December 3, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Uh-oh. CNN reports that a manhunt, involving the FBI & U.S. Marshals, is underway in a search for James & Jennifer Crumley, who apparently are fugitives on the run to avoid arraignment on involuntary manslauter charges. CNN has live updates here, but currently (at 3:35 pm ET) there are no details. A CNN pundit pointed out that the Crumleys live close to the U.S.-Canadian border. There's a BOLA for a black 2021 Kia SUV, Michigan plate DQG-5203. (I think I got that right, but maybe not.) And there goes your typical Trump-supporting Mom. ~~~

     ~~~ According to an update of the AP story also linked below, "A lawyer says two parents charged with involuntary manslaughter in a Michigan high school shooting left town for their own safety but are returning to face arraignment. Shannon Smith spoke after authorities said they were searching for Jennifer and James Crumbley. They are the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who is charged with murder and terrorism in the deaths of four students at Oxford High School on Tuesday." MB: Update update: However, according on on-air reports on both CNN & MSNBC, the couple did not show up for their arraignment, which was scheduled for 4 pm CT & the manhunt continues. ~~~

~~~ Paulina Firoza, et al., of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors said Friday they would file charges against the parents of the student accused of fatally shooting classmates at a Michigan high school. James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of 15-year-old Ethan, will be charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. Authorities say the teenager killed four students and wounded seven people at his high school Tuesday, using a semi-automatic handgun purchased by his father in the deadliest school shooting in more than three years." ~~~

~~~ Corey Williams & Ed White of the AP: "A prosecutor says the parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school were summoned a few hours earlier after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a person bleeding and the words 'help me.' Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald made the disclosure Friday as she filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley. McDonald says the gun used in the shootings at Oxford High School was purchased by James Crumbley a week ago and given to the boy." ~~~

~~~ Sarakshi Rai of the Hill: "The mother of the Michigan school shooting suspect, Ethan Crumbley, texted her son 'don't do it' when news of the active shooter situation went public, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said at a press conference on Friday. Jennifer Crumbley, who met with school officials after teachers reported concerns regarding her 15-year-old son's behavior just hours earlier, texted her son immediately on hearing the news, McDonald said. The prosecutor said Jennifer Crumbley texted her son at 1:22 p.m. and at 1:37 p.m his father, James Crumbley, called 911 to report that his gun was missing. He told the operator that his son may have been the active shooter.... McDonald provided further details about the incident, saying that Ethan Crumbley was found searching for ammunition on his cellphone during class by a teacher. The teacher then reported him to the school for the first time. Referencing that incident, the prosecutor said that after school officials contacted Jennifer Crumbley, she exchanged text messages with her son on that day saying, 'lol, I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught.' McDonald said that in a second reported incident a teacher found a drawing on the morning of the shooting, showing a gun pointing at words that read 'the thoughts won't stop, help me' and someone being shot twice."

** Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, the attorney who helped ... Donald Trump pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a letter he delivered to the Jan. 6 committee explaining his decision not to testify.... Eastman's decision is an extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with Trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Biden's victory in a handful of swing states and appoint alternate electors to the Electoral College, effectively denying Biden's victory. The former Chapman University law professor also pressured Pence, who is constitutionally required to preside over the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6, to unilaterally refuse to count some of Biden's electors and send the election to the full House for a vote -- or delay long enough to give states a chance to submit new electors."

Jacqueline Alemany & Mariana Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "House Republicans have decried the public feuding this week among a small group of GOP lawmakers as detrimental to the party's ability to win back the House in the 2022 midterm elections because it distracts from their attacks on Democrats' agenda. But little has been said publicly by party leaders or rank-and-file members about whether they find the source of this feuding problematic: Islamophobic attacks by some Republicans against a Democratic congresswoman who is Muslim. The party's focus on the political ramifications of the infighting rather than the substance of the disagreement has led civil rights groups and Democrats to charge that Republicans are embracing, or at least enabling, bigotry." MB: Kind of, "Now, now, kids, let's all get together and remember we're a white Christian nation."

Linda Greenhouse Is Not Amused. New York Times: "There are many reasons for dismay over the Supreme Court argument in the Mississippi abortion case, but it was the nonstop gaslighting that really got to me. First there was Justice Clarence Thomas, pretending by his questions actually to be interested in how the Constitution might be interpreted to provide for the right to abortion, a right he has denounced and schemed to overturn since professing to the Senate Judiciary Committee 30 years ago that he never even thought about the matter. Then there was Chief Justice John Roberts, mischaracterizing an internal memo that Justice Harry Blackmun wrote.... And then there was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who rattled off a list of 'the most consequential cases in this court's history' that resulted from overruling prior decisions.... [His] ... goal was ... to normalize the deeply abnormal scene playing out in the courtroom.... I will give the gaslighting prize to Justice Kavanaugh [for pretending that the Court's decision in favor of Mississippi would be an expression of 'neutrality.']... Justice [Amy] Barrett's performance during Wednesday's argument was beyond head-spinning." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

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Tony Romm & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill to fund the federal government into early next year, narrowly averting a shutdown after some Republicans sought to seize on the imminent fiscal deadline to fight President Biden over his vaccine policies. The two successful evening votes spelled an end to a brief yet tense period that would have brought Washington to a halt come Saturday morning, a development that Democrats had described as irresponsible and dangerous in the middle of a deadly pandemic. The new agreement, which awaits Biden's signature, covers federal spending until Feb. 18. At that point, lawmakers must adopt another short-term measure or complete work on a dozen long-stalled appropriations bills that fund the government for the remainder of fiscal 2022, which ends in September." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "After a 10-month flurry of legislating, [this week's Senate gridlock] heralded a potentially excruciating new era of governing for President Biden and other Democratic leaders, who must deal not only with an emboldened GOP leadership that sees House and Senate majorities well within their grasp, but a cadre of conservatives eager to hijack the basic processes of government if only to make a point.... House Republicans have made opposing anything Democrats do a litmus test for loyalty to the party, meaning Democrats and their slim majority will likely have to do all the legislative lifting themselves regardless of the issue for the remainder of this Congress." ~~~

     ~~~ Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico have more on Senate gridlock. Both this & DeBonis's stories were written before the short-term funding bill passed, but that was no big breakthrough. Senate rules encourage gridlock, and Republicans are taking full advantage of the rules, especially when they can generate stupid or even dangerous impasses.

Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Mitch McConnell has told colleagues and donors Senate Republicans won't release a legislative agenda before next year's midterms, according to people who've attended private meetings with the minority leader.... 'It happens all the time,' [a] source told Axios. 'Donors especially are always asking for an agenda of some kind and McConnell pushes back hard. Because he knows that all it does is take the focus off unpopular Dem policies and gives Dems something tangible to tear apart....One of the biggest mistakes challengers often make is thinking campaigns are about them and their ideas.'... 'No one gives a sh-t about that. Elections are referendums on incumbents.'" MB: The most important reason for Mute Mitch's silence on a GOP "agenda" is that Senate Republicans don't have one single legislative goal that is popular with voters. Reduce taxes on the rich? Nyet. Hamstring every environment-friendly measure? Nope. Undo even our crap health insurance assistance? Nah. Throw money at military contractors? Uh-uh. And so forth.

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told President Joe Biden's judicial nominee Dale Ho that he won't support his nomination because he thinks he's too angry to be a judge. 'Mr. Ho, you're a smart man. I can tell. But I think you're an angry man,' Kennedy said during Ho's Wednesday hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'We don't need federal judges who are angry. We need federal judges who are fair and can see both points of view.'... Ultimately, Kennedy said his time was up and that Ho ― who politely answered questions throughout the hearing ― was too angry for him to support. The irony wasn't lost on one Democratic senator who pointed out that Kennedy previously voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who screamed and sneered at senators during his confirmation hearing." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bendery is missing Sen. Leghorn's point here. What may seem to be hypocrisy is not hypocritical at all. It's racist. Ho is obviously of Asian or part-Asian descent. White men are allowed to "scream & sneer" in Leghorn's worldview, but Asians are supposed to appear subservient to white men & bow a lot. And Leghorn wants to make sure everybody understands that. I'd like to wring his neck, the way you do a chicken that about to make an appearance in the gumbo.

Speaking of O'Kavanaugh, Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post summarizes Wednesday's Supreme Court arguments on the Mississippi anti-abortion law. Sometimes you have to laugh so you don't just sob in your beer. I still like beer.

Kyle Cheney & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "In interviews, members of the committee [investigating the January 6 insurrection] say [former Trump Chief of Staff Mark] Meadows may have damaged his case for maintaining the secrecy of his contacts with ... Donald Trump on Jan. 6 by divulging selected details in his book, due to publish Tuesday. 'It's ... very possible that by discussing the events of Jan. 6 in his book, if he does that, he's waiving any claim of privilege. So, it'd be very difficult for him to maintain "I can't speak about events to you, but I can speak about them in my book,"' said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the panel's nine members.... 'You can't assert a privilege that you have waived by virtue of your other actions,' said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In addition, Schiff pointed out while appearing on MSNBC Thursday evening that the committee has questions for Meadows that don't involve his conversations with Trump so executive privilege would not apply even if it were possible for Trump to invoke it in his own interactions with Meadows.

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Michigan has ordered a group of lawyers who brought a failed lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results to pay about $175,000 in legal fees to the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit, the latest in a series of rulings from federal judges seeking to hold lawyers accountable for trying to use the courts to overturn a democratic election. U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker had already ordered that the group of nine lawyers -- including Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood, both allies to ... Donald Trump -- be disciplined for their role in the suit, which in August she called 'a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.'"

Contributor Monoloco has given us some food for thought/bitter pill to chew on: "Take a close look at one Michigan voter who was always a Democrat until she had to make a tough choice in 2016. Elated when her candidate won, she wrote him a letter explaining her thought process. She posted her letter on a blog where the Daily Beast recently uncovered it. Read the letter and then explain where Democrats went wrong in 2016, and how to reach this voter -- and the millions of her ilk -- in 2022-2024. (Oh, and PS: She's making headlines now as the mother of the Michigan shooter.)" MB: I do urge you to read the letter. We'd like to learn your reactions. PD Pepe had quite a wise observation about it, published at the end of yesterday's Comments thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lauren Effron of ABC News: "Actor Alec Baldwin told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that he had 'no idea' how a live bullet got onto the set of his film, 'Rust,' but that he 'didn't pull the trigger' on the firearm that killed one person and wounded another." Sonia Rao of the Washington Post has more background, but no elaboration on Baldwin's new claim. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Simon Romero & others of the New York Times add more context.

The Pandemic, Ctd., Brought to You by the Unvaccinated & the GOP

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Biden, confronting a worrisome new coronavirus variant and a potential winter surge, laid out a pandemic strategy on Thursday that includes hundreds of vaccination sites, boosters for all adults, new testing requirements for international travelers and free at-home tests. After nearly a year of pushing vaccination as the way out of the pandemic, Mr. Biden has been unable to overcome resistance to the shots in red states and rural areas. His new strategy shifts away from a near-singular focus on vaccination and places a fresh emphasis on testing -- a tacit acknowledgment by the White House that vaccination is not enough to end the worst public health crisis in a century. Mr. Biden's announcement came as several new cases of the Omicron variant were reported in the United States, including five people in New York State, a Minnesota resident who had recently traveled to New York City and a Colorado resident who had recently returned from southern Africa. Hawaii also reported its first known case, and California its second." ~~~

     ~~~ The White House laid out its strategy in this release.

Zeke Miller of the AP: "... after taking it on the chin for months, [President] Biden and his allies are increasingly willing to hit back, casting Republicans as the true obstacle to the nation's recovery from the pandemic.... Biden was elected on the promise of depoliticizing the virus response and following the science, so responding in kind wasn't seen as an option early on.... But now, as public patience wears thin amid the emergence of the new omicron variant and some GOP lawmakers' threats to shut down the government over vaccine requirements, the White House and its allies are seizing on what they see as a political opening. 'It's clear that Republicans have decided that the fate of the Biden presidency is tied to COVID,' said Democratic communications strategist Eric Schultz, who worked in the Obama White House. 'And Republicans have chosen to be on the side of the virus.'"

The idea of “real Americans” and “fake Americans” is pure propaganda. The idea that you can just be “over” a virus because you wanna be is pure idiocy. Both fit squarely into the Jim Jordan wheelhouse. pic.twitter.com/xtzjO5PBvO

— PoliticsGirl (@IAmPoliticsGirl) December 3, 2021

     ~~~ Thanks to Brian Williams for the lead.

One Way to Whittle Down Military Spending: Discharge 19,000 Troops. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "As many as 19,000 active-duty Marines and Navy sailors chose not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by their shared Nov. 28 deadline, a dilemma for military leaders who have threatened to expel personnel refusing to comply with the Biden administration's mandate. In both services, the number of holdouts is around 9,500, according to official counts. And while the Marines' margin of 5 percent unvaccinated had been anticipated, it was an unexpected outcome for the Navy, which in announcing its final tally this week acknowledged that officials had uncovered last-minute 'discrepancies' with its data-tracking system that revealed a larger pool of unvaccinated sailors than had been projected."

Ben Shpigel of the New York Times: "The N.F.L. on Thursday suspended Antonio Brown, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star receiver, and defensive back Mike Edwards without pay for the next three games for misrepresenting their Covid-19 vaccination status, an egregious violation of protocols that were jointly agreed upon by the league and its players' union. A review conducted by the N.F.L. and the N.F.L. Players Association concluded that Brown and two other players, Edwards and the free-agent receiver John Franklin III, had acquired fake vaccination cards. Franklin will have to sit out three games if he is signed by a team. The Tampa Bay Times on Nov. 18 first reported that Brown had obtained the card, prompting the review."

New Jersey. Mike Catalini of the AP: "Disorder and confusion erupted in the halls outside the New Jersey Assembly on Thursday as several [-- at least ten --] Republican lawmakers defied a new requirement to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test and were blocked by state troopers -- albeit briefly -- from entering the ornate chamber. Hours later, a state appellate court handed a victory to Republicans who had sued to block the proof-of-vaccination requirement, granting the GOP's application for a stay of the order and setting a potential hearing date for later this month. It was not immediately clear what effect the ruling would have on the requirement."

Germany. Frank Jordans of the AP: "Unvaccinated people across Germany will soon be excluded from nonessential stores, restaurants and sports and cultural venues, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Thursday, and parliament will consider a general vaccine mandate as part of efforts to curb coronavirus infections. Merkel announced the measures after a meeting with federal and state leaders, as the nation again topped 70,000 newly confirmed cases in a 24-hour period. She said the steps were necessary to address concerns that hospitals could become overloaded with patients suffering from COVID-19 infections, which are much more likely to be serious in people who have not been vaccinated." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Illinois. Julia Jacobs & Mark Guarino of the New York Times: "Jussie Smollett's lawyers suggested in court on Thursday that two brothers at the center of the case attacked the actor to scare him into hiring them as his personal security, and later, to avoid prosecution, falsely told the police that Mr. Smollet had planned it all as a hoax. The brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, have each testified that Mr. Smollett gave them detailed instructions on where and how to mildly attack him in January 2019.... During more than 11 hours of testimony, which touched on minute details like Mr. Smollett's grocery list and workout regimen, they told the court that Mr. Smollett instructed them to yell racist and homophobic slurs at him -- and say, 'This is MAGA country' -- during the attack."

New York. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department is investigating the sexual harassment allegations against former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D), the latest repercussion to stem from the sweeping report issued by the office of the state's Democratic attorney general.... Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi confirmed the existence of the investigation."

New York. Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "The trial [of Ghislaine Maxwell], which began on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, is seen by many of his accusers and others as the trial [Jeffrey] Epstein never had, and prosecutors have sought to show that Ms. Maxwell, 59, played a pivotal role in her longtime companion's sexual abuse of teenage girls.... Prosecutors have accused Ms. Maxwell of helping Mr. Epstein recruit his victims. She faces six charges, including sex trafficking, enticing and transporting minors for illegal sex act and three conspiracy counts."

Way Beyond

William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, won a significant victory in the British courts Thursday in her legal battle against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, a tabloid that printed excerpts of a letter Meghan wrote to her estranged father in the frenzied run-up to her wedding to Prince Harry. Meghan contended that because the contents of the letter were private and concerned personal matters that were not of legitimate public interest, she enjoyed a reasonable expectation of privacy. The appeals court agreed.... The Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline, to force a trial over its publication of extracts from Meghan's plaintive 'dear daddy' letter to Thomas Markle, who Meghan and Harry say has embarrassed them through his dealings with tabloid journalists and photographers."

News Lede

CNBC: "The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new Covid threat created a scare that growth could slow into the winter, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2%, even though the labor force participation rate increased for the month to 61.8%, its highest level since March 2020. The Dow Jones estimate was for 573,000 new jobs and a jobless level of 4.5%."

December 2, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Tony Romm & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "House and Senate leaders on Thursday announced they had reached a deal on a bill to fund the government into mid-February, opening the door for lawmakers to narrowly avoid a shutdown entering this weekend. The agreement on a new stopgap spending measure set the House on a path to vote before the end of the day, though swift action still seemed uncertain in the Senate, where some Republicans have threatened to grind the government to a halt as they protest President Biden's vaccine and testing mandates. Both chambers must pass identical bills by midnight on Friday to avert a shutdown. Lawmakers from both parties have warned that a failure to fund the government could be disruptive, especially at a time when the country is responding to a new, potentially more dangerous variant of the coronavirus." Politico's story is here.

Lauren Effron of ABC News: "Actor Alec Baldwin told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that he had 'no idea' how a live bullet got onto the set of his film, 'Rust,' but that he 'didn't pull the trigger' on the firearm that killed one person and wounded another." Sonia Rao of the Washington Post has more background, but no elaboration on Baldwin's new claim.

Frank Jordans of the AP: "Unvaccinated people across Germany will soon be excluded from nonessential stores, restaurants and sports and cultural venues, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Thursday, and parliament will consider a general vaccine mandate as part of efforts to curb coronavirus infections. Merkel announced the measures after a meeting with federal and state leaders, as the nation again topped 70,000 newly confirmed cases in a 24-hour period. She said the steps were necessary to address concerns that hospitals could become overloaded with patients suffering from COVID-19 infections, which are much more likely to be serious in people who have not been vaccinated."

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Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled it is on the verge of a major shift in its abortion jurisprudence, and is likely to uphold a Mississippi law that mostly prohibits the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Whether that would mean overruling Roe v. Wade's finding that women have a fundamental right to end their pregnancies was unclear. But none of the six conservatives who make up the court's majority expressed support for maintaining its rule that states may not prohibit abortion before the point of fetal viability, which is generally estimated to be between 22 and 24 weeks. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., often the most moderate of the conservatives, said Mississippi's limit of 15 weeks was not a 'dramatic departure' from viability, and gave women enough time to make the choice to end their pregnancies." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's analysis, by Alice Ollstein & Josh Gerstein, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times analysis, by Adam Liptak, is here.

Roberts Explores a Questionable Middle Ground. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Much of the discussion of a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy has suggested that the Supreme Court faces a binary choice: it could strike down the law and fully reaffirm Roe v. Wade, as the law's challengers want, or it could gut the idea that the Constitution protects abortion rights at all, as Mississippi has urged. But during the Supreme Court's oral arguments on Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the law, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared to be exploring whether he could find something of a middle ground -- one that would allow the court to uphold the Mississippi law without also proclaiming that the Constitution offered no protection of any right to an abortion.... How Chief Justice Roberts handles the case could have outsized importance. Compared to some of the other five members of the court's conservative bloc, he is broadly seen as more likely to be concerned about the institutional impact on the court if it makes a wrenching and politically contentious change in the law. He also has the power to assign himself to write the opinion if he votes with the majority. Known for crafting narrow and incremental decisions, Chief Justice Roberts distinguished on Wednesday between an outright ban on abortion and a ban on the procedure that was stricter than the current standard. At one point, he remarked that he thought moving the cutoff line to 15 weeks -- nine weeks earlier than where it is now -- was 'not a dramatic departure from viability.'"

Why, It's Almost as if Bart O'Kavanaugh Is Mendacious & Untrustworthy. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on Wednesday repeatedly indicated he would be open to overturning 'settled law,' including Roe v. Wade, citing a long list of past Supreme Court cases that had been ruled against precedent.... The question of how he would rule in a challenge to Roe v. Wade came up multiple times during his confirmation hearings, and at the time, Kavanaugh emphasized that Roe v. Wade was 'settled as precedent.'... Kavanaugh said he believed [Roe v. Wade] ... should be 'entitled the respect under principles of stare decisis,' the notion that precedents should not be overturned without strong reason. 'And one of the important things to keep in mind about Roe v. Wade is that it has been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years, as you know, and most prominently, most importantly, reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992,' Kavanaugh said then.... [Sen. Susan] Collins [R-Maine] would go on to express her full confidence in several interviews that Kavanaugh would not overturn Roe v. Wade." ~~~

     ~~~ Not to Worry. Senator Susan Is Concerned. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Sen. Susan Collins, the moderate Republican from Maine, favors passing legislation to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into law, her office said Wednesday.... But Collins opposes the House-passed Women's Health Protection Act, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has promised will get a vote in the Senate." MB: Well, a little concerned. BTW, there's no way abortion rights will be codified as long as the filibuster stands.

Amy Phony Barrett, a very caring person who turns out to be concerned about women's rights, too, suggested during oral arguments that abortions were unnecessary because birth mothers could dump their unwanted neonates in special baby chutes. And somebody would adopt them. Maybe! Steve M. explains.

Justice Sotomayor: This Court Stinks. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The six Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court left no doubt in oral argument Wednesday that they would end the constitutional right to abortion that American women have had for nearly half a century. The court will either overturn Roe v. Wade outright or cripple the landmark ruling by eliminating the 'fetal viability' standard at its core. Both would return us to a time before most people living ever knew, when state legislatures controlled women's reproductive decisions. Public opinion hasn't changed. The science hasn't fundamentally changed. No new legal theory has been promulgated. The only difference is the court now has a majority hellbent on settling scores in the culture wars. 'Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?' Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked her colleagues. 'I don't see how it is possible.'"

Marie: The Mississippi AG, when arguing before the Supremes, hit on the theme that abortion decisions should be left "to the people." I couldn't quite figure where that phrase came from till Ken W. explained it in a comment at the end of yesterday's thread: "... states' rights used to allow slavery. To me, the connection between then and now is clear." "Leaving it to the people" is the new way to say "state's right." Oh, we are all whistling Dixie now. Look away, look away. BTW, this is not a discussion we would be having if the exceptional U.S. of A. elected the president by popular vote -- you know, the way every other real democracy with a presidential form of government does. Because President Hillary.

AP: "President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses held a 'family' celebration of Hanukkah at the White House Wednesday, with the first Jewish spouse of a vice president, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, joining in lighting the menorah. Speaking to more than 150 guests, including Jewish community leaders, Cabine members, lawmakers and the new Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, Biden sought to draw parallels between his presidency and the eight-day commemoration of the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees. 'Whether it's in the temple of Jerusalem or the temple of our democracy, nothing broken or profaned is beyond repair, nothing,' Biden said. 'We can always build back better, perhaps build back brighter.'" MB: Whoever came up with the idea of likening Democrats retaking the White House to the Maccabees' retaking the Temple at Jerusalem is pretty clever.

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "President Biden marked World AIDS Day on Wednesday by renewing support for the worldwide goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by the end of the decade and launching steps to reduce the spread of the disease. 'We can do this,' Biden said at a White House ceremony. 'We can eliminate HIV transmission. We can get the epidemic under control here in the United States, in countries around the world. We have the scientific understanding, we have treatments, and we have the tools we need.' More than 700,000 people have died of AIDS-related illnesses in the country since the epidemic began more than 40 years ago. The number globally tops 36 million people. About 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States. The number nears 38 million people worldwide." Video of Biden's remarks is here.

Peggy McGlone of the Washington Post: "Reinstating a long-standing tradition, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night, when the nation's arts center celebrates the careers of actress Bette Midler, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, opera singer Justino Díaz, Motown producer Berry Gordy and 'Saturday Night Live' creator Lorne Michaels. A sitting president has not attended the celebration of the arts since 2016 because Donald and Melania Trump stayed away from the ceremonies.... In 2017, the Trumps announced in August that they wouldn't attend after several honorees, including television producer Norman Lear, were critical of him.... Vice President Harris and husband Douglas Emhoff will join the Bidens in the Opera House box alongside the honorees."

Nick Miroff & Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration has reached a deal with the Mexican government to restart the Trump-era 'Remain in Mexico' program that requires asylum seekers to wait outside U.S. territory while their claims are processed, two U.S. officials and a Mexican government official said late Wednesday. The governments are planning to announce the agreement Thursday, according to two of the officials.... Implementation of the program, formerly known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), is expected to begin next week in San Diego and in the Texas cities of Brownsville, Laredo and El Paso, one official said.... The Trump administration used the MPP program to return more than 60,000 asylum seekers across the border to Mexico, where they were often preyed upon by criminal gangs, extortionists and kidnappers. President Biden denounced MPP as inhumane and quickly ended it after taking office, but Republican officials in Texas and Missouri sued the administration in federal court and won an injunction in August forcing the government to resurrect the program." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't understand how a U.S. court has the power to compel a foreign sovereign nation -- Mexico -- to do anything. And this order, even if theoretically directed at the U.S. executive branch, requires Mexico to accommodate migrants from third countries.

Rachel Shatto of the Advocate, republished by Yahoo! News: "... according to [Fox 'News']'s morning talk show, [the new omicron coronavirus variant] was created in order to help boost Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg into the presidency in 2024.... '[Buttigieg] has said we can't fix the supply chain problem until the pandemic is over, until COVID is over,' explained [cohost Rachel] Campos-Duffy. 'And now we see these new variants. So that's the answer: more lockdowns, more lockdowns, more fear and therefore he doesn't have to do his job of fixing the supply chain because "we'll keep this whole thing going."' Campos-Duffy's cohosts Pete Hegseth and Will Cain agreed. 'You can count on a variant about every October, every two years,' Hegseth added, insinuating that the new variant and any that follow would just be inventions by Democrats seeking an advantage in future elections." Thanks to a friend for the link. MB: Buttigieg is probably the smartest guy who has run for president in the past several cycles, but creating a scary new virus variant is just the most clever way to become president anyone has ever imagined. (The logic here is sort of lost on me, but, hey, good work, Pete!) (Also linked yesterday.)

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government on Wednesday teetered one step closer to a potential weekend shutdown, as Republicans seized on a fast-approaching fiscal deadline to mount fresh opposition to President Biden's vaccine and testing mandates. Entering the week, Democrats and Republicans initially had hoped to fund the government before a current spending arrangement expires on Friday. Lawmakers aimed to finance federal agencies and initiatives at least into late January, buying themselves more time to craft a series of longer-term measures that could sustain Washington through the rest of the fiscal year.... House and Senate leaders had yet to settle on the exact duration of their short-term funding measure, delaying lawmakers from starting the time-sensitive votes. And some GOP lawmakers in both chambers newly promised to hold up the process...." An Axios item is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Wednesday to hold former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in criminal contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry. It is unclear when the full House could take up the contempt resolution, but if it is adopted, it would be up to the Justice Department to determine whether it wants to indict Clark for not complying with a congressional subpoena. Clark, however, has one more opportunity to appear in front of the committee on Saturday for a new deposition. Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said during the hearing that Clark informed the committee he 'now intends to claim Fifth Amendment protection,' and that the panel is 'willing to convene another deposition at which Clark can assert that privilege on a question-by-question basis.' Thompson called Clark's last-minute notice a 'last-ditch attempt to delay the Select Committee's proceedings.'"

American Exceptionalism, Ctd. Tik Root of the Washington Post: "The United States ranks as the world's leading contributor of plastic waste and needs a national strategy to combat the issue, according to a congressionally mandated report released Tuesday.... The United States ... [generates] about 287 pounds of plastics per person. Overall, the United States produced 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016 -- almost twice as much as China, and more than the entire European Union combined." MB: I am not doing my part. I do use a lot of disposable plastic, but the amount I don't recycle is probably no more than a pound a year. Most American communities, even in the boondocks, make it possible -- and fairly easy -- to recycle most plastics. There's little excuse for this form of exceptionalism.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "President Biden will announce Thursday that the more than 150 million Americans with private health coverage will be able to get at-home coronavirus tests reimbursed by their insurers, and that international travelers must show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken the day before departing for the United States. The moves are part of a new winter strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic just as the worrisome new Omicron variant circles the globe." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Thursday are here: "Intermountain Healthcare, which operates about two dozen hospitals, mainly in Utah, is 'temporarily pausing enforcement of the vaccine requirement for caregivers until there is clearer direction from the courts,' said spokesman Jess Gomez.... A federal judge in Louisiana who was appointed by ... Donald Trump blocked the vaccine mandate issued for health-care workers at facilities that receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty said the injunction -- which is subject to appeal -- was needed to protect the 'liberty interests of the unvaccinated.'" MB: None of this makes sense. I'd guess Intermountain is a private company so it can impose mandates if it wants to; a judge's injunction against the Biden administration doesn't impose a restriction on the company. As for the judge, what a tool! The 'liberty interests' of sick people who seek care in hospitals include being reasonably assured that they are 'free from' dying of a disease brought to them courtesy of their caregivers.

Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "Within hours of the first confirmed infection from the new omicron variant in the United States, the Biden administration on Thursday announced an array of measures to protect Americans, including campaigns to increase vaccinations and booster shots, additional testing requirements for travelers arriving in the country and plans to make rapid at-home coronavirus testing free for more people. While some of the measures are new -- such as a plan to launch 'family mobile vaccination clinics,' where all eligible members of a family can simultaneously get first shots or boosters -- others build on existing tactics, such as President Biden's plan to urge businesses to institute mandatory vaccination-or-testing requirements for their workers." The AP's story is here.

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

Bill Chappell of NPR: "The first case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been identified in the U.S., health officials said on Wednesday. The case was detected in a person in [San Francisco,] California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22,' the CDC said in a news release. 'The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive. All close contacts have been contacted and have tested negative.'... The infected person is not believed to have had a booster shot, Dr. Anthony Fauci ... said as he announced the news at a White House briefing." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Adam Taylor & Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "... global leaders on Wednesday agreed to start negotiations to create an international agreement to prevent and deal with future pandemics -- which some have dubbed a 'pandemic treaty.' The special session of the World Health Assembly, only the second ever held by the WHO's governing body, pledged by consensus to begin work on an agreement, amid a round of applause, after three days of talks." (Also linked yesterday.)

Typhoid Donald, the One-man Super-spreader. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump claimed more than a dozen times that he was the most transparent president in history. But according to a top aide and ally, when he tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time in the fall of 2020, his White House did not disclose it, went forward with events including one with veterans and a debate [with Joe Biden], and then spent weeks refusing to confirm reporters' correct suspicions that it had hidden Trump's diagnosis.... Here's a look at the chronology." Related Guardian story, also linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump tested positive for coronavirus three days before his first debate with Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020, two former administration officials said Wednesday. The White House did not announce the positive test at the time, and the president received a negative result shortly afterward and carried on with a campaign rally and the debate, the officials said. The account was first reported by The Guardian, which cited a forthcoming book by Mr. Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows. The two former officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity..., confirmed the timeline on Mr. Trump's test results contained in 'The Chief's Chief,' by Mr. Meadows...." The Washington Post story, by Ashley Parker & others, is here. ~~~

~~~ Tim Miller in the Bulwark: "Of all the insane moments from 2020, this one still stands out: The former president of the United States knowingly and intentionally exposed his opponent to a deadly virus and covered it up to protect his re-election campaign.... Or, to reframe the episode just slightly: One sick old man decided to risk getting his old man opponent sick, too, and lied in order to do it. Biden at age 77 was in the prime risk category for COVID-19, Trump spent an entire evening screaming and spitting in his general direction -- remember, this was that debate -- indoors, from a few feet away, without a mask." The title of the column is "Trump Tried to Kill Biden with COVID-19."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Governor's Race. Jeff Amy of the AP: "Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat and leading voting rights activist, said Wednesday that she will launch another campaign to become the nation's first Black woman governor. Without serious competition in a Democratic primary, the announcement could set up a rematch between Abrams and incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Their 2018 contest was one of the most narrowly decided races for governor that year and was dominated by allegations of voter suppression, which Kemp denied." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Massachusetts Gubernatorial Race. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, a moderate Republican who defied ... Donald J. Trump during his two terms, announced on Wednesday that he would not seek re-election next year. 'After several months of discussion with our families, we have decided not to seek re-election in 2022,' Mr. Baker and his lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, wrote in a letter to supporters. Mr. Baker, 65, who is more popular in polling among Democrats and independent voters than he is among fellow Republicans, confronted a Trump-backed primary challenge and a general election in which he could have faced the state's popular attorney general, Maura Healey, a Democrat." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Lindsay Kalter, et al., of the Washington Post: "The 15-year-old boy accused of a shooting rampage that killed four of his classmates and injured seven others at a Michigan high school was charged as an adult on Wednesday with first-degree murder and terrorism, counts that could send him to prison for life. The charges were filed hours after authorities confirmed that the fourth victim, a 17-year-old boy, had died, and came amid mounting scrutiny of the suspect's actions in the days and hours leading up to the attack at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit. Police revealed Wednesday that school officials had met with the suspect, sophomore Ethan Crumbley, on Monday and had brought his parents into the building for a face-to-face meeting Tuesday morning -- shortly before the shooting -- to discuss 'concerning classroom behavior.' Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said ... investigators have a 'mountain of digital evidence' that shows the shooting was premeditated." ~~~

     ~~~ Griff Witte, et al., of the Washington Post: "The prosecutor overseeing the investigation into a mass killing at a Michigan high school this week strongly suggested Wednesday that she would charge the teenage suspect's parents, an unusual move but one that gun control advocates say is essential to combating the nation's scourge of shootings by minors. Officials have said that the father of the suspect, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, bought the semiautomatic handgun used in the killings last Friday. Just four days later, on Tuesday, Crumbley forged a path of terror at Oxford High School, killing four people and injuring seven others, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. While it is unclear how Crumbley may have obtained the gun from his father, McDonald said Wednesday that gun owners have a responsibility to secure their weapons -- particularly when young people are involved.... If children as young as 6 did not have access to guns, well more than half of the country's school shootings since 1999 would never have happened, according to an analysis by The Washington Post."

Oregon House Race. Tanya Snyder of Politico: Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Oregon firebrand who leads the House's transportation committee, will step down after 36 years in Congress, spelling more bad news for Democrats in 2022 and taking with him an encyclopedic amount of institutional and technical knowledge on infrastructure. DeFazio told Politico that he was retiring to 'focus on my health and well-being,' but his announcement comes on the heels of a frustrating few years in which DeFazio's dreams of an ambitious, environmentally focused overhaul of the nation's highway and transit program were sidelined for a major infrastructure bill that went only as far as Republicans in the Senate would agree to go." (Also linked yesterday.)

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Ian Ward of Politico: Dr. Oz, who lived in New Jersey till sometime last year, has announced he'll run as a Republican for an open Pennsylvania Senate seat. The last time Oz went to the Senate, it was at a witness in a subcommittee hearing about fraud in the diet industry. Oz thought he was slotted to complain about deceptive advertising, but "members of the subcommittee had cast him in a different role: not as the victim of scheming fraudsters but as the fraudster himself." ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE. Holly Otterbeing & Natalie Allison of Politico: "Hedge fund CEO David McCormick is preparing a run for Senate in Pennsylvania, a move that would upend the Republican primary for the third time in as many weeks." MB: So a quack & a hedge-fund operator are what the GOP comes up with for Senate candidates. But at least these guys are not suspected of beating their wives (as far as I know!), as was Donald Trump's preferred candidate Sean Parnell, who dropped out of the race after a judge gave custody of Parnell's children to his ex-wife, who credibly accused Parnell of physically abusing her.

Way Beyond

Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "A bid by the new Taliban government in Afghanistan and the junta ruling Myanmar to gain international recognition suffered a blow on Wednesday when the United Nations put off a decision on the rightful representatives of both countries. The deferral by a powerful U.N. committee effectively denied, for now and possibly through much of 2022, attempts by the ruling authorities of Afghanistan and Myanmar, which are widely considered pariahs, to occupy seats at the United Nations. The nine-nation Credentials Committee of the General Assembly, which is responsible for approving the diplomatic representation of each U.N. member state, held a closed meeting on the applications by the Taliban and Myanmar junta to replace the ambassadors of the governments they had deposed."

China. Matthew Futterman of the New York Times: "The women's professional tennis tour announced Wednesday that it was immediately suspending all tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, in response to the disappearance from public life of the tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault. With the move, the Women's Tennis Association became the only major sports organization to push back against China's increasingly authoritarian government. Women's tennis officials made the decision after they were unable to speak directly with Peng after she accused Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier of China, in social media posts that were quickly deleted." CNN's story is here.

December 1, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled it is on the verge of a major shift in its abortion jurisprudence, and is likely to uphold a Mississippi law that mostly prohibits the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Whether that would mean overruling Roe v. Wade's finding that women have a fundamental right to end their pregnancies was unclear. But none of the six conservatives who make up the court's majority expressed support for maintaining its rule that states may not prohibit abortion before the point of fetal viability, which is generally estimated to be between 22 and 24 weeks. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., often the most moderate of the conservatives, said Mississippi's limit of 15 weeks was not a 'dramatic departure' from viability, and gave women enough time to make the choice to end their pregnancies." Politico's analysis, by Alice Ollstein & Josh Gerstein, is here.

Bill Chappell of NPR: "The first case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been identified in the U.S., health officials said on Wednesday. The case was detected in a person in [San Francisco,] California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22,' the CDC said in a news release. 'The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive. All close contacts have been contacted and have tested negative.'... The infected person is not believed to have had a booster shot, Dr. Anthony Fauci ... said as he announced the news at a White House briefing."

Georgia Governor's Race. Jeff Amy of the AP: "Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat and leading voting rights activist, said Wednesday that she will launch another campaign to become the nation's first Black woman governor. Without serious competition in a Democratic primary, the announcement could set up a rematch between Abrams and incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Their 2018 contest was one of the most narrowly decided races for governor that year and was dominated by allegations of voter suppression, which Kemp denied."

Oregon House Race. Tanya Snyder of Politico: Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Oregon firebrand who leads the House's transportation committee, will step down after 36 years in Congress, spelling more bad news for Democrats in 2022 and taking with him an encyclopedic amount of institutional and technical knowledge on infrastructure. DeFazio told Politico that he was retiring to 'focus on my health and well-being,' but his announcement comes on the heels of a frustrating few years in which DeFazio's dreams of an ambitious, environmentally focused overhaul of the nation's highway and transit program were sidelined for a major infrastructure bill that went only as far as Republicans in the Senate would agree to go."

Rachel Shatto of the Advocate, republished by Yahoo! News: "... according to [Fox 'News']'s morning talk show, [the new omicron coronavirus variant] was created in order to help boost Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg into the presidency in 2024.... '[Buttigieg] has said we can't fix the supply chain problem until the pandemic is over, until COVID is over,' explained [cohost Rachel] Campos-Duffy. 'And now we see these new variants. So that's the answer: more lockdowns, more lockdowns, more fear and therefore he doesn't have to do his job of fixing the supply chain because "we'll keep this whole thing going."' Campos-Duffy's cohosts Pete Hegseth and Will Cain agreed. 'You can count on a variant about every October, every two years,' Hegseth added, insinuating that the new variant and any that follow would just be inventions by Democrats seeking an advantage in future elections." Thanks to a friend for the link. MB: Buttigieg is probably the smartest guy who has run for president in the past several cycles, but creating a scary new virus variant is just the most clever way to become president anyone has ever imagined. (The logic here is sort of lost on me, but, hey, good work, Pete!)

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government on Wednesday teetered one step closer to a potential weekend shutdown, as Republicans seized on a fast-approaching fiscal deadline to mount fresh opposition to President Biden's vaccine and testing mandates. Entering the week, Democrats and Republicans initially had hoped to fund the government before a current spending arrangement expires on Friday. Lawmakers aimed to finance federal agencies and initiatives at least into late January, buying themselves more time to craft a series of longer-term measures that could sustain Washington through the rest of the fiscal year.... House and Senate leaders had yet to settle on the exact duration of their short-term funding measure, delaying lawmakers from starting the time-sensitive votes. And some GOP lawmakers in both chambers newly promised to hold up the process...." An Axios item is here.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump claimed more than a dozen times that he was the most transparent president in history. But according to a top aide and ally, when he tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time in the fall of 2020, his White House did not disclose it, went forward with events including one with veterans and a debate [with Joe Biden], and then spent weeks refusing to confirm reporters' correct suspicions that it had hidden Trump's diagnosis.... Here's a look at the chronology." Related Guardian story linked below.

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

Adam Taylor & Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "... global leaders on Wednesday agreed to start negotiations to create an international agreement to prevent and deal with future pandemics -- which some have dubbed a 'pandemic treaty.' The special session of the World Health Assembly, only the second ever held by the WHO's governing body, pledged by consensus to begin work on an agreement, amid a round of applause, after three days of talks."

Massachusetts Gubernatorial Race. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: “Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, a moderate Republican who defied ... Donald J. Trump during his two terms, announced on Wednesday that he would not seek re-election next year. 'After several months of discussion with our families, we have decided not to seek re-election in 2022,' Mr. Baker and his lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, wrote in a letter to supporters. Mr. Baker, 65, who is more popular in polling among Democrats and independent voters than he is among fellow Republicans, confronted a Trump-backed primary challenge and a general election in which he could have faced the state's popular attorney general, Maura Healey, a Democrat." The AP's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday is taking up the most serious challenge in decades to the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade in 1973. The Mississippi law at issue bans most abortions after 15 weeks into pregnancy and has not taken effect because lower courts said it violated Roe and the subsequent decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which said states may not ban abortion before viability, usually between 22 and 24 weeks." It appears the Post is live-updating developments on this page. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I assume that, as is customary with big cases, ScotusBlog will also provide live updates. As of 8:30 am ET, the blog has not yet posted a live updates page, but the main page, linked here, will probably get you there later in the morning. ~~~

     ~~~ NEW. Update: ScotusBlog will provide live audio of oral arguments here. The Court is scheduled to convene at 10 am ET.

Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times: "Gone are the blood-red trees. Gone are the icy, sparkling boughs and the imagery of a woman isolated in a winter wonderland (or a horror story, depending on your point of view). In their place: red-and-white striped knit stockings with green heels dangling brightly from a hearth, family photos, handwritten thank-you notes and an arch of presents in bright red boxes. The Biden White House Christmas décor, unveiled on Monday..., [is] positively '' accessible. In this, it is fully in line with the tactile, unpretentious image that the current first couple likes to project. The president and first lady: Just like us! Their home is your home, only a little more so." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is what struck me, too, when I first looked at pictures of the decor in some of the White House rooms. Any American family that celebrates Christmas & has amassed -- after years of collecting -- an assortment of ornaments could aspire to making their own living rooms look a bit like one of the White House rooms. Yeah, sure, maybe the tree isn't so tall & maybe the furniture isn't a collection of priceless antiques, but, in general, you too could have a room that looks at least sort of like a White House room.

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected a request from Oklahoma's governor to exempt his state's National Guard members from the coronavirus vaccine requirement, the latest salvo in a showdown that could result in punishments -- including removal from the military -- for service members who refuse to comply with the Pentagon's mandate. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), the only governor to enact such a policy, maintains that he possesses the authority to sidestep federal directives while troops are under the state's control, his office said, and is exploring legal guidelines on who can be punished for refusing the Pentagon's orders." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New Lede: "National Guard members who refuse the coronavirus vaccine will be barred from training and have their pay withheld, the Pentagon said Tuesday in an apparent warning shot from the Biden administration to Republican governors looking to defy federal mandates."

Meadows Puts His Own Future Before Trump's. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under ... Donald J. Trump, has reached an agreement with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to provide documents and sit for a deposition, the panel said on Tuesday, a stunning reversal for a crucial witness in the inquiry. The change of stance for Mr. Meadows, who had previously refused to cooperate with the committee in line with a directive from Mr. Trump, came as the panel prepared to seek criminal contempt of Congress charges against a second witness who has stonewalled its subpoenas. It marked a turnabout after weeks of private wrangling between the former chief of staff and the select committee over whether he would participate in the investigation, and to what degree." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Three federal appellate judges appear likely to reject Donald Trump's effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from obtaining his White House records -- a big potential boost for lawmakers hoping to reveal the former president's actions as a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol. 'We have one president at a time under our constitution,' said Patricia Millett, one of the three judges on the D.C. Circuit panel that heard arguments Tuesday in the high-profile fight. 'That incumbent president ... has made the judgment and is best positioned, as the Supreme Court has told us, to make that call as to the interests of the executive branch.' As they questioned Trump's lawyers, the judges repeatedly expressed skepticism that a former president could override a decision by the sitting president -- in this case Joe Biden -- to release documents to Congress, particularly when the incumbent has decided it's in the national interest to release records to investigators." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story, by Charlie Savage is here.

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Hours before the deadly attack on the US Capitol this year, Donald Trump made several calls from the White House to top lieutenants at the Willard hotel in Washington and talked about ways to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election win from taking place on 6 January. The former president first told the lieutenants his vice-president, Mike Pence, was reluctant to go along with the plan to commandeer his largely ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress in a way that would allow Trump to retain the presidency for a second term. But as Trump relayed to them the situation with Pence, he pressed his lieutenants about how to stop Biden's certification from taking place on 6 January, and delay the certification process to get alternate slates of electors for Trump sent to Congress. The former president's remarks came as part of strategy discussions he had from the White House with the lieutenants at the Willard -- a team led by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn and Trump strategist Steve Bannon -- about delaying the certification.... The former president's call ... is increasingly a central focus of the House select committee's investigation into the Capitol attack, as it raises the specter of a possible connection between Trump and the insurrection." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wahoo! Michael Grynbaum & John Koblin of the New York Times: "The star CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was suspended indefinitely by the network on Tuesday after new details emerged about his efforts to assist his brother, Andrew M. Cuomo, the former governor of New York, as he faced a cascade of sexual harassment accusations that led to the governor's resignation. Chris Cuomo had previously apologized for advising Andrew Cuomo's senior political aides -- a breach of traditional barriers between journalists and lawmakers -- but thousands of pages of evidence released on Monday by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, revealed that the anchor's role had been more intimate and involved than previously known.... Mr. Cuomo's entanglement with the last 18 months of his brother's governorship has proved a slow-moving headache for CNN, which had stood by its top-rated anchor even as a drip of uncomfortable revelations raised questions about the network's adherence to journalistic standards."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of the notorious Mexican drug lord best known as El Chapo, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison on charges of helping run her husband's multibillion-dollar criminal empire and playing a role in his escape from custody after he was captured in 2014. Ms. Coronel, a former beauty queen who married El Chapo -- whose real name is Joaquín Guzmán Loera -- in 2007, on her 18th birthday, was arrested at Dulles International Airport, near Washington, in February, two years after her husband was convicted at a trial in New York City and sentenced to life in prison. She had been in the cross-hairs of U.S. authorities for months. She ultimately pleaded guilty in June to helping Mr. Guzmán smuggle drugs across the U.S. border and make his dramatic flight from a high-security Mexican prison...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Carolyn Johnson & Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended authorization Tuesday of the first coronavirus pill to prevent high-risk people from developing severe illness in a divided vote that reflects the complicated mix of benefits and risks involved with a new and easy mode of treatment. Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics developed the drug, molnupiravir, as a five-day regimen to be taken at home within five days of onset of coronavirus symptoms. The FDA is not bound by the 13-to-10 vote but typically follows its external advisers' recommendations. The drug could have an immediate impact on the pandemic if authorized...."

CBS/AP: "Dutch health authorities announced on Tuesday that they found the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus in cases dating back as long as 11 days, indicating that it was already spreading in western Europe before the first cases were identified in southern Africa. The RIVM health institute said it found Omicron in samples dating from November 19 and 23. Those findings predate the positive cases found among passengers who came from South Africa last Friday and were tested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Azi Paybarah & Reed Abelson of the New York Times: "A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to halt the start of President Biden's national vaccine mandate for health care workers, which had been set to begin next week. The injunction, written by Judge Terry A. Doughty, effectively expanded a separate order issued on Monday by a federal court in Missouri. The earlier one had applied only to 10 states that joined in a lawsuit against the president's decision to require all health workers in hospitals and nursing homes to receive at least their first shot by Dec. 6 and to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4."

Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "... shortly after workers began [coronavirus] vaccinations [at Kimball Elementary School in D.C.], a tall, gangly former president ambled into the school's multipurpose room. 'We are just getting through the holiday season and we have one more thing to be thankful for, which is that we can get kids vaccinated if they're between the ages of 5 and 11,' Barack Obama told the crowd of more than 50 students, teachers and parents. 'Nobody really loves getting a shot. I don't love getting a shot. But I do it because it's going to help keep me healthy.' Obama was accompanied by Anthony S. Fauci ... in the surprise event at a vaccination clinic."

** NEW. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first debate [on September 29, 2020,] against Joe Biden, the former president's fourth and last chief of staff has revealed in a new book. Mark Meadows also writes that though he knew each candidate was required 'to test negative for the virus within seventy two hours of the start time ... Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there.' Trump, Meadows says in the book, returned a negative result from a different test shortly after the positive.... Trump announced he had Covid on 2 October. The White House said he announced that result within an hour of receiving it. He went to hospital later that day.... The [debate] host, Chris Wallace of Fox News, later said Trump was not tested before the debate because he arrived late. Organisers, Wallace said, relied on the honor system." MB: Yes, because trusting the Biggest Liar is always a safe bet.

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Marcus Lamb, founder of the large Christian network Daystar, died Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus. Lamb's network during the pandemic has made the virus a huge focus, calling it a satanic attack that should not be treated with vaccines. He was 64 years old."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "The Tucson Police Department moved swiftly on Tuesday to fire a police officer after he fatally shot a man in a motorized wheelchair who was suspected of stealing a toolbox from a Walmart and flashing a knife when challenged. Police bodycam video shows an officer pursuing the suspect and yelling, 'Do not go into the store, sir,' as the man, identified as Richard Lee Richards, 61, continued to the entrance of a Lowe's Home Improvement store on Monday night. The officer, Ryan Remington, fired nine shots and hit the man in the back and side, the police said, causing Mr. Richards to hunch over and fall in front of a display of pink and red flowers. A store surveillance video shows Officer Remington placing handcuffs on a motionless Mr. Richards.... [According to his former lawyer, Richards] had a lengthy rap sheet dating to when he was a teenager that included being charged and convicted of attempted first-degree murder."

Arkansas. Where "Conservative Christian Values" Have the Effect You'd Expect. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Josh Duggar, who gained celebrity on the TLC reality show '19 Kids and Counting' as the eldest sibling of a brimming family guided by conservative Christian values, went on trial Tuesday in Arkansas on federal child pornography charges. Mr. Duggar, 33, appeared in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, Ark., for the first day of jury selection in his closely watched trial. He was arrested in April, accused of using the internet to download explicit material showing the sexual abuse of children, some younger than 12 years old, according to an indictment."MB: Needless to say I never saw the teevee show, but it might be fun to see a couple of rerun episodes featuring Josh being all holier-than-thou.

California. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday restored California's prohibition on high-capacity magazines, a decision with national implications that could also lead to the reinstatement of a state ban on semiautomatic weapons. In a 7-4 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a state ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition -- reversing a federal judge's decision that said the statute violated gun owners' Second Amendment rights."

California. An Academic Question: What If You Named the Library after a Beloved Librarian Who Was a Hateful Bigot & Hitler Fan? Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "Leaders of California State University at Fresno are proud of their campus library, a gleaming edifice that includes a five-story elliptical tower of glass, steel and angled wood meant to symbolize a woven Native American basket.... Now, the university confronts a troubling fact about the library: It is named, [Fresno State's president, Saúl] Jiménez-Sandoval said this week, for a man 'who held deeply antisemitic views and Nazi sympathies.' Henry Madden, who was the longtime librarian of Fresno State, expressed his views on Jewish people and Nazi Germany in personal papers that remained sealed for a quarter-century after they were given to the university in 1982. A scholar at the university found them a few years ago through research on a book about Nazi sympathizers, and the information recently came to the university president's attention. Jiménez-Sandoval said in a statement Monday ... that the ... university will form a task force to review the [library's] name...."

Georgia. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Andre Dickens, a veteran City Council member, was elected mayor of Atlanta in an upset on Tuesday night after promising voters that he would help guide the city in a more equitable direction. Mr. Dickens, 47, will step into one of the most high-profile political positions in the South after defeating Felicia Moore, 60, the City Council president, in Tuesday's runoff election. In a first round of voting, Ms. Moore had bested Mr. Dickens by more than 17 percentage points. But on Tuesday, Mr. Dickens had about 62 percent of the vote when The Associated Press declared him the winner at about 10:30 p.m. Mr. Dickens, a church deacon, delivered an upbeat, roof-raising victory speech to supporters, noting his humble upbringing in the working-class neighborhood of Adamsville, his engineering degree from Georgia Tech and the daunting problems he has promised to tackle."

New York. Alexandra Alter & Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "Alice Sebold, the best-selling author of the memoir 'Lucky' and the novel 'The Lovely Bones,' apologized publicly on Tuesday to a man who was wrongly convicted of raping her in 1982 after she had identified him in court as her attacker. The apology came eight days after the conviction of the man, Anthony J. Broadwater, was vacated by a state court judge in Syracuse, N.Y., who concluded, in consultation with the local district attorney and Mr. Broadwater's lawyers, that the case against him was deeply flawed." MB: Alas, Alice there is still feeling sorry for herself: "I will also grapple with the fact that my rapist will, in all likelihood, never be known." For context, you should read the whole story, though.

Pennsylvania Senate Race. Marc Levy of the AP: "Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of TV's Dr. Oz Show after rocketing to fame on Oprah Winfrey';s show, announced Tuesday that he is running for Pennsylvania's open U.S. Senate seat as a Republican. Oz, 61, will bring his unrivaled name recognition and wealth to a wide-open race that is expected to among the nation's most competitive and could determine control of the Senate in next year's election. Oz -- a longtime New Jersey resident -- enters a Republican field that is resetting with an influx of candidates and a new opportunity to appeal to voters loyal to ... Donald Trump, now that the candidate endorsed by Trump has just exited the race." MB: Every character mentioned in this story -- Oz, Oprah & Donald -- is an iconic American crackpot. What a country! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.

Pennsylvania. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Two men filed a federal lawsuit this month against the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church, saying that they were victims of a human trafficking scheme while they lived at a forced-labor farm for troubled boys run by a church member. The lawsuit said that the men, who were 14 and 18 when they first joined the farm, worked six days a week with no pay, and that they were physically and mentally abused when they stayed at Liberty Ridge Farm in McAlisterville, Pa. The lawsuit said they were denied food and zip-tied at times while at the farm."

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Susannah George of the Washington Post: "... a Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday ... documented more than 100 killings and abductions [by the Taliban] of former Afghan officials since August. The New York-based research group described the violations as on the rise and deliberate. The killings come despite a pledge to grant amnesty to former Afghan security forces and government officials, demonstrating that building international pressure for the group to respect human rights has done little to sway the Taliban from the use of indiscriminate violence to respond to groups and individuals perceived as threats."