;)
February 22, 2023
Afternoon Update:
Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have been subpoenaed by the special counsel to testify before a federal grand jury about Mr. Trump's efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election and his role in a pro-Trump mob's attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to two people briefed on the matter. The decision by the special counsel, Jack Smith, to subpoena Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner underscores how deeply into Mr. Trump's inner circle Mr. Smith is reaching, and is the latest sign that no potential high-level witness is off limits." CNBC's report, which cites the New York Times, is here.
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "A Jan. 6 rioter who threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media after participating in the attack on the Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to 38 months in prison. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 48 months in prison for Garret Miller, an unemployed Texan who, they noted, was wearing a T-shirt bearing ... Donald Trump's picture and the words 'I was there, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021' when he was arrested weeks after the attack.... [Ocasio-Cortez] had tweeted the word 'impeach' after the Capitol riot, to which Miller responded, 'assassinate AOC.' In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ordered 36 months of supervised release...." Includes of photo of Miller in his fashionable incriminating T-shirt.
Naomi Nix of the Washington Post: "Facebook parent company Meta is preparing for a fresh round of job cuts, deputizing human resources, lawyers, financial experts and top executives to draw up plans to deflate the company's hierarchy, in a reorganization and downsizing effort that could affect thousands of workers. Meta plans to push some leaders into lower-level roles.... The job eliminations arrive after [CEO Mark] Zuckerberg sought to reassure workers that he didn't 'anticipate more layoffs' after the company slashed 11,000 jobs -- roughly 13 percent of its workforce -- in November."
David Folkenflik of NPR: "NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its current workforce -- at least 100 people -- and eliminate most vacant positions. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally.... On an annual budget of roughly $300 million, Lansing says, revenues are likely to fall short by close to $30 million, although that gap could reach $32 million." MB: How about getting rid of your GOP-friendly, both-sides reporters, "analysts" & producers first.
Arizona. GOP State AG Falsely Promoted the Big Lie. Yvonne Sanchez & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "Nearly a year after the 2020 election, Arizona's then-attorney general, Mark Brnovich, launched an investigation into voting in the state's largest county that quickly consumed more than 10,000 hours of his staff's time. Investigators prepared a report in March 2022 stating that virtually all claims of error and malfeasance were unfounded.... Brnovich, a Republican, kept it private. In April, the attorney general -- who was running in the GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat -- released an 'Interim Report' claiming that his office had discovered 'serious vulnerabilities.' He left out edits from his own investigators refuting his assertions. His office then compiled an 'Election Review Summary' in September that systematically refuted accusations of widespread fraud and made clear that none of the complaining parties ... had presented any evidence to support their claims. Brnovich left office last month without releasing the summary....
"The records show how Brnovich used his office to further claims about voting in Maricopa County that his own staff considered inaccurate. They suggest that his administration privately disregarded fact checks provided by state investigators while publicly promoting incomplete accounts of the office's work. The innuendo and inaccuracies, circulated not just in the far reaches of the internet but with the imprimatur of the state's attorney general, helped make Arizona an epicenter of distrust in the democratic process, eroding confidence in the 2020 vote as well as in subsequent elections."
Texas. Oops, I Left My Gun in the Boys' Bathroom. Christine Chung of the New York Times: "The superintendent of a Texas school district has resigned a month after a child found his gun in an elementary school bathroom, a school district official said. Robby Stuteville had worked for the Rising Star Independent School District for more than three decades, serving as its superintendent for about the last two years, said Monty Jones, the district's high school principal. On Jan. 20, Mr. Stuteville accidentally left his gun in a bathroom at Rising Star Elementary School, where it was found by a third-grade student, Mr. Jones said.... Mr. Jones said that both he and Mr. Stuteville had the district board's approval to carry guns and that all students had been informed about this practice.... 'If we are going to take care of our kids and make them feel safe, we have to do it in house,' Mr. Jones said." MB: Yes, because nothing makes little children "feel safe" like leaving a (presumably loaded) gun for them to play with.
Israel/Palestine. Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others wounded on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, in an hourslong gun battle between Israeli security forces and armed Palestinian groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said the firefight occurred during an operation to arrest Palestinian gunmen. Three armed Palestinian groups said that six of the casualties were fighters in their movements. Others appeared to be noncombatants: Time-stamped CCTV footage from late Wednesday morning that circulated on social media seemed to show the shooting of at least two unarmed Palestinians as they ran away from gunfire.... The raid on Wednesday was the second in less than a month to end in the deaths of at least 10 Palestinians -- two of the most lethal such incidents in years. A raid in Jenin late last month killed 10 Palestinians."
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Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden is wrapping up his whirlwind, four-day visit to Poland and Ukraine by reassuring eastern flank NATO allies that his administration is highly attuned to the looming threats and other impacts spurred by the grinding Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before departing Warsaw on Wednesday, Biden will hold talks with leaders from the Bucharest Nine, a collection of nations on the most eastern parts of the NATO alliance that came together in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine."
Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden, returning on Tuesday to the Polish castle where he spoke shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, said the war had hardened Western resolve to defend democracy around the globe. He warned that there were 'hard and bitter days ahead,' but pledged that the United States and its allies would 'have Ukraine's back' as the war enters its second year. 'Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever,' he said at the Royal Castle, a historical landmark in Warsaw, before a cheering crowd of Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Related stories linked under Ukraine, et al., below. ~~~
Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "In a bid to prevent a surge of migrants at the southern border when a pandemic measure is lifted in May, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced its toughest policy yet to crack down on unlawful entries. The proposed rule, which has been opened for 30 days of public comment before taking effect, would presume that migrants are ineligible for asylum if they entered the country unlawfully, a significant rollback in the country's traditional policy toward those fleeing persecution in other countries. It would allow rapid deportation of anyone who had failed to request protection from another country while en route to the United States or who did not notify border authorities through a mobile app of their plans to seek asylum. Administration officials said the policy would take effect on May 11 with the expected termination that day of Title 42, a Trump-era health emergency rule that has allowed border authorities to swiftly expel migrants back to Mexico." The Guardian's story is here.
Sarah Fitzpatrick of NBC News: "The Environmental Protection Agency announced a sweeping enforcement action against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, compelling the rail company to conduct and pay for cleanup actions associated with the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. 'The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA's order will ensure the company is held accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of this community,' said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in remarks prepared for a news conference in East Palestine. 'Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they've inflicted on this community.' If the company fails to complete any of the actions ordered by the EPA, the agency will 'immediately' conduct the necessary work and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost." (Also linked yesterday.)
Steve Benen of MSNBC: “By some accounts, [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy committed to the release [of all January 6 security footage] as part of the negotiations with his far-right detractors who initially stood in the way of him becoming speaker.... Axios was first to report ... [that] '... McCarthy has given Fox News' Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot....'... The video tapes in question are official government materials. They don't belong to one member, one party, or one cable channel; they belong to all of us. And yet, there's the new House speaker, who apparently made a unilateral decision to give one controversial Fox News host exclusive access to 41,000 hours of surveillance footage. What could possibly go wrong?... Carlson lacks credibility on the issue.... [And there] is the extraordinary timing: It was just days ago when a new court filing presented evidence of Fox News hosts, including Carlson, deliberately promoting bogus election claims they knew to be false in order to pander to their audience and make more money.
"There are also security considerations to keep in mind. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chaired the Jan. 6 committee and now serves as the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement yesterday, 'It's hard to overstate the potential security risks if this material were to be used irresponsibly.'... Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland ... ask[ed], 'What security precautions were taken to keep this from becoming a roadmap for 2024 insurrection?'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "House Homeland Security Committee ranking Democrat Bennie Thompson (Miss.) on Monday blasted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for handing over tens of thousands of hours of riot footage from Jan. 6, 2021, to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.... 'If Speaker McCarthy has indeed granted Tucker Carlson -- a Fox host who routinely spreads misinformation and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's poisonous propaganda -- and his producers access to this sensitive footage, he owes the American people an explanation of why he has done so and what steps he has taken to address the significant security concerns at stake,' Thompson said.... In 2021 [Carlson] produced 'Patriot Purge,' a documentary series that purports to tell an alternative story of the Jan. 6 insurrection and features at least one subject who suggests the event may have been a 'false flag' operation. Fox News staffers were reportedly angered by the series, and at least two contributors to the network resigned in protest." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Gabe Ferris of ABC News: "... Fox host Tucker Carlson said on his program Monday night that he had gained 'unfettered' access to the [January 6 security] video, saying that some of his 'smartest producers' have been reviewing the footage at an undisclosed location for about a week.... Carlson claimed that some of the footage appears to contradict 'the story that we've been told for more than two years,' but he was short on details or specifics. Instead, Carlson teased that his team's findings would air on his program next week.... The U.S. Capitol Police maintain access to and control over such surveillance videos, but ABC News has learned that the department did not directly provide the videos to Fox.... At times, the DOJ has joined with the Capitol Police in expressing concern over the release of some footage that could disclose sensitive areas in the Capitol, the location of closed circuit cameras, and other sensitive security movements.... 'The apparent transfer of video footage represents an egregious security breach that endangers the hardworking women and men of the United States Capitol Police,' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a letter to his caucus on Tuesday." ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney & Jordain Carney of Politico: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy's apparent deal to grant Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of Capitol security footage from Jan. 6, 2021 came as a surprise to at least one official with oversight responsibility over those files: Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger. A person familiar with the matter said Manger told associates he didn't learn of the arrangement between McCarthy and Carlson until it began publicly circulating Monday. Capitol Police have been extremely reluctant to share large swaths of their security footage, citing potential risks to lawmakers, aides and officers tasked with protecting the building. House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland also told associates he learned about it around the same time Axios broke the news Monday, the person familiar said." ~~~
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... it's an extremely bad idea to grant Fox News's Tucker Carlson the power to construct whatever narrative he wants out of the footage captured at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.... Carlson has an extensive record of making dishonest, unchecked claims on his program, with Fox attorneys even admitting he should not be considered an objective source of information. His false claims include a litany of debunked or unfounded assertions about the Jan. 6 riot."
Marie: The following print stories only hint at what a silly person served as foreperson of the special grand jury investigating whether Donald Trump and others interfered with the 2020 presidential election. It is discouraging, but no doubt typical, of what happens when lawyers must choose "a jury of their peers," especially in high-profile cases where the jurors must be fairly ignorant of the subject matter in order to be, you know, "objective" jurors. ~~~
~~~ Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference by ... Donald J. Trump and his allies in Georgia recommended indictments of multiple people on a range of charges in its report, most of which remains sealed, the forewoman of the jury said in an interview today. 'It is not a short list,' the forewoman, Emily Kohrs, said, adding that the jury had appended eight pages of legal code 'that we cited at various points in the report.'... Asked whether the jurors had recommended indicting Mr. Trump, Ms. Kohrs gave a cryptic answer: 'You're not going to be shocked. It's not rocket science,' adding 'you won't be too surprised.'" At 2:20 pm ET Tuesday, this is a breaking story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ "Really Cool." Tamar Hamilton & Bill Rankin of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Emily Kohrs "said she had largely been unfamiliar with the fighting surrounding Georgia's last presidential election because of the COVID-19 pandemic but was enthusiastic to serve. High energy, with a red vape in her hand and a notebook in front of her containing instructions from [Judge Robert] McBurney on what could and could not be discussed, Kohrs expressed amazement at the media attention she had received over the last several hours. Kohrs said she volunteered to be foreperson of the grand jury because of a longtime interest in politics, even though she said she's never voted. She brought along sketches she drew of two of the investigation witnesses, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marc Short, a top aide to former Vice President Mike Pence....
"'We heard a lot of recordings of President Trump on the phone,' she said, declining to give specifics. 'It is amazing how many hours of footage you can find of that man on the phone.... Some of these that were privately recorded by people or recorded by a staffer.'... After portions of the report were released last week, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. 'Thank you to the Special Grand Jury in the Great State of Georgia for your Patriotism & Courage,' the former president posted. 'Total exoneration.' When AJC reporters on Tuesday told Kohrs about that reaction she rolled her eyes and then burst out laughing. 'Did he really say that?' she asked. 'Oh, that's fantastic. That's phenomenal. I love it.' When asked if she had any response, she said, 'I invoke my Fifth Amendment right. That's what I have to say to that.'... When asked how she felt about what happened when all was said and done, Kohrs described the experience as 'really cool.'"
~~~ Kate Brumback of the AP: "The AP identified [special grand jury foreperson Emily] Kohrs after her name was included on subpoenas obtained through open records requests. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney advised Kohrs and other jurors on what they could and could not share publicly, including in interviews with the news media.... But her general characterizations provided unusual insight into a process that is typically cloaked in secrecy. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was on the receiving end of Trump's pressure campaign, was 'a really geeky kind of funny,' she said. State House Speaker David Ralston, who died in November, was hilarious and had the room in stitches. And Gov. Brian Kemp, who succeeded in delaying his appearance until after his reelection in November, seemed unhappy to be there.... Rudy Giuliani was funny and invoked privilege to avoid answering many questions but 'genuinely seemed to consider' whether it was merited before declining to answer, she said." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the print report by Blayne Alexander & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News, which is worth reading. Alexander conducted the first video interview of Emily Kohrs. To give you a flavor of Kohr's demeanor, here are clips of Alexander's interview: ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's hoping Judge McBurney calls Kohrs in and gives her what-for.
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Anderson Cooper and Elie Honig discussed the multiple awkward media appearances by the forewoman of the grand jury that will reportedly recommend indictments in a case involving Donald Trump.... Cooper ... expressed bafflement at the forewoman's behavior. [Honig,] CNN's senior legal analyst, told the host that what she's doing is a 'horrible idea' because it could provide Trump's legal team with fodder for a motion to dismiss any indictments[. Hogi said,] '... We're talking about -- indicting any person, you're talking about potentially taking away that person's liberty -- we're talking about potentially former president for the first time in this nation of history. She does not seem to be taking that very seriously.... It's a prosecutor's nightmare. Mark my words, Donald Trump's team is going to make a motion if there's an indictment to dismiss that indictment base on grand jury impropriety. She's not supposed to be talking about anything, really. But she's really not supposed to be talking about the deliberations. She's talking about what specific witnesses they saw, what the grand jury thought of them.'" Includes video.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump, who throughout his business career had a reputation for not paying lawyers, spent roughly $10 million from his political action committee on his own legal fees last year, federal election filings show. The money that went to Mr. Trump's legal bills was part of more than $16 million that Mr. Trump's PAC, Save America, spent for legal-related payments in 2021 and 2022, the filings show. Some of the $16 million appears to have been for lawyers representing witnesses in investigations related to Mr. Trump's efforts to cling to power. But the majority of it -- about $10 million -- went to firms directly representing Mr. Trump in a string of investigations and lawsuits, including some related to his company, the filings showed.... Some campaign finance experts are raising questions about whether, as a candidate, Mr. Trump can continue to use the PAC to pay for his personal legal bills." CNN's story is here.
Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "The Supreme Court appeared resistant on Tuesday to limiting the scope of a federal law that has served as a powerful legal shield for internet companies, expressing concerns about the ramifications of a broad potential decision that could open the door to a deluge of lawsuits and change the current landscape of the internet. At the center of the case, known as Gonzalez v. Google, is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects internet companies from liability over content posted by third parties, and allows platforms to remove objectionable content.... The question before the justices is whether Section 230 immunizes platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter when they make targeted recommendations of information to users.... 'We're a court. We really don't know about these things. These are not the nine greatest experts on the internet,' [Justice Elena] Kagan told [Gonzalez attorney Eric] Schnapper to laughter." The New York Times story, by Adam Liptak, is here.
Rob Wile of NBC News: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a nonprofit entity that it controlled have been fined $5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations that the religious institution failed to properly disclose its investment holdings. In an order released Tuesday, the SEC alleged that the [Morman] church illicitly hid its investments and their management behind multiple shell companies from 1997 to 2019. In doing so, it failed to disclose the size of the church's equity portfolio to the SEC and the public."
Chris McGreal of the Guardian: "Last year, the US Transport Security Administration (TSA) seized 6,542 guns from people about to board planes at 262 airports -- a sixfold increase since 2010. Nearly nine in 10 of the weapons were loaded.... Some cities and states press criminal charges, and the offending individual is marched out the airport in handcuffs. But it is not uncommon in gun-friendly parts of the country for a passenger to be allowed to put their weapon in their car and return to board their flight. Atlanta airport tops the gun seizure table with more than one a day found in passenger hand luggage.... In 2014, Georgia's Republican-controlled legislature passed a law pushed by the National Rifle Association allowing people to carry loaded guns in the state's airports. Georgia was also one of 10 states to pass laws over the past couple of years no longer requiring a permit to carry a concealed firearm.... In 2015, ABC News revealed that the TSA sent undercover investigators through airport checkpoints carrying real guns and fake bombs. Security officers only discovered three of the 70 smuggled items. The TSA's director was sacked."
Beyond the Beltway
California Senate Race. Jazmine Ulloa & Rein Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Barbara Lee, who stood alone against authorizing military action after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and remains a leading antiwar voice in Congress, entered the 2024 Senate race in California on Tuesday, becoming the third prominent Democrat to run for the seat being vacated by Dianne Feinstein. Ms. Lee, 76, the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to Democratic leadership in the House, unveiled her Senate bid in a video that highlighted the racism she fought against in her youth and the struggles she faced as a single mother and a survivor of domestic violence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Mississippi. Supremes Go with Gerrymandering. Again. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "The U.S. Supreme Court [Tuesday] declined to hear Buck v. Reeves, a case alleging that the state's congressional maps are racially gerrymandered. The decision affirms that Mississippi is no longer required to get federal preclearance for its congressional maps. In 2002, a three-judge panel ordered Mississippi to use court-drawn congressional maps 'in accordance with the procedures in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.' However, in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority struck down Section 5, with Chief Justice John Roberts saying at the time that 'things have changed in the South.'" MB: Uh, yeah. Now White Southerners are more into secession.
Montana Senate Race 2024. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) announced Wednesday that he will seek reelection, bolstering Democratic hopes as the party faces a tough Senate map in 2024.... Tester was elected in 2006 in the Republican-leaning state that ... Donald Trump won handily in both 2016 and 2020."
New York. Where "Democrats in Disarray!" Is a Real Thing. Ross Barkan of the New York Times: "These days, New York is known as the deep-blue state where Democrats lost four seats on the way to losing the House of Representatives and effectively halting President Biden's domestic agenda for the next two years.... [In November 2022,] Democrats stumbled in territory on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley that Biden won handily just two years earlier. These disappointments have cast into sharp relief both the divisions within the party and the peculiar void of the state's Democratic organization itself.... Elsewhere in the country, state Democratic parties are much more robust than they are in New York.... And now the Democratic civil war rages." Barkan explores some of the gory details.
Rhode Island Congressional Election. Julia Shapero of the Hill: "Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) will leave Congress in June to take over as the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, his office announced on Tuesday.... Cicilline, who has represented Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District since 2011, will officially step down June 1. Cicilline's staff will continue to operate the district's Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., offices until a new representative is chosen in a special election, his office said." MB: Sad news. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Virginia Congressional Election 2023. Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan will win the special election for Virginia's 4th Congressional District and will become the first Black woman to represent the commonwealth in Congress, CNN projected Tuesday. McClellan will defeat Republican Leon Benjamin, a pastor and Navy veteran, to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin, who died in November." The New York Times story is here.
Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "In a race that will determine whether liberals or conservatives control the Wisconsin Supreme Court..., voters narrowed the field to two candidates in a Tuesday primary. The winners now begin a 42-day sprint to an April 4 general election that is sure to see record spending.... Officially, the race is nonpartisan, but one candidate is closely aligned with Republicans and the other with Democrats. The state parties and dark-money groups are the biggest spenders in the race. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz shored up Democratic support early in the race and easily rolled through Tuesday's primary.... Emerging from the primary was Daniel Kelly, who was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2016 by Gov. Scott Walker (R). While campaigning, Kelly -- who lost his seat in a 2020 election -- has touted his rulings to allow concealed guns on city buses and end the coronavirus lockdown imposed by Gov. Tony Evers D)." CNN's report is here. The New York Times report is here.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Wednesday is here: "As the war in Ukraine approaches its one-year mark, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is in Russia where he is meeting with [Vladimir] Putin. Early Wednesday, Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said that 'relations between Russia and China are developing dynamically, despite the turbulence.' Lavrov said that 'Moscow and Beijing are ready to defend each other's interests.'... Russia's State Duma passed a law suspending the country's participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on Wednesday. It comes after Putin announced Tuesday that Russia would be suspending its participation in New START, the only remaining arms control agreement between Russia and the United States.... One in 10 of Ukraine's hospitals have been damaged by wartime attacks, according to a report by Physicians for Human Rights, a U.S. nonprofit group."
Mary Ilyushina, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a state of the nation address Tuesday that Moscow is 'suspending' its participation in the New START nuclear nonproliferation agreement, the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia. Putin said that Russia will not 'withdraw' completely from the treaty, which has been extended to run through Feb. 4, 2026, but that Russia would not allow NATO countries to inspect its nuclear arsenal. He accused the alliance of helping Ukraine conduct drone strikes on Russian air bases that host strategic bombers that are part of the country's nuclear forces." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times: "When President Vladimir V. Putin announced at the end of a 100-minute speech on Tuesday that he would suspend Russia's participation in the New START treaty..., it was one more indication that the era of formal arms control may be dying.... He sounded like a leader who was done with arms control at a time of escalating confrontation with the United States and NATO. If that attitude holds, whoever is sitting in the Oval Office when the treaty expires in a bit more than 1,000 days may face a new world that will look, at first glance, similar to the one of a half-century ago, when arms races were in full swing and nations could field as many nuclear weapons as they wanted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Oren Liebermann & Natasha Bertrand of CNN: "Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed around the time President Joe Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter. Russia notified the United States in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines, one official said. Another official said that the test did not pose a risk to the United States and that the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation. The test of the heavy SARMAT missile -- nicknamed the Satan II in the West and capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads -- appears to have failed, officials said. It has been successfully tested before and had this one worked, US officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin would have highlighted the test in his State of the Nation address on Tuesday."
Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Russia called Tuesday for a special United Nations commission to investigate the explosions that blew up the Nord Stream undersea natural gas pipelines in September, based largely on an American journalist's controversial allegation that a U.S. covert operation was responsible for the attack. The United States said the accusation was 'completely false,' and it accused Russia of trying to distract attention from criticism around the first anniversary of its unprovoked Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and ongoing attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. The exchanges took place at the U.N. Security Council, which has become the world's only public forum for direct, and often antagonistic, contacts between Washington and Moscow. On the 15-member council, only China offered full support for Russia's call for a special U.N. inquiry.... Two weeks ago, journalist Seymour Hersh published a lengthy article on Substack -- an online subscription platform for independent journalists and bloggers -- alleging that U.S. Navy divers, operating under cover of a NATO exercise with Norway in the Baltic Sea early last summer, placed explosives on the two pipelines. Three months later, Hersh wrote, President Biden gave the order to blow them up.... No other media outlet has corroborated [Hersh's] account."
Mexico. Shayna Jacobs & Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "A former top law enforcement official who oversaw Mexico's efforts to combat narcotics trafficking was convicted Tuesday of taking millions in bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel. Genaro García Luna, who headed the equivalent of the FBI in Mexico, was charged in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn in 2019 with acting as an enabler for the cartel, which is notorious for engaging in rampant violence to keep its operation running."
News Lede
Washington Post: "A strong, intensifying storm system continued its trek across the Lower 48 early Wednesday, unleashing high-impact winter weather that could cause widespread power outages and grind travel to a halt. At least 75 million Americans are under winter storm, ice storm, blizzard warnings or winter weather advisories. In addition to hefty precipitation in much of the Midwest and parts of the Plains, there could also be snow in notably low elevations -- including in areas that rarely see measurable snowfall. Even the Los Angeles County mountains are included in a rare blizzard warning -- the first issued by the National Weather Service office there since 1989."
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Reader Comments (21)
This Emily Kohrs person proves herself not only “largely ignorant of the fighting surrounding the 2020 election in Georgia”, but largely ignorant without the qualification.
She has single-handedly gifted the Fat Fascist and his lawyers with a Get Out of Indictment Free card.
For her 15 minutes of fame, she has possibly acquired far longer lasting footnote fame in the history of GOP election crimes in the horrible Trump Era.
Shit. For. Brains.
Seriously!
Consider the source. It usually tell you all you need to know about the opinion expressed.
This morning's Bret Stephens is a great case in point.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html#commentsContainer
Masks do no good, he says, never did, so don't wear them, and he calls on "science" to prove his point.
BUT read the bevy of comments. I hope Bret did. If he were capable of it, he might have learned something.
And my spam file. Many of the hucksters my email automatically rejects who are offering me the opportunity to buy gold and other products imbued with magical properties are recognizable wingers like Sean Hannity.
My computer is apparently smarter than one third of the voting population.
I read somewhere that this Emily person has never voted but she is
really interested in politics. Unfortunately, I think there are way too
many just like her in this country.
What's so difficult about voting, especially if you're not a minority.
Maybe we'll find out who's paying her to sabotage the hearings.
Speaking of GOP crimes…
My Kevin’s present to liar-for-money and professional propaganda purveyor, TuKKKer KKKarlson, consisting of unfettered access to tens of thousands of hours of Jan. 6 security footage is exactly the same as someone handing video evidence of a crime to defense attorneys, who will edit that video to suit their own narrative while denying similar access to all other parties.
Aren’t there still ongoing trials of many Trump thugs seen in these videos? What’s to prevent a lifetime liar like TuKKKer from trying to put his delicate, elitist thumb on the scales of public opinion concerning anything connected to the events of that day, including Jack Smith’s investigations? I can easily see Fox liars editing these videos to back up their own narrative that these were patriots who were attacked by vicious Capitol police, or whatever other fantasy suits their anti-democratic taste.
Hey, maybe he’ll hire that former “Project Veritas” asshole, O’Keefe as senior editor. I hear he’s looking for work.
At each opportunity provided to My Kevin to demonstrate actual leadership suggesting that he might, in fact, be worthy of the Speaker’s gavel, he fails miserably. Miserably on historic levels.
But doing what’s best for yourself, not the country, is a hallmark of the current GOP. No real surprise here.
Forrest!
I briefly entertained that very thought! That this Kohrs person has been paid to fuck things up. But who delivered the check? Michael Cohen isn’t working for Trump anymore.
Nonetheless, now that you’ve floated that idea, I can say with complete honesty, when repeating it, “People are saying…”
Thanks!
Originalism Everywhere
The pearl clutching concerning drag queen reading hours is emblematic of the performative messaging spreading like wildfire through the ranks of the spittle flecked culture warriors on the right.
The history of this nation traces the long and painful trek of formerly suppressed—and oppressed—groups to gain access to the promise of America, to inclusion. But there’s a tidal wave of hatred and fear mongering on the right that seeks to turn back the clock on the gains made by minorities, women, and members of the LGBTQ communities.
Attacks on reproductive rights, teaching of black history, gay rights, voting rights, and a cornucopia of hard won civil rights are the order of the day on the right.
Why not go whole hog? Why not adopt that bellwether of legal casuistry, originalism, and use it to restructure the entire society to suit the cultural hatreds of right-wing supporters of treason, totalitarianism, and blanket bigotry?
Remember Irish Need not Apply? Let’s go back to that. Italians? Jews? Let’s kick ‘em all to the curb. In fact, let’s return to societal norms accepted when the Founders were alive. Any group not considered included in the business of the nation, ie, allowed to vote, should be restored to their originally assigned roles of outcasts, unclean, socially unacceptable.
Wingers desperately want to return LGBTQ Americans to their status pre-Stonewall. Why stop there? How about pre-Revolution?
That’ll fix one of the greatest threats to this nation in its history…not an issue like hunger, rampant unemployment, national security, economic well being, or war and peace.
No!
Guys in dresses reading “Goodnight Moon”.
Originalism for everyone, everywhere, for all aspects of society, dammit!
On a lighter note: A Beatle here for the pie! Paul McCartney came to New Haven and stopped at Pepe's Pizza ( shirt tail relation to my mister). On their walls they have pictures of all the famous who have graced their place. Wonder if Paul sang a few while toasting with a brew?
https://patch.com/connecticut/newhaven/paul-pepes-knighted-beatle-sir-mccartney-made-pizza-pilgrimage
Yeah, me too, about the Kohrs idiot.
Funny how paranoia runs rampant on the Left.
And I thought it was only on the Right.
But then when the Left is paranoid, they're usually right.
Our local history center (formerly known as the Historical Society,
but that was deemed too elitist) has in their archives a sign that
appeared at the entrance to town until sometime in the sixties:
'Blacks and Jews Need Not Enter'.
And they didn't. Being a tourist town, selling mainly things that
people don't need, and ice cream, someone decided that it wasn't
worth losing all that business just to keep 'those people' out, so
the town was opened up to anyone willing to spend money.
Money talks and shop owners and politicians listen.
Why is it so hard for people to understand....that liars lie?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/22/arizona-election-fraud-claims-mark-brnovich/
Repeatedly.
Just imagine what would have happened had Nancy Pelosi handed
over forty thousand hours of Jan 6 tapes to a news channel.
Government would have been shut down while she was hung by
her feet and used as a pinata.
Ken,
Not going to waste my eyesight reading that Times opinion piece that was clearly written with a preconceived notion (I suppose that’s the case with most opinion pieces, but starting with an end result and working backwards is much more egregious and troubling when the desired result and the reverse engineered rationale, such as it is, are littered with falsehoods and empirically provable inaccuracies).
Besides, as I progress along my personal timeline I’m recognizing that the time spent reading crap diminishes the limited opportunities I have to read good stuff. So, bugger off, Bret.
Sooo…as to the point about the efficacy of masks… Just returned from a walk with my dog during which I listened to yesterday’s Fresh Air program, a conversation with Dr. Farzon Nahvi, an ER physician and professor of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Talking about Covid deaths, he stated that many deaths were entirely preventable by wearing masks. Early in the pandemic, it wasn’t clear that the virus could be transmitted through the air. Researchers and physicians in other countries were saying this was so, but the Trump controlled CDC was terribly unhelpful in this regard, so dead, dead, dead.
But I’m sure that right-wing ideologues with an axe to grind and zero medical knowledge or experience are far more expert at opinionating about stuff like what’s useful and what’s not when confronted with life threatening medical conditions.
Fox said masks are bad. MTG too. Trump as well.
Who you gonna listen to?
It’s perfect…
The Orange Menace is still rattling on about his “perfect” telephone calls. The first, to Ukraine for a little blackmail to help him damage his opponent and win him an election. The second to Georgia, importuning state officials to break the law and help him salvage an election he lost.
He’s been yelping about these being “perfect calls” for a few years now. But what is—what constitutes—a perfect phone call?
Okay. How about a perfect phone call is…
You pick up the phone, dial a number, and someone answers.
Perfect!
The right person answers.
More perfect.
They don’t hang up when they know it’s you.
Even more perfect.
In these respects, Fatty’s calls could be described as perfect. He dialed, they answered, he got the right person on the line, and they didn’t go “Who? Fuck off!” and hang up.
Pretty low bar though, right?
But there’s an even better measurement for a perfect phone call. You hear what you want to hear.
“Congratulations! You’re a grandad/grandma!”
“You got the job!”
“Those tests came back negative.”
“Hey, you’re not gonna need a new engine, it was a stuck solenoid. $20.00 plus parts.”
In Trump’s case:
“Set up a fake investigation and declare Joe Biden a scheming crook? No prob. Right on it.”
“11, 480 votes? Shit. I’ll manufacture 100,000 votes. Congrats, Mr. President*, you just won Georgia.”
Perfect. Only that’s not what he got. Instead, he got variations of “Who? Fuck off!”
So much for perfect.
Akhilleus,
Agreed and understand, but collecting material for my sermons requires me to hold my nose and take occasional dive into the pit.
And I'm sometimes rewarded with some amusement.
Ave Ken, gratia plena. Dominus tecum.*
We must all dance with the devil to learn how to trip up the bastard.
*I thought I’d include a phrase from my altar boy days, a line from the Latin version of the Hail Mary, “Dominus tecum”, “the lord is with thee”, but Otto Correct decided it should be “Dominos tecum”: Dominos Pizza be with you.
Atheist asshole, that Otto.
But enjoy that large pepperoni, Ken. The pizza be with thee.
Akhilleus,
Ah, those altar boy days...Nothing like 'em.
Had an uncle who liked to say, "Dominos, go frisk 'em."
Quite a wit, that man. Leo, not Otto. He chuckled every time.
@Akhilleus: Not as good as "Dominus vobiscum." This my youthful father the alter boy translated into English, "Dominick, go frisk 'em," a prelude to the offertory.
Still, I'm glad to learn the Hail Mary exhorts the faithful to go forth and eat pizza -- although I do not consider pizza a form of atonement. Rather, I view a good pizza in and of itself to be a form of grace, a perfect (and logical) follow-up to "gratia plena."
So, nobody wanted to be the foreperson of that grand jury so they elected a simpleton?? Always been interested in politics...yeah, I really believe that, especially since the simpleton has never voted. Take that in: Never has voted for even local, reasonably boring offices wherever she lives...Too good to vote? Too boring? Too unimportant? And this little twit thinks people will adore her for admitting this? Numbnuts will numbnut...
Just to prove how vitally important it is to vote: a Harrisburg school is being sued by some glorious outfit called Moms for Liberty, and another outfit whose name escapes me. The school uses a standard nationally available course having to do with character. Not specifically "left" or "right." Used by many schools, designed to teach kids about empathy, kindness, etc... But yeah, one "Mom for Liberty" wrote that she is suing because not everyone is deserving of empathy or kindness from her or her kid. The school just hasn't excused her (probably bully and bigot of a) kid in a timely fashion and I guess said kid has been "forced" to listen to stories and thoughts about (gasp!) kindness and tolerance and the like. I read this story with my mouth hanging open. This mother says other kids ARE NOT DESERVING OF EMPATHY.
Jesus H Christ on a cracker. It's not just this adult generation that is completely without morals or ethics, but they are passing on this kind of mind-boggling statements, statements completely said without shame or horror. Really a bottom-of-the-barrel sort of person. Probably an excellent foreperson of an important grand jury. It is more and more a hopeless situation, as we can't quite believe that people like that West Shore moron/matron exist and are worthy of respect and honor. She said it best: she and her kid are NOT worthy.
Marie,
Gratia plena cum pepperoni.
And no green olives please, dear lord.
Only a small additional step to “Dominos Takeout.” I hear they even give a discount for that sometimes.
Very funny, all you excellent Latin scholars.
@Jeanne: Not so funny. But well-said.