;)
March 10, 2023
Afternoon Update:
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "While the facts [behind the Manhattan D.A.'s case against Donald Trump] are dramatic, the case ... would likely hinge on a complex interplay of laws. And a conviction is far from assured." The reporters outline the publicly-known facts of the case and "an untested and therefore risky legal theory...." They also report on Trump's reaction to the story that Trump was likely to be indicted. You don't need to read that part; you could probably write it. Hint: D.A. Alvin Bragg is a racist Democrat who is just trying to bring down Trump by any fake means possible.
Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "A powerful group of far-right Republicans on Friday issued a new set of demands in the fight over the debt ceiling, stressing they would only supply their votes to raise the limit if they can secure about $130 billion in spending cuts, cap federal agencies' future budgets and unwind the Biden administration's economic agenda. The ultimatum from the House Freedom Caucus -- led by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) -- threatened to deal a massive blow to government health care, education, science and labor programs. Seeking tougher work requirements on welfare recipients and the repeal of federal funds to fight coronavirus and climate change, the conservatives' wish list appeared to complicate the work to clinch a deal and avert a looming fiscal calamity." MB: Yeah, and cookies & ice cream for every MOC who visits the patriots held at the D.C. jail. Now STFU.
Wingers Notice Jordan Panel Is a Joke. Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "... Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is facing growing frustrations over how he's conducted that panel's business thus far. Some leaders in [MB: oxymoron alert!] hard-right intellectual circles have critiqued the initial work of the subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government as lackluster and unfocused, and some Republican lawmakers have privately raised concerns. Critics say the committee has been too slow to staff up, insufficiently aggressive in issuing subpoenas for interviews and testimony, and lacking in substance." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The underlying problem, of course, is that the right's caterwaulling that everything is so unfa-a-a-ir to them is "lacking in substance." Of course, you can't tell that to these "hard-right intellectuals" because they seldom leave Right Wing World.
Rob Copeland, et al., of the New York Times: "Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to some of the biggest names in the technology world..., [became] the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. The move put nearly $175 billion in customer deposits, including money from some of the biggest names in the technology world, under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It was an extraordinary denouement less than two days after the bank shocked Wall Street and its depositors with emergency moves to raise cash and stave off a collapse in the face of withdrawal requests and a precipitous decline in the value of its investment holdings.... The F.D.I.C. created a new bank, the National Bank of Santa Clara, to hold the deposits and other assets of the failed one."
Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "... Donald Trump cannot keep E. Jean Carroll from showing a jury the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape that nearly derailed his 2016 campaign in a lawsuit accusing him of rape, a federal judge ruled. 'In this case, a jury reasonably could find, even from the 'Access Hollywood' tape alone, that Mr. Trump admitted in the Access Hollywood tape that he in fact has had contact with women's genitalia in the past without their consent, or that he has attempted to do so,' Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a 23-page memorandum opinion."
Beth Reinhard & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "The longtime Republican campaign aide who has leveled sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Schlapp, the influential leader of the Conservative Political Action Conference, was accused last month of sexual battery.Carlton Huffman, 39, was recently ordered by a judge to stay away for one year from a Raleigh, N.C., housemate who alleged he performed unwanted sex acts on her and another woman, according to court documents filed in Wake County Superior Court. The Feb. 27 protective order was issued about one month after Huffman filed a lawsuit in Virginia alleging sexual battery and defamation by Schlapp. Schlapp has denied the claims.... Raleigh police said the case was investigated and closed; an incident report shows no charges were filed. The 19-year-old woman was granted the year-long restraining order against Huffman, while the 22-year-old obtained a protective order for 10 days; a judge then dismissed her complaint."
Saudi Arabia/Iran/China. Vivian Nereim of the New York Times: "Saudi Arabia and Iran have reached an agreement, facilitated by China, to re-establish diplomatic ties after a seven-year split, the countries said on Friday, in what could be a step toward realignment between often hostile regional rivals. Saudi and Iranian officials announced the agreement after talks this week in China, which maintains close ties with both countries, in a joint statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency. Iran's state news media also announced an agreement. The two countries agreed to reactivate a lapsed security cooperation pact -- a shift that comes after years of Iranian proxies targeting Saudi Arabia with missile and drone attacks -- as well as older trade, investment and cultural accords."
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Jim Tankersley, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday proposed a $6.8 trillion budget that sought to increase spending on the military and a wide range of new social programs while also reducing future budget deficits, defying Republican calls to scale back government and reasserting his economic vision before an expected re-election campaign. The budget contains some $5 trillion in proposed tax increases on high earners and corporations over a decade, much of which would offset new spending programs aimed at the middle class and the poor. It seeks to reduce budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over that time.... But after claiming credit for a $1.7 trillion decline in the annual deficit over the past year, Mr. Biden now sees the deficit increasing again in the 2024 fiscal year, to $1.8 trillion. It reaffirms Mr. Biden's case that he can prevent the growing debt burden from weighing on the economy while expanding spending and protecting popular safety-net programs -- almost entirely by asking companies and the wealthy to pay more in taxes.... [The increase] is driven by rising costs of servicing the national debt as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to curb inflation and by new programs the president is proposing that are not fully offset by tax increases in their first year." ~~~
~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "It is one of President Biden's most common refrains on the stump: 'Don't tell me what you value,' Biden says, quoting his father. 'Show me your budget -- and I'll tell you what you value.' With Republicans controlling the House, the 2024 budget released by the White House on Thursday has little chance of being approved by Congress. But the 182-page document still consists of hundreds of policy proposals, numbers, charts and other data points that provide insight into the priorities of the president and his team. The spending blueprint also serves as the initial offer in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over the federal budget -- talks likely to prove a major flash point in Congress throughout the year, which faces a tense standoff over the national debt ceiling and a potentially catastrophic default.... Here are seven key takeaways from the 2024 White House budget." ~~~
~~~ Caitlin Emma & Adam Cancryn of Politico: President Biden's budget "marks both a campaign pitch and an opening shot at House Republicans who have demanded significant spending cuts. Democrats have been daring Republicans to put their demands in writing as the GOP seeks fiscal concessions in return for helping to lift the debt ceiling later this year.... Speaking to union members at a [Philadelphia, Pa., ] trade school, Biden framed his proposal as a direct challenge to House Republicans advocating for deep spending cuts amid a looming standoff over lifting the nation's borrowing limit." ~~~
~~~ The President Ate My Homework. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA) admitted that his party's budget is going to be late, but that it's r[e]ally all President Joe Biden's fault. 'We were gonna do the budget in April. But unfortunately, the President's so late with his budget, it delays our budget,' McCarthy explained, according to CNN's Melanie Zanona.... It's unclear why McCarthy needed Biden's budget before the Republicans could write their own."
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the United States, Australia and Britain will unveil on Monday a plan to outfit Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in an unprecedented three-way defense partnership that seeks to counter China-s attempts to achieve naval dominance in the Pacific. The plan, known as AUKUS, was first announced in September 2021. The advanced submarines -- the first of which will be American-made -- are now expected to arrive as early as 2032, still a decade off but years ahead of the timeline many expected, said Western officials, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity." ~~~
~~~ Cashing In. Craig Whitlock & Nate Jones of the Washington Post: "In its quest to build nuclear-powered submarines, the government of Australia recently hired a little-known, one-person consulting firm from Virginia: Briny Deep. Briny Deep, based in Alexandria, Va., received a $210,000 part-time contract in late November to advise Australian defense officials during their negotiations to acquire top-secret nuclear submarine technology from the United States and Britain, according to Australian contracting documents. U.S. public records show the company is owned by John M. Richardson, a retired four-star U.S. admiral and career submariner who headed the U.S. Navy from 2015 to 2019. Richardson, who declined to comment, is the latest former U.S. Navy leader to cash in on the nuclear talks by working as a high-dollar consultant for the Australian government, a pattern that was revealed in a Washington Post investigation last year. His case brings to a dozen the number of retired officers and former civilian leaders from the U.S. Navy whom Australia has employed as advisers since the nuclear talks began in September 2021, documents show."
Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Recent moves in some states to loosen child worker protections are 'irresponsible' and make it easier to hire children for dangerous work, the Labor Department's top attorney said Thursday.... Instead of making it easier to hire youths for dangerous work, governments should try to 'increase accountability and ramp up enforcement' of existing laws, Labor Solicitor Seema Nanda said in a statement. 'No child should be working in dangerous workplaces in this country, full stop.'... The Labor Department has observed a 69 percent increase in minors employed in violation of federal law since 2018, Nanda said.... Nanda in her statement said that federal laws still applied, even in states that loosened their regulations." Arkansas reduced child labor protections this week; similar bills are making their way through Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota legislatures.
Rachel Pannett & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is being treated for a concussion after falling Wednesday evening, and is expected to remain hospitalized 'for a few days,' a spokesperson announced Thursday afternoon." This is the new lede to a story by Pannett, linked below. An ABC News story is here. MB: Now I'm a little sorry I made a joke yesterday, not about McConnell's fall or his injury, but about who caused it. As for the guy at whose expense the joke was aimed: he still deserves it.(Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "About three years ago, a Federal Bureau of Investigation analyst violated the rules for searching a repository of messages intercepted by the program by making overly broad queries about an undisclosed member of Congress. The conversation about that incident, which became public with few other details in a footnote of a report that was declassified in December, underwent a startling twist on Thursday at a House Intelligence Committee hearing. An Illinois Republican, Representative Darin LaHood, identified himself as that lawmaker. 'I have had the opportunity to review the classified summary of this violation, and it is my opinion that the member of Congress who was wrongfully queried multiple times solely by his name was, in fact, me,' he said from the dais. Mr. LaHood ... is the leader of a bipartisan working group of Intelligence Committee members who are trying to persuade Congress to reauthorize the warrantless surveillance law in question, known as Section 702.... Elected to Congress in 2014, Mr. LaHood is a former federal counterterrorism prosecutor and the son of Ray LaHood, who was also a Republican member of Congress from Illinois and later served as transportation secretary in the Obama administration. Mr. LaHood provided no further details about the incident. But he ... call[ed] the queries about communications involving a member of Congress an egregious violation that betrayed trust in government surveillance power and could be 'seen as a threat to the separation of powers.' At the same time, he made clear that he still believes that Congress must reauthorize Section 702...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Justine McDaniel, et al., of the Washington Post: "Failures by the railroad company operating the train that derailed and caused a chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, left emergency responders 'scrambling' as they grappled with the possibility of a major explosion, some witnesses and lawmakers told Congress on Thursday. Speaking at a morning Senate hearing on the Feb. 3 derailment -- where lawmakers grilled Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw and pressed Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Debra Shore on the response to the fiery crash -- an emergency management director said officials were confused and misled by the railway's lack of communication as they tried to determine whether to allow Norfolk Southern to do a 'controlled release' of toxic vinyl chloride. With the area under threat of a potentially deadly explosion, Norfolk Southern personnel did not come to officials' meetings -- and decision-makers learned partway through their planning that the company 'wanted to' release chemicals from five tank cars, not one, said Eric Brewer..., director of emergency services in Beaver County, Pa., which neighbors East Palestine.... Even as Shaw promised lawmakers that Norfolk Southern 'runs a safe railroad,' another one of its trains went off the tracks in Alabama partway through the hearing. That followed another Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio earlier this month." (Also linked yesterday.)
Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "For more than six months, the Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Twitter's security practices, following an explosive whistleblower complaint accusing the company of violating a 2011 settlement that required it implement privacy safeguards. That investigation expanded in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover.... Now ... House Republicans ... argue that the agency is using its privacy probe to thwart Musk's absolutist vision of free speech on Twitter.... Republicans fanned these allegations at a combative Thursday hearing ... led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).... The contentious, more than two-hour hearing was peppered with arguments between Jordan and Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government.... 'There is something going on between Congressional Republicans and Elon Musk,' [Plaskett] said. 'Mr. Chairman, Americans can see through this. Musk is helping you out politically, and you're going out of your way to promote and protect him, and to praise him for his work.'" Read on.
David Moye of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) called out the hypocrisy of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) during a Judiciary subcommittee meeting Thursday.... 'I think that it is quite rich that we are talking about subpoena compliance under a chairman of the full committee who was absolutely out of subpoena compliance in the last Congress,' Swalwell said [during a subcommittee hearing], noting that Jordan refused to cooperate with subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Thursday began their promised investigation into whether people charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol have been mistreated in jail, fulfilling a pledge G.O.P. leaders made to their right flank. The investigation -- part of a broader effort by Republicans to rewrite the history of the riot in part by portraying participants as the true victims -- has been a top priority of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia. On Thursday, Ms. Greene wrote to the D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser, demanding answers to questions, a tour of the correctional facility in southeastern Washington, and access to staff and inmates to conduct interviews by March 23. She and two other lawmakers also asked for all documents and communications about the Jan. 6 detainees' complaints regarding the conditions.... The investigation at the jail is one of several demands made by right-wing lawmakers as Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, sought their votes during weeks of intense negotiations in his campaign for the top job in the House."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on the House floor, Wednesday:
Not Exactly a Reliable Witness, But Still.... Jacqueline Sweet of Politico: "Rep. George Santos orchestrated a 2017 credit card skimming operation in Seattle, the man who was convicted of the fraud and deported to Brazil said in a sworn declaration submitted to federal authorities Wednesday. 'I am coming forward today to declare that the person in charge of the crime of credit card fraud when I was arrested was George Santos/Anthony Devolder,' Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha wrote in the declaration.... 'Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards. He gave me all the materials and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATM machines,' Trelha said in the declaration.... Santos kept a warehouse on Kirkman Road in Orlando to store the skimming equipment, according to the declaration.... [Santos] was previously questioned about the Seattle scheme by investigators for the U.S. Secret Service, CBS News has reported. He was never charged, but the investigation remains open."
That Day Tourists Secretly Trashed a GOP Senator's Office. Ryan Reilly & Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Two years ago, a mob of rioters ... viciously assaulted police, smashed out windows, stormed into an office, flipped over a giant conference table and barricaded themselves inside the U.S. Capitol, readying themselves for a fight with police inside a suite of 'hideaway' offices for U.S. senators. One of the offices, federal prosecutors recently disclosed, belonged to Republican Jim Risch, the 79-year-old junior senator from Idaho, where [Donald] Trump is tremendously popular. Video< shows a rioter -- who has pleaded guilty to driving a stun gun into ... police officer [Michael Fanone]'s neck, nearly killing him -- smashing out Risch's window overlooking the Washington Monument and the national mall in an attempt to let more rioters into the building. Additional video released this week shows Risch's trashed desk.... A review of Risch's public statements on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot show no indication that he has ever mentioned what happened to his office that day. Asked by NBC News this week about his office being trashed and told about the new footage of rioters in his hideaway, Risch demurred." MB: Just plain weird. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Manhattan D.A. Likely to Indict Trump. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office recently signaled to Donald J. Trump's lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are nearing an indictment of the former president, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. The prosecutors offered Mr. Trump the chance to testify next week before the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the potential case.... Such offers almost always indicate an indictment is close; it would be unusual for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, to notify a potential defendant without ultimately seeking charges against him. In New York, potential defendants have the right to answer questions in the grand jury before they are indicted, but they rarely testify, and Mr. Trump is likely to decline the offer. His lawyers could also meet privately with the prosecutors in hopes of fending off criminal charges. Any case would mark the first indictment of a former American president, and could upend the 2024 presidential race." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The AP's story is here.
Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Federal prosecutors involved in the criminal investigation of Donald Trump's retention of classified documents argued to a US judge on Thursday that one of the former US president's lawyers should answer more questions before a grand jury over objections of attorney-client privilege. US prosecutors have been seeking to invoke the so-called crime-fraud exception that allows them to compel testimony about communications between an attorney and a client when they have evidence to suggest legal advice was used in furtherance of a crime. In the sealed hearing before the chief US district judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell, prosecutors argued that they had reason to believe that legal advice to Trump from his lawyer Evan Corcoran was used by Trump to obstruct the classified-marked documents investigation."
Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge has ordered former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro to turn over to the government hundreds of emails that he sent or received during his nearly four years as a White House aide. In an opinion on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected a slew of arguments Navarro's attorneys floated in a bid to knock out a civil suit the Justice Department filed in August to recover messages that Navarro handled through a personal ProtonMail account but refused to return to the National Archives after ... Donald Trump left office. Kollar-Kotelly said the privately held emails were plainly subject to the Presidential Records Act.... The tone of Kollar-Kotelly's 22-page opinion was brutal...."
Jane Timm of NBC News: "Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems and a group of media outlets argue that Fox News abused the redaction process and blacked out more than is warranted in the thousands of pages of legal filings and evidence made public in the defamation case it's facing. The new court filings call for the release of pages of evidence that Fox lawyers want to keep secret.... Parties are allowed to designate information like private contact details and trade secrets as confidential in such legal filings, said attorneys for Dominion and a trio of media outlets -- The New York Times, The Associated Press and National Public Radio. But they argued that the Fox attorneys overdid it." ~~~
~~~ Jason Abbruzzese & Kevin Collier of NBC News: "The Federal Communications Commission's oversight of Fox's broadcast licenses means it could bring its power to bear on [Rupert] Murdoch for his admission that he could have stopped Fox News from spreading misleading claims about Dominion Voting Systems, which by extension helped spread the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.... Few people familiar with the FCC expect action.... The FCC's most relevant power in relation to Murdoch is the granting of broadcast licenses, in which it allows private companies to use public airwaves as long as certain criteria are met.... But the FCC has far less power when it comes to cable TV channels, which don't use public airwaves for transmission.... 'But Murdoch owns a number of broadcast stations, and I think it would be fair for the FCC to ask whether he is of fit moral character to own those licenses in light of recent revelations that Murdoch knew the election fraud claims were lies and allowed them to air,' ... said Jessica Gonzalez, a co-CEO of the media advocacy group Free Press. "
In case you think self-described "conservatives" are dedicated to protecting personal freedom, as they claim: ~~~
~~~ Michelle Boorstein & Heather Kelly of the Washington Post: "A group of conservative Colorado Catholics has spent millions of dollars to buy mobile app tracking data that identified priests who used gay dating and hookup apps and then shared it with bishops around the country. The secretive effort was the work of a Denver nonprofit called Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, whose trustees are philanthropists Mark Bauman, John Martin and Tim Reichert.... The use of data is emblematic of a new surveillance frontier in which private individuals can potentially track other Americans' locations and activities using commercially available information.... The project's existence reflects a newly empowered American Catholic right wing that sees enforcing its interpretation of church teaching on sexuality and gender as an existential issue for the church and that no longer trusts bishops to do so." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here.
Presidential Race 2024. Margaret Sullivan of the Guardian: "The Florida governor Ron DeSantis likes to brag that he's just getting started with his rightwing agenda. 'You ain't seen nothing yet,' was how he put it in one recent speech. He means it as a promise, but it ought to be heard as a threat. That's particularly true for women whose abortion rights already are being dangerously curtailed and for gay and transgender students who are already being treated as lower life forms. It's particularly true for those who care about voting rights and press rights, and for those who cherish the power of books and free expression as a foundation of societal wellbeing. Of course, if DeSantis should somehow capture the presidency (he's undeclared thus far but the Oval Office is clearly on his mind), that threat would extend to our entire nation and to the world beyond. 'DeSantis rules by an authoritarian playbook," wrote Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago, despite the Orwellian title of the governor's book, The Courage to Be Free.... That's why it's appalling to see the media lavish him with so much fawning coverage." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Could not agree more. Every reporter & statistician who cheerfully discusses the latest who's-up/who's-down polls should be rebuked if they don't also report on democracy's stake in the race. The media should ascribe pro/anti-democracy scores to all of the presidential candidates. The usual horse-race type of "news" reporting is horseshit.
Beyond the Beltway
Poppy Noor of the Guardian: "For decades, the mainstream anti-abortion movement promised that it did not believe women who have abortions should be criminally charged. But now, Republican lawmakers in several US states have introduced legislation proposing homicide and other criminal charges for those seeking abortion care. The bills have been introduced in states such as Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some explicitly target medication abortion and self-managed abortion; some look to remove provisions in the law which previously protected pregnant people from criminalization; and others look to establish the fetus as a person from the point of conception. It is highly unlikely that all of these bills will pass.... Republicans have frequently hit walls when trying to pass anti-abortion legislation, with lawmakers at odds over exactly how far bans should go."
New York. Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "In 2004, police officers showed the image of a young Black man to a witness, who chose him from an array of six as a suspect in a fatal shooting in Brooklyn's East Flatbush neighborhood. That identification withstood scrutiny through an indictment, trial and appeals over more than 18 years. The Brooklyn district attorney's office said Thursday that detectives, prosecutors and the original trial's judge knew from the outset that the photo in the array wasn't actually of the man they wanted to arrest, but they proceeded anyway. A report by the agency's conviction review unit said that the two men shared a name, and they had addresses in the same precinct, but investigators knew early on that they were different people. [Sheldon] Thomas, 35, appeared in court on Thursday afternoon before Matthew J. D'Emic, a judge with the Brooklyn Supreme Court who ordered him freed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ohio. Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal: "After more than nine hours of deliberation, a jury on Thursday found former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder [R] and state Republican Chairman Matt Borges guilty of felony racketeering charges in connection with a billion-dollar utility bailout that was passed in 2019.... U.S. District Judge Timothy Black will schedule a sentencing hearing shortly.... Former U.S. Attorney David DeVillers said it was likely the biggest bribery and money laundering scandal in Ohio history.... Akron-based FirstEnergy and other utilities paid tens of millions into an effort to elect friendly lawmakers in 2018 who would vote to make Householder speaker the following year. Immediately after taking the speaker's gavel, Householder worked furiously to pass a $1.3 billion bailout, the vast majority of which benefited FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Services.... [Later,] Householder took control of the push to block the repeal, while Borges assisted...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.
Texas. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Five pregnant women and two doctors filed suit in Texas this week claiming that the state's six-week abortion ban violates the state constitution's due process and equal protection guarantees. The complaint asks that, at a minimum, the court declare a woman can obtain an abortion when a physician in good faith finds the patient suffers a condition of complication that 'poses a risk of infection, bleeding, or otherwise makes continuing a pregnancy unsafe for the pregnant person; a physical medical condition that is exacerbated by pregnancy' that can't be effectively treated or where 'the fetus is unlikely to survive the pregnancy and sustain life after birth.'... The bracing and enlightening facts set out in the complaint should be mandatory reading for lawmakers who want to strip women of essential health care. Unlike most suits that are brought by advocacy groups, this action has real, live plaintiffs with heart-wrenching personal stories[.]" (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "Ukraine's military warned early Friday that the threat of a Russian missile attack remained high, a day after the Kremlin launched a barrage of missiles and confirmed its use of hypersonic weapons. The attack killed at least nine people. Repair crews are working to restore power and water supply in parts of the country after the attack hit critical infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said."
China. Chris Buckley & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "Xi Jinping has solidified his status as China's most powerful leader in decades by sweeping into a new term as president, as he steels the country for an era of superpower rivalry and seeks to revive a battered economy. Mr. Xi never faced serious doubt that he would be endorsed for a third five-year term as state president at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, the Communist Party-controlled legislature. The vote was a ritual formalizing his continued dominance of Chinese politics after he already claimed another term as party leader in October. Still, the meeting's unanimous endorsement of Mr. Xi's precedent-breaking third term as president highlighted how his control at the top seems undiminished, even after a torrid year of policy disappointments and reversals." The Guardian's story is here.
Mexico. Niha Masih & Mary Beth Sheridan of the Washington Post: "Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday pushed back against [U.S.] Republican lawmakers who had called on the Biden administration to take military action against drug cartels across the border following the killings of two Americans in Matamoros, saying such demands were a threat to Mexican sovereignty. 'We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene and much less foreign armed forces to intervene in our territory,' López Obrador said at a news conference, adding that he would ask Americans of Mexican and Hispanic origin not to vote for Republicans if their 'aggression' continued." ~~~
~~~ Natalie Kitroeff & Maria Abi-Habib of the New York Times: "Five men, lying face down with their hands tied, were found by the Mexican authorities on Thursday along with a letter purportedly written by a powerful criminal cartel, blaming the men for a recent attack on four Americans, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The note apologized for the assault, which left two Americans and one Mexican dead, and claimed that the cartel was offering up the men who had carried it out, according to photos reviewed by The Times.... It was not clear whether the message was accurate or actually written by the cartel. The Mexican authorities will question the five men, officials said, to try to determine whether they actually participated in the abduction and killings." An AP story is here.
Saudi Arabia. Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "Saudi Arabia is seeking security guarantees from the United States, help with developing a civilian nuclear program and fewer restrictions on U.S. arms sales as its price for normalizing relations with Israel, people familiar with the exchanges say. If sealed, the deal could set up a major political realignment of the Middle East." MB: Uh, a murdering, lying butcher promises to be nice to Israel if we'll sell him more guns and provide him with nuclear technology? What could possibly go wrong?
News Ledes
CNBC: "Job creation decelerated in February but was still stronger than expected despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to slow the economy and bring down inflation. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 311,000 for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was above the 225,000 Dow Jones estimate and a sign that the employment market is still hot. The unemployment rate rose to 3.6%, above the expectation for 3.4%, amid a tick higher in the labor force participation rate to 62.5%, its highest level since March 2020.... There also was some good news on the inflation side, as average hourly earnings climbed 4.6% from a year ago, below the estimate for 4.8%. The monthly increase of 0.2% also was below the 0.4% estimate."
New York Times: "Several people were killed and several more were injured in a shooting in a Jehovah's Witness hall in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday night, in a rare mass shooting in the country. The police, including tactical and bomb disposal units, were on the scene late Thursday, and the injured were rushed to local hospitals. Little was immediately known about the assailant, and the Hamburg police said early Friday that they believed there was just one. A police spokesman indicated that the attacker might be among the dead." ~~~
~~~ Washington Post: "While there were no indications of the gunman having connections to terrorist groups, local authorities did receive an anonymous message in January raising alarm about the man's hatred of his former employer and religious groups, particularly the Jehovah's Witnesses, of which he was a member until about 18 months ago. The message led to questions about whether the man -- who had legally purchased a semiautomatic handgun on a sports shooter license -- was mentally fit to own a firearm. Investigators who subsequently checked the man's home in February, however, did not find any evidence to justify revoking his license, police said Friday, while acknowledging those sent had not been trained to spot signs of mental illness." The Guardian's story is here.
Washington Post: "A powerful atmospheric river will send a surge of subtropical moisture into California on Thursday and Friday, delivering heavy rain and even more mountain snow. It will also bring a renewed risk of serious flooding as warmer rain combines with widespread snow and saturated soil. The storm will target Northern and central California, including the Bay Area, where flood watches blanket much of the region lasting into Sunday. Heavy rain and melting snow could cause significant flooding." ~~~
~~~ New York Times: "... homeowners in the towns near Lake Tahoe ... [were] racing to remove massive snowdrifts from [their rooves]. Forecasters and local officials have raised concerns about flooding from snowmelt. But perhaps a greater worry this time is that the snow will act as a sponge, soaking up the rain and becoming heavy enough for roofs to collapse. A second atmospheric river is expected to arrive on Monday."
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.
"In 1987, Ms. magazine asked me (Sue Halpern) to write about RU-486, a new medication that caused the uterus to expel a fertilized egg before it could gestate. It wasn’t a contraceptive, but it wasn’t what most people considered an abortion, either. At the time, anti-abortion campaigners were brandishing ultrasound images that purported to show fetuses crying out in pain as they were being surgically removed. RU-486, which was developed in France but not yet available in the United States, threatened to stymie this tactic: there would be no fetal development to flaunt. Even the president of the National Right to Life Committee acknowledged that there was little P.R. value in images of what appeared to be menstruating women. This disarming of the pro-life movement, and the drug’s seemingly benign effect, I wrote, “may serve to decimate the ranks of abortion foes.” Étienne-Émile Baulieu, the primary developer of RU-486, which is better known as mifepristone, was even more hopeful. With this drug, he declared, abortion “should more or less disappear as a concept, as a fact, as a word in the future.”
"Mifepristone, administered in conjunction with the drug misoprostol, now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States. The F.D.A. approved it for use within the first seven weeks of pregnancy, in 2000, and, sixteen years later, extended its use to within ten weeks. In 2021, the F.D.A. removed the requirement that the drug only be dispensed in medical settings; that way, it could be sent through the mail. In January, the agency allowed retail pharmacies to apply for a certification to sell it by prescription in their stores. But, by then, a Tennessee-based group called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine had sued the F.D.A. in the Northern District of Texas, claiming, among other things, that the agency erred in approving the drug twenty-three years ago. If the group prevails, there is a chance that mifepristone will no longer be available anywhere in the country, even in states where abortion is legal." From the New Yorker
We need more women to sue as well as Doctors––-we simply cannot allow this atrocity to contiue.
And I love Jamie Raskin!
Competency, we hardly knew ye…
Sorry, didn’t know ye at all, at least if you’re talking about the current sad sack GQP speaker. Let’s see…how has the GQP fared with the speaker’s gavel over the last twenty, thirty years?…we had Cryin’ Boehner, Lyin’ Ryan, neither of whom could do anything, and both of whom were chased out of town by the crazies. Before them we had jailbird, sex offender Denny Hastert, and before him, bomb throwing, chaos mongering liar Newt Gingrich, precursor to the pricks, pariahs, imposters, and poseurs that now run what is at best a shambling, stuttering Potemkin party.
So here we have the latest in that long line of idiots, losers, and incompetents, My Kevin. Part of his job is shepherding a budget to some form of completion, reflecting party priorities and ideological interests. But oops! No budget! Why?
“Ohhh, that mean ol’ Joe Biden!”
Say what? It’s Joe Biden’s fault you and your party are incompetent hacks? No. They have no budget because they’re idiots. Who is on that side of the House smart enough, competent enough, and experienced enough to prepare a budget? Who? Gym Jordan? MTG? Bobo? Comer? Gaetz? Every one a flippin’ fraud. I’ll bet not a one of them can do a household budget. They can’t even count! “Ah, um, lessee, um Trump: 40% of the vote…Biden 60%. Trump wins!”
Did you see who My Kevin selected for House Budget Chair? Jodey Arrington, some fascist, election denying Qanon dunce from Texas. This guy voted against food stamps for starving kids (quoted the Bible for that vote, natch), voted against saying bad things about Qanon, voted to deny Capitol police injured in the Trump insurrection any recognition, voted against funding for widows and orphans of 9/11 because he “suspected fraud”.
And this genius is the “expert” they’re relying on for a budget? Why not the guy on the subway who walks around with his fly down talking about monsters from the Id? At least he’d have a better appreciation for money.
They have no budget because they’re incompetent frauds. They need something they can complain about, so they can’t do a damn thing without Biden first delivering his budget. They can’t act, they can only react. They can’t do, they can only undo.
But this is what you get when you have a pusillanimous pretender as Speaker who puts bug-eyed maniacs in positions of power.
Oh yeah…in one article linked above, My Kevin sez April for their budget. Yippee-aye-oh Arrington, somewhere else said May, but then had to walk that back to mid-June. He still hasn’t learned that “budget”
Isn’t spelled with a J.
Mid-June, my Irish one. These jabronis will still be trying to figure out the arcane mysteries of the calculator on the Fourth of July.
Overwhelmed as usual by all the awful things that have already occurred in the last news cycle or might happen happen in the next one, I was grateful for the distraction of "rooves" that appears here in the news summary of the Lake Tahoe snowpack.
Hadn't 't seen it before. Had to look it up. Guess it does exist, even tho' it seemed off to me and Otto doesn't like it.
Thus I retreat into trivia.
AK: You are simply the most clever, funny, and brilliant take down artist evah!!! I had such a good laugh reading your rendition of the dummkopfs who pretend to know how to legislate but fail over and over . "They can’t act, they can only react. They can’t do, they can only undo." You said it, brother!!! Oh mercy me!
Ken,
Well, as the old saying goes, “Hooves with grooves on rooves behooves he who moves.”
Or something like that.
And you’re right, Otto doesn’t like it. Not one bit. Begrudging bastid.
But say you come upon an enclave in which a powerful wind has unroofed all the houses. Would they be roovesless? I suppose you could say “roofless”, but that sounds like Scooby Doo describing a cruel, merciless person.
Besides “roovesless” is more fun to say. And then there’d be no worries about hooves with grooves.
PD,
Thank you, thank you…
We takedown artists (we prefer artistes, if you please) are only as good as the material we’re given, and boy oh boy, howdy, is this collection of rank rejects the pot of plums at the end of rainbow! Oops…can’t say rainbow around them…too gay-ee. Unless you’re the Lt. Guv of Tennessee, then it’s “Whoa! Lookee them abs! Hmmm…but don’t say gay!!!”
Idiots abound. They’re like poison kudzu.
@Ken Winkes: "Rooves" is my fault. It's the way I say the plural of "roof," so it was the way I spelled it (without giving it much, if any, thought). According to the Grammarist, "Roofs is the plural of roof in all varieties of English. Rooves is an old secondary form, and it still appears occasionally by analogy with other irregular plurals such as hooves, but it is not common enough to be considered standard." In my defense, if there is any, the Googles say, "In the U.S., roofs is the standard plural of roof; elsewhere rooves is fairly common but becoming less so." So, ya know, I'm not "fairly common."
In local news, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded our
little city of about 1,000 permanent population (10,000 in summer)
a grant of $895,000.00 to dredge the channel from town out to Lake
Michigan, a couple of miles.
Interesting that the dredging starts in front of Betsy's place and goes
all the way out to the Big Lake.
Guess she just can't entertain on that little 42 ft. yacht. Gotta bring
in the 92 footer, or bigger.
Since I am not a yachter, could I please just have my share of that
money? $895.00 tax exempt.
Time to get out and shovel 14 inches of heavy, wet snow off the
rooves since rain is coming and the kitchen has a flat roov.
I must have missed the "rooves" discussion, but I clearly remember my mom using that word as the plural of roof. I can't say she ever talked about hooves, but if she had, it would not have stood out as odd... I should compile a list of words that have gone silent in these new fabulous days for language.
I begin to think that we would all be better off if the MSM ceased and desisted from using the term "Breaking News" for the drivel they report under that banner. So now, we should be cheering wildly for the announcement that Dumpsterfire "could" be indicted cuz Stormy Daniels...? That is pure, if informed, speculation. That shoulda happened before Fatstuff was elected. We have been fooled too many times by this crap, which has a shelf-life of 2,000 years, it seems. Total bunkum, which is hokum and bunk together...
And yes, PD-- I too adore Jamie. His screed was magnificent.
Yes, the GQP dog apparently ate their budget. Probably their health care policy and their infrastucture bills also. It's true-- that crew can do nothing, proving how unsuited to governance those yahoos are. But watch 'em cook up rules to govern women and other minorities, ban books, limit voting, and dream up infamous, unlimited tax breaks for the yacht crowd. They are excellent at that. Thieves and selfish pigs all. No offense to pigs...