;)
Tuesday
May022023
May 3, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday in the tenth straight move in their fight against rapid inflation -- but they also opened the door to a possible pause in rate increases. Central bankers lifted rates to a range of 5 percent to 5.25 percent, a level they have not reached since the summer of 2007. The move capped the fastest series of rate increases since the 1980s, as the central bank led by Chair Jerome H. Powell attempts to slow the economy and weigh down price increases." This is part of a liveblog.
David Rising of the AP: "Russia claimed it foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin early Wednesday, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin and promising retaliation for what it termed a 'terrorist' act. Ukraine denied any involvement, saying Moscow could use it for further escalation of the war. Putin wasn't in the Kremlin at the time..., his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti. There was no independent verification of the reported attack on the Kremlin, which Russia authorities said occurred overnight but presented no evidence in support of the claim. Nor did officials say why it took more than 12 hours to report the incident. Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied any involvement. 'Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,' he said. He said the claims would provide a pretext for Russia 'to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities' in coming days." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' is liveblogging developments. (Also linked below.) The Times says the paper has verified the video.
There's No Defense for Trump. Lola Fadulu, et al., of the New York Times: "A lawyer defending ... Donald J. Trump against the writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit accusing him of rape said Wednesday that he would present no witnesses.... On Wednesday, speaking out of the jury's presence, [Joe] Tacopina told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan that an expert witness the defense had hoped to call on Mr. Trump's behalf was not available." A CNBC story says Tacopina told the court the witness could not appear because of "a health issue."
Michael Schmidt, one of the authors of the NYT story (also linked below) about the straw that broke TuKKKer's racist back, said on MSNBC that he thought that Carlson's firing was "a business decision." So, um, not outraged by racism.
Florida. DeSantolini Foiled. Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "Legislation that would have sharply curbed press protections in Florida has stalled in the State Legislature and won't face a vote this year -- a rare example of forces on the right thwarting a piece of Gov. Ron DeSantis's agenda. The bills, introduced in February, proposed sweeping changes to laws that shield media outlets from liability in defamation cases and sought to make it easier for private citizens to file libel suits. Mr. DeSantis has been outspoken in advocating for laws he says would 'hold these big media companies accountable.' But Mr. DeSantis ... appears to have misjudged the issue. In addition to opposition from news outlets and free-speech groups, the legislation faced a wave of resistance from his allies, including right-wing media outlets, Christian organizations and business groups."
** At yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) explains what the Supremes mean by "personal hospitality." And more. A devastating takedown of Clarence Thomas & other supremes. Thanks to RAS for the lead:
~~~~~~~~~~
Helene Cooper & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border with Mexico, officials said on Tuesday, as the administration braces for a possible influx of migrants seeking to take advantage of the lifting of Covid-era restrictions on asylum. Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that the troops would fill gaps in transportation, warehouse support, narcotics detection, data entry and other areas. The Pentagon said the additional troops would be armed for self-defense but would not have a law enforcement role. They will be deployed for 90 days to supplement 2,500 National Guard troops who are already at the border." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here.
Joe May Not Let Us Down, After All. Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "A standoff between House Republicans and President Biden over raising the nations borrowing limit has administration officials debating what to do if the government runs out of cash to pay its bills, including one option that previous administrations had deemed unthinkable. That option is effectively a constitutional challenge to the debt limit. Under the theory, the government would be required by the 14th Amendment to continue issuing new debt to pay bondholders, Social Security recipients, government employees and others, even if Congress fails to lift the limit before the so-called X-date. That theory rests on the 14th Amendment clause stating that 'the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.'... Top economic and legal officials at the White House, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department have made that theory a subject of intense and unresolved debate in recent months, according to several people familiar with the discussions." (Also linked yesterday.)
Edwin Rios of the Guardian: "The US Secret Service denied security clearance for Mohamed Khairullah, the longest-serving Muslim mayor in New Jersey, and prevented him from attending a White House Eid al-Fitr event on Monday afternoon marking the end of Ramadan. Khairullah, who was critical of the Trump administration's travel ban in 2017 that restricted entry to the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries, received the call from the Secret Service while he was en route to the White House. President Joe Biden revoked that ban in 2021.... In a statement to [NewJersey.com], United States Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that Khairullah was denied entry to the event on Monday night, regretting 'any inconvenience this may have caused' and noting that they were unable to 'comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House'. Two days earlier, Khairullah, who has been mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, a small town of 6,000 people, for more than 17 years, appeared alongside the state's governor, Phil Murphy, at the gubernatorial mansion for an Eid celebration." (Also linked yesterday.)
Melanie Zanona of CNN: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has accepted an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden on May 9 about the debt ceiling, according to a source familiar, setting the stage for a high-stakes moment in the debt ceiling standoff. Biden invited all four Congressional leaders to the meeting."
Democrats Throw a Hail-Mary Pass. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: A "45-page [bill], introduced without fanfare in January by a little-known Democrat, Representative Mark DeSaulnier of California, is part of a confidential, previously unreported, strategy Democrats have been plotting for months to quietly smooth the way for action by Congress to avert a devastating federal default if debt ceiling talks remain deadlocked.... Democrats on Tuesday ... started the process of trying to force [the] debt-limit increase bill to the floor through a so-called discharge petition that could bypass Republican leaders who have refused to raise the ceiling unless President Biden agrees to spending cuts and policy changes.... The strategy is no silver bullet, and Democrats concede it is a long shot." (Also linked yesterday.) An ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yes, Democrats have to engage in a conspiracy in order to save the country from Republican efforts to destroy it.
Ann Marimow & Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: At a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Tuesday morning, "Chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said a cascade of recent revelations about unreported lavish travel and real estate deals would be unacceptable for an alderman, much less ... members of the [Supreme Court]. But the court 'won't even acknowledge it's a problem,' Durbin said. 'Because the court will not act, Congress must.' Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) responded that the focus on Supreme Court ethics is nothing more than an 'unseemly effort by the Democratic left' to raise questions about the legitimacy of the court as it has become more conservative.... As the hearing began, two prominent constitutional experts -- conservative former federal judge J. Michael Luttig and Harvard legal scholar Laurence Tribe -- told the committee in prepared testimony that Congress has the power to impose a code of conduct for Supreme Court justices, but cannot order the high court to come up with rules on its own.... Several ethics experts and former federal judges are expected to testify at the hearing...." (Also linked yesterday.) The report has been updated. ~~~
~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "A prominent conservative former federal judge joined a chorus of legal experts from across the political spectrum on Tuesday in calling on Congress to enact new ethical standards for Supreme Court justices, after a series of revelations about the justices' undisclosed gifts, luxury travel and property deals. The statement by Judge J. Michael Luttig, a retired appeals court judge revered by some conservatives, came as the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to hold a hearing on Supreme Court ethics. Pressure has mounted among progressives for a stricter code of conduct for the justices, the nation's highest judges, who are appointed to lifetime terms and are bound by few disclosure requirements. Congress 'indisputably has the power under the Constitution' to 'enact laws prescribing the ethical standards applicable to the nonjudicial conduct and activities of the Supreme Court of the United States,' Judge Luttig said in a written statement presented to the Judiciary Committee." (Also linked yesterday.)
On the Importance of News Photographers. Katherine Tully-McManus & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "Chuck Schumer spoke to Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Monday and the ailing California Democrat is 'hopeful' she'll return to Washington next week, according to notes the Senate majority leader held at a Tuesday press conference.... Schumer did not address Feinstein's absence aloud during the press conference." Includes photo of Schumer's notes, which he appears to be holding behind his back. ~~~
~~~ Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday called for ailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to resign, noting the senator's monthslong absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee has stalled work there. Feinstein 'should retire,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Bluesky, a nascent social media platform. 'I think criticisms of that stance as "anti-feminist" are a farce,' she added, referencing comments from Feinstein defenders who argue that sexism ― not truancy ― is driving resignation calls."
Heidi Przybyla of Politico: "Leonard Leo, who helped to choose judicial nominees for ... Donald Trump, obtained a historic $1.6 billion gift for his conservative legal network via an introduction through the Federalist Society, whose tax status forbids political activism. Leo first met Barre Seid, the now 91-year-old manufacturing magnate turned donor, through an introduction arranged by Eugene Meyer, the longtime director of the Federalist Society. At the time, Leo was the society's executive vice president, and he is currently its co-chair. Meyer envisioned Seid as a contributor to the society, according to a person familiar with the introduction. Instead, Leo cultivated Seid as a funder of his own dark money network. The result was a $1.6 billion gift announced last year -- which is believed to be the largest political donation ever.... Interviews with people familiar with the internal workings of the Federalist Society, including two board members, paint a picture of a symbiotic relationship in which Leo uses his connection to the vast network of scholars in the society to earn credibility with donors, who then contribute to dark money operations that engage in the kind of partisanship the society officially eschews." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I had no idea the Federalist Society pretended to be nonpartisan. That's laughable. But the fact that Leo is engaged in corrupt fundraising? No surprise there.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: The Library of Congress on Tuesday released "an enormous trove of the private papers of Justice John Paul Stevens.... They provide a panoramic inside look at the justices at work on thousands of cases, including Bush v. Gore and the 1992 abortion case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The papers are studded with candid and occasionally caustic remarks, sometimes echoing current concerns about the court's power and authority.... The newly released files cover the years up to 2005, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the Supreme Court. They are filled with notes in Justice Stevens's not always legible scrawl, marked-up briefs, draft opinions, vote tallies, memos among the justices, recommendations from clerks and all manner of other paperwork." An interesting read. ~~~
~~~ Joan Biskupic of CNN: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor provided the early framework that steered the outcome in the dispute over the 2000 presidential election and ensured George W. Bush would win the White House over Al Gore, Supreme Court documents released on Tuesday show. Memos found in the newly opened files of the late Justice John Paul Stevens offer a first-ever view of the behind-the-scenes negotiations on Bush v. Gore at the court. They also demonstrate the tension among the nine justices being asked to decide a presidential election on short deadlines. The documents opened at the Library of Congress help reveal how the now-retired O'Connor, the first woman on the high court and a justice steeped in politics from her early days in the Arizona legislature, partnered with Justice Anthony Kennedy, effectively squeezing out an argument advanced by then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist.... [After reading O'Connor's memo,] Kennedy ... fully separated himself from Rehnquist's view of complete state legislative authority over presidential elections with no check by a state judges interpreting the state's constitution."
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "The FBI this week arrested a former bureau supervisor in connection with the Jan. 6 riot who they said called for killing officers protecting the Capitol that day. Authorities arrested Jared L. Wise in Oregon on Monday, court records show. An FBI affidavit says he worked as a special agent and a supervisory special agent at the FBI from 2004 until 2017.... Wise was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct with an intent to impede an orderly session of Congress; and unlawfully parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. 'I'm former -- I'm former law enforcement. You're disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can't see it.... Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!' federal authorities say he told officers before he entered the Capitol. 'Yeah, f--- them! Yeah, kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em!'... The initial tip [about Wise's participation in the insurrection] came from someone Wise told about entering the building, according to the affidavit."
Lola Fadulu, et al., of the New York Times: "During her testimony in the civil trial against ... Donald J. Trump, E. Jean Carroll told the court that she had called a friend immediately after leaving the department store where she said he had raped her in the mid-1990s. On Tuesday, that friend [-- writer Lisa Birnbach --] took the witness stand.... 'I want the world to know that she is telling the truth,' Ms. Birnbach [said]. [Birnbach related that Carroll told her about the rape in the spring of 1996.]... Jessica Leeds, a former stockbroker who said Mr. Trump assaulted her on an airplane in the late 1970s, also testified Tuesday afternoon. Ms. Carroll's attorneys called her to establish Mr. Trump's 'modus operandi,' which they said was a pattern of assaulting women." Worth reading the details. (Also linked yesterday.) The story has been updated. ~~~
~~~ Erica Orden of Politico: "Donald Trump will not testify in the civil lawsuit accusing him of raping a woman in the mid-1990s, the former president's lawyer said at trial in Manhattan federal court Tuesday.... Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina had demurred when asked several times by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan whether Trump would testify, leaving the option open. On Tuesday, however, Tacopina informed Kaplan that Trump had decided against taking the witness stand.... An attorney for [plaintiff E. Jean] Carroll said she expects to play about 45 minutes of a videotaped deposition of Trump for jurors." MB: Of course Trump can't testify. He's busy playing golf in Scotland! ~~~
~~~ Trump Defects! BBC News: "... Donald Trump has said 'it is great to be home' as he arrived in Aberdeen on a visit to his Scottish golf properties. It is Mr Trump's first visit to the UK since 2019 after leaving office. He attended a ceremony to break ground on a new course at his Aberdeenshire resort, Trump International Scotland." MB: Okay, I'll admit it's unlikely Scotland would let him stay even if he tried. (Also linked yesterday.)
Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump got so irritated with ... NBC reporter [Vaughn Hillyard]'s questions about a Manhattan criminal investigation that he grabbed the journalist's phones and demanded that he be removed from an airplane interview, according to audio of the exchange obtained by The Washington Post and as first reported by Vanity Fair. The incident unfolded as Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination in 2024, was speaking to a small group of reporters aboard his plane after his March 25 campaign rally in Waco, Tex." MB: The Raw Story's report on the incident was linked here yesterday. Oh, and three cheers for Hillyard, who often bravely treads into Trump territory to interview MAGAmaniacs.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Jeremy Peters, et al., of the New York Times: "A text message sent by Tucker Carlson that set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox on the eve of its billion-dollar defamation trial showed its most popular host sharing his private, inflammatory views about violence and race. The discovery of the message contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson's firing. In the message, sent to one of his producers in the hours after violent Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Carlson described how he had recently watched a video of a group of men -- Trump supporters, he said -- violently attacking 'an Antifa kid.'... And then he expressed a sense of dismay that the attackers, like him, were white.... 'It's not how white men fight,' he said. But he said he found himself for a moment wanting the group to kill the person he had described as the Antifa kid.... The text message revealed more about his views on racial superiority.... The text is part of redacted court filings and its contents were previously unreported." The article reproduces Tucker's full text message. The Guardian's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's unclear what most concerned the board: that Carlson was a racist or that his racism was a "bad look." In a way, the message is exculpatory: it seems to show TuKKKer coming to terms with his own violent, racist views & finding those views beneath the very fine white man he believed himself to be. Moreover, it shows that the board did not see racism as a good thing.
Dell Cameron & Dhruv Mehrotra of Wired: "A doctors’ organization at the center of the ongoing legal fight over the abortion drug mifepristone has suffered a significant data breach. A link to an unsecured Google Drive published on the group's website pointed users last week to a large cache of sensitive documents, including financial and tax records, membership rolls, and email exchanges spanning over a decade. The more than 10,000 documents lay bare the outsize influence of a small conservative organization working to lend a veneer of medical science to evangelical beliefs on parenting, sex, procreation, and gender.... The records show how the College, which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes as a hate group, managed to introduce fringe beliefs into the mainstream simply by being, as the founder of Fox News once put it, 'the loudest voice in the room.'"
Beyond the Beltway
Florida v. Earth. Saul Elbein of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law Tuesday a sweeping ban on sustainable investing. House Bill 3 bars state and local governments from factoring in environmental, social or governance (ESG) factors in their decision of whether to invest or contract with specific businesses. It also obligates state-registered banks to make loans to several industries -- including fossil fuels, private prisons or the manufacture and sale of firearms -- that the GOP alleges some large financial firms have been turning away from. House Bill 3 would bar financial institutions from 'discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs -- including their support for securing the border, owning a firearm, and increasing our energy independence,' according to a fact sheet from the state of Florida. In his signing ceremony on Tuesday, DeSantis -- standing above a lectern that said GOVERNMENT OF LAWS, NOT WOKE POLITICS -- lambasted ESG as an attempt by 'Davos elites' to 'impose ideology through business institutions.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yes, you can tell a business it can't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc., because such discrimination violates the U.S. Constitution and federal laws. But butting in to tell a financial institution that it can't consider environmental impact (or other issues like safety records, for instance) in choosing loan recipients seems both unlawful and remarkably anti-business. Ron & his Klan seem to be trying hard to kick prudence and decency out of Florida. They're doing all they can to make Florida into the nation's hell-hole. It's horrifying.
Florida. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "When the Walt Disney Co. went looking for evidence to feature in its new lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, its lawyers found much of what they needed in DeSantis's own recently published memoir.... Numerous quotes taken from 'The Courage to be Free' appear to support the company's central allegation: that the Republican governor improperly wielded state power to punish Disney's speech criticizing his policies, violating the First Amendment.... [In the book, DeSantis] boasts extensively about his war on Disney to advertise how he would marshal the powers of the presidency against so-called woke elites." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ OR, as driftglass succinctly puts it, "Dollar Store Goebbels about to get walloped upside the head with his own book by an army of lawyers for the Happiest Place On Earth." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is another aspect of Trumpism that DeSantis has tried to master -- and failed. Trump often boasts about his various unlawful acts, but so far he has been able to get away with it. DeSantis's boasts of his own unlawful acts may result in a court loss for him, for his Klan and for Florida taxpayers. ~~~
~~~ Florida, the Dark State. Gary Fineout of Politico: The governor's office won't say who is paying for Ron DeSantis's flights around the country, or even around the world. "State Rep. Jeff Holcomb -- the House sponsor of a bill that would shield DeSantis' travel records associated with taxpayer paid travel from scrutiny -- suggested on the House floor on Monday that who pays for the governor's whereabouts ... would still somehow be available.... Supporters of the legislation, which would also cover travel records of other top state officials, say it is needed for security purposes. DeSantis, when asked about it on Monday, said that it wasn't something that he recommended but also said that he gets a lot of threats. But the bill, which is poised to go to his desk..., would also shield records for all past trips from public view." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So there might be a disgruntled time-traveling taxpayer who goes back and throws DeSantis mid-flight from a plane he was on last week??? Yeah, that's plausible. ~~~
~~~ Update. Stephen Neukam of the Hill: "Republican lawmakers in Florida on Tuesday approved a bill that would shield the travel records of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other state leaders from public disclosure. The bill, which passed the Florida House along a party-line vote of 84-31 after clearing the Senate last month, would exempt the travel history of the state's governor and their immediate family, the lieutenant governor, Cabinet members, Senate president, House speaker and the state Supreme Court's chief justice from public records laws."
Florida. Drunken Woman (Allegedly!) Flips Off Gaetz, Spills Wine on Him. Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "A Florida woman was charged with felony battery after she allegedly threw a glass of wine on Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., officials said Tuesday. The woman, 41-year-old Selena Chambers of Tallahassee, threw the drink at the congressman after 'swearing loudly' at him as she passed him at a wine festival in northwest Florida on Saturday, a person who was with Gaetz at the time told police. That person, Blaine Odom, said that 'Chambers then walked away yelling and flipping him off,' according to an arrest report provided to CNBC by the Walton County Sheriff's Office. But Chambers told an officer at the time of her arrest that she 'was walking and tripped and spilled her drink on Representative Gaetz,' according to the report. She also said that she had consumed alcohol at the festival, and that she recognized Gaetz before spilling her drink." MB: I totally oppose violence against Gaetz. That said, I hope the wine was a full-bodied red.
Minnesota. Chris Boyette & Dakin Andone of CNN: "Authorities have arrested and charged with arson a man federal prosecutors said is responsible for setting fires at two Minneapolis mosques and separately spray-painting the district office door of a Muslim American member of Congress [-- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) --], according to a news release from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. Jackie Rahm Little, 36, also known as Joel Arthur Tueting, was arrested Saturday by the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office before being taken into federal custody a day later by agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the release said.
Minnesota. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "A former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders as other officers restrained George Floyd was found guilty on Monday of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Mr. Floyd's killing. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said in the verdict that the former officer, Tou Thao, who had waived his right to a jury trial, 'actively encouraged his three colleagues' dangerous prone restraint of Floyd.' Mr. Thao, 37, was the last of the four officers with unresolved criminal charges in the killing of Mr. Floyd." (Also linked yesterday.)
Montana. Amy Hanson & Matthew Brown of the AP: "Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the transgender state lawmaker silenced after telling Republicans they would have blood on their hands for opposing gender-affirming health care for kids, was barred from returning to the Montana House floor in a Tuesday court ruling that came just hours before the Legislature planned to wrap up its biennial session. District Court Judge Mike Menahan said it was outside his authority to overrule lawmakers who voted last week to exclude Zephyr from the House floor and debates. He cited the importance of preserving the Constitution's separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches." The New York Times story is here.
New York. More GOP Voter Fraud. Dave Lucas of WAMC Albany: "Three Rensselaer County officials with close ties to the ruling Republican Party were indicted last week on federal charges as part of an investigation into ballot fraud.... According to the U.S. Attorney, Richard Crist, James Gordon, and Leslie Wallace were arrested and charged Thursday with conspiring to violate the rights of county voters during the 2021 election cycle. The alleged ballot scheme in Troy appears to have taken advantage of looser absentee ballot requirements that were in place during the pandemic. Crist is the Director of Operations for Rensselaer County, Gordon is the Director of the Bureau for Central Services of the county, and Wallace works for the county executive.... In January, former Rensselaer County Elections Commissioner Jason Schofield pleaded guilty to unlawfully using the names and dates of birth of voters to fraudulently apply for absentee ballots. The Republican had resigned at the end of December. Last June, Republican Troy City Councilor Kim Ashe-McPherson resigned after pleading guilty to fraudulently submitting absentee ballots in 2021."
North Carolina. Caroline Kitchener & Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post: "Republicans in North Carolina introduced a plan on Tuesday to ban abortion in the state after 12 weeks of pregnancy, a move that would significantly narrow the window for legal abortions but stop short of the more-restrictive bans that have been enacted in other Southern states. The new measure was unveiled just days after proposed bans fizzled last week in two other conservative states -- a near-total ban in South Carolina and a six-week ban in Nebraska.... In North Carolina on Tuesday, female Republican lawmakers took a leading role in introducing the legislation at a surprise press conference, which capped months of closed-door deliberations among Republicans, many of whom had been pushing for a six-week ban."
Way Beyond
Europe. Patrick Smith of NBC News: "Police across Europe and South America arrested more than 100 people Wednesday in a wave of raids against one of Italy's most notorious organized crime groups. A total of 132 people were arrested across 10 countries, in a huge and complex operation involving 2,770 officers, Europol, the international policing agency of the European Union, said in a statement. 'Members of one of the world's most powerful criminal networks have been taken into custody,' said Europol, which described Wednesday's operation as the 'largest-ever coordinated hit' against the 'ndrangehta, arguably the world's richest organized crime group."
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Wednesday is here: "Russia's defense industry is boosting the pace and volume of weapons production, as the Kremlin's troops are depending on the 'timely replenishment' of arms, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He added that Moscow has made improvements in repairing arms and military vehicles, but that such efforts needed to be 'intensified.' Meanwhile, the European Union is pushing for increased ammunition production for Ukraine, Reuters reported, and Denmark said it has committed $250 million worth of military equipment and financial support to Kyiv....
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not had any conversations with the White House about the massive leak of highly classified U.S. intelligence documents on the Discord messaging platform, he said in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post. The leader said he learned of the intelligence leak -- which included grim assessments about Ukraine's prospects in its war with Russia -- when the news broke. Revelations about Russian combat deaths have spurred fears of even worse carnage in the coming months, when Ukraine's anticipated spring offensive begins. The United States said this week that about 20,000 Russians have been killed in action since December and another 80,000 have been wounded i the same period. The rate at which Russian forces are being killed or wounded has spiked in recent months, according to the latest White House estimates."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Dozens of officers from several law enforcement agencies swarmed Midtown Atlanta on Wednesday, searching for a gunman who opened fire in a medical office building, killing one and injuring four others, the authorities said. The gunman, identified as Deion Patterson, 24, stole a vehicle afterward and fled, the Atlanta Police Department said. He left the surrounding area and remained at large late Wednesday afternoon, the authorities said." ~~~
CNBC: "Hiring at private companies unexpectedly swelled in April, countering expectations for a cooling job market ahead, payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Private payrolls rose by 296,000 for the month, above the downwardly revised 142,000 the previous month and well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 133,000. The gain was the highest monthly increase since July 2022. The surge comes despite Federal Reserve efforts to slow economic growth and in particular to tame a powerful labor market that has added more than 800,000 jobs this year by ADP's count."
The New York Times story on the apprehension & arrest of the (alleged!) Cleveland, Texas, mass murderer is here. CNN's story is linked in yesterday's Ledes. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: "A day after the man suspected of killing five of his neighbors in a Texas shooting was arrested, the sheriff says his wife has also been taken into custody. Divimara Lamar Nava, 53, wife of suspect Francisco Oropeza, was in custody in connection with the Friday night shooting, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson. Nava had previously denied knowledge of Oropeza's whereabouts, Henderson said, but authorities believe she hid him in the home near Conroe where he was arrested Tuesday. Lamar Nava was arrested early Wednesday and was being held in the Montgomery County jail on a felony charge of hindering the apprehension or prosecution of a known felon, according to online jail records. The records do not list a bond for her and indicate she was arrested by state police at a home in Conroe."
Serbia. New York Times: "A seventh-grade student went on a shooting rampage at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, early Wednesday, killing eight children and a security guard, the Serbian police said. Th police said in a statement that the shooting took place around 8:40 a.m. at Vladislav Ribnikar primary school in the capital. The boy, who was not identified and whose age was not given, used his father's handgun to fire multiple shots into a crowd at the school, the police said. The suspect was apprehended in the schoolyard, the statement said. Six children and a teacher were injured in the attack and taken to the hospital."
Share Article
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.
Reader Comments (18)
Not to worry about the default on the national debt. Remember all
those billionaires who got big tax breaks from the former president*?
Well, if all us peons run out of money to purchase all their goods and
services, then they won't be billionaires anymore.
I'm sure they will put pressure somewhere (money in pockets?) to
get us out of this situation.
Or possibly they'll give back some of that tax money they secreted
out of the country to save the republic.
(And if you believe that last part, I have a bridge for sale in NYC).
Sometimes after digesting the major news stories you find just the thing that seals the deal –-after throwing up your hands and cursing in the wind you sometimes come across something SO ridiculous that you laugh out loud. For instance:
A pro-Donald Trump pundit made a dubious argument about Democrats and the former president on Tuesday, and Twitter users had a lot to say about it.
Conservative Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the anti-Muslim group Act for America, took to Twitter to ask this rhetorical question: “Why are Democrats so intimidated by President Trump’s masculinity?”
Now that question alone got me all in a twitter. We democrats see Fatty as an attractive manly man and therefore are threatened? Below is a response from a twitterer that pretty much sums it up:
"Hmm. Between the dyed bouffant hair, the makeup, the shoe lifts, the girdle, and the soft, doughy body, it's hard to say."
@P.D.Pepe: My response to Brigitte would be something like:
If Trump is such a sex symbol with all that masculinity crap, why
wouldn't women just be jumping him left and right? Why would
he have to resort to rape or unwanted advances?
Why does he have to import wives from Eastern Europe? Is it because
all of the women in the USA know what he is and what he does?
Waiting for a response, Brigitte.
@P.D.Pepe: But what about those tiny, girly hands? Just adorable.
@Forrest Morris: As a person of modest means, I must pass on some of New York's more valuable bridges that get you from one borough to another, and instead offer to purchase the Bow Bridge in Central Park. How much you asking?
Part of a letter sent to John Roberts from John Dannenberg, retired Hawaii state judge:
"The Court, under your leadership and with your votes, has wantonly flouted established precedent. Your “conservative” majority has cynically undermined basic freedoms by hypocritically weaponizing others. The ideas of free speech and religious liberty have been transmogrified to allow officially sanctioned bigotry and discrimination, as well as to elevate the grossest forms of political bribery beyond the ability of the federal government or states to rationally regulate it. More than a score of decisions during your tenure have overturned established precedents—some more than forty years old– and you voted with the majority in most. There is nothing “conservative” about this trend. This is radical “legal activism” at its worst."
Sheldon Whitehouse calls out the courts ethics.
Oh, where did we go wrong?
Long ago, it seems, when we first confused ourselves with God, a confusion immortalized in Genesis: "So God created man in His own image."
Has to be the ultimate in egoism and it's now displayed in numerous Republican state legislatures that are now exerting their god-like power to re-fashion their citizens and their polities in their own image..
Don't like gay? Outlaw it. Don't like an idea or a book? Get rid of it. Don't like worker protections? Considerations of social justice? Facts about climate change, rising sea levels, even your own history? Ban them....
Just exercise your god-like legislative powers and all will be well. So do the Republican gods decree.
We remain a very confused Christian nation...
@Ken Winkes: It turns out that for self-styled freedom-loving Republicans, "freedom's just another word for doing what the Dear Leader commands." "Freedom" has never been more repressive. But then degrading and/or reversing the meaning of key words is a feature of authoritariansim.
Ken: And God is pretty pissed off about using his name in vain. He says it was all just a hoax–-a couple old Jews took to pen and put out a dandy story to keep their flock in line. He claims he came across as a guy who smites this and smites that, hence scared the be=jesus out of the flock of followers. And then some other writers changed the tune a bit and put in a son of said God to ease all that smiting and added a Holy Ghost for good measure. He, God. can't get over how popular he has been over all these years and claims he is just an ordinary bloke who, for some heavenly reason, has been kept alive and worshipped. How long will this go on, he muses, and continues playing solitaire with very old stained cards.
@Marie: That old Bow Bridge? It's over 150 years old, must be
quite rickety by now. You wouldn't want it. But I can send you a
framed 10X12 photo for only $19.95, plus shipping and handling.
The last time I crossed it, I was in town for the HBO filming of
'Into The Woods'. Bernadette Peters returned to the production for
just that one time.
You can see me if you have that particular DVD, made in the late
eighties, I think. I'm the one with really, really short blond hair.
Not being a woman, I can only guess what massive attraction DiJiT has for the fair sex, but I imagine that his complaining, nasal, whiny, upper-octave Queens-y voice must be a siren-like call to the female ear. The same kind of annoying vocalization by which babies demand the attention of adult diaper-changers, food providers and swaddlers.
But it is really a mystery. (Actually, I have many women in my life, and they all must be liars, because they all SAY they loathe DiJiT and the dirt he stands on. And now, I read that he is the apogee of masculinity. If it's in the papers it must be true, no?)
Downtown Atlanta has a "live shooter" who has so far racked up five victims. Shooter is still at large.
Active shooter? Hooray! Another NRA-GOP approved all star! Oops, or maybe it’s just one more bad apple. Thooouuuggghhhttts and praaayyyeeerrrsss. Zzzzzzzz.
Does anyone know of any funeral home chains listed on the
New York stock exchange?
With mass killings picking up, that would be a good investment,
because Republicans will be against any and all gun control or
other preventive measures that would be proposed.
PD,
I think you have something with that Old Testament-New Testament dichotomy. On one hand you have the god of lightning bolts, burning bushes, eye for an eye vengeance, and a “Do what I say or you all die” sensibility.
But then…along comes Jesus and it’s all sweetness and light. Love everyone, turn the other cheek, love your enemies…don’t kill their first born, send them plagues, or drown them in the Red Sea. Make nice with them. I mean, geeez, that kill ‘em all shit is so…Old Testament, right?
Don’t know why it never occurred to me before, but what we have here is likely one of the first examples of a narrative sleight of hand called retcon. Retconning became a huge thing in comic books. The word refers to retroactive continuity, a way of going back and fixing stuff that seemed pretty much unfixable. The hero beats the bad guy by focusing seventy five lasers on his head, stabbing him in the throat fifty times, and dropping a nuclear bomb down the front of his pants (ouch!). But then…miraculously, fifteen issues later we see “Return of the Bad Guy”. Turns out he was just too good to bump off like that so we find that it wasn’t really the bad guy who got nuked, the hero was hypnotized into thinking that was case. Instead, he eviscerated a cantaloupe with the bad guy’s face painted on it.
A famous bit of retconning came after Conan Doyle bumped off Sherlock Holmes in a titanic battle with the evil Professor Moriarty in “The Final Problem” (great story, BTW). They both went over at Reichenbach Falls. The end. But three years later, Holmes (under public pressure) had to be revived. So Doyle had to retcon the death. Something, something, something, Holmes lived! Wicked cool!
Could this be what happened with the Bible? God of Vengeance becomes Nice Guy Jesus? Actually the Son of God idea was brilliant, loads of storytellers have used this trick. Son of Odysseus, Son of Dracula, Son of Godzilla, Son of Godzilla’s Pet Cat…it’s great. It’s a get out of narrative jail card. And even better, they did the Death of Jesus, followed by Ta-Da! Raised from the dead! I can’t tell you how many Death of Superman type comics my brother and I groaned over when we were kids. Yeah…Death of Superman until next month…
Hey, if a plot device works, it’s got legs.
And for about 2000 years now we’ve been hearing about The Return of Jesus! Next week. Um…next month…November 21, 1988 at 3:34 pm, ahhh…well, pretty soon. Stay tuned.
Retconning Lives!!
A little good news from Atlanta is that only one of the five victims has dies. All five were women.
@P.D.Pepe & @Akhilleus: In fact, the Jesus story really is a retcon (a term new to me). The Jews believed in a savior messiah, anointed by their god, who would always come through & save them from whatever group temporarily conquered them. The first savior messiah -- so described in the Old Testament -- was the Persian Cyrus the Great who saved the Jews from the Babylonian exile. But no savior messiah had beat the Romans, who destroyed Jerusalem after the failed Jewish Revolt of 70 C.E. and began kicking Jews out of the occupied lands.
So the Jesus story ("Jesus Christ" roughly translates as "savior messiah") developed. It was not sui generis. One of the models for Jesus is the "suffering servant" in Isaiah. There are a number of other models lifted from other cultures. It took a while for the full resurrection story to develop. (There's no clear resurrection in "original Mark," the first canonical gospel. Rather, original Mark ends with the women going to the tomb and discovering that Jesus's body is missing.) But the idea is, as P.D.Pepe writes, the savior messiah was doing good works & miracles at the Hebrew god's behest, and was saving souls, if not the homeland itself. Knowing this entrenched 3,000-year-old belief, you can see why today's Jews are so protective of what they consider to be the land of Israel. It doesn't excuse Netanyahu, but it allows you to see where he's coming from. He's not just fighting over who gets to park on what dirt; he's preserving the Holy Land.
@Forrest Morris: The Bow Bridge for (less than!) $20 sounds like a pretty good deal. If the picture includes a young, short-haired blond Forrest posing on the bridge, it's a great deal! I am, however, a little worried about those unspecified shipping & handling charges. Less than a million $$$?