;)
The Conversation -- October 26, 2023
Lydia DePillis of the New York Times: "The United States economy surged in the third quarter as a strong job market and falling inflation gave consumers the confidence to spend freely on goods and services. Gross domestic product, the primary measure of economic output, grew at a 4.9 percent annualized rate from July through September, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The pace exceeded forecasts and was the strongest showing since late 2021, defying predictions of a slowdown prompted by the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases. The acceleration was made possible in part by slowing inflation, which lifted purchasing power even as wage growth weakened, and a job market that has shown renewed vigor over the past three months. Although the growth rate is an initial estimate that may be revised..., it's a far cry from the recession that many had forecast at this time last year, before economists realized that Americans had piled up enough savings to power spending as the Fed moved to make borrowing more expensive."
Presidential Election 2024. Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "A Colorado judge on Wednesday denied the latest attempt by ... Donald Trump to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to remove him from the state's 2024 ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The decision comes just days before a trial on Trump's eligibility for the ballot is expected to begin."
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Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election on Wednesday to become the 56th speaker of the House of Representatives, as Republicans worn down by three weeks of infighting and dysfunction turned to a little-known conservative hard-liner beloved by the far right to end their paralysis. The elevation of Mr. Johnson, 51, an architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election and a religious conservative opposed to abortion rights, homosexuality and gay marriage, further cemented the Republican Party's lurch to the right. It came after a historic fight that began when the hard right ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3, and raged on as the divided House G.O.P. nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed him. Exhausted from the feuding, which unleashed a barrage of recriminations and violent threats against lawmakers, both the right wing and mainstream Republicans finally united to elect Mr. Johnson, 51, in a 220-to-209 vote." Politico's story is here.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "In the end, Republican hard-liners got their man. He wasn't the person whom the most extreme element of House Republicans really wanted -- that was Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the godfather of the far right in the House who ultimately was too toxic to ascend to the top post and fell short. But the new Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a man unknown to most Americans, is a second choice the far right can enthusiastically embrace. He shares the deeply conservative ideology of his mentor Mr. Jordan but lacks the confrontational profile or hard-edge style of the Ohioan. In fact, he has little profile at all. Mr. Johnson, a second-tier member of the House leadership first elected in 2016, is the most obscure lawmaker to rise to the helm of the House since J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois was plucked from near the backbenches in 1998 to become speaker after Representative Tom DeLay, that period's version of Mr. Jordan, realized he could not succeed Newt Gingrich.... Mr. Hastert ... was disgraced in a sexual abuse scandal...."
Brendan Buck in Politico Magazine: "I've seen firsthand how difficult it is to be thrust into the speakership, serving as an aide at [Paul] Ryan's side after he took over from my former boss John Boehner.... Mike Johnson "faces a terrifyingly steep learning curve and almost no margin for error.... Nothing can fully prepare you for the speakership.... In the short term..., a neophyte speaker will naturally create a leadership void.... While Johnson goes through some on-the-job training, [Steve] Scalise may be the person best positioned to shape and drive legislative outcomes. If he's willing to wield power, Scalise could have enormous influence on the ultimate success of the Johnson speakership." Buck outlines just some of the duties of the speaker, most of which probably never occurred to Johnson.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: Mike "Johnson's anonymity was his greatest asset.... During Wednesday's roll-call vote on the House floor, Kay Granger (R-Tex.) ... rose and mistakenly voted for 'Mike Rogers' -- the chairman of the Armed Services committee -- before correcting herself to Mike Johnson. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), in a statement.... called him Jim Johnson. [Sen.] Susan Collins of Maine ... told CNN's Lauren Fox Wednesday morning that she'd have to Google him.... In just his seventh year in Congress, [Johnson] hadn't been around long enough, or had enough power, to make enemies. He is the least-experienced speaker in a century and a half.... Three weeks before the next deadline to avoid a government shutdown, Republicans have elected a no-name speaker with no experience and no agreement on a way forward.... In a huge scrum of reporters after [Tom] Emmer quit [the speaker's race], journalist Ben Jacobs asked Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) whether the speakership chaos had become absurd. Replied Womack: 'It was absurd last week.'" Read on.
The New York Times liveblogged developments yesterday in the House speaker's race. Here are a few of the entries I copied in yesterday's Conversation. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
[Marie: Looks like once again the so-called :moderate Republicans: caved to the crazies. It's Matt Gaetz' party now.]
Luke Broadwater: "Johnson started yesterday with only 34 supporters, just 15% of the conference. Now he's headed toward being the unanimous choice of House Republicans."
Robert Jimison: "'As one who knows and respects the role of speaker, Hakeem Jeffries,' former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says of voting for the Democrat."
[Marie: Mike Johnson won every GOP vote: 220; Jeffries won every Democratic vote: 207.]
Catie Edmondson: "After three weeks, Patrick McHenry, the interim speaker, says Johnson is the 'duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.'"
[This Was All God's Idea.] Annie Karni: "Johnson's speech is light on policy and heavy on personal history. He has talked about his own history -- first in his family to graduate from college, lost his father to cancer three days before he was first elected to Congress -- but said little about what he plans to do in the new job. It's also heavy on God: he is an Evangelical Christian, and he says that he doesn't think anything is a coincidence and hints that God has put him where he is today."
Kayla Guo: "Democrat Jamie Raskin ... is brutal in his evaluation of Johnson and Republicans more broadly, saying the new speaker has 'much better manners' than G.O.P. firebrands but 'is a MAGA extremist in substance.' The dominating religious tenor of Johnson's remarks, Raskin added, 'demonstrates that there are no public policy values that unify the Republican caucus anymore. They don't have a secular program. And so they have fallen back on theocracy as the final binding mechanism of their cause.'"
Edmondson: "'I look forward to meeting with Speaker Johnson soon to discuss the path forward to avoid a government shutdown,' [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer said in a statement. 'When I meet with him, I will convey that bipartisanship is the only way we can deliver results for the American people. The only way to avoid a government shutdown, pass critical supplemental funding, and deliver common-sense investments to the American people is bipartisanship.'"
Erica Green: "President Biden, when asked about Johnson's history of rejecting the 2020 election results, said he was not worried about Johnson attempting to overturn the results of the next presidential election. 'Just like I was not worried the last campaign would overturn the election,' Biden said. 'They got 60 lawsuits, and all the way to Supreme Court and every time they lost. I understand the Constitution.'"
~~~ CNN's liveblog of yesterday's House proceedings is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Get to Know Your New Speaker
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "In Congress, [Mike] Johnson has voted for a national abortion ban and co-sponsored a 20-week abortion ban, earning him an A-plus rating from the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. After the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June last year, he celebrated.... Last year, Mr. Johnson introduced a bill that prohibited the use of federal funds for providing education to children under 10 that included L.G.B.T.Q. topics -- a proposal that critics called a national version of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law. Mr. Johnson called the legislation 'common sense.' He also opposed legislation to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages -- a bill that passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate."
Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "... Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by ... Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden's electoral victory in the 2020 election. Johnson, who currently serves as the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states won by Biden: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.... The [New York] Times reported last year that many Republicans who voted to discount pro-Biden electors cited an argument crafted by Johnson, which was to ignore the false claims about mass fraud in the election and instead hang the objection on the claim that certain states' voting changes during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional." ** Update: A New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ah, But Here Again This Was God's Plan. Kyle Cheney & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "One day before a mob bludgeoned its way into the Capitol, Rep. Mike Johnson huddled with colleagues in a closed-door meeting about Congress' task on Jan. 6, 2021. A relatively junior House Republican at the time, Johnson was nevertheless the leading voice in support of a fateful position: that the GOP should rally around Donald Trump and object to counting electoral votes submitted by at least a handful of states won by Joe Biden. 'This is a very weighty decision. All of us have prayed for God's discernment. I know I've prayed for each of you individually,' Johnson said at the meeting.... Throughout [the months before the insurrection], Johnson was routinely in touch with Trump, even more so than many of his more recognizable colleagues.... Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a former member of the select panel investigating the Capitol attack, quipped that Johnson was an 'insurrectionist esquire.' 'His arguments are obviously more sophisticated than those of Donald Trump, but it's the same essential authoritarianism''..."
Will Steakin of ABC News: "... prior to joining Congress in 2017, [Mike Johnson] spent years building his career and profile by denouncing gay people and fighting against gay rights, which he staunchly opposes, citing his Christian faith and views on liberty. An ABC News examination of public records, news reports and documents shows the extent to which Johnson dedicated earlier phases of his career to limiting gay rights, including same-sex marriage and health care access, and through anti-gay activism on college campuses." ~~~
~~~ Andrew Kaczynski & Allison Gordon of CNN: "Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s. In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport, Louisiana, paper, The Times, Johnson called homosexuality a 'inherently unnatural' and 'dangerous lifestyle' that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy 'the entire democratic system.' And, in another editorial, he wrote, 'Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,' he wrote. 'This is a free country, but we don't give special protections for every person's bizarre choices.' At the time, Johnson was an attorney and spokesman for Alliance Defense Fund, known today as Alliance Defending Freedom, where he also authored his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas -- which overturned state laws that criminalized homosexual activity between consenting adults." (Also linked yesterday.)
Rachel Frazen & Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ... has close ties to the oil industry and has cast doubt on human-caused climate change.... Johnson, whose district includes the onetime oil-industry hub of Shreveport, scored a 100% rating from the American Energy Alliance in 2022, along with every other Republican in Louisiana's House delegation. In 2017, speaking at a town hall, Johnson ... [said,] 'The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth's history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don't believe in the latter. I don't think that's the primary driver.'" Emphasis original. More on the subject, by Budryk, here.
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "If you are feeling any sense of relief that Jim Jordan won't be the next House speaker, stop and worry again. The new speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), might be more dangerous than the firebrand Ohio Republican. For Jordan's shirt sleeves demeanor and wrestler's pugnacity, substitute a bespectacled, low-key presentation, a law degree and an unswerving commitment to conservative dogma and ... Donald Trump.... This is ... Jordan in a more palatable package -- evidently smoother, seemingly smarter and, therefore, potentially more effective."
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "It was clear from the start that House Republicans would struggle to govern this year given their deep ideological divisions, narrow majority and myriad personal feuds and grudges. But even the most pessimistic of predictions could not have captured the remarkable, drawn-out Republican self-own now raging on Capitol Hill. In merrily decapitating their third speaker candidate on Tuesday in a move worthy of the French Revolution, House Republicans took a situation that did not seem like it could get any worse to a breathtaking new low. They piled chaos upon chaos as members threw up their hands in frustration and anger over their inability to coalesce." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Reign of Terror. Marie: The other day contributor Patrick wrote that the general meaning of politically "conservative" "fluxed around the idea of protecting the political status quo as the the result of long, slow change rather than rapid revolutionary change." Patrick suggested a more apt description of today's far-right Republicans might be "Jacobins." And what do you know? -- the very next day, Carl Hulse compared the House hoohah to the French Revolution.
How Not to Behave When You're Out on Bail
Alan Feuer & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "... this week, after a federal judge temporarily froze the gag order she imposed on him..., Donald J. Trump has acted like a mischievous latchkey kid, making the most of his unsupervised stint. At least three times in the past three days, he has attacked Jack Smith, the special counsel leading his federal prosecutions, as 'deranged.' Twice, he has weighed in about testimony attributed to his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who could be a witness in the federal case accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Each of Mr. Trump's comments appeared to violate the gag order put in place less than two weeks ago to limit his ability to intimidate witnesses in the case, assail prosecutors or otherwise disrupt the proceeding. And after the former president was fined $10,000 on Wednesday for flouting a similar directive imposed on him by the judge presiding over a civil trial he is facing in New York, federal prosecutors asked that he face consequences for his remarks about the election interference case as well.... Prosecutors said on Wednesday that the order should be kept in place as the appeals court considers Mr. Trump's request." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Latchkey kid? Trump reminds me more of a terrible-twos toddler who continually tests his parents' admonishments. The imp knows what he's doing, thinks he can outsmart the parents, & puts his finger in the light socket. ~~~
... without the Court's intervention, the defendant will continue to threaten the integrity of these proceedings and put trial participants at risk. -- Prosecutors' Opposition to Motion to Stay, filed Wednesday ~~~
~~~ Lock Him Up. Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Jack Smith argued in new court filings Wednesday that recent comments by Donald Trump show not only that a federal gag order should be reimposed, but that the court should weigh stricter sanctions, including sending him to jail, if he keeps talking about witnesses in his case." Politico's report is here.
Judge Finds Trump Defamed Clerk & Lied Under Oath, Fines Trump $10K. Jonah Bromwich & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "A Manhattan judge briefly ordered Donald J. Trump to the witness stand on Wednesday after accusing him of breaking a gag order with critical comments that seemed aimed at a law clerk, and then fined him $10,000. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, who is presiding over Mr. Trump's civil fraud trial, issued the punishment after finding that Mr. Trump earlier in the day had violated an order that prevents him from discussing court staff. Mr. Trump said that his comments had referred not to the clerk, whom he had previously attacked, but to his former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, a witness. From the stand, Mr. Trump ... said that while he had not been speaking about the clerk, Allison Greenfield, he thought she was 'maybe unfair, and I think she's very biased against me.' Mr. Trump left the stand after about three minutes. Justice Engoron said that he had not found the former president credible and levied the fine.
"While Mr. Trump has been voluble in his own defense outside the courtroom, he had not testified in open court in more than a decade, and as soon as he did, the judge found against him.... During a break in the proceedings on Wednesday, Mr. Trump had called Justice Engoron partisan -- which is allowable under the order. But he continued, saying, 'with a person who's very partisan sitting alongside him. Perhaps even much more partisan than he is.'" This is an update of a story linked earlier. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: IOW, Trump can't speak under oath for three minutes without lying.
Electionstollen. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "In a rage-filled stream of consciousness on his Truth Social network on Tuesday night, [Donald] Trump lashed out at the ABC report about [his chief of sfaff Mark] Meadows. 'I don't think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!),' the former president wrote. 'Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don't think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Trump responded by issuing a broadside not just against a potentially cooperating [Mark] Meadows, but seemingly -- by extension -- allies who have cut deals in recent days in his other election interference case, in Fulton County, Ga.... Trump's comments would seem to transparently violate the limited gag order that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued in Trump's federal case but later suspended while Trump's legal team appeals the decision.... Trump signed a form in August acknowledging that it would be a crime to 'intimidate or attempt to intimidate a witness, victim, juror, informant, or officer of the court.'... Trump in his Tuesday post also called [prosecutor Jack] Smith 'deranged' yet again, despite Chutkan's having explicitly cited that attack as being beyond the pale." (Also linked yesterday.)
Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Fulton County prosecutors have discussed potential plea deals with at least six additional co-defendants charged alongside Donald Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 presidential election, multiple sources tell CNN.... A source with knowledge of the Fulton County DA's strategy tells CNN that it would be open to discussing plea deals with anyone, but there is little room for compromise when it comes to the charges against Trump."
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Despite pleading guilty to interfering with the 2020 presidential election result, Sidney Powell continues to promote conspiracy theories about Donald Trump's election loss.... The right-wing attorney pushed baseless claims of election fraud and accused Georgia prosecutors of politicizing their office, and a newsletter published by her dark-money group shared articles claiming that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis secured Powell's guilty plea through extortion, reported Insider.... Since her plea, Powell has also used her Truth Social and Telegram accounts to promote the Substack newsletter published by her dark-money group, Defending the Republic, urging followers to 'hold fast' and share articles and YouTube videos claiming her guilty plea was 'extorted.'" See also Akhilleus's commentary at the top of yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)
David Atkins of the Washington Monthly: "... the Republican base is beset with conspiratorial fantasies. One in four Republicans believes in QAnon, a grab bag of paranoid theories claptrap that includes the notion that Trump is still president prosecuting a secret war against cannibal child predators and John F. Kennedy, Jr. did not die in a 1999 plane crash and is alive and well and working in tandem with the 45th president. Seven in ten Republicans believe in the racist Great Replacement theory, which posits that white Americans are being intentionally 'replaced' with non-white immigrants for various nefarious reasons. Crucially for understanding the speaker fiasco, seven out of 10 Republicans also believe the Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 election. It doesn't help that the GOP has lost control of its own communications apparatus, which was replaced long ago with a right-wing media complex that promotes lies and thrives on its audience's rage whether Republicans win elections or not, much less whether the country functions." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: In view of the crises at home and abroad, President Biden kept the state dinner honoring Australian PM Anthony Albanese low-key. "Before the dinner was over, Mr. Biden had stepped out for a briefing from his advisers on the latest mass shooting, this time in Maine, according to a senior administration official. He also called several Maine lawmakers ... to offer federal support. The president left the dinner shortly after 10 p.m.... Mr. Albanese will take back to Australia a presidential promise that his country will receive nuclear-capable submarines, plus an antique writing desk and a vintage turntable. In return, the president will get support from the Australians, who have agreed to send over military personnel and aircraft to the Middle East, along with ramping up the shipment of missiles to Ukraine."
Kayla Guo of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in the District of Columbia on Wednesday charged Representative Jamaal Bowman, Democrat of New York, with setting off a false fire alarm in a House office building last month in an episode that added to a day of mayhem on Capitol Hill as Congress rushed to avoid a government shutdown. Mr. Bowman will plead guilty to the single false fire alarm charge, and has agreed to pay the maximum fine of $1,000, according to ... a spokesman for the D.C. attorney general's office. Any charges will be dropped in three months if Mr. Bowman provides a formal apology to the Capitol Police and pays the fine, as is standard with such charges. Mr. Bowman is expected to be booked, fingerprinted, photographed and processed by the U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday. The charges come about three weeks after Mr. Bowman was caught on video setting off the alarm during a vote on the House floor.... Mr. Bowman was accused of intentionally pulling the alarm to cause a delay [in House proceedings], but he claimed it was accidental."
** Jo Becker of the New York Times: "With no money down, Justice Clarence Thomas could borrow more than a quarter of a million dollars from a wealthy friend to buy a 40-foot luxury motor coach, making annual interest-only payments for five years. Only then would the principal come due. But despite the favorable nature of the 1999 loan and a lengthy extension to make good on his obligations, Justice Thomas failed to repay a 'significant portion' -- or perhaps any -- of the $267,230 principal, according to a new report by Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. Nearly nine years later, after Justice Thomas had made an unclear number of the interest payments, the outstanding debt was forgiven....
"The Senate inquiry was prompted by a Times investigation published in August that revealed that Justice Thomas bought his Prevost Marathon Le Mirage XL, a brand favored by touring rock bands and the super-wealthy, with financing from Anthony Welters, a longtime friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.... At the very least, Justice Thomas appears to have flouted an ethics rule requiring that he include any 'discharge of indebtedness' as income on required annual financial disclosure reports. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service treats debt forgiveness as income to the borrower." (Also linked yesterday.) The CBS News report is here.
~~~ Here's Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden's (D) press release on the committee's findings.
Jeanne Whalen & Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: "The United Auto Workers and Ford said they reached a tentative contract agreement that will end the union's strike against the automaker if ratified by workers, in a crucial step toward resolving a nationwide work stoppage that continues against two other Detroit automakers.... The preliminary deal increases pressure on General Motors and Stellantis to reach agreements with similar terms."
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North Carolina. Advanced Gerrymandering 402. Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: "In a move that could solidify GOP power in the state for years to come, North Carolina Republicans passed new congressional and state legislative maps Wednesday that could flip three or four U.S. House seats while easing a path for the party to hold onto veto-proof majorities over state legislation.... 'North Carolina is now one the most egregiously gerrymandered states in the country,' said Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general and current head of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Proponents say they are allowed to draw maps that favor political parties because of recent court precedent, and that Republicans have the power to do so because they won more seats in both chambers.... The newly-enacted districts come almost a year after the state Supreme Court flipped from Democratic to Republican control in the 2022 elections, and GOP justices ruled in April that redistricting for partisan gain was constitutional under state law. That decision reversed a ruling a year earlier from the state's highest court that threw out proposed boundaries because of what it saw as illegal partisan gerrymandering."
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Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here: "The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had briefly sent tanks into the northern Gaza Strip overnight as part of preparations for the next stage of fighting, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that a ground invasion of the enclave was likely.... In a televised speech on Wednesday evening, Mr. Netanyahu did not offer details on the scope of a possible invasion, but vowed that Israel would exact a price for the Oct. 7 incursion led by the Hamas armed group that resulted in the massacre of more than 1,400 people.... In the meantime, Israel has been relentlessly bombing Gaza from the air, carrying out more than 250 strikes over the past day, its military said....
"Fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip have grown so dire that the U.N. agency that has helped feed, school and shelter Palestinians there for decades said that it had begun to significantly reduce its operations. It said it had nearly exhausted its reserves of fuel, which it needs to run generators. Israel has blocked fuel from entering Gaza on the grounds that it could be used by Hamas for military objectives. A total of just 74 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies had entered Gaza as of Thursday morning, far short of the 100 a day or more that the United Nations says the territory needs...."
News Ledes
Maine. New York Times: "At least seven people were killed in a pair of shootings at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, according to the local sheriff. Law enforcement officials said early Thursday that the shooter remained at large and released information for a man they described as a 'person of interest.' Sheriff Eric Samson of Androscoggin County, which includes Lewiston, said the gunman first went to the bowling alley and fatally shot at least seven people, before moving on to a nearby bar. He said the number of fatalities was 'growing, unfortunately.' He did not immediately provide details on the number of casualties at the bar, and said he was 'unsure' of how many others may have been injured. Lewiston and nearby towns, including the campus of Bates College, remained on lockdown into the early morning hours of Thursday as the police search continued. Mike Sauschuck, who oversees public safety for the state of Maine, said at a news conference that police were searching for Robert R. Card, 40, of Bowdoin, Maine. On social media, law enforcement agencies said he 'should be considered armed and dangerous' and posted a photo of a man wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt and carrying a military-style semiautomatic rifle." This is a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ Update: Washington Post liveblog: "At least 16 people have been killed in shootings in Lewiston, Maine, a law enforcement official said, based on initial information gathered by first responders at three locations. Dozens more were injured, said the person.... The death toll, which could rise, is the largest from a mass shooting this year...." ~~~
~~~ Oh, lordy, it's 7:20 pm, and CNN is airing a liveshot of a house in Maine with the chyron, "Now: FBI at suspect's home: 'Come out with your hands up.'" MB: I've seen CNN coverage like this before, of a prison escapee who was known to be very close to a lake cottage I had in upstate New York. It did not end well.
~~~ Marie: This is why I do my shopping in nearby no-gun-laws New Hampshire at 6 am; that is, in the hours I hope are before the lunatics get out of bed.
Texas. New York Times: "Two jets collided at an airport in Houston on Tuesday when one took off without permission as another was landing, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The collision came as aviation officials have been concerned by the regularity of near misses across the country that have been caused by understaffed air traffic control facilities and failures to install warning systems. No injuries were reported."
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