November 24, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Russ Bynum of the AP: "Jurors on Wednesday convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice. The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours. The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole." The article breaks down the charges & verdicts for each charge. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. The Washington Post story is here: "The three men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia last year were convicted of murder Wednesday, in a case that once went 74 days without arrests and that many saw as a test of racial bias in the justice system. The decision was read to the court shortly after 1:30 p.m., after less than two days of deliberations. Members of Arbery's family cried out with joy. Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan were all convicted of felony murder in the shooting of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man -- meaning they committed felonies that caused his death. They were also found guilty of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and attempt to falsely imprison. But Bryan and the elder McMichael were acquitted of malice murder, which involves intent to kill. Each defendant now faces a potential penalty of life in prison without parole. All men still face federal hate crime charges."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... among [Kevin McCarthy's] most audacious assertions [made last Thursday night & Friday morning during his marathon House floor speech] was that [President] Biden was to blame for the country's failure to quell the pandemic. Mr. McCarthy used this line of attack even as members of his own Republican Party have spent months flouting mask ordinances and blocking the president's vaccine mandates, and the party's base has undermined vaccination drives while rallying around those who refuse the vaccine." Other Republicans are making the same charges.

** Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump ventured into the safe confines of Sean Hannity's show on Tuesday night, where he disclosed that Kyle Rittenhouse had visited him at Mar-a-Lago. 'Really a nice young man,' the former president declared.... But what came next is more troubling -- and more revealing about the Trump movement's darker impulses. 'He should not have had to suffer through a trial,' Trump said, suggesting Rittenhouse had almost been killed by one of his victims and had rightly killed first. 'He should never have been put through that.'... In Trump's telling, the very act of apparently seeking to dispense vigilante justice -- and thus provoking a situation that led to the killing -- amid violence connected to racial justice protests is precisely what should never have been subjected to rule-of-law scrutiny.... Writing at the Atlantic, Adam Serwer connects this tendency to elements of right-wing gun culture that rely on constant invocations of leftist tyranny to inspire and justify preparation for armed resistance to it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That is, to "preserve the rule of law," Trump & his ilk say "good people" have to gun down liberals who protest the status quo. When a former president* says something like this, none of us is safe. When he said the Charlottesville neo-Nazis & white supremacists were "good people," this is what he meant. When he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without consequence, he meant, "shoot a liberal" or "shoot a person of color."

Gabby Orr of CNN: "A pair of payments [totaling $121,670] the Republican National Committee made to a law firm representing ... Donald Trump [regarding his business practices] is raising questions among former and current GOP officials about the party's priorities in a critical election year and its ability to remain neutral -- as long-standing RNC rules require -- in the 2024 presidential primary.... Some RNC members and donors accused the party of running afoul of its own neutrality rules and misplacing its priorities. Some of these same officials who spoke to CNN also questioned why the party would foot the legal bills of a self-professed billionaire who was sitting on a $102 million war chest as recently as July and has previously used his various political committees to cover legal costs.... 'This is not normal. Nothing about this is normal, especially since he's not only a former President but a billionaire,' said a former top RNC official."

~~~~~~~~~~

Josh Boak & Colleen Long of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from America's strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including India, the United Kingdom and China. The U.S. action is aimed at global energy markets, but also at U.S. voters who are coping with higher inflation and rising prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. Gasoline prices are at about $3.40 a gallon, more than 50% higher than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. The government will begin to move barrels into the market in mid to late December. But the action is unlikely to immediately bring down gas prices significantly as families begin traveling for the holidays. Gasoline usually responds at a lag to changes in oil prices, and administration officials suggested this is one of several steps toward ultimately bringing down costs." (Also linked yesterday.)

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden plans on Wednesday to nominate Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, to become the agency's permanent leader after months without one, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ms. Young, a deputy director who has been the interim leader since spring, would officially take the helm at a critical time for the office, which oversees the federal budget and shapes a host of regulations.... The post has languished for months as one of the few high-level openings in the administration after the White House in March pulled its initial pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, who drew bipartisan criticism in part over vitriolic tweets targeting congressional members from both parties." CNN's report is here. MB: Uh-oh, another woman of color. Let's see what Sen. Foghorn Leghorn can do to disparage Young. Luckily, Kennedy will knock Young with "folksy humor," as is appropriate for a senator playing a cartoon character.

Teaganne Finn of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's Build Back Better package would raise, not lower, taxes for millionaires, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation in a major correction from the group's original analysis. The committee an official scorekeeper of tax-related legislation, originally estimated that the $1.7 trillion safety net and climate change bill would give millionaires a net tax cut in 2022, but the revised estimates released Tuesday show millionaires' average tax rate going up by 3.2 percentage points next year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** A Bad Day for White Nationalists. Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Jurors on Tuesday found the main organizers of the deadly right-wing rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 liable under state law for injuries to counterprotesters, awarding more than $25 million in damages. But the jury deadlocked on federal conspiracy charges. The case in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville was brought by nine plaintiffs, four men and five women, including four people injured in the same car attack that killed one counterprotester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer.... All were seeking compensatory and unspecified punitive damages.... The defendants, 10 individuals and 14 organizations, were a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who used the rally in Charlottesville to mobilize supporters and show that they were a force on the streets, not just on the internet. This developing story will be updated." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) NPR's story is here.

A Bad Day for White Nationalists, Ctd. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Capitol attack issued subpoenas on Tuesday to three militia or paramilitary groups, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, that investigators believe have information about the deadly siege on Jan. 6. The subpoenas were issued to the Proud Boys International, L.L.C., and its chairman Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio; the Oath Keepers and its president Elmer Stewart Rhodes; and the 1st Amendment Praetorian and its chairman Robert Patrick Lewis.... Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement[,] 'We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's story is here.

Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is increasingly focused on law enforcement failures that preceded the insurrection, scrutinizing in particular multiple warnings of possible violence that went unheeded by the FBI, according to people familiar with its work and individuals who have been contacted by the committee. Donell Harvin, the former head of intelligence for D.C.'s homeland security department, said he has met twice in the past two weeks with committee investigators, who he said appeared intent on understanding how information was shared between agencies in the weeks before the attack. Harvin -- whose team was in charge of assessing threats to D.C. -- said he told committee investigators that he did not learn of the warnings received by the FBI in advance of Jan. 6 until months after the Capitol siege. 'I told them that I think there needs to be a big discussion about how we look at domestic intelligence, because right now, it's fragmented,' he said."

Trumpettes Used Burner Phones to Plan Insurrection Event. John Wright of the Raw Story: "Organizers of the Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' rally reportedly used 'burner phones' purchased with cash to communicate with former president Donald Trump's team -- including his son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, and campaign consultant Katrina Pierson. 'Kylie Kremer, a top official in the "March for Trump" group that helped plan the Ellipse rally, directed an aide to pick up three burner phones days before Jan. 6, according to three sources who were involved in the event,' Rolling Stone reported Tuesday night. 'One of the sources, a member of the "March for Trump" team, says Kremer insisted the phones be purchased using cash and described this as being "of the utmost importance."'" The Rolling Stone story, by Hunter Walker, is firewalled. MB: Gosh, most people who use burner phones are criminals engaged in criminal activity who are trying to hide their criminal communications from law enforcement. ~~~

~~~ Rayne of emptywheel: "Sending someone who isn't a Kremer to buy a burner phone with cash to evade tracing suggests Kylie Kremer knew exactly what the role of her organization, Women to Save America First, was within the framework of the insurrection.... Why was [Mark] Meadows involved in any way given his role as the Chief of Staff, which should have been wholly separate from any campaign-related effort? Whether Meadows interacted with Kremers or other members of the conspiracy as COS (a Hatch Act violation) or as a campaign member (not shielded as executive acts), he's thoroughly shot through any claim to immunity or privilege.... The purchase of the burner phones ... look like an overt act to advance a conspiracy (18 USC 371)." Rayne wonders if there's a domestic terror indictment in Meadows' future.

Uneasy Lies the Head upon MyPillow. Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post: "MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Tuesday released a copy of his long-promised Supreme Court complaint to overturn the 2020 presidential election, though it had not actually been filed and it listed the plaintiff as '[insert your state].' The pillow magnate turned conspiracy theorist has vowed again and again that he would file an election fraud complaint directly to the U.S. Supreme Court that would somehow reinstate Donald Trump as president.... On Tuesday evening, he published a copy of the complaint on his website, though it appeared to be missing some essential components and he had apparently failed to get any state attorneys general to sign on to it. 'We are in unchartered territory as a Nation. The November 2020 election was stolen,' the complaint begins, before launching into a series of false and debunked allegations about supposed illegal voting in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania.'" Also, too, the fourth word of the complaint in an error. Mike no doubt means "uncharted." MB: Would this be called a "draft complaint" or a "daft complaint"?

Judge Still Troubled by Freedom of Press. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "A New York trial court judge [-- Charles D. Wood of State Supreme Court in Westchester County --] on Tuesday declined to lift an order that temporarily prohibits The New York Times from publishing or pursuing certain documents related to the conservative group Project Veritas. The judge said at a hearing that he needed additional time to consider arguments and asked for additional briefs next week. The outcome of the hearing leaves in place, for now, an order that The Times and national First Amendment advocates have denounced as a highly unusual instance of a court's intruding on constitutional protections for journalists. Project Veritas has argued that the order does not amount to a major imposition."

Zach Dorfman of Yahoo! News: "In the final month of his presidency, Donald Trump signed off on key parts of an extensive secret Pentagon campaign to conduct sabotage, propaganda and other psychological and information operations in Iran, according to former senior officials who served in his administration.... The plan, which eventually grew to a 200-page package of options, involved 'things that would cause the Iranians to doubt their control over the country, or doubt their ability to fight a war,' said a former senior defense official.... Trump acknowledged that it would have to be carried out by the incoming Biden administration, according to the former official. It is unclear whether the Biden administration has continued to pursue the Trump-approved operations.... Some in the Pentagon, especially within the Joint Staff, impeded the execution of these plans for years, according to former officials.... The last-minute push was the culmination of years of frustration by Trump administration officials over how to wage the shadow conflict with Iran. 'The Joint Staff and CIA were obstructing everything,' said [a] former senior defense official."

Debbie Cenziper, et al., of the Washington Post: "Despite mounting concerns about discriminatory policing, the Trump administration aggressively recruited local law enforcement partners and courted sheriffs who championed similar views on immigration policy, according to dozens of internal ICE emails obtained by The Post.... [A] White House gathering in September 2018 was part of a two-day media and lobbying blitz by the Federation for American Immigration Reform to promote border control and immigration enforcement, including a contentious national program known as 287(g) that for years has drawn support from >... [some] sheriffs. Operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to act with federal authority: questioning, reporting and detaining undocumented immigrants. Although ICE promised that the program would focus only on serious criminals, pro-immigration groups have repeatedly warned that the partnerships enable hard-line sheriffs to target undocumented immigrants leading peaceful lives." (Also linked yesterday.)

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee is pushing back against a state party leader's call for Ronna [Romney] McDaniel to resign as RNC chairwoman over her outreach to the LGBTQ community. The episode underscores the tension between the national party and some influential parts of the GOP base -- particularly Christian conservatives -- on the issue of LGBTQ rights. In a statement to The Washington Post, RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett is 'lying' about the steps the national party plans to take as part of McDaniel's recent move to form the first-ever 'RNC Pride Coalition.'... The Daily Beast reported earlier Tuesday that Bennett sent a lengthy fundraising email in which he said McDaniel 'MUST Change Course or RESIGN' if 'she cannot or will not stand for who we say we are.'" MB: Because who we are is white, straight & Christian. Or something.

Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Cleveland on Tuesday found that three of the nation's largest pharmacy chains -- CVS Health, Walmart and Walgreens -- had substantially contributed to the crisis of opioid overdoses and deaths in two Ohio counties, the first time the retail segment of the drug industry has been held accountable in the decades-long epidemic. After hearings in the spring, the trial judge will determine how much each company should pay the counties. The verdict -- the first from a jury in an opioid case -- was encouraging to plaintiffs in thousands of lawsuits nationwide because they are all relying on the same legal strategy: that pharmaceutical companies contributed to a 'public nuisance,' a claim that plaintiffs contend covers the public health crisis created by opioids. The public nuisance argument was rejected twice this month, by judges in California and Oklahoma in state cases against opioid manufacturers."

Dollar-and-a-Quarter Tree Store. Nathaniel Meyersohn of CNN: "Dollar Tree will soon be $1.25 tree. The company -- one of America's last remaining true dollar stores -- said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a period of rising inflation. Dollar Tree (DLTR) said in a quarterly earnings release Tuesday that its decision to raise prices to $1.25 permanently, however, was 'not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd., Brought to You by the Unvaccinated

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "... more people in the United States have died from Covid-19 this year than died last year, before vaccines were available. As of Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 386,233 deaths involving Covid-19 in 2021, compared with 385,343 in 2020. The final number for this year will be higher.... Covid-1 has also accounted for a higher percentage of U.S. deaths this year than it did last year: about 13 percent compared with 11 percent. Experts say the higher death toll is a result of a confluence of factors: most crucially lower-than-needed vaccination rates, but also the relaxation of everyday precautions, like masks and social distancing, and the rise of the highly contagious Delta variant."

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to reinstate its coronavirus vaccination or testing requirement for private businesses 'as soon as possible' and to get rid of an earlier ruling that has temporarily blocked one of the White House's signature policies, set to take effect in January. Dozens of legal challenges primarily from Republican-led states, private employers and conservative groups have been consolidated before a single court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Before the cases were combined this month, a different set of judges halted the policy, finding that the Labor Department exceeded its authority and caused 'economic uncertainty' and 'upheaval' for businesses that 'threatens to decimate their workforces.'... The conservative-leaning 6th Circuit could respond at any time. Regardless of its ruling, the case is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court."

Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals."

How Could This Have Happened? Maya Lang of the Guardian: "Seven anti-vaccine doctors fell sick after gathering earlier this month for a Florida 'summit' at which alternative treatments for Covid-19 were discussed. 'I have been on ivermectin for 16 months, my wife and I,' Dr Bruce Boros told the audience at the event held at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, adding: 'I have never felt healthier in my life.' The 71-year-old cardiologist and staunch anti-vaccine advocate contracted Covid-19 two days later, according to the head event organizer, Dr John Littell.... I think they had gotten it from New York or Michigan or wherever they were from,' [Littell] told the [Daily] Beast. 'It was really the people who flew in from other places.' He also said: 'Everybody so far has responded to treatment with ivermectin ... Bruce is doing well.' The Beast said sources close to Boros said he was gravely ill at his Key West home."

Beyond the Beltway

State Legislatures Have Already Decided the 2022 Elections. Ashlyn Still, et al., of the Washington Post: "From Texas to Oregon, competitive congressional districts are disappearing. As states finalize new borders ahead of the 2022 midterms, state legislatures are approving maps they hope will advantage one party in the coming struggle to control the narrowly held U.S. House. In the 15 states that approved new congressional district maps as of Monday morning, the number of districts where the 2020 presidential margin was within five percentage points has fallen from 23 to just 10, according to a Post analysis. The new maps in those states have already netted a double-digit increase in solidly Republican seats compared with previous maps there."

Florida. Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Brian Laundrie died from a gunshot wound to the head and his manner of death was a suicide, according to a statement from the Laundrie family attorney.... Investigators [had] named him a 'person of interest' in [Gabby] Petito's disappearance...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Georgia. Tim Craig & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Jurors began deliberations just before noon Tuesday in the murder trial of the three men accused of killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery last year. Judge Timothy Walmsley read jurors their instructions after prosecutors made their final rebuttal to the defense's closing argument. Cobb County senior district attorney Linda Dunikoski told jurors that the three White men -- Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan -- jumped to conclusions about a 'Black man running down the street' before pursuing Arbery in pickup trucks and confronting him in their suburban Georgia neighborhood. Rebutting the defense's closing arguments Tuesday morning, she called part of their strategy 'offensive' and clashed with them over the meaning of a law central to the case -- Georgia's since-overhauled statute allowing citizen's arrests." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments in the trial of three men accused of killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hawaii. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "A man was forced to spend more than two years in a psychiatric hospital, where he was medicated until he became 'catatonic,' an ordeal that began after the police in Hawaii mistook him for another person wanted for a crime, according to a federal lawsuit. Joshua Spriestersbach, 50, was homeless in May 2017 and fell asleep outside a shelter in Honolulu, where he had been waiting in line to get food. An officer woke him up and arrested him on a warrant for a crime he had not committed. It was the third time in six years that the police in Honolulu had confused Mr. Spriestersbach for another man who was wanted on drug-related charges." The Honolulu Star-Advertiser story is here. MB: Spriesterbach is living with his sister in Vermont now. I hope he wins his suit & gets enough money out of it to put his life back in order.

Missouri. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A judge on Tuesday exonerated [Kevin Strickland] after more than 43 years in prison, making his case the longest confirmed wrongful-conviction case in Missouri's history -- and one of the longest-standing such convictions in the nation's history. He was released shortly after the judge issued his decision. Strickland was convicted of the 1978 murders of Sherrie Black, 22, Larry Ingram, 21, and John Walker, 20, even though no physical evidence linked him to the crime scene, family members provided alibis and the admitted killers said he was not there. The case was built on the testimony of Cynthia Douglas, the sole survivor and eyewitness, who later attempted multiple times to recant her testimony because she said she was pressured by police.... While legal experts and elected officials in both parties supported Strickland's case for exoneration, top Republicans in Missouri pushed back. Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R), who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2022, said he believed Strickland committed the murders." An AP story is here.

New York. Jeffery Mays & Annie Correal of the New York Times: "New York City lawmakers are poised to allow more than 800,000 New Yorkers who are green card holders or have the legal right to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections and for local ballot initiatives. The bill, known as 'Our City, Our Vote,' would make New York City the largest municipality in the country to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wisconsin. Mitch Smith, et al., of the New York Times: "The authorities in Waukesha accused Darrell E. Brooks, 39, of killing six people and wounding more than 60 others in the attack at the parade on Sunday evening. They said he had been fleeing a nearby domestic dispute that may have involved a knife -- an apparent reference to the earlier incident at the park. Mr. Brooks, who cried at the defense table in his first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon, was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and ordered held on $5 million cash bail. Prosecutors said they learned of the sixth death, of an 8-year-old boy, on Tuesday and intended to file another homicide charge." MB: After ending the lives of six people and ruining the lives of countless others, Darrell is feeling sorry for himself because he will never get out of jail again. Fucking sociopath.

News Lede

CNBC: "The ranks of those submitting jobless claims tumbled to their lowest level in more than 52 years last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. New filings totaled 199,000, a number not seen since Nov. 15, 1969, when claims totaled 197,000. The report easily beat Dow Jones estimates of 260,000 and was well below the previous week's 270,000." Emphasis added.

November 23, 2021

Afternoon Update:

** Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Jurors on Tuesday found the main organizers of the deadly right-wing rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 liable under state law for injuries to counterprotesters, awarding more than $25 million in damages. But the jury deadlocked on federal conspiracy charges. The case in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville was brought by nine plaintiffs, four men and five women, including four people injured in the same car attack that killed one counterprotester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer.... All were seeking compensatory and unspecified punitive damages.... The defendants, 10 individuals and 14 organizations, were a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who used the rally in Charlottesville to mobilize supporters and show that they were a force on the streets, not just on the internet. This developing story will be updated." The NBC News story is here.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Capitol attack issued subpoenas on Tuesday to three militia or paramilitary groups, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, that investigators believe have information about the deadly siege on Jan. 6. The subpoenas were issued to the Proud Boys International, L.L.C., and its chairman Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio; the Oath Keepers and its president Elmer Stewart Rhodes; and the 1st Amendment Praetorian and its chairman Robert Patrick Lewis.... Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement[,] 'We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack.'"

Josh Boak & Colleen Long of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from America's strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including India, the United Kingdom and China. The U.S. action is aimed at global energy markets, but also at U.S. voters who are coping with higher inflation and rising prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. Gasoline prices are at about $3.40 a gallon, more than 50% higher than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. The government will begin to move barrels into the market in mid to late December. But the action is unlikely to immediately bring down gas prices significantly as families begin traveling for the holidays. Gasoline usually responds at a lag to changes in oil prices, and administration officials suggested this is one of several steps toward ultimately bringing down costs."

Teaganne Finn of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's Build Back Better package would raise, not lower, taxes for millionaires, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation in a major correction from the group's original analysis. The committee an official scorekeeper of tax-related legislation, originally estimated that the $1.7 trillion safety net and climate change bill would give millionaires a net tax cut in 2022, but the revised estimates released Tuesday show millionaires' average tax rate going up by 3.2 percentage points next year."

Dollar-and-a-Quarter Tree Store. Nathaniel Meyersohn of CNN: "Dollar Tree will soon be $1.25 tree. The company -- one of America's last remaining true dollar stores -- said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a period of rising inflation. Dollar Tree (DLTR) said in a quarterly earnings release Tuesday that its decision to raise prices to $1.25 permanently, however, was 'not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions.'"

Georgia. Tim Craig & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Jurors began deliberations just before noon Tuesday in the murder trial of the three men accused of killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery last year. Judge Timothy Walmsley read jurors their instructions after prosecutors made their final rebuttal to the defense's closing argument. Cobb County senior district attorney Linda Dunikoski told jurors that the three White men -- Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan -- jumped to conclusions about a 'Black man running down the street' before pursuing Arbery in pickup trucks and confronting him in their suburban Georgia neighborhood. Rebutting the defense's closing arguments Tuesday morning, she called part of their strategy 'offensive' and clashed with them over the meaning of a law central to the case -- Georgia's since-overhauled statute allowing citizen's arrests." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the trial of three men accused of killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

New York. Jeffery Mays & Annie Correal of the New York Times: "New York City lawmakers are poised to allow more than 800,000 New Yorkers who are green card holders or have the legal right to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections and for local ballot initiatives. The bill, known as 'Our City, Our Vote,' would make New York City the largest municipality in the country to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections."

Debbie Cenziper, et al., of the Washington Post: "Despite mounting concerns about discriminatory policing, the Trump administration aggressively recruited local law enforcement partners and courted sheriffs who championed similar views on immigration policy, according to dozens of internal ICE emails obtained by The Post.... [A] White House gathering in September 2018 was part of a two-day media and lobbying blitz by the Federation for American Immigration Reform to promote border control and immigration enforcement, including a contentious national program known as 287(g) that for years has drawn support from ... [some] sheriffs. Operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to act with federal authority: questioning, reporting and detaining undocumented immigrants. Although ICE promised that the program would focus only on serious criminals, pro-immigration groups have repeatedly warned that the partnerships enable hard-line sheriffs to target undocumented immigrants leading peaceful lives."

Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Brian Laundrie died from a gunshot wound to the head and his manner of death was a suicide, according to a statement from the Laundrie family attorney.... Investigators named him a 'person of interest' in [Gabby] Petito's disappearance...."

Jill Biden received the White House Christmas tree yesterday:

     ~~~ Betsy Klein of CNN: "The 18-and-a-half-foot Fraser fir hails from Peak Farms of Jefferson, North Carolina, and was presented by Rusty and Beau Estes, the National Christmas Tree Association's 2021 grand champion growers -- a title they also received during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations."

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Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Monday he's nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell's stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession in which the Fed's ultra-low rate policies helped bolster confidence and revitalize the job market. Biden also said he would nominate Lael Brainard, the lone Democrat on the Fed's Board of Governors and the preferred alternative to Powell among many progressives, as vice chair. A separate position of vice chair for supervision, a bank regulatory post, remains vacant, along with two other slots on the Fed's board. Those positions will be filled in early December, Biden said. His decision strikes a note of continuity and bipartisanship at a time when surging inflation is burdening households and raising risks to the economy's recovery." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "The United States for the first time was added to a list of 'backsliding democracies' in a report released Monday by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 'The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale,' the International IDEA's Global State of Democracy 2021 report said. The study, which analyzed trends from 2020 to 2021, found that more than a quarter of the world's population now lives in democratically backsliding countries, which International IDEA defines as nations seeing a gradual decline in the quality of their democracy. 'The world is becoming more authoritarian as nondemocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by adopting their tactics of restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law...,' the report found. 'The number [of countries] moving in the direction of authoritarianism is three times the number moving toward democracy.'" A CBS News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Patricia Mazzei & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department will pay about $130 million to 40 survivors and families of victims of the 2018 massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., over the F.B.I.'s failure to properly investigate two tips in the months before the shooting that suggested the gunman might open fire at a school. One of the tips, six weeks before the shooting, detailed how the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, was posting on Instagram about amassing weapons and ammunition. 'I know he's going to explode,' the woman said on the F.B.I.'s tip line, adding that she feared Mr. Cruz, then 19, 'was going to slip into a school and start shooting the place up.'"

The Party of Violence. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post reflects on the resignations from Fox "News" of its contributors Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg on account of their objections to Tucker Carlson's fake-umentary "Patriot Purge." "Much of the discussion [about crap generated by Carlson & others] treats the possibility of violence as a mere incidental byproduct of that propaganda, depicting it merely as conspiracy-theorizing-for-profit getting out of control. But ... this bundle of propagandistic devices ... has a purpose.... It ... appears designed to lay the justificatory foundation for efforts to resist or subvert legitimate democratic outcomes by any means necessary or available in the future.... Which brings us to a new letter signed by dozens of scholars. They warn that attacks on the 'legitimacy of America's elections' and, importantly, the use of this as justification to lay the groundwork to subvert democratic outcomes later, has grown to a crisis point." ~~~

~~~ Max Boot of the Washington Post: The Republican party "continue[s] to fan the flames of hatred, violence and division. At one recent conference, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said, 'The left hates America,' while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said: 'Their grand ambition is to deconstruct the United States of America.' At the same time, Republicans make a fetish of gun ownership and use; weapons of war are the hottest fashion accessory in GOP campaign ads. The message many Republicans receive is that violence is justified to save the United States from a leftist takeover.... Republicans are complicit in fomenting violent extremism -- and they have also become hostage to the extremists in their ranks. It's an ugly situation familiar from other people's civil wars...."

Marie: I thought I had made an original observation when I equated Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) to the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn. I found out last week I was wrong. Now I know a lot of people have noticed the similarities: ~~~

~~~ Robert Mann in a Washington Post op-ed: "An acerbic Biden critic, [Sen. John] Kennedy [R-La.] is a fount of sharp-but-folksy one-liners. He punctuated his 2016 Senate campaign spots with, 'I will not let you down. I'd rather drink weedkiller.' With his exaggerated Southern accent, he affects a mixture of Mr. Haney, the con artist of the 1960s CBS sitcom 'Green Acres,' and the bombastic Looney Tunes rooster, Foghorn J. Leghorn.... Whenever Kennedy appears on Fox News or launches an attention-getting stunt, those of us in Louisiana who know him well roll our eyes and reflect on the Kennedy we knew before his Senate election. Mostly, we wonder what happened to the reasonable, non-incendiary Kennedy we once knew.... Kennedy is acting. He's a shape-shifting, attention-hungry politician who found a role -- wily country boy -- that brings him some fame.... What bothers me ... is what [Kennedy's performance] says about Louisiana politics, and today's Republican Party, that Kennedy could expose himself as a xenophobic demagogue and pay no price for it."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6 issued five new subpoenas on Monday, targeting allies of ... Donald J. Trump who helped draw crowds to Washington before the riot, including the political operative Roger J. Stone Jr. and the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The subpoenas, which come after the committee has interviewed more than 200 witnesses, indicate that investigators are intent on learning the details of the planning and financing of rallies that drew Mr. Trump's supporters to Washington based on his lies of a stolen election, fueling the violence that engulfed Congress and delayed the formalization of President Biden's victory.... The committee is also demanding documents and testimony from Dustin Stockton and his fiancée, Jennifer L. Lawrence, who reportedly assisted in organizing a series of rallies after the election advancing false claims about its outcome.... The committee also issued a subpoena to Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, who reportedly solicited nonprofit organizations to conduct a social media and radio advertising campaign...."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A supporter of ... Donald Trump was sentenced to 19 months in prison for threatening to 'slaughter' members of Congress days after the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol -- a threat that tested the limits of free speech in an era of contentious political division. Brendan Hunt, 37, still doesn't recognize the severity of the violent rhetoric in the 88-second message he posted online 12 days before Joe Biden's inauguration, said the judge [Pamela Chen] who sentenced him Monday in federal court in Brooklyn.... Hunt did not go to Washington on Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters attacked police and forced their way into the Capitol to try to disrupt the certification of Biden's presidential victory. But he posted a video to the online site BitChute on Jan. 8 citing Trump's false claims that the election was tainted and saying Trump's followers should 'take up arms' and head to Washington to kill lawmakers he thought were traitors for confirming the Biden win."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "An Indiana man charged with carrying a loaded firearm to the Capitol on Jan. 6 told investigators that if he had found Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 'you'd be here for another reason,' according to court documents posted over the weekend. Mark Mazza, 56, is the latest of about half a dozen Jan. 6 defendants charged with bringing a gun to the Capitol. In this case, Mazza allegedly carried a Taurus revolver known as 'The Judge,' which is capable of firing shotgun shells -- two of which were in the chamber, along with three hollow-point bullets. A Capitol Police sergeant obtained the weapon after allegedly fending off an assault from Mazza.... Prosecutors obtained the gun from the alleged assailant himself and used its serial number to trace it back to him. Mazza himself [falsely] reported the gun stolen to local authorities."

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A federal judge [N. Reid Neureiter] has ordered two Colorado lawyers who filed a lawsuit late last year challenging the 2020 election results to pay nearly $187,000 to defray the legal fees of groups they sued, arguing that the hefty penalty was proper to deter others from using frivolous suits to undermine the democratic system.... The two lawyers, Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker, filed the case in December 2020 as a class action on behalf of 160 million American voters, alleging there was a complicated plot to steal the election from ... Donald Trump and give the victory to Joe Biden."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court should permit Congress to see White House records about ... Donald J. Trump and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, lawyers for House Democrats and the Biden administration argued on Monday.... In a 69-page brief, lawyers for the House urged the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to permit the House committee investigating the riot to see the files without waiting for litigation over Mr. Trump's privilege claim to be fully resolved. They stressed that the constitutional privilege exists to protect the executive branch, not an individual person, and that the incumbent president [Biden] had declined to assert the privilege in this case. The lawyers for the House called Mr. Trump's assertion of executive privilege 'unprecedented and deeply flawed' and said the judiciary should not permit it to interfere with the work of Congress."

Hannah Rabinowitz & Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "A federal judge took aim at ... Donald Trump on Monday for lying about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, saying that former Vice President Al Gore had a better standing to challenge the 2000 election results but that he was 'a man' and walked away. 'Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump, but he was a man about what happened to him,' Senior District Judge Reggie Walton said of Gore's decision to end his presidential bid following weeks of legal battles. 'He accepted it and walked away.' The comments from Walton came during a plea hearing for Capitol riot defendant Adam Johnson, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern through the Capitol building. He pleaded guilty on Monday to a low-level charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This must really wound Trump, who effects the persona of what he imagines is a manly man. a/k/a a violent bully.

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Trump Organization owns an office building at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan. In 2012, when the company was listing its assets for potential lenders, it said the building was worth $527 million.... But just a few months later, the Trump Organization told property tax officials that the entire 70-story building was worth ... just $16.7 million.... That was less than one-thirtieth the amount it had claimed the year before. That property is now under scrutiny from the Manhattan district attorney and New York attorney general, along with several others like it for which the Trump Organization gave vastly different value estimates, according to public records and people familiar with their investigations...." ~~~

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee is paying some personal legal bills for ... Donald Trump, spending party funds to pay a lawyer representing Trump in investigations into his financial practices in New York, a party spokeswoman said Monday.... Trump is a wealthy businessman with dozens of properties, and he has built an independent political operation, which at last count had more than $100 million on hand."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: “Michael Cohen, who was ... Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer until his 2018 arrest, said Monday that his three-year prison sentence -- mostly spent in home confinement -- was over as he took another swipe at his former boss and vowed to continue cooperating with law enforcement probes. A smiling Cohen emerged from Manhattan federal court after signing documents and speaking with authorities about his upcoming three-year term of supervised release. 'I feel great today. It's been long overdue,' Cohen said to a collection of camera crews alerted to his presence by a tweet he had sent Sunday."

One of These Men Has Way Too Much Money. Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times: "Former President Barack Obama's private foundation announced on Monday that it had been promised a donation of $100 million from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The gift, the largest yet for the Obama Foundation, was one in a series of splashy donations by Mr. Bezos, one of the world's richest men, in recent months. Last week, Mr. Bezos announced $96.2 million in grants to groups working to end family homelessness. Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist, in addition to traveling to space on a ship made by his rocket company, Blue Origin." MB: That's nice. And it has no bearing on the fact that you and Amazon should pay much higher taxes, Jeff. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd., Brought to You by the Unvaccinated

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Coronavirus cases in children in the United States have risen by 32 percent from about two weeks ago, a spike that comes as the country rushes to inoculate children ahead of the winter holiday season, pediatricians said. More than 140,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus between Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, up from 107,000 in the week ending Nov. 4, according to a statement on Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association." ~~~

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

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "A month ago, new coronavirus cases in the United States were ticking steadily downward and the worst of a miserable summer surge fueled by the Delta variant appeared to be over. But as Americans travel this week to meet far-flung relatives for Thanksgiving dinner, new virus cases are rising once more, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Federal medical teams have been dispatched to Minnesota to help at overwhelmed hospitals. Michigan is enduring its worst case surge yet, with daily caseloads doubling since the start of November. Even New England, where vaccination rates are high, is struggling, with Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire trying to contain major outbreaks." MB: And let me just reiterate my contempt for those who, for no good reason, have chosen not to be vaccinated or not to have their children vaccinated, thus making the holidays more dangerous for everyone. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "Four Black men wrongly charged with raping a white woman more than 70 years ago in Florida were exonerated on Monday.... The accused -- Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Ernest Thomas, known as the Groveland Four -- died before Florida officials re-examined the case, which a prosecutor said lacked due process and would not be tried today. It all began on July 16, 1949, when a 17-year-old white woman and her estranged husband told the police that after their car broke down in Lake County, Fla., the four men had stopped to provide help, then took the woman from the car and raped her. The accusation left a trail of destruction." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Elise Elder of the Miami Herald: "New details are emerging about the newest dozen police officers lauded by Gov. Ron DeSantis for moving to Central Florida from New York City to escape what the governor described as low morale and a lack of support from Democratic politicians there. The new hires include one previously fired as a Walmart security guard, one with only three years of experience who demanded more than double his salary and others with mysterious gaps in their résumés." MB: Uh, it might not be a coincidence that these officers were hired by the Lakeland Police Department, and Lakeland is about an hour's drive from Groveland, and there's not much "civilization" between them. Law enforcement officials in this part of Florida were crackers then, and I suspect they're crackers now.

Georgia. Russ Bynum of the AP: "Prosecutors were scheduled to go before a jury one last time Tuesday before the panel begins deliberations in the trial of three white men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The prosecution gets the final word in the case of the 25-year-old Black man's death because it carries the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent hours on Monday delivering closing arguments that spilled into a second day."

New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "An eight-month impeachment investigation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo by the New York State Assembly found 'overwhelming evidence that the former governor engaged in sexual harassment,' reinforcing the conclusions reached in a damning report by the state attorney general. In a 46-page report released on Monday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee also found that Mr. Cuomo used state workers and other public resources to write, publish and promote his memoir about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a likely violation of state ethics laws. The inquiry also concluded that Mr. Cuomo 'was not fully transparent regarding the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of Covid-19,' and its findings had led one committee member to say that there 'would be a very reasonable inference' that there was some correlation between Mr. Cuomo's $5.1 million book deal and his administration's manipulation of nursing home death data." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's acknowledge here that the state Assembly is controlled by Democrats, who -- it turns out -- know how to police their own, unlike Republicans who are good with Republicans who instigate a violent insurrection or threaten the lives of Democrats. ~~~

     ~~~ Joseph Goldstein & Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: "Long before Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resigned in August amid a sexual harassment scandal, he was lauded as a hero of the pandemic, whose daily Covid-19 briefings left viewers feeling less isolated during New York's devastating first wave. But his pandemic leadership has since come under reappraisal, in large part because of the high death toll among nursing home residents and a slow-burning scandal over whether Mr. Cuomo tried to cover it up. His deal to write a book about his leadership during the pandemic is being investigated by a state ethics panel, and he could be forced to forfeit millions he made from the book. Now his reputation as an effective governor during a public health emergency is coming under further scrutiny, as recently released testimony from a former high-ranking state health official accuses the governor's office of repeatedly stymieing and undermining the state's public health experts in the first year of the pandemic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you can't shake the impression that someone is sleazy, your instincts are probably right.

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Sara Murray of CNN: "Laurie Snell -- the estranged wife of Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell -- was awarded primary physical custody and sole legal custody of the couple's three children, according to a judge's order that was made public Monday. Parnell will still have partial physical custody of the children various weekends each month. The decision comes amid a contentious divorce and custody proceedings between Snell and Parnell, who are still legally married but have been separated for years. Snell has accused her husband of choking her and injuring their children -- all claims that Parnell has denied. While Parnell has enjoyed ... Donald Trump's endorsement in his Pennsylvania Senate bid, the allegations from his estranged wife have taken a toll on Parnell's campaign...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Amy Wang & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Republican Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by ... Donald Trump in a closely watched Pennsylvania Senate race, said Monday he will not continue with his campaign, hours after it was made public that a judge had granted his estranged wife primary custody of the couple's three children. The judge's order last week, made public in court documents Monday, outlined in detail the allegations of domestic and other abuse Laurie Snell had made against her estranged husband, and concluded that'Parnell did commit some acts of abuse in the past.' Parnell has denied the allegations.... Parnell said in a statement that he was 'devastated by the decision' and that he intends to appeal the judge's ruling."

Texas. Maybe You Thought Texas Could Not Have a Worse AG. Myah Ward of Politico: "Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, a staunch Trump ally, made it official on Monday: He's joining the crowded primary to unseat GOP incumbent Ken Paxton for state attorney general. The congressman announced earlier this month that he was exploring a late entry, basing his decision on whether he could raise $1 million in 10 days. He said on Monday that he'd reached that goal.... It's sure to be a competitive, brutal election, with ... Donald Trump endorsing Paxton for reelection this past summer, even as the incumbent faces a criminal indictment on fraud charges and a separate FBI corruption investigation."

Wisconsin. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Law enforcement has identified a suspect who allegedly drove through a Christmas parade after fleeing from a knife fight in Waukesha, Wis., on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 -- a violent end to the otherwise festive scene where children were dancing in the street and a marching band played 'Jingle Bells.' A law enforcement official told The Washington Post that suspect Darrell Brooks, 39, was at the scene of a reported knife fight, then sped away in the red SUV when police arrived at that scene. Brooks was allegedly behind the wheel when it drove into the parade route.... The law enforcement official told The Post that Brooks has a number of prior criminal arrests, but investigators have not yet found anything tying the vehicular violence to any sort of terrorism or ideology. So far, it appears his main intent was to escape the police at the prior incident, the official said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mitch Smith, et al., of the New York Times: "... Darrell E. Brooks, 39..., had been arrested time and again since he was a teenager, accused of battery and domestic abuse and resisting the police. Earlier this month, prosecutors in Milwaukee said, he intentionally ran over a woman he knew with a maroon Ford Escape. [He] was quickly freed from jail on bond after prosecutors requested what they now say was an inappropriately low bail. By Sunday evening, as a Christmas parade was making its way through downtown Waukesha, Wis., the police were coming for Mr. Brooks again after receiving a report of a domestic dispute involving a knife."

November 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Monday he's nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell's stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession in which the Fed's ultra-low rate policies helped bolster confidence and revitalize the job market. Biden also said he would nominate Lael Brainard, the lone Democrat on the Fed's Board of Governors and the preferred alternative to Powellamong many progressives, as vice chair. A separate position of vice chair for supervision, a bank regulatory post, remains vacant, along with two other slots on the Fed's board. Those positions will be filled in early December, Biden said. His decision strikes a note of continuity and bipartisanship at a time when surging inflation is burdening households and raising risks to the economy's recovery." The Washington Post's story is here.

One of These Men Has Way Too Much Money. Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times: "Former President Barack Obama's private foundation announced on Monday that it had been promised a donation of $100 million from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The gift, the largest yet for the Obama Foundation, was one in a series of splashy donations by Mr. Bezos, one of the world's richest men, in recent months. Last week, Mr. Bezos announced $96.2 million in grants to groups working to end family homelessness. Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist, in addition to traveling to space on a ship made by his rocket company, Blue Origin." MB: That's nice. And it has no bearing on the fact that you and Amazon should pay much higher taxes, Jeff.

Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "The United States for the first time was added to a list of 'backsliding democracies' in a report released Monday by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 'The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale,' the International IDEA's Global State of Democracy 2021 report said. The study, which analyzed trends from 2020 to 2021, found that more than a quarter of the world's population now lives in democratically backsliding countries, which International IDEA defines as nations seeing a gradual decline in the quality of their democracy. 'The world is becoming more authoritarian as nondemocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by adopting their tactics of restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law...,' the report found. 'The number [of countries] moving in the direction of authoritarianism is three times the number moving toward democracy.'" A CBS News story is here.

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "A month ago, new coronavirus cases in the United States were ticking steadily downward and the worst of a miserable summer surge fueled by the Delta variant appeared to be over. But as Americans travel this week to meet far-flung relatives for Thanksgiving dinner, new virus cases are rising once more, especially in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Federal medical teams have been dispatched to Minnesota to help at overwhelmed hospitals. Michigan is enduring its worst case surge yet, with daily caseloads doubling since the start of November. Even New England, where vaccination rates are high, is struggling, with Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire trying to contain major outbreaks." MB: And let me just reiterate my contempt for those who, for no good reason, have chosen not to be vaccinated or not to have their children vaccinated, thus making the holidays more dangerous for everyone.

New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "An eight-month impeachment investigation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo by the New York State Assembly found 'overwhelming evidence that the former governor engaged in sexual harassment,' reinforcing the conclusions reached in a damning report by the state attorney general. In a 46-page report released on Monday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee also found that Mr. Cuomo used state workers and other public resources to write, publish and promote his memoir about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a likely violation of state ethics laws. The inquiry also concluded that Mr. Cuomo 'was not fully transparent regarding the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of Covid-19,' and its findings had led one committee member to say that there 'would be a very reasonable inference' that there was some correlation between Mr. Cuomo's $5.1 million book deal and his administration's manipulation of nursing home death data." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's acknowledge here that the state Assembly is controlled by Democrats, who -- it turns out -- know how to police their own, unlike Republicans who are good with Republicans who instigate a violent insurrection or threaten the lives of Democrats.

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Sara Murray of CNN: "Laurie Snell -- the estranged wife of Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell -- was awarded primary physical custody and sole legal custody of the couple's three children, according to a judge's order that was made public Monday. Parnell will still have partial physical custody of the children various weekends each month. The decision comes amid a contentious divorce and custody proceedings between Snell and Parnell, who are still legally married but have been separated for years. Snell has accused her husband of choking her and injuring their children -- all claims that Parnell has denied. While Parnell has enjoyed ... Donald Trump's endorsement in his Pennsylvania Senate bid, the allegations from his estranged wife have taken a toll on Parnell's campaign...."

Wisconsin. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Law enforcement has identified a suspect who allegedly drove through a Christmas parade after fleeing from a knife fight in Waukesha, Wis., on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 -- a violent end to the otherwise festive scene where children were dancing in the street and a marching band played 'Jingle Bells.' A law enforcement official told The Washington Post that suspect Darrell Brooks, 39, was at the scene of a reported knife fight, then sped away in the red SUV when police arrived at that scene. Brooks was allegedly behind the wheel when it drove into the parade route.... The law enforcement official told The Post that Brooks has a number of prior criminal arrests, but investigators have not yet found anything tying the vehicular violence to any sort of terrorism or ideology. So far, it appears his main intent was to escape the police at the prior incident, the official said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Ha Ha. Republicans in Disarray. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the em> Washington Post: "The show of force from Donald Trump's staunchest congressional allies began almost immediately after 13 House Republicans voted this month in favor of a massive infrastructure bill that handed President Biden one of the biggest victories of his tenure.... The continuing turmoil in the House GOP conference over how and whether to punish members who back anything supported by Democrats shows how an emboldened group of far-right House members is gaining influence over the Republican Party in Congress. These representatives are positioning themselves to further purify the House GOP conference as a branch of Trump's 'Make America Great Again' movement.... Besides targeting the Republicans who backed the infrastructure bill..., these lawmakers in recent weeks have led the charge to recast the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the effort to overturn the 2020 election results as defiant acts by patriots, not insurrectionists; opposed mask mandates in the House; and defended Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.)...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Ben Smith of the New York Times: Last week, two prominent Fox "News" contributors, Jonah Goldberg & Stephen Hayes, who are business partners, quit their Fox gigs because they were sickened by the encouragement to violence in Tucker Carlson's streaming video about January 6. "'Patriot Purge' -- through insinuations and imagery -- explored an alternate history of Jan. 6 in which the violence was a "false flag" and the consequence has been the persecution of conservatives." Fox, for the most part, has given over its content to pro-Trump, far-right views in a programming determination it calls "respecting the audience." More on TuKKKer's pro-white-guy-violence propaganda linked below. NPR's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Hayes & Goldberg explain on their site "The Dispatch" why they ditched Fox "News."

** Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Experts say that even as gerrymanders become ever more egregious, the legal avenues to overturn them are becoming narrower.... More and more states -- mostly Republican like Ohio and Texas, but now Democratic ones like Illinois -- are drawing maps that effectively guarantee that the party in power stays in power.... The racial impact of the maps is sweeping. The government accountability watchdog group Common Cause said a quarter of the 36 state legislative seats held by African Americans, all Democrats, would be likely to flip Republican.... The Supreme Court in 2019 ended a decades-long debate over the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering, saying it was up to Congress, not the courts, to fix politically skewed maps. The court also has made it harder to prove that political districts were drawn to reduce minority voters' clout...." (Also linked yesterday.) Related story under "Beyond the Beltway -- Georgia." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Okay then, just as our good friends the Supremes say, Congress alone can fix it! Oh, wait, ~~~

~~~ Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: Kyrsten Sinema (D-ish-Az.) "said this week she remains firmly opposed to changing federal election laws on a partisan basis, signaling that a planned last-ditch voting rights push that party leaders and activists are planning for the closely divided Senate in the coming months is likely to fail." MB: If she's so smart, why is she playing dumb? (Also linked yesterday.)

Katelyn Fossett, in Politico Magazine, interviews historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez on why Republicans are hung up on manly manliness. MB: What's somewhat (tho not entirely) new here, no doubt thanks to Trump, is a shift from "traditional family values" where the white guy is king of his castle, to the white militant man using violence to quell his "enemies."

Joshua Zitser of the Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "Kyle Rittenhouse's criminal defense attorney [Mark Richards] told Insider that he thinks it is 'disgusting' that some prominent Republicans have tried to cash in on his client's acquittal." Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz & Madison Cawthorn all claim they are bidding to hire Rittenhouse as an intern. "Richards also spoke negatively of Donald Trump Jr. tweeting that a gun rights organization would "award" Rittenhouse with an AR-15." According to Ali Veshi of MSNBC, Gosar said Rittenhouse should get the Congressional Medal of Freedom. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Hours after Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges Friday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced that he would not only interview the teen on Monday, but also had a film crew following the 18-year-old throughout the murder trial as part of an upcoming documentary for Fox Nation.... 'I did not approve of that,' [one of Rittenhouse's attorneys, Mark] Richards, told CNN's Chris Cuomo of the film crew. 'I threw them out of the room several times. I don't think a film crew is appropriate for something like this.' Richards said part of the efforts by Rittenhouse's family and a family adviser to raise money to help pay for the 18-year-old's defense included having Carlson's team present for filming. The attorney described the film crew's presence as 'a definite distraction.'"

Facebook Allows Racist Content to Mollify "Conservative Partners." Elizabeth Dwoskin, et al., of the Washington Post: A team of Facebook "researchers urged executives to adopt an aggressive overhaul of its software system that would primarily remove only ... hateful [racist] posts before any Facebook users could see them. But Facebook's leaders balked at the plan. According to two people familiar with the internal debate, top executives ... feared the new system would tilt the scales by protecting some vulnerable groups over others. A policy executive prepared a document ... that raised the potential for backlash from 'conservative partners,' according to the document.... The previously unreported debate is an example of how Facebook's decisions in the name of being neutral and race-blind in fact come at the expense of minorities and particularly people of color.... 'Even though [Facebook executives] don't have any animus toward people of color, their actions are on the side of racists,' said Tatenda Musapatike, a former Facebook manager...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So I guess it's settled: "c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e" is just another way to spell "racist."

Not. Making. This. Up. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: RentAHitman.com "promised ... confidentiality. It boasted of industry awards. It showed off testimonials of satisfied customers, including one from Laura S., who had 'caught my husband cheating with the babysitter.' The website bragged about complying with HIPPA, which it said was 'the Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964,' a nod to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the law passed in 1996 to protect patients' medical information. The trouble ... [is] that RentAHitman.com is a fake website. It's not run by 'Guido Fanelli,' as it claims, but by Bob Innes, a 54-year-old Northern California man who forwards any serious inquiries to law enforcement.... About 650 to 700 people have contacted him since he first registered the website in 2005...." Apparently, you can check out the site here. Gotta wonder what their "industry awards" might be.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

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

Beyond the Beltway

California. "The Flash Mob Robbery." Jessica Lipscomb of the Washington Post: "Drivers blared their horns Saturday evening as dozens of thieves carrying luggage and bags darted from a Nordstrom department store near San Francisco [Walnut Creek] and hopped into cars waiting for them outside. All but three of the 80 or so looters escaped, police said.... The spectacle Saturday night was one of several incidents of looting and shoplifting reported at high-end retail stores around the Bay Area over the weekend.

Georgia. Stephen Fowler of NPR: "As Georgia grows more Democratic, its members of Congress will not. Republicans in Georgia are set to approve a new congressional map that adds to their representation in the U.S. House even as they voted to trim their own majority in the state legislature. Monday, the Georgia General Assembly will give final passage to a bill that creates nine congressional districts favoring Republicans and five heavily-Democratic districts. The new map swings a northern Atlanta suburban seat more than 25 points to the right and likely pits two Democratic incumbents into a primary challenge."

Vermont Senate Race. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Vermont Rep. Peter Welch [D]announced Monday he will run for Senate next year to fill the seat held by retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy [D].... It was widely anticipated that Welch would launch a bid for Leahy's seat; as the representative for Vermont's at-large House district since 2007, Welch is the only other member of the state's congressional delegation besides independent Sen. Bernie Sanders." The Washington Post's story is here.

Wisconsin. Scott Bauer & Mike Householder of the AP: "An SUV sped through barricades and into a parade of Christmas marchers in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday, killing multiple people as it hit more than 20 adults and children in a horrifying scene captured by the city's livestream and the cellphones of onlookers. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said 'some; people had been killed but would not give an exact number. A person was in custody, as was the SUV, he said, but he did not give any indication of motive." The Washington Post's report, which has been updated, is here.

Way Beyond

China. Matthew Futterman of the New York Times: "Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star who disappeared from public life for more than a week after she accused a former top government official of sexual assault, appeared in a live video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee and other officials with the organization on Sunday. The video assuaged some concerns about Peng's immediate well-being. However, it fell short of what tennis officials, who still have not been able to establish independent contact with Peng, have been demanding since the Chinese government began attempting to censor any discussion of Peng's allegations and her largely disappearing after posting them on one of China's main social media outlets earlier this month, creating a standoff between two of the world's leading sports organizations."

Haiti. Maria Abi-Habib of the New York Times: "Two of the 17 people with an American missionary group who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a month ago have been released, the organization said Sunday. The hostages, who included women and children, were seized by one of Haiti's most fearsome gangs on Oct. 16 as the missionary group visited an orphanage outside the capital, Port-au-Prince. In announcing that two of them had been released, the group, Christian Aid Ministries, based in Ohio, said it would not make public their names or say why they were freed. But the group said that those released are 'safe, in good spirits, and being cared for.' The ministry urged discretion to protect those still in the hands of the gang members."

Sudan. Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "After four weeks under house arrest, Sudan's ousted prime minister was reinstated on Sunday after he signed a deal with the military intended to end a bloody standoff that led to dozens of protester deaths and threatened to derail Sudan's fragile transition to democracy. At a televised ceremony in the presidential palace, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok appeared alongside Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief who ousted him from power on Oct. 25, and signed a 14-point agreement that both men hailed as an important step forward."