;)
Tuesday
May092023
May 10, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Wednesday that the benefits of making a birth control pill available without a prescription outweigh the risks, a significant step in the decades-long push to make oral contraception obtainable over the counter in the United States. If the F.D.A. approves nonprescription sales of the medication, called Opill, this summer, it could significantly expand access to contraception, especially for young women and those who have difficulty dealing with the time, costs or logistical hurdles involved in visiting a doctor, reproductive health experts say. Approval is not a foregone conclusion, however." Read on if you're a potentially affected person.
From the New York Times liveblog, also linked below: "[Rep. George] Santos, 34, pleaded not guilty to all charges at a hearing in federal court on Long Island on Wednesday afternoon.... Santos was released on $500,000 bond secured by three individuals, whose identities are not public. He will be confined to New York, Washington, D.C., and places in between. He may travel to other places with advance approval." ~~~
~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has made no move to penalize or marginalize Representative George Santos even in the face of mounting allegations of misconduct and lies by the first-term New York Republican, has signaled that Mr. Santos will be allowed to continue to serve in Congress even after being indicted on federal charges. 'I'll look at the charges,' Mr. McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday, before an indictment charging Mr. Santos with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to Congress was unsealed. 'If a person is indicted, they're not on committees. They have the right to vote, but they have to go to trial.'... 'He was already removed from all his committees,' Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and majority leader, said during a morning news conference.... Other top Republicans in the House ... said Wednesday that they were focused instead on rooting out unemployment fraud during the pandemic." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Now, wait a minute. Those "other Republicans" are confusing me. They can't think about George Santos because they're "focused instead on rooting out unemployment fraud during the pandemic"? But among the charges against Santos are that he engaged in "an unemployment insurance fraud scheme" under a Covid-19 unemployment benefit program. (See Rebecca O'Brien's item, linked below.) Even their excuses aren't excuses.
** Adrienne Vogt & Aditi Sangal of CNN: "Rep. George Santos has been charged on a 13-count indictment, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday. The charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.... Santos is now in federal custody, according to a spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York. Santos was taken into custody in Melville, Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source tells CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip." One item in this liveblog includes a facsimile of the grand jury indictment. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times liveblog is here. It also includes a copy of the indictment. ~~~
~~~ Rebecca O'Brien: "Broadly, George Santos has been charged in three schemes outlined in the indictment: First, a fraudulent political contribution solicitation scheme, in which prosecutors say Santos and an unnamed Queens-based political consultant induced donors to give money to an LLC he controlled. He then used the money for personal expenses, including to buy designer goods and to pay off personal debts. Second, an unemployment insurance fraud scheme: Prosecutors say that in June 2020, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Santos applied for government assistance in New York, even though he was at the time employed by a Florida-based investment firm and drew an annual salary of $120,000. And, finally, the indictment says Santos misled the House of Representatives about his financial condition. In May 2020 -- during his first, unsuccessful campaign -- he is accused of overstating one source of income while failing to disclose his investment firm salary. And in September 2022, when he ran a second time, Santos is accused of including a number of falsehoods in his financial disclosure form." ~~~
~~~ Grace Ashford: "Away from the prying eyes of reporters in a secure wing of the federal courthouse, Santos is getting the full perp treatment. Likely that includes fingerprinting, photographs and a preliminary interview. He will be arraigned at 1 p.m." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, in Brazil. Grace Ashford & André Spigariol: "... Brazilian law enforcement authorities will conduct a hearing on Thursday on an allegation of check fraud. The matter, which stemmed from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook, had been suspended for the better part of a decade because the police were unable to locate him. The case was revived earlier this year and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday."
~~~ Scott Lemieux notes that not only has the greatest volleyball player in CUNY history been indicted, he is counting on Matt Taibbi "to get to the bottom of this Deep State conspiracy." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'd like to point out to Merrick Garland that the New York Times first raised questions about George Santos' fake biography on December 19, 2022; this is, fewer that five months ago. Later reporting by the Times and other outlets brought to light some of Santos' suspect financial stunts. So five months ago, Garland's DOJ knew nothing about the matters on which it led a grand jury to indict him yesterday. That is to say, the DOJ can move fairly quickly to bring indictments against elected officials. So how come, Merrick, we're still not seeing any indictments against Donald Trump for leading an open rebellion against the United States -- a rebellion viewed by millions of people around the world -- two years and five months ago? ~~~
Trump Is Still Defaming Carroll. Lola Fadula of the New York Times: "'This is another scam,' Mr. Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social platform, one of a series of posts that continued into Wednesday morning. 'It's a political witch hunt.' Mr. Trump said in the video that Ms. Carroll had been financed 'by Democrat operatives,' and that 'she totally lied about it.' He appeared to be referring to Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn who has a long history of funding Democratic candidates and causes, and who helped pay for certain costs and fees associated with Ms. Carroll's lawsuit.... Mr. Trump also criticized Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court, who presided over the case, calling him a 'terrible person' who was 'completely biased, and should have recused himself.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Sleaziest President* Ever Found Liable for Sexual Battery & Defamation
** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "A Manhattan jury on Tuesday found ... Donald J. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. More than a dozen women have accused Mr. Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, but this is the only allegation to be affirmed by a jury. In the civil case, the federal jury of six men and three women found that Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine writer, had sufficiently proved that Mr. Trump sexually abused her nearly 30 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The jury did not, however, find he had raped her, as she had long claimed. The jury, in returning the verdict shortly before 3 p.m., also found that Mr. Trump ... defamed Ms. Carroll in October when he posted a statement on his Truth Social platform calling her case 'a complete con job' and 'a Hoax and a lie.' His lawyer said he intended to appeal." The NBC News report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The jury voted no on rape, but yes on sexual assault. Jury awarded Carroll $2MM + $1MM + $1.7MM + $20KK + $280KK. You do the math, but looks like about $5MM. ~~~
** ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here: "Donald Trump, who did not testify or show up in court, wrote on his social media platform: 'I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE -- A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Obviously I'd rather have a president that isn't found liable for battery. It's not a disqualifier, but it's certainly not a check in the plus column. -- Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
-- [Trump has] been amazing in his ability to weather these sorts of attacks and the American public has been amazing in their support through it. -- Bill Haggerty (R-Tenn.)
Politico has more reactions. ~~~
Then there's Mitt, who is nearly unique among elected Republicans in being unafraid to stand up to Trump:
I hope the jury of the American people reach the same conclusion about Donald Trump. He just is not suited to be president of the United States and to be the person who we hold up to our children and the world as the leader of the free world.... At some point when the people who work with you, your cabinet secretaries, and juries conclude that you've done something severely wrong, it's time for us to recognize that the great majority of those who've worked with him are right and he's wrong. -- Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)
~~~ Dasha Burns & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Former Vice President Mike Pence subtly defended ... Donald Trump in an interview Tuesday, hours after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. 'I would tell you, in my 4½ years serving alongside the president, I never heard or witnessed behavior of that nature,' he said.... Pence sidestepped the question of whether the jury's verdict affects his view of Trump's fitness for the presidency. 'I think that's a question for the American people,' Pence said. 'I'm sure the president will defend himself in that matter.' Pence was in Cincinnati to speak at a gala for the Center for Christian Virtue." ~~~
~~~ Marie: No surprise that pence is a two-faced chickenpoop who has decided it's strategically advantageous to defend a sexual batterer and liar. But what's this about a gala for an outfit labeling itself a model of Christian virtue? While there are various lists of what constitute the seven Christian virtues, "temperance" makes all the lists. A gala is, by definition, more bacchanalia than temperate gathering. It's almost as if these people are hypocrites.
Michael Chapman of the Raw Story: "Following the verdict..., one-time White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham opened up on CNN's 'OutFront' Tuesday about an incident she first described in her book in which she had to go out of her way to prevent one of her staffers from being put in situations where Trump could sexually harass the staffer.... 'There was one specific staffer that worked for me, and [Trump] would request for her to be on constant trips when it wasn't her turn -- I would rotate the staffers to go on foreign trips, especially,' said Grisham. 'He one time had one of my other deputies bring her back "so that they could look at her ass" is what he said to him.... I tried everything I could to ensure she was never alone with him.... I did take it to a couple of different chiefs of staff, including Mark Meadows.... And I think, at the end of the day, what could they do other than go in there and say, this isn't good, sir, and Donald Trump will do what Donald Trump wants to do.'"
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The #MeToo movement is why E. Jean Carroll wrote the memoir in which she revealed that Trump violated her in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room in the mid-1990s.... The movement is the reason that in 2022, New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which created a window during which sexual assault survivors could sue their attackers even beyond the statute of limitations.... Because of the #MeToo movement, the man who started it all gets some measure of comeuppance.... Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina ... tried the case as if #MeToo hadn't happened."
~~~ Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump cast aside a federal judge's stern warning by claiming falsely on Tuesday that he was 'not allowed to speak or defend' himself in court against E. Jean Carroll's battery and defamation allegations, when he actually declined the chance to testify days earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan had warned Trump's attorneys that posting to social media about the case could end up hurting him. Defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said last month that he would ask the 2024 presidential candidate to 'refrain' from posting about the case, according to the legal news site Law & Crime.... [But] As Kaplan prepared to instruct jurors..., Trump took to Truth Social to complain, saying he was 'waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation.'... Trump continued: 'I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I don't think Trump is precisely lying as Boboltz claims. He thinks he should be allowed to say whatever he wants about the trial and the principals outside of court. And Judge Kaplan said he could not. Trump did not claim, as Boblotz asserts, that he was not allowed to defend himself in court. Trump believes he should be able to tell his lies in the manner he sees fit, unfettered by court control or in the form of cross-examination.
Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a critical meeting at the White House on Tuesday with no consensus on how to end their impasse over the federal debt and spending just weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. With the economy hanging in the balance, the two leaders stuck to their opening positions, with Mr. Biden demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling unconditionally to avoid a default and Mr. McCarthy insisting such a move be accompanied by serious spending restraints. But the two agreed to have aides meet later in the day and to reconvene themselves on Friday.... 'I made clear during our meeting that default is not an option,' Mr. Biden said after the session in the Oval Office. 'I repeated that time and again. America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills and avoiding default is a basic duty of the United States Congress.... I'm prepared to begin a separate discussion about my budget and spending priorities but not under the threat of default.'" ~~~
~~~ Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was 'considering' the use of the 14th amendment as a means to circumvent the debt ceiling standoff he currently finds himself in with House Republicans. But he cast some doubt on whether it could work, saying it would 'have to be litigated and in the meantime without an extension it'd still end up in the same place.' The president said he would look at the issue of invalidating the debt ceiling through the 14th amendment 'months down the road.' The amendment states that the public debt of the United States 'shall not be questioned.' Biden also refused to rule out a short-term debt limit increase. 'I said I would come back and talk,' he said. 'The one thing I'm ruling out is default, and I'm not going to pass a budget that has massive cuts.'" A New York Times story is here.
** Mark Morales, et al., of CNN: "Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York's eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal. The exact nature of the charges couldn't immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos' campaign finance filings and other claims.... House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will look at the charges before determining if he thinks Santos should be removed from Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here.
Morgan Rimmer & Manu Raju of CNN: "Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who has been away from the Senate since February while recovering from shingles, will return to Washington on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court could hand down a decision any day now in National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville, a case that could legalize assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in all 50 states. The case challenges a Naperville, Illinois, ordinance and a similar Illinois state law, both of which ban assault weapons, which the state law defines to include certain semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s and AK-47s. Additionally, the state law prohibits the sale of a 'large capacity ammunition feeding device,' which the statute defines as long gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or handgun magazines that hold more than 15 bullets. The plaintiffs, which include a gun shop owner and a gun rights group, claim the two statutes violate the Second Amendment. Should the Supreme Court accept that argument and overturn these laws, it would have sweeping implications for the entire country. That decision would need to be followed throughout the entire nation -- which would most likely mean that neither any state nor the US Congress could ban assault rifles or high-capacity magazines."
Emily Guskin of the Washington Post: "Two-thirds of Americans say the abortion drug mifepristone, used in the majority of abortions in the United States, should remain on the market, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll finds that 66 percent of U.S. adults say mifepristone should remain on the market, while 24 percent say it should be taken off the market. Just under half, 47 percent, say access to mifepristone should be kept as is; 12 percent say it should remain on the market but be more restricted than it is now.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Somehow I don't think the three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, which is hearing an appeal of the decision to radically curb the availability of mifepristone, will care about public opinion. ~~~
~~~ Susan Rinkunas of Jezebel, republished by Yahoo! News: "We regret to inform you that the nonsense abortion pill lawsuit ... will be heard next on May 17 by a very unfortunate group of judges -- including James Ho, who has connections to both Justice Clarence Thomas and his Republican megadonor benefactor, Harlan Crow. Ho is the Federalist Society/MAGA darling of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who's written very aggressive opinions, including one from 2019 in which he said that 'abortion is the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life.'... Donald Trump nominated the Texas judge to the appeals court in 2017, and Ho was sworn in in January 2018 by Justice Thomas himself -- in Crow's private library.... The other two judges on the panel are Trump appointee Cory Wilson, who voted for a six-week abortion ban as a Mississippi state lawmaker, and George W. Bush nominee Jennifer Elrod, who said Obamacare was a 'fraud on the American people.'" Thanks to Forrest M. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
A detail from our story today: Ted Cruz tweeted this photo of Clarence Thomas swearing in 5th Circuit Judge James Ho. Turns out this is in billionaire Harlan Crow's private library, and flight records show Crow's jet dispatched to DC and back to Dallas before + after this event https://t.co/IwNjkwRsS6
— Justin Elliott (@JustinElliott) April 6, 2023
~~~ Marie: After a leisurely tour of the gardens where they admired the tastefully-placed statues of brutal dictators, the party returned to the Crows' palatial dining room to enjoy a light lunch served on Adolf Hitler's personal dinner plates. During the luncheon, Sen. Cruz reminisced about his father's part in the assassination of President Kennedy not far from the site of Mr. Crow's stately Dallas home.
Thomas Pays Up. Julia Rock & Andrew Perez of the Lever: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas changed his position on one of America's most significant regulatory doctrines after his wife reportedly accepted secret payments from a shadowy conservative network pushing for the change. Thomas' shift also came while he was receiving lavish gifts from a billionaire linked to other groups criticizing the same doctrine -- which is now headed back to the high court. The so-called 'Chevron deference' doctrine stipulates that the executive branch -- not the federal courts -- has the power to interpret laws passed by Congress in certain circumstances. Conservatives for years have fought to overturn the doctrine, a move that would empower legal challenges to federal agency regulations on everything from climate policy to workplace safety to overtime pay. Thomas wrote a landmark Supreme Court opinion upholding the doctrine in 2005, but began questioning it a decade later, before eventually renouncing his past opinion in 2020 and claiming that the doctrine itself might be unconstitutional. Now, Thomas could help overturn the doctrine in a new case the high court just agreed to hear next term. Groups within the conservative legal movement funded by Leonard Leo's dark money network and affiliated with Thomas' billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow have organized a concerted effort in recent years to overturn Chevron."
Kenny Stancil of Common Dreams: "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday sent a letter asking Harlan Crow ... to provide a full accounting of his financial ties to [Clarence] Thomas and any other judges on the high court. It comes as 'no surprise' that none of the panel's nine Republicans signed the letter, Accountable.US declared Tuesday, because they have collectively accepted nearly half a million dollars in campaign cash from Crow since the turn of the century.... Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee ... have attempted to downplay the seriousness of the court's growing crisis of legitimacy.... '[During a hearing last week, Sen. Ted] Cruz claimed the hearing was not about judicial ethics, but instead, was an attempt to attack Justice Thomas for having rich friends," [Accountable.US said.]" Crow has given Cruz $23,500 in campaign donations....
"... as Common Dreams reported last week, an Americans for Tax Fairness analysis of campaign finance data shows that after Thomas provided a deciding vote in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, the Crow family's average annual campaign contributions soared by 862%, from $163,241 before 2010 to $1.57 million since. This massive increase ... underscores how the 5-4 ruling that effectively legalized unlimited political spending has strengthened the wealthy's ability to shape electoral outcomes, further undermining U.S. democracy." ~~~
~~~ BUT. Benjamin Guggenheim of Politico: "Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday accused billionaire Harlan Crow of 'stonewalling' for refusing to comply with a request for a complete accounting of Crow's gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.... Ryan Carey, a spokesperson for Wyden (D-Ore.), said the Senate tax chief received an 'obstructive letter' from a lawyer for Crow late Monday night declining to answer a series of questions about the billionaire's financial arrangements with Thomas that Wyden posed to Crow in an April 24 letter.Wyden had asked for details on the gifts Crow lavished on Thomas for over two decades, as reported by ProPublica.... The committee's next steps could include subpoenaing Crow for the requested records or using a section of the tax code that vests the chairs of Congress' tax committees with the authority to obtain a private citizen's tax returns directly from Treasury...."
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Jeremy Peters, et al., of the New York Times: "The former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, declaring, 'We're back,' said on Tuesday that he was starting a new show on Twitter, a sign that negotiations to reach an amicable separation with the network, where he is still under contract, had broken down. Mr. Carlson offered no details of when his new program would begin or what kind of content it would have. The many unanswered questions highlighted the uncertainties surrounding his future -- a career in which he would be deprived of a prime-time platform on Fox News. Among the possibilities: Fox could ultimately block any attempt by the host to return to a prominent role in conservative media.... Mr. Carlson's remarks on Tuesday, posted on Twitter -- a platform run by Elon Musk, a provocateur in a similar mold as the combative, contrarian host -- consisted of a three-minute monologue delivered directly to the camera ..., [which] could violate the terms of his contract with Fox...." ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Barr, et al., of the Washington Post: "Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted late Tuesday that there was no deal with Carlson...."
Presidential Race 2024. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has vowed to do everything she can to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House, launched a television ad Tuesday warning viewers that the former president 'is a risk America can never take again.' The ad is running on CNN before and during a high-profile town hall scheduled Wednesday night on CNN featuring Trump -- now a 2024 candidate -- taking questions from voters in New Hampshire. The 60-second spot, which Cheney narrates but in which she does not appear, is funded by her political action committee." ~~~
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Sarah Mervosh & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "Florida has rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and worked with publishers to edit dozens more, the state's education department announced on Tuesday, in the latest effort under Gov. Ron DeSantis to scrub textbooks of contested topics, especially surrounding contemporary issues of race and social justice."
Texas Senate Race. Amy Wang & Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D), a longtime lawmaker whose district includes Uvalde, Tex., intends to join the U.S. Senate race to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in 2024, according to three people familiar with Gutierrez's plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not yet been made.... Gutierrez would become the second Democrat to join the race, after Rep. Colin Allred (D-Tex.) announced his campaign last week."
Utah. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "When she published a children's book almost a year after her husband's death, Kouri Richins wanted to help kids struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one. The Utah mother of three was facing her own grief when she wrote the picture book after her husband, Eric Richins, died in March 2022, she said. 'It completely took us all by shock,' Richins said in April while promoting her book, 'Are You With Me?' In an interview with KTVX, an ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City, she added: 'It's -- you know -- explaining to my kid just because he's not present here with us physically, doesn't mean his presence isn't here with us.' But after a month of praise from local media for helping children deal with grief, Richins's story took a dark turn. She has been charged with her husband's murder, accused of poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group that has been engaged in intense combat against Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, added to a string of videos attacking Russian military leaders, accusing their soldiers of fleeing the battlefield and causing hundreds of Wagner casualties. A Ukrainian assault brigade later posted on Telegram, saying Russia's 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade had escaped from the city.... In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly promised continued support for Ukraine regardless of the outcome of Kyiv's anticipated counteroffensive.... The United States announced a fresh $1.2 billion military assistance package for Ukraine." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Anushka Patil of the New York Times: "A video journalist working for Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, was killed by rocket fire near the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse said on Tuesday. Some of the heaviest battles of the war are being fought in and around the nearby city of Bakhmut. The journalist, Arman Soldin, 32, and four colleagues were with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under a Grad rocket attack on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said. Mr. Soldin was killed. No one on the rest of the team, which included a security adviser, was injured. Mr. Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists."
News Lede
New York Times: "Inflation slowed for a 10th straight month in April, a closely watched report on Wednesday showed, good news for American families struggling under the burden of higher costs and for policymakers in Washington as they try to wrangle rapid price increases. The Consumer Price Index climbed 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier, less than the 5 percent that economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected Inflation has come down notably from a peak just above 9 percent last summer, though it has remained far higher than the 2 percent annual gains that were normal before the pandemic." This is part of a liveblog.
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Reader Comments (12)
Tho' I'll admit to thinking it, because its short form is hardly polite, I'll be careful here and spell out the whole word.
How about this for a moniker? Pusillanimous Pence.
Marie's remark about Pence's cowardice, taking no position himself, saying it's up to the people to decide, essentially ascribes to the people the same god-like wisdom he usually reserves for the Old Man in the Sky to Whom he bends a knee every time it's convenient. God and the People, both blankets to cower under.
There's also that distinct whiff of hypocrisy in both that Marie picked up on. With her remarks about galas, Marie took care of the God part. As for the People part, this same Pence who defers to their collective wisdom, using it to hide behind is also leader of the political party that is doing all it can to undercut democracy and impose unpopular, minority policies on everyone.
What B.S!
(Kept that polite, too...)
E. JEAN CREAMS DJT
and bells and whistles followed. This is number one in the list of "witch hunts" as this criminal labels them. We wait with anticipation.
As I mentioned last week Frontline featured the Bonny and Clyde duo––Clarence and Ginni Thomas in a two hour program last night. I was struck by the abject poverty Clarence was born into–-so bad that his mother sent him and his brother to live with the grandfather whose digs were a whole lot better but the discipline was cruel and often. Even among his playmates Thomas was picked on because he was blacker than they were. Thomas has spent his whole life fighting off the demons of being too black in his world as well in a white world and his turning his back on his own people is payback.
After Anita Hill exposed him he retreated to his bed, curled up in a fetal position, refused to eat until Danforth came to the rescue and urged him to fight–––and he did it with that "high tech lynching" and it worked.
As for Ginni––she was born into a conservative politically active family–-one of her mentors was Phyllis Shafley. When Ginni met Clarence it was like "God ordained their connection" and it has proved most successful––for them––as well as for those that use them for their own agendas. And all this is hanging in the balance smelling like the stench that Kagan mentioned some time ago.
Elsewhere in the Reich…
As news of the verdict branding the Orange Monster a sexual predator, batterer, and liar is being swept under the rug by the Traitors (they truly are traitors, not just to the Constitution, to democracy, and the essential ideas of the American Experiment, but to common sense, decency, the rule of law, and now the judicial system. When you hear a senator like Marco (Any water here?) Rubio ripping the hard work of a jury as a disgrace because he doesn’t like them acknowledging the truth about his idol’s criminal rapaciousness, it is a clear sign of our slide into authoritarianism) other arms of the vast right-wing conspiracy are hard at work tearing down protections for the many against the few, the bosses, the owners, and the one percent.
That’s a rather too long introduction to my simple question, but today’s cacophony of crapweasel caterwauling is just too much to shut out.
So here’s the question.
Ever hear of Chevron Deference? No? Me neither. Until recently, until I read that the Roberts Star Chamber is getting ready to take it out and shoot it.
CD, in short, says “courts should defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous provisions in congressional statutes and judges should refrain from crafting their own reading of the laws.”
So what does that mean? This legal doctrine, named for a 1984 SCOTUS case, addresses the issue of regulation and the federal agencies tasked with enforcing those regulations, nearly all of which have been designed to keep big business from screwing average Americans, protecting the environment, or ensuring that regulatory laws are fairly and accurately followed.
Guess who absolutely hates that idea?
Ding, ding, ding…right! Traitors on the Court. Especially guys like Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Alito, and Ethics Man, Thomas.
The Court has chosen to review a case that will allow the Traitor “Justices” to shiv Chevron. Here’s what that means. If a regulatory law is unclear, in other words, if Congress has not specifically stated how regulations should be applied, leaving the wording purposefully broad (ie, “hey FDA, don’t approve crap that can hurt people”), Chevron, which has been in place for decades now, says that it falls to experts in the various agencies to make those granular decisions. Experts. Not ideological hacks.
Killing Chevron opens the door to activist judges, like that Trumpy moron in Texas who tried to kill mifepristone, to make ad hoc decisions based solely on ideological diktats, or pure wackadoodle whimsy. Sure, crazy-ass decisions could be challenged, but what this means is a free-fall free-for-all as ALL regulations (according to Thomas and Kavanaugh) will be on the block.
This is an enormous shift in power from federal agencies tasked with keeping us safe from predatory businesses, to right-wing, activist judges and the desires of their donor class and benefactors (see: Crow, Harlan, et al).
And bear in mind, this Court does not agree to hear cases so it can say, “Okay, that looks fine, carry on”. No. They pick cases they can use to turn back the tide of progress.
Their deference is to big money donors and fellow ideological travelers, not to American citizens not in those categories.
This could be very, very bad.
Dobbs was bad. This could be much worse.
Chevron Deference is pretty inside baseball stuff for most people not steeped in the minutiae of administrative law, but the Supremes are counting on that. Killing Roe was easy to understand as an evisceration of reproductive rights. Killing Chevron won’t register with most people until they find out that regulations preventing Walmart from building a superstore on protected wetlands are gone, or keeping Heinrich Himmler Smelting, Inc from pumping toxic waste into your ground water.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/01/supreme-court-chevron-doctrine-climate-change-00094670
@Akhilleus: See the Lever report linked above. According to the reporters, Clarence -- who wrote an earlier decision upholding the Chevron deference doctrine in 2005 -- changed his position on this after Harlan Crow began paying off Ginni and him. So, yes, you're right. Scrapping the doctrine almost certainly seems to be the confederate justices' plan. After all, it takes away a logical power from an elected executive with expert advisors and gives it to out-of-it or ideological unelected judges who have no expertise whatsoever in the matters being regulated. AND it is the type of highly-significant ruling that about one percent of voters will understand, though probably that many won't even hear about it, and fewer than that will care about.
“Obviously I’d rather have a president that isn’t found liable for battery. It’s not a disqualifier…”
Really? Seriously? Sexual assault is not a disqualifier? What is?
Oh, wait. Having a son with dick pics (maybe) on his laptop. Or being gay, or trans, or not goose stepping with the winged mob, or being against mass murder. Yeah. THOSE are disqualifiers.
But not a conviction for an assault just short of the legal definition of rape.
Sounds more like an SNL sketch than a straight-faced exposition of political analysis.
The difference? This isn’t funny. It’s frightening.
Plato once wrote that a people get the government they deserve. Jesus.
@Akhilleus: "IOKIYAR" seems a bit inadequate for the current situation.
"Mr. Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022."
Will Tukkkims volunteer to cover the action in Ukraine?
Millions of people think he's the greatest "journalist" alive.
I never heard of the Chevron case, so I am grateful to be informed about it, but it is an unbelievable thing that EVERYTHING is in flux right now. Except for E. Jean and George Santos, nothing seems to be going the way of decency and class and nontoxicity. The monster crudface Cruz is a piece of work that would no longer be a senator if it weren't so exhausting to list all the things we need to fear about voters in half the country, and the Congress and high court and other elected officials had any degree of respectability. So glad we get another case to worry about. (If you ever had any doubts about Marco, that should be handily dispelled by a FLORIDUH congressman dissing a New York state jury... he is such a piece of chewed gum on your shoe--)
Meanwhile, Biden continues to waffle about how HE will solve the problem of the other political "party." Or cult. I do not understand how this country gets skewered by yet another "custom," not a constitutional mandate-- the made-up "debt ceiling." Seems like the right wingers are experts in makng Dems think they have to adhere to every cockamamie thing that comes down the pike. Like Mueller could not recommend indictment. Like the Senate has stupid rules every time we turn around. Can't replace dead Scalia until of course Moscow Mitch decrees it can...and does. I'm sure you can all remember more of these idiocies than I can at the moment.
I am sick to death of this. Rules and customs and niceties are not laws. Kevin McCarthy is a fleabrain. Dump is a piece of trash. The congresspeople of both sides are useless. Diane is arriving on Tuesday. Until she isn't and can't. Judges are idiots if appointed by the wrong people. Sheesh. Can you believe ANYONE in this world respects us anymore??
Over the counter birth control?? Aieeee! Mass murder! Oh, not actual mass murder like with guns, of which we heartily approve, but murder by godless sluts who don’t read the Bible and think they can have sex without our approval!
Nyet!
Our theocrat friends on the Supreme Court who know that our interpretation of the Holy Bible is more important than any left-wing commie belief that women can do what they want, will have something to say about that. Why, Saint Clarence Thomas had to endure attacks from some uppity professor bitch who complained about Saint Clarence’s love of porn, and of telling her all about it. The idea!!
Birth control is MURDER!!!
Vote for Trump. He knows all about nasty, slutty women who reject the outcome of glorious sperm from superior MEN, like him.
Okay, the previous post might sound a tad hyperbolic, but it is very much not.
This is how many Trump supporters think.
Even, and disgustingly so, women.
Run and Hide
This is a video from the FBI showing how to maybe—maybe—survive a Republican sponsored mass murder attack.
Is this really what it’s come to? Nothing can be done so run and hide and hope the latest GOP hero doesn’t shoot you in the back!?!?!?
Oh yeah, they also tell you what to do if your date or your mom has been shot and is bleeding out, because otherwise they’ll be dead in minutes. Very helpful. I took notes.
Thus is what surrender looks like. Surrender to the evil motherfucking gun lovers in Congress and their gun lobby donors. Hundreds of millions of Americans have no say in the matter. These pricks call the shots.
Run.And.Hide.
That’s the answer.
They used to whine “They’re coming for your guns”, which was a lie.
Now, the gun nuts they promote are coming for you. And that’s the truth.
Run.And.Hide.
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1655869602549694464/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1655869602549694464¤tTweetUser=AdamParkhomenko
The newly Nazified CNN covered itself with feces and road kill it sounds like on their Trumpified “town meeting”. Please tell me what kind of town meeting excludes all members of one of the two major political parties? That’s not a town meeting, that’s a rally.
I heard that CNN was inviting Rape and Treason Boy because they wanted to hear “all sides”. If you invite only Republicans and the chimerical independents, how is that getting all sides?
Sounds like the usual Trumpy lie fest and shit show.
Look for much more of this from CNN, the network that brought you Trump 1. They’re looking to outdo themselves, it appears.