April 20, 2022

Morning Update:

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

Ben Quinn of the Guardian: "A court has formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US on espionage charges, in what will ultimately be a decision for the UK home secretary, Priti Patel. The Wikileaks co-founder, who has the right of appeal, appeared by videolink during the Westminster magistrates court hearing, which one of his barristers described as a 'brief but significant moment in the case'.... The supreme court last month refused Assange's appeal against his extradition. He had sought to challenge a judgment by the high court in December that ruled he could be extradited after assurances from the US authorities with regard to his prison conditions there."

A Democrat Responds to the Fake, GQP Pedophile Charge. Curtis Wong of the Huffington Post: "A Democratic Michigan state senator delivered an impassioned response after a Republican colleague accused her of supporting pedophilia, reiterating a common right-wing talking point. State Sen. Lana Theis, a Republican, made the troubling claims against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in a fundraising email sent to her constituents on Monday. In the email, Theis branded her Democratic colleague a 'social media troll' and a 'snowflake' who was 'outraged' at not being able to 'groom and sexualize kindergarteners.' McMorrow struck back at the the smear ... while speaking on the Michigan Senate floor early Tuesday." ~~~

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The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine's allies are scrambling to deliver more advanced weapons, long sought by President Volodymyr Zelensky, to bolster the nation's defense against an escalating Russian campaign to capture the east. Russia's new offensive -- and the ability of Ukraine's trench-based forces in the Donbas region to fend it off -- is expected to rely on long-range missiles, howitzers and armed drones. President Biden said after a call with allies on Tuesday that the United States would send more artillery designed for such attacks. He is expected to announce more military aid soon. Underscoring the urgency of his country's needs, Mr. Zelensky said in a nightly address that had Ukraine received in the first week of the war what allies were sending now, the conflict might already be over. 'Any delay in helping Ukraine gives the occupiers an opportunity to kill more Ukrainians,' he said.... Russia is also ratcheting up pressure on Mariupol, where a group of holdout Ukrainian fighters are issuing increasingly dire pleas for help from the Azovstal steel plant where civilians are also sheltering.... The European Union is preparing the details of an embargo on Russian oil imports after banning Russian coal earlier this month, the president of the European Commission confirmed." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "The Kremlin has issued a new ultimatum for Ukrainian fighters holed up in the southern city of Mariupol: Surrender by 2 p.m. local time Wednesday or face a bitter end. Kyiv's forces, holding out in a steel plant, let a Tuesday deadline pass, and their commander told The Washington Post they would not lay down their weapons.... Meanwhile, Ukraine is receiving fighter aircraft from other nations to help fight off the Russian invasion, according to the Pentagon. President Biden is set to announce around $800 million in additional military aid for Ukraine in the coming days, an official familiar with the decision said. A U.S. military aid package last week included 11 Soviet-designed Mi-17 attack helicopters. As Russia relaunches its campaign to take eastern Ukraine, it is pounding the region with artillery and airstrikes. Western strategists said Ukrainians appeared to be launching local 'spoiling attacks' in hope of disrupting the Kremlin's broader assault." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's full report of developments is here.

Steve Erlanger, et al., of the New York Times: 'Now, as the Kremlin switches gears and begins a concerted effort to capture eastern Ukraine, Washington and its allies are pivoting as well, scrambling to supply Ukraine with bigger and more advanced weapons to defend itself in a grinding war. The West is focused on sending longer-range weapons like howitzers, antiaircraft systems, anti-ship missiles, armed drones, armored trucks, personnel carriers and even tanks -- the type of arms that President Biden said were tailored to stop 'the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine.'... After a video call with allies on Tuesday, Mr. Biden told reporters that the United States would send more artillery to Ukraine. He is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days, according to a person briefed on his plans. The aid amount will be on par with the $800 million package of weapons and artillery that was announced last week, the person said." CNN's story is here.

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Russia has deployed up to 20,000 mercenaries from Syria, Libya and elsewhere in its new offensive in Ukraine's Donbas region, sent into battle with no heavy equipment or armoured vehicles, according to a European official.... [They were] recruited by the Russian mercenary company, the Wagner Group.... Syrian ex-soldiers have been offered monthly salaries of between $600 and $3,000, depending on rank and experience, to fight in Ukraine. Wagner is reported to have moved most of its soldiers who had been fighting in Libya to Ukraine, and last month Ukrainian military intelligence claim that Russia had made a deal with the Moscow-backed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar to send Libyan fighters.

Dino Grandoni & Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways and other projects that ... Donald Trump had swept away as part of an effort to cut red tape. The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that required the government to assess the environmental consequences of federal actions, such as approving the construction of oil and gas pipelines." MB: Trump was not trying "cut red tape." He was purposely undermining the federal government's mandate to protect the environment from his voracious corporate friends. Another "journalistic" effort to make the malign Trump appear benign. (Also linked yesterday.)

Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "In its latest attempt to fix widespread breakdowns in the federal student loan payment system, the Education Department said on Tuesday that it would use one-time waivers and adjustments to retroactively credit millions of borrowers with additional payments toward loan forgiveness. The credits will help borrowers seeking to have their loans eliminated under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and through the use of income-driven repayment plans. The public service program eliminates the debts of government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying loan payments, and those who enroll in income-driven plans are entitled to have their remaining debt wiped out after 20 to 25 years. The changes will immediately eliminate the debts of at least 40,000 borrowers through the public service program, and will give 3.6 million borrowers pursuing income-driven repayment at least three years of additional credits, the department said." NPR's story is here.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "... as the House committee investigating last year's riot uncovers new evidence about the lengths to which Mr. Trump was willing to go to cling to power, some lawmakers on the panel have quietly begun discussions about rewriting the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that gives presidents wide authority to deploy the military within the United States to respond to a rebellion. The discussions are preliminary.... Proponents envision a doomsday scenario in which a rogue future president might try to use the military to stoke -- rather than put down -- an insurrection, or to abuse protesters.... While Mr. Trump never invoked the law, he threatened to do so in 2020 to have the military crack down on crowds protesting the police killing of George Floyd. Stephen Miller, one of his top advisers, also proposed putting it into effect to turn back migrants at the southwestern border, an idea that was rejected by the defense secretary at the time, Mark T. Esper. And as Mr. Trump grasped for ways to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, some hard-right advisers encouraged him to declare martial law and deploy U.S. troops to seize voting machines. In the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack, members of right-wing militia groups also encouraged Mr. Trump to invoke the law....

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "John Eastman, a far-right lawyer for ... Donald Trump who wanted to block his electoral loss in 2020, is still withholding about 3,200 documents from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, according to a new court filing this week.... Federal Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, may continue to weigh whether Eastman can keep those pages secret." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah are two of the most prominent [self-described] 'constitutional conservatives' in the Senate.... It is interesting, then, that Lee and Cruz were among the Republican senators most involved in Donald Trump's attempt to subvert the Constitution and install himself in office against the will of the voters. As The Washington Post reported last month, Cruz worked 'directly with Trump to concoct a plan that came closer than widely realized to keeping him in power.'... Lee supported and encouraged the president's effort to overturn the election, with both ideas and political assistance.... Which gets to the truth of what that 'constitutional conservatism' really seems to be: not a principled attempt -- however flawed in conception -- to live up to the values of the founding, but a thin mask for the will to power." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Reed Galen in the Salt Lake Tribune: "Mike Lee's attempts to find 'legal' remedies on Trump's behalf demonstrate either an active desire to overturn the 2020 election or a shocking lack of judgement. I suspect both. Either taken individually would be disqualifying to an individual in a powerful position of public trust.... Lee is up for reelection this November. As Utahns being to think about their choices, they should take to heart that when given every chance to choose fealty: to faith, to country, to Utah and to the Constitution, he's put himself, his ambition, and his grasping for power first.... His efforts helped create a crisis not seen in this country since the Civil War. Like so many members of Congress who supported the Confederacy, Lee should no longer serve in high office." Galen is a co-founder of the Lincoln Project; he lives in Utah. Firewalled.

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Top leaders in the Oath Keepers militia group indicted on seditious conspiracy charges over the Capitol attack had contacts with the Proud Boys and a figure in the Stop the Steal movement and may also have been in touch with the Republican congressman Ronny Jackson, newly released text messages show. The texts -- which indicate the apparent ease with which Oath Keepers messaged Proud Boys -- could strengthen a theory being explored by the House January 6 committee and the US justice department: that the Capitol attack included a coordinated assault. Oath Keepers text messages released in a court filing on Monday night showed members of the group were in direct communication with the Proud Boys leader Enqrique Tarrio in the days before the Capitol attack.... That close relationship is certain to be of interest to the House committee as it zeroes in on whether the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys coordinated an attack on the Capitol...."

Michael Grynbaum & Jim Windolf of the New York Times: "Joseph F. Kahn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning China correspondent who rose to lead the international desk of The New York Times, and then as managing editor helped steer the newspaper into the digital era, has been selected to be The Times's next executive editor, the top newsroom job. Mr. Kahn, 57, currently the No. 2-ranking editor at The Times, will take on one of the most powerful positions in American media and the global news business. He is to succeed Dean Baquet, whose eight-year tenure is expected to conclude in June. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the publisher of The Times, A.G. Sulzberger." (Also linked yesterday.)

AND in Other Media News.... Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post: "Libs of TikTok [-- a Twitter account --] reposts a steady stream of TikTok videos and social media posts, primarily from LGBTQ+ people, often including incendiary framing designed to generate outrage. Videos shared from the account quickly find their way to the most influential names in right-wing media. The account has emerged as a powerful force on the Internet, shaping right-wing media, impacting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and influencing millions by posting viral videos aimed at inciting outrage among the right.... Its content is amplified by high-profile media figures, politicians and right-wing influencers.... The content it surfaces shows a direct correlation with the recent push in legislation and rhetoric directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community." Republicans wallow in this homophobic, anti-trans crap. And it isn't just Tucker Carlson & Joe Rogan who traffic in this: Glenn Greenwald calls himself the account's "Godfather." (Also linked yesterday.)

World's Richest Man Seeks Loan. Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: "Elon Musk is racing to secure funding for his $43 billion bid to buy Twitter. Morgan Stanley, the investment bank working with Mr. Musk on the potential deal, has been calling banks and other potential investors to shore up financing for the offer, four people with knowledge of the situation said. Mr. Musk is first focused on raising debt and has not yet begun to seek equity financing for his bid, one of the people said. Mr. Musk is evaluating various packages of debt, including more senior debt known as preferred debt and a loan against his shares of Tesla, the electric carmaker that he runs, two of the people said. Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm, is among the parties considering offering debt financing in a bid for Twitter. The equity he needs is likely to be sizable."

Sheryl Stolberg & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it intends to appeal a Florida judge's ruling that struck down a federal mask requirement on airplanes, trains, buses and other public transportation -- but only if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decides that extending the measure is necessary. The announcement from the Department of Justice came after a day of back and forth inside the White House, as administration officials faced a legal and political quandary: whether to let the judge's ruling stand or to fight it, knowing that an appeal could result in a higher court, perhaps the Supreme Court, ruling against the administration and setting a lasting precedent that could undercut the C.D.C.'s authority." An NBC News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "Another day, another activist Trump judge legislating from the bench.... Federal law gives the CDC power 'to make and enforce such regulations as in [its] judgment are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases.'... The agency 'may provide for such inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation ... and other measures as in [its] judgment may be necessary.' A mask requirement falls comfortably within the language of a rule necessary to prevent the spread of communicable disease.... When a statute is ambiguous and an agency's interpretation is reasonable, judges are supposed to defer to the agency. Here, though she had just spent more than a dozen pages parsing the meaning of 'sanitation,' [Judge Kathryn Kimball] Mizelle declared the law 'not ambiguous' and the CDC's interpretation 'not reasonable.'"

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

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: "In a move widely seen as retaliation, Gov. Ron DeSantis asked Florida lawmakers on Tuesday to consider the 'termination' of self-governing privileges that Disney World has held in the Orlando area for 55 years. He acted after Disney, the state's largest private employer, paused political donations in Florida and condemned a new state education law that opponents call 'Don't Say Gay.' The Florida Legislature had already been scheduled to convene this week for a special session on congressional redistricting. On Tuesday, Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, issued a proclamation allowing the Republican-controlled body to also take up bills that would eliminate special tax districts that were created before 1968. Florida has hundreds of such districts, but almost all were set up after that date -- with one of the exceptions covering Disney World." ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post discovers there is "math" and there is "Florida math." Typical Florida math problems: "Problem 1: In an election, the Republican candidate gets 232 electoral votes and the Democratic candidate gets 306. Who won? Answer: It was rigged. Problem 2: Florida had 153 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people over the past year while California had only 58 per 100,000. How much higher is Florida's death rate? Answer: I'm going to do my own research.' Then Milbank reviews a precalculus book DeSantis' education department has banned. He was horrified to discover that "At a time when Floridians by law 'don't say gay,' much less 'trans,' this banned book brazenly teaches about the 'Transitive Property of Equality.'"

Tennessee. Oh Dear. Allan Smith of NBC News: "The Tennessee Republican Party voted Tuesday to remove former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus and two other people from the August primary ballot in the state's 5th Congressional District. The vote marked the culmination of months of effort by both GOP legislators and activists to boot Ortagus because she had only recently moved to the state. She was endorsed by ... Donald Trump.... In recent years, the party has scuttled a number of candidates for failing to meet the [party's qualification bylaws]." MB: I can see why Trump endorsed her: she's a looker, and her "look" is very Melanie Trumpy.

April 19, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Dino Grandoni & Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways and other projects that ... Donald Trump had swept away as part of an effort to cut red tape. The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that required the government to assess the environmental consequences of federal actions, such as approving the construction of oil and gas pipelines." MB: Trump was not trying "cut red tape." He was purposely undermining the federal government's mandate to protect the environment from his voracious corporate friends. Another "journalistic" effort to make the malign Trump appear benign.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "John Eastman, a far-right lawyer for ... Donald Trump who wanted to block his electoral loss in 2020, is still withholding about 3,200 documents from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, according to a new court filing this week.... Federal Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, may continue to weigh whether Eastman can keep those pages secret."

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah are two of the most prominent [self-described] 'constitutional conservatives' in the Senate.... It is interesting, then, that Lee and Cruz were among the Republican senators most involved in Donald Trump's attempt to subvert the Constitution and install himself in office against the will of the voters. As The Washington Post reported last month, Cruz worked 'directly with Trump to concoct a plan that came closer than widely realized to keeping him in power.'... Lee supported and encouraged the president's effort to overturn the election, with both ideas and political assistance.... Which gets to the truth of what that 'constitutional conservatism' really seems to be: not a principled attempt -- however flawed in conception -- to live up to the values of the founding, but a thin mask for the will to power."

Michael Grynbaum & Jim Windolf of the New York Times: "Joseph F. Kahn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning China correspondent who rose to lead the international desk of The New York Times, and then as managing editor helped steer the newspaper into the digital era, has been selected to be The Times's next executive editor, the top newsroom job. Mr. Kahn, 57, currently the No. 2-ranking editor at The Times, will take on one of the most powerful positions in American media and the global news business. He is to succeed Dean Baquet, whose eight-year tenure is expected to conclude in June. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the publisher of The Times, A.G. Sulzberger."

AND in Other Media News.... Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post: "Libs of TikTok [-- a Twitter account --] reposts a steady stream of TikTok videos and social media posts, primarily from LGBTQ+ people, often including incendiary framing designed to generate outrage. Videos shared from the account quickly find their way to the most influential names in right-wing media. The account has emerged as a powerful force on the Internet, shaping right-wing media, impacting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and influencing millions by posting viral videos aimed at inciting outrage among the right.... Its content is amplified by high-profile media figures, politicians and right-wing influencers.... The content it surfaces shows a direct correlation with the recent push in legislation and rhetoric directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community." Republicans wallow in this homophobic, anti-trans crap. And it isn't just Tucker Carlson & Joe Rogan who traffic in this: Glenn Greenwald calls himself the account's "Godfather."

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

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The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian troops 'have begun the battle for Donbas,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said as Moscow launched its long-planned offensive in eastern Ukraine. The assault is also coalescing around the neighboring Kharkiv region. The Pentagon warned that Russia appears to be learning from its failure to take Kyiv, attempting to improve its command and control as well as logistics. The devastated Black Sea port city of Mariupol is still being contested by Russia and Ukraine, according to the Pentagon, after a Kremlin-imposed deadline to surrender expired. The United States assesses that Ukraine's stubborn resistance has tied up roughly a dozen Russian units.... President Biden is due to host a call Tuesday with U.S. allies to discuss the ongoing war. His administration said it has stepped up equipment deliveries to Ukraine, which are taking place at 'unprecedented speed.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here.

Luke Harding of the Guardian & Agency: "Russia has begun its long-expected large-scale military action to seize the east of Ukraine, the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.... The president's comments follow a dramatic escalation of attacks by Russia ahead of the long-anticipated operation. Vladimir Putin has declared his intention to seize Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east of the country already partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Zelenskiy made clear that the Ukrainian army would battle any attempted advance by Moscow.... French president Emmanuel Macron earlier said talks with Putin had stalled after mass killings were discovered in Ukraine."

This Is Awkward. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen will boycott several meetings of the powerful Group of 20 nations this week to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with a conference in Washington emerging as a key test for world leaders who have condemned the war. Yellen will attend the opening session of the G-20 finance ministers' meeting Wednesday to show support for Ukraine's finance minister, who has flown in from Kyiv for the conference.... But Yellen will skip other sessions over Russia's presence.... This week's meetings -- the first gathering of the G-20 since the war began -- are emerging as a gauge of how the world's leading international bodies will respond to Russian aggression."

Jeanne Whalen of the Washington Post: "Patriarch Kirill "leads his flock from a soaring, gilded cathedral built to celebrate Russia's victory over Napoleon, where week after week the powerful head of the Russian Orthodox Church is working to ensure that the faithful are all in on their country's invasion of Ukraine.... His sermons echo, and in some cases even supply, the rhetoric that ... Vladimir Putin has used to justify the assault on cities and civilians.... Kirill has caused deep schisms in the global Orthodox Church, with priests in Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe and the United States condemning his support. Even dozens of lower-ranking clergy in Russia have broken with the 75-year-old patriarch, adding their signatures to an open letter decrying the invasion.... In an open appeal last week, more than 320 [Orthodox priests in Ukraine] accused the patriarch of preaching 'heresy' and asked global church leaders to bring him before a tribunal to decide whether he should be deposed."

Jeanne Whalen & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "The sinking of the Russian warship Moskva is causing tension back home, where some families are reporting sailors dead or missing despite a Defense Ministry claim that the whole crew had been evacuated.... Russia confirmed that the ship sank but said only that it had been damaged by 'heavy storms' and a fire that caused ammunition on board to detonate. On April 14, the Russian Defense Ministry said all crew members were evacuated. The authorities have not confirmed any dead or wounded.... Social media groups ... are filling up with photos and pleas from parents looking for their missing sons." MB: BTW, I have been wondering why we have seen no photos of the sinking ship. So there's this, which the Guardian published Monday: ~~~

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "As millions of Americans race to finish filing their tax returns on Monday, the Biden administration made another plea for Congress to give the Internal Revenue Service more money. The call for funding to modernize the agency and beef up its enforcement staff comes as I.R.S. and Treasury Department officials have complained that they are facing an extraordinarily challenging tax season because of staff shortages and the complexity associated with distributing pandemic relief money. The Biden administration's proposals to provide the I.R.S. with $80 billion over a decade have thus far fallen flat in Congress.... It was not clear if that proposal would make it into any legislation that Democrats could pass. Republicans have staunchly opposed providing the I.R.S. with more funding." MB: Because Republicans don't want their big tax cheats friends to get caught. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Richard Cowan of Reuters: "... Donald Trump attempted a coup on Jan. 6, 2021, and that will be a centerpiece of committee hearings in Congress next month, said Democrat Jamie Raskin, a committee member who led the prosecution of Trump's second impeachment.... Raskin said the hearings will lay out for the public the steps the former president and his associates took to try to stay in power despite a clear-cut defeat. Had the rioters succeeded in preventing the certification, Raskin said, Trump 'was prepared to seize the presidency' and likely declare martial law." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ankita Rao from the same interview: Jamie Raskin, a "progressive congressman from Maryland believes that no other crisis, even the existential threat of the changing climate, can be solved without first protecting the fabric of American democracy[.]... He said America can't fix the planet without fixing its government.... 'We've got to save the democracy in order to save the climate and save our species,' he said in an interview with the Guardian in collaboration with Reuters and Climate One public radio, as part of the Covering Climate Now media collaboration. Later Raskin added: 'We're never going to be able to successfully deal with climate change if we're spending all our time fighting the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and Ku Klux Klan, and the Aryan nations and all of Steve Bannon's alt-right nonsense.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kathryn Joyce of Salon: Republicans are trying "to normalize the [January 6, 2021,] riot at the Capitol, and to cast its perpetrators as overwhelmingly 'ordinary people' who got caught up in the momentum of something beyond their control. But last week came decisive evidence that this simply isn't true: At least a third of those arrested in conjunction with Jan. 6 belong to a far-right network that is not just deeply interconnected but resilient and adaptable. Last Thursday, Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START center), released preliminary findings on the ideological motivations and connections of about 30 percent of all Jan. 6 defendants. While his research is ongoing, Jensen has already found that at least 244 of the 816 people arrested to date were either members of 'extremist' organizations or self-identified with them." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

It's 2020 All Over Again. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "A group of ... Donald J. Trump's allies and associates spent months trying to overturn the 2020 election based on his lie that he was the true winner. Now, some of the same confidants who tried and failed to invalidate the results based on a set of bogus legal theories are pushing an even wilder sequel: that by 'decertifying' the 2020 vote in key states, the outcome can still be reversed. In statehouses and courtrooms across the country, as well as on right-wing news outlets, allies of Mr. Trump -- including the lawyer John Eastman -- are pressing for states to pass resolutions rescinding Electoral College votes for President Biden and to bring lawsuits that seek to prove baseless claims of large-scale voter fraud. Some of those allies are casting their work as a precursor to reinstating the former president." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For most of these clowns, 2020 was the highlight of their lives: they became quasi-famous (or, in my view, infamous), they got on Fox "News," they met the president*, they held in fun conspiracy confabs, and so forth. They just can't say goodbye to all that. ~~~

~~~ Peter Stone of the Guardian: "An influential conservative group that includes two Trump allies who helped push lies about voter fraud in 2020 is spearheading 'election integrity' summits in battleground states, advocating for expanded poll watching, 'clean' voter rolls and other measures watchdogs say could curb voting rights to help Republican candidates. The Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) 'election integrity network' is run by the veteran GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who helped to spread misinformation about supposed election fraud in 2020. Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's last White House chief of staff, is a senior partner of the CPI and reportedly had a lead role in at least one of its summits."

Blake Hounshell of the New York Times: "As a young congressional aide, David Price witnessed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from the Senate gallery.... Now 81 and in the twilight of his career, Price is retiring from Congress after more than 30 years representing his North Carolina district.... He is one of the longest-serving lawmakers in Washington and an especially keen observer of how the place has changed.... Over his time in office, Price has grown alarmed at how Congress has become nastier and more partisan -- a trend he traces to former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Republican of Georgia, whose 'more aggressive and more militant approach' to politics, as Price put it, fundamentally transformed the institution.... 'And I don't, for a moment, think that the polarization is symmetrical. It's asymmetrical.'"

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. -- Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, 2007 ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from a death row inmate in Texas who said his jury had been tainted by racial bias. The inmate, Kristopher Love, a Black man, had objected to the seating of a juror who had said he believed 'nonwhite races' to be the 'more violent races.' The court's three liberal members dissented, saying the Supreme Court should have instructed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court for criminal matters, to reconsider Mr. Love's challenge." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by New York and three other states to overturn a $10,000 cap on federal tax deductions for state and local taxes that Congress imposed as part of the Trump administration's sweeping tax overhaul in 2017. The court's decision not to consider the matter, one of dozens of cases the justices said they would not hear, left intact a lower court's ruling. That ruling rejected the states' argument that, as Democratic bastions, they had been targeted by Republican lawmakers and that the deduction cap was an unconstitutional infringement on their sovereignty. In affirming that ruling in October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that it was within Congress's broad authority over tax policy to impose the so-called SALT cap." MB: What a lovely tax day gift from the Supremes to those of us who own homes in high-property-tax states.

Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite writes a post titled, "We Regret to Inform You That Tucker Carlson's New Special Does In Fact Promote 'Testicle Tanning'". MB: I leave it to you to decide whether or not to read on. It does occur to me, however, that every story about something TuKKKer said or did should begin, "We regret to inform you that ..." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. I regret to inform you that Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, on the same topic, is worth reading. He makes some serious observations AND pretends "junk science" is not a double entendre.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Pentagon may take disciplinary action against a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve who refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus on religious grounds. The court's brief, unsigned order gave no reasons, which is common when the justices act on emergency applications. The court's three most conservative members -- Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch -- noted dissents but did not explain their thinking." MB: They didn't "explain their thinking" because it's hard to write down. It was a choreographic moment that goes like this: their knees jerked in unison.

Michael Larison & Justin George of the Washington Post: "Federal officials stopped enforcement of a federal mask mandate Monday in transportation settings after a federal judge struck down the requirement, raising public health concerns and prompting several airlines to announce that face coverings are optional on domestic flights. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida said the mandate exceeds the statutory authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal officials last week had extended the mask mandate for commercial flights and in other settings, including on buses, ferries and subways, until at least May 3.... The Justice Department will 'make any determinations about litigation,' [White House Press Secretary Jen] Psaki said." Mizelle is a Trump appointed who clerked for Clarence Thomas. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report is here: Mizelle "had been rated 'not qualified' by the American Bar Association for 'the short time she has actually practiced law and her lack of meaningful trial experience.'" MB: If you read some of her tortured rationale for ending the mandate, you may find yourself agreeing Mizelle is "not qualified."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Congressional Race. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "A federal judge cleared the way on Monday for a group of Georgia voters to move forward with legal efforts seeking to disqualify Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for re-election to Congress, citing her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The disqualification effort is based on a constitutional provision adopted after the Civil War that barred members of the Confederacy from holding office. It mirrors several other cases involving Republican members of Congress, whose roles leading up to and during the deadly riot have drawn intense criticism. The judge, Amy Totenberg, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by President Barack Obama, denied Ms. Greene's request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order in the high-profile legal feud.... The decision by Judge Totenberg stood in stark contrast with a recent ruling in a similar case involving Representative Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina. In blocking that disqualification effort, U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, an appointee of Mr. Trump, ruled that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution narrowly applied to members of the Confederacy after the Civil War." CNN's report is here.

April 18, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "As millions of Americans race to finish filing their tax returns on Monday, the Biden administration made another plea for Congress to give the Internal Revenue Service more money. The call for funding to modernize the agency and beef up its enforcement staff comes as I.R.S. and Treasury Department officials have complained that they are facing an extraordinarily challenging tax season because of staff shortages and the complexity associated with distributing pandemic relief money. The Biden administration's proposals to provide the I.R.S. with $80 billion over a decade have thus far fallen flat in Congress.... It was not clear if that proposal would make it into any legislation that Democrats could pass. Republicans have staunchly opposed providing the I.R.S. with more funding." MB: Because Republicans don't want their big tax cheats friends to get caught.

Richard Cowan of Reuters: "... Donald Trump attempted a coup on Jan. 6, 2021, and that will be a centerpiece of committee hearings in Congress next month, said Democrat Jamie Raskin, a committee member who led the prosecution of Trump's second impeachment.... Raskin said the hearings will lay out for the public the steps the former president and his associates took to try to stay in power despite a clear-cut defeat. Had the rioters succeeded in preventing the certification, Raskin said, Trump 'was prepared to seize the presidency' and likely declare martial law." ~~~

~~~ Ankita Rao from the same interview: Jamie Raskin, a “progressive congressman from Maryland believes that no other crisis, even the existential threat of the changing climate, can be solved without first protecting the fabric of American democracy[.]... He said America can't fix the planet without fixing its government.... 'We've got to save the democracy in order to save the climate and save our species,' he said in an interview with the Guardian in collaboration with Reuters and Climate One public radio, as part of the Covering Climate Now media collaboration. Later Raskin added: 'We’re never going to be able to successfully deal with climate change if we're spending all our time fighting the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and Ku Klux Klan, and the Aryan nations and all of Steve Bannon's alt-right nonsense.'"

Kathryn Joyce of Salon: Republicans are trying "to normalize the [January 6, 2021,] riot at the Capitol, and to cast its perpetrators as overwhelmingly 'ordinary people' who got caught up in the momentum of something beyond their control. But last week came decisive evidence that this simply isn't true: At least a third of those arrested in conjunction with Jan. 6 belong to a far-right network that is not just deeply interconnected but resilient and adaptable. Last Thursday, Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START center), released preliminary findings on the ideological motivations and connections of about 30 percent of all Jan. 6 defendants. While his research is ongoing, Jensen has already found that at least 244 of the 816 people arrested to date were either members of 'extremist' organizations or self-identified with them."

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. -- Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, 2007 ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from a death row inmate in Texas who said his jury had been tainted by racial bias. The inmate, Kristopher Love, a Black man, had objected to the seating of a juror who had said he believed 'nonwhite races' to be the 'more violent races.' The court's three liberal members dissented, saying the Supreme Court should have instructed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court for criminal matters, to reconsider Mr. Love's challenge."

Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite writes a post titled, "We Regret to Inform You That Tucker Carlson’s New Special Does In Fact Promote "Testicle Tanning'". MB: I leave it to you to decide whether or not to read on. It does occur to me, however, that every story about something TuKKKer said or did should begin, "We regret to inform you that ..."

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Marie: Late finish today. I posted links up till 9:20 am ET.

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here: "Unconfirmed reports are filtering in that five missiles struck Lviv early this morning. Lviv mayor, Andriy Sadovy, said in an update over his official Telegram account this morning.... Ukraine has vowed that its forces will 'fight to the end' in the besieged port city of Mariupol, after a Russian ultimatum for the remaining Ukrainian troops there to surrender expired. Russian troops said they will close the city for entry and exit on Monday and issue 'movement passes' to those who remain, according to an adviser to the mayor. Residents of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine have been urged to evacuate immediately.... Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for more weapons, describing 'every delay' as 'permission for Russia to take the lives of Ukrainians'.... Zelenskiy also claimed in the address that the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine's south were being transferred to 'the ruble zone' and subordinated to Russian administration.... The United Nations refugee agency said 4,869,019 Ukrainians had left the country since Russia invaded in February...." Emphasis removed. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, I have found the Guardian's updates to be more up-to-the-minute than either the New York Times' or the Washington Post's.

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The brutality of Moscow's war on Ukraine takes two distinct forms, familiar to those who have seen Russia's military in action elsewhere. There is the programmatic violence meted out by Russian bombs and missiles against civilians as well as military targets, meant to demoralize as much as defeat. These attacks recall the aerial destruction in 1999 and 2000 of the Chechen capital of Grozny and, in 2016, of the Syrian rebel stronghold of Aleppo. And then there is the cruelty of individual soldiers and units, the horrors of Bucha appearing to have descended directly from the slaughter a generation ago in [the Ukraine] village [of] Novye Aldi.... In Russia..., such acts are rarely investigated or even acknowledged, let alone punished. That leaves it unclear how much the low-level brutality stems from the intent of those in charge or whether commanders failed to control their troops. Combined with the apparent strategy of bombing civilian targets, many observers conclude that the Russian government -- and, perhaps, a part of Russian society -- in reality condones violence against civilians."

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "A video released by Russia's Ministry of Defense purporting to show dozens of uniformed crew members from the missile cruiser Moskva standing in formation, apparently days after the ship sank, did not answer lingering questions about the fate of the vessel and its more than 500 personnel. The questions reached the point Saturday where even Vladimir Solovyev, a popular prime-time talk-show host whose pronouncements often reflect the Kremlin line, began asking what went wrong.... The segment was unusual not least because Mr. Solovyev broached the idea that Ukraine had managed to sink the Moskva, one of the biggest naval losses anywhere in the world since World War II.... Other television talking heads in Russia have started referring to the fighting in Ukraine as a 'war' -- although they have tended to use the term when suggesting that the whole of NATO, including the United States, is ganging up on Russia.Some analysts think all the talk of NATO attacking Russia is meant to lay the groundwork for a possible general mobilization of the male population -- martial law is a necessary prior step, and a declaration of martial law requires going to war or being under threat."

Josh Halliday of the Guardian: "A second British soldier fighting with the Ukrainian army has been paraded on Russian television after being captured in the besieged city of Mariupol. Shaun Pinner said he had been fighting alongside Ukrainian marines when Vladimir Putin's forces invaded nearly eight weeks ago. The 48-year-old former British soldier appeared tired and bruised in a short propaganda video aired by Russian media on Saturday night.... He was fighting alongside his friend Aiden Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire, who is thought to have surrendered to the Russian military last week after his battalion ran out of ammunition."

Odd News. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: Russians fired tiny lethal darts -- called fléchettes -- into Bucha neighborhoods. They are seldom used in modern warfare. "Some human rights groups have decried the use of fléchettes because they are indiscriminate weapons that can strike civilians even if they are aimed at military formations. They are not banned by international conventions, but 'they should never be used in built-up civilian areas,' Amnesty International has said." MB: The fléchettes, which are pictured within the story, look like something you'd read about in an Agatha Christie novel.

Josh Boak of the AP: "The Biden administration is taking a key step toward ensuring that federal dollars will support U.S. manufacturing -- issuing requirements for how projects funded by the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package source their construction material. The guidance being issued Monday requires that the material purchased -- whether it's for a bridge, a highway, a water pipe or broadband internet -- be produced in the U.S., according to administration officials. However, the rules also set up a process to waive those requirements in case there are not enough domestic producers or the material costs too much, with the goal of issuing fewer waivers over time as U.S. manufacturing capacity increases."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. James Downie of the Washington Post: “On Friday, CNN released more than 100 text messages from [Sen. Mike] Lee [R-Utah] and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), sent between the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.... Both Lee and Roy encouraged Trump and his aides to overturn the results. As Trump and associates ... beclowned themselves with conspiracy theories, Lee and Roy became more critical of the election subversion efforts. But both men still advocated for conservative lawyer John Eastman's plan to have Republican-controlled state legislatures submit alternate slates of electoral college delegates and then have Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify Joe Biden's win.... Since [January 6, 2021]..., Lee has downplayed his earlier efforts.... So a Republican senator -- a self-proclaimed 'constitutional conservative,' no less -- misled the country about his participation in a plot to overturn a presidential election. And yet not one of the five major Sunday talk shows mentioned one word about Lee.... In a functioning democracy, it is the media's job to call out those who scheme to subvert that democracy."

As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it? -- Boss Tweed, 1870s

There's an expression that the vote counters are more important than the candidate, and you could use that expression here. -- Donald Trump, April 2022

Boss Trump. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Working from a large wooden desk reminiscent of the one he used in the Oval Office, [Donald] Trump has transformed Mar-a-Lago's old bridal suite into a shadow G.O.P. headquarters, amassing more than $120 million -- a war chest more than double that of the Republican National Committee itself.... Mr. Trump has ... aggressively pursuing an agenda of vengeance against Republicans who have wronged him, endorsing more than 140 candidates nationwide and turning the 2022 primaries into a stress test of his continued sway. Inspiring fear, hoarding cash, doling out favors and seeking to crush rivals, Mr. Trump is behaving not merely as a power broker but as something closer to the head of a 19th-century political machine.... An entire political economy now surrounds Mr. Trump, with Trump properties reaping huge fees: Federal candidates and committees alone have paid nearly $1.3 million to hold events at Mar-a-Lago, records show.... Yet ... Mr. Trump can be downright stingy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's what I don't get. Every normal person hates dictators. We hate dictators for a number of reasons, one of which, obviously, is that we want our personal freedom: life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet Trumpies cry louder than anyone for freeeedom on the one hand, while voluntarily ceding it to a nasty old fart on the other. I understand the concept, "He's a dictator, but he's our dictator." But that doesn't work here, at least for political toadies. Trump is, as Goldmacher writes, stingy. And even if the toadies cross Trump accidentally, he will cut them to pieces, perhaps ruin their pathetic careers. They must give all to get close to nothing. Of if they do get some small measure of power over their little fiefdoms, Trump may snatch it away. So, aside from all the other things we know about members of the Trump mob, WTF is the matter with them? ~~~

     ~~~ Great answers from Akhilleus & Ken W. at the top of today's thread. And there's this: ~~~

~~~ ** Michael Kruse in Politico Magazine interviews historian & expert on autocracies Ruth Ben-Ghiat. "Ben-Ghiat:... 'He's changed the party to an authoritarian party culture.... So not only do you go after external enemies, but you go after internal enemies. You're not allowed to have any dissent.... The GOP was already going away from a democratic political culture, but he accelerated it and normalized extremism and normalized lawlessness. And so the GOP over these years has truly, in my estimation, become an authoritarian far-right party. And the other big story is that his agenda and his methods are being continued at the state level.... These states are really laboratories of autocracy now, like Florida, Texas.... One of the big talking points and strategy of right-wing authoritarianism, is to label democratic systems as tyrannical.'" Read on.

CBS News/AP: "Far-right website Infowars and two other companies owned by radio host Alex Jones have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in light of several defamation lawsuits. The filings were made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures put a hold on pending civil litigation while letting a business keep running as it prepares a turnaround plan.... Infowars says in the filing that it has assets of $0 to $50,000 and liabilities of $1,000,001 to $10 million.... A judge found Jones liable for damages, and a trial on how much he should pay the families is set for August." MB: Pardon my skepticism, but I suspect Alex there has been busy squirreling away his money in offshore accounts, then filing for bankruptcy protection so he wouldn't have to pay off Sandy Hook parents.

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

Beyond the Beltway

France. Kim Willsher of the Guardian: "The European Union's anti-fraud body has accused Marine Le Pen and several of her party members -- including her father &-- of embezzling about €620,000 [about $807,500] while serving as members of the European parliament. France's investigative website Mediapart published a section of the new 116-report alleging that the MEPs misused EU funds for national party purposes. The claims come a week before the second round of the presidential election, on 24 April, in which Le Pen will go head to head with Emmanuel Macron."