June 19, 2022

Gillian Brockell, et al., of the Washington Post: "On June 19, 1865, Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger stepped onto a balcony in Galveston, Tex. -- two months after the Civil War had ended -- and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were free. President Abraham Lincoln had freed them two and a half years earlier in his Emancipation Proclamation, but since Texas never fell to Union troops in battle, they'd remained in bondage. The newly emancipated responded with cries of joy and prayers of gratitude -- a celebration that became known as Juneteenth. Black Texans marked the day each year with parades and picnics, music and fine clothes.... During the summer of 2020, amid the racial-justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, millions of White Americans became aware of Juneteenth for the first time. Some companies announced they would give employees the day off on Juneteenth, and momentum grew to make it a national holiday. Last summer, the U.S. did just that, as President Biden signed a bipartisan bill into law on June 17."

Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As new questions swirled this past week about ... Donald J. Trump's potential criminal exposure for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, Mr. Trump issued a rambling 12-page statement. It contained his usual mix of outlandish claims, hyperbole and outright falsehoods, but also something that Trump allies and legal experts said was notable and different: the beginnings of a legal defense.... What happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump wrote, stemmed from an effort by Americans 'to hold their elected officials accountable for the obvious signs of criminal activity throughout the election.'... Successfully prosecuting .. potential charges ... could depend on establishing Mr. Trump's intent -- an issue that his statement ... appeared to address.... The question of intent ... can be muddy when the crime under investigation involves an action in which the defendant's state of mind can be hard to establish.... Given the challenge of showing what Mr. Trump actually knew, there is one other way prosecutors could show he had a corrupt intent: proving what is often called 'willful blindness.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's another "defense" Trump is trying out. After Thursday's select committee hearing, Trump wrote on his Liars Social account: "Such LIES & MISREPRESENTATION by the Unselects, and absolutely nobody allowed to challenge what is being said. As an example, I never asked V.P. Pence to 'overturn' the election (although Thomas Jefferson 'took' the Georgia votes), but that he send the votes back to the Legislatures so that they could determine if the irregularities and Fraud were as widespread and signficant as they seemed." So he did not seek to overturn the election; he merely wanted pence to send the slates of electors back to the states. What makes this new claim middling problematic, is what Trump wrote six months ago:

If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election? Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn't exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!

     ~~~ This does point to one of the difficulties prosecutors would have in trying to establish Trump's intent: he's a moving target; he makes contradictory assertions about the same subject. ~~~

~~~ Peter Stone of the Guardian: "The searing testimony and growing evidence about Donald Trump's central role in a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn Joe Biden's election in 2020 presented at the House January 6 committee's first three hearings, has increased the odds that Trump will face criminal charges, say former DoJ prosecutors and officials.... Trump could also potentially face fraud charges over his role in an apparently extraordinary fundraising scam -- described by House panel members as the 'big rip-off' -- that netted some $250m for an 'election defense fund' that did not exist but funneled huge sums to Trump's Save America political action committee and Trump properties."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times compares Donald Trump's January 6, 2:24 pm tweet further inciting the insurrectionists to "hang Mike Pence" to Henry II's rhetorical question -- "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" -- prompting his knights to murder Archbishop Thomas Becket. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times is firmly in the Mike-Pence-Is-No-Hero camp: "Far from resolute against the president's scheme to overturn the election, Pence was originally inclined to help. He even contacted one of his predecessors, Dan Quayle, for advice on what to do.... Here's how [Bob Woodward & Robert Costa] describe the conversation: 'Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do. "Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away," Quayle told him. Pence pressed again. "You don't know the position I';m in," he said. "I do know the position you're in," Quayle responded. "I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That's all you do. You have no power."'... It sounds like a man who did the right thing only after he couldn't find a legal rationale to do the wrong one." (Also linked yesterday.)

Manu Raju of CNN: "Rusty Bowers, a Republican and Arizona state House speaker, will testify at a Tuesday hearing focusing on ... Donald Trump's pressure on state officials to overturn Joe Biden's victory in 2020, a source familiar with the matter told CNN earlier Saturday. Bowers will join Georgia's election officials -- Brad Raffensperger and Gabe Sterling -- who will be part of a panel before the January 6 committee detailing Trump's campaign to force states to overturn their certified election results. Bowers, who supported Trump's reelection bid in 2020, refused to bow to intimidation and attempts to get him to back efforts in the legislature to decertify Biden's victory in Arizona. He previously described how Trump and ... Rudy Giuliani called him after the 2020 election to convince him to somehow involve the legislature in the state's certification process before sending its presidential electors to Congress."

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "President Biden fell off his bike on Saturday while trying to dismount in front of a small crowd of reporters and onlookers. The president said his foot had gotten caught in a toe clip, which caused him to tip over after coming to a stop. He quickly collected himself and stood up, saying 'I'm good' before answering a handful of questions from reporters." A Guardian report is here.

Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "Gun companies have spent the last two decades scrutinizing their market and refocusing their message away from hunting toward selling handguns for personal safety, as well as military-style weapons attractive to mostly young men. The sales pitch -- rooted in self-defense, machismo and an overarching sense of fear -- has been remarkably successful.... The number of guns is outpacing the population. Women, spurred by appeals that play on fears of crime and being caught unprepared, are the fastest-growing segment of buyers.... Working together, gun makers, advocates and elected officials have convinced a large swath of Americans that they should have a firearm, and eased the legal path for them to do so.... The recurrence of mass shootings has provided reliable opportunities for the industry and its allies." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tripp Mickle & Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "Apple employees at a Baltimore-area store have voted to unionize, making it the first of the company's 270-plus stores in the United States to join a trend in labor organizing sweeping through retailers, restaurants and tech companies. The result, announced on Saturday by the National Labor Relations Board, provides a foothold for a budding movement among Apple retail employees.... Employees of more than two dozen Apple stores have expressed interest in unionizing in recent months, union leaders say." An AP report is here.

Julian Kim of NPR: "Mark Shields, the longtime PBS News commentator known for his weekly political analysis, has died Saturday morning at the age of 85, PBS NewsHour confirmed." (Also linked yesterday.) Shields' New York Times obituary, by Clyde Haberman, is here.

Mike Stobbe of the AP: "The U.S. on Saturday opened COVID-19 vaccines to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The shots will become available next week, expanding the nation's vaccination campaign to children as young as 6 months. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccines for the littlest children, and the final signoff came hours later from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency's director.... While the Food and Drug Administration approves vaccines, it's the CDC that decides who should get them."

Beyond the Beltway

Louisiana. Greg Hilburn of the Lafayette Daily Advertiser: "A federal judge will draw a new Louisiana congressional map with a second Black district after the Legislature failed to draw new boundaries of its own in a Special Session that ended Saturday without the passage of any bill. Louisiana Middle District U.S. Judge Shelly Dick will now draw her own map for the state from the bench. Dick, who ruled June 6 that the congressional map passed by lawmakers in February violated the Voting Rights Act because it kept just one majority Black district, had given the Legislature a deadline of June 20 to pass new boundaries or she would take over. Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder of Gonzales and Republican Senate President Page Cortez had unsuccessfully argued the Legislature needed more time to create a new map, a motion Dick denied in court Thursday."

Texas. Teresa Velasco of KNES TV: "According to a new report by the San Antonio Express-News, a surveillance video shows police never tried to open the doors at Robb Elementary leading to the classrooms where the shooter went inside. The report cites law enforcement close to the investigation as their source. That source reportedly told the Express-News that police may have assumed the doors were locked and the shooter could not have locked the doors from the inside. Pete Arredondo, the district police chief in charge of law enforcement's response at Robb, has said previously that he went through a ring of keys provided by a janitor in order to try and gain entry.... Meanwhile, dozens of requests have been made for surveillance footage and other records pertaining to the shooting, and Uvalde has hired legal assistance to try and keep those records private." The Express-News report, which is firewalled, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The New York Times' David Goodman, appearing on MSNBC a few weeks ago, said it wasn't clear the classroom doors were locked as many of them appeared to be defective. An NYT report, written at about the same time, said that the teacher was fumbling with her keys, trying to find the right one to lock the door, when the gunman burst into the classroom. He could have ordered her to lock the door, or he could have locked it himself, but a crazed gunman who would murder little children does not seem like the type of person who would take such a precaution. ~~~

~~~ David Goodman of the New York Times: "A city police officer armed with an AR-15-style rifle hesitated when he had a brief chance to shoot the gunman approaching a school in Uvalde, Texas, because he did not want to hit children, according to a senior sheriff's deputy who spoke to the officer. The fateful decision, which has not been previously reported, represented the second missed opportunity for officers arriving at Robb Elementary School to prevent a massacre by intervening while the gunman was still outside the school." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: If you had wanted to spend your weekend meeting up with a real collection of dumbclucks, bigots & violent loons, your best bet might have been Houston, Texas: ~~~

~~~ Texas. Sewell Chan & Eric Neugeboren of the Texas Tribune: "Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further to the right. They approved measures declaring that President Joe Biden 'was not legitimately elected' and rebuking Sen. John Cornyn for taking part in bipartisan gun talks. They also voted on a platform that declares homosexuality 'an abnormal lifestyle choice' and calls for Texas schoolchildren 'to learn about the humanity of the preborn child.' The actions capped a convention that highlighted how adamantly opposed the party's most active and vocal members are to compromising with Democrats or moderating on social positions, even as the state has grown more diverse and Republicans' margins in statewide elections have shrunk slightly in recent years." ~~~

     ~~~ Caleb Howe of Mediaite: "Rep. Dan Crenshaw and his staff were violently confronted at the Republican Party of Texas convention a short time ago, when far-right social media activist Alex Stein and others whom witnesses described as Proud Boys began shouting 'eyepatch McCain' at him -- an attempted insult coined by Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson. A witness to the incident tells Mediaite that in addition to Stein and others being escorted out of the building, 'some arrests' were made at the scene.... 'They got physical with multiple people, including hitting them with cameras,' a witness at the scene said. 'His campaign manager was assaulted by being pushed aggressively into a pillar.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Crenshaw is a right-winger through and through, so I don't know what heresy he might have committed that has TuKKKer belittling him. But he wears that eyepatch out of courtesy to those who might not want to see the disfigurement caused by the loss of his eye during his third deployment to Afghanistan. People who bully & mock wounded veterans for their injuries are disgusting beyond words.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al., The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "No one knows how long the war in Ukraine will last, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, though he cautioned that the world should be prepared for a war that stretch on for years. Stoltenberg's forecast, in an interview published Saturday in Germany's Bild newspaper, comes as the United States and its allies are preparing for a drawn-out conflict.... Russian forces now control most of Severodonetsk, a bitterly-contested town crucial to Russian hopes of advancing in eastern Luhansk region, governor Serhiy Haidai said Sunday morning.... U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to meet with his E.U. counterparts this week to discuss putting pressure on Russian oligarchs." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates Sunday are here. A Guardian summary of developments is here.

June 18, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times compares Donald Trump's January 6, 2:24 pm tweet further inciting the insurrectionists to "hang Mike Pence" to Henry II's rhetorical question -- "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" -- prompting his knights to murder Archbishop Thomas Becket.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times is firmly in the Mike-Pence-Is-No-Hero camp: "Far from resolute against the president's scheme to overturn the election, Pence was originally inclined to help. He even contacted one of his predecessors, Dan Quayle, for advice on what to do.... Here's how [Bob Woodward & Robert Costa ]describe the conversation: 'Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do. "Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away," Quayle told him. Pence pressed again. "You don't know the position I'm in," he said. "I do know the position you're in," Quayle responded. "I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That's all you do. You have no power."'... It sounds like a man who did the right thing only after he couldn't find a legal rationale to do the wrong one."

Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "Gun companies have spent the last two decades scrutinizing their market and refocusing their message away from hunting toward selling handguns for personal safety, as well as military-style weapons attractive to mostly young men. The sales pitch -- rooted in self-defense, machismo and an overarching sense of fear -- has been remarkably successful.... The number of guns is outpacing the population. Women, spurred by appeals that play on fears of crime and being caught unprepared, are the fastest-growing segment of buyers.... Working together, gun makers, advocates and elected officials have convinced a large swath of Americans that they should have a firearm, and eased the legal path for them to do so.... The recurrence of mass shootings has provided reliable opportunities for the industry and its allies."

David Goodman of the New York Times: "A city police officer armed with an AR-15-style rifle hesitated when he had a brief chance to shoot the gunman approaching a school in Uvalde, Texas, because he did not want to hit children, according to a senior sheriff's deputy who spoke to the officer. The fateful decision, which has not been previously reported, represented the second missed opportunity for officers arriving at Robb Elementary School to prevent a massacre by intervening while the gunman was still outside the school."

Julian Kim of NPR: "Mark Shields, the longtime PBS News commentator known for his weekly political analysis, has died Saturday morning at the age of 85, PBS NewsHour confirmed."

~~~~~~~~~~

** You Can't Keep a Bad Man Down. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A day after the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault illustrated the serious danger that rioters posed to Mike Pence..., Donald J. Trump unleashed a new attack on the man who had served him as vice president, criticizing him for refusing to interfere with the Electoral College certification of the 2020 presidential contest. Speaking on Friday afternoon before a faith-based group, Mr. Trump said that 'Mike did not have the courage to act' in trying to unilaterally reject the Electoral College votes that were being cast for Joseph R. Biden Jr.... Mr. Trump has grown angry watching the hearings, knowing that he lacks a bully pulpit from which to respond, according to his advisers. He used much of his Friday address to repeat his false election claims and to denigrate Mr. Pence." ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Linskey, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump used an evangelical conference [in Nashville, Tenn.,] to ridicule former vice president Mike Pence for upholding the Constitution on Jan. 6, 2021, choosing an audience that represents Pence's political base as a venue to attempt to undermine him.... Pence -- along with other possible presidential contenders -- chose not to attend [the conference]. Aside from Trump, no other speaker mentioned the Jan. 6 proceedings during the conference's initial days.... Pence was invited to address the convention as well, but chose not to, said Ralph Reed, the organization's founder.... Reed said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was also invited but did not attend." A Guardian report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ See also Akhilleus' comment below, which captures the essense of these particular Christianists. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Looks Forward to Corrupt Second Administration. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Former President Trump said on Friday that he would look 'very, very seriously' at pardoning those charged in connection with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, if he ran for and became president again. Speaking during a Faith and Freedom event in Nashville, Tenn., Trump said the defendants charged in the Capitol riot were 'having their lives totally destroyed and being treated worse than terrorists and murderers,' claiming that most had been 'charged with parading through the Capitol.'" MB: Maybe that's because they were terrorists & murderers, and they would have murdered more people had their plans worked out.

Glenn Thrush & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could start sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials ratchet up public pressure on the panel to turn over the documents. Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel and a former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days, as the two sides wrangle over the timing and content of the material to be turned over, according to several people familiar with the talks but not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.... 'The select committee is engaged in a cooperative process to address the needs of the Department of Justice,' said a spokesman for the committee, Tim Mulvey. 'We are not inclined to share the details of that publicly....'" (Also linked yesterday.)

** The New York Times reconstructs how the Proud Boys white nationalist group planned, organized and led the January 6 attack on the Capitol:

     ~~~ The code for this video failed quite a few times. If it fails again, you can find the video on this NYT page. It's very much worth watching.

I've decided that I should be on the pardon list. -- John Eastman, email to Rudy Giuliani, January 11, 2021 ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The way [John] Eastman made the request [for a pardon] ... was crucial: ... he indicated in the email to fellow Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani that there was a known 'pardon list' circulating. That suggests that the plotters weighed the possible need for pardons in some considerable measure -- that those who led the effort to overturn the election believed they might have enough legal liability that they floated the extraordinary step of obtaining rare, preemptive presidential pardons.... And while by itself it doesn't constitute an admission of guilt, it fills out a fast-crystallizing picture that those involved in the plot knew that what they were doing was, at the very least, potentially illegal. And in the case of Eastman, there is significant evidence that he knew his plot was indeed illegal."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol." The AP's report is here.

Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN: "Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, ardent election-fraud conspiracy theorist and founder of Cowboys for Trump, avoided more jail time on Friday for his role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. He was sentenced to 14 days with time served, fined $3,000 and given one year supervised release with the requirement that he complete 60 hours of community service.... Griffin, an Otero county commissioner, is still relentlessly pushing claims of election fraud, going as far as refusing to certify the recent primary results in his county, which the Justice Department cited to bolster its argument that Griffin should spend several months in jail.... Friday evening, the Otero County Commission voted 2-1 to certify the results, with Griffin voting 'no.'... Griffin told his colleagues on the county commission that he would return for Joe Biden's inauguration with his revolver and rifle."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Simone Gold, the founder of the anti-vaccine group America's Frontline Doctors, to 60 days in prison for trespassing in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, blasting her for using her legal woes to raise $430,000 for herself and her organization. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper said that Gold, who pleaded guilty in March, failed to show remorse or accept responsibility for her actions during the riot. He noted she had claimed in an interview with The Washington Post that 'where I was was incredibly peaceful,' when video showed that the emergency room physician and Stanford-trained attorney did nothing as a mob she was with dragged a police officer to the ground." Worth reading. Cooper cuts through Gold's lies, hypocrisy & corruption.

Holmes Lybrand & Avery Lotz of CNN: "A January 6, 2021, rioter pleaded guilty Friday to carrying a loaded firearm on US Capitol grounds and assaulting police officers with one of their own batons during the insurrection. Mark Mazza, who told federal investigators he regretted not seeing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the riot and that they would 'be here for another reason' if he had, faces a maximum of 20 years for assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon. According to the plea agreement, Mazza, 57, carried a revolver loaded with shotgun and hollow-point rounds in a holster under his shirt during the "Stop the Steal" rally and on Capitol grounds that day. Republican lawmakers and conservative allies have often falsely claimed that no weapons were brought to the Capitol to argue the attack was not the violent insurrection that it was. Mazza lost the weapon on Capitol grounds sometime before walking to the Lower West Terrace tunnel where rioters were battling police officers, according to the plea."

** The Party of Liars. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The first three hearings of the House Jan. 6 committee have deeply undercut, if not demolished, the postelection myths repeated incessantly by ... Donald J. Trump and his supporters and embraced and amplified by Republicans in Congress.... Yet the most striking revelation so far may be how deeply Mr. Trump's disregard for the truth and the rule of law have penetrated into the Republican Party, taking root in the fertile soil of a right-wing electorate stewing in conspiracy theories and well tended by their media of choice. The Republican response to the hearings -- a combination of indifference, diversion and doubling down -- reflects how central the lie of a stolen election has become to the party's identity. In Washington, Republicans in Congress have neither broken with Mr. Trump nor expended much energy trying to rebut the investigation's findings. And from Nevada's secretary of state race to Michigan's contest for governor, Republican candidates have embraced the fictional conspiracy in their 2022 campaigns." ~~~

~~~ Thomas Zimmer in the Guardian: "The [January 6] committee's core task is to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and what led to it, of course. But everyone who believes in democracy needs to recognize that, in a very concrete sense, there is a continuing insurrection that far surpasses Trump. The committee's strategy ... runs the risk of letting too many people besides Trump off the hook.... The group of people who were deeply complicit in Trump's machinations is a lot bigger than Team Crazy.... If anything, Republicans have actually rallied around Team Trump."

Vimal Patel & Mike Ives of the New York Times: "The police at the United States Capitol have arrested members of a production team for the CBS show 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' who were filming a segment featuring a salty canine puppet [-- Triumph the Insult Comic Dog --] voiced by the comedian Robert Smigel. The Capitol Police said on Friday that they had arrested seven people in a hallway of the Capitol Building on Thursday night, at a time when the building was closed to visitors. The people had been told to leave the building earlier in the day, the police said.... At the time of the arrest, the team had finished prearranged interviews with members of Congress and were filming 'final comedy elements' in the building's hallways for an upcoming segment on 'The Late Show.' The seven people were later charged with unlawful entry...." Politico's story is here. ~~~

Hannah Allam of the Washington Post: "The surge in right-wing hate-mongering against LGBTQ people is spilling into violence, with high-profile attacks this month casting fear over Pride celebrations throughout the country.... The attacks have intensified this month during the first big Pride events since pandemic restrictions were lifted.... In recent days, right-wing politicians and preachers have openly called for killing LGBTQ people. On a conservative talk show, Mark Burns, a Donald Trump-allied congressional candidate from South Carolina, called 'LGBT, transgender grooming' a national security threat and proposed using treason laws as the basis for 'executing' parents and teaches who advocate for LGBTQ rights. In Texas last Sunday, a pastor railed against Pride month and said LGBTQ people 'should be lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That's not "free speech." It's incitment to murder. Authorities should arrest & charge Burns & that "pastor."

Melina Delkic, et al., of the New York Times: "A tumultuous week on Wall Street, which began with stocks plunging into a bear market for the second time during the pandemic, ended with a small gain on Friday. That was little comfort after a brutal period for investors, who have seen the value of their portfolios and retirement funds lurch downward. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent on Friday but finished the week with a loss of 5.8 percent, its 10th decline in the past 11 weeks and its worst weekly performance since March 2020 -- when stocks crashed as the coronavirus spread around the world and investors feared for the global economy. This time the selling was fueled by persistently high inflation, which erodes people's spending power and puts a dent in corporate profits, and the growing sense that the Federal Reserve's efforts to beat it back with higher interest rates will choke growth."

Matthew Daly of the AP: "A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup does not pose a serious health risk and is 'not likely' to cause cancer in humans. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reexamine its 2020 finding that glyphosate did not pose a health risk for people exposed to it by any means -- on farms, yards or roadsides or as residue left on food crops. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the world. Pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which acquired the herbicide's original producer Monsanto in 2018, is facing thousands of claims from people who say Roundup exposure caused their cancer."

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

Lauren Gardner & Katherine Foley of Politico: "The FDA on Friday authorized two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in babies, toddlers and preschool-age children, setting the stage for the country's youngest kids to begin receiving shots as soon as next week. The agency's action came two days after its independent advisory panel on vaccines unanimously voted to recommend EUAs for Moderna's and Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccines, which can be administered to children as young as six months." (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Ron DeSantis Makes Sure You Know He's Still an Irresponsible Jerk. Renzo Downey of Florida Politics: McClatchy News & the White House indicated the DeSantis administration had changed course & now -- like every other state -- was allowing doctors to order vaccines for the youngest children. "Despite federal officials detailing that Florida providers can now accept orders during the standard ordering phase, DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told Florida Politics Florida did not change course. 'The White House (Press Secretary) and (McClatchyDC) are both spreading disinformation. NOTHING has "reversed" or changed. The State of Florida is not placing any orders of (COVID-19) shots for 0-5 year old babies and kids,' Pushaw tweeted. Florida Department of Health (DOH) Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern similarly told Florida Politics the story is false and that nothing has changed.... Although individual providers can order vaccines, Florida is not directing state and public health departments to administer vaccines to children. 'This will specifically leave the most vulnerable underserved children of Florida behind,' [White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Ashish] Jha said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan Gubernatorial Race. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: The Republican primary race for governor is a "circus." "One of the Republican candidates, Ryan Kelley, was charged with four misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6 attack on the same day that the House committee investigating the attack opened a landmark series of public hearings. He became the first person running for election in a major state or federal race to be charged in connection with the attack.... Mr. Kelley, a real estate broker who made headlines in 2020 for organizing an armed protest against pandemic lockdown measures at the Michigan Statehouse, said that since the arrest..., he was 'pretty sure' the arrest 'just won me the primary.' Mr. Kelley had edged out a lead over the five candidates who remain on the ballot, according to the Detroit Free Press/EPIC-MRA poll, though not a substantial one.... The best-known candidates ... were among ... five candidates ... dropped from the Aug. 2 ballot because of forged signatures on their nominating petitions." Politico's story is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The United States hopes the West's upcoming surge of military assistance to Ukraine -- along with Russia's increasing isolation on the world stage -- will drain ... Vladimir Putin's will to fight. The danger of Russia swallowing its neighbor and pursuing other revanchist ambitions is so high that Biden administration officials said they are willing to risk the global economic turmoil that could accompany a protracted war. In the devastated eastern city of Severodonetsk, street fighting continued Saturday, along with Russian airstrikes targeting bridges, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said. A complete cease-fire is needed to facilitate the evacuation of 568 people trapped in a chemical plant there, regional authorities said.... A former U.S. soldier who disappeared in Ukraine is alive, according to his family members, who have seen a video of him taken after he was believed to have been captured by Russian forces."~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here.

June 17, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Glenn Thrush & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could start sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials ratchet up public pressure on the panel to turn over the documents. Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel and a former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days, as the two sides wrangle over the timing and content of the material to be turned over, according to several people familiar with the talks but not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.... 'The select committee is engaged in a cooperative process to address the needs of the Department of Justice,' said a spokesman for the committee, Tim Mulvey. 'We are not inclined to share the details of that publicly....'"

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

Florida. Ron DeSantis Makes Sure You Know He's Still an Irresponsible Jerk. Renzo Downey of Florida Politics: McClatchy News & the White House indicated the DeSantis administration had changed course & now -- like every other state -- was allowing doctors to order vaccines for the youngest children. "Despite federal officials detailing that Florida providers can now accept orders during the standard ordering phase, DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told Florida Politics Florida did not change course. 'The White House (Press Secretary) and (McClatchyDC) are both spreading disinformation. NOTHING has "reversed" or changed. The State of Florida is not placing any orders of (COVID-19) shots for 0-5 year old babies and kids,' Pushaw tweeted. Florida Department of Health (DOH) Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern similarly told Florida Politics the story is false and that nothing has changed.... Although individual providers can order vaccines, Florida is not directing state and public health departments to administer vaccines to children. 'This will specifically leave the most vulnerable underserved children of Florida behind,' [White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Ashish] Jha said."

Lauren Gardner & Katherine Foley of Politico: "The FDA on Friday authorized two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in babies, toddlers and preschool-age children, setting the stage for the country's youngest kids to begin receiving shots as soon as next week. The agency's action came two days after its independent advisory panel on vaccines unanimously voted to recommend EUAs for Moderna's and Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccines, which can be administered to children as young as six months."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Trump Sicced Mob on Pence. Luke Broadwater & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump continued pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to go along with a plan to unilaterally overturn his election defeat even after he was told it was illegal, according to testimony laid out in extensive detail on Thursday by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. The committee showed how Mr. Trump's pressure campaign -- aided by a little-known conservative lawyer, John Eastman -- led his supporters to storm the Capitol, sending Mr. Pence fleeing for his life as rioters demanded his execution. In the third public hearing this month..., the panel recounted how Mr. Trump's actions brought the nation to the brink of a constitutional crisis, and raised fresh questions about whether they were also criminal. It played videotaped testimony in which Mr. Pence's top White House lawyer, Greg Jacob, said Mr. Eastman had admitted in front of Mr. Trump two days before the riot that his plan to have Mr. Pence obstruct the electoral certification violated the law. Following the riot, Mr. Eastman sought a pardon after being informed by one of Mr. Trump's top White House lawyers that he had criminal exposure for hatching the scheme, according to an email displayed by the committee.... Knowing his supporters were attacking the Capitol with the vice president inside, [Trump] tweeted a public condemnation of him, further whipping up a crowd chanting 'Hang Mike Pence!'" Emphasis added. An AP report is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "An angry mob with baseball bats and pepper spray chanting 'hang Mike Pence' came within 40 feet of the vice president. Mr. Pence's Secret Service detail had to hustle him to safety and hold him for nearly five hours in the bowels of the Capitol. Mr. Trump called Mr. Pence a 'wimp' and worse [MB: 'worse' being 'pussy'] in a coarse and abusive call that morning from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump's daughter and former White House aides testified. And a confidential witness who traveled to Washington with the Proud Boys, the most prominent of the far-right groups that helped lead the assault on the Capitol, later told investigators the group would have killed Mr. Pence -- and Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- if they got the chance."~~~

     ~~~ A Vox report, by Li Zhou, elaborates on the Trump's "pussy" phone call to pence, which took place the morning of January 6.

NPR has a full transcript of the hearing. You can watch the full hearing on the committee's website.

Marie: All of the fact witnesses so far have been Republicans, and the vast majority of them are or were Trumpists from Trump World's inner sanctum. Their sworn testimony often tends to play down Trump's bad acts. So the hearings are by no means a product of a bunch of rabid, partisan Democrats making false charges about a wonderful, wonderful president*. When it comes to Trumpbots, however, it remains to be seen if the truth will set them free. I suppose many who bother to watch the hearings are doing so to make their lists of "RINO traitors."

Violence Was of the Essence of the Scheme. Marie: Here's a nugget from [Broadwater & Schmidt's] report, linked above: "'You're going to cause riots in the streets [if your plan succeeds],' Eric Herschmann, a White House counsel, testified that he told Mr. Eastman. In videotaped testimony, he said Mr. Eastman had responded: 'There's been violence in the history of our country to protect the democracy or protect the Republic.'" That is, Eastman admitted that mass violence was an expected and acceptable result of the plan. So we should hardly be surprised that violence also was acceptable to his co-conspirator Donald Trump, and if that violence led to the assassination of his own vice president, well, pence "deserved it." A president's main job is to defend the nation. The gangster/sociopath-in-chief did the opposite. ~~~

     ~~~ Ned Foley in Election Law Blog: "It is simply astonishing how far removed from any sense of principle, legitimacy, or moral compass Eastman became. Was the worst moment when Eastman was told that his plan would cause violence in the streets and he was still undeterred?"

Matt Shuham of TPM: "In Thursday's Jan. 6 Committee hearing, former Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel Greg Jacob recalled the moment when Donald Trump's top election theft advisor, John Eastman, admitted that even he didn't believe his plot to steal Trump a second term was legitimate.... Eastman had in fact doubted the plan for months, the committee revealed. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) ... pulled up a draft letter to Trump from October 2020, in which someone had proposed the idea that Pence could determine which electors to count at the joint session of Congress. Eastman had written a comment on that letter ... saying of the Twelfth Amendment, 'Nowhere does it suggest that the president of the Senate gets to make the determination on his own.' That's not all: In a meeting that included both Trump and Pence on Jan. 4, Jacob recalled Eastman acknowledging that his proposals violated the Electoral Count Act. 'But he thought that we could do so because, in his view, the Electoral Count Act was unconstitutional,' Jacob recalled. 'When I raised concerns that that position would likely lose in court, his view was that the courts simply wouldn't get involved. They would invoke the political question doctrine, and therefore we could have some comfort proceeding with that path.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The twisted "logic" here is impressive. Trump & Eastman plan to overturn the election by relying on a law they concurrently plan to break because Eastman thinks the law is unconstitutional.

Let's Ask Mikey! Tim Miller of the Bulwark: "Now don't get me wrong, [Mike Pence] does deserve recognition for his actions on January 6. He should definitely be awarded a very special cookie or be given a gold star for carrying out the bare minimum constitutional requirement of his office at a time when his boss and his supporters were pressuring him to shirk that responsibility. He also deserves credit for being stalwart in the face of legitimate physical danger.... But ... amidst all of this lavish praise of Pence [at Thursday's hearing], and the compelling, if fawning, testimony from his own counsel, Greg Jacob, the proceedings felt like they had a phantom limb.... Shouldn't [Mike Pence] testify, under oath, about the events of January 6? Don't we deserve to hear from Pence what his conversations with Trump were like in the lead-up to that day? Shouldn't he tell us the ways in which the president abdicated his responsibility to help protect the Capitol and everyone within it as the mob descended?"

The New York Times live-updated developments related to Thursday's January 6 committee hearing: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans on Thursday to present new details of the intense pressure campaign ... Donald J. Trump and the conservative lawyer John Eastman waged against Vice President Mike Pence to try to get him to overturn the election, which the panel says directly contributed to the violent siege of Congress." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Thursday's January 6 committee hearing will begin at 1pm ET.... Retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig, a Republican who is testifying at Thursday's January 6 committee hearing, will provide a sharp condemnation of ... Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, saying Trump and his allies 'instigated' a war on democracy 'so that he could cling to power,' according to a written statement he intends to submit for the committee's record obtained exclusively by CNN. Luttig outlined in his statement how close he believed democracy came to the brink." A printout of Luttig's prepared statement, via CNN, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Tensions between the US justice department and the House of Representatives January 6 select committee have escalated after federal prosecutors complained that their inability to access witness transcripts was hampering criminal investigations into rioters who stormed the Capitol.... 'The select committee's failure to grant the department access to these transcripts complicates the department's ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the January 6 attack on the Capitol', [wrote the US attorney for Washington Matthew Graves]."

Robert Barnes & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Each day seems to bring a new controversy for the [Supreme Court], and Thursday's was additional revelations about Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas, the wife of the court's longest-serving member, Justice Clarence Thomas.... Ginni Thomas indicated to a conservative media outlet Thursday she would comply with the [January 6] committee's request for information. 'I can't wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them,' Thomas told the Daily Caller.... The outcry over the court comes at the precise moment it wants to project a unified, or at least collegial, front. Instead, the court appears 'deeply unsettled,' in the words of Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe.... [Justice Sonia] Sotomayor said [in an interview] the court had the chance to lead the way to 'regain public confidence' in institutions. She went out of her way to praise her relationship with Thomas." ~~~

     ~~~ A Guardian story on Justice Sotomayor's remarks is here.

Andrew Solender of Axios: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack plans to seek testimony from conservative activist Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the panel's chair said Thursday.... 'We think it's time that we, at some point, invite her to come talk to the committee,' Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters." See related NYT report by Broadwater & Haberman & WashPo report by Alemany, et al., both linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The main effect of ... years of Republican scandal mongering was to produce a cloud of suspicion and mistrust that helped to undermine [President] Obama's preferred successor as president, as well as to shield Trump, as the 2016 Republican nominee, from the kind of scrutiny that might have made him more vulnerable.... It is with this knowledge in mind that Democrats in Washington should do something about Ginni Thomas.... 'Thomas's efforts to overturn the election were more extensive than previously known,' The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.... But if the first revelation, of Thomas's correspondence with [Mark] Meadows, was shocking, then these revelations of Thomas's contact with [John] Eastman are explosive. And it raises key questions, not just about what Ginni Thomas knew, but about what Clarence Thomas knew as well.... Democratic leaders in Congress should launch an investigation into Ginni Thomas's activities and announce that they intend to speak to her husband as well." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not saying Bouie's advice is bad; in fact, it sounds good to me. Now just how do you spell "hi-teck linching"? I suspect those will be the first three words we hear from Clarence Thomas and I need to be ready.

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "A Nebraska man pleaded guilty Thursday on charges that he threatened an election official over social media last year, marking the first conviction for a Justice Department task force charged with protecting poll workers. Federal authorities said Travis Ford, 42, of Lincoln, Neb., posted multiple hostile messages on an Instagram page associated with the official, who was not named in a Justice Department news release."

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: “Walmart said it pulled MyPillow products from its stores as the pillow company's founder and CEO Mike Lindell continues to falsely claim the 2020 presidential election was rigged against former President Trump.... 'While we are no longer carrying them in stores, MyPillow products continue to be available on Walmart.com,' a Walmart spokesperson told The Hill." Lindall complained Walmart had "cancelled" him. Marie: Well, isn't that special? You no longer have to look at Mike's crap pillows when you walk into a store, but you can still buy them!

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in.

Washington Post Editors: "The scandal that ended in President Richard M. Nixon's resignation from office helped shape our modern politics, reforming the government, revitalizing the press and redefining the parties. Now, the country confronts another generation-defining crisis, and events half a century old feel as relevant as if they happened yesterday.... Yet most members of [today's] GOP appear afraid to utter a word against the ex-president, who continues to hold their party in his grip. Worse still, most refuse to engage at all in this truth-seeking effort, or even to put much stock in the concept of truth itself.... [Decades ago] enough people -- from those in the chambers of Congress to those in any spot in the country near a television set or a newsroom desk -- cared 50 years ago to make government work again when it appeared to have broken. The worst mistake anyone can make today is to give up on it because it has broken again."

Hannah Natanson & Moriah Balingit of the Washington Post: "... more than 160 educators ... were either fired or resigned their jobs in the past two academic years due to the culture wars that are roiling many of the nation's schools, according to a Washington Post analysis of news reports.... The teachers included in the analysis all lost their employment when hot-button cultural, racial, political or pandemic issues intersected with their ability to teach, either because the teacher sought to address controversial topics in the classroom or because administrators took issue with the teacher's views as expressed inside or outside the classroom.... Educators fear conditions will only worsen as lawmakers seek to regulate how teachers talk about any number of issues, including politics, race, history, gender identity and sexuality, creating a new basis to push teachers out. In some cases, the authors of education-related bills and laws have used vague, broad and unclear wording, leading to widespread concern that teachers may unintentionally run afoul of the law."

Jamie Grierson & Ben Quinn of the Guardian: Britain's home secretary "Priti Patel has approved the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US, a decision the organisation immediately said it would appeal against in the high court. The case passed to the home secretary last month after the supreme court ruled there were no legal questions over assurances given by US authorities over how Assange was likely to be treated.... The Australian is being held at Belmarsh prison in London after a lengthy battle to avoid being extradited."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Benjamin Mullin & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "USA Today said on Thursday that it had removed 23 articles from its website after an investigation into a reporter's work revealed sources that appeared to be fabricated. The internal investigation, which took place over a period of several weeks, began after USA Today received an inquiry related to the veracity of details in an article by Gabriela Miranda, who was a breaking news reporter at USA Today. Ms. Miranda resigned from USA Today recently, as the investigation progressed, according to a person briefed on the inquiry.... [According to a note posted on USA Today's website,] 'The audit revealed that some individuals quoted were not affiliated with the organizations claimed and appeared to be fabricated. The existence of other individuals quoted could not be independently verified. In addition, some stories included quotes that should hav been credited to others.'"

Peter Marks of the Washington Post: "The country is at long last training a spotlight on an unsung World War II unit of Black women, with Congress bestowing its highest honor on them -- and with a new musical on the way, too, to sing about their astonishing story. They were the 855 members of the Women's Army Corps' 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion sent overseas during the war. A handful, ages 98 to 102, are still alive. And though none could make it to an emotional ceremony on Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery, dozens of their sons, daughters and grandchildren were on hand to celebrate their courage and reflect on their trailblazing achievements as women of color.... As the audience was told by Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis R. McDonough, it was a direct result of their success that President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military in 1948.... [At the ceremony,] actor Blair Underwood, executive producer of 'Six Triple Eight -- The Musical,' introduced the creative team before a video of a song from the show was played."

Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "SpaceX, the private rocket company, on Thursday fired employees who helped write and distribute an open letter criticizing the behavior of chief executive Elon Musk, said three employees with knowledge of the situation. Some SpaceX employees began circulating the letter, which denounced Mr. Musk's activity on Twitter, on Wednesday. The letter called the billionaire's public behavior and tweeting 'a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment' and asked the company to rein him in."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "A congressional deal for billions of dollars in additional coronavirus funding appeared all but dead Thursday after Senate Republicans accused the White House of being dishonest about the nation's pandemic funding needs. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who brought the Senate close to a bipartisan $10 billion covid funding deal in March, said the Biden administration had provided 'patently false' information about its inability to buy additional vaccines, treatments and supplies.... 'I hope that there's an appreciation that for the administration to say they could not purchase [anti-Covid supplies], and then after several months, divert some funds and then purchase them is unacceptable, and makes our ability to work together .. very much shaken to the core.' Biden officials said last week they had no choice but to repurpose about $10 billion from other covid priorities, such as testing, to purchase more coronavirus vaccines and treatments, since Congress had not been able to reach agreement. In interviews Thursday, three administration officials insisted that the White House had been transparent about their needs and spending, and that Republicans had continually found new reasons to object to the efforts to secure additional covid funds." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Biden officials are right. Republicans force the administration to rob Peter to pay Paul, then claim there was plenty of money all along. That's like your saying, correctly, "I can't pay the rent," then you do pay it instead of putting food on the table. Mitch proves his GOP creds by showing off his duplicity.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Eliza Fawcett of the New York Times: "... a lawsuit filed last week by a South Florida synagogue challenges new legislation in the state banning most abortions after 15 weeks, saying it violates the State Constitution's right to privacy and freedom of religion. In Jewish law, the suit argues, 'abortion is required if necessary to protect the health, mental or physical well-being of the woman.' The lawsuit, filed by Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor, a progressive synagogue in Palm Beach County not affiliated with a broader denomination, may face an uphill climb in court. But it is a reminder that abortion poses religious issues beyond those of the Christian right. And it suggests potential legal issues that could surface at a time when Roe seems likely to be overturned, and the Supreme Court has been aggressively open to a wider role for religion in public and political life."

Georgia. Herschel Walker Has a Lot of Children. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker (R) has confirmed that he has a third son and an adult daughter, a revelation that comes just a day after his campaign acknowledged he had a second son previously unknown to the public. In a statement from his campaign to The Hill, Walker acknowledged he had four children total: one son with his first wife, Cindy Deangelis Grossman, and three other children reportedly with other women, according to the Daily Beast. 'I have four children. Three sons and a daughter. They're not "undisclosed" -- they're my kids. I support them all and love them all,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan Gubernatorial Race. Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press: "Republican candidate for governor Ryan Kelley will have to surrender his guns while awaiting trial on misdemeanor criminal charges related to the U.S. Capitol riot, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather made the ruling over objections from Kelley's attorney that Kelley needs to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense during campaign appearances around the state."

Montana. Governor MIA. Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post: "Montana National Guard soldiers are deployed around the Yellowstone region, where they say they have rescued dozens of people from this week's severe floods and ushered travelers along ravaged roads. The FEMA administrator is now in the state, surveying the destruction. Montana Red Cross officials are operating evacuation centers across the area. But one key figure is not on the ground at this historic disaster: Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R). Gianforte's office has said he left for a personal trip outside of the country with his wife before heavy rains deluged southwest Montana.... Gianforte's spokeswoman has declined to disclose his whereabouts or specify when the Republican will return.... Lt. Gov Kristen Juras, signed a statewide declaration of disaster, as well as a letter to the White House Wednesday requesting a presidential declaration of major disaster. That letter, which cites Montana's need for federal assistance for infrastructure repairs and other immediate needs, referred to Juras as 'acting governor.'... In a statement on Thursday, Gianforte announced that he had 'secured' a major disaster declaration from President Biden...." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Marie: Several fairly schlocky sources, like the Daily Mail, report that Greggers & Spouse are vacationing in Tuscany. In fairness to Greg, maybe he couldn't get home because he was drunk on a nice chianti. ~~~

New York Congressional Race. Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "New York Republican congressional candidate Carl Paladino told a radio host in late 2016 that Black Americans were kept 'dumb and hungry' so they could be conditioned to only vote for the Democratic Party, saying, 'You can't teach them differently.' Paladino, then a Buffalo school board member, was defending himself against allegations that previous comments he made were racist and said he cared about Black people, but they had been conditioned to be a base for the Democrats." MB: Maybe Southerners will be happy to know that their neck of the woods doesn't have a corner on flagrant racism.

Texas AG: God Wanted a Maniac to Mow Down Your Children with an AR-15. David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement: "The Uvalde school shooting last month that cost 19 young children and two teachers their lives was God's plan, says Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. 'Life is short,' Paxton told radio host and pastor Trey Graham, who had asked the Attorney General what he would say to 'give a little comfort' to the parents of the elementary school students slaughtered by an 18-year-old with two AR-15 style assault weapons." MB: This is not even a Christian view. It's clear from the New Testament that God (and. by extension, Jesus) are in a constant battle with the devil. See, for instance, the Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-13). The Hebrew God is not as omnipotent as Kenny-Boy asserts. Sometimes the devil wins. Seems to me the devil has a pretty good hold of Ken.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania for their Thursday visit to Kyiv -- the first trip to the capital by some of Europe's most influential politicians since the Russian invasion.... The leaders also offered coveted backing for Ukraine's candidacy to join the European Union. France pledged six additional howitzers -- key to the artillery battle against Russia in the east -- while Romania offered to facilitate the transport of Ukrainian goods such as grain through its territory. Conditions across the country remain bleak.... Amid the devastation, however, Britain's top uniformed officer told reporters Kyiv's forces had inflicted so much damage on the invader that Russia would 'never take control of Ukraine.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here: "The European Commission recommended on Friday that Ukraine be granted candidate status in the country's bid to become a member of the European Union, the first formal step in a process that normally lasts longer than a decade. It also recommended a similar status for Moldova -- which applied for membership to the bloc soon after Ukraine, spurred by concerns about Russia's threats in the region -- but not for neighboring Georgia, which was deemed not ready for E.U. candidacy." (Note: at 8:20 am ET, this is the top item on the liveblog. It will likely move down the page later in the day.)

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here.

Loveday Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the European Union's three largest economies on Thursday said they were backing Ukraine's candidacy to join the 27-member bloc, a move that President Volodymyr Zelensky has fiercely advocated as his country loses ground in the face of Russia's invasion. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi pledged the backing after traveling by overnight train to Kyiv. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is also visiting Kyiv to meet with Zelensky, accompanied them. 'We are at a turning point in our history' said Draghi, calling the visit 'an unequivocal confirmation of our support.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Katrin Bennhold & Melissa Eddy of the New York Times: "As the leaders of Europe's three biggest economies appeared in Kyiv on Thursday to send a message of support to Ukraine..., Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had his own message for them: Don't forget, your industries are at my mercy. With inflation already near a 40-year high, gas prices surged further as Russia cut flows to Europe's most important natural gas pipeline for the second day in a row on Thursday. Germany, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic all reported shortfalls. Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas giant, said repairs were to blame for the squeeze. But European officials openly accused Mr. Putin of using energy supplies as a weapon, burying any last shred of the notion that, on energy at least, Moscow was a reliable partner."

Iran. David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Israeli and American intelligence officials have been watching each day as Iran digs a vast tunnel network just south of the Natanz nuclear production site, in what they believe is Tehran's biggest effort yet to construct new nuclear facilities so deep in the mountains that they can withstand bunker-busting bombs and cyberattacks. Though the construction is evident on satellite photographs and has been monitored by groups that track the proliferation of new nuclear facilities, Biden administration officials have never talked about it in public and Israel's defense minister has mentioned it just once, in a single sentence in a speech last month."

News Lede

New York Times: “An assailant opened fire at a church in Alabama on Thursday evening, killing two people and wounding one other, the authorities said. A suspect was in custody after the shooting, at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, a city of around 34,000 people about six miles south of Birmingham, said Capt. Shane Ware of the Vestavia Hills Police Department." An NBC News story is here.