June 24, 2022

The Transition to Two Americas Is Nearly Complete
Whichever one you live in, it's worse than the one you lived in yesterday

Late Morning Update:

President Biden will speak about the Supreme Court's Barefoot & Pregnant decision, scheduled for 12:30 pm ET.

Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens.... With sorrow -- for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection -- we dissent. -- Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor & Elena Kagan, joint dissent

Robert Barnes, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the fundamental right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade, a stunning reversal that leaves states free to drastically reduce or even outlaw a procedure that abortion rights groups said is key to women's equality and independence.... The vote was 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., though, criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturn Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had reaffirmed the right to abortion.... In a separate opinion, [Clarence] Thomas expressed his support for revisiting other Supreme Court rulings that he and other conservatives believe should be left to individual states. For example, he wrote that the court should move forward with revisiting the right to contraception and the right for same-sex couples to marry.... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) celebrated the Supreme Court ruing as 'courageous and correct.' 'This is [a] historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society,' McConnell said in a statement Friday." This is a liveblog.

The decision, concurring opinions & dissent are here, via the Supremes' Website.

~~~~~~~~~~~

** Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal investigators descended on the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, on Wednesday in connection with the department's sprawling inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter.... Mr. Clark was central to ... Donald J. Trump's unsuccessful effort in late 2020 to strong-arm the nation's top prosecutors into supporting his claims of election fraud. [MB: Not coincidentally!] "The law enforcement action ... came just one day before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was poised to hold a hearing examining Mr. Trump's efforts to pressure the Justice Department after his election defeat. The hearing was expected to explore Mr. Clark's role in helping Mr. Trump bend the department to his will...." CNN's report, by Evan Perez, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: CNN reported on-air that an ally of Clark's complained that the officials showed up at Clark's house in the pre-dawn & sent Mr. Clark out onto the street in his pajamas. Oh, what must the neighbors have thought? Such a nice man. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Not "pre-dawn." According to the NYT story, which has been updated, "Mr. Clark told Tucker Carlson of Fox News on Thursday that he had been woken by agents banging on his door shortly before 7 a.m. on Wednesday." But the pj's part was right: "One of Mr. Clark's associates described the striking scene early Wednesday morning when a dozen federal law-enforcement officials raided the house, seized Mr. Clark's electronic devices and put him out on the street in his pajamas." Yeah, well, anyone who would go on TuKKKer's show is sure to be a shady character, and all precautions are necessary to prevent him from destroying evidence. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump's Bad Day. Neal Katyal, BTW, said on MSNBC the raid was the worst news Trump got Thursday. The fact that the feds went in with a judge's order to collect electronic info shows they were looking for evidence of a conspiracy, that Clark was a target, and the person DOJ suspects him of conspiring with is Donald Trump. In addition, Katyal thinks it's like that, because of the importance of the raid, Merrick Garland signed off on it.

Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave, When First We Practice to Deceive

Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen. -- Donald Trump, to Acting AG Jeffrey Rosen & his deputy Richard Donoghue, January 3 ~~~

~~~ ** Luke Broadwater & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol painted a vivid picture on Thursday of how ... Donald J. Trump directed a wide-ranging bid to strong-arm the Justice Department into overturning the 2020 election, the most brazen attempt by a sitting president since Watergate to manipulate the nation's law enforcement apparatus to keep himself in power. In a stunning display of evidence, including testimony from top officials who resisted the former president's efforts, the committee laid out how Mr. Trump tried repeatedly to use the Justice Department to interfere in the election. In near-daily conversations, he badgered its leaders to act on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, including wild internet hoaxes, accusing them of failing to do their jobs. He explored naming a conspiracy theorist [Sidney Powell] who was circulating outlandish stories of voting irregularities to serve as a special counsel to look into possible election misdeeds.... ~~~

~~~"The panel also presented evidence that after the Jan. 6 attack, at least six Republican members of the House who played leading roles in Mr. Trump's efforts to use Congress to overturn the election sought pardons for themselves and for all the Republicans who voted to reject electoral votes for Mr. Biden. The list, according to the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, included Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.Louie Gohmert of Texas and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia." ~~~

     ~~~ A Minor Character Emerges as New Evidence of Trump's Tangled Web. Marie: Here was a tidbit that came near the end of the hearing. From the NYT report: "The hearing also made clear that Mr. Trump had a second secret ally inside the department, a former lawyer in the White House budget office named Ken Klukowski. After the election, Mr. Klukowski worked with John Eastman, a lawyer who helped create 'alternate' slates of electors in swing states that would falsely say Mr. Trump had won." Klukowski seems to have been airlifted into DoJ in December 2020, where he miraculously landed in Jeff Clark's office. It's not yet clear (to the public, anyway) who engineered this felicitous bit of last-minute staffing, but as MSNBC hosts pointed out in their recap of Thursday's hearing, Klukowski provides a tantalizing link between Eastman, who designed & instigated the fake electors plot, and Clark, who proposed to facilitate carrying it out. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. In listing five takeaways from the hearing, Aaron Blake of the Washington Post includes this one: "... the committee indicated for apparently the first time that there might have been coordination in the plotting between Trump's legal team and certain members of the Justice Department. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) shared a Dec. 28 email from longtime Ohio Republican Party politician Ken Blackwell recommending a briefing for Vice President Mike Pence from [John] Eastman and former Trump aide Kenneth Klukowski, who had recently joined the Justice Department.... Klukowski has already been implicated in helping draft [Jeff] Clark's draft letter seeking to have the Justice Department legitimize Trump's false voter-fraud claims.... 'This email suggests that Mr. Klukowski was simultaneously working with Jeffrey Clark to draft the proposed letter to Georgia officials to overturn their certified election and working with Dr. Eastman to help pressure the vice president to overturn the election,' Cheney said."

~~~ Marie: Also from the NYT report: "During a heated showdown in the Oval Office, only the threat of a mass resignation at the department persuaded Mr. Trump to back down." Can't recall which MSNBC panelist raised the matter, but they agreed that it was not so much the threat of the DoJ's being decapitated that persuaded Trump, but an admonition from Steve Engel, one of the DoJ honchos who said he would quit, that the headline would not be the one Trump wanted: instead of emphasizing the DoJ (i.e., Clark's) letter that the department had detected major voter fraud, it would be the mass resignation. Pat Cipollone, the White House Counsel, concurred, telling Trump in the January 3 meeting with the DoJ officials that his plan would amount to a "murder-suicide."

So let's think here, what would a special counsel do? With only days to go until election certification, it wasn't to investigate anything. An investigation, led by a special counsel, would just create an illusion of legitimacy and provide fake cover for those who would want to object, including those who stormed the Capitol on January 6. -- Adam Kinzinger, during Thursday's hearing ~~~

~~~ Michael Schmidt of the New York Times with his five takeaways from Thursday's hearing: "It was the most blatant attempt to use the Justice Department for political ends at least since Watergate.... The heart of the scheme was a draft letter to officials in Georgia.... The letter falsely asserted that the department had evidence of election fraud.... The letter recommended that the state call its legislature into session to study allegations of election fraud and consider naming an alternate slate of electors pledged to Mr. Trump.... Trump would not give up on his claims of fraud.... Trump considered naming a loyalist lawyer [Sidney Powell] as a special counsel.... Members of Congress sought pardons -- and Trump considered the requests.... Among those looking for a pardon was Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida. Mr. Gaetz was seeking a blanket pardon that would have essentially covered any crime he had committed in his entire life. Although it was not known publicly at the time, Mr. Gaetz was under Justice Department investigation for paying a 17-year-old girl for sex." ~~~

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "... House lawmakers on Thursday identified five Republican lawmakers who allegedly sought pardons -- suggesting not just their own fear of criminal exposure, but a belief that the outgoing president would preemptively protect them from the investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.... The allegations of pardon-hunting came from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and from John McEntee, a close aide to Trump. Such testimony strikes at one of the most fraught issues to emerge out of the Jan. 6 attack -- the suspicion rife in many quarters of Congress that some of its members may have participated in criminal conspiracies to thwart the valid results of a presidential election.... [Scott] Perry [Pa.] repeated his denials that he ever sought a pardon for himself or other members of Congress, and denied speaking to Hutchinson about a pardon."

Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Of all the fantastical false claims of fraud and vote manipulation in the 2020 presidential election, 'Italygate' was one of the most extreme. And Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was at the heart of bringing it to Donald Trump's attention. This particular allegation of fraud centered around ... an 'absurd' claim that an Italian defense contractor had conspired with senior CIA officials to use military satellites to flip votes from Trump to Joe Biden.... That wasn't Perry's only involvement in encouraging Trump to get the vote overturned. The committee obtained records from the National Archives showing that Perry was among the Republican members of Congress who met with the president in the Oval Office on Dec. 21, 2020. The committee also displayed White House logs showing that Perry returned to the White House the next day -- and 'this time, he brought a Justice Department official named Jeffrey Clark.' It was the first known meeting between Clark and Trump -- and it probably set off the events that led to [the] dramatic showdown between the president and senior Justice Department leaders.... Those involved with the insurrection have repeatedly pointed to Perry as the chief conduit for the House GOP Conference to the White House in Trump's quest to overturn his defeat."

The Washington Post's live updates of matters related to the January 6 committee hearing is here. The New York Times' live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Thursday's hearing was in some ways the most dramatic yet. Although the witnesses tended to speak in the measured tones of seasoned lawyers, the events they described, sometimes in vivid detail, could hardly have been more dramatic. Tense, last minute meetings where the outcomes were both unknown & potentially catastrophic, middle-of-the-night phone calls, a January 6 evening race to the Capitol to check for IEDs & insurgents hiding in closets. And of course the usual Trump buffoonery. You can watch it at this Committee Webpage.

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Across the committee's five hearings this month, investigators have presented a meticulous account of Trump's exhaustive efforts to cling to power after losing the election to Joe Biden. The panel has shown how Trump and his allies explored every possible avenue -- from pressuring the vice-president, Mike Pence, to leaning on state election officials and justice department leaders -- to promote lies about widespread election fraud.... 'These efforts were not some minor or ad hoc enterprise concocted overnight. Each required planning and coordination. Some required significant funding,' [committee vice-chair Liz] Cheney said. 'All of them were overseen by President Trump, and much more information will be presented soon regarding the president's statements and actions on January 6.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Another thing the hearings make clear is that the "Big Lie" is based on many smaller lies, far-out conspiracy theories, fake electors and fraudulent legal theories. The "foundation" of Trump's entire scheme to overturn the election results was make-believe. There was no there there. A no-legged stool. Bupkis. I think even some Trumpbots who might accidentally tune in or hear something about the proceedings could figure that out.

The Stupidest Senator Is a Liar, Too. Alexander Shur of the Wisconsin State Journal: "A former Dane County [Madison, Wisconsin] judge [Jim Troupis] who legally represented ... Donald Trump coordinated with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson to pass documents falsely stating Trump won Wisconsin to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, newly revealed text messages show.... 'We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately,' ... Troupis told Johnson at 11:36 a.m. Jan. 6, 2021, according to texts provided to conservative media outlet Just the News.... Screenshots of the text messages show, Johnson connected his chief of staff, Sean Riley, with Troupis in a text chain. Riley was newly serving in Johnson's office and was previously a Trump White House adviser.... Johnson ... told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna on Thursday that the documents in question came to him from the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. But a Kelly spokesperson told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Johnson's comments were 'patently false.' 'Mr. Kelly has not spoken to Sen. Johnson for the better part of a decade, and he has no knowledge of the claims Mr. Johnson is making related to the 2020 election,' the statement said.... [Just the News] ... reported that Kelly was in communication with Troupis, who then connected with Johnson.... Johnson also told McKenna he didn't know what the documents contained despite Troupis ... telling Johnson he needed to pass Pence a 'document on the Wisconsin electors.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Shur did some digging to piece together this story & debunk Johnson's porkies. More evidence we do need local reporting.

Tamar Hallerman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia “Gov. Brian Kemp will deliver testimony next month to Fulton County prosecutors investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 elections.... But unlike the parade of witnesses who have appeared at the Fulton courthouse to answer questions in front of a special grand jury, the Republican will instead deliver a 'sworn recorded statement,' according to a letter from the Fulton County District Attorney's office dated Wednesday and obtained by the AJC on Thursday.... The 23-member special grand jury also subpoenaed a bevy of evidence from Kemp's office...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Everything I know about grand juries I learned watching reruns of Law & Order episodes. One thing I learned is that the grand jurors can question witnesses (and prosecutors), at least in New York. I can't see where there's any provision in the agreement between Kemp & the D.A. for the jurors to ask Kemp questions.

Jordan Fischer of WUSA Washington, D.C.: "A Navy petty officer who allegedly told an undercover FBI employee he was studying the Olympic Park Bomber was arrested Wednesday on charges of entering the U.S. Capitol Building during the Jan. 6 riot. Hatchet Speed was taken into custody in McLean, Virginia, yesterday on four misdemeanor counts. According to court documents unsealed Thursday, Speed is a petty officer first class in the U.S. Naval Reserves assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Virginia. Speed is also employed as a software developer for a Vienna, Virginia, company that conducts advanced analytics for the Department of Defense. In March, according to an affidavit, Speed told an undercover FBI employee he'd traveled to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with friends who are members of the Proud Boys. Speed said going to the Capitol was 'always the plan.'... In an affidavit, an FBI special agent said financial records showed Speed had purchased at least 12 firearms between Feb. 11, 2021, and May 26, 2021.... The undercover employee said Speed also repeatedly expressed anti-Semitic beliefs and praised Adolf Hitler, describing him as 'one of the best people that's ever been on this Earth.'" Speed allegedly was studying jihadists to learn the more effect ways to "wipe out Jews."

Erica Green of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Thursday proposed new rules governing how schools must respond to sex discrimination, rolling back major parts of a Trump administration policy that narrowed the scope of campus sexual misconduct investigations and cementing the rights of transgender students into law. The proposal would overhaul expansive rules finalized under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, which for the first time codified how universities, colleges and K-12 schools investigate sexual assault and harassment on campus. It would also broaden the roster of who is protected under Title IX, the federal law signed 50 years ago Thursday that bars discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal funds."

CBS News: "The Biden administration is canceling the federal student debt of borrowers who say their schools defrauded them, settling a class action lawsuit originally filed against the Trump administration.... The settlement says that the administration will discharge these borrowers' student loan debts and refund any relevant payments made to the Education Department to pay off these debts -- including debt that was fully paid off. Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced students who attended the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges chain would automatically have their federal student loans canceled, in an effort to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education."

Matt Richtel & Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul to stop selling e-cigarettes on the U.S. market, a profoundly damaging blow to a once-popular company whose brand was blamed for the teenage vaping crisis. The order affects all of Juul's products on the U.S. market, the overwhelming source of the company's sales. Juul's sleek vaping cartridges and sweet-flavored pods helped usher in an era of alternative nicotine products among adults as well, and invited intense scrutiny from antismoking groups and regulators who feared they would do more harm to young people than good to former smokers." (Also linked yesterday.) A Guardian report is here.

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Thursday passed legislation aimed at stanching acts of mass gun violence, with 15 Republicans joining Democrats to advance a bill combining modest new firearms restrictions with $15 billion in mental health and school security funding. The 65-to-33 vote represented an unlikely breakthrough on the emotional and polarizing question of U.S. gun laws, which have gone largely unchanged for more than 25 years, even as the nation has been repeatedly scarred by mass shootings whose names have become etched in history -- from Columbine and Virginia Tech to Sandy Hook and Parkland. But the May 24 killing of 19 students and two teachers inside a Uvalde, Tex., elementary school prompted renewed action, compelling a small group of senators to negotiate a narrow, bipartisan package focused on keeping guns away from dangerous potential killers while also bulking up the nation's mental-health-care capacity with billions of dollars in new funding.... The legislation moves to the House, where it is expected to pass Friday." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Mitch McConnell was among the Republicans who voted for the bill, and he admitted he did so for his usual principled reason: "In subsequent remarks with reporters, [McConnell] ... [said] he hoped the GOP support for the deal 'will be viewed favorably by voters in the suburbs that we need to regain in order to hopefully be a majority next year.'"

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday said Americans generally have a right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense and that a New York law requiring special need for such a permit is too restrictive. The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing for the majority and the court's three liberals in dissent.... In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote: 'Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence ... by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds. The Court today severely burdens States' efforts to do so.' Enacted more than a century ago, New York's law requires those who want to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense to show a specific need for doing so. Its 'proper cause' law is similar to regulations in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Hawaii and Massachusetts." MB: As contributor Ken W. once asked, "Uh, what about that 'well-regulated militia' thing?" (Paraphrase. I expect he said it better.) (Also linked yesterday.) The ScotusBlog report, by Amy Howe, is here. ~~~

~~~ Sore Winner. "Alito Lashes Out at Liberals." Ariane de Vogue of CNN: "In a sparse but relentlessly caustic concurring opinion [on the New York conceal-carry case], the conservative [Samuel] Alito criticized his liberal colleagues for their dissent, blasting them for attempting to 'obscure' the specific question the court had decided, and for referencing the recent mass shootings that have shocked the nation. The fact that Alito, who joined Thomas' opinion in full, chose to also strike out alone against the dissenters highlights the current tension on the court.... He said the 'real thrust of the dissent' was that 'guns are bad.'... [Justice Stephen] Breyer" ... struck back.... 'Justice Alito asks why I have begun my opinion by reviewing some of the dangers and challenges posed by gun violence,' he said. Breyer said he did so because the 'question of firearm regulation presents a complex problem -- one that should be solved by legislatures and not courts.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Ed Pilkington & Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The governor of New York [Kathy Hochul], a Democrat, said the ruling was 'not just reckless, it's reprehensible'. Pointing to recent mass shootings in New York and Texas, a leading progressive group called the ruling 'shameful and outrageous'. Joe Biden said: 'This ruling contradicts both common sense and the constitution and should deeply trouble us all'."

~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Two of the lawyers responsible for a major victory for gun rights forces at the Supreme Court on Thursday are parting with their prominent law firm after it announced it would no longer handle Second Amendment litigation. Former Solicitor General Paul Clement and Erin Murphy, a regular Supreme Court litigator, said they were launching their own firm after Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis decided to step back from gun-related litigation."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that police officers may not be sued under a federal civil rights law for failing to administer the familiar warning required by the court's 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona. The vote was 6 to 3, with the justices dividing along ideological lines. In a second case, the court ruled that a death row inmate in Georgia could invoke the same civil rights law in seeking to be executed by firing squad rather than lethal injection. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joining the court's three liberal members to form a majority."

Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "With the U.S. Supreme Court expected to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision before the end of its 2021-2022 term, Americans' confidence in the court has dropped sharply over the past year and reached a new low in Gallup's nearly 50-year trend. Twenty-five percent of U.S. adults say they have 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court, down from 36% a year ago and five percentage points lower than the previous low recorded in 2014."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been charged with alcohol-related offenses in connection with a car crash in Napa County, Calif., in May, the Napa County District Attorney's Office said Thursday. The charges include driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level or higher and causing injury, prosecutors said. A blood sample taken from Mr. Pelosi more than two hours after the crash had a .082 percent blood alcohol content, the office said." A CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's a related NYT story, dated June 22/23, which I purposely didn't link timely, about how the Pelosis are so rich & connected.

Florida. Patricia Mazzei & Mike Baker of the New York Times: "One year since the catastrophe at Champlain Towers [in Surfside, Florida], with the cause of the collapse still under federal investigation, new documents, interviews and deposition records have shed fresh light on a critical seven-minute period between the roaring initial failure of a pool deck and the eventual cascading collapse of a portion of the building, leaving 98 people dead in one of the deadliest structural failures in U.S. history. The security guard in the lobby of Champlain Towers hurriedly dialed 911 to report the initial failure. An alarm may have sounded at that point in a limited part of the building, though it was clearly inaudible to many of those who still slept. The building also had a sophisticated audio warning system designed to broadcast an alert into the bedrooms of every unit. But it was never triggered, newly available deposition testimony and interviews show, because the security guard had never been trained about the system and the single button needed to activate it."

Missouri Senate Race. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Republicans are launching a well-funded outside group to stop disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens from winning their upcoming Missouri Senate primary. The group, called Show Me Values, is set to start running TV advertisements targeting Greitens, beginning Friday. The outfit is set to air more than $1-million worth of commercials through the end of June, and ... it planned to remain involved in the race up until the Aug. 2 primary.... Polls have consistently shown Greitens ahead his primary rivals.... The super PAC is overseen by veteran Republican strategist Johnny DeStefano, a Kansas City native and former top official in ... Donald Trump's White House." Greitens' campaign manager Dylan Johnson called the super-PAC principals -- who are Republicans -- "swamp creatures & grifters."

Wyoming House Race. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-WY) campaign is urging Wyoming Democrats to register as Republicans to save her from potential defeat in her August primary. The vice chair of the House Jan. 6 select committee is trailing Trump-backed primary opponent Harriet Hageman in polling.... New York Times reporter Reid J. Epstein wrote Thursday Cheney is 'is urging Democrats in her home state to switch parties to support her in the Aug. 16 primary.' Epstein added, 'In the last week, Wyoming Democrats have received mail from Ms. Cheney's campaign with specific instructions on how to change their party affiliation to vote for her. Ms. Cheney's campaign website now has a link to a form for changing parties....'"

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine will withdraw its troops defending Severodonetsk, the embattled eastern city that is the locus of Russia's war effort, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said early Friday. Russia had been shelling the city 'almost every day for four months,' Haidai said.... The setbacks in eastern Ukraine are in contrast to Kyiv's recent wins off the battlefield. President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated 'victory' Thursday after the European Union decided to grant Ukraine membership candidate status. The move is only a first step in a lengthy process, but E.U. accession is a major Ukrainian goal.... Kyiv also secured an additional $450 million in security aid from Washington, including patrol boats and more multi-launch rocket launchers.... U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Berlin, where he will join talks on food security -- an issue that has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and Russia's blockade of key ports." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's report for Friday is here. The New York Times' live updates are here.

Enemies of State Sovereignty & Democracy. Clifford Krauss, et al., of the New York Times: "As Russia tries to break the stranglehold of sanctions, China and India are emerging as Moscow's pivotal financiers by purchasing large amounts of Russian crude, putting themselves in the middle of the messy war with Ukraine and a geopolitical standoff with the West.... Buying cheap oil from Russia offers economic and political advantages. China can diversify its oil supplies for national security reasons, while India can make billions exporting refined products like gasoline and diesel. But undercutting European and American efforts to isolate the Kremlin risks serious diplomatic fallout that neither country wants."

Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "The US embassy in Russia this week was pressing the Kremlin to reveal the whereabouts of two Alabama men captured in Ukraine while defending the country from Russian invaders, according to the mother of one of the taken Americans."

U.K. Mark Landler & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Britain's governing Conservative Party lost two strategically important parliamentary seats on Friday, dealing a harsh blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and raising fresh doubts about his scandal-scarred leadership. Voters in Tiverton and Honiton, a rural stretch of southwest England that is the party's heartland, and in the faded northern industrial city of Wakefield evicted the Conservative Party from seats that had come open after lawmakers were brought down by scandals of their own. In Wakefield, the Labour Party's victory was widely expected, and it ran up a comfortable margin over the Conservatives. In the south, which had been viewed as a tossup, the Liberal Democratic Party scored a stunning upset, overcoming a huge Conservative majority in the last election to win the seat by a solid margin.... In an immediate sign of the political fallout, the chairman of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden, resigned on Friday morning."

Vatican. Guardian: "Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of files relating to Jewish people from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, amid renewed debate about the legacy of the second world war-era pope. The archive of 2,700 cases 'gathers the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people ... after the beginning of Nazi and fascist persecution', said the Vatican's secretary for relations with states, Paul Richard Gallagher, in a statement. Although the documents have been available for consultation by scholars since March 2020, Pope Francis requested they be accessible to everyone, said the statement. Putting the archive online 'will allow the descendants of those who asked for help to find traces of their loved ones from any part of the world', it said."

Comments

[Bobby Lee]

DeSantis was an early subscriber. From Florida Politics: "Ron DeSantis said legislatures could give election to Donald Trump, a month before John Eastman." via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel. Two days after the Nov 3 election, while votes were still being tallied in several states, DeSantal told Fox News Laura Ingraham "I would also tell (Republicans), especially if you're in those states that have Repbulican legislatures like Pennsylvania and Michigan, and all these places, call your state representatives and state senators.

Under article two of the constitution presidential electors are done by the legislators and the schemes they create and the framework.". DeSantis continued. And if there's departure from that, if they're not following law, if they're ignoring law, then they can provide remedies as well."

[NiskyGuy]

clarence thomas writes in the majority gun opinion: “Rather, the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command.’”

This Nation's historical regulation of housing has been blatantly racist. Should we go back to that?

He's picking and choosing which parts of history and reality we pay attention to. I am fine with people owning and carrying muzzle-loading firearms with separate shot balls and gunpowder flask. Hell, I'll even keep extra scraps of flint in my pocket in case their striker fails. But nobody needs a semi-automatic rifle with the maiming ammunition it can fire.

clarence thomas should have to ride the Metro to work, surrounded by gun-wielding fellow citizens. Will he do it? Hell no. Those people might hurt him. Hmm.

[Marie Burns]

@Nisky Guy: What I find odd about Clarence's sudden interest in the history of gun regulation is that the law he overturned is 100 years old. Wouldn't that be "historical"? If "history" is so important, why not preserve an "historic" gun regulation?

[P.D. Pepe]

All on a June day, the Senate passed (thank you Chris Murphy!) a gun control bill while the Supreme (nix the creme, add the poison) Court delivered a victory for gun rights. And whose voice was as loud as Alito's shrill dissent toward his three dissenters, but Clarence T. whose ass is on the line re: his wife's engagement with the enemies. Sure nough–- for these scalawags the surge of gun violence should be laced with LESS restrictions and we can all pack a few as we go about our daily lives.

And yesterday we had another stellar Jan.6 hearing that renews our feelings of "everything is falling apart" with applauds for this committee. The pieces are being put together, bit by bit, and the boss man on top of the heap is getting buried deeper and deeper––until?

Just a word about Nancy's husband: Is Fox running with this story–-seems catnip for them. Can you imagine the Pelosi household's atmosphere of late?

[Ken Winkes]

Don't know for sure where the word came from, probably some seminar I was forced to attend about "strategic planning," but recent SCOTUS decisions and threatened decisions have me thinking of another cliche I always shuddered when I heard: "visioning."

Yeah, I'm a grouch, and yeah, I always hated people telling me how to think, but "visioning?" Why would one have to be told to think of futures and consequences, which is what I took the "visioning" cliche to mean? After all, isn't the ability to see around a metaphorical corner, to hold multiple thoughts in our head at the same time, a trait that distinguishes us from other animals and gives us a leg up on them in the struggle for survival?

So who doesn't think of consequences? When children don't, we call them impulsive. When I don't, I call myself stupid. But what do I call a Supreme Court so mired in blurry and conflicting visions of some dim past it cannot seem to "vision" any future at all?

I have to wonder what kind of world these clowns are trying to create? The only visions I have of their recent decisions' (untrammeled corporate power, money is speech, unregulated gun ownership, tax-supported religious schools, women considered only as breeding stock?) likely consequences are apocalyptic.

At a minimum, this SCOTUS needs to be required to attend at a long seminar. With all their schooling, they don't even seem to know the cliches.

[Akhilleus]

Okay, lots to say about yesterday’s installment in the most bingeable drama in the country today, “Fuck that guy” aka the Jan. 6 Committee Hearings. Yesterday was riveting. I was out in the yard planting monkey grass around a new bed and had the radio blasting. At least half a dozen times I had to do a hard “WTF!” stop. I kept reaching for a non-existent remote to rewind and listen to those parts again, like when you’re watching a tense courtroom drama and the cagey prosecutor gets the slimy murderer to accidentally confess. Man, I gotta see that again!

Loved the part where acting deputy AG, Richard Donoghue said “Jeffrey Clark? I’m not working one minute under that guy! I just told you he’s an incompetent, an environmental lawyer. He’s never even tried a case and you want to put him in charge of 15,000 lawyers at Justice?? Here ya go, Jeffrey, go find an oil spill, there’s a good boy.”(Okay, he didn’t say all of that, I’m conflating a tad, but he did say the first part, while referring implicitly to the part about Clark being an incompetent loser.)

So there’s all that. But!!!…

This morning I’m scanning Marie’s story listings and I see a piece about another(!) rat bastard Capitol-storming, gunknobber bigot, a naval petty officer guy named—get this—Hatchet Speed! ??? Who, with a last name Speed, names their kid Hatchet? Are you kidding? The guy was fated to end up in a story like this, screaming about murdering Jews 🙀. I’m telling’ ya, kids, this shit gets weirder by the day. I seem to recall a David Mamet play called “Speed the Plow”, but “Speed the Hatchet”? Only a Donald Trump could command such a gigantic fuckwad of assholes, douchebags, gun-toting maniacs, and traitors.

Geee-zuzz.

[Patrick]

This week there have been many news articles relating to 2nd Amendment issues. In the comments sections, I have noticed the return of the old standby, " Criminals don't obey gun laws, so why have gun laws?"

If I was a cop I'd like to be able to restrain and disarm a strapped person and remove the weapon from my beat, on sight, based on a law that says "no permit, no carry." Further, I'd like to get the same deal game wardens get -- if the citizen is carrying a weapon in the woods (i.e., on the cop's beat), he/she should also display the license externally, so the ranger/warden can see it from a distance.

People who want to display their weapons in public to make a point should have no problem wearing their dayglo license (which could be scan-readable from about 100 feet away) on their shirt/jacket to show their coolness, right? Hunters do. Because of law. Well-established historical-type Thomasine law.

Strapped people not wearing a license are "criminals not obeying the law" and can be arrested on site. And now don't even need to be Mirandized? Maybe.

[RAS]

I'm wondering how long the Supreme Court will allow the modest gun control measures being proposed to stand on the books before they overthrow them. I have a feeling that they won't last long and that is why Mitch is willing to go along with them for now.

[Forrest Morris]

Is it too early for evening cocktails? Asking for a friend.

[Akhilleus]

We knew it was coming, but I didn’t expect to get so emotional about it. This morning, after NPR broke the news that the Supreme Court of Jesus had officially lowered the patriarchal boom on American women, they cut away briefly to listen to Americans outside the Court building chanting “We trust women! We won’t go back!”

That choked me right up. And in a nutshell, that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? The Kavanaughs and Thomases (both sex offenders) on the Court DON’T trust women. And they are doing their damnedest to make sure we all go back.

And while listening to those heartbreaking chants, I could picture the theocrats on the Court snickering, smirking, and backslapping each other. They had lied to get on the Court, lied about respecting precedent and settled law and blah, blah, blah, while they sharpened their knives to cut off constitutional rights.

Practically overnight, they’re recasting the nation to satisfy the demands of a minority that yearns to force the rest of us to abide by its wishes: guns for all, abortions for none, taxpayers forced to pick up the tab for Christian schools which pay NO taxes. They contribute nothing but now they too can pick our pockets.

And still they whine. Hit Man Sam whines because other justices issue opposing opinions. Waaaaah. They run the country, drag us all back to the Middle Ages but still it’s not enough. So they conspire to steal elections. And the current hearings show them the land mines to avoid next time around. And now, make no mistake, the Traitors will send every conceivable case on the right wing extremist wish list to this court knowing full well that neither precedents nor the Constitution matter to their pals on this court.

I’m disgusted and saddened beyond words this morning.

[Akhilleus]

Forrest,

Forget the cocktails. Crack open the Jack and pour out four fingers for everyone.

[Forrest Morris]

Up next: same sex marriage, a word that's close to mirage.

We got our finances, wills, death wishes, etc. all printed up real
nice like, and notarized, assuming marriage lasts forever until
death do us part.

I'm sure his baptist family is just praying for the end of same sex
marriage so I can be told to pack just one suitcase and be gone if
he dies first.

It has happened to many friends in the past.

Greed has no boundaries.

[Akhilleus]

Forrest,

Neither do hatred and ignorance.

And (spoiler alert for Wordle fans who haven’t yet done today’s puzzle)….

Appropriately enough, today’s Wordle answer is smite. Exactly what the haters and theocrats are rejoicing about today.

[Akhilleus]

It looks like Justice Pubic Hair on the Coke Can, in his solo celebratory opinion sez that next up on the chopping block, same sex marriage, gay rights (such as they are), and contraception.

They’re really feeling their oats now. Just consider, the case before the court was the onerous Mississippi law about denying abortions after 15 weeks. Instead of just saying “Yeah, okay. Cool.”, the theocrats screamed that, “You know what? Fuck it. No abortions at all.”

This is a decision that goes far beyond the issue before the court. Look for more of this bullshit. Where are the guardrails here? Where the roadmap? I can see a case about insider trading coming before Bart O’Kavanaugh, the Hit Man, Die for your corporation Gorsuch, Phony Barrett, and Pubic Hair on the Coke Can, and the decision being, well insider trading for Republicans is fine, but gay marriage is finished!

[P.D. Pepe]

Row, row your boat gently down the stream, then Wade into the murky, fetid waters that these Supremes have gleaned. Too early to drink? Yeah–-"four fingers for everyone." Cry?? All day!!!! We knew this was coming down the pike but after their gun decision it's like two earthquakes hitting us at once. Congress can correct but like the gun bill it might just take 30 years.

We have asked a friend of ours who works for planned parenthood here in Ct. that we want to offer our home (room & food) for anyone who comes here to have an abortion.

[Akhilleus]

PD,

Youse guys reside amongst the decent and the kind. The ones who walk the walk.

As the Romans used to say, acta, non verba.

[Akhilleus]

Now that the people she provided cover for and voted in have killed Roe, just wondering if Susan Collins is Concerned™.