October 2, 2022

Afternoon Update:

The Party of Psychopaths. Joshua Zitser of Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ... claimed at a rally for ... Donald Trump in Warren, Michigan, on Saturday that Democrats are murdering Republicans. 'I'm not going to mince words with you all,' Greene said. 'Democrats want Republicans dead. They've already started the killings.' Greene, who has repeatedly spread bizarre conspiracy theories, went on to reference two local news stories to support her baseless claim that Democrats are hunting down GOP voters.... 'Joe Biden has declared every freedom-loving American an enemy of the state,' she said. It was Trump who used this specific terminology, referring to President Joe Biden as an 'enemy of the state' during a rally in Pennsylvania last month. 'We will take back our country from the communists who have stolen it and want us to disappear,' she continued. 'We will expose the unelected bureaucrats, the real enemies within, who have abused their power and have declared political warfare on the greatest president this country has ever had.'"

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Michael Shear & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "Seven Americans who had been held captive in Venezuela for years were on their way home Saturday after President Biden agreed to grant clemency to two nephews of Cilia Flores, Venezuela's first lady, officials said. The men had been sentenced in 2017 to 18 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States. At the same time, Iran on Saturday released Siamak Namazi, a 51-year-old dual-national Iranian American businessman who had been jailed since 2015, on a temporary furlough and lifted the travel ban on his father, Baquer Namazi, an 85-year-old former official for the United Nations, according to the family's lawyer." An AP story on the Venezuelan exchange is here.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "In its final vote before lawmakers left Washington for November's midterm elections, the House on Friday overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation that would authorize $2.7 billion in compensation payments to the families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The bill passed 400 to 31, with just one Democrat, Representative Kurt Schrader of Oregon, opposing it. It was to go next to the Senate..., where its prospects are uncertain. The bill would direct the money to be used for lump-sum payments to immediate family members of Sept. 11 victims who have been barred from receiving money from the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund."

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The National Archives has told the House Oversight Committee that it has not yet recovered all of the records from Trump administration officials that should have been transferred under the Presidential Records Act. The Archives will consult with the Department of Justice 'on whether "to initiate an action for the recovery of records unlawfully removed," as established under the Federal Records Act,' acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall said in a letter sent on Friday to the committee's chairwoman, Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.). Steidel Wall added that the Archives has been unable to obtain federal records related to 'non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts.'... Under the Presidential Records Act, the immediate staff of the president, the vice president and anyone who advises the president must preserve records and phone calls pertaining to official duties." A CNN story is here.

Trump Knocks McConnell, Makes Racist Remark(s) about Chao. Asawan Suebsaeng & Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: "'He has a DEATH WISH,' Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, while also adding a racist dig at McConnell's wife Elaine Chao, who is Asian American and a former member of Trump's own cabinet. 'Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!' Chao was born in Taiwan.... The screed came after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to fund the US government until Dec. 16 to avoid a shut down at midnight." MB: Chao was an ineffectual Transportation Secretary, except when it came to carrying out her corrupt projects (which is befitting of any post in a Trump administration), but no one should make racist remarks about her. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post writes that "many" people thought Trump's suggestion that McConnell had a "death wish" was a threat. But Arnsdorf doesn't cite any people who expressed that view. MB: So the report is just as convincing as one of Trump's "many people say..." remarks. IMO, saying someone has a death wish does not invite other people to fulfill that wish. A reference to a death wish seems out-of-place and inappropriate, but it may just be a reflection of Trump's limited vocabulary. He may mean something like McConnell is engaging in self-sabotage or his actions are self-defeating or self-destructive. Or he may just mean that McConnell is ineffectual. Or maybe that he's filled will self-loathing. No way to know, because Trump probably doesn't know, either. More generally, I think Trump often makes incendiary remarks because he doesn't know any other words or terms. Superlatives impress him so he can remember them. He discards terms with a little more nuance because they don't shock the conscience so he can't remember them. ~~~

     ~~~ A great deal of Trump's bad behavior can be explained by "He's just not all that bright," and the corollary, "And he knows it."

Mary Jordan of the Washington Post:"Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 98th birthday Saturday by seeing family members and taking calls in his modest living room in Plains, Ga., the small town where he began his improbable campaign for the nation's highest office nearly half a century ago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Maryland Gubernatorial Race. Washington Post Editors endorse Democrat Wes Moore for governor of Maryland: "The candidates are not merely a study in policy contrasts. They exist in different worlds. Mr. Moore has staked out the aspirational high ground as a liberal intent on tackling high crime, unaffordable housing, child poverty, and the racial wealth and opportunity gaps. [Republican Dan] Cox's political views are rooted in hard-right resentment -- at President Biden's 2020 victory, which he falsely denies; at pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, which saved countless lives; at critical race theory, a chimera wielded to stoke racial anger; at climate change forecasts, which he regards as phony." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates in developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday are here: "Western countries cast Russian troops' withdrawal from Lyman, a key supply hub in eastern Ukraine, as a strategic victory that could undermine Russia's effort to control the Donetsk region.... The United Nations' nuclear watchdog called for Russian forces to release the director of the Zaporizhzhia power plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility."

Thomas Gibbons-Neff, et al., of the New York Times: "Russian forces retreated from the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman on Saturday, a humbling setback for President Vladimir V. Putin just one day after he illegally declared the surrounding region to be part of Russia. The Ukrainians' assault on Lyman, a rail hub leading into the mineral-rich Donbas region, underscored their resolve to attack in territory Mr. Putin now claims sovereignty over -- raising the stakes in a war in which a nuclear-armed Russia has declared it would use 'all available means' to defend land it considers its own."

Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "Prominent Republicans are digging in against American support for Ukraine despite Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons and evidence of mass graves and war crimes facilitated by Moscow. The Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday tweeted -- and then hours later deleted -- a message that called on Democrats to 'end the gift-giving to Ukraine' while featuring a fluttering Russian flag. The tweet also referred to 'Ukraine-occupied territories,' appearing to legitimize ... Vladimir Putin's claims to annex provinces based on a referendum that the U.S. and allies view as illegal. CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp on Saturday said the tweet did not clear the normal approval process because he was traveling for a conference in Australia.... CPAC has repeatedly flirted with pro-Putin views in recent years, including hosting pro-Russian Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban at a Dallas conference in August." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's nothing wrong with opposing U.S. wars or similar foreign entanglements, but there's plenty wrong with supporting dictators, war criminals & imperialist aggressors.

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Alex Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh evaded Russian forces for hours, slogging through pine forests and marshes in Ukraine to avoid detection. The U.S. military veterans were left behind -- 'abandoned,' they said -- after their Ukrainian task force was attacked, and determined that their best chance of survival was to hike back to their base in Kharkiv. What followed was an excruciating, often terrifying 104 days in captivity. They were interrogated, subjected to physical and psychological abuse, and given little food or clean water, Drueke and Huynh recalled. Initially, they were taken into Russia, to a detention complex dotted with tents and ringed by barbed wire, they said. Their captors later moved them, first to a 'black site' where the beatings worsened, Drueke said, and then to what they called a more traditional prison run by Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.... [The two men were] freed on Sept. 21 as part of a sprawling prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Svante Pääbo, a Swedish geneticist, on Monday for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.... 'Through his pioneering research, Svante Pääbo ... accomplished something seemingly impossible: sequencing the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans,' the Nobel committee said in a statement. Pääbo's discoveries have generated new understanding of our evolutionary history,' the statement said, adding that this research had helped establish the burgeoning science of 'paleogenomics,' or the study of genetic material from ancient pathogens." The Guardian report is here.

New York Times: "Hurricane Orlene, a Category 2 storm, approached western Mexico early Monday and threatened the region with significant wind, storm surge and rainfall, forecasters said. Storm preparations were underway in at least three Mexican states. The storm was about 15 miles north of Las Islas Marías, an archipelago of four islands, and was moving north, the National Hurricane Center said on Monday in a 2 a.m. Eastern advisory. Orlene had maximum sustained winds of about 105 miles per hour, with higher gusts."

New York Times: "Sacheen Littlefeather, the Apache activist and actress who refused to accept the best actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, drawing jeers onstage in an act that pierced through the facade of the awards show and highlighted her criticism of Hollywood for its depictions of Native Americans, has died. She was 75."

October 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 98th birthday Saturday by seeing family members and taking calls in his modest living room in Plains, Ga., the small town where he began his improbable campaign for the nation's highest office nearly half a century ago."

Trump Knocks McConnell, Makes Racist Remark(s) about Chao. Asawan Suebsaeng & Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: "'He has a DEATH WISH,' Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, while also adding a racist dig at McConnell's wife Elaine Chao, who is Asian American and a former member of Trump's own cabinet. 'Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!' Chao was born in Taiwan.... The screed came after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to fund the US government until Dec. 16 to avoid a shut down at midnight." MB: Chao was a lousy transportation secretary, except when it came to carrying out her corrupt projects (befitting of any post in a Trump administration), but no one should make racist remarks about her.

Washington Post Editors endorse Democrat Wes Moore for governor of Maryland: "The candidates are not merely a study in policy contrasts. They exist in different worlds. Mr. Moore has staked out the aspirational high ground as a liberal intent on tackling high crime, unaffordable housing, child poverty, and the racial wealth and opportunity gaps. [Republican Dan] Cox's political views are rooted in hard-right resentment -- at President Biden's 2020 victory, which he falsely denies; at pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, which saved countless lives; at critical race theory, a chimera wielded to stoke racial anger; at climate change forecasts, which he regards as phony."

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Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package that would keep the government open through mid-December, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine. The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse, clearing it for President Biden's signature. It would keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills. The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New Lede: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Biden signed it soon afterward, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine."

Jennifer Schussler of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday issued an executive order re-establishing the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory board that was dissolved five years ago after its members resigned in protest over ... Donald J. Trump's reaction to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. The announcement reverses the outcome of one of the stormier episodes in Mr. Trump's mutually antagonistic relationship with artists and cultural figures. In a group resignation letter in August 2017, the committee ... decried what it called Mr. Trump's 'support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans,' saying 'the false equivalencies you push cannot stand.' In response, the White House issued a statement saying Mr. Trump had already been planning to dissolve the group, describing it as 'not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Besides, the committee probably refused to recommend purchasing this nice masterpiece, which somehow found its way to spot in the hall outside Trump's temporary HQ in the Oval Office. I guess a person could contemplate the painting while awaiting her audience with the King.

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "'A woke military is a weak military,' former CIA director Mike Pompeo tweeted Tuesday. A few weeks earlier at CIA headquarters, in Langley, Va., current CIA director William J. Burns had a different perspective: cutting the ribbon on a new statue of abolitionist and military spy Harriet Tubman, a move some might decry as 'woke' for an intelligence agency. Burns shared ribbon-cutting duties with Tina Wyatt, a descendant of Tubman's who was invited to the private ceremony.... CIA employees proposed the statue project after attending a team-building program in Maryland, where Tubman was raised and where she eventually led scores of enslaved people to freedom. It is a reproduction of a statue by artist Brian Hanlon that stands in front of the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn, N.Y., and was made with the artist's permission." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, I saw the Pompeo anti-"woke" ad referenced in this Fox "News" story. It ran on CNN or MSNBC, and it's disgusting, probably as a roll-over in early-primary states markets. And it's a reminder that the next Republican president* will be worse than Trump, because he (and mostly likely not she) probably will be less ham-handed than Trump. Instead of blurting out atrocious, bigoted remarks, the new president* will say them softly, over inspiring, patriotic theme music.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was welcomed by her colleagues on Friday at an investiture ceremony at the court that was attended by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The proceedings were 'purely ceremonial,' the court's public information office noted, as Justice Jackson has been a member of the court since she was sworn in on June 30. But the event was nonetheless stately and steeped in history." MB: Yeah, welcome to a hot mess. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post channels Sam Alito to explain the divine right of confederate Supremes to rule with impunity: "All I know is that the legitimacy of the Supreme Court is something that ought to be taken on faith, as a matter of dogma -- which, coincidentally, is also a pretty great way of making judicial decisions. Yes, I'm sure I have that right.... But to call my court's integrity into question -- the temerity! This kind of horrible disrespect is the sort I will not suffer in silence. All I want is to live my life as I choose, holding sway over the entire nation without pushback or criticism. Yet at every turn my benevolence is met with treachery and complaint.... So stop questioning my authority!"

Merrick Garland Is Tired of Trying to Reason with Aileen Cannon. Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Justice Department moved to quickly dismantle the independent review of documents seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, contending that the review -- ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon -- is impeding its criminal investigation. In a 15-page filing asking a federal appeals court to speed its consideration of the issue, prosecutors complained the 'special master' review prevents DOJ from accessing thousands of non-classified records recovered from the former president's estate.... Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators' efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.... The filing also hints at prosecutors' irritation with Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed days after his defeat in the 2020 election. The Justice Department noted that she has repeatedly overruled decisions made by the special master she appointed at Trump's suggestion...."

Trump Legal "Team."Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... just a few weeks after ... Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago..., he finds himself in a battle, trying to persuade Trump to go along with his legal strategy and fighting with some other advisers who have counseled a more aggressive posture. The dispute has raged for at least a week, Trump advisers say, with the former president listening as various lawyers make their best arguments.... [Kise] remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems..., but on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.... Trump seems, at least for now, to be heeding advice from those [lawyers] who have indulged his desire to fight." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Donald Trump is very upset Maggie Haberman didn't choose him as a fact-checker. But then, ironically enough, she proves in a tweet (showing a photo of her questions & Trump's handwritten answers) that she did, which is to say that the World's Greatest Fact-Checker even lied about fact-checking. For some reason, Haberman did not accept his fact-checking as, you know, conclusive.

[The Second Amendment] is about maintaining within the citizenry the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary. -- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

[The Second Amendment was] designed purposefully to empower the people to resist the force of tyranny used against them. -- Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) ~~~

~~~ ** Jamie Raskin, former professor of Constitutional law & now Maryland MOC (D), in a New York Times op-ed (September 27) explains the Second Amendment to some his dimwitted colleagues: "It is essential to reject the myth that frustrated citizens have a Second Amendment right to raise arms against the government -- an outrageous betrayal of our Constitution.... Of the more than 900 people charged with crimes tied to Jan. 6 -- including smashing windows, assaulting Capitol officers and conspiring to overthrow or interfere with the government -- not a single charge has been dismissed by any federal (or state) court on the grounds that the Second Amendment or any other part of the Constitution gives them the right to engage in violent insurrection against the government.... The Constitution treats insurrection and rebellion as political dangers, not protected rights. Article I gives Congress the power to 'provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.'" [Raskin also cites Article IV & the 14th Amendment, which grant the federal government the power to put down "domestic violence" and "rebellion."] "The Supreme Court has been clear that the Second Amendment's reference to a 'well-regulated militia' means well-regulated by the government."

Marie: Maybe Reality Chex should go commercial. How about I try to get a big oil company to back me? RAS found this ad that would be perfect: ~~~

     ~~~ Via RAS, via Crooks & Liars, via Common Dreams, by director Adam McKay. Thanks, everybody!

Marie's Question of the Day: Why is it that so many (alleged!) virulent, murderous racists (WashPo link) look as if they could play Evil Santa? Even without makeup, these horrible miscreants are ready for their closeup. (Currently -- at 7 am ET -- photos of these fat pink fucks' faces also appear on the front page of the WashPo, so you can see what I mean without clicking on a firewalled page.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times: "... while officials along much of [the southwest Florida] coastline responded [ahead of Hurricane Ian] with orders to evacuate on Monday, emergency managers in Lee County held off, pondering during the day whether to tell people to flee, but then deciding to see how the forecast evolved overnight.... Lee County, which includes the hard-hit seaside community of Fort Myers Beach, as well as the towns of Fort Myers, Sanibel and Cape Coral, did not issue a mandatory evacuation order for the areas likely to be hardest hit until Tuesday morning, a day after several neighboring counties had ordered their most vulnerable residents to flee.... [the Lee County] delay, an apparent violation of the meticulous evacuation strategy the county had crafted for just such an emergency, may have contributed to catastrophic consequences that are still coming into focus as the death toll continues to climb. At least 16 storm-related deaths have been identified in Lee County, the highest toll anywhere in the state...."

    ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Lee County, this is the best they ever have done. It's true the messages came late, but I received four phone calls from Lee County emergency services (even though I haven't lived there for several years). I have never received advisory phone calls or text messages from Lee County prior to this so I have relied on weather reports to assess my own situation. To get elected a county commissioner in Lee County, you have to be a Republican. And you know, Republicans don't want to impinge upon your freeeedom.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: The most frustrating part of national reporting on Hurricane Ian is that reporters have no idea what area or town they're describing. So, for instance, CNN & MSNBC have reported massive destruction in Fort Myers -- over videos of massive destruction in Fort Myers Beach, a barrier island some 10 miles away from Fort Myers. Or they showed areas of North Fort Myers -- an unincorporated, low-lying area separated from Fort Myers by a mile-plus-wide river -- as Fort Myers. If the shots are wide enough, locals can tell what they're looking at, but others don't know. It's reasonable to assume this geographical ignorance is a commonly repeated error and that the networks often misinform viewers in this manner.

Georgia. Kate Brumback of the AP: "A federal judge on Friday found that Georgia election practices challenged by a group associated with Democrat Stacey Abrams do not violate the constitutional rights of voters, ruling in favor of the state on all remaining issues in a lawsuit filed nearly four years ago. 'Although Georgia's election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the VRA,' U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote, referring to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He detailed his reasoning in a 288-page order." MB: President Obama appointed Judge Jones.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Ukrainian forces say they have surrounded Russian forces in the eastern city of Lyman, pressing their counterattacks in a region that Moscow now claims as its own. Ukrainian forces advanced on the key transport hub overnight even as Russia put on a show of celebrating its annexation of Ukrainian territory with a grand ceremony and a pop concert in Moscow.... Ukrainian state firm Energoatom said the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant went missing, and accused a Russian patrol of detaining him after he left the facility Friday in his car. 'For the time being, there is no information on his fate,' the nuclear operator said early Saturday, appealing to the U.N. nuclear watchdog for help.... A U.N. resolution calling on 'all states' not to recognize Russian annexation failed to pass at the Security Council on Friday after Russias veto. Four nations, including China and India, abstained from voting on the resolution, which condemned Russia's 'illegal, so-called referenda' in Ukraine.... The United States sees no indications Russia is about to use nuclear weapons but is taking the threat 'very seriously,' U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday."

Vlad the Imperial. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Amid patriotic pageantry hyped up by the fervor of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a flagrant violation of international law that stands to escalate and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, sharpen Moscow's confrontation with the West and add to the Kremlin's growing global isolation. At a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, attended by senior political and military officials, members of parliament and even Russian war bloggers, Putin on Friday signed so-called accession treaties to absorb the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Patriotic music played ahead of the signing ritual, in which Putin sat at one white gold-trimmed desk and four proxy leaders of the occupied regions sat at another. Once the documents were signed, Putin and the four proxy leaders held hands and chanted 'Russia! Russia! Russia!' to cheers and applause from the audience." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ MB: You can see where Trump was a failed wannabe Putin. He tried to annex Greenland by buying it from Denmark, when all he had to do was get "his" generals to drop a few bombs, then hold a ceremony in a room furnished with gaudy Trumpian furniture, sign an executive order & lead a chant of "USA! USA!" What a wimp! ~~~

~~~ Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "The United States and its allies hit back at Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday, slapping sanctions on more than 1,000 people and companies including arms supply networks as President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin he can't 'get away with' seizing Ukrainian land. The Russian annexation, though expected, escalated an already heated conflict that's become fraught with potential nuclear implications." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "President Biden condemned Russia's claimed annexation of captured Ukrainian territory on Friday, responding to Moscow's latest escalation with a range of sanctions and a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin that the United States would defend 'every single inch' of NATO territory from a potential attack.... World leaders rallied around Mr. Biden in a forceful collective denunciation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.... Even among Russia's traditional allies, no country stepped forward to recognize the annexation." ~~~

~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukraine is applying for 'accelerated ascension' into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia's move to illegally annex four of the country's partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under collective defense obligations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. A New King Is Minted. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday. The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Ledes

NBC News: "The death toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to more than 77 as one of strongest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving in its wake a trifecta of misery --- dangerous flooding, power outages and massive destruction."

Washington Post: "Hurricane Ian made landfall for the second time this week on Friday, crashing into coastal South Carolina as a Category 1 storm that brought lashing rains and storm surge but appeared unlikely to wreak the sort of devastation that was still emerging in Florida. There, the vast parameters of the damage became more evident as emergency crews pulled people and bodies from streets -- some still flooded and others dry but strewn with wreckage. About 34,000 Floridians had filed for federal emergency aid, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said. At least 23 people had been determined to be victims of the storm as of Friday evening, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said, but officials cautioned that confirming causes of death was a slow and deliberate process and said the toll was likely to rise as medical examiners completed more autopsies" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Hurricane Ian developments are here.

September 30, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package that would keep the government open through mid-December, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine. The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse, clearing it for President Biden's signature. It would keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills. The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War...."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, was welcomed by her colleagues on Friday at an investiture ceremony at the court that was attended by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The proceedings were 'purely ceremonial,' the court's public information office noted, as Justice Jackson has been a member of the court since she was sworn in on June 30. But the event was nonetheless stately and steeped in history." MB: Yeah, welcome to a hot mess.

Trump Legal "Team."Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... just a few weeks after ... Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago..., he finds himself in a battle, trying to persuade Trump to go along with his legal strategy and fighting with some other advisers who have counseled a more aggressive posture. The dispute has raged for at least a week, Trump advisers say, with the former president listening as various lawyers make their best arguments.... [Kise] remains part of the team and will continue assisting Trump in dealing with some of his other legal problems..., but on the Mar-a-Lago issue, he is likely to have a less public role.... Trump seems, at least for now, to be heeding advice from those [lawyers] who have indulged his desire to fight."

Ukraine, et al. Vlad the Imperial. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Amid patriotic pageantry hyped up by the fervor of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a flagrant violation of international law that stands to escalate and prolong the military conflict in Ukraine, sharpen Moscow's confrontation with the West and add to the Kremlin's growing global isolation. At a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, attended by senior political and military officials, members of parliament and even Russia war bloggers, Putin on Friday signed so-called accession treaties to absorb the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Patrioti music played ahead of the signing ritual, in which Putin sat at one white gold-trimmed desk and four proxy leaders of the occupied regions sat at another. Once the documents were signed, Putin and the four proxy leaders held hands and chanted 'Russia! Russia! Russia!' to cheers and applause from the audience." ~~~

     ~~~ MB: You can see where Trump was a failed wannabe Putin. He tried to annex Greenland by buying it from Denmark, when all he had to do was get "his" generals to drop a few bombs, then hold a ceremony in a room furnished with gaudy Trumpian furniture, sign an executive order & lead a chant of "USA! USA!" What a wimp! ~~~

~~~ Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "The United States and its allies hit back at Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday, slapping sanctions on more than 1,000 people and companies including arms supply networks as President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin he can't 'get away with' seizing Ukrainian land. The Russian annexation, though expected, escalated an already heated conflict that's become fraught with potential nuclear implications." ~~~

~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukraine is applying for 'accelerated ascension' into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia's move to illegally annex four of the country's partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under collective defense obligations."

U.K. A New King Is Minted. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday. The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week."

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Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday approved a temporary spending package to keep the government funded past a Friday deadline and send another significant round of emergency aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, punting negotiations on a longer-term funding measure until after the November elections. The legislation, which would extend government funding through Dec. 16, passed 72 to 25. That sent it to the House, which was expected to quickly pass the measure, sending it to President Biden for his signature before funding was scheduled to lapse at midnight Sept. 30." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Little Miss Trumpy Judge Steps in to Save Trump from His Lies. Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday eased several demands a special master had imposed on ... Donald J. Trump's lawyers in conducting a review of documents the F.B.I. seized from his residence last month, overruling an arbiter she had appointed herself. In a six-page order, Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida set aside requirements the special master, Judge Raymond J. Dearie, put in place in recent days that would have tested excuses Mr. Trump has made in connection with the trove of documents taken from his estate, Mar-a-Lago. Judge Cannon also rejected a swift timetable Judge Dearie had set to resolve the review of the documents, slowing the matter down.... The first provision Judge Cannon set aside was a measure that had asked Mr. Trump's lawyers to certify by Friday the accuracy of the F.B.I.'s inventory of the property it seized from Mar-a-Lago --and to indicate whether there was anything that agents did not take from the compound." An ABC News story is here.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Michael Kruse, in Politico Magazine, writes about reporter Maggie Haberman, who has been reporting on Donald Trump for decades.

Luke Broadwater & Stephanie Lai of the New York Times: "Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas and a conservative activist who pushed to overturn the 2020 election, told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that she never discussed those efforts with her husband, during a closed-door interview in which she continued to perpetuate the false claim that the election was stolen.... In her statement [which she read in the beginning of her testimony], a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Ms. Thomas called it 'an ironclad rule' that she and Justice Thomas never speak about cases pending before the Supreme Court.... 'She answered all the committee's questions,' [her lawyer] said in a statement."

It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit. But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line. -- Justice Samuel Alito, to the Wall Street Journal

Thank you, Kind Sir, for generously allowing us to disagree with your specious, 12th-century arguments depriving women of Constitutional rights. And you can imagine how heartily sorry I am for leaving the impression that I thought you had any integrity to question. Just to be on the safe side, I'll apologize for agreeing with Akhilleus, when he recently accused one of your fellow justices of being corrupt just because said justice's wife accepted bribes in a substantial amount, bribes which went into the family's joint account, bribes upon which the couple did not pay the taxes owing. I suppose we could be accused of questioning the justice's integrity. Oh, for shame. It does look as if we "crossed an important line" here, and I don't know what to do about it. Except maybe dig in and double down, you hateful, cruel, arrogant bastid. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "When Republican-appointed justices ignore precedents they'd previously said they'd uphold, it undermines the court's legitimacy. When Republican-appointed justices deliver overtly political speeches, it undermines the court's legitimacy. When Republican-appointed justices take aim at fundamental American principles, such as the separation of church and state, in displays of raw power, it undermines the court's legitimacy. Alito is apparently of the opinion that the current court's critics have crossed an important line. But in reality, if anyone's gone too far in an irresponsible direction, it's Alito." MB: And what about when a Republican-appointed justice sends his wife up to Capitol Hill to declare that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election?

Hailey Fuchs, et al., of Politico explore how Supreme Court justices, especially CJ John Roberts, Clarence Thomas & Amy Barrett, protect their spouses' substantial incomes from scrutiny, even though some of the sources of the spouses' incomes come from clients who pose conflicts of interest for the justices. For instance, "In the Supreme Court's notoriously porous ethical disclosure system, Barrett not only withholds her husband's clients, but redacted the name of [her husband's law firm] itself in her most recent disclosure." MB: IOW, "We're corrupt and there's nothing you can do about it."

Michael Stratford of Politico: "The Biden administration is scaling back its debt relief program for millions of Americans over concerns about legal challenges from the student loan industry as well as a new lawsuit from Republican-led states. In a reversal, the Education Department said on Thursday it would no longer allow borrowers who have federal student loans that are owned by private entities to qualify for the relief program. The administration had previously said those borrowers would have a path to receive up to $10,000 or $20,000 of loan forgiveness.... The student loans that are guaranteed by the federal government but held by private entities account for a relatively small, and shrinking, subset of all outstanding federal student debt.... The privately held federal student loans featured prominently in the new lawsuit filed by GOP attorneys general on Thursday." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Six Republican-led states took legal action Thursday to block President Biden from wiping away billions of dollars in student loan debt, even as the administration tried to avoid a court challenge by reducing the number of people eligible for relief. A lawsuit filed in federal court by Leslie Rutledge, the Republican attorney general of Arkansas, accuses Mr. Biden of vastly overstepping his authority last month when he announced the government would forgive as much as $20,000 per person in student loan debt, a far-reaching move that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated could cost $400 billion over the course of the next three decades." MB: Because it would be terrible if young people, especially those from poor families, didn't enter their adult lives with huge debt.

Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday overcame doubts from agency scientists and approved a fiercely debated drug for ALS, a move that heartened patients and advocates who pushed for the medication but raised concerns among some experts about whether treatments for dire conditions receive sufficient scrutiny."

Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "A wife and husband from Maryland have been charged with conspiring to provide the Russian government with personal medical records from the US government and military, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment. Anna Gabrielian, an anesthesiologist practicing in Baltimore, along with her husband, Jamie Lee Henry, a major and doctor in the US Army, allegedly provided 'individually identifiable health information,' which is protected under federal law, to an FBI undercover agent posing as a Russian government employee." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the 'put it on the credit card mentality' he had come to Washington to oppose.... Nearly a decade later, as his state confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis ...[went on Tucker Carlson's show [to outline] his request for full federal reimbursement up front for 60 days and [to urge] the Biden administration to do the right thing.... The present circumstances have inspired a less swaggering posture toward a leader whom Mr. DeSantis has long called 'Brandon' as a recurring troll, aimed at the man he might like to succeed.... 'Ironically,' said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida, 'there's nobody in America that Ron DeSantis needs more than Joe Biden.'"

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Two unauthorized migrants were shot, one of them fatally, by two men in a pickup truck that approached them as they walked along a roadway in West Texas, according to court documents filed on Thursday. After the shooting, which took place on Tuesday evening, the truck was found parked at a home in Hudspeth County, a rural area east of El Paso that runs from the border with Mexico to the state line of New Mexico. Two men were arrested in connection with the shooting, law enforcement officials said: Michael Sheppard, the warden at a local privately run detention center, and his twin brother, Mark Sheppard. Both men were charged with manslaughter, according to affidavits filed by investigators in the case." MB: Manslaughter? Sounds like cold-blooded murder to me. The article includes details of the circumstances in which one of the men shot the migrants. A Texas Tribune story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ryan Devereaux of the Intercept: "For Michael Sheppard, it was the latest in a string of allegations of violence against immigrants going back years, with claims so severe that a federal prosecutor at one point sought the attention of the FBI. As The Intercept reported in 2018, Sheppard, in his capacity as warden of ICE's Sierra Blanca facility, was accused of participating in and overseeing the sadistic abuse of group of African migrants and asylum-seekers. In interviews with legal advocates, 30 men from Somalia described a 'week of hell' in which they were pepper-sprayed, beaten, threatened, taunted with racial slurs, and subjected to sexual abuse by officials answering to Sheppard and in some cases by Sheppard himself.... The 2018 report was only the latest in a series to document highly abusive conditions in the Sierra Blanca facility under Sheppard's watch."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.: "... Vladimir Putin will formally move Friday toward annexing four regions in Ukraine, after staging referendums that were widely denounced as illegal. In a grand ceremony at the Kremlin, he is expected to sign so-called 'accession treaties' for parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Putin signed two decrees late Thursday recognizing occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as 'independent' territories, a step toward annexation. Moscow already recognizes the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent republics. Russian officials have warned that once Russia absorbs the Ukrainian territories, it will use all means to defend them, including nuclear weapons." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here.

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Queen Elizabeth II died of 'old age,' according to her death certificate, which was released on Thursday by the registrar general of Scotland. The certificate, which lists her occupation as Her Majesty the Queen, also notes that the queen died at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle.... The report offers no further details about the cause of her death, which came two days after she was photographed standing and smiling as she greeted Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss. The time of death, just after 3 p.m., is more revealing, coming more than three hours before Buckingham Palace announced it at 6:30 p.m. That indicates none of her family saw the queen just before her death, aside from King Charles III and his sister, Princess Anne, who were both already in Scotland on official duties." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday associated with Hurricane Ian are here. Access to the page is free to nonsubscribers. The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here.