March 7, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy could quickly shed a million jobs and fall into recession if lawmakers fail to raise the nation's borrowing limit before the federal government exhausts its ability to pay its bills on time, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics, Mark Zandi, warned a Senate panel on Tuesday. The damage could spiral to seven million jobs lost and a 2008-style financial crisis in the event of a prolonged breach of the debt limit, in which House Republicans refuse for months to join Democrats in voting to raise the cap, Mr. Zandi and his colleagues Cristian deRitis and Bernard Yaros wrote in an analysis prepared for the Senate Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy. The warning comes at a moment of fiscal brinkmanship. House Republicans are demanding deep spending cuts from President Biden in exchange for voting to raise the debt limit, which caps how much money the government can borrow."

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, made clear on Tuesday that the central bank is prepared to react to recent signs of economic strength by raising interest rates higher than previously expected and, if incoming data remain hot, potentially returning to a quicker pace of rate increases. Mr. Powell, in remarks before the Senate Banking Committee, also noted that the Fed's fight against inflation was 'very likely' to come at some cost to the labor market. His comments are the clearest acknowledgment yet that recent reports showing inflation remains stubborn and the job market remains resilient are likely to shake up the policy trajectory for America's central bank."

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "President Biden's pick to serve as a telecommunications regulator is withdrawing her nomination to the Federal Communications Commission, following a bitter 16-month lobbying battle that blocked her appointment and opened her up to relentless personal attacks. Gigi Sohn, a longtime public interest advocate and former Democratic FCC official who was first nominated by the White House in October 2021, said her decision to withdraw follows 'unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks' seeded by cable and media industry lobbyists. The opposition to Sohn catapulted the relatively low-profile position to the center of an unprecedented fight, which involved three Senate confirmation hearings, a series of ads and a billboard criticizing Sohn as 'extreme' and 'partisan' amid dissection of her social media posts. Sohn's decision to bow out leaves the Biden administration's ambitious internet agenda mired in limbo.... he FCC remains stalled on these commitments amid a 2-2 split, imperiling the administration's plans."

Nick Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, arguing that the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition in a highly concentrated industry. By absorbing Spirit, JetBlue would eliminate a disruptive force that has kept fares low across the country, the department's antitrust division argued in its lawsuit. The merger would also give JetBlue an outsize hold on dozens of routes, result in higher fares and reduce options for travelers, particularly for those most sensitive to costs, it said."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "After watching the first installment of Fox News host Tucker Carlson's look at Capitol surveillance video from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger sent out a memo to his department Tuesday morning denouncing the show as 'filled with offensive and misleading conclusions.'... Carlson's program 'conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,' Manger wrote. 'The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.'... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he sided with Manger's account of events, appearing to hold up a copy of the chief's memo. 'With regard to the presentation on Fox News last night, I want to associate myself entirely with the opinion of the Chief of the Capitol Police about what happened on January 6th,' he said." CNN's story is here. MB: Everybody get together now and shout out, "Thanks, Kevin!" ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called Carlson's presentation of Jan. 6 as 'mostly peaceful chaos' both 'bull----' and 'inexcusable.' Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) ... said to put what happened 'in the same category as ... permitted peaceful protest is just a lie.' Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said ..., 'I'm not interested in whitewashing Jan. 6.' Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called it 'dangerous and disgusting' and compared it to Alex Jones's portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said, 'I thought it was an insurrection at that time. I still think it was an insurrection today.' Senate Republicans' No. 2 John Thune S.D.) said, 'I think it was an attack on the Capitol.... There were a lot of people in the Capitol at the time that were scared for their lives.'... The comments from GOP senators are striking given how influential Carlson is in the conservative movement. They're also striking because several of them reflect how [Kevin] McCarthy himself has also spoken about the insurrection.... [The Republican senators have not criticized McCarthy publicly, but] given how predictable Monday's presentation was, there's little question about who paved the way for the 'whitewashing' they now deride." The NBC News story, on which Blake relied for senators' reactions, is here. ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The face of Fox News is doing everything in his power to sanitize the horrific violence the nation saw unfold in real-time at the U.S. Capitol in the aftermath of the 2020 election. And on Monday night, he had a major assist from Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who granted him exclusive access to tens of thousands of hours of January 6 security camera footage. After continuing to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election ('it is clear the 2020 election was a grave betrayal of American democracy'), Tucker Carlson used the footage on Monday night to portray those who broke into the U.S. Capitol as mostly peaceful patriots who simply felt wronged by the system. Carlson ... falsely claimed the footage provided 'conclusive' evidence proving Democrats 'lied' about the events of January 6.... In effect, McCarthy served as Carlson's reluctant, but obedient, accomplice.... McCarthy, like the rest of his flock in Congress, knows that Carlson is the real boss inside the Republican Party."

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, a step toward determining responsibility for an act of sabotage that has confounded investigators on both sides of the Atlantic for months. U.S. officials said that they had no evidence President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials." The Guardian's report is here.

Missouri. Summer Ballentine of the AP: "A Missouri law banning local police from enforcing federal gun laws is unconstitutional and void, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes ruled the 2021 law is preempted by the federal government under the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.... Missouri's Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a statement said he will appeal the ruling."

Israel. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "A raid by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin aimed at arresting a suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli brothers last month spiraled into violence that left six Palestinians dead on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The suspect, Abd al-Fattah Kharousha, 49, was listed as among the dead by Palestinian health officials. An Israeli military spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with army rules, described Mr. Kharousha as an operative of the Islamist militant group Hamas. Hamas confirmed that he had been a member of its military wing, and Palestinian media reported that he had spent nine years in Israeli prisons and was released in December 2022."

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Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday will propose raising taxes on Americans earning more than $400,000 and reducing what Medicare pays for prescription drugs in an attempt to ensure that the health-care program for seniors is funded for the next two decades, challenging Republicans over an imminent funding crisis.... Because the program is spending money at a much faster clip than it brings in funding, it faces automatic federal cuts starting in 2028, raising the nightmare scenario of medical providers refusing care to senior citizens if Congress and the White House don't address the looming shortfall first. The administration is introducing the measures as part of the White House's broader 2024 budget proposal, but it faces an unlikely path to passage through a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The budget is set to be released Thursday." ~~~

     ~~~ In a New York Times op-ed, President Biden describes his plan to save Medicare. And knocks Congressional Republicans.

David Lynch & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden has embarked upon the most ambitious use of federal economic power in several decades as he seeks to reshape major U.S. industries for long-term prosperity while pressing businesses to deliver immediate benefits for consumers by lowering prices today. Biden's twin-barreled economic offensive faces numerous hurdles but has sparked billions of dollars of private-sector investment and changed entrenched corporate practices. Audi and Eli Lilly last week became the latest companies to respond to Washington's carrot-and-stick approach, as the German carmaker said it 'probably' would boost its U.S. output in response to the administration's electric-vehicle subsidies and the pharmaceutical giant bent to the president's calls to slash the price of insulin. Biden is spending federal cash on several audacious goals, including reversing the erosion of high-technology manufacturing, accelerating the transition to a clean-energy economy and repairing the nation's rotting infrastructure."

Sheryl Stolberg & Emily Anthes of the New York Times: "The Biden administration, keeping a watchful eye on an outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the deaths of tens of millions of chickens and is driving up the cost of eggs -- not to mention raising the frightening specter of a human pandemic -- is contemplating a mass vaccination campaign for poultry, according to White House officials. The bird flu outbreak, which began early last year, is the biggest in the nation's history, affecting more than 58 million farmed birds in 47 states, as well as birds in the wild. It has already spilled over into mammals, such as mink, foxes, raccoons and bears, raising fears that the virus that causes it, known as H5N1, could mutate and start spreading more easily among people."

Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "The Senate this week plans to vote on whether to block D.C.'s overhaul of its century-old criminal code from becoming law, even as city leaders tried to pull the legislation before federal lawmakers could weigh in. If the Senate resolution is successful, it would be the first in more than three decades to overturn a piece of D.C. legislation, striking a blow to the city's efforts for self-rule and toward statehood. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) on Monday wrote to the Senate saying that he was withdrawing the city's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, a move that Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who sponsored the disapproval resolution targeting the criminal code, called a 'desperate, made-up maneuver.' In a bipartisan vote, the House last month approved a companion resolution against the D.C. legislation; if the Senate does the same, President Biden has said he'll sign it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If all Republicans wanted to do was to disallow D.C.'s new criminal code, they would have gladly accepted Mendelson's withdrawal of the code revision and chalked up a win. But Hagerty tipped the GOP's hand: they're less interested in disapproving the new code than they are in making political hay of it.

Sophia Cai of Axios: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) -- facing criticism that his probe of alleged mistreatment of conservatives by 'weaponized' U.S. agencies has moved too slowly and found little -- is threatening to subpoena 16 more witnesses from the FBI.... Jordan is under increasing pressure from disappointed Republicans who want results -- and from Democrats who say his investigation is being exposed as a sham.... Criticism of Jordan escalated over the weekend, after the New York Times reported that three witnesses Jordan had cast as FBI 'whistleblowers' provided little information and had touted various conspiracy theories. Two had received financial help from an ally of former President Trump. A 316-page report compiled by Democrats dismissed the testimony, saying that 'nearly all of the Republicans involved in this investigation -- the witnesses, some of the members, and certainly their outside operators' -- are linked by a desire to whitewash the Jan. 6 insurrection."

Oops! Tom Lutey of the Billings Gazette: “U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale [R] said he unwittingly posed for a photo with high profile members of the neo-Nazi movement last week walking between congressional hearings. The photo taken March 1 in front of the Capitol, shows Rosendale, a two-term lawmaker, posing with Ryan Sanchez, formerly of the white supremacist street-fighting gang Rise Above Movement and Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer and podcaster present at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Arnold has called Adolf Hitler a 'misunderstood' and 'complicated historical figure.'... 'I absolutely condemn and have zero tolerance for hate groups, hate speech, and violence. I did not take a meeting with these individuals,' Rosendale said in an email."

Scott MacFarlane of CBS News: "The Justice Department has reached a milestone in its prosecution of the U.S. Capitol attack, confirming it has arrested at least 1,000 people in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, nearly half of whom still face the prospect of trials or plea agreements. A new wave of cases, many of which involve higher-level charges of assaults against police, continues to expand a prosecution that is already the largest in American history.... In its latest update, the Justice Department said the FBI is seeking to identify at least 260 more people wanted in the attack.... Every jury to hear a U.S. Capitol riot case has returned at least a partial conviction."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A Colorado man prosecutors say was affiliated with the right-wing, anti-government Three Percenters movement pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, admitting that he marched with the Proud Boys, a different far-right group, for several hours before attacking officers. Robert Gieswein, 26, of Woodland Park, Colo., stood out in that day's video recordings, carrying a baseball bat and wearing paramilitary gear with a black pouch on his chest that said, 'MY MOM THINKS I'M SPECIAL.' He faces an estimated range of 41 to 51 months at sentencing June 9 in a plea deal with prosecutors, who agreed to drop the rest of an 11-count indictment, including four other charges of assaulting police."

Rebs on the Run. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The authorities are searching for a Florida woman who slipped away from federal monitoring just days before she was set to go on trial in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The woman, Olivia Michele Pollock, was to be tried on Monday in Federal District Court in Washington on charges of assaulting police officers and interfering with law enforcement. But on Friday, a federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Ms. Pollock after she broke the terms of her release agreement with the government and disappeared. The judge, Carl J. Nichols, also issued an arrest warrant on Friday for one of Ms. Pollock's co-defendants in the case, Joseph Daniel Hutchinson, after he, too, violated the terms of his release. Mr. Hutchinson was scheduled to be tried separately in August." The AP's report is here. MB Note to Cops: Try 1100 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "In building a case against [former Proud Boys leader Enrique] Tarrio and... four other defendants..., prosecutors ... have claimed that the jury should see videos of other Proud Boys and ordinary Trump supporters in the crowd who acted violently during the assault even if those rioters had only limited connections to the defendants. Prosecutors say Mr. Tarrio and the others wielded these rioters as 'tools' of their conspiracy. On Monday, the trial, now entering its eighth week in Federal District Court in Washington, paused for a day as a federal judge heard arguments about which videos of these so-called tools should be admitted into evidence. The decision by the judge, Timothy J. Kelly, about what footage to let in was set to be made on Tuesday and could shape how prosecutors seek to convince the jury that Mr. Tarrio and the others committed sedition...."

We interrupt the regularly-scheduled news in progress to bring you an update on The TuKKKer Files:

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday released security video from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, using footage provided exclusively to him by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to portray the riot as a peaceful gathering. Carlson acquired the tapes as part of a deal for McCarthy, R-Calif., to win the speaker's gavel.... Carlson focused Monday's segment on promoting ... Donald Trump's narrative by showing video of his supporters walking calmly around the U.S. Capitol.... 'The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress,' Carlson told his audience Monday. 'Instead it shows police escorting people through the building, including the now-infamous "QAnon Shaman."' He continued: 'More than 44,000 hours of surveillance footage from in and around the Capitol have been withheld from the public, and once you see the video, you'll understand why. Taken as a whole, the video does not support the claim that Jan. 6 was an insurrection. In fact, it demolishes that claim.' Video that Carlson didn't air shows police and rioters engaged in hours of violent combat that resulted in injuries to hundreds of police officers....

"Carlson also said at the top of his show Monday that Fox had checked with Capitol Police before it aired any of the video.... A Capitol Hill source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Monday that 'the police thought there was an agreement' with the Committee on House Administration, not with Carlson's show, that Capitol Police would be given the opportunity to review all the clips that Fox was planning to air Monday night. But 'the show only allowed the police to review one clip late this afternoon and then did not allow them to review any of the other clips.' Carlson said he plans to air additional video on his show Tuesday night." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: TuKKKer's presentation is similar to showing video of Alex Murdaugh enjoying a family picnic but not mentioning he later murdered two of the people filmed at the picnic. Oh, and then describing Alex as an ideal family man.

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Former Vice President Mike Pence has filed a motion asking a judge to block a federal grand jury subpoena for his testimony related to January 6 on the grounds that he is protected by the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, according to a source familiar with the filing.... The Pence motion -- filed as part of sealed proceedings -- seeks to stop testimony pertaining to his legislative functions around January 6, which could potentially include a broad swath of testimony. It is separate from [Donald] Trump's motion, which argues that the former president can shield former aides from sharing internal communications. MB: It's like mike is wearing a giant immunity condom & nobody can ask him nothin'. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to prevent the special counsel investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election from using testimony provided by former top White House lawyers to a federal grand jury.... In recent weeks Trump's attorneys have asked a court to bar special counsel Jack Smith from using testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his former deputy Patrick Philbin as evidence in Smith's ongoing investigation into the events surrounding Jan. 6, said ... sources. Trump's lawyers have also filed to prevent Smith from using former Trump lawyer Eric Herschmann's grand jury testimony, the sources said. Prosecutors in Smith's office have urged an appeals court to reject Trump's efforts...." MB: We may infer that Trump and/or his attorneys believe the lawyers' testimony will incriminate him.

Kate Christobek, et al., of the New York Times: "Hope Hicks, a trusted aide to Donald J. Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, met with the Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday -- the latest in a string of witnesses to be questioned by prosecutors as they investigate the former president's involvement in paying hush money to a porn star. The appearance of Ms. Hicks, who was seen walking into the Manhattan district attorney's office in the early afternoon, represents the latest sign that the prosecutors are in the final stages of their investigation. She is at least the seventh witness to meet with prosecutors since the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, convened a grand jury in January to hear evidence in the case." The AP's story is here.

     ~~~ Marie: I happily remind you that Bragg is contemplating a criminal -- not a civil -- case. Should Trump be indicted, tried & convicted, he could do hard time. That could make him the second serious presidential* candidate in U.S. history to campaign from a jail cell. (In 1920, Eugene Debs, a socialist, ran for president while jailed for defying a court injunction. He received nearly a million votes.) In fact, should Trump be indicted, the courts could restrict his travel movements even before trial & conviction.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In appearing before the Jan. 6 committee last year, Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who recounted ... Donald J. Trump's conduct in the lead-up to the attacks on the Capitol, shared how her original lawyer had tried to influence her testimony.... She ... said that Mr. Passantino had pressured her to remain loyal and protect the former president. Now, several dozen prominent legal figures, including past presidents of the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar, are seeking to revoke Mr. Passantino's license to practice law. The move reflects intensifying scrutiny over whether Mr. Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer whose legal fees were covered by Mr. Trump's political action committee, violated his own professional duty, along with a host of other ethical requirements, by putting the interests of a third party over that of his client. In a 22-page complaint filed on Monday with D.C.'s Board on Professional Responsibility, prominent lawyers accused Mr. Passantino of the crimes of subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and bribery. The latter referred in part to Ms. Cassidy's allegation that his advice to say little to the panel was accompanied by assurances that she would get a 'really good job in "Trump world."'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Alfredo Peña & Matthew Barakat of the AP: "Four Americans who traveled to Mexico last week to seek health care got caught in a deadly shootout and were kidnapped by heavily armed men who threw them in the back of a pickup truck, officials from both countries said Monday. The four were traveling Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They came under fire shortly after entering the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, at the southernmost tip of Texas near the Gulf coast, the FBI said in a statement Sunday. 'All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,' the FBI said. The bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for the victims' return and the arrest of the kidnappers.... Zalandria Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, and two friends had accompanied a third friend who was going to Mexico for a tummy tuck surgery." Related story linked under Monday's News Ledes.

Presidential Race 2024. Look, Ma, the Chickens Can Do the Side-Step! David Siders & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "If any subject is verboten in the early stages of the Republican presidential primary, it's the insurrection that once served as a defining point in 2024 frontrunner Donald Trump's career. Whereas Republicans once talked openly about it being disqualifying for the former president, today it is little more than a litmus test in GOP circles of a candidate's MAGA bona fides. None of them want[s] any part of it.... The Jan. 6 avoidance is not just in [Ron] DeSantis' book. [where he never mentions the insurrection, while self-describing as an unapologetic truth-teller]. Mike Pence ... is preparing to resist a grand jury subpoena for testimony about Trump's efforts to overturn the election, seeing only political landmines in testifying. Nikki Haley, asked on a podcast recently if she would describe the riot at the Capitol as an 'insurrection, a riot, or a coup,' went instead with a more banal -- and safer -- description: 'a sad day in America.'" Read on. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Apparently, neither the media nor supposedly sober Republicans have learned anything from the past. Trump gave a bonkers speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.... From the coverage, you would never understand how incoherent he sounds, how far divorced his statements are from reality, and how entirely abnormal this all is.... The press and Republicans' mutual distaste for candidly acknowledging Trump's break with reality and the danger he poses to democracy was on full display on the Sunday shows.... Here are Republicans, some of whom are considering runs for the presidency, who somehow expect to get through a campaign without mentioning the single most disqualifying thing about the leader in the race (other than his mental unfitness): He betrayed the country. Such timidity is itself disqualifying for someone seeking the presidency." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Forrest M. has anecdotal evidence in Monday's Comments on how this is playing out in his neck of the woods.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: Elon Musk's "massive layoffs of the company's staff .. led to widespread concerns about Twitter's ability to retain core functions, as critical engineering teams were reduced to one or zero staffers. In the months since the takeover -- and subsequent layoffs -- Twitter has faced multiple outages, hampering key features: loading tweets and notifications, sending tweets and direct messages, accessing links and photographs. Each was said -- by staffers current and former, or Musk himself -- to come as the company made changes to its code. 'Every mistake in code and operations is now deadly,' a former engineer told The Washington Post in November, explaining that those left over were 'going to be overwhelmed, overworked and, because of that, more likely to make mistakes.'... The latest outage came Monday...." A Platformer story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "Excerpts from Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.' Passages from Christopher Columbus's journal describing his brutal treatment of Indigenous peoples. A data set on the New York Police Department's use of force, analyzed by race. These are among the items teachers have nixed from their lesson plans this school year and last, as they face pressure from parents worried about political indoctrination and administrators wary of controversy, as well as a spate of new state laws restricting education on race, gender and LGBTQ issues." An Iowa school superintendent didn't know if teachers could teach or imply or guide students to infer that slavery was wrong, since that was an opinion, not a fact. "The quiet censorship comes as debates over whether and how to instruct children about race, racism, U.S. history, gender identity and sexuality inflame politics.... A study published by the Rand Corp. in January found that nearly one-quarter of a nationally representative sample of 8,000 English, math and science teachers reported revising their instructional materials to limit or eliminate discussions of race and gender. Educators most commonly blamed parents and families for the shift, according to the Rand study." Read on. I find this story more heartbreaking than maddening. If you care about what your children are learning, don't worry. They aren't learning much. (Also linked yesterday.)

Arizona. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "An Arizona judge has ordered sanctions against Mark Finchem⁩ and his attorney over false claims they made about election fraud after Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, lost his race in November and refused to accept the results. Weeks after the election, Finchem sued his Democratic opponent, Adrian Fontes, and then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), challenging the results of the vote and requesting that a new election be held. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian tossed his suit in December, saying it was groundless. Fontes and Hobbs asked the court in December to sanction Finchem, according to the Arizona Republic, saying his case was 'a politically motivated weaponization of the legal process meant to perpetuate the dangerous narrative that our elections are unreliable, our elected leaders are corrupt, and our democracy is broken.' In a new ruling last week, Julian agreed, ordering Finchem and his lawyer, Daniel McCauley III, to cover legal fees for Fontes and Hobbs, who both won their November races and have since assumed new roles as Arizona's secretary of state and governor, respectively."

California. Niha Masih of the Washington Post: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that the state will not do business with pharmacy chain Walgreens after its recent announcement that it will not distribute abortion pills in some states where abortion is legal. 'California won't be doing business with @walgreens -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk,' Newsom said in a tweet.... The Washington Post reported that Walgreens had committed to not selling the drug in 20 states following legal threats by Republican state leaders last month. These included Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana, where abortion medication can be accessed, according to the sexual rights research group Guttmacher Institute, though those rules are being tightened." The Hill's story is here.

Georgia. Abraham Kenmore of the Augusta Chronicle, published in the Athens Banner-Herald: "A Georgia House bill introduced to bring new oversight of local prosecutors moved forward on Monday, joining a similar Senate bill that passed last week.... Both the House and the Senate bills would create a commission overseeing prosecutors with the ability to discipline local prosecutors...." MB: So let's say a prosecutor brought charges against a former POTUS* and/or against certain fake electors who were Republican party honchos. The oversight board, controlled by Republicans, could just fire the elected prosecutor and bring in their own fave.

Georgia. Rebekah Reiss, et al., of CNN: "Police say at least 23 people will face domestic terrorism charges after they were arrested Sunday amid violent protests at the site of a planned law enforcement training facility in Atlanta dubbed 'Cop City' by opponents who claim it would propagate militarized policing and harm the environment. Authorities said 'violent agitators' attacked Atlanta police officers and construction equipment with Molotov cocktails, commercial-grade fireworks, bricks and large rocks.... Among those arrested Sunday was a 'legal observer' employed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), according to a statement from the SPLC and National Lawyers Guild (NLG)." MB: The NLG & SPLC statements are here.

New York. Liam Stack of the New York Times: "Not long ago, New Yorkers were required to wear a face mask if they wanted to enter a store. But Mayor Eric Adams has now said the city's shopkeepers should adopt the opposite approach: People who refuse to pull down their mask when they first come into a store should be barred, in case they plan to rob the place.... A 67-year-old deli employee in Manhattan ... was killed on Friday night by a robber wearing a dark face mask and a white, full-body Tyvek suit.... 'Let's be clear, some of these characters going into stores that are wearing their mask, they're not doing it because they're afraid of the pandemic, they're doing it because they're afraid of the police,' the mayor said in a television interview.... Mr. Adams's suggestion is sure to draw the ire of those who remain committed to masking in public as Covid persists, as well as those with health conditions that put them at an elevated risk of severe illness.... Requiring shoppers to briefly drop their face masks would allow security cameras to get a clear view of a shopper's face, the mayor said."

** Tennessee. Charles Blow of the New York Times: "Not long before [Gov. Bill] Lee signed [a bill outlawing drag performances], a 1977 yearbook photo surfaced showing him dressed in drag when he was in high school. The howls of hypocrisy came quickly. But I don't think people like Lee see that as hypocrisy. They see hilarity in straight men donning women's clothes to mock femininity but see obscenity and perversion in (usually) gay men doing the same (only better!) to celebrate femininity and find a sense of affirmation and self-realization. They see their role as guarding the border between their narrow, normative definitions of 'masculine' and 'feminine' and making sure no one traverses it. They are sentinels of the patriarchy, all too willing to oppress or try to intimidate their fellow citizens. And the imprecise wording of Tennessee's law seems calibrated to provoke the maximum amount of doubt and, therefore, fear...." Read on. ~~~

Thank god it’s not a drag show. That would be inappropriate for Christian families…. pic.twitter.com/BXK2JSVobt

— Jerry Whitney (@theharpoonman) July 12, 2022

     ~~~ Thanks to Whyte O. for the lead. As Akhilleus wrote yesterday, &"Just imagine the screeches if that were a family of Democrats with young girls dressed like strippers holding a sign saying 'Fuck Trump.'"

Texas. American Heroes Sue for Reproductive Rights. Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "Five women who say they were denied abortions despite grave risks to their lives or their fetuses sued the State of Texas on Monday, apparently the first time that pregnant women themselves have taken legal action against the bans that have shut down access to abortion across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The women -- two visibly pregnant -- plan to tell their stories on the steps of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday. Their often harrowing experiences will put faces to what their 91-page complaint calls 'catastrophic harms' to women since the court's decision in June, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion after five decades.... The potential for prison sentences of up to 99 years, $100,000 fines and the loss of medical licenses has scared doctors into not providing abortions even in cases where the law would seem to allow them."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' daily briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's daily briefing for Tuesday is here: "China's foreign minister accused the United States of double standards over international arms sales on Tuesday, when he compared U.S. military support to Taiwan with warnings from Washington for China not to send 'lethal aid' to Russia.... Exiled Belarusian opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia by a Minsk court.... This comes days after Belarus gave a 10-year sentence to Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace laureate and critic of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin." ~~~

~~~ The Guardian's story on China's foreign minister's "fiery press conference" is here.

Siobhán O'Grady, et al., of the Washington Post describe the intense fighting for the city of Bakhmut: "The men enlisted to fight for Russia's Wagner mercenary force -- many of them convicted criminals recruited behind bars and sent to fight in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom --... typically move on Ukrainian positions early in the morning [and are moving toward almost certain death].... It is only later in the day that better-trained Russian forces often enter the fray, seeking to make a real advance.... The waves and waves of [Russians] sent forward have proved exhausting, resulting in staggering casualties on both sides.... The city ... is nearly destroyed. Despite reports of complaints from Ukrainian soldiers that they are fighting under desperate and untenable conditions, and military experts insisting that Bakhmut is of little long-term strategic value to Russia, [President] Zelensky's office issued a statement saying that ... [military commanders] had ... endorsed reinforcing and continuing the city's defense."

Israel. Ronen Bergman & Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "A plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to severely curtail the powers of Israel's Supreme Court has prompted weeks of demonstrations, rattled the country's technology sector and raised fears of political violence. Now, protests are emerging even within the nation's military. Hundreds of soldiers in the military reserves either have signed letters expressing a reluctance to participate in nonessential duty or have already pulled out of training missions, officials said. The affected units include the 8200 division that deals with signal and cyberintelligence and whose graduates have helped drive the country's tech industry, as well as elite combat units. The military leadership fears that growing anger within the ranks over the government's plans will affect the operational readiness of Israel's armed forces, according to senior military officials." An AP story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two of the four Americans who were kidnapped last week in Mexico were found dead on Tuesday, while the other two were found alive, according to the governor of the border state of Tamaulipas, where the abduction occurred last week.... Of the four kidnapping victims, 'two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive,' said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, speaking live by phone at the Mexican president's daily news conference on Tuesday. The Mexican authorities transferred the two surviving Americans to U.S. authorities on Tuesday, Mexican officials said." ~~~

     ~~~ AP: "The surviving Americans were back on U.S. soil after being sped to the border near Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns."

New York Times: "A stampede spurred by rumors of gunfire at a crowded arena on Sunday killed two people and left a third in critical condition after a show by the Grammy-nominated rapper GloRilla in Rochester, N.Y., the police said."

Washington Post: "A former White House and international development official died last week after the business jet she was flying in hit severe turbulence in New England, officials said Monday. Dana Hyde, 55, of Cabin John, Md., was flying with her husband and one of her sons on an aircraft owned by rural broadband consulting firm Conexon, the company said. Neither of her relatives nor the two members of the flight crew were injured, according to the company and the Federal Aviation Administration.... Hyde was a White House special assistant during the Clinton years. She was also a senior adviser at the State Department during President Barack Obama's administration before becoming an associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget."

Comments

[Forrest Morris]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cpac-call-trans-people-eradicated-
195633123.html

Thousands of conservatives, including R. lawmakers and presidential
hopefuls, flocked to a suburban Washington D.C. convention center
this week to discuss children's genitals, trying to criminalize the act
of doctors and parents providing minors with gender-affirming care.

Democrats are "mutilating boys and girls."

Who knew this was only a Democrat thing. Should I have my knives
sharpened?

Just read an article about author Jan Morris. She originally was
James Morris. Her books are still in our library system but they
better put them in plain brown wrappers in case the book police
come checking.

[Akhilleus]

Donning my semiotician’s hat and looking again at the picture Whyte posted, you notice that on the “Fuck Biden” sign (so Christian, in’it?) the word fuck incorporates the American flag, perfectly emblematic of the desire of red state Christianists (are there any other kind?) to fuck America.

The young girls dressed like stripper/cheerleaders also have “Let’s go Brandon”, ie, “Fuck Biden” emblazoned across their butts, just in case Christian viewers, like maybe the Matt Gaetz types, missed the big sign while zeroing in on nubile young lady posteriors.

And don’t forget, “Let’s go Brandon” has become as ubiquitous in right-wing churches as the Lord’s Prayer, with delirious Christians happily screaming it out during services. Jesus must be so pleased. “Our father, who art in heaven, please fuck Biden! Amen!”

And topping it off, the Christian mom and dad and their little tykes are all giving the finger, happy in their work. Now that’s some textbook grooming right there. Even the strippers are giving the finger. No one should miss the hatred here. This isn’t just a disagreement about policy decisions, this is a display of hatred using sexualized young girls and prepubescent children to sell the point.

But at least it’s not a guy in a dress reading “Good Night Moon”. THAT would be offensive. Better to teach young children how to say “FUCK America”.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: I suppose the main reason Republicans are discriminating against trans people is that they think it will work for them politically. But I also suspect many of them get off on it. They get to contemplate and talk about genitals all day long -- and in a way that is verboten to their own pristine "lifestyles."

[Akhilleus]

Forrest and Marie,

I suspect that this whole business of banning drag shows by loudly proclaiming “We’re Saving the CHILDREN!” (Yeah, like those little kids being taught to say “fuck” and giving the finger) is just another, slightly more clever way to say “Arrest the gays!”

The whole thing reeks of homophobia. And because out and out gay bashing isn’t quite as acceptable as it used to be (queers walking the streets as if they owned the place! The idea!), what better way to couch their fear and hatred by wrapping them up in Save the Kiddies packaging.

Something I have yet to hear is the fact that banning drag shows is a blatant attack on the First Amendment. These people have a right of freedom of expression. If so-called Christian families have the right to dress kids like strippers and teach the little ones to scream out “Fuck Biden”, why can’t some guy dress up like Judy Garland and sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”? One of those is a lot more fun.

The other thing about drag queen story hours that must really rankle (accent on rank) the haters is 1.) kids and parents coming into contact with drag queens get to ask questions like “How come you do this?” thereby increasing their knowledge base and gaining an appreciation for different ways of being in the world, as well a sense of the importance of tolerance, and 2.) reading books, very likely books not approved by the Imprison All Gays division of the DAR and the MTG book club.

So…tolerance AND reading. Two things they absolutely despise.

But let’s Save the Children!

[Akhilleus]

Hey kids, a new logical fallacy is entering the canon.

Along with the Appeal to Authority, the Strawman, Ad Hominem, Red Herring, and Post Hoc fallacies, we now have the All Elections are Fraudulent (unless I win) Fallacy.

So here we have states forced to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in a fruitless search for the chimerical Election Fraud Proof; the idea, pushed endlessly on the right, is that democracy is hopelessly broken and all elections are illegitimate and crooked. Unless, of course, the Republican wins.

So all elections are fake, except those won by our side.

Logical? Soitanly not! Right-wingy? Indubitably.

Remember those analogy questions on the old SAT’s? Try this one…

Logic:Wingers::

Oil:water
Poison:long life
Toxic train derailment:good public health
Trump:democracy
TuKKKer:tolerance and truth

Answer: it’s a trick question! They’re all correct.

[Akhilleus]

Marie’s point about right-wingers’ salacious obsession with genitalia reminded me of a weird-ass thing I read last week from one of the usual suspects (I forget who now…all these fuckers blend together like those galleries of deformed crooks you’d see now and then in the old Dick Tracy comic strips: Flattop, the Brow, Pruneface, Big Boy…).

In their quest (more quick lime than quixotic) to bolster the necessity of banning drag shows, some idiot is yelling that performers routinely expose themselves in front of children.

Because of course they do!

Seriously? This person clearly has never seen a drag show. These guys wear enough clothes to immobilize a race horse. It must take half an hour to get down to exposed genitals.

More and more, this shit sounds like the sort of fractured fairy tales Nazis spread about Jews. “Oh yeah, they run the banks, they steal our jobs, they sully our bloodlines, they steal Christian children…and…and…they stand in front of kids and WHIP IT OUT!”

What, no space lasers?

Christ. These fucking people.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: Your point about the First Amendment is right on, IMO. Laws against lewd & lascivious behavior are fine, I guess, but there's nothing lewd or lascivious about reading a children's book to children at the public library or singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the public square at lunchtime. And anyone can do these things.

P.S. Thanks for doing a semiotic analysis of the photo of the wholesome family of Trumpettes. Ain't home schooling great?

[P.D.Pepe]

Whyte's picture perfect example of hypocrisy writ large made me sad, mad and I'll use that word Marie has used twice in two days–––heart breaking. I care less about the adults displaying their animus but when you bring children into this toxic mix it changes the landscape. Are these adults, like the father in the picture with the children, the same ones who want to protect their little ones from "all the evils in those bad books"?

[unwashed]

Is that MTG, the booty babe to the left?

[Bobby Lee]

Florida legislature kicks off it's 2023 session on this note: A ban on abortions after six weeks. This from The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3888004-florida-gop-lawmakers-introduce-six-week-abortion-ban-bill/

How long before we get a "Morning After Bill" as a counterpoint to the "Morning After Pill?"

[Jeanne]

I have to say that I am really shocked at this picture...not surprised, but shocked. The kids flinging the bird even though they have no idea why, and the young sexy women's tails in full display while being righteous about "Brandon" and f***ing Biden are all weary symbols of this family and friends who are born and raised trailer trash. Those kids have zero hope of rising above the cult poster. The total hatred will not be lessened as they get older-- I guess we can only hope their angry uneducated ways of living don't add up to mass shootings of the people they hate: US. And the really grand thing is that the people we expect to "save" us from this crap are moving not at all, unless they are ducks: paddling like mad under the water. Daughter and I told our dog that we will no longer be pulled into a certain alley in the neighborhood, where an ancient rust bucket sports the bumper sticker: F*** 46. I see no point in loving humanity in general, or having to watch things like the bumper sticker and that wretched photo.

Also heard a story today about the acute teacher shortage. Not surprised. Who'd want to deal with the ignorant parents like the idiot in the photo? The kids are mostly not saveable.