The Commentariat -- April 14, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Derek Chauvin's murder trial Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Mark Berman & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "When the video of George Floyd gasping for air under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin emerged last year, it told a story that was painfully familiar to Anton Black's family. Black encountered police on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the fall of 2018, when officers responding to a call about a possible kidnapping wrestled the 19-year-old to the ground. Video footage released later showed the officers in Greensboro, Md., struggling with Black before pinning him down. Black died, and no officers were charged in his death. Then came Floyd's death last year, another video of a Black man being held down by police and dying. The cases, Black's family said in a court filing, were 'chillingly similar.' Now they are connected in another way: Among the experts Chauvin's defense is expected to call this week is the former Maryland medical examiner -- David Fowler -- who deemed Black's death an accident, a determination his family pilloried in a federal lawsuit filed in December." MB: Fowler is on the stand now @ 11 am ET. Sure hope the judge lets the prosecution examine Fowler's history.

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

Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died in a federal prison early Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently from natural causes, the person said." Update: Madoff's New York Times obituary is here.

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Cariol Horne acted to keep a white officer from using what she saw as excessive force. Fifteen years later, a judge said her firing was wrong. It was a cold November day in Buffalo when Officer Cariol Horne responded to a call for a colleague in need of help. What she encountered was a white officer who appeared to be 'in a rage' punching a handcuffed Black man in the face repeatedly as other officers stood by. Officer Horne, who is Black, heard the handcuffed man say he could not breathe and saw the white officer put him in a chokehold. At that point..., she forcibly removed the white officer and began to trade blows with him. In the altercation's aftermath, Officer Horne was reassigned, hit with departmental charges and, eventually, fired just one year short of the 20 on the force she needed to collect her full pension.... On Tuesday, in an outcome explicitly informed by the police killing of George Floyd, a state court judge vacated an earlier ruling that affirmed her firing, essentially rewriting the end of her police career, and granting her the back pay and benefits she had previously been denied." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. MB: If you have a NYT subscription, read the whole story.

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What Melville Knew:

And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this: --

"Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States."
"Whaling voyage by one Ishmael."
"BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN."

Ishmael, Moby Dick, 1851 ~~~

~~~ ** Endless War to End, Says He. Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Biden has decided to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 20 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon launched the country into its longest war, United States officials said Tuesday. The decision will keep more than 3,000 American troops on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 withdrawal deadline announced by the administration of ... Donald J. Trump. But it signals what Mr. Biden plans to present as a definitive end to America's 'Forever War.'" CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post tapes a few notes of caution to the decision to withdraw. ~~~

     ~~~ Juan Cole, on the other hand, writes that "It is long past time ... for the US to exit." However, he adds, "My own view is that if the US wanted to withdraw without risking a security debacle, it would have to do so through diplomacy. In particular, the US should seek an agreement between India and Pakistan that Afghanistan will be neutral territory, an agreement to which Kabul would assent.... Some American analysts want to stay in Afghanistan in hopes of making it a democracy. Afghanistan, however, is too complex a nation-building problem to solve with the kind of resources the US has been willing to put in." Cole explains why economically poor countries are also poor candidates for democracy. Afghanistan exemplifies his point.

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to 'de-escalate tensions' following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border. Biden also told Putin the U.S. would 'act firmly in defense of its national interests' regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House. Biden proposed a summit meeting in a third country 'in the coming months' to discuss the full range of U.S.-Russia issues, the White House said. The call comes as concern rises in the West about a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Burns of the AP: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration. 'This planned increase in U.S. personnel underscores our commitment to Germany and the entire NATO alliance,' Austin said in a notable counterpoint to the Trump administration's repeated complaints that Germany is a weak partner on defense and security." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hansi Lo Wang of NPR: "In a historic move, President Biden is naming Robert Santos, one of the country's leading statisticians and the American Statistical Association's president, as his intended nominee to head the U.S. Census Bureau. If confirmed by the Senate, Santos, who is Latinx, would be the first permanent director of color for the federal government's largest statistical agency.... The White House announced Santos as Biden's intended nominee in a statement released on Tuesday. Depending on the timing of a confirmation, Santos could finish the term left open by former Director Steven Dillingham that is ending this year. Dillingham was the Trump-appointed director who quit in January after whistleblowers filed complaints about Dillingham's role in trying to rush out an incomplete data report on noncitizens. Santos could be reappointed after the end of a first term, according to federal law." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As far as I can tell from the photo accompanying the story, I would not peg Santos as a "person of color." However, the designation seems to be appropriate here because, "'When I fill out the census form, I check the Latino-Hispanic-Mexican American box,' Santos said in a 2019 interview with North Texas member station KERA. 'And when it comes to race, I mark "other" and insert "mestizo" because that's how I feel about race and ethnicity.'"

** Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Capitol Police had clearer advance warnings about the Jan. 6 attack than were previously known, including the potential for violence in which 'Congress itself is the target.' But officers were instructed by their leaders not to use their most aggressive tactics to hold off the mob... like stun grenades -- according to a scathing new report by the agency's internal investigator. In a 104-page document, the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, criticized the way the Capitol Police prepared for and responded to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The report ... will be the subject of a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.... The report offers the most devastating account to date of the lapses and miscalculations around the most violent attack on the Capitol in two centuries.... The report ... reserves some of its harshest criticism for the management of the agency's Civil Disturbance Unit, which exists to prevent tragedies like Jan. 6.... In particular, Mr. Bolton focused in on an embarrassing lack of functional shields for Capitol Police officers during the riot. Some of the shields ... 'shattered upon impact' because they had been improperly stored in a trailer that was not climate-controlled.... Others could not be used by officers ... because the shields were locked on a bus." A CNN report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times lists the report's key findings.

Meagan Flynn & Paul Duggan of the Washington Post: The memorial to Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans "was the second time in less than three months that mourners were gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to honor a fallen police officer. Evans, like Brian D. Sicknick before him, was protecting members of Congress and others on Capitol Hill from a violent incursion and died in the line of duty. Evans, 41, was Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Michael Schmidt & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "A former local official in Florida indicted in the Justice Department investigation that is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz has been providing investigators with information since last year about an array of topics, including Mr. Gaetz's activities, according to two people briefed on the matter. Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, disclosed to investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, the people said." MB: Last week we learned that Greenberg probably would cooperate as part of a plea deal. Apparently that ship sailed a long time ago -- yet Greenberg still has been indicted on dozens of charges. ~~~

~~~ Marc Caputo & Matt Dixon of Politico: "The details of [a] September 2018 trip [to the Bahamas] are sparse, but they are critical to the allegations against [Matt] Gaetz, the Florida congressman currently the subject of a federal sex-crimes investigation that is threatening his career.... Also among those on the trip: the former minor who is key to the investigation, whose presence on the trip was previously unreported. [According to one witness, the young woman had already passed her 18th birthday.]... Conspicuously absent from the 2018 Bahamas trip was ... Joel Greenberg.... This winter ... federal agents executed a search warrant and seized his iPhone, according to ... three people who were told of the matter by Gaetz, who changed his phone number in late December. Around that time, the sources said, federal agents also seized his former girlfriend's phone." ~~~

~~~ David Shortell & Paula Reid of CNN: "The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community in suburban Orlando was to put away their cellphones, according to two women in attendance who spoke to CNN in recent days. The men inside, a who's who of local Republican officials that often included Rep. Matt Gaetz, did not want the night's activities documented. The partygoers, at times dressed in formal wear from a political event they'd just left, mingled and shared drugs like cocaine and ecstasy. Some had sex. Gaetz ... behaved like a 'frat type of party boy,' she said, sometimes taking pills she believed were recreational drugs. Details of the parties, which have not been previously reported, were described to CNN by two women who attended several of them over the past few years."

In yesterday's thread, Akhilleus mentioned hearing the following on the radio yesterday. He didn't seem to like it much. ~~~

~~~ Susan Davis of NPR: "A growing number of working-class voters were drawn to Donald Trump's Republican Party, and now top Republicans are searching for ways to keep those voters in the fold without Trump on the ballot. 'All of the statistics and polling coming out of the 2020 election show that Donald Trump did better with those voters across the board than any Republican has in my lifetime since Ronald Reagan,' Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told NPR. 'And if Republicans want to be successful as a party, win the majority in 2022, win back the White House in 2024, I think we have to learn lessons that Donald Trump taught us and how to appeal to these voters.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mike Allen of Axios: "A constellation of Trump administration stars today will launch the America First Policy Institute, a 35-person nonprofit group with a first-year budget of $20 million and the mission of perpetuating former President Trump's populist policies." MB: The organization's board members & employees (or whatever they will be) include people you've heard of & never hope to meet. And to paraphrase Akhilleus: populist, my ass.

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Ken Vogel & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Long before he emerged as a potential champion of journalism with his bid for Tribune Publishing, the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss quietly created a sophisticated political operation to advance progressive policy initiatives and the Democrats who support them. The organization, called The Hub Project, was started in 2015 by one of Mr. Wyss's charitable organizations, the Wyss Foundation, partly to shape media coverage to help Democratic causes.... If he succeeds in his bid for Tribune Publishing, a chain that includes The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and The Daily News, he could help shape news coverage for millions of readers. In making this bid, Mr. Wyss teamed with Stewart W. Bainum Jr., a major donor to Democrats and the chairman of Choice Hotels, an international hotel chain."

Racists Are the "Real Victims." Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "Here is how [Tucker] Carlson defined ['replacement theory'] in the process of defending it last week: 'The Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.' Why people should be offended by this mystifies Carlson. 'Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it,' he continued.... There is a reason, of course, that 'everyone' wants to make a racial issue out of this. Because it is a putrescent pile of racist myths and cliches. Nearly every phrase of Carlson's statement is the euphemistic expression of white-supremacist replacement doctrine. This is what modern, poll-tested, shrink-wrapped, mass-marketed racism looks like. Carlson is providing his audience with sophisticated rationales for their worst, most prejudicial instincts. And the brilliance of Carlson's business model is to reinterpret moral criticism of his bigotry as an attack by elites on his viewers. Public outrage is thus recycled into fuel for MAGA victimhood." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Mitch Smith & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... the abrupt halt in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of concerns about potential blood clots upended plans to vaccinate some of the country's hardest-to-reach populations. In California, mobile vaccine clinics in rural areas were canceled. In Chicago, vaccination events for restaurant employees and aviation workers were postponed indefinitely. And at colleges in Ohio, New York and Tennessee, where the one-dose vaccine offered a chance to quickly inoculate students before they left campus for the summer, appointments were called off en masse.... In much of the country, public health officials said they were able to offer other vaccines to people who had been scheduled to receive a Johnson & Johnson shot." ~~~

~~~ Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post examine U.S. health officials' decision to pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccination. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Last night Chris Hayes noted on MSNBC that some birth control pills are associated with thousands of times more blood clots than is the J&J vaccine. I thought that was pretty interesting until I read this U.S. News story citing an expert who urges against comparing clots associated with J&J & those associated with birth control pills. So I'll butt out of any pretense of understanding the science here.

Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday that his company has ramped up production of its two-shot coronavirus vaccine and will be able to deliver a total of 300 million doses to the U.S. ahead of schedule. Bourla said on Twitter that Pfizer can deliver 10% more doses to the U.S. by the end of May than it had previously agreed to produce -- up to 220 million from 200 million."

In today's thread, contributor Forrest M. has some actual news -- and first-person knowledge -- of, uh, Covid-19 hesitancy (okay, make that "total vaccination aversion").

Beyond the Beltway

"Greater Idaho." AP (via OregonLive): "Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical on Monday when pitched a plan to lop off about three-fourths of Oregon and add it to Idaho to create what would become the nation's third-largest state geographically.... If everything falls in line with Oregon, supporters envision also adding adjacent portions of southeastern Washington and northern California to Idaho." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Minnesota. Madeline Holcolme of CNN: "Hundreds of protesters gathered for a third night of protests to express anger over the police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb as prosecutors decide whether to press charges against the officer authorities say shot him. Washington County Prosecutor Pete Orput told CNN that he hopes to have a charging decision regarding former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Wednesday." ~~~

~~~ Shaun Hubler & Jeremy White of the New York Times: "The chief of police for Brooklyn Center, Minn., where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white officer on Sunday, said on Monday that ... the officer, Kimberly A. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, had intended to deploy her Taser, the chief said at a news conference, but had shot her service pistol instead. Tasers look and feel different from pistols in a number of ways, and most police forces -- including Brooklyn Center's -- have standard precautions and protocols in place to prevent the sort of mix-up that can be deadly.... Tasers are often produced in bright colors, or with neon accents, to distinguish them from pistols.... Pistol models weigh significantly more than a typical Taser.... Brooklyn Center Police Department protocol dictates that officers wear their guns on their dominant side and Tasers on the opposite side of their bodies, to reduce the risk that they will confuse the two weapons.... It appears that several aspects of how Officer Potter handled her weapons may have violated the protocol laid out in the manual, even if she had drawn her Taser and not her firearm." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Russ Thebault of the Washington Post: "In the span of just a couple of hours Monday evening, a Minneapolis suburb appears to have fundamentally refashioned its leadership after a local police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop the day before. Brooklyn Center, Minn., which erupted in protest Sunday as word of 20-year-old Daunte Wright's death spread, now has a new city manager and -- at least temporarily -- a new de facto leader of the police department after a city council vote that granted the mayor 'command authority' over the agency. The overhaul is likely to give Mayor Mike Elliott the power to fire the police chief and police officers, one legal expert told The Washington Post.' (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mohamed Ibrahim & Mike Householder of the AP: "A white police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb resigned Tuesday, as did the city's police chief -- moves that the mayor said he hoped would help heal the community and lead to reconciliation after two nights of protests and unrest. The resignations from Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon came two days after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Minnesota. Shaila Dewan & Tim Arango of the New York Times: "As the defense began its case after 11 days of testimony against [former Minneapolis policeman Derek] Chauvin, [Chauvin's attorney Eric Nelson] signaled key strategy: shifting the jurors' focus to [George] Floyd's use of illicit drugs." Update: The AP's story is here.

Wisconsin. Doha Madani of NBC News: "The Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot Jacob Blake, a Black man who was paralyzed from the waist down after the shooting in August, has returned to work and will not face discipline, the police department announced Tuesday. The officer, Rusten Sheskey, returned from administrative leave in late March. He was 'found to have been acting within policy and will not be subjected to discipline,' according to a statement Tuesday from Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis. The determination was made after an outside investigation and an independent expert review, the statement said."

Way Beyond

Egypt. Another Fine Mess. Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: "In the latest complication to the ill-fated voyage, Egypt has seized the Ever Given over its owners' 'failure to pay an amount of $900 million,' the state-run news outlet Ahram Gate reported. That amount represents the total compensation that Egypt says it is owed for the six-day blockage of the Suez Canal, including lost revenue from ships that ordinarily would have traveled through the canal during that time, as well as costs for damage to the crucial waterway and the equipment and labor deployed in the 144-hour scramble to free the ship.... 'The vessel will remain here until investigations are complete an compensation is paid,' Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), told Egyptian state television last week, according to the Wall Street Journal. 'The minute they agree to compensation, the vessel will be allowed to move.' But the National Union of Seafarers in India argues that refusing to let the crew off the ship amounts to holding them for ransom." CNN's story is here.

Iran. Farnaz Fassihi, et al., of the New York Times: "Iran said Tuesday that it would begin enriching uranium to a level of 60 percent purity, three times the current level and much closer to that needed to make a bomb, though American officials doubt the country has the ability to produce a weapon in the near future. Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, did not give a reason for the shift, but it appeared to be retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iran's primary nuclear fuel production plant as well as a move to strengthen Iran's hand in nuclear talks in Vienna. The Israeli attack on Sunday diminishes Iran's capacity to enrich uranium to 60 percent but it is unclear for how long." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Israel's attack is just one more reminder that our ostensible allies' national interests are not always the same as ours.

The Commentariat -- April 13, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Biden has decided to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 20 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon launched the country into its longest war, United States officials said Tuesday. The decision will keep more than 3,000 American troops on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 withdrawal deadline announced by the administration of ... Donald J. Trump. But it signals what Mr. Biden plans to present as a definitive end to America's 'Forever War.'" CNN's story is here.

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to 'de-escalate tensions' following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border. Biden also told Putin the U.S. would 'act firmly in defense of its national interests' regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House. Biden proposed a summit meeting in a third country 'in the coming months' to discuss the full range of U.S.-Russia issues, the White House said. The call comes as concern rises in the West about a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula." ~~~

~~~ Maybe Biden should call Idaho's governor, too. ~~~

~~~ "Greater Idaho." AP (via OregonLive): "Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical on Monday when pitched a plan to lop off about three-fourths of Oregon and add it to Idaho to create what would become the nation's third-largest state geographically.... If everything falls in line with Oregon, supporters envision also adding adjacent portions of southeastern Washington and northern California to Idaho."

Robert Burns of the AP: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration. 'This planned increase in U.S. personnel underscores our commitment to Germany and the entire NATO alliance,' Austin said in a notable counterpoint to the Trump administration's repeated complaints that Germany is a weak partner on defense and security."

The New York Times' live updates of Day 12 of Derek Chauvin's murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's liveblog is here.

Shaun Hubler & Jeremy White of the New York Times: "The chief of police for Brooklyn Center, Minn., where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white officer on Sunday, said on Monday that ... the officer, Kimberly A. Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, had intended to deploy her Taser, the chief said at a news conference, but had shot her service pistol instead. Tasers look and feel different from pistols in a number of ways, and most police forces -- including Brooklyn Center's -- have standard precautions and protocols in place to prevent the sort of mix-up that can be deadly.... Tasers are often produced in bright colors, or with neon accents, to distinguish them from pistols.... [Pistols] ... pistol models weigh significantly more than a typical Taser.... Brooklyn Center Police Department protocol dictates that officers wear their guns on their dominant side and Tasers on the opposite side of their bodies, to reduce the risk that they will confuse the two weapons.... It appears that several aspects of how Officer Potter handled her weapons may have violated the protocol laid out in the manual, even if she had drawn her Taser and not her firearm." ~~~

~~~ Russ Thebault of the Washington Post: "In the span of just a couple of hours Monday evening, a Minneapolis suburb appears to have fundamentally refashioned its leadership after a local police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop the day before. Brooklyn Center, Minn., which erupted in protest Sunday as word of 20-year-old Daunte Wright's death spread, now has a new city manager and -- at least temporarily -- a new de facto leader of the police department after a city council vote that granted the mayor 'command authority' over the agency. The overhaul is likely to give Mayor Mike Elliott the power to fire the police chief and police officers, one legal expert told The Washington Post." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mohamed Ibrahim & Mike Householder of the AP: "A white police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb resigned Tuesday, as did the city's police chief -- moves that the mayor said he hoped would help heal the community and lead to reconciliation after two nights of protests and unrest. The resignations from Officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon came two days after the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center."

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

Racists Are the "Real Victims." Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "Here is how [Tucker] Carlson defined ['replacement theory'] in the process of defending it last week: 'The Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.' Why people should be offended by this mystifies Carlson. 'Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it,' he continued.... There is a reason, of course, that 'everyone' wants to make a racial issue out of this. Because it is a putrescent pile of racist myths and cliches. Nearly every phrase of Carlson's statement is the euphemistic expression of white-supremacist replacement doctrine. This is what modern, poll-tested, shrink-wrapped, mass-marketed racism looks like. Carlson is providing his audience with sophisticated rationales for their worst, most prejudicial instincts. And the brilliance of Carlson's business model is to reinterpret moral criticism of his bigotry as an attack by elites on his viewers. Public outrage is thus recycled into fuel for MAGA victimhood."

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Dan Diamond & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "President Biden has selected Anne Milgram, a former state attorney general, prosecutor and longtime advocate for reform of the criminal justice system, to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, the White House announced on Monday.... The DEA has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration.... Donald Trump relied on several acting administrators to steer the roughly $3 billion agency, which investigates violations of the nation's drug laws."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was waging his baseless assault on the election results last fall when Kristen Clarke, head of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, opened her inbox to a stream of vicious threats over her efforts to fight back and protect the rights of voters. Openly misogynistic, littered with racial epithets, the messages were of the variety that seeks to debase and intimidate prominent minority women.... On Wednesday, Clarke will appear at a Senate confirmation hearing as President Biden's nominee to lead the Justice Department's civil rights division.... Her confirmation path is expected to be contentious, however. At the Lawyers' Committee, Clarke was at the forefront of legal efforts to sue the Trump administration on voting rights, immigration, changes to the U.S. Census and the tear-gassing of protesters outside the White House last summer. She spoke out frequently against Trump and former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William P. Barr."

The Guardian & agencies: "The Biden administration has struck an agreement with Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras to temporarily increase border security in an effort to stop migrants from reaching the US border. The agreement comes as the US saw a record number of unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border in March, and the largest number of Border Patrol encounters overall with migrants on the southern border -- just under 170,000 -- since March 2001. According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Mexico will maintain a deployment of about 10,000 troops, while Guatemala has sent 1,500 police and military personnel to its southern border and Honduras deployed 7,000 police and military to its border 'to disperse a large contingent of migrants' there. Guatemala will also set up 12 checkpoints along the migratory route through the country."

Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The number of unaccompanied minors in US Customs and Border Protection custody, akin to jail-like conditions, has dropped 45%, according to the latest government data, amid an ongoing effort by the Biden administration to find suitable spaces to accommodate kids after facing scrutiny for overcrowded facilities. As of Sunday, there were 3,130 children in the custody of CBP, an agency not intended to care for children for prolonged periods of time, marking a drop from the peak -- 5,767 on March 28 -- since the government started providing data, indicating progress in alleviating Border Patrol stations." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is encouraging news, but let's not credit the Biden administration. Rather, we should give props to Ted Cruz who hid in the reeds on the banks of the Rio Grande & popped up occasionally, scaring the bejeezus out of the kids attempting to cross into the U.S.

A New Direction for CBP. Nick Miroff, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden is preparing to nominate Tucson police chief Chris Magnus to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, selecting a critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies to run the country's largest federal law enforcement agency as it contends with the biggest increase in migrants arriving at the southwest border in two decades. Magnus has led the Tucson police department since 2016 and has prominently associated himself with the reform movement favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that emphasizes a less-aggressive, community-based policing model." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lara Seligman & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "President Joe Biden plans to nominate Pentagon veteran Christine Wormuth to be the first female Army secretary, the White House announced on Monday. Wormuth, a former top policy official at the Defense Department during the Obama administration, recently led Biden's Pentagon agency review team through one of the most contentious transitions in modern history, and has been in and out of the Pentagon since she began her public service career in the policy office in 1996."

Kylie Atwood & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "The Biden administration recently decided to keep the Trump-appointed US ambassador on the job in Moscow for the foreseeable future, two senior administration officials told CNN, demonstrating a willingness to nurture areas of stability in the US-Russia relationship after it got off to a tumultuous start. John Sullivan has been on the job for almost a year and a half. He is viewed by administration officials as a steady hand as the administration ramps up the pressure on Russia for taking actions to undermine the US and democratic values broadly. President Joe Biden is still deciding on other ambassadorial posts, and the White House said Monday the President had not decided on the 'vast majority' of positions."

Patrick Kingsley, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House was saying almost nothing in public on Monday about the apparent explosion inside Iran's Natanz facility, below more than 2 feet of reinforced concrete, which destroyed the power supply that keeps the centrifuges spinning at supersonic speeds, enriching uranium. 'The U.S. was not involved in any manner,' the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said Monday.... White House and State Department officials said they had no idea whether the Iranians would show up in Vienna again on Wednesday, when the talks [to reboot a nuclear agreement] were scheduled to resume. In Tehran, lawmakers asked Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to suspend the talks, saying that Iran should not be engaged in negotiations when it is under attack.... Mr. Zarif, in a statement broadcast by Iranian state television, said that ... '...we will take our revenge on the Zionists.'..."

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz said that President Joe Biden's recent announcement that Palestine will receive $250 million in U.S. funding will lead to Americans and Israelis getting killed. Cruz told the Breitbart News Sunday radio show that he believes no taxpayer money should go to the Palestinian Authority, which he believes directly fund anti-Israel and anti-American terrorists.... U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced Wednesday how the State Department funds are set to help Palestine, noting that $75 million is for 'economic development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza.' And Blinken said $10 million will go toward 'peacebuilding' with Israel in partnership with the United Nations." MB: It's easier to understand the totality of Ted's "political philosophy" if you understand that part of that belief system is the idea that humanitarian aid is self-defeating.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) & other Republicans are trying to paint Joe Biden as "not in charge" because Biden is not "engaging" like a bull in a china shop, as the former guy did. MB: IOW, they got nuthin'.

Play It Again, John. Charlie Savage & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The special counsel scrutinizing the Russia inquiry, a Trump-era leftover, appears to be retreading ground that an inspector general explored in 2019.... [John] Durham has keyed in on the F.B.I.'s handling of a notorious dossier of political opposition research ... and questioned witnesses who may have insight into the matter. In particular, Mr. Durham[, using a subpoena,] has obtained documents from the Brookings Institution related to Igor Danchenko, a Russia researcher who worked there a decade ago and later helped gather rumors about Mr. Trump and Russia for that research, known as the Steele dossier...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Fox "News" White Immigrant CEO Good with Tucker's Anti-Immigrant Racism. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch dismissed the Anti-Defamation League's demand that the company fire host Tucker Carlson, telling the organization in a letter that his company saw no problem with comments Carlson made about the racist 'great replacement' theory.... According to Murdoch, "A full review of the guest interview indicates that Mr. Carlson decried and rejected replacement theory. As Mr. Carlson himself stated during the guest interview: 'White replacement theory? No, no, this is a voting rights question.'"... In response, ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote that Carlson's "'attempt to at first dismiss' the replacement theory 'while in the very next breath endorsing it under cover of 'a voting rights question' does not give him free license to invoke a white supremacist trope. In fact..., it's worse, because he's using a straw man -- voting rights -- to give an underhanded endorsement of white supremacist beliefs while ironically suggesting it's not really white supremacism. While your response references a "full review" of the interview, it seems the reviewers missed the essential point here.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Noah Weiland, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination. All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition. Nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far, and roughly nine million more doses have been shipped out to the states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." CNN's story is here.

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

I can't believe I'm linking this. Surely the story is on a par with Trump's short-timer acting AG Matt Whitaker's big-dick toilets: ~~~

~~~ Big Ass Lands Job at Big Ass Fans, Promoting Pricey "Covid-Killing" Big Ass Fans. Ty Pendlebury of CNET: "Big Ass Fans, the Kentucky-based maker of a virus-killing smart fan, is seeking to boost its COVID-19 credentials by adding the former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to its ranks. Former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is now the strategic health and safety advisor for Big Ass Fans' Clean Air Systems. Redfield was appointed to the CDC by ... Donald Trump.... He's now found a new role at a time when some former Trump administration employees are having trouble landing new jobs. Shortly after the onset of the pandemic last year, Big Ass Fans introduced the Haiku UV-C. The smart ceiling fan, which starts at $1,750, uses UV light to kill viruses, bacteria, mold and other harmful airborne agents. Independent tests have also suggested the fan can kill SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes COVID-19."

Michigan. Noah Weiland & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Biden administration and Michigan's Democratic governor are locked in an increasingly tense standoff over the state's worst-in-the-nation coronavirus outbreak, with a top federal health official on Monday urging the governor to lock down her state. As the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, publicly called again for a surge of vaccine supply, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a White House news conference that securing extra doses was not the most immediate or practical solution to the outbreak. She said that Michigan -- whose metro areas include 16 of the 17 worst outbreaks in the nation -- needed to enact shutdown measures to stamp out the crush of infections."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Variety, republished by NBC News: "Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith will move production on their big-budget, runaway slave thriller 'Emancipation' out of Georgia in protest over the state's controversial new voting restrictions."

Minnesota. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "The officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop near Minneapolis mistakenly confused her gun for her Taser, police officials said on Monday, quickly releasing video as they tried to ease tensions in a state on edge over the Derek Chauvin trial. In a brief clip of body camera video, officers from the Brooklyn Center Police Department can be seen trying to handcuff the driver, Daunte Wright, before he suddenly lurches back into his car. One of the officers, whose name has not been released, aims a weapon at Mr. Wright and shouts, 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' She fires one round, and Mr. Wright groans in pain. 'Holy shit, I just shot him,' the officer can be heard shouting." ~~~

~~~ Griff Witte & Mark Berman of the Washington Post: Derek Chauvin's "trial hurtled toward its conclusion on Monday, with final arguments in the case ... expected next week, even as authorities were racing to stave off a second night of unrest after [Daunte] Wright's death. Officials announced curfews, schools suspended in-person classes, professional sports teams canceled games and businesses boarded up after a first night that included peaceful protests -- but also clashes between police and demonstrators, as well as looting of local businesses."

Mississippi. April Is Secret Confederate Heritage Month. Donna Ladd of the Mississippi Free Press: According to the Sons of the Confederates Facebook page, Gov. Tate Reeves has declared April to be Confederate Heritage Month. The news has not appeared on the Secretary of State's proclamation page nor in new media. MB: It's kinda like Tate put a white pointy hood on it.

Virginia. Laura Vozzella & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) on Monday said he had launched a broad civil rights probe of the police officers and department involved in the violent traffic stop of a Black Army officer. Also Monday, the town of Windsor announced that a Virginia State Police investigation of the incident had begun and that town officials had turned over 'numerous requested documents.'"

The Commentariat -- April 12, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Day 11 of Derek Chauvin's murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here.

A New Direction for CBP. Nick Miroff, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden is preparing to nominate Tucson police chief Chris Magnus to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, selecting a critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies to run the country's largest federal law enforcement agency as it contends with the biggest increase in migrants arriving at the southwest border in two decades. Magnus has led the Tucson police department since 2016 and has prominently associated himself with the reform movement favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that emphasizes a less-aggressive, community-based policing model." Politico's story is here.

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

~~~~~~~~~~

Donald Trump's gift to Joe Biden was a very low bar. Here we were on a Monday morning, picking up our newspapers, virtually or from the front porch, and not finding headlines about how the President had made a fool of himself over the weekend. (The same is not true of Trump, of course; he's still making a fool of himself on a weekend).

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "The ability of the Department of Health and Human Services to build shelters, move children quickly into them and then unite them with relatives and other sponsors in the United States is the first major test of whether the Biden administration can respond swiftly and effectively to a growing immigration crisis that has far-reaching political and human ramifications.... More than 20,000 [migrant] children and teenagers are in the custody of a government system that is already at '103 percent of capacity,' including nearly 17,000 in shelters run by the health department, according to briefing materials from Operation Artemis, a response to the border crisis led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Government projections obtained by The New York Times show there could be more than 35,000 migrant children to be cared for by June...."

They All Fall Down

Tara Palmieri & Rachel Bade of Politico: "A slew of well-heeled Republican National Committee donors descended on Palm Beach this weekend..., eager for access to Donald Trump.... [Of Trump's speech, one of them said,] 'It was horrible, it was long and negative.... It was dour. He didn't talk about the positive things that his administration has done.... Many major donors have been fed up with Trump's antics since Jan. 6." Emphasis removed. ~~~

~~~ Ha Ha. Gabby Orr, et al., of CNN: "Rep. Matt Gaetz, who's facing a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations, was recently denied a meeting with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate as the ex-President and his allies continue to distance themselves from the Florida congressman. Two people familiar with the matter said Gaetz tried to schedule a visit with Trump after it was first revealed that he was being investigated, but the request was rejected by aides close to the former President, who have urged Trump not to stick his neck out to defend Gaetz. Harlan Hill, a spokesman for Gaetz, said the congressman did not request a meeting with Trump this week." MB: Yeah, Matt, just another fake news story. Now, aren't you glad you spent all that effort humping Trump? The New York Times, in the article below, still refers to Gaetz as "a close ally of" Trump. Goes to show what Donald thinks of "close allies." ~~~

~~~ The Epitome of "A Florida Man." Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times on the strange, short political career of Joel Greenberg, one that "culminated in 33 federal charges against Mr. Greenberg, 36, including sex trafficking of a minor, bribery, fraud and stalking -- and led to a mushrooming political scandal that burst into national news in recent days and ensnared [Matt] Gaetz, who is a close ally of President Donald J. Trump, and other influential Florida Republicans, with the investigation continuing."

Danny Hakim & Mary Walsh of the New York Times: "For three decades, Wayne LaPierre has been the implacable face of the gun lobby, a scourge of the left who argued that giving ground on gun control was akin to giving up on America. So it was remarkable to see the shambolic turn his tenure atop the National Rifle Association has taken showcased last week in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas. Mr. LaPierre acknowledged that he had secretly taken the N.R.A. into bankruptcy -- without telling even his top lieutenants or most of his board -- essentially as an end run around attacks from the New York attorney general, who is seeking to shut down the group amid charges of financial mismanagement and corruption. And he made a string of admissions that served largely to underscore the N.R.A.'s disarray and the questions about his own fitness to lead it."

Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "In semi-private, encrypted chats, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists planned rallies in dozens of cities Sunday to promote their racist movements and spread their ideologies to larger audiences. Hyped by organizers as events that would make 'the whole world tremble,' the rallies ran into a major problem: Hardly anyone showed up. The 'White Lives Matter' rallies, the first major real-world organizing efforts by white supremacists since 2018, were planned on the encrypted app Telegram.... The poor showing underscores how the country's unpopular and disorganized extremist movements have been driven underground by increased scrutiny from the media, law enforcement agencies and far-left activists who infiltrate their private online spaces and disrupt their attempts to communicate and organize."

Mark Follman in Mother Jones on "how Trump unleashed a domestic terrorism movement": "The description of Trump as a terrorist leader is neither metaphor nor hyperbole -- it is the assessment of veteran national security experts. Trump, those experts say, adopted a method known as stochastic terrorism, a process of incitement where the instigator provokes extremist violence under the guise of plausible deniability.... His demagoguery was initially focused on 'the other,' ... Muslims..., Mexican[s]..., 'shithole' countries..., the news media. By his 2020 reelection campaign, he'd turned his incitement squarely on the American political leaders who opposed him..., [beginning with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer against whom he incited a kidnapping plot]. After his election loss, Trump's incitement became ever more alarming." Follman goes on to cite expert advice on how to deal with a charismatic terrorist leader & his followers.

Charles Blow of the New York Times writes about the history & some implications of white replacement theory: "On Thursday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson caused an uproar by promoting the racist, anti-Semitic, patriarchal and conspiratorial 'white replacement theory.' Also known as the 'great replacement theory,' it stands on the premise that nonwhite immigrants are being imported (sometimes the Jewish community is accused of orchestrating this) to replace white people and white voters. The theory is also an inherent chastisement of white women for having a lower birthrate than nonwhite women."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell warned in an interview broadcast Sunday that reopening the economy too quickly could lead to another worrisome jump in coronavirus cases, arguing that the country has not completely turned the corner and that the pandemic continues to pose major risks to any recovery. Powell, speaking in a '60 Minutes' interview, also said that the coronavirus pandemic had exacerbated economic disparities in the United States and that this could take time to address during an uneven recovery. In the interview, Powell described an economy that was at 'an inflection point,' showing signs of acceleration but still facing numerous risks."

Beyond the Beltway

Todd Frankel of the Washington Post: "More than 100 chief executives and corporate leaders gathered online Saturday to discuss taking new action to combat the controversial state voting bills being considered across the country, including the one recently signed into law in Georgia. Executives from major airlines, retailers and manufacturers -- plus at least one NFL owner -- talked about potential ways to show they opposed the legislation, including by halting donations to politicians who support the bills and even delaying investments in states that pass the restrictive measures, according to four people who were on the call, including one of the organizers, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale management professor. While no final steps were agreed upon, the meeting represents an aggressive dialing up of corporate America's stand against controversial voting measures nationwide, a sign that their opposition to the laws didn't end with the fight against the Georgia legislation passed in March. It also came just days after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned that firms should 'stay out of politics.'..."" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gee, Mitch, who would have thought that threatening the hands that feed you -- especially when those hands are the appendages of (mostly) men who think they're the masters of the universe -- would not work out well for you?

Minnesota. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "A police officer in Minnesota fatally shot a motorist on Sunday in the city of Brooklyn Center, about 10 miles north of Minneapolis where a police officer is on trial and charged with murdering George Floyd last year, the authorities and witnesses said. A large crowd of people was gathering Sunday evening at the scene where the driver died and some began to jump on and break the windows of police vehicles, according to video posted on Facebook. Officers with protective body gear and helmets were also at the scene, according to video posted on Twitter." An ABC News story is here.

Virginia. Rachel Chason of the Washington Post: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Sunday he is directing Virginia State Police to investigate a traffic stop during which two police officers held an Army second lieutenant at gunpoint months ago in the southeast part of the state. Town officials said later that night that one officer was fired. Northam (D) said the incident -- in which body-camera footage shows police pepper-spraying, striking and handcuffing Caron Nazario -- 'is disturbing and angered me.' Nazario, 27, who is Black and Latino, filed a lawsuit this month against Windsor officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker that alleges excessive force due to racial profiling." Politico's story is here. MB: I had little faith that Gov. Northam had had a come-to-Jesus moment after there emerged decades-old college yearbook photos of him in blackface. I was wrong. Northam has consistently stepped up.

Way Beyond

Iran. Ronen Bergman, et al., of the New York Times: "A power failure that appeared to have been caused by a deliberately planned explosion struck Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment site on Sunday, in what Iranian officials called an act of sabotage that they suggested had been carried out by Israel. The blackout injected new uncertainty into diplomatic efforts that began last week to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal repudiated by the Trump administration." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Martin Chulov of the Guardian: "Israel appeared to confirm claims that it was behind a cyber-attack on Iran's main nuclear facility on Sunday, which Tehran's nuclear energy chief described as an act of terrorism that warranted a response against its perpetrators.... As Iranian authorities scrambled to deal with a large-scale blackout at Natanz, which the country's Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged had damaged the electricity grid at the site, the Israeli defence chief, Aviv Kochavi, said the country's 'operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy'."