The Commentariat -- March 19, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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."

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."

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."

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."

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."

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Quint Forgey of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered that the American flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all U.S. government grounds as a 'mark of respect' for the victims of the [Atlanta] attacks. The White House also announced that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would postpone a political event on their trip to Georgia on Friday evening -- part of their tour to promote the new $1.9 trillion Covid relief and stimulus package -- and would instead meet with Asian American leaders in Atlanta and visit the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... A Georgia sheriff's office captain was replaced on Thursday as a spokesman for the investigation into the killings at three separate Atlanta-area spas, amid criticism over his perceived callousness in addressing the public." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Lemire & Bill Barrow of the AP: "During his visit to Atlanta on Friday, President Joe Biden will meet with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has been widely credited with helping flip the former Republican stronghold blue.... The meeting will come as Republicans in the Georgia state General Assembly push several proposals to make it harder to vote in the state.... Biden's visit to Atlanta was originally meant to tout that accomplishment but it has been recast after spa shootings in the area this week left eight dead and fueled fear of a rise in violence against Asian Americans."

Patrick Reevell of ABC News: "Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted to President Joe Biden calling him a 'killer' by challenging Biden to take part in a conversation with him broadcast live online."

Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Even before the Biden administration's first face-to-face meeting with senior Chinese diplomats on Thursday, American officials predicted the discussions would not go well. They were right: The traditional few minutes of opening greetings and remarks dissolved into more than an hour of very public verbal jousting, confirming the expected confrontational tone between the geopolitical rivals. U.S. officials said the two days of talks would continue, but immediately accused the Chinese delegation of violating the format for the sensitive discussions that had sought to find some common ground amid the many conflict points between them. Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat, accused the United States of taking a 'condescending' approach to the talks and said the American delegation had no right to accuse Beijing of human rights abuses or give lectures on the merits of democracy." CNN's story is here. MB: Sounds as if Yang thinks he is talking to the former guy's administration.

FBI Washington, D.C.: "The FBI's Washington Field Office has released new information and videos of suspects in the most egregious assaults on federal officers during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and is seeking the public's help to identify them." The page contains the newly-released videos.

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "About 72,000 people will have their federal loans fully canceled after Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday scrapped a plan to give partial debt relief to students defrauded by their colleges, ending a controversial policy instituted by his predecessor Betsy DeVos. The move -- Cardona's first major higher education announcement since being confirmed -- amounts to roughly $1 billion in debt relief. But it only addresses a subset of the nearly 200,000 people who have filed claims in the last six years under a statute known as 'borrower defense to repayment.'"

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "Xavier Becerra narrowly won confirmation Thursday to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency pivotal to President Biden's urgent goal of defeating the coronavirus pandemic and expanding access to health care. Becerra, a congressman from Los Angeles for two dozen years and then California attorney general, squeaked by on a vote of 50 to 49, the closest margin for any of the Biden Cabinet members the Senate has confirmed so far. He becomes the first Latino secretary of HHS, the largest federal department in terms of spending." The Hill's story is here.

Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmed William J. Burns as the next director of the CIA on Thursday, placing one of the country's most experienced career diplomats in charge of the spy agency. The chamber confirmed Burns by unanimous consent, an indication of broad bipartisan support. Burns, who retired from the Foreign Service in 2014 after a three-decade career, will take over at the agency at a moment of high tension between the United States and Russia, where he once served as the U.S. ambassador."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Democratic-led House voted on Thursday to create a path to citizenship for an estimated four million undocumented immigrants, reopening a politically charged debate over the nation's broken immigration system just as President Biden confronts a growing surge of migrants at the border. In a near party-line vote of 228 to 197, the House first moved to set up a permanent legal pathway for more than 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, including those brought to the United States as children, known as Dreamers, and others granted Temporary Protected Status for humanitarian reasons. Just nine Republicans voted yes. Hours later, lawmakers approved a second measure with more bipartisan backing that would eventually grant legal status to close to a million farmworkers and their families while updating a key agricultural visa program. This time, 30 Republicans, many representing agriculture-heavy districts, joined nearly every Democrat to vote in favor." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Republicans don't care about granting citizenship to the immigrants who will do the most to help the American economy & otherwise contribute to society. DREAMers, on the whole, are far-better-educated than farm workers. Thus, DREAMers are much more likely to get high-paying jobs and contribute much more to the U.S. economy. How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm? -- Make sure farm labor is all they can do.

Kevin McCarthy Thinks You're a Stupid as He Is. Annie Grayer & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tried to rewrite history on Thursday by claiming that he was not involved in former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election in a heated exchange during a news briefing. When asked by CNN's Manu Raju why it was acceptable for him to support Trump's efforts to overturn the presidential election in Congress but to criticize Democrats for doing the same in a contested Iowa US House race, McCarthy repeatedly rejected the notion that he was trying to overturn the election at all. 'You're saying something that is not true,' [McCarthy told Raju].... Trump tried to pressure Congress to overturn the election and McCarthy raised no concerns about it. He also backed a Texas lawsuit to invalidate millions of votes, and ultimately voted in favor of overturning the election results of two states during votes that took place after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.... McCarthy tried to make the case that he was objecting to only two states, Arizona and Pennsylvania, which he argued would ultimately not have changed the outcome of the election."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: There's an idea floating around "that [Mitch] McConnell doesn't want a simple-majority Senate because many things Republicans want to do can't get 50 GOP votes anyway, because they&'re deeply unpopular. Meanwhile, important GOP priorities that can get 50 GOP votes, such as tax cuts, can be passed via the simple-majority reconciliation process: This is how the 2017 tax cut passed. As Benjy Sarlin put it in a Twitter thread, there aren't 'many GOP priorities that could get 50 votes.' And Sarlin added a nuance: If the filibuster were done away with, and Republicans did take the majority, there would be tremendous pressure from the conservative grass roots to pass unpopular items, something McConnell might prefer to avoid."Sargent specifies a few other reasons McConnell's threat -- that Republicans would wreak havoc on the country if the filibuster were eliminated -- are hollow. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Somebody is right here. If McConnell had wanted to eliminate the filibuster, he would have done so already. And if, in the future, he becomes majority leader, and he wants to eliminate the filibuster, he will do so; the fact that he had railed against majority rule wouldn't make a whit of difference to him.

Texas Rep Touts Lynchings at Hearing on Racism. Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Two days after an Atlanta-area shooting left eight dead, including six Asian women, members of a House judiciary subcommittee met to discuss the rise in racist rhetoric and attacks aimed at Asian Americans during the pandemic. But GOP Rep. Chip Roy (Tex.) decided to focus on ... the right of Republicans to criticize China.... The San Antonio-area congressman also seemed to celebrate lynchings..., in urging justice for wrongdoers: 'There's old sayings in Texas about "find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree."' Roy's remarks sparked an immediate and emotional outcry -- including a tearful response from Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) -- and set the tone for Thursday's tense and often divisive three-hour hearing, as members battled along partisan lines over the extent of the threats facing Asian Americans and whether Republicans, including ... Donald Trump, were partly to blame.... Many Democrats say a steady rise in attacks focused on Asian Americans during the pandemic has been due in part to divisive rhetoric from Republicans, including Trump's descriptions of the coronavirus as the 'China virus' and 'kung flu.' In a Fox News interview on the same night of the Atlanta shootings, the former president complained that the 'China virus' had tanked the U.S. economy."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (RAnon-Ga.) claimed she had no idea she was spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories because she didn't know the Rothschild banking family was Jewish. MB: Maybe Margie should take this opportunity to acknowledge that she's pretty ignorant in general, and that her entire conspiracy theory -- that the California wildfires were purposely started by a space laser (funded by bankers of, uh, unknown ethnicity) -- is stupid.

Putin's Republican Tools. Steve Benen of MSNBC: "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) this week released a declassified intelligence community assessment on foreign threats to our 2020 elections, and the top-line takeaway was important: Russia once again targeted our political system for the express purposes of giving Donald Trump power.... This week's ODNI report also made clear that many leading Trump administration officials deliberately misled the public about foreign threats, especially related to alleged Chinese election interference.... It's obviously not great that Donald Trump's personal lawyer [Rudy Giuliani] partnered with a Russian agent [Andriy Derkach], directed by [Vladimir] Putin.... But ... Derkach claimed he fed information to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who was searching for anti-Biden dirt ahead of last fall's elections.... A month earlier, at a House Intelligence Committee meeting, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) pressed Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) ... on whether the Republican had received anti-Biden information from Derkach. According to a transcript from the closed-door discussion, Nunes didn't want to answer.... Maloney spoke [Wednesday] to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and said, '[T]he fact is that [Russian operatives] were so comfortable using people like Devin Nunes that Andriy Derkach ... sent information to Devin Nunes at the Intelligence Committee. We literally had the package receipt.'"

Ewan Palmer of Newsweek: "QAnon followers are once again pulling in all directions as they struggle to explain why Donald Trump would urge people to get COVID-19 vaccinations, which are highly-detested among Q-conspiracists.... With Trump contradicting QAnon theories that the vaccine is dangerous and the coronavirus is a hoax, many of its supporters came up with ways to cope with the latest cognitive dissonance, including suggesting it was not actually Trump speaking to Fox."

Annals of "Teen Journalism," Ctd. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Alexi McCammond, who made her name as a politics reporter at the Washington news site Axios, had planned to start as the editor in chief of Teen Vogue next Wednesday. Now, after Teen Vogue staff members publicly condemned racist and homophobic tweets Ms. McCammond had posted a decade ago, she has resigned from the job." A Mediaite story is here. MB: I'm more open-minded about stupid teenaged tricks. While I had the advantage of an upbringing that would have rendered me highly unlikely to write racist & homophobic tweets, I get that many young people did not have my good fortune. These young people can evolve. I have no idea if McCammond -- who is Black -- is a racist & homophobe today, but if she isn't, I'd ignore her stupid teenaged "opinions."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Molly Nagle & Arielle Mitropoulos of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that on Friday his administration will deliver on his promise to get 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office. 'Fifty-eight days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans. That's weeks ahead of schedule,' Biden said, speaking Thursday afternoon at the White House." MB: Mighty remarkable. My thanks to every individual who made that possible, including the National Guard who took time out of their personal lives to manage distribution & shoot us in the arms.

Natalie Kitroeff, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States plans to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada, the White House said Thursday, a notable step into vaccine diplomacy just as the Biden administration is quietly pressing Mexico to curb the stream of migrants coming to the border.... Tens of millions of doses of the vaccine have been sitting in American manufacturing sites. While their use has already been approved in dozens of countries, including Mexico and Canada, the vaccine has not yet been authorized by American regulators. [Press Secretary Jen] Psaki said the shipments to Mexico and Canada would essentially be a loan, with the United States receiving doses of AstraZeneca, or other vaccines, in the future. The announcement of the vaccine distribution came at a critical time in negotiations with Mexico. President Biden has moved quickly to dismantle some of former President Trump's signature immigration policies, halting construction of a border wall, stopping the swift expulsion of children at the border and proposing a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States."

Tony Fauci Has Had Enough of Rand Paul. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "From the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has positioned himself as the Senate's foremost skeptic of coronavirus expert Anthony S. Fauci. The two have tussled repeatedly. Paul brought it again Thursday, and Fauci again made clear he has little patience for Paul's nonexpert theories about the outbreak and Paul's reading of studies about it. At a Senate hearing, Paul pressed Fauci on health experts' continued recommendation of masks even for people who have contracted the virus or who have been vaccinated. Paul repeatedly suggested wearing masks in those cases was 'theater' -- pointing specifically to Fauci wearing masks even though he has been vaccinated." Fauci tried to explain to Paul why he (Paul) was misreading a study on the subject. MB: At one point, Fauci said to Paul, "I totally disagree with you, Senator." The Hill's story is here.

The Commentariat -- March 18, 2021

The IRS Is Severely Messed Up. Tony Romm & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service is expected to push the country's tax-filing deadline to mid-May, according to two people familiar with the decision, as the agency grapples with a backlog of 24 million returns awaiting processing since the 2019 tax year. The workload has put the agency underwater in recent months, and under political siege, as lawmakers fear that long-unresolved troubles at the IRS could undercut the Biden administration's economic recovery efforts. Millions of Americans still have not received stimulus checks under prior coronavirus aid packages, even as the tax agency began distributing payments Wednesday under the $1.9 trillion stimulus signed into law this month. The IRS shared the full scope of its backlog in recent days with the House Ways and Means Committee and the agency's internal watchdogs." (Also linked yesterday.) The story has been updated to reflect the IRS's decision to push back the filing deadline. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Internal Revenue Service will again give Americans extra time to file their taxes as a result of the pandemic. Instead of the usual April 15 deadline, filers will instead have until May 17, the agency said Wednesday, an extension that will ease the burden on filers dealing with the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus, which has put millions out of work or caused their hours to be cut.... The [American Rescue Plan] made the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 tax-free for people with incomes of less than $150,000.... The I.R.S. emphasized that the extra time is only for federal returns, not state returns.... It also does not apply to estimated tax payments that are due on April 15, which are still due on that day." An AP story is here.

Lauren Egan of NBC News: "President Joe Biden spoke virtually with the Irish prime minister Wednesday, moving the traditional White House meeting marking St. Patrick's Day online because of the coronavirus pandemic. 'Everything between Ireland and the Untied States runs deep,' Biden, told Micheál Martin, Ireland's prime minister, or taoiseach, at the beginning of their meeting.... Biden also attended the annual 'Friends of Ireland' lunch traditionally held at the U.S. Capitol, but was held virtually this year.... The Irish government sent a bowl of shamrocks to the White House in an effort to uphold that tradition, the official said. Vice President Kamala Harris also met virtually with Martin in place of the breakfast that the vice president typically hosts."

Reuters: "Russia on Wednesday called its ambassador to the United States back to Moscow for consultations on the future of U.S.-Russia ties after U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin would 'pay a price' for alleged election meddling. Biden made his comments after a U.S. intelligence report supported longstanding allegations that Putin was behind Moscow's election interference in the United States, an accusation Russia called baseless."

Lara Jakes & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "As it ends its first high-level diplomatic tour of Asia on Thursday, the Biden administration is banking on international alliances in the region to help stem the growing threat posed by North Korea's ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities. But the country that is perhaps in the best position to influence Pyongyang is one that President Biden has increasingly viewed as an adversary: China. Following meetings this week in South Korea and Japan, the administration finds itself facing a diplomatic stalemate of the kind that irritated former President Barack Obama and drove ... Donald J. Trump to declare his love for Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, in a manic but ultimately thwarted drive for a breakthrough." ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Biden is engineering a sharp shift in policy toward China, focused on gathering allies to counter Beijing's coercive diplomacy around the world and ensuring that China does not gain a permanent advantage in critical technologies.... The emerging strategy ... repudiates the prevailing view of the last quarter century that deep economic interdependence could be counted on to temper fundamental conflicts on issues like China's military buildup, its territorial ambitions and human rights. It focuses anew on competing more aggressively with Beijing on technologies vital to long-term economic and military power, after concluding that ... Donald J. Trump's approach -- a mix of expensive tariffs, efforts to ban Huawei and TikTok, and accusations about sending the 'China virus' to American shores -- had failed to change President Xi Jinping's course." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's fair to say we can't predict what effect a particular strategy will have on relations with other great powers, but I cannot tell you how relieved I feel that we have a real President & a real State Department able to devise policies more nuanced than tariffs & ethnic slurs. ~~~

~~~ Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States punished 24 Chinese officials on Wednesday for undermining Hong Kong's democratic freedoms, acting days before the first scheduled meeting of senior Chinese and American diplomats since President Biden took office. In diplomatic terms, the timing of the action was pointed and clearly intentional, continuing a testy start to relations between the Biden administration and China after a tumultuous four years under ... Donald J. Trump.... The State Department announced that it would impose financial sanctions on a raft of officials...." (Also linked yesterday.) A CNN story is here.

Fox 5 DC: "D.C. police say a man they arrested outside of the Vice President's residence on Wednesday afternoon had a rifle and a large capacity clip.... Police charged Paul Murray, 31, of San Antonio, [Texas,] with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of a business, possession of unregistered ammunition and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. A rifle and ammunition were recovered from his vehicle.... A D.C. police source tells FOX 5 the man told uniformed Secret Service members that he wanted to talk to the president. According to internal police bulletins..., Murray was said to be experiencing paranoid delusions and thought the government was after him. He purchased an AR-15 and told his mother he was in D.C. to 'take care of his problem.' Authorities say Murray was an Army drone operator who started service in 2010 and was medically discharged in 2014. Documents say he recently complained to police that he wasn't getting support from Veteran's Affairs and was not taking prescribed medication."

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Katherine Tai, a longtime congressional staff lawyer, won Senate confirmation on Wednesday as the first woman of color to serve as the top U.S. trade negotiator. The Senate approved her nomination 98-0, marking a rare bipartisan agreement in a deeply-divided Washington. Among her first tasks will be advising the president on what to do about existing tariffs on most imported Chinese products, presiding over enforcement of a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada, and seeking a negotiated end to a long-running commercial dispute with the European Union." A Reuters story is here.

Colby Itkowitz & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The House voted on Wednesday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, legislation originally authored by then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1994 that aims to strengthen protections for women from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The landmark law was reauthorized several times since, but lapsed in 2019 after the Democratic-controlled House voted to renew it, but it stalled in the Republican-led Senate. Democrats are hopeful it will find the support this time although the latest version still faces potential obstacles in the evenly-divided Senate. The vote was 244-to-172, with 29 Republicans breaking ranks and joining Democrats in backing the reauthorization.... Republican opposition to the bill revolves in part around closing the so-called 'boyfriend loophole,' which adds dating partners and stalkers to the provision banning spouses of convicted domestic violence or abuse from owning firearms.... Some Republicans voiced opposition to adding transgender women to the law.... [The bill] still faces potential obstacles in the evenly-divided Senate." NPR's story is here.

Ingrates Extraordinaires. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A dozen House Republicans voted against a resolution to award three Congressional Gold Medals, one of the nation's highest civilian honors, to the Capitol Police, the D.C. police and the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of those who protected the U.S. Capitol when it was attacked Jan. 6. The GOP lawmakers, who said they objected to the use of the term 'nsurrectionists' in the resolution, are: Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Andy Harris (Md.), Lance Gooden (Tex.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Michael Cloud (Tex.), Andrew S. Clyde (Ga.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.) and John Rose (Tenn.)." Politico's story is here.

Bill Barrow of the AP: "Sen. Raphael Warnock, whose election as Georgia's first Black senator gave control of the chamber to Democrats, used his first floor speech on Capitol Hill to blast a wave of Republican-backed measures that would make it harder to cast ballots in states around the country.... The first-term senator's speech followed Senate Democrats' introduction of a sweeping election law overhaul, called the 'For the People Act,' that could override many of the restrictive measures that Republicans are pushing at the state level." ~~~

Annabelle Williams of Business Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "At a hearing on Wednesday morning, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke critically about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who declined Sanders' invitation to testify, and Elon Musk, the two wealthiest men. 'Bezos and Musk now own more wealth than the bottom 40%. Meanwhile, we're looking at more hunger in America than at any time in decades, Sanders said in his opening remarks at the Senate Budget Committee hearing.... 'If he was with us this morning, I would ask him the following question ... Mr. Bezos, you are worth $182 billion - that's a B,' Sanders said. 'One hundred eighty-two billion dollars, you're the wealthiest person in the world. Why are you doing everything in your power to stop your workers in Bessemer, Alabama, from joining a union?'"

Adam Goldman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "F.B.I. agents have arrested two organizers for the Proud Boys in Philadelphia and North Carolina, and prosecutors filed new charges against two other prominent members of the far-right group in Florida and Washington State as federal authorities continued their crackdown on its leadership ranks, three law enforcement officials said on Wednesday. With the new conspiracy indictment, prosecutors have now brought charges against a total of 13 people identified in court papers as members of the Proud Boys. Federal investigators have described the group, which appeared in force in Washington on Jan. 6, as one of the chief instigators of the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. In the indictment, prosecutors accused Charles Donohoe, a Proud Boys leader from North Carolina, and Zach Rehl, the president of the group's chapter in Philadelphia, of conspiring to interfere with law enforcement officers at the Capitol and obstruct the certification of President Biden's electoral victory. Two other high-ranking Proud Boys who were already facing similar charges -- Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Wash., and Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla. -- were also implicated as part of the conspiracy.... During a presidential debate in September, Mr. Trump refused to disavow the Proud Boys, telling them instead ... to 'stand back and stand by.'"

Jacob Bogage & Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "U.S. Postal Service investigators found no evidence to support a Pennsylvania postal worker's claims that his supervisors had tampered with mail-in ballots, according to an inspector general report -- allegations cited by top Republicans to press baseless claims of election fraud.... Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) cited [a Pennsylvania mail carrier's] claims in a letter to the U.S. Justice Department in November calling for a federal investigation into election results in Pennsylvania, where President Biden beat ... Donald Trump by more than 81,000 votes, and Democratic candidates outperformed GOP challengers in votes submitted by mail.... Then-Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open investigations into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud before results were certified, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy." The mail carrier -- who first made his claims to lying liars at Project Veritas -- quickly recanted his false claim as soon as investigators questioned him. Axios has an item here.

GOP Insists on Whatabout? Commission. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an interview early Wednesday criticized the GOP for its response to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. During an appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Pelosi& pointed to outstanding disagreements with Republicans regarding the scope of a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the insurrection. 'They want to treat something like Black Lives Matter or peaceful demonstrations in a similar manner as they would do Jan. 6,' Pelosi said. 'So the main problem is the scope of the investigation.'" MB: IOW, Republicans know that any report on the insurrection will leave them smelling like a fresh cowpie, so they want to to have a Jan. 6 commission talk about not-Jan. 6. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "What seemed like a no-brainer [on January 6] — a 9/11-Commission-style review of the origins of the mob, the white nationalists who joined it and the security failures that allowed it to briefly occupy the Capitol -- has instead become the latest theater for dysfunction on Capitol Hill as the two parties squabble over the panel's scope and partisan balance.... [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has not abandoned the effort for an outside commission yet.... But the speaker has made clear that her patience is not unlimited. And an aide indicated that the California Democrat is prepared to task the House Administration, Homeland Security and Appropriations committees with taking on the Jan. 6 inquiry if there are no bipartisan breakthroughs soon."

Being a Lying, Cruel, Careless, Corrupt Traitor Has Its Downsides. David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is ... facing criminal investigations in [New York,] Georgia and the District of Columbia related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. And Trump must defend himself against a growing raft of lawsuits: 29 are pending at last count, including some seeking damages from Trump's actions on Jan. 6, when he encouraged a march to the Capitol that ended in a mob storming the building. No charges have been filed against Trump in any of these investigations. The outcome of these lawsuits is uncertain. Trump has raised more than $31 million for his post-presidential political action committee, which he could tap to pay legal fees. But the sheer volume of these legal problems indicates that -- after a moment of maximum invincibility in the White House -- Trump has fallen to a point of historic vulnerability before the law."

Sad News! But Inevitable. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Speaking to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday night, Trump for the second time directly advocated for people to get the [coronavirus] shot -- but only after Bartiromo prompted him to do so.... It is good news that Trump encouraged his supporters to get the vaccine, no matter his rationale or caveats. One such rationale, clearly, is that he wants to be seen as the world's savior from the pandemic, as he made clear later in the interview with Bartiromo. 'I was the one and this administration was the one that came up with a vaccine, which is going to save the world, okay?' Trump said.... The problem is that there is a Trump-like figure out there causing friction.... [Tucker Carlson has] been one of the less Trump-obsequious hosts on the network, sufficiently confident in his own bomb-throwing that he has at times deviated from Trump orthodoxy.... He has ... stepped out to specifically encourage the sort of vaccine skepticism that's now embraced by about half of the Republican men...."

Marie: There must be GOP tiny brain trusts sitting around in tiny think tanks spitballing ideas on how to show their base that they're racists -- while pretending they're not racists -- AND making money off their duplicitous schemes. Following speculation in the ever-reliable British tabloids that Meghan Markle was considering running for president in 2024 if Joe Biden doesn't stand for re-election, Donald Trump told Maria Bartiromo "that he is hopeful that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, runs for the White House in 2024, saying her candidacy might compel him to jump into the race as well." Trump said he was "not a fan" of Markle. This, of course, comes just after Markle made a splash by claiming that members of the British royal family were concerned about how dark her then-unborn child's skin might be. That was enough for the National Republican Congressional Committee: they put out a fundraising letter touting the fictional match-up between Markle & Trump. "We think President Trump would win in a LANDSLIDE' What do you think?"

Taj MaDoral. Jonathan O'Connell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's son Eric, who runs the family;s private company, touted the potential of transforming their Doral golf resort into a gambling destination amid a quiet push among Florida Republicans to legalize casinos in areas of the state that have long opposed them. Although Republican legislative leaders have not yet submitted a bill, word of a proposal has spread widely enough that both supporters and opponents already are gearing up for a fight that they say could be more intense than in previous years due to Trump's potential interest and his close relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)." (Also linked yesterday.) The Hill has a summary story here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Most people who have contracted the coronavirus are protected against reinfection for at least six months -- but that immunity diminishes significantly with age, according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. The study by Danish researchers has highlighted the importance of vaccinating elderly populations, as well as previously infected individuals, as the pandemic wears on, according to the authors. Researchers found that natural infection reduced the chances of getting the virus again by about 80 percent, but offered just 47 percent protection against repeat infection among those over 65."

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

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Biden administration, moving to address a lag in coronavirus testing that is hindering the reopening of schools and the economy, said Wednesday that it would invest $10 billion to ramp up screening of students and educators with the goal of returning to in-person learning by the end of the school year. Congress approved the $10 billion expenditure when it passed President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which he signed into law last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute the money to states in early April and will spend an additional $2.25 billion to expand testing in underserved communities beyond the schools, officials said." Politico's story is here.

Adam Sexton of WMUR Manchester, N.H.: "First Lady Jill Biden made a quick trip to New Hampshire on Wednesday as part of a big administration push to highlight the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan. A big chunk of the funding is targeted to help with school re-openings.... Biden visited the Christa McAuliffe School to tout the impact of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on schools and working families, including direct stimulus payments already arriving in bank accounts."

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "State backlash against a restriction in the $1.9 trillion economic relief legislation that prohibits local governments from using aid money to cut taxes emerged as the Biden administration's first major legal battle on Wednesday, as Ohio sued to block the provision and other states considered similar action. The litigation came amid growing pushback from Republican lawmakers and state officials, who say that the strings attached to the Covid relief money are a violation of state sovereignty and that imposing tax cut restrictions is an infringement on a state's right to set its own fiscal policies." Cleveland.com's story is here.

Georgia. Stephanie Baer of BuzzFeed News: "At their press conference about the [Atlanta-area] shootings on Wednesday, police said it was too early to determine if the suspect was motivated by race, but added that the suspect told officials he had sex addiction issues and targeted the businesses because he wanted to 'take out that temptation.' As director of communications and community relations at the sheriff's office, [Cherokee County Sheriff's Capt. Jay] Baker was among the law enforcement speakers who gave an update on the investigation. Speaking to reporters about the suspect's explanation for the shootings, which he allegedly admitted to, Baker said it was 'a really bad day' for the shooter. His comments and officials' decision to focus on the suspect's narrative amid a spate of increased hate incidents against Asian Americans have been widely criticized.... In a Facebook post from April 2020..., Baker shared an image of T-shirts based off the Corona beer label that said 'Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.'" ~~~

~~~ Harmeet Kaur of CNN: "Of the eight people who were killed when a White man attacked three metro Atlanta spas, six were Asian women.... The suspect's remarks, [experts] say, are rooted in a history of misogyny and stereotypes that are all too familiar for Asian and Asian American women. They're fetishized and hypersexualized. They're seen as docile and submissive. On top of that, they're often working in the service sector and are subject to the same racism that affects Asian Americans more broadly. The way their race intersects with their gender makes Asian and Asian American women uniquely vulnerable to violence, said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the non-profit advocacy group National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum." ~~~

~~~ Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "As Asian Americans reacted with horror and outrage to mass shootings in Atlanta that left eight dead, including six Asian women, police said on Wednesday that the 21-year-old, White suspect said racism wasn't a factor in the killings. That claim left Trevor Noah, like many observers, aghast. 'You killed six Asian people. Specifically, you went there,' the late-night host said. 'Your murders speak louder than your words.' In fact, Noah argued in an impassioned monologue on 'The Daily Show' on Wednesday night, the mass killing felt like the infuriatingly obvious outcome of months of unchecked hate crimes against Asian Americans."

Oklahoma! Where the Wind Goes Sweepin' through their Brains. Richard Reed of Mediaite: "CNN;s Gary Tuchman traveled to the far western end of [Oklahoma]'s panhandle to talk with overwhelmingly pro-Trump citizens of Boise City, 92% of whom voted for the former president in the 2020 election. And he discovered widespread skepticism about the virus -- even if Trump himself urged them to take the vaccine.... Tuchman's report began in a local diner, where he asked for a show of hands in the restaurant of those who thought getting one of the three FDA-approved vaccines was a good idea. Not a single arm among the 17 customers was raised.... [One] man at the table delivered a stunning rationalization for their collective reluctance: 'Trump's a liberal New Yorker. Why would we listen to him either?'" MB: The various theories these diner regulars express seem to be what passes for "common sense" these days. It's a testament to education, to mind over head. Or the Brainland over the Heartland.

Way Beyond

Ireland. Kimberly Cowell-Meyers & Carolyn Gallaher of the Washington Post: "Last Wednesday, an American group that supports Sinn Fein, the Northern Ireland political party associated with the Irish Republican Army, placed half-page ads in The Washington Post, the New York Times, and other newspapers, calling for a referendum on Irish unification. Such a referendum is not likely very soon. Since the 1920s, the island of Ireland has been divided between what is now the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or should unify with the Republic was the principal source of violent conflict from the 1960s to the 1990s, generally known as 'The Troubles.' Still, the possibility of Irish reunification will hang over many of the political discussions this St. Patrick's Day. Brexit has reignited tensions and fueled interest in a referendum. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, most of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union. Unification would accomplish that." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tanzania. Bethlehem Feleke, et al., of CNN: "Tanzania's President John Magufuli has died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the country's vice president announced in a televised address on Wednesday. He was 61. 'President John Magufuli died of a heart ailment that he has battled for over 10 years,' Samia Suluhu Hassan said.... Magufuli was one of Africa's most prominent Covid skeptics. Early on in the pandemic, Magufuli dismissed the seriousness of coronavirus in Tanzania, urging his citizens to 'pray coronavirus away,' believing the 'satanic virus can't live in the body of Jesus Christ,' and blaming the growing number of positive cases on faulty test kits. In June, he claimed his country had eradicated coronavirus 'by the grace of God,' questioned the safety of foreign Covid-19 vaccines and made no plan to procure any shots for his country, instead pushing for the use of herbal medicine and steam treatments."

News Lede

CNBC: "First-time claims for jobless benefits showed an unexpected jump to 770,000 as the labor market tries to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.... Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a total of 700,000 for the week ended March 13. The total represented an increase from the previous week's upwardly revised 725,000."

The Commentariat -- March 17, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The IRS Is Severely Messed Up. Tony Romm & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service is expected to push the country's tax-filing deadline to mid-May, according to two people familiar with the decision, as the agency grapples with a backlog of 24 million returns awaiting processing since the 2019 tax year. The workload has put the agency underwater in recent months, and under political siege, as lawmakers fear that long-unresolved troubles at the IRS could undercut the Biden administration's economic recovery efforts. Millions of Americans still have not received stimulus checks under prior coronavirus aid packages, even as the tax agency began distributing payments Wednesday under the $1.9 trillion stimulus signed into law this month. The IRS shared the full scope of its backlog in recent days with the House Ways and Means Committee and the agency's internal watchdogs."

Kimberly Cowell-Meyers & Carolyn Gallaher of the Washington Post: "Last Wednesday, an American group that supports Sinn Fein, the Northern Ireland political party associated with the Irish Republican Army, placed half-page ads in The Washington Post, the New York Times, and other newspapers, calling for a referendum on Irish unification. Such a referendum is not likely very soon. Since the 1920s, the island of Ireland has been divided between what is now the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or should unify with the Republic was the principal source of violent conflict from the 1960s to the 1990s, generally known as 'The Troubles.' Still, the possibility of Irish reunification will hang over many of the political discussions this St. Patrick's Day. Brexit has reignited tensions and fueled interest in a referendum. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, most of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union. Unification would accomplish that."

Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States punished 24 Chinese officials on Wednesday for undermining Hong Kong's democratic freedoms, acting days before the first scheduled meeting of senior Chinese and American diplomats since President Biden took office. In diplomatic terms, the timing of the action was pointed and clearly intentional, continuing a testy start to relations between the Biden administration and China after a tumultuous four years under ... Donald J. Trump.... The State Department announced that it would impose financial sanctions on a raft of officials...."

GOP Insists on Whatabout? Commission. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an interview early Wednesday criticized the GOP for its response to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. During an appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Pelosi pointed to outstanding disagreements with Republicans regarding the scope of a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the insurrection. 'They want to treat something like Black Lives Matter or peaceful demonstrations in a similar manner as they would do Jan. 6,' Pelosi said. 'So the main problem is the scope of the investigation.'" MB: IOW, Republicans know that any report on the insurrection will leave them smelling like a fresh cowpie, so they want to to have a Jan. 6 commission talk about not-Jan. 6.

Taj MaDoral. Jonathan O'Connell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump’s son Eric, who runs the family's private company, touted the potential of transforming their Doral golf resort into a gambling destination amid a quiet push among Florida Republicans to legalize casinos in areas of the state that have long opposed them. Although Republican legislative leaders have not yet submitted a bill, word of a proposal has spread widely enough that both supporters and opponents already are gearing up for a fight that they say could be more intense than in previous years due to Trump's potential interest and his close relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Detritus of the Former Guy

** U.S. Intelligence Report Exposes the Big Lie. Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "Russia sought to influence the 2020 election by laundering misleading information about Joe Biden through prominent individuals, some of whom were close to ... Donald Trump, the U.S. intelligence community said in a report Tuesday. The new report does not identify those individuals by name, but appears to reference Trump's one-time personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose repeated meetings with a suspected Russian agent came under scrutiny by U.S. officials. Both Russia and Iran sought to influence the election, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its report. But a third major adversary, China, did not even try, it says, contradicting the Trump administration's assertions about Beijing's activity last year. The declassified document, the first U.S. government report on the matter since November's election, said that no foreign government attempted to change votes or alter ballots results -- supporting U.S. officials' earlier assessments.... While foreign disinformation and interference was a major concern heading into the 2020 campaign, domestic efforts to disrupt the race -- including by Trump and his allies -- turned out to be of far greater significance.... Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized operations aimed at undercutting Biden's campaign for president, the report said. A key element of its strategy was to use Ukrainians linked to Russian intelligence to 'launder' unsubstantiated allegations against Biden.... Iran, by contrast, carried out a covert influence campaign to hurt Trump's reelection chances, the report said." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "A companion report by the Justice and Homeland Security Departments also rejected false accusations promoted by Mr. Trump's allies in the weeks after the vote that Venezuela or other countries had defrauded the election. The reports, compiled by career officials, amounted to a repudiation of Mr. Trump, his allies and some of his top administration officials.... And they categorically dismissed allegations of foreign-fed voter fraud, cast doubt on Republican accusations of Chinese intervention on behalf of Democrats and undermined claims that Mr. Trump and his allies had spread about the Biden family's work in Ukraine.... While it was declassified by the Biden administration, the report is based on work done during the Trump administration..., reflecting the vastly different views that officers had from their political overseers, who were appointed by Mr. Trump. The report rebutted yearslong efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to sow doubts about the intelligence agency's assessments that Russia not only wanted to sow chaos in the United States but also favored his re-election.... Citing in one instance a meeting between [pro-Russian Ukraine MP Andriy] Derkach and [Rudy] Giuliani, intelligence officials warned Mr. Trump in 2019 that Russian intelligence officers were using his personal lawyer as a conduit for misinformation." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report is here. An AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The National Intelligence Council's "Foreign Threats" report is here. The joint DOJ-DHS report on foreign interference in the election is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that the entire time Donald Trump was promoting his Big Lie, he had all of this intelligence available to him. He was not just making up stuff; he was lying, a Big Lie that led to millions of Americans not believing Joe Biden is the legitimate president, to hundreds of people launching an insurrection against the Congress & the then-Vice President, and to Repubican state legislators in 43 states initating draconian voter suppression laws against Democratic voters, especially minority voters. As Frank Figliuzzi said on MSNBC, Trump, Giuliani, et al., were not just lying, they were knowingly acting as Russian assets. And, as Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) pointed out on MSNBC, Sen. Ron Johnson laundered some of the Russian disinformation about the Bidens through the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, of which Johnson was then chair. This is not new information, of course, to those of us who were paying attention, but it is official confirmation of what we surmised.

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Army initially pushed to reject the D.C. government's request for a modest National Guard presence ahead of the Jan. 6 rally that led to the Capitol riot, underscoring the deep reluctance of some higher-ups at the Pentagon to involve the military in security arrangements that day. In an internal draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, the Army said the U.S. military shouldn't be needed to help police with traffic and crowd management, as city officials had requested, unless more than 100,000 demonstrators were expected. The draft memo also said the request should be denied because a federal agency hadn't been identified to run the preparations and on-the-day operations; the resources of other federal agencies hadn't been exhausted; and law enforcement was 'far better suited' for the task.... The Army ultimately relented after facing pressure from acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, according to the commanding general of the D.C. Guard, Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, Michael Flynn's brother, was was of those Army brass pushing against allowing the Guard to participate in the defense of the Capitol.

Jonathan O'Connell & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "A House committee on Tuesday asked the Biden administration to provide detailed financial records on ... Donald Trump's Washington hotel -- which is located in a federally owned building and must give the government financial data as part of its lease. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees public buildings, first asked for records on the hotel in early 2019. But for two years -- while Trump's administration was the Trump International Hotel's landlord -- the government refused to hand them over."

Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "The FBI is facing new scrutiny for its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh, the supreme court justice, after a lawmaker suggested that the investigation may have been 'fake'. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and former prosecutor who serves on the judiciary committee, is calling on the newly-confirmed attorney general, Merrick Garland, to help facilitate 'proper oversight' by the Senate into questions about how thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.... Among the concerns listed in Whitehouse's letter to Garland are allegations that some witnesses who wanted to share their accounts with the FBI could not find anyone at the bureau who would accept their testimony and that it had not assigned any individual to accept or gather evidence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Whitehouse's letter to Garland is here, via his office. ~~~

     ~~~ Charles Pierce of Esquire: "Senator Sheldon Whitehouse [D-R.I.] is not kidding about tracing how dark money has come to influence the selection of judges for the federal bench. And now he's found a big fish in a small barrel.... Whitehouse also has had his teeth into what always has been the hinkiest part of that whole [Kavanaugh nomination] episode -- namely, how Kavanaugh's substantial personal indebtedness was settled up before he was confirmed.... Of course, former Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose sudden retirement opened the place on the Court that Kavanaugh took, something that did not go unnoticed at the time, reassured us that, 'The appearance of influence or access... will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy.' Called that one a little early."

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "Speaking outside El Paso on Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said border agents he had met earlier that day issued dire warnings that suspected terrorists are trying to cross into the United States via Mexico.... McCarthy's claims, which were echoed by another Republican congressman, were among the most alarming raised by a GOP delegation that aimed to highlight a growing crisis for the Biden administration amid a surge of migrants. But some Democrats from border states pushed back late on Monday and demanded evidence to back up McCarthy's assertions. 'Weird as the Chairman of the subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations and a border state member of Congress haven't heard anything about this,' tweeted Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who represents the Phoenix area. 'Gonna ask for a briefing. Pretty sure he is either wrong or lying.'... McCarthy's claims echo repeated assertions by ... Donald Trump and members of his administration that terrorists were using the southern border to sneak into the United States, a line Trump often used to justify his attempts to build a wall and tighten immigration rules. But those claims withered under scrutiny." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

[The walls] look more like conceptual art pieces than imposing barriers to entry. -- Simon Romero & Zolan Kanno-Youngs ~~~

~~~ Bienvenido a Los Estados Unidos. Simon Romero & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: Along the Arizona Trail stands "a lonely segment of border wall, connected to nothing at all, in an area where migrants rarely even try to cross into the United States. 'There it was, this unfinished piece of completely pointless wall, right in this magical place,' said [hiker] Julia Sheehan, 31.... 'It's one of the most senseless things I've ever seen.' The quarter-mile fragment of wall is part of an array of new barrier segments along the border, some of them bizarre in appearance and of no apparent utility, that contractors rushed to build in the waning days of the Trump administration -- well after President Biden made it clear that he would halt border wall construction.... There are half-dynamited mountaintops ... leaving a heightened risk of rapid erosion and even dangerous landslides as the summer monsoon season approaches. In some areas, colossal piles of unused steel bollards linger at deserted work sites, next to idled bulldozers and water-hauling trucks.... Rough roads carved by work crews into hillsides near uncompleted segments of wall now serve as easy access points for smugglers...."

Ben Gittleson of ABC News: "President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday that his message to migrants is 'Don't come over.' Amid a surge of migrants and unaccompanied minors on the U.S. southern border, Stephanopoulos asked the president, 'Do you have to say quite clearly, "Don't come"?. 'Yes, I can say quite clearly: Don't come over,' Biden said during the wide-ranging interview in Darby, Pennsylvania.... Republicans have said Biden's moves to rescind former President Donald Trump's harsh immigration policies have encouraged migrants to come to the United States, but Biden told ABC News that 'we're sending back people' who cross the border." ~~~

~~~ Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "Joe Biden's homeland security secretary said on Tuesday that even as the US processes a growing number of unaccompanied child migrants at the US-Mexico border, the country remains closed to most asylum seekers. 'Now is not the time to come to the border,' Alejandro Mayorkas said.... Mayorkas said the border was not permanently closed to adults and families, but urged people to wait before approaching it. The secretary also issued a lengthy statement, warning that the US was on pace to encounter more individuals at the border with Mexico than it had in the past 20 years.... He also acknowledged several factors pushing people north, including poverty, violence, corruption and two damaging hurricanes which hit Honduras in November. The measured tone from the Biden administration is a marked departure from US policy under Donald Trump, when migrants were routinely vilified. Advocates have said this tone shift is an important step in itself but they are also watching closely to see if Biden administration acts reflect its promise of 'a safe, legal and orderly immigration system'. A first test for the administration is how it processes children who make the dangerous journey to the US without adults."

You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. Marie: Joe Biden is proving to be a remarkably nimble president. I'm impressed. Really. ~~~

~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The fight over the Senate filibuster escalated sharply on Tuesday, as President Biden for the first time threw his weight behind changing the rules even as Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, threatened harsh reprisals if Democrats moved to weaken the procedural tactic. In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Biden gave his most direct endorsement yet of overhauling the filibuster, saying that he favored a return to what is called the talking filibuster: the requirement that opponents of legislation occupy the floor and make their case against it.... The comments were a significant departure for Mr. Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate who has been frequently described by aides as reluctant to alter Senate procedure.... After Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, called for changes to reduce its power, Mr. McConnell, of Kentucky, bluntly promised a 'scorched earth' response and pledged to grind the Senate to a standstill and derail Mr. Biden's agenda if Democrats took that step." An ABC News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Ursula Perano of Axios: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) again warned Democrats on Tuesday that eliminating the legislative filibuster would 'break the Senate' and turn the chamber into a '100-car pileup' where chaos reigns.... McConnell warned on the Senate floor Tuesday that if Democrats eliminate the filibuster and Republicans take back the majority, 'we wouldn't just erase every liberal change that hurt the country -- we'd strengthen America with all kinds of conservative policies with zero, zero input from the other side.'... Democrats are under increasing pressure from progressives to set aside the filibuster for issues of exceptional importance, such as voting rights legislation that would counter the wave of voting restrictions being passed by Republicans at the state level. But moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have said they oppose abolishing the measure, as has President Biden."

Capitalism Is Awesome. And Jeff Bezos Is as Mean as Donald Trump. David Streitfeld of the New York Times: "Over two decades, as [Amazon] ... mushroomed from a virtual bookstore into a $1.5 trillion behemoth, it forcefully -- and successfully -- resisted employee efforts to organize.... Now Amazon faces a union vote at a warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. -- the largest and most viable U.S. labor challenge in its history. Nearly 6,000 workers have until March 29 to decide whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union." The report goes on to detail how Amazon intimidated -- and fired -- workers who wanted to unionize.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Tony Romm & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Twenty-one Republican state attorneys general on Tuesday threatened to take action against the Biden administration over its new $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus law, decrying it for imposing 'unprecedented and unconstitutional' limits on their states' ability to lower taxes. The letter marks one of the first major political and legal salvos against the relief package since President Biden signed it last week -- evincing the sustained Republican opposition that the White House faces as it implements the signature element of the president's economic policy agenda. The attorneys general take issue with a $350 billion pot of money set aside under the stimulus, known as the American Rescue Plan, to help cash-strapped cities, counties and states pay for the costs of the pandemic. Congressional lawmakers opted to restrict states from tapping these federal dollars to finance local tax cuts." MB: Republicans really bitch about everything, don't they?

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "... on Monday, in response to a question about whether it would help to have [Donald Trump] promote vaccination, [President] Biden ... explain[ed] why Trump is irrelevant. '... I discussed it with my team, and they say the thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community would say.' He added, 'So I urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why, why it's important to get that vaccine, and even after that, until everyone is in fact vaccinated, to wear this mask,' before putting on his own mask. Biden's marketing idea is almost certainly correct.... So when it comes to the major issues facing our country, especially fighting covid-19, there really is no need to pay attention to the pandemic deniers who got us in this fix in the first place. Does it hurt when ignorant, reckless politicians such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) falsely say that those who had covid-19 do not need the shot? Perhaps...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Johnson, of course, should not be disseminating false information about the vaccine. However, he is not a doctor, nor does he pretend to be, so he's just a stupid guy using his bully pulpit to mislead millions of Americans. But what about this guy? -- "'I have not chosen to be vaccinated because I got it naturally and the science of 30 million people -- and the statistical validity of a 30 million sample -- is pretty overwhelming that naturally immunity exists and works,' said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ophthalmologist who contracted the disease last March and does not wear a mask in the Capitol."

Here's What Happens When You Tell Trump He's Irrelevant. Meridith McGraw of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday recommended Americans get vaccinated to help fight the Covid pandemic, engaging on the issue after months of relative silence. 'I would recommend it,' Trump said during an interview on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo. 'And I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works.'... Since leaving office, Trump has issued a short statement taking credit for the vaccine's fast-tracked development and, in passing, told people to take the shot during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month.... Beyond that, Trump had not encouraged vaccination efforts...." MB: Looks as if Biden successfully trolled Trump.

Lenny Bernstein & Ben Guarino of the Washington Post: "Some people who have spent months suffering from long-haul covid-19 are taking to social media to report their delight at seeing their symptoms disappear after their vaccinations, leaving experts chasing yet another puzzling clinical development surrounding the disease caused by the coronavirus.... A December workshop held by the National Institutes of Health that began grappling with those issues suggested that 10 percent to 30 percent of people infected with the coronavirus suffer some long-term symptoms. And on Feb. 23, NIH announced that it would spend more than $1.1 billion over four years to study the effects of long-term covid-19. But there is little guidance about vaccination for people suffering through extended battles with the disease, other than medical authorities' instruction that everyone in the United States should be immunized." MB: This is such good news; many people report that their "long-haul" systems are debilitating & life-altering. I hope states will immediately give them access to vaccines.

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado v. Nebraska. Meat Wars! Marie Fazio of the New York Times: "Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado recently declared [March 20] to be 'MeatOut Day,' seeking to decrease meat consumption and encourage meat eaters to consider plant-based diets. Though Mr. Polis's proclamation was largely ceremonial, Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska took notice, and on Monday he declared March 20 to be 'Meat on the Menu Day' in his state. Thus began a carnivorous culture war complicated by the prominent agriculture industries in both states, where livestock accounts for meaty portions of the economy.... MeatOut Day was started in 1985 by the Farm Animal Rights Movement, a nonprofit animal welfare organization."

Rudy and friend. He looks beautiful. He should have won the homecoming queen election.Florida. Rudy Needs to Look into This Election Fraud Right Away. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: Florida Department of Law Enforcement "agents arrested Laura Carroll, 50, and her daughter, Emily Grover, 17, on Monday and charged them with conspiracy to use Ms. Carroll's school district login to help Ms. Grover get elected homecoming queen. A five-month investigation found that the login for Ms. Carroll, an assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School near Pensacola, was used to gain access to the internal accounts of 372 Tate High students since August.... Ms. Grover was expelled, according to police records, a decision that the family contested, but the expulsion was upheld. Ms. Carroll was suspended from her job.... On Oct. 30, Ms. Grover was elected homecoming queen." MB: I did find some photos of Emily online, and she's a very pretty young woman; still, she's no Rudy.

Georgia. Richard Fausset & Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Eight people were shot to death at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area on Tuesday evening, the authorities said, raising fears that the crimes may have targeted people of Asian descent. Six of the people killed were Asian, and two were white, according to law enforcement officials. All but one were women. A suspect, identified as Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, Ga., was captured in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, after a manhunt, said the authorities...." CNN's report is here.

Indiana. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "An Indianapolis man was accused of fatally shooting four people [including a seven-year-old] over the weekend after arguing with his girlfriend because he wanted a portion of her federal coronavirus stimulus check, police officials said. The man, Malik Halfacre, 25, was arrested on Sunday, a day after the shootings, and is expected to face murder, robbery and attempted-murder charges, according to the police and Indiana jail records." Halfacre reportedly confessed the murders to his sister.

New York. Maggie Haberman & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Days after Lindsey Boylan became the first woman to accuse Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of sexual harassment in a series of Twitter posts in December, people tied to the governor started circulating an open letter that they hoped former staff members would sign. The letter was a full-on attack on Ms. Boylan's credibility, suggesting that her accusation was premeditated and politically motivated. It disclosed personnel complaints filed against her and attempted to link her to supporters of ... Donald J. Trump.... The initial idea, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events, was to have former Cuomo aides -- especially women -- sign their names to the letter and circulate it fairly widely.... Mr. Cuomo was involved in creating the letter, [a source] said.... The letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times, was never released.... In an ABC News interview broadcast on Tuesday evening, President Biden said that he believed Mr. Cuomo should resign if investigators confirmed the accusers' claims. The president's remarks represented a slight shift ... from comments Mr. Biden had made on Sunday, when he noted only that 'the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.'" ~~~

~~~ Ben Gittleson of ABC News: "'I know you said you want the investigation [of Andrew Cuomo] to continue,' [George] Stephanopoulos told [President] Biden, referring to a probe by New York's attorney general into allegations Cuomo had harassed several women. 'If the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign?' 'Yes,' the president replied. 'I think he'll probably end up being prosecuted, too.'"