April 15, 2022

Afternoon Update:

TuKKKer the Tool. Russia's Propaganda Gold Mine: Fox "News." Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "The narratives advanced by the Kremlin and by parts of conservative American media have converged in recent months, reinforcing and feeding each other. Along the way, Russian media has increasingly seized on Fox News's prime-time segments, its opinion pieces and even the network's active online comments section -- all of which often find fault with the Biden administration -- to paint a critical portrait of the United States and depict America's foreign policy as a threat to Russia's interests. [Tucker] Carlson was a frequent reference for Russian media, but other Fox News personalities -- and the occasional news update from the network -- were also included. Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, who has made several false claims about the war -- including that Russia never attacked Ukraine -- singled out Fox News for praise last month.... Mentions of Fox News in Russian-language media grew 217 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the final quarter of last year...." ~~~

~~~ Oh, We Watch Fox "News" in Kentucky. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: When the general manager of a Colton's Steak House & Grill franchise in Bardstown, Kentucky, flew a Ukrainian flag over the restaurant, "hate started coming from all fronts -- the restaurant's phone, Facebook page and reviews on Google. Over the past week, the firestorm has kept raging in Bardstown, a city of about 13,500 in central Kentucky. [Ben] Ashlock, describing himself as an uncontroversial person, said he had planned to keep the flag up until Russia left Ukraine." He has not taken down the flag, but the hate messages keep coming. Ashlock and his wife have an adopted Ukrainian son.

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pushing back on lawmakers' accounts that her memory has deteriorated and she is mentally unfit to serve, insisting that she remains a productive senator at the age of 88. 'The real question is whether I'm still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am,' she said in a statement Thursday. Feinstein, who is the oldest U.S. senator, took the step of responding to a San Francisco Chronicle report that four Senate colleagues -- three of them Democrats -- and three of the lawmaker's former staffers and a California Democrat in the House said her memory is rapidly deteriorating. Various individuals said the lawmaker's staff does most of the work because of what they described as her cognitive decline." The Chron report also is linked below.

This is a sh*tshow... Fix this now. -- Rep. Chip Roy, text to Mark Meadows, January 6, 2021

We are -- Mark Meadows to Chip Roy, January 6, 2021 ~~~

~~~ Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "In the weeks between the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, almost 100 text messages from two staunch GOP allies of ... Donald Trump reveal an aggressive attempt to lobby, encourage and eventually warn the White House over its efforts to overturn the election, according to messages obtained by the House select committee and reviewed by CNN. The texts, which have not been previously reported, were sent by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The text exchanges show that both members of Congress initially supported legal challenges to the election but ultimately came to sour on the effort and the tactics deployed by Trump and his team.... Lee and Roy both voted to certify the electoral results in favor of [Joe] Biden...." You can read the messages among Lee, Roy & Meadows, via CNN, here.

Lauren Hirsch & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Twitter unveiled its counterattack against Elon Musk on Friday, using a strategy invented to repel corporate raiders in an attempt to block a takeover bid by the world's richest person. The strategy, known as a poison pill, would flood the market with new shares if Mr. Musk, or any other individual or group working together, bought 15 percent or more of Twitter's shares. That would immediately reduce Mr. Musk's stake and make it significantly more difficult to buy up a sizable portion of the company. Mr. Musk currently owns more than 9 percent of the company's stock. The goal is to force anyone trying to acquire the company to negotiate directly with the board. Investors rarely try to break through a poison pill threshold, according to securities experts -- one said 'it would be financially ruinous, even for him.' But Mr. Musk rarely abides by precedent."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces on Friday appeared close to capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol, a development that would be a significant victory for Moscow after a series of setbacks this week.... If Mariupol falls, Russia will be able to claim the land route from Crimea that it seeks.... The loss of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet flagship will make it more difficult to gain full control over Ukraine's southern coast and ultimately move on the port city of Odesa, military analysts say, although it is unlikely to derail Moscow's war campaign entirely." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly address, noted the irony of Moscow refocusing its attacks on areas of eastern Ukraine [Donbas] where there are significant numbers of Russian speakers. The Kremlin is destroying Russian culture and the Russian language, he said. 'How suicidal it is for everything that Russia allegedly "protects."'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian also has a summary report of what happened Thursday in the war.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "European officials are drafting plans for an embargo on Russian oil products, the most contested measure yet to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and a move long resisted because of its big costs for Germany and its potential to disrupt politics around the region and increase energy prices. Having earlier this month banned Russian coal for the first time -- with a four-month transition period to wind down ongoing orders -- the European Union is now likely to adopt a similarly phased ban of Russian oil, E.U. officials and diplomats said. The approach is designed to give Germany, in particular, time to arrange alternative suppliers. The discussions come just as ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia acknowledged on Thursday that the Western sanctions already in place had hurt his country's vital energy sector. The earliest the proposed E.U. embargo will be put up for negotiation will be after the final round of the French elections, on April 24, to ensure that the impact on prices at the pump doesn't fuel the populis candidate Marine Le Pen and hurt president Emmanuel Macron’s chances of re-election, officials said."

You Sunk My Battleship! Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: "The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet sunk after an explosion 'seriously damaged' the vessel as it floated off the coast of Ukraine, Russia said Thursday, with Moscow and Kyiv offered competing claims about the cause of the destruction. Russia's defense ministry offered few other details about the missile cruiser, known as the Moskva. Earlier that day, the hobbled warship was moving under its own power, heading to the Crimean port city of Sevastopol for repairs as sailors battled a fire onboard, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.... Odessa's governor said the Moskva was hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile, an assertion backed by another American official familiar with the matter, who confirmed the strike but could not verify the specific weapons system used.... Russia, meanwhile, attributed the blow to a fire that caused ammunition stocks onboard to detonate.... After the explosion, several other Russian warships in the northern part of the Black Sea repositioned farther away from shore, the U.S. official said." Related story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why would other warships would move further away from the shore if the cause of the explosion on the Moskva was not a missile hit? ~~~

     ~~~ Joanna Slater, et al., of the Washington Post: "... U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the damage to the ship a setback for Russia regardless of how it was disabled. Either it was 'just incompetence' or 'they came under attack,' he said at a breakfast. 'Neither is a particularly good outcome for them.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Also from the Slater, et al., WashPo report: "... the top U.S. commander in Europe and his staff are developing training for Ukrainian forces that will take place on the continent and teach the soldiers about weapons new to the country's arsenal, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday. The training will focus on using 155mm howitzer cannons, counter-artillery radar and Sentinel air defense radars, and will last a few days each, the official said...."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post:"Russia this week sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States warning that U.S. and NATO shipments of the 'most sensitive' weapons systems to Ukraine were 'adding fuel' to the conflict there and could bring 'unpredictable consequences.' The diplomatic démarche, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, came as President Biden approved a dramatic expansion in the scope of weapons being provided to Ukraine, an $800 million package including 155 mm Howitzers -- a serious upgrade in long-range artillery to match Russian systems -- coastal defense drones and armored vehicles, as well as additional portable anti-air and antitank weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition."

David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "The director of the C.I.A. said [during the Q&A following a speech he gave at Georgia Institute of Technology] on Thursday that 'potential desperation' to extract the semblance of a victory in Ukraine could tempt ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to order the use of a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, publicly discussing for the first time a concern that has coursed through the White House during seven weeks of conflict. The director, William J. Burns, who served as American ambassador to Russia and is the member of the administration who has dealt most often with Mr. Putin, said the potential detonation of such a weapon ... was a possibility that the United States remained 'very concerned' about. But he quickly cautioned that so far, despite Mr. Putin's frequent invocation of nuclear threats, he had seen no 'practical evidence' of the kinds of military deployments or movement of weapons that would suggest such a move was imminent." A CBS News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "In his first public speech as director of the CIA, William J. Burns on Thursday called the killings of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha 'crimes' and said Russia had 'inflicted massive material and reputational damage on itself' following the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin seven weeks ago.... 'The crimes in Bucha are horrific. The scenes of devastation in Mariupol and Kharkiv are sadly reminiscent of the images I saw in Grozny, in Chechnya, as a young diplomat in the winter of 1994-95: Forty square blocks in the center of the city flattened by Russian shelling and bombing, leaving thousands of civilian deaths.'... On Wednesday, Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said the United States is likely to determine that genocide has been committed."

Adam Taylor & David Stern of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian authorities announced Thursday that they had seized a sum of 154 assets from pro-Kremlin opposition politician and mogul Viktor Medvedchuk, who was captured this week following an escape from house arrest shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. Among the long list of property seized from Medvedchuk and his family: 30 plots of land, 23 houses, 32 apartments, 26 cars and one yacht. The seizures add further intrigue to the circumstances of the escape and recapture of one of Ukraine's most notorious oligarchs, known for his close relationship with ... Vladimir Putin, who acts as godfather to Medvedchuk's daughter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An Insider story, republished by Yahoo! News, is here. ~~~

~~~ Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "... in recent days, the ground has shifted dramatically under Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician who is a close confidant of ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and who had also been a client of the Republican political consultant Paul J. Manafort. Mr. Medvedchuk went into hiding early in the war, Ukrainian officials say, and was detained this week. President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Tuesday a picture on Telegram of the politician, looking tired and disheveled, wearing handcuffs. He was arrested after violating terms of his house arrest while awaiting trial for treason, in a case opened last year. That case is related to coal trading with pro-Russian separatists, but more broadly it has to do with the swirl of financial and political intrigue surrounding Moscow's operations to influence politics in foreign countries.... Mr. Zelensky said he would seek to trade Mr. Medvedchuk to Russia for Ukrainian prisoners of war." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kara Scannell of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging a member of Russia's legislature and two of his staffers with orchestrating a propaganda and disinformation campaign targeting US lawmakers. Aleksandr Babakov, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, and his staffers Aleksandr Vorobev and Mikhail Plisyuk, were charged with conspiring to act in the US as an unregistered foreign agent, conspiring to violate US sanctions and conspiring to commit visa fraud. As part of the alleged scheme, in 2017, prosecutors said the men allegedly violated US sanctions laws by seeking to recruit at least one US businessman and at least one congressman with an all-expenses paid trip to attend a conference in Yalta, an area in Russian-controlled Crimea, for the benefit of Sergey Aksyonov, a Russian placed on the US sanctions list following Russia's annexation of Crimea. The congressman, who was not identified, did not accept the invitation, the indictment said." The DOJ's press release is here.

Tyler Pager & Anna Phillips of the Washington Post: "Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, is preparing to leave her post coordinating the Biden administration';s domestic climate agenda, according to three people familiar with her plans. McCarthy has not yet set a date for her departure, but she is likely to be replaced by her deputy, Ali Zaidi, though no final decisions have been made.... President Biden created the top climate position at the White House to reflect his administration's focus on combating climate change." An NBC News report is here.

Ted Kopan & Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that [Sen. Dianne Feinstein's] memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.... Some close to her said that on her most difficult days, she does not seem to fully recognize even longtime colleagues.... [One] person said that within the Senate, Feinstein has difficulty keeping up with conversations and discussions.... All of those who expressed concerns ... spoke to The Chronicle before Feinstein's husband, financier Richard Blum, who had been in very ill health as he battled cancer, died." Firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whatever her mental acuity, Feinstein -- and other elderly legislators & judges -- should have the sense to retire when they're in their 70s (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Feinstein represents a state with a population of 40 million. It is statistically impossible that there's no younger Californian who could be a better senator than an 89-year-old. To think that you're the best and only one for the job is simply hubris -- and evidence that you're not. Shame on her for running in 2018.

Maggie Haberman & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol spent roughly eight hours on Thursday questioning Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, in an at times contentious exchange that included queries about Mr. Trump's speech before a crowd the morning of the riot, according to two people familiar with the session. Investigators asked Mr. Miller repeatedly about the use of the word 'we' throughout Mr. Trump's speech on the Ellipse, outside the White House, on Jan. 6, 2021, the people said, in an apparent effort to ascertain whether the former president had been directing supporters to join him in taking action to stop Congress from certifying his defeat. Mr. Miller argued that the language was no different from any other political speech.... Mr. Miller invoked executive privilege when asked about his discussions with Mr. Trump, including a phone call that White House records show he had with the former president the morning of Jan. 6, one of the people said." ~~~

~~~ Eric Tucker & Farnoush Amiri of the AP: "Stephen Miller ... had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a committee subpoena for his phone records." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oh Noes! The Trump-Made-Me-Do-It Defense Fails. Holmes Lybrand & Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A January 6 rioter who claimed he was following 'presidential orders' when he stormed the US Capitol and stole liquor and a coat rack was convicted Thursday on all charges by a jury in Washington, DC. Dustin Thompson, a 38-year-old exterminator from Ohio, faced six charges -- obstructing an official proceeding, theft of government property, illegally entering the Capitol, illegally protesting in the Capitol, and two counts of disorderly conduct in the Capitol.... 'Besides being ordered by the President to go to the Capitol, I don't know what I was thinking,' Thompson told the jury Wednesday. 'I was caught up in the moment.'... After the verdict, federal Judge Reggie Walton blasted ... Donald Trump's conduct. 'The insurgency, and it was in effect that, is very troubling,' Walton said. 'I think our democracy is in trouble because unfortunately we have charlatans, like the former President, in my view, who don't care about democracy and only care about power.' The trial marked the first time a Capitol riot defendant tried to convince a jury that Trump was responsible for the violence on January 6, 2021." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal jury on Thursday convicted a British militant accused of being a member of the brutal Islamic State cell known as the Beatles in the abduction, abuse and deaths of four Americans, a hard-won victory for the families of victims who pressured the government to bring him to justice. The jury deliberated for a day before finding El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on four counts of hostage-taking and four counts of conspiracy related to the deaths of three American men and a young woman who were captured during the Islamic State's rampage through Syria in 2012 and 2013. Mr. Elsheikh, who faces multiple life sentences, is the most prominent member of the Islamic State to be brought to trial in the United States. He was captured in Syria by a Kurdish-backed militia in 2018 as he tried to flee to Turkey." A CBS News report is here.

2024 Presidential Election. RNC Admits Its 2024 Presidential Candidate Will Be an Ignorant Dimwit. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, following through on threats to bar GOP presidential nominees from participating in debates sponsored by the nonprofit organization. The RNC has accused the commission, which was repeatedly attacked by Donald Trump, of being biased in favor of Democrats.... In a statement Thursday, RNC Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel said that her party is 'committed to free and fair debates' but that they would be held through other platforms. She did not specify them." CNN's story is here. Commentary in today's thread suggests some people are a teeny bit skeptical of the RNC's stated motives.

New York Times: "Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has ... launched a hostile bid to take over Twitter, a move that could have broad implications for a social network where world leaders, lawmakers, celebrities and more than 217 million other users conduct daily public discourse.... Mr. Musk has long used Twitter to insult critics, troll short-sellers of Tesla and propose grandiose ideas about space travel. He has also spread inaccurate information about the pandemic. He mused on Twitter about taking Tesla private in a tweet in 2018 and inaccurately claimed he had secured funding for the transaction, after which he was fined $40 million by the S.E.C.... Twitter's board is considering a defensive move known as a poison pill that would severely limit Elon Musk's ability to acquire the social media giant, two people with knowledge of the situation said. The board met on Thursday to discuss Mr. Musk's offer to buy the company.... The poison pill defense ... lets the company flood the market with new shares or allow existing shareholders other than the potential acquirer to buy shares at a discount. This dilutes the bidder's stake and makes buying shares more expensive." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Musk Becomes Hero to Right-Wing Liars & Propagandists. Rebecca Kern & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Conservatives are heralding Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter as a salve for years of feeling slighted and sidelined by the platform for their political views. The Tesla CEO and self-proclaimedfree-speech absolutist' has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion -- a potential takeover that could lead to more controversial content allowed on the site, and be a boon for Republicans who allege Twitter censors their views.... A number of Republican lawmakers quickly applauded Musk's bid. And while [Donald] Trump has previously said he wouldn't rejoin Twitter, one former adviser said Trump would jump at the chance to get back on. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told Politico that Musk 'could take the company in a far better direction' for those he claimed have been unfairly silenced or censored by Twitter's assault on conservative free speech and ideas it doesn't like."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to the first Covid-19 test that can detect the coronavirus in a breath sample, within a few minutes and with a high degree of accuracy, the agency said Thursday.... The InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer, which is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, can produce results in less than three minutes and can be used in doctor's offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites by trained operators. A single machine can analyze about 160 samples per day." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report on authorization of the Covid breath test is here.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Alyssa Lukpat of the New York Times: "Ed Buck, a onetime Democratic donor and activist, was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday to 30 years in prison for giving two men fatal doses of methamphetamine at his West Hollywood apartment, prosecutors said. The sentencing concludes Mr. Buck's extraordinary turn from a prominent activist to a predator. The two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, died 18 months apart at what the Justice Department had called 'party and play' sessions at Mr. Buck's apartment. Prosecutors said he lured men to sex-fueled parties and drugged them from 2011 to 2019." The Guardian's report is here.

Florida. Arek Sarkissian of Politico: "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed into law a measure that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Florida, calling it the most significant restriction in a generation. The law will take effect on July 1. DeSantis signed the bill, HB 5, at a Spanish-speaking church in Kissimmee. The measure represents the most significant restriction on abortion in state history and comes amid other Republican-controlled states taking steps to limit abortion.... Florida's law only permits abortions to occur after 15 weeks of pregnancy in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, and it includes no exceptions for survivors of rape, incest and human trafficking."

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Kate Brumback of the AP: "Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams cannot immediately begin raising and spending unlimited campaign contributions under a state law passed last year because she is not yet her party's nominee, a federal judge ruled Thursday. Abrams and her One Georgia committee filed a lawsuit last month challenging the constitutionality of the new law, which allows certain top elected officials and party nominees to create 'leadership committees' that can raise campaign funds without limits. But they also asked the judge to order the state ethics commission not to take any action against them if they continue to raise money before the primary next month.... The lawsuit noted that the new law allows Republican Gov. Brian Kemp t raise unlimited funds while Abrams is constrained by the contribution limits." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, the law was designed to give incumbents a big advantage over challengers. Should Abrams prevail, expect Georgia's Republican legislators would try to repeal the law.

Nebraska Gubernatorial Race. Aaron Sanderford of the Nebraska Examiner, republished in the Raw Story: "Time after time, Charles Herbster worked the crowds as he attended events, either as a candidate for Nebraska governor, a significant Republican donor or a beauty pageant judge.... He would extend a handshake to the men. But when young women reached out for a handshake, as well, on at least several occasions he pulled them into an embrace instead. Herbster, the CEO of Conklin Co. and now a frontrunner in the 2022 GOP primary race, sometimes went further, according to eight women who spoke with the Nebraska Examiner. During an event in 2019, for example, Republican State Sen. Julie Slama confirmed that as she walked by Herbster, he reached up her skirt, without her consent, and touched her inappropriately. The incident happened in the middle of a crowded ballroom at the Douglas County Republican Party's annual Elephant Remembers dinner.... Another person attending the 2019 event saw Herbster reach up Slama's skirt and had told the Examiner about it. That witness and two others said they saw Herbster grope another young woman on her buttocks at the same event.... [Six] women said Herbster groped them on their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants.... A seventh woman said Herbster once cornered her privately and kissed her forcibly.... Herbster denied the women's allegations 'unequivocally.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York. Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Edward P. Mangano, the former Nassau County executive who for years participated in a bribery and kickback scheme, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison for his role in what prosecutors called 'a culture of corruption' at the heart of Long Island's Republican political machine. Mr. Mangano, 60, was convicted in March 2019 on counts including bribery and wire fraud. It was the second trial in the case, after the first ended in a mistrial in 2018. He was acquitted on two counts, including an extortion charge. Mr. Mangano's wife, Linda, 59, was convicted at the same trial on four counts, including making false statements and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced in a separate proceeding Thursday, also in federal court on Long Island, to 15 months in prison." A Long Island News 12 item is here.

Ohio. Jessie Balmert & Laura Bischoff of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "For the fourth time, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected state House and Senate maps drawn by Republicans, sending mapmakers back to the drawing board. Time is of the essence because Ohio needs legislative maps by Wednesday to conduct an Aug. 2 primary -- the latest possible date, according to state election officials. But in its 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court rejected that premise, saying the primary could be held later than Aug. 2 and the map could be finished by 9 a.m. May -- the court's new deadline. 'The so-called April 20 'deadline' for implementing a General Assembly-district plan appears to be an artificial deadline that is based on a speculative, potential primary-election date for state legislative races,' according to the majority's opinion, which did not list an author." Firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Maybe those Republicans who can't draw a map could take lessons from Al Franken (2009 video) Why, he can draw the whole USA from memory, not just one dinky little state:

Tennessee. If Only America's Homeless Could Be More Like Hitler. Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: "A Tennessee Republican wants the state's unhoused population to draw inspiration from Adolf Hitler. No, seriously. While debating a bill on Wednesday that would criminalize homeless camps on public property in the state, State Sen. Frank Niceley (R) decided to share with the chamber 'a little history lesson on homelessness.' That lesson: Hitler was homeless for a spell, too, but by golly, then he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and 'went on to lead a life that got him in the history books.'... The bill passed 22 to 10 and is now headed to Governor Bill Lee (R) for his signature." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Texas, D.C. Rafael Bernal of the Hill: "A second bus of Latin American asylum applicants arrived in Washington, D.C. from Texas early Thursday, as part of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's push to augment the national visibility of the Biden administration's asylum policies. The bus, which transported 14 Nicaraguan, Cuban, Venezuelan and Colombian nationals, dropped off the prospective asylees outside of the building that houses the Washington bureau of Fox News, which broke the story. Other media organizations are also in the building.... The migrants, who are legally in the country awaiting official determination of their asylum claims, voluntarily agreed to be bussed to Washington, D.C. as part of Abbott's initiative." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Israel. Patrick Kingsley & Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "Clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinians erupted at one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem early on Friday, the first day of a rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter, culminating weeks of escalating violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank. The clashes began at about 5:30 a.m. and lasted for more than three hours at the site, the Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, known to Jews as the Temple Mount -- a complex that is sacred to both religions. Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers were gathered there for dawn prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting." An AP story is here.

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092916451/republicans-say-theyre-quitting-the-biased-commission-on-presidential-debates

(Ken: From the story, explaining why)….the commission emphasized its non-partisanship and said in a statement that its “plans for 2024 will be based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues."

For Republicans, there’s nothing worse than fairness...

[Akhilleus]

Ken,

Besides, confederates want to choose the questions (“How is it that you are so much more patriotic than all Democrats put together?”) and the moderator (Alex Jones). They also want to be able to choose the location (Qanon National Headquarters), and debate security (Proud Boys).

It’s just another in the long line of attempts to cast doubt on the entire democratic process. And because we have a largely supine, both-sides infected press, these attempts are often wildly successful.

[Ken Winkes]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/opinion/republicans-populism-rich.html

The KISS formula for political success:

Rely on the American voter to be stupid...

Suppress the votes of those who aren't.

Toss in our Constitution's inbuilt bias against democracy and you get...

Plutocracy.

[P.D. Pepe]

HUNGRY FOR HUNGARY:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jordan-klepper-trump-hungary_n_62590d75e4b0be72bff4e89d

What a gas to listen to those who are so far right and think they are so right; Ignorance is bliss in the land of dictators and Kings.

[P.D. Pepe]

And on this "good" Friday and coming Passover, Shalom Auslander gives us a wonderful essay: "In this Time of War, I propose we Give up God."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/opinion/passover-giving-up-god.html

[Forrest Morris]

It's like we're living in a giant chess game. The USA and it's allies
on one side and Russia and it's allies on the other side.
The chess board is Ukraine.
Us peons are the pawns, paying higher prices and more taxes so
the kings, queens, etc. can pile up more money.
I actually gave up chess years ago. It can have negative effects on
ones thoughts and actions.

[Patrick]

I am really glad that the Rooskis evaced the Moskva crew before it turtled. It deprived them of 500 martyrs, and immediately allowed a potential tragedy to be played as farce and make the Kremlin look like incompetent clowns. If Moskva got hit by a Ukrainian kluge Neptune, they look like amateurs; if it was an onboard fire, they look like amateurs. Not a good look for The Masters of The Black Sea.

[Marie Burns]

@Patrick: According to CNN on-air, the Pentagon is saying that Ukrainians hit the Moskva with two Neptune missiles, so it would seem the Russian sailors were napping. And you make a good point about the potential tragedy playing out as farce. BTW, one expert on CNN (whoever he was) doubted Russia's claim that no one onboard the Moskva was lost.

Update: I see the NYT & WashPO liveblogs are reporting the two-missile story, too (linked above).

[Ken Winkes]

"Neptune" missiles, huh? I was a little slow, but what an apt name...

[Akhilleus]

C’mon guys, the PWCS Moskva (Putin War Crimes Ship) incident was a decided victory for Russia! Those dumb ass Ukrainians wasted two missiles on a balsa wood model of the actual ship. Heh-heh. Some sneaky stuff, eh? No one is sneakier than ol’ Vlad. This is why Fatty kowtows to him and calls him a genius. Those Ukrainian Nazis never knew what they were doing. Another stunning victory for Mother Russia. And if you don’t believe that, well, there was just a minor fire on board. Nothing to worry about. They just pretended that the ship sunk. But if the Ukrainians insist on saying they sunk Vlad’s flagship, well, there’ll have to be a few more dozen more orphanages, hospitals, and elementary schools bombed to smithereens. Cuz that’s how Trump’s boyfriend rolls.