;)
The Commentariat -- June 18, 2021
Late Morning Update:
Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Joe Biden took a cautious victory lap Friday in his quest to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, announcing that 300 million vaccine shots have been administered in the 150 days since he took office. Biden credited scientists, companies, the American people and his whole-of-government effort. The president noted that the widespread vaccination campaign had set the stage for most Americans to have a relatively normal summer as businesses reopen and employers hire.... But as Biden marks one milestone, he is in danger of failing to meet another: his target to have 70% of American adults at least partially vaccinated by July Fourth, in a little over two weeks.""
Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States, flouting a warning from the Vatican, have overwhelmingly voted to draft guidance on the sacrament of the Eucharist, advancing a political push by conservative bishops to deny President Biden communion because of his support of abortion rights. The decision, made public on Friday afternoon, is aimed at the nation's second Catholic president, perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief since Jimmy Carter, and exposes bitter divisions in American Catholicism. It capped three days of contentious debate at a virtual June meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The measure was approved by a vote of 73 percent in favor and 24 percent opposed.... The move to target a president, who regularly attends Mass and has spent a lifetime steeped in Christian rituals and practices, is striking coming from leaders of the president's own faith, particularly after many conservative Catholics turned a blind eye to the sexual improprieties of ... Donald J. Trump because they supported his political agenda. It reveals a uniquely American Catholicism increasingly at odds with Rome." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Those old farts, with all due respect, should read the part of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says not to do as the hypocrites do. The hypocrites Jesus calls out are rabbis -- that is, the equivalent of priests & bishops.
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Tucker Carlson's quickly debunked assertion that the FBI may have helped organize the January 6 insurrection is gaining GOP backers. Among them, Gohmert, Gaetz & Greene. It's a convenient story because it relieves Trump -- and them -- of responsibility for the insurrection; the fact that they story is bogus matters not a whit.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.
Glenn Thrush & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Missouri has become the latest state to throw down a broad challenge to the enforcement of federal firearms laws.... A bill signed by Gov. Mike Parson over the weekend -- at a gun store called Frontier Justice -- threatens a penalty of $50,000 against any local police agency that enforces certain federal gun laws and regulations that constitute 'infringements' of Second Amendment gun rights. At least eight other states -- Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia -- have taken similar action this year, passing laws of varying strength that discourage or prohibit the enforcement of federal gun statutes by state and local agents and officers."MB: You know, Mike, you aren't just dangerous; you're damned silly. How is anyone supposed to take seriously a governor who signs a bill at a gun store, much less a store called "Frontier Justice"? Did you wear a cowboy hat, boots & spurs, and sport a packed holster riding low on your hips?
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Kate Sullivan & Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden said that signing legislation into law on Thursday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day -- a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States -- will go down as 'one of the greatest honors' of his presidency.... 'I regret that my grandchildren aren't here, because this is a really, really, really important moment in our history. By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day and learn from our history -- and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we've come (and) the distance we have to travel,' Biden said. Th ceremony, which took place in the East Room, included some 80 members of Congress -- including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, local elected officials, community leaders and activists. The President specifically noted that Opal Lee, the activist who campaigned to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, was in attendance. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas, in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Only a handful of states currently observe Juneteenth as a paid holiday." ~~~
~~~ Annie Karni & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "At the White House, Mr. Biden singled out Opal Lee, an activist who at the age of 89 decided to walk from her home in Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., in an effort to get Juneteenth named a national holiday. The president called her 'a grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday' and got down on one knee to greet her in the audience." ~~~
~~~ Video of the full ceremony is here. ~~~
~~~ Ashley Vaughn of CNN profiles Opal Lee. ~~~
~~~ John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will get this Friday off." ~~~
~~~ Michael Collins of USA Today: "Mail delivery will go on as scheduled on Friday and Saturday even though Friday is a federal holiday under a new law signed Thursday by President Joe Biden.... 'The U.S. Postal Service is fully supportive of the new Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and making June 19 a federal holiday. Unfortunately, it is not possible to cease the operations of the Postal Service to accommodate an observance over the next 24-48 hours,' the postal service said in a statement."
Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Russian President Vladimir Putin lavished praise on ... Joe Biden on Thursday, a day after the two leaders held a summit, saying Biden was incorrectly portrayed in the Russian and U.S. media as being unfocused and vague.... Speaking to university graduates by video link later on Thursday, Putin, 68, had only warm words for Biden, 78, in contrast to Russian state media which has sometimes portrayed the U.S. president as struggling to do his job both physically and mentally. 'I want to say that the image of President Biden that our press and even the American press paints has nothing in common with reality,' Putin told the graduates. 'He was on a long trip, had flown across the Ocean, and had to contend with jet lag and the time difference. When I fly it takes its toll. But he looked cheerful, we spoke face-to-face for two or maybe more hours. He's completely across his brief,' said Putin. 'Biden is a professional, and you have to be very careful in working with him to make sure you don't miss anything. He doesn't miss anything, I can assure you.'"
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "U.S. prosecutors for the first time have charged a defendant in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach with violating a federal law that makes it a crime to transport a firearm or explosive for unlawful use in a riot. The rare weapons charge was handed up Wednesday in a five-count superseding indictment against Guy Wesley Reffitt, 48, who prosecutors say brought a rifle and semiautomatic handgun to Washington and recruited members to a right-wing Texas Three Percenters group claiming he had created a new security business to circumvent gun laws.... Prosecutors in court filings said he brought an AR-15 rifle and a Smith & Wesson on his trip, and was recorded telling his family he carried them to the Capitol."
Marshall Cohen & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department on Thursday released horrifying new police body camera footage from the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, after CNN and other outlets requested the tapes. The footage was used in the case against Thomas Webster, a former Marine and retired police officer from the New York City Police Department accused of participating in the Capitol attack. Prosecutors say that the 56-second tape shows Webster, wearing a red coat among a large crowd of pro-Trump rioters, screaming profanities at officers, threateningly wielding a flagpole, and finally rushing at the officers, who engaged in hand-to-hand combat with him and other members of the mob. One of the officers eventually wrestles away the flagpole, but Webster then tackles the cop to the ground."
Ryan Goodman & Andrew Weissman in a Washington Post op-ed: During two days of testimony before House committees, FBI Director Christopher Wray failed to answer where the FBI was during the weeks leading up to the January 6 insurrection. "What is clear is that the FBI knew enough to take further action, but failed to do so.... [Wray's] responsibility for leading the FBI during a foreseeable domestic terrorist attack needs to come under greater scrutiny, as it should in a healthy democracy, and he must do more to give lawmakers the information they need to assure this kind of assault does not happen again." MB: It seems to me Wray has not mentally transitioned from working for Trump to working for Biden. He thinks he still has to hide facts from the American people and a Democratic Congress. Once again, a Democratic president had made the mistake of thinking it's a good idea to have a Republican leading the FBI.
Mike DeBonis & Vanessa Williams of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans vowed Thursday to block voting legislation from advancing later this month, rejecting ... key Democratic senator [Joe Manchin]'s compromise offer that adopted some GOP ideas in a bid to break partisan gridlock on the issue. The pledge from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) all but guarantees that Republicans will filibuster a sweeping voting bill that Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is sending to the floor Tuesday. Parts of the bill are meant to overrule provisions contained in a host of GOP-passed state laws that have placed restrictions on early voting, mail-in voting, ballot drop boxes and other policies that make it easier to cast a ballot, in response to ... Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election." The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Whaddaya think of the filibuster now, Clueless Joe? ~~~
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "On Thursday morning, leading voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams ... told CNN she supports Sen. Joe Manchin III's (D-W.Va.) compromise bill to protect democracy.... Republicans were thrilled because..., as Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri candidly put it, they now get to rebrand Manchin's compromise as 'the Stacey Abrams substitute.'... Which should illustrate the folly of seeking bipartisanship as a precondition for protecting democracy in the first place." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In an episode of Piling on Metaphors, some pundit said yesterday that senators were playing a game of "kabuki chess" as they positioned themselves on voting rights legislation. This assumes that Manchin, Schumer & McConnell all know what they're doing. I'll reserve judgment until these voting rights bills become laws & Texas legislators can no longer discriminate against the people of Harris County.
Andrew Desiderio & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "The House voted to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force in Iraq on Thursday, a rare and historic effort by lawmakers to rein in presidential war powers.... The 268-161 vote was bipartisan, drawing support from 49 Republicans and all but one Democrat. It was also a victory for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who has pushed for the repeal for several years while presidents from both parties have undermined Congress' role.... Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his support for repealing the 2002 authorization and said it would get a vote on the Senate floor sometime this year. President Joe Biden also backs the effort. A complementary bill is making its way through the Senate beginning next week with a Foreign Relations Committee markup; but the upper chamber's version, crafted by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), also repeals the 1991 authorization --which Congress passed in the run-up to the first Gulf War -- in addition to scrapping the 2002 measure."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Affordable Care Act on Thursday survived a third major challenge as the Supreme Court, on a 7-to-2 vote, turned aside the latest effort by Republicans to kill the health care law. The legislation, President Barack Obama's defining domestic legacy, has been the subject of relentless Republican hostility. But attempts in Congress to repeal it failed, as did two earlier Supreme Court challenges, in 2012 and 2015. With the passing years, the law gained popularity and became woven into the fabric of the health care system. On Thursday, in what Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. called, in dissent, 'the third installment in our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy,' the Supreme Court again sustained the law. Its future now seems secure and its potency as a political issue for Republicans reduced." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here.
This decision might as well be written on the dissolving paper sold in magic shops. -- Justice Samuel Alito, Fulton v. Philadelphia, dissent ~~~
~~~ Supremes Say It's A-OK to Discriminate Against Gay Couples. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that Philadelphia may not bar a Catholic agency that refused to work with same-sex couples from screening potential foster parents. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for six members of the court, said that since the city allowed exceptions to its policies for some other agencies it must also do so in this instance. The Catholic agency, he wrote, 'seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.'" The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ "Alito Was Just Pissed." Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The key fault line in the Supreme Court that Donald Trump built is not the ideological clash between right and left -- it's the increasingly acrimonious conflict within the court's now-dominant conservative wing. Those rifts burst wide open on Thursday with two of the highest-profile decisions of the court's current term. In both the big cases -- involving Obamacare and a Catholic group refusing to vet same-sex couples as foster parents in Philadelphia -- conservative justices unleashed sharp attacks that seemed aimed at their fellow GOP appointees for failing to grapple with the core issues the cases presented.... Leading the charge from the right in both cases Thursday was Justice Samuel Alito, who penned caustic opinions taking his colleagues to task for issuing narrow rulings that seemed to him to be aimed at defusing political tensions rather than interpreting the law.... There was little doubt his criticism was aimed primarily at Chief Justice John Roberts, who provided the pivotal vote to uphold Obamacare nine years ago and voted Thursday to leave the law intact by concluding that the Republican-led states seeking to overturn it lacked legal standing to sue."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favor of two American corporations accused of complicity in child slavery on Ivory Coast cocoa farms. The decision was the latest in a series of rulings imposing strict limits on lawsuits brought in federal court based on human rights abuses abroad. The case was brought by six citizens of Mali who said they were trafficked into slavery as children. They sued Nestlé USA and Cargill, saying the firms had aided and profited from the practice of forced child labor. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, said the companies' activities in the United States were not sufficiently tied to the asserted abuses." (Also linked yesterday.)
Colby Itkowitz & Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.), who voted against awarding police officers the Congressional Gold Medal for their bravery in protecting the U.S. Capitol against violent, pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, refused to shake hands with D.C. police officer Michael Fanone on Wednesday. Fanone was beaten unconscious after he voluntarily rushed to the Capitol to help defend it from those who breached the building. He suffered a concussion and a mild heart attack. In the months since, Fanone has been one of the leading voices pushing back against Republicans who have sought to downplay the severity of what happened Jan. 6. Fanone, joined by Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, returned to the Capitol on Wednesday, the day after 21 House Republicans voted against the Gold Medal resolution, in an effort to meet them and tell his story. [Fanone] said he recognized Clyde at an elevator and that he and Dunn hopped in with the congressman. 'I simply extended my hand and said, "How are you doing today, Congressman." I knew immediately he recognized me by the way he reacted. He completely froze. He just stared at me,' Fanone said...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post (June 16): Fox "News" host Tucker Carlson is claiming that the FBI helped organize the January 6 insurrection. Here's Tucker's "logic": some indictments of alleged Capitol insurectionists & planners refer to unnamed "unindicted co-conspirators"; since the feds won't name these individuals, they must be FBI agents. Tucker bases his conclusion on a "report" by a former White House speechwriter who was fired from that job because he was associated with white supremacists. Just to be clear, there are a number of reasons court filings don't name unindicted co-conspirators, and "because they're federal agents" is not one of them. MB: As for the logical fallacy here, I don't know; maybe it's argumentum ad tucquer's assholium. It is absolutely senseless.
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Fraudit Takes a Road Trip. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Data collected from the widely criticized pro-Trump Arizona vote 'audit' has now been shipped to a mysterious 'lab' in Montana to be 'forensically evaluated.'... However, the so-called lab's exact location in the state remains a secret. CNN reporter Gary Tuchman did some detective work and discovered a piece of property owned by Cipher's CEO in Montana, but he could not determine whether that location was the one where the data was taken." MB: I'm sure we don't have to worry about the integrity of the vote count now. (Also linked yesterday.)
Missouri. Jim Salter of the AP: "A St. Louis couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges, but the man left the courthouse defiantly pledging to 'do it again' if faced with the same circumstances. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000. Her husband, Mark McCloskey, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was fined $750. They also agreed to give up the weapons they used during the confrontation.... Mark McCloskey, who announced in May that he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri, was unapologetic after the hearing." ~~~
~~~ Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Video and photographs of rifle-wielding Mark McCloskey and pistol-toting Patricia McCloskey in front of their mansion on June 28 captured the attention of the country, including ... Donald Trump, who spoke out in defense of the couple.... The couple has touted themselves as conservative defenders against 'the liberal mob,' earning newfound celebrity status and a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention."
Oregon. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A group of about 50 police officers who had served voluntarily on a specialized crowd control unit in Portland, Ore., have stepped down from the squad after a year of sometimes violent clashes with protesters, the city's Police Department said on Thursday. The resignations came just hours after a member of the unit, Officer Corey Budworth, was indicted on a misdemeanor assault charge that he physically injured an independent photojournalist during a protest in August. Video of the episode shows an officer using his baton to shove a woman to the ground and then pushing the baton in her face.... The officers ... had complained not only about the indictment, but about what they viewed as a broader lack of support after more than 150 nights of sustained protests...."
Marie: We must never lose sight of the sheer malevolence of the Republican party. Whether it's trying to keep Americans from elemental human rights, like voting and adequate health care; whether it's discriminating against women, or ethnic or religious minorities, or LGBTQ people; whether it's inciting, participating in and then denying an insurrection against their own government; whether it's turning guns on peaceful demonstrators or making assault weapons widely available to irresponsible Americans; whether it's giving economic advantage to the rich at the expense of everyone else; whether it's slandering others or lying or cheating. Whatever. These are nasty people, and it is not "enlightened" or "even-handed" or "fair" to try to "understand" them or "appreciate their points of view."
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Reader Comments (11)
Have run into a situation here in our beloved Skagit Valley.
Once freed of public responsibilities, I became a frequent contributor of letters to the editor of our local daily (but for Monday--Covid killed it) paper.
The role was not new for me, but the elevation of the Pretender to the presidency moved me to greater effort. I have been writing letters at a roughly two/month clip for the last six or so years.
Your've seen some of them here.
In that time I've had a few rejected but not many. Recently, though the stream of letters to the editor seems to have dried up, the paper did not print my most recent, one you've seen here.
I asked why. Twice. Finally got an answer. The editor is worried about the "tone" of too many letters she receives and believes that by printing them the paper is contributing to the nation's great divide. She tells me in her notes to me that she'd like to come up with a letter policy that would fix the problem she sees but hasn't been so far successful. Right now she's apparently dealing with her dilemma by not running very many letters (none yesterday, today, or most of last week.) Don't know if she's experiencing political pressure from ownership or if her concern is more genuinely philosophical (she did suggest she receives many letters I never see; they are too mean and violent) but I will find out more next week.
She's invited me to a confab about the editorial direction she/the paper should take. Curious about where all this is headed, I will give her a call, but I've already told her I don't believe the Herald's letter column is responsible for the gun-toting whackos who have paraded on our streets that she expressed concern about, and warned her that more generally acceptable "tone" is a difficult target to hit when writing about the current state of our politics.
Not only is one political party all the things that Marie says so well at the end there, just up above, but that party is also plain nuts.
We shall see...
@Ken Winkes: Oh, dear me, she doesn't like the "tone"? You have been given a great opportunity, and I have no doubt you will handle it way better than I would even plan to. I hope there is some polite way you can explain to this woman that our democracy is in peril, and her refusing to even publish letters that point that out is (1) evidence of that peril, and (2) further imperiling what's left of said former thriving democracy. I picture you sitting back in your chair, pressing your fingers together, and intoning, in a tender, avuncular fashion, "You do realize that even as the fourth estate is tasked with being an essential part of the solution, you -- on the other hand -- Mrs. O'Leary, are part of the problem? We think you can do better. We think you must do better."
If Mrs. O'Leary there doesn't see the error of her ways, you could always suggest she turn over the editorial page to the "Ladies' Editor" and publish tips for getting stains out of lace and recipes for buttermilk biscuits. I had some delicious scones once, made with vanilla ice cream, and I would really like to find out how to make them.
Here's Masha Gessen's take on the Biden/ Putin exchange. She begins what she calls a "set piece" referring to a question asked by Andrei Kolesinkov,––a plant –-Putin's court jester. Later Gessen gives credit to Susan Glasser (New Yorker) who has observed that Putin remains first class in the art of "whataboutism"**–-the key tool of trolling, its premise is that everything is like everything else and nothing means anything.
"To Biden, illusions are a hazard in foreign policy; to Putin, they are its currency."
** Recall the made-up interview I did with Trump using his own words from an actual interview where he is using this same "Whataboutism" schtick.
KEN!! Good heavens! I can well imagine your frustration and fury; take heed M.B's sage advice and don't give up!
Ken and Marie: I gave up on letters to the editor some years ago, as there were some nasty bits of blow-back: people would call me and say ugly things, I occasionally got ugly mail, and one guy signed me up for a radio/bible diatribe/class, which I had a time getting out of. This year, of course, the letters seem just as ugly, but there are more people on my side writing. I don't read online as husband does, because that is a thicket of horribleness.
But hurrah for both of you and I agree wholeheartedly with you both. I have sent Marie's discourse, fully credited to my cache of sympathetic friends and family members. She expressed everything I could have said, and better, of course.
Happy Juneteenth! I hope this holiday develops a special cake or something!! Maybe strawberry shortcake, as we are at the end of our lovely local strawberries...
Thanks, PD, but I'm more bemused than anything else by the situation. Don't have a firm idea yet of what's given the local editor the creepy-crawlies but, as I said, I hope to find out.
Right now, as I said to my wife, while it's as poor substitute, if I can't write more letters to the editor, I can exchange numerous emails with her.
It's a tough nut, as we all know. How to talk about evil without calling it what it is. Marie said it well and in his latest Bob Burnett does, too.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/6/18/2035891/-A-Tale-of-Two-Countries?
Occurs to me that those same states that are directing their police to not enforce federal gun laws will soon be outlawing that awkward Pledge of Allegiance, you know the one that places the United States at the top of the list.
Ken, sounds like your Herald is either owned by Canucks in Victoria or McClatchy. White bread journalism at its finest. At least it isn't owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa. I think it is great that they are engaging with you. Certainly that is a plus. The reason I'm here is because I read Marie's stuff in the NYTimes. Until they decided to 86 her from their sacred rag. The big publishers seem to want a Ross Douche from the NYT or Hewitt from the WaPo just to get eyeballs and hits. They have been perfecting the "art" of Murdoch without his Mitch McConnell-like focus on douche baggery. Access to media and publishing is almost as important as is the access to capital. Good Luck!
Forgot the link to Gessen's piece–-worth a read:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-high-cost-of-bidens-meeting-with-putin
@Marie, I've never heard of ice cream scones but a quick search of the googles found several recipes. It's just ice cream and self-rising flour, although some add a little baking powder to help with the rise. I think using a good quality ice cream with high butter fat content would help too.
While unwashed searched the web for ice cream scones, I did the same for info on Mrs. O'Leary's cow–-an ancestor of Devin Nunnie's cow? Perhaps? Forgot how famous this myth became–-songs, cartoons, limericks, etc. And the missus herself–-Catherine–-became quite the figure for the future. Today we have a different kind of fire–-the kind that water brigades can't begin to stop.
@unwashed: Seriously, thanks so much. My friend had made her scones with ice cream because she was out of any kind of milk. But now that you've led me to real recipes for ice cream scones, I'm going to try one out. And I'm sure you're right about the butter fat. I suspect my friend used a high-end ice cream (so high butter fat) to make her scones because she was a high-end kinda person.
In the interest of bipartisanship, I'm thinking maybe half a wafer...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/06/18/biden-catholic-president-bishops-abortion-communion/