January 30, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Backfire! Banned in Bumpkinville, a 30-Year-Old Novel Is a Bestseller. David Cohen of Politico: "Just days after the banning of 'Maus' by a Tennessee school district made national news, two editions of Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust have reached the top 20 on Amazon.com and are in limited supply. 'Maus' was No. 12 on Amazon as of early Friday evening, and was not available for delivery until mid-February. 'The Complete Maus,' which includes a second volume, was No. 9 and out of stock."

Welcome to America! Antonio Olivo of the Washington Post: "Scores of Afghan evacuees in the Washington region have been languishing inside cramped hotel rooms, where parents sleep on the floor while their bored children share one bed. Months after their arrivals, overwhelmed resettlement groups have been unable to find many of the evacuees affordable permanent homes. So while those organizations attend to other newly arrived families, the evacuees are left to their own devices for weeks at a time inside rooms shared by as many as five people, community activists say. During the day, the families have little to do, because the adults have yet to receive Social Security numbers or federal work authorization documents. The children, lacking a permanent address, are unable to enroll in school. The problem is particularly acute in Maryland -- and may soon grow worse, resettlement groups say, as federal officials plan to send more evacuees to the area."

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

~~~~~~~~~~

Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The White House on Saturday issued a forceful rebuke to a U.S. senator [-- Roger Wicker (R) --] from Mississippi who said President Biden's promise to pick a Black woman for the Supreme Court would ensure that the nominee is a 'beneficiary' of affirmative action.... On Saturday, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that Biden's promise to elevate a Black woman to the highest U.S. court 'is in line with the best traditions of both parties and our nation.' Bates noted that Ronald Reagan had pledged during his presidential campaign to send the first woman to the court, saying that it 'symbolized' the American ideal that 'permits persons of any sex, age, or race, from every section and every walk of life to aspire and achieve in a manner never before even dreamed about in human history.'" See related report linked yesterday.

Matt Viser, et al., of the Washington Post: In April of 2021, there began "a remarkably public push on the political left to pressure [Justice Stephen] Breyer, 83, the high court's oldest justice and one of its three liberals, to retire while Democrats controlled the White House and Senate and make way for a younger nominee installed by President Biden.... The campaign was carried out by various groups and politicians -- not always acting together, and with some delivering their messages far more discreetly than others.... Breyer's brother, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, said in an interview, 'Of course he was aware of this campaign. I think what impressed him was not the campaign but the logic of the campaign. And he thought he should take into account the fact that this was an opportunity for a Democratic president -- and he was appointed by a Democratic president -- to fill his position with someone who is like-minded.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In her column last week, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times decried the "vociferous" campaign to encourage Breyer to retire, arguing that "he certainly deserves better." I disagreed with her then, and I disagree with her now. It's evident from his brother's statement that Stephen Breyer needed that push out the door. He really didn't understand, according to Charles, what all the fuss was about. You may recall that when Stephen Breyer went on a book tour last year, he repeatedly made the most disingenuous statements about how he didn't know when he would retire but, in any event, he would not hitch his retirement to "political" considerations.

Ian Dennis & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Nearly three months after President Biden signed a roughly $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law, federal transportation officials say much of their work is on hold -- stuck in limbo as a result of an unresolved congressional fight over federal spending. The result is billions of dollars unable to be spent, blunting the immediate impact of one of Biden's signature accomplishments."

Victory at Sea! Stephen Murphy of Sky News: "Russia has announced it will move controversial naval exercises out of Ireland's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The war games had angered Irish fishermen, who said up to 60 trawlers would continue to fish as normal in the area, peacefully disrupting the Russian manoeuvres. But while Ireland did fire a broadside at Russia over the drills, it lacked the military muscle to do much else. This evening, however, Russia's ambassador to Ireland said the exercises would be moved." An AP story is here. ~~~

Another Crack in the Great Wall of Trumpty-Dumpty. Katherine Huggins of Mediaite: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) made it clear on Saturday that he does not want ... Donald Trump to run for -- or win -- a second term. 'I do not believe Trump is the one to lead our party and our country again, as president,' Hutchinson told Insider during a National Governors Association meeting. Hutchinson, the chairman of the NGA, told Insider that determining who should be president instead is 'what the election is all about,' and noted there's many possible choices. Hutchinson's comments follow a video from earlier this week in which Trump called himself both the 45th and 47th president of the United States."

And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly. -- Donald Trump, on the January 6 insurrectionists ~~~

~~~ The Insurrectionist-in-Chief. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump said on Saturday that if elected to a new term as president, he would consider pardoning those prosecuted for attacking the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year. He also called on his supporters to mount large protests in Atlanta and New York if prosecutors in those cities, who are investigating him and his businesses, take action against him. The promise to consider pardons is the furthest Mr. Trump has gone in expressing support for the Jan. 6 defendants." A CNN report is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Anti-Vax Disinformation Is a Human Rights Abuse -- Pope Francis. María Paúl & Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis denounced on Friday the 'distortion of reality based on fear' that has ripped across the world during the coronavirus pandemic, but he also called for compassion, urging journalists to help those misled by coronavirus-related misinformation and fake news to better understand the scientific facts. 'We can hardly fail to see that these days, in addition to the pandemic, an "infodemic" is spreading: A distortion of reality based on fear, which in our global society leads to an explosion of commentary on falsified if not invented news,' the leader of the world's Catholics said. Meeting with members of the International Catholic Media Consortium on COVID-19 Vaccines -- a fact-checking network that aims to combat misinformation -- the pope said that being fully informed by scientific data was a human right."

Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Spotify lost $4 billion in market value this week after rock icon Neil Young called out the company for allowing comedian Joe Rogan to use its service to spread misinformation about the COVID vaccine on his popular podcast.... At the end of the day Friday, Jan. 28, shares of Spotify were down about 12% from where they closed last week, according to data from Nasdaq, against a broader index that was flat over the same period. The hashtags #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify also gained traction on social media, with many websites offering step-by-step instructions for users to remove the app from their devices. Spotify took down nearly all of Young's music on Wednesday, Jan. 26, two days after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician reportedly issued the streaming service an ultimatum via his management and record company: 'They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.'" ~~~

~~~ Adam Schrader of UPI: "Nils Lofgren, the renowned rock guitarist and longtime member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, has joined Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in pulling his music from Spotify."

New York. Another Amityville Horror. Jessica Bursztynsky of CNBC: "Two nurses on New York's Long Island are being charged with forging Covid-19 vaccination cards and entering the fake jabs in the state's database, a scam that allegedly raked in more than $1.5 million. The Suffolk County District Attorney on Friday arrested Julie DeVuono, 49, the owner and operator of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville and her employee, Marissa Urraro, 44, according to a complaint. From November 2021 to January 2022, the pair allegedly forged vaccination cards, charging adults $220 apiece and $85 per child for a fake record that would land in the New York State Immunization Information System database.... During a search of DeVuono's home, officials said officers seized roughly $900,000.... DeVuono's husband Derin DeVuono, who is a New York Police Department officer, is being investigated by the department&'s Internal Affairs Bureau in terms of his possible involvement in his wife's alleged scheme, sources told the New York Daily News." A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So that means about 7,000 Long Islanders would rather pay a couple of hundred dollars each not to get vaccines than accept free, life-saving vaccines. People are stupid. Very stupid. And how did so many stupid people find out about this fake ID shop? It's not as if the nurses could advertise in Your Weekly Shopper: "Anti-Vaxxers Alert! Qualified nurses will give you fake Covid shots and issue fake Covid ID cards. Only $220 each. Cut rates for families with children. Make an appointment now! Phone 631-555-1212."

Canada. John Tasker of CBC News: "A convoy of thousands of truckers and other protesters converged on Parliament Hill [in Ottawa] Saturday to call for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions -- a raucous demonstration that has police on high alert for possible violence even as organizers urge the crowd to be peaceful. Hundreds of protesters on foot flooded into the parliamentary precinct on Saturday in the midst of an extreme cold warning, joining a lineup of truckers that started to arrive on the scene late Friday night.... The convoy has snarled traffic throughout the region.... The many trucks that have gathered along Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings are adorned with banners denouncing public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.... Amid security concerns, Trudeau and his family have been moved from their home to an undisclosed location in the nation's capital, sources said."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Howard Hesseman, the actor and improvisational comedian best known for playing a stuck-in-the-'60s radio disc jockey in the TV sitcom 'WKRP in Cincinnati,' died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 81."

AP: "Gusty winds and falling temperatures have plunged the East Coast into a deep freeze as people dig out after a powerful nor'easter dumped mounds of snow, flooded coastlines and knocked out power to tens of thousands. Dangerous wind chills have fallen below zero in many locations across the region on Sunday after the storm dumped snow from Virginia to Maine.... Massachusetts bore the brunt of the storm, with the town of Sharon getting more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow before the storm moved out. The wind continued raging as over 100,000 lost power, mostly in Massachusetts, hampering crews' ability to work on overhead lines. No other states reported widespread outages." MB: It's a balmy 6 degrees in my hometown. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, one Reality Chex reader "baked" a perfect snowconut cake in his back yard:

January 29, 2022

Timothy Bella, et al., of the Washington Post: "A major bridge collapsed in [Pittsburgh, Pa.,] just hours before President Biden arrived to tout his new infrastructure law, providing a vivid illustration of the country's crumbling transportation system -- but also highlighting that it will take years for many of the benefits to be felt." Video of President Biden's speech is here. ~~~

~~~ Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "President Joe Biden visited the site of a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh on Friday during a trip to the city to promote an infrastructure package that he said would help repair the nation's infrastructure and prevent similar incidents. As he surveyed the damage, Biden thanked first responders and spoke with local officials. 'We're going to fix them all. Not a joke, this is going to be a gigantic change,' he said, noting that the collapsed bridge in Frick Park had been rated in poor condition for 10 years." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ A New York Times report about the bridge collapse is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Pittsburgh is called the City of Bridges. The federal government, as you would expect, tracks the condition of those bridges." The bridge that collapsed is one the feds had determined was in "poor" condition. "... it sits at the end of one of ... Forbes Avenue..., a major thoroughfare into and out of downtown.... A review of the most recent report indicates that more than 7,500 bridges in the 50 states and D.C. are both in poor condition and rated lower or the same [as the Forbes Avenue bridge] on the four main measures of condition.... President Biden was already slated to be in Pittsburgh on Friday, to give a speech focused on infrastructure. This bridge collapse offers a useful if unwelcome demonstration of the need for the recently passed infrastructure bill to be implemented." (Also linked yesterday.)

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "The White House on Friday confirmed that President Biden is considering a South Carolina federal judge and favorite of House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) as a potential candidate for the Supreme Court. The statement is the first time the White House has publicly confirmed a name under consideration to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer.... At the same time, the White House indicated that Judge J. Michelle Childs is one of several people under consideration by the president, who has pledged to live up to his campaign promise of nominating the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court." ~~~

Mississippi state flag until 2020.     ~~~ ** Let's Find Out What the Sexist Racists Are Saying. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "The first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court in history will be a 'beneficiary' of affirmative action, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker told a radio show this afternoon. The senior Republican senator from Mississippi made clear that he has no plans to vote for [President] Biden's yet-to-be-announced pick. 'The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very time hearing cases about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota,' Wicker told host Paul Gallo on SuperTalk Mississippi Radio today, referring to a pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging affirmative action in college admissions.... 'We're going to go from a nice, stately liberal [-- Stephen Breyer --] to someone who's probably more in the style of Sonia Sotomayor,' Wicker said. '... I hope it's at least someone who will at least not misrepresent the facts. I think they will misinterpret the law.'... Wicker notably did not raise an objection when ... Donald Trump vowed to appoint a woman to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she died weeks before the 2020 election." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wicker was speaking on a radio show, so he probably didn't bother to wear his pointy white hood. I'll bet he would not find Justice Breyer so "nice and stately" if it dawned on him that Breyer is Jewish. ~~~

... there's never been a president that has made race and gender the defining factor. -- Sean Hannity, January 26

The claim ignored that both Trump and Reagan made similar vows to nominate women to the Supreme Court, then followed through on those promises. Other presidents in history have also considered race and religion as they have made their picks. -- Politifact

There was never a president prior to Lyndon Johnson who did not make race and gender the defining factor. -- Marie Burns

~~~ Katie Rogers & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Biden had hoped that Justice Stephen G. Breyer would retire soon. But as he and his advisers waited for the most senior member of the Supreme Court's liberal wing to make up his mind, the president had made it clear: No one was to do anything to pressure him. Part of the reason, three advisers to Mr. Biden said, was because the president, who was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1994 when Justice Breyer was confirmed, had respect for the man. Part of it was because he had respect for the role. And part of it was that he knew liberal groups were already applying plenty of pressure -- any more could backfire.... His reticence meant that the two men spoke for the first time since Mr. Biden took office on Thursday, when Justice Breyer hand-delivered his resignation letter to the White House, according to ... advisers...."

Amy Cheng & Siobhán O'Grady of the Washington Post: "The United States does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached a decision on whether to again attack Ukraine, but Moscow 'clearly now has that capability' to seize important territories from Kyiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday." ~~~

~~~ New York Times Liveblog (Friday): "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has deployed the troops and military hardware needed to invade all of Ukraine, the Pentagon's top leaders said on Friday, as senior Defense Department officials warned that the tense standoff was leading the United States, its NATO allies and Russia into uncharted territory.... Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III described a bristling array of Russian combined arms formations, artillery and rockets assembled at the Ukrainian border, which he said 'far and away exceeds what we would typically see them do for exercises.' Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was more blunt: 'I think you'd have to go back quite a while to the Cold War days to see something of this magnitude.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Stern, et al., of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday criticized Western nations, including the United States, for their handling of Russia's military buildup at his border, taking aim at his most important security partners as his own military braced for a potential attack. The 44-year-old leader faulted the West for waiting to impose more damaging sanctions on Moscow -- 'that's not the way to do it,' Zelensky said -- while assailing decisions by the United States, Britain and Australia to withdraw some embassy staff and families, and accusing Western leaders of inciting 'panic' with repeated suggestions that an invasion was imminent. 'I can't be like other politicians who are grateful to the United States just for being the United States,' Zelensky told reporters during a news conference [in Kyiv]."

Ronen Bergman of the New York Times Magazine & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: In June of 2019, "the F.B.I. [began setting up] a version of Pegasus, NSO's premier spying tool. For nearly a decade, the Israeli firm had been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what no one else -- not a private company, not even a state intelligence service -- could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.... But by the time the company's engineers walked through the door of the New Jersey facility in 2019, the many abuses of Pegasus had also been well documented.... ... This version of Pegasus was 'zero click' -- unlike more common hacking software, it did not require users to click on a malicious attachment or link -- so the Americans monitoring the phones could see no evidence o an ongoing breach.... The details of the F.B.I.'s purchase and testing of Pegasus have never before been made public." ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Levenson of the New York Times has a summary report here.

** Luke Broadwater & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack issued 14 subpoenas on Friday to people who falsely claimed to be electors for ... Donald J. Trump in the 2020 election in states that were actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., digging deeper into Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the results. The subpoenas target individuals who met and submitted false Electoral College certificates in seven states won by President Biden: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 'The select committee is seeking information about attempts in multiple states to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the planning and coordination of efforts to send false slates of electors to the National Archives,' Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's so fascinating here is that journalists & the January 6 committee have woven this seemingly tangential thread into Trump's plot to overturn a democratically-held election. The trouble with a "vast right-wing conspiracy" is that the vaster it is, the more likely it is that someone will unravel it.

Gloria Borger & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "The House Select Committee investigating January 6 has issued a subpoena Friday for a former White House spokesman with firsthand knowledge of Donald Trump's behavior before and during the January 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a copy of a letter accompanying the subpoena obtained by CNN. The committee is seeking both documents and a deposition next month from former deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere, who helped with 'formulating White House's response to the January 6 attack as it occurred,' according to the panel's letter. In its letter to Deere, the committee specifically said it wanted to speak with him about the January 5 staff meeting in the Oval Office with the President. The committee said it had obtained information that Trump repeatedly asked in the meeting: 'What are your ideas for getting the RINOs to do the right thing tomorrow? How do we convince Congress?'"

The Big Lie Is A-Okay with Twitter. Daniel Dale of CNN: "Twitter quit taking action to try to limit the spread of lies about the 2020 election, the company said on Friday -- a day after another social media platform, YouTube, removed a Republican congressman's campaign ad because it included a 2020 lie. Twitter spokesperson Elizabeth Busby told CNN on Friday that 'since March 2021,' Twitter has not been enforcing its 'civic integrity policy' in relation to lies about the 2020 election.... That's because the policy is designed to be used 'during the duration' of an election or other civic event, and 'the 2020 U.S. election is not only certified, but President Biden has been in office for more than a year.' Lies about the 2020 election, however..., continue to play a major role in American politics.... Donald Trump continues to relentlessly repeat lies about the 2020 election. Intelligence analysts say members of far-right extremist groups continue to subscribe to these lies. Driven by the lies, Republican activists around the country continue to press for so-called election audits and they hunt, sometimes door to door, for supposed fraud. And numerous Republican candidates running in 2022 primaries are campaigning on lies about what happened in 2020."

Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: Scammers scam Trumpbots with a "Trump coin" which some marketers claimed was cryptocurrency (it's not) & others claim -- often on fake social media accounts of celebrities like actor Denzel Washington & John F. Kennedy, Jr. (deceased) -- will replace American money. MB: Most surprising part: there's no suggestion Trump himself is making a dime off the cheap Trump coins. HOWEVER, ~~~

~~~ Michael Scherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Years after shuttering businesses selling Trump steaks, Trump vodka and Trump mattresses, the Trumps have returned to unconventional direct-to-consumer appeals that trade on his continued popularity among a devoted base to the tune of millions of dollars in receipts. Even as some of his traditional businesses have struggled after a polarizing presidency, Trump and his family have been launching a whole set designed to target his die-hard followers.... [One product is a picture] book, based largely on photographs in the public domain..., [is] sold unsigned for $75 and over three times that with Trump's signature, [and] has been published by a new company founded by his son, Donald Trump Jr. It paid the former president a multimillion-dollar advance for signing copies, writing captions and helping curate photos...." Trump also is making money on the lecture circuit & continues to promote his properties: "He released a statement this month, using his taxpayer-funded post-presidential office, boasting of a recent investment in his Doral golf course in Miami and promising that thousands of homes would be built on the property."

Ben Weiser of the New York Times on Michael Avenatti's courtroom cross-examination of Stormy Daniels, who has accused him of defrauding her. "Rounding out the courtroom time capsule of a peculiar moment in American politics, Michael D. Cohen -- who, as Mr. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, paid Ms. Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about her claim that she had an affair with [Donald] Trump -- watched from the spectator gallery.... Last July, [Mr. Avenatti] was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars after being convicted in February 2020 on charges of trying to extort more than $20 million from the apparel giant Nike. He is to surrender to the authorities on Feb. 28." ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Hays & Larry Newmeister of the AP: "Michael Avenatti sought Friday at his fraud trial to portray his former client Stormy Daniels as someone who might be delusional as he questioned the porn actor about her belief that her house was once haunted by ghosts. Avenatti, who is acting as his own lawyer, got to cross-examine Daniels for a second day about allegations that he stole $300,000 the performer was supposed to get from a publisher for writing a tell-all book about an alleged sexual tryst with ... Donald Trump.... Avenatti is defending himself against wire fraud and aggravated identify theft charges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Assuming prosecutors have hard evidence that Avenatti diverted to himself funds designated for Daniels, I don't see what Daniel's mental competence has to do with the matter. I would guess that many victims of fraud are not competent at the time the fraud is perpetrated on them.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Spotify on the Spot. Harriet Sherwood of the Guardian: "... Joni Mitchell has joined Neil Young in removing her music from Spotify in protest at it hosting a popular anti-vax podcast. Mitchell, whose 1971 album Blue is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, is the first high-profile musician to take a stand alongside Young against the streaming behemoth." ~~~

     ~~~ On her Website, Mitchell republishes an open letter to Spotify from "a coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields" who say they "are calling on Spotify to take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform. With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world's largest podcast and has tremendous influence. Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy."

Virginia. Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: "Virginia's public colleges and universities don't have the authority to require students to get a coronavirus vaccine to enroll or attend in-person classes, the state's new attorney general found in his first opinion since taking office this month. The opinion by Jason Miyares, a Republican, is the most recent move by the state's new GOP leadership to challenge coronavirus mandates. It is unclear if the step will have any practical effect on students currently on campuses. More than 90 percent of students at most of the state's four-year public schools are already vaccinated and, in some cases, boosted."

Washington State. Kyle Morris of Fox "News": "A Washington State Patrol officer who defied a statewide vaccine mandate and signed off for the last time by telling Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee to 'kiss my a--' ... over forced vaccine mandates ... is dead from COVID-19. Former Trooper Robert LaMay, 51, who served 22 years with the State Patrol and retired last October, died on Friday." MB: I don't know the pension rules for Washington state troopers, and I don't know if LeMay was married, but it's nice to know that -- since he served 22 years -- his widow might get the pension benefits he won't need because he killed himself with Covid.

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "The three former Minneapolis police officers on trial for violating George Floyd's civil rights had been trained to verbally and physically intervene to stop a colleague from using unreasonable force and broke department policy when they didn't stop Derek Chauvin from kneeling on Floyd's neck,> a police supervisor testified Friday. Katie Blackwell, a Minneapolis Police Department inspector who commanded the agency's training division at the time of Floyd's May 2020 death, testified that former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao had undergone hours of training on the department's use of force guidelines, including the duty to intervene and the obligation to render medical aid when someone in their custody needs it."

Ohio Senate Race. Liz Skalka of the Huffington Post on a debate between Ohio U.S. Senate candidates Morgan Harper (D) & Josh Mandel (ARrrr). Good grief. P.D. Pepe discusses the debate in yesterday's Comments. (Also linked yesterday.)

Pennsylvania. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "A state court in Pennsylvania on Friday struck down the state's landmark election law as unconstitutional, dealing a temporary blow to voting access in one of the nation's most critical battleground states. In a 3-to-2 decision, the state court sided with 14 Republican lawmakers who sued last year, arguing that the law was unconstitutional. Pennsylvania filed an appeal to its Supreme Court on Friday afternoon, triggering an automatic stay that keeps the law in place during the appeal process. The law, known as Act 77, was passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, in 2019. It permitted no-excuse absentee voting, created a permanent mail-in voter list, reduced the voter registration deadline from 30 days to 15 and provided for $90 million in election infrastructure upgrades. It also eliminated straight ticket voting. The majority opinion, written by Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, a Republican, said that voting 'requires the physical presence of the elector' and ruled that the legislature could not make changes to voting laws without amending the state Constitution.... In a statement, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Pennsylvania attorney general who is also running for governor, criticized the state court's decision as 'faulty[.]'" A CBS News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the modern day, a voting law that "requires the physical presence of the elector" sounds kinda unconstitutional to me. That would mean no absentee voting under any conditions: not for people in nursing homes, not for people with debilitating illnesses, not for military personnel serving away from home, etc.

Wisconsin. Brad Parks of CNN: "The gun that Kyle Rittenhouse used in the Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootings will be destroyed, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said Friday. 'The parties -- the defense, the state, and also Dominick Black, who purchased that firearm -- have all signed off on a stipulation whereby the Kenosha Police Department and Joint Services will destroy that firearm, as well as the magazine, and the scope,' Binger told Judge Bruce Schroeder at a hearing Friday.... [Rittenhouse's attorney Mark] Richards also confirmed the rest of Rittenhouse's property that was seized when he was arrested was returned earlier this week. Rittenhouse was not present for the hearing."

News Ledes

ESPN: "Tom Brady is retiring from football after 22 seasons in which he won a historic seven Super Bowl titles, sources told ESPN.... Brady [is] widely considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history...." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN: Or maybe not.

AP: ";A nor'easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the East Coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines, and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake. The storm thrashed parts of 10 states, with blizzard warnings that stretched from Virginia to Maine. Philadelphia and New York saw plenty of wind and snow, but Boston was in the crosshairs. The city could get more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow by the time it moves out early Sunday. Winds gusted as high as 83 mph (134 kph) on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Southwest of Boston, the town of Sharon, Massachusetts, had received more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow by Saturday night, while Islip, New York, and Warren, Rhode Island, both saw more than 24 inches (61 centimeters)."

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the winter storm that is pummeling the East Coast of the U.S. The Weather Channel has links to stories about on its front page.

January 28, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "President Joe Biden visited the site of a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh on Friday during a trip to the city to promote an infrastructure package that he said would help repair the nation's infrastructure and prevent similar incidents. As he surveyed the damage, Biden thanked first responders and spoke with local officials. 'We're going to fix them all. Not a joke, this is going to be a gigantic change,' he said, noting that the collapsed bridge in Frick Park had been rated in poor condition for 10 years." ~~~

New York Times Liveblog: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has deployed the troops and military hardware needed to invade all of Ukraine, the Pentagon's top leaders said on Friday, as senior Defense Department officials warned that the tense standoff was leading the United States, its NATO allies and Russia into uncharted territory.... Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III described a bristling array of Russian combined arms formations, artillery and rockets assembled at the Ukrainian border, which he said 'far and away exceeds what we would typically see them do for exercises.' Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was more blunt: 'I think you'd have to go back quite a while to the Cold War days to see something of this magnitude.'"

Luke Broadwater & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack issued 14 subpoenas on Friday to people who falsely claimed to be electors for ... Donald J. Trump in the 2020 election in states that were actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., digging deeper into Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the results. The subpoenas target individuals who met and submitted false Electoral College certificates in seven states won by President Biden: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 'The select committee is seeking information about attempts in multiple states to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the planning and coordination of efforts to send false slates of electors to the National Archives,' Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement."

CNN Liveblog: "The Allegheny County [Pittsburgh] Police Department was notified about a partial bridge collapse after 6 a.m. Friday, Amie Downs, the county's communications director, said in a statement. Four ​vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse and only minor injuries have been reported, Downs said, adding that a driver of an articulated bus and two passengers were among those rescued with minor injuries. There was a massive gas leak caused by the collapse, which is now under control, according to Pittsburgh Fire Department Chief Darryl Jones.... President Biden is aware of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, which happened earlier this morning about six miles away from where he is set to deliver remarks on infrastructure and other topics later Friday. He will proceed with that trip, according to the White House.... Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said the bridge collapse left 10 minor injuries and three people were transported." MB: Photos of the bridge collapse make it look more than "partial" to me, and local officials have told CNN that the bridge was part of a major artery. Also, the bridge fell into a public park, and it's possible there are victims who were in the park. ~~~

     ~~~ A New York Times report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Pittsburgh is called the City of Bridges. The federal government, as you would expect, tracks the condition of those bridges." The bridge that collapsed is one the feds had determined was in "poor" condition. "... it sits at the end of one of ... Forbes Avenue..., a major thoroughfare into and out of downtown.... A review of the most recent report indicates that more than 7,500 bridges in the 50 states and D.C. are both in poor condition and rated lower or the same [as the Forbes Avenue bridge] on the four main measures of condition.... President Biden was already slated to be in Pittsburgh on Friday, to give a speech focused on infrastructure. This bridge collapse offers a useful if unwelcome demonstration of the need for the recently passed infrastructure bill to be implemented."

Ohio Senate Race. Liz Skalka of the Huffington Post on a debate between Ohio U.S. Senate candidates Morgan Harper (D) & Josh Mandel (ARrrr). Good grief. P.D. Pepe discusses the debate in today's Comments.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now We Are Engaged in a Great Civil War." President Biden & Justice Breyer addressed the public early Thursday afternoon: ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments here: "In his letter to President Biden, Justice Breyer said he would leave at the end of the Supreme Court's current term, in late June or early July, 'assuming that by then my successor has been nominated and confirmed.' This is a hybrid model: Most retiring justices step down either at a set time or on the confirmation of their successor." The letter is reproduced in the item. Here's the letter (pdf) via the Supreme Court. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: President "Biden said Thursday that he intends to nominate [Justice] Breyer's replacement by the end of February. But he spent the bulk of his remarks lauding the retiring justice for his 'practical, sensible and nuanced' judicial record." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: At the end of remarks, after Justice Breyer had spent some time discussing the importance of part of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, President Biden invited the Breyers to spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom, where there is a copy of the Gettysburg address, written in Lincoln's hand.

Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "Two misfortunes have befallen Stephen G. Breyer during his long Supreme Court career. One, which became apparent about halfway through his nearly 28-year tenure, was that it was his fate to be the quintessential Enlightenment man in an increasingly unenlightened era at the court. The second happened during this past year: the demand from the left that he step down and open his seat for President Biden to fill. Justice Breyer's belief in the power of facts, evidence and expertise was out of step in a postfactual age." (Also linked yesterday.)

Whoever She May Be, She's Part of the "Radical Left." Michael Scherer & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s planned retirement set up a new election-year challenge as the deadlocked 50-50 Senate confronts a heated Supreme Court confirmation fight focused on some of the most contentious issues in the nation's ongoing cultural divide.... Conservative voters have traditionally prioritized court politics far more than Democrats at the ballot box.... Republicans on Wednesday responded with efforts to mobilize their core voters in response..., and preemptively cast the yet-unnamed nominee to replace Breyer as a radical." MB: Mitch McConnell probably thinks Attila the Hun was a member of the radical left. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lauren Lumpkin of the Washington Post: "The incoming leader of a Georgetown Law research institute has apologized after facing backlash for a series of now-deleted tweets about President Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman for the Supreme Court that the school's dean has called 'appalling.' Ilya Shapiro, the vice president and director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, is set to begin his new role as executive director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution on Tuesday. [After recommending Judge Sri Srinivasan of the nomination, Shapiro wrote,] 'But alas doesn't fit into the latest intersectionality hierarchy so we'll get lesser black woman[.]'... In a tweet that followed, Shapiro added that if Biden[s] ... nominee 'will always have an asterisk attached. Fitting that the Court takes up affirmative action next term.'... Shapiro made similar remarks about identity following Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the high court in 2009." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Shapiro's apology was, in part, "I meant no offense, but it was an inartful tweet." "No offense"? Hey, why would anyone be offended by racist, sexist tweets? "Inartful"? No, you said what you meant, and further proof of that is your remarks about Sotomayor. This is a weasly fake "apology," Ilya, designed to keep Georgetown from firing your ass before they put your name on the door. I hope it doesn't work & you're stuck at Cato, which deserves you. ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "... there is absolutely no difference between what Biden did and what past presidents had done. And moreover there is nothing wrong with this, because there are hundreds of thousands of people fully capable of doing the job of Supreme Court justice..., and so considering representation is perfectly appropriate! And, by the same token, Shapiro asserting that somehow women of color can never be the imaginary One Most Qualified Nominee -- and we can know this even before we know who the nominee even is! -- cannot possibly be defended." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't believe "there are hundreds of thousands of people fully capable of doing the job of Supreme Court justice." On the other hand, there are a whole lotta people with some kind of legal and life experience who have the potential to be good at the job. As for qualifications, it's unlikely -- given the state of partisanship -- that any president ever will nominate the most qualified person. The "most qualified person" -- at least on paper -- likely is an Older White Male, a thoughtful, smart judge with long experience adjudicating Constitutional issues. No president is apt to choose an old person for a lifetime position. So there's built-in ageism at the top of the selection process. And, as Lemieux notes, that are other factors, most of them at least marginally political, that presidents consider, and those considerations will severely whittle down the pool of candidates.

Mark Landler, et al., of the New York Times: "When President Biden held a video call with European leaders about Ukraine this week..., [he] expanded the seats on his war council, adding Poland, Italy and the European Union to the familiar lineup of Britain, France and Germany.... After complaints from Europeans that they were blindsided by the swift American withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, and that France was frozen out of a new defense alliance with Australia, Mr. Biden has gone out of his way to involve allies in every step of this crisis." MB: Of course Biden is trying to be super-nice to our strongest allies. I mean, who can imagine a president* who wouldn't be?

Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III ordered the military on Thursday to strengthen its efforts to prevent civilian deaths and to improve the way it investigates and acknowledges claims of civilian harm in U.S. combat operations. In his most sweeping statement on the issue to date, Mr. Austin set in motion a series of measures that military officials say are intended to change how commanders in the field think about their jobs, fostering a culture in which they view preventing civilian harm as a core part of their missions."

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday canceled oil and gas leases of more than 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, ruling that the Biden administration did not sufficiently take climate change into account when it auctioned the leases late last year. The decision by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a major victory for environmental groups that criticized the Biden administration for holding the sale after promising to move the country away from fossil fuels. It had been the largest lease sale in United States history. Now the Interior Department must conduct a new environmental analysis that accounts for the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the eventual development and production of the leases. After that, the agency will have to decide whether it will hold a new auction." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE/BUT. Maxine Joselaw of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration has approved more oil and gas drilling permits on public lands per month than the Trump administration did during the first three years of Donald Trump's presidency, according to an analysis shared exclusively with The Climate 202. The report by Public Citizen, a liberal advocacy group, illustrates that President Biden has been slow to reverse Trump's fossil-fuel-friendly agenda, despite his campaign promise to push for 'no more drilling on federal lands" because of climate change.... During his first week in office, Biden issued an executive order instructing the Interior Department to pause all new lease sales on public lands and waters while it reviewed how to adjust the program. But Western oil drillers and 14 Republican-led states sued over the order. And in June, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction to block the leasing pause. The Biden administration is appealing that court decision." Some emphasis removed.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge is ramping up pressure on attorney John Eastman -- a central ally in Donald Trump's effort to subvert the election on Jan. 6, 2021 -- to begin producing thousands of pages of records to congressional investigators. Judge David Carter, who already sharply rejected Eastman's attempt to block the Jan. 6 select committee's subpoena for 19,000 pages of emails held by his former employer Chapman University, issued a detailed plan Wednesday to help speed the process along." ~~~

~~~ Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News (Jan. 25): "John Eastman ... invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 146 times when he was questioned by the Jan. 6 committee last month.... The disclosure came in a court hearing before U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, Calif., on Eastman's lawsuit to block a subpoena from the committee directing Chapman University -- where he previously worked as a professor -- to turn over more than 19,000 emails relating to his work for Trump in the months following the Nov. 3, 2020, election.... But Eastman's argument suffered a blow when the lawyer for Chapman University, whose computer hosts the emails, told the judge that the professor had no right to use the university email system for his representation of Trump because it was partisan work on behalf of a political candidate -- a violation of the university's status as a nonprofit. Any use by Eastman of Chapman emails on behalf of Trump was 'improper' and 'unauthorized,' said Fred Plevin, a lawyer for Chapman. 'I liken [it] to contraband,' he added."

Brigid Kennedy of the Week, republished by Yahoo! News: "After conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed Tuesday to have pleaded the Fifth 'almost 100 times' during his testimony before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has publicly taken issue with the flawed strategy. 'The thing that Mr. Jones and all of the defendants and all of the witnesses are forgetting is that the Fifth Amendment is meant to be used selectively if you think that you might be incriminating yourself by answering a question,' Raskin said during an appearance on MSNBC. "It's not a magic wand that you wave over the whole proceeding and you don't have to answer anything.... What we're seeing is this extravagant new deployment of the Fifth Amendment as a kind of get-out-of-a-subpoena card."

On the day the big news is the retirement of high-minded Justice Stephen Breyer, we are left with his tawdry detritus from the Trumpalumpa Files: ~~~

~~~ The Case of the Porn Star & the (Alleged!) Crooked Lawyer. Colin Moynihan of the New York Times: "Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film star whose lawsuit against ... Donald J. Trump was at the center of a 2018 scandal, took the stand as a witness on Thursday in the trial of Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who once represented her but now stands accused of stealing from her. 'He stole from me and lied to me,' Ms. Daniels testified in Federal District Court in Manhattan after being called as a government witness shortly after 11 a.m. By day's end, Ms. Daniels was being cross-examined by the man who once was her fierce advocate: Mr. Avenatti, who is serving as his own lawyer."

Talmon Smith of the New Yoirk Times: "Continuing to rebound from the shocks of the pandemic, the nation's economy expanded by 1.7 percent in the final three months of 2021, the Commerce Department announced Thursday. The figure, which was adjusted for inflation, reflects the growth in gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of the goods and services produced. On an annualized basis, the increase for the quarter was 6.9 percent. For the full year, the economic expansion was 5.7 percent, the biggest since 1984 -- an impressive feat, though one that also reflects the depth of the damage inflicted by the coronavirus the year before." CNBC's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

News You Can Use. Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "Millions of Americans will soon have to scan their faces to access their Internal Revenue Service tax accounts, one of the government's biggest expansions yet of facial recognition software into people's everyday lives. Taxpayers will still be able to file their returns the old-fashioned way; the IRS began accepting returns for 2021 earnings on Monday, encouraging electronic filing. But by this summer, anyone wanting to access their records -- including details about child tax credits, payment plans or tax transcripts -- on the IRS website will be required to record a video of their face with their computer or smartphone and send it to the private contractor ID.me to confirm their identity." MB: As I recall, I have to open my account when I pay my taxes. I sure hope there's a way to do that without having to show my pretty face.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "... 10 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, a milestone that reflects the astonishing speed with which governments and drug companies have mobilized, allowing many nations to envision a near future in which their people coexist with the virus but aren't confined by it. The milestone, reached on Friday, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford, has not been arrived at equitably, even though 10 billion doses could theoretically have meant at least one shot for all of the world's 7.9 billion people." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates are here.

It's Okay to Make Other People Sick if You're a Republican. Jake Offenhartz of the Gothamist: Sarah Palin "returned to Elio's restaurant Wednesday night and dined outdoors just days after it was revealed she tested positive for COVID-19. Palin, who has touted the fact that she is not vaccinated, was seen dining inside the Upper East Side Italian restaurant on Saturday, before her diagnosis. The city requires proof of vaccination to eat indoors. And WNYC/Gothamist confirmed the former vice presidential candidate dined al fresco Tuesday night at Campagnola, another Italian restaurant in the area.... There is no penalty for individuals who don't quarantine, according to the city -- but there is a high rate of self-reported compliance among most New Yorkers. According to one recent survey, 98% of people with positive COVID cases told NYC]s Test and Trace Corps they had not left home." ~~~

~~~ Lauren McCarthy of the New York Times: "Two days after Sarah Palin tested positive for the coronavirus..., [she] dined outdoors in New York City on Wednesday evening, defying federal guidance that infected people isolate from others for at least five full days.... Anne Isaak, the owner of Elio's, said it was against her 'clearly stated wishes that Sarah Palin dined outside last night,' according to The Washington Post.... 'By repeatedly flouting C.D.C. guidelines, Ms. Palin has shown a complete disregard for the health and safety of small business workers and her fellow patrons,' a spokesman for City Hall said Thursday over email."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Ducey in the Dark? Sarah Burris of the Raw Story (Jan. 24): "The Arizona Republic reported Monday that Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) said that he had nothing to do with the fake electors from Arizona for ... Donald Trump. According to him, he didn't even know about the fake electors until Monday morning, in 2022. Dec. 14, 2020, the Arizona Republic reported on the 11 fake electors.... At one point, Politico's Nicholas Wu obtained a cease and desist document that the Arizona [Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D)] sent to a sovereign citizens group trying to pass off the fake document with an official seal.

New York. Dana Rubenstein & Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: "When a furor erupted over Mayor Eric Adams's decision to hire his brother to manage his security detail, the mayor retroactively sought formal guidance from the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board and vowed to abide by its determination. On Thursday, the board made its ruling public.... After discussions between the mayor's office and the board, new terms of employment were agreed upon: Instead of earning $210,000 a year, he will earn $1; instead of serving as the 'executive director of mayoral security' within the confines of the New York Police Department, he will instead serve as a 'senior adviser for mayoral security' within the office of the mayor. No city personnel will be allowed to report to him. Nor can he have any 'command authority' at the Police Department.... Bernard Adams has agreed to those conditions, according to a spokesman for the mayor."

New York. Good News for Air Travelers: From "Crappy" to Snappy. Patrick McGeehan of the New York Times: "For decades, La Guardia Airport was one of the most maligned airports in the country -- leaky ceilings, cramped corridors, regular rodent sightings and broken escalators set a standard for the dreadful travel experience.... But on Thursday..., state and local officials celebrated the airport's revival upon the completion of a wholly new main terminal that shares nothing but a name and location with the old La Guardia.... The terminal was declared the best new airport building in the world by an international panel of judges.... Despite the fanfare, the $8 billion overhaul of La Guardia is not yet complete."

Pennsylvania. Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA: "Gov. Tom Wolf [D] has vetoed a congressional map sent to him by Republican lawmakers, leaving the monumental job of picking Pennsylvania's next district lines to the state courts. In a veto message issued late Wednesday, Wolf said the map failed 'the test of fundamental fairness.'... The map sent to Wolf by the GOP-controlled legislature was initially drawn by Amanda Holt -- a noted redistricting reform advocate and former Lehigh County commissioner -- and championed by state Rep. Seth Grove (R., York). It was amended by Grove's legislative committee after GOP members of the panel criticized how their counties were split. It improves upon four fairness criteria outlined in a previous state Supreme Court ruling, but nonpartisan analyses show it has a partisan bias in favor of Republicans.... The state judicial system is now likely to have the final say."

Tennessee. Book-Burning. Jenny Gross of the New York Times: "A school board in Tennessee voted unanimously this month to ban 'Maus,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from being taught in its [eighth-grade] classrooms because the book contains material that board members said was inappropriate for students.... Members of the board said the book, which portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in recounting the author's parents' experience during the Holocaust, contained inappropriate curse words and a depiction of a naked character.... Art Spiegelman, the author of 'Maus,' ... said he got the impression that the board members were asking, 'Why can't they teach a nicer Holocaust?'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, Art, but a book about Christian white people torturing & killing non-Christians caused the board "discomfort." I told you-all this would happen; turns out it already has. BTW, the objectionable "naked character" in the book was a mouse (WashPo link).* When I was in the ninth grade, we had to cut up mice in biology class. The mice were, not surprisingly, naked, and they had all their sex parts, at least till we cut 'em up. And, yeah, I'm sure we giggled, as ninth-graders will. Then again, our biology teacher taught evolution matter-of-factly, and in those days, they didn't approve of that in Tennessee, either. ~~~

     ~~~ Update/Correction. Several sources noted that the naked image was of a mouse. But according to David Perry, in a CNN opinion piece, the "naked picture" was "a small image of the artist's mother in the bathtub after taking pills and slashing her wrists, with her breasts visible...." I have never looked so diligently for a "naked picture," but I finally found it here, and Perry is right. It's a cartoon drawing of course, so the offending image depicts the breasts as a sort of double-peaked sine wave with tiny circles for nipples. An eighth-grader whose only exposure to women's breasts is Spiegelman's cartoon is going to be in for a shock when he sees real breasts.

News Lede

New York Times Liveblog: "Blizzard conditions are expected from Long Island north along coastal New England. Officials are urging residents to stay home Saturday.... A powerful winter storm drove flight cancellations up to nearly 5,000 flights on Friday and Saturday in and out of the United States, according to FlightAware, a site that tracks flights and the airline industry. Most of the cancellations were on the East Coast, where airports were preparing for high winds and up to two feet of snow in some regions."