The Commentariat -- March 4, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

The Trumpiest. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "North Carolina's Republican Party acted quickly last month to censure one of its most senior members, Sen. Richard Burr, for voting to convict ... Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Burr's vote was 'shocking and disappointing,' said Michael Whatley, chairman of the state party. But the state GOP has shown no interest in exploring a similar action against one of its youngest elected leaders, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a pro-Trump freshman who is accused by a number of women of sexual harassment and has a record of making false statements and baseless claims." MB: According to Republicans then, it's okay to lie and harass women, but voting to convict a terrorist provocateur is unforgivable.

Kelly Loeffler Gets Her Comuppance. Again. Jay Connor of the Root: "In the immediate aftermath of George Floyd's death, the WNBA ... launched a Social Justice Council, players donned warmups with phrases like 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Say Her Name', and similar messaging was emblazoned on the court itself. But ... former Georgia Senator and Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler was vocal in her opposition to everything Black Lives Matter stands for. And now, in a full-circle moment, [Dream guard Renee] Montgomery -- the same player whom Loeffler once refused to meet in order to address her racist rhetoric -- is part of a three-member investment group that's been approved to purchase the Dream, per ESPN.... [Montgomery,] who recently retired from the WNBA after 11 seasons (and two championships), becomes the first former player in the history of the league to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA franchise." MB: That leaves Kelly to sit home and count her millions.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Wednesday released a Washington state leader of the Proud Boys from jail pending trial, chiding prosecutors for withdrawing some of the more sensational allegations against him in the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol. Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington upheld a lower court's Feb. 8 release order for Ethan Nordean, 30, of Seattle. She found that although Nordean appeared to be a key leader in raising money, gear and assembling Proud Boys to Washington before leading them to breach police lines in a '1776'-style revolt against the presidential election results, the government had not supplied evidence to date that he directly ordered individuals to break into the Capitol.... Nordean's release marked a stumble for prosecutors, who have cast him as a key figure based on what Howell agreed were 'ominous' communications before Jan. 6 that they said indicated he and other Proud Boys were planning 'violent action' to overwhelm police and force entry to the Capitol."

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** Tom Jackman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Capitol Police said Wednesday that they have information regarding a possible plot by a militant group to breach the Capitol on Thursday, a date that some followers of the QAnon extremist ideology falsely claim will mark ... Donald Trump's return to the White House. The department declined to name the militia group or provide additional details, citing the 'sensitive nature' of the information. In a statement, the department said it is 'prepared for any potential threats.'" The AP's report is here. ~~~

      ~~~ The New York Times report, by Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Matthew Rosenberg, adds this: "Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, a senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, pleaded on CNN on Wednesday: 'President Trump has a responsibility to tell them to stand down. This threat is credible. It's real. It's a right-wing militia group.'" MB: But the report also suggests why Trump won't call for a stand-down: "... in Washington on Thursday, rates at the Trump International Hotel for March 3 and 4 have spiked to three or four times their usual prices, much as they did before Jan. 6." ~~~

~~~ Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent a joint intelligence bulletin to state and local law enforcement agencies late Tuesday warning that some domestic groups have 'discussed plans to take control of the U.S. Capitol and remove Democratic lawmakers on or about' March 4, according to a senior law enforcement official who described the document to NBC News. The bulletin, titled 'National Capital Region Remains Attractive Target for Domestic Violent Extremists,' warned that "Domestic Violent Extremists" or 'Militia Violent Extremists' were emboldened by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and therefore pose a higher overall threat. The bulletin said the militia violent extremists may 'exploit public gatherings either formally organized or spontaneous to engage in violence,' according to the description of the document." ~~~

~~~ Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "Top House Democrats are abruptly wrapping up all work on Wednesday and sending members home -- a day earlier than planned -- as congressional leaders grapple with another potential threat to the Capitol, nearly two months after deadly riots overtook the complex. While the extent of the concerns is not yet clear, U.S. Capitol Police have stepped up the security around the Capitol and related office buildings after both federal authorities and the sergeant-at-arms warned of discussions by 'militia violent extremists' to seize control of the complex on or around March 4."

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The commanding general of the D.C. National Guard told lawmakers Wednesday how restrictions the Pentagon placed on him in the run-up to Capitol riot prevented him from more quickly sending forces to help quell the violence. Maj. Gen. William J. Walker said he didn't receive approval to change the D.C. Guard's mission and send his forces to the Capitol on Jan. 6 until three hours and 19 minutes after he first received an emotional call from the Capitol Police chief requesting urgent backup. Walker described the Pentagon's restrictions as 'unusual,' noting that he didn't have such limitations last June when the D.C. Guard was tasked with responding to local racial justice protests.... Walker's timeline for when he was finally authorized to send forces to the Capitol differed from that of another witness at the hearing, Robert G. Salesses, the Pentagon official performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. Walker said that he didn't receive the order from senior Army officials to send his forces to the Capitol until 5:08 p.m., but Salesses said the acting defense secretary ordered forces to depart at 4:32 p.m. Walker said personnel did not arrive until 5:20 p.m." The story has been updated. Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Missy Ryan & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon acted as quickly as possible when asked to help respond to rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the top U.S. military officer said, calling the turnaround 'sprint speed' in his first public comments about the Pentagon's reaction to the lethal siege. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said defense officials approved a police request for assistance in about 60 minutes as a mob smashed into Congress in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden's presidential win. It then took several hours for D.C. National Guard members to mobilize and get in place, he said. Milley spoke as lawmakers prepared to hold another hearing on the riot, which has become a defining moment in ... Donald Trump's months-long attempt to remain in office and overturn the Biden victory."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post Dares to Ask: "Three hours and 19 minutes. That's how long it took from the first, desperate pleas for help from the Capitol Police to the Trump Pentagon on Jan. 6 until the D.C. National Guard finally received permission to help put down the bloody insurrection.... The man ultimately responsible for the delay, Christopher Miller, had been a White House aide before Donald Trump installed him as acting defense secretary in November, as the president began his attempt to overturn his election defeat.... The Pentagon's 199-minute delay looks worse in light of a Jan. 4 memo Miller issued saying that without his 'personal authorization' the D.C. Guard couldn't 'be issued weapons, ammunition, bayonets, batons or ballistic protection equipment such as helmets and body armor.' The Army secretary added more restrictions the next day.... Also involved in the Pentagon delay was Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, brother of disgraced former Trump adviser Michael Flynn..., [who] had suggested Trump declare martial law.... During this moment of crisis -- an attempted coup in the Capitol -- the defense secretary and the Army secretary were 'not available,' [Maj. Gen. William J.] Walker[, commander of the D.C. Guard,] testified.... Curiously, the Pentagon claims Miller's authorization came at 4:32 -- 15 minutes after Trump told his 'very special' insurrectionists to 'go home in peace.' Was Miller waiting for Trump's blessing before defending the Capitol?" Emphasis added.

** Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Internal reports and emails from the Homeland Security Department show that federal law enforcement authorities were alert to the potential for violence by extremist groups attending a pro-Trump rally in Washington on Jan. 6, which preceded the attack on the Capitol. A security bulletin, along with other reports on protests, was compiled by the department's Federal Protective Service (FPS) a day before the attack and warned that anti-government and racially motivated extremists were likely to participate in the rally near the White House and 'use the activities as an opportunity to promote their ideologies and motivate followers to promote violence.'... The bulletin indicates that it was shared with other DHS security teams. It's not clear whether it was provided to the FBI, D.C. police or Capitol Police.... But the documents do show a level of awareness of potential threats on the part of the FPS, which is responsible for protecting federal properties, including some buildings around the Capitol." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Brad Heath of Reuters: "The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has suspended an agent who was outside the Capitol when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building, his lawyer said, in the first known case of authorities examining the conduct of a fellow federal agent during the deadly riot.... One of [Mark] Ibrahim's lawyers ... said DEA officials told Ibrahim that they were putting him on leave and suspending his security clearance 'because of his presence on Jan. 6.' She said Ibrahim, who was off duty but carrying his service weapon at the time, was part of the crowd outside the Capitol as Trump supporters stormed the building in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory.... She said he did not pass a set of metal barricades outside the building that were quickly overrun by the crowd."

Anthony Adragna & Ben LeFebvre of Politico: "Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) won the support of a key Republican senator Wednesday, giving her a likely path to winning confirmation as the first Native American Cabinet secretary, despite heavy criticism from other GOP lawmakers. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she would vote to approve Haaland's nomination to lead the Interior Department, giving her a crucial but narrow buffer in a Senate that's split 50-50 between the parties. Two other moderate senators -- Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski -- have not said publicly how they plan to vote on Haaland's nomination, which comes up for a key committee vote Thursday."

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday split evenly along party lines on whether to advance Xavier Becerra for Health and Human Services secretary, leaving it to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring the nomination up for a full Senate vote. The 14-14 tally reflected the sharp partisan divisions around Becerra, now California's attorney general, who's drawn fire from conservatives eager to make his confirmation a political liability for Democrats facing reelection next year. He is the first of President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees not to be favorably reported out of committee, which will force Democrats to bring up a motion to discharge his nomination and hold an additional four hours of debate before a confirmation vote. The Senate's ongoing work on Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill and a pile-up of other nominees awaiting confirmation complicates the timeline for Becerra -- particularly if Vice President Kamala Harris needs to be on hand to break a tie." MB: Biden's bipartisan kumbaya does not seem to be going well.

** Mitch's Wife Is Not Above Suspicion. Eric Lipton & Michael Forsythe of the New York Times: "The Transportation Department's inspector general asked the Justice Department in December to consider a criminal investigation into what it said was Elaine Chao's misuse of her office as transportation secretary in the Trump administration to help promote her family's shipping business, which is run by her sister and has extensive business ties with China. In a report made public on Wednesday, the inspector general said the Justice Department's criminal and public integrity divisions both declined to take up the matter in the closing weeks of the Trump administration, even after the inspector general found repeated examples of Ms. Chao using her staff and her office to help benefit her family and their business operations and revealed that staff members at the agency had raised ethics concerns. 'A formal investigation into potential misuses of position was warranted,' Mitch Behm, the department's deputy inspector general, said on Tuesday in a letter to House lawmakers, accompanying a 44-page report detailing the investigation and the findings of wrongdoing. Ms. Chao [is] the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky...."

Oh, to Flip the Accountant. David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Manhattan district attorney is delving deeply into the personal and financial affairs of the chief financial officer for ... Donald Trump's company..., Allen Weisselberg.... This questioning is now led by a former mob prosecutor [Mark F. Pomerantz], and one person familiar with the investigation said it is aimed at 'flipping' Weisselberg.... "

** Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The House late Wednesday night passed expansive legislation to create uniform national voting standards, overhaul campaign finance laws and outlaw partisan redistricting, advancing a centerpiece of the Democratic voting rights agenda amid fierce Republican attacks that threaten to stop it cold in the Senate. The bill, titled the 'For the People Act,' was given the symbolic designation of H.R. 1 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and it largely mirrors a bill passed two years ago in the early weeks of the House Democratic majority. This year, however, the bill has taken on additional significance because of the new Democratic majority in the Senate and President Biden's November win, as well as the efforts underway in dozens of Republican-controlled state legislatures to roll back voting access in reaction to ... Donald Trump's loss and his subsequent campaign to question the election results." CNN's story is here. The New York Times' story is here.

** Felicia Sonmez & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "The House on Wednesday passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, an expansive policing overhaul measure named for the 46-year-old Black man who died last Memorial Day after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against his neck for over nine minutes. The bill passed 220 to 212 along mostly party lines, with two Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Ron Kind (Wis.) voting against it. and one Republican, Rep. Lance Gooden (Tex.), accidentally voting for it. Soon after the vote, Gooden tweeted that he'd pressed the wrong button and had meant to vote 'no.' He said he would submit a corection to his vote." MB: As a person given to making many typos, I love it when I see a word like "correction" misspelled ... by somebody else. I suppose a copy editor will fix this later, but honestly, what you see is what I copied & pasted. More important, of course, is the paradigmatic moment here wherein the one and only Republican to vote for a bill designed to bring fairer treatment to people of color cast that vote by mistake. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story, by Nolan McCaskill, is here.

John Amato of the Crooks & Liars: "The Federal Election Commission has its eye on Rep. Jim Jordan and his campaign committee, because of huge discrepancies in their filings. Cleveland.com reports that many of discrepancies are over $100,000 -- in one instance, the amount was over $900,000. Rep. Jordan claims the problems arose because of massive donations he's received as a Trump apologist and voter fraud grifter." The Cleveland.com page is subscriber-firewalled. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The New York Times now has a story on the DOD inspector general's report on Ronny Jackson, doctor to presidents and now a member of Congress. CNN's report was linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Daniel Dale, et al., of CNN: "In an opinion article published on Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence did something he used to do in office: echo a lie from ... Donald Trump in a slightly more sophisticated way. Pence's op-ed, published on the Daily Signal website run by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, was mostly filled with attacks on a Democratic elections reform bill known as HR 1. But Pence also made claims about what happened in the 2020 election. Most notably, he began the article by claiming that the election involved 'significant voting irregularities.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Craig Silverman & Ryan Mac of BuzzFeed News: "New York Times columnist David Brooks is drawing a second salary for his work on an Aspen Institute project funded by Facebook and other large donors -- a fact he has not disclosed in his columns. A Times spokesperson refused to tell BuzzFeed News whether the paper was aware Brooks was taking a salary for his work on Weave, a project he founded and leads for the Aspen Institute, a prominent think tank based in Washington, DC. The spokesperson also wouldn't say if the Times knew that Weave took money from Facebook.... Brooks has published multiple columns [in the New York Times] that promote Weave, in addition to writing pieces that mention Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, and the company's products without disclosing his financial ties to the social networking giant.... The Times said it's reviewing Brooks's work with Weave."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Biden Calls Out "Neanderthal" Governors. Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "President Biden on Wednesday denounced the governors of Texas and Mississippi for lifting coronavirus restrictions, calling the moves 'Neanderthal thinking.' 'I think it's a big mistake,' Biden told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the two states lifting their mask mandates and all capacity limits on businesses on Tuesday. 'I hope everybody's realized by now these masks make a difference,' he added. 'We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way we're able to get vaccines in people's arms.... The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it,' he said." The New York Times story is here. As Ken W. pointed out in yesterday's Comments, Biden was kinda unfair to Neanderthals.

Dumbest Senator Has an Idea. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) ... has told colleagues that he plans to force the Senate clerks to read aloud the entire $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on the Senate floor, which could slow it down by as much as 10 hours.... Any senator can force a reading of a bill on the floor, but the formality is almost always skipped by unanimous consent to avoid wasting time.... 'It just delays things a day,' said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). 'I feel sorry for the reading clerk.'" ~~~

     ~~~ In Lieu of Flowers, Send Money to Ron Johnson's Opponent. Mary Spicuzza of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Carol Lindeen raised her children to avoid certain topics -- like politics, religion and money -- in mixed company.... But recently, Carol ... was furious as she listened to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson speak during the Senate hearing on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, her daughter [Laurie Lindeen] said. 'We were watching TV and Ron Johnson was totally whitewashing and, you know, making January 6 sound like it was just a bunch of goofy people having fun. And she was just irate, so she was going off,' Laurie said. 'She said she wished that she had spoken up more and done more and that she wanted to be a freedom fighter....'... Carol Lindeen, 81, died in her sleep on Wednesday.... Her obituary ... noted her opinion of& Johnson: 'In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Ron Johnson's opponent in 2022.'"

Drs. Jill & Miguel Go on a School Field Trip. Katie Rogers & Erica Green of the New York Times: "Having told educators that they would soon be vaccinated, the Biden administration began an aggressive push on Wednesday to drum up support for reopening schools, putting on a show of unity with the leaders of teachers unions and highlighting measures to keep students and staff safe from the coronavirus.... To carry the message, the White House dispatched the first lady, Jill Biden, and the newly confirmed education secretary, Miguel Cardona, on a trip to Connecticut and Pennsylvania to emphasize that teachers should no longer fear returning unprotected to the classroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that teachers do not have to be vaccinated for schools to reopen safely." ~~~

Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "President Biden has agreed to narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus payments in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, a concession to moderate Senate Democrats as party leaders moved Wednesday to lock down support and finalize the sweeping legislation. Under the new structure, the checks would phase out faster for those at higher income levels, compared to the way the direct payments were structured in Biden's initial proposal and the version of the bill passed by the House on Saturday." (An earlier version of this story was linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mark Pratt & Tammy Webber of the AP: "Buoyed by a surge in vaccine shipments, states and cities are rapidly expanding eligibility for COVID-19 shots to teachers, Americans 50 and over and others as the U.S. races to beat back the virus and reopen businesses and schools. Indiana and Michigan will begin vaccinating those 50 and over, while Arizona and Connecticut have thrown open the line to those who are at least 55. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are reserving the first doses of the new one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson for teachers. And in Detroit, factory workers can get vaccinated starting this week, regardless of age. Giving the vaccine to teachers and other school staff 'will help protect our communities,' Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said. 'It's going to take burdens off our parents and families. It's going to make our schools get back to the business of teaching our kids.'"

Beyond the Beltway

California. Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Thirteen people killed in a traffic collision in a remote stretch of Southern California near the Mexican border were among 44 migrants apparently smuggled through a large breach in the border wall, the U.S. Border Patrol said on Wednesday. The migrants were traveling in a pair of S.U.V.s that crossed from Mexico into California's Imperial Valley before dawn on Tuesday, border officials said. One of the vehicles, a red Chevrolet Suburban, burst into flames shortly after crossing, they said. The other, a maroon Ford Expedition crammed with 25 people, traveled about 30 miles west to the town of Holtville, Calif., where shortly after sunrise it drove through an intersection and into the path of a large tractor-trailer rig."

"Happy Women's History Month, Idaho!" Brian Holmes of KTVB Boise: "March is Women's History Month and on Tuesday, one Idaho state representative voted against accepting federal grants to help kids get ready for kindergarten because it 'makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home.' Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R-Pollock) testified against House Bill 226, which would allow the State Board of Education to use nearly $6 million in federal grants to increase early childhood education in the Gem State by making it more available and accessible.... The bill failed on a 34-36 vote, but it is expected to be reconsidered." MB: I checked & Charlie is married. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Here's a story New York Times editors should not have assigned to male writers, or at least not these male writers: ~~~

~~~ Headline: "Cuomo, Contrite Over Sexual Harassment Accusations, Refuses to Resign." Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the NYT: "In his first public remarks since a sexual harassment scandal enveloped his administration, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Wednesday that he was embarrassed by his actions and apologized, but that he would not resign from office.... Mr. Cuomo, his voice appearing to crack at times..., said..., 'It was unintentional and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it and frankly, I'm embarrassed by it, and that's not easy to say...." Blah blah. Cuomo "insist[ed] twice that he never 'touched anyone inappropriately.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Never "touched anyone inappropriately"??? There's a fucking photo of you out there touching a young woman inappropriately. Anna Ruch told the New York Times that Cuomo had greeted her, in their very first meeting evah, by putting his hand on her bare back. She quickly brushed his hand away, and a moment later he got back at her by grasping her head in his hands and asking for a kiss. McKinley & Ferré-Sadurní refer to this incident but only to report that "Kissing and hugging, he said, was his 'usual and customary way of greeting,' but he apologized if it had made Ms. Ruch uncomfortable, reiterating it was not his intention to do so." For the most part, the report just reiterates how bad Cuomo feels about these incidents and what a hardship it all has been on ... Andrew Cuomo. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: I transferred my comment here to the Comments section of the Patrick replied to my NYT comment, "The feminist man haters are out in force as usual. Cuomo at most is guilty of being inappropriate, nothing more. Also of course in my book guilty of working alone with women at work which is a mistake nowadays." Thanks for setting me straight, Patrick! P.S. Two people liked my comment; 11 liked Patrick's reply. The Times has since taken down comments on the article.

Way Beyond

Myanmar. Shibani Mahtani of the Washington Post: "s the protest movement gains traction across the country, the Myanmar military is responding with brutality, shooting randomly into crowds and gunning down protesters. Shooting to kill -- aiming for protesters' heads or chests -- has emerged as a crowd-control tactic, as snipers pick off targets and hope their deaths will send protesters fleeing and disperse the crowd.... On Wednesday..., at least 38 people ... died at the hands of security forces..., according to the United Nations." The AP's story is here.

The Commentariat -- March 3, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "President Biden has agreed to narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus payments in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, under pressure from moderate Senate Democrats who've pushed for more 'targeted' spending in the bill. Under the new structure, the checks would phase out faster for those at higher income levels, compared to the way the direct payments were structured in Biden's initial proposal and the version of the bill passed by the House on Saturday.... The change comes as the Senate prepares to take an initial procedural vote to move forward on the bill as early as Wednesday afternoon."

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The commanding general of the D.C. National Guard told lawmakers Wednesday how restrictions the Pentagon placed on him in the run-up to Capitol riot prevented him from more quickly sending forces to help quell the violence. Maj. Gen. William J. Walker said he didn't receive approval to change the D.C. Guard's mission and send his forces to the Capitol on Jan. 6 until three hours and 19 minutes after he first received an emotional call from the Capitol Police chief requesting urgent backup. Walker described the Pentagon's restrictions as 'unusual,' noting that he didn't have such limitations last June when the D.C. Guard was tasked with responding to local racial justice protests.... Walker's timeline for when he was finally authorized to send forces to the Capitol differed from that of another witness at the hearing, Robert G. Salesses, the Pentagon official performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. Walker said that he didn't receive the order from senior Army officials to send his forces to the Capitol until 5:08 p.m., but Salesses said the acting defense secretary ordered forces to depart at 4:32 p.m. Walker said personnel did not arrive until 5:20 p.m." Politico's story is here.

** Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Internal reports and emails from the Homeland Security Department show that federal law enforcement authorities were alert to the potential for violence by extremist groups attending a pro-Trump rally in Washington on Jan. 6, which preceded the attack on the Capitol. A security bulletin, along with other reports on protests, was compiled by the department's Federal Protective Service (FPS) a day before the attack and warned that anti-government and racially motivated extremists were likely to participate in the rally near the White House and 'use the activities as an opportunity to promote their ideologies and motivate followers to promote violence.'... The bulletin indicates that it was shared with other DHS security teams. It's not clear whether it was provided to the FBI, D.C. police or Capitol Police.... But the documents do show a level of awareness of potential threats on the part of the FPS, which is responsible for protecting federal properties, including some buildings around the Capitol."

John Amato of the Crooks & Liars: "The Federal Election Commission has its eye on Rep. Jim Jordan and his campaign committee, because of huge discrepancies in their filings. Cleveland.com reports that many of discrepancies are over $100,000 -- in one instance, the amount was over $900,000. Rep. Jordan claims the problems arose because of massive donations he's received as a Trump apologist and voter fraud grifter." The Cleveland.com page is subscriber-firewalled.

The New York Times now has a story on the DOD inspector general's report on Ronny Jackson, doctor to presidents and now a member of Congress. CNN's report is linked below.

"Happy Women's History Month, Idaho!" Brian Holmes of KTVB Boise: "March is Women's History Month and on Tuesday, one Idaho state representative voted against accepting federal grants to help kids get ready for kindergarten because it 'makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home.' Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R-Pollock) testified against House Bill 226, which would allow the State Board of Education to use nearly $6 million in federal grants to increase early childhood education in the Gem State by making it more available and accessible.... The bill failed on a 34-36 vote, but it is expected to be reconsidered." MB: I checked & Charlie is married.

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Politico: "President Joe Biden is withdrawing Neera Tanden's nomination to be his budget director, Biden said in a statement on Tuesday evening. Tanden faced opposition from at least one Democratic senator and was struggling to win any Republican support, leaving her nomination to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget with no clear path toward confirmation.... Biden's statement indicated that he expects Tanden to serve in another role in his administration." The story has been updated, with Sam Stein on the byline. The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a key Senate swing vote, said Tuesday evening she never told the White House she would vote against Neera Tanden, President Biden's former nominee to serve as White House budget director, and appeared surprised by the news that the nomination had been withdrawn. Murkowski also noted that White House officials never directly asked how she would vote.... Now she will be spared what could have been a difficult decision after she met with Tanden Monday and carefully walked the nominee through the various issues facing Alaska and the impact of Biden's seven executive actions on her home state." MB: However she might have voted, you do have to give Murkowski credit for giving serious consideration before arriving at a decision.

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Cecilia Rouse, a Princeton University economist, as the chair of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, making her the first Black leader of C.E.A. in its 75-year history. The final vote was 95 to 4. Dr. Rouse is the dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and a former member of the council under President Barack Obama. Her academic research has focused on education, discrimination and the forces that hold some people back in the American economy. She won widespread praise from Republicans and Democrats alike in her confirmation hearing, with senators on the Banking Committee voting unanimously to send her nomination to the full Senate." ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Solender of Forbes: "Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Tuesday voted to confirm former Princeton University dean Cecilia Rouse as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, casting his first vote in favor of one of President Joe Biden's Cabinet-level nominees after a dozen straight 'no' votes.... The only 'no' votes coming from Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) -- all of whom have opposed more than half of Biden's nominees so far. Hawley remains the reigning champion when it comes to voting against Biden's nominees, followed by Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) at 11 'no' votes, Cotton at 10 and Tuberville at 9." MB: The big difference between Republican & Democratic "no" votes is that Democrats tend to vote against GOP nominees who have no qualifications for the positions they seek, while Republicans vote against Democratic nominees because Republican senators are nasty little pricks. And, no, I have no bias whatsoever against Republican senators.

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) won Senate confirmation Tuesday as the next U.S. commerce secretary, a post that will thrust her into some of the most contentious economic and security questions confronting the Biden administration. The Senate easily approved her nomination by a vote of 84 to 15. She is expected to be sworn in Wednesday. Raimondo, 49, a former venture capitalist who was reelected to her second term as Rhode Island's chief executive in 2018, will assume command of a federal agency with sweeping responsibilities and an increasingly important portfolio." Politico's story is here.

Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "Without naming [Amazon] specifically, President Biden said in a video posted late Sunday that he supports the organizing drive in Bessemer, Ala. 'Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace,' Biden said in a video shared on Twitter. 'This is vitally important -- a vitally important choice, as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the reckoning on race -- what it reveals is the deep disparities that still exist in our country.'... More than 5,800 warehouse workers at the facility are voting this month whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The mail-in ballot election runs through March 29 and could be the first Amazon warehouse union in the United States. If successful, it would also be a major victory for labor organizing in the South, a region difficult for union success." (Also linked yesterday.)

Anne Gearan & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday announced punitive sanctions on senior Russian government figures over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and reiterated a demand that Navalny be released from detention. The sanctions block access to financial or other assets in the United States for seven top figures around Russian President Vladimir Putin. They are largely symbolic, but represent the first Biden administration action against Russia. U.S. officials who described the measures said they are a signal that the new administration will treat Russia differently than the Trump administration did." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said Tuesday that his agents are pursuing roughly 2,000 domestic terrorism cases -- a huge spike as the FBI tries to show it is taking the threat of such attacks seriously in the wake of January's pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol.... Wray also defended the bureau's handling of intelligence in advance of the attack on the Capitol, asserting that agents rapidly shared what they were learning with other law enforcement agencies, but conceding that FBI officials will review internal practices because Jan. 6, was not an 'acceptable result.' (Also linked yesterday.)

"Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee chairman, pressed Wray on how the bureau shared a situation report, prepared by the FBI's Norfolk field office a day before the riot, which warned of specific appeals for violence -- including a call for 'war' at the Capitol.... Wray said the report was shared in three ways -- sent by email to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the D.C. and Capitol Police; posted on a law enforcement web portal; and mentioned in a command center briefing in D.C....Wray ... said that he had not been briefed on the information before Jan. 6 either. Wray said he believed the report was handled in accordance with standard FBI practice." See also Jeanne's & Anonymous's commentary in yesterday's thread (& Jeanne's comment today). (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday that the Jan. 6 insurrection has been 'an inspiration to a number of terrorist extremists' -- foreign and domestic -- and that the bureau is still eyeing whether any foreign actors might seek to infiltrate domestic groups to exploit vulnerabilities. Wray also said he considers the siege 'domestic terrorism' and is deploying intensive resources in every field office to pursue perpetrators.... Wray declined to disclose the cause of death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died following the insurrection, and he evaded saying whether a cause of death had been determined." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “On Jan. 6 came the white supremacists. Now comes the whitewash.... To hear the Republicans tell it, the country is besieged by left-wing anarchists. [During Christopher Wray's hearing,] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who helped to foment the Capitol attack with his effort to overturn the electoral college results, proclaimed that 'we have seen massive rioting and violence as extremists, many of them leftist extremists, took to the streets,' part of an 'ongoing pattern of domestic terrorism.' Even after Wray said the FBI had found no sign of antifa or anarchist involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) took issue with 'the narrative' of who was involved on Jan. 6 -- and again suggested that anarchists played a role.... Key to the effort is to derail plans for a 9/11-style commission to probe the Jan. 6 attacks.... Republicans want to turn the Capitol insurrection commission into an antifa commission...." ~~~

~~~ About all those Antifa guys we've been hearing about who were masquerading as Trump supporters in the January 6 insurrection: well, there is this guy: ~~~

~~~ Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, William Robert Norwood III texted a group of friends and family to boast he had traveled to D.C. with a plan to fool the police. 'I'm dressing in all black,' Norwood texted a group chat on Jan. 5, according to images included in a federal criminal complaint filed last week. 'I'll look just like ANTIFA. I'll get away with anything.' Then, after joining in the mob, assaulting police officers and storming the Capitol rotunda, federal agents said, Norwood texted the group again to boast that his ploy had been a success. 'It worked,' Norwood texted, along with photos of himself wearing a police officer's vest that he allegedly took from the Capitol. 'I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for.' Norwood was arrested in Greer, S.C., on Feb. 25 and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of justice and Congress, theft of government property and other charges." (Also linked yesterday.)

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "U.S. prosecutors alleged for the first time that a Washington state leader of the Proud Boys was nominated by members of the group to take charge of the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6 and carried out a plan to split into groups to break into the building from as many points as possible. In a 24-page filing Monday, U.S. prosecutors asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to keep Ethan Nordean, 30, of Seattle, in jail pending trial, appealing a lower court's Feb. 8 release order. Nordean was 'nominated from within to have "war powers"' to lead activities at the Capitol after the group's chairman, Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, was arrested by D.C. police upon arriving in the city two days earlier, Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Jason B.A. McCullough alleged. They do not state whether Nordean and/or others were formally selected to lead events that day." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Collins & Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "Law enforcement agencies around Washington, D.C., are adding extra security out of concern about a coming date -- March 4, which is Thursday -- that has swirled online among QAnon supporters. An internal memo sent by the Timothy P. Blodgett, the acting House sergeant-at-Arms, which was obtained by NBC News, said his office 'is working closely with the U.S. Capitol Police to monitor information related to March 4th and potential protests and demonstration activity surrounding what some have described as the "true Inauguration Day."' Blodgett wrote that plans are in place for 'additional personnel' to "support the safety and security of Members and staff.... QAnon adherents ... believe Democrats will be arrested en masse or the day that Trump will be re-inaugurated as president."

Sonia Moghe of CNN: "The New York City Bar Association added its name to the list of groups urging the state court committee that recommends whether to disbar attorneys to investigate complaints against Rudy Giuliani.... The NYC Bar Association said allegations call for a 'serious investigation' into Giuliani's actions, saying he used his position as an attorney who served in senior government positions including Manhattan US Attorney's office and Associate Attorney General of the United States to 'lend credence' to ... Donald Trump's baseless assertions that the 2020 Presidential Election results were the product of widespread election fraud. Giuliani is not a member of the NYC Bar Association, which is a voluntary organization." MB: Rudy 9/11 Giuliani of course was mayor of NYC.

Doing the Math. Robert Frank of CNBC: "Jeff Bezos would owe $5.7 billion in taxes for 2020 under the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act proposed by a group of Senate and House Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sanders, I-Vt., and others unveiled their proposed wealth tax, saying it would raise trillions in much-needed revenue and help reduce a wealth divide that has only grown wider during the pandemic. The tax would be a 2% annual levy on wealth over $50 million and 3% on wealth over $1 billion.... Bezos, the world's richest person..., still would have been left with a net worth of more than $185 billion after the tax, according to the analysis."

** Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "The Department of Defense inspector general has issued a scathing review of Rep. Ronny Jackson during his time serving as the top White House physician, concluding that he made 'sexual and denigrating' comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy for drinking alcohol while on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted concerns from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper care. The findings outlined in the report, which was obtained by CNN prior to its expected release on Wednesday, stem from a years-long IG investigation into Jackson -- who currently represents Texas in the House of Representatives and sits on the House Armed Services subcommittee overseeing military personnel -- that was launched in 2018 and examines allegations that date back to his time serving during the Obama and Trump administrations. Members of Congress were briefed on the IG report findings on Tuesday...." MB: In the photo accompanying the article, Jackson appears to be high on something. The report is worth reading for the details.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House Ethics Committee is investigating Representative Steven M. Palazzo, Republican of Mississippi, for potential misuse of funds, after a preliminary inquiry found that he engaged in what investigators called a 'concerning pattern' of spending more than $80,000 in campaig money on a $1.2 million waterfront house that he was trying to sell.... At issue, among other allegations, the report said, was a 'concerning pattern of campaign expenditures on a large riverfront home which Representative Palazzo owned and rented to Palazzo for Congress as an ostensible campaign headquarters.' Investigators also alleged that Mr. Palazzo may have improperly used campaign funds to pay his brother and used his position in Congress to do a special favor for his brother.... 'The wide array of campaign-funded improvements to the home appear to have been directly related to the sale of the property rather than any true campaign purpose,' investigators wrote." ~~~

     ~~~ The luckiest guy in this possible felonious misuse of campaign funds is Steve's brother Kyle, who was homeless till Steve let him live rent-free in what he calls the "River House" & paid Kyle $23K for hanging out there. Steve also allegedly "used official resources to try to get the secretary of the Navy to intervene personally to upgrade Kyle Palazzo's military status so he would be eligible to re-enlist."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court seemed poised on Tuesday to uphold two Arizona voting restrictions, one requiring election officials to discard ballots cast at the wrong precinct and the other making it a crime for campaign workers, community activists and most other people to collect ballots for delivery to polling places, a practice critics call 'ballot harvesting.' Several members of the court's conservative majority said the restrictions were sensible, commonplace and at least partly endorsed by a bipartisan consensus reflected in a 2005 report signed by former President Jimmy Carter and James A. Baker III, who served as secretary of state under President George Bush. The Biden administration, too, told the justices in an unusual letter two weeks ago that the Arizona measures appeared to be lawful." MB: Yeah, making black people guess the correct number of jellybeans was "lawful" in some places, too, but that doesn't make it right. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacob Kornbluh of the Forward: "The company that was hired to set up the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida last weekend has taken full responsibility for the design of the stage that resembled a Nazi insignia. In a ... statement to the Forward on Tuesday evening, Design Foundry, a stage design firm based in Hyattsville, Maryland, said it 'had no idea that the design resembled any symbol, nor was there any intention to create something that did.' The organizers of CPAC have announced that it will not use the firm for future events."

Amanda Watts & Leah Asmelash of CNN: "Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because they 'portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,' the business that preserves the author's legacy said. The titles are: 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street'; 'If I Ran the Zoo'; 'McElligot's Pool'; 'On Beyond Zebra!'; 'Scrambled Eggs Super!'; 'The Cat's Quizzer'.... Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it made the decision after consulting educators and reviewing its catalog.... Dr. Seuss had a long history of publishing racist and anti-Semitic work, spanning back to the 1920s when he was a student at Dartmouth College. There, Dr. Seuss once drew Black boxers as gorillas and perpetuated Jewish stereotypes by portraying Jewish characters as financially stingy, according to a study published in the journal 'Research on Diversity in Youth Literature.'" (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When I was a toddler, my favorite book was "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street." I do recall a blatantly stereotypical Chinese guy in it. I just took a look at the book again. And there's more. There is also an Italian guy, I presume, dressed in Roman garb; some Inuits, I guess, in furry snowsuits; a presumably Indian 'rajah" in a turban, fancy shirt & pointy-toed shoes; and cops, at least one of whom ("Sergeant Mulvaney") is Irish. All of the people are the same color -- white. There are zebras, but no African characters. And here's something: I don't think the book made me even slightly racist. If anything, I thought people in different parts of the world wore different kinds of clothing and rode on different kinds of conveyances (like chariots & sleds & elephants). I guess if the reader (my father, in this case) isn't racist, the little hearer & viewer of "Mulberry Street" won't be, either. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, here's one positive outcome of the Seuss purge. It's, like, worse than the "Potato Head" "scandal"!: ~~~

~~~ Aaron Rupar of Vox: "Conservative media turned 2021's National Read Across America Day into an epic culture war meltdown. On Tuesday morning and into the afternoon, programming on Fox News and Fox Business ceaselessly harped upon the purported 'cancellation' of legendary children's author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, as the latest example of woke liberalism run amok -- conveniently ignoring the fact that Dr. Seuss has not, in fact, been canceled. 'The cancel culture is canceling Dr. Seuss,' lamented Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade, adding later, 'It's out of control.'... A Fox News reporter asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki a question during Tuesday's briefing about why [President] Biden didn't mention Dr. Seuss in his statement commemorating Read Across America Day, and Fox News then tried to spin Psaki's response (she referred the reporter to the Department of Education) as some sort of scandal.... Dr. Seuss was an even bigger topic on Newsmax -- a Trumpier, further right alternative to Fox News.... It's perfectly reasonable to reassess classic works of culture through the prism of the prevailing values of today. Doing so does not mean that those works have been 'canceled' or are worthless -- it just means being honest about the ways in which they have fallen short in terms of inclusivity and respect for other people."

More Sad News from Right Wing World. Michael Hayden of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch: "Before multimillionaire conspiracy theorist Alex Jones riled up Donald Trump's fans with lies about a stolen election, he privately expressed revulsion over the 45^th president, a video leaked to Hatewatch reveals. 'It's the truth and I'm just going to say it. That I wish I never would have fucking met Trump,' Jones said on camera in January 2019, while shooting a documentary in Austin, Texas. 'I wish it never would have happened. And it's not the attacks I've been through. I'm so sick of fucking Donald Trump, man. God, I'm fucking sick of him. And I'm not doing this because, like, I'm kissing his fucking ass, you know. It's, like, I'm sick of it.' According to Caolan Robertson, a filmmaker Jones hired to shoot a propaganda film called 'You Can't Watch This' that produced this outtake, the conspiracy theorist's comments disparaging Trump are emblematic of his cynical business model. The leaked footage contrasts starkly with Jones' public rhetoric about Trump. Jones' talk show Infowars promoted and idealized Trump daily, throughout both the 2016 presidential campaign and the former president's time in office." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Jones, he's only saying what many elected Republicans say to their mirrors.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Diana Falzone & Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fox News officially announced on Tuesday that it has hired former Trump spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany as a contributor.... The addition of a known and frequent liar to the Fox News roster set off some alarms within a newsroom that has been 'purged' in recent months in favor of right-wing opinion programming and content geared towards keeping a diehard MAGA audience satisfied. 'It's truly disgusting they fired hard-working journalists who did care about facts and news reporting only to turn around and hire a mini-Goebbels whose incessant lies from the White House helped incite an insurrection...,' a Fox News insider raged to The Daily Beast. 'Post-Trump Fox is quickly becoming a very scary place and quite dangerous for our democracy. It's not even conservative news anymore. They've plunged into an alternate reality where extremist propaganda is the only course on the menu.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

** Justin Gomez & Sarah Kolinovsky of ABC News: "President Joe Biden announced a major partnership Tuesday afternoon between pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson to help produce J&J's newly authorized vaccine and changed the vaccine timeline, saying there would be enough for every American adult by the end of May.... He compared the two companies collaboration to what the U.S. saw during World War II.... The president also announced Tuesday that he wants teachers and school workers to receive at least one vaccine shot 'by the end of March.' While Biden can't mandate that states prioritize teachers for their vaccine supplies, Biden is challenging them to do so." ~~~

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leade Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate will move forward as soon as Wednesday on President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill and pledged, 'We'll have the votes we need to pass the bill.' Schumer's comments at a news conference Tuesday came even as moderate Senate Democrats maneuvered to limit some of the expenditures in the bill, over objections from liberals who insisted they'd already made concessions on Biden's first major legislative proposal. The president urged Senate Democrats during a lunchtime call Tuesday to stay united behind the bill, arguing that it's broadly popular with the public and controversial only on Capitol Hill...."

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

Texas. Amir Vera of CNN: Texas "Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he's lifting the mask mandate in Texas, even as health officials warn not to ease safety restrictions. Abbott made the announcement during a Lubbock Chamber of Commerce event where he issued an executive order rescinding most of his earlier executive orders like the mask mandate. Also announced Tuesday, Abbott said businesses of any type will be allowed to open 100% beginning March 10. Abbott's announcement comes as Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to drop across the country. However, health experts say relaxing restrictions now could lead to another surge, especially with the variants spreading." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Julie Bosman & Lucy Tompkins of the New York Times: "The move by Texas, with its 29 million residents, goes further than similar actions in other states and cities that are rushing to ease as many limits as they can.... All around the country, governors and mayors are calibrating what is feasible, what is safe and what is politically practical.... 'I know people are tired; they want to get back to life, to normal,' Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. 'But we're not there yet.' The divergent guidance has left many Americans in a quandary: wondering whether to follow the lure of optimism, as some officials in California, Michigan and North Carolina endorsed widespread reopenings of businesses and schools, or to heed their own lingering concerns about the virus and the warnings of federal health officials who have said it is premature to lift too many limits." ~~~

~~~ In Mississippi's capital Jackson, thousands of homes haven't had running water since the same winter storm that devastated Texas, and the whole town is under a boil-water advisory. Evidently, Mississippi's governor thinks a dangerous distraction would help: ~~~

~~~ Mississippi. Jacob Gallant & Courtney Jackson of WLBT Jackson: "Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is massively scaling back COVID-19 protocols in Mississippi. He is replacing all current executive orders with 'recommendations.' This effectively ends all mask mandates within the state. it also means businesses will be able to operate under full capacity with no restrictions."

Herman Wong of the Washington Post: "Dolly Parton, the country music legend who wrote 'Jolene' -- and updated its lyrics for the coronavirus era -- was in Nashville on Tuesday to get the Moderna vaccine, which she helped fund. Amid swaths of vaccine skepticism in the United States, prominent politicians and celebrities have received their shots publicly to encourage others to sign up. Parton's Instagram video came as President Biden said the country would have enough vaccine doses for every adult by the end of May, earlier than July, as previously announced, bringing the promise of a more normal summer." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That vaccination-ready sparkly dress is the best, isn't it? I just ordered myself a "vaccination sweater." Thanks, Dolly!

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "The largest power cooperative in Texas filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, citing a massive bill from the state's electricity grid operator following last month's winter storm that left millions of residents without power for days. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to court documents reviewed by NPR. The company in court documents says it received an essentially unpayable $1.8 billion bill from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the entity that maintains and operates much of the state's electricity grid. Brazos Electric is the wholesale energy provider for its 16-member cooperative.... Brazos said in court documents that the company was in solid financial shape leading up to the late February cold storm.... Dozens of other energy providers face enormous charges for electricity and other fees during February's freak winter storm in Texas. Many others may also face bills that list billions of dollars in charges." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Evidently Gov. Greg doesn't want Texas voters to think about the energy fiasco, so he's changing the subject -- and of course, by rescinding the state's mask mandate & opening Texas "100 percent," making matters worse for Texans, and for the rest of us.

News Lede

New York Times: "Vernon E. Jordan Jr., the civil rights leader and Washington power broker whose private counsel was sought by the powerful at the top levels of government and the corporate world, died on Monday at his home in Washington. He was 85.... Mr. Jordan, who was raised in segregation-era Atlanta..., went on to a dazzlingly successful career as a civil-rights leader and then a high-powered Washington lawyer in the mold of past capital insiders like Clark M. Clifford, Robert S. Strauss and Lloyd M. Cutler. Along the way he cultivated a who's who of younger Black leaders, inviting them to monthly one-on-one lunches, dispensing advice on everything from what to read to what to wear and using his unmatched influence to promote their careers in business, politics and the nonprofit world."

The Commentariat -- March 2, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "Without naming [Amazon] specifically, President Biden said in a video posted late Sunday that he supports the organizing drive in Bessemer, Ala. 'Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace,' Biden said in a video shared on Twitter. 'This is vitally important -- a vitally important choice, as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the reckoning on race -- what it reveals is the deep disparities that still exist in our country.'... More than 5,800 warehouse workers at the facility are voting this month whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The mail-in ballot election runs through March 29 and could be the first Amazon warehouse union in the United States. If successful, it would also be a major victory for labor organizing in the South, a region difficult for union success."

Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said Tuesday that his agents are pursuing roughly 2,000 domestic terrorism cases -- a huge spike as the FBI tries to show it is taking the threat of such attacks seriously in the wake of January-s pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol.... Wray also defended the bureau's handling of intelligence in advance of the attack on the Capitol, asserting that agents rapidly shared what they were learning with other law enforcement agencies, but conceding that FBI officials will review internal practices because Jan. 6, was not an 'acceptable result.'

"Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee chairman, pressed Wray on how the bureau shared a situation report, prepared by the FBI's Norfolk field office a day before the riot, which warned of specific appeals for violence -- including a call for 'war' at the Capitol.... Wray said the report was shared in three ways -- sent by email to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the D.C. and Capitol Police; posted on a law enforcement web portal; and mentioned in a command center briefing in D.C....Wray ... said that he had not been briefed on the information before Jan. 6 either. Wray said he believed the report was handled in accordance with standard FBI practice." See also Jeanne's & Anonymous's commentary below. ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday that the Jan. 6 insurrection has been 'an inspiration to a number of terrorist extremists' -- foreign and domestic -- and that the bureau is still eyeing whether any foreign actors might seek to infiltrate domestic groups to exploit vulnerabilities. Wray also said he considers the siege 'domestic terrorism' and is deploying intensive resources in every field office to pursue perpetrators.... Wray declined to disclose the cause of death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died following the insurrection, and he evaded saying whether a cause of death had been determined."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "U.S. prosecutors alleged for the first time that a Washington state leader of the Proud Boys was nominated by members of the group to take charge of the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6 and carried out a plan to split into groups to break into the building from as many points as possible. In a 24-page filing Monday, U.S. prosecutors asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to keep Ethan Nordean, 30, of Seattle, in jail pending trial, appealing a lower court's Feb. 8 release order. Nordean was 'nominated from within to have "war powers"' to lead activities at the Capitol after the group's chairman, Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, was arrested by D.C. police upon arriving in the city two days earlier, Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Jason B.A. McCullough alleged. They do not state whether Nordean and/or others were formally selected to lead events that day."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court seemed poised on Tuesday to uphold two Arizona voting restrictions, one requiring election officials to discard ballots cast at the wrong precinct and the other making it a crime for campaign workers, community activists and most other people to collect ballots for delivery to polling places, a practice critics call 'ballot harvesting.' Several members of the court's conservative majority said the restrictions were sensible, commonplace and at least partly endorsed by a bipartisan consensus reflected in a 2005 report signed by former President Jimmy Carter and James A. Baker III, who served as secretary of state under President George Bush. The Biden administration, too, told the justices in an unusual letter two weeks ago that the Arizona measures appeared to be lawful." MB: Yeah, making black people guess the correct number of jellybeans was "lawful" in some places, too, but that doesn't make it right.

Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "The largest power cooperative in Texas filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, citing a massive bill from the state's electricity grid operator following last month's winter storm that left millions of residents without power for days. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to court documents reviewed by NPR. The company in court documents says it received an essentially unpayable $1.8 billion bill from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the entity that maintains and operates much of the state's electricity grid. Brazos Electric is the wholesale energy provider for its 16-member cooperative.... Brazos said in court documents that the company was in solid financial shape leading up to the late February cold storm.... Dozens of other energy providers face enormous charges for electricity and other fees during February's freak winter storm in Texas. Many others may also face bills that list billions of dollars in charges." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

~~~ Evidently Gov. Greg doesn't want Texas voters to think about the energy fiasco, so he's changing the subject -- and of course making matters worse for Texans, and for the rest of us: ~~~

Amir Vera of CNN: Texas "Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he's lifting the mask mandate in Texas, even as health officials warn not to ease safety restrictions. Abbott made the announcement during a Lubbock Chamber of Commerce event where he issued an executive order rescinding most of his earlier executive orders like the mask mandate. Also announced Tuesday, Abbott said businesses of any type will be allowed to open 100% beginning March 10. Abbott's announcement comes as Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to drop across the country. However, health experts say relaxing restrictions now could lead to another surge, especially with the variants spreading." Thanks to RAS for the link.

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

Laurie McGinley & Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "President Biden will announce Tuesday that pharmaceutical giant Merck will help make Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine -- an unusual pact between fierce competitors that could sharply boost the supply of the newly authorized vaccine, according to senior administration officials." Politico's story is here.

Anne Gearan & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday announced punitive sanctions on senior Russian government figures over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and reiterated a demand that Navalny be released from detention. The sanctions block access to financial or other assets in the United States for seven top figures around Russian President Vladimir Putin. They are largely symbolic, but represent the first Biden administration action against Russia. U.S. officials who described the measures said they are a signal that the new administration will treat Russia differently than the Trump administration did." A CNN story is here.

Hey, you know all those Antifa guys we've been hearing about who were masquerading as Trump supporters in the January 6 insurrection? Well, there is this guy: ~~~

~~~ Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, William Robert Norwood III texted a group of friends and family to boast he had traveled to D.C. with a plan to fool the police. 'I'm dressing in all black,' Norwood texted a group chat on Jan. 5, according to images included in a federal criminal complaint filed last week. 'I'll look just like ANTIFA. I'll get away with anything.' Then, after joining in the mob, assaulting police officers and storming the Capitol rotunda, federal agents said, Norwood texted the group again to boast that his ploy had been a success. 'It worked,' Norwood texted, along with photos of himself wearing a police officer's vest that he allegedly took from the Capitol. 'I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for.' Norwood was arrested in Greer, S.C., on Feb. 25 and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of justice and Congress, theft of government property and other charges."

Amanda Watts & Leah Asmelash of CNN: "Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because they 'portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,' the business that preserves the author's legacy said. The titles are: 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street'; 'If I Ran the Zoo'; 'McElligot's Pool'; 'On Beyond Zebra!'; 'Scrambled Eggs Super!'; 'The Cat's Quizzer'.... Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it made the decision after consulting educators and reviewing its catalog.... Dr. Seuss had a long history of publishing racist and anti-Semitic work, spanning back to the 1920s when he was a student at Dartmouth College. There, Dr. Seuss once drew Black boxers as gorillas and perpetuated Jewish stereotypes by portraying Jewish characters as financially stingy, according to a study published in the journal 'Research on Diversity in Youth Literature.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When I was a toddler, my favorite book was "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street." I do recall a blatantly stereotypical Chinese guy in it. I just took a look at the book again. And there's more. There is also an Italian guy, I presume, dressed in Roman garb; some Inuits, I guess, in furry snowsuits; a presumably Indian 'rajah" in a turban, fancy shirt & pointy-toed shoes; and cops, at least one of whom ("Sergeant Mulvaney") is Irish. All of the people are the same color -- white. There are zebras, but no African characters. And here's something: I don't think the book made me even slightly racist. If anything, I thought people in different parts of the world wore different kinds of clothing and rode on different kinds of conveyances (like chariots & sleds & elephants). I guess if the reader (my father, in this case) isn't racist, the little hearer & viewer of "Mulberry Street" won't be, either.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mark Stevenson, et al., of the AP: "As President Joe Biden looks to dismantle the last administration's hardline immigration agenda, he worked Monday to build a partnership with someone who found an unexpected understanding with Donald Trump: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Biden and López Obrador met for a virtual bilateral meeting, with immigration, the coronavirus pandemic and climate issues on the agenda. Looming large was how the two leaders would get along in what has become an increasingly complicated relationship.... Lopez Obrador came to the meeting with his own checklist of priorities, including pressing Biden to give pharmaceutical company Pfizer permission to sell his country vaccine produced in the United States, something that Canada has also requested from the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden on Monday sought help from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico in averting a new crisis at the border, hoping for diplomatic cooperation from one of the key supporters of the harsh tactics imposed by Mr. Biden's predecessor to choke off immigration.... Facing an uptick of illegal migrant crossings at some parts of the southwestern border, Mr. Biden is now hoping that Mr. López Obrador wil become a partner in preventing another cycle of out-of-control migration from Central America, but that he will do so without resorting to the full range of policies Mr. Trump embraced. The Mexican president appeared open to collaboration, issuing a joint statement committing to address climate change, the pandemic and migration north."

Michael Stratford of Politico: "The Senate confirmed Miguel Cardona to lead the Education Department on Monday, adding to President Joe Biden's Cabinet a key official who will help lead the administration's efforts to reopen schools amid the pandemic. Cardona, the commissioner of education in Connecticut, becomes the 12th person to be confirmed as secretary of Education. He takes on the role at a time of unprecedented tumult and disruption in the nation's schools and colleges, which have been roiled for nearly a full year by the pandemic.... The Senate voted 64-33 in favor of the nomination, with 14 Republicans joining Democrats to back Cardona."

Brian Slodysko of the AP: "As Congress begins debate this week on sweeping voting and ethics legislation, Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If signed into law, it would usher in the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections law in at least a generation. House Resolution 1, Democrats' 791-page bill, would touch virtually every aspect of the electoral process -- striking down hurdles to voting erected in the name of election security, curbing partisan gerrymandering and curtailing the influence of big money in politics. Republicans see those very measures as threats that would both limit the power of states to conduct elections and ultimately benefit Democrats, notably with higher turnout among minority voters.... Despite staunch GOP opposition, the bill is all but certain to pass the House when it's scheduled for a floor vote Wednesday. But challenges lie ahead in the Senate...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rashad Robinson, in a USA Today op-ed: "The nature of the filibuster, its rules and norms ... has changed and adapted greatly over the years since it first became popular in the civil rights era. But what hasn't changed is its enduring connection to racism. The filibuster has always stood in the way of racial progress, whether employed by Southern Democrats of the Jim Crow era or the Republican Party today after a major shift in the party's stance on racial equality. When you understand the filibuster's racist past, it becomes clear that it has a racist present as well -- and that we need to get rid of it.... The Republican Party decades ago launched a four-part strategy to hijack government to the will of the minority. The filibuster is the prime (but not only) example of the first part, which is changing and abusing the rules of representative government to give more and more power to fewer and fewer people."

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, introduced legislation on Monday that would tax the net worth of the wealthiest people in America, a proposal aimed at persuading President Biden and other Democrats to fund sweeping new federal spending programs by taxing the richest Americans. Ms. Warren's wealth tax would apply a 2 percent tax to individual net worth -- including the value of stocks, houses, boats and anything else a person owns, after subtracting out any debts -- above $50 million. It would add an additional 1 percent surcharge for net worth above $1 billion. It is co-sponsored in the House by two Democratic representatives, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, a moderate." (Also linked yesterday.)

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Just eight weeks after the Capitol riot, some of the most prominent groups that participated are fracturing amid a torrent of backbiting and finger-pointing. The fallout will determine the future of some of the most high-profile far-right organizations and raises the specter of splinter groups that could make the movement even more dangerous.... The shake-up is driven in part by the large number of arrests in the aftermath of the Capitol riot and the subsequent crackdown on some groups by law enforcement.... After the Capitol siege..., accusations about informants and undercover agents have been particularly pointed." MB: What? What? You mean radical, grievance-driven nutjobs can't get along?

Big Lie No. 2. Michael Grynbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "At 1:51 p.m. on Jan. 6, a right-wing radio host named Michael D. Brown wrote on Twitter that rioters had breached the United States Capitol -- and immediately speculated..., 'Antifa or BLM or other insurgents could be doing it disguised as Trump supporters,' Mr. Brown wrote.... What happened over the next 12 hours illustrated the speed and the scale of a right-wing disinformation machine primed to seize on a lie that served its political interests and quickly spread it as truth to a receptive audience. The weekslong fiction about a stolen election that ... Donald J. Trump pushed to his millions of supporters had set the stage for a new and equally false iteration: that left-wing agitators were responsible for the attack on the Capitol.... History was being rewritten in real time.... Nearly two months after the attack, the claim that antifa was involved has been repeatedly debunked by federal authorities, but it has hardened into gospel among hard-line Trump supporters, by voters and sanctified by elected officials in the party."

I requested ... I definitely gave the number of 10,000 National Guardsmen, and [said] I think you should have 10,000 of the National Guard ready.... From what I understand, they gave it to the people at the Capitol, which is controlled by Pelosi. And I heard they rejected it because they didn't think it would look good. So, you know, that was a big mistake. -- Donald Trump, February 28

On the day before the Jan. 6 rally, Trump appears to have mentioned 10,000 National Guard troops at a White House meeting on an unrelated matter. Contrary to his statement, he did not make a request or any sort of order to dispatch the troops.... Trump goes further afield when he claims that his number was raised with the Capitol Police and that Pelosi, in 'a big mistake,' rejected the offer of so many troops. That's just fantasy. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Vance Plays Squeeze the Accountant. Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "State prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating ... Donald J. Trump and his family business are sharpening their focus on the company's long-serving chief financial officer, asking witnesses questions about his dealings at the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The increased focus on the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation if the prosecutors unearth evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He has served as the Trump Organization's financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company. In recent weeks, the prosecutors working for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., have been interviewing witnesses who know Mr. Weisselberg and have asked at least one witness about Mr. Weisselberg's sons, Barry and Jack Weisselberg, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter. Barry Weisselberg has been the property manager of Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park, and Jack works at Ladder Capital, one of Mr. Trump's biggest lenders."

Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "The Fulton County (GA) district attorney's office will appear before a grand jury starting this week to begin seeking subpoenas for evidence about ... Donald Trump's alleged solicitation of election fraud in January." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution story is here.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: “Amid the stream of delusion, depravity, malevolence and megalomania that characterized Donald Trump's speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, one message should be regarded as arguably more important than all the others combined.... The former president told his audience that the Republican Party's success in coming years depends, in no small part, on its commitment to being an anti-democracy party.... As expected, Trump's CPAC speech doubled down on the big lie that the election was stolen from him.... But embedded in that big lie was an unintentional truth. It was revealed when Trump uncorked an extended riff suggesting that the GOP's future prospects depend on what he called 'election reforms.' By 'election reforms,' Trump actually meant a redoubled commitment to making it harder to vote.... We know this, because he said so: He went on to declare that Democrats had used the 'China virus' as an 'excuse' to make vote-by-mail easier." ~~~

~~~ Jim Crow Goes Nationwide. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "The Republican Party's biggest problem is that too many people of color are exercising their right to vote. The party's solution is a massive push for voter suppression that would make old-time Jim Crow segregationists proud.... The GOP may have lost the White House and the Senate, but it remains strong in most state capitols. So far this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, Republicans in 33 states 'have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 165 bills to restrict voting access.' The thrust of virtually all these measures is to make it more difficult for African Americans and other minorities to vote."

Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Images of the CPAC stage went viral this weekend as many noted a resemblance to the Odal or Othala Rune, a symbol emblazoned on some Nazi uniforms. The Anti-Defamation League has classified the insignia as a hate symbol that has been adopted by modern day white supremacists. CPAC's organizers vehemently denied any link between the stage design and the Nazi symbology, calling the criticism 'outrageous and slanderous.'... As the controversy continued on Sunday, Hyatt Hotels said in a statement that it had addressed the concerns with the conference and denounced any use of hate symbols.... The blowback comes after CPAC organizers disinvited a scheduled speaker, social media figure Young Pharaoh, after liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America reported he had made antisemitic comments on Twitter. Pharaoh tweeted that Judaism is a 'complete lie' and 'made up for political gain,' and said Jews are 'thieving.'... Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, claimed that the shape is an 'antifa symbol.'" ~~~

~~~ Nur Ibrahim of Snopes says claims that CPAC intentionally set the stage, so to speak, in the form of the Nazi symbol is "unproven."

Bushie Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "The [Republican] party has been swiftly repositioned as an instrument of white grievance. It refuses to condemn racists within its congressional ranks. Its main national legislative agenda seems to be the suppression of minority voting. Trumpism is defined by the belief that real Americans are beset by internal threats from migrants, Muslims, multiculturalists, Black Lives Matter activists, antifa militants and various thugs, gangbangers and whiners.... The largest single group within the new GOP coalition is comprised of people who claim to be evangelical Christians. And the view of human beings implied by Trumpism is a direct negation of Christian teaching (as well as many other systems of belief)."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Alayna Treene of Axios: "Former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump were both vaccinated at the White House in January, a Trump adviser tells Axios..... Trump declared at CPAC on Sunday that "everybody" should get the coronavirus vaccine -- the first time he's encouraged his supporters, who have been more skeptical of getting vaccinated, to do so." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) MB: Obviously, any real president would have made a big public show of getting a life-saving vaccine to encourage his vaccine-averse base to save their own lives, if only so they might live to vote for him again. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The secret approach by Mr. Trump came as a number of his supporters have expressed resistance to the vaccine, and as other officials have tried setting an example by getting the shot in public.... Mr. Trump's concern about the vaccine has generally been about whether he is getting credit for its development while he was president. He never publicly encouraged people to take it while he was in office; the first vaccines were approved shortly after Election Day." MB: In fairness to Trump, he didn't want to disappoint fans of his "strongman" image when they saw him bawl like a baby as the needle penetrated his fat arm.

~~~ "A Number of Supporters" Indeed. Tim O'Donnell of Yahoo! News: "As the United States adds another COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal and ramps up its distribution drive, potentially pushing the country closer toward herd immunity, concerns about vaccine hesitancy among the population remain. But overall, it seems, people are growing increasingly comfortable with getting a shot.... Additionally, while much has been made about hesitancy, driven by historical distrust in the U.S. health care system, among communities of color, Black and Latino Americans have rapidly and consistently joined the ranks of people who want a shot, polling conducted by Civiqs between November and February shows, per Axios. Overall, white Americans are now less likely to get vaccinated, and the stance is largely split along party lines. [As Deen Freelon tweeted,] 'Black vax hesitancy makes headlines, but the most reluctant group by far is white Republicans -- a much larger group.'" Emphasis added. MB: How many more Trumpists would get vaccines if Donzo & Melanie had made a show of getting their shots?

Beyond the Beltway

Louisiana. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "The George Washington Carver High School basketball team had built a huge early lead in its playoff game in New Orleans on Saturday when John Shallerhorn tried to walk into the gym. But Shallerhorn, 35, wasn't wearing a mask, so a staffer blocked his way, police said. When Shallerhorn punched the staffer, Tulane University police officer Martinus Mitchum, who was working security for the team, rushed to help. That's when Shallerhorn pulled a gun, police said, and fatally shot Mitchum, 38, in the chest, sending players and fans scurrying for safety.... Other deputies on the scene quickly arrested Shallerhorn.... Shallerhorn ... was ... charged with multiple felonies including murder of a police officer, had also robbed someone outside the game before coming inside, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by nola.com. He confessed to the killing, police said, and was ordered held without bail."

New York. Close Encounters of the Creepy Kind. Matt Flegenheimer & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Anna Ruch ... met Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ... at a crowded New York City wedding reception in September 2019.... The governor was working the room after toasting the newlyweds, and when he came upon Ms. Ruch, now 33..., Mr. Cuomo put his hand on Ms. Ruch's bare lower back, she said in an interview on Monday. When she removed his hand with her own, Ms. Ruch recalled, the governor remarked that she seemed 'aggressive' and placed his hands on her cheeks. He asked if he could kiss her, loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. Ms. Ruch was bewildered by the entreaty, she said, and pulled away as the governor drew closer.... 'It's the act of impunity that strikes me,' Ms. Ruch said. 'I didn't have a choice in that matter. I didn't have a choice in his physical dominance over me at that moment....'... The initial stages of a pending investigation into Mr. Cuomo's actions [are] underway inside the offices of the state attorney general, Letitia James, who was evaluating options [Monday] for an outside investigator." A photo of the encounter accompanies the article. MB: It's clear from the photo Ruch is telling the truth, that Cuomo was bullying her into submission. The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "A former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who has accused the governor of sexual harassment said on Monday that the governor 'has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior' and encouraged other women with similar experiences to step forward. The aide, Charlotte Bennett, said in a statement on Monday that Mr. Cuomo's response to her claims, and that of another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, indicated that he did not actually want the truth of his actions to be reported. 'As we know, abusers -- particularly those with tremendous amounts of power -- are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences,' Ms. Bennett said. 'It took the governor 24 hours and significant backlash to allow for a truly independent investigation. These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood; they are the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Huh. So Bennett doesn't think claiming you were just "being playful" is "taking responsibility for predatory behavior." Imagine that. ~~~

~~~ Sonia Moghe & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... as New York Attorney General Letitia James announced she could move forward with an independent investigation on the same day one of [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo's accusers cast him as an abuser who 'wields his power to avoid justice.' Following concerns about Cuomo's role in shaping the probe, James announced that she has received the letter she needs to launch an independent investigation. The letter was sent to James' office by Beth Garvey, special counsel and senior adviser to Cuomo on Monday, and asks James to select an independent law firm to conduct an inquiry into 'allegations of and circumstances surrounding sexual harassment claims made against the Governor.' The letter also directs all New York state employees to cooperate fully with the review and notes that Cuomo will forgo weekly updates on the investigation, to which he would otherwise be entitled."