March 7, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy could quickly shed a million jobs and fall into recession if lawmakers fail to raise the nation's borrowing limit before the federal government exhausts its ability to pay its bills on time, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics, Mark Zandi, warned a Senate panel on Tuesday. The damage could spiral to seven million jobs lost and a 2008-style financial crisis in the event of a prolonged breach of the debt limit, in which House Republicans refuse for months to join Democrats in voting to raise the cap, Mr. Zandi and his colleagues Cristian deRitis and Bernard Yaros wrote in an analysis prepared for the Senate Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy. The warning comes at a moment of fiscal brinkmanship. House Republicans are demanding deep spending cuts from President Biden in exchange for voting to raise the debt limit, which caps how much money the government can borrow."

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, made clear on Tuesday that the central bank is prepared to react to recent signs of economic strength by raising interest rates higher than previously expected and, if incoming data remain hot, potentially returning to a quicker pace of rate increases. Mr. Powell, in remarks before the Senate Banking Committee, also noted that the Fed's fight against inflation was 'very likely' to come at some cost to the labor market. His comments are the clearest acknowledgment yet that recent reports showing inflation remains stubborn and the job market remains resilient are likely to shake up the policy trajectory for America's central bank."

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "President Biden's pick to serve as a telecommunications regulator is withdrawing her nomination to the Federal Communications Commission, following a bitter 16-month lobbying battle that blocked her appointment and opened her up to relentless personal attacks. Gigi Sohn, a longtime public interest advocate and former Democratic FCC official who was first nominated by the White House in October 2021, said her decision to withdraw follows 'unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks' seeded by cable and media industry lobbyists. The opposition to Sohn catapulted the relatively low-profile position to the center of an unprecedented fight, which involved three Senate confirmation hearings, a series of ads and a billboard criticizing Sohn as 'extreme' and 'partisan' amid dissection of her social media posts. Sohn's decision to bow out leaves the Biden administration's ambitious internet agenda mired in limbo.... he FCC remains stalled on these commitments amid a 2-2 split, imperiling the administration's plans."

Nick Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, arguing that the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition in a highly concentrated industry. By absorbing Spirit, JetBlue would eliminate a disruptive force that has kept fares low across the country, the department's antitrust division argued in its lawsuit. The merger would also give JetBlue an outsize hold on dozens of routes, result in higher fares and reduce options for travelers, particularly for those most sensitive to costs, it said."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "After watching the first installment of Fox News host Tucker Carlson's look at Capitol surveillance video from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger sent out a memo to his department Tuesday morning denouncing the show as 'filled with offensive and misleading conclusions.'... Carlson's program 'conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,' Manger wrote. 'The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.'... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he sided with Manger's account of events, appearing to hold up a copy of the chief's memo. 'With regard to the presentation on Fox News last night, I want to associate myself entirely with the opinion of the Chief of the Capitol Police about what happened on January 6th,' he said." CNN's story is here. MB: Everybody get together now and shout out, "Thanks, Kevin!" ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called Carlson's presentation of Jan. 6 as 'mostly peaceful chaos' both 'bull----' and 'inexcusable.' Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) ... said to put what happened 'in the same category as ... permitted peaceful protest is just a lie.' Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said ..., 'I'm not interested in whitewashing Jan. 6.' Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called it 'dangerous and disgusting' and compared it to Alex Jones's portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said, 'I thought it was an insurrection at that time. I still think it was an insurrection today.' Senate Republicans' No. 2 John Thune S.D.) said, 'I think it was an attack on the Capitol.... There were a lot of people in the Capitol at the time that were scared for their lives.'... The comments from GOP senators are striking given how influential Carlson is in the conservative movement. They're also striking because several of them reflect how [Kevin] McCarthy himself has also spoken about the insurrection.... [The Republican senators have not criticized McCarthy publicly, but] given how predictable Monday's presentation was, there's little question about who paved the way for the 'whitewashing' they now deride." The NBC News story, on which Blake relied for senators' reactions, is here. ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The face of Fox News is doing everything in his power to sanitize the horrific violence the nation saw unfold in real-time at the U.S. Capitol in the aftermath of the 2020 election. And on Monday night, he had a major assist from Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who granted him exclusive access to tens of thousands of hours of January 6 security camera footage. After continuing to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election ('it is clear the 2020 election was a grave betrayal of American democracy'), Tucker Carlson used the footage on Monday night to portray those who broke into the U.S. Capitol as mostly peaceful patriots who simply felt wronged by the system. Carlson ... falsely claimed the footage provided 'conclusive' evidence proving Democrats 'lied' about the events of January 6.... In effect, McCarthy served as Carlson's reluctant, but obedient, accomplice.... McCarthy, like the rest of his flock in Congress, knows that Carlson is the real boss inside the Republican Party."

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, a step toward determining responsibility for an act of sabotage that has confounded investigators on both sides of the Atlantic for months. U.S. officials said that they had no evidence President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials." The Guardian's report is here.

Missouri. Summer Ballentine of the AP: "A Missouri law banning local police from enforcing federal gun laws is unconstitutional and void, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes ruled the 2021 law is preempted by the federal government under the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.... Missouri's Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a statement said he will appeal the ruling."

Israel. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "A raid by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin aimed at arresting a suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli brothers last month spiraled into violence that left six Palestinians dead on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The suspect, Abd al-Fattah Kharousha, 49, was listed as among the dead by Palestinian health officials. An Israeli military spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with army rules, described Mr. Kharousha as an operative of the Islamist militant group Hamas. Hamas confirmed that he had been a member of its military wing, and Palestinian media reported that he had spent nine years in Israeli prisons and was released in December 2022."

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Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday will propose raising taxes on Americans earning more than $400,000 and reducing what Medicare pays for prescription drugs in an attempt to ensure that the health-care program for seniors is funded for the next two decades, challenging Republicans over an imminent funding crisis.... Because the program is spending money at a much faster clip than it brings in funding, it faces automatic federal cuts starting in 2028, raising the nightmare scenario of medical providers refusing care to senior citizens if Congress and the White House don't address the looming shortfall first. The administration is introducing the measures as part of the White House's broader 2024 budget proposal, but it faces an unlikely path to passage through a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The budget is set to be released Thursday." ~~~

     ~~~ In a New York Times op-ed, President Biden describes his plan to save Medicare. And knocks Congressional Republicans.

David Lynch & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden has embarked upon the most ambitious use of federal economic power in several decades as he seeks to reshape major U.S. industries for long-term prosperity while pressing businesses to deliver immediate benefits for consumers by lowering prices today. Biden's twin-barreled economic offensive faces numerous hurdles but has sparked billions of dollars of private-sector investment and changed entrenched corporate practices. Audi and Eli Lilly last week became the latest companies to respond to Washington's carrot-and-stick approach, as the German carmaker said it 'probably' would boost its U.S. output in response to the administration's electric-vehicle subsidies and the pharmaceutical giant bent to the president's calls to slash the price of insulin. Biden is spending federal cash on several audacious goals, including reversing the erosion of high-technology manufacturing, accelerating the transition to a clean-energy economy and repairing the nation's rotting infrastructure."

Sheryl Stolberg & Emily Anthes of the New York Times: "The Biden administration, keeping a watchful eye on an outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the deaths of tens of millions of chickens and is driving up the cost of eggs -- not to mention raising the frightening specter of a human pandemic -- is contemplating a mass vaccination campaign for poultry, according to White House officials. The bird flu outbreak, which began early last year, is the biggest in the nation's history, affecting more than 58 million farmed birds in 47 states, as well as birds in the wild. It has already spilled over into mammals, such as mink, foxes, raccoons and bears, raising fears that the virus that causes it, known as H5N1, could mutate and start spreading more easily among people."

Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "The Senate this week plans to vote on whether to block D.C.'s overhaul of its century-old criminal code from becoming law, even as city leaders tried to pull the legislation before federal lawmakers could weigh in. If the Senate resolution is successful, it would be the first in more than three decades to overturn a piece of D.C. legislation, striking a blow to the city's efforts for self-rule and toward statehood. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) on Monday wrote to the Senate saying that he was withdrawing the city's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, a move that Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who sponsored the disapproval resolution targeting the criminal code, called a 'desperate, made-up maneuver.' In a bipartisan vote, the House last month approved a companion resolution against the D.C. legislation; if the Senate does the same, President Biden has said he'll sign it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If all Republicans wanted to do was to disallow D.C.'s new criminal code, they would have gladly accepted Mendelson's withdrawal of the code revision and chalked up a win. But Hagerty tipped the GOP's hand: they're less interested in disapproving the new code than they are in making political hay of it.

Sophia Cai of Axios: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) -- facing criticism that his probe of alleged mistreatment of conservatives by 'weaponized' U.S. agencies has moved too slowly and found little -- is threatening to subpoena 16 more witnesses from the FBI.... Jordan is under increasing pressure from disappointed Republicans who want results -- and from Democrats who say his investigation is being exposed as a sham.... Criticism of Jordan escalated over the weekend, after the New York Times reported that three witnesses Jordan had cast as FBI 'whistleblowers' provided little information and had touted various conspiracy theories. Two had received financial help from an ally of former President Trump. A 316-page report compiled by Democrats dismissed the testimony, saying that 'nearly all of the Republicans involved in this investigation -- the witnesses, some of the members, and certainly their outside operators' -- are linked by a desire to whitewash the Jan. 6 insurrection."

Oops! Tom Lutey of the Billings Gazette: “U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale [R] said he unwittingly posed for a photo with high profile members of the neo-Nazi movement last week walking between congressional hearings. The photo taken March 1 in front of the Capitol, shows Rosendale, a two-term lawmaker, posing with Ryan Sanchez, formerly of the white supremacist street-fighting gang Rise Above Movement and Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer and podcaster present at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Arnold has called Adolf Hitler a 'misunderstood' and 'complicated historical figure.'... 'I absolutely condemn and have zero tolerance for hate groups, hate speech, and violence. I did not take a meeting with these individuals,' Rosendale said in an email."

Scott MacFarlane of CBS News: "The Justice Department has reached a milestone in its prosecution of the U.S. Capitol attack, confirming it has arrested at least 1,000 people in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, nearly half of whom still face the prospect of trials or plea agreements. A new wave of cases, many of which involve higher-level charges of assaults against police, continues to expand a prosecution that is already the largest in American history.... In its latest update, the Justice Department said the FBI is seeking to identify at least 260 more people wanted in the attack.... Every jury to hear a U.S. Capitol riot case has returned at least a partial conviction."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A Colorado man prosecutors say was affiliated with the right-wing, anti-government Three Percenters movement pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, admitting that he marched with the Proud Boys, a different far-right group, for several hours before attacking officers. Robert Gieswein, 26, of Woodland Park, Colo., stood out in that day's video recordings, carrying a baseball bat and wearing paramilitary gear with a black pouch on his chest that said, 'MY MOM THINKS I'M SPECIAL.' He faces an estimated range of 41 to 51 months at sentencing June 9 in a plea deal with prosecutors, who agreed to drop the rest of an 11-count indictment, including four other charges of assaulting police."

Rebs on the Run. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The authorities are searching for a Florida woman who slipped away from federal monitoring just days before she was set to go on trial in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The woman, Olivia Michele Pollock, was to be tried on Monday in Federal District Court in Washington on charges of assaulting police officers and interfering with law enforcement. But on Friday, a federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Ms. Pollock after she broke the terms of her release agreement with the government and disappeared. The judge, Carl J. Nichols, also issued an arrest warrant on Friday for one of Ms. Pollock's co-defendants in the case, Joseph Daniel Hutchinson, after he, too, violated the terms of his release. Mr. Hutchinson was scheduled to be tried separately in August." The AP's report is here. MB Note to Cops: Try 1100 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "In building a case against [former Proud Boys leader Enrique] Tarrio and... four other defendants..., prosecutors ... have claimed that the jury should see videos of other Proud Boys and ordinary Trump supporters in the crowd who acted violently during the assault even if those rioters had only limited connections to the defendants. Prosecutors say Mr. Tarrio and the others wielded these rioters as 'tools' of their conspiracy. On Monday, the trial, now entering its eighth week in Federal District Court in Washington, paused for a day as a federal judge heard arguments about which videos of these so-called tools should be admitted into evidence. The decision by the judge, Timothy J. Kelly, about what footage to let in was set to be made on Tuesday and could shape how prosecutors seek to convince the jury that Mr. Tarrio and the others committed sedition...."

We interrupt the regularly-scheduled news in progress to bring you an update on The TuKKKer Files:

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday released security video from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, using footage provided exclusively to him by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to portray the riot as a peaceful gathering. Carlson acquired the tapes as part of a deal for McCarthy, R-Calif., to win the speaker's gavel.... Carlson focused Monday's segment on promoting ... Donald Trump's narrative by showing video of his supporters walking calmly around the U.S. Capitol.... 'The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress,' Carlson told his audience Monday. 'Instead it shows police escorting people through the building, including the now-infamous "QAnon Shaman."' He continued: 'More than 44,000 hours of surveillance footage from in and around the Capitol have been withheld from the public, and once you see the video, you'll understand why. Taken as a whole, the video does not support the claim that Jan. 6 was an insurrection. In fact, it demolishes that claim.' Video that Carlson didn't air shows police and rioters engaged in hours of violent combat that resulted in injuries to hundreds of police officers....

"Carlson also said at the top of his show Monday that Fox had checked with Capitol Police before it aired any of the video.... A Capitol Hill source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Monday that 'the police thought there was an agreement' with the Committee on House Administration, not with Carlson's show, that Capitol Police would be given the opportunity to review all the clips that Fox was planning to air Monday night. But 'the show only allowed the police to review one clip late this afternoon and then did not allow them to review any of the other clips.' Carlson said he plans to air additional video on his show Tuesday night." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: TuKKKer's presentation is similar to showing video of Alex Murdaugh enjoying a family picnic but not mentioning he later murdered two of the people filmed at the picnic. Oh, and then describing Alex as an ideal family man.

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Former Vice President Mike Pence has filed a motion asking a judge to block a federal grand jury subpoena for his testimony related to January 6 on the grounds that he is protected by the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, according to a source familiar with the filing.... The Pence motion -- filed as part of sealed proceedings -- seeks to stop testimony pertaining to his legislative functions around January 6, which could potentially include a broad swath of testimony. It is separate from [Donald] Trump's motion, which argues that the former president can shield former aides from sharing internal communications. MB: It's like mike is wearing a giant immunity condom & nobody can ask him nothin'. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to prevent the special counsel investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election from using testimony provided by former top White House lawyers to a federal grand jury.... In recent weeks Trump's attorneys have asked a court to bar special counsel Jack Smith from using testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his former deputy Patrick Philbin as evidence in Smith's ongoing investigation into the events surrounding Jan. 6, said ... sources. Trump's lawyers have also filed to prevent Smith from using former Trump lawyer Eric Herschmann's grand jury testimony, the sources said. Prosecutors in Smith's office have urged an appeals court to reject Trump's efforts...." MB: We may infer that Trump and/or his attorneys believe the lawyers' testimony will incriminate him.

Kate Christobek, et al., of the New York Times: "Hope Hicks, a trusted aide to Donald J. Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, met with the Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday -- the latest in a string of witnesses to be questioned by prosecutors as they investigate the former president's involvement in paying hush money to a porn star. The appearance of Ms. Hicks, who was seen walking into the Manhattan district attorney's office in the early afternoon, represents the latest sign that the prosecutors are in the final stages of their investigation. She is at least the seventh witness to meet with prosecutors since the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, convened a grand jury in January to hear evidence in the case." The AP's story is here.

     ~~~ Marie: I happily remind you that Bragg is contemplating a criminal -- not a civil -- case. Should Trump be indicted, tried & convicted, he could do hard time. That could make him the second serious presidential* candidate in U.S. history to campaign from a jail cell. (In 1920, Eugene Debs, a socialist, ran for president while jailed for defying a court injunction. He received nearly a million votes.) In fact, should Trump be indicted, the courts could restrict his travel movements even before trial & conviction.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In appearing before the Jan. 6 committee last year, Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who recounted ... Donald J. Trump's conduct in the lead-up to the attacks on the Capitol, shared how her original lawyer had tried to influence her testimony.... She ... said that Mr. Passantino had pressured her to remain loyal and protect the former president. Now, several dozen prominent legal figures, including past presidents of the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar, are seeking to revoke Mr. Passantino's license to practice law. The move reflects intensifying scrutiny over whether Mr. Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer whose legal fees were covered by Mr. Trump's political action committee, violated his own professional duty, along with a host of other ethical requirements, by putting the interests of a third party over that of his client. In a 22-page complaint filed on Monday with D.C.'s Board on Professional Responsibility, prominent lawyers accused Mr. Passantino of the crimes of subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and bribery. The latter referred in part to Ms. Cassidy's allegation that his advice to say little to the panel was accompanied by assurances that she would get a 'really good job in "Trump world."'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Alfredo Peña & Matthew Barakat of the AP: "Four Americans who traveled to Mexico last week to seek health care got caught in a deadly shootout and were kidnapped by heavily armed men who threw them in the back of a pickup truck, officials from both countries said Monday. The four were traveling Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They came under fire shortly after entering the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, at the southernmost tip of Texas near the Gulf coast, the FBI said in a statement Sunday. 'All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,' the FBI said. The bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for the victims' return and the arrest of the kidnappers.... Zalandria Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, and two friends had accompanied a third friend who was going to Mexico for a tummy tuck surgery." Related story linked under Monday's News Ledes.

Presidential Race 2024. Look, Ma, the Chickens Can Do the Side-Step! David Siders & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "If any subject is verboten in the early stages of the Republican presidential primary, it's the insurrection that once served as a defining point in 2024 frontrunner Donald Trump's career. Whereas Republicans once talked openly about it being disqualifying for the former president, today it is little more than a litmus test in GOP circles of a candidate's MAGA bona fides. None of them want[s] any part of it.... The Jan. 6 avoidance is not just in [Ron] DeSantis' book. [where he never mentions the insurrection, while self-describing as an unapologetic truth-teller]. Mike Pence ... is preparing to resist a grand jury subpoena for testimony about Trump's efforts to overturn the election, seeing only political landmines in testifying. Nikki Haley, asked on a podcast recently if she would describe the riot at the Capitol as an 'insurrection, a riot, or a coup,' went instead with a more banal -- and safer -- description: 'a sad day in America.'" Read on. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Apparently, neither the media nor supposedly sober Republicans have learned anything from the past. Trump gave a bonkers speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.... From the coverage, you would never understand how incoherent he sounds, how far divorced his statements are from reality, and how entirely abnormal this all is.... The press and Republicans' mutual distaste for candidly acknowledging Trump's break with reality and the danger he poses to democracy was on full display on the Sunday shows.... Here are Republicans, some of whom are considering runs for the presidency, who somehow expect to get through a campaign without mentioning the single most disqualifying thing about the leader in the race (other than his mental unfitness): He betrayed the country. Such timidity is itself disqualifying for someone seeking the presidency." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Forrest M. has anecdotal evidence in Monday's Comments on how this is playing out in his neck of the woods.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: Elon Musk's "massive layoffs of the company's staff .. led to widespread concerns about Twitter's ability to retain core functions, as critical engineering teams were reduced to one or zero staffers. In the months since the takeover -- and subsequent layoffs -- Twitter has faced multiple outages, hampering key features: loading tweets and notifications, sending tweets and direct messages, accessing links and photographs. Each was said -- by staffers current and former, or Musk himself -- to come as the company made changes to its code. 'Every mistake in code and operations is now deadly,' a former engineer told The Washington Post in November, explaining that those left over were 'going to be overwhelmed, overworked and, because of that, more likely to make mistakes.'... The latest outage came Monday...." A Platformer story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "Excerpts from Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.' Passages from Christopher Columbus's journal describing his brutal treatment of Indigenous peoples. A data set on the New York Police Department's use of force, analyzed by race. These are among the items teachers have nixed from their lesson plans this school year and last, as they face pressure from parents worried about political indoctrination and administrators wary of controversy, as well as a spate of new state laws restricting education on race, gender and LGBTQ issues." An Iowa school superintendent didn't know if teachers could teach or imply or guide students to infer that slavery was wrong, since that was an opinion, not a fact. "The quiet censorship comes as debates over whether and how to instruct children about race, racism, U.S. history, gender identity and sexuality inflame politics.... A study published by the Rand Corp. in January found that nearly one-quarter of a nationally representative sample of 8,000 English, math and science teachers reported revising their instructional materials to limit or eliminate discussions of race and gender. Educators most commonly blamed parents and families for the shift, according to the Rand study." Read on. I find this story more heartbreaking than maddening. If you care about what your children are learning, don't worry. They aren't learning much. (Also linked yesterday.)

Arizona. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "An Arizona judge has ordered sanctions against Mark Finchem⁩ and his attorney over false claims they made about election fraud after Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, lost his race in November and refused to accept the results. Weeks after the election, Finchem sued his Democratic opponent, Adrian Fontes, and then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), challenging the results of the vote and requesting that a new election be held. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian tossed his suit in December, saying it was groundless. Fontes and Hobbs asked the court in December to sanction Finchem, according to the Arizona Republic, saying his case was 'a politically motivated weaponization of the legal process meant to perpetuate the dangerous narrative that our elections are unreliable, our elected leaders are corrupt, and our democracy is broken.' In a new ruling last week, Julian agreed, ordering Finchem and his lawyer, Daniel McCauley III, to cover legal fees for Fontes and Hobbs, who both won their November races and have since assumed new roles as Arizona's secretary of state and governor, respectively."

California. Niha Masih of the Washington Post: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that the state will not do business with pharmacy chain Walgreens after its recent announcement that it will not distribute abortion pills in some states where abortion is legal. 'California won't be doing business with @walgreens -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk,' Newsom said in a tweet.... The Washington Post reported that Walgreens had committed to not selling the drug in 20 states following legal threats by Republican state leaders last month. These included Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana, where abortion medication can be accessed, according to the sexual rights research group Guttmacher Institute, though those rules are being tightened." The Hill's story is here.

Georgia. Abraham Kenmore of the Augusta Chronicle, published in the Athens Banner-Herald: "A Georgia House bill introduced to bring new oversight of local prosecutors moved forward on Monday, joining a similar Senate bill that passed last week.... Both the House and the Senate bills would create a commission overseeing prosecutors with the ability to discipline local prosecutors...." MB: So let's say a prosecutor brought charges against a former POTUS* and/or against certain fake electors who were Republican party honchos. The oversight board, controlled by Republicans, could just fire the elected prosecutor and bring in their own fave.

Georgia. Rebekah Reiss, et al., of CNN: "Police say at least 23 people will face domestic terrorism charges after they were arrested Sunday amid violent protests at the site of a planned law enforcement training facility in Atlanta dubbed 'Cop City' by opponents who claim it would propagate militarized policing and harm the environment. Authorities said 'violent agitators' attacked Atlanta police officers and construction equipment with Molotov cocktails, commercial-grade fireworks, bricks and large rocks.... Among those arrested Sunday was a 'legal observer' employed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), according to a statement from the SPLC and National Lawyers Guild (NLG)." MB: The NLG & SPLC statements are here.

New York. Liam Stack of the New York Times: "Not long ago, New Yorkers were required to wear a face mask if they wanted to enter a store. But Mayor Eric Adams has now said the city's shopkeepers should adopt the opposite approach: People who refuse to pull down their mask when they first come into a store should be barred, in case they plan to rob the place.... A 67-year-old deli employee in Manhattan ... was killed on Friday night by a robber wearing a dark face mask and a white, full-body Tyvek suit.... 'Let's be clear, some of these characters going into stores that are wearing their mask, they're not doing it because they're afraid of the pandemic, they're doing it because they're afraid of the police,' the mayor said in a television interview.... Mr. Adams's suggestion is sure to draw the ire of those who remain committed to masking in public as Covid persists, as well as those with health conditions that put them at an elevated risk of severe illness.... Requiring shoppers to briefly drop their face masks would allow security cameras to get a clear view of a shopper's face, the mayor said."

** Tennessee. Charles Blow of the New York Times: "Not long before [Gov. Bill] Lee signed [a bill outlawing drag performances], a 1977 yearbook photo surfaced showing him dressed in drag when he was in high school. The howls of hypocrisy came quickly. But I don't think people like Lee see that as hypocrisy. They see hilarity in straight men donning women's clothes to mock femininity but see obscenity and perversion in (usually) gay men doing the same (only better!) to celebrate femininity and find a sense of affirmation and self-realization. They see their role as guarding the border between their narrow, normative definitions of 'masculine' and 'feminine' and making sure no one traverses it. They are sentinels of the patriarchy, all too willing to oppress or try to intimidate their fellow citizens. And the imprecise wording of Tennessee's law seems calibrated to provoke the maximum amount of doubt and, therefore, fear...." Read on. ~~~

Thank god it’s not a drag show. That would be inappropriate for Christian families…. pic.twitter.com/BXK2JSVobt

— Jerry Whitney (@theharpoonman) July 12, 2022

     ~~~ Thanks to Whyte O. for the lead. As Akhilleus wrote yesterday, &"Just imagine the screeches if that were a family of Democrats with young girls dressed like strippers holding a sign saying 'Fuck Trump.'"

Texas. American Heroes Sue for Reproductive Rights. Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "Five women who say they were denied abortions despite grave risks to their lives or their fetuses sued the State of Texas on Monday, apparently the first time that pregnant women themselves have taken legal action against the bans that have shut down access to abortion across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The women -- two visibly pregnant -- plan to tell their stories on the steps of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday. Their often harrowing experiences will put faces to what their 91-page complaint calls 'catastrophic harms' to women since the court's decision in June, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion after five decades.... The potential for prison sentences of up to 99 years, $100,000 fines and the loss of medical licenses has scared doctors into not providing abortions even in cases where the law would seem to allow them."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' daily briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's daily briefing for Tuesday is here: "China's foreign minister accused the United States of double standards over international arms sales on Tuesday, when he compared U.S. military support to Taiwan with warnings from Washington for China not to send 'lethal aid' to Russia.... Exiled Belarusian opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia by a Minsk court.... This comes days after Belarus gave a 10-year sentence to Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace laureate and critic of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin." ~~~

~~~ The Guardian's story on China's foreign minister's "fiery press conference" is here.

Siobhán O'Grady, et al., of the Washington Post describe the intense fighting for the city of Bakhmut: "The men enlisted to fight for Russia's Wagner mercenary force -- many of them convicted criminals recruited behind bars and sent to fight in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom --... typically move on Ukrainian positions early in the morning [and are moving toward almost certain death].... It is only later in the day that better-trained Russian forces often enter the fray, seeking to make a real advance.... The waves and waves of [Russians] sent forward have proved exhausting, resulting in staggering casualties on both sides.... The city ... is nearly destroyed. Despite reports of complaints from Ukrainian soldiers that they are fighting under desperate and untenable conditions, and military experts insisting that Bakhmut is of little long-term strategic value to Russia, [President] Zelensky's office issued a statement saying that ... [military commanders] had ... endorsed reinforcing and continuing the city's defense."

Israel. Ronen Bergman & Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "A plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to severely curtail the powers of Israel's Supreme Court has prompted weeks of demonstrations, rattled the country's technology sector and raised fears of political violence. Now, protests are emerging even within the nation's military. Hundreds of soldiers in the military reserves either have signed letters expressing a reluctance to participate in nonessential duty or have already pulled out of training missions, officials said. The affected units include the 8200 division that deals with signal and cyberintelligence and whose graduates have helped drive the country's tech industry, as well as elite combat units. The military leadership fears that growing anger within the ranks over the government's plans will affect the operational readiness of Israel's armed forces, according to senior military officials." An AP story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two of the four Americans who were kidnapped last week in Mexico were found dead on Tuesday, while the other two were found alive, according to the governor of the border state of Tamaulipas, where the abduction occurred last week.... Of the four kidnapping victims, 'two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive,' said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, speaking live by phone at the Mexican president's daily news conference on Tuesday. The Mexican authorities transferred the two surviving Americans to U.S. authorities on Tuesday, Mexican officials said." ~~~

     ~~~ AP: "The surviving Americans were back on U.S. soil after being sped to the border near Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns."

New York Times: "A stampede spurred by rumors of gunfire at a crowded arena on Sunday killed two people and left a third in critical condition after a show by the Grammy-nominated rapper GloRilla in Rochester, N.Y., the police said."

Washington Post: "A former White House and international development official died last week after the business jet she was flying in hit severe turbulence in New England, officials said Monday. Dana Hyde, 55, of Cabin John, Md., was flying with her husband and one of her sons on an aircraft owned by rural broadband consulting firm Conexon, the company said. Neither of her relatives nor the two members of the flight crew were injured, according to the company and the Federal Aviation Administration.... Hyde was a White House special assistant during the Clinton years. She was also a senior adviser at the State Department during President Barack Obama's administration before becoming an associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget."

March 6, 2023

Late Morning Update:

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In appearing before the Jan. 6 committee last year, Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who recounted ... Donald J. Trump's conduct in the lead-up to the attacks on the Capitol, shared how her original lawyer had tried to influence her testimony.... She ... said that Mr. Passantino had pressured her to remain loyal and protect the former president. Now, several dozen prominent legal figures, including past presidents of the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar, are seeking to revoke Mr. Passantino's license to practice law. The move reflects intensifying scrutiny over whether Mr. Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer whose legal fees were covered by Mr. Trump's political action committee, violated his own professional duty, along with a host of other ethical requirements, by putting the interests of a third party over that of his client. In a 22-page complaint filed on Monday with D.C.'s Board on Professional Responsibility, prominent lawyers accused Mr. Passantino of the crimes of subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and bribery. The latter referred in part to Ms. Cassidy's allegation that his advice to say little to the panel was accompanied by assurances that she would get a 'really good job in "Trump world."'"

Presidential Race 2024. Look, Ma, the Chickens Can Do the Side-Step! David Siders & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "If any subject is verboten in the early stages of the Republican presidential primary, it's the insurrection that once served as a defining point in 2024 frontrunner Donald Trump's career. Whereas Republicans once talked openly about it being disqualifying for the former president, today it is little more than a litmus test in GOP circles of a candidate's MAGA bona fides. None of them want[s] any part of it.... The Jan. 6 avoidance is not just in [Ron] DeSantis' book. [where he never mentions the insurrection, while self-describing as an unapologetic truth-teller]. Mike Pence ... is preparing to resist a grand jury subpoena for testimony about Trump's efforts to overturn the election, seeing only political landmines in testifying. Nikki Haley, asked on a podcast recently if she would describe the riot at the Capitol as an 'insurrection, a riot, or a coup,' went instead with a more banal -- and safer -- description: 'a sad day in America.'" Read on. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Apparently, neither the media nor supposedly sober Republicans have learned anything from the past. Trump gave a bonkers speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.... From the coverage, you would never understand how incoherent he sounds, how far divorced his statements are from reality, and how entirely abnormal this all is.... The press and Republicans' mutual distaste for candidly acknowledging Trump's break with reality and the danger he poses to democracy was on full display on the Sunday shows.... Here are Republicans, some of whom are considering runs for the presidency, who somehow expect to get through a campaign without mentioning the single most disqualifying thing about the leader in the race (other than his mental unfitness): He betrayed the country. Such timidity is itself disqualifying for someone seeking the presidency." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Forrest M. has anecdotal evidence in Monday's Comments on how this is playing out in his neck of the woods.

Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "Excerpts from Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.' Passages from Christopher Columbus's journal describing his brutal treatment of Indigenous peoples. A data set on the New York Police Department's use of force, analyzed by race. These are among the items teachers have nixed from their lesson plans this school year and last, as they face pressure from parents worried about political indoctrination and administrators wary of controversy, as well as a spate of new state laws restricting education on race, gender and LGBTQ issues." An Iowa school superintendent didn't know if teachers could teach or imply or guide students to infer that slavery was wrong, since that was an opinion, not a fact. "The quiet censorship comes as debates over whether and how to instruct children about race, racism, U.S. history, gender identity and sexuality inflame politics.... A study published by the Rand Corp. in January found that nearly one-quarter of a nationally representative sample of 8,000 English, math and science teachers reported revising their instructional materials to limit or eliminate discussions of race and gender. Educators most commonly blamed parents and families for the shift, according to the Rand study." Read on. I find this story more heartbreaking than maddening. If you care about what your children are learning, don't worry. They aren't learning much.

Trae Crowder, the Redneck Liberal, recorded this video before Tennessee governor & one-time drag artiste Bill Lee (R) signed the anti-drag performance bill, but Crowder's message hasn't lost any of its value:

~~~~~~~~~~

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden came to [Selma, Alabama, a] seminal site of the civil rights movement -- one that lead to the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 -- to try to inject urgency into changing the country's voting rights laws once more.Standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where on March 7, 1965, marchers advocating for voting rights were attacked by police in a day that has become known as 'Bloody Sunday,' Biden said that the right to vote 'was under assault' by a conservative Supreme Court, a host of state legislatures and those who continue to deny the 2020 presidential election results.... Biden is attempting to elevate an issue that he unsuccessfully fought for since the start of his presidency, channeling evocative images to urge Congress to pass voting rights changes despite hardened political divisions on Capitol Hill." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

~~~ President Biden's full remarks:

From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Guilty Until Falsely Convicted Based on Loony Witness Testimony. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said House Republicans are laying the foundation to restrict funding to the FBI as the House subcommittee launches its investigation into the 'weaponization' of the federal government. Jordan, who chairs both the House Judiciary Committee and the subcommittee on weaponization, told Maria Bartiromo on Fox's 'Sunday Morning Futures' that Republicans will use the 'power of the purse' against the FBI amid their investigation into the agency.... Jordan cited a Fox News report [in which] a former FBI agent, Garret O'Boyle...," made claims the FBI was targeting anti-abortion protesters.... "House Democrats on the Judiciary Committee issued a report earlier this week arguing [that O'Boyle was among] the three witnesses ... [who] did not offer any evidence that the FBI has committed any wrongdoing, but instead gave their opinions."

Daniel Dale of CNN: Donald "Trump's lengthy address to [CPAC,] the right-wing gathering in Maryland, was filled with wildly inaccurate claims about his own presidency, Joe Biden's presidency, foreign affairs, crime, elections and other subjects. Here is a fact check of 23 of the false claims Trump made. (And that's far from the total.)"

Azi Paybarah & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: “Paul J. Manafort ... agreed to pay $3.15 million to settle a civil case brought by the Justice Department last year over foreign bank accounts that he did not declare to United States officials, according to his lawyer and court documents.... The settlement was announced in paperwork dated Feb. 22 and filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida where Manafort resides. It was reported Saturday by the Florida Bulldog, a nonprofit website. The settlement would end a civil suit the Justice Department filed in April 2022 seeking to force Manafort to pay millions of dollars in fines and interest 'for his willful failure to timely report his financial interest in foreign bank accounts.'"

Presidential Race 2024. Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024, worried that his candidacy in a crowded primary could help ... Donald Trump clear the GOP field and win the nomination.... After leaving office in January, Hogan said that he was seriously considering running for president. But on Sunday, the longtime Trump critic said that 'the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Not-So-Healthy Choice. Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: The FDA announced in December that it "planned to change the rules for nutrition labels that go on the front of food packages to indicate that they are 'healthy.' Dozens of other food manufacturers and industry organizations have joined Conagra [which makes 'Healthy Choice' meals] in claiming the new standards are draconian and will result in most current food products not making the cut, or in unappealing product reformulations. Under the proposal, manufacturers can label their products 'healthy' only if they contain a meaningful amount of food from at least one of the main food groups such as fruit, vegetable or dairy, as recommended by federal dietary guidelines. They must also adhere to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.... The Consumer Brands Association, which represents 1,700 major food companies from General Mills to Pepsi, wrote a 54-page comment to the FDA in which it stated the proposed rule was overly restrictive and would result in a framework that would automatically disqualify a vast majority of packaged foods." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Healthy Choice, et al., the photo the Post linked with the story appears to be a TV dinner a la Swanson's ca. 1958. (Swanson's is the brand that made TuKKKer Carlson the snickering rich brat he is.) Healthy Choice meals (and I eat them often) don't look anything like TuKKKer's fare.

When the FLOTUS Was a Lesbian. Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "When [Evangeline Simpson Whipple] died in 1930, she was buried at her request in Italy next to the love of her life -- a woman with whom she had a relationship that spanned nearly 30 years. That woman, Rose Cleveland, had served as first lady.... When Grover Cleveland took office in 1885, he was a nearly 50-year-old bachelor, a fact that almost derailed his campaign when rumors spread that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. (He had.) Protocol for unmarried or widowed presidents called for a female relative to fill the role of first lady. In stepped his sister, Rose.... Fourteen months in, Rose was relieved of her duties when the president married his 21-year-old ward, Frances Folsom." Rose's love letters to Evangeline have been collected & published in a new book "and make clear that they were more than just friends, according to its editors." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Brockell notes that the couple "didn't hide their relationship from family, and it appears to have been accepted." Evangeline was wealthy & Rose was well-off & well-educated. I had sort of forgotten that being anti-gay is a lower- and middle-class thing. And it has been for longer than any of us can remember.

Beyond the Beltway

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... several bills [under consideration] in the Georgia legislature ... would make it easier to remove local prosecutors.... Two of the measures ... would create a new state oversight board that could punish or remove prosecutors for loosely defined reasons, including 'willful misconduct.' A third would sharply reduce the number of signatures required to seek a recall of a district attorney. The proposals are part of a broader push by conservative lawmakers around the country to rein in prosecutors whom they consider too liberal...."

Fascista. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Since his landslide re-election victory..., [an emboldened Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)] has proposed or endorsed policy after policy that has enthralled his supporters and alarmed his detractors: Allow Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training. Ban diversity and equity programs at public universities. Expand school vouchers. Allow a death sentence without a unanimous jury. Make it easier to sue the news media. Further restrict abortion.... Most -- and perhaps all -- of Mr. DeSantis's wishes will likely soon be granted by the Republican-held State Legislature...." A Politico story is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Georgia. Sean Keenan & Eliza Fawcett of the New York Times: "Hundreds of activists breached the site of a proposed police and fire training center in Atlanta's wooded outskirts on Sunday, burning police and construction vehicles and a trailer, and setting off fireworks toward officers stationed nearby. The Atlanta Police Department said 35 people had been detained, adding that agitators also threw large rocks, bricks and Molotov cocktails. The destruction occurred on the second day of what is supposed to be a weeklong series of demonstrations to protest the building of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a planned 85-acre campus owned by the city."

Maryland. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A fuel tanker crash and explosion that killed the truck's driver and damaged six homes on Saturday probably will require a cleanup of contaminated soil at the site along Route 15 in Frederick County, Maryland Department of the Environment officials said Sunday.... County police reported extensive damage to one home and three vehicles, and minor damage to five other homes and two vehicles." With video & photos.

Ohio. Mirna Alsharif of NBC News & the AP: "There were no hazardous materials on board the 28 cars of a Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Springfield, Ohio on Saturday evening, officials said in a news briefing. This is the second derailment of the company's trains in Ohio in a matter of weeks, after a train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. Multiple agencies responded to the train derailment in Clark County, located about 38 minutes from Columbus, at around 5 p.m. The 212-car train was headed to Birmingham, Alabama from Bellevue, Ohio, said Norfolk Southern General Manager of Operations Kraig Barner. 'None of those derailed cars were carrying hazardous material, and there were no injuries reported to the public or the two man crew operating the train,' Barner said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie's Update: However, CNN reported on-air that some of the train's cars that did not derail did contain hazardous materials.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "As the months-long battle for the besieged city of Bakhmut rages on, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that officials are preparing for the wider war against Russia to continue long into its second year. Work is already underway to shore up heating for next winter, Zelensky said, even as the early days of spring provide some relief to Ukrainians, who have suffered through a frigid winter without reliable power.... Ukrainian troops are 'continuing to inflict high casualties' against Russia's military and mercenary forces in Bakhmut, according to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, even as they may be conducting a 'limited fighting withdrawal' from the area. Defending the city makes sense from Kyiv's perspective, 'as long as Ukrainian forces do not suffer excessive casualties' because it is wearing down Russian troops and equipment.... Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas's center-right party appears to be on track for a resounding election victory, according to the early results of Sunday's poll. Kallas has been a vocal backer of Kyiv...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Estonia. Politico's report on the Estonian election is here.

South Korea/Japan. Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "South Korea on Monday said it will compensate laborers who were forced to work for Japanese companies during colonization in the first half of the 20th century, a landmark move toward resolving a dispute that has bedeviled relations between the United States' closest allies in Asia for years. Seoul will establish a new foundation that will be funded by South Korean companies, rather than seeking direct payments from the Japanese firms that employed the workers. The South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 ordered the Japanese companies to pay damages to those workers. The decision drew immediate backlash from some plaintiffs and opposition party leaders, underscoring the politically fraught environment surrounding claims stemming from Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and the historical issues that are deeply ingrained in the identities of both countries." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The story doesn't say a word about the fact that almost all of the forced laborers would have died before now. I guess we are to assume the compensation will go to the workers' heirs. But I'm making that up. It's an odd omission from a news article.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Four U.S. citizens are missing after they were kidnapped from their vehicle by unidentified armed men in Mexico, the FBI said. The Americans came under fire shortly after they crossed the border Friday into the city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Tex., the FBI said in a statement posted Sunday on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.... Matamoros ... is the second largest city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, across from Texas's southern tip. Tamaulipas is one of six Mexican states to which the State Department advises Americans against traveling, citing the risk of crime and kidnapping.... Heavily armed members of criminal groups often patrol border regions in the state."

New York Times: "Judy Heumann, who spent decades attacking a political establishment indifferent to the rights of disabled people and won one fight after another, ultimately joining and reforming the very establishment she once inveighed against, died on Saturday in Washington, D.C. She was 75." ~~~

     ~~~ A statement from President Biden is here.

March 5, 2023

Late Afternoon Update:

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden came to [Selma, Alabama, a] seminal site of the civil rights movement -- one that lead to the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 -- to try to inject urgency into changing the country's voting rights laws once more.Standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where on March 7, 1965, marchers advocating for voting rights were attacked by police in a day that has become known as 'Bloody Sunday,' Biden said that the right to vote 'was under assault' by a conservative Supreme Court, a host of state legislatures and those who continue to deny the 2020 presidential election results.... Biden is attempting to elevate an issue that he unsuccessfully fought for since the start of his presidency, channeling evocative images to urge Congress to pass voting rights changes despite hardened political divisions on Capitol Hill." MB: I'll post a video of President Biden's speech when one becomes available.

Presidential Race 2024. Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024, worried that his candidacy in a crowded primary could help ... Donald Trump clear the GOP field and win the nomination.... After leaving office in January, Hogan said that he was seriously considering running for president. But on Sunday, the longtime Trump critic said that 'the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.'"

Mirna Alsharif of NBC News & the AP: "There were no hazardous materials on board the 28 cars of a Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Springfield, Ohio on Saturday evening, officials said in a news briefing. This is the second derailment of the company's trains in Ohio in a matter of weeks, after a train carrying dangerous chemicals derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. Multiple agencies responded to the train derailment in Clark County, located about 38 minutes from Columbus, at around 5 p.m. The 212-car train was headed to Birmingham, Alabama from Bellevue, Ohio, said Norfolk Southern General Manager of Operations Kraig Barner. 'None of those derailed cars were carrying hazardous material, and there were no injuries reported to the public or the two man crew operating the train,' Barner said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie's Update: However, CNN is reporting on-air that some of the train's cars that did not derail did contain hazardous materials.

"Fox & Friends" finally publicly addresses the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox "News":

~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has filed a motion asking a federal judge to prevent his former vice president, Mike Pence, from testifying to a grand jury about specific issues that Mr. Trump is claiming are protected by executive privilege.... The sealed filing was made on Friday, according to the person briefed on the matter.... Mr. Pence has said he will try to fight the subpoena, but has indicated it will be under the 'speech or debate' clause of the Constitution, which applies to legislators." CNN's report is here.

Marie: I don't feel quite as sleazy linking a New York Post Page Six article (as I did yesterday) about George & Kellyanne Conway's planned divorce inasmuch as both the New York Times and Washington Post also covered it a day later. But I confess I still think it was cheesy of me and none of my business.

Peter Baker of the New York Times reports on a recording of a Fox "News" Zoom conference call among some executives and anchors that shows how they panicked after Fox called Arizona for Joe Biden & Fox viewers turned off the network. The execs soon decided that the way to "handle" the correct call was to fire the guys who made it. Oh, and not surprisingly, some Fox honchos are into paranoid conspiracy theories: "Tom Lowell, the managing editor for news, said Fox had been left 'as the canary in this nasty coal mine,' suggesting other networks had deliberately delayed calls out of malice. 'I think some outlets willfully held back calls that they probably could have made to watch us twist in the wind,' he said."

They Aren't Merely Fascists. They're Also Despicable Deplorables. Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post: "... it ... became clear at CPAC that the Republican campaign against trans kids isn't just a mere ploy to energize its base -- it could also be the beginning of an insurgent fascist campaign to erase trans people from public life altogether. [After Sebastian Gorka & Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke against transgender medical treatment,] Michael Knowles, the host of 'The Michael Knowles Show' on The Daily Wire, gave a speech at CPAC that, at moments, sounded genocidal.... 'If [transgenderism] is false [as Knowles falsely claims it is], then for the good of society ... transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,' he said. Eradicated. The crowd roared again." And there was more.

Marie: How the GOP continues to thrive baffles me. They don't just oppose Democrats; they're against most Americans: racial, ethnic & religious minorities, women of child-bearing age, the elderly, people who get sick, adults and young people who are not 100% straight, members of the news media, doctors, scientists, college professors, teachers & all government employees, including volunteers on local boards, Republican "freaks" like Jeb Bush (see Trump remark below below). And more! Odds are that you belong to at least one group Republicans mock, deride and try to "eradicate" or at least subdue.

Presidential Race 2024

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, [Donald] Trump reveled in his strong showing in the annual confab's 2024 presidential straw poll, winning 62 percent of the vote among the attendees.... The former president spent his wide-ranging, nearly two-hour remarks rehashing the 'America First' agenda that has played well with his base.... 'In 2016, I declared I am your voice,' he said. 'Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.'... This year's confab was particularly dominated by conservatives backing Trump, or trying to appeal to his supporters.... Before Trump's speech, Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing leader who was dubbed the Tropical Trump, roused crowds in the afternoon in a wide-ranging speech that touched on his efforts to expand gun rights in the country and to protect the freedom to refuse vaccinations." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Jill Colvin, et al., of the AP: "... Donald Trump cast himself Saturday as the only Republican candidate who can build on his White House legacy but shied away from directly critiquing his potential rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.... 'We had a Republican Party that was ruled by freaks, neo-cons, globalists, open borders zealots and fools. But we are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush,' he said."

Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump said on Saturday that he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race if he was indicted in one of several investigations he is facing.... 'Oh absolutely. I wouldn't even think about leaving,' he said, adding that he believed an indictment would increase his poll numbers.... Mr. Trump made the comments to a group of conservative media before his speech to the Conservative Political Action Coalition conference in National Harbor, Md.... In his remarks on Saturday, Mr. Trump repeatedly cast the prosecutors as corrupt and politically motivated, citing no evidence. As he has for years, he cast the investigations not as result of his own actions, but as an effort to silence the voices of his supporters. 'I didn't know the word "subpoena,"' said Mr. Trump, who has sued and been sued hundreds and hundreds of times in civil courts and was first investigated by federal officials in the 1970s in Brooklyn."

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "On Saturday [Marianne Williamson] announced herself as the first Democratic challenger to President Biden -- who hasn't said himself that he's running again. In her campaign kickoff speech, Ms. Williamson, 70..., sounded ... like a Bernie Sanders-style liberal, focused on economic justice, corporate power and what she called the intentional blindness of powerful federal government officials to poverty in America.... Few in Democratic politics are taking her entry into the race seriously."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida, the Fascist State. New York Times Editors: "... a bill that is moving through the Florida House and is based on longstanding goals of Gov. Ron DeSantis..., represents a dangerous threat to free expression in the United States." The editors go into some of the provisions of the bills, and they're no different from what you'd expect in any repressive regime like Russia or China. "A sledgehammer bill like the one in Florida, however, wielded for transparent political reasons, would create enormous damage on the way to the high court, particularly if other states decide to copy its language." MB: The problem, as I see it, is not so much the damage the bill would cause "on the way to the high court," but the damage it would cause after "the high court" approved all or some of its provisions. You won't be able to make fun of Sam Alito any more.

Nevada. Natasha Korecki of NBC News: "Nevada Democrats have ousted a slate of democratic socialists who took over the state party two years ago, ending a troubled reign marked by divisions and infighting. Judith Whitmer was booted from her position as chair in a Saturday vote, with a new slate headed by Nevada Assemblywoman Daniele Munroe-Moreno assuming control of the party. Munroe-Moreno, who is the first Black woman elected to lead Nevada Democrats, was backed by a slew of elected officials as well as the so-called Reid Machine, the powerful organization first brought together by the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. The results come after a tumultuous term under Whitmer, who repeatedly clashed with key figures in the party. Establishment Democrats charged that she had at times undermined her own party, including Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who was in a close re-election race last cycle."

South Carolina. Southern Gothic, Ctd. Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: Convicted murderer Alex "Murdaugh faces dozens of charges related to financial crimes, and documentaries have highlighted a number of additional deaths that are or could be connected to the family, including of a housekeeper and two classmates of Murdaugh's children. There's also a suicide-for-hire plot Murdaugh is alleged to have arranged, so that a hefty life insurance payout would go to his surviving son, nicknamed Buster. Incredibly, the suspicious 1940 death of Murdaugh's great-grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh Sr. -- who started the family's legendary law firm -- also led to a payout benefiting his son, who was likewise nicknamed Buster.... On his way home [from a visit to a friend who lived a few towns over], at about 1 a.m. on July 19, [1940,] his car somehow came to a stop at a railroad crossing. Moments later, a freight train slammed into the car, killing him instantly, the sheriff said. He was 59.... The train's engineer testified that as the train approached, Murdaugh Sr.'s car was stopped near the tracks, and Murdaugh Sr. raised his hand and seemed to wave at him, according to DeWitt. Moments before the train crossed, the engineer said, the car sped up and then stopped directly on the tracks."

Texas. Nicky Robertson of CNN: "Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas was censured Saturday by the state GOP for 'for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities,' the party announced. The Texas Republican Party took issue with several House votes and stances by the second-term congressman, including his vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, his opposition to a GOP-led border security measure and the fact that he was the lone House Republican to vote against his conference's rules package earlier this year. Gonzales represents Texas' 23rd Congressional District, which stretches along the US-Mexico border between El Paso and San Antonio. The district is home to Uvalde, where a mass shooting at an elementary school last year killed 19 children and two teachers. After the shooting, Gonzales voted in favor of bipartisan gun-safety legislation -- another vote cited in the censure resolution."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "A grueling seven-month battle for the front-line city of Bakhmut is coming down to street-by-street fighting and skirmishes on rural roads and settlements on its outskirts, where Ukrainian forces are digging narrow trenches into the muddy ground to fortify their positions. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have not seized full control of the city, whose capture would offer the Kremlin a symbolic victory after months of battleground setbacks and Ukrainian counteroffensives.... Ukrainian resupply routes out of Bakhmut are 'increasingly limited,' according to the British Defense Ministry."

Israel. Bar Peleg, et al., of Haaretz: "Despite the heightened police presence and the force used by officers against protesters earlier in the week, over 180,000 Israelis protested the government's planned judicial overhaul throughout the country on Saturday night, for the ninth week in a row. After the demonstration ended, protesters attempted to cross the barricade that blocked off the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv. Police tried to obstruct those who broke through, but several thousand people made their way onto the main road and began marching."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Storms have knocked out power for more than 1 million Americans and caused at least 10 deaths, after heavy winds and possible tornadoes pummeled Kentucky, Michigan and other parts of the South and Midwest.... Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Saturday that at least five Kentuckians had died as a result of the storm after the state had wind gusts of more than 70 mph and flash flooding. In Alabama, three people were killed by falling trees, and storm-related deaths were also reported in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the Associated Press." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yeah, well, I have 14" of snow to shovel from yesterday's storm here in the Northeast, and it snowed a little last night, too.