The Commentariat -- March 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday said it would review an appeals court's decision that threw out the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of helping carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, upheld Mr. Tsarnaev's convictions on 27 counts. But the appeals court ruled that his death sentence should be overturned because the trial judge had not questioned jurors closely enough about their exposure to pretrial publicity and had excluded evidence concerning Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar's older brother and accomplice.... Lawyers for the federal government urged the Supreme Court to hear the case even though it did not satisfy some of the usual criteria for review.... Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said the Biden administration should consider whether it wants to pursue the appeal, noting that the Trump administration had sought Supreme Court review."

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Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Biden said on Sunday that he will visit the U.S.-Mexican border 'at some point' as his administration struggles with a surge of migrants, especially unaccompanied minors, at the southern border. Biden was asked by reporters at The White House upon his return from Camp David whether the president was thinking about going to the border...." ~~~

~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declined Sunday to provide a timeline for when the Biden administration will open new facilities capable of handling the surge of unaccompanied children at the southern border. 'We established three new facilities last week. ... We are working on the system from beginning to end. We are working around the clock 24/7,' Mayorkas told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union' when pressed on the administration's timeline.... The comments from Mayorkas, who insisted the southern border is currently closed to migrants even though the administration is making an exception for unaccompanied minors, come as the situation there worsens amid a surge in unaccompanied children in US custody." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Ismay of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III landed in Afghanistan's capital Sunday morning, becoming the first member of President Biden's cabinet to set foot in the country that is home to America's longest war. The United States is tentatively set to withdraw American forces from the country on May 1, the date set in an agreement signed by the Trump administration and the Taliban more than a year ago.... Mr. Austin's trip to Kabul was kept secret, and was to remain confidential until two hours after he left, but local reporters broke news of his visit after he met with President Ashraf Ghani.... The defense secretary's visit came at the end of more than a week of travel across the Pacific during which he reassured allies that they would have the United States' support in countering potential threats from China.... Flying ... to Japan and South Korea, Mr. Austin joined Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken for talks with the foreign and defense ministers of both nations.... In New Delhi, where Mr. Austin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the defense minister, Rajnath Singh, senior U.S. defense officials said that Indian leaders spoke mostly about their concerns regarding China." An NPR story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** How to Get a Trillion Dollars in Tax Revenue -- Without Raising Taxes. New York Times Editors: "The [income tax] withholding system [-- begun during World War II --] remains the cornerstone of income taxation, effectively preventing Americans from lying about wage income.... But the burden of taxation is increasingly warped because the government has no comparable system for verifying income from businesses. The result is that most wage earners pay their fair share while many business owners engage in blatant fraud at public expense.... Billions of dollars in business profits, rent and royalties are hidden from the government each year. By contrast, more than 95 percent of wage income is reported.... Charles Rossotti, who led the I.R.S. from 1997 to 2002.... The core of Mr. Rossotti's clever proposal is to obtain that information from banks.says that Congress needs to change the rules, by creating a third-party verification system for business income, too.... The proposal would not increase the amount anyone owes in taxes. It would, instead, increase the amount paid in taxes by those who are currently cheating." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

James Laporta of the AP: "Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an Army base in the nation's capital, and against the Army's vice chief of staff, two senior U.S. intelligence officials said. They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran's Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting 'USS Cole-style attacks' against the base, referring to the October 2000 suicide attack in which a small boat pulled up alongside the Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden and exploded, killing 17 sailors. The intelligence also revealed threats to kill Gen. Joseph M. Martin and plans to infiltrate and surveil the base, according to the officials.... The base, one of the oldest in the country, is Martin's official residence. The threats are one reason the Army has been pushing for more security around Fort McNair, which sits alongside Washington's bustling newly developed Waterfront District." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Evidence the government obtained in the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol most likely meets the bar necessary to charge some of the suspects with sedition, Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who had been leading the Justice Department's inquiry, said in an interview that aired on Sunday. The department has rarely brought charges of sedition, the crime of conspiring to overthrow the government. But in an interview with '60 Minutes,' Mr. Sherwin said prosecutors had evidence that most likely proved such a charge.... Mr. Sherwin oversaw the investigation as the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, a role that he ceded to a new interim leader in early March.... Mr. Sherwin witnessed the crime as it unfolded. After he dressed in his running clothes and entered the crowd at the rally near the White House, he observed a 'carnival environment' of people listening to speeches and selling T-shirts and snacks. 'I noticed there were some people in tactical gear. They were tacked up with Kevlar vests. They had the military helmets on,' he said in the '60 Minutes' interview. 'Those individuals, I noticed, left the speeches early.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Justine Coleman of the Hill: "Michael Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who previously led the criminal investigation into the Capitol riot, said former President Trump could be culpable for his role in the raid. Sherwin told CBS News's '60 Minutes' in an interview that aired Sunday that it was 'unequivocal' that the former president was 'the magnet that brought the people to D.C. on the 6th' before his supporters stormed the Capitol building. 'Now the question is he criminally culpable for everything that happened during the siege, during the breach?' Sherwin said after Scott Pelley asked if Trump's role has been part of the probe." ~~~

     ~~~ The CBS News story is here. The page includes "60 Minutes"'s interview of Sherwin. The transcript of the segment, via CBS News, is here; this page also includes the video.

Raphael Warnock Black-splains Hate Crimes to Chris Wray. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Law enforcement officials including the director of the FBI have said the shootings in Atlanta in which eight people were killed do not appear to have been racially motivated, but the Georgia senator Raphael Warnock said on Sunday: 'We all know hate when we see it.'... Speaking to NPR on Thursday, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, said: 'While the motive remains still under investigation at the moment, it does not appear that the motive was racially motivated.' But such conclusions are rejected by protesters who see a link to rising attacks on Asian Americans in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China, and racially charged rhetoric from ... Donald Trump and others.... On Saturday [Warnock] and his fellow Democratic senator Jon Ossoff spoke to protesters near the state capitol in Atlanta.&" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When, on Friday, I first read Wray's comment, I considered it naive & premature. But my thinking has evolved to see the broader tragic irony: in the USA, the people who decide what a hate crime is tend to be old, white, nominally-Christian, supposedly-straight guys; that is, people who have seldom or never experienced any sort of bias because of their sex, race, religion or sexual orientation. Some of the states' legal definitions of sexual harassment, for instance, pretty much mean the CEO has to rape an employee on the dais at a stockholder's meeting before he can be charged. And good luck when the case goes before a judge.

Spotlight on the Stupidest Senator. Trip Gabriel & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Senator Ron Johnson ... has become the Republican Party's foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation now that Donald Trump himself is banned from social media and largely avoiding appearances on cable television. Mr. Johnson is an all-access purveyor of misinformation on serious issues such as the pandemic and the legitimacy of American democracy, as well as invoking the etymology of Greenland as a way to downplay the effects of climate change. In recent months, Mr. Johnson has sown doubts about President Biden's victory, argued that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was not an armed insurrection, promoted discredited Covid-19 treatments, said he saw no need to get the coronavirus vaccine himself and claimed that the United States could have ended the pandemic a year ago with the development of a generic drug if the government had wanted that to happen. Last year, he spent months as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee seeking evidence that Mr. Biden had tried to pressure Ukrainian officials to aid his son Hunter, which an Intelligence Community report released on Monday said was misinformation that was spread by Russia to help Mr. Trump's re-election.... His continuing assault on the truth, often under the guise of simply 'asking questions' about established facts, is helping to diminish confidence in American institutions at a perilous moment...." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Pellish of CNN: "Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson falsely claimed there was no violence on the Senate side of the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, the latest in his continued attempts to downplay the severity of the attack. Johnson described the events of January 6 to a group of conservative Wisconsin residents at a local political event on Saturday and falsely stated the rioters were more active on the House side of the Capitol than the Senate side. Johnson also repeated he did not feel threatened that day, even after learning rioters had breached the Capitol building.... Security cameras and videos from witnesses showed insurrectionists broke windows on the Senate side of the Capitol and stormed through the halls near the Senate chamber shortly after. One video showed Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman confronting protesters just outside the Senate chamber and leading them away from the room while senators were sheltering in place inside." MB: Plus, there were those oft-rerun videos of insurrectionists going through the papers on Ted Cruz's Senate chamber desk. Is Johnson on mind-altering drugs, or what?

Wasteful Spending as a Necessary Evil. Paul Kane, et al., of the Washington Post: "After years of outcry about corruption and wasteful spending, Congress took a major step a decade ago by banning earmarks -- special budget items that allow members to funnel money to projects in their districts. But now, amid a narrowly divided Congress and President Biden's desire to pursue a sweeping legislative agenda, earmarks are back. Leaders in both parties took steps this month to allow limited earmarks on spending legislation, opening the door to the sort of horse-trading that Democrats hope could lead to GOP support for Biden initiatives on issues ranging from infrastructure to the annual federal agency funding bill."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "New coronavirus infections are rising in several U.S. states, despite record vaccinations -- an increase experts attribute to the growing reach of new variants and widespread pandemic fatigue after a year of public health restrictions. The seven-day average of newly reported cases climbed 2.6 percent on Sunday, even as overall hospitalizations and deaths remain down."

Rebecca Robbins & Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford provided strong protection against Covid-19 in a large clinical trial in the United States, offering complete protection against the worst outcomes from the disease while causing no serious side effects, according to data released on Monday. The findings, announced in a news release from AstraZeneca, may help shore up global confidence in the vaccine. But the fresh data may not make a difference in the United States, where the vaccine is not yet authorized and may not be needed. If AstraZeneca wins authorization for emergency use in the U.S. based on the new results, the vaccine will likely not become available until May, when federal officials predict that three other authorized vaccine manufacturers will be producing enough doses for all the nation's adults. The announcement comes at a deeply fraught moment for AstraZeneca. More than a dozen countries this month briefly suspended inoculations with the shot over concerns about possible rare side effects, the latest in a series of problems for AstraZeneca that have undermined confidence among both the public and some government officials."

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

Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: "Pregnant women who receive a coronavirus vaccine not only acquire protective antibodies against the virus for themselves but also may pass along immunity to their babies, emerging research shows. Several preliminary studies suggest that women who received an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) during pregnancy had covid-19 antibodies in their umbilical cord blood. Another study also detected antibodies in their breastmilk, indicating that at least some immunity could be transferred to babies both before and after birth." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Older people, who represent the vast majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, are emerging this spring with the daffodils, tilting their faces to the sunlight outdoors. They are filling restaurants, hugging grandchildren and booking flights.... For now, about two-thirds of Americans over 65 have started the vaccination process and nearly 38 percent are fully vaccinated, compared with 12 percent of the overall population, giving the rest of the nation a glimpse into the after times." A related AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Christopher Rowland, et al., of the Washington Post: "The drug companies that developed and won authorization for coronavirus vaccines in record time have agreed to sell most of the first doses coming off production lines to the United States, European countries and a few other wealthy nations.... Billions of people are left with an uncertain wait, with most of Africa and parts of South America and Asia not expected to achieve widespread vaccination coverage until 2023, according to some estimates. But drug companies have rebuffed entreaties to face the emergency by sharing their proprietary technology more freely with companies in developing nations. They cite the rapid development of new vaccines as evidence that the drug industry's traditional business model, based on exclusive patents and know-how, is working. The companies are lobbying the Biden administration and other members of the World Trade Organization against any erosion of their monopolies on individual coronavirus vaccines that are worth billions of dollars in annual sales. The debate about how to immunize more people overseas is picking up greater steam in the United States now that President Biden has promised that most Americans will be vaccinated by July. Some Democrats in Congress, fresh off approving Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue package, are determined to make sure Americans don't forget about the rest of the world...." ~~~

~~~ Selam Gebrekidan & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines, achieved at record speed and financed by massive public funding in the United States, the European Union and Britain, represents a great triumph of the pandemic. Governments partnered with drugmakers, pouring in billions of dollars to procure raw materials, finance clinical trials and retrofit factories. Billions more were committed to buy the finished product. But this Western success has created stark inequity. Residents of wealthy and middle-income countries have received about 90 percent of the nearly 400 million vaccines delivered so far. Under current projections, many of the rest will have to wait years.... By partnering with drug companies, Western leaders bought their way to the front of the line. But they also ignored years of warnings -- and explicit calls from the World Health Organization -- to include contract language that would have guaranteed doses for poor countries or encouraged companies to share their knowledge and the patents they control.... President Biden and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union's executive branch, are reluctant to change course." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Besides being mean & selfish, the West's policies are incredibly shortsighted and self-defeating. Do they think new, possibly vaccine-resistant, strains of the coronavirus won't develop over the next several years in countries where the disease runs rampant?

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Brittany Shammas of the Washington Post: "Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew Saturday in response to large and unruly crowds of spring break visitors. Speaking during a news conference, Mayor Dan Gelber said the crush of vacationers in the city's entertainment district had overwhelmed law enforcement, even with reinforcements from other local agencies. He said city leaders wanted to act preemptively.... The first night of the curfew saw large crowds lingering on Ocean Drive, according to footage captured by local reporters. As squad cars attempted to clear the road, some people danced and twerked on cars. One man tossed money into the crowd. Pepper balls were shot at the revelers, briefly prompting a stampede, the Miami Herald reported. About an hour and a half after the curfew went into effect, the Miami Beach Police Department shared photographs showing an empty Ocean Drive." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "One day after the spring break oasis of South Beach descended into chaos, with the police struggling to control overwhelming crowds and making scores of arrests, officials in Miami Beach decided on Sunday to extend an emergency curfew for up to three weeks. The officials there went so far as to approve closing the famed Ocean Drive to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. -- the hours of the curfew -- for four nights a week through April 12. Residents, hotel guests and employees of local businesses are exempt from the closure."

New York. Catie Edmondson & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Representative Tom Reed, Republican of New York, apologized on Sunday to a woman who accused him of touching her inappropriately and said that he would not run for any political office in 2022, including governor. In a lengthy statement, Mr. Reed apologized to a former lobbyist, Nicolette Davis, whose allegation that the congressman groped her during a 2017 political trip was reported on Friday by The Washington Post. Mr. Reed said that he took 'full responsibility' for the episode and that it 'occurred at a time in my life in which I was struggling' wit an alcohol addiction.... Before Ms. Davis's allegation, Mr. Reed was publicly mulling a run for governor in 2022, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, was besieged by a wave of accusations of sexual harassment and other misconduct." The Hill's story is here.

Way Beyond

Turkey. Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a surprise decree early Saturday withdrawing Turkey from a landmark European treaty that women's rights groups said had played a critical role in protecting Turkish women from gender-based violence. The treaty, the Istanbul Convention, sought in part to ensure equal legal protections against abuse for women across Europe. Turkey was the first country to sign the convention, in 2011, when Erdogan was prime minister. But some conservative Muslims who form a critical bloc of support for the Turkish leader had criticized the treaty from the start, framing it as part of a Western plot aimed at harming the country's traditional notions of family and encouraging divorce.... President Biden on Sunday harshly criticized the decision by Turkey, a NATO ally, calling the withdrawal 'sudden and unwarranted' and 'deeply disappointing.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

AP: "Authorities in Colorado responded to a shooting at a supermarket Monday. A man who had just left the store in Boulder, Dean Schiller, told The Associated Press that he heard gunshots and saw three people [lying] face down, two in the parking lot and one near the doorway. He said he 'couldn't tell if they were breathing.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer who was the first to respond to the scene, authorities said. Police arrested a suspect, but didn't reveal his name or any details about the shooting at an evening news conference where Boulder police Chief Maris Herold fought back tears."

The Commentariat -- March 21, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Brittany Shammas of the Washington Post: "Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew Saturday in response to large and unruly crowds of spring break visitors. Speaking during a news conference, Mayor Dan Gelber said the crush of vacationers in the city's entertainment district had overwhelmed law enforcement, even with reinforcements from other local agencies. He said city leaders wanted to act preemptively.... The first night of the curfew saw large crowds lingering on Ocean Drive, according to footage captured by local reporters. As squad cars attempted to clear the road, some people danced and twerked on cars. One man tossed money into the crowd. Pepper balls were shot at the revelers, briefly prompting a stampede, the Miami Herald reported. About an hour and a half after the curfew went into effect, the Miami Beach Police Department shared photographs showing an empty Ocean Drive." A CNN story is here.

Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: "Pregnant women who receive a coronavirus vaccine not only acquire protective antibodies against the virus for themselves but also may pass along immunity to their babies, emerging research shows. Several preliminary studies suggest that women who received an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) during pregnancy had covid-19 antibodies in their umbilical cord blood. Another study also detected antibodies in their breastmilk, indicating that at least some immunity could be transferred to babies both before and after birth."

Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Older people, who represent the vast majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, are emerging this spring with the daffodils, tilting their faces to the sunlight outdoors. They are filling restaurants, hugging grandchildren and booking flights.... For now, about two-thirds of Americans over 65 have started the vaccination process and nearly 38 percent are fully vaccinated, compared with 12 percent of the overall population, giving the rest of the nation a glimpse into the after times." A related AP story is here.

Devan Cole of CNN: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declined Sunday to provide a timeline for when the Biden administration will open new facilities capable of handling the surge of unaccompanied children at the southern border. 'We established three new facilities last week. ... We are working on the system from beginning to end. We are working around the clock 24/7,' Mayorkas told CNN's Dana Bash ... when pressed on the administration's timeline.... The comments from Mayorkas, who insisted the southern border is currently closed to migrants even though the administration is making an exception for unaccompanied minors, come as the situation there worsens amid a surge in unaccompanied children in US custody."

** How to Get a Trillion Dollars -- Without Raising Taxes. New York Times Editors: "The [income tax] withholding system [-- begun during World War II --] remains the cornerstone of income taxation, effectively preventing Americans from lying about wage income.... But the burden of taxation is increasingly warped because the government has no comparable system for verifying income from businesses. The result is that most wage earners pay their fair share while many business owners engage in blatant fraud at public expense.... Billions of dollars in business profits, rent and royalties are hidden from the government each year. By contrast, more than 95 percent of wage income is reported.... Charles Rossotti, who led the I.R.S. from 1997 to 2002..., says that Congress needs to change the rules, by creating a third-party verification system for business income, too.... The proposal would not increase the amount anyone owes in taxes. It would, instead, increase the amount paid in taxes by those who are currently cheating."

John Ismay of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III landed in Afghanistan's capital Sunday morning, becoming the first member of President Biden's cabinet to set foot in the country that is home to America's longest war. The United States is tentatively set to withdraw American forces from the country on May 1, the date set in an agreement signed by the Trump administration and the Taliban more than a year ago.... Mr. Austin's trip to Kabul was kept secret, and was to remain confidential until two hours after he left, but local reporters broke news of his visit after he met with President Ashraf Ghani.... The defense secretary's visit came at the end of more than a week of travel across the Pacific during which he reassured allies that they would have the United States' support in countering potential threats from China.... Flying ... to Japan and South Korea, Mr. Austin joined Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken for talks with the foreign and defense ministers of both nations.... In New Delhi, where Mr. Austin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the defense minister, Rajnath Singh, senior U.S. defense officials said that Indian leaders spoke mostly about their concerns regarding China." An NPR story is here.

James Laporta of the AP: "Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an Army base in the nation's capital, and against the Army's vice chief of staff, two senior U.S. intelligence officials said. They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran's Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting 'USS Cole-style attacks' against the base, referring to the October 2000 suicide attack in which a small boat pulled up alongside the Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden and exploded, killing 17 sailors. The intelligence also revealed threats to kill Gen. Joseph M. Martin and plans to infiltrate and surveil the base, according to the officials.... The base, one of the oldest in the country, is Martin's official residence. The threats are one reason the Army has been pushing for more security around Fort McNair, which sits alongside Washington's bustling newly developed Waterfront District."

Turkey. Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a surprise decree early Saturday withdrawing Turkey from a landmark European treaty that women's rights groups said had played a critical role in protecting Turkish women from gender-based violence. The treaty, the Istanbul Convention, sought in part to ensure equal legal protections against abuse for women across Europe. Turkey was the first country to sign the convention, in 2011, when Erdogan was prime minister. But some conservative Muslims who form a critical bloc of support for the Turkish leader had criticized the treaty from the start, framing it as part of a Western plot aimed at harming the country's traditional notions of family and encouraging divorce.... President Biden on Sunday harshly criticized the decision by Turkey, a NATO ally, calling the withdrawal 'sudden and unwarranted' and 'deeply disappointing.'"

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It's Springtime in America. Today is another day we are inching our way back to living in a normal country. The Scourge of the 21st Century is isolated on an island not unlike Elba (though with more rich people), and the president in the White House is once again a normal person who knows the job but won't always do it right because normal presidents are human -- and humane. The people are getting shots in their arms & emerging from their homes just as daffodil shoots begin to emerge from muddy ground in parts of the country. The idiots will always be with us, and these days they are wearing their ignorance with a certain pride we shall smack down with glee.

Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The Biden administration is preparing to expand the phased entry of migrants who were forced to stay in Mexico under a Trump-era policy to two additional ports of entry, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN on Friday. 'Beginning next week, after registering virtually and being tested for COVID-19 at staging sites in Mexico, approved individuals with active (Migrant Protection Protocol) cases will be processed at the Hidalgo, TX port of entry,' the department said in a statement, adding that processing will also start in Laredo, Texas, thereafter.... Three other locations have already been allowing the entry of migrants under the program.... President Joe Biden ended the [Trump] program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols, and kick-started the process of allowing gradual entry of those subject to the policy. For months, officials meticulously planned the rollback of the policy and engaged with immigrant advocacy organizations along the border that have directly worked with migrants. The Biden administration has since estimated that some 25,000 migrants still have active cases. That group will be eligible for the first phase of the rollback. The administration started the gradual entry of migrants at three ports of entry -- in San Diego and in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas -- last month." ~~~

~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post: President "Biden and his team now face what every administration eventually confronts: the unforeseen events that can disrupt the best-laid plans and choreography of a White House. The surge of undocumented immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has done just that -- and amplified an issue that long has been a vulnerability for the Democrats.... The Biden administration has found itself with a humanitarian emergency and a political mess-in-the-making that it is ill-prepared to handle... Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this past week said the country is on pace for the highest number of individuals crossing the border in 20 years. Administration officials have blamed the Trump administration for some of its problems, claiming they inherited a broken and punitive system. But they have come face-to-face with the issue that has long nettled many Democrats: What to do when someone crosses the border illegally?... Biden has had little to say about the matter, and administration officials have, so far, not allowed reporters to get a firsthand look at conditions for the children in custody.... Republicans ... have seized on the surge of migration to pummel Biden as favoring open borders." ~~~

~~~ David Smith of the Guardian writes a fairly comprehensive overview of the severity of the problem. For instance, "when 100,441 migrants were reported attempting to cross the border last month, it was the highest level since March 2019 and included a particular rise in unaccompanied children." MB: If I knew of a magical fix, I would share it. But I can't think of one that doesn't have an Emma Lazarus ring to it.

HOWEVER. Biden Dares to Outperform Expectations. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "With a boost from Black Democrats, if not the most famous one, [Joe] Biden achieved what pretty much no one -- especially bratty Obama disciples -- had thought possible. At 78, nearly half a century after he arrived in D.C. as a senator, he became the oldest man ever sworn in as president. So now comes a delicious twist: President Biden is being hailed as a transformational, once-in-a-generation progressive champion, with comparisons to L.B.J. and F.D.R. aplenty, while Obama has become a cautionary tale about what happens when Democrats get the keys to the car but don't put their foot on the gas.... Creaky, old-fashioned Joe moved fast and broke things. Unlike the sleek, modern Obama, who kept trying to work with obstructionist Republicans, Biden blew them off, calling it 'an easy choice.'... Democrats think [Biden is] really kind of cool. Imagine that."

Biden's Advisors Are Rich! Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "President Joe Biden's closest advisors have ties to big business and Wall Street, with some making millions of dollars in their careers leading up to entering the White House, new financial disclosures show. The senior Biden aides listed in the disclosures include chief of staff Ron Klain, deputy chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon, senior advisor Mike Donilon, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients, and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. These disclosures show that many of the president's closest aides have deep ties to the business world and have made more money in their past corporate careers than previously known."

There's a New Education Sheriff in Town. Carole Feldman of the AP (March 18): "Thousands of students defrauded by for-profit schools will have their federal loans fully erased, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had given them only partial relief. The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said.... The department said it was rescinding the formula used by the Trump administration to determine partial relief and putting in place 'a streamlined path to receiving full loan discharges.' The decision applies to students who already had their claims approved and received only partial relief, the department said. A senior department official briefing reporters said the agency was continuing to review both the backlog of claims yet to be decided and those that have been denied. The department described Thursday's action as 'a first step' and said it would be looking at rewriting the regulations down the road."

Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Last fall, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) appeared as adamantly opposed to filibuster reform as any Democrat.... But ... in a statement released Friday night, Feinstein now says she's 'open' to changing the Senate's filibuster rules, if necessary to pass legislation such as expanded background checks for firearm purchases, reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, or a voting rights bill.... Even Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a senator who has repeatedly said that he wants to keep the filibuster alive in some form, has indicated that he's open to requiring talking filibusters -- although Manchin's been reluctant to open the door to other kinds of filibuster reform. That leaves Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who said last month that she'd even support strengthening the filibuster by rolling back previous reforms, as the primary Democratic holdout on filibuster reform." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

What the Senate Needs Is More Honest Problem-Solvers Like Ted Cruz. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Claiming Democrats want to expand voting rights to 'illegal aliens' and 'child molesters', the Texas senator Ted Cruz warned that if Republicans do not block the For the People Act, major legislation now before the Senate, they will be out of power for years." MB: I should have read the full bill the House passed. I was completely unaware of the "aliens & molesters" clause. The Senate should just remove the clause & pass the bill by voice vote.

The Detritus of the Former Guy

Ken Vogel & Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "The efforts to seek clemency [from Donald Trump] for [certain] wealthy or well-connected people benefited from their social, political, or financial ties to a loose collection of lawyers, lobbyists, activists and Orthodox Jewish leaders who had worked with Trump administration officials on criminal justice legislation championed by Jared Kushner. That network revolved around a pair of influential Jewish organizations that focus on criminal justice issues.... Mr Kushner ... had become interested in criminal justice and developed ties to members of the loose network of allies on the issue after his father, Charles Kushner, was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison.... The overwhelming majority of Mr. Trump's pardons and commutations bypassed [the Justice Department's selection] process, and were instead awarded through an ad hoc system run by a handful of White House aides, with assistance from outside advisers."

The Policing of American Protests -- Proved the Point of the Protests. Kim Barker, et al., of the New York Times: "For many long weeks last summer, protesters in American cities faced off against their own police forces in what proved to be, for major law enforcement agencies across the country, a startling display of violence and disarray. In Philadelphia, police sprayed tear gas on a crowd of mainly peaceful protesters trapped on an interstate who had nowhere to go and no way to breathe. In Chicago, officers were given arrest kits so old that the plastic handcuffs were decayed or broken. Los Angeles officers were issued highly technical foam-projectile launchers for crowd control, but many of them had only two hours of training; one of the projectiles bloodied the eye of a homeless man in a wheelchair. Nationally, at least eight people were blinded after being hit with police projectiles. Now, months after the demonstrations that followed the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police in May, the full scope of the country's policing response is becoming clearer.... From midsize departments like the one in Indianapolis to big-city forces like New York City's, from top commanders to officers on the beat, police officers nationwide were unprepared to calm the summer's unrest, and their approaches consistently did the opposite. In many ways, the problems highlighted in the reports are fundamental to modern American policing, a demonstration of the aggressive tactics that had infuriated many of the protesters to begin with." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times: New York City Police said they used restraint during last year's protests. That's not what the videos show.

Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times: "... despite dramatic transformations in our collective understanding of sexual harassment at work, recent polling around Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's current scandals suggests a lingering confusion -- the reality that we are not merely arguing about consequences but, 30 years after Anita Hill, about the nature and substance of misconduct itself.... New York State's Labor Department supplies a sample training video on harassment meant to convey the bare minimum of what should be offered. In it, the labor commissioner, Roberta Reardon, explains that sexual harassment falls essentially under two large umbrellas, one in the form of quid quo pro exchanges (If you want that new job, you really ought to consider coming over for strip steak), the other in the creation of what has long been known as a hostile work environment. It is here that popular clarity seems to fade.... In August 2019..., Governor Cuomo signed legislation that strengthened protections against discrimination and harassment."

The 51st State. Another Reason to Dump the Filibuster. Mike DeBonis & Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "... a fast-evolving political landscape has propelled D.C. statehood up the Democratic priority list after it passed the House for the first time last year. The issue, once a fanciful dream of local activists, now enjoys near-unanimity inside the Democratic Party.... D.C. statehood would probably result in two additional Democratic senators.... GOP leaders are mobilizing against the statehood push, labeling it a partisan 'power grab' by Democrats.... The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday will convene a hearing on a statehood bill, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in an interview that he expects that the bill will pass the House before summer. Statehood advocates still face major obstacles: They do not yet have 51 allies inside the Senate, and as long as the body's filibuster rule requiring a supermajority margin for most legislation remains intact, it will take even more support than that."

Congressional Primary Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The first competitive special congressional election of the Biden era is most likely heading to a runoff next month, but the battle lines are already drawn ahead of the initial balloting on Saturday in the race to succeed former Representative Cedric L. Richmond of Louisiana. At the center of the debate: which of two New Orleans Democrats positioned to face off in April can better leverage their connections to lift a South Louisiana district hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Louisiana voters will nominate candidates in two open House seats Saturday, as Democrats battle over a safe seat in the New Orleans area and Republicans decide whether the widow of a 2020 candidate should take the seat he won last year. The special election in the 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, became necessary after Cedric L. Richmond (D) resigned from the seat to become an adviser to President Biden.... If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will head to an April 24 runoff. The same is true in the 5th Congressional District, where Republican candidate Julia Letlow is running to 'pick up that torch' after her late husband, Luke, won the seat in November and died of covid-19 complications before his swearing-in." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. The New York Times has Louisiana's primary election results here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Republican Julia Letlow won a special election Saturday to fill the seat won last year by her now-late husband, who died in December from Covid. She took 62 percent of the vote in the 12-way race, a commanding victory that cleared the majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff." MB: Letlow looks like a nice, intelligent woman. Appearances can be deceiving: "Letlow campaigned on a vow to uphold conservative Christian values and protect unborn children and the right to bear arms." ~~~

     ~~~ Danny Monteverde of WWL New Orleans: "Karen Carter Peterson and Troy Carter, who sought to replace former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond in the state's 2nd Congressional District, will face each other once more in a run-off April 24, according to WWL-TV projections. With 646 of 657 precincts reporting late Saturday night, Troy Carter had 36 percent of the vote to Karen Carter Peterson's 23 percent and Gary Chambers with 21 percent."

May Jeong of Vanity Fair writes an op-ed piece in the New York Times on the nexus of race, gender and class in the Atlanta murders. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

AP: "Kent Taylor, founder and CEO of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, has died. He was 65. His family and the company say he took his own life after suffering from symptoms related to COVID-19, including severe tinnitus."

The Commentariat -- March 20, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Congressional Primary Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The first competitive special congressional election of the Biden era is most likely heading to a runoff next month, but the battle lines are already drawn ahead of the initial balloting on Saturday in the race to succeed former Representative Cedric L. Richmond of Louisiana. At the center of the debate: which of two New Orleans Democrats positioned to face off in April can better leverage their connections to lift a South Louisiana district hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

May Jeong of Vanity Fair writes an op-ed piece in the New York Times on the nexus of race, gender and class in the Atlanta murders.

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled on Friday to Atlanta to express grief for the victims of a mass shooting that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, describing the tragedy as part of an increase in racially motivated violence and pledging to take action against hate and discrimination. The gruesome shootings on Tuesday in Atlanta thrust Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris into the middle of a national struggle to confront the harassment and violence against Asian-Americans from people angry about the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than a half-million people." The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: BTW, we can forever forget the notion that the mass murderer was just a quiet country sex addict who had a bad day. The four women he murdered in Atlanta were between the ages of 51 and 74. I don't mean to suggest I'm not still a femme fatale, but I don't believe this 21-year-old man was addicted to women d'un certain âge.

Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "On Friday, the Biden administration officially announced its intent to nominate former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida to lead the agency as its next administrator.... If confirmed, Nelson will face a host of serious challenges that could change the course of the agency for years."

Maria Sacchetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Migrant children and families are dangerously packed into holding facilities on the southwest border, lawmakers and child-welfare monitors warned Friday, as Customs and Border Protection weighed taking the emergency step of putting migrant families on airplanes to states near the Canadian border for processing. The strain of a sudden, sharp spike in apprehensions became clear as Department of Homeland Security officials and Democratic and Republican lawmakers toured the El Paso sector of the border and saw hundreds of children packed into large, open rooms and families streaming across the border at night. Conditions were even worse hundreds of miles to the southeast in the Rio Grande Valley, a court-appointed monitor told a federal judge Friday, saying the crowding in Border Patrol facilities was 'profound,' 'not sustainable' and at risk of unraveling."

We Don't Smoke Marijuana in the White House. Katie Rogers & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "On Friday, responding to a news report in The Daily Beast that said dozens of young [White House] staff members had been pushed to resign or had been reassigned to remote work based on their past marijuana use, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, confirmed that some employees had been sidelined but said that it applied to fewer people. 'The bottom line is this,' Ms. Psaki wrote on Twitter, 'of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.'"

Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The House has dismissed a Republican attempt to remove California Rep. Eric Swalwell from the House intelligence panel over his contact more than six years ago with a suspected Chinese spy who targeted politicians in the United States. Democrats scuttled the effort from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, 218-200, after he forced a vote. His resolution against Swalwell cited information, first reported by Axios, that the suspected spy, Christine Fang, came into contact with Swalwell's campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Erik Maulbetsch of the Colorado Times Recorder: "Congresswoman Lauren Boebert put a Q-flavored cherry atop an already controversial town hall last Monday night, when she claimed to have insider knowledge of a QAnon-linked conspiracy theory promoted by The Epoch Times that secret documents declassified in the final days of the Trump administration will expose wrongdoing by Trump's enemies and lead to resignations and arrests, allowing Republicans to gain a majority in the U.S. House and Senate prior to the 2022 election. Boebert, a Republican, claims her sources for this are close to Trump." ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M.: "They love the QAnon mass-arrest fantasy in part because it allows them to imagine a world where they simply don't have to worry about the existence of an opposition party -- the Democratic Party, if their dreams come true, won't be reduced in numbers, it will be all but eliminated as a political force in America. (They've done this already at the legislative level in many states, but they can't seem to do it in Congress yet.) They don't want to live in a world where the parties share power. They want one-party rule and nothing less."

Kristin Wilson & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "The outer fencing erected around the Capitol shortly after rioters stormed the building on January 6 will be removed this weekend, earlier than expected, according to the acting House sergeant-at-arms. In a memo to members of Congress and congressional staff Friday obtained by CNN, acting Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett said the US Capitol Police in conjunction with the architect of the Capitol 'will remove the outer perimeter fencing around the Capitol complex sooner than initially anticipated.'"

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "A former Army Special Forces soldier charged with a half-dozen crimes stemming from the Capitol riot threw a flagpole at a police officer like a spear and assaulted three other officers, according to the FBI and court documents. Jeffrey McKellop, 55, who was arrested Wednesday, is among more than 30 veterans charged in the Jan. 6 incident but appears to be the first so far who served in Special Operations, according to service records analyzed by The Washington Post. McKellop, of Augusta County, Va., faces six charges, among them assaulting a police officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He did not enter a plea on Thursday." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If some of these veterans are found guilty, as I assume they will be, maybe they should be stripped of their veterans' pensions. I don't like the idea of paying a guy who has used the experience he gained in the military to wage war against the country that taught him how to do it.

Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "The wife of a detective attached to an FBI task force in Pittsburgh was charged for allegedly taking part in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Jennifer Marie Heinl, 55, was charged in an FBI criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia on Wednesday. She is facing several federal charges, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Heinl reportedly told investigators that she had gone to Washington alone on Jan. 5 and returned the next day, and she claimed she did not go inside the Capitol. The FBI said in a criminal complaint that she entered the Capitol with another man, Kenneth Grayson. The two had been in communications through Facebook for several weeks discussing travel plans. Surveillance video shows Heinl, wearing a red 'Trump 20' jersey, walking through the Capitol Rotunda, Capitol Crypt and other restricted areas."

Laura Beckerman of CREW: "When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blocked the release of then-President Trump's tax returns, it was the first time the IRS failed to turn over tax returns following a congressional request, the IRS informed CREW. It is clear that then-Secretary Mnuchin's actions to block Trump's tax returns from scrutiny were unprecedented and against the law, and they have set the stage for the Janet Yellen-led Treasury Department to reverse course and release Trump's taxes to Congress. The Internal Revenue Code says that, upon a written request of the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Treasury Secretary shall [emphasis added] provide the committee with any return that it requests. House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal did exactly that in 2019, requesting the IRS provide six years of Trump's tax returns then issuing a subpoena when the IRS did not comply. Mnuchin famously defied the subpoena...."

Cruella DeVos Made a Mockery of the Law. Stacey Cowley of the New York Times: "Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made no secret of her disdain for a program intended to forgive the federal student loans of borrowers who were ripped off by schools that defrauded their students. She called it a 'free money' giveaway, let hundreds of thousands of claims languish for years and slashed the amount of relief granted to some successful applicants to $0. Then, after a class-action lawsuit made it impossible to stall any longer, her agency built what amounted to an assembly line of rejection. In Ms. DeVos's final year in office, her agency denied nearly 130,000 claims -- far surpassing the 9,000 rejections in the prior five years -- with a system that pressured workers to speed through applications in a matter of minutes, according to internal Education Department documents filed in federal court.... [The department] required agency employees to adjudicate claims that could stretch to hundreds of pages in less than 12 minutes. Those who did it faster were eligible for bonuses; those who took longer risked being fired."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "In a major policy revision intended to encourage more schools to welcome children back to in-person instruction, federal health officials on Friday relaxed the six-foot distancing rule for elementary school students, saying they need only remain three feet apart in classrooms as long as everyone is wearing a mask. The three-foot rule also now applies to students in middle schools and high schools, as long as community transmission is not high, officials said. When transmission is high, however, these students must be at least six feet apart, unless they are taught in cohorts, or small groups that are kept separate from others." (Also linked yesterday.)

William Wan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Health-care workers were the first group in the United States to be offered coronavirus vaccinations. But three months into the effort, many remain unconvinced, unreached and unprotected. The lingering obstacles to vaccinating health-care workers foreshadows the challenge the United States will face as it expands the pool of people eligible and attempts to get the vast majority of the U.S. population vaccinated. According to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, barely half of front-line health-care workers (52 percent) said they had received at least their first vaccine dose at the time they were surveyed. More than 1 in 3 said they were not confident vaccines were sufficiently tested for safety and effectiveness." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

How Could This Have Happened? Jill Colvin & Terry Spencer of the AP: "... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, has been partially closed after staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.... An email sent to members said that service had been temporarily suspended in the club's dining room and at its beach club because some staff members had recently tested positive. It said the club had undertaken 'all appropriate response measures,' including sanitizing affected areas, and that banquet and event services remain open."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Looking for Real Election Fraud? Think GOP. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "When incumbent Democrat José Javier Rodríguez lost his Florida state senate seat to Republican challenger Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes in November, the losing party and investigators began asking questions about a suspicious third candidate. A man named Alexis 'Alex' Rodriguez -- who shared the incumbent's last name -- appeared on the ballot but never campaigned, never spoke publicly, and could not be reached by reporters after he took thousands of votes on Election Day. Now, the mysterious candidate and a former Republican state senator are facing felony charges for crimes stemming from a plot to 'confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent,' police said in an affidavit filed this week.... The case is a rare instance when a criminal scheme may have changed an election outcome, helping the GOP flip a state senate seat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Minnesota. Steve Karnowski & Amy Forliti of the AP: "A judge said Friday he won't delay or move the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death over concerns that a $27 million settlement for Floyd's family could taint the jury pool, but he'll allow limited evidence from a 2019 arrest. Meanwhile, a 13th juror was seated Friday -- a woman who said she has only seen clips of the video of Floyd's arrest and needs to learn more about what happened beforehand. The jury will include 12 jurors and two alternates." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York. Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "In the latest allegation against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Alyssa McGrath, an employee of the governor's office, described a series of unsettling interactions with the governor, telling The New York Times that Mr. Cuomo would ogle her body, remark on her looks, and make suggestive comments to her and another executive aide. Ms. McGrath, 33, is the first current aide in Mr. Cuomo's office to speak publicly about allegations of harassment inside the Capitol. Her account of casual sexual innuendo echoes other stories that have emerged in recent weeks about a demeaning office culture, particularly for young women who worked closely with the governor. The most serious accusation against the governor was made by another current aide who has accused Mr. Cuomo of groping her breast in the Executive Mansion. Ms. McGrath said that the aide described the encounter in detail to her after it was made public in a report in The Times Union of Albany last week." The AP has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "A federal investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's handling of nursing homes during the pandemic has focused in recent weeks on whether the governor and his senior aides provided false data on resident deaths to the Justice Department, according to four people.... Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have contacted lawyers for Mr. Cuomo's aides, interviewed senior officials from the state Health Department and subpoenaed Mr. Cuomo's office for documents related to the disclosure of data last year, the people said. The interviews have included questions about information New York State submitted last year to the Justice Department, which had asked the state for data on Covid-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes, according to the people. False statements in such a submission could constitute a crime."