The Commentariat -- September 23, 2021

Afternoon Update:

** Lauran Neergaard & Mike Stobbe of the AP: "The U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 stood on the verge of a major new phase as government advisers Thursday recommended booster doses of Pfizer's vaccine for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans -- despite doubts the extra shots will do much to slow the pandemic. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot. Deciding who else might get one was far tougher. While there is little evidence that younger people are in danger of waning immunity, the panel offered the option of a booster for those 18 to 49 who have chronic health problems and want one. But the advisers refused to go further and open boosters to otherwise healthy front-line health care workers who aren't at risk of severe illness but want to avoid even a mild infection.... The CDC advisers expressed concern over the millions more Americans who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shots early in the vaccine rollout. The government still hasn't considered boosters for those brands and has no data on whether it's safe or effective to mix-and-match and give those people a Pfizer shot."

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. special envoy for Haiti has quit his job in a blistering resignation letter.... 'Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed,' Daniel Foote said in the letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday. 'I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the dangers posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,' he said. Foote was named special envoy in July just weeks after the assassination of Haiti's president plunged the country into political turmoil. In another reaction to the Haitian immigration crisis, the administration announced Thursday it was suspending all horse patrols in the migrant camp at Del Rio, Tex.... [The State Department has taken] issue with Foote's version of events." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's story is here. Foote's resignation letter is here, via Yamiche Alcindor of PBS.

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House budget office will tell federal agencies on Thursday to begin preparations for the first shutdown of the U.S. government since the pandemic began, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggle to reach a funding agreement. Administration officials stress the request is in line with traditional procedures seven days ahead of a shutdown and not a commentary on the likelihood of a congressional deal."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday morning announced that the Senate, House and White House have reached a deal on a 'framework' to pay for the massive human infrastructure spending package they hope to pass this fall under budget reconciliation.... [An] aide explained it's an understanding between Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) about what revenue-raising proposals are on the table for the upcoming negotiations.... The menu of revenue-raisers will be used as the template for negotiations with moderates such Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on the reconciliation package and how to pay for it." ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton, et al., of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled to colleagues in both chambers that she will not put the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package on the House floor for a vote until it's clear that it can also pass the 50-50 Senate.... Without a [Senate] deal in sight, there's no way the House will be ready to vote on the reconciliation package in time to move it next week along with the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that passed the Senate on Aug. 10. That puts Pelosi in a tough spot, since she pledged last month to centrist House Democrats led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) that the House would vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill by Sept. 27."

Tom Hamburger & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The White House is leaning toward releasing information to Congress about what Donald Trump and his aides were doing during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol despite the former president's objections.... Trump has said he will cite 'executive privilege' to block information requests from the House select committee investigating the events of that day.... But President Biden's White House plans to err on the side of disclosure given the gravity of the events of Jan. 6, according to two people familiar with discussions.... '... there's no such thing as a former president's executive privilege,' said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a committee member who teaches constitutional law.... What Trump was doing while the attack was occurring and who he was speaking with are among the big, unanswered questions concerning the assault on the Capitol."

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Jonathan Weisman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden huddled with congressional Democrats on Wednesday to try to break through a potentially devastating impasse over his multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda, toiling to bridge intraparty divisions over an ambitious social safety net bill and a major infrastructure measure as Congress raced to head off a fiscal calamity. Democrats on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are nearing a make-or-break moment in their bid to push through huge new policies, as an escalating fight between the progressive and moderate wings -- and a multitude of other divisions within the party -- threatens to sink their chances of doing so while they retain control in Washington. At the same time, even the basic functions of Congress -- keeping the government from shutting down next week and from defaulting on its debt sometime next month -- are in peril as Republicans refuse to support legislation that would both fund the government and increase the statutory cap on federal borrowing." A Politico story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course intraparty crisis meetings like these would not be necessary if even a minority of Republicans thought it was a bad idea to renege on debt incurred during previous administrations. However, all Republicans in both houses oppose having the federal government meet its obligations. They do favor pushing the country -- and the world -- into an immediate recession & threatening about six million American jobs. That's really "owning the libs," isn't it?

Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet in person next month when they spoke by phone Wednesday, French and U.S. officials said, as the two leaders seek to make peace after a secret arms deal led to an unprecedented diplomatic rupture between Washington and its oldest ally. A White House statement suggested regret over the way the episode unfolded. 'The two leaders agreed that the situation would [have] benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,' the statement said. 'President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.'... The statement also said the ambassador to France would return to Washington next week. Macron had recalled Ambassador Philippe Etienne to Paris in the days after the announcement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "... the aggressive effort to quickly clear a makeshift camp in Del Rio, Texas, of more than 15,000 Haitian migrants was part of a Biden administration response that included 'surging' agents to the overrun area using a public health immigration rule invoked by [President*] Trump to send many people home.... The deportations are a stark example of how Mr. Biden -- who declared on Feb. 2 that his goal was to 'undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration' -- is deploying some of the most aggressive approaches to immigration put in place by Mr. Trump over the past four years. Having failed in his attempts to build a more 'humane' set of immigration laws, Mr. Biden has reacted in a way that few of his supporters expected. In case after case, he has shown a willingness to use tough measures. Part of the dilemma Mr. Biden faces is that his efforts to use the power of his office to enact lasting immigration change have been blocked by federal judges skeptical of executive power and slowed by a bureaucracy purposely hobbled by the former president." ~~~

~~~ Elliot Spagat, et al., of the AP: "Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion. Haitians have been freed on a 'very, very large scale' in recent days, according to one U.S. official who put the figure in the thousands. The official ... has direct knowledge of operations.... The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jacob Soboroff & Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The Biden administration is advertising for a new contract to operate a migrant detention facility at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with a requirement that some of the guards speak Spanish and Haitian Creole, according to government records. A little-known immigrant holding facility on the base has a capacity of 120 people, the records say, and it 'will have an estimated daily population of 20 people,' according to a solicitation for bids issued Friday by the Department of Homeland Security. According to the solicitation, formal bidding is expected to take place later this fall. 'The service provider shall be responsible to maintain on site the necessary equipment to erect temporary housing facilities for populations that exceed 120 and up to 400 migrants in a surge event,' the contract solicitation says." ~~~

~~~ Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News: "Mexican authorities carrying rifles and flashlights combed through [Ciudad Acuña]'s downtown early Wednesday, searching for the Haitians who were in hiding after being pushed to flee the US just days ago.... Returning to Mexico was a last resort for the Haitians after crossing the Rio Grande and setting up camp under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Food, water, and medicine were lacking. Border Patrol agents on horseback chased them. Children were getting sick. There was no avoiding COVID-19. President Joe Biden's administration started loading people onto planes and flying them back to Haiti, a place many of the immigrants haven't lived in for years."

Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration will finalize its first new climate rule Thursday, slashing the use of greenhouse gases warming the planet at a rate hundreds to thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide. The Environmental Protection Agency regulation, which establishes a program to cut the use and production of chemicals known as hydrofluorocarbons in the United States by 85 percent over the next 15 years, implements a law passed by Congress last year. There is broad bipartisan support for curbing these super-pollutants, which are short-lived and often used in refrigeration and air conditioning."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Two former GOP treasury secretaries held private discussions this month with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hoping to resolve an impasse over the debt limit that now threatens the global economy, according to four people aware of the conversations. The previously unreported talks involving the GOP economic grandees -- Henry Paulson, who served as treasury secretary under President Bush [II]; and Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Trump -- did not resolve the matter and the U.S. is now racing toward a massive fiscal cliff with no clear resolution at hand.... The backchanneling by Mnuchin and Paulson ... reflects the widespread alarm among economists and U.S. business interests about the consequences of an unprecedented default on the federal debt. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates near zero but indicated that rate hikes could be coming sooner than expected, and it significantly cut its economic outlook for this year. Along with those largely expected moves, officials on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee indicated they will start pulling back on some of the stimulus the central bank has been providing during the financial crisis. There was no specific indication, though, as to when that might happen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.

Caitlin Emma, et al., of Politico: "The top House Democrat on Appropriations introduced a bill on Wednesday that would provide $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, after the funding was abruptly pulled from a government funding package Tuesday. Democrats were forced to toss the money from a stopgap spending bill aimed at avoiding a government shutdown at the end of the month amid objections from progressives. The incident, which temporarily derailed a vote on the continuing resolution, illustrated the long-simmering internal tensions within the party over supporting Israel, a longtime U.S. ally in the Middle East.... Iron Dome, which is built by a joint venture of U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Technologies and Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, enjoys wide support on Capitol Hill.... But those funding efforts have faced progressive resistance in recent years, with more liberal members of the party demanding that U.S. military aid to Israel be conditions-based."

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Bipartisan negotiations in the US Congress over a police reform bill that was prompted by the killing of George Floyd have collapsed. 'We did the best we could,' the Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass told reporters on Wednesday. The House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in March, and Bass and the Democratic senator Cory Booker have since been working with the Republican senator Tim Scott to try to reach a bipartisan agreement on a bill that could pass the Senate. But the talks dragged on for months with negotiators remaining at odds over a few crucial issues in the bill, and the lawmakers now appear to have thrown in the towel. Most notably, the bipartisan negotiating team could not reach an agreement on the Democratic proposal to reform qualified immunity, which shields police officers from civil liability for misconduct."

Thanks, Mainers! Chelsey Cox of USA Today: "A Democratic bill to protect abortion rights nationwide will not receive support from Republican abortion rights advocate, Sen. Susan Collins. The senator from Maine said Tuesday she opposes the bill to prohibit states from interfering in abortion based on fetal viability, The Los Angeles Times first reported. The measure is a direct response to the Texas 'fetal heartbeat' bill that took effect earlier this month after the Supreme Court declined to block its enforcement.... The bill would 'codify' Roe v. Wade.... But Collins said it would weaken the Religious Freedom Restoration Act...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Calling Collins an "abortion rights advocate" in a lede is journalistic malpractice. As David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement points out, "Senator Collins, who repeatedly claims to be pro-choice, is being criticized after years of supporting ... Donald Trump's judicial nominees at every level of the federal judiciary, including two of his three Supreme Court picks.... [AND] According to NBC News affiliate News Center Maine, Collins just endorsed former Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage for a third term.... LePage is a Trump acolyte known for making outrageous and vulgar remarks, is anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ, and pro-death penalty."

Marie: BTW, I heard two law experts, one on MSNBC -- Neal Katyal -- and one on CNN -- Jennifer Rodgers -- say that Donald Trump's lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times lacked merit, & Donald stands little chance of prevailing. Rodgers said she was surprised to see such a sloppily drafted complaint, and she doesn't understand why Donald Trump would want to expose himself in depositions, especially in a suit he is so likely to lose. Update: and Joyce Vance (I think it was) said that the complaint -- which rests largely on a claim that Mary Trump violated a confidentiality agreement does not cite any part of the Trump family agreement that requires confidentiality; Vance said that this omission could be the basis for a successful request to dismiss the suit. Underlying story linked yesterday.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. "Missing White Woman Syndrome." Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "The intensity of the [media] coverage [of Gabrielle Petito's disappearance and death] has mirrored the interest of social media users, who have discussed and debated the case on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.... As of Wednesday morning, the hashtag #gabbypetito had received more than 794 million views on TikTok. The demographic makeup of major news organizations is another factor in the emphasis on narratives of white women who go missing or are murdered, said Martin G. Reynolds ... of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.... The disappearances of people of color tend not to generate the same volume of media interest, despite their occurring at a higher rate.... Danielle Slakoff ... [o]f California State University, Sacramento..., said that white women were typically depicted as good people, while women of color were often characterized as risk-takers or somehow complicit in their own disappearances.... 'I don't think we can discount the profit motive and the fact that, historically, these types of stories have gotten tons of engagement, viewers and clicks,' Ms. Slakoff said." ~~~

~~~ Charles Blow of the New York Times: "The breathless coverage of the disappearance and apparent killing of Gabrielle Petito has played out in a virtual -- and sometimes literal -- split screen alongside images of mounted officers in Texas swinging long reins like whips while herding Haitian migrants. That startling contrast forces us once again to wrestle with a crucial question: What kinds of people, in what kinds of bodies, with what kinds of lineage do we value?... In 2004, at the Unity journalists of color convention in Washington, Gwen Ifill coined the phrase 'missing white woman syndrome,' joking that 'if there is a missing white woman you're going to cover that every day.'... It all becomes cyclical: Media raises the profile [of a white woman gone missing]; law enforcement engages because of that high profile; the public becomes invested; then the media continues its coverage because of the massive law enforcement response and widespread public interest. Just like that, we have all been manipulated into playing a part in the white damsel ideology, that young white women, often attractive, are the very epitome of innocence and virtue."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "Scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will take up a thorny challenge on Thursday: Who qualifies for the new Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus booster and why?" The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Thursday are here: The CDC "is expected to issue a recommendation Thursday to clarify some of the vagueness within the FDA's decision -- including who falls under the category of people 'whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk' of serious illness, and of people under 65 who are 'at high risk of severe COVID-19.'"

** Noah Weiland & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "... the Food and Drug Administration ... on Wednesday authorized people over 65 who had received Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine to get a booster shot at least six months after their second injection. The F.D.A. also authorized booster shots for adult Pfizer-BioNTech recipients who are at high risk of becoming severely ill with Covid-19 or are at risk of serious complications from the disease due to frequent exposure to the coronavirus at their jobs. The authorization sets up what is likely to be a staggered campaign to deliver the shots, starting with the most vulnerable Americans. It opens the way for possibly tens of millions of vaccinated people to receive boosters at pharmacies, health clinics, doctors' offices and elsewhere. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting F.D.A. commissioner, said that the authorization would allow for booster doses 'in certain populations such as health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others.' Her statement suggested that agency leaders took a permissive view of the subgroups it deemed eligible for an extra injection.... The F.D.A. is expected to take up the question of boosters for [the millions of Americans who got Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines] in short order." ~~~

     ~~~ NPR's story is here and CNN's is here. Marie: Assuming that the Times story is correct, both the NPR & CNN stories are what I would call "confusing." Neither makes entirely clear that the Pfizer booster is recommended only for people who got two Pfizer shots months ago. Since experts frequently tell the media that shots can be "mixed" -- that is, that you can get one Moderna shot and one Pfizer shot, for instance -- reading the NPR & CNN stories would lead a reasonable person who got the Moderna vaccines last winter to think she could get the Pfizer booster now.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: ""President Biden, declaring the coronavirus an 'all-hands-on-deck crisis,' set out ambitious goals on Wednesday for ending the pandemic and urged world leaders, drug companies, philanthropies and nonprofit groups to embrace a target of vaccinating 70 percent of the world by next year.But the course that Mr. Biden charted, at a virtual Covid-19 summit meeting that he convened on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, may be difficult to turn into reality.... The daylong meeting, the largest gathering of heads of state to address the pandemic, was a reflection of Mr. Biden's determination to re-establish the United States as a leader in global health after ... Donald J. Trump severed ties with the World Health Organization last year, at the outset of the coronavirus crisis." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Biden's goal is achievable only if most people around the world aren't as stupid as millions of Americans. Since February 2020, I have seldom "gone to town" during peak business hours, but yesterday, for the first time in months, I had business in Concord, New Hampshire, that had to be done during the day. As I drove past the local hospital, there stood a small group of protesters carrying signs urging motorists to honk for freedom from vaccines. The good news -- nobody honked within my hearing.

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the formation of a partnership between the United States and European Union to further the global Covid-19 vaccination effort. 'The United States is leading the world on vaccination donations. As we're doing that, we need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,' Biden said at a virtual meeting with leaders of the United Nations, World Health Organization and countries including the United Kingdom and Canada.... He also made official his administration's plan to purchase another 500 million vaccine doses to distribute to some of the world's poorest nations. News of the additional supply trickled out earlier this week, and will bring the United States' total commitment to 1.1 billion doses." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

OMG! There Are Covid Cooties in My Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser to the Trump administration who has embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and advocated the violent military overthrow of the United States, has a new conspiracy theory: the Deep State is going to vaccinate your salad dressing.... 'Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they're talking about putting the vaccine in salad dressing,' said Flynn [Wednesday]. 'Have you seen this? I mean it's -- and I'm thinking to myself, this is the Bizarro World, right?... These people are seriously thinking about how to impose their will on us in our society, and it has to stop.'"

Alaska. Zaz Hollander of the Alaska News: "Alaska is activating crisis standards of care for the entire state and bringing in contracted health workers as staff shortages and influx of COVID-19 patients make it difficult for hospitals to operate normally. Gov. Mike Dunleavy and top health officials announced the hospital support on Wednesday, the same day Alaska's new single-day cases hit another record as the highly infectious delta variant drives infections. A combination of short staffing and high numbers of COVID-19 patients is overwhelming medical facilities in Anchorage, Mat-Su and Fairbanks. Rural hospitals say they struggle to transfer patients to urban centers for higher care. At least one patient died recently when a bed in Anchorage wasn't available."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Wednesday signed a bill that restricts warehouse employers from setting productivity quotas that prevent workers from taking breaks or following health and safety laws. The new law could alter Amazon's labor practices.... 'The hardworking warehouse employees who have helped sustain us during these unprecedented times should not have to risk injury or face punishment as a result of exploitative quotas that violate basic health and safety,' Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said.... Two separate studies, including one by a group backed by labor unions, have shown that the rate at which Amazon workers suffer serious injuries was nearly double that of the rest of the warehousing industry last year.... But business groups strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it would lead to an explosion of litigation and hamper the distribution of goods."

Texas. Abbott's "Steel Wall." Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles to line up for miles as a barricade along the border with Mexico, insisting the state was taking 'unprecedented steps,' as thousands of migrants still seek to cross into the United States." MB: The article does not make clear who -- if anyone -- is in the cars and what-all these people might be doing to dissuade immigrants from climbing over the parked vehicles. However, in a tweet embedded in the story, Abbott says, "Texas Dept of Public Safety troopers & Texas National Guard are stanching the flow of illegal migrants trying to cross into the Del Rio region." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine. Ivan Nechepurenko & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "A top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was shot at on Wednesday while being driven in his car outside Kyiv, in what the authorities said was an assassination attempt. The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was not injured in the attack, but the driver of the car was wounded and hospitalized, Irina Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in a statement that included a picture of the driver's side of Mr. Shefir's black Audi riddled with bullets." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- September 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates near zero but indicated that rate hikes could be coming sooner than expected, and it significantly cut its economic outlook for this year. Along with those largely expected moves, officials on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee indicated they will start pulling back on some of the stimulus the central bank has been providing during the financial crisis. There was no specific indication, though, as to when that might happen."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the formation of a partnership between the United States and European Union to further the global Covid-19 vaccination effort. 'The United States is leading the world on vaccination donations. As we're doing that, we need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,' Biden said at a virtual meeting with leaders of the United Nations, World Health Organization and countries including the United Kingdom and Canada.... He also made official his administration's plan to purchase another 500 million vaccine doses to distribute to some of the world's poorest nations. News of the additional supply trickled out earlier this week, and will bring the United States' total commitment to 1.1 billion doses."

Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "President Joe Biden ... will hold a series of meetings with key Democrats Wednesday, including [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as party leaders try to salvage their two-part domestic agenda -- a massive social safety net expansion and bipartisan infrastructure bill -- amid a fresh round of hostage-taking from centrist and progressive members.... Biden's attempt at a kumbaya moment could hardly come at a more critical time, with the narrowly divided House nearing an uncertain vote Monday on the Senate's infrastructure deal."

Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet in person next month when they spoke by phone Wednesday, French and U.S. officials said, as the two leaders seek to make peace after a secret arms deal led to an unprecedented diplomatic rupture between Washington and its oldest ally. A White House statement suggested regret over the way the episode unfolded. 'The two leaders agreed that the situation would [have] benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,' the statement said. 'President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.'... The statement also said the ambassador to France would return to Washington next week. Macron had recalled Ambassador Philippe Etienne to Paris in the days after the announcement."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Two former GOP treasury secretaries held private discussions this month with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hoping to resolve an impasse over the debt limit that now threatens the global economy, according to four people aware of the conversations. The previously unreported talks involving the GOP economic grandees -- Henry Paulson, who served as treasury secretary under President Bush [II]; and Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Trump -- did not resolve the matter and the U.S. is now racing toward a massive fiscal cliff with no clear resolution at hand.... The backchanneling by Mnuchin and Paulson -- who had previously worked together at Goldman Sachs -- reflects the widespread alarm among economists and U.S. business interests about the consequences of an unprecedented default on the federal debt.

Elliot Spagat, et al., of the AP: “Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion. Haitians have been freed on a 'very, very large scale' in recent days, according to one U.S. official who put the figure in the thousands. The official ... has direct knowledge of operations.... The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations."

Texas. Abbott's "Steel Wall." Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles to line up for miles as a barricade along the border with Mexico, insisting the state was taking 'unprecedented steps,' as thousands of migrants still seek to cross into the United States." MB: The article does not make clear who -- if anyone -- is in the cars and what-all these people might be doing to dissuade immigrants from climbing over the parked vehicles. However, in a tweet embedded in the story, Abbott says, "Texas Dept of Public Safety troopers & Texas National Guard are stanching the flow of illegal migrants trying to cross into the Del Rio region." The Hill's story is here.

Marie: BTW, I heard two law experts, one on MSNBC -- Neal Katyal -- and one on CNN -- Jennifer Rodgers -- say that Donald Trump's lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times lacked merit, & Donald stands little chance of prevailing. Rodgers said she was surprised to see such a sloppily drafted complaint, and she doesn't understand why Donald Trump would want to expose himself in depositions, especially in a suit he is so likely to lose. Related story linked below.

Ukraine. Ivan Nechepurenko & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "A top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was shot at on Wednesday while being driven in his car outside Kyiv, in what the authorities said was an assassination attempt. The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was not injured in the attack, but the driver of the car was wounded and hospitalized, Irina Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in a statement that included a picture of the driver's side of Mr. Shefir's black Audi riddled with bullets."

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Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden defended the messy end to the of war in Afghanistan and made a case that the world can come together to confront global threats like climate change and the coronavirus in a Tuesday speech at the United Nations geared at easing allies' increasing qualms with American leadership. In his first address to the body as president, Biden also affirmed U.S. support for it and an alphabet soup of international partnerships and pledged support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change.... His measured address was notable mostly for its contrast to the boastful tone and sour reception that marked addresses by ... Donald Trump. Biden drew applause when he closed with a note that his speech was the first by a U.S. president in '20 years with the United States not at war.... Biden met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday, less than a week after the surprise announcement that Australia would purchase U.S.-made nuclear submarines, a major military challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story, by David Sanger, is here. The transcript of the speech, which appears to be as delivered, is here, via the White House. ~~~

~~~ Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced plans Tuesday to double the funding the United States provides each year to help developing nations cope with the ravages of climate change and build greener economies. Speaking at the United Nations, Biden framed the move as part of a broader return to multilateralism, saying the world must work together to combat daunting challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, trade disputes and a rapidly warming planet. Biden said he intends to work with Congress to boost the U.S. annual contribution to the problem to $11.4 billion, an amount he said is necessary 'to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt.'"

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday both decried images of horse-mounted Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting Haitian immigrants in Texas and pledged a swift but thorough investigation into the matter.... Harris, in comments to CBS News, said she supports the investigation launched by Mayorkas into what she characterized as a 'horrible' episode and said she plans to talk to him directly about it later Tuesday.... 'I am going to let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,' Mayorkas said [during an appearance on CNN]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration is aiming to relocate the thousands of migrants camped along the U.S. border in Del Rio, Texas by the month's end. 'Our goal is to do so within the next 10 days or nine days,' Mayorkas said in response to questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Ok.). Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee that officials 'expect to see dramatic results within the next 48 to 96' hours, at which point they'll have a better grasp of the remaining task. Mayorkas said that the administration is continuing to ramp up 'the frequency and number' of repatriation flights for the migrants, the bulk of whom hail from Haiti." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Images of Border Patrol agents on horses, pushing back Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to try to reach U.S. soil, have prompted outrage among Democrats and called into question President Biden's decision to swiftly deport thousands who had been arriving en masse at a small Texas border town.... 'I urge President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to immediately put a stop to these expulsions,' Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on Tuesday. 'We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws.'... Asked if Mr. Biden had seen the images, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said: 'He believes that the footage and photos are horrific. They don't represent who we are as a country. And he was pleased to see the announcement of the investigation.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No, Jen, this is who we are, and those CPB officers with whips/reins do legally represent the U.S. government. Admittedly, the Border Patrol has the least stringent employment standards among the agencies that employ law enforcement officers. Oh, and "A culture of racism within the Border Patrol has persisted throughout its history." And sexist. But these agents, however racist & ill-prepared to serve, still represent the United States.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "U.S. military officials have insisted since the last American troops withdrew from Afghanistan last month that they would be able to detect and attack Islamic State or Qaeda threats in the country from afar. But an errant drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, in Kabul on Aug. 29 calls into question the reliability of the intelligence that will be used to conduct the operations.... New details about the drone strike, which the Pentagon initially said was necessary to prevent an attack on American troops, show the limitations of such counterterrorism missions even when U.S. forces are on the ground." The American strike crew was tracking -- and hit -- the wrong white Toyota Corolla. "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a review of the Central Command's inquiry into the drone strike to determine, among other issues, who should be held accountable and 'the degree to which strike authorities, procedures and processes need to be altered in the future.'"

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday approved legislation to keep the government funded through early December, lift the limit on federal borrowing through the end of 2022 and provide emergency money for Afghan refugees and natural disaster recovery, setting up a fiscal showdown as Republicans warn they will block the measure in the Senate. The bill is urgently needed to avert a government shutdown when funding lapses next week, and a first-ever debt default when the Treasury Department reaches the limit of its borrowing authority within weeks. But it has become ensnared in partisan politics, with Republicans refusing to allow a debt ceiling increase at a time when Democrats control Congress and the White House.... Even with crucial funding for their states on the line, no [House] Republicans voted for the legislation.... And the prospects for passage in the 50-50 Senate appeared dim, as Republicans vowed they would neither vote for the legislation nor allow it to advance in the chamber, where 60 votes are needed to move forward." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier, That Same Day. Democrats Behaving Badly, Republicans Behaving Worse. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Th U.S. government is careening toward an urgent financial crisis starting in 10 days, as a political standoff on Capitol Hill threatens to shutter the government during a pandemic, delay hurricane aid to millions of Americans and thrust Washington to the precipice of defaulting on its debt. The high-stakes feud stems from a fight to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling. Democrats have tied the increase to a bill that funds federal operations into December, setting off a war with Republicans, who refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden's broader agenda -- even if it means grinding the country to a halt.... With the clock ticking, the House is set to take the first steps Tuesday to adopt a measure that could stave off the political and economic crisis. But the bill already has run into early political head winds, even among Democrats.... [Despite making changes to accommodate disagreements,] their proposal still has no chance in the Senate, where Republicans largely have pledged to vote against combining the debt ceiling with government spending into one bill. The stalemate threatens to leave Congress with little time to resolve a set of disputes...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Siegel of ABC News: "House Democrats on Tuesday removed $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system from their stopgap government funding bill, after progressives threatened to tank the measure over the military support for Israel. While Democratic leaders committed to approving the funding by year's end in another must-pass bill, the holdup was the latest episode in an ongoing intraparty debate over support for Israel. Republicans quickly took to social media to accuse Democrats of undermining Israel's security. They also planned a procedural vote to highlight Democrats' divisions -- which was rejected -- even as they had planned to vote against the initial measure when it included Iron Dome funding." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, according to House Republicans, Democrats are terrible to nix Iron Dome funding that Republicans had already decided to nix. ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The United States could plunge into an immediate recession if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the country defaults on its payment obligations this fall, according to one analysis released Tuesday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, found that a prolonged impasse over the debt ceiling would cost the U.S. economy up to 6 million jobs, wipe out as much as $15 trillion in household wealth, and send the unemployment rate surging to roughly 9 percent from around 5 percent.... Moody's 'best estimate' is that [the date the U.S. will default on its debt] is Oct. 20, although Treasury has not given a more precise day.... Failure to raise the debt limit would have catastrophic impacts on global financial markets.... Even resolving the matter before the debt ceiling is breached could hurt U.S. taxpayers and the American economy in the long term. The budget battles over the debt ceiling of 2011 and 2013 under the Obama administration ... [cost] the U.S. economy as much as $180 billion and 1.2 million jobs by 2015, according to Zandi and [Moody report co-author Bernard] Yaros."~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... this new version of the GOP is at once so radical and so lacking in responsible leadership that it is plunging headlong and unified toward forcing default on the full faith and credit of the United States. Congressional Republicans are inviting economic calamity.... Though crazies threatened default [in the past], grown-ups in the GOP -- Bob Dole, [John] Boehner, an earlier incarnation of Mitch McConnell -- pulled them back from the abyss. Until now. The crazies are in charge.... The hypocrisy is stunning. McConnell has voted to increase or suspend the debt limit 32 times, including thrice under Trump, who added $7.8 trillion to the debt, The Post's Jeff Stein reported. About 97 percent of the current debt existed before Joe Biden's presidency."

Trump, et al., Were Lying and They Knew It. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. The court papers, which were initially filed late last week as a motion in a defamation lawsuit brought against the campaign and others by a former Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, contain evidence that officials in the Trump campaign were aware early on that many of the claims against the companies were baseless.... The memo ... rebutted a series of allegations that [Trump attorney Sidney] Powell and others were making in public." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ Blueprint for a Coup. Philip Bump of the Washington Post lays out how Trump, by memo and/or a mob, planned to grant himself a second term. You can read Trump attorney John Eastman's full election-theft memo here, which also is linked within the Gangel-Herb story linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Crucially, the memo was the culmination of months of work aimed at the Jan. 6 certification date, pulling together Trump's win-at-any-cost strategy with the then-President's willing accomplices in Congress. In the end, it represented the last known attempt Team Trump made at peacefully stealing a second term. After Pence rejected that effort, Trump's mob went after him and Congress.... [John] "Eastman was one of several speakers to address the D.C. rally Trump had beckoned -- the rally that turned into a mob.... 'We know there was fraud,' he said, falsely. 'We know that dead people voted.' Then, he aimed his fire squarely, and publicly, at Pence. 'All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1 o'clock, he let the legislatures of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it and the American people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not!'... 'All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people!' Trump would later the crowd that day. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

I knocked on Mary Trump's door. She opened it. I think they call that journalism. -- Susanne Craig of the New York Times, in a tweet Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Katerina Ang of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has sued his niece, Mary L. Trump, and the New York Times over the publication of a 2018 article detailing allegations that he 'participated in dubious tax schemes ... including instances of outright fraud' that allowed him to receive over $413 million from his father, Fred Trump Sr., while significantly reducing taxes. The suit, filed in a Dutchess County, N.Y., court on Tuesday, alleges that Mary Trump, the New York Times and at least three of its reporters 'engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records' about the former president;s finances. According to the lawsuit, Donald Trump suffered at least $100 million in damages as a result of the alleged actions.... The New York Times and the three reporters named in the suit -- David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner -- won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for their 18-month investigation that culminated in the article. Their work 'debunked [Trump's] claims o self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges,' according to the Pulitzer Prize board." An AP story is here.

#epicfail. Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity. But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data -- including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik's customers. Extremism researchers and political opponents have treated the leak as a Rosetta Stone to the far-right, helping them to decode who has been doing what with whom over several years. Initial revelations have spilled out steadily across Twitter since news of the hack broke last week, often under the hashtag #epikfail, but those studying the material say they will need months and perhaps years to dig through all of it." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, described by some as the face of 'woke' capitalism, has revealed a new flavor in support of Democratic Rep. Cori Bush's 'People's Response Act,' which calls for a health-centered approach to policing. The 'Change Is Brewing' flavor -- comprising cold brew coffee ice cream with marshmallows and fudge brownies -- aims to help 'transform the nation's approach to public safety,' the company said in support of the legislation. 'It's time to divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free,' Ben & Jerry's said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Unsaid here is that many of the people Bush aims to help -- and at one point, even Bush herself -- could not afford to buy a pint of any flavor of Ben & Jerry's.

Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Human remains found in a national park in Wyoming were confirmed on Tuesday to be those of Gabrielle Petito, according to the F.B.I., which also said that the manner of death had been determined to be homicide.... The specific cause of death was still pending final autopsy results, the agency said. Michael Schneider, a special agent in charge with the F.B.I. in Denver, said in the statement that anyone with information about Brian Laundrie, Ms. Petito's fiancé, who had gone on a cross-country road trip with her this summer and had been named as a person of interest in the case, should contact the agency." ~~~>

     ~~~ Marie: I did hesitate to link this story, as I am in complete agreement with PD Pepe & citizen625, who wrote in yesterday's Comments thread about the extraordinary coverage that abductions or murders of young white women receive, and with Rockygirl who noted that "pretty, young, blond, and preferably wealthy white women" get the news coverage -- because as citizen writes, their misfortunes amount to news "clickbait." In fairness to the media, this is a prejudice so built-in to the American psyche that when I was a very young child, I thought Disney's Cinderella story was "more important" than "Snow White" because Cinderella was pictured as blonde & Snow White as brunette. (True, Cinderella wasn't rich, but presumably the Handsome Prince fixed that.) As a cute little red-haired girl, I wished I were blonde. When I was a little older, I began to rethink that, based on news coverage that suggested -- falsely -- that blonde women were more apt to be abducted & murdered.

Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "The family of Harry Dunn, a teen motorcyclist who died in an accident that became a high-level diplomatic dispute, reached a settlement in its U.S. civil suit against Anne Sacoolas, an American alleged to have been driving on the wrong side of the road in the East Midlands of England when she hit Dunn -- and who subsequently claimed diplomatic immunity. A criminal case in Britain is still pending, a family spokesman said. Last year, Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, launched a U.S. federal lawsuit claiming wrongful death and seeking financial damages from Sacoolas."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The White House on Wednesday will host a virtual summit on ending the coronavirus pandemic, as President Biden seeks to take a more visible role amid criticism that his administration has done too little on the global stage. The summit, which coincides with this week's United Nations General Assembly meetings, will be broken into four sessions, according to administration officials who previewed the event with reporters on Tuesday. Biden will chair the first session on the need to vaccinate the world...."

Stephanie Nolen & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "As President Biden convenes heads of state for a Covid-19 summit on Wednesday, pressure is growing on American drug companies -- particularly Moderna, the upstart biotech firm that developed its coronavirus vaccine with billions of dollars in taxpayer money -- to share their formulas with manufacturers in nations that desperately need more shots. Last year's successful race to develop vaccines in extraordinarily short order put companies like Moderna and Pfizer in a highly favorable spotlight. But now, with less than 10 percent of those in many poor nations fully vaccinated and a dearth of doses contributing to millions of deaths, health officials in the United States and abroad are pressing the companies to do more to address the global shortage. The Biden administration has privately urged both Pfizer and Moderna to enter into joint ventures where they would license their technology to contract manufacturers with the aim of providing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, according to a senior administration official. Those talks led to an agreement with Pfizer, expected to be announced on Wednesday, to sell the United States an additional 500 million doses of its vaccine at a not-for-profit price -- rather than license its technology -- to donate overseas."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "More people have died of covid-19 in the United States than are estimated to have died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Over 675,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the United States since Feb. 29, 2020, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's roughly how many died of influenza in the United States between 1918 and 1919 -- along with more than 49 million people killed globally during the 'deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.'" (The coronavirus has killed nearly 4.7 million people globally.)" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm loath to demonstrate my poor mastery of arithmetic, but it sure looks as if the U.S. accounts for about ten times more deaths per capita worldwide from Covid-19 than it did from the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That is, 675K/4.7MM (Covid) v. 675K/49MM (flu). Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Florida. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has introduced the state's new surgeon general, who opposes vaccine and mask mandates amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Joseph Ladapo, who got his doctorate from Harvard Medical School and was a researcher at UCLA, began his role as Florida's top public health official Tuesday. 'Like Governor DeSantis, Dr. Ladapo is not against vaccines or masks -- he is against vaccine mandates and forced-masking,' Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for the government, told The Hill in a statement.... Pushaw said the only people criticizing DeSantis's new surgeon general are 'media activists' and that the doctor’s résumé 'speaks for itself.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Uh, Maybe Not. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "The man whom Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as his next surgeon general has a long history of questioning the science behind mask wearing and vaccinations as ways to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.... Newsweek reports that newly minted Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo appeared in a hydroxychloroquine-promoting video last year that was organized by a fringe group of medical professionals whose work was subsequently promoted by then-President Donald Trump.... Also making an appearance with Ladapo in the video was Dr. Stella Immanuel, who gained notoriety last year for her theories about demons coming to Earth and impregnating human women, as well as about physicians using 'alien DNA' to treat their patients."

Australia. Stranded in the Outback. Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "Welcome to covid-era Australia, where state border closures designed to keep the coronavirus from spreading have turned retired office workers into roadside nomads. When the pandemic began, many Australians found that the leaders of the country's six states and two territories, rather than the federal government, suddenly controlled the most vital things in people's lives, including who could go to work and where they could travel.... States and territories have shut their borders with New South Wales, where a delta variant outbreak that began in June has grown to average more than 1,000 cases a day recently. The closures have upended domestic travel and stranded scores of Australians internally, even as a vaccination ramp-up means some states -- and international airports --; will soon open up. People in Sydney could find it easier to fly to Singapore or Los Angeles than to Adelaide."

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama Works on a Rewrite of Its Racist Constitution. Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The last time Alabama politicians rewrote their State Constitution, back in 1901, their aspirations were explicitly racist: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.'... One hundred twenty years later, the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised Black voters and enforced segregation across Alabama are gone, but the offensive language written into the State Constitution remains. Now, as communities across the South reconsider racist symbols and statues, activists in Alabama who have labored for 20 years to convince voters that rewriting their Constitution is important -- and long overdue -- see an opportunity to get it done.... This month, a committee of lawmakers and lay people began the process of redrafting; their work will go before the voters next year to be ratified before the new Constitution can take effect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Arizona. Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror: "Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri announced that he will resign his seat after a recording surfaced in which he criticized his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for not supporting the Senate's review of the 2020 election, speculating that two of them were worried about what such a review would show about their own narrow victories in November in a newly released recording.... 'I think it [Biden's win] was done through dead people voting. I think it was multifaceted. I think there's a lot of cleanup here,' he ... [said] in a Jan. 22 phone call, which Gateway Pundit posted on Tuesday."

Texas. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed a new abortion bill into law, further restricting access to the procedure in the state. Senate Bill 4 -- which the Texas Legislature approved during the special session that ended on Sept. 2 -- bans the use of abortion-inducing drugs in the state seven weeks into a pregnancy, according to The Dallas Morning News. The bill also allows people who 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' breach the law to be criminally charged, according to The Dallas Morning News. The penalty for such an action would be a state jail felony, which comes with fines of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in prison." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Crazy Lawsuits May Bring Down Cruel Texas Anti-Abortion Law(s). Ruth Graham, et al., of the New York Times: "When the United States' most restrictive abortion law went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1, it worked exactly as intended: It effectively stopped all abortions in the second-most populous state. But its very ingenuity -- that ordinary citizens, and not state officials, enforce it -- has begun to unleash lawsuits that are out of the control of the anti-abortion movement that fought for the law. On Monday, a man in Arkansas and another in Illinois, both disbarred lawyers with no apparent association with anti-abortion activists, filed separate suits against a San Antonio doctor who publicly wrote about performing an abortion.... Legal experts said the lawsuits filed in state court might be the most likely way to definitively resolve the constitutionality of the Texas law, which has withstood legal tests. Two more sweeping challenges filed in federal court, brought by abortion providers and the Justice Department, raise difficult procedural questions.... From the anti-abortion movement's perspective, neither of the two men who filed suits this week is an ideal plaintiff." MB: No kidding.

Way Beyond

Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, told the United Nations general assembly he had come to showcase 'a new Brazil, with its credibility restored before the world'. But in a 12-minute address, in which the far-right populist preached unproven Covid remedies, denounced coronavirus containment measures and peddled a succession of distortions and outright lies about Brazilian politics and the environment, Bolsonaro did little to repair his country's mangled international reputation." ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Taylor & Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "While [Jair Bolsonario] devoted only a small part of his address to the pandemic, his presence at the assembly spoke volumes on it: As he has not been fully immunized, Bolsonaro appears to have broken U.N. rules that asked for all those who entered the General Assembly Hall to be fully vaccinated under an 'honor system.'... Anyone who enters the General Assembly Hall at U.N. headquarters tacitly attests that they are vaccinated under rules put in place to prevent the assembly from turning into a superspreader event.... Bolsonaro ... says he does not need to get vaccinated because he recovered from a mild case of covid-19 last year.... Later, Bloomberg News reported that a member of Bolsonaro's delegation, who hadn't been in contact with the president, tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in New York and was placed in isolation."

U.K. Don't know why anyone cares about this, but it seems to be newsy on both sides of the pond: ~~~

~~~ Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has admitted for the first time that he has six children, claiming in an interview on US television that he 'changes a lot of nappies'. The prime minister has previously tended to avoid questions about his notoriously complex family life. He has been divorced twice, and conceived a daughter during an extramarital relationship. But when an NBC interviewer put to him that he has six children, he replied: 'Yes.'" ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE. William Booth, et al., of the Washington Post: "As host of the upcoming global summit on climate change in November, billed as a final 'moment of truth,' [U.K. Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and his diplomats have just six weeks to help secure ambitious, concrete commitments to slash emissions of greenhouse gases -- or manage failure.... On Monday, Johnson chaired a closed-door roundtable discussion at the United Nations, alongside U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, where he urged the assembled world leaders to increase their financial commitments and emissions targets.... Then on Tuesday, the prime minister headed to the White House -- by Amtrak, an emissions-conserving choice.... For its part, Britain has announced ambitious climate targets for 2030 and 2035 to help achieve net zero by 2050.... But ... a recent report by the Climate Action Tracker ... noted that there is a 'large gap' between Britain's targets and levels of action."

News Lede

New York Times: "Willie Garson, the actor best known for his role as Carrie Bradshaw's best male friend Stanford Blatch in 'Sex and the City,' has died. He was 57."

The Commentariat -- September 21, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden defended the messy end to the of war in Afghanistan and made a case that the world can come together to confront global threats like climate change and the coronavirus in a Tuesday speech at the United Nations geared at easing allies' increasing qualms with American leadership. In his first address to the body as president, Biden also affirmed U.S. support for it and an alphabet soup of international partnerships and pledged support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change.... His measured address was notable mostly for its contrast to the boastful tone and sour reception that marked addresses by ... Donald Trump. Biden drew applause when he closed with a note that his speech was the first by a U.S. president in '20 years with the United States not at war.'... Biden met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday, less than a week after the surprise announcement that Australia would purchase U.S.-made nuclear submarines, a major military challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday both decried images of horse-mounted Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting Haitian immigrants in Texas and pledged a swift but thorough investigation into the matter.... Harris, in comments to CBS News, said she supports the investigation launched by Mayorkas into what she characterized as a 'horrible' episode and said she plans to talk to him directly about it later Tuesday.... 'I am going to let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,' Mayorkas said [during an appearance on CNN]."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration is aiming to relocate the thousands of migrants camped along the U.S. border in Del Rio, Texas by the month's end. 'Our goal is to do so within the next 10 days or nine days,' Mayorkas said in response to questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Ok.). Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee that officials 'expect to see dramatic results within the next 48 to 96' hours, at which point they'll have a better grasp of the remaining task. Mayorkas said that the administration is continuing to ramp up 'the frequency and number' of repatriation flights for the migrants, the bulk of whom hail from Haiti."

Democrats Behaving Badly, Republicans Behaving Worse. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government is careening toward an urgent financial crisis starting in 10 days, as a political standoff on Capitol Hill threatens to shutter the government during a pandemic, delay hurricane aid to millions of Americans and thrust Washington to the precipice of defaulting on its debt. The high-stakes feud stems from a fight to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling. Democrats have tied the increase to a bill that funds federal operations into December, setting off a war with Republicans, who refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden's broader agenda -- even if it means grinding the country to a halt.... With the clock ticking, the House is set to take the first steps Tuesday to adopt a measure that could stave off the political and economic crisis. But the bill already has run into early political head winds, even among Democrats.... [Despite making changes,] their proposal still has no chance in the Senate, where Republicans largely have pledged to vote against combining the debt ceiling with government spending into one bill. The stalemate threatens to leave Congress with little time to resolve a set of disputes...."

Trump, et al., Were Lying and They Knew It. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. The court papers, which were initially filed late last week as a motion in a defamation lawsuit brought against the campaign and others by a former Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, contain evidence that officials in the Trump campaign were aware early on that many of the claims against the companies were baseless.... The memo ... rebutted a series of allegations that [Trump attorney Sidney] Powell and others were making in public." ~~~

~~~ Blueprint for a Coup. Philip Bump of the Washington Post lays out how Trump, by memo and/or a mob, planned to grant himself a second term. You can read Trump attorney John Eastman's full election-theft memo here, which also is linked within the Gangel-Herb story linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Crucially, the memo was the culmination of months of work aimed at the Jan. 6 certification date, pulling together Trump's win-at-any-cost strategy with the then-President's willing accomplices in Congress. In the end, it represented the last known attempt Team Trump made at peacefully stealing a second term. After Pence rejected that effort, Trump's mob went after him and Congress.... [John] "Eastman was one of several speakers to address the D.C. rally Trump had beckoned -- the rally that turned into a mob.... 'We know there was fraud,' he said, falsely. 'We know that dead people voted.' Then, he aimed his fire squarely, and publicly, at Pence. 'All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1 o'clock, he let the legislatures of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it and the American people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not!'... 'All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people!' Trump would later the crowd that day."

#epicfail. Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity. But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data -- including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik's customers. Extremism researchers and political opponents have treated the leak as a Rosetta Stone to the far-right, helping them to decode who has been doing what with whom over several years. Initial revelations have spilled out steadily across Twitter since news of the hack broke last week, often under the hashtag #epikfail, but those studying the material say they will need months and perhaps years to dig through all of it."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "More people have died of covid-19 in the United States than are estimated to have died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Over 675,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the United States since Feb. 29, 2020, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's roughly how many died of influenza in the United States between 1918 and 1919 -- along with more than 49 million people killed globally during the 'deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.'" (The coronavirus has killed nearly 4.7 million people globally.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm loath to demonstrate my poor mastery of arithmetic, but it sure looks as if the U.S. accounts for about ten times more deaths per capita worldwide from Covid-19 than it did from the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That is, 675K/4.7MM (Covid) v. 675K/49MM (flu). Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Alabama Works on a Rewrite of Its Racist Constitution. Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The last time Alabama politicians rewrote their State Constitution, back in 1901, their aspirations were explicitly racist: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.'... One hundred twenty years later, the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised Black voters and enforced segregation across Alabama are gone, but the offensive language written into the State Constitution remains. Now, as communities across the South reconsider racist symbols and statues, activists in Alabama who have labored for 20 years to convince voters that rewriting their Constitution is important -- and long overdue -- see an opportunity to get it done.... This month, a committee of lawmakers and lay people began the process of redrafting; their work will go before the voters next year to be ratified before the new Constitution can take effect."

Texas. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed a new abortion bill into law, further restricting access to the procedure in the state. Senate Bill 4 -- which the Texas Legislature approved during the special session that ended on Sept. 2 -- bans the use of abortion-inducing drugs in the state seven weeks into a pregnancy, according to The Dallas Morning News. The bill also allows people who 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' breach the law to be criminally charged, according to The Dallas Morning News. The penalty for such an action would be a state jail felony, which comes with fines of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in prison."

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Seung Min Kim & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration plans to set the refugee admissions cap for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 to 125,000, meeting a target that President Biden set as a candidate during the 2020 campaign after facing backlash from immigrant advocates saying he wasn't accepting enough refugees from around the world. The figure was confirmed in a State Department report submitted to Congress that outlined the administration's refugee plans for fiscal 2022. In April, Biden announced that his administration would keep refugee admission levels for the current fiscal year at 15,000 -- a record-low level set by his predecessor, Donald Trump -- but abruptly backtracked after protests from Democratic lawmakers and advocates."

Photo by Paul Ratje. Getty Image.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. -- Emma Lazarus ~~~

~~~ Ellen Green of Vice: "Border Patrol officers on horseback swinging whips in the faces of Haitians. Families with toddlers scrambling across the Rio Grande back into Mexico to avoid being deported. Haitian parents crying as they faced the prospect of being deported home to a social and political crisis that seems to see no end. Those were among the scenes in the town of Del Rio, Texas, over the weekend as the U.S. government took a hard-line stance against thousands of newly-arrived Haitian migrants seeking protection. The situation is becoming a public relations and humanitarian challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, as images of Border Patrol agents on horseback screaming at and chasing desperate Haitians reverberated across the internet. 'This is why your country's shit, because you use your women for this,' one officer on horseback shouted at a group of Haitian women who were crossing the Rio Grande with bags of food, showed one report by Al Jazeera." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed dismay on Monday at images that appeared to show Border Patrol agents using whips on migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border. Psaki said that administration officials were aware of the situation and that 'it's horrible to watch.' She also said people were 'understandably' outraged at the possibility that law enforcement used whips or similar objects against those gathered near Del Rio, Texas, many of them from Haiti." ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: The migrants in the photo(s) probably had previously arrived in the U.S. with their families, and had gone back to Mexico to get food & bring it back to those stranded under the Del Rio bridge in the U.S. "During a news briefing later Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol head Raul Ortiz, who used to patrol the border on horseback, addressed concerns about the incident and what the agents were holding. 'Just to add, as Chief Ortiz explained to me, that to ensure control of the horse, long reins are used,' Mayorkas added, 'but we are going to investigate the facts to ensure that the situation is as we understand it to be, and if it's anything different, we will response accordingly.'" ~~~

~~~ Nick Miroff & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled Monday to the makeshift camp in Del Rio, Tex., where nearly 15,000 border-crossers have arrived, and he was quickly pulled into an escalating controversy over the treatment of the mostly Haitian migrants by U.S. agents.... Mayorkas told reporters in Del Rio that DHS would look into the incident. By Monday evening, as criticism mounted, the department released a statement announcing more formal inquiries, which it said Mayorkas had directed after watching the videos. 'The Department of Homeland Security does not tolerate the abuse of migrants in our custody and we take these allegations very seriously,' the DHS statement read. 'The footage is extremely troubling and the facts learned from the full investigation, which will be conducted swiftly, will define the appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken.' The statement said Mayorkas has directed DHS's internal oversight office to send personnel to the camp and oversee agents' conduct 'full-time.'... Several Democratic lawmakers condemned the agents' actions shown in the footage."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled a measure that would fund the government through December while staving off a potential default on U.S. debts into next year, setting up a last-minute scramble ahead of key fiscal deadlines on Capitol Hill. The plan could face immediate political headwinds since Republicans previously have pledged to vote against an increase in the country's borrowing limit, even if it is attached to a measure preventing a shutdown -- part of a broader GOP effort to scuttle President Biden's economic agenda. As they presented their plan, Democrats on Monday once again sounded dire warnings about consequences of failure, which they said could destabilize global markets, shutter critical federal services during a pandemic and hold back assistance to millions of Americans in the aftermath of storms that battered the Gulf Coast and parts of the Eastern Seaboard. They urged Republicans to join them in adopting the measure, arguing that the debt ceiling helps cover prior spending...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Krugman of the New York Times, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, explains to canny politician Joe Manchin why coal is not the future of West Virginia: "So Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia will be responsible for putting together the Democratic climate plan.... The best-case scenario is that Manchin will intervene in ways that help coal miners and highlight his independence without doing too much damage to Biden's objectives. The worst-case scenario is that he will cripple the climate initiative and effectively doom the planet -- because the president's climate push is almost certainly our last chance to avoid disaster.... It's actually startling how small a role coal plays in modern West Virginia's economy.... The collapse of coal mainly happened during the Reagan years.... Much of the decline was caused by automation.... Coal mining is a cultural tradition, and it's a part of Appalachia's history. But if Joe Manchin wants to actually serve the people of West Virginia, as opposed to pandering to their nostalgia, he'll support Biden's progressive agenda -- including his climate agenda."

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Monday set Dec. 1 arguments on Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy -- a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. Mississippi's ban has been blocked by lower courts because it directly violates Roe's protections for pre-viability abortions."

Michael Balsamo, et al., of the AP: "A federal law enforcement officer was arrested carrying a gun at Saturday's rally at the U.S. Capitol.... The 27-year-old New Jersey man is an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He was arrested by Capitol Police for illegally possessing a gun on the grounds of the Capitol after people in the crowd reported seeing him with a handgun and notified nearby officers. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said prosecutors were 'not moving forward with charges' but did not provide additional information about the decision. Two law enforcement officials said the officer was not at the rally in any official capacity." Marie: The article suggests we should be surprised that a law enforcement officer would side with people who beat up law enforcement officers. But the "New Jersey man" is a Border Patrol officer, and many of those guys are not only pro-Trump, they are pretty lawless (see guy with whip, pictured above).

Jamie Gangel & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A conservative lawyer working with ... Donald Trump's legal team tried to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could overturn the election results on January 6 when Congress counted the Electoral College votes by throwing out electors from seven states, according to the new book "Peril" from Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. The scheme put forward by controversial lawyer John Eastman was outlined in a two-page memo obtained by the authors for 'Peril,' and which was subsequently obtained by CNN. The memo, which has not previously been made public, provides new detail showing how Trump and his team tried to persuade Pence to subvert the Constitution and throw out the election results on January 6." ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Gaping holes in the Electoral Count Act -- the 1887 law that governs how Congress counts electoral college votes -- were central to the chances that [Trump & cohort's] scheme [to upend the 2020 presidential election results] might succeed.... [On Jan. 2, Sen. Mike] Lee [R-Utah] received a White House memo outlining how Vice President Pence could scuttle the [electoral] process, according to a new Post piece about the [Woodward/Costa] book. Because Republicans in several swing states had voted to send sham electors for Trump to Congress, it argued, Pence could simply set aside the actual electors from those states for President Biden. Both sets would be invalid, and Pence could count the remaining electors, designating Trump winner of a majority of them. The memo ... also suggested Pence could use objections by GOP lawmakers to Biden's electors to delay the process. The book reports that Pence explored this idea before rejecting it.... In a great new draft paper, election law scholar Richard L. Hasen warns that we face 'serious risk' of 'election subversion' or an 'actual stolen election.'" Hasen recommends changing the law to make election subversion much harder. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republicans have been craven for as long as I can remember. But it took a sly man (Mitch McConnell) and a crazy one (Donald Trump) to push them over the edge to become, as a party, solidly anti-democratic. But that is where they are now -- "they" being the majority of the GOP electorate who believe Trump won in 2020 and almost every GOP official -- elected, appointed or volunteer. Democracy works only if 95 percent (or so) of the people agree about its rules, but Trump & McConnell have ensured that most Republicans do not agree to most democratic laws & norms. They have written the script for another coup, and Republicans throughout the land are ensuring that the play is a hit.

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: In early January, both Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) & Mike Lee (R-Utah) personally investigated fraud claims Trump & his team made. Both Senators were unimpressed, according to a book by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa. "Graham and Lee, both of whom ultimately voted to certify the results, took the claims of election fraud seriously enough to get briefed on the details, involve their senior staff and call state officials throughout the country. But privately, Graham gave the arguments a withering assessment, according to the book, saying they were suitable for 'third grade.' The episode illustrates how strenuously the president's legal team sought to nullify the results of the election; how flimsy even their more serious claims were; and what little stock the president's own allies placed in his objections, even as they stood steadfastly with their standard-bearer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Allen Weisselberg -- the former Trump Organization CFO who has been charged by Manhattan prosecutors for an alleged tax evasion scheme -- is expecting that more indictments will be filed in the case, his lawyer said in court Monday.... Weisselberg faces 15 state counts, including grand larceny, which were unveiled by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in July.... The former president's namesake business was also charged in the indictment, but Donald Trump himself has not been charged." (Also linked yesterday afternoon. The story has since been updated to reflect investigators' rummaging around in basements.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jose Pagliary of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "Prosecutors have discovered a tranche of evidence in the basement of a co-conspirator in the Trump Organization tax fraud case, a defense lawyer for indicted chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg revealed in court on Monday, with the attorney also signaling that more shoes are yet to drop in New York's ongoing investigation."

L'Affaire Russe." Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare: "The indictment [of Michael Sussmann] is ... far removed from the grave FBI misconduct [prosecutor John] Durham was supposed to reveal [when then-AG Bill Barr appointed him to look into Trump's allegations that the FBI had unfairly target the 2016 Trump campaign].... In fact, it doesn't describe FBI malfeasance against Trump at all, but portrays the FBI as the victim of agitprop brought to it by outside political operatives.... The misconduct it portrays is an alleged lie by Sussmann that is, at best, wholly peripheral to the substance of the allegations Durham was supposedly peddling.... [The indictment] depends in its entirety on the testimony of a single witness [James Baker] who is on the record, under oath, saying something rather different from what the indictment alleges.... The evidence that Sussmann lied at all is weak.... [In Congressional testimony, Durham's single witness said he couldn't remember what Sussmann had said about who his client was. This testimony, of course, undercuts his testimony in the Durham case. Also,] Durham actually struggles in the text of the indictment itself to explain why Sussman's lie mattered.... I believe that the indictment of Michael Sussmann is an effort by Durham to change the subject. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I should point out, I guess that James Baker is not like some made man in a TV drama who changes his testimony to help the prosecution's case as part of a plea deal or aspiration to get some kind of leniency. Baker was general counsel to the FBI.

They're All Crooks. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Two veteran Republican campaign operatives -- including one who got a pardon from then-President Donald Trump one month before he left office -- are charged in a new federal indictment with funneling $25,000 from a Russian national into the Trump campaign in 2016. Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, made brief appearances Monday at a video hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, pleading not guilty to six felony charges including facilitating a campaign contribution by a foreign national, acting as a straw donor and causing the filing of false campaign finance reports. The grand jury indictment alleges that Benton and Wead worked together to accept $100,000 from an unidentified Russian national in order to get the foreigner a meeting with then-candidate Trump at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Sept. 22, 2016.... The indictment suggests that Benton and Wead hoped to make money from the scheme and did -- taking $100,000 from the Russian, but paying only $25,000 to Trump Victory...." Benton, who is an in-law & was an advisor to Rand Paul also led Mitch McConnell's 2014 campaign. Trump pardoned him for previous campaign finance crimes re: Ron Paul. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Anyhow, it turns out Trump pardoned a guy who (allegedly) stiffed him to the tune of $75K. So that's nice.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions starting in November on foreigners who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, reopening the country to thousands of people, including those who have been separated from family in the United States during the pandemic. The foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative test for the coronavirus within three days before coming to the United States, Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said Monday." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Missouri. AP: "A Missouri official is asking the state Supreme Court to suspend the law licenses of a St. Louis couple who gained national attention last year when they waved guns at racial injustice protesters outside their home. Missouri Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel, in a court filing reported by KCUR-FM, cited Mark and Patricia McCloskey's guilty pleas to misdemeanors stemming from the June 2020 encounter. Pratzel's office is responsible for investigating ethical complaints against Missouri lawyers. Mark McCloskey, who is among several Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in 2022, pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was ordered to pay a $750 fine. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. Missouri gov. Mike Parson pardoned them on July 30. Pratzel's motion said that while a pardon erases a person's conviction, 'the person's guilt remains.'"

New York. Dana Rubenstein of the New York Times: "In a report released Monday by the Stevens Institute of Technology and Princeton University's Electoral Innovation Lab, researchers said that missteps by the New York City Board of Elections had inadvertently allowed the lab to determine the votes of 378 New Yorkers in the mayoral primary. Those voters include the mayor's son and a former New York City deputy mayor, Robert K. Steel. Because that information is supposed to be secret, in accordance with state law, the report's findings suggest a breach of one of America's most prized guarantees, the secret ballot, and represent another blemish for the city Board of Elections.... In June, the board accidentally released an incorrect vote tally for the most important mayoral primary in a generation, and then had to retract that tally and tabulate the vote all over again." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So then. The New York Times compounded the problem by publishing all of Dante de Blasio's votes in the primary and the order in which he ranked them. It's akin to -- or worse than -- publishing paparazzis' nude photos of celebrities, then claiming, "But hey, it's newsworthy!"

If this is a free-for-all, and it's $10,000, I want my $10,000. And yes, I do aim to collect. -- Oscar Stilley, who is suing Dr. Alan Braid for performing an abortion in violation of Texas's anti-abortion law ~~~

~~~ Texas. Out-of-State Opportunists Sue Texas Abortion Doctor. David Goodman of the New York Times: "A man in Arkansas and another in Illinois on Monday filed what appeared to be the first legal actions under a strict new abortion law in Texas that is enforced by ordinary citizens, regardless of where they live. The Arkansas man, Oscar Stilley, who was described in the complaint as a 'disbarred and disgraced' lawyer, said in an interview that he had filed the lawsuit against a Texas doctor, who publicly wrote about performing an abortion, to test the provisions of the law.... Mr. Stilley said he was not trying to halt abortions by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio physician who wrote in The Washington Post on Saturday that he had violated the Texas law..... Dr. Braid was also sued on Monday by an Illinois man, Felipe N. Gomez.... Both suits were filed in state court in San Antonio and both men are representing themselves." An AP story is here.

Way Beyond

Canada. Affan Chowdhry of CNN: "Several Canadian news outlets are projecting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal party will form the next government. It is unclear, based on their projections, whether it be a majority or minority government." This is a breaking story @ 11:10 pm ET. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times has been updating Canadian election developments and has many more details.

France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "President Emmanuel Macron of France has gambled big. He has directed his foreign minister to use language not typically associated with diplomacy, let alone diplomacy between allies, in describing American actions: 'lies,' 'duplicity,' 'brutality' and 'contempt.' He has recalled the French ambassador to the United States, a first.... For Mr. Macron, the submarine debacle demonstrates that the NATO alliance is debilitated to the point of dysfunction through lack of trust.... Without transparency -- and in the submarine deal there was none -- alliance, in the French view, becomes an empty word.... The road back for France and the United States will be long."