March 24, 2022

Late Morning Update:

The Party of Q. David Kirkpatrick & Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "The online world of adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory sprang into action almost as soon as Senator Josh Hawley tweeted his alarm: that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Biden administration's Supreme Court nominee, had handed down sentences below the minimum recommended in federal guidelines for possessing images of child sexual abuse.... By Wednesday..., claims that she was lenient toward people charged with possessing the illegal imagery had emerged as a recurring theme in her questioning by Republicans. 'Every judge who does what you are doing is making it easier for the children to be exploited,' said Senator Lindsey Graham.... In 2017 a believer [in 'Pizzagate'] armed with an assault rifle stormed in and fired his weapon. Judge Jackson, as a district court judge, sentenced him to four years in prison.... Slogans about protecting the children became catchphrases that QAnon adherents used to identify one another, and their bizarre fantasy ... appeared to spread widely among Trump supporters.... Polls suggest that QAnon supporters have continued to make up a significant portion of the Republican base...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I guess I should count myself naive, but it still astounds me that several U.S. senators have eagerly defamed a sitting federal Appeals Court judge and Supreme Court nominee for the purpose of appealing to believers in Pizzagate & other bizarro conspiracy theories. The question of a senator, "Have you no sense of decency, Sir?" need no longer be asked. We know the answer.

Ed White of the AP: "A man who pleaded guilty in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her abduction could have been the 'ignition' for a U.S. civil war involving antigovernment groups, possibly before the 2020 election. Ty Garbin described a scheme to get the Democratic governor during his testimony Wednesday against four former allies who are charged with conspiracy. He told jurors that they wanted to attack before the election to prevent Joe Biden from winning the presidency."

Marie: I posted a few links after 9 am ET below. I've marked them NEW.

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "As President Biden geared up for an extraordinary set of strategy summits with NATO allies and the European Union on Thursday, Ukrainian forces made gains in beating back Russian troops in the battle for the capital, Kyiv. Russian troops were pushed back by several miles to the east of Kyiv and appeared to be stopping their advance an digging in defensive positions to the northwest of the city, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday evening. Britain's defense intelligence agency confirmed that assessment, saying that Ukrainian forces were carrying out successful counterattacks on Kyiv's outskirts.... President Biden's trip to Europe includes a rare day of three back-to-back global summits on Thursday as the world's leaders gather in a variety of forums to discuss their response to Russia's war in Ukraine. Here is a look at the three summits: NATO..., G7..., [and the] European Council...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

Chris Megerian, et al., of the AP: "U.S. President Joe Biden and Western allies opened the first of three summits Thursday focused on increasing pressure on ... Vladimir Putin over his war in Ukraine while tending to the economic and security fallout spreading across Europe and the world. Biden and the leaders of other NATO countries met at the alliance's headquarters where they posed for a group photo memorializing the urgent gathering before retreating behind closed doors for their summit, which was expected to last several hours."

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House has quietly assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out scenarios of how the United States and its allies should respond if ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia -- frustrated by his lack of progress in Ukraine or determined to warn Western nations against intervening in the war -- unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. The Tiger Team, as the group is known, is also examining responses if Mr. Putin reaches into NATO territory to attack convoys bringing weapons and aid to Ukraine, according to several officials involved in the process. Meeting three times a week, in classified sessions, the team is also looking at responses if Russia seeks to extend the war to neighboring nations, including Moldova and Georgia, and how to prepare European countries for the refugees flowing in on a scale not seen in decades."

Tyler Pager, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and European leaders are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during his visit to Brussels this week, part of a broader effort to help reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the plan. The announcement, a dramatic effort to deprive Russia of leverage as it continues to batter Ukraine, would mark an unusual move to reorder the world's energy flow -- a shift that could have an impact long after the war is over.... Biden is also expected to use his stop in Brussels on Thursday and Friday -- where he is meeting with NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Council -- to announce additional sanctions against Moscow, as well as a crackdown on evasions of the current sanctions."

Caitlin Dickson of Yahoo! News: "The Biden administration declared Wednesday that Russian forces have committed war crimes by attacking civilians in Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement, which he said was based on a 'careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.' 'We've seen numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities,' Blinken said in a statement, which was released Wednesday afternoon as he and President Biden were en route to Brussels for an emergency meeting with NATO leaders.... The formal announcement on Wednesday did not indicate whether the U.S. will seek to prosecute Putin or any other specific individuals for the alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine." The Washington Post's more nuanced report is here.

Keith Collins, et al., of the New York Times: "In the weeks since Russia began its invasion, at least 1,500 civilian buildings, structures and vehicles in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. More than 953 civilians have been killed, including at least 78 children, according to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, who noted that the real toll was likely to be considerably higher." Emphasis original. Interactive, with map, photos, video clips. MB: Horrible.

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Repeated attempts by the United States' top defense and military leaders to speak with their Russian counterparts have been rejected by Moscow for the last month, leaving the world's two largest nuclear powers in the dark about explanations for military movements and raising fears of a major miscalculation or battlefield accident. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have tried to set up phone calls with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov but the Russians 'have so far declined to engage,' said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby in a statement Wednesday."

NEW. Spies ᴙ Us. Now Hiring. Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The FBI is trying a novel strategy to recruit Russian-speaking individuals upset about the country's invasion of Ukraine: aiming social media ads at cellphones located inside or just outside the Russian Embassy in Washington. The ads, which appear on Facebook, Twitter and Google, are carefully geographically targeted.... The ads are designed to capitalize on any dissatisfaction or anger within Russian diplomatic or spy services -- or among Russian emigres to the United States -- over the invasion of Ukraine, an event that counterintelligence experts call a huge opportunity for the U.S. intelligence community to recruit new sources." Includes a tweeted ad & explanation.

The Fog of War. Sudarsan Raghavan of the Washington Post: "Since Tuesday, top Ukrainian government officials had been touting what they called a key victory in their month-long war against invading Russians. They said Makariv, a key gateway for Russian forces to potentially surround and seize Kyiv, had been liberated from Russian forces -- and that Ukraine's flag was now flying victoriously over the town's center.... But as a team of Washington Post journalists passed through the checkpoint on Wednesday, Ukrainian soldiers ordered them to quickly leave the town, warning of incoming Russian rockets or artillery. Minutes later, reporters heard the sound of shells falling. Black plumes of smoke rose over the houses. Soon more blasts followed. Makariv remains a contested front line."

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "As the war in Ukraine is poised to enter its second month, the United States and its allies are marshaling a united front against ... Vladimir V. Putin..., pushing for tougher sanctions and moving to deploy more forces to Europe's eastern flank, even as they seek to prevent the war from metastasizing into a wider conflict. President Biden is set to land in Brussels on Wednesday evening and is expected to announce sanctions on Russian lawmakers before meeting with NATO allies and the European Union.... NATO's chief, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday that the alliance would double the number of battlegroups in its eastern flank by deploying four new battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, a significant bolstering of NATO's presence in the region. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have retaken ground in the northwestern suburbs of Kyiv, the capital, and around the southern Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, according to military analysts. Their advances have reinforced the sense that Russia is struggling in its efforts to overtake the country." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alexander Smith & Yuliya Talmazan of NBC News: "An adviser to ... Vladimir Putin has become the first senior Kremlin official to quit since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin's spokesman said Wednesday. Anatoly Chubais left his role as Russia's envoy to international organizations and sustainable development of his own accord, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. The news was first reported by Bloomberg, which cited two people familiar with the situation saying Chubais had left Russia over his opposition to the war. Reuters also cited two anonymous sources saying he had left the country." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sheera Frenkel & Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "As war has raged, the Kremlin's talking points and some right-wing discourse in the United States -- fueled by those on the far right -- have coalesced. On social media, podcasts and television, falsehoods about the invasion of Ukraine have flowed both ways, with Americans amplifying lies from Russians and the Kremlin spreading fabrications that festered in American forums online.... After ... Vladimir V. Putin ... claimed that action against Ukraine was taken in self-defense, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the conservative commentator Candace Owens repeated the assertion. When Mr. Putin insisted he was trying to 'denazify' Ukraine, Joe Oltmann, a far-right podcaster, and Lara Logan, another right-wing commentator, mirrored the idea. The echoing went the other way, too. Some far-right American news sites, like Infowars, stoked a longtime, unfounded Russian claim that the United States funded biological weapons labs in Ukraine. Russian officials seized on the chatter, with the Kremlin contending it had documentation of bioweapons programs that justified its 'special military operation' in Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mary Jalonick & Mark Sherman of the AP: "Legal experts and interest groups will weigh in on Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up four days of hearings on her historic nomination.... On Thursday, the last day of hearings, interest groups including the American Bar Association and civil rights organizations will testify about Jackson's suitability for the court. Witnesses chosen by Republican senators will also speak. The American Bar Association, which evaluates judicial nominees, last week gave Jackson its highest rating, unanimously 'well qualified.'" C-SPAN coverage begins at 9 am ET.

** Carl Hulse & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson emerged on Wednesday from two grueling days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee having weathered escalating Republican attacks on her record but leaving Democrats confident that she would become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Questioning of President Biden's nominee by Republicans grew increasingly hostile as they stepped up their criticism of what they portrayed as a pattern of leniency in her sentencing of child sex abusers and tried to paint her as a liberal on issues of race, gender, guns and abortion rights.... Even Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, vented his exasperation at 'the jackassery we see around here' of 'people mugging' for the cameras.... Reflecting on the historic nature of that moment as her testimony drew to a close, Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey and the only Black member of the committee, reminded Judge Jackson -- and the country -- of the significance of her quest, eliciting tears from the nominee when he invoked Harriet Tubman's struggles from slavery to freedom. 'You are my star. You are my harbinger of hope,' he told her. 'This country is getting better and better.'"

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "One senator asked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden's Supreme Court pick, how religious she was 'on a scale of 1 to 10.' Another asked her to define the word 'woman.' A third wanted to know if babies are racist.... The questioning this week has been ... marked by increasing partisan warfare, with Republicans seizing the chance to introduce conservative grievances they intend to press in the midterm elections, including opposition to critical race theory and transgender women in sports."

Cruz: MLK Opposed CRT; Do U? Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: "On Tuesday afternoon, during the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Senator Ted Cruz quoted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of a world where children would be judged 'not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character' -- before sharply questioning Judge Jackson about her views on critical race theory. He held up two books by Ibram X. Kendi that he said had been assigned or recommended at a school where she is on the board of trustees, describing their contents as 'the exact opposite' of Dr. King's famous 'I Have a Dream' speech.... It was a salvo aimed squarely at today's pitched battles over critical race theory..., [which Republicans have] painted as the antithesis of the colorblind America that Dr. King supposedly wanted to create. But some scholars who tuned into the hearings said they saw a familiar distortion.... 'It is clear from the broader speech that King thought we were far from realizing that ideal and that, in the meantime, some race-conscious policies would be necessary, [Harvard Prof. Tommie Shelby] said." ~~~

~~~ The Cruz Kids' School Is "Anti-Racist" Like the Jackson Kids' School. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz seldom overlooks a chance to be underhanded, and, sure enough, the Texas Republican led the effort to imbue this week's Supreme Court confirmation hearings with the latest effort by the right to make White America fear Black America. Cruz attempted to tie Ketanji Brown Jackson ... to the supposed menace of 'critical race theory' -- because, he said, this theory is taught at the private school [Georgetown Day] where she serves on the board (and where she sent her daughters).... Georgetown Day School, in the nation's capital, does indeed take a strong 'anti-racism' approach. So does St. John's School, the private school in Houston where, as the New Republic's Timothy Noah noted, Cruz sends his daughters. A St. John's class called 'Issues of Justice and Equity in the Twenty-First Century' is labeled a 'Critical Race Training Course' by the right-wing Legal Insurrection Foundation. And there in the St. John&'s library catalog is -- wait for it -- [Ibram] Kendi's 'Stamped (for Kids),' the very book Cruz demanded Jackson account for at Georgetown Day School. [And more!]"

Marie: For all of their rhetoric slamming critical race theory, Republicans have failed to point out during the Jackson hearings the obvious point that Akhilleus made in yesterday's Comments: "We’ve already had a critical race theory operating in this country since before it was a nation. It’s called white supremacy."

Marie: And here I was, worrying for a while that Lindsey wouldn't ask Jackson the Kwanzaa question: ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday tried to make a point that Republicans were angry about how Democrats had questioned a previous GOP-backed Supreme Court nominee [-- Amy Barrett --] about her religion -- by questioning Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson at length about her own faith, then trying to reassure her after the fact that interrogations about her religion would not happen.... 'What faith are you, by the way?' [Graham asked.] Though it would be potentially illegal under federal law for an employer to ask a job candidate about their religious beliefs, Jackson started to respond that she was a nondenominational Protestant -- before Graham cut in and asked if she felt she could judge a Catholic person fairly.... Graham interrupted Jackson several ... times, as she tried to state that it was important to set aside one's personal views when considering cases. 'On a scale of 1 to 10, how faithful would you say you are, in terms of religion? You know, I go to church probably three times a year, so that speaks poorly of me. Or do you attend church regularly?'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No doubt Lindsey was hoping Jackson would blurt out that she was Muslim or that she was a member of the Santeria cult that reportedly sacrifices chickens in its religious ceremonies.

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "Republicans know they can't stop Ketanji Brown Jackson from being confirmed to the Supreme Court.... What they can do is use her confirmation hearings for other political purposes.... Some Republicans have chosen to do so with bad-faith attacks on Jackson; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), in an apparent attempt to secure the QAnon vote when he runs for president, tore a few sentences in previous rulings and writings out of context to make the repulsive accusation that she is 'soft' on child porn. But so far, their clearest focus has been on their own victimization. You may be under the hot lights and being cross-examined, they are telling Jackson, but we are the real victims here.... Jackson will have to suffer through a few more sessions of Republicans beating their breasts about the terrible trials they have endured, with the gripping tale of Kavanaugh, that modern-day Job, told again and again." (Also linked yesterday.)

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "In the hours since [Sen. Marsha] Blackburn [asked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson] on Tuesday night [to define 'woman,'] it's become a celebrated example on the political right of how beholden Jackson purportedly is to leftist subjectivism.... It was a cascade of bad faith, from Blackburn's question to the coverage to the response.... This question was one in a battery aimed solely at tripping Jackson up.... [Jackson's] declination to answer is not informative; it is expected. All that was gained was a way to disparage her in exactly the way that Blackburn did.... In fact, Blackburn even appeared to be reading from notes..., suggesting that she was ready for Jackson's response even if Jackson couldn't be." See related story, linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "As the first Black woman nominated to a seat on the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ... has been subjected to questioning from some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee that has been explicitly or implicitly all about race. She has been asked about critical race theory and the history of America's slaveholding past and whether she has been too lenient in her sentencing as a trial judge -- issues that are cultural flash points in today's caustic political debate but the first two of which have little to do with the actual work of the Supreme Court." MB: Poor Dan Balz; it's so hard for him to dismount his favorite hobby horse Mr. Both Sides, but here he's trying. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "How is it that the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court was treated so shabbily?... From much of the mealy-mouthed coverage of the circus, one would have a hard time guessing that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) angrily interrupted Jackson over and over again and shouted over hapless Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.)... Similarly, from the media descriptions, one might not have understood the extent of the nonstop bullying from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.)... And one might have never imagined that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plowed over the same debunked allegations about her being 'soft' on child pornography defendants.... The media might be able to curtail such haranguing if they accurately described what had happened. For reasons that confound me, reporters often play down the extraordinarily obnoxious behavior of Republicans, instead casting it as the normal back-and-forth nominees encounter.... The media in particular fails to convey the visual image of angry White men screaming and interrupting a Black woman.... Combined with the insinuations about her 'softness' on child pornography and the hysterics on critical race theory, the aggression barely masked the Republican outpouring of White grievance."

Washington Post Editors: "Throughout her Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been a model of composure, which is made all the more impressive by the egregious behavior of some on the Republican side. During the hearings, Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) have congratulated themselves for declining to treat Judge Jackson the way Democrats handled the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh. In fact, by the most relevant measures, Mr. Graham and a handful of other Judiciary Committee Republicans have handled themselves worse. A woman credibly accused Mr. Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Democrats rightly asked the committee to investigate.... In the end, it was Mr. Kavanaugh who behaved intemperately, personally attacking Democratic senators and revealing partisan instincts that raised questions about his commitment to impartiality.... Republicans have smeared Judge Jackson based on obvious distortions of her record and the law."

** Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "... for those of us watching and waiting to see Democrats support and back the nominee, there was an immense sense of underreaction. Judge Jackson looked alone fending off the QAnon smear brigade for much of these hearings because she was alone, at least until Sen. Cory Booker took it upon himself in his last colloquy to offer up a powerful corrective to the hatred being levelled at her.... Chairman Dick Durbin's inability to control some of the most shocking bullying and abuse from [Ted] Cruz, [Lindsey] Graham, Tom Cotton, and [Josh] Hawley left observers speechless. At some point, you need to just start gaveling. But there was also a pervasive sense of Democratic Senators' almost chilling unwillingness to go to the mat for their nominee, who was being savaged by Cotton, who called her 'not credible,' and Graham, who berated her with the claim that he was sparing her from being bullied like Justice Amy Coney Barrett." Firewalled.

     ~~~ A video of Sen. Booker's full remarks Wednesday are here.

It's funny listening to the same people who let the president try to overthrow the government call anyone soft on crime.... I think your dog whistle's busted guys, everyone can hear it now. -- Jimmy Kimmel, Wednesday

New York Times reporters live-blogged Wednesday's confirmation hearing for Judge Kentanji Jackson. Snark included, thankfully. (Also linked yesterday.)

NEW. Get Out! Donald Jud & Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden has formally asked two Trump-appointed members of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition to resign from their posts or be terminated. Herschel Walker and Mehmet Oz, who are now Republican Senate candidates in Georgia and Pennsylvania, respectively, were appointed in 2018 by ... Donald Trump to serve on the council. Trump reappointed them to two-year terms in December 2020, shortly before he left office."

President Trump asked me to rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, immediately put President Trump back in the White House, and hold a new special election for the presidency. As a lawyer, I've repeatedly advised President Trump that Jan. 6 was the final election contest verdict and neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S. Code permit what President Trump asks. Period. -- Rep. Mo Brooks [R-Ala.], in a statement, Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “Representative Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican who was deeply involved in ... Donald J. Trump's effort to use Congress to upend the 2020 election and stay in office, claimed on Wednesday that the former president had asked him repeatedly in the months since to illegally 'rescind' the election, remove President Biden and force a new special election. Mr. Brooks made the extraordinary charge as the two onetime allies were engaged in a bitter political feud.... But the account from the Alabama congressman, who played a central role in challenging electoral votes for Mr. Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, suggested that Mr. Trump has continued his efforts to overturn his defeat and be reinstated.... His statement came after Mr. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Mr. Brooks in the Republican primary for Alabama's Senate seat...." The ABC News story is here. Related story linked under Beyond the Beltway. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Mo's full statement. Somehow everything is Mitch McConnell's fault. Nice to know, "I wish President Trump wouldn't fall for McConnell’s ploys, but, once again, he has."

He's a Crook, He's a Crook, He's a Crooked-Crooked Crook. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "One of the senior Manhattan prosecutors who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was 'guilty of numerous felony violations' and that it was 'a grave failure of justice' not to hold him accountable, according to a copy of his resignation letter. The prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted his resignation last month after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, abruptly stopped pursuing an indictment of Mr. Trump.... Mr. Pomerantz's Feb. 23 letter, obtained by The New York Times, offers a personal account of his decision to resign and for the first time states explicitly his belief that the office could have convicted the former president. Mr. Bragg's decision was 'contrary to the public interest,' he wrote.... While [Carey R. Dunne, another senior prosecutor,] and Mr. Pomerantz were confident that the office could demonstrate that the former president had intended to inflate the value of his golf clubs, hotels and office buildings, Mr. Bragg was not. He balked at pursuing an indictment against Mr. Trump, a decision that shut down Mr. Pomerantz's and Mr. Dunne's presentation of evidence to a grand jury and prompted their resignations.... A spokeswoman for Mr. Bragg, Danielle Filson, said that the investigation was continuing...." An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The full text of Mark Pomerantz's resignation letter, via the New York Times, is here. It's a doozy.

AP: "Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday. Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that Manafort was removed from the Emirates Airline flight without incident Sunday night but directed further questions to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That agency did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment." (Also linked yesterday.)

From the Supreme's Stealth Docket: We Gerrymandering. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court sided with Wisconsin's Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday in a dispute over competing voting maps for the state's legislative districts. The justices' unsigned decision reversed a ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court that had selected the map drawn by Gov. Tony Evers over other proposals, and it sent the case back to the state court for another look. The majority said the state court had not considered carefully enough whether the Voting Rights Act, a federal law that protects minority voting power, required the addition of a seventh assembly district in which Black voters made up a majority. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, dissented, saying that 'the court's action today is unprecedented.' She added that 'the court today faults the State Supreme Court for its failure to comply with an obligation that, under existing precedent, is hazy at best.'" ~~~

     ~~~ NEW. But We Don't Black People. Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog: "... the way this case was handled is quite bizarre and is another signal of a conservative supermajority of the Supreme Court showing increasing hostility to section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.... To sum up: the Court used a case in an emergency procedural posture to reach out and decide an issue that could have waited for full briefing and argument either in a lower court in a challenge to the maps or if the Supreme Court had set the case for argument. It decided these issues in ways hostile to minority voting rights without giving a full opportunity for airing out the issues and pointing out how this will further hurt voters of color. It continues to chip away at the Voting Rights Act without acknowledging that it is killing off the last major protection for minority voters from discriminatory districting plans."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Clarence Thomas missed oral arguments at the Supreme Court this week because of his hospitalization for treatment of an infection. A court spokeswoman declined to provide an update on Thomas's condition."

** Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Madeleine K. Albright, a child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors and then landed in the United States, where she flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state, died on Wednesday in Washington. She was 84." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

NEW. Your Tax Dollars at Work. Brian Slodysko of the AP: "Thanks to a sudden $140 million cash infusion, officials in Broward County, Florida, recently broke ground on a high-end hotel that will have views of the Atlantic Ocean and an 11,000-square-foot spa. In New York, Dutchess County pledged $12 million for renovations of a minor league baseball stadium to meet requirements the New York Yankees set for their farm teams. And in Massachusetts, lawmakers delivered $5 million to pay off debts of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston, a nonprofit established to honor the late senator that has struggled financially. The three distinctly different outlays have one thing in common: Each is among the scores of projects that state and local governments across the United States are funding with federal coronavirus relief money despite having little to do with combating the pandemic...."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "Moderna said on Wednesday that it would seek emergency authorization of its coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 6, after interim results from its clinical trial showed that volunteers in that age group had a similar immune response to young adults when given a dose one-fourth as strong. But the firm said the vaccine proved only about 44 percent effective in preventing symptomatic illness among children 6 months to 2 years old, and 37 percent effective in children 2 through 5 years old. The company is studying the effectiveness of a booster shot, and one of its top officials said she expects a booster will be necessary for that age group, just as it is for adults." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama Senate Race. Sad News: Trump Dump = No Mo Mo. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump retracted his endorsement of Representative Mo Brooks's bid for Senate in Alabama on Wednesday, abandoning one of his staunchest allies after months of simmering frustration and as polls showed Mr. Brooks falling behind in the state's Republican primary. In a sign of Mr. Trump's continued focus on the 2020 election, he cited Mr. Brooks's remarks at a rally last summer urging voters to move on from Mr. Trump's defeat.... In a last-ditch effort to keep Mr. Trump in his corner, Mr. Brooks, who spoke at the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021, used footage from that speech in a new television ad last week. Looking straight into the camera, Mr. Brooks said in the ad, 'On January 6th, I proudly stood with President Trump in the fight against voter fraud.' But it was not enough. Mr. Trump still accused him on Wednesday of going 'woke.' Mr. Trump is obsessed with the success rate of his endorsement in Republican primaries....” Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Idaho. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Gov. Brad Little of Idaho signed a strict new abortion bill into law on Wednesday, even as he expressed grave concerns about the wisdom and constitutionality of the measure and warned that it could retraumatize victims of sexual assault. Modeled after a new law in Texas, the Idaho legislation bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy -- before many women are aware they are pregnant -- and allows family members of what it calls 'a preborn child' to sue the abortion provider. Mr. Little, a Republican, said the law could conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which established a constitutional right to abortion."

Michigan. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "... a judge freed [brother George and] Melvin DeJesus, 48, overturning their convictions in the 1995 murder of their neighbor Margaret Midkiff.... The brothers had always maintained that they were at a party when Ms. Midkiff was murdered, but they were convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 1997 based on the testimony of Brandon Gohagen, who claimed that the brothers had forced him to rape Ms. Midkiff and had then killed her by stomping on her. Robyn B. Frankel, director of the Michigan attorney general's Conviction Integrity Unit, said that an extensive review of evidence in the case showed that Mr. Gohagen had blamed the brothers in exchange for a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to lesser charges and avoid a mandatory life sentence.... '... in reality, what we found is that he, Brandon Gohagen, did this crime alone.' Both brothers credited their mother, Elizabeth DeJesus, with helping them keep their fight to be exonerated alive.... The brothers were helped by the Cooley Innocence Project at Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic...."

Ohio & Pennsylvania Senate Races. Gail Collins of the New York Times: "Let's take a look at a couple of the biggest upcoming [Senate] contests: races in Ohio and Pennsylvania. One recent [Ohio Republican] candidate forum featured Mike Gibbons, an investment banker, yelling 'You don't know squat!' at one of his adversaries, a former state treasurer, Josh Mandel, who retorted, 'Two tours in Iraq!'... If you're a Democrat, there are two ways to view these Republican Senate primaries. One is to hope the nominee is somebody so nuts, he or she will have less of a chance of winning in the fall. The other is to figure that if there's very likely going to be a Republican majority next year, we'd be better off with as many reasonable Republicans as possible."

Way Beyond

U.K. Society Page. Derrick Taylor of the New York Times: "Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is fighting extradition to the United States on espionage charges, married Stella Moris..., on Wednesday in a prison in London. The ceremony was held at Belmarsh Prison, a high-security men's facility in southeast London, where Mr. Assange has been held since 2019.... WikiLeaks published footage on Twitter of Ms. Moris briefly addressing journalists and supporters who gathered outside the prison, where she cut into a tiered wedding cake after the private ceremony." MB: Happily, the couple pre-consummated the marriage: according to the report, Moris is Assange's "longtime partner with whom he has two young children."

Comments

[Marie Burns]

In yesterday's Comments thread, P.D. Pepe made an entry, which I took to be satire, that described an exchange between former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Confederacy) & Elena Kagan, that might have taken place during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. However, Pepe asserted in a later comment, in response to a comment by Akhilleus, that the last part of the Sessions-Kagan dialog she contributed "is exactly what they both said."

Even though I followed those hearings fairly closely, I don't recall ever having heard what would have been incendiary remarks by Sessions. So I Googled Sessions & Kagan, and did not find anything like what Pepe asserted Sessions had said, much less an "exact" recording of such an exchange. I have not examined a hearing transcript of Sessions' & Kagan's remarks, so I could be wrong. But as far as I can tell, Pepe's assertion is NOT TRUE. I invite her to provide us a link to some documentation, and I will stand corrected.

And I ask all of you not to make false assertions here. I'm not talking about opinions; we all have opinions, and some of them (including my own) may be rather shaky. But when you assert facts, try to make sure they're at least close to correct. If you don't want to bother to look up back-up corroboration, please at least preface your statements of "fact" with "as I recall," "the way I remember it," or something of that nature. This is not a place to mislead readers. We try to leave that to right-wing media.

[P.D. Pepe]

I have now spent much time reviewing the reams of information of that hearing but cannot continue at this time. Here is the link–-I will continue my search later. I did not intend to make false assertions–-it is how I remember it although coupled with the numerous spin. I put that on R.C. back in 2010. I have read the first part of questioning between Sessions and Kagan –-but mostly he's harassing her about other issues. As I said, I'll get back to this later. I take umbrage that I "Lied"––but yes, I should have stressed the "that's how I remember it."
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-111shrg67622/pdf/CHRG-111shrg67622.pdf

[Akhilleus]

They got nothin’, Part 2,789

There are so many issues confronting the country these days, serious questions about decent (as opposed to hyper partisan, ideological brainwashing) education, income inequality, the proper role of government in protecting citizens, jobs, housing, immigration, environmental concerns, healthcare, the pandemic, the crumbling infrastructure, all of which could come before the Supreme Court in one fashion or another, including the role of the Court itself.

So many opportunities to question a candidate for the Supreme Court about her own concerns.

But what dominates the aggressive, vicious grilling from the right?

Skin color and sex.

The obvious obsession with pedophilia and transgender Americans (they’ve pretty much given up on gay bashing, at least in highly public forums; more salacious fun to be had in trying to get a peek at genitals) makes one wonder if there isn’t some sexual hysteria and projection in play.

Screaming “pedophile!!” or “Soft on pedophiles!” is just another way of evading any serious discussions. But it also allows these charlatans and carny barkers to avoid answering questions about their unqualified support for their leader, a guy who has been believably accused of dozens of instances of sexual assaults, abuse, and rape.

The guy sponsored an underage beauty contest so he could burst into dressing rooms to ogle young girls in various stages of undress. He once publicly speculated on the future size of his daughter Tiffany’s breasts. When she was 1!! He has talked about wanting to date Ivanka, when she was a teenager. Aside from standard issue misogyny, this shit reeks. But is Josh Hawkeye concerned? Was he concerned with actual abuse of children shoved into cages and separated from their families? Some just infants, many of whom will never see their parents again. So Hawley’s hero could demonstrate his ability to abuse children. Was he concerned with actual real world child abuse?

Of course not.

Look at the psycho claims made on the right, and bandied about by R pols about child sex trafficking and cannibalism by Democrats.

But can you name two gigantic conservative organizations that have gone to great lengths to cover up actual, widespread child molestation by members of their groups? The Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America. This ain’t fictional sexual assault. It’s documented. It’s real.

Are Josh Hawley or Ted Cruz or Tom Cotton concerned about real sexual abuse? Sexual abuse by members of their own party?

Hell no. Better to invent problems which they can hang on a democratic nominee for the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, the incredibly execrable Ted Cruz relentlessly attacked Judge Jackson while going on a fishing expedition about transgender issues, issues he clearly found more deserving of his entire time (after racial attacks were over) than any of the more immediate problems listed above. How widespread is the “problem” of transgendered kids or adults? Seriously. But sexual obsessions absolutely dominate the right wing lizard brains.

To be fair, it’s a great political ploy to run down on their fearful, paranoid, equally sexually obsessed voting bloc (gay fear is still huge for them). Scare the shit out of them with tales of uppity blacks and images of medically restructured genitals. At one point, like some smart ass child, Cruz hammered Jackson by demanding to know if he could claim to be a woman, or an Asian male. What would she do? Huh? Huh? What about it “judge”? What would you do??

Restraining herself from throwing something at this petulant child, she calmly informed Mr. Hair on Fire Sex Obsessed, that it would depend on the individual case, the petition put forward, the arguments, and relevant additional material. In effect, Cruz was demanding she rule on a ridiculously hypothetical case. He might as well have demanded how she would rule if he suddenly claimed to be a dung beetle.

Oh, wait. He IS a dung beetle.

But her calm, composed, and judicious response pissed him off even more. He thought he was setting her a trap she would fall into, thus demonstrating his genius. Instead, she looked down, and said “Oh. A trap. And a rather stupidly constructed one. I’ll just step over this sad little thing.” That’s when he started screaming.

Guess he wasn’t so good at seeing the trap Jackson set for him.

He was too busy thinking “Genitals…nee-groe…uppity…pedophiles!…GENITALS!!! Aieeeee!!”

The fact is that there is real sexual abuse in the world. These guys are only concerned with the magical, hypothetical kind that gets them points with voters equally obsessed with sex.

They all need therapy. Oh, and they still got nothin’.

[P.D. Pepe]

P.S. I'm waiting for Lindsey to ask a question similar to the weird one he asked of Elena Kagan during her confirmation hearings: "What do you do on Christmas?" Needless to say, what Elena Kagan does on Christmas, unless it's smashing plastic nativity lawn decorations or something, has not one thing to do with whether or not she is fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Kagan replied, "Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant." Marie

I'll see if that is in the transcript.

[RAS]

It's precisely bigots like Ted Cruz that make anti-racist teachings so necessary. A lot of bigotry is learned behavior and the Ted Cruz's of this world do everything in their power to keep it going. Luckily we have had generation after generation that has been slightly better than the previous one. I hope that continues to be the case.

[RAS]

I know they are Republicans so I shouldn't expect any better, but all the you are going to be a (non-winger) Supreme Court Justice and therefore you must follow all the rules that have been set before you because following the rules is so important as the Republicans blatantly ignore all the rules set forth for themselves in the hearing and everywhere else.

[Marie Burns]

@PD Pepe: (1) Not sure why you're "taking umbrage" that I accused you of lying. I did not write you "lied" (you put "lied" in quotation marks to indicate you were quoting me directly). I said your statement was not true. There's a big difference between an intentional lie and an unintentional misstatement. You're taking umbrage at something that wasn't.

(2) I did a search of the transcript you provided for several key words you attributed to Sessions & Kagan, & none of those words appeared in the transcript of the exchanges between JeffBo & Kagan or in Sessions' other remarks. As far as I can tell from this cursory search, there was just no discussion between Sessions & Kagan about Christmas, nor did Sessions tell her she was out of the mainstream or that she would "never get" his vote. Moreover, I would be stunned if Kagan taunted Sessions about his not being confirmed as a district judge.

[unwashed]

I took a look at the pdf that P.D. linked. A quick search for "chinese" returned two references on pages marked 144 and 145. It was Sen. Pittipat, not Sessions, who asked the question about Christmas. I found no reference to "pistachio" and one for "ice cream" that was unrelated to any discussion about favorite flavors.

[Marie Burns]

@PD Pepe re: my citation of Kagan on Jews at Chinese restaurants at Christmas. I just checked the transcript you provided. My citation, which I got from a secondary source, is exact according to the transcript.

As for Lindsey's question, he asked it twice, in two slightly different iterations. The first time, he asked, according to the transcript, "Where are you at on Christmas Day?" Then he said, moments later, "I just asked you where you were at on Christmas?" I would not consider this a mistake on my part (altho if I were writing something for general publication in, say, the NYT, I would have checked to get the exact quote). When you're writing informally, it's not really a mistake not to cite someone's grammatical error ("where were you at"), IMO, tho I suppose you could quibble about the difference between "do" and "were."

And BTW Lindsey did NOT let me down on the Kwanzaa question. He asked Jackson to rate how religious she was on a scale of one to ten. That is extraordinary.

[Victoria]

To the best of my knowledge gained from the television performance of republican senators, I can say that cancun cruz is lower than the dirt under a pile of shit, lower than garbage thrown into a tar pit and he has something gross and smelly in the place where his soul used to be.
There. I feel better now. And he sounds so much better when the audio is turned off.
Does anyone have any confusion/doubt at all why white male bosses think they can pay black women so much less than anyone else?
Definitely sex and color.
I wonder if senator concerned will vote for the best ever and brightest ever candidate for the Supreme Court.

[Marie Burns]

@Victoria: Since you are a scientist, I was really pleased to see your scientific evaluation of Ted Cruz's moral position in the universe. Seems spot on to a layperson.

[Akhilleus]

Since I’m sure we’ll hear much more about the horrors of critical race theory from demagogues who know nothing about it (except that it has something to do with not acknowledging white supremacy), I’d like to offer a very brief précis of the other one.

Critical Race Theory: White Edition

While the type of critical race theory referenced in the ravings on the right has only been around a few decades, CRT: White Edition has been around for centuries. Millennia, I’d say. But for our purposes, we’ll look at a specific sub set, CRT: White American Edition.

CRT:WAE, can be examined across a number of historical eras. The goal is, and has always been, an analysis of the best ways to maintain and protect white privilege and the status of white supremacy, the corollary to the belief in white supremacy being the degeneracy of all non-whites, the less white being, naturally, the worse.

CRT:WAE, phase one: slavery. The best way to keep ‘em down while “demonstrating” white supremacy

CRT:WAE, phase two: Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, lynching.

CRT:WAE, phase three: early civil rights era, dogs, fire hoses, assassinations, church bombings, lynching.

CRT:WAE, phase four: Cadillac driving welfare queens, Reagan, Bush I, Willie Horton, Lee Atwater.

CRT:WAE, phase five: Roberts Court, voting law largely rescinded, gerrymandering, scare tactics, electoral jiggering to reduce black turnout.

CRT:WAE, current phase: Trump, Fox, KKKarlson, Cruz, Cotton, Graham, Hawley, brown babies in cages, police brutality, lots more.

Critical race theory: white American edition is alive and well. And unlike academic CRT, no one is trying outlaw its teachings or use. In fact, it’s a given that it doesn’t even exist. Shhhh…don’t say anything about it. Thanks, that’s mighty white of you.

[Patrick]

It is odd that Manafort got to a seat on the plane with a revoked (not expired) passport. He should not have been able to move past the gate. Since the flight was on Emirati, I assume that he persuaded someone high up in the Emirati political sphere to tell their gate agents to look the other way. Airlines are liable for the cost of repatriating pax with bad paper, and are generally pretty fussy about ppts with holes in them. And ... since he got past the gate, I wonder how the USG found out he was boarded and then apprehended him.

[P.D. Pepe]

I am now busy with taking the feathers that are sticking to my teeth after eating crow. Looks like my memory was incorrect––I have searched but cannot find that exchange. Apology to Marie –––you were right.

[Jeanne]

Yesterday's hysterics in the hearing room left a truly nasty taste in my mouth. I was surprised by Graham's total hissyfit in an official capacity as a committee member, but then I remembered the way he behaved as the public and the Democrats reacted to the sure thing that was Bart O'Beer. We all remember that the FBI did not do the promised research of the incident Bart was involved in, and the fact that none of the people who wanted to come forward in support of the victim brave enough to testify were interviewed. It was a setup from the beginning, as was the quick bulldozing of the objections to the Handmaiden's ascendance to the throne. She had been mentioned in previous appointments because, I assume, winger Fed Society listmakers all were salivating at her possible appointment, come what may.

As for Cruz, he should go home to his blameless "ugly" (per IQ45) wife. If he can be trusted not to spit at airport personnel...

Those of us who value a bit of truth in government have no expectations that the GQP knows what truth is, and their cottage industries producing the lies and accusations are pretty busy, no matter if the Dark Lord of Marred-a-Leako is involved or not. These are not nice/qualified people, and the list is lengthy. Ichabod Hawley, Snotty Cotton, Monstrous Airport Cruz and Aunt Pittypat only scratch the surface. Heaven (if we have one) help us. I am scared that Prexy Mansion and Giddy Mean Girl Sinema are going to toss coal into the gears, as usual. There is never a cause for optimism.

[Ken Winkes]

The great, perhaps never to be solved, mystery of the Pretender:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/24/donald-trump-sues-hillary-clinton-and-allies-russia-00020174

Does he really believe this shit?

[Patrick]

DiJiT got himself a $200/hour attorney who can annoy every defendant named in his suit for years. He gets his red-hat donors to send in their nickels and dimes to pay for it. It's win-win for the big blob, this can drag on for his lifetime and allow him another ring in his mobile circus. So, he doesn't believe this shit (the allegations in the suit), but he believes in the utility of the courts in the long con, and the infinite supply of marks.

It's easy when you have no shame.