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Sunday

May302021

The Commentariat -- May 31, 2021

Scam Alert!! Yesterday, PD Pepe and I received exactly the same set of two emails, purporting to come from a former contributor to Reality Chex. Another reader told Pepe he also got these two emails. The first email was a well-wishes sort that said the writer would be asking for an unspecified favor. When Pepe & I responded, we each got this email:

Thanks for your concern, I am sorry for bothering you with this mail, I need to get a GOOGLE PLAY GIFT CARDS for my Niece, It's her birthday but I can't do this now because I'm currently traveling and I tried purchasing online but unfortunately I have no luck with that. Can you get it from any store around you? I'll pay back as soon as I am back. Kindly let me know if you can handle this.

This clearly is a scam, and I doubt the purported writer has anything to do with it. I don't want to give her name as I think even that could unfairly implicate her. (I don't have her real email address or I would write to her to alert her of the scam using her name.) In any event, if you get a personal email supposedly from someone you know used to comment on Reality Chex, I'd suggest you not open it. If you're not a long-timer so don't recognize the name, just don't respond. This is a weird new type of scam I haven't experienced before. But here it is.

Late Morning Update:

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

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The offering we bring to-day is due alike to the patriot soldiers dead and their noble comrades who still live; for, whether living or dead, whether in time or eternity, the loyal soldiers who imperiled all for country and freedom are one and inseparable.... We are sometimes asked, in the name of patriotism, to forget the merits of this fearful struggle, and to remember with equal admiration those who struck at the nation's life and those who struck to save it, those who fought for slavery and those who fought for liberty and justice.... But ... we must never forget that victory to the rebellion meant death to the republic. We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation's destroyers. -- Frederick Douglass, Arlington National Cemetery, Decoration Day 1871 (full remarks)

Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "President Joe Biden marked his first Memorial Day weekend as commander in chief by honoring the nation's sacrifices in a deeply personal manner as he paid tribute Sunday to those lost while remembering his late son Beau, a veteran who died six years ago to the day. As a cold rain fell, Biden made his annual appearance at the commemoration in New Castle, not far from his Wilmington home, a day before he planned to do the same at Arlington National Cemetery on the official observance.... Biden had attended the ceremony nearly every year for decades, and it was at last year's event when he emerged for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, spotted with a mask while laying a wreath." ~~~

~~~ Marie: This is what a real President does. We are fortunate to have such a President again.

MEANWHILE. Marie: The news of the day seldom lets us forget that nearly half of us "beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Four more Oath Keepers associates have been indicted and three were arrested in Florida in recent days in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, bringing the number of co-defendants charged in the largest conspiracy case from that day to 16, court records show. Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Fla., Jason Dolan, 44, of Wellington, Fla., and William Isaacs, 21, of Kissimmee, Fla., each face multiple counts in an indictment handed up Wednesday and unsealed Sunday in Washington.... The name of a fourth defendant not known to be in custody was redacted.... The four new defendants are charged with conspiring to obstruct Congress's confirmation of the 2020 presidential election.... They are accused of forcing entry through the Capitol's East Rotunda doors after marching single-file up the steps wearing camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and Oath Keepers insignia." A CNN story is here.

Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Avowed QAnon disciple and confessed felon retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has called for a Myanmar-like military coup in America. 'It should happen,' Donald Trump's former national security adviser said in an astonishing declaration at a QAnon conference Sunday.... 'I wanna know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here?' an unidentified member of the audience asked Flynn, though he pronounced the nation as 'Minnimar.' 'No reason,' Flynn responded to wild screams of approval. 'It should happen.'" ~~~

~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "I know nothing about the UCMJ [Uniform Code of Military Justice], but can't Flynn be recalled to active duty for the purpose of court-martialing him?" MB: If I stood up in front of a crowd of loonytunes and advocated for overthrowing the government, I'd be charged with something -- like maybe 18 U.S. Code § 2385 -- advocating overthrow of the government -- violation of which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. And I'm not a former general capable of raising an army.

Aaron Morrison of the AP: Commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre is proceeding, but not exactly as planned. "... a march this weekend [will] memorialize those who ran from what is considered one of the worst and deadliest acts of racial violence in American history. That march is just one of an array of events, culminating Tuesday with a visit by President Joe Biden, who is expected to join local leaders in marking the occasion. The weekend was to include a keynote speech from former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams and a performance by singer John Legend at Tulsa's ONEOK Field in the historic Greenwood district. But organizers canceled the event on Thursday, citing 'unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers.'... Law enforcement organizations around the U.S. received a bulletin this week from the Department of Homeland Security warning of the potential for targeted violence at the commemoration of the Tulsa massacre...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Way We Were. DeNeen Brown of the Washington Post looks back on the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Democrats are striking a more urgent tone on negotiations over President Biden's infrastructure plan, as a compromise remains elusive after weeks of talks and measured optimism from both sides. In political talk shows on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said a clear direction on the plan is needed by June 7, when members of Congress return from a week-long recess.... 'I think we are getting pretty close to a fish-or-cut-bait moment,' Buttigieg said, though he quickly added a conciliatory note that 'on the fishing side of things, the negotiations have been healthy.'" The AP's story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Florida. AP: "A former Florida Department of Health employee has received whistleblower status a year after being fired for repeatedly violating the agency's policy about communicating with the media. The employee, Rebekah Jones, had raised questions about Florida's COVID-19 data after being ousted as the data's curator. State officials said she was fired for insubordination after being reprimanded several times, according to state records. The Miami Herald reported that the Office of the Inspector General told her attorneys on Friday that 'the information disclosed does meet the criteria for whistleblower status as described by ... Florida statutes.' Jones, who helped build the state's online presentation of its COVID-19 data, received national attention a year ago when she sowed doubt about the information being reported by the state when Florida was an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.... Under the state's whistleblower rules, Jones could be reinstated or be eligible for compensation if an investigation finds her firing was in retaliation for the the concerns she raised." (Also linked yesterday.) (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: When Florida state law enforcement officials raided her home, they collected evidence they claimed justified charging her with a criminal offense, and in January 2021 they jailed her overnight before she posted bond.

Wingers Accuse Regulators of Being Health Nazis

Tennessee. When You Think, "At Least They Can't Get Worse." Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Several prominent hat makers have distanced themselves from a Nashville hat store amid online backlash over the store's decision to sell yellow 'not vaccinated' patches shaped like the Star of David.... HatWRKS originally defended its move on Friday in two Instagram posts, saying people were outraged by the badges but not the 'tyranny the world is experiencing.'... According to WRKN in Nashville, protestors surrounded the store on Saturday, with demonstrators holding up a 'No Nazis in Nashville' sign in front of the store. American hat maker Stetson announced on Twitter on Saturday that it was no longer selling its hats with the store.... Another hat maker, Goorin Bros, said on Instagram that it was 'horrified by the display and selling of the Jewish badge by HatWRKS.'... On Saturday evening, HatWRKS posted an apology for the badges to Instagram, saying 'in NO WAY did I intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people.'" MB Translation: "I never intended to hurt my business." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Texas. Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "A group of 117 unvaccinated staffers from Houston Methodist Hospital filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to avoid the hospital's coronavirus vaccine mandate, saying it's unlawful for bosses to require the shots. The staffers join a growing list of employees challenging compulsory immunizations at businesses, colleges and other workplaces essential to the country's reopening.... The lawsuit against Houston Methodist was filed by Jared Woodfill, a Houston-area attorney and conservative activist. It appears to mirror a legal strategy used by a New York-based law firm, Siri & Glimstad, that is closely aligned with one of the country's biggest anti-vaccination organizations but unaffiliated with the Houston litigation. The complaint ... says Houston Methodist's vaccine mandate violates a set of medical ethics standards known as the Nuremberg Code, which ... was created after World War II in response to the medical atrocities Nazis committed against prisoners in concentration camps." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ See also Patrick's comments in yesterday's Comments on the flaws in the employees' argument.

Beyond the Beltway

Massachusetts. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "Nearly 50 years ago, the body of Danny Croteau, a 13-year-old altar boy, was found floating in the Chicopee River in Springfield, Mass. His head had been beaten with a blunt object. Richard R. Lavigne, a Catholic priest who was close to the boy's family, presided over his funeral Mass at Saint Catherine of Siena Church in Springfield and comforted his parents. But the police began investigating the priest almost immediately after the boy's death. Soon, the parents of Danny, the youngest in a family of five boys and two girls, became suspicious as well. Over the years, investigators repeatedly interviewed Mr. Lavigne and searched his house for evidence.... On May 21, prosecutors and investigators in Hampden County decided they finally had enough evidence to arrest Mr. Lavigne, who had been defrocked in 2004 for molesting two boys.... But just hours after they had begun preparing a request for an arrest warrant for murder, investigators learned that Mr. Lavigne, 80, had died, said the Hampden County district attorney, Anthony D. Gulluni." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. Voter Suppression, Super-sized, Ctd. Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune: "In the course of several hours Saturday and early Sunday, Senate Republicans hurtled to move forward on a sweeping voting bill negotiated behind closed doors where it doubled in length and grew to include voting law changes that weren't previously considered. Over Democrats' objections, they suspended the chamber's own rules to narrow the window lawmakers had to review the new massive piece of legislation before giving it final approval ahead of the end of Monday's end to the legislative session. This culminated in an overnight debate and party line vote early Sunday to sign off on a raft of new voting restrictions and changes to elections and get it one step closer to the governor's desk. Senate Bill 7, the GOP's priority voting bill, emerged Saturday from a conference committee as an expansive bill that would touch nearly the entire voting process, including provisions to limit early voting hours, curtail local voting options and further tighten voting-by-mail, among several other provisions." This and related stories linked yesterday. ~~~

~~~ ** Just Not Showing Up Wins the Battle. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Democrats in the Texas Legislature staged a dramatic, late-night walkout on Sunday night to force the failure of a sweeping Republican overhaul of state election laws. The move, which deprived the session of the minimum number of lawmakers required for a vote before a midnight deadline, was a stunning setback for state Republicans who had made a new voting law one of their top priorities. The effort is not entirely dead, however. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, indicated that he would call a special session of the Legislature, which could start as early as June 1, or Tuesday, to restart the process.... He was widely expected to sign whatever measure Republicans passed." The Texas Tribune story is here.

Way Beyond

Strange Bedfellows May Oust Bibi. Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "A diverse coalition of Israeli opposition parties said Sunday that they have the votes to form a unity government to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader and its dominant political figure for more than a decade. Under their agreement, reached after weeks of negotiations spearheaded by centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, former Netanyahu defense minister and ally Naftali Bennett will lead a power-sharing government. Bennett, 49, would serve as Israel's next prime minister, according to terms of the deal reported by Israeli media, to be succeeded in that role by Lapid, 57, at a later date." ~~~

~~~ Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "The longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history, Benjamin Netanyahu, faced the most potent threat yet to his grip on power Sunday after an ultranationalist power-broker, Naftali Bennett, said his party would work with opposition leaders to build an alternative government to force Mr. Netanyahu from office. If the maneuvering leads to a formal coalition agreement, it would be an uneasy alliance between eight relatively small parties with a diffuse range of ideologies. The prime minister's post would rotate between two unlikely partners: Mr. Bennett, a former settler leader who rejects the concept of a sovereign Palestinian state and champions the religious right -- and Yair Lapid, a former television host who is considered a voice of secular centrists." The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Don't know if the Post is right or if the Times & AP stories are more accurate. All three are up at the same time Sunday evening ET.

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Saturday

May292021

The Commentariat -- May 30, 2021

Late Morning Update:

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

Wingers Accuse Regulators of Being Health Nazis

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Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "... Mitch McConnell, was adamant: he would oppose the bill [to create a January 6 commission], regardless of any amendments -- and he expected his colleagues to follow suit. The commission that would have likely found Donald Trump and some Republicans responsible for the insurrection posed an existential threat to the GOP ahead of the midterms, he said.... McConnell's sharp warning ... underscored the alarm that gripped McConnell and Senate Republican leadership in the fraught political moments leading up to the vote, and how they exploited fears within the GOP of crossing a mercurial former president to galvanize opposition to the commission. The story of how Republicans undermined an inquiry into one of the darkest days for American democracy ... is informed by eight House and Senate aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity." ~~~

~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "The latest front in the culture wars over how U.S. students should learn history and civics is the concept of critical race theory, an intellectual tool set for examining systemic racism. With roots in academia, the framework has become a flash point as Republican officials across the country seek to prevent it from being taught in schools.... At least five Republican-led state legislatures have passed bans on critical race theory or related topics in recent months, and conservatives in roughly nine other states are pressing for similar measures.... Critical race theory ... holds that racial inequality is woven into legal systems and negatively affects people of color in ... [many aspects] of life.... Conservative activists and politicians now use the term as a catchall phrase for nearly any examination of systemic racism in the present.... In September..., Donald Trump directed federal agencies to cease any trainings related to critical race theory, White privilege or other forms of what he called 'propaganda.' A federal judge later blocked the directive on First Amendment grounds, and President Biden rescinded the ban after he took office.... The American Civil Liberties Union characterized the bans as an attempt to silence teachers and students and impose a version of American history 'that erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people.'" ~~~

~~~ Marie: Republicans are afraid of any attempts to get to essential truths, because those projects will expose their rotten, racist core. Whether it's the plot to overturn the election results, the ensuing voter suppression movement -- or addresing the systemic racism that underlies these efforts -- the GOP is going all-out to squelch it.

You, Too, Can Be a Cybercriminal! Andrew Kramer, et al., of the New York Times: The cybergang "DarkSide's attack on ... Colonial Pipeline ... cast a spotlight on a rapidly expanding criminal industry based primarily in Russia that has morphed from a specialty demanding highly sophisticated hacking skills into a conveyor-belt-like process. Now, even small-time criminal syndicates and hackers with mediocre computer capabilities can pose a potential national security threat. Where once criminals had to play psychological games to trick people into handing over bank passwords and have the technical know-how to siphon money out of secure personal accounts, now virtually anyone can obtain ransomware off the shelf and load it into a compromised computer system using tricks picked up from YouTube tutorials or with the help of groups like DarkSide.... A glimpse into DarkSide's secret communications ... reveals a criminal operation on the rise, pulling in millions of dollars in ransom payments each month. DarkSide offers what is known as 'ransomware as a service,' in which a malware developer charges a user fee to so-called affiliates.... DarkSide's services include providing technical support for hackers, negotiating with targets like the publishing company, processing payments, and devising tailored pressure campaigns through blackmail and other means...."

"A Run on Guns." Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "... the country's appetite for firearms has only been increasing, with more being bought by more Americans than ever before. While gun sales have been climbing for decades -- they often spike in election years and after high-profile crimes -- Americans have been on an unusual, prolonged buying spree fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, the protests last summer and the fears they both stoked.... 'There was a surge in purchasing unlike anything we've ever seen,' said Dr. Garen J. Wintemute, a gun researcher at the University of California, Davis.... Not only were people who already had guns buying more, but people who had never owned one were buying them too." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Although I wouldn't do it myself, it seems rational to me for some people to own handguns for personal protection and non-repeating rifles, or two, for hunting. But everything else is nuts or criminal. I do think part of it is people's -- and especially men's -- inability to spend their leisure time productively. By "productively," I don't mean just making things or helping others (tho those are good things), but learning, exercising or honing skills. Buying guns or watching contact sports are signs of incurious minds. As our brilliant former veep Dan Quayle once said, "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."

Sam Roberts of the New York Times: Faye Schulman, a Polish Jewish resistance fighter who photographed the Holocaust, "died on April 24 in Toronto, her daughter, Dr. Susan Schulman, said. Mrs. Schulman was believed to be 101.... On Aug. 14, 1942, a year after German troops invaded Soviet-occupied Poland, they massacred the last 1,850 Jews from a shtetl named Lenin near the Sluch River. Only 27 were spared, their skills deemed essential by the invaders. The survivors included shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, blacksmiths, a barber and a young novice photographer named Faigel Lazebnik, who later in marriage would become known as Faye Schulman. The Germans enlisted her to take commemorative photographs of them and, in some cases, their newly acquired mistresses.... At one point the Germans witlessly gave her film to develop that contained pictures they had taken of the three trenches into which they, their Lithuanian collaborators and the local Polish police had machine-gunned Lenin's remaining Jews, including her parents, sisters and younger brother. She kept a copy of the photos as evidence of the atrocity, then later joined a band of Russian guerrilla Resistance fighters."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Saturday, Business Insider reported that Arizona has purchased the materials needed to manufacture hydrogen cyanide gas -- the same chemical the Nazis used to murder Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz and other death camps -- just as they are refurbishing a gas chamber used in death row executions.... Asphyxiation by hydrogen cyanide gas is an extremely painful way to die, causing violent seizures and cardiac arrest as the body's cells are blocked from respirating."

Florida. Hannah Sampson of the Washington Post: "Cruise lines see vaccine requirements as their quickest path back to sailing from the United States. But Florida, home to the largest operators and busiest cruise ports in the world, has passed a law saying those companies are not allowed to ask passengers for proof of vaccination status.... Cruising has been banned [by the CDC] from U.S. ports since March of 2020. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) sued the CDC last month over the ban and has continued to challenge the agency's authority. After Celebrity Cruises announced this week that it had approval to sail in late June with vaccinated passengers, a representative for the governor warned of potentially 'millions of dollars in fines' for violating [Florida's] law.... Legal experts are betting ... the cruise lines [will win the battle] -- and calling out Florida's governor for political posturing."

Texas. Voters Suppression, Super-sized. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Texas lawmakers on Saturday finished drafting a bill that would impose a raft of new voting restrictions, setting up the likely passage of what would be among the most far-reaching laws in Republicans' nationwide drive to overhaul elections systems and limit voting. The bill would ... specifically target balloting methods that were employed for the first time last year by Harris County, home to Houston.... In a statement on Saturday, President Biden called the proposed law, along with similar measures in Georgia and Florida, 'an assault on democracy' that disproportionately targeted 'Black and Brown Americans.' He called on lawmakers to address the issue by passing Democratic voting bills that are pending in Congress." The Texas Tribune story is here.

Way Beyond

Canada. Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: "The discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school in British Columbia prompted an outpouring of grief as efforts to identify the students began.... The discovery has also prompted renewed scrutiny of the Roman Catholic Church, which operated the Kamloops school from 1890 to 1969. Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were removed from their families between 1883 and 1996 and sent to residential schools where they often faced neglect and abuse. The schools strictly banned Indigenous languages and traditions, and Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined in 2015 that their use constituted 'cultural genocide.' It's unclear what led to the deaths of the 215 children, some as young as 3, whose bodies were found at the former Kamloops residential school....The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has estimated at more than 4,000 children [died in the schools]. Although the Canadian government has formally apologized and paid billions in compensation to the survivors of residential schools, the Catholic Church has yet to issue an apology of its own."

U.K. Love (or Something) in a Time of Covid. Nedeem Badshah of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has married Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral in a ceremony planned in strict secrecy, according to newspapers. The pair exchanged vows in front of a small group of close friends and family on Saturday, the Mail on Sunday and the Sun newspaper reported. The ceremony had been planned for six months and a handful of church officials were involved in the preparation, according to the Sun. The 30 guests invited, the maximum number under current lockdown restrictions, were said to have been informed only at the last minute."

News Lede

Another Saturday Night in the NRA-USA. AP: "Two people died and an estimated 20 to 25 people were injured in a shooting outside a banquet hall in South Florida, police said. The gunfire erupted early Sunday at the El Mula Banquet Hall in northwest Miami-Dade County, near Hialeah, police told news outlets. The banquet hall had been rented out for a concert. Three people got out of an SUV and opened fire into a crowd outside with assault rifles and handguns, police director Alfredo 'Freddy' Ramirez III said. Authorities believe the shooting was targeted. 'These are cold blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice,' Ramirez said in a tweet." Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead. MB: I grew up in Hialeah. I think the El Mula Hall is after my time, as I don't remember it.

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Friday

May282021

The Commentariat -- May 29, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Marie: The Senate vote yesterday on the January 6 commission fell six votes short of passage. Contributer Unwashed posted a list of eleven senators who were too busy to vote. They included Richard Burr, who is retiring, so he could have been an "aye" vote (tho he said he opposed the commission). Patty Murray, a Washington senator, would have been a definite "aye." Kyrsten Sinema, who says she's a Democrat, could have been an "aye" vote, too. Pat Toomey, who said he would have voted "aye" if he hadn't gone home to take care of personal business, would have been another "aye." So they still would have been at least two votes short if the possible/probable missing "aye" votes had showed up for work. (I don't think the Vice President can vote to bring cloture, although the Senate could change that rule.)

Racist Backlash. Bryan Anderson of the AP: "Teachers and professors in Idaho will be prevented from 'indoctrinating' students on race. Oklahoma teachers will be prohibited from saying certain people are inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. Tennessee schools will risk losing state aid if their lessons include particular concepts about race and racism. Governors and legislatures in Republican-controlled states across the country are moving to define what race-related ideas can be taught in public schools and colleges, a reaction to the nation's racial reckoning after last year's police killing of George Floyd. The measures have been signed into law in at least three states and are being considered in many more. Educators and education groups are concerned that the proposals will have a chilling effect in the classroom and that students could be given a whitewashed version of the nation's history. Teachers are also worried about possible repercussions if a student or parent complains."

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Lesson 1, U.S. Senate Math Class: 35 > 54. Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The bipartisan push to launch an independent and nonpartisan investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol suffered a fatal blow Friday, after nearly all Senate Republicans banded together in opposition. The 54 to 35 outcome, which fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to circumvent a procedural filibuster, followed hours of overnight chaos as lawmakers haggled over unrelated legislation. The vote stood as a blunt rejection by Republicans of an emotional last-minute appeal from the family of a Capitol Police officer who died after responding to the insurrection, and an eleventh-hour bid by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to save the measure by introducing changes intended to address her party's principal objections.... Six [Republicans] -- Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Collins -- joined all voting Democrats to back the commission. All except Portman voted earlier this year to convict Trump on impeachment charges for inciting an insurrection." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ U.S. Senate Game Results: Tyranny 1; Democracy 0. A Shut-out. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Republicans on Friday blocked the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, using their filibuster power in the Senate for the first time this year to doom a full accounting of the deadliest attack on Congress in centuries. The vote was a stark display of political self-interest by Republicans determined to shield themselves from an inquiry that could have publicly tarnished their party. They feared an investigation that would remind voters of the consequences of Donald J. Trump's election lies and how Republican lawmakers indulged them, spurring their supporters to violence." ~~~

~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Nearly five months after a pro-Trump mob of rioters stormed the Capitol, Senate Republicans have delivered another blow to the country, blocking the creation of an independent commission to investigate the attacks. It was a partisan act and another reflection of democracy under stress. Led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), all but a handful of Republican senators joined to scuttle creation of a commission that would have been given the authority and resources to probe more fully what happened and why on that terrible day in January. Absent the use of a filibuster, there were enough votes to let the commission go forward."

Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: “Hours before Senate Republicans killed an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6th siege, federal prosecutors disclosed communications about how Oath Keepers allegedly plotted to storm Washington, D.C. with guns by boat by way of the Potomac River.... Those discussions became public in a filing seeking to maintain the strict pretrial release conditions of Oath Keepers member Thomas Caldwell, whom prosecutors allege organized a group of militia members on 'standby with guns in a hotel across the river.'... '1 if by land,' [Oath Keepers' Florida leader Kelly] Meggs allegedly wrote in an encrypted message on the group's Signal channel, quoting [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow's 1861 poem 'Paul Revere's Ride.' 'North side of Lincoln Memorial,' Meggs's message continued, according to the government. '2 if by sea[,] Corner of west basin and Ohio is a water transport landing !!' [Caldwell responded in a lengthy message, '[We could] more or less be hanging around sipping coffee and maybe scooting on the river a bit and pretending to fish, then if it all went to shit, our guy loads our weps AND Blue Ridge Militia weps and ferries them across.'" ~~~

~~~ Marie: The idea was that the river route would keep authorities from finding their guns, as could happen if they drove into D.C. So yeah, Republicans, these were just tourists enjoying a leisurely fishing excursion on the Potomac before they hiked up to the Capitol to admire Brumidi's "Apotheosis of Washington" in the dome & check out the chambers. No need for a commission to document that!

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Despite President Biden's pledge to aggressively cut the pollution from fossil fuels that is driving climate change, his administration has quietly taken actions this month that will guarantee the drilling and burning of oil and gas for decades to come. The clash between Mr. Biden's pledges and some of his recent decisions illustrates the political, technical and legal difficulties of disentangling the country from the oil, gas and coal that have underpinned its economy for more than a century. On Wednesday, the Biden administration defended in federal court the Willow project, a huge oil drilling operation proposed on Alaska's North Slope that was approved by the Trump administration and is being fought by environmentalists. Weeks earlier, it backed ... Donald J. Trump's decision to grant oil and gas leases on federal land in Wyoming. Also this month, it declined to act when it had an opportunity to stop crude oil from continuing to flow through the bitterly contested, 2,700-mile Dakota Access pipeline, which lacks a federal permit." (Also linked yesterday.)

News You Can Use: Restock Your Supply of "Forever" Stamps. Now. Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Postal Service is raising rates on letters, magazines and marketing missives by as much as 6.9 percent this summer, sending the cost of a first-class stamp from 55 to 58 cents, as it leans into an expansive restructuring plan that codifies slower mail delivery and streamlines agency operations. The rate structure announced Friday is the latest installment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's plan to erase a projected $160 billon in liabilities over the next decade. The agency has struggled for the better part of a year with inconsistent delivery service and soaring package volumes that have gridlocked its processing network. The Postal Service's on-time delivery scores have not topped 90 percent since July 2020." ~~~

~~~ Caroline Kelly of CNN: "The US Postal Service on Friday proposed raising the cost of mailing a letter to 58 cents, an increase that's within the range of recent years and comes as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pursues sweeping changes with an eye on the agency's finances.... The price increase, which would take effect on August 29 if approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, comes in response to lagging mail volume, according to an agency news release."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Lawyers for the Justice Department urged a federal judge on Friday to dismiss lawsuits against ... Donald Trump, former attorney general William P. Barr and other officials for last June's violent clearing of demonstrators from Lafayette Square by U.S. military and police. Trump and other U.S. officials are immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, government lawyers said of the actions taken ahead of a photo op of Trump holding a Bible in front of the historic St. John's Church. A crowd of more than 1,000 largely peaceful demonstrators were protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis before the park was cleared.... Military, federal and local police forcibly cleared the square using batons, clubs, horses, pepper spray, smoke and fired projectiles 30 minutes before a citywide curfew began.... Justice Department lawyers argued that the lawsuits should also be tossed because last November's presidential election made future violations unlikely." ~~~

~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Trump has repeatedly said he is considering running for president again in 2024."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal judge overseeing an investigation of Rudolph W. Giuliani will appoint an independent attorney to sort through 18 electronic devices seized by federal authorities and shield any content that, because Giuliani is an attorney, may be off limits to investigators examining his foreign contacts while representing ... Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken on Friday adopted a proposal from prosecutors to appoint what's called a 'special master' to review the materials and filter out items that could be considered privileged, a process expected to take months. Attorney-client privilege applies to communications between a lawyer and a client, and such messages are protected as long as they do not advance criminal activity." MB: The special master's job should be easy; everything Rudy & Donald do "advances criminal activity."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: At a rally Thursday night in Dalton, Georgia, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) "got some of his biggest cheers from the crowd when he took aim at social media giants. He told the audience they shouldn't succumb to 'the Internet's hall monitors out in Silicon Valley' for trying to 'suppress us, discourage us.'... Seconds later, Gaetz ... abruptly shifted into a defense of the Second Amendment -- what some interpreted as a suggestion of what conservatives should do in response to Silicon Valley. 'We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it!... The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary.... I hope it never does...' he said. Video posted to Twitter went viral and resulted in lawmakers slamming Gaetz's language for inciting violence.... 'We have a right to bear arms in this country, and we better use it!' Gaetz said earlier this month to a similarly raucous ovation." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Matt made these incendiary remarks during his tour with Marjorie Taylor Greene. The tour may not be going as well as its stars had hoped. I was unsure of the location of Gaetz's speech Thursday, so I looked up the venue: Dalton Convention Center, which according to the Googles, has a seating capacity of 2,100. Bella writes that Gaetz spoke "to a crowd of more than 100 Thursday night...." Matt & Margie might as well have booked a church basement or a community center.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "Onscreen and off, in ways subtle and overt, Fox News has adapted to the post-Trump era by moving in a single direction: Trumpward. The network has rewarded pro-Trump pundits like Greg Gutfeld and Dan Bongino with prize time slots. Some opinion hosts who ventured on-air criticism of the former president have been replaced.... The shifts at Fox News, which is controlled by the father-and-son moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, have come in the wake of what amounted to an existential moment for a cable channel that is home to Trump cheerleaders like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham: the 2020 election.... In January, the network fired its veteran politics editor, Chris Stirewalt, who had been an onscreen face of the early call in Arizona for [Joe] Biden. This month, it brought on a new editor in the Washington bureau: Kerri Kupec, a former spokeswoman for ... William P. Barr. She had no journalistic experience." MB: But, but Paul Ryan!

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Amy Walker of the New York Times: "In the two and a half weeks since [12-15-year-olds] ha[ve] become eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, about 2.5 million have gotten their first shot, making up about a quarter of all new vaccinations. But public health experts also say that they expect the burst of vaccinations among adolescents to be short-lived, just as adults' eagerness to get vaccinated rose and fell. MB: We should be grateful to these children, but it seems likely to me that their parents deserve much of the credit. These kids are too young to drive, so in most cases, some adult has to get them to the vaccination location. I imagine laws vary by state, but I assume (and I could be wrong) that many young people are required to produce parental permissions.

Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "President Biden joined Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam at an indoor rock-climbing facility in Alexandria on Friday to tout progress against the coronavirus pandemic in the state and nationwide. Northam announced two weeks ago that, due to rising vaccination numbers and falling case counts, he would do away with all limits on business capacity and social distancing on Friday -- more than two weeks ahead of the June 15 date he had previously announced.... [Northam] said 66 percent of Virginia adults have had at least one dose and 54 percent are fully vaccinated, placing Virginia 14th among all states and first in the South." Video of Northam's & Biden's remarks are here.

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

** Dan Keating & Leslie Shapiro of the Washington Post: "The country's declining covid-19 case rates present an unrealistically optimistic perspective for half of the nation -- the half that is still not vaccinated. As more people receive vaccines, covid-19 cases are occurring mostly in the increasingly narrow slice of the unprotected population. So The Washington Post adjusted its case, death and hospitalization rates to account for that -- and found that in some places, the virus continues to rage among those who haven't received a shot.... Adjustments for vaccinations show the rate among susceptible, unvaccinated people is 69 percent higher than the standard figures being publicized. With that adjustment, the national death rate is roughly the same as it was two months ago and is barely inching down. The adjusted hospitalization rate is as high as it was three months ago. The case rate is still declining after the adjustment. Unvaccinated people are getting the wrong message, experts said. 'They think it's safe to take off the mask. It's not,' said Lynn Goldman ... [of] George Washington University. 'It looks like fewer numbers, looks like it's getting better, but it's not necessarily better for those who aren't vaccinated.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: The story is subscriber-firewalled, and it shouldn't be. Not that I think lazy people & anti-vaxxers will actually read the Washington Post, but now you can't even send a link to the story to your cousin the slacker with a toljaso note. So the nuts & ne'er-do-wells are still making each other sick, encouraging mutations to more virulent strains of the virus, running exhausted healthcare personnel ragged, driving up costs of health insurance (including Medicare & Medicaid, which we all pay for), and I don't know what-all else.

Karin Bruilliard & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "The federal government relaxed its guidance Friday for summer camps, saying that vaccinated adolescents do not need to wear masks at camp and that even younger campers who have not been inoculated can generally shed face coverings when outdoors. The updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remove some glaring inconsistencies between earlier camp recommendations that all staffers and campers wear masks and more recent general announcements that face coverings are rarely needed outdoors and that vaccinated people can often forgo masks entirely. Still, even the updated guidance comes with a complex set of considerations that may prompt camps to change policies just days before they open." The story is free to nonsubscribers.

Idaho. Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "Idaho's Republican governor, Brad Little, rescinded an executive order Friday canceling mask mandates that his second-in-command issued this week while he was away at a conference, calling it an 'abuse of power.' 'I do not like petty politics. I do not like political stunts over the rule of law,' Little said in a statement. 'However, the significant consequences of the Lt. Governor's flimsy executive order require me to clean up a mess.' It was the latest clash in a pandemic-long feud between Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, also a Republican, over public-health measures designed to protect Idahoans from the coronavirus." A CNN story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "The board of trustees at the University of North Carolina is under intensifying pressure to grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Magazine journalist who is scheduled to start as a professor at its journalism school in July. Ms. Hannah-Jones, who helped create The Times's 1619 Project, a series that has drawn criticism from conservatives because of its re-examination of slavery in American history, said she was considering legal action after the university's board did not formally consider the matter of her tenure. In a statement on Thursday, Ms. Hannah-Jones, who earned a master's degree from the university's journalism school in 2003, said she had retained legal counsel to respond to the board's 'failure to consider and approve my application for tenure -- despite the recommendation of the faculty, dean, provost and chancellor.'&" The Hill has a story here.

News Lede

CNN: 'More than 22,000 rounds of ammunition, a dozen firearms, suspected Molotov cocktails and multiple cans of gasoline were found in the home of Sam Cassidy, the gunman who took nine lives at his workplace on Wednesday, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. The motive for Cassidy's rampage has not been determined, but authorities have said he appeared to have long been a disgruntled employee at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail yard in San Jose where he shot and killed nine people Wednesday morning while reportedly letting others escape."

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