April 17, 2022

Afternoon Update:

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."

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An Easter Story. Joanna Moorhead of the Guardian: "... when cutting-edge carbon-14 tests found that the Shroud of Turin was a forgery, it seemed like the final chapter for a relic that had been revered for centuries as the cloth in which Christ's body had been wrapped when he supposedly rose from the dead at the first Easter almost 2,000 years ago. But one man -- David Rolfe ... -- wasn't prepared to give up on it. He was convinced the carbon dating, carried out in 1988 under the direction of the British Museum and Oxford University, had been flawed. And now he claims he has the evidence to prove it. This week sees the release of a new film, Who Can He Be?, in which Rolfe argues that, far from the shroud being a definite dud, new discoveries in the past few years have again opened the question of its authenticity. So convinced is Rolfe that he's issuing a challenge worth $1m to the British Museum. 'If ... they believe the shroud is a medieval forgery, I call on them to repeat the exercise, and create something similar today,' he says." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: My husband was a reasonable, educated man, not given to superstition. He was not a practicing Christian. But he was born in & grew up in Torino, and he would not be convinced that the Shroud was a 14th-century fabrication. Our childhood beliefs die hard.

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The port city of Mariupol was on the cusp of falling on Sunday, a significant advance for Russian forces in their bid to capture Ukraine's southeastern coast.... Russia said on Saturday that its forces had surrounded a remaining group of Ukrainian fighters who were holed up in a Mariupol steel plant.... President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appeared to acknowledge the impending takeover, saying that Ukrainian troops controlled only a small part of Mariupol and faced much larger Russian numbers.... 'Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there,' Mr. Zelensky said in his overnight address.... The United Nations warned on Saturday that closures of ports on the Black Sea, which normally export grain feeding 400 million people, could trigger a global food catastrophe yielding starvation, mass migration and political instability. Germany's energy minister has called on citizens to cut back their energy consumption, by drawing curtains and lowering their home temperatures, as part of a national effort to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "... officials in the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv reported explosions Saturday. Moscow has withdrawn its forces from those regions to focus on eastern Ukraine, but airstrikes have continued. Russian forces were continuing to gather around the eastern city of Izyum, farther inland from Mariupol, where significant gains have not materialized from small attacks, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, which said it was unclear whether the forces there were simply yet to be bolstered or if they were 'setting conditions for a larger-scale, better-coordinated offensive' soon.... Another Russian general, Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov of the 8th Army, died in battle in Ukraine, the governor of St. Petersburg said.... Washington Post journalists who spent seven days on the ground in Bucha documented how for nearly a month in March, the Ukrainian city's streets became a theater of Russian sadism amid mounting frustration over the Kremlin's battlefield losses." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian has a summary report here.

Karen DeYoung & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Nearly two months into Vladimir Putin's brutal assault on Ukraine, the Biden administration and its European allies have begun planning for a far different world, in which they no longer try to coexist and cooperate with Russia, but actively seek to isolate and weaken it as a matter of long-term strategy. At NATO and the European Union, and at the State Department, the Pentagon and allied ministries, blueprints are being drawn up to enshrine new policies across virtually every aspect of the West's posture toward Moscow, from defense and finance to trade and international diplomacy. Outrage is most immediately directed at Putin himself, who President Biden said last month 'can't remain in power.' While 'we don't say regime change,' said a senior E.U. diplomat, 'it is difficult to imagine a stable scenario with Putin acting the way he is.'"

David Stern, et al., of the Washington Post: "Deadly attacks rocked numerous cities and leveled buildings across Ukraine on Saturday, serving as ominous signals of how close destruction remains even in areas where Russian forces have recently pulled out. Russia moved ever closer to controlling the already-devastated port city of Mariupol as its invasion of Ukraine continued into its eighth week. In Russian-occupied Kherson, satellite imagery that showed the digging of hundreds of fresh grave plots held haunting symbolism of the fate of civilians there." MB: We seem to be moving from war crimes to genocide to annihilation.

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "[Investigative] journalist Jane Mayer [of the New Yorker] has a bombshell new report on a dark money group that [built] a 'slime machine' attacking President Joe Biden's nominees. Mayer broke down how Republicans attacked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as 'pro-pedophile' with QAnon adjacent attacks. She wrote 'the fierce campaign against her was concerning, in part because it was spearheaded by a new conservative dark-money group that was created in 2020: the American Accountability Foundation.... Rather than attack a single candidate or nominee, the A.A.F. aims to thwart the entire Biden slate. The obstructionism, like the Republican blockade of Biden's legislative agenda in Congress, is the end in itself. The group hosts a Web site, bidennoms.com, that displays the photographs of Administration nominees it has targeted, as though they were hunting trophies,' Mayer [wrote].... The organization is led by [Ted Jones,] a former top staffer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). [Mayer wrote,] 'When I asked Jones for an interview, through the A.A.F.'s online portal, he replied, 'Ms. Meyers ... Go pound sand.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Technically, Tom, you ignorant slimeball, I don't believe women can "pound sand." Mayer's story, which is firewalled, is here. Tom Sullivan, in Hullabaloo, publishes some more bits from Mayer's report, including how "that Vanderbilt- and Oxford-educated, faux-hayseed Sen. [John] Kennedy (R-La.)" availed himself of A.A.F.'s services to slime Saule Omarova, President Biden's nominee for Comptroller of the Currency. Omarova withdrew from consideration after Kennedy repeatedly accused her of being a Russian communist.

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama Gubernatorial Race. Kyle Whitmire of AL.com: "Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James has attacked an LGBTQ-friendly charter school for hosting a drag show, calling it 'vile' and 'evil.' Only when he was a student at Baylor School, he was part of a drag show, too," as a photo from his high school yearbook shows. James himself was not in drag in the photo, but he stood with some of his teammates who were. In general, Whitmire isn't much of a fan of James. He writes, "Until now, James has struggled against a public perception that he's not that bright. In a failed 2010 campaign for governor, he ran strange commercials in which he meandered from room to room in a house saying kinda racist things about how immigrants should speak English in between unusually long pauses. It was the pauses that turned the ads into a target for viral online parodies.... If you wrote a fictionalized version of Alabama politics, James is the sort of character a lazy writer might come up with."

Florida. Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones: "Florida has a new addition to the long, absurd list of topics it considers too 'woke' to tolerate: math textbooks. When vetting math books for K -- 12 classes, the state education commissioner rejected 41 percent of submissions because of 'references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics,' the state announced yesterday in a press release titled, 'Florida Rejects Publishers' Attempts to Indoctrinate Students.' The press release does not provide any examples of the offending material, but it does say that 54 of 132 submitted textbooks were rejected, including 71 percent of materials proposed for grades K-5." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie's PS: Apparently the dictionary is another book that is too "woke" for people in Florida's Department of Education to consult, causing them to put out a press release that confuses "tenants" with "tenets."

Kansas. Andrew Bahl of the Topeka Capital-Journal: "Gov. Laura Kelly [D] vetoed Friday a so-called 'parents' bill of rights,' designed to increase the ability for parents to inspect and review curriculum used in classrooms. The measure has been fiercely opposed by educators as overly burdensome, though the proposal that hit Kelly's desk, Senate Bill 58, was less restrictive than other options that were considered in the Legislature. Still, Kelly previously called the bill a 'teacher demoralization act' and said in her veto message that it was 'about politics, not parents.' She added the bill would cause division when Democrats and Republicans should be working to ensure the state's schools are fully funded.... Kansas' bill would have required school districts develop policies allowing parents to be informed of what is being taught in their child's classroom and letting them examine lesson plans, examinations, textbooks and other course materials.... Parents could also object to activities or materials that violate 'their firmly held beliefs, values or principles' and withdraw their student from participating in those areas."

Oklahoma. A Man with No Shame. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Scott Pruitt, who led the Environmental Protection Agency until resigning amid a series of ethics scandals in 2018, is launching a Senate bid in Oklahoma. Pruitt, 53, is running to fill the unexpired term of Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), who announced in February that he will step down next year. Inhofe handily won reelection in 2020, meaning that whoever wins the November special election for his seat will serve until 2027."

Texas. Rotten Tomatoes. Alicia Wallace & Vanessa Yurkevich of CNN: "A weeklong protest by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott against President Biden's recent immigration policy reached a resolution on Friday, but the gridlock it created has resulted in hundreds of millions of lost dollars and delays in shipments of everything from avocados to automobile parts that will have a longer-term impact.... Abbott's [protest], which Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller [R] criticized as 'political theater,' ultimately created a logjam of trucks between the US and its largest goods trading partner. Vegetable producers say their produce is spoiling in idling trucks and they are losing hundreds of millions of dollars.... What used to be a routine border crossing turned into a 30-hour wait for some trucks. Meanwhile, the fruits and vegetables in those trucks spoiled, leaving some produce department shelves sparse or empty in advance of the holiday weekend, [Dante L. Galeazzi, CEO ... of the Texas International Produce Association,] said.... Losses to fruit and vegetable producers are estimated to be more than $240 million, said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. Consumers will also pay a price as producers look to recoup some of their losses and supplies run low." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How about dumping those rotten tomatoes at the Texas state capitol and tossing a few at Greg Abbott.

News Ledes

Unsafe Anywhere. Another Saturday Night in Second-Amendment USA. Washington Post: "A shooting early Sunday at a house party in Pittsburgh left two people dead and at least eight injured, city officials said, the latest in a string of high-profile incidents of gun violence that have unfolded across the country in recent days. Police said they responded just after 12:30 a.m. to a property in Pittsburgh's East Allegheny neighborhood, where about 200 people had been attending a party at a house that had been rented via Airbnb. More than 90 rounds were fired inside the house, prompting some partygoers to jump out of windows, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott E. Schubert said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon." ~~~

~~~ AP: "Authorities in South Carolina say they are investigating shooting at a nightclub in Hampton County early Sunday that left at least nine people injured. It was the second mass shooting in the state over the Easter holiday weekend, and the third in the nation. The South Carolina shootings and one in Pittsburgh that left two minors dead early Sunday at least 31 people injured."

A New York Times report (which is oddly mistitled) provides a moment-by-moment, account of the shooting in the subway train.

April 16, 2022

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "A large explosion rocked Kyiv early Saturday, and the Ukrainians claimed to have shot down missiles aimed at Odesa in the south and Lviv in the west.... The Russian government had threatened to intensify missile strikes targeting Kyiv after asserting that Ukrainian forces had attacked Russian villages near the countries' shared border. A Ukrainian military official also said Russia had fired missiles at the Lviv region in western Ukraine on Saturday morning. The head of the Lviv military administration said that Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems had destroyed four cruise missiles. There was no word on casualties or damage. At the same time, there were reports of shelling and bombardments in other towns and cities across southern and eastern Ukraine as Russian continued to move military equipment and forces into position for a renewed offensive." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here: "Kyiv region police said Friday that the bodies of more than 900 civilians had been tallied in the area — more than 350 of which were discovered in the Bucha suburb. The vast majority of them were found with gunshot wounds. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN his country had lost 2,500 to 3,000 troops since the Feb. 24 invasion, with perhaps another 10,000 injured. Russia appears to be on the verge of capturing the devastated port city of Mariupol, which a regional leader said had been 'wiped off the face of the earth.'... Large swaths of Ukraine are littered with explosive ordinances that authorities are trying to deactivate."

Julian Barnes & James Glanz of the New York Times: "The Moskva was the pride of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, a symbol of the country's dominance of the region and a powerful war machine that had been used to launch precision cruise missiles deep inside Ukraine. Despite claims by Russia that an accidental fire broke out on the ship, U.S. officials confirmed on Friday that two Ukrainian Neptune missiles had struck the vessel, killing an unknown number of sailors and sending it and its arsenal to the bottom of the Black Sea. The sinking of the Moskva on Thursday was a grave blow to the Russian fleet and a dramatic demonstration of the current era of warfare in which missiles fired from shore can destroy even the biggest, most powerful ships. It was also the most significant combat loss for any navy since 1982, when Argentina's Air Force sank a British guided missile destroyer and other ships during the Falklands War." See also commentary at the end of yesterday's thread. ~~~

~~~ AND They Did It with Homemade Weapons. Adam Taylor & Claire Parker of the Washington Post: "Soon after Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a Ukrainian defense firm used an arms show in Kyiv to unveil its latest project: an anti-ship cruise missile it called 'Neptune.' The new missile ... is in the spotlight after ... Ukrainian forces used Neptune missiles to strike and sink Russia's flagship Moskva.... The strike on Wednesday marked a major boost for Ukraine -- not only for its war effort but also for the homegrown arms industry, even as it relies on weapons donated by Western allies."

John Hudson & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a direct appeal to President Biden for the United States to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, one of the most powerful and far-reaching sanctions in the U.S. arsenal. Zelensky's request, which has not previously been reported, came during a recent phone call with Biden that centered on the West's multifaceted response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the conversation. Biden did not commit to specific actions during the call, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive dialogue between the two leaders. The president has told his Ukrainian counterpart he is willing to explore a range of proposals to exert greater pressure on Moscow, they added." The NBC News report is here.

Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian officials have run more than 8,600 facial recognition searches on dead or captured Russian soldiers in the 50 days since Moscow's invasion began, using the scans to identify bodies and contact hundreds of their families.... The country's IT Army, a volunteer force of hackers and activists that takes its direction from the Ukrainian government, says it has used those identifications to inform the families of the deaths of 582 Russians, including by sending them photos of the abandoned corpses. The Ukrainians champion the use of face-scanning software from the U.S. tech firm Clearview AI as a brutal but effective way to stir up dissent inside Russia, discourage other fighters and hasten an end to a devastating war. But some military and technology analysts worry that the strategy could backfire, inflaming anger over a shock campaign directed at mothers...."

TuKKKer the Tool. Russia's Propaganda Gold Mine: Fox "News." Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "The narratives advanced by the Kremlin and by parts of conservative American media have converged in recent months, reinforcing and feeding each other. Along the way, Russian media has increasingly seized on Fox News's prime-time segments, its opinion pieces and even the network's active online comments section -- all of which often find fault with the Biden administration -- to paint a critical portrait of the United States and depict America's foreign policy as a threat to Russia's interests. [Tucker] Carlson was a frequent reference for Russian media, but other Fox News personalities -- and the occasional news update from the network -- were also included. Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, who has made several false claims about the war -- including that Russia never attacked Ukraine — singled out Fox News for praise last month.... Mentions of Fox News in Russian-language media grew 217 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the final quarter of last year...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe TuKKKer will start sending shortwave messages to Ukrainians, urging them to surrender; Kyiv KKKarlson could be Fox's 2022 version of WWII's Tokyo Rose.

~~~ Oh, We Watch Fox "News" in Kentucky. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: When the general manager of a Colton's Steak House & Grill franchise in Bardstown, Kentucky, flew a Ukrainian flag over the restaurant, "hate started coming from all fronts -- the restaurant's phone, Facebook page and reviews on Google. Over the past week, the firestorm has kept raging in Bardstown, a city of about 13,500 in central Kentucky. [Ben] Ashlock, describing himself as an uncontroversial person, said he had planned to keep the flag up until Russia left Ukraine." He has not taken down the flag, but the hate messages keep coming. Ashlock and his wife have an adopted Ukrainian son. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden and his wife on Friday reported earning $610,702 in 2021, almost the same amount the couple said they earned the year before, according to copies of their tax return made public by the White House. The release of their return -- which comes just days before Monday's deadline for Americans to file their taxes with the I.R.S. -- shows that Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, paid $150,439 in federal income tax, for an effective rate of 24.6 percent. Most of the money Mr. Biden and his wife earned came from his $400,000 annual salary for being president and two pensions. He also reported almost $62,000 from an S corporation controlled by the Bidens, which received money in 2021 from two publishing houses, Simon & Schuster and Flatiron Books.... The president and first lady reported donations of $17,394 to 10 charities....

"The White House also released the tax returns for Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. The couple reported earning $1,655,563 and paying $523,371 in federal income tax, a rate of 31.6 percent. They also paid $120,517 in California income tax and $2,044 in New York income tax, according to the White House. Mr. Emhoff, who is an entertainment lawyer, also paid $54,441 in District of Columbia income tax. Their tax returns show that the couple earned money from the sale of a California property for $860,000 and from income on the memoir Ms. Harris published in 2019, 'The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.'"

     ~~~ Politico's report is here. The Bidens' return is here; the Emhoff-Harris return is here. Both are pdfs via the White House.

Drill, Baby, Drill. -- Sarah Palin's 2008 Opponent. Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "As pressure increases on the Biden administration to lower the price of fuel, the Interior Department announced on Friday plans to hold its first onshore oil and gas lease sales since President Biden took office. The department said it plans to open roughly 144,000 acres up for lease next week and will charge oil and gas companies higher royalties to drill on federal land, raising the fees for the first time. Under the plans unveiled Friday, royalty rates would increase to 18.75 percent from 12.5 percent for oil and gas lease sales."

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pushing back on lawmakers' accounts that her memory has deteriorated and she is mentally unfit to serve, insisting that she remains a productive senator at the age of 88. 'The real question is whether I’m still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am,' she said in a statement Thursday. Feinstein, who is the oldest U.S. senator, took the step of responding to a San Francisco Chronicle report that four Senate colleagues -- three of them Democrats -- and three of the lawmaker's former staffers and a California Democrat in the House said her memory is rapidly deteriorating. Various individuals said the lawmaker's staff does most of the work because of what they described as her cognitive decline." (Also linked yesterday afternoon. The original Chron report also was linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "The portrayal of the 88-year-old Feinstein in an article this week in the San Francisco Chronicle was devastating, painful and, from my own reporting, accurate.... Feinstein's handling of the 2018 Brett M. Kavanaugh confirmation hearings -- in particular, her decision not to alert fellow lawmakers to the allegations by Christine Blasey Ford -- prompted a near-insurrection by her Democratic colleagues. Her performance at the 2020 confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett, including her post-hearing hug of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and thanks for 'one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in,' was the last straw. Under pressure from Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer, Feinstein announced she would step down from her position as the committee's ranking Democrat. According to the New Yorker's Jane Mayer, that took 'several serious and painful talks,' in part because 'Feinstein seemed to forget about the conversations soon after they talked, so Schumer had to confront her again.'"

This is a sh*tshow... Fix this now. -- Rep. Chip Roy, text to Mark Meadows, January 6, 2021

We are -- Mark Meadows to Chip Roy, January 6, 2021 ~~~

~~~ ** Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "In the weeks between the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, almost 100 text messages from two staunch GOP allies of ... Donald Trump reveal an aggressive attempt to lobby, encourage and eventually warn the White House over its efforts to overturn the election, according to messages obtained by the House select committee and reviewed by CNN. The texts, which have not been previously reported, were sent by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The text exchanges show that both members of Congress initially supported legal challenges to the election but ultimately came to sour on the effort and the tactics deployed by Trump and his team.... Lee and Roy both voted to certify the electoral results in favor of [Joe] Biden...." You can read the messages between Lee & Meadows, & between Roy & Meadows, via CNN, here. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story, by Luke Broadwater, is here. ~~~

I don't think the president is grasping the distinction between what we can do and what he would like us to do. -- Sen. Mike Lee to Mark Meadows, January 3, 2021 ~~~

     ~~~ A Washington Post story, by Mariana Alfaro, concentrates on Mike Lee's texts: "Lee makes clear that he was working hard to assist Trump, saying in one text that he was spending '14 hours a day' on the effort and contacting state lawmakers seeking anything to give Congress a reason not to count the electoral votes for Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 and affirm his win.... Lee's willingness to support Trump's campaign to overturn the election is notable given his experience -- he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and was mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee when Trump ran for office in 2016.... Lee's texts show that, soon after the election, it was Lee who encouraged Meadows to give [Sidney Release the Kraken] Powell access to Trump, saying she would help him push forward the legal challenges. He provided Meadows with Powell's contact information.... By late November, Lee had backed away from Powell and instead began encouraging Meadows to hire right-wing lawyer John Eastman. But the trust in Eastman didn't last long either...."~~~

A coup that goes unpunished is just a training exercise. -- Mehdi Hasan on MSNBC Friday ~~~

~~~ Marie: On MSNBC Friday night, Mehdi Hasan zeroed in on Lee's efforts to overturn the election by trying to get states to submit false slates of pro-Trump electors. Lee, who seems to think he's a brave defender of the Constitution, believes that it's pkay to overturn the will of the people if he can get state legislators to throw out the electors the voters chose. If he figured that was, you know, Constituional in 2020, Hasan pointed out, there's no reason it won't be okay in 2024 or in any other presidential election that goes to the Democrat.

A Different System. Marie: Mehdi Hasan listed a number of white men who knowingly cast illegal votes in the names of dead relatives & so on, who were prosecuted, and who received suspended sentences. Then he interviewed Crystal Mason, the Black Texas woman who unknowingly cast an illegal provisional vote in 2016 & was sentenced to a five-year prison term (now on appeal). Hasan asked her if she thought the difference was that those who got probation were white men and she was a Black woman. She summed up as well as anyone could the persistent stain on American "justice": "Yes, it's a different system." Yes, it is.

Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: "... the $2 billion stake invested by the Saudis in [Jared] Kushner’s new private equity firm dwarfs all previous post-presidential money grabs in both size and scope.... As with so many things done by Trump and his family, Kushner's $2 billion Saudi payout highlights a preexisting malady in American life by taking it to its extreme. In this case, that malady is the commercialization of the post-presidency that has taken hold over the past 40 years.... Unlike the money made by other ex-presidents or their family members, this is a gigantic lump sum coming from a foreign government with discrete policy interests in the U.S. government that Kushner was happy to support when in the White House.... Most importantly..., Trump ... is likely to run again in 2024 and is considered the front-runner for the Republican Party nomination."

Lauren Hirsch & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Twitter unveiled its counterattack against Elon Musk on Friday, using a strategy invented to repel corporate raiders in an attempt to block a takeover bid by the world's richest person. The strategy, known as a poison pill, would flood the market with new shares if Mr. Musk, or any other individual or group working together, bought 15 percent or more of Twitter’s shares. That would immediately reduce Mr. Musk's stake and make it significantly more difficult to buy up a sizable portion of the company. Mr. Musk currently owns more than 9 percent of the company's stock. The goal is to force anyone trying to acquire the company to negotiate directly with the board. Investors rarely try to break through a poison pill threshold, according to securities experts -- one said 'it would be financially ruinous, even for him.' But Mr. Musk rarely abides by precedent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mike Masnick of TechDirt: At a TED talk, Elon Musk demonstrated how little he understands about social media content moderation. His simplistic views "sound like what the techies who originally created social media said in the early days.... All of them eventually learned that their simplistic belief in how things should work does not work in reality and have spent the past few decades trying to iterate. And Musk ignores all of that while (somewhat hilariously) suggesting that all of those things can be figured out eventually, despite all of the hard work many, many overworked and underpaid people have been doing figuring exactly that out, only to be told by Musk he’s sure they're doing it wrong.... The problem is not 'someone I dislike saying something I dislike' the problem is spam, abuse, harassment, threats of violence, dangerously misleading false information, and more. Musk not understanding any of that is just a representation of how little he understands this topic." Emphasis original. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A fundamental problem: people like Musk & Zuckerberg who are super-successful in one arena think their success somehow is proof that they are already very good at other arenas in which they have no experience or expertise whatsoever. When it comes to understanding human nature -- including the spammers, abusers, harassers, threateners & liars -- Musk is just another drunk pontificating from his perch at the end of the bar. Musk thinks he's David Hume, but he's really Cliff Clavin.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Ron DeSantis, Child Abuser. Aaron Rupar of Public Notice: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lately been surrounding himself with kids at public events, including while signing extremely controversial pieces of legislation.... To be clear, it’s standard political practice for elected officials to invite children to participate in relatively uncontroversial things like Easter egg hunts or fitness programs. But... DeSantis is ... using kids to confer legitimacy upon legislation that restricts rights and harms people. Some examples: DeSantis was flanked by kids holding 'Choose Life' signs ... when he banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. There are no exceptions or provisions in the bill for extreme cases, not even rape or incest.... He also surrounded himself with kids last month when he signed legislation threatening teachers with lawsuits if they discuss sexual orientation or gender identity' with their students." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I guess I think it's okay to let your young children hold signs for political candidates you endorse, perhaps because in theory your little tot could like Grampy Grassley or Auntie Margie even if the candidates have horrifying policy positions. But it's pretty disgusting to have kids brandishing support for things they obviously can't understand like abortion & LGBTQ rights.

Missouri. Alex Cooper of the Advocate: "The Missouri House approved a bill Wednesday evening that would allow school districts to vote on whether to ban trans student athletes from youth sports.... State Rep. Chuck Basye, a Republican who proposed the amendment, said it was to 'save women's sports.' In a video seen more 700,000 times on TikTok, gay Missouri lawmaker Ian Mackey called out Basye. He compared the anti-trans bill to his own experience as a queer student growing up and even brought up Basye's own gay brother." MB: Watch the video embedded in the story. If you haven't wanted to say what Mackey said on the Missouri House floor, especially if you're of a certain age, I guarantee you know a number of people who do. And BTW, Basye's clueless response to Mackey's query is classic, too. Bigotry is blinding. Thanks to Lawrence O'Donnell for the lead.

New York. Another Sinking Ship. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "A warship that survived Japanese air attacks in the Pacific, a typhoon and barrages of artillery fire is sinking, slowly, far from the theaters where it saw combat decades ago: moored in the waterfront of Buffalo, N.Y. The ship, the U.S.S. The Sullivans, suffered 'a serious hull breach' on Wednesday and began taking on water at its home for the last several decades, the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, the authorities said on Thursday." MB: Probably got hit by a couple of Ukraine Neptunes.

Texas. Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Friday that there were no longer any secondary inspections of trucks crossing into his state from Mexico, announcing the end of a policy that had created multi-mile backlogs and that critics alleged had cost them millions of dollars in losses because key trade routes had ground to a halt. The announcement came after Abbott said he had reached agreements with a number of Mexican officials to improve border security." The AP report is here.

Wisconsin. Thanks, Supremes! Michael Wines of the New York Times: "The conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to adopt new state legislative maps [link fixed] drawn by Republicans who control the Legislature, reversing its earlier decision that favored maps drawn by the state's Democratic governor. The court acted after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its previous decision last month, stating in a contentious ruling that the state justices had not considered whether the Democratic-drawn map complied with the federal Voting Rights Act. The newly adopted maps -- partisan gerrymanders that had been drawn in secret in 2011 after the G.O.P. took control from Democrats in both houses of the Legislature -- essentially lock in overwhelming Republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate for the next decade." The AP report is here. MB: I look upon this as a victory for Mitch McConnell, who is singularly responsible for the make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court.

News Ledes

Unsafe Anywhere: Shot While Shopping. AP: "Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina's capital [Columbia] that authorities do not believe was a random attack. Three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. 'Skip' Holbrook said. He said at least one of those three people fired a weapon. 'We don't believe this was random,' Holbrook said. 'We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.' Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition and six were in stable condition, Holbrook said." The Guardian's report is here.

Guardian: "Five people who provided 'critical information' that helped lead to the arrest of the man charged with this week's mass shooting in a New York subway will share a $50,000 reward, police announced."

April 15, 2022

Afternoon Update:

TuKKKer the Tool. Russia's Propaganda Gold Mine: Fox "News." Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "The narratives advanced by the Kremlin and by parts of conservative American media have converged in recent months, reinforcing and feeding each other. Along the way, Russian media has increasingly seized on Fox News's prime-time segments, its opinion pieces and even the network's active online comments section -- all of which often find fault with the Biden administration -- to paint a critical portrait of the United States and depict America's foreign policy as a threat to Russia's interests. [Tucker] Carlson was a frequent reference for Russian media, but other Fox News personalities -- and the occasional news update from the network -- were also included. Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, who has made several false claims about the war -- including that Russia never attacked Ukraine -- singled out Fox News for praise last month.... Mentions of Fox News in Russian-language media grew 217 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the final quarter of last year...." ~~~

~~~ Oh, We Watch Fox "News" in Kentucky. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: When the general manager of a Colton's Steak House & Grill franchise in Bardstown, Kentucky, flew a Ukrainian flag over the restaurant, "hate started coming from all fronts -- the restaurant's phone, Facebook page and reviews on Google. Over the past week, the firestorm has kept raging in Bardstown, a city of about 13,500 in central Kentucky. [Ben] Ashlock, describing himself as an uncontroversial person, said he had planned to keep the flag up until Russia left Ukraine." He has not taken down the flag, but the hate messages keep coming. Ashlock and his wife have an adopted Ukrainian son.

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pushing back on lawmakers' accounts that her memory has deteriorated and she is mentally unfit to serve, insisting that she remains a productive senator at the age of 88. 'The real question is whether I'm still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am,' she said in a statement Thursday. Feinstein, who is the oldest U.S. senator, took the step of responding to a San Francisco Chronicle report that four Senate colleagues -- three of them Democrats -- and three of the lawmaker's former staffers and a California Democrat in the House said her memory is rapidly deteriorating. Various individuals said the lawmaker's staff does most of the work because of what they described as her cognitive decline." The Chron report also is linked below.

This is a sh*tshow... Fix this now. -- Rep. Chip Roy, text to Mark Meadows, January 6, 2021

We are -- Mark Meadows to Chip Roy, January 6, 2021 ~~~

~~~ Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "In the weeks between the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, almost 100 text messages from two staunch GOP allies of ... Donald Trump reveal an aggressive attempt to lobby, encourage and eventually warn the White House over its efforts to overturn the election, according to messages obtained by the House select committee and reviewed by CNN. The texts, which have not been previously reported, were sent by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The text exchanges show that both members of Congress initially supported legal challenges to the election but ultimately came to sour on the effort and the tactics deployed by Trump and his team.... Lee and Roy both voted to certify the electoral results in favor of [Joe] Biden...." You can read the messages among Lee, Roy & Meadows, via CNN, here.

Lauren Hirsch & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Twitter unveiled its counterattack against Elon Musk on Friday, using a strategy invented to repel corporate raiders in an attempt to block a takeover bid by the world's richest person. The strategy, known as a poison pill, would flood the market with new shares if Mr. Musk, or any other individual or group working together, bought 15 percent or more of Twitter's shares. That would immediately reduce Mr. Musk's stake and make it significantly more difficult to buy up a sizable portion of the company. Mr. Musk currently owns more than 9 percent of the company's stock. The goal is to force anyone trying to acquire the company to negotiate directly with the board. Investors rarely try to break through a poison pill threshold, according to securities experts -- one said 'it would be financially ruinous, even for him.' But Mr. Musk rarely abides by precedent."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces on Friday appeared close to capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol, a development that would be a significant victory for Moscow after a series of setbacks this week.... If Mariupol falls, Russia will be able to claim the land route from Crimea that it seeks.... The loss of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet flagship will make it more difficult to gain full control over Ukraine's southern coast and ultimately move on the port city of Odesa, military analysts say, although it is unlikely to derail Moscow's war campaign entirely." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly address, noted the irony of Moscow refocusing its attacks on areas of eastern Ukraine [Donbas] where there are significant numbers of Russian speakers. The Kremlin is destroying Russian culture and the Russian language, he said. 'How suicidal it is for everything that Russia allegedly "protects."'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian also has a summary report of what happened Thursday in the war.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "European officials are drafting plans for an embargo on Russian oil products, the most contested measure yet to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and a move long resisted because of its big costs for Germany and its potential to disrupt politics around the region and increase energy prices. Having earlier this month banned Russian coal for the first time -- with a four-month transition period to wind down ongoing orders -- the European Union is now likely to adopt a similarly phased ban of Russian oil, E.U. officials and diplomats said. The approach is designed to give Germany, in particular, time to arrange alternative suppliers. The discussions come just as ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia acknowledged on Thursday that the Western sanctions already in place had hurt his country's vital energy sector. The earliest the proposed E.U. embargo will be put up for negotiation will be after the final round of the French elections, on April 24, to ensure that the impact on prices at the pump doesn't fuel the populis candidate Marine Le Pen and hurt president Emmanuel Macron’s chances of re-election, officials said."

You Sunk My Battleship! Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: "The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet sunk after an explosion 'seriously damaged' the vessel as it floated off the coast of Ukraine, Russia said Thursday, with Moscow and Kyiv offered competing claims about the cause of the destruction. Russia's defense ministry offered few other details about the missile cruiser, known as the Moskva. Earlier that day, the hobbled warship was moving under its own power, heading to the Crimean port city of Sevastopol for repairs as sailors battled a fire onboard, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.... Odessa's governor said the Moskva was hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile, an assertion backed by another American official familiar with the matter, who confirmed the strike but could not verify the specific weapons system used.... Russia, meanwhile, attributed the blow to a fire that caused ammunition stocks onboard to detonate.... After the explosion, several other Russian warships in the northern part of the Black Sea repositioned farther away from shore, the U.S. official said." Related story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why would other warships would move further away from the shore if the cause of the explosion on the Moskva was not a missile hit? ~~~

     ~~~ Joanna Slater, et al., of the Washington Post: "... U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the damage to the ship a setback for Russia regardless of how it was disabled. Either it was 'just incompetence' or 'they came under attack,' he said at a breakfast. 'Neither is a particularly good outcome for them.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Also from the Slater, et al., WashPo report: "... the top U.S. commander in Europe and his staff are developing training for Ukrainian forces that will take place on the continent and teach the soldiers about weapons new to the country's arsenal, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday. The training will focus on using 155mm howitzer cannons, counter-artillery radar and Sentinel air defense radars, and will last a few days each, the official said...."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post:"Russia this week sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States warning that U.S. and NATO shipments of the 'most sensitive' weapons systems to Ukraine were 'adding fuel' to the conflict there and could bring 'unpredictable consequences.' The diplomatic démarche, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, came as President Biden approved a dramatic expansion in the scope of weapons being provided to Ukraine, an $800 million package including 155 mm Howitzers -- a serious upgrade in long-range artillery to match Russian systems -- coastal defense drones and armored vehicles, as well as additional portable anti-air and antitank weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition."

David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "The director of the C.I.A. said [during the Q&A following a speech he gave at Georgia Institute of Technology] on Thursday that 'potential desperation' to extract the semblance of a victory in Ukraine could tempt ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to order the use of a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, publicly discussing for the first time a concern that has coursed through the White House during seven weeks of conflict. The director, William J. Burns, who served as American ambassador to Russia and is the member of the administration who has dealt most often with Mr. Putin, said the potential detonation of such a weapon ... was a possibility that the United States remained 'very concerned' about. But he quickly cautioned that so far, despite Mr. Putin's frequent invocation of nuclear threats, he had seen no 'practical evidence' of the kinds of military deployments or movement of weapons that would suggest such a move was imminent." A CBS News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "In his first public speech as director of the CIA, William J. Burns on Thursday called the killings of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha 'crimes' and said Russia had 'inflicted massive material and reputational damage on itself' following the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin seven weeks ago.... 'The crimes in Bucha are horrific. The scenes of devastation in Mariupol and Kharkiv are sadly reminiscent of the images I saw in Grozny, in Chechnya, as a young diplomat in the winter of 1994-95: Forty square blocks in the center of the city flattened by Russian shelling and bombing, leaving thousands of civilian deaths.'... On Wednesday, Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said the United States is likely to determine that genocide has been committed."

Adam Taylor & David Stern of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian authorities announced Thursday that they had seized a sum of 154 assets from pro-Kremlin opposition politician and mogul Viktor Medvedchuk, who was captured this week following an escape from house arrest shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. Among the long list of property seized from Medvedchuk and his family: 30 plots of land, 23 houses, 32 apartments, 26 cars and one yacht. The seizures add further intrigue to the circumstances of the escape and recapture of one of Ukraine's most notorious oligarchs, known for his close relationship with ... Vladimir Putin, who acts as godfather to Medvedchuk's daughter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An Insider story, republished by Yahoo! News, is here. ~~~

~~~ Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "... in recent days, the ground has shifted dramatically under Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician who is a close confidant of ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and who had also been a client of the Republican political consultant Paul J. Manafort. Mr. Medvedchuk went into hiding early in the war, Ukrainian officials say, and was detained this week. President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Tuesday a picture on Telegram of the politician, looking tired and disheveled, wearing handcuffs. He was arrested after violating terms of his house arrest while awaiting trial for treason, in a case opened last year. That case is related to coal trading with pro-Russian separatists, but more broadly it has to do with the swirl of financial and political intrigue surrounding Moscow's operations to influence politics in foreign countries.... Mr. Zelensky said he would seek to trade Mr. Medvedchuk to Russia for Ukrainian prisoners of war." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kara Scannell of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging a member of Russia's legislature and two of his staffers with orchestrating a propaganda and disinformation campaign targeting US lawmakers. Aleksandr Babakov, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, and his staffers Aleksandr Vorobev and Mikhail Plisyuk, were charged with conspiring to act in the US as an unregistered foreign agent, conspiring to violate US sanctions and conspiring to commit visa fraud. As part of the alleged scheme, in 2017, prosecutors said the men allegedly violated US sanctions laws by seeking to recruit at least one US businessman and at least one congressman with an all-expenses paid trip to attend a conference in Yalta, an area in Russian-controlled Crimea, for the benefit of Sergey Aksyonov, a Russian placed on the US sanctions list following Russia's annexation of Crimea. The congressman, who was not identified, did not accept the invitation, the indictment said." The DOJ's press release is here.

Tyler Pager & Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, is preparing to leave her post coordinating the Biden administration';s domestic climate agenda, according to three people familiar with her plans. McCarthy has not yet set a date for her departure, but she is likely to be replaced by her deputy, Ali Zaidi, though no final decisions have been made.... President Biden created the top climate position at the White House to reflect his administration's focus on combating climate change." An NBC News report is here.

Ted Kopan & Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that [Sen. Dianne Feinstein's] memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.... Some close to her said that on her most difficult days, she does not seem to fully recognize even longtime colleagues.... [One] person said that within the Senate, Feinstein has difficulty keeping up with conversations and discussions.... All of those who expressed concerns ... spoke to The Chronicle before Feinstein's husband, financier Richard Blum, who had been in very ill health as he battled cancer, died." Firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whatever her mental acuity, Feinstein -- and other elderly legislators & judges -- should have the sense to retire when they're in their 70s (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Feinstein represents a state with a population of 40 million. It is statistically impossible that there's no younger Californian who could be a better senator than an 89-year-old. To think that you're the best and only one for the job is simply hubris -- and evidence that you're not. Shame on her for running in 2018.

Maggie Haberman & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol spent roughly eight hours on Thursday questioning Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, in an at times contentious exchange that included queries about Mr. Trump's speech before a crowd the morning of the riot, according to two people familiar with the session. Investigators asked Mr. Miller repeatedly about the use of the word 'we' throughout Mr. Trump's speech on the Ellipse, outside the White House, on Jan. 6, 2021, the people said, in an apparent effort to ascertain whether the former president had been directing supporters to join him in taking action to stop Congress from certifying his defeat. Mr. Miller argued that the language was no different from any other political speech.... Mr. Miller invoked executive privilege when asked about his discussions with Mr. Trump, including a phone call that White House records show he had with the former president the morning of Jan. 6, one of the people said." ~~~

~~~ Eric Tucker & Farnoush Amiri of the AP: "Stephen Miller ... had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a committee subpoena for his phone records." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oh Noes! The Trump-Made-Me-Do-It Defense Fails. Holmes Lybrand & Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A January 6 rioter who claimed he was following 'presidential orders' when he stormed the US Capitol and stole liquor and a coat rack was convicted Thursday on all charges by a jury in Washington, DC. Dustin Thompson, a 38-year-old exterminator from Ohio, faced six charges -- obstructing an official proceeding, theft of government property, illegally entering the Capitol, illegally protesting in the Capitol, and two counts of disorderly conduct in the Capitol.... 'Besides being ordered by the President to go to the Capitol, I don't know what I was thinking,' Thompson told the jury Wednesday. 'I was caught up in the moment.'... After the verdict, federal Judge Reggie Walton blasted ... Donald Trump's conduct. 'The insurgency, and it was in effect that, is very troubling,' Walton said. 'I think our democracy is in trouble because unfortunately we have charlatans, like the former President, in my view, who don't care about democracy and only care about power.' The trial marked the first time a Capitol riot defendant tried to convince a jury that Trump was responsible for the violence on January 6, 2021." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal jury on Thursday convicted a British militant accused of being a member of the brutal Islamic State cell known as the Beatles in the abduction, abuse and deaths of four Americans, a hard-won victory for the families of victims who pressured the government to bring him to justice. The jury deliberated for a day before finding El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on four counts of hostage-taking and four counts of conspiracy related to the deaths of three American men and a young woman who were captured during the Islamic State's rampage through Syria in 2012 and 2013. Mr. Elsheikh, who faces multiple life sentences, is the most prominent member of the Islamic State to be brought to trial in the United States. He was captured in Syria by a Kurdish-backed militia in 2018 as he tried to flee to Turkey." A CBS News report is here.

2024 Presidential Election. RNC Admits Its 2024 Presidential Candidate Will Be an Ignorant Dimwit. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, following through on threats to bar GOP presidential nominees from participating in debates sponsored by the nonprofit organization. The RNC has accused the commission, which was repeatedly attacked by Donald Trump, of being biased in favor of Democrats.... In a statement Thursday, RNC Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel said that her party is 'committed to free and fair debates' but that they would be held through other platforms. She did not specify them." CNN's story is here. Commentary in today's thread suggests some people are a teeny bit skeptical of the RNC's stated motives.

New York Times: "Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has ... launched a hostile bid to take over Twitter, a move that could have broad implications for a social network where world leaders, lawmakers, celebrities and more than 217 million other users conduct daily public discourse.... Mr. Musk has long used Twitter to insult critics, troll short-sellers of Tesla and propose grandiose ideas about space travel. He has also spread inaccurate information about the pandemic. He mused on Twitter about taking Tesla private in a tweet in 2018 and inaccurately claimed he had secured funding for the transaction, after which he was fined $40 million by the S.E.C.... Twitter's board is considering a defensive move known as a poison pill that would severely limit Elon Musk's ability to acquire the social media giant, two people with knowledge of the situation said. The board met on Thursday to discuss Mr. Musk's offer to buy the company.... The poison pill defense ... lets the company flood the market with new shares or allow existing shareholders other than the potential acquirer to buy shares at a discount. This dilutes the bidder's stake and makes buying shares more expensive." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Musk Becomes Hero to Right-Wing Liars & Propagandists. Rebecca Kern & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Conservatives are heralding Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter as a salve for years of feeling slighted and sidelined by the platform for their political views. The Tesla CEO and self-proclaimedfree-speech absolutist' has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion -- a potential takeover that could lead to more controversial content allowed on the site, and be a boon for Republicans who allege Twitter censors their views.... A number of Republican lawmakers quickly applauded Musk's bid. And while [Donald] Trump has previously said he wouldn't rejoin Twitter, one former adviser said Trump would jump at the chance to get back on. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told Politico that Musk 'could take the company in a far better direction' for those he claimed have been unfairly silenced or censored by Twitter's assault on conservative free speech and ideas it doesn't like."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to the first Covid-19 test that can detect the coronavirus in a breath sample, within a few minutes and with a high degree of accuracy, the agency said Thursday.... The InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer, which is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, can produce results in less than three minutes and can be used in doctor's offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites by trained operators. A single machine can analyze about 160 samples per day." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report on authorization of the Covid breath test is here.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Alyssa Lukpat of the New York Times: "Ed Buck, a onetime Democratic donor and activist, was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday to 30 years in prison for giving two men fatal doses of methamphetamine at his West Hollywood apartment, prosecutors said. The sentencing concludes Mr. Buck's extraordinary turn from a prominent activist to a predator. The two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, died 18 months apart at what the Justice Department had called 'party and play' sessions at Mr. Buck's apartment. Prosecutors said he lured men to sex-fueled parties and drugged them from 2011 to 2019." The Guardian's report is here.

Florida. Arek Sarkissian of Politico: "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed into law a measure that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Florida, calling it the most significant restriction in a generation. The law will take effect on July 1. DeSantis signed the bill, HB 5, at a Spanish-speaking church in Kissimmee. The measure represents the most significant restriction on abortion in state history and comes amid other Republican-controlled states taking steps to limit abortion.... Florida's law only permits abortions to occur after 15 weeks of pregnancy in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, and it includes no exceptions for survivors of rape, incest and human trafficking."

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Kate Brumback of the AP: "Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams cannot immediately begin raising and spending unlimited campaign contributions under a state law passed last year because she is not yet her party's nominee, a federal judge ruled Thursday. Abrams and her One Georgia committee filed a lawsuit last month challenging the constitutionality of the new law, which allows certain top elected officials and party nominees to create 'leadership committees' that can raise campaign funds without limits. But they also asked the judge to order the state ethics commission not to take any action against them if they continue to raise money before the primary next month.... The lawsuit noted that the new law allows Republican Gov. Brian Kemp t raise unlimited funds while Abrams is constrained by the contribution limits." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, the law was designed to give incumbents a big advantage over challengers. Should Abrams prevail, expect Georgia's Republican legislators would try to repeal the law.

Nebraska Gubernatorial Race. Aaron Sanderford of the Nebraska Examiner, republished in the Raw Story: "Time after time, Charles Herbster worked the crowds as he attended events, either as a candidate for Nebraska governor, a significant Republican donor or a beauty pageant judge.... He would extend a handshake to the men. But when young women reached out for a handshake, as well, on at least several occasions he pulled them into an embrace instead. Herbster, the CEO of Conklin Co. and now a frontrunner in the 2022 GOP primary race, sometimes went further, according to eight women who spoke with the Nebraska Examiner. During an event in 2019, for example, Republican State Sen. Julie Slama confirmed that as she walked by Herbster, he reached up her skirt, without her consent, and touched her inappropriately. The incident happened in the middle of a crowded ballroom at the Douglas County Republican Party's annual Elephant Remembers dinner.... Another person attending the 2019 event saw Herbster reach up Slama's skirt and had told the Examiner about it. That witness and two others said they saw Herbster grope another young woman on her buttocks at the same event.... [Six] women said Herbster groped them on their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants.... A seventh woman said Herbster once cornered her privately and kissed her forcibly.... Herbster denied the women's allegations 'unequivocally.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York. Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Edward P. Mangano, the former Nassau County executive who for years participated in a bribery and kickback scheme, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison for his role in what prosecutors called 'a culture of corruption' at the heart of Long Island's Republican political machine. Mr. Mangano, 60, was convicted in March 2019 on counts including bribery and wire fraud. It was the second trial in the case, after the first ended in a mistrial in 2018. He was acquitted on two counts, including an extortion charge. Mr. Mangano's wife, Linda, 59, was convicted at the same trial on four counts, including making false statements and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced in a separate proceeding Thursday, also in federal court on Long Island, to 15 months in prison." A Long Island News 12 item is here.

Ohio. Jessie Balmert & Laura Bischoff of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "For the fourth time, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected state House and Senate maps drawn by Republicans, sending mapmakers back to the drawing board. Time is of the essence because Ohio needs legislative maps by Wednesday to conduct an Aug. 2 primary -- the latest possible date, according to state election officials. But in its 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court rejected that premise, saying the primary could be held later than Aug. 2 and the map could be finished by 9 a.m. May -- the court's new deadline. 'The so-called April 20 'deadline' for implementing a General Assembly-district plan appears to be an artificial deadline that is based on a speculative, potential primary-election date for state legislative races,' according to the majority's opinion, which did not list an author." Firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Maybe those Republicans who can't draw a map could take lessons from Al Franken (2009 video) Why, he can draw the whole USA from memory, not just one dinky little state:

Tennessee. If Only America's Homeless Could Be More Like Hitler. Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: "A Tennessee Republican wants the state's unhoused population to draw inspiration from Adolf Hitler. No, seriously. While debating a bill on Wednesday that would criminalize homeless camps on public property in the state, State Sen. Frank Niceley (R) decided to share with the chamber 'a little history lesson on homelessness.' That lesson: Hitler was homeless for a spell, too, but by golly, then he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and 'went on to lead a life that got him in the history books.'... The bill passed 22 to 10 and is now headed to Governor Bill Lee (R) for his signature." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Texas, D.C. Rafael Bernal of the Hill: "A second bus of Latin American asylum applicants arrived in Washington, D.C. from Texas early Thursday, as part of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's push to augment the national visibility of the Biden administration's asylum policies. The bus, which transported 14 Nicaraguan, Cuban, Venezuelan and Colombian nationals, dropped off the prospective asylees outside of the building that houses the Washington bureau of Fox News, which broke the story. Other media organizations are also in the building.... The migrants, who are legally in the country awaiting official determination of their asylum claims, voluntarily agreed to be bussed to Washington, D.C. as part of Abbott's initiative." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Israel. Patrick Kingsley & Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "Clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinians erupted at one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem early on Friday, the first day of a rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter, culminating weeks of escalating violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank. The clashes began at about 5:30 a.m. and lasted for more than three hours at the site, the Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, known to Jews as the Temple Mount -- a complex that is sacred to both religions. Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers were gathered there for dawn prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting." An AP story is here.