the bodies show signs of torture and include children.... White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday ... that the United States would continue to help efforts to document war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine to hold alleged Russian perpetrators accountable.... Several pro-Moscow officials in occupied areas of Ukraine were killed Friday, including in shelling or explosions that Russian media reports blamed on Ukrainian forces.... [President] Biden met with [Brittney] Griner's wife and [Paul] Whelan's sister Friday. The White House suggested that negotiations with Russia to release them have not advanced."

Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Challenged bluntly and publicly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the war in Ukraine..., Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia would strive to stop the conflict 'as soon as possible.' But then he accused Ukraine of refusing to negotiate, although Putin ordered the invasion and his troops are still occupying a large swath of Ukrainian territory.... In a stunning public rebuke, Modi told Putin: 'Today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this.' The rare reproach showed the 69-year-old Russian strongman coming under extraordinary pressure from all sides. Internationally, he is facing calls to end the war not only from his traditional critics in the West, but also from Asian partners whom he cannot paint as beholden to the U.S." ~~~

~~~ Anton Troianovski, et al., of the New York Times: Taken together, the distancing from Mr. Putin by the heads of the world's two most populous countries [India & China] -- both of which have been pivotal to sustaining Russia's economy in the face of Western sanctions -- punctured the Kremlin's message that Russia was far from a global pariah.... The implicit criticism of Mr. Putin underscored that he now faces perhaps his most challenging moment of recent months, suffering not just these diplomatic setbacks but also retreats on the battlefield and intensifying questions back home over how he has conducted the war. But ... Western officials believe that he could still drastically escalate the intensity of Russia's assault if he is confronted with further defeats. In a news conference Friday after the summit of Asian leaders, Mr. Putin described recent Russian cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure as 'warning strikes' that could portend an even more vicious campaign."

U.K. The Guardian's live updates of events surrounding the mourning of Queen Elizabeth II are here: "The King and Prince of Wales are meeting people waiting in the queue for the Queen's lying in state at Westminster Hall. As King Charles III got out of the car along Albert Embankment, he was immediately greeted with cheers.... The King has thanked emergency service staff for their work during the mourning period and ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday.... The funeral is expected to be 'the largest international event that the UK has hosted in decades, possibly ever', according to sources."