March 18, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Michael Luciano of Mediaite recounts an exchange between Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) & Chris Murphy (D-Ct.) in which Sasse in particular seemed to forget he was speaking in the chamber of "the world's greatest deliberative body." Eventually, the presiding officer had to ask the senators to address their remarks to the president of the Senate & not to each other. Luciano notes that Sasse's remarks might include "the first time in history a senator has directly addressed another senator as 'dude' on the floor." Marie: But I find it rather more notable that Sasse used the venue to accuse another senator of verbal masturbation when he asked Murphy, "Do you think a single person that your Twitter self-pleasuring was for ... voted against it because they were against Ukrainian aid?"

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war against Ukraine are here: "At least 130 survivors have escaped the ruins of a theater that was nearly leveled in a Russian attack in the embattled southern city of Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said on Friday, but hundreds remained unaccounted for in the wreckage.... A missile strike on the outskirts of Lviv, a western city that has been a haven for people fleeing areas under siege, rattled the relative peace there on Friday. The strike may have been an attempt to target the abilities of Ukraine's air force because the local news media has reported that a plant at the airport was 'the only enterprise in Ukraine that refurbishes MiG-29s for the Ukrainian Air Force.'"

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "They were once seatmates in the spare limousine of the White House motorcade, traveling the globe together as part of the president's inner circle. Bonded by the miles they logged on the road and their unique access to power, Pete Souza, the former official White House photographer who took nearly two million photographs of former President Barack Obama, and Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas, the former White House physician who was elected to Congress as a Republican in 2020, were once close friends. Now, they are the most public of enemies on social media, where Mr. Jackson routinely hurls insults and unsubstantiated claims of cognitive decline at President Biden and Mr. Souza responds with bitingly personal, sometimes salacious takedowns of the congressman’s character. He often begins them tauntingly with, 'Hey Ronny.'" MB: All I can say is, "Go Pete!"

Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: So this Alabama gunshop owner named Nathan Kirk thought it would be funny to get a vanity plate that read, "LGBFJB," which signified to Kirk, "Let's Go Brandon. Fuck Joe Biden." After a while, Kirk got a letter from Alabama's motor vehicle officials telling him his plate was an affront to the "peace and dignity of the State of Alabama" and Kirk would have to turn it in. Well, sez Kirk, "I wasn't going to just lay down." He means "lie down," but he's an Alabama Republican, so. Then poor Kirk's plight became a right-wing cause célèbre. So the state Motor Vehicle Division reversed itself & told Kirk they were right sorry for any inconvenience that might have caused him.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.

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Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth week, is 'basically frozen' on the ground amid fierce resistance and mounting logistical difficulties, according to the Pentagon. But Western officials warned that the Kremlin still has significant combat power in reserve, even though poor logistics and Ukrainian attacks on their supply lines have left Russian forces scrambling for food and fuel. In the absence of major advances, Russia -- which has launched more than 1,000 missiles so far -- is increasingly relying on 'dumb' bombs to wear cities and civilians down. The United Nations has reported 1,900 civilian casualties, including the deaths of 52 children, and the flight of more than 3.1 million refugees. But humanitarian groups have warned that the true scale of human suffering is likely to be far greater.... A video from the besieged city of Chernihiv, verified by The Washington Post, shows blanket-covered bodies of children amid rubble. (A U.S. citizen was killed amid Russian shelling there Thursday.) In Kharkiv, where a Post reporter witnessed evidence of cluster bombs being used in civilian areas, body bags and coffins are in short supply. And on Friday morning, missiles struck near an airport in Lviv, a city close to the Polish border...."

Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "Before the war, Kharkiv was known as Ukraine's intellectual capital. With more than 30 universities, it brimmed with hundreds of thousands of students. It was a scientific and cultural hub. But today, the 19th-century architectural gems in its center have been ravaged by missile strikes. Burst water pipes leave a cascade of icicles framing blown-out windows. Parts of the city were eerily devoid of people. Around half the population, some 700,000 people, have fled, according to the regional administration. At a checkpoint on a desolate, potholed road into the city -- one of the few safe remaining passages in and out -- a Ukrainian territorial defense soldier warned of what lies ahead. 'Be careful,' he said. 'The sky is on fire there.'" MB: An accompanying photo of plastic body bags piled on the side of the road like trash on pick-up day is devastating. This is Putin's legacy.

Marie: I have no idea if the following is true, because Inside Edition, but I'm passing it along anyway: ~~~

~~~ Inside Edition: "Daily Beast contributing editor Craig Copetas says he's been told that Putin has people tasting his food before he eats it and that last month, he replaced his entire personal staff of 1,000 people. MB: Let's look at the logic of such a staffing decision: You have a thousand fairly anonymous people who've been working for you for various lengths of time and none of them has poisoned you, so you fire them and replace them with a thousand more fairly anonymous people, any one or more of whom might be inclined to poison you or stab you with a fork. So you're moving from the known (= so far, not assassins) to the unknown (= could be assassins).

India, Friend to Russia. Gerry Shih of the Washington Post: "India, the world’s biggest oil importer behind China and the United States, has agreed to purchase 3 million barrels of Russian oil at a heavy discount, an Indian official said Thursday. The purchase, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is relatively small given Russia's production and Indian demand. But the volume could increase in the coming months and reinforce a growing perception that India is determined to preserve its extensive trade and military ties with Moscow, even as the United States and its allies urge governments around the world to isolate Russia. Aside from the oil deal, the Indian government is also exploring ways to maintain trade with Russia by reviving a Cold War-era arrangement called the rupee-ruble trade.... The mechanism ... would let Indian and Russian firms do business while bypassing the need to use U.S. dollars -- the predominant currency of international trade -- and lowering the risk of potential U.S. sanctions."

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Rescuers on Thursday began pulling some survivors from the wreckage of a theater in the besieged port city of Mariupol, an adviser to the city's mayor said, a day after an attack destroyed the building where hundreds of people were believed to be taking shelter. The extent of casualties was unknown as Russian forces continued to shell the area, he said, hampering recovery efforts. In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine alleged that a Russian aircraft had 'purposefully dropped a huge bomb' on the theater.'... Cease-fire talks between the Russians and Ukrainians were expected to enter their fourth day on Thursday, but increasingly harsh comments by ... Vladimir V. Putin ... were a dim portent for progress, despite conciliatory public statements by negotiators from both sides.... His statements came amid an increasingly brutal war of attrition unfolding on the ground and in the air, with fierce battles raging in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukrainian forces claiming to have shot down more Russian aircraft, and Russian warships on the Black Sea launching missiles at towns around the southern city of Odessa.... British intelligence reports say that Russian forces have 'made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days,' and that they 'continue to suffer heavy losses.' Still, Russian forces have taken control of large sections of Ukraine, particularly in the east and south. The battle for the skies above Kyiv raged overnight on Thursday, with the Ukrainian military claiming to have shot down 10 Russian planes and missiles. The remnants of one rocket tore through a residential high-rise and killed at least one person, officials said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrea Rosa of the AP: "Rescuers searched for survivors Thursday in the ruins of a theater blown apart by a Russian airstrike in the besieged city of Mariupol, while a ferocious bombardment left dozens dead in a northern city over the past day, authorities said. Hundreds of civilians had been taking shelter in the grand, columned theater in central Mariupol after their homes were destroyed in three weeks of fighting in the besieged port city. Nearly a day after the airstrike there were no reports of deaths. With much of the city cut off from the flow of information, there were also conflicting reports on whether anyone had emerged from the rubble. 'We hope and we think that some people who stayed in the shelter under the theater could survive,' Petro Andrushchenko, an official with the mayor's office, told The Associated Press. He said the building had a relatively modern basement bomb shelter designed to withstand airstrikes." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: Sen. Rand Paul appeared on a Newsmax show where he opined that Ukraine should pay for the military aid the U.S. is sending them. But, hey, Paul does "have sympathy for Ukraine." MB: Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead, and do see his commentary in today's thread. How is it that Li'l Randy is so dense he doesn't understand that Ukrainians are fighting our war? Ukrainians of every age are the missile fodder that is protecting the people of all Western countries. I believe President Zelensky explained that to, you know, members of Congress yesterday. I feel guilty that all I'm doing is sending money & supplies when little children are dying in this war on the West. And all Randy wants is a check. Oddly enough, it never occurred to him that the check he wants should come from Russia, not Ukraine. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacob Knutson of Axios: "President Biden will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday as 'part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC,' press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Thursday. Biden and Xi will in part discuss Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine after reports indicated that Moscow had asked China's government for military ​equipment and other assistance to support its war." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maegan Vazquez & Nikki Carvajal of CNN: "Speaking at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on St. Patrick's Day at Capitol Hill, [President] Biden said Putin is 'a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine.'" (Also linked yesterday.)>

** Watch What We Say, Not What We Do. It's Impossible to Be More Hypocritcal Than We Are. Mariana Alfaro & Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "More than two dozen Senate Republicans are demanding that President Biden do more to aid war-torn Ukraine and arm its forces against Russia's brutal assault, after voting last week against $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.... '"We should send more lethal aid to Ukraine which I voted against last week" is making my brain melt,' tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).... 'They voted to exonerate Trump for this specific reason, which was to withhold aid from Zelensky, and here they are again, opposing aid to Zelensky,' Schatz said. 'So now they're doing it twice.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to strip Russia of its preferential trade status with the United States, moving to further penalize the country's economy in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The lopsided 424-to-8 vote came after President Biden announced last week that the United States and its European allies would take new steps to isolate Russia from the global trading system. All of the lawmakers who opposed the measure were Republicans. The bill ... would allow the United States to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods.... The trade measure still needs Senate approval. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said he would work to move it through the chamber quickly. ~~~

     ~~~ The Usual Suspects. Bryan Metzger of Business Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "Here are the eight Republicans who voted against the bill...."

O Canada! (Click on the letter to call up a readable-sized version. Thanks to RAS for the link.)

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: In a nine-minute video available to Russians via "various different channels," Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to get across the real strength that's demonstrated by Russians who oppose the war on Ukraine: ~~~

Elisha Fieldstadt of NBC News: "American basketball star Brittney Griner's detention in Russia has been extended until May, the Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the Khimki Court of the Moscow Region.... Griner has been detained for weeks fter Russian officials said they found vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow." (Also linked yesterday.)

Another Way Donald Trump Is Still Ruining Earth. Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The nation's largest federally owned utility plans to invest more than $3.5 billion in new gas-burning electric plants, despite President Biden's commitment to swiftly move away from fossil fuels and eliminate greenhouse gases from the power sector in a little more than a decade. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to nearly 10 million people across the Southeast, is replacing aging power plants that run on coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. But critics say substituting gas for coal would lock in decades of additional carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet and could be avoided by generating more electricity from solar, wind or another renewable source.... It raises the question of whether President Franklin D. Roosevelt's grand 20th-century experiment with electrification can adapt to a 21st-century climate crisis.... Like the Postal Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority is an independent organization governed by a board of directors made up of presidential appointees. And in both cases, the board is dominated by members nominated by ... Donald J. Trump, who frequently mocked climate science and was an ally of the fossil fuel industry."

Can You Hear Me Now? Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "'Indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) may have just staked his political career -- and possibly his freedom -- on a tried-and-true excuse: Bad cell phone reception,' The Daily Beast reported Thursday. 'Attorneys for Fortenberry, who on Thursday became the first sitting member of Congress to stand trial in 21 years, told a federal jury that what the government calls lying to the FBI could boil down to a misunderstanding stemming from "a bad cell phone connection."' In October, the Department of Justice alleged that 'Fortenberry repeatedly lied to and misled authorities during a federal investigation into illegal contributions to Fortenberry's re-election campaign made by a foreign billionaire in early 2016.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Biotechnology company Moderna on Thursday asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow adults 18 and older to receive a second booster shot of the company's mRNA vaccine amid concerns that immune protection from the vaccines wanes over time. Moderna's application is substantially broader than what Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, sought earlier in the week -- FDA authorization for a second booster shot for adults 65 and older." Free to nonsubscribers.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Shear & Sheryl Stoldberg of the New York Times: "Jeffrey D. Zients, an entrepreneur and management consultant who steered President Biden's coronavirus response through successive pandemic waves and the largest vaccination campaign in American history, plans to leave the White House in April to return to private life, President Biden said in a statement. Mr. Zients will be replaced as the White House coronavirus coordinator by Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and a practicing internist who has urged an aggressive approach to the pandemic in frequent television appearances. Dr. Jha will coordinate the government's Covid-19 response from inside the White House, officials said." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

New Hampshire. Kathy McCormack of the AP: "New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday that he will veto a GOP-backed redistricting plan that would tilt the state's 1st Congressional District toward Republicans while solidifying the Democrats- advantage in the 2nd District, shortly after legislators passed the bill.... The Senate's 13-11 vote in favor of the plan on Thursday followed House passage of the bill in January on a vote of 186-164. Republicans lead by a narrow majority in the Legislature. Overturning a veto requires a two-thirds majority in both bodies." (Also linked yesterday.)

North Carolina. Finally. Blatant 2020 Voter Fraud Under Legitimate Investigation. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "North Carolina officials said on Thursday that they planned to investigate whether Mark Meadows, who as ... Donald J. Trump's chief of staff helped amplify false claims of voter fraud in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, cast a legal vote in that year's presidential race. The North Carolina Department of Justice has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to examine whether Mr. Meadows broke the law when he registered to vote, and voted from, a remote mobile home where he did not live, said Nazneen Ahmed, a spokeswoman for Josh Stein, the state attorney general, who is a Democrat." Politico's report is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "A 13-year-old boy was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that struck a van in Texas on Tuesday night in a collision that killed nine people, including a college golf coach and six of his players, along with the boy and a man traveling with him, officials said on Thursday. Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference that the truck's left front tire was a spare that had blown out before the truck veered into the lane the golf team's van was traveling in and struck the van head-on. It was unclear at what speeds the vehicles were traveling, but Mr. Landsberg noted that the speed limit in the area is 75 miles per hour.... Both vehicles went up in flames in the collision near Andrews, Texas, about 50 miles east of the state line with New Mexico."

New York Times: Domenico DeMarco, who defined the New York slice "has died at age 85, his daughter Margie DeMarco Mieles announced Thursday in a Facebook post. Originally from the Italian province of Caserta, he began making pies at Di Fara Pizza in Midwood, Brooklyn, in 1965."

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/opinion/russian-migrants-putin-war-ukraine.html

Interesting, if the hand-waving numbers are accurate...

[P.D. Pepe]

CHEERS FOR THE CHEERLEADERS:

March Madness–-words that describe basketball games and the war in Ukraine but just for a moment something happened in the former that can make us smile and bring a little bit of cheer. During the game between Indiana and St. Mary's, the ball became wedged behind the backboard–-with minutes to go –– no one could get it down until two cheerleaders found a way and saved the day.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/march-madness-cheerleader-saves-game_n_623404a5e4b009ab92f66c05

"When hope was lost, a hero emerged'

Meanwhile Putin pouts and prances and how we wish for something like "saving the day" would emerge---it may be an alleged story but I bet he HAS food tasters––-his fear is from his own people. We need more Arnolds to come forth to convey the truth to the Russian people, the ones who are ignorant of the facts; they are as stuck in their perceptions as that ball in the story above. And I keep thinking of that line from the film "The Russia House":

"One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being."

[citizen625]

Arnold, I believe, believes his own hubris.

Vladdy's staff layoffs: when writers have a deadline of so many words, anecdotal reporting, sort of resembling 'fake news', achieves primacy.

[Marie Burns]

@citizen625: What's your point?

[Akhilleus]

PD,

Your March Madness post about cheerleaders saving the day should remind everyone that cheerleaders these days are serious athletes, not the sort of megaphone chewing, “rah-rah team” cheer-boy that Dubya was, as a legacy admission (read: affirmative action), back at Yale.

[Akhilleus]

Thus far, despite the sniveling cavils from the usual traitors, hypocrites, and lamebrains, President Biden has done an exemplary job balancing US interests with support for Ukraine against the illegal war started by Trump’s daddy, Vlad the Impaler.

It’s instructive to listen to the absolute bullshit coming from right, and equally instructive to note how much they’re allowed to get away with by so much of the supine press.

They say “We want A!!” They get A. “Nooo…what is he doing? We didn’t say A!” They demand B. B is already being done. “B is terrible! He’s making it worse!” They want to assassinate Putin. Then he’s a genius. Then Biden made him do it. They say “Don’t buy Russian oil!”
We stop. Then they scream “Gas prices are going up! It’s all Biden’s fault!!”

Then we still hear “We need Trump! He’d fix everything!”

Here’s what I think about that. Your nation is like a ball club. Finally, we have a professional, veteran pitcher who knows how to play the game and has a variety of great pitches. He’s won a lot of games. But no, the traitors want a guy who can’t even throw the ball as far as the plate. He bounces it in. On the odd chance that he hits the ball, he runs to third base, but trips and falls on the way. After losing yet another game, he calls a press conference to blame the umps for not agreeing that he actually won the game, when in fact, he lost 256-0.

But this is their all star.

And the press, for the most part, allow this bullshit to pass with nothing more than the occasional nod.

This is why the traitors can get away with so much drivel and treasonous jabbering.

More to come.

[David]

Marie,
Re: MB: Leading the pack of wolves in that smarmy little insurrectionist Josh Hawley.
Please, Marie, don't bring wolves into it. They are beautiful creatures and get enough undeserved bad press. Thank you.