January 28, 2023

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Friday that Jeffrey D. Zients, who served as the coronavirus response coordinator and a chairman of Mr. Biden's transition, would take over as the White House chief of staff. The formal announcement came several days after it was reported that Mr. Zients had been tapped to replace Ron Klain, the longtime Biden adviser and skilled political operative who has served the first two years of the president's term." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, which is worth reading.(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In his official resignation letter, outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain recounted what President Biden has accomplished so far during his tenure, as is typical of such documents. But Klain also offered a rare glimpse into how his many years of service alongside Biden, in multiple capacities, has affected him personally and been ]woven into the tapestry of the Klain family.' Klain, 61, became the White House chief of staff in January 2021 after serving in the same role for Biden at the start of his vice presidency. In his letter, Klain noted that he first became a Biden staffer 36 years ago, when Biden was a senator representing Delaware. Klain recounted that his first day on the job was the day after his honeymoon."

Benjamin Weiser & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Friday that it had charged three men in a plot hatched in Iran to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an American human-rights activist in Brooklyn who has criticized the country's repression of women. The men, Rafat Amirov, of Iran, Polad Omarov, of the Czech Republic, and Khalid Mehdiyev, an Azerbaijani man living in Yonkers, were charged with murder-for-hire and money-laundering conspiracy counts, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan. The three men are members of an Eastern European criminal organization, known by its members as Thieves-in-Law, which has ties to Iran and last year was tasked with carrying out Ms. Alinejad's killing, the indictment says. Mr. Mehdiyev, 24, was arrested in July, after he was found with a loaded AK-47-style assault rifle outside Ms. Alinejad's house.... Mr. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic on Jan. 4, and the United States will seek his extradition, prosecutors said. Mr. Amirov, 43, was taken into custody overseas in the past week, according to a senior law enforcement official, and was arraigned in Manhattan on Friday."

Courtney Kube & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "A four-star Air Force general sent a memo on Friday to the officers he commands that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years and tells them to get ready to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head.' In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, said, 'I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025.' Air Mobility Command has nearly 50,000 service members and nearly 500 planes and is responsible for transport and refueling. Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be 'distracted,' and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan. The Washington Post's story, by Dan Lamothe, is here.

He Done Her Wrong. She Turned Him In. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Retired FBI counterintelligence chief for the New York Office Charles McGonigal was arrested earlier this week and charged with violating U.S. sanctions against a Russian oligarch -- one of the highest-ranking FBI officials in U.S history to ever be charged with a crime. And according to a new report [firewalled] by The Daily Beast on Friday, he was nailed in part because an angry ex-lover turned him in. 'In an interview with Insider, Allison Guerriero said she dated McGonigal for a year, unaware he was married,' reported Rachel Olding. 'He spent far more lavishly than an FBI salary would typically allow, she recalled, and she once found a bag of cash in his apartment. But after their fling ended, he revealed he was married and had no plans to leave his wife.'... It's unclear what came of the email [she wrote to McGonigal's boss at the FBI,] but the feds turned up on her doorstep three years later to ask her about McGonigal and some of her allegations regarding Albania appeared in last week's indictment.'"

Tim Arango of the New York Times: "A San Francisco court on Friday released police body camera footage showing the frenzied seconds when an intruder wielding a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, in the foyer of the couple's home in Pacific Heights in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022." The report includes the video. This is a liveblog. An earlier entry reports, "Capitol Police surveillance video from outside former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home in San Francisco, released publicly on Friday, shows the man who attacked her husband in October breaking in." That post includes the surveillance video. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

I have absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband's life. I won't be making any more statements about this case as it proceeds, except to again thank people and inform them of Paul's progress. -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to reporters, Friday ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The New York Times' full story, by Annie Karni & Tim Arango, is here: "The body camera video and separate surveillance footage from outside the home that captured the minutes before [the attacker David] DePape gained access to the Pelosi home disproved groundless claims circulated on the far right and amplified at all levels of Republican politics that the assault was an inside job or a cover story for a sordid situation involving Mr. Pelosi. But rather than quell such conspiracy theorizing, the documentary evidence only fed the cycle that began in the immediate aftermath of the attack, when ... Donald J. Trump and Republican lawmakers were among those questioning the official account.... Mr. DePape himself was clearly influenced to carry out the attack by right-wing conspiracy theories he learned about online."

     ~~~ Politico's report, by Jeremy White, also includes both videos. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The audio of the 911 call is here:

     ~~~ Marie: Am I the only one who thinks that 911 operator was dangerously clueless?

Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York..., according to two people familiar with the request. The request, which came from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, is the clearest sign to date that federal prosecutors are examining Santos's campaign finances. The request also asked that the FEC provide any relevant documents to the Justice Department.... Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday interviewed two people about Santos's role in Harbor City Capital, an investment firm that was forced to shut down in 2021 after the SEC accused it of operating a 'classic Ponzi scheme.'" ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The campaign of embattled Republican Rep. George Santos is facing new scrutiny from the Federal Elections Commission after a person listed as Santos' campaign treasurer [-- Thomas Datwyler --] denied that he had taken the job.... 'It has come to the attention of the Federal Election Commission that you may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information' in a recent filing, read the letter dated Thursday.... The letter gave the Santos campaign a March 2 deadline to respond. The FEC warned that 'knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency' would lead to criminal charges.... Numerous other political committees linked to Santos received the same letter after they also listed Datwyler as the new treasurer, news outlets have reported." ~~~

~~~ Looks Like Mrs. Ima Fraud Was George's Biggest Campaign Contributor. Noah Lanard & David Corn of Mother Jones: "We Tried to Call the Top Donors To George Santos' 2020 Campaign. Many Don't Seem To Exist.... [There are] more than a dozen major donations to the 2020 Santos campaign for which the name or the address of the donor cannot be confirmed, a Mother Jones investigation found. A separate $2,800 donation was attributed in Santos' reports filed with the Federal Election Commission to a friend of Santos who says he did not give the money. Under federal campaign finance law, it is illegal to donate money using a false name or the name of someone else.... These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 the Santos campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, have not been previously cited in media reports." ~~~

~~~ Azi Paybarah, et al., of the Washington Post: "Here's a look at how [Rep. George] Santos defined and redefined himself in his biography on his campaign website. Below is an analysis of how that biography was rewritten from 2020 through 2023.... Three version of [his] campaign 'About' page included fewer and fewer biographical details." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Henry Gomez of NBC News: "A Republican technology firm says it is asking Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to correct yet another apparent error on his campaign spending records. Santos reported paying WinRed more than $206,000 to process donations to his 2022 campaign, records show. But that amount doesn't match up with how much money Santos actually raised. A Republican fundraising platform, WinRed charges candidates a 3.94% fee for contributions made online by credit card. At that rate, Santos would have had to have raised more than $5.2 million through WinRed to warrant a $206,000 payment to the firm. Through November, however, his campaign reported total contributions of $1.7 million, including donations that didn't come through WinRed.... 'At this point,' [campaign finance lawyer Brett] Kappel said, 'nothing that appears on Rep. Santos's FEC reports can be taken at face value.'" MB: Hey, if you can make up your entire biography, why not make up numbers (and a treasurer!) for a silly little FEC report? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Après Anthony. Sarah Ferris & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Just months after [George] Santos' win helped seal a GOP majority, New York Democrats and Republicans are drafting contingency plans for a potential special election in the battleground district, despite the currently high likelihood that the incumbent stays put. No matter what Santos does, the freshman fabricator's toxicity has forced House members and campaign hands to think about 2024 months before they otherwise would. 'We're preparing because that should be a Democratic seat. And we're going to make sure that whoever gets the Democratic line is in a position to win,' said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Queens party boss." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "With a sea of uniformed police officers looking on, a New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to shooting pepper spray into the face of Officer Brian D. Sicknick during the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol was sentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison. The 80-month sentence handed down against the man, Julian Khater, brought an end to one of the wrenching cases involving Officer Sicknick, who died one day after he was doused with pepper spray in the melee outside the Capitol. At the same hearing, George Tanios, a second man who was accused in the attack, was sentenced to time served, having already spent five months in jail as his case moved through the courts. In July, Mr. Tanios pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after the government agreed to drop an assault count against him. While early reports suggested that Officer Sicknick died of his injuries, an autopsy later showed that he died of natural causes, after suffering multiple strokes that were not directly related to the violent pro-Trump riot." The CBS News story is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to threatening to use explosives during a four-hour standoff with police in 2021 outside the Library of Congress near the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Floyd Ray Roseberry, 52, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in June, the Department of Justice said in a news release. In August 2021, Roseberry parked outside the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress and threatened to detonate a bomb, according to court documents. FBI and local police responded to the threat, and found Roseberry, claiming to have a detonator, inside a black pickup truck with no license plates.... The incident prompted authorities to evacuate several buildings in the area. Officials later said that while Roseberry did possess suspected bomb-making material in his truck, the device was not capable of detonating."

Cameron Joseph of Vice: "It's hard to imagine a dumber way to protect our national intelligence.... Experts and sources describe the classification process as messy and cumbersome, with far too much information needlessly marked classified. And they complain that when the handful of people at the top of the government mishandle classified information, they're treated very differently than the (literal) millions of other people with security clearances would be treated if they accidentally misplaced classified material.... Most [experts] argued that it was unsurprising that Pence's and Biden's teams had screwed up and brought a few classified documents with them when they left office -- and that the documents themselves were likely pretty innocuous.... Part of the problem is that there's just way too many things being unnecessarily classified." One of the classified documents that wound up in Hillary Clinton's infamous emails was a copy of a newspaper article. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "America has a crisis of 'overclassification', critics say. Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington has been overzealous in defining government secrets. Politicians and officials can too easily fall foul of this secrecy-industrial complex but the biggest losers are the American people denied democratic accountability.... The government classifies about 50m documents every year -- at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $18bn -- while not declassifying them at anything like the same rate.... Classification can be useful for a government official seeking to conceal incompetence, preserve a bureaucratic monopoly on a particular set of facts or keep a rival government agency in the dark. Conversely there is no penalty for keeping information -- however trivial or unnecessary -- secret and no mechanism for declassifying in the public interest."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's administration executed 13 federal inmates in his last six months in office -- a stunning increase over three executions in 60 years.... Six of the 13 executions came after Trump lost the 2020 election as his Justice Department accelerated the schedule ahead of the incoming Joe Biden administration, which halted federal executions, but the former president has already promised to resume -- and increase -- executions in he wins back his old office."

If you don't have a New York Times subscription, Andrew Prokop of Vox covers a great deal of the Times report, linked early yesterday & late the previous day, on the Bill Barr/John Durham plot to finger the FBI for picking on Donald Trump. (Prokop's recap also linked yesterday.)

Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Days before ... Donald Trump left the White House, federal prosecutors in New York discussed whether to potentially charge Trump with campaign finance crimes once he was out of office, according to a new book from CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York developed significant evidence against Trump when they charged his former attorney Michael Cohen in 2018 over a hush money scheme paying two women claiming affairs with Trump, including adult film star Stormy Daniels, Honig writes.... With Trump about to leave office in January 2021, however, Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney, held multiple discussions with a small group of prosecutors to discuss its evidence against Trump. They decided to not seek an indictment Trump for several reasons, Honig writes, including the political ramifications and the fact that Trump's other scandals, such as efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, insurrection, 'made the campaign finance violations seem somehow trivial and outdated by comparison.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Inasmuch as the worst thing that's happened to Trump as a result of leading an insurrection is that he got kicked off Twitter & Facebook for a few years, it seems to me Audrey and her team miscalculated. Besides, if you commit multiple crimes, you will usually be prosecuted for all of them, not just the worst one.

Schlock Social. Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances ... on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by [Donald] Trump in late 2021..., [are] many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site. Ads from major brands are nonexistent on the site. Instead, the ads on Truth Social are for alternative medicine, diet pills, gun accessories and Trump-themed trinkets...." Thompson goes to to explain why major brands stay away from the site, then reports on and reproduces some of the ads that appear on the site. (Also linked yesterday.)

Guess Who -- Possibly Unlawfully -- Partially Funded the Arizona Fraudit. Brendan Fischer & Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "One of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election 'audit' in Arizona?... Now the Guardian can reveal that the person who partially bankrolled the failed attempt to prove that the election was stolen from Trump was ... Trump. An analysis by the watchdog group Documented has traced funding for the Arizona audit back to Trump's Save America Pac.... In September 2021, as Cyber Ninjas was preparing to deliver its findings, the New York Times reported that unnamed 'officials' had denied that Trump had played any part in securing the funds.... Documented's analysis pierces through that denial.... Bill Gates, the Republican vice-chair of the Maricopa county board of supervisors at the time of the Cyber Ninjas audit ... pointed out that under Arizona law, electoral candidates are not allowed to fund vote recounts which have to be financed with taxpayer dollars."

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal judge on Friday delayed the contempt of Congress trial for former Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro, likely for months, to allow for additional pre-trial debate over the role executive privilege could play when the case goes to a jury. Over the course of a nearly two-hour hearing Friday, US District Judge Amit Mehta grilled Justice Department prosecutors on the position the department has taken, in previous internal Office of Legal Counsel opinions, that close aides to a president can be immune from congressional subpoenas. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday. With the questions Mehta is raising about executive privilege, the Justice Department has been put on the spot to clarify its murky interpretations about the scope of presidential immunity." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Fix Was Always In. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "The Supreme Court did not disclose its longstanding financial ties with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff even as it touted him as an expert who independently validated its investigation into who leaked the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The court's inquiry, released last week with Chertoff's endorsement, failed to identify who was responsible for the unprecedented leak. The decision to keep the relationship with Chertoff quiet is a reflection of a pattern of opacity at the nation's highest court.... CNN has learned ... that the court in recent years has privately contracted with The Chertoff Group for security assessments, some broadly covering justices' safety and some specifically related to Covid-19 protocols at the court itself. The estimated payments to Chertoff's risk assessment firm, for consultations that extended over several months and involved a review of the justices' homes, reached at least $1 million.... Chertoff, whose financial ties to the court have not been previously reported, already had well-known personal connections to the justices through his Ivy League education, prior judicial clerkships and tenure in the two Bush administrations." (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, the Suspense Is Over. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee on Friday voted to reelect Ronna [Romney] McDaniel to a fourth two-year term as its chair, opting not to punish her for the GOP's recent string of electoral defeats,in a contested race that exposed fissures in the party. McDaniel fended off a challenge from Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer who has represented ... Donald Trump and the unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, seizing on grass-roots furor demanding new leadership. McDaniel positioned herself as a steady hand and honest broker who can hold together the party's factions and continue building out the RNC's financial and field resources. She prevailed on the first ballot, 111-51. After her win, McDaniel told Fox News this will be her final term. 'It's done,' she said."

Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The 168 members of the Republican National Committee will vote Friday morning in California on their next party chair, choosing between handing their current leader, Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, a fourth term or turning her position over to hard-line challengers who say new blood is needed after three disappointing national elections." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Officials in Memphis released roughly an hour of video on Friday that captured how a traffic stop involving Mr. Nichols on Jan. 7 turned deadly during a second encounter after he fled on foot. The video, which was posted online in four segments just before 6 p.m., provided a degree of long-awaited clarity for the many people in Memphis and around the country who have demanded to know what happened. Yet it also failed to answer essential questions, including why the police pulled over Mr. Nichols, who was Black, to begin with.... The police officers kicked Tyre Nichols in the head, pepper-sprayed him and hit him repeatedly with a baton, even as he showed no signs of fighting back. At one point, after Mr. Nichols stood up, one officer struck him with at least five forceful blows while another held Mr. Nichols's hands behind his back. Soon, Mr. Nichols, 29, was on the ground -- not far from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather -- crying out in anguish: 'Mom, Mom, Mom.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The video is here. A New York Times liveblog of developments related to the release of the video is here. The Washington Post's main story is here. An NBC News story is here. NBC News live updates are here. CNN's main story is here.

Georgia. Timothy Pratt of the Guardian: When does a "protester" become a "terrorist"? The state of Georgia is testing that. "... a strident rhetoric from police and politicians in Georgia, seeking to define a largely peaceful protest movement -- often focused on environmental and racial justice issues -- as terrorism and those who participate in it as terrorists.... On Saturday night, six activists in Atlanta were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism, bringing the total since December to 18. All have been charged under a Georgia statute, marking the first time state law has been used this way in the history of environmental movements in the US.... Eli Bennett and Joshua Schiffer, two Atlanta attorneys representing some of the activists, both told the Guardian the state statute is 'overly vague'. Four of the 18 cases brought under federal domestic terrorism charges during the 2000s were dismissed due to allegations being too vague, according to the Intercept.... Bill McKibben, author of 20 books on climate change and other subjects, wrote this week that, according to Georgia's domestic terrorism law, lie down in front of a police car and you're a terrorist who could spend many many years behind bars'." Another expert, Ryan Shapiro, said, "even writing pro-animal slogans on the sidewalk in chalk" could be construed as terrorism. ~~~

     ~~~ These two young terrorists on a rampage pause to show off the havoc they have wrought: ~~~

New York. AP: “New York state should pay former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legal bills as he defends himself against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a state trooper, a judge ruled Friday. Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James in August arguing she violated state law by denying him public assistance for his defense. Cuomo said the trooper's allegations stem from a time when 'he was acting within the scope of his employment or duties.'... Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler said it is for a judge or jury to determine if Cuomo sexually harassed the state trooper, and that his state-funded defense can't be denied, according to the New York Post."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The Guardian's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "At least three people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting near Beverly Hills, Calif., early on Saturday morning, the police said. The Los Angeles Police Department said that the shooting took place at a short-term rental around 2:30 a.m. in the upscale Beverly Crest neighborhood, which borders Beverly Hills."

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

If striking terror in the hearts of racists, misogynists, angry and ignorant Evangelicals and sociopathic capitalists makes one a terrorist, there are plenty of terrorists around for them to dread.

No wonder the Right is so afraid.

[Forrest Morris]

DeSantis messing with the school curriculum in Florida reminds me
of Hitler's directives after Poland was divided between Germany and
Russia.
To quote, speaking of Polish students: " The sole goal of their
schooling is to teach them simple arithmetic, nothing above the
number 500; to write one's name; and the doctrine that it is divine
law to obey the Germans. I do not think reading is desirable."

[Ken Winkes]

Maureen Dowd has been reading RC, too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/opinion/chatgpt-ai-technology.html

[P.D. Pepe]

The fact that the officers who beat a young Black man which led to his death were Black themselves changes the dynamics; it appears the problem stems from inside the police department and the training thereof. This, of course is not revelatory. A case study some years ago showed someone who displayed much empathy and a lack of toughness was not considered a good prospect for on site policing. One has to ask: what kind of fury were these officers taking out on this poor young man that had nothing to do with the initial stopping him in the first place. Like Floyd, Nichols cried out for his mom––that to me is gut wrenching.

Given all the other news Sandy-toes is getting front page coverage every day–--it's like a serial Netflix film. One of these days we are going to discover this bloke is Putin's spy in the eye of the stormy war in Ukraine or––––just another serial liar who thought he could go through life playing people while playing the roles of a lifetime.

[P.D. Pepe]

Ken: thanks for reminding me to read Dowd–-missed it this morning. If I ever get despondent about getting old I'll just remind myself of the future with robots ruling the world and me on the floor eating out of the dog's dish.

[RAS]

How the Far Right Is Gaslighting Our Societies Into Decline - Umair Haque
"Inequality and downward mobility are causing a widespread loss of confidence, trust, and faith in institutions, as people who give up on them get radicalized by disinformation, misinformation, and Big Lies. And that, in turn, destabilizes democracy. At the center of this vicious cycle lies the figure of the…scapegoat.

This is the Age of the Scapegoat. Everywhere you look, people have become obsessed, ruinously, maniacally, with scapegoats — not you and me, but the kind of people who seem to have lost their minds, and plunged down a deep, dark rabbit hole of lunacy. In the middle of all that is left a void of chaos, because, of course, such people still wield very real political power in our societies…but when half of a society has gone off the deep end, as in literally fallen into a rabbit hole of lunacy, and the rest of us are hitched to them"

[Ken Winkes]

RAS,

Where we went wrong has many answers, but I believe the ways in which our laws are constructed have allowed and encouraged our national habit of ducking responsibility for nearly everything. The techniques are many and scapegoating is only one of them, but behind the mess you point to are all the laws of incorporation that shield individuals from liability for most of the social and personal harm they might commit in their pursuit of money.

And the power of money is itself one step down the road to perdition, not only its use to nudge the legal structure further in the direction of holding businesses harmless but also the use of the legal system to delay any assignment of responsibility and to obfuscate responsibility's very meaning.

Then there's the matter of the sheer size that requires and engenders vast ever-more-complicated systems in which individuals are anonymous cogs. Who's responsible for our out of control system of classifying documents? Who knows?

To put those factors in religious terms (this is the seventh day) we might consider everything that goes wrong a random event, even or an act of god (climate change)...or more and personally, I'm innocent because the devil made me do it.

The Right now sees responsibility upside down. They are not responsible for anything they do. Sometimes it's god, sometimes an earthly scapegoat, more often than not, Biden or witches on the hunt.

This is today's party of (ir)responsibility, and they like it that way.

[P.D. Pepe]

Ken: "Sometimes it's god, sometimes an earthly scapegoat, more often than not, Biden or witches on the hunt."

Yes–-mythology gives us Adonis and Christ and Shirley Jackson did a bang up job with "The Lottery"; today the colors of skin and ethnicity play a large part along with those witches who harbor evil doings while walking in the park in the dark on rainy nights.