The Commentariat -- February 24, 2021
Late Morning Update:
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.
Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective, particularly against severe disease, though questions remain about how well it works in older people, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The vaccine is 66 percent effective against overall Covid-19 illness but less effective against B.1.351, the strain first found in South Africa. The agency laid out data in briefing documents posted ahead of a Feb. 25 meeting of an independent advisory panel of vaccine experts that will discuss whether the vaccine should be authorized for people 18 and older."
Marianne Levine of Politico: "Neera Tanden saw both of her Senate committee votes postponed Wednesday morning, the latest sign that her nomination to become director of the White House budget office is on the brink of collapse. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Budget committees sent out notices Wednesday saying that their slated votes on Tanden's nomination to become director of the Office of Management and Budget would be delayed."
Georgia Senate Race 2022. Reis Thebault & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former Georgia senator David Perdue will not run for Senate in 2022, he said Tuesday, backing out of the race a week after he filed the paperwork to explore a bid. Perdue made his decision days after he traveled to Florida to meet with ... Donald Trump and grew concerned [Trump] was not focused on helping Republicans win in 2022.... The two men get along well, but Perdue was reportedly disturbed by Trump's lack of focus on helping Republicans in 2022 and by his desire to exact revenge on party members he deemed insufficiently loyal, a person with knowledge of Perdue's thinking said. Perdue feared Trump would create a difficult climate, the person said." A CNN report is here.
"Alien Reptiles." Steve Cavendish, et al., of the New York Times lay out what is known about the Nashville Christmas bomber's motivations. "The F.B.I. and other federal and local law enforcement agencies investigating the bombing have not made any findings public, although officials said they expect a report by early March. Whatever else might have been on [Anthony] Warner's mind in the period leading up to his death, he had been fixated for years on the notion that alien reptiles who inhabited underground tunnels controlled the earth, a fantasy spread by a notorious British serial conspiracy theorist."
~~~~~~~~~~
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Biden spoke by video conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Tuesday, trying in his first virtual meeting with a foreign leader to restore a sense of normalcy to a core relationship brusquely upended by ... Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump often cast America's northern neighbor, close ally and key trading partner as an economic predator and insulted Mr. Trudeau as 'two-faced,' 'weak' and 'dishonest.' Tuesday's tone could hardly have been more different. 'The United States has no closer friend than Canada,' Mr. Biden told Mr. Trudeau just before their meeting. 'We're all best served when the United States and Canada work together and lead together.' 'U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,' Mr. Trudeau responded.... In their statements [following their meeting], Mr. Biden and Mr. Trudeau said they would cooperate not only on climate change but also on the coronavirus, as well as on restoring their respective economies and combating racial discrimination. Mr. Biden also said that closer cooperation would allow the United States and Canada to more effectively compete with China.... But the relationship between the United States and Canada is not trouble free [because of disagreements over the Keystone XL pipeline & dairy tariffs]."
Joe Makes the Tough Calls, Too. Hans Nichols of Axios: "President Biden plans to call Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday, ahead of the public release of a potentially damning intelligence report about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a source briefed on the call told Axios.... The report, an unclassified document produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for expected release on Thursday, implies Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.... Biden is moving to recalibrate the Saudi relationship after the Trump administration made Riyadh's preferences in the Persian Gulf a priority for U.S. foreign policy."
John Hudson & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmed President Biden's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday, elevating an African American woman and career diplomat to one of the most high-profile jobs in diplomacy. The upper chamber took an initial step, voting 78 to 20 to elevate Linda Thomas-Greenfield to ambassador status, with Democrats and moderate Republicans praising her decades of experience serving under presidents of both parties. A second vote to make her 'representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations' was 78 to 21."
Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "The Senate voted 92 to 7 Tuesday to approve President Biden's nomination of Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary. Vilsack's path to confirmation was expected to be smooth after the Senate Agriculture Committee voted unanimously this month to advance his nomination, and many Republicans voted in favor Tuesday, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) broke with Democrats to vote against his nomination.... Asked about his no vote on the Vilsack confirmation, Sanders told The Washington Post, 'Well, I like Tom, and I've known him for years. But I think we need somebody a little bit more vigorous in terms of protecting family farms and taking on corporate agriculture.' Vilsack had faced intense criticism from civil rights activists saying he did not go far enough to eradicate racial discrimination at the agency or to support farmers of color during his first stint in the role. Corey Lea, a Black rancher in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and head of the Cowtown Foundation advocacy group, sent an open letter to Biden objecting to Vilsack's appointment. But he said Vilsack's confirmation represented an opportunity to make amends for the missteps in his first time in the job."
Darryl Fears of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmation hearing for Deb Haaland, nominated to become the first Native American interior secretary, morphed Tuesday into a proxy fight over the future of fossil fuels as lawmakers from oil- and gas-producing states grilled her regarding the Biden administration's embrace of green energy. Nearly all the Republican members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee questioned Haaland about her past statements regarding the need to stop drilling on federal lands managed by the Interior Department. President Biden, who says the country needs to transition away from burning fossil fuels to mitigate climate change, has paused new drilling leases on public lands and waters -- a sharp departure from the Trump administration, which worked to expand drilling.... Through it all, Haaland ... remained calm, stressed that she wanted to work with supporters and opponents alike, and kept her answers short. Haaland, 60, sought to defuse aggressive questions from Republicans by reminding them that she was named the most bipartisan freshman congresswoman during her first term in the House as a Democrat from New Mexico, a seat to which she was reelected in November."
Marianne Levine of Politico: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will support Merrick Garland's nomination for attorney general, five years after blocking the judge's path to the Supreme Court.... McConnell has described his decision to block Garland as the 'most consequential thing I've ever done.'" ~~~
~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "One nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, is sailing toward confirmation as the next attorney general. Another, Neera Tanden, is on the defensive as the nominee to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. What they share at this moment is the capacity of Republicans for compartmentalization and deliberate memory loss.... What was unspoken [during Garland's Senate hearing] but circulating through the hearing room throughout the day was the fact that this was the same committee, and many of the same committee Republicans, who denied Garland so much as a hearing when he was nominated by Presidnt Barack Obama in early 2016 to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia.... If giving offense on Twitter were the standard, Republicans should have abandoned Trump long ago. Instead, they looked the other way, pretending they never so much as read those tweets. Some Republicans say confirmation of [Neera] Tanden would not help in the healing process the country needs, ignoring the principal cause of the need for national restoration: a president twice impeached, and twice acquitted with overwhelming support from his party." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It has taken Both-Sider Dan a lo-o-ong time to come around, but at long last he has found an issue where GOP hypocrisy slightly outweighs his disdain for Democrats.
Mike DeBonis & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Top officials responsible for security at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as it was overrun by a mob backing ... Donald Trump blamed wide-ranging intelligence failures for the deadly attack at a Senate hearing Tuesday, pointing to lapses that included a missed email warning of violence and a larger inability to recognize the threat posed by domestic right-wing extremism. Three now-resigned officials -- Capitol Police chief Steven A. Sund, House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael C. Stenger -- each sought to minimize their responsibility for the events on that violent and chaotic day, which resulted in five deaths from injuries at the riot and temporarily delayed the congressional certification of President Biden's victory. But they each, to varying degrees, detailed how they were caught off-guard by the scale and ferocity of the pro-Trump crowd, which escalated from a relatively peaceful protest to a violent mob in a span of hours while security officials scrambled -- and ultimately failed -- to respond.... 'We properly planned for a mass demonstration with possible violence. What we got was a military-style, coordinated assault on my officers and a violent takeover of the Capitol Building,' [Sund said]." The New York Times' story is here. ~~~
~~~ Beth Reinhard & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Around 7 p.m. on Jan. 5..., an FBI bulletin warning that extremists were calling for violent attacks on Congress landed in an email inbox used by the D.C. police department. That same evening, a member of the Capitol Police received the same memo. But the alert was not flagged for top officials at either agency, according to congressional testimony Tuesday -- deepening questions about the breakdowns that contributed to massive security failures on Jan. 6. Both acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III and former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund said the intelligence community at large failed to detect key information about the intentions of the attackers and adequately communicate what was known in the run-up to the Capitol riot.... But Tuesday's joint hearing by two Senate committees also spotlighted the stark warnings that were issued before Congress met in a joint session to formalize Joe Biden's victory. One came in the form of the Capitol Police's own intelligence report three days before the attack, as The Washington Post first reported. In a 12-page memo, the agency's intelligence unit warned that 'Congress itself' could be targeted by angry Trump supporters.... Promoting all of this chaos and violence: 'President Trump himself,' the memo noted...." ~~~
~~~ Stupidest Senator Remains in Denial. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "After claiming that he had a battery of questions for the officials testifying about security lapses on that day, [Sen. Ron] Johnson instead spent his time delineating baseless claims about how the day unfolded written by a lone observer that had been published on a far-right website. The gist of the assessment is that since most of those present in D.C. that day were run-of-the-mill Trump supporters, those who stormed the Capitol must almost necessarily have been something else.... Johnson's goal was the same goal he had last week when he offered that the events of that day didn't amount to an 'armed insurrection,' a claim that hinges largely on what you think counts as armament worthy of the adjective.... Johnson's effort is by no means the only one underway." Bump cites House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Fox "News"' Tucker Carlson, the American Conservative Union's Matt Schlapp. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I watched about 30 seconds of Johnson's spiel: he characterized the Trump crowd as "families with children," a bunch of "positive and festive" ordinary Americans out for a picnic on the Mall. Those who attacked the Capitol, on the other hand, were Antifa "provocateurs." Until about a month ago, Ron Johnson was chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee. Imagine the type of hearing he would have held -- if at all -- on the January 6 insurrection. Now say thank you, again, to Stacey Abrams. ~~~
As our hearing concludes, I want to make one thing clear: 'provocateurs' did not storm the Capitol. They were not 'fake Trump protestors.' The mood on January 6th was not 'festive.' That is disinformation. -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-led the hearing, in a tweet Tuesday afternoon
Yep, that was just what Mike Pence & Karen Pence were thinking... "What a festive crowd!"..... pic.twitter.com/OzOVqs4ttl
— đşđ¸PatsLadi99 #TeamJustice đşđ¸đˇđđđ˝âľđâ (@PatsLadi99) February 23, 2021
Aaron Navarro of CBS News: "Liz Cheney, the third ranking House Republican, on Tuesday called on the Republican party to 'make clear we aren't the party of white supremacy.' Cheney's remarks came during an event hosted by the Reagan Institute. 'It's very important for us to ignore the temptation to look away,' Cheney said. '.... You certainly saw anti-Semitism. You saw the symbols of Holocaust denial... you saw a Confederate flag being carried through the rotunda,' she said, referencing the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. 'We, as Republicans in particular, have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection.'... 'The president [Trump] and many around him pushed this idea that the election had been stolen. And that is a dangerous claim. It wasn't true,' she said.... She added that the commission [to examine the causes of the January 6 insurrection] should look into media organizations that pushed or continue to push the narrative of a fraudulent election, saying they are contributing to a very dangerous set of circumstances.'"
Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "A retired New York police officer who once was part of the security detail at City Hall was charged on Tuesday with assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole during the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The former officer, Thomas Webster, served in a New York Police Department unit that provided security for the mayor, Gracie Mansion and City Hall.... He retired from the force in 2011. Mr. Webster, 54, a former Marine, surrendered to the F.B.I. on Monday and was charged with six counts relating to the attack on an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and his participation in the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the presidential election results. A federal prosecutor said there were videos of Mr. Webster attacking the Washington officer, first with a metal flagpole that earlier had flown a Marine Corps flag, and then with his bare hands. According to court documents, after the officer wrestled the flagpole away from Mr. Webster, the former Marine tackled the officer, pinned him to the ground, straddled him and attempted to rip off his face shield and gas mask -- an attack that left the officer unable to breathe. 'These videos shock the conscience,' the prosecutor, Benjamin A. Gianforti, said. He said Mr. Webster had shown an utter lack of compassion and had pursued the officer he attacked 'like a junkyard dog.'" An NBC News New York story is here.
A Queens Man Was Arrested for Alleged Role in Capitol Insurrection. David Brand of the Queens Daily Eagle: "A Republican district leader from Queens was arrested Tuesday and charged with various offenses for storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6. FBI agents arrested Philip Grillo, a former candidate in the special election for Queens Council District 24, at his girlfriend's home in Glen Oaks after identifying him by a Knights of Columbus jacket he was wearing inside the Capitol, federal prosecutors said. Grillo is charged with obstructing an official proceeding, trespassing and other offenses for his alleged role in the Capitol insurrection. A federal magistrate judge ordered Grillo released on $100,000 bond Tuesday afternoon. Grillo, 46, goes by 'The Republican Messiah' on Facebook and lives in Glen Oaks. He is a district leader in Assembly District 24, which he identifies as 'President Trumps Hometown District' on his Facebook page." MB: If only that "Queens Man" were Trump.
Rob Crilly of the (right-wing) Washington Examiner: "... Donald Trump told friends he would not appear at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida if Mike Pence, his always-loyal vice president, was also on the bill, according to people familiar with his conversations.... [Trump] remains furious with Pence for refusing to try to block the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory.... A spokesman for Trump said no such demand was ever made.... Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a primary organizer of CPAC, said Pence had declined an invitation." MB: Gee, maybe pence remains furious with Trump for trying to kill him.
Asawin Suebsaeng & Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "... investigators with the D.A.'s office have been expanding their criminal probe into Trump's business empire, asking questions and grilling witnesses -- as recently as in the past few days -- not only about Trump but particularly about his eldest son, Don Jr., and Allen Weisselberg, one of the former president's most trusted officers...."
Rudy Tried to Outrun Process-Servers. Zoe Richards of TPM: "Rudy Giuliani spent a week desperately dodging being served a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems after publicly suggesting he welcomed the legal challenge, the New York Daily News reported Monday evening.... 'After not responding to requests to waive service, Mr. Giuliani evaded in-person service of process for nearly a week,' said Tom Clare, an attorney for Dominion. 'It took numerous attempts, at both his home and office, before we were able to successfully serve Mr. Giuliani on February 10.'... While Giuliani has publicly threatened to counter sue ... and has even appeared to welcome the trial, a more private look into his efforts to dodge being served the suit paints a more desperate image of the attorney seeking to avoid litigation." MB: The story recounts some of Rudy's dodges, which are of a slapstick nature. Giuliani is the most risible character in Trump's stable of misfits, con-men & mobsters.
Supremes Tee Up Arizona Jim Crow Laws. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Next Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear two cases that could shred much of what remains of the right to be free from racial discrimination at the polls. The defendants' arguments in two consolidated cases, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee, are some of the most aggressive attacks on the right to vote to reach the Supreme Court in the post-Jim Crow era. These two DNC cases concern two Arizona laws that make it more difficult to vote. The first requires voting officials to discard in their entirety ballots cast in the wrong precinct, rather than just not counting votes for local candidates who the voter should not have been able to vote for. The second prohibits many forms of 'ballot collection,' where a voter gives their absentee ballot to someone else and that person delivers that ballot to the election office." Thanks to RAS for the link.
New York. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: A homemade explosive device two brothers were rigging to announce the gender of a Catskill couple's womb-bound baby "unexpectedly malfunctioned, killing the expectant father and seriously injuring his 27-year-old brother, New York State Police said in a statement Monday.... Gender-reveal parties, which have roots in a 2008 parenting blog, have turned dangerous in recent years, as excited couples have opted for increasingly elaborate stunts to share whether they are having a boy or a girl. A novelty cannon killed a Michigan man at a gender-reveal party earlier this month. A soon-to-be grandmother died in Iowa after shrapnel from a homemade explosive device struck her chest in 2019. The parties have also sparked wildfires and caused a plane crash in recent years." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I wish one of these expectant couples would invite me to their gender-reveal party so I could RSVP: "I don't give a flying fuck about the sex of your expected child. I just hope you don't accidentally kill any of your guests, one of whom won't be me. P.S. Bear in mind that if you do kill someone, your child may spend her first years in an orphanage while you serve time for manslaughter, you self-absorbed nitwits."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here.
Isaac Stanley-Becker & Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "Drug companies told lawmakers Tuesday they project a major increase in vaccine deliveries that will result in 140 million more doses over the next five weeks, saying they have solved manufacturing challenges and are in a position to overcome scarcity that has hampered the nation's fight against the coronavirus.... But achieving a surge on that scale remains daunting. Pfizer and Moderna ... will need to increase their combined deliveries to date of 80 million doses to reach their promised target of 220 million shots by March 31. That's a goal of 28 million doses each week on average, far greater than their performance so far. The Biden administration told governors Tuesday that doses allotted to states would grow from 13.5 million to 14.5 million per week, and it also directed 2.1 million doses to pharmacies...."
California. Los Angeles Times, republished by KTLA: "A coronavirus variant that emerged in mid-2020 and surged to become the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors, but also evades antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection and it's associated with severe illness and death, researchers said. In a study that helps explain the state's dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths -- and portends further trouble ahead -- scientists at UC San Francisco said the cluster of mutations that characterizes the homegrown strain should mark it as a 'variant of concern' on par with those from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil."
Beyond the Beltway
Maryland. Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "With no way of paying tuition, Calvin E. Tyler Jr. dropped out of college in his hometown, Baltimore, in 1963 before becoming a truck driver for UPS. He was quickly promoted into management and ultimately worked his way into the company's executive suite, serving as its senior vice president for U.S. operations as well as a director. Nearly 60 years after he was forced to abandon his schooling, Mr. Tyler and his wife, Tina Tyler, have pledged $20 million to endow scholarships for financially needy students at the college he left, now known as Morgan State University. In making the announcement this week, officials said they believed the gift was the largest a former student has ever made to a historically Black university."
Michigan. Female Officials Receive Trump-Incited Threats. Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens were the targets of threatening communications related to the run-up to the Nov. 3, 2020, election and its aftermath by two men -- one from Michigan and one from Georgia, state Attorney General Dana Nessel said Tuesday.... Nessel said [Daniel] Thompson, who identified himself as a Republican, said he was angry about the results of the November election, that he had joined a militia group and that there would be violence if the results of the election were not changed. The voicemail was left the day before a mob of ... Donald Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.... [Nessel] said Thompson was also charged with making a threatening call to Slotkin.... Nessel's office also said Clinton Stewart, 43, of Douglas, Georgia, has been charged with one count of malicious use of a telecommunications service for allegedly leaving a threatening voicemail message for Stephens on Sept. 18 in which he referenced 'activist judges' issuing rulings to help Biden win the Nov. 3 general election through the expanded use of mail-in ballots."
Minnesota. Tim Arango & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "A new federal grand jury has been empaneled in Minneapolis and the Justice Department has called new witnesses as part of its investigation of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who will go on trial in state court next month on a murder charge for the death of George Floyd, according to two people.... The fresh slate of witnesses subpoenaed to give testimony about Mr. Chauvin is an early sign that the federal investigation into the death of Mr. Floyd, which began last year and then languished, is being reinvigorated under the administration of President Biden. Mr. Chauvin, who is white, was seen in harrowing video footage kneeling for more than nine minutes on the neck of Mr. Floyd, a Black man, as he begged for his life. The video set off protests across the United States, some of which led to violence in cities including Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C."
New York. Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "The police officers who placed a mesh hood on a Black man last year and pressed his head down until he lost consciousness will not be charged in his death, officials said Tuesday, after a grand jury convened to investigate the case declined to bring an indictment. The killing of the man, Daniel Prude, in Rochester, N.Y., touched off intense protests in that city and others during a national reckoning around racism and brutality in policing. Mr. Prude's death was one of many instances in which Black men died in police custody in recent years. Public records showed that the Rochester Police Department sought to conceal the circumstances -- captured in graphic police body camera footage -- of Mr. Prude's death. The case led to the dismissal of the city's police chief." MB: Odd how prosecutors can indict a ham sandwich but not white cops who cause the death of a black man.
Texas. Erin Douglas & Mitchell Ferman of the Texas Tribune: "Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas -- the entity that manages and operates the electricity grid that covers much of Texas -- will resign on Wednesday, according to a notice to the Public Utility Commission. A sixth has withdrawn his application to the board. All six live outside of Texas.... ERCOT board members had come under fire last week when it was reported that some did not reside in the state. ERCOT officials, during a press conference last week, said it had temporarily removed personal information about the directors from its website because they were experiencing harassment.... Gov. Greg Abbott had called on ERCOT board members to resign in the aftermath of the crisis and said in a statement Tuesday that he welcomes their resignations, promising to investigate the grid operator.... The board directors wrote that before they resign, they will launch [a] review of the power crisis."
Way Beyond
Israel. Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "The Israeli government has pledged to send thousands of spare coronavirus vaccines to foreign allies, reigniting a debate about Israel's responsibilities to people closer to home: Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.... Israel has pledged at least twice as many doses to faraway countries as it has so far promised to the nearly five million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.... The vaccines allocated on Tuesday were given without conditions, but they tacitly reward recent gestures from the receiving countries that implicitly accept Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital." MB: I remember when I was a knee-jerk supporter of Israel. Not. Any. More.
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Reader Comments (11)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/liz-cheney-calls-on-republicans-to-make-clear-we-arent-the-party-of-white-supremacy/
Ah, but Liz, you are...
Confederates are outraged about Bidenâs choice for HHS secretary, Xavier Beccara. Why? In their expert opinion, he doesnât have the proper experience. This from the boot lickers who raved about the stream of ridiculously unqualified and ignorant flunkies nominated by the fat little king.
Hypocrisy should be retired as a word. It has lost all meaning and relevance in the face of the pious, perfidious, stunningly sanctimonious double standards employed by the Party of Treason. Well, I guess if youâre a traitor, hypocrisy is motherâs milk.
Never mind.
@Akhilleus: According to Rachel Maddow, paragon of virtue Ted Cruz says Beccara isn't qualified because he isn't a medical doctor. This educational bar didn't seem to affect Cruz at all when he voted to confirm HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who, um, is not a medical doctor. Some other GOP senator (I forget who), according to Maddow, said Beccara wasn't qualified because a lot of his experience with HHS matters came when he was a Congressman who specialized in HHS oversight. This experience bar doesn't apply to Republican appointees, however; said-same Senator Whoever said Dan Coates would make a great National Security Advisor because he served on the Senate Intelligence Committee. IOKIYAR.
MOTHER'S MILK:
Yes, the GOPee-ers doth shew their hypocritical tenancies by continuing to suck the teats of double standerismââit's their food for thought and their drink of choice.
"Yup! I voted for a serial sex predator to represent me in congress but now, by jove, I'm gonna nix that woman of color who wants to take his place cuz she done say mean things on tweeter about the great pretenderââwho I jest love."
Listening to one of these nitwits yesterday during the hearing I still have a hard time understanding how someone like Ron Johnson from Wisconsin has managed to keep his voice in congress. Does he have any idea how his stupidity makes even Louie look good?
But then there is the story of Calvin Tyler (see above) that warmed my heart. Oh, for more human beings like Calvinââplease!
When I learned that the Lincoln Project was coming apart due to the sexual scandal of one of their membersâ-a Jeff Weaverâ-the name rang a bell but it wasn't until last night that I remembered that Jeff was Bernie Sander's campaign manager and word was out then that many working on that campaign quit because of Weaver's push to get money from corporations. At that time there was no mention of any sexual problems, although perhaps that was kept under wraps.*
M.B.'s response to an invitation she might receive from those Gender Reveal parties lifted my spirits and I could hear the Red Queen tell Aliceââ"Tut, tut, my dear, you must learn to quell your animosity so that you don't sound un-lady- likeââI, of course, do not heed that advice."
* MB Correction (Feb. 25): These statements are false. Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver is not the same person as the Lincoln Project's cofounder John Weaver. No one, to my knowledge, has accused Jeff Weaver of sex-related crimes.
Take a breakâ-have a Kit Kat and listen to Lawrence Ferlinghetti: "The Last Word"ââa video of this man's break-away foray into a bookshop that changed the way bookshops operated back in the dayââwhen the Beats were beating down the old ways of thinking and operating.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/1194826919078/the-last-word-lawrence-ferlinghetti-obituary.html?smid=pl-share
PD: I think I asked that rhetorically last week, who was Jeff Weaver and if that name was the same as a Bernie spox, but I don't think anyone ever gave me an answer, and I forgot about him and did not google it.
Woohoo-- I am glad Amy tweeted the lies spouted by that idiot Johnson, but she still said it was "misinformation" and I did not hear the intro or finish to the idiot's reading of a written winger spiel, so don't know if anyone else actually said it was yet another droning lie. Misinformation is someone giving you the wrong directions to a wedding venue-- what he was reading was a lie, start to finish.
I too enjoyed Marie's answer to gender-revealing parties and explosions. Sheesh. What a stupid way to die.
I watched a bit of yesterday and it seemed a large CYA session. I simply do not understand how the most professional people in the world (Intel- and military/police-wise) made such a bumbling "mistake" or looked at it like a blase dismissal of concerns cuz these were "protestors" and not dangerous, oh, and white...
And what-oh-what is Liz Cheney up to...
I wonder when (if) Mike Pence was invited to CPAC he had the same thought as me, how many of the people visiting CPAC this year were on the Capitol lawn screaming "Hang Mike Pence" and how many would try to finish the job they failed to do on the 6th?
We are not a real democracy
"The following is from a fascinating twitter thread that shows just how screwed the majority is in this country. Itâs lucky to hold power even half the time. And you can believe if the shoe were on the other foot conservatives would do everything in their power the change this. Look what theyâre doing now. "
The numbers are scary. We definitely need D.C. and Puerto Rico to get statehood, and put the Dakotas back together.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/24/usps-dejoy-congress-471362
A few questions: Whatâs wrong the USPS âlosingâ 16 or so billion annually?
When the US military âlosesâ about 700 billion a yearâŚ
And since when did public services have to âbreak evenâ or even make a profit?
I have no doubt the USPS could operate more efficiently and by offering other services like postal savings accounts, make a shekel or two, butâŚ
We seem to have no problem subsidizing private health insurance companies by untold billions in medicare advantage plans profit (canât find the total figure) and more billions in outright fraud each and every year.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/16/740964958/records-show-medicare-advantage-plans-overbill-taxpayers-by-billions-annually
Maybe not the only instance in which embedded assumptions should raise eyebrows...
@RAS: Not a real democracy? Oh noes!!! Thank you for the Digby whose graphs spell out the discrepanciesââthe question is, of course, how much of a fight will it take to change this? We have struggled with this situation for decades but power prevails. But before we take on this problem we have to try and put all those King's horses and all those King's men back together again albeit with a different breed and much better men. In the meantime we have the unwashed millions who are determined to take brush to the US fence and whitewash it so it will look like the color they favorâ-that whitest shade of pale.
@Jeanne: Sorry I missed your questioning of Weaverâ-although my memory wouldn't have probably come up with the answer then.
Manchin mystery solved?
https://www.newsweek.com/neera-tanden-criticized-joe-manchin-daughter-heather-bresch-1571531
Personal animus? Not run of the mill hypocrisy?