;)
April 30, 2022
Afternoon Update:
If you want to watch all or part of the White House Correspondents Association dinner, which is tonight, this Washington Post article tells you where you can watch. "Guests will begin arriving at the Hilton around 5:30 p.m. for the pre-parties sponsored by news organizations. The dinner is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. The speeches and awards usually start around 9:30 p.m., followed by [President] Biden and [Trevor] Noah. The main event is supposed to end around 10:30 p.m., after which the post-parties ... will begin.... The Washington Post will live-stream the dinner starting around 6:30 p.m. C-SPAN will start its live coverage at 8 p.m. (also live-streamed via C-SPAN.org). CNN's coverage ... will start at 7, though the network says it will cut away for the day's news, including coverage of the war in Ukraine. Similarly, MSNBC said it plans to carry 'portions of the dinner.'"
Maybe in commemoration of May Day, Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times is taking a three-part deep dive into white nationalist Tucker Carlson: "... Mr. Carlson has constructed what may be the most racist show in the history of cable news -- and also, by some measures, the most successful.... Night after night, hour by hour, Mr. Carlson warns his viewers that they inhabit a civilization under siege -- by violent Black Lives Matter protesters in American cities, by diseased migrants from south of the border, by refugees importing alien cultures, and by tech companies and cultural elites who will silence them, or label them racist, if they complain.... His encyclopedia of provocations has only expanded. Since the 2020 presidential election, Mr. Carlson has become the most visible and voluble defender of those who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol to keep Donald J. Trump in office, playing down the presence of white nationalists in the crowd and claiming the attack 'barely rates as a footnote.' In February, as Western pundits and politicians lined up to condemn the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, for his impending invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Carlson invited his viewers to shift focus back to the true enemy at home." Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here; and Part 3, which is mostly audio clips with some context provided, is here. According to the Times, "This series is part of an ongoing examination by The Times of challenges to democratic norms in the United States and around the world."
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Attorney John Eastman, a key architect of ... Donald Trump's legal effort to overturn the 2020 election, is preparing to provide another 10,000 pages of records to the Jan. 6 select committee, his attorney revealed late Friday.... Eastman had claimed attorney-client privilege over 37,000 pages of post-election emails related to his work for Trump. But under pressure from U.S. District Court Judge David Carter -- who ruled in March that Eastman and Trump likely entered into a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election -- Eastman withdrew privilege claims for nearly a third of that total. In Friday's court filing, Eastman's lawyers indicated that the select committee now wants more time to consider how to handle the remaining 27,000 pages of records that remain in dispute."
Emily Davies & Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "Now, as the government investigates whether ... [two men -- Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali -- who posed as federal agents,] may have bribed members of the Secret Service who lived in the building and threatened national security, questions still remain over the motive behind the alleged ruse." MB: This is another of those "Franco is still dead" stories that Patrick pointed out last week, but it gathers & expands on some details of the men's activities.
** Connecticut, a Pro-Woman State. Sarah Nir & Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "Connecticut lawmakers approved a bill late Friday night that takes direct aim at states that have passed aggressive anti-abortion laws as the country prepares for a Supreme Court ruling this summer that could weaken or overturn the constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade. The Connecticut bill, which Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, has said he intends to sign, would expand the field of people who can perform certain types of abortions beyond doctors, to include nurse-midwives, physician assistants and other medical professionals. And in what lawmakers said could be a model for other states seeking to safeguard abortion rights, the law would also shield abortion providers and patients from lawsuits initiated by states that have banned or plan to ban abortion, even outside their own borders."
Timothy Bella & Julian Duplain of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have seized more than 2,000 pieces of artwork from the besieged port city of Mariupol. They have been taken to Russian-occupied Donetsk, local channel TV7 reported. The Mariupol City Council wrote in a Telegram message Thursday that Russian forces have raided the three local museums, including the Kuindzhi Art Museum, since the start of the invasion."
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The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine appears to be faltering, as its troops suffer battlefield losses and logistical and morale problems similar to those they faced in the war's first phase, Western officials and analysts say. As Russian efforts to encircle Ukrainian troops in the east by attacking from three sides seemed to stall in recent days, Ukrainians managed to retake a small town near the northern city of Kharkiv.... Yet Russian forces continued to rain destruction on civilians trapped in Mariupol, some of whom were sheltering at the Azovstal steel plant.... Russian troops occupying Mariupol have plundered more than 2,000 items from its museums and taken them to the city of Donetsk, the capital of an eastern region controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, according to the Mariupol City Council.... Family members of a United States citizen confirmed on Friday that he had died fighting alongside Ukrainians. He is believed to be the first American killed in action in the war. Britain's Foreign Office also confirmed the death of a British national, said to be a former soldier who had been fighting as a volunteer." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here: Russia's "slow advance gives little sign that the conflict will end soon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a 'high' chance of negotiations breaking down because of 'Moscow's playbook on murdering people.'" ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's "full report" is here.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden wants Congress to expedite visas for Russian scientists eager to leave their country in the midst of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, an effort to accelerate a brain drain already underway and further deprive President Vladimir V. Putin of some of Russia's top talent. An administration proposal sent to Capitol Hill as part of a larger package requesting $33 billion in spending on the war would suspend for four years the requirement that scientists applying for H1-B visas have a sponsoring employer, eliminating one of the biggest obstacles for many seeking to come to the United States. The measure would apply only to Russian citizens with master's or doctoral degrees in science or engineering fields like artificial intelligence, nuclear engineering or quantum physics. Administration officials argued that such a move would have dual advantages -- costing Russia while benefiting America."
Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "President Biden met with internal federal agency watchdogs Friday, enlisting inspectors general to guard against waste and fraud as the government spends money from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. Biden told the group that a close eye on the money is needed to ensure infrastructure spending goes where it is needed most, rather than invested in projects that would boost the political fortunes of local leaders. 'Strong oversight is, you know, how we're going to deliver for the American people on time and on budget, and making sure the investments get to where they're supposed to go,' he said. The accountability push comes as the federal government ramps up to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in coming years on roads, bridges, broadband, transit networks and water pipes. The White House budget office released a memo Friday to agencies to guide their spending, urging them to prioritize transparency. At the same time, officials said they are seeking to hire 6,000 workers this year to oversee the implementation of the package, with another 2,000 positions to be filled in coming years." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It often strikes me as odd that Biden fares so poorly on popularity polls, because -- as much as I love Obama -- Biden is the best U.S. president of the 21st century.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security's creation of a Disinformation Governance Board has set off a backlash on the right-- even as it's not entirely clear what the perhaps unfortunately named board will do. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned the creation of the board in multiple congressional hearings this week.... Amid growing anti-censorship fervor on the right, a bevy of Republicans have suggested that the initiative amounts to policing speech. Elon Musk declared it 'messed up.' Many on the right likened it to the 'Ministry of Truth' from George Orwell's book '1984.'... 'Rather than police our border, Homeland Security has decided to make policing Americans' speech its top priority,' Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) claimed.... Despite Republicans' expressed concern, they didn't press Mayorkas in much detail at hearings Wednesday and Thursday. And the DHS does have a history of tackling disinformation, including during the Trump administration." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Clearly, in the wrong hands (say, a Trumpbot's), such a board could become Orwellian. Nevertheless, right now, it looks more like a hilarious way to "own the wingers."
Jonathan Weisman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Besieged by multiplying scandals and salacious accusations, Representative Madison Cawthorn, Republican of North Carolina, is under mounting pressure from both parties to end his short career in Congress. In rapid succession, Mr. Cawthorn, who entered Congress as a rising star of the party's far right, has been accused of falsely suggesting that his Republican colleagues routinely throw cocaine-fueled orgies, insider trading and an inappropriate relationship with a male aide. This week, he was detained at an airport, where police said he tried to bring a loaded handgun onto an airplane, the second time he has attempted that." ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "It has belatedly occurred to fellow Republicans that [Rep.] Madison Cawthorn [R-N.C.] might be a liability.... But Cawthorn is a monster of Republicans' own creation. His character flaws were fully displayed when he first ran for Congress in 2020: nods to white supremacists, extravagant lies, accusations of sexually predatory behavior, overt racism and a long list of driving offenses. Craven Republican leaders knew all that -- and embraced him unreservedly. Ousting Cawthorn ... won't cure this Republican illness; the North Carolina congressman is just a symptom. More than 50 QAnon believers have run for Congress as Republicans in 2022, the liberal watchdog Media Matters reports. Several who participated in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, have run for Congress.... Cawthorn and the many rising oddballs and extremists are the inevitable result of Republican leaders' choices: drawing increasingly uncompetitive districts, blessing unlimited dark money, exercising timid leadership, embracing disinformation, flirting with white nationalism, stoking conspiracies and undermining elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A second member of the extremist group Oath Keepers pleaded guilty Friday to seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and will cooperate with federal prosecutors to avoid a possible multiyear prison term. Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Ga., was arrested in August on charges of joining a group of right-wing Oath Keepers members who planned and organized travel to Washington, stashed firearms in an Arlington hotel, then sent several individuals with tactical gear, helmets and radios into the Capitol.... Ulrich pleaded guilty to two of five felony counts, seditious conspiracy and obstructing an official proceeding (Congress's certification of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6).... Prosecutors agreed in a plea deal to drop the three other counts -- conspiring to prevent an officer from discharging his or her duties, aiding and abetting, and evidence tampering." Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "... in the weeks since the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, stopped presenting evidence to [grand] jurors about [Donald] Trump, new signs have emerged that the former president will not be indicted in Manhattan in the foreseeable future -- if at all. At least three of the witnesses once central to the case have either not heard from the district attorney's office in months, or have not been asked to testify, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, a prosecutor at the Manhattan district attorney's office who played a key role in the investigation has stopped focusing on a potential case against Mr. Trump, other people with knowledge of the inquiry said -- a move that followed the resignation earlier this year of the two senior prosecutors leading the investigation. And the remaining prosecutors working on the Trump investigation have abandoned the 'war room' they used to prepare for their grand jury presentation early this year...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Sisak of the AP: "Donald Trump's lawyers, seeking to reverse their client's $10,000-per-day contempt fine, provided a New York judge Friday with an affidavit in which the former president claims he didn't turn over subpoenaed documents to the state attorney general's office because he doesn't have them. The judge, though, was unmoved and refused to lift sanctions he imposed on Trump on Monday. Judge Arthur Engoron criticized the lack of detail in Trump affidavit, which amounted to two paragraphs, saying that he should have explained the methods he uses to stores his records and efforts he made to locate the subpoenaed files.... Frank Runyeon, a reporter for the legal publication Law360, said that Engoron held an impromptu hearing Friday, without a court stenographer, in which he addressed the affidavits from Trump and his lawyers and ruled to keep the contempt fine in place." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Fox's Sean Hannity exchanged more than 80 text messages between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration, communications that show Hannity's evolution from staunch supporter of ... Donald Trump's election lies to being 'fed up' with the 'lunatics' hurting Trump's cause in the days before January 6.... Initially after the November 2020 election, Hannity appeared to be all in with Trump's false election claims. On November 29, he texted Meadows saying he had his team trying to prove election fraud: 'I've had my team digging into the numbers. There is no way Biden got these numbers. Just mathematically impossible...." But several weeks later, as Trump's team lost court challenges and the wild claims from attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell failed to materialize into anything more than false conspiracy theories, Hannity's tone shifted.... By New Year's Eve, Hannity ... appeared to accept the fact that the election was over...." The Hannity/Meadows texts are here, via CNN. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Trump's Border Wall Is a Death Trap. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Since 2019, when the [border wall's] height was raised to 30 feet along much of the border in California, the number of patients arriving at the UC San Diego Medical Center's trauma ward after falling off the structure has jumped fivefold, to 375, the physicians [at UC-San Diego] found. Falling deaths at the barrier went from zero to 16 during that time, according to the report, citing records maintained by the San Diego county medical examiner. The falling incidents are a subset of the soaring number of injuries, deaths and rescues occurring all across the southern border, where immigration arrests have reached an all-time high under President Biden. Migrants attempting to evade capture have drowned in the Rio Grande, died of exposure in South Texas and Arizona, and disappeared into the Pacific Ocean during smuggling attempts at sea."
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Max Tani in Politico Magazine: It's not easy for White House reporters to be journalistic stars now that Joe Biden is president. "Biden ... has been a journalistic sedative.... Attention isn't his brand, the way it is with Trump, and his staff exerts far more control over his time and his media interactions, alongside their efforts to eliminate traces of palace intrigue from political coverage. The president does few interviews and his communications team has an informal policy of not engaging in gossip stories ... and chide reporters who they don't think focus enough on policy. Press secretary Jen Psaki rarely expresses emotion from the podium, where she speaks slowly and avoids lengthy confrontations with reporters.... 'Jen ... is very good at her job, which is unfortunate,' one reporter who has covered the past two administrations from the room said. 'And the work is a lot less rewarding, because you're no longer saving democracy from Sean Spicer and his Men's Wearhouse suit. Jawing with Jen just makes you look like an asshole.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Idaho. Rebecca Boone of the AP: "A former Idaho lawmaker was convicted Friday of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern after a dramatic trial in which the young woman fled the witness stand during testimony, saying 'I can't do this.' The intern told a Statehouse supervisor that Aaron von Ehlinger raped her at his apartment after the two had dinner at a Boise restaurant in March 2021. Von Ehlinger said the sex was consensual. At the time, the Lewiston Republican was serving as a state representative, but he later resigned. Von Ehlinger, 39, was found guilty Friday of rape. He was found not guilty of sexual penetration with a foreign object."
Texas. David Goodman & Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) "aggressive posture has done little to stem the tide [of immigrants entering Texas] and also exposed him to fierce criticism that he is using his authority to meddle in a policy area that belongs to the federal government.... Now Mr. Abbott is weighing whether to invoke actual war powers to seize much broader state authority on the border. He could do so, advocates inside and outside his administration argue, by officially declaring an 'invasion' to comply with a clause in the U.S. Constitution that says states cannot engage in war except when 'actually invaded.' Top lawyers for Mr. Abbott and for the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, met this month to debate the move, which would put the state in a head-on collision with the federal government by allowing state police to arrest and deport migrants...."
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Reader Comments (14)
I can see how the traitors would be aghast at an official body addressing disinformation. “They can’t do that! Lies are all we have! We don’t actually DO anything. We don’t legislate, except to fuck over Americans we hate. We don’t make the world a better place, we don’t address any real problems, we make a lot of noise and lie about shit we make up. Unfair!”
So, yeah. There’s that.
But I did spot a questionable expression in the section linked, something about this supposedly burgeoning concern for free speech on the right. Really? Whence this right wing “anti-censorship” fervor?
They’re the ones who scream “Don’t say gay!, Don’t teach this, don’t talk about that! Don’t let kids read those books! Teach about anything we don’t like and you’ll go to jail!”
Where’s this anti-censorship thing again? These fuckers are not only the titans of disinformation and lies, they’re the past masters of censorship. Oh, and fuck Elon Musk. So wow, he read “1984” in high school? Good for him. In case he hasn’t noticed, he’s the one trying out for the role of Big Brother.
And Josh Hawkey is pissed? Oh, well pardon us all to hell. Josh Hawley, Mendacity Man, is upset about an attempt to short circuit his super power: lying. Boo fucking hoo.
In the meantime, “owning the wingers” seems a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon or two.
Snowflake sonsabitches.
Hawley, not Hawkey. Damn Otto.
Musk barging into Twitter and telling them they’re all wrong is the height of arrogance. I can’t help but believe the founders of T started out wanting the platform to be a free-flowing, uncensored place for conversation. But they learned pretty quickly that there are a lot of assholes out there, some of them quite dangerous in fact, so rules and regulations were put in place to reign in the worst of the abusive swill.
If you had told the founders they would ban the president of the United States from their platform, they would have stared at you in disbelief. Surely someone elected to that position would know how to comport himself in an honorable and decent manner. But no.
My fear is that Musk will fire the people who know what they are doing, get rid of the restrictions that have been put in place over time and, when the viciousness returns, refuse to put those restrictions back in place because he had already declared them wrong. It’s going to be a mess.
AK: Actually I like Hawkey ––fits better me thinks.
Our young whipper snapper Cawthorn––-name here fits him to a T. might want to wade over to Britain's House of Commons where his antics might just result in a suspension while here at home his ass is on the chopping block. The Brits' Conservative Party has just suspended a 65 yr, old bloke for allegedly watching porn on his phone during H.of C. procedures. Another person, a female, has been accused by a newspaper of trying to distract Boris by crossing and uncrossing her legs.
"The allegations against him [the bloke] are the latest sexual misconduct claims in British politics. Long known for its boozy, macho atmosphere, Parliament is now a more diverse place, but lawmakers and staff say bullying, harassment and inappropriate behavior still are rife under a system that largely allows legislators to regulate themselves."
Looks like politics brings out the best and the worst but if memory serves me right "sexy stuff" is verboten in our Republican house of love––it's ok to lie, cheat, and defeat whatever the Dems do, but they draw the line when one of their own crosses that line–––except when it's their King–– then it's eyes wide shut––and please pass the peas.
Here's a good rundown of all the primary races:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/may-primary-elections_n_626ab43de4b050c90f3d940c
@Akhilleus & @ P.D. Pepe: Yeah, Hawley, Hawkey, Honky. Otto got it half-right.
I read somewhere that DHS will be fighting foreign misinformation from the likes of Russia and the human smugglers on our southern border. That probably explains the Rights freak out. Russia has given wingers so much help over the years and as soon people slow down with the war crimes allegations they will be hand in hand again. Also they are afraid that if the border crisis they have facilitated ever slowed down they might lose their most effective scar tactic to keep their deplorables' anger directed towards their enemies.
I've heard too many respectable lawyers say that the publicly available evidence could convict Trump beyond a reasonable doubt. So I've come to the conclusion that Alvin Bragg does not believe in "equal justice under the law". Maybe Bragg is just part of the chickenshit club that Jesse Eisinger wrote about years ago, paralyzed by a fear of losing. The result is the same, Trump once again gets special treatment and gets to walk away scot free and claiming innocence. Justice isn't blind, she peaks at bank statements.
Marie: Meant to tell you how taken I was with your statement about Biden being the best"U.S. president of the 21st century." I agree and I feel bad about finding so much fault with him when he was running for president––-just didn't think he was up for the job knowing we had so many things to put together again. I think, too, that he has appointed the best people to carry out his agenda. I also think that he is a decent, loving human being, has suffered losses, and learned to carry on. He has had smart, loving women in his life––his sister along with his wives and family––and that in my book is important in so many ways. In a nutshell the guy done got that thing called EMPATHY.
The thing about Biden is this: nearly every day I read about something he’s doing to try to help others, trying to make it a more equitable, safer, more decent world. He doesn’t point fingers, lie through his teeth, dream up new ways to fill his pockets with other people’s money. So strange after four years of a rampaging, narcissistic, ignorant con man working day and night to destroy anything that gets between him and his vainglorious image of himself as authoritarian dictator.
No wonder the right hates Biden so much. He’s as different from them as it’s possible to be.
There's a corollary to Murphy's Law that goes: "Anything that has gone wrong will get worse". Florida, the home of "stand your ground" will soon prove that as Gov DeSantis has assured us that he will sign "Constitutional Carry" into law before he leaves office. That's open carry with no permit or training. What can possibly go wrong?
BobbyLee,
Sounds like an old Irish proverb:
There’s nothing so bad that it couldn’t be worse.
The proof of this sentiment was evident every day (hour?) of the Trump Debacle.
What may be the clearest indication that we have deep-seated, extensive and intractable political problems is not the voter suppressing, racist and misogynistic governments of red states or our national Constitutionally-supported minority government that makes it nearly impossible to get anything useful done, but that Tucker Carlson has any audience at all, let alone a large one.
Rather than placing the misinformation police people in Homeland Security, such an initiative might better belong in the government arm already charged with setting and policing physical standards.
And they've been doing it for over 100 years.
https://history.aip.org/phn/21612008.html
After all, facts is facts.