;)
March 1, 2023
Late Morning Update:
John Wagner & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he has stood by his promise not to interfere in an ongoing federal investigation of the finances of Hunter Biden, President Biden's son. His comments came as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee peppered him with questions on multiple controversies during Garland's first testimony before the new Congress. Other members are expected to question the department's decision to conduct a surprise search at former president Donald Trump's Florida property to try to recover classified documents." This is part of a politics liveblog.
** Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents over how best to try to recover classified documents from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and residence led to a tense showdown near the end of July last year, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Prosecutors argued that new evidence suggested Trump was knowingly concealing secret documents at his Palm Beach, Fla., home and urged the FBI to conduct a surprise raid at the property. But two senior FBI officials who would be in charge of leading the search resisted the plan as too combative and proposed instead to seek Trump's permission to search his property, according to the four people.... Prosecutors ultimately prevailed in that dispute, one of several previously unreported clashes in a tense tug of war between two arms of the Justice Department over how aggressively to pursue a criminal investigation of a former president....
"Starting in May, FBI agents in the Washington field office had sought to slow the probe, urging caution given its extraordinary sensitivity, the people said.Some of those field agents wanted to shutter the criminal investigation altogether in early June, after Trump's legal team asserted a diligent search had been conducted and all classified records had been turned over, according to some people with knowledge of the discussions." ~~~
~~~ Marie: IMO, some of these FBI agents were corrupt and worked to halt an investigation that yielded tens of classified documents by pretending to believe that the Big Liar had turned over all documents, despite evidence to the contrary.
~~~~~~~~~~
Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "resident Biden on Tuesday announced his intention to nominate Julie Su, the deputy labor secretary, to succeed Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh, who has said he plans to leave the department in March. Ms. Su has helped oversee a department that put forth a series of rules meant to benefit workers, including rules designed to protect workers from Covid-19, a rule making it more likely for workers to be classified as employees rather than contractors, and a rule that would probably raise the wages paid to workers on federally funded construction projects.... Ms. Su, a fluent speaker of Mandarin whose parents were immigrants, served as head of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency before joining the Biden administration in 2021." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Biden administration urged Congress on Tuesday to renew a controversial warrantless surveillance law, emphasizing that security officials use it for a broad range of foreign policy and national security goals like detecting espionage by countries like China and Iran or stopping hackers. The administration's effort is likely to face particularly steep headwinds because many Republicans have adopted ... Donald J. Trump's distrust of security agencies and surveillance, bolstering privacy advocates who have long been skeptical of the law, known as Section 702.... In a letter to lawmakers, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, described the law as vital." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Republicans in Congress sharply questioned senior Pentagon officials on Tuesday about the tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid the United States has sent to Ukraine, casting fresh doubt on whether they would embrace future spending as Democrats pleaded for a cleareyed assessment of how much more money would be needed. The exchanges at two House committee hearings, coming just days after the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, highlighted how concerns about the high cost of sending weapons to Kyiv have intensified on Capitol Hill.... The steep price tag of the war has prompted Congress to issue a battery of oversight requirements for information about how the money has been spent. Some of those details have been provided to lawmakers, but few have reached the public. The accelerating spending and dearth of detailed information have fueled the resolve of several naysayers, who doubled down this week on a campaign to cast the Ukraine assistance program as a failed boondoggle, with the apparent tacit blessing of party leaders." ~~~
~~~ Marie: "Sharply questioned"? Some of those questions weren't so sharp. ~~~
~~~ A Planned Gotcha Moment that Went Terribly Wrong. Wherein Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Media Whore, Fla.) favorably cites a Chinese propaganda outlet while attempting to grill a Biden administration undersecretary. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, politely shot down Gaetz: "I as a general matter, I don't take Beijing's propaganda at face value." Via Mediaite. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post elaborates on Gaetz's boo-boo, noting that Gaetz "has emerged a leading critic of the Ukraine funding": "Gaetz has promoted his question-and-answer period from the hearing on Twitter, while cutting off the video before the above exchange.... Even if you don't know the Global Times's background [as the Fox 'News' of China], the article itself has some real red flags." And it is more derivative than investigative, though Gaetz can't tell the difference. He described the article as a "Global Times investigative report" and asked that it be entered into the Congressional Record. More on the Global Times linked below under The Pandemic, Ctd.
** GOP Members of Congress Will Aid Insurrectionists. Kyle Cheney, et al., of Politico: "House Republicans are moving to provide defendants in Jan. 6-related cases access to thousands of hours of internal Capitol security footage, a move that could influence many of the ongoing prosecutions stemming from 2021's violent attack. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who chairs the House Administration Committee's oversight subpanel, said that the access for accused rioters and others -- which Speaker Kevin McCarthy has greenlighted -- would be granted on a 'case-by-case basis.'... McCarthy's decision to let [Tucker] Carlson view the footage from the violent riot by ... Donald Trump's supporters has already been raised in two ongoing Jan. 6 criminal cases. In one instance, a lawyer for one of the Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy has asked prosecutors to determine whether they will access and share the footage; then on Tuesday morning, Joseph McBride, an attorney for Jan. 6 defendant Ryan Nichols, claimed he had already been given permission to review the footage." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday defended his decision to give conservative TV host Tucker Carlson access to roughly 40,000 hours of security footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, telling reporters that the footage will soon be released broadly and that his office is taking measures to address concerns about security risks. 'It almost seems like the press is jealous,' McCarthy said in a one-on-one interview with The Washington Post.... McCarthy added that he has been in consultation with U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) on the release of the footage and dismissed concerns that Carlson will mislead viewers about the events of the day. A spokesperson from the USCP would not confirm McCarthy's assertion that he or Carlson's team are requesting security review of any footage that may be used on his show.... McCarthy instead condemned the House select committee tasked with investing the Jan. 6 attack for airing video showing part of the exit route from his office and a portion of Vice President Mike Pence's escape from the Senate chamber as a mob invaded the Capitol.... Tim Mulvey, a former senior staff member and spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee, previously said in a statement that when the panel obtained access to U.S. Capitol Police video footage, "... the public use of any footage was coordinated in advance with Capitol Police. It's hard to overstate the potential security risks if this material were used irresponsibly.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: So the order of distribution is (1) TuKKKer, (2) violent insurrectionists, (3) some media outlets. Seems prudent. ~~~
~~~ Emily Brooks & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "... [Kevin] McCarthy and other Republicans, following days of silence on the topic, made clear Tuesday that no information would be released to [Tucker] Carlson's team -- let alone broadcast publicly -- before the footage is screened to ensure it doesn't compromise the security of the Capitol complex.... '... We work with the Capitol Police as well, so we'll make sure security is taken care of,' McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol.... [McCarthy] stressed that the Fox News host's team specifically said they do not want to see 'exit routes.'... Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said that his panel is still working through those procedures.... While Carlson's team has full access to watch the tens of thousands of hours of footage, Loudermilk said, he will work with the sergeant-at-arms and Capitol Police to ensure that any copies of that footage given to Carlson do not pose security risks. 'There hasn't been a release of tapes,' Loudermilk said."
~~~ Marie: Wait just one minute. TuKKKer has boasted he had "unfettered" access to the tapes. Now My Kevin & Loudermilk are saying they're "fettering" access: According to Loudermilk, "It';s basically controlled access to be able to view tapes. Can't record, can't take anything with you. Then they will request any particular clips that -- that they may need, and then we'll make sure that there's nothing sensitive, nothing classified -- you know, escape routes." The Hill reporters write, "It's unclear if McCarthy's most vocal Republican detractors -- whose backing he needs to pass legislation in a narrowly divided House -- will accept [this] more limited release of the footage." ~~~
~~~ If McCarthy & Loudermilk are telling the truth, TuKKKer may have a long wait to get those tapes. According to the Capitol Police, there are nearly 42,000 hours of tapes. So if McCarthy has three staff reviewing the tapes eight hours a day every single day, it will take them 1,750 days to complete the review. That's close to five years. Of course, the Congressional staff could release the tapes to TuKKKer as they approve them. I'd be surprised if TuKKKer still has his job five years from now. Are the real media supposed to wait another five years or more to gain access to the tapes while TuKKKer puts together his Fake Show exposing the insurrection as a hoax? There's definitely a hoax in this tape release story, but I don't think it's the insurrection.
Spartan of National Zero: "House Oversight Committee chair Congressman James Comer [R-Ky.] on Tuesday lamented in a podcast interview with batshit former Fox News host Lou Dobbs that Beau Biden was never prosecuted for some probably made-up campaign finance scandal before he died, the Daily Beast reports. 'This US attorney had had an opportunity to go after the Bidens years ago.... But nothing ever happened...," said Comer, apparently upset that Beau Biden had escaped justice by dying of brain cancer." MB: Sorry I can't read the Beast's story.
Robert Barnes & Daniel Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "Conservative Supreme Court justices on Tuesday seemed highly skeptical that President Biden has authority from Congress to provide more than $400 billion in student loan forgiveness to borrowers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.Over more than three hours of argument in two cases, conservatives led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. questioned how what Roberts repeatedly called a 'half-trillion dollar' program could be implemented without more direct involvement from Congress, which controls the purse of federal spending. The justices on the right seemed unsatisfied with assertions from their liberal colleagues and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar that blocking the program would actually thwart the will of Congress, which provided for the secretary of education to act on student loan debt in times of emergency." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Wherein Elena Kagan Tries in Vain to Explain Separation of Powers to Six Jerks Who Think They Can Run All Three Branches of the Federal Government. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "If you were hoping that your student loans would be forgiven under a program that President Joe Biden announced last summer, you should, unfortunately, make other plans. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases, Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown, that ask the Court to strike down the student loan relief program.... The Brown case is laughably weak, and no justice appeared to believe that federal courts have jurisdiction to hear this case. But the Supreme Court only to needs to assert jurisdiction over one of these two cases to kill the loan relief program, and the Court appeared likely to split along party lines in the Nebraska case.... A handful of questions by [Justices Brett] Kavanaugh and [Amy Coney] Barrett aside, the six Republican appointees spent much of the argument fixated on concerns that if this student debt relief program is upheld, then the Biden administration would have too much power.... The Court's Republican appointees spent much of the argument discussing policy disagreements with President Biden that have nothing whatsoever to do with the question of whether this loan forgiveness program is legal."
Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "After the foreperson of the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating ... Donald Trump and a push to overturn the 2020 election spoke out in several headline-making interviews, the judge overseeing the case told ABC News on Monday that jurors 'can talk about the final report.' But Judge Robert C. McBurney noted the matter can get 'problematic' if jurors start to 'synthesize the testimony' and the group's thoughts on it.... 'I explained [to the jurors in a "farewell session" that] you don't talk about what the group discussed about the witnesses' testimony, but you can talk about witness testimony,' he said. 'You could talk about things that the assistant district attorneys told you.... And then finally, you can talk about the final report because that is the product of your deliberations, but it's not your deliberations.'... McBurney declined to say if he saw anything in [foreperson Emily] Kohrs' public comments that overstepped his guidance or her oath." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "According to a report from the Daily Beast, it appears that Donald Trump's attempt to raise cash to finance a recount of the 2020 election returns is the subject of an unpublicized investigation by the Federal Elections Commission. As the Beast's Roger Sollenberger reports, a recent FOIA request he made on Trump fundraising and use of funds was turned down with an explanation of, 'To the extent that the records you requested concern an ongoing FEC enforcement matter, we can neither confirm nor deny that any such records exist,' which is an indication that they can't say anything because an investigation is underway." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beth Reinhard & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "For nearly a decade, Matt Schlapp has captained the blockbuster Conservative Political Action Conference, bringing together influential figures on the right and establishing himself as a key voice in ... Donald Trump's movement.... But as Schlapp rebuffs the allegation [of sexual misconduct] by a former staffer from Herschel Walker's Senate campaign in Georgia, who says Schlapp groped him during an Atlanta trip last fall, dozens of current and former employees and board members interviewed by The Washington Post described a wider range of complaints about the longtime Republican power broker and CPAC's culture under his leadership.... Schlapp is facing multiple challenges, including the exodus of more than half of its staff since 2021, according to the current and former employees and board members.... The Fox Nation streaming service is not returning as a sponsor, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ... is skipping it.... As CPAC's flagship event in the Washington area kicks off Wednesday, ticket sales are lagging from past years....
"A Post review of the Walker staffer's [sexual assault] claims also corroborated that he shared his story with friends and colleagues in the immediate aftermath.... The Post review found that call logs, texts and videos provided by the Walker staffer and his confidants broadly match his account of Schlapp making unwanted sexual advances after buying him drinks at two Atlanta bars on the night of Oct. 19...."
Annals of “Journalism,” Ha Ha Ha. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Ever since Donald J. Trump announced his presidential campaign in 2015, Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News Channel have struggled with how to handle the man and the movement they helped create.... For the most part, Mr. Murdoch has been wildly successful at striking the balance [between truth and 'crazy']. Fox converted Mr. Trump's mass following into loyal viewers who deliver Mr. Murdoch and his shareholders huge profits. But the emails among the Murdochs and the senior leadership of their companies, along with depositions of both men as part of the case, revealed just how Fox and its leaders strained to push back against Mr. Trump when he began spreading unfounded claims about widespread election fraud.... In the wake of the election, they appeared fearful of alienating Mr. Trump's supporters, almost to the point of powerlessness.... By early December 2020, as Mr. Trump's claims of being cheated grew more far-fetched, Mr. Murdoch acknowledged how difficult it had become to continue delivering coverage that didn't insult loyal, pro-Trump viewers without stating the obvious: The president was lying to them about his loss." ~~~
~~~ Marie: While the Murdochs, Fox hosts & others at the network were pursuing lies in the service of the company's profits & stock values, all of the principals who weren't multi-millionaires were billionaires. That is, they lied to the rubes to make money they absolutely didn't need. Yeah, capitalism is awesome, all right. I've noticed commentators on the teevee complaining in the wake of the Dominion revelations that truth in advertising should preclude Fox from calling itself "Fox News." I've been doing that for more than a decade. And Al Franken, in his book Lies and the Lying Liars, beat me to that conclusion by several years. ~~~
~~~ Pandering for Profit = Fox's Business Model. Amanda Carpenter of the Bulwark: "Fox News loves to project bravado, but the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit shows how deeply threatened the network is by flimsy, fringe competitors and how executives and hosts talked themselves into dishonestly pandering to viewers to keep ratings and profits up.... Dominion ... filings are already proving something significant, beyond the shadow of a doubt: that Fox casually and knowingly feeds its viewers lies." Carpenter gives quite a good tick-tock narrative of how Fox executives & stars "handled" the Big Lie.
The Pandemic, Ctd. Anumita Kaur & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "FBI director Christopher A. Wray said Tuesday that covid-19 'most likely' originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China, his first public comments on the agency's position on the origins of the coronavirus. They come as Republican leaders have reignited probes into the possible source of the pandemic, with GOP House leaders holding a roundtable Tuesday to review the government's response and scheduling a hearing for next week to delve into the virus's origins. 'The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,' Wray said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News. 'The Chinese government, seems to me, has been doing its best to try and thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we're doing, and that's unfortunate for everybody.'... Among the nine entities investigating the pandemic's origin, most still favor the theory that the virus naturally spread from animals to humans, with, as The Post reported, only the FBI concluding that the cause of the pandemic was a lab accident, a view that the agency held with 'moderate' confidence." NPR's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Akhilleus wondered yesterday why Republicans were so exercised about the origins of Covid, inasmuch as they characterized the deadly illness as "no big deal, no worse than a cold, nothing to worry about. Mask and vaccine mandates were tantamount to communist Russia's stealing their freeeedoms and sending them to a Siberian gulag for fingernail removal." ~~~
~~~ Speaking of China's Global Times. Rohan Goswami of CNBC: "A Chinese state-run newspaper issued a warning to Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he shared reporting on the U.S. Department of Energy's 'low confidence' assessment that the global Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan laboratory. CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported Tuesday morning on the warning from the social media pages of the Global Times, the English-language subsidiary of the government-controlled People's Daily. The Global Times warned Musk that he could be 'breaking the pot of China' after the Tesla and Twitter CEO responded to tweets that asserted that the Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan research laboratory.... The saying is akin to the idiom 'to bite the hand that feeds you,' Yoon reported."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Mike Wright of Florida Politics: State "Sen. Blaise Ingoglia is sponsoring the 'Ultimate Cancel Act,' which would eliminate all political parties that once used slavery as part of its platform. While 'Democratic Party' isn’t mentioned in the bill, Ingoglia said that's his target. 'For years now, leftist activists have been trying to "cancel" people and companies for things they have said or done in the past. This includes the removal of statues and memorials, and the renaming of buildings,' he said. 'Using this standard, it would be hypocritical not to cancel the Democratic Party itself for the same reason.'... According to Ingoglia's bill, the Division of Elections would decertify any political party that has 'previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.'" Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I guess this is supposed to be a joke inasmuch as it is Republicans who are trying to suppress Black Florida voters and Black & LGBTQ cultures by a number of means. The Republican party of Florida isn't pro-slavery (I guess), but the modern Florida GOP was born in "Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy, which took advantage of objections to the advances of the American Civil Rights Movement."
Georgia. Jane Timm of NBC News: "Georgia Republicans introduced legislation Tuesday to make it easier to kick voters off the rolls through mass challenges.... A draft of proposed legislation was released hours after NBC News exclusively revealed that at least 92,000 voter registrations were challenged in Georgia last year. Amateur fraud hunters largely used voter rolls, public records (including change-of-address data from the U.S. Postal Service) and some door-to-door canvassing in their claims that voters were ineligible. Most of the challenges were rejected, and some counties said broadly that having mail forwarded was not enough evidence to conclude a voter had moved.... The new SB 221 would change that, noting that appearing on the postal service's change-of-address database 'shall constitute sufficient cause to sustain the challenge against the elector' unless a voter is determined meet certain exceptions, like being a student.... 'If being on the [National Change of Address System] meant it was enough to take you off the voter rolls, that would be disastrous and I hope immediately thrown out of court,' said Vasu Abhiraman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, arguing that federal voting rights law would prohibit such a rule." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Those who vaguely recall that Donald Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that "I just want 11,780 votes" will realize that dumping 92,000 voters often can change the results of statewide elections.
** Illinois. Julie Bosman & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago lost her bid for a second term on Tuesday, a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime and policing in the nation's third-largest city. Four years ago, Ms. Lightfoot made history as the first Black woman to be elected mayor of Chicago when she swept all 50 of the city's wards. But she saw her popularity plunge during the coronavirus pandemic as Chicago suffered a spike in violent crime, with looting and destruction on its famed Magnificent Mile in 2020. The two candidates to emerge from Tuesday's first round of voting and advance to an April 4 runoff, according to The Associated Press, were Paul Vallas, a former public schools executive, and Brandon Johnson, a county board commissioner." The NBC News story is here.
Iowa. They Just Won't Quit. Matt Lavietes of NBC News: "Nearly eight years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage and several months after Congress codified gay nuptials, Iowa legislators proposed banning such unions in their state constitution." Eight members of the state's house sponsored the bill to amend the state's constitution.
Marie: Without looking into the matter too closely, I've been of the impression that New York City's mayor Eric Adams was a jerk. He confirmed my suspicions yesterday. This was kindly of him; it's one less thing for me to ponder. ~~~
~~~ New York. What First Amendment? Dana Rubenstein of the New York Times: At "the annual interfaith breakfast hosted on Tuesday by Mayor Eric Adams..., the mayor's closest aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, took the stage to declare that the Adams administration 'doesn't believe' in the separation of church and state, characterizing the mayor of New York City as 'definitely one of the chosen' as she introduced him.... 'Ingrid was so right,' Mr. Adams said.... 'Don't tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies. I can't separate my belief because I'm an elected official,' he continued, over scattered applause. He went on to suggest that his path to the mayoralty was divinely ordained, saying that when he implements policies, he does so in a 'godlike approach.' At another point, Mr. Adams seemed to suggest that it was a mistake for the Supreme Court to ban mandated prayer in public schools, as it did in 1962. 'When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools,' he said." The Huffington Post's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Shorter Eric Adams: 'Some people say that the Supreme Court misinterpreting the 2nd Amendment is a major reason why there's so much gun violence, but the real problem is the Supreme Court enforcing the First Amendment.'"
Tennessee. Do As I Say, Not As I Do. Matt Lavietes of NBC News: "By the time Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Monday that he would sign a recently passed bill criminalizing drag performances in public and in front of children, a photo that appears to show him dressed in drag as a high school student had already started to circulate on Reddit and Twitter. Just before midnight Saturday, a Reddit user shared an image that appears to show Lee as a high school student wearing a short-skirted cheerleader's uniform, a pearl necklace and a wig, posing on a school sports field next to two girls in men's suits. The caption says, 'Governor Bill Lee in drag (1977 high school yearbook).'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Wednesday is here: "The war in Ukraine is due to dominate conversations at the Group of 20 summit in India, where foreign ministers from the world's most powerful economies are gathering on Wednesday. Those set to attend include Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In Ukraine, the besieged city of Bakhmut is facing the 'most difficult situation' in the country as battle for control of the symbolic city in the east intensifies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Russia has deployed mercenaries from the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group in a bid to break through the city's defenses, according to Ukrainian military officials.... Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin-friendly president of Belarus, is continuing his state visit to China on Wednesday. The two sides are expected to sign agreements deepening cooperation on trade, education and technology. Finland's Parliament is expected to vote Wednesday on the country's accession to NATO, a step that would bring it closer to joining the trans-Atlantic military alliance. The bid still needs to be approved by Turkey, which has indicated that it views Finland's application more favorably than Sweden's because of concerns around Stockholm's approach to groups Ankara considers to be terrorists. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday called on Turkey and Hungary to urgently ratify both countries' accession." ~~~
~~~ Related stories about a Congressional hearing on U.S. spending for Ukraine linked above.
U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "King Charles III had nothing to do with the Northern Ireland trade agreement unveiled on Monday by Britain and the European Union. But one could be forgiven for thinking that he had put his royal imprimatur on the deal. It is called the Windsor Framework, which happens to be the king's family name. It was sealed at a luxury hotel in Windsor, west of London, where he has a castle. And it was there, at Windsor Castle, that Charles welcomed one of the negotiators, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, for tea just minutes after she and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak presented the deal to the world. That courtesy call, and the resulting photo of a smiling king appearing to celebrate his guest, prompted angry recrimination from critics, who said the government improperly recruited King Charles to be an ally in one of the most divisive issues in British politics."
News Lede
Greece. Washington Post: "A passenger train and a freight train collided overnight in northern Greece, killing at least 36 people and injuring 85 others as plumes of smoke filled the sky. The crash occurred shortly before midnight near Tempe Valley in northern Greece, the Hellenic Fire Service said."
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Reader Comments (28)
I expect more of this in GOP led states. Florida Senate Bill 1248 would prohibit the Florida Democratic party by the "Ultimate Cancel Act" to eliminate all political parties which once used slavery as part of their platform.
With a super majority in both houses this is nothing to laugh at. You can check this story ar Floridapolitics.com
Lots for the Supremes considering student loan forgiveness to chew on here:
https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/student-loan-default-rate-facts-statistics/#how-many-people-are-currently-in-default-on-their-student-loans
Seems that the default rate on student loans dropped significantly during the height of Covid. Makes sense insofar as required payments were suspended for the duration of the "emergency."
Guess the Covid emergency is over.
But it won't be for the millions who cannot repay their loans. Since student loan debt cannot be retired through bankruptcy, their personal financial emergencies will last forever, more likely than not leading to lives of poverty that will require some form of public assistance.
And that assistance will cost money.
Think anyone has done that math?
Certainly not Republicans, who years ago seem to have abandoned arithmetic altogether.
Okay, hang on…Obsequious, simpering slave to screaming extremists, My Kevin and one of those extremists, that Loud-milk guy, are saying “Oh…don’t worry…we’ll oversee what stuff our insurrection supporting media hack, TuKKKer uses on his show to “prove” there was no right-wing, MAGA culpability connected to the planning and execution of an attempted coup.”
Sure. Like telling cops who murder a black guy for driving while black they can to edit their bodycam footage before prosecutors get to see it.
Did prosecutors at Nuremberg tell the Nazis they could edit death camp footage? “Oh, we trust them to do the right thing…”
The right thing for Party of Traitor fanatics is whatever makes them look good and supports their propaganda.
“Trust us.”
Fuck’s sake.
And speaking of propaganda…
Trafficker of underage girls for sex (allejeddlee), and serial anal cyst, Matt Gaetz, demands that Chinese propaganda be entered into the Congressional Record. Has to be a first. And you can bet there’s a lot of high-fiving among members of the PRC central committee members. “Look! Another useful idiot in the American congress! Hohoho!”
But in fairness to little Matty, he just naturally gravitates to propaganda. “The Chinese Fox News?” Where do I subscribe?
And as befits his sneaky, slimy nature, he edits the tape of his huge fail to make himself look heroic.
Yesterday’s latest SCOTUS embarrassment demonstrated that Little Johnny has thrown in the towel, trying to pretend that he’s not a bug-eyed hack like the rest of the right-wing woo-woos on the Court.
Almost all official reckoning concerning the cost of Biden’s loan forgiveness program is in the range of $300 billion. Roberts, in his nose in the air dismissal of the whole idea added an extra $200 billion to that figure. No explanation for his adjusted math. “So, we’re supposed to just say ‘okay’ to half a trillion dollars being handed out to moochers?” he sniffed (okay he didn’t say “moochers”, but that’s what they all mean).
Then Die for your masters Gorsuch (or maybe it was Beery Bart) chimed in with “These people need to pay up! This is a lot of money!”
Okay. How about you first make sure that tax cheats like Trump, and corporations (like the ones you say employees should lay down their lives for) pay up. Trump alone has probably accounted for hundreds of millions of taxes he cheated the country out of. And what about oil and gas giants who make that half trillion in a couple of years, but pay not a red cent in taxes.
Oh…but these students are the real moochers.
Such sanctimonious double talk.
Oh, and how many times in the past have those same SCOTUS woo-woos detonated some entirely deserving petition for redress by sniffing that the party bringing the case didn’t have standing?
Plenty.
But here we have a case in which the traitor red states bringing this attack on Biden’s program have zero standing. Zee-Ro! Not a fucking stitch of standing. But, ohhhh…this is an important case! We have a chance to screw Biden and help our ideologue pals. Of COURSE they have standing. Have you read the twisted casuistry slathered Rube Goldberg rationale for their “standing”? “Well, take three large eggs, add a quart of motor oil, hammer three roofing nails dipped in garlic sauce into your head, learn Esperanto, do the tarantella, and sing the prologue to ‘Pagliacci’. There ya go. Standing!”
I’m only kidding, of course. The real rationale is a lot stupider.
This is kangaroo court bullshit. They’re not even pretending that this is okay. They’re power mad maniacs, fuck the law, to hell with precedence, throw out the rules. We’re in charge here! Harummph!
Watch Jamie Raskin school the gun toting Boob-ert person who actually thinks she's making sense.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lauren-boebert-jamie-raskin-trump_n_63fe8633e4b0735bf87abd5b
And Marie, by the way. Today’s round-up of the usual right-wing buncombe, intellectual dishonesty, and tumultuous twaddle is outstanding. Not that you don’t always go above and beyond, but the stories linked and occasional commentary today, as you scroll down the page, makes for a good head shake. Whoof. Good job.
Thankful that I don't live in Iowa, where marriage is between one
church going white man and one churchgoing white woman.
Because god said so.
Separation of church and state? Sorry, it don't apply here in Iowa.
Sounds like wishful thinking on the part of Iowa legislatures who
must need those christian votes to stay in office.
PD,
Sense is not a thing for such as Bobo. The act of making sense is anathema to these birds.
The German philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, over the years, developed his idea of how humans communicate in ways both truthful and un. He referred to this as the language game. Not really a “game” game, but as with any game, there are rules.
Say you’re out in a field with some pals. You’ve got a ball. What do you do? You make up a game. Or you play a game you all know. Either way, you need rules, otherwise, all you have is a field and a ball.
Language has rules too. In order to make sense, there needs to be a general acceptance of those rules. Verbs do this. Nouns do that. Adverbs and adjectives, something else. Then, there’s the issue of what you do with those language rules. Supportable (ie, true) propositions are the best use of this language game, but false propositions are also possible.
But too many R’s go way beyond simple false propositions (lies). They explode the game by misusing language itself in ways that completely subvert valid human communications.
Remember Newt Gingrich’s Rules for Republicans? All Republicans are designated heroic patriots. Democrats must be described as whiny traitors. No proof is required. No supporting propositions necessary. Why? Because there are no such blanket propositions.
The whole idea is to sow chaos and disinformation. It’s as if you’re playing chess and you move your king five spaces. There are no rules in chess that allow for such a move. So now, as Wittgenstein would say, you’re not playing chess anymore. You’re doing something else.
That’s the entire oeuvre of right-wing ordure. Something else. It won’t make sense because that’s not the goal. That’s THEIR game.
Bobby Lee,
I saw that. Funny, in’it? A party that relies for its very existence on rancid, rabid racism, trying to zero out a competing party for its support of slavery 150 years ago.
No Republicans were slave owners? Or supporters of slavery?
Guess not. These fuckers will ride the coattails of Lincoln, a guy most of them back then would have lined up to shoot, until they’re reduced to flyaway strings of coattail molecules.
AK: Loved your "rules of the game" ––-which brought to mind when I was growing up and had the luxury of playing with lots of kids in the neighborhood every day––free of any adult supervision. We invented all sorts of games and had to decide on its rules without rancor. To me this kind of experience when young is paramount to healthy connections later in life.
Coming back to today and your "But too many R’s go way beyond simple false propositions (lies). They explode the game by misusing language itself in ways that completely subvert valid human communications." And the little Foxes have done this brilliantly but now that the cat's out of the bag how will they maneuver this snag? Money talks and Dominion is determined.
I got a kick out of Fox's Brian K's trying to get at least half those folks in the diner to root for DeSantis––-for years Fox featured, gave top billing to the Fat Man; once so in love these Trumpees ain't gonna quit him for some Eye-talian in that sunshine state, no how, no way.
I think the confederate Supremes' problem with the student loan forgiveness is they didn't benefit from it. Their families were probably too wealthy to qualify, and they are too rich for their own children to qualify. And, by definition, a program for those they think of as "the poors" is not one they can abide. As at least one of the confederate justices complained, the program "wasn't fair" because it didn't give loans to small businessmen who wanted to start a lawn care business. (Never mind that the law the Congress passed gave the Education Secretary the right to forgive student loans, not to give awards to lawn-care start-ups.)
They're just selfish bastards.
Under the "Ultimate Cancel Act" all Democratic voters would be notified that they were now listed as "non party" voters. They would be free to register with any other party of their choice or remain their no party status. Of course in a closed primary state that takes you out of the primary election process.
@ Marie
Yes, it's all about selfishness and greed.
As Akhilleus neatly says above (in his own and better words), if greed is your game, there are no rules.
And as I would say, because there are no rules, there can be no truth or sense or morality.
Hence: lies, nonsense and self-serving only.
Of course, I base that conclusion on logic; that is, on rules.
Guess I'm stuck with 'em.
@Bobby Lee: I can't imagine the proposed Kill the Democratic Party law is constitutional, but I'm not smart enough to know what provision it violates: maybe the First Amendment's "freedom of assembly" clause. In any event, it violates the "sins of the fathers" premise that disallows a person to be held responsible for his ancestors' misdeeds. In short, it's ridiculous, and should the bill becomes law, it won't be law for long.
(In fact, I suspect a party that organized today could legally advocate for slavery even though slavery is unconstitutional. There's no law against advocating for changing the Constitution.)
I certainly think the bill is unconstitutional and that even the current court system would toss it out. Like "Parental Choice" it's another tool in the culture war being waged here in Florida. As I said at the start, I just wonder how many of our blood red legislatures will play "Monkey see, Monkey do".
I'm not up to speed yet, but following Bobby Lee's post, if current Democrats are no longer allowed to be Democrats, what happens if they all register as Republicans? It seems that they can become a significant force in the electorate, and they are no longer easily traceable by the ballot restrictors. And if all of the candidates are labeled Republican, does that mean that the voters will have to actually listen to the positions of each candidate? The current Rs might not like how this turns out, seems to me.
The student loan recipients should together and each throw in a few bucks to a pot. If enough of them do it they can collect a big enough
bribedonation to give to the Federalist Society to get the Supremes to rule in their favor.My wife was registered as an R her entire adult life, just because her parents were. However, she always sided with and voted for D's. She didn't want to change her registration because then she wouldn't have been able to vote against the worst of the R's in our state's closed primaries.
If Party of Traitor members believe that simply supporting slavery as an institution, a century and a half later is an egregious enough sin to dissolve a political party with tens of millions of members, why not reparations for the descendants of those actually enslaved? Oh wait, that would require logic and intellectual and moral consistency.
Never mind.
RAS,
Hmmm…I dunno. The Federalists and their hand picked hacks on the court aren’t your run of the mill grifters and pocket pickers like so many other R’s. These guys are world class crooks. And they might like the money, but they’re already rich. What they want is power and control. So yeah, sure. They’d take the money, but then they’d turn around and do whatever they wanted anyway.
How did Eric Adams obtain the mayor position in New York City? His statement "Don't tell me about no separation...etc" really stuck in my craw. He sounds like an ignorant redneck, not the mayor of the most major city in the US. Plus, he infers that HIS god should be the first thing anyone panders to in policy-making and everything else the government does. Who's he pandering to? He is making sure the people who don't buy his god-licking know that they are LESS THAN. I am so sick of self-righteous "Christian" bigots. I knew I didn't like him for a while, but not why-- this is a good reason. What a pig.
About the student loan crap floating around: This is all on John Roberts (and his piece of crap colleagues) who is a piece of sourdough dressed up as a judge. The math question is a biggie. These people harnessed to loans with questionable rules can't afford to have any sort of good life, adding to the economy etc., that they went to school to bring themselves. To bring them some sort of relief or break would be unquestioned but we live in times that apparently lionize the greed that is rampant with the right wing. Selfish attenders of the ivies all, with family money that sent them there, certainly not empathy or compassion. That SC Country Club is full of members we would not want to socialize with... I expect the liberal members are all thrilled to go to work every day with these monsters.
Akhilleus, you're correct that they would take the money and probably do nothing. I guess they'd need to make some deal to give the Federalists a percentage of the $10k that would have gone to the government. The chance to get a piece of the 100s of billions that are being discussed would be the only thing that would move the grifters to consider what happens to the actual people affected here.
More stupid MAGAs
"A bill to ban donors who have received the COVID-19 vaccination from giving blood will “decimate” blood supply in Montana and leave patients at risk of even death, said opponents of House Bill 645.
“Montana’s blood supply could be cut by up to 80%, leading to adverse patient outcomes including unnecessary and unconscionable death,” said senior vice president of blood collection nonprofit Vitalant, Cliff Numark."
Unwashed,
Sounds like your wife was a spy in the house of traitors (apologies to Anais Nin here). Good for her. Hope she had a hand in kneecapping some of the worst of the traitors.
@Marie: But at least some of the supremes DID benefit from government assistance in education, but it was up front back then in the form of subsidies to the education system. I think it's another case of "I've got mine, too bad for you!"
Always something to curl our hair: Leonard Leo and how rich he and the other Federalist Society people have become-- see Charlie in Esquire, and Joe Manchin and Jon Tester voted with all the repugs to overturn a rule from the Biden administration-- just went blank on what it was, and Joe may veto it, but again, Democrats in the Senate are "blessed" with Dinos all the time...we can never catch a break. Grrrrr. Oops-- must run off-- sorry to not provide details...