The Conversation -- March 9, 2024

When I took office..., I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas. That's where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12. She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped. The cartels put her on a mattress in a shoebox of a room, and they sent men through that door over and over again for hours and hours on end. We wouldn't be ok with this happening in a third world country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it. President Biden's border policies are a disgrace. -- Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), rebuttal to the SOTU speech ~~~

~~~ ** Rapes that Occurred 20 Years Ago (during the Bush II Administration) are Biden's Fault. Rebecca Picciotto of CNBC: "In her Thursday rebuttal to [President] Biden's State of the Union, Britt referenced a visit to the Del Rio sector of the Texas border where she had a seemingly private conversation with someone who had survived sex trafficking by groups in the U.S.... The woman in question was later found out to be Karla Jacinto Romero, an activist who has publicly testified about her experience with sex trafficking, which took place from 2004 to 2008 in Guadalajara and other Mexican cities. Britt seemingly attempted to present the anecdote as a damning example of Biden's border management.... But Jacinto Romero did not experience sex trafficking in the U.S. as a result of Biden's border policy -- because he was not president from 2004 to 2008 and because she was sex trafficked in Mexico. Britt visited the Del Rio area in January 2023 on a joint trip with Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. During that trip, Jacinto Romero appeared at a press conference with Britt, Blackburn and Hyde-Smith where she publicly relayed her grueling sex-trafficking story. Jacinto Romero is an advocate for sex-trafficking victims and has repeatedly shared her story in testimony to U.S. Congress, the Mexican House of Representatives and the Vatican.... Journalist Jonathan Katz first pieced together Britt's presentation of Jacinto Romero's experience in a TikTok video on Friday." Thank to laura h. for the link to Katz's TikTok video. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the kind of emotional manipulation and truth-twisting that really pisses me off. In fairness to Britt, perhaps it's the best a powerless housewife, bound to the kitchen, can do.

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No Way to Run a Country. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate gave final approval on Friday to a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half the federal government through the fall, sending the legislation to President Biden's desk with just hours to spare to avert a partial shutdown. The lopsided 75-to-22 vote cemented a resolution to at least part of a spending stalemate that consumed Congress for months and has repeatedly pushed the government to the edge of shutdown. Funding had been set to lapse at midnight, but the White House said that the executive branch was halting shutdown preparations and that Mr. Biden would sign the bill on Saturday. Top lawmakers were still negotiating spending bills for the other half of the government over the same period, including for the Pentagon, which Congress must pass by March 22 to avert a shutdown. Several thorny issues, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security, have yet to be resolved."

Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) laid into Republicans for their 'political stunts' at Thursday night's State of the Union address, calling them 'a complete embarrassment!' During his weekly press briefing on Friday, Jeffries brought visual aids to illustrate his point that 'Extreme MAGA Republicans' had no 'decorum.' Two enlarged photos were set up on easels beside Jeffries; one of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wearing a red MAGA hat sporting the number '45' [MB: House rules forbit wearing hats in the chamber] and shouting while the president spoke, and the other of disgraced Rep. George Santos (D-NY) sitting next to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) before he was asked to give up his spot so that 'current members would have a seat.'"

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Katie Britt's Republican response to Joe Biden's State of the Union address drew responses ranging from the baffled to the satirical to the appalled, even among fellow right-wingers.... 'It's one of our biggest disasters ever,' [an] unnamed Republican strategist told the Daily Beast.... Britt's speech, delivered with overt theatricality, oscillating in tone between the wholesome and the wholly horrific, did not land well even in her own party." Oh, read on for some takes on Britt's kitchen-table performance. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BUT the whole Katie Kaper was a great ploy to get the female vote. First, you nominate a mob-boss type who admits to and laughs about sexually assaulting women and who has been found liable for sexual assault/rape. Then, you send out an attractive younger woman to use her scary voices to remind Americans just how terrifying rape is and how mob bosses traffic young women as unpaid prostitutes and subject them to rape many times a day. See also commentary is yesterday's Comments about Breathless Alabama Housewife Katie Britt. ~~~

~~~ Mr. Potato Head Liked It! Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Asked if he had concerns with the setting of Britt's speech ― she delivered it in her home kitchen in Alabama, which some on the left and right found in poor taste ― [fellow Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy] Tuberville said he didn't, because 'she was picked as a housewife, not just a senator.'" MB: I'm wondering why, if Katie is such a great example of a housewife, she wasn't doing anything useful in the kitchen. As I pointed out in yesterday's thread, she could have been slicing up Mr. Potato Head. Or at the very least least, she could have got her husband a beer out of the fridge & popped the top. Akhilleus speculated yesterday that Britt might be barefoot and pregnant, but I don't think those are excuses for a housewife's shirking KP duty.

Benjamin Weiser & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Friday posted a nearly $92 million bond in a defamation case he recently lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, a move that will allow him to appeal the verdict without having to pay Ms. Carroll. A federal jury awarded Ms. Carroll $83.3 million in January, and Mr. Trump recently asked that the judgment be paused. The judge presiding over the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, denied Mr. Trump's request for a preliminary reprieve, putting pressure on Mr. Trump to either come up with the money himself or secure a bond from an outside company. With a Monday deadline looming, Mr. Trump secured the $91.6 million bond, which is higher than the $83.3 million judgment because the former president is also responsible for interest" At 11:30 am ET, this is a developing story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kara Scannell of CNN: "Insurance company Chubb underwrote the bond for Trump, which the former president signed on Tuesday. Under the terms of the bond, Chubb will only secure the appeal of the $83.3 million judgment, not any future appeals." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Julia Mueller of the Hill: "President Biden is not ruling out debating former President Trump, as the pair prepare for a likely head-to-head match-up in November's presidential election. 'It depends on his behavior,' Biden said when asked Friday whether he'd commit to a debate with the former president. Trump, who skipped every Republican presidential primary debate held this cycle, even as the race winnowed to just two top GOP contenders, renewed calls this week for Biden to debate him ahead of Election Day." MB: If you stop throwing catsup at the wall, Donnie, we might let you sit at the grownups' table next time.

Jones Hayden of Politico: "Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Florida on Friday to visit Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, in a meeting blasted by U.S. President Joe Biden.... The meeting continued Trump's embrace of autocratic leaders pushing back against democratic traditions.... Biden said of Trump: 'You know who he's meeting with today down in Mar-a-Lago? Orbán of Hungary, who's stated flatly that he doesn't thinks democracy works, he's looking for dictatorship.... I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it,' Biden added, during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Friday.... Trump praised Orbán in a video post. 'There's nobody that's better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He's fantastic,' Trump said. 'He's a noncontroversial figure because he said "This is the way it's gonna be," and that's the end of it. He's the boss.'"

Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee formally elected Trump's choices of Michael Whatley and Lara Trump -- the former president's daughter-in-law, who was accompanied at the meeting by her husband, Eric -- as its two highest-ranking officers at a meeting here Friday. The RNC's operations will be run by a top adviser to Trump's campaign, Chris LaCivita."

Alayna Treene, et al., of CNN: "Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, stepped down from her role Friday as Donald Trump looks to reshape the party now that he is its presumptive presidential nominee." MB: I wonder if Ronna Romney McDaniel will get her whole name back now -- not that she'll be invited to the Romney family picnic anytime soon. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration won a major legal victory Friday in its effort to reduce illegal immigration at the southern border, when a federal judge in Texas ruled the government may continue a program that accepts 360,000 migrants a year from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, who has ruled against other Biden administration immigration policies, said Republican opponents of the program, known as parole, for those countries failed to prove that their states were being harmed by it. The parole expansion is a key part of President Biden's border policy...."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

CNN's live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The EU hopes to launch a new maritime corridor this weekend to bring much needed aid to Gaza.... Israel welcomed the move but has been criticized for not allowing in enough aid. A road being built by the Israeli military splitting Gaza in two has reached the Mediterranean coast, a CNN analysis of satellite imagery shows. It's part of a security plan to control the territory for months and possibly years to come, Israeli officials have said.... At least five people were killed Friday when airdropped aid packages fell on them at a camp west of Gaza City, a journalist there said."

Hot Mic Moment. Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Thursday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel were headed toward a 'come-to-Jesus meeting' over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to an audio clip of the president's remarks posted on social media on Friday.... The president's ... comments were captured on a hot microphone during what Mr. Biden thought was a private exchange with Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, after the State of the Union address. According to a recording of the conversation, Mr. Bennet encouraged the president to 'keep pushing' on the issue of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.... 'I told him, "Bibi" -- don't repeat this -- I said, "You and I are going to = have a come-to-Jesus meeting,"' Mr. Biden said.... Mr. Biden was informed by an aide that his microphone was still on and that the conversation was being recorded. 'I'm on a hot mic here?' Mr. Biden said. 'Good. That's good.'"

The Conversation -- March 8, 2024

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Katie Britt's Republican response to Joe Biden's State of the Union address drew responses ranging from the baffled to the satirical to the appalled, even among fellow right-wingers.... 'It's one of our biggest disasters ever,' [an] unnamed Republican strategist told the Daily Beast.... Britt's speech, delivered with overt theatricality, oscillating in tone between the wholesome and the wholly horrific, did not land well even in her own party.” Oh, read on for some takes on Britt's kitchen-table performance.

Alayna Treene, et al., of CNN: "Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, stepped down from her role Friday as Donald Trump looks to reshape the party now that he is its presumptive presidential nominee." MB: I wonder if Ronna Romney McDaniel will get her whole name back now -- not that she'll be invited to the Romney family picnic anytime soon.

Benjamin Weiser & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Friday posted a nearly $92 million bond in a defamation case he recently lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, a move that will allow him to appeal the verdict without having to pay Ms. Carroll. A federal jury awarded Ms. Carroll $83.3 million in January, and Mr. Trump recently asked that the judgment be paused. The judge presiding over the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, denied Mr. Trump's request for a preliminary reprieve, putting pressure on Mr. Trump to either come up with the money himself or secure a bond from an outside company. With a Monday deadline looming, Mr. Trump secured the $91.6 million bond, which is higher than the $83.3 million judgment because the former president is also responsible for interest." At 11:30 am ET, this is a developing story. ~~~

     ~~~ Kara Scannell of CNN: "Insurance company Chubb underwrote the bond for Trump, which the former president signed on Tuesday. Under the terms of the bond, Chubb will only secure the appeal of the $83.3 million judgment, not any future appeals."

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President Biden's State of the Union Address

My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor. Now, other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That's not me. I was born amid World War II, when American stood for the freedom of the world. -- President Biden, SOTU

Tyler Pager & Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address Thursday night, making a forceful case for a second term while attacking ... Donald Trump as a threat to individual rights, freedom and democracy. Biden engaged in repeated exchanges with Republican lawmakers in the House chamber, at times, turning the address into a form of political theater as he seemingly taunted his opponents in an attempt to spotlight policy disagreements on the economy, immigration and abortion. Unlike a traditional State of the Union address consisting of a laundry list of policy goals, Biden started assailing Trump less than four minutes into his speech, blasting him for suggesting that he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to NATO allies that did not spend enough on defense.... Republicans shout[ed] out to interrupt Biden midsentence on multiple occasions as he criticized their positions on issues including taxes, Social Security and immigration. Biden and his team had clearly anticipated the disruptions, and the president was ready with retorts." The AP's story is here.

Here's the full address, including President Biden's entering the chamber. He takes the podium at about 26 minutes in: ~~~

Here are the President's remarks as prepared, via the White House.

Here's the Guardian's highlights video. Great moment at about 2:10 minutes in, where Republicans heckle the President over the bipartisan immigration bill: ~~~

Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, under attack both at home and overseas. -- President Biden, SOTU

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against ... Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but made clear was a dire threat to American democracy and stability in the world. In a televised speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Biden brought the energy his allies and aides had hoped he would display to warn of what could happen should Ukraine continue to lose ground to Russia. Invoking an overseas war at the top of his address was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his re-election.... Mr. Biden used his time in front of one of the biggest audiences he will have before the November election to tell Americans that personal freedoms, diplomatic relationships and democratic rule in the United States are at stake if Mr. Trump is re-elected. Mr. Biden assailed Mr. Trump for his soft treatment of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... He called out the former president's behavior, including Mr. Trump's lie that Mr. Biden had stolen the 2020 election from him. 'You can't love your country only when you win,' Mr. Biden said....

"Mr. Biden also tried to quell dissatisfaction within his own party over his handling of the conflict in Gaza. Earlier on Thursday, the Biden administration said the United States would build a temporary seaport off Gaza to assist with the delivery of humanitarian aid. 'Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,' Mr. Biden said.... Mr. Biden focused extensively on reproductive rights, which have become a galvanizing issue for his party.... 'Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women,' Mr. Biden said. 'But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and we won in 2022, 2023, and we'll win again in 2024.'" This is the pinned item of a liveblog. Here are some other entries.

Peter Baker: "Biden is delivering a feisty, confrontational and loud speech, demonstrating energy in part through volume and defiance in a clear effort to dispel concerns about his age. He has mangled words a few times and coughed occasionally, but he has gone off the TelePrompter repeatedly to engage in vigorous back-and-forth with Republican hecklers."

Lisa Lerer: "It is notable that Republicans did not stand for Biden's calls to increase humanitarian aid or for the region to find a two-state solution, which was long the standard thinking among presidents of both parties."

Erica Green: "Vice President Kamala Harris, who delivered the most forceful and critical assessment of the conditions of Gaza we've heard from the administration during a speech in Selma this weekend, stood and clapped for all of President Biden's references to the humanitarian catastrophe and the need for Israel to do more to allow for the delivery of aid to suffering Palestinians. Speaker Johnson, notably, did not."

Lerer: "The president was energetic, feisty with his Republican opponents and loose. He both laid out a contrast with Trump -- calling him just his 'predecessor' -- and some ideas for what he would try to do with a second term.... I've already heard from some Biden allies who are very happy with this performance."

Jim Tankersley: "So much of Biden's economic storytelling tonight seemed squarely targeted at young voters: student loans, housing costs, even shrinkflation. He often sped through his message on the strength of the recovery from recession. But he lingered on what aides have been saying for days would be a central theme: trying to label Trump as the candidate of the wealthy and corporations, and himself as a fighter for workers."

Gaya Gupta: "In white pantsuits, turtlenecks and scarves, Democratic women stood out once again in a sea of dark suits at the State of the Union address on Thursday night, wearing suffragist white as a form of solidarity and protest against ... Donald J. Trump."

Shane Goldmacher: "Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Biden's speech on CNN, and specifically how he handled the question of his age, while noting she is older than he is. 'Hard for anyone at any age to give that performance,' Pelosi said, later adding of him leaning into his age: 'What are you going to do? You can't make yourself younger.'"

Michael Shear: "Steve Nikoui, the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed in 2021 during the evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for interrupting President Biden during his State of the Union address, according to Capitol Police."

Rebecca O'Brien: "Presiding over his first State of the Union address as speaker of the House, Mike Johnson sat at center stage, just over President Biden's left shoulder, with one of the worst poker faces in American politics. His eyebrows arched and fell. He pursed his lips. He couldn't decide whether he should stand up, smile or frown. He smirked. He corrected himself. He sort of rolled his eyes. He looked down. He sighed. He shook his head. He swallowed. He smiled again. He looked amused and patient when he clearly intended to look serious and not pleased at all.... 'I am afraid he may have practiced it in front of a mirror,' said the presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.... Part of Mr. Johnson's challenge was one of contrast. Seated to his right, Vice President Kamala Harris managed to appear both relaxed and disciplined, her face always on message."

And a few words about the GOP rebuttal:

Michael Bender: "[Sen. Katie] Britt [R-Ala.] has wrapped up what can be described as uneven speech, toggling between a seemingly forced smile and a furrowed brow as she delivered ominous warnings about illegal immigration."

Emily Cochrane: "Katie Britt directly says that she and the rest of the Republican Party support access to IVF, on the heels of the backlash in her home state. But she -- like her colleagues in the Alabama legislature -- doesn't address the thornier questions about whether embryos should be considered children or how frozen embryos should be treated under law."

Washington Post Editors: "President Biden began his vigorous and combative State of the Union address by invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, with World War II raging, declared that the country faced 'a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union.' Now, with freedom and democracy under attack, Mr. Biden said he wants to wake up Congress and the country to a similar reality today.... Mr. Biden had to advance a case not only for his record and his plans, but also for a worldview based on American strength and optimism. With notable energy -- his prepared remarks contained 80 exclamation points -- he largely succeeded. The top of Mr. Biden's speech was a stirring call for the United States to be its best self.... The president implored Congress to keep the United States' promises to Ukraine, to help that country's struggle to confront authoritarianism on the borders of the free world, arguing that the threat would not contain itself if it is not confronted. Mr. Biden addressed threats to freedom and democracy at home, too, starting with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.... These same ideals, he explained, undergird the battle for reproductive rights.... Mr. Biden also ably threaded the needle on the war between Israel and Hamas, stressing the former's right to self-defense as well as its obligation to protect the human rights of the civilians who live in Gaza."

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. 'We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,' a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. The port will be built by US military engineers operating from ships off the Gaza coast, who will not need to step ashore, US officials said. The aid deliveries will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, which will become the main relief hub." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ A Hero for the Hardest Times. Christina Morales of the New York Times: "Since October, organizers and Palestinian cooks working with the World Central Kitchen -- the aid organization founded by the renowned Spanish chef José Andrés -- have served more than 32 million meals in Gaza, the group has said. Plans for the U.S. military to build a floating pier to bring aid into the enclave would give the group critical access to a steady supply of food they'd need to more than double the meals they're serving daily and further aid people in the northern portion of Gaza, Mr. Andrés said in an interview on Thursday.... The organization has established 65 community kitchens in Gaza that are managed by local Palestinians, with plans to add at least 35 more, Mr. Andres said. About 350,000 meals are being served every day, but Mr. Andrés said he would like to distribute more than a million meals.... The association is the largest emergency feeding program ever set up by a group of chefs, serving more than 350 million meals since it was founded. Its impact is immediate because he and his staff can network quickly, organize kitchens in harsh conditions and source ingredients and equipment. The kitchens, like those in Gaza, are often managed by locals, who cook their cuisine."

Meltdown at Mar-a-Lardo. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump's live commentary of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address was cut short on Thursday after his social network Truth Social went offline. Ahead of Biden's address, Trump announced, 'Tonight I'm going to be doing the role on The State of the Union that the Media should be doing, but won't because they are corrupt and compromised. TUNE INTO TRUTH SOCIAL, THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA!'... Unfortunately, Truth Social went offline before Biden began his speech, leaving Trump's commentary in the dark.... Social media users who attempted to view Trump's commentary were greeted with a perpetual 'loading...' wheel and were unable to access any of the former president's posts." ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "'THE DRUGS ARE WEARING OFF!' Trump wrote without any further context, making it's unclear if he was talking about Biden or himself."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dan Froomkin figures out why the New York Times campaign coverage is so bad: "Why would a newsroom full of talented and mostly liberal reporters be engaging in such damaging behavior?... It's because that's what the publisher wants." In a speech At Oxford University, A.G. Sulzberger, probably accidentally, admitted culpability: "Sounding the alarm, it turns out, is anathema to Sulzberger's notion of independent journalism. Independent journalism should instead 'empower our fellow citizens with the information they need to make decisions for themselves.' And ... according to Sulzberger, independent journalism requires being 'willing to take a simple, easy, or comfortable story and complicate it with truths that people don't want to hear.'... What that mean[s] -- practically speaking -- to the editors and reporters.... One: You will earn my displeasure if you warn people too forcefully about the possible end to democracy at the hands of a deranged insurrectionist. And two: You prove your value to me by trolling our liberal readers." Thanks to Charles S. for the link.

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing.... 'That's an extraordinary number of sales over the course of a pretty short amount of time, which really strongly suggests that the Israeli campaign would not be sustainable without this level of U.S. support,' said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior Biden administration official and current president of Refugees International."

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The House on Thursday passed a measure that would require the detention of any migrant who commits theft or burglary. The bill, which passed with the support of all House Republicans in attendance plus 37 Democrats, is named after nursing student Laken Riley, who was found dead last month after going out for a run in Athens, Ga.... The Riley Act passed 251-170. While it had the support of some Democrats, the bill is unlikely to pass in the Senate and is instead more of a political messaging vehicle for Republicans seeking to draw attention to issue of immigration." CNN's report is here.

The Trials of Trump

Ben Protess & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Thursday effectively barred ... Donald J. Trump from exposing the identities of potential jurors at his first criminal trial later this month, emphasizing a need to protect those who might decide the highly sensitive case. The judge presiding over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, granted a request from the Manhattan district attorney's office to withhold the names of jurors from the public. The judge also ordered that their addresses be kept from everyone except the lawyers in the case. Mr. Trump's legal team, which is defending the former president from accusations of covering up a potential sex scandal during the 2016 election, agreed that it was appropriate to keep the jury's information private.... Justice Merchan suggested that he would address any potential punishments for Mr. Trump when he rules on another request from [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg -- that the former president be subject to a gag order. The order, if the judge approves it, would bar Mr. Trump from 'making or directing others to make' statements about witnesses concerning their roles in the case. Mr. Bragg also asked that Mr. Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case, other than Mr. Bragg himself, as well as court staff members."

Benjamin Weiser & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "A federal judge [-- Lewis Kaplan --] in Manhattan on Thursday declined Donald J. Trump's request to temporarily block the writer E. Jean Carroll from collecting an $83.3 million civil defamation judgment against him while the judge considers his request for a longer delay. The ruling, only four paragraphs long, comes just days before Ms. Carroll will be allowed to begin taking action to collect her award, one of two civil judgments totaling more than half a billion dollars that the former president is seeking to delay while he pursues appeals in both cases.... 'Mr. Trump's current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions,' Judge Kaplan wrote. 'He has had since Jan. 26 to organize his finances.'" CNBC's report is here.

Brian Melley of the AP: "... Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called 'shocking and scandalous' false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was 'bound to fail,' ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Adding to Donald Trump's cash crunch woes as he scrambles to find cash to cover the half billion dollars he owes in civil damages is the specter of throwing his existing loans into default. In an analysis into the multiple paths the former president could take to pay what he owes, the Atlantic's David Graham claimed Trump is hemmed in by a myriad of financial complications -- with the clock ticking and interest piling up. He's also facing the potential for asset forfeiture or a fire sale of his business empire if he can't find the money.... Graham [wrote] that Trump's real estate may be heavily encumbered by existing loans, which would lessen the amount of equity he has to secure the hundreds of millions he needs to pay.... He wrote that court filings describe loans from Deutsche Bank that force him to keep a substantial amount of cash on hand, as well as setting a floor for his net worth that would be heavily impacted by his taking on an extraordinary amount of new debt.

It's Not Merrick's Fault! Marcy Wheeler, in an MSNBC opinion column, explains why it took the DOJ so long to bring charges against Donald Trump. "The delays created by Covid, use of encryption, attorney-client and executive privilege claims were unavoidable, even for the most obvious evidence. Take the tweet Trump sent at 2:24 p.m. Jan. 6: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage.' It was right there in public! But to present that in court first required the exploitation of at least two phones, nine months of fights over executive privilege, a 23-day stall from Twitter and two sets of interviews with at least eight different top aides. One delay that was unnecessary was caused by some of the people who most loudly blamed Garland: the Jan. 6 Committee."

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A new investigation unfolding at the Georgia State Capitol is previewing the turbulence that Fani T. Willis, the district attorney prosecuting Donald J. Trump, may face even if a judge allows her to keep the high-stakes case. At a hearing on Wednesday before a special committee of the State Senate, which recently began investigating Ms. Willis, the defense lawyer leading the disqualification effort [-- Ashleigh Merchant --] testified that Ms. Willis had once taken a large sum of money from her political campaign for her personal use. The senator presiding over the hearing, Bill Cowsert, a Republican, was taken aback by the allegation.... There is no evidence to back up the allegation. In fact, Ms. Willis lent her first campaign nearly $50,000, drawn from a retirement account, and was paid back only a fraction of that, according to her office, campaign finance records and her past remarks."

Presidential Race

Good Grief! Dan De Luce & Andrea Mitchell of NBC News: "U.S. intelligence agencies plan to provide briefings to ... Donald Trump this year if he secures the Republican presidential nomination, even though he faces federal criminal charges that he mishandled classified information after he left office. The intelligence community is likely to adhere to past practices for nominees and has no plan to cancel the briefings if Trump becomes the GOP nominee, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Scrapping the briefings for Trump could open President Joe Biden up to accusations of politicizing access to intelligence, one of the sources said.... Intelligence briefings to presidential nominees focus on national security threats and are typically not as detailed as those provided to sitting presidents or presidents-elect, according to former intelligence officials. The briefings do not include classified documents or information related to intelligence sources, the former officials said.... Former CIA Director John Brennan agreed that the information provided to nominees is limited."

Marie: I missed this the other day, but it's worth watching at least the first bit where Seth lays out the CV of the Republicans' choice for president*, who is, BTW, spending time after the SOTU speech getting dictator tips from Viktor Orban:

No Labels Has Plan to Help Trump. Thomas Beaumont & Steve Peoples of the AP: "The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations." MB: Any candidate these yahoos field. unless she's to the right of Trump, will takes votes away from Biden. (Also linked yesterday.)

It's Cap'n Ronny Now. Dan Diamond & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy demoted [Dr. Ronny Jackson] in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general's report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by [two U.S. officials].... Jackson [-- who retired as a rear admiral --] is now a retired Navy captain, those people said -- a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles. Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain.... Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it's unclear if they were aware of his demotion.... Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert..., said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors have arrested a soldier and intelligence analyst who allegedly sold national security secrets related to military weapons, exercises and development plans to a man who purported to be a Hong Kong-based geopolitical consultant, according to a federal indictment filed this week in Tennessee. Korbein Schultz, who served in the Army, received 14 payments totaling $42,000 between June 2022 and around October 2023, according to the indictment. He is charged with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information and bribery of a public official.... Schultz held a 'top secret security clearance,' according to the indictment...." The AP story is here.

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Texas. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & David Goodman of the New York Times: "State investigators concluded that the largest wildfire on record in Texas history was 'ignited by power lines,' a spokeswoman for the Texas A&M Forest Service, which conducted the inquiry, said on Thursday.... Xcel Energy, an electric and gas company that operates in a mostly rural part of Texas, said in a statement that its 'facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition' of the blaze, the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has led to two deaths and killed thousands of cattle and other livestock."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

Sweden. Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO's 32nd member. Sweden's neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict's many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years." MB: Kind of the ultimate troll of the Putin/Trump alliance. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Steve Lawrence, the mellow baritone nightclub, television and recording star who with his wife and partner, the soprano Eydie Gorme, kept pop standards in vogue long past their prime and took America on musical walks down memory lane for a half-century, died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88."

The Conversation -- March 7, 2024

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. 'We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,' a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. The port will be built by US military engineers operating from ships off the Gaza coast, who will not need to step ashore, US officials said. The aid deliveries will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, which will become the main relief hub."

Here are some excerpts from tonight's SOTU address, via the White House.

Marie: I missed this the other day, but it's worth watching at least the first bit where Seth lays out Trump's CV, who is, BTW, spending his time during the SOTU speech getting dictator tips from Viktor Orban:

Brian Melley of the AP: "... Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called 'shocking and scandalous' false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was 'bound to fail,' ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6."

No Labels Has Plan to Help Trump. Thomas Beaumont & Steve Peoples of the AP: "The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations." MB: Any candidate these yahoos field -- unless she's to the right of Trump -- will takes votes away from Biden.

It's Cap'n Ronny Now. Dan Diamond & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy demoted [Dr. Ronny Jackson] in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general's report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by [two U.S. officials].... Jackson [-- who retired as a rear admiral --] is now a retired Navy captain, those people said -- a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles. Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain.... Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it's unclear if they were aware of his demotion.... Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert..., said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral."

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO's 32nd member. Sweden's neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict's many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years." MB: Kind of the ultimate troll of the Putin/Trump alliance.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden enters his State of the Union speech on Thursday with an economic record that has defied forecasters' gloomy expectations, avoiding recession while delivering stronger growth and lower unemployment than predicted.... Mr. Biden's State of the Union speech will 'discuss the historic achievements he's delivered for the American people and lay out his vision for the future,' Lael Brainard, who heads the president's National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of the speech. She stressed recent wage gains, low unemployment and new factory construction that she said were linked to Mr. Biden's agenda. Ms. Brainard and other administration officials said the president would try to draw sharp contrasts with Mr. Trump on economic issues during his annual speech, including on tax policy and reducing consumer costs."

Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times on the guests Jill Biden has invited to join her at the State of the Union address. CNN's story is here.

Good Luck with That, Mike! Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is urging GOP lawmakers to maintain decorum when President Biden delivers his State of the Union address Thursday night, after Republicans had a number of outbursts during last year's speech. Johnson made the request during a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, three Republican lawmakers who attended the gathering told The Hill.... [Republicans' bad behavior] was on full display last year, when some GOP lawmakers heckled the president throughout his speech in the House chamber.... The heckling about Social Security and Medicare led to an unusual back-and-forth between Biden and his Republican critics, which prompted an agreement from individuals in the room that the two programs should remain intact. 'Well, I'm glad to see -- and now, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,' Biden said, prompting laughs."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half the federal government through the fall, moving to avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week and offering the first glimmer of resolution to bitter spending fights that have consumed Congress for months. The 339-to-85 vote capped months of heated negotiations over federal funding that have repeatedly pushed the government to the edge of shutdown as Republicans pressed for cuts and conservative policies. It was yet another instance in which Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to steer around the opposition of the hard right and turn to Democrats to supply the bulk of the votes for critical legislation to keep the government running. The Senate was expected to take up and pass the bill easily, sending it to President Biden in time for it to become law before a midnight deadline on Friday." The AP's report is here.

Whatever Happened to Those Articles of Impeachment? Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "It has been nearly a month since House Republicans impeached [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas by a single vote, racing ahead with a case that constitutional scholars called groundless before Democrats won a special election in Long Island and wiped away the majority support needed to approve the charges. But instead of quickly sending the articles over to the Senate to try to force out one of the officials they blame for chaos at America's southern border, Republicans have sat on them.... They are taking their time before suffering that high-profile defeat [in the Senate].... The current strategy is to wait until Republicans and Democrats have finished negotiating and passing a series of spending bills, a process expected to last until a March 22 deadline, Republicans say.... Democrats see a pattern in House Republicans rushing to score temporary wins to satisfy their conservative base without thinking through how to achieve any lasting victories."

Presidential Race

Hawaii. AP & Star Advertiser: "President Joe Biden handily won the Democratic Party of Hawaii's caucus Wednesday night, but 'uncommitted' equaled nearly 30% of the votes tallied. A total of 1,563 votes were cast statewide, with Biden receiving 1,032, or 66%, while uncommitted took 455 votes, or 29%. Other candidates receiving votes were self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson with 50, or 3%, and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips with 15, or 1%, according to the party. Two other candidates had single-digit vote tallies. Party officials released the results after 10 p.m. but did not release the delegate allocation because they were still waiting for results from Lanai Democrats."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: During an hour-long White House meeting, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged President Biden to more clearly define the contrast between Democrats & Republicans. "In an interview, Sanders said Biden has 'has a lot to be proud of' and that Biden should 'proudly talk about those achievements' but that the president should be far more focused on articulating a forward-looking agenda than he has been thus far."

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that he would suspend his long-shot presidential campaign, giving up his primary challenge of President Biden after struggling to convince Democrats that he would perform better than Biden in a race against Republican Donald Trump.... Phillips acknowledged his campaign's shortcomings in an interview with local Minneapolis radio host Chad Hartman, saying that he endorses Biden.... After the series of defeats, Phillips acknowledged his lack of popularity, posting 'Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me' on X ... on the night of Super Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Kylie Atwood & Arit John of CNN: "Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she is exiting the Republican presidential race, leaving ... Donald Trump as the party's presumptive nominee.... Haley did not endorse Trump during her address. Instead, she called on the former president to earn the support of voters who backed her. The plan appears to leave room for her to endorse Trump ahead of the general election in November, sources familiar with her plans told CNN prior to her speech." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Consolation Prize. Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for 'disgraceful' acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination. The two men have not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that year's presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement." MB: Now all the chickenshits have come home to roost. Nice to see Mitch confirm that he thinks this country merits nothing better than a "disgraceful" president*. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

AND, In an Effort to Unify the GOP.... Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump lashed out at fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, calling her 'crazy' and a 'very angry person.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ That was before Haley dropped out of the race. Just as she did so, Trump wrote this on his fake X platform: "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries." Via digby. ~~~

~~~ And this from the Biden campaign: "Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won't agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground." More here. ~~~

~~~ Dave Weigel on Semafor: "A super PAC that urged non-Republicans to cast primary votes for Nikki Haley is pivoting to November, urging Haley's voters to support President Joe Biden. Starting [Wednesday], Primary Pivot will become Haley Voters for Biden, and urge anyone who supported Haley in a swing state to stick with the president in November.... In a statement, Primary Pivot said it would focus on Haley voters in states where they could be counted -- nearly 300,000 in Michigan, and nearly 250,000 in North Carolina. The super PAC, which started by urging New Hampshire Democrats to temporarily switch their registrations, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to activate potential Haley voters in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states."

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "A growing number of Republican National Committee members believe its campaign arm should help pay mounting legal bills for ... Donald Trump, a move that could strain the party's ability to financially support other candidates in the 2024 election. RNC Committeeman Solomon Yue, who is from Oregon, told CNBC he believes 'more than a majority' of members are in favor of helping offset the bills from Trump's lawyers in four pending criminal cases, and at least three other civil cases."

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin said that given Donald Trump''s poor credit history, the former president's only option for paying off his legal judgments may be to turn to foreign entities for financing." Toobin made the observation after CNN's John King told him, "Elon Musk said today that despite recent meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he will not be donating money to either candidate." Toobin said, "What if he goes to Azerbaijan?.... What if he goes to Russia?... What does that mean if a candidate for president is on the hook for multiple, multiple millions of dollars to a foreign source? Because that, it seems to me, is the most likely source."

Marie: Donald Trump's consistent campaign pitch has been that only he will protect us from the murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals who are pouring into the U.S. via the U.S./Mexico border. While I don't doubt that a few criminals are crossing into the U.S., I'm more concerned about the crime wave involving or surrounding Trump himself. That is, what appears to be a scapegoating, fear-mongering campaign strategy is more likely Trump's well-known propensity to project his own shortcomings onto others. After all, a New York jury found him liable for what the judge in the case called rape. Trump's White House was awash in drugs, improperly dispensed by Trump's favorite doctor (and now Congressman) Ronny Jackson. Trump himself is charged with 91 criminal felonies. And now it turns out that a Congressional candidate Trump endorsed is wanted for murder (story linked below). So murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals? Check, check, check and check.

Conservative Amanda Carpenter in If You Can Keep It: "... Donald Trump ... and his MAGA allies are, once again, rolling out the red carpet for their favorite authoritarian, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He'll be welcomed at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Friday.... For the MAGA movement, Orban is a model for retaking the executive office and then consolidating power to maximum effect. Like Trump, Orban was ousted by voters and then spent time out of office making plans to win the next election, get control of the levers of power, and abolish democratic checks in the system so he would never lose again.... Orban has now held power for 14 years and counting in a corrupt system of his own making that the European Parliament condemned as a 'hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.' [The Heritage Foundation's written] plans [for a second Trump administration] map almost exactly onto the strategies Orban has used to build an enduring, illiberal, nationalist, authoritarian state in Hungary."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Fox "News" accidentally gave Joe Biden a boost on Super Tuesday. Via the Daily Dot. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

Thanks @FoxNews! pic.twitter.com/nHz7u5hkpa

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 6, 2024

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has scheduled argument for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be heard on the final day of the court's argument calendar and will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial in D.C. for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden's election victory. The high court's decision to consider Trump's claims, rather than letting stand a lower court decision that he can be prosecuted, drew criticism for further delaying the election obstruction trial. It was originally scheduled to begin this week." Note from CJ Roberts to All Justices: Hey, I planned to set arguments for October, but Sonia threatened to make me a soprano if I did. (Also linked yesterday.)

Judd Legum & Tesnim Zekeria of Popular Information: "On Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk told his 175 million followers on X that President Biden had committed 'treason' by 'secretly' flying '320,000 illegal immigrants' from Latin America to US airports.... The only problem is that nearly everything Musk said is a lie." Do read on for the explanations, including the sourcing of Musk's claim. He is as susceptible to disinformation he encourages on his own platform as is the dimwittiest of X users. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "The armorer who put a live round into the gun that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with on the set of the film 'Rust' when it went off, killing the cinematographer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday. The conviction of the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, marks the first time a jury has weighed in at trial on the fatal shooting of the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins."

Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: A 62-year-old German man got 217 Covid shots over the course of 2-1/2 years -- and he's fine! "The man had seemingly never been infected with the coronavirus. He reported no vaccine side effects. And, most interestingly to the researchers, his repertoire of antibodies and immune cells was considerably larger than that of a typical vaccinated person, even if the precision of those immune responses remained effectively unchanged. The researchers found that even the 217th shot boosted the man's immune response. And while they were carefully looking for signs of a progressive weakening in his immune reactions over time -- an unwelcome type of immune tolerance that sometimes develops during long-term viral infections -- they reported seeing no such drop-off in responses."

Somino Sengupta & Delger Erdenesanaa of the New York Times: "Winter was weirdly warm for half the world's population, driven in many places by the burning of fossil fuels, according to an analysis of temperature data from hundreds of locations worldwide. That aligns with the findings published late Wednesday by the European Union's climate monitoring organization, Copernicus: The world as a whole experienced the hottest February on record, making it the ninth consecutive month of record temperatures. Even more startling, global ocean temperatures in February were at an all-time high for any time of year, according to Copernicus. Taken together, the two sets of figures offer a portrait of an unequivocally warming world that, combined with a natural El Niño weather pattern this year, has made winter unrecognizable in some places."

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Alabama. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday signed a bill to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from legal liability if embryos they create are damaged or destroyed.... The bill, signed into law less than three weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and individuals could be held liable for destroying them, gives criminal and civil immunity 'for death or damage to an embryo' related to IVF. The unprecedented ruling alarmed medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates, who warned it would jeopardize IVF access in the state. Several Alabama providers halted IVF treatments within days of the decision."

Florida. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "The Florida State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit local agencies from implementing heat protections for workers. The GOP-controlled Senate voted 28-11 to pass the bill, which would ban cities and counties from adopting mandatory water breaks and other extreme heat relief measures that go beyond what is required by state or federal law.... It comes just after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that 2023 was the hottest single year ever recorded. The summer season was also confirmed to be the warmest on record." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sounds just like a bill Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law last summer. We know Republican elected officials despise women, especially sexually-active women. They hate LGBTQ+ people. They hate minorities. They hate East- and West-Coast "elites." They hate deadbeats -- including children -- who receive government benefits. But now they hate the people who are working in the noonday sun, the majority of whom are probably men, many of whom are white guys. So there's hardly anybody they don't hate. Why is that? And why do the people they hate keep voting for those who hate them?

Nevada/Texas. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Republican candidate for Congress in connection to a homicide that took place on the Las Vegas Strip last year that resulted from a fight inside a hotel room. Daniel Rodimer, who is also a former professional wrestler, has been charged with murder in the death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp.... [Rodimer] unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for Nevada's third congressional district in 2020 and a Texas congressional seat in 2021." Erik Loomis, in LG&$, publishes a photo of Donald Trump giving Rodimer the thumbs-up.

North Carolina Governor's Race. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the GOP primary to become his party's nominee for North Carolina governor, presumably with the help of female voters. 'I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn't vote,' Robinson said in a newly resurfaced video of his remarks at a March 2020 event hosted by the Republican Women of Pitt County.... The North Carolina Republican's longing for the days when women couldn't vote ties into his history of demeaning women and mocking feminism, especially on social media. He's claimed that feminism was created by Satan. He's said that men who identify as feminists are 'about as MANLY as a pair of lace panties' and are 'weak mined, jelly backed men."' He's routinely referred to feminists as 'fem-nazis' and, in one particularly colorful post, described those who support equal rights for women as 'sexist, hairy armpit having, poo-poo hat wearing pinkos.' 'The only thing worse than a woman who doesn't know her place, is a man who doesn't know his,' he wrote on Facebook in December 2017." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I remind you that Robinson is the man whom Donald Trump believes is "Martin Luther King on steroids." Then again, we never had any illusions about self-professed and found-liable sexual assaulter Trump's opinion of women. ~~~

     ~~~ Frank Bruni of the New York Times has more to say about Robinson & Trump, including stuff we didn't know. Like this: "As a devastating article by Jeffrey Billman in the North Carolina publication The Assembly detailed in January, Robinson has been delinquent on taxes and repeatedly filed for bankruptcy, and his wife, Yolanda Hill, has prospered from the acquisition -- and then forgiveness -- of Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Hamas said in a statement Thursday that its delegation has left cease-fire negotiations in Cairo 'to consult with the leadership of the movement' on issues including aid and the return of displaced people. Egyptian state media reported that talks would resume next week. Pressure is growing on parties to reach a cease-fire deal as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan approaches early next week. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that he was still optimistic a deal could be reached.... Houthi militants struck a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, killing three civilian mariners, U.S. officials said -- the first known fatalities since the Houthis began targeting ships in what they describe as a response to Israel's actions in Gaza. At least four people were injured in the Houthi missile attack on the True Confidence ship, said U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. The United States conducted self-defense strikes Wednesday evening against two unmanned aerial vehicles that threatened U.S. Navy and maritime vessels in the Gulf of Aden area." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

News Lede

New York Times: "A specialized laboratory examining the brain of the gunman who committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting found profound brain damage of the kind that has been seen in veterans exposed to repeated blasts from weapons use. The lab's findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief medical examiner's office and released by the gunman's family. The gunman, Robert Card, was a grenade instructor in the Army Reserve. In 2023, after eight years of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing voices and was stalked by paranoid delusions, his family said. He grew increasingly erratic and violent in the months before the October rampage in Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people and then himself."