;)
June 21, 2022
The Longest Day
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The officers had weapons; the children had none. The officers had body armor; the children had none. The officers had training; the subject had none. One hour, 14 minutes and 8 seconds. That's how long children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued. -- Texas Public Safety director Steven McCraw, Tuesday ~~~
David Goodman of the New York Times: "The head of the Texas State Police offered a pointed and emphatic rebuke of the police response to a shooting last month at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, calling it 'an abject failure' that ran counter to decades of training. In his comments before a special State Senate committee in Austin, Steven McCraw, the director of the Department of Public Safety, said that just minutes after a gunman began shooting children inside a pair of connected classrooms on May 24, the police at the scene had enough firepower and protective equipment to storm the classroom. But, he said, the on-scene commander 'decided to put the lives of officers ahead of the lives of children.' Mr. McCraw, speaking forcefully, said the same commander had delayed confronting the gunman because he 'waited for a key that was never needed.... 'I don't believe, based on the information that we have right now, that that door was ever secured.'..." The Texas Tribune report is here.
The New York Times' live updates of developments related to today's January 6 committee hearing are here. More on the hearing liked below.
Lordy, There Are Tapes. Eugene Daniels & Ryan Lizza of Politico: "The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 sent a subpoena last week to Alex Holder, a documentary filmmaker who was granted extensive access to ... Donald Trump and his inner circle. Holder shot interviews with the then-president both before and after Jan. 6. The existence of this footage is previously unreported. A source familiar with the project told Politico on Monday night that Holder began filming on the campaign trail in September 2020 for a project on Trump's reelection campaign. Over the course of several months, Holder had substantial access to Trump, Trump's adult children and Mike Pence, both in the White House and on the campaign trail.... Holder is expected to fully cooperate with the committee in an interview scheduled for Thursday."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Maine may not exclude religious schools from a state tuition program. The decision, from a court that has grown exceptionally receptive to claims from religious people and groups in a variety of settings, was the latest in a series of rulings requiring the government to aid religious institutions on the same terms as other private organizations. The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's three liberal justices in dissent." MB: When Texas secedes, could we please donate 2/3rds of the Supreme Court to them? And you know which 2/3rds I'm talkin' about. ~~~
~~~ Update: I see where contributor Jeanne, in today's Comments, had the related idea of sending Trump & Greitens to rule over Texas as prez & veep. I second that.
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A hearing of the House January 6 committee is scheduled to begin today at 1:00 pm ET. You can watch on the linked page, which is a page of the committee's Website.
The Washington Post's live updates relating to today's January 6 committee hearing are here.
A Piece of the Plot Comes into Focus. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... internal campaign emails and memos reveal that the convening of ... fake electors [in seven states on December 14, 2020,] appeared to be a ... concerted strategy, intended to give Vice President Mike Pence a reason to declare the outcome of the election was somehow in doubt on Jan. 6, 2021, when he was to preside over the congressional counting of the electoral college votes. The documents show Trump's team pushed ahead and urged the electors to meet -- then pressured Pence to cite the alternate Trump slates -- even as various Trump lawyers acknowledge privately they did not have legal validity and the gatherings had not been in compliance with state laws.... Committee members have said that Tuesday's hearing will focus on ... how the elector scheme was organized and the ways Trump pressured officials in swing states to go along with his false claims that Biden had lost.... The Justice Department and an Atlanta-area prosecutor are also investigating the elector scheme...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post provides a timeline of events relating to the fake electors plots. Helpful. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: As I recall, we heard bits & pieces of Trump's pressure on states more-or-less in real time, but it was not till some time later that we learned that Republicans in several states had fronted slates of fake electors for Trump. When this story first came out, only one or two states were mentioned, and the effort seemed ridiculous &, frankly, humorous. It took a while for the press to catch on to the central purpose of these fake slates of electors.
Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot is set to hear live testimony from four witnesses during Tuesday's hearing that will focus on how ... Donald Trump and his allies pressured state-level officials to overturn the 2020 election results. The committee will also show evidence that Trump was involved in a scheme to submit fake slates of electors in the 2020 presidential election, US Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and member of the panel who is expected to play a leading role in the presentation, said Sunday.... The witness list for Tuesday's hearing includes three individuals from Georgia: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, his deputy Gabe Sterling and former election worker Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss. Rusty Bowers a Republican who is the Arizona House speaker, is also scheduled to testify, the committee formally announced Monday. Tuesday's hearing will ... detail how Trump, his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows pressured officials, as well as, how false election claims fueled death threats for those at the state level." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here. Yeah But ~~~
~~~ Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Rolling Stone is citing two people familiar with Donald Trump's plots around the Jan. 6 trials that the former president wants to throw legal adviser John Eastman under the bus.... After three public hearings from the House Select Committee..., Eastman has garnered a lot of negative 'attention,' which has perturbed Trump. Those who spoke to Trump about Eastman in the past several months say that he is adopting a strategy he has frequently used when he appears to be guilty. 'He has privately insisted he "hardly" or "barely" knows Eastman, despite the fact that he counseled Trump on taking a string of extra-legal measures in a bid to stay in power,' said the report.... Read the full report at Rolling Stone. Firewalled. ~~~
~~~ Also from the Alternate World of Donald Trump. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: Donald Trump called in to Eric Bolling's Newsmax show and "claimed evidence has arisen showing he actually won the 2020 election. 'We have so much proof,' he [said]. 'They don't want to play the proof.' Trump went on to blame Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the security breach at the Capitol despite the fact that, as commander-in-chief, Trump was in charge of the National Guard. He then claimed his supporters were 'well-behaved' on Jan. 6, 2021: '... And I'm talking about the people that went there and to, also listen to speeches. It was the largest group I think that I've ever seen or made a speech to. I've never seen anything like it and there they were well behaved. So many, so many people. Nobody ever talks about that.'" Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Marie: As Stephen Colbert points out in the video below, Trumpbots don't often see video of the insurrection, but surely they've seen some video & photos of their pals attacking Capitol police and running rampant through the Capitol. Yet Trump is so accustomed to lying, so confident that his lemmings will follow him no matter what, that he blithely declares these marauders were well "well-behaved." Frankly, I cannot imagine anyone's being stupid enough to say, "Oh, right." But that, apparently, is indicative of my lack of imagination.
Trump Notices the Hearings Are Going Well. Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump called it a 'bad decision' by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to completely withdraw from the January 6 Committee.... 'This committee, it was a bad decision not to have representation on that committee,' Trump said [in an interview]. 'That was a very, very foolish decision because they try to pretend like they're legit, and only when you get into the inner workings you say "what kind of a thing is this?" Just a one-sided witch hunt.'" MB: So is a "two-sided witch hunt" is where we take a break every few minutes to listen to Jim Jordan harangue the assembly with counterfactual gibberish?
In his monologue Monday night, Stephen Colbert discussed the non-surrection:
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Monday that he was considering seeking a gas tax holiday to ease high fuel prices, a major political dilemma for the White House as it struggles to address record inflation.... Suspending the gas tax, which is 18.4 cents per gallon, would require action by Congress. In February, when Democratic lawmakers explored the idea, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, dismissed it as a gimmick."
Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "Nearly three months since an ultra-contagious set of new Omicron variants launched a springtime resurgence of [Covid-19] cases, people are dying from Covid at a rate close to the lowest of the pandemic.... Deaths have ticked up slowly in the northeastern United States, where the latest wave began, and are likely to do the same nationally as the surge pushes across the South and West. But the country remains better fortified against Covid deaths than earlier in the pandemic, scientists said. Because so many Americans have now been vaccinated or infected or both, they said, the number of people whose immune systems are entirely unprepared for the virus has significantly dwindled."
Beyond the Beltway
Missouri. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Eric Greitens, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in Missouri, released a violent new political advertisement on Monday showing himself racking a shotgun and accompanying a team of men armed with assault rifles as they stormed -- SWAT team-style -- into a home in search of 'RINOs,' or Republicans in name only. 'Join the MAGA crew,' Mr. Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, declares in the ad. 'Get a RINO hunting permit. There's no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn't expire until we save our country.' The ad by Mr. Greitens was just the latest but perhaps most menacing in a long line of Republican campaign ads featuring firearms and seeking to equate hard-core conservatism with the use of deadly weapons.... By midafternoon on Monday, Twitter had hidden Mr. Greitens' new ad behind a warning.... Facebook removed the ad altogether. [Dylan Johnson,] Mr. Greitens's campaign, [said,] 'If anyone doesn't get the metaphor, they are either lying or dumb.'..." NPR's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, it's just a "metaphor." And just when I thought it was okay to murder my Republican neighbors. I saw clips of the ad on the teevee. Greitens leads a team of about half-a-dozen men outfitted in military-style camo who break through the front door of a suburban-style house and enter, rifles drawn, in search of their prey. It could give a child nightmares.
Texas. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "The [Texas Republican party's] new platform, which thousands of GOP activists in Texas agreed to at the state party convention over the weekend, is a veritable piñata bursting with far-right extremist fantasies. It states that Texas retains the right to secede from the United States and urges the Texas legislature to reaffirm this. It describes homosexuality as 'an abnormal lifestyle choice.' It flatly declares that no validation of transgender identity is legitimate. It dismisses all gun regulations as a violation of 'God given rights.'... But the document might be most revealing in its treatment of voting and democracy. It declares President Biden was 'not legitimately elected' in 2020. It says Biden's win was tainted by voting in swing-state cities, furthering a GOP trend toward more explicitly declaring votes in urban centers illegitimate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: When I first read about Texas's GOP platform a couple of days ago, I wondered what gay Texas Republicans had to say about the platform's odd declaration that homosexuality was "an abnormal lifestyle choice." Conover Kennard of Crooks & Liars discovered that they didn't have much of an opportunity to object. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "The Fort Worth Log Cabin Republicans is a new chapter of a national organization. The local group and the organization's state affiliate were denied booths at the event that drew Republicans from across the state, a spokesperson for the party confirmed." This seems like a good time for Texans who consider themselves to be "normal" Republicans to get out of the abnormal Texas Republican party. Right away. ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, you can't get more anti-American than a Texas Republican. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The proposed platform (it's expected to be approved when votes are tallied) [reads]: 'Texas retains the right to secede from the United States, and the Texas Legislature should be called upon to pass a referendum consistent thereto.' It wants the secession referendum 'in the 2023 general election for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.' Yee-haw!... The Texas Theocracy ... would keep only traces of democracy. It wants the Voting Rights Act of 1965 'repealed,' and it would rewrite the state constitution to empower minority rule by small, rural (and White) counties. It would rescind voters' right to elect senators and the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship."
Texas. Terri Langford of the Texas Tribune: "On Monday evening, the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV revealed that the officers [loitering in the hall at Ross Elementary School in Uvalde], in effect, had more than enough firepower, equipment and motivation to breach the classrooms.... Current records and footage show a well-equipped group of local officers entered the school almost immediately that day and then pulled back once the shooter began firing from inside the classroom. Then they waited for more than an hour to reengage.... No security footage from inside the school showed police officers attempting to open the doors to classrooms 111 and 112, which were connected by an adjoining door.... Within the first minutes of the law enforcement response, an officer said the Halligan ... [-- a firefighting tool that breaks through doors --] was on site. It wasn't brought into the school until an hour after the first officers entered the building.... Officers had access to four ballistic shields inside the school during the standoff with the gunman, according to a law enforcement transcript. The first arrived 58 minutes before officers stormed the classrooms. The last arrived 30 minutes before." The Austin-American Statesman report, which is firewalled, is here.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "On Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Moscow's efforts to capture the besieged city [of Severodonetsk] would probably intensify after Russia's leaders set Sunday as the deadline for its military to reach Luhansk's borders. The coming week could bring some of the most decisive battles in the war, Ukrainian officials warned.... Tensions escalated in Europe after Russia threatened to retaliate against Lithuania over its move to restrict the transit of some goods.... The Kremlin's top spokesman said Americans captured in Ukraine would not be covered by Geneva Conventions' protections for prisoners of war."
Matthew Bigg, et al., of the New York Times: "The Russian blockade that has stopped Ukraine from exporting its vast storehouses of grain and other goods, threatening starvation in distant corners of the globe, is a 'war crime,' the European Union's top foreign policy official declared Monday. The remarks by the official, Josep Borrell Fontelles, were among the strongest language from a Western leader in describing the Kremlin's tactics to subjugate Ukraine nearly four months after it invaded, and with no end to the conflict in sight."
Yuliya Talmazan of NBC News: "... Vladimir Putin's spokesman wouldn't guarantee that two U.S. military veterans captured in Ukraine won't face the death penalty.... 'It depends on the investigation,' Dmitry Peskov told NBC News ... correspondent Keir Simmons when he was asked whether Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh would 'face the same fate' as two British citizens and a Moroccan who were sentenced to death by Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine this month.... On Friday, videos of Huynh and Drueke were broadcast by RT, a Russian state-controlled international television network, which reported that the two were being held captive by separatists.... Peskov also denied that American WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained at a Russian airport in February after authorities there said she was carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil, was being held as a 'hostage.'"
Kalia Richardson of the New York Times: "The Nobel Peace Prize put up for auction by the Russian journalist Dmitri A. Muratov to help Ukrainian refugees sold Monday night for $103.5 million to an anonymous buyer, obliterating the record for a Nobel medal. The proceeds from the auction will go to UNICEF to aid Ukrainian children and their families displaced by Russia's invasion of their country. Mr. Muratov is the editor in chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which suspended publication in March in response to the Kremlin's increasingly draconian press laws." The AP's story is here.
Israel. Patrick Kingsley & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Israel's governing coalition will dissolve Parliament before the end of the month, bringing down the government and sending the country to a fifth election in three years, the prime minister said on Monday. The decision plunged Israel back into paralysis and threw a political lifeline to Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing prime minister who left office just one year ago upon the formation of the current government. Mr. Netanyahu is currently standing trial on corruption charges but has refused to leave politics, and his Likud party is leading in the polls." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Israel. Raja Abdulrahim, et al., of the New York Times: "A New York Times investigation found that the bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist [Shireen Abu Akleh] was fired from the approximate position of an Israeli military vehicle.... The Israeli Army's preliminary investigation concluded that it was 'not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire.' A monthlong investigation by The New York Times found that the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh was fired from the approximate location of the Israeli military convoy, most likely by a soldier from an elite unit. The evidence reviewed by The Times showed that there were no armed Palestinians near her when she was shot. It contradicted Israeli claims that, if a soldier had mistakenly killed her, it was because he had been shooting at a Palestinian gunman. The Times investigation also showed that 16 shots were fired from the location of the Israeli convoy, as opposed to Israeli claims that the soldier had fired five bullets in the journalists' direction." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (8)
The uptick in violent rhetoric has become supercharged among the traitor class. This is not all on Trump, but just like Reagan made it hip and cool to be racist, Trump has made both the threat of violence and actual violence a shibboleth on the right.
Dangerous loonies routinely talk about—and actually perform—violent acts against those they consider the enemy (Americans who don’t goosestep along with them). So no, Mr. Wannabe SWAT creep Greitens, depictions of hunting down and murdering those who don’t toe your fucking Nazi line are not just metaphors. And since when is it cool to even metaphorically murder those who disagree with you?
Since Trump, I’d suggest.
How about this for a “metaphor”, asshole? An ad depicting you and your murdering SWAT douchebags in orange jumpsuits on death row, with you being led to the death chamber and poisonous chemicals injected into your slimy veins. Funny, right? Oh, hey, it’s just a metaphor. Are you stupid? Or a liar?
You’re a MAGA moron, so of course it’s both.
Here's another Republican projection. Falsehoods must be a
metaphor for lying:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pence-says-never-seen-
president-213906477.html
Yesterday Pence says he's never seen a president who tells
so many falsehoods as Biden. He says Biden is totally disconnected
from the American people.
He calls it 'falsehoods' 'cause mother won't let him call someone
a liar.
@Forrest Morris: Do you suppose pence thinks "The January 6 crowd was well-behaved" is a "falsehood"? (See linked item above.)
BTW, the January 6 committee released a photo of the pence family in the Capitol ceremonial room near the Senate, which has been widely published. In the photo, Karen Pence appears to be closing the curtains, which has been characterized as an effort to keep the well-behaved Capitol visitors from finding & murdering her husband. But my guess is that she was just measuring the curtains to see if they were the same length as the ones she lovingly sewed for the Oval Office.
Meanwhile....south of the border:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/20/petro-latin-
america-left/
If Bolsonaro goes, it'll be a quad-fecta...
Seems the Texas Republican are surrounded.
Newsmax and Bolling better be careful. They may be labeled RINOs for not showing all of Trump's beautiful election fraud evidence that is clearly real and not made up. If only Trump knew people some people with media connections then he would be able to show everyone all the amazing proof that he has just laying around.
I was thinking that the child beating, cheating Missouri Murderer would make a wonderful running mate for the Orange Monster. Neither seems to have suffered any consequences for their behavior. Maybe they can rule over the Soviet Republic of Texas and we can forget they ever graced the front pages of any paper in the land. I guess one can say anything one wants, and our fatally flawed set of laws defends their rights to do so. Please to never mention crowded theaters again-- that ship has sailed. Or maybe it is the followers for these ugly Americans-- they do not care about character or purity of life, as long as the libs are owned.
Also please to not beg me to "come together" with any of them. That won't happen ever. They are all scum.
Governor Morris of Pa., who wrote the Constitution did not include
a provision for any state to secede. No state should have the power
to force other states to their way of thinking to get their way for
whatever it is that they're after.
Perhaps Texas has an alternate Constitution we don't know about.
Think I'll begin calling the new Texas Republicans' platform the Alamo Manifesto....