July 3, 2022

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post looks at the Secret Service's role in the January 6, 2021, coup attempt. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Washington Post Editors: The DOJ has no choice but to investigate Donald Trump and others for their parts in the January 6, 2021, coup plot. "The Justice Department has investigative powers that the Jan. 6 committee does not, and there are critical questions that remain unanswered. [AG Merrick] Garland should have no higher priority than using these powers to investigate all of those involved in one of the darkest days in American history."

Fox "News" Makes Viewers Crazy & Stupid. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "A whopping 68% of Fox News viewers blame the Jan. 6 attack on 'Left-wing protesters trying to make Trump look bad,' the most of any viewership group by almost double.

Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "Attempting to recover from their staggering loss in the Supreme Court, abortion rights groups have mounted a multilevel legal and political attack aimed at blocking and reversing abortion bans in courts and at ballot boxes across the country. In the week since the court overturned Roe v. Wade, litigators for abortion rights groups have rolled out a wave of lawsuits in nearly a dozen states to hold off bans triggered by the court's decision, with the promise of more suits to come. They are aiming to prove that provisions in state constitutions establish a right to abortion that the Supreme Court's decision said did not exist in the U.S. Constitution. Advocates of abortion rights are also working to defeat ballot initiatives that would strip away a constitutional right to abortion, and to pass those that would establish one.... And after years of complaints that Democrats neglected state and local elections, Democratic-aligned groups are campaigning to reverse slim Republican majorities in some state legislatures...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While this campaign is a necessity that is all well & good, only the last item on the agenda -- winning majorities in state houses -- gets anywhere near the heart of the problem. Even that is just chipping at the edges of the crisis. As shocking and inhumane as overturning Roe is, the Dobbs decision is just the start of the confederate Supremes' extreme, radical agenda. Confederate Supremes have been chipping away at voting rights for years, and they have just taken a case that -- if they rule for the state, as four of them have suggested they might -- will essentially eliminate voting rights altogether. Clarence Thomas has a plan to overturn gay rights & gay marriage as well as the right to contraception. It is not just abortion rights that must be restored; the entire Court apparatus must somehow be rejiggered. I wish I could see a clear path to getting that done, and at this point I cannot. This country is undergoing an existential crisis, and too few of us have figured that out. Moreover, from what I can see from my window, the vast majority of voters do not have the intellectual capacity or the interest to understand what is happening. So restoring abortion rights, yes. But that is not nearly enough.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "... thanks to legislative gridlock, Congress very seldom responds these days to Supreme Court decisions interpreting its statutes -- and that means the balance of power between the branches has shifted, with the justices ascendant.... Congress has largely fallen silent as a partisan stalemate has gripped Capitol Hill, aggravated by the increased use of the filibuster, which has blocked almost all major legislation in an evenly divided Senate.... There are many ... cases in which the court merely interprets statutes enacted by Congress. Its task in those cases is to determine what a law means, not to test its constitutionality. If Congress disagrees with the court's interpretation, it is free to override the decision.... But if recent practices are any guide, congressional action is unlikely." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is very bipartisany of Liptak, but the problem lies principally with Republicans, whose refusal to act on Supreme Court rulings to repair laws, largely because Republicans like the rulings that strike down the laws. The Republican party is an anti-government, states-rights, corporation-loving party, and Republicans will do nothing to clarify laws that give them or the administration authority to oversee or regulate activities of the states and private entities. ~~~

Leah Litman, et al., in a Washington Post op-ed: In a North Carolina "case, Moore v. Harper, the justices will review a North Carolina Supreme Court decision holding that the state constitution prohibits extreme partisan gerrymanders. The Supreme Court's choice to take the case could presage yet another decision that will undermine democracy, by prohibiting other government institutions -- here, state courts -- from protecting voting rights and democracy. Just three years ago, a 5-to-4 Supreme Court prohibited federal courts from addressing whether extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the Constitution. But don't worry, the court said, state courts can curb the practice if they conclude it violates state constitutions. Harper invites the Supreme Court to go back on that promise." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The authors write that "... even if the court embraces the revanchist [independent state legislature theory], that would not permit state legislatures to throw out votes already cast to appoint presidential electors of their choosing. The federal Constitution prohibits states from disregarding votes already cast, no matter what the court might say in Harper." Their assertion gives me no confidence whatsoever. I promise you Clarence Thomas & Co. can think up "reasons" to disregard or "reinterpret" this Constitutional provision. Just this last week, they had no trouble at all disregarding the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, one of the best known guarantees in the Bill of Rights. ~~~

~~~ Sam Levine of the Guardian cites some legal experts, including Litman, who opine that the Court has gone bonkers and is just making up stuff to back up its radical rulings: "The court's turn has prompted glaring warnings, both to the public and to history, from its three liberal justices, who have been in the minority in all of the major cases. In December, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wondered aloud whether the court would be able to survive the 'stench' that would come from overturning Roe v Wade and the perception that the court is a political body. She said she didn't think it was possible the court would survive. Months later, when the court did overturn Roe, Stephen Breyer, writing on behalf of the three liberal justices, quoted Thurgood Marshall and wrote: 'Power, not reason, is the new currency of this Court's decisionmaking.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "New civics training for Florida public school teachers comes with a dose of Christian dogma, some teachers say, and they worry that it also sanitizes history and promotes inaccuracies. Included in the training is the statement that it is a 'misconception' that 'the Founders desired strict separation of church and state.' Other materials included fragments of statements that were 'cherry-picked' to present a more conservative view of American history, some attendees said.... Some slides in a presentation pointed out that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson repudiated slavery; unsaid is that both men held enslaved people and helped worked toward a Constitution that enshrined the practice.... Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has made civics teaching a cornerstone of his education policy, and he says he's fighting back against 'woke indoctrination' of students by teachers from kindergarten to colleges." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. Shimon Prokupecz, et al., of CNN: "Uvalde school district police chief Pedro 'Pete' Arredondo has resigned his separate position on the Uvalde city council in the wake of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in May, according to a statement attributed to him in Saturday's Uvalde Leader-News.... Arredondo's resignation from the city council 'is the right thing to do,' the city said in a news release Saturday responding to the Leader-News' report. But no one from city government 'has seen a letter or any other documentation of his resignation, or spoken with him,' the release reads.... [Arredondo] had not yet attended any public meeting [of the council]. Council members unanimously voted to deny him a leave of absence from future sessions, leaving open the possibility that he could have been removed from office if he continued to miss meetings.... Arredondo was placed on leave from his job as school district police chief by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District last week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's ware on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "... in the early hours Sunday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said explosions in the Russian city of Belgorod killed three people and injured four.... Russia runs supply and communication lines into Ukraine from Belgorod, about 25 miles from the border."

~~~ Dan Lamothe & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The shifting nature of the war in Ukraine has prompted a split among analysts and U.S. lawmakers, with some questioning whether American officials have portrayed the crisis in overly rosy terms while others say the government in Kyiv can win with more help from the West.... 'I don't know ... how it's going to end,' [President Biden] said [Thursday], 'but it will not end with a Russian defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine.'... U.S. officials have downplayed [Russian] gains, calling them halting and incremental, while highlighting the significant number of Russian military fatalities that have come as a result.... Scrutiny [of the U.S. assessment] is fueled by U.S. government assessments of other wars, notably in Afghanistan, where U.S. officials habitually glossed over widespread dysfunction and corruption and sidestepped questions of whether battlefield successes were not only achievable but sustainable."

July 2, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post looks at the Secret Service's role in the January 6, 2021, coup attempt.

Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "New civics training for Florida public school teachers comes with a dose of Christian dogma, some teachers say, and they worry that it also sanitizes history and promotes inaccuracies. Included in the training is the statement that it is a 'misconception' that 'the Founders desired strict separation of church and state.' Other materials included fragments of statements that were 'cherry-picked' to present a more conservative view of American history, some attendees said.... Some slides in a presentation pointed out that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson repudiated slavery; unsaid is that both men held enslaved people and helped worked toward a Constitution that enshrined the practice.... Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has made civics teaching a cornerstone of his education policy, and he says he's fighting back against 'woke indoctrination' of students by teachers from kindergarten to colleges."

Texas. Shimon Prokupecz, et al., of CNN: "Uvalde school district police chief Pedro 'Pete' Arredondo has resigned his separate position on the Uvalde city council in the wake of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in May, according to a statement attributed to him in Saturday's Uvalde Leader-News.... Arredondo's resignation from the city council 'is the right thing to do,' the city said in a news release Saturday responding to the Leader-News' report. But no one from city government 'has seen a letter or any other documentation of his resignation, or spoken with him,' the release reads.... [Arredondo] had not yet attended any public meeting [of the council]. Council members unanimously voted to deny him a leave of absence from future sessions, leaving open the possibility that he could have been removed from office if he continued to miss meetings.... Arredondo was placed on leave from his job as school district police chief by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District last week."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maegan Vazquez, et al., of CNN: Kentucky Democrats have expressed outrage at President Biden's plan to nominate a conservative Republican anti-abortion lawyer to a lifetime federal judgeship. "... on Friday, US District Court Judge Karen K. Caldwell of the Eastern District of Kentucky was added to a public list of future federal judicial vacancies, clearing a path for [Chad] Meredith to potentially join the court.... Biden's prospective nomination comes just as the President is pledging to use everything within his power to fight for abortion rights.... Meredith previously worked as then-Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's deputy counsel, defending a state law [restricting abortions].... [Gov. Andy] Beshear [D] [said]: 'If the President makes that nomination, it is indefensible.' The governor also criticized Meredith's involvement in Bevin's decision to issue hundreds of pardons before leaving office, which included forgiveness for a variety of violent acts such as murder and rape." ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Shuham's post for TPM -- which is otherwise a straight news story -- is titled, "Why On Earth Would Biden Do A "Deal" With McConnell For An Anti-Abortion Judge?" He a number of connected Democrats who are mystified by/irate about the reported nomination. ~~~

     ~~~ Mark Stern of Slate writes that the deal is still on. His post is firewalled, but Balloon Juice published a short excerpt that includes this tidbit and a reminder: "The deal hinges on Judge Karen Kaye Caldwell, a GWB nominee who agreed to take senior status *on the condition* that Biden and McConnell name a conservative to replace her. That's why there was no public vacancy when this story first broke. The White House was supposed to consult with @RepJohnYarmuth and @AndyBeshearKY on judicial nominees when a vacancy arose, but cut this deal with McConnell instead. [Rep. John] Yarmuth [D] and [Gov. Andy] Beshear [D] were blindsided because only the White House knew about the vacancy." Balloon Juice's mistermix sez, "... Caldwell should sit on the bench until she dries up and blows away, and I hope her hemorrhoids give her daily pain during her extended time in service. Judges already think they're God -- hopefully we can make an example of one who's trying to manipulate the appointment process this baldly." Speaking of balloons, we can hope this is a trial balloon. If so, we can do something about it. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This planned appointment is in-sane. Ali Velshi said on MSNBC that what Biden is getting for a deal he reportedly made with Mitch McConnell is two U.S. attorneys, whose tenure is of course limited to the president's term. If Biden really made this deal, he got rolled. There is zero upside to it. Zero. If you want to contact Biden, as I did, & tell him not to make this idiotic nomi nation, here's the page to email, phone or write via snail-mail.

~~~ Marie: It looks as if Biden has decided the best way forward is to infuriate women, Democrats, liberals and environmentalists. You know, a good chunk of his base. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Biden administration announced its plan for oil and gas drilling off the coasts of the United States, closing off the possibility of new leases in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans but potentially allowing new lease sales in both the Gulf of Mexico and in Cook Inlet in Alaska. By law, the Department of the Interior is required to issue a plan for new oil and gas leases in federal waters every five years.... President Biden ... wants to scale back drilling to fight climate change at the same time gas prices are rising, allowing his Republican critics to blame his climate policies for pain at the pump. In fact..., the jump in oil prices is a result of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.... It takes years between the time a drilling lease is issued and when gasoline flows to gas stations.... With the release of the plan, the Biden administration risks angering both the fossil fuel industry and environmental advocates."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Friday that he will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week to 17 leaders from the worlds of politics, civil rights, sports, business, education and entertainment, including the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, the actor Denzel Washington and the first American to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The recipients, the first of his presidency, include a variety of barrier-breaking figures familiar to many Americans as well as prominent political veterans Mr. Biden has known over the years. The list includes three posthumous award recipients: Steve Jobs, the pioneering co-founder of Apple; John McCain, the longtime Republican senator and two-time presidential candidate; and Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president and Democratic power broker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the list of recipients, via the White House. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times: "Republicans are bracing for Donald J. Trump to announce an unusually early bid for the White House, a move designed in part to shield the former president from a stream of damaging revelations emerging from investigations into his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.... He has accelerated his planning [for a presidential* run] in recent weeks.... Rather than humble Mr. Trump, [recent] developments [-- including losses by several primary-election candidates he endorsed --] have emboldened him to try to reassert himself as the head of the party, eclipse damaging headlines and steal attention from potential rivals, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a rising favorite of donors and voters. Republicans close to Mr. Trump have said he believes a formal announcement would bolster his claims that the investigations are politically motivated." A CNN report is here.

Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "The investigation by federal prosecutors and securities regulators into a proposed merger between a cash-rich blank check company and ... Donald J. Trump's social media company has gotten closer to Mr. Trump's end of the deal. Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas on Trump Media & Technology Group and 'certain current and former TMTG personnel,' according to a regulatory filing on Friday by Digital World Acquisition, the special purpose acquisition company that has a tentative deal to merge with Trump Media. Grand jury subpoenas are typically issued in connection with a potential criminal investigation. The filing said the Securities and Exchange Commission also served a subpoena on Trump Media this week." MB: Here's hoping "certain TMTG personnel" include Trump & Devin Nunes.

Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "Toward the end of 2020..., Donald Trump began raising a new idea with aides: that he would personally lead a march to the Capitol on the following Jan. 6. Trump brought it up repeatedly with key advisers in the Oval Office, according to a person who talked with him about it. The president told others he wanted a dramatic, made-for-TV moment that could pressure Republican lawmakers to support his demand to throw out the electoral college results showing that Joe Biden had defeated him, the person said.... But ... several of his advisers doubted he meant it or didn't take the suggestion seriously.... As a result, the White House staff never turned Trump's stated desires into concrete plans.... This account of Trump's ceaseless plotting to join the mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is based on committee testimony and evidence as well as 15 former officials, aides, law enforcement officials and others...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What comes out from this report is that top staff considered Trump a blowhard given to braggadocio whom they could manipulate into behaving more presidenty. After the stroll to St. John's Church & the show-drive when he was deathly-ill with Covid, they should have known better. But then again, there may have been numerous other wild Trump "proposals," of which we are not aware, that they had thwarted. ~~~

~~~ Noah Gray & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn't get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred. The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident -- including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 -- in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack.... Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story ... that the former President said something similar to: 'I'm the f**king President of the United States, you can't tell me what to do.' The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident. 'He had sort of lunged forward -- it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I don't know,' the source said. 'Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat.'... The source added that agents often recounted stories of Trump's fits of anger, including the former President throwing and breaking things." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump is so unconcerned by Cassidy Hutchinson testimony he insists is false, he went on a social media rant suggesting she be criminally prosecuted. For several days, Trump has been lobbing social media grenades at Hutchinson, the former top aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows -- dropped bombshell after bombshell at Tuesday's surprise hearing of the January 6 committee." MB: Trump can't abide a woman getting the better of him.

Lock Him Up. Alan Rozenshtein & Jed Shugerman in Lawfare: "Until Tuesday, we had both publicly stated that the Department of Justice had insufficient evidence to indict former President Trump for his conduct on Jan. 6.... But Tuesday's explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson ... changed our minds. In particular, Hutchinson testified to hearing Trump order that the magnetometers (metal detectors) used to keep armed people away from the president be removed: 'I don't fucking care that they have weapons, they're not here to hurt me. They're not here to hurt me. Take the fucking mags [magnetometers] away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here; let the people in and take the mags away.'... These utterances by Trump (as alleged by Hutchinson) were not political speech. They serve as additional proof of intent and context, and -- crucially -- a material act to increase the likelihood of violence. This easily distinguishes Trump's speech at the rally from other kinds of core political speech that should never be criminalized."

Oliver O'Connell of the Independent, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump Jr. ... [referred] to ... Cassidy Hutchinson as a 'coffee girl'.... Mr Trump Jr posted on Truth Social: 'It's pretty surreal watching the CNNs of the world still pretending that there aren't multiple actual witnesses willing to testify that the fake bombshell hearsay testimony they're salivating over isn't demonstrably false and that their dream witness/coffee girl perjured herself!'." MB: Missed this when it was first published. Please see Akhilleus' comment in yesterday's, which expresses my sentiments, too. Junior is so fucking clueless that he doesn't understand that he's nothing compared to Hutchinson. Junior is so stupid he couldn't even get a job as a coffee boy in his daddy's White House, a job which Patrick pointed out (also in yesterday's thread) goes to "mess boys," young men who are no doubt also smarter & more competent than Junior. Moreover, quite a few of well-known coffee boys in the White House -- like Mark Meadows, Pat Cipollone & Tony Ornato -- did enjoy confiding in Hutchinson. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here, James Corden shows he would be a way better coffee boy than Junior ever could be:

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rudy Giuliani insisted on Twitter that Cassidy Hutchinson was 'never present' when he asked ... Donald Trump when he asked for a pardon, and then deleted it." (Also linked yesterday.)

This phony 'doctrine' is an anti-democratic Republican power grab masquerading as legal theory. It was cooked up in a right-wing legal hothouse by political operatives looking to give state legislatures the power to overturn the will of American voters in future elections. -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) ~~~

~~~ The Rolling Coup, Ctd. Colby Itkowitz & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "Voting rights advocates expressed alarm Friday, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court said it will consider a conservative legal theory giving state legislatures virtually unchecked power over federal elections, warning that it could erode basic tenets of American democracy.... In its most far-reaching interpretation, [the 'independent legislature theory,'] could cut governors and state courts out of the decision-making process on election laws while giving state lawmakers free rein to change rules to favor their own party. The impact could extend to presidential elections in 2024 and beyond, experts say, making it easier for a legislature to disregard the will of its state's citizens. This immense power would go to legislative bodies that are themselves undemocratic, many advocates say, because they have been gerrymandered.... The case could also open the door for state legislatures to claim ultimate control over electors in presidential elections, said Marc Elias, veteran Democratic voting rights attorney." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We need to get over the idea we live in a democratic republic. Instead, we live in a country where the right-wing minority is oppressing the majority. Trump's violent coup attempt in January 2021 was just a tiny, unsuccessful battle in a much larger and longer war against typical Western liberal democracy. ~~~

~~~ ** The Supreme Court Is (Potentially) Not So Supreme. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The Constitution then states that in [most] cases, 'the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction.'... But then the Constitution tells us that the court's appellate jurisdiction is subject to 'such Exceptions' and 'under such Regulations' as 'the Congress shall make.'... The court's appellate jurisdiction accounts for virtually everything it touches. And the Constitution says that Congress can regulate the nature of that jurisdiction. Congress can strip the court of its ability to hear certain cases, or it can mandate new rules for how the court decides cases where it has appellate jurisdiction.... The modern Congress has largely relinquished its power to regulate and structure the court.... The Constitution [also says,] 'The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government....' But neither Congress nor the courts have ever said ... what it means for the United States to guarantee to every state a 'republican form of government.'... The Constitution gives our elected officials the power to restrain a lawless Supreme Court, protect citizens from the 'sinister legislation' of the states, punish those states for depriving their residents of the right to vote and expel insurrectionists from Congress." Read the whole column. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sounds like a possible route to curbing the reach of the Supremes. But as Bouie himself writes, "Article 3 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court 'original jurisdiction' in all cases affecting 'Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party.'" [Emphasis added.] And if you'll notice, states seem to be parties in many of the most consequential cases. For instance in Dobbs -- the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade -- Dobbs is the name of a Mississippi state health official. Bouie implies that the Supremes don't have original jurisdiction in state cases because "most cases involving states occur in the lower federal courts established by Congress." Apparently Bouie is arguing that Congress could forbid the Supreme Court from hearing state cases decided in lower courts. I'm not sure how much of an improvement that would be. Anyway, Bouie's column is food for thought.

Jasmine Hilton & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court's chief security officer has penned letters requesting that top Maryland officials direct police to enforce laws 'that squarely prohibit picketing at the homes of Supreme Court Justices' following weeks of protests outside their houses in Montgomery County.In two separate letters reviewed by The Washington Post, one addressed to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and another to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D), Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley says protests and 'threatening activity' has increased since May at justices' homes in Maryland.... The ongoing demonstrations outside of justices' homes have sparked legal debate over whether laws banning picketing outside of the private homes of judges are constitutional." MB: The Supremes don't care much about the First Amendment, and certainly not when it comes up against their own convenience. Just this week they ate into the Establishment Clause again.

Nico Grant of the New York Times: "Google said on Friday that it would delete abortion clinic visits from the location history of its users, in the company's first effort to address how it will handle sensitive data in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.... The policy will also apply to trips to fertility clinics, domestic violence shelters, addiction treatment facilities and other sensitive locations. Google, which holds reams of intimate information about its billions of users, has come under scrutiny since the Supreme Court's decision last week to strike down Roe v. Wade.... The Alphabet Workers Union, a group representing more than 800 people who work for Google's parent company, Alphabet, demanded on Tuesday that the search giant delete any personal data that law enforcement could try to use to prosecute those who are getting abortions." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I must say I'm no technical wiz, but I don't see how this would work. How can Google possibly know where a woman is going when she leaves her home on any given day? Does she have to tell a phone app, "I'm going to my gynecologist now"? "I'm going to New York to get an abortion now"? That seems even more dangerous than offering no information at all.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida, the Crappy Schools State. Susan Svrluga & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "In his efforts to remake higher education in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed laws that alter the tenure system, remove Florida universities from commonly accepted accreditation practices, and mandate annual 'viewpoint diversity surveys' from students and faculty. DeSantis (R) also pushed through legislation he dubbed the 'Stop WOKE Act' that regulates what schools, including universities, and workplaces can teach about race and identity. The legislation -- which went into effect Friday -- already faces a legal challenge.... Meanwhile, the board of governors for Florida's public university system took initial steps Thursday to approve regulations for enforcing the law, with potential penalties including discipline and termination for employees who do not comply. The law also ties some university funding to compliance." ~~~

~~~ Florida, the Crappy Schools State, Ctd. Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "Florida's Parental Rights in Education Law, popularly known by critics as the 'don’t say gay' bill, went into effect on Friday, restricting what teachers can say about gender and sexual orientation. The White House called it part of 'a disturbing and dangerous nationwide trend' of targeting the LGBTQ community.... The White House encouraged any student or parent experiencing discrimination to file a complaint with the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights.... The law ... prevents teachers in kindergarten through third grade from discussing gender and sexual orientation in class and restricts what they can say in upper grades to what is developmentally appropriate, without saying what that is." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now, to be fair to DeSantolini(TM, Akhilleus), this law is not designed to discriminate against LGBTQ teachers and students, even though on the face of it that's about all it does. Its purpose is to endear would-be President* Ron's bigot base to would-be President* Ron. The fact that every Florida teacher & student will be harmed by the law is of no concern to Ron.

New York. Jonah Bromwich & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A week after the Supreme Court issued monumental rulings loosening restrictions on carrying guns and overturning the constitutional right to abortion, New York enacted sweeping measures designed to blunt the decisions' effects. In an extraordinary session convened by Gov. Kathy Hochul that began Thursday and carried late into Friday evening, the State Legislature adopted a new law placing significant restrictions on the carrying of handguns and passed an amendment that would initiate the process of enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution."

Oklahoma, the Execution State. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "An Oklahoma court on Friday set execution dates for 25 death row prisoners, setting up a string of executions that would take place nearly every month over the next two years. The executions are set to begin in late August and run through December 2024. The 25 men on death row have all exhausted their appeals, but they were temporarily spared in recent years as Oklahoma stopped administering the death penalty in 2015 because of botched executions. Although the state began carrying out executions again late last year, it waited to set execution dates for the 25 prisoners because of a lawsuit over one of the drugs used in lethal injections. In June, a federal judge upheld the use of the drug, the sedative midazolam, finding that its use did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment and clearing the way for the courts to begin setting the execution dates."

Texas, a Misogynist State. Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Legal wrangling over abortions in Texas took a further twist late Friday, after the state Supreme Court blocked a lower court order issued just days earlier that had temporarily allowed the procedures to resume. The Texas Supreme Court in Austin granted an 'emergency motion for temporary relief' that was filed Wednesday by the state's attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton, staying a temporary restraining order that had been granted earlier this week by a judge in Harris County. A further state Supreme Court hearing is scheduled for later this month." MB: Texas is one of those states that is inviting to men that no woman would have sex with anyway. Like say, Ken Paxton.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Volodymyr Zelensky decried 'purposeful Russian terror' late Friday after missile strikes killed at least 21 people near the Black Sea port of Odessa and hit the southern front-line city of Mykolaiv. The mayor of Mykolaiv reported more explosions early Saturday. A Ukrainian security chief cast the attack in the Odessa region as retaliation for Russia's retreat from the small but strategic Snake Island.... Ukraine has called on Turkey to detain a Russian-flagged cargo ship loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain ... bound for Turkey's Black Sea coast.... U.S. officials say Ukraine is dispersing weapons delivered by its Western allies around the country to avoid losses as the Russian military targets arms depots.... British nationals Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill have been charged with 'mercenary activities' by Moscow-backed separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian state media." ~~~

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

New Zealand. Trump Supporters Designated Terrorist Group. Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "New Zealand has declared the Proud Boys, the far-right American group that played a key role in the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to be a terrorist organization, making it illegal for New Zealanders to participate in or support its activities. There was no evidence that the group was operating in New Zealand, but its activity has been observed in Australia and Canada, which designated the group a terrorist organization last year. New Zealand's prime minister can designate groups terrorist entities if they have carried out at least one terrorist act, and the government believed the Proud Boys' involvement in the Jan. 6 attack was 'consistent with the definition of a terrorist act,' it said in a statement from June 20." (Also linked yesterday.)

July 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Friday that he will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week to 17 leaders from the worlds of politics, civil rights, sports, business, education and entertainment, including the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, the actor Denzel Washington and the first American to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The recipients, the first of his presidency, include a variety of barrier-breaking figures familiar to many Americans as well as prominent political veterans Mr. Biden has known over the years. The list includes three posthumous award recipients: Steve Jobs, the pioneering co-founder of Apple; John McCain, the longtime Republican senator and two-time presidential candidate; and Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president and Democratic power broker." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the list of recipients, via the White House.

Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "Toward the end of 2020..., Donald Trump began raising a new idea with aides: that he would personally lead a march to the Capitol on the following Jan. 6. Trump brought it up repeatedly with key advisers in the Oval Office, according to a person who talked with him about it. The president told others he wanted a dramatic, made-for-TV moment that could pressure Republican lawmakers to support his demand to throw out the electoral college results showing that Joe Biden had defeated him, the person said.... But ... several of his advisers doubted he meant it or didn't take the suggestion seriously.... As a result, the White House staff never turned Trump's stated desires into concrete plans.... This account of Trump's ceaseless plotting to join the mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is based on committee testimony and evidence as well as 15 former officials, aides, law enforcement officials and others...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What comes out from this report is that top staff considered Trump a blowhard given to braggadocio whom they could manipulate into behaving more presidenty. After the stroll to St. John's Church & the show-drive when he was deathly-ill with Covid, they should have known better. But then again, there may have been numerous other wild Trump "proposals," of which we are not aware, that they had thwarted. ~~~

~~~ Noah Gray & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn't get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred. The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident -- including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 -- in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack.... Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story ... that the former President said something similar to: 'I'm the f**king President of the United States, you can't tell me what to do.' The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident. 'He had sort of lunged forward -- it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I don't know,' the source said. 'Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat.'... The source added that agents often recounted stories of Trump's fits of anger, including the former President throwing and breaking things."

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rudy Giuliani insisted on Twitter that Cassidy Hutchinson was 'never present' when he asked ... Donald Trump when he asked for a pardon, and then deleted it."

New Zealand. Trump Supporters Designated Terrorist Group. Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "New Zealand has declared the Proud Boys, the far-right American group that played a key role in the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to be a terrorist organization, making it illegal for New Zealanders to participate in or support its activities. There was no evidence that the group was operating in New Zealand, but its activity has been observed in Australia and Canada, which designated the group a terrorist organization last year. New Zealand's prime minister can designate groups terrorist entities if they have carried out at least one terrorist act, and the government believed the Proud Boys' involvement in the Jan. 6 attack was 'consistent with the definition of a terrorist act,' it said in a statement from June 20."

Oliver O'Connell of the Independent, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump Jr. ... [referred] to ... Cassidy Hutchinson as a 'coffee girl'.... Mr Trump Jr posted on Truth Social: 'It's pretty surreal watching the CNNs of the world still pretending that there aren't multiple actual witnesses willing to testify that the fake bombshell hearsay testimony they're salivating over isn't demonstrably false and that their dream witness/coffee girl perjured herself!'." MB: Missed this yesterday. Please see Akhilleus' comment below, which expresses my sentiments, too. Junior is so fucking clueless that he doesn't understand that he's nothing compared to Hutchinson. Junior is so stupid he couldn't even get a job as a coffee boy in his daddy's White House, a job which Patrick points out goes to "mess boys," young men who are no doubt also smarter & more competent than Junior. Moreover, quite a few of well-known coffee boys in the White House -- like Mark Meadows, Pat Cipollone & Tony Ornato -- did enjoy confiding in Hutchinson.

~~~~~~~~~~

While you were getting ready to celebrate so-called "Independence Day," the Supremes stepped up their plot to take away Americans' independence.

** Supremes Join Plot to Overturn 2024 Presidential Election. AND More. Adam Liptak & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it would hear a case that could radically reshape how federal elections are conducted by giving state legislatures independent power, not subject to review by state courts, to set election rules in conflict with state constitutions. The case has the potential to affect many aspects of the 2024 election, including by giving the justices power to influence the presidential race if disputes arise over how state courts interpret state election laws. In taking up the case, the court could upend nearly every facet of the American electoral process, allowing state legislatures to set new rules, regulations and districts on federal elections with few checks against overreach, and potentially create a chaotic system with differing rules and voting eligibility for presidential elections.... Protections against partisan gerrymandering established through the state courts could essentially vanish. The ability to challenge new voting laws at the state level could be reduced. And the theory underpinning the case could open the door to state legislatures sending their own slates of electors.... Four justices have already expressed at least tentative support for the doctrine, making a decision accepting it more than plausible." Emphasis added. An NPR report is here.

Nice Lady Voluntarily Enters Den of Vipers. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Ketanji Brown Jackson took the judicial oath just after noon on Thursday, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.... She is replacing Justice Stephen G. Breyer, 83, who stepped down with the conclusion of the court's current term. Justice Jackson took both a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Breyer, making her the nation's 116th justice and sixth woman to serve on the nation's highest court. The brief swearing-in ceremony took place in the West Conference Room at the Supreme Court, before a small gathering of Judge Jackson's family, including her two daughters. Her husband, Dr. Patrick G. Jackson, held the two Bibles on which she swore: a family Bible and a King James Version that is the property of the court." ~~~

     ~~~ Jacob Fischler of the Louisiana Illuminator: "Jackson's husband, Patrick, held two Bibles upon which Jackson swore her oath. One was a family edition and one had been donated to the court in 1906 by Justice John Marshall Harlan, the only justice to dissent in the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case that upheld racial segregation." ~~~

We're killing the planet. Let's see how the Supreme confederates deal with that life-threatening emergency: ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a blow to the Biden administration's efforts to address climate change.The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's three liberal justices in dissent, saying that the majority had stripped the E.P.A. of 'the power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.' The ruling appeared to curtail the agency's ability to regulate the energy sector, limiting it to measures like emission controls at individual power plants and, unless Congress acts, ruling out more ambitious approaches like a cap-and-trade system at a time when experts are issuing increasingly dire warnings about the quickening pace of global warming." This is part of a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) A CNN story, by Ella Nilson, discusses the impact of the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ Patrick Parenteau in Informed Comment: "The ruling doesn't take away the EPA's power to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, but it makes federal action harder by requiring the agency to show that Congress has charged it to act -- in an area where Congress has consistently failed to act. The Clean Power Plan, the policy at the heart of the ruling, never took effect because the court blocked it in 2016, and the EPA now plans to develop a new policy instead. Nonetheless, the court went out of its way to strike it down in this case and reject the agency's interpretation of what the Clean Air Act permitted." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What I gathered from remarks Neal Katyal made on MSNBC was that Roberts' rationale for the finding was that the Clean Air Act did not make clear that the Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to, you know, protect the environment.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for the Biden administration on a controversial immigration policy, saying it had the authority to reverse a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are reviewed in U.S. courts. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for himself and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the court's three liberals, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan." (Also linked yesterday.)

Thomas, Gorsuch & Alito Don't Let Facts Get in Their Way. Adam Edelman & Aria Bendix of NBC News: "In a sharply worded dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas expressed support Thursday for a debunked claim that all Covid vaccines are made with cells from 'aborted children.' His dissent came in a decision by the Supreme Court to not take up a legal challenge by New York health care workers who opposed the state's vaccine mandate on religious grounds.... Pfizer and Moderna used fetal cell lines early in their Covid vaccine development to test the efficacy of their formulas, as other vaccines have in the past. The fetal tissue used in these processes came from elective abortions that happened decades ago. But the cells have since replicated many times, so none of the original tissue is involved in the making of modern vaccines. So it is not true that Covid vaccines are manufactured using fetal cell lines, nor do they contain any aborted cells.... Writing for the three dissenters, himself and Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Thomas nevertheless cited the debunked claim."

Ann Telnaes of the Washington Post draws a picture of the Supremes' "crisis of legitmacy."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden on Thursday said the Senate should carve out an exception to the 60-vote filibuster to codify abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. 'The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,' Biden said at a press conference at the NATO summit in Spain. 'And if the filibuster gets in the way, it's like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision,' Biden added." MB: Not mentioned in Samuels' report, but Biden also said he thought the filibuster should be abandoned to pass legislation guaranteeing other privacy rights -- which is to say those rights that Clarence Thomas thought it would be a good idea to "revisit": gay rights, gay marriage rights, contraceptive rights. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday condemned what he called the 'outrageous behavior' of the Supreme Court in deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade and said for the first time that he supported ending the filibuster to protect a woman's right to an abortion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "In a welcome but likely brief victory for supporters of abortion rights, a judge in Florida blocked a state law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, the latest in a flurry of activity in state courts and legislatures following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Florida law, scheduled to take effect on Friday, violates privacy protections in the State Constitution, ruled Judge John C. Cooper of the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Tallahassee, handing a defeat to Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who enacted the restrictions in April."

Wisconsin. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin -- where a law from 1849 now bans almost all abortions -- will be a revealing test case that encapsulates many of the political forces charging an explosive national debate.... [Gov. Tony] Evers [D] and Attorney General Josh Kaul (D), who is also seeking reelection, announced a lawsuit this week to block enforcement of the ban, arguing that the 173-year-old law has 'fallen into disuse' and that more recent legislation barring abortion after the point of fetal viability should take precedence..... At a GOP gubernatorial debate this week, candidates enthusiastically endorsed the state's law from the 19th century, which allows abortions only to save a mother's life and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors who perform the procedure could face up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.: ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You have to give Republicans some credit for convincing silly people that embryos or even microscopic zygotes are "little babies" and Jesus loves them. I wonder if the best thing to do might be to ask, "How do you know this is God's will and not the Devil's?"

Trump Crime Family Pays for, Chooses Witnesses' Lawyers. Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's political organization and his allies have paid for or promised to finance the legal fees of more than a dozen witnesses called in the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, raising legal and ethical questions about whether the former president may be influencing testimony with a direct bearing on him. The arrangement drew new scrutiny this week after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide in his White House, made an explosive appearance before the House panel, providing damning new details about Mr. Trump's actions and statements on the day of the deadly riot. She did so after firing a lawyer who had been recommended to her by two of Mr. Trump's former aides and paid for by his political action committee, and hiring new counsel. Under the representation of the new lawyer, Jody Hunt, Ms. Hutchinson sat for a fourth interview with the committee in which she divulged more revelations and agreed to come forward publicly to testify to them.... Ms. Hutchinson has told the Jan. 6 committee that she was among the witnesses who have been contacted by people around Mr. Trump suggesting that they would be better off if they remained loyal to the former president.... Mr. Trump claimed that Ms. Hutchinson's new lawyer could have prompted her to make false statements. 'Her story totally changed!' he complained on his social media site...." ~~~

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Evidence across multiple state, federal and congressional investigations points to a similar pattern: [Donald] Trump and his close allies privately shower potential witnesses with flattery and attention, extending vague assurances that staying loyal to Trump would be better than crossing him. Meanwhile, Trump publicly blasts those who offer testimony against him in bluntly personal terms, offering a clear example to others of the consequences of stepping out of line. 'Donald Trump never changes his playbook,' [former Trump lawyer Michael] Cohen said in an interview. 'He behaves like a mob boss, and these messages are fashioned in that style. Giving an order without giving the order. No fingerprints attached.'... At Tuesday's [January 6 committee] hearing..., [Liz] Cheney said [a witness] told the committee about receiving phone calls indicating that Trump reads transcripts and 'to keep that in mind' during interviews with the committee." The witness who received the calls was Cassidy Hutchinson. ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee publicly pointed to two communications this week as potential evidence of Trump-world's efforts to influence witness testimony -- without revealing their origin. Both were detailed to the panel by Cassidy Hutchinson, according to a person familiar with the last of her four depositions. Hutchinson told the committee [during her final deposition], on the eve of her earlier March 7 deposition, an intermediary for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows contacted her to say that her former boss valued her loyalty.... Ben Williamson, a spokesperson for Meadows, provided the following statement to Politico: 'No one from Meadows' camp, himself or otherwise, has ever attempted to intimidate or shape Ms. Hutchinson's testimony to the committee. Any phone call or message she is describing is at best deeply misleading.'" ~~~

~~~ Ken Meyer of Mediaite: Speaking on CNN, former Trump official Alyssa Farah ... "said that [Cassidy] Hutchinson contacted her before the hearing, and she told Farah, 'there's more I want to share with the committee' than what she had before in her previous depositions. 'A couple months ago, I put her in touch with Congresswoman Cheney, Farah said. '[Hutchinson] got a new lawyer and that's how this testimony came about.'... [Farah said that] Hutchinson's original legal representative was 'someone who had been in the White House counsel's office,' and 'still aligned with Trump World' when she gave her first interviews to the committee."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "An agent who also served as Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, Anthony M. Ornato, reportedly disputes [Cassidy] Hutchinson's testimony. The dispute has set up the unusual prospect of Secret Service agents testifying to the Jan. 6 committee.... This is hardly the first time Ornato has denied an account of a key White House conversation. It's now happened in at least three high-profile occasions. And that calls his denials into question, say former Trump aides who stand by Hutchinson. One of them flat-out said Ornato lied in one of his previous denials. But another top White House aide involved in a previously disputed conversation is vouching for Ornato." The most important dispute concerned the attempt to remove Mike Pence from the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Pence refused to leave.

Lucien Bruggeman & Josh Margolin of ABC News: "A former White House aide's stunning testimony before the House panel investigating the Capitol attack indicated that the U.S. Secret Service may have had advanced warning of the potential for violence at the Capitol, raising new questions about the agency's planning ahead of the riot and actions taken by agents on Jan. 6.... In [Cassidy] Hutchinson's telling, the agency ... was aware that among the throngs headed to Washington were some who were planning to carry a variety of weapons and military gear, and were seeking to target members of Congress and breach the Capitol building. If so, the Secret Service apparently failed to coordinate effectively with law enforcement partners, the public, or congressional leaders to strengthen the security posture -- and instead ferried a number of people under their protection [-- Mike Pence, Karen Pence & Kamala Harris --] to the Capitol complex with little more than their personal security details." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, it sounds as if the Secret Service regarded the Pences & Harris as expendable, but not Donald Trump.

Brahm Resnik of 12 News Phoenix: "The FBI has subpoenaed records from the Republican leader of Arizona's state Senate as well as another GOP senator, as part of a federal investigation into ... Donald Trump's pressure campaign on state-level officials after the 2020 election. A spokeswoman for Senate President Karen Fann of Prescott confirmed the subpoena.... Public records obtained after the election show Fann had numerous contacts with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Fann told one constituent in a December 2020 email that she had 'spoken with Mayor Giuliani at least six times over the past two weeks.' Fann told another constituent she had received 'a personal call from President Trump thanking us for pushing to prove any fraud.' State Sen. Kelly Townsend of Mesa told 12 News she was complying with an FBI subpoena for copies of communications with Trump's lawyers. Townsend said her staff had gone through all her emails and was sending them in."

Marie: I'm having an Emily Litella moment. Earlier this week, I linked to a story that asserted that a million Americans had switched their voter registrations from Democratic to Republican. Never mind. ~~~

~~~ Elliott Morris in a Substack essay: "On Monday, the Associated Press reported that 'More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data... A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party's gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.'... The reported shift is not actually real.... The authors [of the AP analysis] misused voter file data, conflating estimates of party ID with real changes in registration. The error was fixed by other analysts who find parity in party-switching since 2020[.]... Catalist [-- a voter file company --] writes, 'we do not find anything in this analysis that would support the conclusion that current changes in voter registrations should be a worrying sign for Democrats.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I checked the AP story just now (8:00 am ET), and the AP has issued neither a correction nor a we-stand-by-our-reporting statement. So I leave it to you to decide what that means.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. It Wasn't Slavery; It Was "Involuntary Relocation." Brian Lopez of the Texas Tribune: "A group of Texas educators have proposed to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as 'involuntary relocation' during second grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board's chair. 'The board -- with unanimous consent -- directed the work group to revisit that specific language,' Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education said in a statement issued late Thursday. The working group of nine educators, including a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is one of many such groups advising the state education board to make curriculum changes. This summer, the board will consider updates to social studies instruction a year after lawmakers passed a law to keep topics that make students 'feel discomfort' out of Texas classrooms. The board will have a final vote on the curriculum in November." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm certainly not an expert on children's language development skills, but somehow I don't think most seven-year-olds know what "involuntary" and "relocation" mean. "Slavery"? Yeah, probably. And that's the point, isn't it?

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: "At least 18 people were killed and 31 injured when a Russian strike hit a residential building and a recreation center in the Odessa region, Ukrainian officials said early Friday.... U.S. officials and experts on Russia's legal system say they expect [U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner's trial] to be a show trial, with a guilty verdict all but certain.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed his country has started exporting electricity to Europe, in an effort to help the continent reduce its reliance on Russian gas."

~~~ Is It a "Show" Trial if It's Held in Secret? Robyn Dixon & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "A Moscow court on Friday barred media from covering the trial of American WNBA star Brittney Griner on drug charges that could see her sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted. The court did say that five journalists will be allowed into the room by the end of the hearing. Griner arrived at the courtroom in the Moscow suburb of Khimki to face charges that she was carrying vape cartridges containing 'a significant amount' of hashish oil in her baggage at a Moscow airport in February, a week before Russia's invasion of Ukraine." ~~~

~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "... the Kremlin appears interested in linking [the' fates [of American basketball star Brittney Griner & notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout], in a potential deal with the Biden administration that would free both. The vast disparity between the cases of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout highlights the extreme difficulty President Biden would face if he sought a prisoner exchange to free Ms. Griner, the detained W.N.B.A. player, from detention in Moscow. The Biden administration, reluctant to create an incentive for the arrest or abduction of Americans abroad, would be hard-pressed to justify the release of a villainous figure like Mr. Bout," who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. for conspiring to sell arms to people planning to kill Americans.

Marc Santora & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Russian troops have withdrawn from Snake Island in the Black Sea after repeated assaults by Ukrainian forces, a move that is a setback for Moscow's forces and possibly undermines their control over vital shipping lanes for grain in the Black Sea. The retreat came after sustained Ukrainian attacks -- including with powerful, newly arrived Western weapons -- made it impossible for Russian forces to hold the island, a small speck of land 20 miles off the coast of Odesa that has played an outsized role throughout the war." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Two law enforcement officers were killed and four other officers were shot on Thursday night after a man barricaded in his home opened fire with a rifle in Allen, Ky., a rural town so small that it lacks its own police force, the authorities said. The Kentucky State Police, which is investigating the shooting, said that another person who is not an officer had also been shot during the episode and that a police dog had been struck and killed. An additional officer sustained an injury unrelated to gunfire, Capt. Paul Blanton of the Kentucky State Police said in an interview.... The police arrested Lance P. Storz, 49, who faces several charges, including murder, attempted murder, and assault on a service animal, according to an arrest citation."