;)
The Commentariat -- January 24, 2021
Afternoon Update:
When You Think Republicans Can't Get More Childish. Reuters: "The Texas Republican senator John Cornyn warned on Saturday that Donald Trump's second impeachment could lead to the prosecution of former Democratic presidents if Republicans retake Congress in two years' time." MB: Hey, let's start with FDR (court packing). Or Jefferson (slaves). But we know their first choice is President Obama (too nice). ~~~
~~~ Kelly Hooper of Politico: "Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday said the argument that ... Donald Trump should be impeached so that he can't seek public office again is 'an arrogant statement for anyone to make.'"
Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump's upcoming Senate impeachment trial poses a security concern that federal law enforcement officials told lawmakers last week requires as many as 5,000 National Guard troops to remain in Washington through mid-March, according to four people familiar with the matter. The contingency force will help protect the Capitol from what was described as 'impeachment security concerns,' including the possibility of mass demonstrations coinciding with the Senate's trial, which is slated to begin the week of Feb. 8."
Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Republican legislators across the country are preparing a slew of new voting restrictions in the wake of ... Donald Trump's defeat. Georgia will be the focal point of the GOP push to change state election laws.... But state Republicans in deep-red states and battlegrounds alike are citing Trump's meritless claims of voter fraud in 2020 -- and the declining trust in election integrity Trump helped drive -- as an excuse to tighten access to the polls. Some Republican officials have been blunt about their motivations: They don't believe they can win unless the rules change." MB: That's the ticket: scream "election fraud," then pass restrictive laws so "those people" can't commit fake voter fraud.
Sara Sidner & Anna-Maja Rappard of CNN: "In her Ohio hometown [of Woodstock], she's known as an Army veteran who runs a bar and set up a small self-styled militia her boyfriend says she created to help neighbors if tornadoes hit. To the FBI, she's a militant leader who traveled to Washington, DC, and stormed the US Capitol, encouraging others to do the same."
Melissa Quinn & Margaret Brennan of CBS News: "Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator under ... Donald Trump, revealed that she had no full-time team in the White House working on the response to COVID-19 under the former president.... 'That's what I was given,' she said. 'So ... I went to my people that I've known all through the last years in government, all 41, and said, can you come and help me? And so I was able to recruit from other agencies, individuals.'... A senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, who led the White House coronavirus task force, confirmed to CBS News that the staff who worked with Birx were from her days with PEPFAR..., [but] disputed the premise that Birx was denied necessary staff. 'There were 7-8 full-time staff detailed from other agencies to her. They were paid,' the senior adviser told CBS News. Pence, meanwhile, was also given no additional White House staff, and his existing team worked on the COVID-19 response."
Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post writes that the only way to rid the country of Fox "News" is for corporations to pull their advertising dollars.
~~~~~~~~~~
So now we know why Bill Barr abruptly resigned a month before the inauguration:
** Kelly Mena of CNN: "... Donald Trump pushed the Department of Justice to directly ask the Supreme Court to invalidate President Joe Biden's election win, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.... The effort ultimately failed as Trump appointees in the Department of Justice refused to file the lawsuit, according to the Journal. [Then-acting Attorney General Jeffery] Rosen, along with former Attorney General William Barr and former acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, refused to file the Supreme Court case citing that there was no basis to challenge the election outcome and the federal government had no legal interest in whether Trump or Biden won the presidency.... 'The pressure got really intense' after a lawsuit Texas filed in the Supreme Court against four states Biden won was dismissed in early December, [an administration] official told the Journal. An outside lawyer working for Trump drafted a brief the then-President wanted the Justice Department to file, people familiar with the matter told the Journal, but officials refused.... Late Saturday night, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin published a letter from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee addressed to acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asking for his assurance that 'the Department will preserve all relevant materials in its possession, custody, or control,' related to Trump's discussions with [Civil Division acting head Jeffrey] Clark involving a plan to oust Rosen and overturn Georgia's presidential election results. The committee is requesting the materials be released to them no later than the first day of Trump's impeachment trial." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I know that deliberations among the president* & administration officials are privileged, but when the president* & his co-conspirators are attempting to use the DOJ in a scheme to overthrow the results of an election, what they're discussing is a crime of tremendous magnitude & consequence. I feel that Barr, Rosen, Wall & others who knew Trump's intent had an obligation to reveal to the public what was going on in real time, not to wait to leak it to the press after the damage could have been done. See also NiskyGuy's commentary in today's thread.
Katie Benner & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "It was [Rep. Scott] Perry [R-Pa.], a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, who first made Mr. Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, the acting chief of the civil division, was sympathetic to Mr. Trump's view that the election had been stolen, according to former administration officials.... Mr. Perry introduced the president to Mr. Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president's efforts to undo them. Mr. Perry's previously unreported role, and the quiet discussions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Clark that followed, underlined how much the former president was willing to use the government to subvert the election, turning to more junior and relatively unknown figures for help as ranking Republicans and cabinet members rebuffed him.... After The New York Times disclosed the details of the scheme [to overturn the results of the Georgia presidential election] on Friday, the political fallout was swift."
A Coalition of the Left Saved U.S. Democracy. Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "By the time rioters ransacked the Capitol, the machinery of the left had already been primed to respond -- prepared by months spent sketching out doomsday scenarios and mapping out responses, by countless hours of training exercises and reams of opinion research. At each juncture, the activist wing of the Democratic coalition deployed its resources deliberately, channeling its energy toward countering Mr. Trump's attempts at sabotage. Joseph R. Biden Jr., an avowed centrist who has often boasted of beating his more liberal primary opponents, was a beneficiary of their work.... For the organizers of the effort, it represents both a good-news story -- Mr. Trump was thwarted -- and an ominous sign that such exhaustive efforts were required to protect election results that were not all that close. For the most part, the organized left anticipated Mr. Trump's postelection schemes, including his premature attempt to claim a victory he had not achieved, his pressure campaigns targeting Republican election administrators and county officials and his incitement of far-right violence, strategy documents show."
Matt Zapotosky & Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 crystallized for national security officials that violent extremism is not a threat exclusively imported from foreign shores; it is made in America. These conspiracy-minded, far-right potential threats are police officers and firefighters, Realtors and bartenders, even public officials from across the country, emboldened by the affirmation of ... Donald Trump and each other to publicly espouse racist views or commit violence against the government, analysts say. President Biden's administration will be challenged to deter domestic extremists -- and investigate and prosecute them when their rhetoric spills over into violence. Law enforcement and security officials, experts say, will face significant legal, political and cultural hurdles to battle a disease that seems to have taken hold in the nation's nervous system.... The First Amendment prevents law enforcement from surveilling or investigating Americans based solely on their political views, even if the views are racist or anti-government."
Even Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, seemed somewhat disturbed by the siege of the Capitol. Thanks to NiskyGuy for the link:
The Rapid Evolution of a Dumb Trumpist:
(1) Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attracted attention [link fixed] last week when he said in a floor speech that ... Donald Trump 'bears responsibility' for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... On Thursday, he told reporters that he didn't actually believe Trump had 'provoked' the mob of his supporters.... He stood by his assertion that Trump does bear some responsibility for what happened. But, he added, so does every other person around the country. 'I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility,' he said. McCarthy then started pointing to Democrats who opposed Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), people who are rude on social media and law enforcement authorities who didn't prepare for the attack as some of the people who were somehow responsible." MB: Yes, I personally blame Maxine Waters, Akhilleus, and myself. (Also linked yesterday.)
(2) Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he has 'concerns' over Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-Wyo.) vote to impeach former President Trump, his sternest comments yet on the controversial vote. McCarthy, in an interview with Greta Van Susteren airing Sunday, maintained that he supports keeping Cheney in her role as the No. 3 Republican in the House but said she did not inform him of her decision to impeach Trump before she cast her vote. 'Look, I support her, but I also have concerns. She took a position as a No. 3 member in conference. She never told me ahead of time. One thing about leadership, if we're going to work together, we should understand. We know that this is going to become a difficulty,' he said.... McCarthy has said in the past that he supports Cheney staying in her role as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, but her vote has led to broad pushback from conservative members of Congress." MB Translation: I am more askeert now of losing my top job than I am of violent, radical revolutionaries taking over the government, threatening the lives of my colleagues & forcing me to hide in lockdown. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Contributor Patrick noticed the similarities between McCarthy & Otter's arguments. Once pointed out, the resemblance is hard to deny:
Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "Since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, 38 U.S. Capitol Police employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the head of the officers' union said Saturday. Cases are also climbing among members of the D.C. National Guard stationed around the Capitol. Meantime, the Justice Department said five more people have been arrested in the Capitol riot, including a county jail guard from New Jersey who took an 'emergency holiday' from work to travel to Washington and a Federal Aviation Administration employee from California who is a QAnon follower, court records stated. In another development, two police officers from rural Virginia who had admitted their participation in the Capitol siege were suspended without pay by their department after a search warrant affidavit disclosed that one told a friend on Jan. 10: 'I'm going to war ... DC on the 20th for sure.'... A Defense Department official ... said Friday that coronavirus cases among the thousands of National Guard members who have been stationed at the Capitol in the past two weeks continue to climb, pushing some of them into isolation in hotel rooms in the region. The D.C. National Guard was aware of at least 170 cases as of Friday, with more positive results expected."
Marshall Cohen of CNN: "The Justice Department revealed new charges against a Texas man who allegedly participated in the Capitol attack and posted online death threats against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a US Capitol Police officer. Garret Miller of Texas faces five criminal charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection, including trespassing offenses and making death threats. Miller allegedly tweeted, 'assassinate AOC,' according to court documents. He also said the police officer who fatally shot a Trump supporter during the attack 'deserves to die' and won't 'survive long' because it's 'huntin[g] season.' Prosecutors said in newly released court documents that Miller posted extensively on social media before and during the attack, saying a 'civil war could start' and 'next time we bring the guns.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Adam Goldman & Shaila Dewan of the New York Times: "During the four-and-a-half-hour attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, one of the moments when the mob came closest to the lawmakers they were pursuing took place just after 2:30 p.m. On one side of a set of antique wood and glass doors were dozens of lawmakers and their aides trying to evacuate the House chamber. On the other were rioters yelling 'Stop the steal' as they hammered the panes with a flagpole, a helmet and even a bare fist.... At the height of the standoff, a woman named Ashli Babbitt tried to vault through a window. [A Capitol Police] lieutenant, his weapon already extended, pulled the trigger once, killing her in a confrontation that was captured on video and widely viewed around the world. At least three investigations into the security response on Jan. 6 are underway...."
The Beagle That Barked -- and Changed the Senate. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Tugging a puffer-vest-clad [Rev. Raphael] Warnock for an idealized suburban stroll -- bright sunshine, picket fencing, an American flag -- Alvin [the Beagle] would appear in several of Mr. Warnock's commercials pushing back against his Republican opponent in the recent Georgia Senate runoffs. In perhaps the best known spot, Mr. Warnock, a Democrat, deposits a plastic baggie of Alvin's droppings in the trash, likening it to his rival's increasingly caustic ads. The beagle barks in agreement, and as Mr. Warnock declares that 'we' -- he and Alvin -- approve of the message, the dog takes a healthy lick of his goatee.... There is bipartisan agreement that the beagle played an outsized role in cutting through the clutter in two contests that broke every Senate spending record." Alvin is not Warnock's dog. ~~~
Trouble in Arizona's Republican Party ~~~
~~~ Hank Stephenson & Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Arizona Republicans issued rebukes to three of the party's most prominent figures on Saturday, approving resolutions to censure Gov. Doug Ducey, former Senator Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Senator John McCain. Though largely symbolic, the political scolding during a meeting of the state G.O.P. on Saturday underscored a widening rift in Arizona between party officials who have made clear that their loyalty lies with ... Donald J. Trump and those in the party who refused to support him or his effort to overturn the election results in Arizona, which President Joseph R. Biden Jr. won. And, well beyond Arizona, the rift reflects the stark divisions in the Republican Party nationally in the wake of Mr. Trump's tumultuous departure from office. The party cited Ms. McCain's and Mr. Flake's criticisms of Mr. Trump and Mr. Ducey's use of emergency orders related to the pandemic, which gave him broad control to enact policies without the legislature's approval such as closing 'nonessential' businesses in the spring." ~~~
~~~ Josh Dawsey & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump threw himself back into politics this weekend by publicly endorsing a devoted and divisive acolyte in Arizona who has embraced his false election conspiracy theories and entertained the creation of a new 'MAGA Party.' In a recorded phone call, Trump offered his 'complete and total endorsement' for another term for Arizona state party chairwoman Kelli Ward, a lightning rod who has sparred with the state's Republican governor, been condemned by the business community and overseen a recent flight in party registrations. She narrowly won reelection, by a margin of 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent, marking Trump's first victory in a promised battle to maintain political relevance and influence after losing the 2020 election."
MEANWHILE, in Kentucky. Morgan Watkins of the Louisville Courier Journal: "The Republican Party of Kentucky's State Central Committee rejected a resolution Saturday that would have urged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to fully support ... Donald Trump and condemn his second impeachment.... Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Mac Brown called the resolution out of order, and the majority of the committee agreed, a member told The Courier Journal after the meeting. The final vote agreeing the resolution should be deemed out of order was 134-49, the member said."
Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "Without comment, the [Texas supreme court] found that America's foremost conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, and his flagship media outlet, InfoWars, are subject to liability in four separate defamation lawsuits filed over the past two-plus years. Those lawsuits were filed by parents of children who were killed during the Sandy Hook massacre and by a man Jones and his network falsely identified as the perpetrator of the Parkland massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Schneider of the AP: "The U.S. Census Bureau is suspending efforts to create neighborhood-level statistics on the citizenship and age of residents, using 2020 census data, in the latest rollback of Trump administration census-related initiatives that critics feared would be used to favor Republicans and whites during the drawing of state and local districts. As part of an order President Joe Biden signed Wednesday on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau said Friday that it would discontinue efforts to create citizenship tabulations at the city-block level using 2020 census data combined with administrative records. Among his first acts as president, Biden's order revoked two Trump directives related to the 2020 census. The first attempted to discern the citizenship status of every U.S. resident through administrative records, and the second sought to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used for apportioning congressional seats among the states." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
Robyn Dixon & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Protesters took to the streets Saturday in nearly 70 cities and towns across Russia calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny -- a massive show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin and his widening crackdowns against challenges to his power. More than 1,850 people were detained, including Navalny's wife, Yulia. The rallies -- from Russia's Far East to central Moscow -- came less than a week after Navalny returned from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane. Some 40,000 people participated in the Moscow protest, the Reuters news agency reported, while police said 4,000 people took part." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments in the Navalny protests. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (12)
Wrote yesterday that the one thing Republicans really hate is responsibility.
Knew I was wrong at the time, limiting Republicans' hatreds to just one thing. The list is so long, and had I added resent to hate....
From reports above about the "skeered" McCarthy, it appears the one thing they might hate most is losing, which fits neatly with both the Pretender's effort to enlist the Justice Dept. to help him steal the election from the voters and the numerous stories about state Republican legislatures busily engaged in voting restriction, all of which makes the choice difficult: amid all their hates and resentment, what do Republicans hate most of all?
Is it the right to vote? Democracy? Or any and everything that might fit under losing's umbrella?
On another front, and in liew of a Sunday Sermon, read Douthat last night instead of saying my prayers and responded to his airy therorizing about how with Biden's ascendency a new quasi-liberal Catholic middle ground is emerging, and responded thusly:
"To the degree that tolerance of and love for others are religious impulses, if they are at all, this long-lapsed Catholic is all for what Mr. Douthat describes as the emerging liberal Catholic middle.
Whether one needs a religion to point the way to acting humanely is, however, another question entirely.
As the country's electoral revulsion to Trump's nastiness and its simultaneous rejection of his Christian nationalist supporters would suggest, the American middle, liberal Catholic and millions of others, just doesn't like bullying, lying and blatant corruption so obviously displayed for the last four years by its secular leaders.
If that's Catholic, I'm not as lapsed as I thought."
GETTING INTO THE WEEDS:
"I realize what I'm about to say to you sounds absurd. It has the potential to be the most significant action Biden took on day one:
~~ James Goodwin –senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform
This story is about unleashing a wave of much stronger regulations in that obscure agency, OIRA. Worth your while––I certainly learned something.
Link below:
Link to above post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-order-progressive-regulation_n_6009dabec5b6efae63002e20
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/garret-miller-aoc-capitol-police.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage. If it didn't have the word "ass" in it twice, the violent knobheads surely couldn't figure out how to spell "assassinate".
In a rare attack of sanity, which is sure to cause an immense sad among right wingers, the Palm Beach County Commissioners turned down a bid to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Trump.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/florida-brushes-off-proposal-to-rename-palm-beach-airport-after-trump-20210124-p56wfe.html
@Marie: You wrote at the top "that Barr, Rosen, Wall & others who knew Trump's intent had an obligation to reveal to the public what was going on in real time, not to wait to leak it to the press after the damage could have been done." I would add all of the damage that _was_ done by allowing the Big Lie to continue.
The anonymous GOP official who said “What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change” should step up and show some of that personal responsibility "conservatives" are wont to extol, and both identify himself/herself and admit how horribly, horribly wrong that November 9 (reported on the 10th in WaPo) statement was.
@Ken: We are supposed to be a nation committed to the separation of church and state. For much of our history, legislators and judges drew on religious beliefs to decide what was moral and right for all citizens–-and what ought to be legal or illegal. Christianity, as the country's dominant religion, provided an obvious source of moral doctrine. These ideas are so embedded in our culture that yes, many think like Do-nut that we need all that religion to keep us on the straight and narrow. History has shown us that is pure applesauce. However–-this country proceeds with God on its side––"God bless everyone and God bless our troops"–– and "So help me God" said while placing a hand over heart or bible ( what does that even mean??) does not signify separation of church and state to me. *
Ok––I know––I'm on a rant about religion again but I find the argument for being a decent human being that cares for one's fellow man and thrives to live a life devoid of lies, corruption, murder and mayhem depends on some ancient writings put together in an a couple of books is beyond my comprehension –––except I have had to live with it all my life.
* How about: A wish for good fortune to all and to all, I will do my best to make that happen." sounds a little like Santa who we once believed in but figured out by age seven–-the age of reason–he wasn't real.
@NiskyGuy: Your points are well-taken.
I think we also now know why Barr said on December 1 that there was no widespread election fraud that would change the election results. It was not just to refute what Trump was saying publicly & to justify the DOJ's lack on interest in Trump's frivolous lawsuits, but to tamp down pressure Trump certainly was putting on the DOJ, even back then, to help him undo the results. Barr should have said so then, or at least shortly thereafter, as it was clear Trump was not going to take the hint. Instead, Barr resigned, "elaborately" praising Trump in his resignation letter.
"Instead, Barr resigned, "elaborately" praising Trump in his resignation letter"–– and the reason for this is still not clear to me. Was it to lay a soft cover for his own compliance with Fatty's fairy dust ––"I was always with this guy but this time had to put my foot down because he went too far––see? I'm really, truly compliant with the law."
Bill Barr––went in with reputation intact––came out like many others, tattered and sullied. When messing with a monster its stink tends to rub your way.
Agree with PD as a Unitarian agnostic that one can be a decent human without ancient tracts and agree with Marie that DisBarr is a foul monster with a yellow streak a mile wide. He chose to cut and run after he lost control of his fellow toadies and presidunce.
Will we ever see justice? I don’t know. I have no hope that repugs will ever ever decent.
Just watched “Chisholm ‘72: Unbought and Unbossed” on Amazon Prime. Is well worth watching. I was too young to vote in 1972 but remember being a big fan and supporter of her in all things, including her candidacy. She was definitely a woman ahead of her time and should be an inspiration to anyone who would seek to be a leader in our country.
PD,
Thanks for the Huff Post link. Hope the new regulation regime goes the right way.
Was particularly sensitive to the labor issues the new presidential directive is intended to champion, in part because I just recorded a sayonara to our long-running (eight years) local weekly community radio program, "We Do the Work that was aired by 20-30 other stations across the country.
Covid got us (we haven't had access to the community college studio for nearly a year), Covid and the retired operating engineer who really did all the work putting the show together and who after all those years understandably tired of the grind. We are getting older.
I trust Biden will keep his promises to labor. As I said in my send-off, there is much work to be done.