October 30, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump is seeking to prevent Jan. 6 investigators from accessing daily presidential diaries, drafts of election-related speeches, logs of his phone calls, handwritten notes and files of top aides, the National Archives revealed in a Saturday morning court filing. According to the National Archives, the former president has sought to block about 750 pages out of nearly 1,600 identified by officials as relevant to the Jan. 6 investigation. Among them are hundreds of pages from 'multiple binders of the former press secretary [Kayleigh McEnany] which is made up almost entirely of talking points and statements related to the 2020 election,' according to the court filing. The filing details are the clearest indication yet of what Trump is trying to withhold from congressional investigators.... The National Archives indicated that many files were drawn from the systems of key Trump aides including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, adviser Stephen Miller and deputy counsel Patrick Philbin.... The National Archives submitted its filing in response to Trump's lawsuit seeking an emergency court order to block [Archivist David] Ferriero from transmitting them to Congress.... But the archives rejected Trump's legal arguments, emphasizing that the Jan. 6 committee's requests were tailored specifically to its investigation, and that President Joe Biden had already made the 'manifestly reasonable' decision to reject Trump's claims of privilege."

Josh Marshall of TPM views the Washington Post story (Josh Dawsey, et al.) linked below as "one of the biggest revelations I've seen to date.... Here we're getting the details, the documentary evidence. [Attorney John] Eastman didn't recoil when the President's rally escalated to violence. He clearly saw the inside coup plot and the insurrectionists on the street as part of the same effort. This isn't surprising to most of us.... Eastman recognized the insurrection as the paramilitary wing of the coup plot he was part of and as the Capitol was under siege used it as a cudgel to force Pence's hand.... There was the notorious phone call between Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump in which McCarthy demanded Trump call off his insurrectionists. Trump notoriously responded, 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'... Trump's message was the same as Eastman's. You brought it on yourself and they're my guys.... They both recognized the insurrectionists as their foot soldiers and expressed as much in real time to the members of Congress under siege." ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Trump's comment to McCarthy, and Trump's tweet attacking Pence, it's pretty clear the Trump team saw utility in the mob. And they apparently tried to exploit it to the bitter end." ~~~

~~~ Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: "Since [John Eastman's] memo [on how to turn over the election results] was published, Eastman and his current employer, the Claremont Institute, have sought to downplay its significance.... But Eastman was not participating in some after-hours law-school bull session; he was advising a corrupt and desperate man who would do almost anything to hold onto power. The radical scenario outlined in the memo, and the equally-radical scenario Eastman says he ultimately recommended -- in which Pence would decline to certify the results, buying time for Republican legislators in key states to purportedly investigate alleged fraud, and submit new slates of electors -- would have only indulged Trump's delusions about his own chances. And Eastman pursued all of this, because he was likewise deluded about what had happened in November. As part of a legal analysis he prepared for state legislators making the case that they could reject their states' election results, the Post reported, 'Eastman's seven-page paper featured theories about voter fraud published by the right-wing blog the Gateway Pundit and an anonymous Twitter user named 'DuckDiver19.' DuckDiver19. It's a long way from Federalist no. 68." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "John Eastman, a conservative lawyer working ... Donald Trump's legal team, said in a radio interview in early January that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the power to throw the 2020 presidential election to the House of Representatives, saying it depended on whether Pence had 'courage and the spine.' Those comments are more direct than how Eastman has recently described his conversation with Pence, when he has said he told the vice president it was an 'open question' whether he could throw out seven states' Electoral College votes and that it'd be a 'foolish' option to pursue. Eastman made the comments, unearthed by CNN's KFile, on the radio show of former Trump White House senior adviser Stephen Bannon on January 2...."

Ed Pilkington of the Guardian writes a recap of what we know about Trump's attempted coup.

** Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News: "... a new study published on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that finds that natural immunity offers far weaker protection than does a vaccine. The new study finds that people who had natural immunity from having recently fought off COVID-19 and who were not vaccinated were 5.49 times more likely to experience another COVID-19 infection than were vaccinated people who had not previously been infected. 'The data demonstrate that vaccination can provide a higher, more robust, and more consistent level of immunity to protect people from hospitalization for COVID-19 than infection alone for at least 6 months,' a CDC press release said." MB: I for one am shocked, shocked to learn that Doctor-Senator Rand Paul is among those who got this ass-backwards.

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The New York Times is live-updating developments at the G-20 summit in Rome. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

Bad News for Tim Apple. Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "President Biden and other world leaders endorsed a landmark global agreement on Saturday that seeks to block large corporations from shifting profits and jobs across borders to avoid taxes, a showcase win for a president who has found raising corporate tax rates an easier sell with other countries than with his own party in Congress. The announcement in the opening session of the Group of 20 summit marked the world's most aggressive attempt yet to stop opportunistic companies like Apple and Bristol Myers Squibb from sheltering profits in so-called tax havens, where tax rates are low and corporations often maintain little physical presence beyond an official headquarters. It is a deal years in the making, which was pushed over the line by the sustained efforts of Mr. Biden's Treasury Department, even as the president's plans to raise taxes in the United States for new social policy and climate change programs have fallen short of his promises. The revenue expected from the international pact is now critical to Mr. Biden's domestic agenda...."

Katie Rogers & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "After a six-week diplomatic uproar over a scuttled submarine deal and accusations of American duplicity, President Biden made a one-on-one effort Friday to mend fences with President Emmanuel Macron of France by admitting that, yes, the matter could have been handled better.... By delivering an in-person mea culpa to the leader of one of America's oldest allies, Mr. Biden signaled that he was ready to move on from an embarrassing spat that grew from a secretive American agreement with Britain and Australia to supply Australia with nuclear-powered attack subs, effectively canceling out a lucrative and strategically important French contract.... But his trip began with a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, a diplomatic meeting that the president, who was grinning broadly as he emerged from his presidential limousine, seemed to enjoy." ~~~

~~~ Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden on Friday admitted that his administration was 'clumsy' in its handling of the deal that deprived France of billions in defense contracts. The comment came during of a closely watched meeting with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in Rome, meant to repair fractured ties after a rift over an agreement to provide Australia with submarines[.] 'I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through, honest to God,' Biden said on Friday, sitting alongside Macron in the French Embassy to the Holy See." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Josh Boak, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him he should continue to receive Communion as the world's two most prominent Roman Catholics ran overtime in highly personal discussions on climate change, poverty and the coronavirus pandemic that also touched on the loss of president's adult son and jokes about aging well.... Video released by the Vatican showed several warm, relaxed moments between Francis and Biden as they repeatedly shook hands and smiled. Francis often sports a dour look, especially in official photos, but he seemed in good spirits Friday. The private meeting lasted about 75 minutes, according to the Vatican, more than double the normal length of an audience with the pontiff[.]" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Adam Kinzinger, who emerged this year as one of the pre-eminent Republican critics of ... Donald J. Trump, announced Friday that he would not seek re-election in 2022. Mr. Kinzinger's electoral fate was largely sealed late Thursday when Illinois Democrats, in an 11th-hour vote shortly before midnight, adopted a new congressional map that eliminated the Republican-majority district Mr. Kinzinger represented for the last decade.... He announced his departure from Congress in a five-minute video in which he reiterated his opposition to Mr. Trump's influence on the Republican Party and reflected on his first congressional victory during the 2010 Tea Party wave." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "As Vice President Mike Pence hid from a marauding mob during the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, an attorney for ... Donald Trump emailed a top Pence aide to say that Pence had caused the violence by refusing to block certification of Trump's election loss. The attorney, John C. Eastman, also continued to press for Pence to act even after Trump's supporters had trampled through the Capitol -- an attack the Pence aide, Greg Jacob, had described as a 'siege' in their email exchange. 'The "siege" is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,' Eastman wrote to Jacob, referring to Trump's claims of voter fraud.... Jacob, Pence's chief counsel, included Eastman's emailed remarks in a draft opinion article about Trump's outside legal team that he wrote later in January but ultimately chose not to publish. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the draft. [The draft shows] that Eastman's efforts to persuade Pence to block Trump's defeat were more extensive than has been reported previously...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Eastman recently told the National Review, "... in an interview that ... having Pence reject electoral votes -- was not 'viable' and would have been 'crazy' to pursue.... '[A]nybody who thinks that that's a viable strategy is crazy,'" Eastman said. Days later, he was caught on tape boasting to a young reporter that there was "no question" the memo's legal reasoning was "solid." It's obvious these guys were serious about overturning the 2020 presidential election results, and Eastman, at least, was mad as hops at pence for refusing to play his part in the attempted coup. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the text (via the WashPo) of the draft op-ed Greg Jacob wrote in January 2021. It begins: "In the days and hours leading up to the counting of the electoral votes in Congress, a cadre of outside lawyers to the President spun a web of lies and disinformation, to him and to the public, for the purpose of pressuring the Vice President to betray his oath to uphold our laws and the Constitution of the United States.... Now that the moment of immediate crisis has passed, the legal profession should dispassionately examine whether the attorneys involved should be disciplined for using their credentials to sell a stream of snake oil to the most powerful office in the world, wrapped in the guise of a lawyer's advice."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Sixty-six former lawmakers, including two dozen Republicans, have signed on to a legal brief urging a federal judge to reject ... Donald Trump's effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing his White House's records. The brief, which is slated to hit the docket in the D.C. federal District Court on Friday, contends that no possible argument about executive privilege could overcome Congress' need for documents to probe the violent attack on the Capitol -- one fueled by Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Shocking News! -- Trump Evades Securities Law. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: This month, Donald Trump "agreed to merge his social media venture with what's known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The result is that Mr. Trump -- largely shut out of the mainstream financial industry because of his history of bankruptcies and loan defaults -- secured nearly $300 million in funding for his new business. To get his deal done, Mr. Trump ventured into an unregulated and sometimes shadowy corner of Wall Street, working with an unlikely cast of characters: [two] former 'Apprentice' contestants, a small Chinese investment firm and a little-known Miami banker named Patrick Orlando. Mr. Orlando had been discussing a deal with Mr. Trump since at least March.... In doing so, Mr. Orlando's SPAC may have skirted securities laws and stock exchange rules, lawyers said.... SPACs aren't supposed to have a merger planned at the time of their I.P.O. Lawyers and industry officials said that talks between Mr. Orlando and Mr. Trump or their associates consequently could draw scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Another issue is that [Mr. Orlando's SPAC, called] Digital World [Acquisition]..., repeatedly stated [in its securities filings] that the company and its executives had not engaged in any 'substantive discussions, directly or indirectly,' with a target company -- even though Mr. Orlando had been in discussions with Mr. Trump."

Annals "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. David Cavucci of the Daily Dot: "[Thursday], Fox News host Tucker Carlson unveiled a dramatic trailer for his new special, one which will reveal the 'true story' behind the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In it, he drops real truths like: Americans are being held in Guantanamo Bay for their participation in the riot (not true); that a new 'war on terror' has been launched against right-wingers (not true); and that it was a false flag attack (ehhh.... probably not true). The trailer was resoundingly panned. But there is one truth from the trailer that needs to get out there. Fox News is not involved in this documentary." Fox complained to the Daily Dot that its story did not make clear that the channel did not participate in Tucker's production or airing. It's a pay-per-view Fox Nation production. MB: A shame that the poor people can't afford to learn these truths. Although I suppose for TuKKKer fans, these truths are self-evident. Self-evident to me: the hypocrisy of Fox "News"' insistence upon distancing itself from a lie-laced TuKKKer production at the same time it allows TuKKKer to tell o rimply the same lies in its top prime-time timeslot.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Noah Weiland & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children 5 to 11, a move eagerly anticipated by millions of families looking to protect some of the only remaining Americans left out of the vaccination campaign. About 28 million children in the group will be eligible to receive one-third of the adult dose, with two injections three weeks apart. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, as is expected, they could start getting shots as early as Wednesday." An ABC News report is here.

Jim Clyburn Is Sick & Tired of These Damned Scams. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "A House panel is demanding documents from a pair of online businesses as part of an inquiry into whether they pushed what it calls ineffective and dangerous coronavirus treatments, according to letters made public Friday.According to a letter signed by Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, the telemedicine provider SpeakWithAnMD.com has collected millions of dollars in fees from prescribing such treatments as the animal parasite drug ivermectin and the malaria medication hydroxychloroquine for the coronavirus, even though neither is authorized for that use by the Food and Drug Administration. Clyburn said many of the consultations were arranged through referrals from America's Frontline Doctors (AFLD), a separate business that is also a subject of the congressional investigation."

Todd Gregory of the New York Times: "Ten Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Friday in federal court in Missouri accusing the Biden administration of a broad range of overreaches in mandating that employees of federal contractors be vaccinated against the coronavirus by Dec. 8. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, was led by Missouri's attorney general, Eric Schmitt, and the attorney general of Nebraska, Doug Peterson. The other eight states are Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota an Wyoming."

Maine. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday refused to block Maine's requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus notwithstanding their religious objections. As is the court's custom in rulings on emergency applications, its brief order gave no reasons. But the three most conservative members of the court -- Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch -- issued a lengthy dissent, saying the majority had gone badly astray." CNN's report is here. MB: (I think) you can open the Court's decision, concurrence & dissent in your browser from here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "... while this order, which is also accompanied by a one-paragraph concurring opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and a longer dissent by Justice Neil Gorsuch, is quite brief, it is significant because it suggests that there may be some limit to the conservative majority's solicitude for religious conservatives."

New York. Abusive AND Ignorant. Aaron Katersky & Mark Osborne of ABC News: "Four New York City firefighters have been suspended after driving their truck to a state senator's office while on duty, asking for the politician's home address and telling him the city would have 'blood on its hands' over the city's vaccine mandate. The group, from Ladder 113 in Brooklyn, went to the office of state Sen. Zellnor Myrie in the company's fire district in uniform and asked to speak to him, although as a state official he had no involvement in the city mandate from Mayor Bill de Blasio." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Myles Miller of NBC 4 (New York) News: "Six FDNY members of Ladder 113 have been suspended for allegedly driving their [in-service ladder] truck to a state senator's New York City office and threatening his staff over the vaccine mandate for city workers.... The group of firefighters also allegedly told the staff that if a fire was reported at [State Sen. Zellnor] Myrie's home they would not respond."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. The Prospects for Free Speech under a President* DeSantis. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Three University of Florida professors have been barred from assisting plaintiffs in a lawsuit to overturn the state's new law restricting voting rights, lawyers said in a federal court filing on Friday. The ban is an extraordinary limit on speech that raises questions of academic freedom and First Amendment rights. University officials told the three that because the school was a state institution, participating in a lawsuit against the state 'is adverse to U.F.'s interests' and could not be permitted. In their filing, the lawyers sought to question Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, on whether he was involved in the decision. Mr. DeSantis has resisted questioning, arguing that all of his communications about the law are protected from disclosure...." MB: Ron De Mini-Trump is smarter than Real Donald Trump. There's every reason to suspect he would be a worse president*.

New Mexico. Julia Jacobs & Simon Romero of the New York Times: "Lawyers for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the film where Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer last week as he rehearsed with a gun he was told had no live ammunition, issued a statement Friday defending her adherence to safety protocols and saying that she did not know how live rounds wound up on the set in New Mexico. 'Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from,' Ms. Gutierrez-Reed's lawyers, Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence, said in the first public statement on her behalf. In their statement, they charged that the set of the film, 'Rust,' had been unsafe, and that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, 24, had been hired to two positions on the film, 'which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer.'" MB: "I was busy" doesn't sound like much of a defense.

New York. Surprise! Luis Ferré-Sadurní, et al., of the New York Times: "A criminal complaint charging [former Gov. Andrew] Cuomo with a misdemeanor sex crime was filed by one of [Albany County] Sheriff [Craig] Apple's investigators in Albany City Court on Thursday. The court typically takes several days to process such paperwork, Sheriff Apple said, and he planned to use that time to alert local prosecutors, and Mr. Cuomo's lawyers, about the complaint. What transpired instead caught the sheriff flat-footed, and plunged what was already an explosive investigation ... into unexpected chaos, raising questions about whether officials had mishandled the complaint and about the viability of a case that was already going to be difficult for prosecutors.... [Apple] acknowledged that his office had not coordinated with the county's district attorney before filing the criminal complaint.... It was still unclear on Friday whether the district attorney, David Soares, whose office said it had learned of the complaint from news reports on Thursday, was going to prosecute the charges against Mr. Cuomo. What did become clearer was the haphazard nature by which the misdemeanor charge was suddenly made public on Thursday, without the knowledge of the female aide, Brittany Commisso; Mr. Cuomo and his lawyer; and even the sheriff." ~~~

~~~ Bad Timing. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Letitia James, the New York attorney general who oversaw the inquiry into sexual harassment claims against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that ultimately led to his resignation, declared her candidacy for governor on Friday, setting up a history-making, high-profile matchup in the Democratic primary. She begins the campaign as Gov. Kathy Hochul's most formidable challenger, and her announcement triggers a start to what may be an extraordinarily competitive primary -- a contest set to be shaped by issues of ideology, race and region in a state still battling its way out of the pandemic."

Oklahoma. Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: "The importance of media witnesses was underscored Thursday during the Oklahoma execution of John Marion Grant, a 60-year-old man convicted of the 1998 killing of a prison cafeteria worker. The Associated Press's Sean Murphy and four other media witnesses recounted what they saw -- how Grant convulsed and vomited during the execution -- during a news conference for other journalists covering the death. It was a striking detail given the state's recent history of botched executions and use of the wrong drugs -- and it was a detail conspicuously missing from the state's first official summary, which said that Grant's execution 'was carried out in accordance with Oklahoma Department of Corrections' protocols and without complication.' The department's chief, Scott Crow, attempted to reconcile that statement with Murphy's startling account during a news conference Friday afternoon, saying that 'there were no instances of unusual behavior' other than 'regurgitation,' which is 'not uncommon when someone is undergoing the process of sedation.'"

Virginia Gubernatorial Race. Cameron Joseph of Vice: "Five people dressed like the white supremacists who caused the violent 'Unite the Right' riots in Charlottesville four years ago showed up outside of Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin's event in the town on Friday. But instead of actual 'Unite the Right' supporters, it turns out that it was a half-baked stunt from the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans who oppose President Trump and Youngkin." ~~~

~~~ Philip Klein of the (right-wing) National Review: "... Terry McAuliffe ... should ... be held responsible by the standards set by his own campaign earlier in the day. After the initial photos of the fake tiki torch brigade emerged, the McAuliffe campaign pounced. One McAuliffe spokesperson, Christina Freundlich, referenced the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, and said, 'this is who Glenn Youngkin's supporters are.'... Another McAuliffe spokesperson, Jen Goodman, claimed the image of the fake Youngkin supporters was 'disgusting and disqualifying.'... This is who Terry McAuliffe's supporters are. It is disgusting and should be disqualifying." MB: How a Democratic candidate is supposed to control Republican supporters is beyond me.

News Ledes

Look Up! Look Up! The Aurora Borealis, Coming to the Sly Near You. Washington Post: "Bright auroras may illuminate the dark skies over the northern United States this Halloween weekend.... Much of New England, the Upper Midwest and the Northern Tier may see the dancing northern lights.... On Thursday, the sun launched a major 'X-class' solar flare, sparking a high-frequency radio blackout across parts of South America. That same pulse of energy is trailed by a coronal mass ejection (CME), or a cluster of solar plasma and material surfing an interstellar shock wave. The CME, the strongest of this solar cycle so far, could slam Earth and whip up a stunning display of the northern lights. A CME from a similar position spawned beautiful auroras on Oct. 12."

Washington Post: "A run-of-the-mill fall storm system will bring some not-so-routine flooding to lengthy stretches of the Mid-Atlantic on Friday into the weekend, with moderate to major coastal flooding forcing some streets to close and businesses to shutter while threatening homes and property. The anticipated flooding could be the worst since 2003's Hurricane Isabel walloped the Mid-Atlantic in some spots, thanks to the combination of onshore flow, astronomically high 'king tides' and the gradually accrued effects of rising seas spurred by human-induced climate change"

October 29, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden on Friday admitted that his administration was 'clumsy' in its handling of the deal that deprived France of billions in defense contracts. The comment came during of a closely watched meeting with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in Rome, meant to repair fractured ties after a rift over an agreement to provide Australia with submarines[.] 'I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through, honest to God,' Biden said on Friday, sitting alongside Macron in the French Embassy to the Holy See."

Josh Boak, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him he should continue to receive Communion, as the world's two most prominent Roman Catholics ran overtime in highly personal discussions on climate change, poverty and the coronavirus pandemic that also touched on the loss of president's adult son and jokes about aging well.... Video released by the Vatican showed several warm, relaxed moments between Francis and Biden as they repeatedly shook hands and smiled. Francis often sports a dour look, especially in official photos, but he seemed in good spirits Friday. The private meeting lasted about 75 minutes, according to the Vatican, more than double the normal length of an audience with the pontiff[.]'

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Sixty-six former lawmakers, including two dozen Republicans, have signed on to a legal brief urging a federal judge to reject ... Donald Trump's effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing his White House's records. The brief, which is slated to hit the docket in the D.C. federal District Court on Friday, contends that no possible argument about executive privilege could overcome Congress' need for documents to probe the violent attack on the Capitol -- one fueled by Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Adam Kinzinger, who emerged this year as one of the pre-eminent Republican critics of ... Donald J. Trump, announced Friday that he would not seek re-election in 2022. Mr. Kinzinger's electoral fate was largely sealed late Thursday when Illinois Democrats, in an 11th-hour vote shortly before midnight, adopted a new congressional map that eliminated the Republican-majority district Mr. Kinzinger represented for the last decade.... He announced his departure from Congress in a five-minute video in which he reiterated his opposition to Mr. Trump's influence on the Republican Party and reflected on his first congressional victory during the 2010 Tea Party wave." The AP's report is here.

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The New York Times is liveblogging (in its slow, methodical way) President Biden's activities in Europe: "With his domestic agenda in limbo and tensions with China and Russia smoldering in the backdrop, President Biden kicked off a whirlwind international tour on Friday in Rome, where he is meeting with Pope Francis to discuss global challenges like the pandemic and climate change. Mr. Biden, who is usually tardy to meetings, pulled up to the Vatican at noon on the dot. A minute after he and Jill Biden, the first lady, arrived in the presidential limousine, the president shook hands with Vatican officials before being taken inside to meet with Francis." ~~~

~~~ Chico Harlan & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "For the first time during his administration, President Biden is meeting with Pope Francis on Friday, bringing together the world';s two most powerful Catholics, who share plenty of common ground and are contending with similar adversaries and polarization within the church.... Later Friday, Biden is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, their first in-person encounter since the U.S. role in a thwarted submarine deal incensed the French government."

Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden declared Thursday he has reached a 'historic economic framework' with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping domestic policy package, a hard-fought yet dramatically scaled-back deal announced hours before he departs for overseas summits. Biden's remarks at the White House came after he traveled to Capitol Hill to make the case to House Democrats for the still robust domestic package -- $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate.... At least one pivotal holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., struck a similar tone: 'I look forward to getting this done.' However, another holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was less committal: 'This is all in the hands of the House right now.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Kate Sullivan of CNN: "The $1.75 trillion proposal focuses on care for families, addressing the climate crisis, expanding access to health care, lowering costs for the middle class and tax reforms.... The new plan makes major concessions and does not have several key planks that Biden had initially proposed, including paid family and medical leave, prescription drug pricing provisions, free community college and vision or dental Medicaid coverage. Here's what is included in the plan[.]"(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the White House's summary of what's in the Build Back Better framework. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Climate has emerged as the single largest category in President Biden's new framework for a huge spending bill placing global warming at the center of his party's domestic agenda in a way that was hard to imagine just a few years ago. As the bill was pared down from $3.5 trillion to $1.85 trillion, paid family leave, free community college, lower prescription drugs for seniors and other Democratic priorities were dropped -- casualties of negotiations between progressives and moderates in the party. But $555 billion in climate programs remained.... In remarks Thursday, Mr. Biden called it 'the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that ever happened, beyond any other advanced nation in the world.'... The centerpiece of the climate spending is $300 billion in tax incentives for producers and purchasers of wind, solar and nuclear power, inducements intended to speed up a transition away from oil, gas and coal." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: President Biden told Democratic House members Thursday they "had to rally behind his $1.85 trillion economic and environmental spending bill ... because nothing less than his presidency was at stake. 'I don't think it's hyperbole,' he said as he unveiled a revised proposal and pleaded with Democratic lawmakers to support it during a last-minute morning meeting at the Capitol, hours before he left for a six-day trip to Europe to meet with world leaders. 'The House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week,' Mr. Biden told the lawmakers during the hourlong session, according to a person who was at the meeting. The president's proposals, while about half as costly as his original plan, still amount to a transformative agenda that would touch the lives of millions of Americans and serve as the core of his party's argument to stay in power through the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 presidential contest." ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi revved their party toward a House vote as soon as Thursday on a $550 billion Senate-passed infrastructure bill, even as progressives remain undecided about taking what one called 'a leap of faith in the president.' Soon after the White House outlined a framework for a $1.75 trillion deal on social spending, Biden made a high-stakes appearance on Capitol Hill to sell Pelosi's caucus on it. While some liberal priorities were included in the package of climate, health care and other social policy investments, others were left on the cutting-room floor -- and House progressives remain noncommittal about whether to vote yes on infrastructure given their uncertainty about the framework's Senate future. The Congressional Progressive Caucus held its own meeting after Biden left, as its chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) held off on where her group stood after the president's pitch for its votes. Another of her members, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), said simply 'no' when asked if she would vote for the infrastructure bill after the president's push." (Also linked yesterday.)

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Migrant families separated at the border by the Trump administration may be eligible to each receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for the damage inflicted on them by the policy, according to several people familiar with the matter. Some families could receive as much as $450,000 for each member who was directly affected, the sources said. However, negotiations between the Biden administration and lawyers representing the families are not over, and many might get far less, they said. About 5,500 children were separated from parents at the southern border under ... Donald J. Trump's 'zero-tolerance' policy, mainly in the spring of 2018." MB: Ironically, it seems to me that the windfall could make the families eligible to enter the U.S. under a program that welcomes immigrants of means. So, good work, Trump, JeffBo & Stephen Miller, et al., you nasty bastids.

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department agreed Thursday to pay $88 million to victims of a racially motivated shooting at a historic Black church in South Carolina -- a substantial but also symbolic figure meant to compensate for a background-check failure that allowed the killer to buy a weapon. A lawyer for the victims, Bakari Sellers, said the figure was particularly meaningful because the number 88 is significant among white supremacists like gunman Dylann Roof, who was convicted on federal hate crimes charges and sentenced to death." An ABC News report is here. MB: According to an on-air report on CNN, the Trump DOJ stonewalled settlement negotiations re: the 2015 mass murder. I don't know if that's true, but it's believable, isn't it? (Also linked yesterday.)

Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "Almost a year after being urged to address racial inequity in United States disaster programs, officials are still trying to decide how to deal with the problem, according to a document issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday. The agency was responding to recommendations made in November by its own advisory panel.... A growing body of research shows that FEMA, the government agency responsible for helping Americans recover from disasters, often helps white disaster victims more than people of color, even when the amount of damage is the same.... The agency's programs have favored disaster victims who are wealthy and own property, and who are more likely to be white...."

Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "Centuries of land loss and forced relocation have left Native Americans significantly more exposed to the effects of climate change, new data show, adding to the debate over how to address climate change and racial inequity in the United States. The findings, which took seven years to compile and were published Thursday in the journal Science, mark the first time that researchers have been able to quantify on a large scale what Native Americans have long believed to be true: That European settlers, and later the United States government, pushed Indigenous peoples onto marginal lands.... 'This is not just a story of the past harms,' said Justin Farrell, a Yale University professor and another of the study's authors. 'We have to think about ways to recompense for this history.'"

Hiroko Tabuchi & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "At a heated hearing on Thursday, Democrats had some big questions for the chief executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell: Would they pledge to stop lobbying against efforts to reduce emissions? And were they willing to tell their powerful trade groups to stop working against electric vehicles? None of the executives agreed. Instead, the leaders of the four major oil and gas companies touted their support for a transition to clean energy and said they had never engaged in campaigns to mislead the public on the role of fossil fuel emissions in global warming. All four acknowledged that the burning of their products was driving climate change, but also told lawmakers that fossil fuels are not about to disappear.... Democrats responded with forceful language in the more than six-hour hearing. 'Some of us actually have to live the future that you all are setting on fire for us,' Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told the executives." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post live-updated the hearing. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a stay of execution that a federal appeals court had granted to two Oklahoma death row inmates, clearing the way for the men to be put to death by lethal injection. As is the court;s custom, its brief order gave no reasons. The inmates, John Marion Grant and Julius Jones, had argued that the state's lethal injection protocol, which uses three chemicals, could subject them to excruciating pain. They also objected on religious grounds to a requirement imposed by a trial judge that they choose among proposed alternative methods of execution, saying that doing so would amount to suicide. The three more liberal members of the court -- Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan -- dissented, also without providing reasons. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch did not participate in the case, presumably because he had considered an aspect of it when he was a federal appeals court judge." The story has been updated to describe the circumstances surrounding John Grant's execution. ~~~

     ~~~ ** Cruel & Unusual. Sean Murphy of the AP: "Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods[.] John Marion Grant, 60, who was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber, began convulsing and vomiting after the first drug, the sedative midazolam, was administered. Several minutes later, two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck. Before the curtain was raised to allow witnesses to see into the execution chamber, Grant could be heard yelling, 'Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!' He delivered a stream of profanities before the lethal injection started. He was declared unconscious about 15 minutes after the first of three drugs was administered and declared dead about six minutes after that, at 4:21 p.m. Someone vomiting while being executed is rare, according to observers.... Grant was the first person in Oklahoma to be executed since a series of flawed lethal injections in 2014 and 2015."

Tom Hamburger & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Jeffrey Clark, the Trump-era Justice Department official who sought to support ... Donald Trump's false claims of massive voting fraud in the 2020 election, has received a postponement of the Friday deadline for him to appear before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6. attack on the Capitol. The panel made the decision Thursday after being informed that Clark's lawyer, Robert Driscoll, had dropped his representation of the former Justice Department official. Because of the change, the committee granted Clark a brief postponement.... It was not clear why Driscoll and Clark split, but people familiar with the matter suggested that it had to do with whether Clark would cooperate with the committee's requests."

Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Members of the House select committee investigating January 6 are losing patience with the pace of talks with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and some are considering whether more aggressive steps are needed to force his compliance in the sweeping probe, multiple sources tell CNN. Meadows was first subpoenaed more than a month ago, and since then the committee has indicated he's been 'engaging' in negotiations over th terms of his turning over documents and appearing for a deposition. But weeks after the committee granted Meadows a 'short' but indefinite postponement of the initial subpoena deadline, members are growing increasingly frustrated and contemplating when and how to ramp up the pressure." MB: Clear out a Capitol basement cell & lock him up, ladies & gentlemen.

** Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The chief judge presiding over the federal court in Washington on Thursday unleashed a blistering critique of the Justice Department's prosecution of Capitol rioters, saying fiery rhetoric about the event's horror did not match plea offers to minor charges. 'No wonder parts of the public in the U.S. are confused about whether what happened on January 6 at the Capitol was simply a petty offense of trespassing with some disorderliness, or shocking criminal conduct that represented a grave threat to our democratic norms,' Judge Beryl A. Howell said in court Thursday. 'Let me make my view clear: The rioters were not mere protesters.'... Why, she asked, when prosecutors called the riot an 'attack on democracy ... unparalleled in American history,' were ... [January 6] participants facing the same charge as nonviolent protesters who routinely disrupt congressional hearings?" Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Howell is right of course. Those rabid monsters beating up police on their way to overturning an election & hanging the vice president were not Code Pink ladies giggling at Richard Shelby's representation of Jeff Sessions as a defender of equal rights. But Howell says her "hands are tied" by the prosecutors' decisions to undercharge the insurrectionists. I have never been under the impression that a judge must accept a plea deal worked out between prosecutor & defendant. It seems to me Howell could tell prosecutors to come up with more appropriate charges so that not only would the punishment fit the crime but also the crime alleged would fit reality.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... nearly 10 months after Jan. 6, suggestions of legitimized violence continue to permeate the GOP and the conservative movement. [Donald] Trump has faded into the background somewhat..., but others have gladly picked up the torch, with almost no pushback from their party leadership. The most recent example involves Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who this week suggested that the attack on the Capitol actually was in line with the Declaration of Independence.... Need for political violence and a 1776-esque revolution are coming up with increasing frequency.... And extreme supporters have a way of taking the hint, which many Capitol rioters say they did from Trump's violent rhetoric." ~~~

~~~ TucKKKer Jumps the Shark. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Tucker Carlson previewed a trailer on Wednesday for an upcoming three-part series for FOX Nation.... 'The domestic war on terror is here,' alleges a man's voice. 'It's coming after half of the country.' Carlson himself appears and says, 'The helicopters have left Afghanistan, and now they're here at home.' 'The left is hunting the right,' alleges another voice. 'Sticking them in Guantanamo Bay, for American citizens, leaving them there to rot.'... A clip of President Joe Biden denouncing White supremacy and calling it a 'lethal threat' as footage of the 1926 Ku Klux Klan march on Washington rolled. 'False flags have happened in this country,' says another voice. 'One of which may have been January 6th.' The trailer ends with a brief audio of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.' The trailer is, in a word, batshit." You can watch the trailer here. His truth is marching on. The trailer is, in a word, batshit." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post has more on TuKKKer's excellent fake "documentary." And according to a Daily Beast blurb (story firewalled), the writer of this fine multi-part screed had a previous gig directing a Pizzagate opus.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. David Moye of the Huffington Post: "On Wednesday, the [Wall Street Journal] printed a letter to the editor from ... Donald Trump where he basically regurgitated all the demonstrably false claims he's already made about the 2020 election. The paper came under fire for letting Trump spread false information without any sort of fact check. On Thursday, the paper's editorial board defended the decision to print Trump's letter without any kind of factual pushback by claiming that it trusts it readers 'to make up their own minds about his statement.' The editorial added, 'And we think it's news when an ex-President who may run in 2024 wrote what he did, even if (or perhaps especially if) his claims are bananas.' The editorial board justified printing Trump's election lies without clarification by claiming that 'Mr. Trump is making these claims elsewhere, so we hardly did him a special favor by letting him respond to our editorial.'' Tweeters respond. This is worse than bad journalism or no journalism. To publish lies, especially when delivered by an influential person, and not provide rebuttals & context, is the height of irresponsibility. The paper's actual journalists should walk out, en masse, for a day, leaving Rupert & Co. with nothing to print but wire service stories.

This Should Fix Everything. Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world's most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F. No longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook's name and rebranding itself as Meta. The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella. The move punctuates how Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the metaverse." MB: Zuck seems to believe he's a deep-thinker; he has no idea how silly, jejune and pretentious he seems to those of us who have been around longer than he. But maybe we don't matter, especially if we don't use his products. ~~~

     ~~~ Facebook Is Facebook Is Facebook. Samantha Lock of the Guardian: "The announcement by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the social media giant will change the name of its holding company to Meta in a virtual-reality rebrand has prompted dismay and bemusement.... The Daily Show tweaked Zuckerberg's Meta presentation video by superimposing the tech billionaire onto footage of the January 6 Capitol riots and the 2017 Charlottesville white nationalist march. Both events were organised on Facebook.... 'Meta is such a low effort, first draft name that multiple consulting companies definitely got paid millions of dollars to come up with,' comedian and producer Mike Drucker said. 'And it was on that day that "that's so meta" went from being an interesting observation to a devastating insult, author and science vlogger Hank Green wrote.... Fast food outlet Wendy's tweeted: 'Changing name to Meat.'" ~~~

~~~ Jason Koebler of Vice: "Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company. Moments before announcing Facebook is changing its name to 'Meta' and detailing the company's 'metaverse' plans..., Mark Zuckerberg... pitch[ed] ... a delusional fever dream cribbed most obviously from dystopian science fiction and misleading or outright fabricated virtual reality product pitches from the last decade.... 'We have to fit hologram displays, projectors, batteries, radios, custom silicon chips, cameras, speakers, sensors to map the world around you, and more, into glasses that are five millimeters thick,' Zuckerberg says.... Zuckerberg's pitch of living, working, playing, and generally existing in a utopian, fake, Facebook-developed virtual world loaded with fun and friendly people, concerts where you can always be in the front row, seamless mixed-reality basketball games where you feel like you are actually playing basketball, and kicksass, uhh, NFTs you can use to modify your metaverse avatar, is a far cry from the disinformation, conspiracy theories, genocide-related, self-esteem destroying, spam, and general garbage content that exists on the platforms Facebook has already built." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The boy does seem to have a big problem connecting with, well, reality, and instead imagines an incel-like virtual existence in which you create your own fake perfection. Last night I watched a segment of a show aired on PBS where the actor Robson Green hikes the length of Hadrian's Wall. The hike inspired Green to use his imagination, too, thinking of the Romans who had built and patroled the wall, but the exercise struck me as a much healthier way to travel. Of course for me, as a viewer, I too was taking vicarious pleasure in someone else's experience, and I wished I had taken the same trek. But I was not using the magic of television to pretend to be somewhere I wasn't.

Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "A flight attendant for American Airlines suffered broken bones in her face and had to be hospitalized after a passenger allegedly attacked her Wednesday in an incident the company's chief executive called 'one of the worst displays of unruly behavior we've ever witnessed.' The incident occurred on a flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. It prompted the pilots to divert the flight to Denver, where the passenger was detained. The flight attendant apparently bumped the passenger while moving through the first-class cabin, according to Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents those who fly for American Airlines. The flight attendant apologized, but the passenger left his seat, confronted her as she stood in the aircraft's galley, then punched her in the face, Hedrick said." MB: I hope the assailant is never allowed on any public carrier again, even if it is just as bad to imagine this vicious nutjob behind the wheel of a vehicle. Planes, trains, buses & boats should develop a "No Travel" list.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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: "The Iowa state legislature passed a bill Thursday that allows residents fired for noncompliance with vaccine mandates to receive unemployment benefits, while also broadening religious and medical exemptions from immunization. The bill was passed with overwhelming support in both chambers, which Republicans control. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she plans to sign the legislation into law, though she added that a vaccine was the 'best defense' against the coronavirus. In a statement, she also vowed to resist President Biden's plan to require businesses with a hundred or more workers to ensure vaccination of their employees or regularly test unimmunized staffers." MB: Well, isn't that special?

Carla Johnson of the AP: "A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce inflammation and looked promising in smaller studies. They've shared the results with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which publishes treatment guidelines, and they hope for a World Health Organization recommendation. 'If WHO recommends this, you will see it widely taken up,' said study co-author Dr. Edward Mills of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, adding that many poor nations have the drug readily available. 'We hope it will lead to a lot of lives saved.' The pill, called fluvoxamine, would cost $4 for a course of COVID-19 treatment. By comparison, antibody IV treatments cost about $2,000 and Merck's experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 is about $700 per course." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This could be very good news, though I suppose it will lead to anti-vaxxers saying, "See, we told you horse dewormer would cure Covid."

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Up to 12,000 Air Force personnel have rejected orders to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus despite a Pentagon mandate, and officials say it is too late for them to do so by the Tuesday deadline, posing the first major test for military leaders whose August directive has been met with defiance among a segment of the force. The vast majority of active-duty airmen, more than 96 percent, are at least partially vaccinated, according to data from the Air Force. But officials have warned that, barring an approved medical or religious exemption, those who defy lawful orders to be fully immunized are subject to punishment, including possible dismissal from the service, or they could be charged in the military justice system."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime-related offense. A spokesman for the New York courts said Thursday that the complaint was filed in Albany City Court." This is a brief, breaking news story. AN NBC-4 New York News story, which was more detailed when I linked the two reports yesterday afternoon, is here. The New York Times story is here.

Way Beyond

France, U.K. Ahoy, Another British/French Battle at Sea. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "France escalated a fishing rights dispute with Britain on Thursday, announcing that French authorities had seized a British boat that lacked a license to operate in French waters and have issued a warning to another British vessel. France's minister of the sea, Annick Girardin, announced the seizure one day after the French government threatened a number of sanctions against Britain in the lingering dispute that has stirred emotions on both sides of the English Channel for months." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

October 28, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime-related offense. A spokesman for the New York courts said Thursday that the complaint was filed in Albany City Court." This is a brief, breaking news story. AN NBC-4 New York News story, which is more detailed, is here.

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department agreed Thursday to pay $88 million to victims of a racially motivated shooting at a historic Black church in South Carolina -- a substantial but also symbolic figure meant to compensate for a background-check failure that allowed the killer to buy a weapon. A lawyer for the victims, Bakari Sellers, said the figure was particularly meaningful because the number 88 is significant among white supremacists like gunman Dylann Roof, who was convicted on federal hate crimes charges and sentenced to death." An ABC News report is here. MB: According to an on-air report on CNN, the Trump DOJ stonewalled settlement negotiations re: the 2015 mass murder. I don't know if it's true, but it's believable, isn't it?

TucKKKer Jumps the Shark. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Tucker Carlson previewed a trailer on Wednesday for an upcoming three-part series for FOX Nation.... 'The domestic war on terror is here,' alleges a man's voice. 'It's coming after half of the country.' Carlson himself appears and says, 'The helicopters have left Afghanistan, and now they're here at home.' 'The left is hunting the right,' alleges another voice. 'Sticking them in Guantanamo Bay, for American citizens, leaving them there to rot.'... A clip of President Joe Biden denouncing White supremacy and calling it a 'lethal threat' as footage of the 1926 Ku Klux Klan march on Washington rolled. 'False flags have happened in this country,' says another voice. 'One of which may have been January 6th.' The trailer ends with a brief audio of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.' The trailer is, in a word, batshit." You can watch the trailer is here. His truth is marching on.

Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden declared Thursday he has reached a 'historic economic framework' with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping domestic policy package, a hard-fought yet dramatically scaled-back deal announced hours before he departs for overseas summits. Biden's remarks at the White House came after he traveled to Capitol Hill to make the case to House Democrats for the still robust domestic package -- $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate.... At least one pivotal holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., struck a similar tone: 'I look forward to getting this done.' However, another holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was less committal: 'This is all in the hands of the House right now.'" ~~~

~~~ Kate Sullivan of CNN: "The $1.75 trillion proposal focuses on care for families, addressing the climate crisis, expanding access to health care, lowering costs for the middle class and tax reforms.... The new plan makes major concessions and does not have several key planks that Biden had initially proposed, including paid family and medical leave, prescription drug pricing provisions, free community college and vision or dental Medicaid coverage. Here's what is included in the plan[.]" ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the White House's summary of what's in the Build Back Better framework. ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi revved their party toward a House vote as soon as Thursday on a $550 billion Senate-passed infrastructure bill, even as progressives remain undecided about taking what one called 'a leap of faith in the president.' Soon after the White House outlined a framework for a $1.75 trillion deal on social spending, Biden made a high-stakes appearance on Capitol Hill to sell Pelosi's caucus on it. While some liberal priorities were included in the package of climate, health care and other social policy investments, others were left on the cutting-room floor -- and House progressives remain noncommittal about whether to vote yes on infrastructure given their uncertainty about the framework's Senate future. The Congressional Progressive Caucus held its own meeting after Biden left, as its chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) held off on where her group stood after the president's pitch for its votes. Another of her members, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), said simply 'no' when asked if she would vote for the infrastructure bill after the president's push."

Hiroko Tabuchi & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "House Democrats have begun questioning the executives of some of the world's biggest oil and gas companies -- Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell -- over allegations that the companies for years spread disinformation about the role played by fossil fuels in global warming in order to slow action on climate change. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post is live-updating the hearing.

Ahoy, Another British/French Battle at Sea. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "France escalated a fishing rights dispute with Britain on Thursday, announcing that French authorities had seized a British boat that lacked a license to operate in French waters and have issued a warning to another British vessel. France's minister of the sea, Annick Girardin, announced the seizure one day after the French government threatened a number of sanctions against Britain in the lingering dispute that has stirred emotions on both sides of the English Channel for months."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Tyler Pager & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "President Biden plans to announce Thursday a revised framework for his social spending plan that he expects will gain the support of all Democrats, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation, marking a potential breakthrough after months of lengthy negotiations and stalled talks. The White House plans to detail specific policies it expects to pass Congress after weeks of whittling down Biden's agenda, according to one of the people. Democrats on Capitol Hill were preparing written details of the revamped proposal for release on Thursday, according to the second person.... Biden will address House Democrats Thursday morning before delivering remarks from the White House about the plan." ~~~

~~~ Joseph Choi of the Hill: "President Biden is expected to attend a House Democratic caucus meeting on Thursday morning before he departs for Europe to attend a pair of global summits, in a last-minute attempt to push through the multi-billion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill.... NBC noted the meeting will likely delay Biden's overseas travel plans, but White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that 'flexibility' is built into the president's schedule." ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "As they hunt for revenue to pay for their sprawling spending bill and try to unite a fractured caucus, Democrats are attempting to rewrite the United States tax code in a matter of days, proposing the kind of sweeping changes to how America taxes businesses and individuals that would normally take months or years to enact. The effort has effectively discarded trillions of dollars of carefully crafted tax increases that President Biden proposed on the campaign trail and that top Democrats have rolled out in Congress. Instead, lawmakers are throwing a slew of new proposals into the mix, including a tax on billionaires, hoping that they can pass muster both legally and within their own party. The frantic attempt to overhaul the complex U.S. tax code remained in a state of flux on Wednesday, with Senator Joe Manchin III and some House Democrats expressing reservations about a tax on billionaires that was proposed earlier in the day by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. On Tuesday, Mr. Manchin shot down a plan that would have given the Internal Revenue Service more visibility into certain taxpayers' bank accounts in order to catch tax cheats, forcing a group of Senate Democrats who support the provision to try to negotiate a compromise. Mr. Manchin's opposition to a new federal paid leave program also appeared to doom its chances of being included in the final legislation, although supporters of the provision said they would fight to keep it intact."

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Biden -- who has made renewed international engagement a hallmark of his foreign policy ethos -- is headed to a pair of global summits in Europe this week with just a handful of his ambassadors in place, as most of his picks to represent the United States abroad remain mired in messy domestic politics. To date, only four of Biden's choices to be a U.S. ambassador to a foreign government have been approved by the Senate -- three of them just on Tuesday.... The delays stem from threats by some Republican senators, led by [Snidely Whiplash] Ted Cruz (Tex.), who has been angling for a fight with the Biden administration over matters of national security. That is prolonging the usually routine process of getting ambassadors formally installed, while several high-profile posts are also vacant because the White House has yet to put forward nominees for them." MB: Sorry about that.

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: President "Biden, a Catholic who rarely misses Sunday Mass, arrives [at the Vatican Friday] at a moment when the political polarization in America has seeped deeply into its Catholic church. The president and pope, who share common ground on many issues, have become common targets of powerful conservative American bishops seeking to undercut them. The most hostile among them, appointed by [Pope] Francis&' conservative predecessors, have either ignored or resisted the pope's efforts to reorient the priorities of the church toward inclusion and social justice, and away from culture war issues like abortion and L.G.B.T.Q. rights. They have amplified their critiques of both men through a conservative Catholic media constellation that is Trump-friendly. Despite a clear warning from the Vatican, they have pursued an effort to deny holy communion to Roman Catholic politicians supportive of abortion rights -- including Mr. Biden."

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Attorney General Merrick Garland defended his memo responding to threats aimed at school officials, pushing back on pointed criticism from Republicans at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. The memo, Garland said, 'responds to concerns about violence, threats of violence, other criminal conduct.'... Several GOP committee members battered Garland with questions about the memo, which Republicans have sought to make a focal issue in the Virginia gubernatorial election. Republicans have equated the Justice Department's approach with treating parents like 'domestic terrorists' for protesting schools' Covid protocols and methods of teaching about race in American history. (The memo makes no reference to domestic terrorism.)... Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who serves on the committee, asked Garland specifically if the criminal investigation [into the January 6 insurrection] was constrained to those who physically breached the Capitol. 'The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office and by the FBI field office. We have not constrained them in any way,' Garland said." ~~~

~~~ Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday clashed with Republican senators over the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on violent threats against school boards, with one GOP member [Tom Cotton (Ark.)] telling the former judge, 'Thank God you're not on the Supreme Court.'" Let's give Tommy from Arkansas a big hand for winning the second-runner-up prize in the Best Impression of a Senator Feigning Outrage category. What a colossal prick: ~~~

     ~~~ ** Anderson Cooper takes on the lying lizards on the committee. A good (short) segment.

Kareem Fahim & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Iran has agreed to return to nuclear negotiations in Vienna by the end of November, Tehran's top negotiator said Wednesday, signaling the possible revival of a process aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal that has been stalled for months and surrounded by uncertainty. In a message posted on Twitter, the negotiator, Ali Bagheri, the deputy foreign minister, who has been meeting with European diplomats in Brussels, said the exact date of the negotiations would be announced next week. Bagheri said he had engaged in 'very serious and constructive dialogue' with Enrique Mora, the European Union's deputy secretary general for political affairs, 'on the essential elements for successful negotiations.' But Peter Stano, a foreign affairs spokesman for the European Union, said 'there is nothing to announce at the moment.'"

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On Monday, the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA had an event during which founder Charlie Kirk took questions from members of the audience. At one point, a bearded man asked one, as seen in video obtained by Media Matters. 'At this point, we're living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny,' he said. 'When do we get to use the guns?' Members of the audience applauded. 'No, and I'm not -- that's not a joke,' he continued. '... I mean, literally, where's the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?' Kirk's response was not, as you might hope, a strident rejection of the premise. He argued that an embrace of violence was what the left wanted, allowing for the creation of 'Patriot Act 2.0.'... The problem with these false claims of election fraud -- these false, nonsensical, debunked, irrational, garbage claims of election fraud -- is that people believe them."

WSJ Broadcasts Trump's Lies. Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday published a lengthy letter to the editor from [Donald] Trump charging, inaccurately, that the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden was 'rigged.' The nearly 600-word letter is replete with loosely sourced and largely debunked claims of fraud in Pennsylvania, a state that President Biden won by 81,660 votes, handing him 20 electoral college votes that helped secure his victory.... The Journal's decision to publish the letter drew a backlash on Wednesday from some journalists and political commentators, who accused the publication of amplifying election misinformation. 'Most newspapers don't allow op-ed writers to just make up nonsense lies. Apparently the Wall Street Journal is not among them,' HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte wrote on Twitter." A Mediaite post is here. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post lists 14 things the Wall Street Journal failed to contextualize in publishing a lie-laced letter Donald Trump wrote about the 2020 election.

Charles Homans in the New York Times Magazine (Oct. 26) on "Kyle Rittenhouse & the New Era of Political Violence": "Prosecutors have yet to produce evidence that Rittenhouse held extremist views or associations before the shootings.... This is likely to center the [murder] trial on Rittenhouse's actions over a series of brief and fateful moments, and not the much larger question of what brought Rittenhouse and so many others to the streets of Kenosha equipped for war.... The city had simply been first to experience the inevitable consequences of a moment when partisan politics, rather than providing a alternative to political violence, had become an accelerant of it -- when the rhetoric swirling around those politics, and the voices amplifying it, had persuaded a large number of people with military-style weapons that the time for talking in America was over."

Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook sent out a companywide notice on Tuesday ordering employees to preserve documents and communications dating back to 2016 in response to legal inquiries from around the world, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post.... The Facebook Papers [released by a whistleblower] show how researchers knew that the platform caused polarization in numerous countries, led people down misinformation rabbit holes, failed to stop a violent network that led to the January 6 insurrection, and had negative impacts on the mental health of young people." ~~~

~~~ Poland, Another Country Where Facebook (Allegedly) Abets Extremists. Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: Facebook content posted by Poland's far-right Confederation party "generally does well, including a slew of anti-lockdown, anti-immigration, vaccine-skeptic posts often punctuated with large red exclamation marks.... That Facebook might be amplifying outrage -- while driving polarization and elevating more-extreme parties around the world -- has been ruminated on inside the company for years, according to the internal documents known as the Facebook Papers, which were disclosed by the whistleblower Frances Haugen...."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Stephanie Nolan of the New York Times: "Merck has granted a royalty-free license for its promising Covid-19 pill to a United Nations-backed nonprofit in a deal that would allow the drug to be manufactured and sold cheaply in the poorest nations, where vaccines for the coronavirus are in devastatingly short supply. The agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool, an organization that works to make medical treatment and technologies globally accessible, will allow companies in 105 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, to sublicense the formulation for the antiviral pill, called molnupiravir, and begin making it. Merck reported this month that the drug halved the rate of hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk Covid patients who took it soon after infection in a large clinical trial."

New York. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "A judge on Wednesday denied a request from a New York City police union to temporarily halt Mayor Bill de Blasio's (D) order requiring all municipal employees, including law enforcement officials, to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by later this week or face unpaid leave. Richmond County Supreme Court Judge Lizette Colon ruled that de Blasio's mandate -- which the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York is seeking to overturn -- can proceed, reportedly citing a previous state appellate ruling that upheld a vaccine mandate for measles."

Beyond the Beltway

New Mexico. Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "Before he handed a revolver that he had declared 'cold' to the actor Alec Baldwin on the set of the film 'Rust' last week, Dave Halls, an assistant director on the film, told a detective he should have inspected each round in each chamber, according to an affidavit that was released Wednesday. But he did not.... The gun went off..., killing the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounding its director, Joel Souza, 48. The sheriff said that the 'lead projectile' that Mr. Baldwin had fired from the gun had been recovered from the director's shoulder, and said that it was apparently the same round that had killed Ms. Hutchins. Asked if it was an actual bullet that had been fired -- and not a blank — he said, 'We would consider it a live round, a bullet, live, because it did fire from the weapon and obviously caused the death of Ms. Hutchins and injured Mr. Souza. We also believe that we have the spent shell casing from the bullet that was fired from the gun,' he said. Sheriff [Adan] Mendoza said that investigators believe they recovered more live rounds on the film's set at Bonanza Creek Ranch, and that they would be sending some of the ammunition they seized to the F.B.I. crime lab for analysis."

Oregon. Andrew Selsky of the AP: "Former New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof announced his candidacy Wednesday for Oregon governor, saying the state needs a political newbie to solve problems like homelessness and rural despair.... Kristof joins a crowded field of Democrats seeking their party's nomination to be the candidate in the 2022 election, including Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek and state Treasurer Tobias Read. Democrats have held the governor's office since 1987."

Virginia State Race. Meagan Flynn & Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "Across Virginia, the GOP 'election integrity' push has largely driven[an] influx of election observers in this year's gubernatorial race, according to local, state and national Republican officials. In some trainings, prospective poll watchers have been taught to see themselves as a bulwark against election fraud, and some groups have been corralling their own poll watcher armies.... Numerous GOP officials described the poll watcher trainings as a branch extending from election integrity efforts -- something Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin has seized on as a core tenet of his gubernatorial campaign, calling for an audit of Virginia voting machines and repeatedly encouraging poll watchers to volunteer."

Way Beyond

Brazil. BBC News: "Brazilian senators have voted to recommend charging President Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the devastating Covid pandemic. A Senate panel backed a report calling for charges against Mr Bolsonaro including crimes against humanity, after 600,000 deaths from coronavirus. The report has been handed to the chief prosecutor, a Bolsonaro appointee.... There is no guarantee this vote will lead to actual criminal charges, as the report's recommendations must now be assessed by Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras, who is expected to protect the president."

News Lede

AP: "The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a pandemic low last week as the job market continues to recover from last year's coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 281,000, lowest since mid-March 2020, the Labor Department said Thursday."