The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Tuesday
Mar012022

March 2, 2022

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "... fierce Ukrainian resistance continued to deny the Kremlin the easy victory it had anticipated, even as Russian forces advanced in the south while edging closer to a capital buffeted by fear. They were also intensifying the indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets, potentially altering the war's dynamics by increasing the human toll. The Russian military was bearing down on several Ukrainian cities, including Kherson, a port near the Black Sea, whose capture would mark the first major city to come under full control of President Vladimir V. Putin's forces since the invasion began last Thursday. Russia claims it is fully in control of the city, but Ukrainian officials said the municipal government was still in place. Neither claim could be independently verified."

OPEC Takes Advantage of a Crisis. Stanley Reed of the New York Times: "With the price of a barrel of oil soaring, the group of oil producers known as OPEC Plus declined to take steps to cool the market at its monthly meeting on Wednesday. In a statement that had surreal qualities given the surging prices in recent weeks, the group, which includes Russia, said current fundamentals and the outlook for the future pointed 'to a well-balanced market.'"

** William Saletan of the Bulwark contrasts President Biden's vision of the U.S., as laid out in his SOTU speech, with Donald Trump's views, expressed in his CPAC speech and other recent remarks.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Republicans like [Gov. Kim] Reynolds [Iowa] want to align the GOP with Ukraine while burying the GOP's record of apologizing for Trump's embrace of Putin throughout the Ukraine scandal.... Long before Reynolds was tapped [to give the GOP response to the SOTU address], she offered [an] absurd whitewashing of Trump's appalling corruption, which was only one of an extensive series of official acts that aligned with Putin's interests against those of Ukraine, the West and democracy."

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will begin on March 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday, a timetable that could put President Biden's first pick for the nation's most influential court on track to be confirmed by mid-April. The announcement came as Jackson, currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, began her gauntlet of one-on-one meetings with key senators. She sat down Wednesday morning with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and was scheduled to meet later in the day with Judiciary Committee chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and the panel's top Republican, Charles E. Grassley (Iowa)."

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House unveiled a new pandemic road map on Wednesday that calls for better surveillance of new variants and dispensing antiviral pills 'on the spot' when someone tests positive, but rules out school and business closings. The plan was released hours after President Biden announced a pandemic reset in his State of the Union address, asserting that the wide availability of vaccines and therapeutics had made the threats more manageable, while taking pains to avoid last summer's premature victory lap. The 96-page road map is part of a broader White House strategy to move the country from crisis footing and convince Americans that their lives can return to normal amid the president's tanking approval ratings and Democratic anxiety that nosediving cases and school reopenings have not buoyed a dyspeptic public."

North Carolina. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: William "Spivey, the former police chief in Chadbourn, N.C., who has been charged with more than 70 felonies, went boating on the [Lumber R]iver ... and had left a note ... indicating he wanted to die by suicide, [his wife Eve] Waddell told [Columbus County] detectives. But the boat, which was afloat, was empty, the authorities learned, and Mr. Spivey ... was missing.... Shortly after midnight on Feb. 24, the authorities said they found Mr. Spivey, 36, hiding near an apartment complex in Loris, S.C., and charged him with obstruction of justice for staging his death.... Last spring, Mr. Spivey was charged with ... stealing or destroying evidence, embezzlement and opioid trafficking, stemming from his time as the police chief in Chadbourn, a town of 1,500 people about 120 miles south of Raleigh. [Jon] David, the district attorney [for three counties], said that Mr. Spivey repeatedly raided the department's evidence room, stealing drugs and thousands of dollars. He also stole firearms and sold them to friends and relatives, Mr. David said." And more! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

~~~~~~~~~

State of the Union Address:

     ~~~ Here's a transcript of the prepared speech, via the White House.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Appearing before a joint session of Congress at a fraught moment in modern history, [President] Biden called for a united resistance to defend the international order endangered by Russian aggression and warned the oligarchs who bolster Mr. Putin's regime that he would seize their luxury yachts and private jets.... While the guns of Europe overshadowed the political disputes at home that have weighed down his presidency, Mr. Biden sought to use his first formal State of the Union address to persuade glum Americans that the country is making impressive progress containing the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the economy. ~~~

~~~ [Girls Behaving Badly.] "... the discord of today's politics erupted in the House chamber in ways that would have once been unthinkable. When Mr. Biden talked about immigration reform, Representative Lauren Boebert, a far-right Republican from Colorado given to angry spectacle and conspiracies, tried to start a 'build the wall' chant but was joined only by a like-minded colleague, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia. Later in the speech, when Mr. Biden was paying tribute to American troops in flag-draped coffins, Ms. Boebert interrupted again. 'You put them in -- 13 of them!' she shouted...." MB: According to the WashPo report, linked below, "Democrats began booing and one shouted, 'Kick her out!'" ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report, by Maegan Vazquez, is here.

Matt Viser & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The House chamber was filled with blue and yellow hues, with women in dresses and scarfs and with men wearing bright ties and ribbons on their lapels, honoring the colors of the Ukrainian flag and providing an evocative image of the type of American support that President Biden highlighted in his remarks.... In a country that has few unifying moments, members from both sides of the aisle repeatedly stood and applauded together in support of Ukraine, or when he announced that the United States was closing its airspace to Russian planes.... But despite the opening moments of unity for an ally under attack and the waning presence of the pandemic in the chamber, the political tensions and fissures in the nation were still evident.... Sen. Joe Manchin III, the conservative Democrat from West Virginia who has derailed some of the Biden administration's top priorities, sat on the Republican side."

Aamer Madhani & Josh Boak of the AP report their takeaways from President Biden's SOTU address.

"We're Going to Be OK." Jonathan Lemire of Politico: "President Joe Biden unfurled a resolute defense of democracy in his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, declaring that the United States would act as a leader for the free world as it rallies with Ukraine against a brutal Russian invasion. With a war raging an ocean away, Biden vowed that the United States would emerge from years of division and disease to protect and expand freedoms at home and abroad."

New York Times reporters liveblogged the SOTU. Prior to the address, the Times has printed excerpts from the President's prepared remarks. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here.

Zeke Miller & Colleen Long of the AP: "President Joe Biden will vow to make Vladimir Putin 'pay a price' for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in his first State of the Union address, rallying allies abroad while also outlining his plans at home to fight inflation and the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.In addition to recounting U.S. and allied economic sanctions against Russia, Biden planned to announce that the U.S. is following Canada and the European Union in banning Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with his remarks[.]"

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States and the whistle-blower who exposed Facebook documents about the company's handling of misinformation will be among President Biden's guests in the House chamber during the State of the Union address, White House officials said Tuesday. Ambassador Oksana Markarova and nine other guests will be seated in the first lady Jill Biden's box, officials said...." MB: A slap in the face to Mark Zuckerberg, to be a villain called out in the same breath as the barbarous warmonger Vladimir Putin.

A Snide, Screechy, Whiney, "Rebuttal." Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa delivered a scathing Republican rebuke of President Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday, casting his presidency as an unwanted remake of 'That '70s Show,' complete with 'runaway inflation,' rampant crime and a rampaging 'Soviet army.' Ms. Reynolds, who was chosen by Republican Senate leadership to deliver the party's official response, portrayed the populist revolt against mask mandates and remote learning as a 'pro-parent, pro-family revolution,' hoping to harness the backlash ahead of this year's midterm elections. The governor, who has been in that office since 2017, used her address to preview themes, poll-tested and echoed by conservatives on social media, that are likely to be repeated by Republican candidates across the country as they seek to seize control of Congress two years after the party lost the White House and Senate. That included stoking fears that the Biden administration -- and Democrats -- want to control what children can learn in school and whether parents should have a say."

The Protest That Wasn't. Zachary Petrizzo of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "Only a handful of protesters inspired by anti-vaccine mandate trucker convoys in Canada showed up in the nation's capital Tuesday afternoon for the 'Stage of Freedom' event near the Washington Monument. Despite the initial hefty estimate that upwards of 3,000 attendees would show, only 12 rally-goers had actually assembled for the gathering just hours ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday evening. The right-wing rally's organizer, MMA fighter and Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Kyle Sefcik, opened the event -- where press and police massively outnumbered protesters -- by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before launching into a lengthy speech mixing shameless self-promotion with grievances aimed at the truckers who didn't show up."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's Crimes Against Humanity

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces continued their deadly assault on key Ukrainian cities early Wednesday, prompting some locals officials to warn that their cities were near the breaking point. Russian tanks entered the Black Sea port of Kherson, where the mayor said the city was 'waiting for a miracle' to stay out of enemy hands. As Russia faced stiff resistance from Ukrainian military and civilian defenders throughout the country, the capital, Kyiv, endured overnight attacks, according to military analysts. A massive convoy of Russian tanks and combat vehicles remained stalled about 20 miles north of the city's center as the invading force grappled with fuel and food shortages." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Where Have All the Young Men Gone? Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Moscow may be losing [as many as 400] soldiers daily in [Vladimir] Putin’s latest invasion of Ukraine, American and European officials said. The mounting toll for Russian troops exposes a potential weakness for the Russian president at a time when he is still claiming, publicly, that he is engaged only in a limited military operation in Ukraine’s separatist east.... The bodies of Russian soldiers have been left in areas surrounding Kharkiv. Videos and photos on social media show charred remains of tanks and armored vehicles, their crews dead or wounded.... Ukraine has said its forces have killed more than 5,300 Russian troops.... One American official put the Russian losses as of Monday at 2,000, an estimate with which two European officials concurred.... For a comparison, nearly 2,500 American troops were killed in Afghanistan over 20 years of war. For Mr. Putin, the rising death toll could damage any remaining domestic support for his Ukrainian endeavors."

Daniel Uria of UPI: "Ukrainian forces foiled a plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky amid Russia's invasion of the country, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council chief Oleksiy Danilov said Tuesday. Danilov announced that a unit of Chechen special forces sent to assassinate Zelensky was 'eliminated' after the president had warned last week that Russian 'sabotage groups' had entered the nation's capital, Kyiv, and were hunting for him and his family.... Danilov said Ukraine received intelligence about the assassination plot from Russian Federal Security Service -- or FSB -- agents who oppose the war."

Jeff Stein & Yeganeh Torbati of the Washington Post: "Senior Biden administration officials are preparing to dramatically expand the number of Russian oligarchs subject to U.S. sanctions, aiming to punish the financial elite close to President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, according to three people briefed on internal administration deliberations. Officials at the White House and Treasury Department are working on producing a list of names that is expected to overlap in part with the lineup of Russian oligarchs who were newly subjected to sanctions by the European Union on Monday, the people said.... America's sanctions are expected to be more complicated than those imposed by the E.U., targeting not just the individuals but also their family members and companies they own...."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: Vladimir Putin "is betting that division within the United States will sap American resolve and thereby sow disunity between the United States and European democracies -- allowing him to crush Ukraine's democracy and potentially others. And Republicans are giving him what he wants. They are so determined to see President Biden fail that they would let President Putin succeed.... [As Biden spoke of unity during his SOTU speech,] Republican lawmakers sniped at him on Twitter. 'Joe Biden sought to appease Vladimir Putin from the very beginning,' wrote Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). 'Biden is empowering our enemies.'" And so forth. MB: Cruz's charge, of course, is insane, especially given Donald Trump's long history of fawning over Putin. But lies are of the essence of their scheme. ~~~

~~~ Say, Let's Ask John Bolton. Cameron Joseph of Vice: "Former President Trump's top national security adviser thinks his old boss did 'a lot of damage' to U.S.-Ukraine relations during his time in office -- and emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said Trump's delay of military aid to Ukraine in 2019, as he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, made clear to Putin exactly how little Trump cared about Ukraine.... Bolton spoke with VICE News about his experiences within the Trump administration as Trump bullied Zelensyy, the impact that had on Ukraine's ability to deter or fight off an invasion, and his thoughts on Trump recently calling Putin a 'genius.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "In an interview on right-wing Website Newsmax, "Former national security adviser John Bolton pushed back against the idea that former President Trump's behavior discouraged Russian military aggression while he was in office, saying, 'It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians.'... [Bolton] claimed the former president did not know where Ukraine was on a map and said he believed Russia did not take more aggressive actions while Trump was in office because Russia 'didn't feel that their military was ready.... The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was. He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia." MB: Finland, of course, is nowhere near Ukraine.

Ilya Marritz of ProPublica: "... Russia has been working for years to influence and undermine the independence of ... [Ukraine]. As it happens, some Americans have played a role in that effort. One was ... Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Another was Trump's then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani." Marritz outlines what Manafort & Giuliani did.

From the New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine, also linked early yesterday: "Africans who had been living in Ukraine say they were stuck for days at crossings into neighboring European Union countries, huddling in the cold without food or shelter, held up by Ukrainian authorities who pushed them to the ends of long lines and even beat them, while letting Ukrainians through.... Plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages, some Russian troops in Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. Some entire Russian units have laid down their arms without a fight after confronting surprisingly stiff Ukrainian defense, the official said.*... The United Nations appealed on Tuesday for some $1.7 billion to aid millions of victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and address the escalating destruction of critical infrastructure.... About 100 diplomats, many from Western countries, walked out of a speech by Russia's foreign minister [Sergey Lavrov] at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday in protest over his country's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva led the walkout, which left a largely empty conference hall...."

     * Marie: I heard on the teevee that a number of Russian soldiers thought they were going to Belarus for military exercises & had no idea they would be attacking Ukraine in a live war.

Yuras Karmanau, et al., of the AP: "Russian forces stepped up their attacks on crowded urban areas Tuesday, bombarding the central square in Ukraine's second-biggest city and Kyiv's main TV tower in what the country's president called a blatant campaign of terror. 'Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after the bloodshed on the square in Kharkiv." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Who's the Nazi? Isabelle Khurshudyan, et al., of the Washington Post: "A Russian missile strike that appeared to target a TV tower in Ukraine's capital on Tuesday also hit the nearby Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial, the site of a World War II massacre, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter. Five people were killed in the strike, according to Ukrainian officials. 'To the world: what is the point of saying "never again" for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating ...' Zelensky tweeted.... Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that Israel would help to rebuild the site."

Maureen Breslin of the Hill: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday received a lengthy standing ovation after delivering an emotional speech via video to the European Parliament calling for Ukraine to be granted membership to the European Union. 'I don't read from paper, the paper phase is over, we're dealing with lives. Without you, Ukraine will be alone. We've proven our strength; we're the same as you. Prove that you'll not let us go. Then life will win over death, Zelensky said to representatives of the 27 EU member states." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Army Maj. Gen. Mike Repass (Ret.), in a Washington Post op-ed, explains that Ukraine's resilient defense against Russia is no accident: "Over the past seven years, the Ukrainian leadership has been very clear-eyed about reforming its government to prepare for this moment. The Ukrainians have reshaped their national defense structures to cooperate with NATO militaries more easily and have made important leadership, doctrinal and tactical changes. They have also built Territorial Defense Forces and instituted programs to involve others in the common defense."

David McHugh of the AP: "The International Energy Agency's 31 member countries agreed Tuesday to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves -- half of that from the United States -- 'to send a strong message to oil markets' that supplies won't fall short after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The board of the Paris-based IEA made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to 'take additional measures' if needed." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Fischer of Axios: "DirecTV plans to drop RT America from its lineup in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a spokesperson said.... DirecTV rival Dish said in a statement earlier this week it's 'closely monitoring the situation.'" MB: Whatever that means. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Samuel Stolton of Politico: "U.S streaming giant Netflix has responded to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine by saying that it will not comply with new Russian rules to carry 20 [of Russia's] state-backed channels." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: While Donald Trump is now absurdly claiming that he stood strongly behind NATO & Ukraine, he did much more than just try to extort Volodymyr Zelensky by withholding military aid till Zelensky made up a story that would hurt Joe Biden. "In episode after episode, Trump aligned our interests with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin and against those of Ukraine, NATO and the West.... As early as 2017, Trump began voicing the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.... Trump pushed out Marie Yovanovitch in 2019, after his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani mounted a smear campaign against her.... Well before extorting Zelensky, Trump alarmed officials by freezing military aid to Ukraine that Congress had appropriated, but without meaningful policy justification.... [Trump] withheld a White House meeting from Zelensky.... [Trump] turned Ukraine policy over to Giuliani." (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Wemple of the Washington Post reports on how busy Fox "News" national security correspondent & fact-checker Jennifer Griffin has been debunking Fox hosts' & guests' misinformation about Putin's war on Ukraine. Wemple notes that in one of her debunking forays she referred to a guest as having spewed "so many distortions"; Wemple thought "So Many Distortions" would be a good slogan for Fox "News."


Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Tuesday subpoenaed a half-dozen lawyers and other allies of ... Donald J. Trump who promoted false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 election and worked to overturn his loss. Those who were sent subpoenas for documents and testimony participated in a range of attempts to invalidate Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory, including filing lawsuits, pressuring local election officials to change the results and drafting proposed executive orders to seize voting machines.... Among those summoned was Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who the panel said 'promoted false claims of election fraud to members of Congress' and participated in a call in which Mr. Trump tried to pressure Georgia's secretary of state to '"find" enough votes to reverse his loss there.'"

Mitch in Charge. Amy Wang, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday publicly rejected a proposal by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who last month released a '11-point plan to rescue America' that has drawn criticism from several prominent Republicans. McConnell insisted that if Republicans win the majority in November, he will decide the party's course, staking out a defiant stance against ... Donald Trump's efforts to oust him as the GOP leader. At a Senate GOP leadership news conference Tuesday afternoon, McConnell seemed to take issue not only with Scott's plan -- which included a proposal for all Americans to pay some form of income tax -- but also with the fact that Scott, a member of the leadership team, had released one purporting to represent the Republican Party." Politico's report is here.

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "A federal judge [Jed S. Rakoff] on Tuesday refuted Sarah Palin's claims that The New York Times defamed her in a 2017 editorial, concluding in a written opinion that the case should be dismissed because she had 'wholly failed to prove her case even to the minimum standard required by law.' It was the latest development in a case that unfolded with unexpected twists last month, culminating with Ms. Palin's motion for a new trial after several jurors said they had seen news reports of the judge's unusual decision to announce that he was preparing to dismiss the case while they were still deliberating."

Marie's Sports Report. James Wagner of the New York Times: "Major League Baseball canceled the first two series of the 2022 regular season on Tuesday after the league and the players' union failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. After nearly a year of negotiating, including a week of daily talks between the league and the players' union in Florida starting Feb. 21, the sides could not come to a new pact by M.L.B.'s self-imposed deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday in order to begin the 162-game season on March 31 as scheduled. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellations in a news conference on Tuesday." MB: It deeply saddens me when millionaires can't get along with billionaires.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "President Biden, looking to usher the nation out of the coronavirus crisis into what some are calling a 'new normal,' used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to sketch out the next phase of his pandemic response, including a new 'test to treat' initiative aimed at providing patients with new antiviral medications as soon as they learn they are infected."

Louisiana. Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler. Katy Reckdahl & Sophie Kasakove of the New York Times: "Across New Orleans, in a combination of joy, defiance, trepidation and celebration, Mardi Gras returned on Tuesday with one eye on the pain of the past two years in a city especially hard hit by the pandemic and the other very much looking forward to strutting, parading and moving on. Last year, all Carnival parades were canceled, and celebrations were scaled back to small, same-household gatherings and decorated porches known as 'house floats.' But this month, New Orleans's Carnival celebration returned in full swing, raising hopes about the city's resurgence from devastating pandemic losses."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Richard Fausset & Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: Marcus Ransom, the jury foreman & the only Black person on the federal jury that convicted three white racists of hate crimes in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, talks to New York Times reporters.

Montana. A-Hunting He Will Go. Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "On public land north of Yellowstone National Park late last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by National Park Service staff, after hunting dogs had chased it up a tree. The mountain lion hunt, which has not been previously reported, occurred on Dec. 28.... Less than a year earlier, Gianforte killed a Yellowstone wolf in a similar area that was wearing a tracking collar, prompting an outcry among environmentalists.... One person familiar with the incident told The Post that the mountain lion was kept in the tree by the hunting dogs for a couple of hours while Gianforte traveled to the site...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nevada. Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Gov. Steve Sisolak of Nevada was accosted at a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas on Sunday by a man who recorded the confrontation in a video in which he threatens to 'string you up by a lamppost.' In the video, the man asks Mr. Sisolak, a Democrat, for a photo together. The governor agrees, and the man puts his arm around him before going into a profanity-laced rant and calling the governor a 'new world order traitor.'... The man follows the governor and his wife into the parking lot of the restaurant, accusing Mr. Sisolak of treason and working for China. The governor's wife, Kathy Sisolak, who was born in Nevada, is of Chinese descent, according to the governor's website.... The governor's office said the confrontation was being investigated...."

Texas. Here's a liveblog of Texas primary election results. "Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas will face Beto O'Rourke in the fall. The state's embattled attorney general, Ken Paxton, is headed to a runoff with George P. Bush.... A 28-year-old liberal immigration lawyer [Jessica Cisneros] was headed for a runoff in May with Representative Henry Cuellar, South Texas's 17-year incumbent, after neither candidate on Tuesday was able to muster 50 percent of the vote in the state's most closely watched House primary.... Monica De La Cruz, a Republican with ... Donald J. Trump's backing, won her party's nomination in what is likely to be one of the most closely watched House races of the midterms. The race for the Democratic nomination will go to a runoff: Ruben Ramirez, a lawyer, was leading a crowded field with no candidate over 30 percent." CNN's report is here. The Texas Tribune's report is here.

Texas. Casey Parks of the Washington Post: "A Texas family and a psychologist filed a legal challenge Tuesday, asking a district court to block an order that directed state officials to investigate families for child abuse if they allow their children to medically transition genders. In a letter sent last week to state health agencies, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) noted that the Office of the Attorney General had determined that providing medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy could 'legally constitute child abuse' under Texas law.... According to the suit filed Tuesday, the department has begun investigating families -- including one mother who works for the department responsible for the investigations.... The day after Abbott issued his order, Jane Doe was placed on leave from the Department of Family and Protective Services, court documents say. Two days later, a child protective services investigator visited the family's home.... The plaintiffs, who are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Lambda Legal and the law firm Baker Botts, argue that Abbott has circumvented the legislative process in an 'attempt to legislate by press release.'"

Wisconsin. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "A Republican report on the 2020 election in Wisconsin endorsed a host of debunked claims of fraud and false assertions about lawmakers' power to decertify President Biden's victory, lending credence to the conspiracy theories that have gripped Republicans in the state for more than 16 months. The claims in the report, commissioned by the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly and written by a conservative former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, immediately reopened a rift among Republicans in one of the nation's most narrowly divided battleground states.... [Former state justice Michael] Gableman presented his findings to the Wisconsin Assembly's elections committee during a hearing Tuesday. He directly contradicted a legal analysis conducted by the Legislature's lawyers in November that found there is no basis in law for decertifying an election."

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Tuesday
Mar012022

March 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

From the New York Times' live updates of Russia's war on Ukraine, also linked earlier today: "Africans who had been living in Ukraine say they were stuck for days at crossings into neighboring European Union countries, huddling in the cold without food or shelter, held up by Ukrainian authorities who pushed them to the ends of long lines and even beat them, while letting Ukrainians through.... Plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages, some Russian troops in Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. Some entire Russian units have laid down their arms without a fight after confronting surprisingly stiff Ukrainian defense, the official said.*... The United Nations appealed on Tuesday for some $1.7 billion to aid millions of victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and address the escalating destruction of critical infrastructure.... About 100 diplomats, many from Western countries, walked out of a speech by Russia's foreign minister[Sergey Lavrov] at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday in protest over his country's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva led the walkout, which left a largely empty conference hall...."

     * Marie: I heard on the teevee that a number of Russian soldiers thought they were going to Belarus for military exercises & had no idea they would be attacking Ukraine in a live war.

Yuras Karmanau, et al., of the AP: "Russian forces stepped up their attacks on crowded urban areas Tuesday, bombarding the central square in Ukraine's second-biggest city and Kyiv's main TV tower in what the country's president called a blatant campaign of terror. 'Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after the bloodshed on the square in Kharkiv."

Maureen Breslin of the Hill: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday received a lengthy standing ovation after delivering an emotional speech via video to the European Parliament calling for Ukraine to be granted membership to the European Union. 'I don't read from paper, the paper phase is over, we're dealing with lives. Without you, Ukraine will be alone. We've proven our strength; we're the same as you. Prove that you'll not let us go. Then life will win over death, Zelensky said to representatives of the 27 EU member states."

David McHugh of the AP: "The International Energy Agency's 31 member countries agreed Tuesday to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves -- half of that from the United States -- 'to send a strong message to oil markets' that supplies won't fall short after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The board of the Paris-based IEA made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to 'take additional measures' if needed."

Sarah Fischer of Axios: "DirecTV plans to drop RT America from its lineup in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a spokesperson said.... DirecTV rival Dish said in a statement earlier this week it's 'closely monitoring the situation.'" MB: Whatever that means.

Samuel Stolton of Politico: "U.S streaming giant Netflix has responded to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine by saying that it will not comply with new Russian rules to carry 20 [of Russia's] state-backed channels."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: While Donald Trump is now absurdly claiming that he stood strongly behind NATO & Ukraine, he did much more than just try to extort Volodymyr Zelensky by withholding military aid till Zelensky made up a story that would hurt Joe Biden. "In episode after episode, Trump aligned our interests with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin and against those of Ukraine, NATO and the West.... As early as 2017, Trump began voicing the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.... Trump pushed out Marie Yovanovitch in 2019, after his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani mounted a smear campaign against her.... Well before extorting Zelensky, Trump alarmed officials by freezing military aid to Ukraine that Congress had appropriated, but without meaningful policy justification.... [Trump] withheld a White House meeting from Zelensky.... [Trump] turned Ukraine policy over to Giuliani."

Montana. A-Hunting He Will Go. Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "On public land north of Yellowstone National Park late last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by National Park Service staff, after hunting dogs had chased it up a tree. The mountain lion hunt, which has not been previously reported, occurred on Dec. 28.... Less than a year earlier, Gianforte killed a Yellowstone wolf in a similar area that was wearing a tracking collar, prompting an outcry among environmentalists.... One person familiar with the incident told The Post that the mountain lion was kept in the tree by the hunting dogs for a couple of hours while Gianforte traveled to the site...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes

The New York Times' live updates on Russia's war against Ukraine Tuesday are here: "A large explosion struck central Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, on Tuesday, directly in front of the city's administrative building, creating a huge fireball that appeared in a video to engulf several cars driving through an area called Freedom Square.... CCTV footage of the attack captured what appeared to be a rocket striking directly in front of the building. Video of the aftermath showed a large crater in the middle of the city's cobble-stoned central square."

The Washington Post's live updates on Russia's war on Ukraine Tuesday are here: "[In] Kharkiv..., thousands are without power and heat in subfreezing temperatures, local officials said, and residents were bracing for more shelling on Tuesday.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on civilian areas in Kharkiv amounted to a 'war crime.'... The Russian military is continuing to advance on Kyiv in what a senior U.S. defense official has called an apparent attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital, fueling concerns the Kremlin will adopt the same siege tactics there that have been seen in Kharkiv -- the country's second-largest city -- which was bombarded Monday with some of the heaviest shelling since the invasion began."

The AP's live updates are here: "More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.... The report could not immediately be confirmed."

Yuras Karmanau, et al., of the AP: "A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine's capital Tuesday, the sixth day of the war.... After a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia..., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions 'when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.' Six days into the invasion, the Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate the airspace. Many Ukrainian civilians, meanwhile, spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.... The Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers.... Video from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, with a population of about 1.5 million, showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated, powerful blasts.... The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals."

Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine with nearly 200,000 troops, many observers -- and seemingly President Vladimir V. Putin himself -- expected that the force would roll right in and the fighting would be over quickly. Instead, after five days of war, what appears to be unfolding is a Russian miscalculation about tactics and about how hard the Ukrainians would fight.... But the war was already changing quickly on Monday, and ultimately, it is likely to turn on just how far Russia is willing to go to subjugate Ukraine. The Russian track record in the Syrian civil war, and in its own ruthless efforts to crush separatism in the Russian region of Chechnya, suggest an increasingly brutal campaign ahead.... American officials say they fear that Russia may now escalate missile and aerial bombing of cities with major civilian casualties, [a senior Pentagon] official said." A related NBC News story is here.

Robert Burns of the AP: "In war, winning quick control of airspace is crucial. Russia's failure to do so in Ukraine, despite its vast military strength, has been a surprise and may help explain how Ukraine has so far prevented a rout. The standoff in the sky is among the Russian battle shortcomings, including logistical breakdowns, that have thrown Moscow off stride in its invasion.... A possible explanation for Russia's failure to do so is that President Vladimir Putin built his war strategy on an assumption that Ukrainian defenses would easily fold...."

Paul McCleary of Politico: "Ukrainian pilots have arrived in Poland to start the process of taking control of fighter planes they expect to be donated by European countries, a Ukrainian government official told Politico. The potential transfer of older Russian-made planes to be used in combat against Russian forces could be the most significant moment yet in a wave of promised arms transfers over the past 24 hours that includes thousands of anti-armor rockets machine guns, artillery and other equipment. It's not clear just yet what countries are donating the jets, but European Union security chief Josep Borrell pledged over the weekend that the EU would fund the transfer the fighter planes from multiple countries."

"Biden and Blinken Herded the Cats." Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: "... over just a handful of days, Europe has been shocked out of a post-Cold War era -- and state of mind -- in which it left many of the democratic world's most burning security problems to the United States.... The countries taking action against Russia stretch around the world.... But no region other than Europe has overturned its foreign policy orthodoxies in a heartbeat.... 'It's the end of an era,' said former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was once dismissed by a Finnish leader as having 'post-Soviet stress' for his hawkish approach to Russia.... Policymakers and analysts described a months-long campaign by the Biden administration to share intelligence briefings, pressure powerful countries that they might need to make sacrifices, and coordinate among a disparate group of 27 E.U. member states." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No matter how this war turns out -- and it's likely to turn out badly -- I'd recommend Biden & Zelensky for a joint Nobel Peace Prize (even though, admittedly, Zelensky has plenty of time to screw up).

Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "Just a few years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was playing Ukraine's president on television. Now, he's a real-life wartime leader directing his outgunned country in its fight against the Russian invasion. Though he says he has become the Kremlin's 'target No. 1,' he has earned the respect of much of the Ukrainian public by refusing to flee the capital. Instead he has walked the streets of Kyiv and urged Ukrainians to resist, while crafting a successful communications strategy that has won the hearts and minds of European leaders and voters. While acknowledging that Moscow has vastly superior forces it has not yet deployed, Western officials say Zelensky's leadership has firmed up Ukrainian resolve. Here's what you need to know about Zelensky." ~~~

~~~ A very brief look at Zelensky's career as an entertainer:

Maura Reynolds of Politico interviews Russia expert Fiona Hill, published in Politico Magazine. Hill looks at Putin's career & acknowledges that Putin will use all the weapons in his arsenal, including nuclear weapons & nerve agents.

Andrew Desiderio & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. pleaded with senators Monday night for a surge in military assistance and an escalation of sanctions on Moscow as her country braces for the fall of its capital city to Russian forces. The envoy, Oksana Markarova, told a bipartisan group of senators that the Ukrainian military is in serious need of supplies and equipment, including lethal arms, according to lawmakers who attended the closed-door meeting. Markarova told senators that Ukraine was close to running out of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles in particular, both of which have proven to be pivotal as an overpowered Ukrainian military fends off Russian invaders."

Economic Times (India): "Hungary said on Monday it would not allow weapons to be transported through its territory after the European Union pledged military aid to Kyiv. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sough to foster close ties with Moscow but Hungary has closed ranks with the rest of the EU on tough sanctions against Russia."

Barbie Nadeau, et al., of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "The Putin-backed president of Belarus has warned that World War III could be about to begin as he reportedly prepares his troops to assist with Russia's mass-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko warned that the crisis in Ukraine could spark a global conflict, writing in a statement: 'Russia is being pushed towards a third world war. We should be very reserved and steer clear of it. Because nuclear war is the end of everything.'"

The Maldives Are Lovely This Time of Year. Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Superyachts owned by Russian billionaires who have ties to President Vladimir Putin are on the move as the United States and its allies prepare further sanctions on their property following the invasion of Ukraine. Data reviewed by CNBC from Marine Traffic shows that at least four massive yachts owned by Russian business leaders have been moving toward Montenegro and the Maldives since a wide array of sanctions were announced in recent days by leaders from around the world, including the U.S. Treasury targeting Russia's central bank. The Maldives doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S., according to Nomad Capitalist."

Arjun Kharpal of CNBC: "Payment and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard have blocked [Russian] financial institutions from their networks in response to sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine."

The Week the Music Died. Javier Hernández of the New York Times: "Valery Gergiev, the star Russian maestro and prominent supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was removed Tuesday from his post as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic after he refused to denounce Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. And Anna Netrebko, the Russian diva who is one of opera's biggest international stars, saw her upcoming engagements with the Bavarian State Opera canceled, and the Zurich Opera House announced that she had withdrawn from her upcoming performances there. She too has ties to Mr. Putin, and was once pictured holding a flag used by some Russian-backed separatist groups in Ukraine.... [Mr. Gergiev's] international engagements began drying up last week, when Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic dropped him from a series of performances. On Sunday, Mr. Gergiev's manager announced he was ending his relationship with his client."

Mark Ogden of ESPN: "Russia have been kicked out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by FIFA after the world governing body and the European association, UEFA, issued a joint statement to confirm that all Russian national teams and clubs have been suspended until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine."

CNN's live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "The United States has asked 12 Russian United Nations diplomats to leave the country due to their alleged engagement in '... espionage activites...,' ... the US Mission to the UN ... said in a statement... The UK's communication regulator is launching 15 investigations into Russia Today (RT), the Kremlin-backed news channel.... The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, will open an investigation into Russia's invasion of Ukraine as 'rapidly as possible,' [for war crimes & crimes against humanity,] ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan said in a statement Monday.... Norway will provide $226 million'in humanitarian assistance and military equipment to Ukraine.... A Russian military convoy that was outside of Ivankiv, Ukraine, on Sunday has since made it to the outskirts of Kyiv, satellite images show." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The New York Times' live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "As Ukraine's second-largest city reeled under a barrage of Russian rockets that officials said killed dozens of people, a Ukrainian delegation met counterparts from Russia for several hours of talks on Monday in Belarus. The bombardment of a residential area of Kharkiv five days after Russia's invasion began signaled a possible intensification of the conflict.... British intelligence officials said that most Russian ground forces in Ukraine were massed more than 18 miles north of Kyiv, the capital, but were being slowed by fierce resistance from Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers.... President Emmanuel Macron of France reiterated calls on Monday for an immediate cease-fire in a phone conversation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and urged an end to all attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure, according to the French presidency.... The European Union's representative to the United Nations, Olof Skoog, speaking at the General Assembly, condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and condemned Belarus for its involvement in Ukraine's war." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ From the Washington Post's live updates, also linked earlier: "The first talks between Russia and Ukraine over the invasion ended with agreement to continue talking in coming days. After almost five hours of talks in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said further talks would be held in coming days after both sides consulted with their presidents.... Washington announced a further round of sanctions Monday, effectively prohibiting institutions in the United States from doing business with Russia's central bank.... Ukrainian officials say at least 11 people were killed and more were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Monday morning after Russia launched rocket strikes, targeting Ukraine's second-largest city with some of the heaviest shelling and street fighting since the invasion began Thursday. Suspected cluster munitions struck buildings in the city. Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said Monday that 'dozens are dying' and that at least 11 people were confirmed dead." (Also linked yesterday.)

Even Switzerland Will Sanction Russia. Nick Cumming-Brice of the New York Times: "Switzerland, a favorite destination for Russian oligarchs and their money, announced on Monday that it would freeze Russian financial assets in the country, setting aside a deeply rooted tradition of neutrality to join the European Union and a growing number of nations seeking to penalize Russia for the invasion of Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.)

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Before Putin invaded Ukraine, I might have described the Russian Federation as a medium-size power punching above its weight in part by exploiting Western divisions and corruption, in part by maintaining a powerful military. Since then, however, two things have become clear. First, Putin has delusions of grandeur. Second, Russia is even weaker than most people, myself included, seem to have realized.... [Putin] he apparently wants to recreate the czarist empire.... [Russia's] standard of living is sustained by large imports of manufactured goods, mostly paid for via exports of oil and natural gas.This leaves Russia's economy highly vulnerable to sanctions that might disrupt this trade.... Russia now stands revealed as a Potemkin superpower, with far less real strength than meets the eye." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: AND I might have described Russia as a medium-sized authoritarian oligarchy with more nukes than any other country on Earth. Therein lies the rub.


Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden will use his first State of the Union address on Tuesday to claim credit for a robust economy and a unified global response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even as he acknowledges the pain of inflation and the struggle between 'democracy and autocracy' around the world, administration officials said on Monday." MB: The U.S. is a medium-sized power in which roughly half of the political power rests with a corrupt, backward party determined to destroy liberal democracy and the Earth. And at least half of the people are too damned dumb or jaded to care.

Farnoush Amiri & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Monday denied executive privilege claims made by former Trump administration officials Peter Navarro and Michael Flynn in connection to the congressional probe into the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In letters penned by White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su, the Biden administration rejected the shield of executive privilege purported by Navarro and Flynn in response to recent subpoenas by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack."

Senate Anti-Woman Caucus Prevails. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans on Monday blocked the Senate from taking up sweeping abortion rights legislation as Democrats sought to put lawmakers on the record on the issue in advance of the midterm elections and a coming Supreme Court ruling on access to abortion. Democrats fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to bring the Women's Health Protection Act to the floor for consideration after the House last September passed it on a narrow party-line vote. One Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, joined all Republicans in opposition to beginning debate on the measure."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Monday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime, moving to formally outlaw a brutal act that has become a symbol of the failure by Congress and the country to reckon with the history of racial violence in America. Passage of the anti-lynching bill, named in honor of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black teenager brutally tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955, came after more than a century of failed attempts. Lawmakers estimated they had tried more than 200 times to pass a measure to explicitly criminalize a type of attack that has long terrorized Black Americans. This bill was approved 422 to 3, and was expected to pass the Senate, where it enjoys broad support.... Three Republicans -- Representatives Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas -- opposed the anti-lynching bill."

Amazing. Scott Wong of NBC News: "GOP leaders in the House and the Senate on Monday denounced a pair of far-right Trump allies -- Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. -- for speaking at a gathering of white nationalists in Florida over the weekend. 'There's no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a terse statement. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters for CNN and Punchbowl News that it was 'appalling and wrong' for the two lawmakers to attend the meeting in Florida and that he plans to discuss the matter with them. 'There's no place in our party for any of this.... The party should not be associated any time, any place with somebody who is antisemitic,' said McCarthy, who recently returned from leading a delegation of House Republicans to Israel. 'This is unacceptable.' Greene pretended she knew nothing about the group's leader, Nick Fuentes, who in introducing her praised Vladimir Putin & appeared to approve of Adolf Hitler. MB: But hey, how's a girl from rural Georgia to know? Most amazing: Kevin has finally come upon a bridge too far.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Monday questioned the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, suggesting that the justices could deal a sharp blow to the Biden administration's efforts to address climate change. The questioning during the two-hour argument was mostly technical, and several conservative justices did not tip their hands. But those who did sounded skeptical that Congress had meant to give the agency what they said was vast power to set national economic policy. Climate change was mentioned only in passing and only to buttress the point that an executive agency should not be allowed to tackle so large an issue without express congressional authorization." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday I asked if anyone could stop the Supremes from destroying Earth. That was a rhetorical question, and the answer, as I suspected, appears to be "nope." Theoretically, the Congress could stop the destruction. But Republicans. And corruption. And filibuster.

Michele Norris of the Washington Post: Don't take to heart the low expectations of your high school guidance counselor, kids, especially if you're Black AND female.

Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Viatris, the drugmaker previously known as Mylan, announced on Monday that it had agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company was involved in an illegal scheme to monopolize the market for epinephrine auto-injector devices known as EpiPens, which are used to treat severe allergic reactions. The proposed settlement, which needs to be approved by a judge, would resolve a legal battle that began after Mylan, in 2016, raised the price for a pack of two EpiPens to $608 from $100, the price since 2007, according to court documents."

Our Moms' Doctor Is Our Father. Jacqueline Mroz of the New York Times: "Over the past several years, more than 50 fertility doctors in the United States have been accused of fraud in connection with donating sperm, according to legal experts and observers.... Nearly all of the physicians who have been accused were discovered as a result of DNA tests taken by their offspring." For instance, David Berry, formerly of Rochester, New York, discovered through an Ancestry.com test & further research that his biological father was Morris Wortman, a fertility doctor who still practices in Rochester. "Mr. Berry learned that he had at least 10 half brothers and sisters through [Dr. Wortman].... Dr. Wortman was one of three physicians in Rochester -- all friends and colleagues -- who, starting in the 1960s, had secretly used their own sperm to impregnate women." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Wow! Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "More than 140 million Americans have had the coronavirus, according to estimates from blood tests that reveal antibodies from infection -- about double the rate regularly cited by national case counts. The estimates, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that about 43 percent of the country has been infected by the virus. The study shows that the majority of children have also been infected."

Mariam Kahn of ABC News: "Masks will no longer be required in the House chamber when President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a major reversal in the politically controversial policy that reinforces his message that the pandemic is receding and America is getting back to something closer to normal. On Sunday, the U.S. Capitol's attending physician lifted a mask mandate for lawmakers inside the House chamber just two days before Biden's nationally televised prime-time speech."

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Shane Goldmacher & David Goodman of the New York Times: "The Texas primaries on Tuesday will provide the first pieces of the 2022 midterm puzzle. The strength of the two parties' ideological factions. The intensity of Donald J. Trump's continued hold on the Republican electorate. And, for bullish Republicans, the earliest signs of how advantageous the political climate has become."

News Lede

New York Times: "A man believed to be meeting his three children for a supervised visit at a church just outside Sacramento on Monday afternoon fatally shot the children and an adult accompanying them before killing himself, police officials said. Sheriff Scott Jones of Sacramento County told reporters at the scene that the gunman had a restraining order against him, and that he had to have supervised visits with his children, who were younger than 15."

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Sunday
Feb272022

February 28, 2022

Afternoon Update:

CNN's live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "The United States has asked 12 Russian United Nations diplomats to leave the country due to their alleged engagement in '... espionage activites...,' ... the US Mission to the UN ... said in a statement... The UK's communication regulator is launching 15 investigations into Russia Today (RT), the Kremlin-backed news channel.... The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, will open an investigation into Russia's invasion of Ukraine as 'rapidly as possible,' [for war crimes & crimes against humanity,] ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said in a statement Monday.... Norway will provide $226 million in humanitarian assistance and military equipment to Ukraine.... A Russian military convoy that was outside of Ivankiv, Ukraine, on Sunday has since made it to the outskirts of Kyiv, satellite images show."

The New York Times' live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "As Ukraine's second-largest city reeled under a barrage of Russian rockets that officials said killed dozens of people, a Ukrainian delegation met counterparts from Russia for several hours of talks on Monday in Belarus. The bombardment of a residential area of Kharkiv five days after Russia's invasion began signaled a possible intensification of the conflict.... British intelligence officials said that most Russian ground forces in Ukraine were massed more than 18 miles north of Kyiv, the capital, but were being slowed by fierce resistance from Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers.... President Emmanuel Macron of France reiterated calls on Monday for an immediate cease-fire in a phone conversation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and urged an end to all attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure, according to the French presidency.... The European Union's representative to the United Nations, Olof Skoog, speaking at the General Assembly, condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and condemned Belarus for its involvement in Ukraine's war." ~~~

~~~ From the Washington Post's live updates, also linked earlier: "The first talks between Russia and Ukraine over the invasion ended with agreement to continue talking in coming days. After almost five hours of talks in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said further talks would be held in coming days after both sides consulted with their presidents.... Washington announced a further round of sanctions Monday, effectively prohibiting institutions in the United States from doing business with Russia's central bank.... Ukrainian officials say at least 11 people were killed and more were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Monday morning after Russia launched rocket strikes, targeting Ukraine's second-largest city with some of the heaviest shelling and street fighting since the invasion began Thursday. Suspected cluster munitions struck buildings in the city. Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said Monday that 'dozens are dying' and that at least 11 people were confirmed dead."

Even Switzerland Will Sanction Russia. Nick Cumming-Brice of the New York Times: "Switzerland, a favorite destination for Russian oligarchs and their money, announced on Monday that it would freeze Russian financial assets in the country, setting aside a deeply rooted tradition of neutrality to join the European Union and a growing number of nations seeking to penalize Russia for the invasion of Ukraine."

My Mom's Doctor Is My Father. Jacqueline Mroz of the New York Times: "Over the past several years, more than 50 fertility doctors in the United States have been accused of fraud in connection with donating sperm, according to legal experts and observers.... Nearly all of the physicians who have been accused were discovered as a result of DNA tests taken by their offspring." For instance, David Berry, formerly of Rochester, New York, discovered through an Ancestry.com test & further research that his biological father was Morris Wortman, a fertility doctor who still practices in Rochester. "Mr. Berry learned that he had at least 10 half brothers and sisters through [Dr. Wortman].... Dr. Wortman was one of three physicians in Rochester-- all friends and colleagues -- who, starting in the 1960s, had secretly used their own sperm to impregnate women."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "... Russian and Ukrainian diplomats were set to begin talks Monday on the Belarus border, according to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.... The Kremlin had said it was willing to talk -- on the condition that Ukraine 'demilitarize and denazify,' making it clear it expected Ukraine's capitulation." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here: "Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to the European Union to allow Ukraine to gain membership immediately under a special procedure, as it defends itself from invasion by Russian forces. 'Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal. I'm sure that's fair. I am sure we deserved it,' he said in a speech shared on social media.... Talks between Ukraine and Russia have begun, the foreign ministries of both countries have confirmed. Ukraine has said its goal for the talks is an 'immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops'. Its delegation includes several high-ranking officials, but not its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, himself. The Kremlin has declined to comment on its aim in negotiations...."

The New York Times' live updates Sunday of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: “President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine agreed on Sunday to talks with Russia 'without preconditions,' even as President Vladimir V. Putin further escalated tensions by placing his nuclear forces on alert." They will meet 'on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,' Mr. Zelensky announced on his official Telegram channel." (Also linked yesterday.)

From the Washington Post's live updates Sunday (also linked yesterday): "Belarus is preparing to send soldiers into Ukraine in support of the Russian invasion in a deployment that could begin as soon as Monday, a U.S. administration official said Sunday evening."

This: ~~~

~~~ Then this Ukraine drone attack on the convoy: ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Seems like we ought to send Ukraine more drones.

Russia says it isn't targeting civilians, apparently unaware that civilians live in residential apartment buildings (the tower destroyed in the video is in Kyiv):

Sanctions Are Working. Mark Thompson of CNN: "Russia's currency crashed to a record low against the US dollar Monday as the country's financial system reeled from crushing sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The ruble lost more than 30% of its value to trade at 109 to the dollar at 2.30 a.m. ET after earlier plummeting as much as 40%. The start of trading on the Russian stock market was delayed, and then canceled entirely, according to a statement from the country's central bank.... The collapse in the currency prompted the Russian central back to implement emergency measures on Monday, including a huge hike in interest rates to 20% from 9.5%."

CBS News/AP: "In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on alert Sunday in response to what he called 'aggressive statements' by leading NATO powers. The move means Putin has ordered Russia's nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into a nuclear war. In giving it, the Russian leader also cited hard-hitting financial sanctions imposed by the Wes against Russia, including Putin himself." MB: So it's, "If I can't have my ill-gotten billions, I'll nuke you." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "Twenty European countries have closed -- or have said they will close -- their airspace to Russian flights and flight operators, amid a coordinated pushback against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. About half of the countries announced the move on Sunday, ahead of an extraordinary meeting of European foreign ministers to discuss further measures to support Ukraine and punish Moscow. Other countries, including Estonia and Romania, had previously announced their intention to ban Russian flights.... Also on Sunday, Canada's minister of transport, Omar Alghabra, said: 'Effective immediately, Canada's airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators....'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Rick Noack, et al., of the Washington Post: "German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday announced a major increase in the country's defense spending, marking one of the most significant changes in decades to the country's post-World War II approach to security and possibly upending European defense policy. German lawmakers were still debating the plans as over 100,000 protesters assembled just a few meters away in front of the Brandenburg Gate to rally for peace. The scale of the protest -- one of the largest in years -- took authorities by surprise, and provided a visible display of just how deeply Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shaken Germans this week." (Also linked yesterday.)

David Lynch, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the leaders of the European Union gathered for an emergency summit on Thursday night, momentum was already moving toward imposing tough new sanctions on Russia.... But a handful of key leaders, notably including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, were reluctant to proceed with some of the harshest proposals. Then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dialed into the meeting via teleconference with a bracing appeal that left some of the world-weary politicians with watery eyes. In just five minutes, Zelensky -- speaking from the battlefield of Kyiv -- pleaded with European leaders for an honest assessment of his country's ambition to join the European Union and for genuine help in its fight with the Russian invaders. Ukraine needed its neighbors to step up with food, ammunition, fuel, sanctions, all of it.... Before ending the video call, Zelensky told the gathering matter-of-factly that it might be the last time they saw him alive.... Just that quickly, Zelensky's personal appeal overwhelmed the resistance from European leaders to imposing measures that could drive the Russian economy into a state of near collapse." ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Five days into Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his courageous nation have already done more to transform the West's policy toward Russia than 30 years of post-Cold War summits, policy resets and showdowns with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader's defiance has inspired and shamed the United States and the European Union into going far further -- and far faster -- in turning Russia into a pariah state than it appeared they were ready to go. By promising weapons and ammunition to Zelensky, 44, the West appears increasingly to be drawn into a possible proxy war with Moscow over Ukraine, even though it is not a NATO member that benefits from the bloc's direct mutual defense agreements.... The Ukrainian President's heroism has also touched people across the world and set off a torrent of smaller gestures of support.... Under the most extreme circumstances, Zelensky is ironically displaying the very values -- including a staunch defense of democracy -- that would qualify Ukraine for membership in both the European Union and NATO, a path Putin tried to close off with his invasion."

Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "More than 400,000 Ukrainians have fled to European neighbors -- mainly to Poland, as well as to Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania -- since Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency said Sunday. Thousands more are still trying to get through the clogged borders, waiting in the cold for hours on end in cars or on foot with only minimal belongings. As of Saturday, there was a nearly nine-mile backlog at the crossing into Poland, with some people waiting for 40 hours in 28-degree temperatures at night.... What could become Europe's biggest humanitarian emergency since 2015 -- when more than 1 million refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, arrived and triggered a continentwide crisis over whether to accept or reject those fleeing -- is swiftly unfolding.... Meanwhile, the situation keeps getting more grave...." ~~~

     ~~~ Justin Spike of the AP: "The mass exodus of refugees from Ukraine to the eastern edge of the European Union showed no signs of stopping Monday as they flee Russia's burgeoning war, with the U.N. estimating that more than 500,000 people have already escaped." ~~~

~~~ "Racism and Islamophobia." Renata Brito of the AP: "... while the hospitality ... of countries like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania ... has been applauded, it has also highlighted stark differences in treatment given to migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa, particularly Syrians who came in 2015. Some of the language from these leaders has been disturbing to them, and deeply hurtful. 'These are not the refugees we are used to ... these people are Europeans,' Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told journalists earlier this week, of the Ukrainians. 'These people are intelligent, they are educated people. ... This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists....'... The change in tone of some of Europe's most extreme anti-migration leaders has been striking -- from 'We aren't going to let anyone in' to 'We're letting everyone in.' Those comments were made only three months apart by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.... Syrian journalist Okba Mohammad says that statement 'mixes racism and Islamophobia.'"

Christopher Miller of BuzzFeed News: "A group of 10 special operations forces veterans are staging in Poland and preparing to cross into Ukraine, where they plan to take up President Volodymyr Zelensky on his offer to 'join the defense of Ukraine, Europe, and the world,' according to a US Army veteran arranging their passage. The group, composed of six US citizens, three Brits, and a German, are NATO-trained and experienced in close combat and counterterrorism. They want to be among the first to officially join the new International Legion of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine that Zelensky announced Sunday, according to text messages reviewed by BuzzFeed News. Two former American infantry officers are also making plans to come to Ukraine to provide 'leadership' for the group, the Army veteran recruiter said."

Joanna Partridge of the Guardian: "Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska have become two of the country's first leading businesspeople to speak out against Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Fridman, who is one of Russia's richest men [and was born in Ukraine, where his parents still live], controls private equity firm LetterOne and was a founder of Alfa Bank, Russia's largest private bank. In a letter to his employees he called for an end to the 'bloodshed'.... Deripaska, who said as recently as 21 February there would not be a war in Ukraine, has been on the US sanctions list since 2018 over his alleged links to the Russian government, which he has taken legal action to challenge."

Anthony Faoila of the Washington Post: "Even as he puts his nuclear forces on high alert and his troops close in on Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reason to worry: His war on Ukraine appears to be backfiring. Unmasked as an unpredictable, even existential threat in the view of governments around the world, Putin has emerged as a dangerous symbol of tyranny, stoking the biggest European defense reassessment in decades. A reinvigorated NATO is emerging. Resurgent Western unity -- wounded under ... Donald Trump -- has enabled sanctions on Moscow that are some of the harshest ever imposed. With Germany suddenly off the fence in what is shaping up to be a historic realignment against Moscow, Putin faces new, as opposed to neutralized, security challenges in Russia's backyard.... Beijing is proving a more reluctant ally than Putin might have hoped, with Xi [Jinping] urging Putin to settle the conflict at the negotiating table."

Ben Collins & Jo Ling Kemp of NBC News: "Facebook and Twitter removed two anti-Ukrainian 'covert influence operations' over the weekend, one tied to Russia and another with connections to Belarus, the companies said."

Ellen Doherty of Axios: "Some liquor stores and bars in the U.S. and Canada are taking Russian vodka off their shelves in protest of President Vladimir Putin's military invasion of Ukraine." Related item about New Hampshire linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)

Javier Hernández of the New York Times: "The Metropolitan Opera said on Sunday that it would no longer engage with performers or other institutions that have voiced support for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, becoming the latest cultural organization to seek to distance itself from some Russian artists amid Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, said that the Met, which has long employed Russians as top singers and has a producing partnership with the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, had an obligation to show support for the people of Ukraine."

Amanda Carpenter of the Bulwark: "Never forget that ... Donald Trump led an organized campaign to withhold military aid and blackmail the Ukrainians. And that Republicans let him get away it." Only one Republican, Justin Amash, voted to impeach Trump, & only one Republican, Mitt Romney, voted to convict him. "The list of Republicans who alibied Trump's treatment of Ukraine is long and distinguished. They hope that their yellow and blue Twitter icons [in ostensible support of Ukraine] will make you forget that they excused it." ~~~

~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The Republican senator Tom Cotton refused four times on Sunday to condemn or even comment on Donald Trump's repeated praise for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who ordered the invasion of Ukraine.... Cotton, from Arkansas, is a military veteran and foreign policy hawk with reputed presidential ambitions from the hard Republican right. His host on ABC, George Stephanopoulos, tried repeatedly to prise comment from him. Cotton was happy to condemn Putin and praise Ukrainian bravery -- and to criticise US allies in Europe." ~~~

~~~ Colin Campbell of Yahoo! News: "Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Sunday that 'it just makes me ill' to see people inside of the Republican Party praise Russian President Vladimir Putin as he wages war against Ukraine. Romney even went as far as to describe it as 'almost treasonous' to side with Putin."

~~~ MEANWHILE, in the U.K. John Harris of the Guardian: "The Russian president, [Conservative British PM Boris] Johnson says, is 'a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest'; he has violated 'every principle of civilised behaviour between states'.... Johnson, indeed, sees himself as leading the charge, repeating the mantra that 'Putin must fail', and claiming that Britain is 'out in front'. All this might seem welcome, but it is also rather absurd. For a long time now, the Conservative party has been happily backsliding on its commitment to liberal values, and dismantling some of the basic structures of political scrutiny and accountability.... Conservative politicians have been happily accepting Russian money while averting their eyes from the Putin regime's meddling in British politics. Now, though, all of that must suddenly be forgotten...."


Ellie Silverman & John Cox of the Washington Post: "Fencing around the U.S. Capitol is being reinstalled in advance of Tuesday's State of the Union address, authorities announced Sunday, in a statement that also referred to potential protests in the city over the next two weeks. The decision was made 'out of an abundance of caution,' according to the Capitol Police, who have long been preparing for the possible arrival of trucks inspired by the 'Freedom Convoy' that occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks to protest vaccine mandates." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "When the first trial stemming from the attack on the Capitol opens on Monday..., prosecutors ... will present a broad portrait of the violent chaos that erupted that day and seek to persuade a jury that the pro-Trump mob that [defendant Guy Wesley] Reffitt is accused of joining struck at the heart of American democracy by disrupting the transition of presidential power.... Because it is the first to reach a courtroom, it will most likely set the tone for those that follow and serve as a kind of proving ground for the charges prosecutors have filed against hundreds of defendants." There is a question as to whether or not one of the charges against Reffitt -- obstruction -- can be used against him. The judge in the case, Dabney "Friedrich, has said she will strike the count before it goes to the jury if the government fails to prove its case."

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, members of Congress who spoke at a white nationalist event in Florida this week, are 'morons' with no place in the Republican party, Mitt Romney said on Sunday.... Greene, from Georgia, and Gosar, from Arizona, spoke at the America First Political Action Conference, or AFPAC, organised by the far-right activist Nick Fuentes."

Book Report. Bill Barr: If Only You Could All Be More Like Me. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William P. Barr writes in a new memoir that ... Donald J. Trump's 'self-indulgence and lack of self-control' cost him the 2020 election and says 'the absurd lengths to which he took his "stolen election" claim led to the rioting on Capitol Hill.' In the book..., Mr. Barr also urges his fellow Republicans to pick someone else as the party's nominee for the 2024 election, calling the prospect of another presidential run by Mr. Trump 'dismaying.' 'Donald Trump has shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed,' Mr. Barr writes." Barr defends his own tenure and compares liberals to fascists & totalitarians. MB: I'm just picturing two insane over-the-hill sumo wrestlers -- one wearing glasses & the other with dyed orange hair -- fighting to the death. ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Zapotosky & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "In the book..., Barr takes shot after shot at Trump, especially over his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic and his false claims that the election was stolen from him. Barr, who had a famous falling-out with Trump late in his presidency, writes that Trump's 'constant bellicosity diminishes him and the office,' and that in the final months of the administration, he came to realize that 'Trump cared only about one thing: himself. Country and principle took second place.'... Though he casts himself in his book as resisting pressure to take inappropriate steps, critics are likely to accuse him of offering a self-serving retelling of events to sell books and rehabilitate his own public image." MB: No kidding. ~~~

     ~~~ ** Jennifer Szalai of the New York Times writes a real book review: Barr's "'One Damn Thing After Another' is an intemperate culture-war treatise smuggled into a lawyer's memoir: a seemingly sober recitation of events that's periodically interrupted by seething tirades about 'militant secularism' and a 'Maoist' American left. He compares Trump's opponents to 'guerrillas engaged in a war to cripple a duly elected government' and calls the pandemic restrictions adopted by some states the most 'onerous denial of civil liberties' in American history, second only to slavery." Szalai's last graf is superb.

** Can Anyone Save Earth from the Supremes? Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "In the most important environmental case in more than a decade, the Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a dispute that could restrict or even eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to control the pollution that is heating the planet. A decision by the high court, with its conservative supermajority, could shred President Biden's plans to halve the nation's greenhouse emissions by the end of the decade, which scientists said is necessary to avert the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.... The outcome could also have repercussions that stretch well beyond air pollution, restricting the ability of federal agencies to regulate health care, workplace safety, telecommunications, the financial sector and more." ~~~

     ~~~ Laurence Tribe & Jeremy Lewin in a Guardian op-ed: "... the matter the court is considering implicates -- and imperils -- the federal government's power to fashion flexible solutions not only to global heating but to all manner of complex problems. The stakes are higher still: by ruling on the case at all, the court usurps power constitutionally entrusted to government's politically accountable branches. Article 3 of the constitution limits federal courts to deciding concrete 'cases and controversies' about the rights of individual parties. Yet this 'case' involves neither a concrete dispute nor the specific rights of any of the challengers. Instead, it's akin to an exam question about the options theoretically available to a federal agency to address a grave problem. In answering that hypothetical question, the court will have arrogated to itself an unprecedented, open-ended power to reshape the nation's social and economic landscape -- far in excess of its legitimate authority, as the foundational case Marbury v. Madison put it, to 'declare what the law is'." ~~~

~~~ Brad Plumer & Raymond Zhong of the New York Times: "The dangers of climate change are mounting so rapidly that they could soon overwhelm the ability of both nature and humanity to adapt unless greenhouse gas emissions are quickly reduced, according to a major new scientific report released on Monday. The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, is the most detailed look yet at the threats posed by global warming. It concludes that nations aren't doing nearly enough to protect cities, farms and coastlines from the hazards that climate change has unleashed so far -- such as record droughts and rising seas -- let alone from the even greater disasters in store as the planet continues to warm." The AP's report is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

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

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