July 28, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: "The U.S. economy shrank again for a second straight quarter, at an annual rate of 0.9 percent, raising concerns the country may be heading into recession and compounding the Biden administration's political challenges as it grapples with decades-high inflation. The new figures, released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, come at a tumultuous time for the economy, though economists disagree on the likelihood of a full-fledged slump. In the past, six months of contraction have usually indicated a recession. The official determination is made by a separate panel of experts, though recessions aren't typical when unemployment is near record lows." The AP's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Lydia DePillis of the New York Times highlights significant details: "Consumer spending, which powers the majority of the economy, rose 1 percent on an annualized basis, a marked slowdown from previous months.... Home construction, also referred to as residential fixed investment, sagged 14 percent at an annual rate.... Inventories, which measure the amount of stuff that's been produced or imported but not yet sold, depressed the overall number by more than two percentage points on an annual basis.... Business construction, known as fixed investment in nonresidential structures, dove by 11.7 percent on an annual basis.... Federal government spending shrank 3.2 percent on an annual basis.... Final sales to domestic purchasers ... sank 0.3 percent." Emphasis original. ~~~

~~~ President Biden's statement on the GDP report is here.

Marianne Levine & Anthony Adragna of Politico: "Democrats convened for a private caucus meeting Thursday morning to discuss the stunning Wednesday deal announced by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). During the meeting, Schumer touted the agreement and urged his caucus to pull out all the stops in order to get the bill passed before leaving D.C. for Congress' usual summer recess.... In a sign that Republicans will put up a tough fight against the package, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats have 'an absolute monstrosity, and we're going to be really aggressively in opposition.'... On top of the parliamentarian's scrubbing [to comply with rules that will allow the bill to pass via a simple majority vote (reconciliation)], Democrats will need full attendance from their 50-member caucus in order to pass the bill. Underscoring how difficult that will be to pull off, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) tested positive for Covid Thursday; the caucus hasn't had all 50 members voting since the start of the month. And it's still not clear whether the entire caucus is on board with the Manchin-blessed deal. Moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has not yet backed it or publicly commented and did not attend the caucus meeting Thursday morning."

Mychael Schnell & Emily Brooks of the Hill: "House Republican leadership is urging members of its conference to vote against a bill to bolster the domestic chip manufacturing industry and fund scientific research, a reversal from its position earlier in the day that comes hours after Senate Democrats struck a deal on a multibillion-dollar reconciliation package. In a memo to all House GOP offices Wednesday night, leadership recommended that Republican lawmakers vote against the CHIPS-Plus bill, which passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote earlier in the day.... [The agreement between Chuck Schumer & Joe Manchin] agreement that appears to be driving House GOP's opposition to CHIPS-Plus."

Melanie Zanona of CNN: "Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was seen by reporters arriving for his interview Thursday with the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. Mulvaney resigned from his position as special envoy to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. He previously served as ... Donald Trump's acting chief of staff until March 2020, when the President replaced him with Mark Meadows."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee has formalized a path to share witness transcripts and evidence with the Justice Department, its chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told Politico Thursday.... Agreement on evidence-sharing would mark a significant milestone as the DOJ inquiry into efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn the 2020 election enters a more public-facing phase. Federal investigators have sought to access the congressional committee's 1,000-plus witness interview transcripts since April, but the select panel has resisted as its probe continued to generate extraordinary new evidence and witness testimony.... In a wide-ranging interview, Thompson said the select committee is entering an intense period of closed-door work to handle 'housekeeping' matters -- such as how to handle the five GOP members of Congress the panel subpoenaed but who have refused to comply. He said the panel is still mulling decisions about whether to formally request testimony from Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence."

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is working to secure testimony from a growing number of officials in ... Donald Trump's Cabinet, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who reportedly discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment as a vehicle to remove Trump from office with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, recently sat with committee investigators for a transcribed interview, the sources said. ABC News previously reported that Pompeo is expected to speak with the committee in the coming days, though his interview is not officially scheduled."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that no concrete result has been achieved in U.S.-Russian prisoner exchange negotiations, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States made a 'substantial proposal' to Moscow for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan. In Ukraine, air raid sirens blared as strikes were reported outside the capital, Kyiv, and in several other regions. Here's the latest on the war and its global impact."

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has offered to free the imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to secure the release of Brittney Griner and Paul N. Whelan, two Americans imprisoned in Russia who the State Department says were wrongfully detained, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Wednesday that the United States had 'put a substantial proposal on the table' and that he would soon press for the Americans&' return in his first conversation with his Russian counterpart since Russia invaded Ukraine five months ago. Mr. Blinken's comments represented the first time that the United States had confirmed that it had made a formal proposal to persuade Russia to release Ms. Griner, an American basketball star who has been detained for months on drug charges, and Mr. Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was sentenced in Russia in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges." CNN's report, which broke the news, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I suppose there will be great celebrations all around if this lopsided trade goes through. As for me, I expect Griner to apologize for freeing the so-called "Merchant of Death," largely on account of her hubris (she went to Russia after the State Department advised Americans against it) & carelessness (she says she accidentally packed the hash). I won't be all surprised if the apology never comes.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday enacted its second consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase as it seeks to tamp down runaway inflation without creating a recession. In taking the benchmark overnight borrowing rate up to a range of 2.25%-2.5%, the moves in June and July represent the most stringent consecutive moves since the Fed began using the overnight funds rate as the principal tool of monetary policy in the early 1990s." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here.

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top adviser to ... Donald Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, has recently cooperated with the Department of Justice investigation into the events of Jan. 6, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Justice Department reached out to her following her testimony a month ago before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the sources said." MB: Gosh, Former President* Bullyboy, maybe it was a bad idea to diss Hutchinson after her earlier testimony. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Justice Department revealed on Wednesday that it had obtained a new search warrant to access the contents of attorney John Eastman's phone, which it seized from the pro-Trump lawyer last month before transporting it to a lab in Virginia. The development, filed in court via Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom, came in response to a legal effort by Eastman to block investigators from 'rummaging' through his files. The Justice Department had indicated that it would obtain a warrant that would limit investigators' access to 'evidence of specific federal crimes or specific types of material.' Windom indicated in the filing that the new warrant -- dated July 12 -- included a 'filter protocol' to prevent investigators from accessing privileged material, and that the details of that process had been communicated to Eastman's attorneys.... [An earlier] warrant [obtained in June] did not permit investigators to actually examine the emails, text messages or text devices on those electronics [it seized]."

Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "One of two men charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, chemical-spray assault on three police officers at the U.S. Capitol, including Brian D. Sicknick, pleaded guilty to reduced charges Wednesday. West Virginia sandwich shop owner George Tanios, 40, admitted to two counts of misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds, a reduction from an earlier 10-count indictment that included felony charges of rioting, assaulting law enforcement officers and obstructing of Congress's certification of President Biden's 2020 election victory. Guidelines call for a sentence of up to a year behind bars; he has already served five months. He will be sentenced Dec. 6.... Neither Tanios [n]or [his co-defendant] is alleged to have caused Sicknick's death."

Norman Lear, in a New York Times op-ed: "Well, I made it. I am 100 years old today.... Reaching my own personal centennial is cause for a bit of reflection on my first century -- and on what the next century will bring for the people and country I love.... I don't take the threat of authoritarianism lightly. As a young man, I dropped out of college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and joined the U.S. Army Air Forces. I flew more than 50 missions in a B-17 bomber to defeat fascism consuming Europe. I am a flag-waving believer in truth, justice and the American way, and I don't understand how so many people who call themselves patriots can support efforts to undermine our democracy and our Constitution.... If Archie [Bunker] had been around 50 years later, he probably would have watched Fox News. He probably would have been a Trump voter. But I think that the sight of the American flag being used to attack Capitol Police would have sickened him. I hope that the resolve shown by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and their commitment to exposing the truth, would have won his respect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)>

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "In a forthcoming memoir, Jared Kushner alleges that ... Donald Trump's second chief of staff, John F. Kelly, was viewed within the White House as a bully with a 'Jekyll-and-Hyde' demeanor who once shoved his wife, Ivanka Trump, out of his way after a volatile Oval Office meeting. Kelly denies the allegation." According to Kushner, Kelly later visited Trump in her office and offered "a meek apology, which she accepted." Parker obtained statements that corroborated Kushner's account (one of them from Ivanka Trump), but as she points out, "Many of Trump's staffers also were known for offering competing versions of the same event, often making it difficult to determine the truth of what happened."

Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing backlash after a speech arguing that Europeans should not 'become peoples of mixed race,' although the far-right leader is still slated to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas next week. In the same speech, Orban also appeared to joke about Nazi gas chambers, saying in the context of a European Union proposal to ration natural gas: 'the past shows us German know-how on that.'... 'Let's listen to the man speak,' [CPAC] conference organizer Matt Schlapp told Bloomberg News, even as criticism of the Hungarian leader mounted." (See also story linked under Beyond the Beltway below.) ~~~

~~~ ** Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Thank you, Viktor Orban, for showing us where the American right is heading.... [Orban] has enjoyed a fawning interview and favorable broadcasts from Budapest by Fox News's Tucker Carlson, and he has been invited as a featured speaker to next week's Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas alongside a who's who of Republican senators, governors and members of Congress, as well as ... Donald Trump himself. Several such luminaries addressed a CPAC gathering in Hungary in May, at which Trump described Orban as 'a great leader, a great gentleman.'... At its core, Orban's rule has been about sustaining, and being sustained by, white nationalism."

** Emily Cochrane, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia ... announced on Wednesday that he had agreed to include hundreds of billions of dollars for climate and energy programs and tax increases in a package to subsidize health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs, less than two weeks after abruptly upending hopes for such an agreement this summer. The package would set aside $369 billion for climate and energy proposals, the most ambitious climate action ever taken by Congress, and raise an estimated $451 billion in new tax revenue over a decade, while cutting federal spending on prescription drugs by $288 billion, according to a summary circulated Wednesday evening. The product of a deal announced by Mr. Manchin and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, it would reduce the federal deficit by about $300 billion, while seeking to push down the cost of health care, prescription medicines and electricity....

"It was not clear what had changed Mr. Manchin's mind since he said not even two weeks ago that he could not support such a package until he saw inflation numbers for July, which are not scheduled to be issued for two more weeks.... His embrace of the plan did not guarantee it would move forward. Several senators declined to comment on the deal upon hearing of it on Wednesday evening until they learned more about it. That included Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat who has been another holdout on her party's domestic policy measure." Politico's story is here.

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday passed an expansive $280 billion bill aimed at building up America's manufacturing and technological edge to counter China, embracing in an overwhelming bipartisan vote the most significant government intervention in industrial policy in decades. The legislation reflected a remarkable and rare consensus in an otherwise polarized Congress in favor of forging a long-term strategy to address the nation's intensifying geopolitical rivalry with Beijing, centered around investing federal money into cutting-edge technologies and innovations to bolster the nation's industrial, technological and military strength. It passed on a lopsided bipartisan vote of 64 to 33, with 17 Republicans voting in support." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "Days after being publicly insulted by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Twitter, Olivia Julianna, a 19-year-old abortion rights advocate, wrote him a tongue-in-cheek thank-you note on the platform. 'Dear Matt, Although your intentions were hateful, your public shaming of my appearance has done nothing but benefit me,' she wrote after his tweet about her spurred a load of harassment -- as well as a flood of donations to her reproductive rights advocacy organization. In just about a day, she's helped raise approximately $115,000 for the nonprofit Gen Z for Change. At a rally last weekend in Tampa, Gaetz had mocked abortion rights activists, calling them 'disgusting..., [ugly] and overweight.' Olivia Julianna ... criticized the remarks on Twitter, noting the sex-trafficking allegations against Gaetz. In apparent retaliation, Gaetz then tweeted an image of her next to a news story that mentioned his [disparaging] comments from the rally." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marie: Wherein I am forced to admit that Ted Cruz got something half-right:

Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune: "U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz ... told The Dallas Morning News that Texas should repeal its now-dormant law that bans gay sex. 'Consenting adults should be able to do what they wish in their private sexual activity, and government has no business in their bedrooms,' Cruz's spokesperson told the newspaper. The Texas Legislature passed the law decades ago. It hasn't been enforceable since 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a landmark ruling [-- Lawrence v. Texas --] that it violated the Constitution. There have been regular attempts by Democrats to repeal the law since, but they have repeatedly failed in the Legislature.... But ... Justice Clarence Thomas had suggested that the court reconsider the Lawrence precedent.... [AND] In recent weeks, Cruz has reiterated his opposition to that decision.... Recently on his podcast, Cruz reiterated his belief that the decision [i.e., Lawrence] was 'clearly wrong' on the grounds that states, not the enacting of a federal standard, should govern gay marriage policy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So what Cruz is saying is that even though gay sex is not a Constitutional right & the Supremes should overturn their ruling that it is, Texas (according to Ted's spokesman) should not ban gay sex. As I said, half-right.

Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has canceled plans to teach a seminar this fall at George Washington University's law school, a few weeks after the private university in the nation's capital had defended the conservative jurist's position on its faculty. The GW Hatchet, a student newspaper, first reported Thomas's withdrawal from the fall teaching assignment Wednesday.... Thomas ... has taught at the D.C. law school since 2011.... [After Thomas wrote his concurring opinion on Dobbs], thousands signed a petition that called for Thomas to be removed from the law school faculty. University leaders resisted those demands...." The co-leader of the seminar, Judge Gregory E. Maggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces & a former Thomas clerk, will lead the seminar solo. An AP story is here. None of the articles says whether or not this is a required course, but a statement from Maggs suggests maybe it's an elective.

Smug Punk Loses Defamation Lawsuits Against Media. Aaron Keller of Law & Crime: "After years of politically charged litigation, former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann has lost a round of high-profile defamation lawsuits against five mainstream media companies at the summary judgment stage.... Sandmann's cases against ABC News, Rolling Stone magazine, CBS News, newspaper and television station owner Gannett, and The New York Times are now officially listed as 'terminated' on the court record. Sandmann sued the five organizations in question -- and a few others, including CNN and NBC -- on March 2, 2020. The lawsuits alleged that various articles and broadcasts defamed Sandmann by characterizing his actions toward Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist, on Jan. 18, 2019 in Washington, D.C., as nefarious.... [Federal District Judge William] Bertelsman suggested that the press did little more than to report Philips' version of the events. Phillips' version of the events were opinions, not facts, the judge concluded." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Did I mention that Sandmann & some of his friends were wearing MAGA caps during the confrontation? They were wearing MAGA caps. Speaking of doomed defamation suits ... ~~~

~~~ Litigious J. Trump Threatens to Sue Media. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Wednesday said he planned to file a lawsuit against CNN, alleging the network has repeatedly defamed him dating back to his 2016 campaign for the presidency. 'I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me,' Trump said in a statement. 'I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public regarding the overwhelming evidence of fraud throughout the 2020 Election. I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!' The 282-page letter from Trump's attorneys to CNN executives, dated July 21, calls for the network to retract or correct numerous on-air statements and published articles about Trump that the lawyers allege are false and defamatory. The letter goes on to cite dozens of examples, many of which relate to the network's coverage of Trump's repeated claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent." ~~~

~~~ Gosh, why would a money-grubbing cheapskate like Trump spend money on lawyers to bring such a frivolous lawsuit? ~~~

~~~ Oh. Jonathan Karl & Soo Rin Kim of ABC News: "Republican leaders who worry that Donald Trump could hurt their midterm chances by announcing a presidential run too soon are hoping he'll be dissuaded from doing so by the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments, according to an RNC official. Since October 2021, the Republican National Committee has paid nearly $2 million to law firms representing Trump as part of his defense against personal litigation and government investigations. But an RNC official told ABC News that as soon as Trump would announce he is running for president, the payments would stop because the party has a 'neutrality policy' that prohibits it from taking sides in the presidential primary.... RNC officials would not comment on the record for this story." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know that the RNC is paying Trump's lawyers for suits he initiates, but maybe. And maybe that suit against CNN will come to an abrupt end if Trump declares himself a candidate in the perhaps futile hope of foreclosing any DOJ criminal case against him.

David McCabe & Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday filed for an injunction to block Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, from buying a virtual reality company called Within, potentially limiting the company's push into the so-called metaverse and signaling a shift in how the agency is approaching tech deals. The antitrust lawsuit is the first to be filed under Lina Khan, the commission's chair and a leading progressive critic of corporate concentration, against one of the tech giants. Ms. Khan has argued that regulators must stop violations of competition and consumer protection laws when it comes to the bleeding edge of technology, including virtual and augmented reality, and not just in areas where the companies have already become behemoths. The F.T.C.'s request for an injunction puts Ms. Khan on a collision course with Mark Zuckerberg, Metas chief executive, who is also named as a defendant in the request. He has poured billions of dollars into building products for virtual and augmented reality, betting that the immersive world of the metaverse is the next technology frontier. The lawsuit could crimp those ambitions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden returned to the Oval Office with a triumphant flair on Wednesday after testing negative for Covid-19, boasting that his mild case was evidence of the progress his administration had made in stemming the pandemic. The president's staff staged a pep rally of sorts in the Rose Garden to celebrate the end of his five-day isolation, welcoming Mr. Biden to the lectern with a rendition of 'Hail to the Chief' and a crowd of cheering aides. Wearing his signature aviator sunglasses, the president removed his mask and declared his personal victory against the coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus pandemic began in separate viral spillovers -- at least two but perhaps as many as two dozen -- from live animals sold and butchered in late 2019 at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, according to two papers published Tuesday in the journal Science. The publication of the papers, which underwent five months of peer review and revisions by the authors, is unlikely to quell the rancorous debate about how the pandemic began and whether the virus emerged from a Chinese laboratory. And the authors acknowledge there are many unknowns requiring further investigation -- most notably, which animals were involved." MB: Looks like a case where scientists can demonstrate that a conspiracy theory -- that a Wuhan lab either purposely or carelessly developed the coronavirus -- is unlikely but cannot disprove it.

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Easing a shortfall that has plagued the fight against monkeypox for weeks, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that it had cleared nearly 800,000 additional doses of vaccine for use. The Biden administration said it would announce allocations for states and jurisdictions on Thursday. The new doses should greatly expand the supply in the United States, but some experts questioned whether they would be enough to meet the demand. Since May, the country has confirmed 3,600 cases, among the highest tallies in the world, and the figure is almost certainly an underestimate."

Beyond the Beltway

Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Race. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, is under increasing scrutiny over his connections to the far-right social media platform Gab and its founder, who has repeatedly made antisemitic remarks defending their ties. Early this month, news emerged that Mr. Mastriano's campaign had paid Gab, a haven for white nationalists and users banned from other platforms, $5,000 for 'consulting,' according to a state filing that was first uncovered by Media Matters for America.... Since then, Mr. Mastriano, a far-right state senator who has falsely argued that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and who rarely speaks to traditional news outlets, has ignored criticism of his association with Gab.... Recent polls have shown [Mastriano] running an unexpectedly close race against the Democratic nominee, Josh Shapiro." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whether or not Mastriano wins the election, the fact that millions of Americans apparently will vote for him makes pretty clear we already are living in a country where neo-Nazis hold great sway. And, no, I don't think this is a glib & baseless reductio ad Hitlerum. This is where we are, and it's terrifying.

Wisconsin Senate Race. Scott Bauer of the AP: "Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes emerged Wednesday as the clear favorite in what had been a crowded Democratic field seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, as his nearest rival dropped out and threw his support behind Barnes. Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, who polls showed had been running tight with Barnes, explained his surprising move by saying Barnes had pulled ahead in recent weeks and there was no way he could catch him in the hotly contested primaryfor what is expected to be one of the most hard-fought Senate races this year.... On Monday, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson dropped out of the race and endorsed Barnes. Even though Lasry and Nelson are ending their campaigns this week, both of their names will remain on the primary ballot." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I know most Republicans won't understand this, but many Democrats run for public office because they are patriots rather than because they want to wield power. Therefore, they are willing to withdraw their candidacies -- even if, like Lasry, they've spent their own millions in their campaigns -- if they believe sacrificing their own efforts could produce a better outcome. And who could argue that dispatching Ron Johnson would not constitute a better outcome?

News Lede

New York Times: "Tony Dow, who became a star at 12 as Wally Cleaver, the barely teenage older brother on the popular 1950s and '60s comedy series 'Leave It to Beaver,' died on Wednesday at his home in Topanga, Calif. He was 77."

Comments

[Jeanne]

Marie: we in PA are terrified also. The morning paper has conflicting stories on this super-religious bigoted a**hole every day. One will list all the negatives about him, and the next says that the GQP is coming to terms with the fact of his candidacy, not that far a jump, really. The problem is, of course, that PA is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama between. Ignorance in the hills and valleys.

Yesterday our idiot Lancaster county commissioners, 2 out of 3, decided to refuse furthering funding for a court-mandated program that has been run by the YWCA. Why, you ask...well, someone from the Y dissed their delicate fee-fees when they decided (always 2 out of 3) to remove the county's only lockbox that has been in use since the Covid lockdowns. There has always been conflict when nonprofits provide things like voter education-- church/state, taxing etc. --but now winger preachers are regularly electioneering from their pulpits and of course that is hunky-dory as long as it benefits the right. These local jamokes were insulted that someone spoke from the YW among others, so now, a social service program gets defunded in response to their vote- suppression tactics. This is our world...

I feel the same way about ole Brittney: how is it she is familiar with Russian rules from having played there, and she "mistakenly" packed cannibas oil in her luggage, having decided to go there while Russia is engaged in an unjust war with its neighbor...? While I don't think she deserves the incarceration she is experiencing, why was an adult person so stupid about things like that? Youth is no excuse. There is a lot of wasted diplomacy trying to get silly people out of Iran, North Korea and other terrible places they visit. Egos, I guess...

[Patrick]

Jeanne: when Americans travel overseas and get in any trouble, right or wrong, they fully expect the USG to get them out.

In Griner's case, I suspect she didn't understand that the US-Russia Calvinball rules had just changed. If she thought at all, she probably expected that her team owner had the blat* to ensure that his players were not subject to police shakedowns, unaware that someone high up wanted a prominent hostage to embarrass and extort President Biden, to show the Russian public how dominating the Kremlin is.

This is really embarrassing because I suspect most Russians know just how bad a dude Bout is, it's like trading Minnie Mouse for Attila the Hun. I suspect most Americans will forget about this in two weeks. Russians won't

*Pull, influence, juice, power

[RAS]

I bet someone explained to Ted Cruz that sodomy laws can affect straight couples too and he is just looking for something a little more targeted to go after the gay community.

[P.D. Pepe]

We need more laughs to get us through this morass:
https://youtu.be/jL5LaLT2BJM