May 26, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said on Friday that the United States will run out of money to pay its bills on time by June 5, moving the goal post back slightly while maintaining the urgency for congressional leaders to reach a deal to raise or suspend the debt limit. The letter provided the most precise date yet for when the United States is expected to run out of cash. Ms. Yellen had previously said the United States could hit the so-called X-date -- the moment when it does not have enough money to pay all of its bills on time -- as soon as June 1."

South Carolina. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "A South Carolina judge on Friday moved to pause the state's six-week abortion ban until it can be reviewed by the state Supreme Court. Judge Clifton Newman of the South Carolina Circuit Court granted a temporary injunction Friday morning, barely 24 hours after Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed the measure into law. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, along with a South Carolina clinic and two of its doctors, immediately filed a lawsuit Thursday to block the ban that took immediate effect with McMaster’s signature. Friday's injunction means abortion access in South Carolina reverts back to being legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy."

Texas. Jacey Fortin & David Goodman of the New York Times: "The Republican-dominated Texas House has scheduled a vote on the impeachment of the state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, for Saturday at 1 p.m. The vote was set to take place just two days after a bipartisan but Republican-led committee of representatives recommended that Mr. Paxton should be impeached for a range of abuses that may have been crimes.... The articles [of impeachment] charge Mr. Paxton with a litany of abuses including taking bribes, disregarding his official duty, obstructing justice in a separate securities fraud case pending against him, making false statements on official documents and reports, and abusing the public trust.... Mr. Paxton has been under criminal indictment for most of his tenure as the state's attorney general.... An impeachment would mean that Mr. Paxton would be temporarily removed from office pending a trial on the charges in the State Senate, where some of his closest allies, including his wife, would serve as jurors. The Senate proceedings could well be delayed until after the regular legislative session, which ends on Monday.... The ... timing remains highly uncertain."

Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said he is 'very frustrated' over the state of debt ceiling talks and questioned why President Biden is continuing to negotiate with what the congressman called 'economic terrorists' in the Republican party. 'I called on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment and mint a coin and do not negotiate with hostage takers,' Bowman told CNN's Manu Raju on Thursday. 'I mean, we don't negotiate with terrorists globally. Why are we gonna negotiate with the economic terrorists here that are the Republican Party?'"

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Conservative lawmakers have begun mounting a campaign against the emerging deal on the debt ceiling between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as objections from the right threaten to undermine an agreement even before its contents are publicly released. On Thursday and Friday, in response to reports about the details of the agreement, leading conservative lawmakers and budget experts raised strong objections, arguing McCarthy had failed to extract sufficient concessions from the Biden administration in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. McCarthy pushed back in remarks to reporters on Friday, saying the criticisms were being leveled by people unaware of the substance of the deal." MB: They're not "conservatives"; they're radical right hostage-takers & as Bowman calls them "economic terrorists."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge rejected a challenge to the government's ability to disarm defendants as part of their criminal sentences, one of the first decisions to uphold the constitutionality of a gun ban for people on probation for misdemeanors since a watershed Supreme Court decision last year set a new test to evaluate such limits. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington issued the ruling temporarily barring gun possession by Daniel Shaw, a Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack defendant who pleaded guilty last November to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing. '[W]hile Shaw's role in the mob was minor, the fact of his participation in an insurrection whose aim was to impair the peaceful transfer of power suggests that a firearms restriction during his probationary period is appropriate,' Boasberg wrote on Thursday."

After the Fail. Charisma Madarang of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill regarding spaceflight on Thursday just one day after he announced his presidential run in a glitch-filled interview with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces. DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1318 -- Spaceflight Entity Liability along with 27 other bills. The law exempts 'spaceflight entity from liability for injury to or death of a crew resulting from spaceflight activities under certain circumstances.' The measure also requires 'a spaceflight entity to have a crew sign a specified warning statement.' Florida is a known launching point for SpaceX aircrafts, and the new law could potentially shield Musk and other space flight companies from being sued for accidents that injure or kill crew members." ~~~

~~~ The Buck Stops Elsewhere. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Ron DeSantis told Newsmax host Eric Bolling that he's 'not a big social media guy' and 'would rather watch' cable news 'than be on some app,' following his disastrous presidential campaign launch on Twitter this week. During an appearance on Newsmax' The Balance, Thursday, DeSantis said Twitter 'were very confident that they had the ability to get a lot of people' for the event.... 'I was just in a room in Florida, so I didn't really know necessarily what was going on.'" MB: I read somewhere this week that DeSantis spends hours reading the comments beside his Twitter "likes." ~~~

     ~~~ Mason Bissada of the Wrap: "Appearing Thursday to promote his campaign, at one point DeSantis was on a tear about the travel advisory the NAACP issued for Florida that cited numerous DeSantis policies it says 'erase Black history' and 'restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.' And as he delivered a whataboutist spiel about gun violence in Baltimore, Maryland, the television video feed -- and only the video feed -- froze. The audio was unaffected, as was the newscrawl at the bottom of the screen. DeSantis continued to deliver talking points from his usual 'anti-woke' playbook, while host Eric Bolling's face remained frozen mid blink, and DeSantis' stuck with his mouth pursed in mid-pronunciation." ~~~

~~~ Peter Hoskins & Annabelle Liang of the BBC: "An engineering chief at Twitter says he is leaving the company a day after the launch of Ron DeSantis' US presidential campaign on the platform was hit with technical glitches. Foad Dabiri tweeted: "After almost four incredible years at Twitter, I decided to leave the nest yesterday.... Mr Dabiri did not specify why he had decided to leave Twitter or whether it was related to the problems with the DeSantis event on the platform." ~~~

~~~ (Alleged!) Drug Addict Makes Classic On-air Freudian Slip. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump Jr accidentally insulted his father on Thursday night, mixing up his words while trying to condemn Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump's closest rival for the Republican presidential nomination. 'Trump has the charisma of a mortician and the energy that makes Jeb Bush look like an Olympian,' Trump Jr said on his online show.... After a short pause, and without correcting himself, Trump Jr continued...."

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Across the country, we are seeing sharp new limits on the rights and privileges of Americans. And despite a national mythology that ties the threat of tyranny to the machinations of a distant, central government, the actual threat to American freedom is coming from the states.... Americans have a long history with various forms of sub-national authoritarianism: state and local tyrannies that sustained themselves through exclusion, violence and the political security provided by the federal structure of the American political system.... The history of American political life is the story of the struggle to unravel those sub-national units of oppression and establish a universal and inviolable grant of political and civil rights, backed by the force of the national government.... The [present-day conservative and reactionary] plan, as we have seen with abortion, is to unspool and untether those rights from the Constitution. It is to shrink and degrade the very notion of national citizenship and to leave us, once again, at the total mercy of the states."

Imogen Piper, et al., of the Washington Post: "This year, under the most right-wing government in Israeli history, a growing number of [Israeli military] incursions have been carried out [in the West Bank] during the day, in densely packed urban areas such as Jenin. As of May 15, 108 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including militants and civilians, had been killed by Israeli forces, according to the United Nations, more than double last year's toll from the same period. At least 19 were children...."

Derrick Taylor of the New York Times: "A trove of documents released this week by the F.B.I. reveal details about an assassination threat against Queen Elizabeth II before a trip that she and her husband made to the United States in 1983, as well as other security concerns linked to the Irish Republican Army. The documents were published on the F.B.I.'s website after a request under the Freedom of Information Act." A San Francisco police officer learned of the plot (and presumably notified other authorities). "Though it is unclear if any arrests were made, the documents note that the monarch's visit was completed 'without incident.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I was unaware that "Naked Gun"'s Frank Drebin had saved Elizabeth while she was in California in the 1980s, but in today's Comments, Patrick brought me up to speed. Fortunately, we have film: ~~~

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Hostage-Takers Win, Extract Minor Ransom from Biden. Jim Tankersley & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Top White House officials and Republican lawmakers were closing in Thursday on a deal that would raise the debt limit for two years while capping federal spending on everything but the military and veterans for the same period. Officials were racing to cement an agreement in time to avert a federal default that is projected in just one week. The deal taking shape would allow Republicans to say that they were reducing some federal spending -- even as spending on the military and veterans' programs would continue to grow -- and allow Democrats to say they had spared most domestic programs from significant cuts. Negotiators from both sides were talking into the evening and beginning to draft legislative text, though some details remained in flux." A Guardian story is here.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "As disaster looms, it's important to keep in mind that Republicans are the villains here: They're the ones engaged in extortion.... There are at least three ways the administration could, in principle, bypass the debt ceiling.... The first possible strategy is simply to ignore the debt limit, declaring it unconstitutional.... I don't find the case against the constitutional option persuasive.... A second strategy would be to exploit a peculiar legal provision that allows the Treasury to mint platinum coins of any value it chooses.... A third option would be to issue perpetual bonds -- bonds that pay interest forever but no principal, and hence have no face value. Since the ceiling is defined in terms of the face value of U.S. debt, not its fluctuating market value, it's hard to see how the ceiling can apply. This isn't a radical idea -- it has a long history, especially in Britain, but has also been used in the United States.... The arguments against these options all boil down to political guesses."

Peter Baker & John Ismay of the New York Times: "President Biden called for a new era of innovation in the American military on Thursday as he formally unveiled his choice to steer the country's armed forces into an uncertain future hunting down terrorists, managing the growing competition with China and countering Russian aggression in Europe. Introducing Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as his nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Biden praised him as a 'proud, butt-kicking American airman' and 'top-notch strategist.' But he said that one of the qualities that most appealed to him was the general's vision and determination to continually think ahead, exemplified by the 'accelerate change or lose' doctrine that he followed as Air Force chief of staff." ~~~

Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "President Biden vetoed a GOP effort to block D.C's major police accountability legislation Thursday, noting the legislation contained 'common-sense' changes aimed at enhancing public trust. 'The Congress should respect the District of Columbia's right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust,' the president said in a message to Congress accompanying his veto. 'I continue to call on the Congress to pass common-sense police reform legislation. Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution.' Biden's veto came on the third anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests and reexamination of policing and use of force -- including in the District."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "The White House on Thursday pledged to increase federal efforts to combat rising antisemitism with new initiatives aimed at improving public awareness in places such as schools and college campuses and offering more community training to encourage the reporting of hate crimes. In its national strategy to counter antisemitism, the White House also calls on social media companies to more aggressively prevent the spread of hate speech and anti-Jewish content online. It asks Congress to hold accountable those platforms that do not provide transparency on how such content is disseminated. The plan lays out dozens of commitments from the Biden administration to help protect Jewish communities, while calling on Congress and local governments to follow suit." The AP's report is here.

Bob Menendez, in Trouble Again. Tracey Tully & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are investigating whether Senator Robert Menendez or his wife received unreported gifts of a luxury car and an apartment in Washington from a halal meat company that is also the focus of a criminal inquiry, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The investigation into Mr. Menendez, a Democrat who is the senior senator from New Jersey, is linked to a government search of the meat company's offices and the home of its president, according to a lawyer who met with prosecutors." Denials all around, of course. An NBC News story is here.

What This Country Needs Is More Straight White Male Judges. Talyler Mitchell of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) has apparently found fault with President Joe Biden's choice to appoint a diverse range of judges to the overwhelmingly white and male federal bench. On the House floor on Thursday, Grothman said Biden had appointed just five 'white guys' out of 97 judicial appointments in his first two years in office, citing an unnamed study.... 'So [it's] almost impossible for white guys [that are] not gay apparently to get appointed here,' he continued. According to a January report by The 19th, the federal judiciary consists of about 800 active judges -- 46% were white men, 23% were white women, 16% were men of color and 14% were women of color.... In March, he called the appointments 'a little bit scary' and raised the possibility that the president was 'actively discriminating against white heterosexual men.'"

** Scenes from a Heist. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Two of Donald Trump's employees moved boxes of papers the day before FBI agents and a prosecutor visited the former president's Florida home to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena -- timing that investigators have come to view as suspicious and an indication of possible obstruction, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a 'dress rehearsal' for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the May 2022 subpoena, according to the people familiar with the matter.... Prosecutors in addition have gathered evidence indicating that Trump at times kept classified documents in his office in a place where they were visible and sometimes showed them to others, these people said. Taken together, the new details of the classified-documents investigation suggest a greater breadth and specificity to the instances of possible obstruction found by the FBI and Justice Department than has been previously reported." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times flesh out some of the particulars of the WashPo story linked above.

You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country, to the Republic and the very fabric of our democracy. -- Judge Amit Mehta, to Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes during sentencing hearing ~~~

~~~ ** Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison for his conviction on seditious conspiracy charges for the role he played in helping to mobilize the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The sentence, handed down in Federal District Court in Washington, was the most severe penalty so far in the more than 1,000 criminal cases stemming from the Capitol attack -- and the first to be increased for fitting the legal definition of terrorism. It was also the first to have been given to any of the 10 members of the Oath Keepers and another far-right group, the Proud Boys, who were convicted of sedition in connection with the events of Jan. 6." Read on. Rhodes remains an unrepentant danger to society. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Hannah Rabinowitz & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A second Oath Keepers member, Kelly Meggs, the leader of the Florida contingent of the group, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The sentences are the first handed down in over a decade for seditious conspiracy." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to police water pollution, ruling that the Clean Water Act does not allow the agency to regulate discharges into some wetlands near bodies of water. The court held that law covers only wetlands 'with a continuous surface connection' to those waters, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for five justices. The decision was nominally unanimous, with all the justices agreeing that the homeowners who brought the case should not have been subject to the agency's oversight. But there was sharp disagreement about the majority's reasoning. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by the three liberal justices in a concurring opinion, said the decision would harm the E.P.A.'s ability to combat pollution." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Richard Lazarus in a Washington Post op-ed: "Congress was not at all shy about the geographi reach of the [1972] Clean Water Act. The statute targeted discharges into 'navigable waters,' but Congress also expressly defined that to include all 'waters of the United States.' Since the mid-1970s, the courts have uniformly agreed that Congress intended with that expansive definition to extend the law's protections far beyond traditional navigable waters.... Relying on a dictionary definition of 'waters' and ignoring the Clean Water Act's purpose, the court's conservative majority has adopted a radically truncated view of the reach of the law's restriction on water pollution." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The obvious fix for Sam & the Gang's ruling is for Congress to amend the Clean Water Act to specifically name the types of waters (i.e., wetlands & seasonal waterways) the EPA should regulate. Let's just ask My Kevin & Miss Margie to draft some legislation (ha ha ha).

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Stephen K. Bannon ... is scheduled to stand trial in May of next year for what prosecutors say was his role in defrauding Americans who paid money toward the construction of a southern border wall, a judge said Thursday. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, said that while the May 27, 2024 trial was later than he had anticipated -- he had originally considered a November date -- he was satisfied with the schedule proposed by Mr. Bannon's lawyers as long as prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney's office were satisfied. A prosecutor, Daniel Passeser, said that he was." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024. Matt Dixon & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration -- not his campaign -- have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis' presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked. NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor's office and with leadership positions in state agencies. They requested the recipient of the message contribute to the governor's campaign through a specific link that appeared to track who is giving as part of a 'bundle' program.... DeSantis [can use] his line-item veto pen to slash funding for projects that the same lobbyists whom they are asking for political cash have a professional stake in. Most of the lobbyists said they felt pressure to give to the governor's campaign." ~~~

~~~ DeSantolini Reflects the Lawlessness of the GOP. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post:"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that, if elected president, he would consider pardoning some of those convicted on charges related to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.... Twice in the interview, DeSantis avoided directly answering questions on whether he'd pardon Trump but left open the possibility.... DeSantis said he would use his pardon powers 'at the front end' of his administration, noting that 'a lot of people wait until the end of the administration to issue pardons.'" ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Even if [DeSantis' campaign] Twitter rollout had worked smoothly -- which it definitely did not — it would have been a debacle.... Behind these unforced errors lie deeper failures of political judgment by DeSantis, ones that speak to a blinkered and -- for all his cultural populism -- elitist worldview.... [Elon] Musk, while perhaps a genius in some areas, is also often an arrogant screw-up whose projects break down in public. (See: the Tesla Cybertruck's supposedly shatterproof windows or the explosion of the SpaceX Starship.)... DeSantis's decision to make his tacit alliance with Musk such an integral part of his campaign identity suggests a submissive and receding quality.... [DeSantis] speaks the language not of normal people but of right-wing counter-elites, thinkers and activists who come out of the same rarefied milieus as the progressive intellectuals they despise.... When he's speaking to plutocrats on Twitter Spaces, he thinks he's speaking to the people." ~~~

~~~ Marie: There was something else that went wrong with DeSantolini's presidential announcement, and this was something about which he had a couple of weeks' notice -- yet still did nothing to adjust his plans. Sally Goldenberg & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "DeSantis' original plan had been for him to do his first post-announcement interview on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, according to two people familiar with his plans. When the Fox News host was fired, the governor kept his commitment to the network. He appeared with fill-in host Trey Gowdy in the 8 p.m. hour although the cable news channel has seen evening viewership plummet since Carlson's ouster." Good leaders know how to plan. Moreover, if their plans don't work out, they know how to pivot to Plan B or C or D. If DeSantolini had had Lincoln's job during the U.S. Civil War, we'd all be living in slave states and singing "Swanee Ribber." But then today's Ron DeSantolini would be good with that. (Also linked yesterday.)

Randy Rainbow "interviews" Ron DeSantis:

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Andrew Lapin of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "Months before a Miami-area mother persuaded a local school to restrict access to an Amanda Gorman poem, she was posting antisemitic memes on her Facebook page. Now, Daily Salinas is apologizing for one of those things -- and unrepentant about the other. 'I want to apologize to the Jewish community,' Salinas told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Wednesday. She was saying sorry for a Facebook post she shared in March offering a summary of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' a notorious antisemitic forgery written more than a century ago in Russia. 'I'm not what the post says,' Salinas said. 'I love the Jewish community.'... [Salinas' Facebook] account, which JTA reviewed, features a flood of political posts reflecting right-wing ideologies -- and the antisemitic Protocols." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: This struck me from the JTA story: "[Salinas] added that English is not her first language." She used her unfamiliarity with English as part of her excuse for not knowing about the Protocols. English is my first language, and I've taken a lot of English classes over the years. But I'm still baffled by a lot of poetry that critics tell us is brilliant. Do you suppose Salinas, who admits to having trouble with English, and member of that Miami Lakes school board, just might not "get" Gorman's poem? (Children, on the other hand, have open, receptive minds, and they are as likely as I or more likely than I to interpret the poem in positive ways. But I suppose that's what worries all the wingers: that their own children might grow up to be decent, caring human beings.)

Indiana. This Is Insane. Kim Bellware & Daniel Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: "Indiana's medical licensing board decided late Thursday night to discipline a doctor who made headlines last year for performing an abortion for a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim. The board gave the doctor a letter of reprimand and ordered her to pay a $3,000 fine for violating ethical standards and state laws by discussing the case with a reporter. Indiana's Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita for nearly a year pursued punishment for Caitlin Bernard, an OB/GYN and an assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine who performed the abortion in June 2022, less than a week after Roe v. Wade was struck down, enacting trigger laws." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's precisely why the vindictive Rokita was angry about Dr. Bernard's statements AND why Dr. Bernard spoke up as she did: "She explained how, as a doctor, she felt she had 'an obligation' to ensure Hoosiers understood how abortion bans were affecting people across the country -- and could eventually affect them." Rokita wants to strut around pretending he's a paragon of virtue, and Bernard -- in warning the public -- exposed his cruelty. Bernard threatened Rokita's power over girls and women, and he can't abide that.

Mississippi. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "An unarmed 11-year-old Black boy [-- Aderrien Murry --] in Mississippi was shot by a police officer after he called 911 to report a domestic disturbance to try to protect his mother, his family's attorney said.... The boy was given a cellphone by his mother and told to call the police during a domestic disturbance involving the father of another one of her children, [an attorney for the family] said. After the child called 911, an Indianola police officer who was identified by the attorney as Greg Capers 'had his gun blazing' upon arrival at the home at around 4 a.m., Moore said. When Nakala Murry, the boy's mother, told the officer that no one in the house was armed, the officer yelled out that anyone in the home should come out with their hands up, [the attorney] said. Even though Aderrien adhered to the officer's commands and had his hands up, Capers shot him in the chest...." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ New Jersey. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Charles Frederick Sharp III had called the police to his home in southwest New Jersey in the middle of the night to report trespassers in his backyard. One was carrying a gun, Mr. Sharp, who spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, told a 911 dispatcher. Within five seconds of arrival, a police officer had fired multiple shots, fatally wounding Mr. Sharp as he stood outside his home in Mantua, N.J., in September 2021, according to state officials and footage from body cameras worn by police officers. Mr. Sharp, 49, was still on the phone with the police when he was struck. On Wednesday, the state's attorney general announced that a grand jury voted this week to take the rare step of indicting the officer, Salvatore Oldrati, on manslaughter charges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Can police departments across the U.S. please quit selecting officers for stupid? These cops seem to think that answering a 911 call gives them permission to immediately shoot the first person they see. What's the matter with them?

Texas. James Barragan, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "In an unprecedented move, a Texas House committee voted Thursday to recommend that Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office, citing a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking that investigators detailed one day earlier. During a specially called meeting Thursday afternoon, the House General Investigating Committee voted unanimously to refer articles of impeachment to the full chamber. The House will next decide whether to approve articles of impeachment against Paxton, which could remove the attorney general from office pending the outcome of a trial to be conducted by the Senate. If a majority of the 149-member House approves the articles before the regular legislative session ends Monday, senators would need to convene a special session to hear the case." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "At least one person was killed and 15 others injured Friday in a Russian rocket attack on a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement.... Ukraine's capital also faced a barrage of missile strikes early Friday -- the thirteenth such attack since the start of May -- regional officials said. No casualties or hits were recorded.... European nations led by Denmark and the Netherlands have agreed to form a coalition providing Ukraine with F-16 pilot training and maintenance, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.... The war could go on for 'decades,' said outspoken Kremlin supporter Dmitry Medvedev.... Japan announced new economic sanctions on Russia Friday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Comments

[P.D.Pepe]

Thanks Randy for smearing that waxy weasel woke Joker who fancies himself a contender. And I thought I couldn't feel more hatred toward anybody more than Fatty––-this twerp takes the cake along with the chocolate pudding.

The story above in Mississippi involving “An unarmed 11-year-old Black boy [-- Aderrien Murry --] in Mississippi was shot by a police officer after he called 911 to report a domestic disturbance to try to protect his mother, " is simply mind blowing. Another case of reckless, bone chilling disasters caused by our boys in blue who don't have a clue at how to conduct an intervention of this kind.

[Akhilleus]

That judge probably thought he’d instill a tiny molecule of shame in Oaf Keeper Stewart Rhodes by calling him a danger to the country and the fabric of democracy.

Rhodes, and assholes like him, see that as a compliment. The goal of far right extremists like Rhodes, the Oaf Keepers, the Loud Boys, MTG, Matt Gaetz, Trump, DeSantolini, and almost the entirety of the GOP (I’m soooo tired of reading about all the “moderate Republicans”) IS the destruction of democracy.

I don’t call it them members of the Party of Traitors because they compete for good citizenship awards.

[Ken Winkes]

Have only half an eye on the default nonsense but it would seem that the way things, as reported, are shaking out the MAGA nuts in McCarthy's caucus might well reject his too-lite deal because it's not nasty enough to satisfy their withered hearts and closed minds.

So....will he bring it to the floor, depending on enough Dem votes to carry the day?

That would not be a good look for Mr. Tough Guy.

It wasn't for John Boehner.

[Akhilleus]

Junior: this is your brain on too many eight balls.

Not very long ago, and perhaps still in some rat infested corners, this idiot was considered a star to confederates, someone who could perhaps snap up a senate seat with no problem (with the right gerrymandering, financial backing from right-wing oligarchs, and, of course, the necessary voter intimidation on Election Day).

But who am I kidding? As stupid as Junior is—he’s a Nazi Kiddy League idea of a demagogue—there are already more fanatical and dangerous idiots already darkening congressional offices.

But this is also why these other idiots can’t get anything done and instead resort to threats of violence, extortion, and actual violence in order to realize goals they could never achieve legislatively. They haven’t the talent, the interest, the patience, or the belief in democratic institutions to make things happen the way the founders envisioned. So, they need shortcuts: hostage taking, spreading lies and conspiracy theories, violence, gerrymandering, and a federal court system salted with judges friendly to racism, theocracy, and white supremacy.

And still the media treats them as serious people with a valid point of view.

It’s like saying “That Ted Bundy isn’t all that bad. He just has a different way of looking at the world.”

And that’s NOT hyperbole.

[Jeanne]

Completely agree, AK. I am not giving any jamokes the benefit of any doubt anymore. Some guy yesterday told me I needed to get out more and not be ignorant and arrogant about the lovely people in small towns wearing silly hats and carrying guns, as they are not ALL trumpists… and they aren’t responsible for the decline of the middle class and the businesses that have failed to save towns. I am not taking ownership of any of it. I didn’t cause any of it and I will not feel sorry for horrible people. YES—. Your fourth paragraph to the end. Dems need to cultivate more arrogance—. Like no bargains with criminals in Congress—

[Akhilleus]

Agree 100% with Jamal Bowman! Why are we taking to terrorists? Every day I read something along the lines of “Both sides are still negotiating.” Negotiating what? What can they possibly be talking about day after day, hour after hour?

Traitors say: give us what we want. No compromises!

How is that any basis for a conversation?

And over in the ultra terrorist camp, the Freedom Cock-ups, they’re getting ready to scream “Not enough” even if they get everything they demand.

Use the fucking Constitution and kick that weasel, My Kevin, out of your office.

So tired of this crap.

[RAS]

Will Stancil "The debt ceiling, the presidential race, the media, everywhere you see the basic problem in US politics: there’s a violent, hyperactive fascist minority, and then a liberal majority represented by inert, ancient seatwarmers who refuse to accept that they’re in any kind of fight
Liberal democracy can’t win without fighting back and seizing territory. But so many of our “victories” are just holding off the other side for another day, limiting the damage. And one by one institutions are falling, basically unchallenged: the Supreme Court, so much media
We really need liberal leaders who see their job as more than being managers of gradual decline, but that means we need YOUNGER leaders, ones that didn’t gradually work their way up through the hierarchy one step at a time by saying all the right things and never making an enemy"

[Patrick]

The threat against HRM The Queen in CA in the 80s? Not news. No problem. Frank Drebben took care of that, "no sweat."

[Akhilleus]

The Florida Dictator hoping to be an American Dictator, scrambling to distance himself from the dumpster fire he and the Twitter Dictator devised to announce his intentions sez:

'I was just in a room in Florida, so I didn’t really know necessarily what was going on.'

He forgot the “Doh!” at the end.

This autocratic, misanthropic little prick went to Yale. He’s no bumpkin. So he couldn’t have dreamed up a better excuse than “Gee. I was just settin’ in a room. I dunno nuthin”?

Does he think voters want a president who says “I got no idea what happened. I was just sittin’ in the war room and shit started blowing up and now we’re at war with China. Don’t look at me!”?

I guess he figures all will be forgiven as long as he sticks another needle in black people, owns a few more libs, and shouts “sochulists”! a few more times.

This is the best they have to offer. The best.