;)
January 13, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Ariane de Vogue of CNN: "The Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's vaccine or testing requirement aimed at large businesses, but it allowed a vaccine mandate for certain health care workers to go into effect nationwide. The ruling blocking the rule for large businesses was based on the argument that Congress has not given the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the power to enact such a mandate.... Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented [from the unsigned opinion]." This is a breaking story at 2:45 pm ET. ~~~
~~~ Update. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday stopped the Biden administration's vaccination-or-testing requirement on the nation's largest employers, expressing doubt that there is legal authority for such a broad mandate. But the court allowed a different policy, which requires vaccinations for most health-care workers at the facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh were the only members of the court in the majority of both orders. Essentially, they found Congress had given federal agencies the power to impose the requirement on health-care workers at facilities receiving federal funds, but that there was no authority to impose sweeping requirements in workplaces across the nation.... Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett objected to the health-care worker requirements."
** Alan Feuer & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Stewart Rhodes, the leader and founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was arrested on Thursday and charged with seditious conspiracy for organizing a wide-ranging plot to storm the Capitol last Jan. 6 and disrupt the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s electoral victory, federal law enforcement officials said. The arrest of Mr. Rhodes was a major step forward in the sprawling investigation of the Capitol attack and the case marked the first time that prosecutors had filed charges of sedition. According to his lawyer, Jonathon Moseley, Mr. Rhodes was arrested at shortly before 1 p.m.... Prosecutors have collected reams of evidence against [the Oath Keepers], including encrypted cellphone chats and recordings of online meetings. They have charged its members not only with forcing their way into the building in a military-style 'stack,' but also with stationing an armed 'quick reaction force' at a hotel in Virginia to be ready to rush into Washington if needed."
Mariana Alfaro & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday continued to defy the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, claiming there was no information he could provide the panel about what ... Donald Trump did that day to stop the attack, although the two men spoke privately. In a contentious news conference, McCarthy repeatedly evaded questions about whether he would defy a subpoena from the committee, and he accused the investigation of being 'pure politics.' The committee's leaders said Thursday that they are considering issuing a subpoena to McCarthy...." ~~~
~~~ Really, Kevin? Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "In refusing to testify to the House select committee examining Jan. 6, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy may well be helping to cover up potential crimes committed by Donald Trump.... McCarthy ... likely has some of the most direct knowledge available of Trump's conduct as the mob rampage continued. That could have criminal implications, if Trump's attempt to subvert the electoral count in Congress amounted to an effort to obstruct an official proceeding."
** If She's So Smart, Why Does She Pretend She's So Dumb? Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "President Biden's drive to push new voting rights protections through Congress hit a major obstacle on Thursday when Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, declared that she would not support undermining the Senate filibuster to enact new laws under any circumstances. Pre-empting a presidential visit to the Capitol to meet privately with Democrats, Ms. Sinema took to the floor to say that while she backed two new voting rights measures and was alarmed about new voting restrictions in some states, she believed that a unilateral Democratic move to weaken the filibuster would only foster growing political division." ~~~
~~~ Marie: See, Kyrsten, you're not really for something if you vote against measures that would make it possible. Since you seem to like to make "statements" with your clothes, may I suggest a frock in a nice stars-and-bars pattern? ~~~
~~~ Andrea Mitchell said on MSNBC that Sinema "completely embarrassed the leader of her own party" as President Biden was heading up to the Hill to talk with senators about the voting rights bills. Mitchell called Sinema's behavior "remarkable for a freshman senator."
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Republican National Committee is preparing to change its rules to require presidential candidates seeking the party's nomination to sign a pledge to not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Republican committee officials alerted the debate commission to their plans in a letter sent on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. If the change goes forward, it would be one of the most substantial shifts in how presidential and vice-presidential debates have been conducted since the commission began organizing debates more than 30 years ago. The nonprofit commission, founded by the two parties in 1987 to codify the debates as a permanent part of presidential elections, describes itself as nonpartisan. But Republicans have complained for nearly a decade that its processes favor the Democrats, mirroring increasing rancor from conservatives toward Washington-based institutions." ~~~
~~~ Marie: One of the RNC's complaints -- that in 2020, all of the debates were held after the first ballots were cast -- sounds reasonable to me. Other complaints sound like the usual GOP waaah, waaah, waaah chorus.
Russia, etc. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Russian officials signaled that they could abandon diplomatic efforts to resolve the security crisis surrounding Ukraine, bringing a whirlwind week of European diplomacy to an ominous end and deflating hopes that negotiators could forge a path toward easing tensions in Eastern Europe. One senior Russian diplomat said that talks with the West were approaching a 'dead end,' while another said the Kremlin would wait until it receives written responses next week to its demands from Washington and from NATO before deciding how to proceed. It was clear that Russia's next move would be up to President Vladimir V. Putin...."
U.K. William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that 'with the Queen's approval and agreement,' all of Prince Andrew's military affiliations and remaining royal patronages have been returned -- a devastating blow for Elizabeth II's second son, who is facing a U.S. civil lawsuit that accuses him of having sex with a teenager trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, who denies the allegations, has been mostly out of the public eye for the past year, and many organizations distanced themselves from him after he defended his relationship with Epstein in a disastrous 2019 BBC interview. But he had retained his honorary military roles with multiple British regiments. And the Buckingham Palace website had listed dozens and dozens of schools, hospitals and clubs with which he was still a royal patron.... Andrew will stop using the honorific title 'His Royal Highness,' though he remains a duke and a prince."
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Joe Biden Gets Under the Turtle's Skin. Trish Turner, et al., of ABC News: "As President Joe Biden prepared to head to Capitol Hill on Thursday to rally Senate Democrats on election reform, a visibly angry Republican Leader Mitch McConnell fired back Wednesday, saying he didn't recognize the man who delivered the fiery speech in Georgia on voting rights one day earlier. McConnell characterized Biden's speech -- in which the president called for the Senate to change its rules by 'whichever way they need to be changed' in order to pass Democrats' voting bills -- as 'profoundly, profoundly un-presidential,' deeming the remarks a 'rant' that 'was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.'" MB: That's odd; the teevee pundits I heard seemed to like the speech. If Mitch doesn't care to be likened to Jeff Davis & Bull Connor, he might start by supporting the voting rights bills. Instead, he's leading the filibusters against them. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Woe Be the Taxman. Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "The Internal Revenue Service will kick off the approaching tax season with a backlog of at least 10 million unprocessed returns from last year, according to a new report by the national taxpayer advocate. The pile of returns remaining are from the 'most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced,' the advocate, Erin M. Collins, wrote in her annual report. Although the backlog is not too different from last season's, it is a far higher number than the unprocessed returns the I.R.S. typically faced before the pandemic. One big reason for the pileup, according to the report, is that the federal government charged the I.R.S. with administering various stimulus payments and other programs during the pandemic. That meant the agency, which has had its budget and work force shrink in recent years, had to reallocate a lot of resources to carry out those financial relief programs." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Feel free to blame Congressional Republicans for the backlog, because they're the ones who have insisted on squeezing the IRS.
Martin Crutsinger of the AP: "The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Angelou, an American author, poet and Civil Rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' in 1969. Angelou, who died in 2014 at the age of 86, was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by President Barack Obama. The quarter design depicts Angelou with outstretched arms. Behind her are a bird in flight and a rising sun, images inspired by her poetry."
Maria Sacchetti & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Two months after President Biden said migrant families separated at the border under the Trump administration deserve compensation, his administration's lawyers are arguing in federal court that they are not in fact entitled to financial damages and their cases should be dismissed. The Justice Department outlined its position in the government's first court filings since settlement negotiations that could have awarded the families hundreds of thousands of dollars broke down in mid-December. Government lawyers emphasized in the court documents that they do not condone the Trump administration's policy of separating the children of undocumented migrants from their parents. But they said the U.S. government has a good deal of leeway when it comes to managing immigration and is immune from such legal challenges."
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer prepared Democrats on Wednesday for the final phase of a year-long push to pass voting rights legislation, sketching out legislative maneuvers that could launch debate on a pair of stalled bills and force a confrontation over the Senate's rules in the coming days. The details of the next steps, laid out in a memo that Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent to colleagues Wednesday afternoon, comes as President Biden has launched his own aggressive push to convince his fellow Democrats to band together and overhaul the filibuster -- the long-standing Senate rule requiring a 60-vote supermajority -- in order to overcome strict GOP opposition to voting rights bills." ~~~
~~~ Alayna Treene of Axios: "Democratic leaders have found a mechanism to enable them to bypass an initial Republican filibuster and debate the party's sweeping election reform bills, according to a new leadership memo.... Regardless of this new tactic, the Senate would still need to lower the 60-vote filibuster in order to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the face of Republicans' total opposition to the bills. But Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are against going nuclear on the filibuster in order to do so, which means the bills will likely fail." MB: Treene explains the maneuver, which DeBonis mentions with less detail.
** Kevin Gets an Invitation. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Wednesday formally requested an interview with Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, who was in close contact with ... Donald J. Trump during and after the violence.... Mr. McCarthy, a California Republican, [is] the highest-ranking lawmaker the panel has pursued in its inquiry.... 'You have acknowledged speaking directly with the former president while the violence was underway on Jan. 6,' Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and chairman of the committee, wrote [to McCarthy].... 'It appears that you had one or more conversations with the president during this period [shortly after Jan. 6], including a conversation on or about Jan. 11,' Mr. Thompson wrote. 'It appears that you may also have discussed with President Trump the potential he would face a censure resolution, impeachment, or removal under the 25th Amendment. It also appears that you may have identified other possible options, including President Trump's immediate resignation from office.'" The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The linked NYT story has been updated to reflect McCarthy's response: "Mr. McCarthy quickly announced that he would refuse to cooperate, but the request sent a clear message that the committee's investigators are willing to pursue the highest-ranking figures on Capitol Hill for information about Mr. Trump's mind-set as the violence unfolded. A federal judge has suggested the former president's attitude will be pivotal to determining whether Mr. Trump can face any liability for the day's mayhem." The AP's story linked above also has been updated to reflect McCarthy's refusal to answer questions.
~~~ You can read the letter here. Marie: The letter is well worth a read; along with widely-reported conversations, it contains information that, as far as I remember, the public has not previously heard. The committee's press release, which includes only some of the letter's text, is here. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A few weeks ago, Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) floated a specific crime she suggested ... Donald Trump might have committed that day: 'corruptly' obstructing or attempting to obstruct an 'official proceeding' -- that is, Congress's counting of electoral votes. On Wednesday, the committee's chairman pointed to another area of inquiry with both potential criminal implications and an interesting backstory: witness tampering.... 'Your public statements regarding January 6th have changed markedly since you met with Trump,' [committee chair Bennie] Thompson wrote [to Kevin McCarthy]. 'At that meeting, or at any other time, did President Trump or his representatives discuss or suggest what you should say publicly, during the impeachment trial (if called as a witness), or in any later investigation about your conversations with him on January 6th?'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Blake goes into why Kevin's about-face would not be witness-tampering. But this seems like a no-brainer to me: of course Trump tampers with any Republican who might be a witness against him. He lets them know, directly or indirectly, that he will ruin their careers (and their lives!) if they don't repeat the Big Lie & don't bow down before him. He also belittles them publicly, impugning their characters & their abilities. Everybody knows Trump's opprobium works. So of course Republican politicians are intimidated. And that is, without doubt, Trump's intention.
Annie Grayer & Ryan Nobles of CNN: "Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday appeared before the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. The meeting was virtual. McEnany, who worked in the Trump White House and was a spokesperson for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, was initially subpoenaed in November. McEnany was absent Wednesday from 'Outnumbered,' the lunch hour show she usually co-hosts on Fox. The committee has requested a significant number of McEnany's records from the National Archives, which are still tied up in court because ... Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block the committee's access to his White House records."
David Edwards of the Raw Story: "MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell argued this week that '300 million' Americans belong in jail for election fraud.... 'We have enough evidence to put everybody in prison for life, 300 and some million people. We have that all the way back to November and December.'... Lindell did not reveal evidence that could put all Americans in jail." ~~~
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post looks at the numbers: "the number of people that Lindell has identified as culpable here is every American aged 7 and up, a group that totals 302 million. If we assume that everyone who was 6 or younger did not commit The Crime That Is So Bad, then we get to Lindell's number. Sorry for those 9-year-olds about to spend the next 65 years at Leavenworth." Marie: Any way you cut it, Mike thinks you should be behind bars. I'm thinking he has a contract with some big private prison system to provide up to 300 million pillows to all the new cells. His own cell should be fully-padded.
Marc Caputo of NBC News: "Rep. Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend testified Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating him for sex crimes, a major development that suggests the Department of Justice may be moving closer to indicting him. The ex-girlfriend ... has been in talks for months with prosecutors about an immunity deal. Under a possible deal, she would avoid prosecution for obstruction of justice in return for testifying in the investigation into whether Gaetz in 2017 had sex with a 17-year-old female for money and whether months later he and others violated a federal law prohibiting people from transporting others across state lines to engage in prostitution. Legal sources familiar with the case say Gaetz is being investigated for three distinct crimes: sex trafficking the 17-year-old; violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution; and obstructing justice." ~~~
~~~ David Shortell, et al., of CNN: "The woman, a former Capitol Hill staffer, has been linked to Gaetz as far back as the summer of 2017." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jeanna Smialek & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Inflation climbed to its highest level in 40 years at the end of 2021, a troubling development for President Biden and economic policymakers as rapid price gains erode consumer confidence and cast a shadow of uncertainty over the economy's future. The Consumer Price Index rose 7 percent in the year through December, and 5.5 percent after stripping out volatile prices such as food and fuel. The last time the main inflation index eclipsed 7 percent was 1982. Policymakers have spent months waiting for inflation to fade, hoping supply chain problems might ease and allow companies to catch up with booming consumer demand. Instead, continued waves of the coronavirus have locked down factories, and shipping companies have struggled to work through extended backlogs as consumers continue to buy foreign goods at a rapid clip." ~~~
~~~ Marie Burns announces proposed Constitutional Amendment: "A well regulated economy, being necessary to the security of a free State, shall not be infringed." Maybe if business regulation were framed as a personal right of the American consumer, anti-monopoly laws, federal oversight authorities like the SEC, safety regulations, etc., would be better accepted as duties of Congress & the Executive to pass & maintain rather than as onerous rules that squelch a glorious free-market economy. Yeah, right.
Larry Neumeister & Tom Hays of the AP: "A judge has -- for now -- refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Britain's Prince Andrew by an American woman who says he sexually abused her when she was 17. Stressing Wednesday that he wasn't ruling on the truth of the allegations, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected an argument by Andrew's lawyers that Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit should be thrown out at an early stage because of an old legal settlement she had with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier she claims set up sexual encounters with the prince. Kaplan said the $500,000 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre didn't involve the prince and didn't bar a suit against him now." The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Thursday are here: "President Biden plans to announce on Thursday the deployment of 1,000 military medical personnel to six states to help hospitals deal with a surge in cases from the Omicron variant, White House officials said. Mr. Biden is scheduled to appear alongside Lloyd J. Austin III, the defense secretary, and Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at the White House to detail the teams heading to hard-hit communities across the country."
David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... it's too early to be confident that the Omicron wave has peaked even in areas with encouraging data -- which tend to be the places where Omicron first arrived in the U.S. But there is good reason to consider that the most likely scenario." Leonhardt cites some places where sharp rises in infection have leveled off.
Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "A Republican member of Congress drew swift condemnation Wednesday after comparing D.C.'s upcoming vaccine mandate to Nazi Germany -- marking the latest instance in which a GOP lawmaker has chosen to compare measures intended to quell a public health emergency to Nazi practices that culminated in the genocide of millions of Jews. Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio) made the comparison while responding to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's (D) reminder on Twitter that, beginning Saturday, patrons will need to show proof of coronavirus vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, theaters or other places where people congregate indoors.... The Nazi comparisons have been proliferating on the right for months, in many cases without accountability from Republican congressional leaders as Jewish organizations and others repeatedly sound the alarm."
West Virginia. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) announced late Tuesday that he is 'extremely unwell' after testing positive for the coronavirus, forcing him to postpone his State of the State address. Justice ... is vaccinated and boosted.... The governor is experiencing moderate symptoms, such as congestion, coughing, a headache and a fever, and is isolating at home, his office said. The 70-year-old is being given a monoclonal antibody treatment prescribed by his physicians." Justice, a former Democrat, promoted the vaccine, & derided healthcare workers who refused to get it as "asinine."
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia Senate Race. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "As the coronavirus was sweeping across the United States last summer and the country was still without a vaccine, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker promoted a 'mist' that he claimed would 'kill any covid on your body.' Walker, who is vying to unseat freshman Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) and has been endorsed by ... Donald Trump, did not name the supposed product, which he claimed during an August 2020 podcast appearance was 'EPA-, FDA-approved.'... There is no known mist or spray that can prevent covid-19." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
New York. Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "The New York Times obtained jail surveillance camera footage [of a fight among Rikers Island inmates] that was gathered by New York County Defender Services as part of ... [a] petition [by its client, an inmate who was injured while guards stood by,] to go free. Depicting the fight night and an attempted stabbing, the videos, along with court records and interviews, offer vivid glimpses of the lawlessness that has taken hold on Rikers Island, where violence has soared to levels not seen since the jails overflowed during the crack epidemic in the 1990s. 'People marched for George Floyd -- I think there needs to be a similar movement for the people on Rikers Island,' said Eric M. Burse, a trial lawyer at New York County Defender Services who represented the man who was released. 'Those people over there don't have much of a voice. They are locked up. It is incumbent upon regular ordinary citizens to sound the alarm just like my client did.'"
Ohio. Jessie Balmert, et al., of the Columbus Dispatch: "The Ohio Supreme Court struck down GOP-drawn state House and Senate district maps as unconstitutional gerrymandering in a 4-3 decision Wednesday, sending the maps back to the drawing board.... The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Redistricting Commission -- which is tasked with drawing legislative maps and dominated by Republicans -- could not ignore parts of the Ohio Constitution that required them to attempt to match the statewide voting preferences of voters, according to the court's majority opinion, written by Justice Melody Stewart. Those preferences, according to Stewart's opinion, were 54% for Republican candidates and 46% for Democratic candidates over the past decade. 'The commission is required to attempt to draw a plan in which the statewide proportion of Republican-leaning districts to Democratic-leaning districts closely corresponds to those percentages,' Stewart wrote."
Wisconsin. Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "... when it comes to spewing dangerous drivel, [Sen. Ron] Johnson has displayed a commitment and creativity rarely seen outside of QAnon gatherings or Trump family dinners.... RonJon wasn't always like this. He used to be a relatively straightforward pro-market, small-government, budget-conscious conservative. He seemed to have a more or less solid grip on reality. But the Trump years broke him, as they broke so many in the Republican Party." MB: I'm not sure about that. I seem to recall noticing years ago that Johnson was the Stupiest Senator.
Way Beyond
Syria/Germany. Tamara Qiblawi, et al., of CNN: "A German court sentenced a Syrian army colonel to life in prison in the first-ever torture trial against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights said in Koblenz on Thursday. Anwar Raslan, a senior regime official, headed the investigation unit at a notorious Damascus detention center known as Branch 251. He was found guilty of all the counts brought against him, with the court finding him to be a co-perpetrator in at least 4,000 cases of torture, 30 murders and five cases of sexual violence.... His co-defendant, Eyad al-Gharib, a junior officer who also served in the facility, was convicted in February 2021 for aiding and abetting torture and deprivation of liberty as crimes against humanity. He is serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence. Raslan is the most senior regime official to be punished for torture, extrajudicial killings and sexual assault believed to have been systematically committed by members of Assad's regime." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The story is confusing in that it describes Raslan's trial as "the first-ever torture trial" while noting that al-Gharib was tried & convicted a year ago for aiding & abetting torture. According to a February 2021 CNN story, "Gharib was convicted of accompanying the transportation of 30 detained demonstrators, despite knowing about the systematic torture in the prison the detainees were being sent to, according to the prosecutors. The protesters were allegedly beaten on the way to prison." I suppose the idea is that al-Gharib was convicted of aiding & abetting torture, not of torture.
U.K. Marie: After learning that Boris Johnson gave a BYOB party at 10 Downing Street in 2020 while ordinary Brits in locked-down England weren't even allowed to attend their relatives' funerals, Boris is in more trouble than I expected, mostly because he's skated before on this kind of story: ~~~
~~~ BBC News: "Boris Johnson is facing calls from senior Tories [MB: i.e., members of his own party] to resign after he admitted attending a drinks party during lockdown. The prime minister apologised for the way he handled the event in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 and said he understood the public's 'rage' over it. Cabinet members including deputy PM Dominic Raab rallied round Mr Johnson. But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and MPs William Wragg, Caroline Nokes and Roger [??] urged him to go. Mr Ross, an MP and a Member of the Scottish Parliament, said he had had a 'difficult conversation' with Mr Johnson after he apologised on Wednesday in the House of Commons. He said he would write to the 1922 Committee, which organises Conservative leadership contests, to register his lack of confidence in the prime minister.... For many on his own side, Boris Johnson has already lost the benefit of the doubt. Growing numbers of his own MPs want him out, discussing frantically how and when his exit could take place." ~~~
~~~ Martin Farrer of the Guardian: "The newspaper front pages have piled the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights for his political life over the scandal of the 'bring your own booze' lockdown-era party at Downing Street. The Mirror's banner headline on Thursday is 'Disgrace', set below a picture of Johnson giving his humiliating apology to the Commons for 'not realising' the event in the back garden of 10 Downing Street on 20 May 2020 was a party.... The Guardian's main headline is 'PM's future on knife-edge after No 10 party apology', and reports that there is widespread 'derision' over his claim that he did not realise he was attending a party. Times also has a picture of a grim-faced Johnson in the Commons and the headline 'Defiant PM refuses to quit as polls slip further'...." And so forth.
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Reader Comments (16)
I am shocked, I tell ya, by Misty Mitch's description of Biden's speech yesterday––"incoherent, incorrect and profoundly un-presidential"–-I think he misspeaks–--he's describing his own party's past president. What moxie he has to deliver such a revealing statement–-he must realize the error?
@PD Pepe: Mitch -- and every semi-intelligent Republican politician -- knows the party is on the wrong side of history. That, after all, is why they're trying to disenfranchise voters of color & young people (who couldn't vote when you and I were 18). They have seen the enemy and it is "the others." Mitch is all upset because Biden implicitly put Republican politicians on the side of Jeff Davis & Bull Connor. While it's true that Republicans aren't literally trying to enslave or sic dogs on innocent people (yet!), today's Republicans are doing all that can to advantage white people, particularly white people who already have a lot of advantages, over minorities, students, the elderly & poor people. And Republicans see any effort to increase equality as a "hammock that lulls able-bodied people into complacency and dependence," as Paul Ryan put it.
And there must be a ton of money behind the effort. Marie describes.
Yesterday received in my PO box a tabloid sized 12 page something that hoped to pass as a newspaper, calling itself volume 1, issue 1 of "The Flame."
Didn't read it all, but enough to see how nuts its was. Largely an anti-government, anti-mask, anti-vaxx, anti-public school amalgam of unsupported opinion----all in the name of "freedom," of course--that somebody paid to print and distribute to--and this is the big question--- how many PO Boxes county-, state-, or nation-wide?
It appears the gulf between rich and poor is not the only one widening in our benighted land.
There's the My Pillow guy (who either can't count or is talking about generations of dead voters who are already in a prison of sorts) and now this flaming "Flame," both going to prove that money and common sense (the assumed relation between effort and reward Americans have so long chosen to bend the knee to) have entirely severed their connection.
Marie,
No, the traitors are not siccing dogs on people…yet (as you say), but they are suggesting that Democrats who don’t bow before them be shot (MTG). Yeah, yeah, I know she didn’t come right out and say “Shoot the bastards”, but when you directly reference the Second Amendment as a “solution”, it’s not like you’re inviting Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to join a militia.
The horrible Jesse Watters yelped that his followers should ambush Dr. Fauci with a “kill shot”, then later tried to weasel out (as these cowards always do when cornered) by claiming he was being metaphorical. Metaphorical, my ass. He meant what he said, and he was pandering to the psychos at home with their camo fatigues, bulletproof vests, and arsenals.
These people think they can get away with winks and nods to the droolers, but such violent language serves only to keep things on the boil, which is the point, after all.
At least with Bull Conner you could see the dogs coming. The current crop of confederates are much cagier, and way more violent, thus far more dangerous.
@Akhilleus: Yeah, and Bull Connor did his own dirty work. Trump, MTG, Jesse Watters, TuKKKer, et al., sit on their high horses and urging the "little people" to exercise their "Second Amendment rights" on Dr. Fauci & Democrats. They've turned hate of the rest of us into an art form or form of artifice.
Kneeslapper of the day:
“ Eric Trump says the Trump Organization has 'assembled the best legal, ethical minds' to thwart the NY attorney general's '3rd-rate' investigation!”
Hang on a sec…hahahahahahaha!
The words “Trump”, “legal”, and “ethical” in the same sentence remind me of that Monty Python sketch about a joke so hysterical, people literally died upon hearing it.
The story relates that Little Dracula began shouting (always very professional) while talking the usual Trump crap about how the family has never done anything wrong. Ever. It sounds like the pampered scion of a mafia family yelling about how daddy is innocent of all charges.
But the first impression one gets, that this moron has assembled a dream team of fabulous “legal and ethical minds” (where? At the Four Seasons Garden Shop?) to attack a “3rd rate investigation”, is more like Barney Google hires Moe, Larry, and Curly to refute Newton’s laws of thermodynamics.
Further along in the piece, LD sez “Waaaah…they couldn’t beat my daddy in Washington so now they’re doing this. Waaaaah!”
News flash, moron, we did beat your daddy in Washington. Beat his fat, treasonous ass seven ways from Sunday.
One of his great “legal and ethical” minds came out with this gem:
“This whole investigation is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!”
But she, um, forgot to explain what exactly is unconstitutional about it.
Never mind.
“Legal”, “ethical”, “Trump”.
Hahahahahaha….!!!
https://news.yahoo.com/eric-trump-says-trump-organization-152015277.html
What I'm hearing is Mike Lindell says every person who voted for Trump committed voter fraud and should be in jail. A little progress, I'm trying to be an optimist today and look at it as the glass is half full.
What IS an "ethical" mind, anyhow?
Moscow Mitch: whining about his former "friend," or alleged friend, about how "unpresidential" his speech was... he is an unnecessary evil, proving how his legacy is that of a carbuncle.
Also wondering if Dumpster has sent in the hordes of nutcases to threaten Mike Rounds...I so resent having to "admire" those wankers with R following their names, like Liz Cheney, whom I don't admire and will never, since apples/trees and why should we put people on pedestals who admit the completely visible truth? If this were 2015 before the "golden escalator" entrance of the Head Nutcase, the truth might not be so uncommon, so we really revere those going above and beyond. Why the kowtowing to idiots like McCarthy and Johnson...it's like we all have to admire them for being in congress at all... yuck. Subpoenas. Indictments. Full speed ahead. These people should be nameless bureaucrats we never have heard of. OF COURSE Johnson will run again. Like his idol, he has never worked for anything and never will. It's the perfect job.
Two nights ago Rachel brought up the false elector sheets, forged and signed-on, along with the fake electors. PA was amongst the states that she said had joined up. Last night PA was not. I can't wait to find out the truth-- I am thinking our legislators might be a tad behind the other states... Although they are legion (largest lege in the country--) and extremely well-paid and appropriately dishonest, they are also dumb as dirt. But junkyard dog-mean, so they are in the company of other Rs...
She also wonders why Meadows has not been charged with contempt of congress...too many people out sick in Justice? The snail's pace is killing me.
How is arresting 300 million people going to work? Every one over six is accused. So no one over six can sit on a jury because they are waiting on trial for the same crime. The judges and police would similarly be charged. Will there be five year old judges and juries full of three year olds? To run for Senate you need to be 30 so for almost 25 years no one could serve and therefore no one is passing legislation or running local governments in that time. Unless immigrants that arrived after the election can fill in some of the openings. Maybe not all Americans living overseas will be sent to jail. Otherwise Biden would still be president because you can't indict a sitting president. And he would win in 2024 because no one would be eligible to run against him. Except maybe Harris if the DOJ gives her the presidential treatment and she is still free. Then she would get to precide over the wasteland for 8 years after Biden.
That made my head hurt. I think that Mike might not have thought through all the consequences of putting 300 million Americans in jail for life.
RAS,
A more salient point about the Pathetic Pillow Puke is how, even after such a batshit assertion (300 million people need to be jailed for life…for…what?), he will still be a superstar in the traitors’ firmament. Will OAN, Newsmax, and Faux TrumpenShills avoid this barking mad moron like a big puddle of doggie diarrhea on the sidewalk, or will he remain a standard offering on the confederate prix fixe menu?
At this point, given the pantheon of poltroons on the right, Pillow Puke has plenty of company. In a pack of assholes and liars, a basicloony toon, even one as demented as this guy, doesn’t raise many eyebrows.
What is the true value in any pledge signed by a Repubican? We all know by now that they are all liars, so the signing of some irrelevant document really means nothing. And does anyone really think that if Trump was told he pledged to stay away from the primetime major tv networks broadcast of a debate with the Democratic presidential candidate that he would actually pass up the chance to be on tv in front of a mass audience? For that matter, there is no Republican candidate that is not an attention whore that would run in front of the cameras at the drop of a hat.
RAS,
I think the source of the GOP’s intolerant reaction to presidential debates has more to do with their candidates being fearful of tough questions, vide, for instance, their Dear Leader’s cowardly skedaddling from a question about his historic blizzard of lies during an NPR interview. I watched a similar interview last night of some Trumpish jamoke from Arizona who signed off on some bullshit about how the ‘lection was stole from poor Donnie, who turned tail and ran away when “Ba-dee, ba-dee, ba-dee” was not accepted by a reporter as an acceptable answer when asking about his response to the report that the Arizona recount was a mountain of diseased dung supported by scumbags.
They’re cowards who can’t hold their own when their lies, casuistries, and obvious treasonous proclivities put them on the spot.
What they want is a presidential “debate” controlled by Newsmax or OAN during which their guy (always a guy) never has to answer any question more taxing than “How is it possible that you are such an amazing patriot?” while the Democrat gets “How many baby parts did you sell this week?”
Darn. No internment camps for kids in WA State.
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/wa-board-of-health-did-not-enact-covid-internment-camps-or-vaccine-mandate-for-students/article_b986f0ec-740c-11ec-8bf4-dff54e0fb521.html
Could have used one or two when I was working in the state's schools...
Akhilleus,
Yeah I know what you mean. I saw a clip of Paul Manafort on Sean Hannity's show saying "I didn’t take it very seriously because I know how ridiculous it was to even say there was Russian collusion with the Trump campaign." The guy literally met with a Russian spy and gave him campaign polling data. He was also one of the Trump people at the Trump Tower meeting to pick up dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Russian agent. But in the alternative world they get to rewrite their entire history to make them the hero. There was a really good reason to burn down that orphanage, Democrats did it as a false flag.
Motherhood Krysten Sinema style:
I loved my child so much I refused to feed her...
Would guess this one does not have poor littl Betsy's fingerprints all over it.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-navient-reaches-1-85-164450683.html