;)
The Commentariat -- June 30, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense for Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush, who presided over America's Cold War strategies in the 1970s and, in the new world of terrorism decades later, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, died on Tuesday at his home in Taos, N.M. He was 88.... A full obituary will appear soon."
Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The House voted Wednesday to form a select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol with nearly all Republicans opposing the legislation -- a sign of the political challenges that face Democrats as they attempt to probe why thousands of ... Donald Trump's supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol complex. The 220 to 190 party-line vote stands in contrast to a vote in May, when 35 House Republicans joined Democrats to back creation of an independent commission to examine the attack. But while many House Republicans were willing to embrace an outside panel of experts evenly weighted between GOP and Democratic appointees, most were wary of a select committee that would be firmly in the control of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's handpicked participants.... Only two of the 211 House Republicans voted in favor of creating the panel -- Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), both of whom were among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach ... Donald Trump in January.... Pelosi (D-Calif.) designed the select committee to have 13 members, only five of whom would be appointed 'after consultation with the minority leader,' Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)."
New York Times: "In the six months since an angry pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, immense efforts have been made not only to find the rioters and hold them accountable, but also ... to dig into the details of Jan. 6 and slowly piece together what actually happened that day.... And while Republicans in Congress blocked the formation of a blue-ribbon bipartisan committee, House Democrats are poised to appoint a smaller select committee. Even now, however, Republican politicians and their allies in the media are still playing down the most brazen attack on a seat of power in modern American history. Some ... have accused the F.B.I. of planning the attack in what they have described -- wildly -- as a false-flag operation.... The Times's Visual Investigations team spent several months reviewing thousands of videos.... What we have come up with is a 40-minute panoramic take on Jan. 6, the most complete visual depiction of the Capitol riot to date." The article then outlines what it calls "some of the major revelations." ~~~
~~~ Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "A member of the alleged Oath Keepers conspiracy who cut a deal with prosecutors will admit he stashed guns at a Virginia hotel as part of preparations for demonstrations at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mark Grods is set to plead guilty on Wednesday afternoon to two felony counts for conspiracy and obstructing Congress. Grods will confirm the government's long-standing allegation that members of the Oath Keepers who came to Washington, DC, to oppose Congress's certification of the election were prepared for violence and arranged to store firearms outside of the city that could be brought in on short notice."
If You're Still Waiting for That Tax Refund.... Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service closed the most recent filing season with more than 35 million in unprocessed tax returns, as the agency's backlog grew markedly amid a crush of challenges related to the pandemic and economic relief efforts, a government watchdog said Wednesday. Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, said in her report that about 17 million paper tax returns are still waiting to be processed and approximately 16 million additional returns have been placed on hold because they require further review manually. Another 2.7 million amended tax returns have not been processed. This backlog represents a four-fold increase from 2019 -- the most recent year before coronavirus -- when the IRS closed its filing season with only 7.4 million unprocessed returns, according to the report. These numbers reflect the IRS backlog as of May, and the agency may have made progress reducing it since then."
Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "The inspector general overseeing the Federal Housing Finance Agency resigned Tuesday, two months after a scathing watchdog report alleged that she abused her authority, retaliated against employees and blocked an investigation into her conduct. In April, an investigation by a special panel -- known as the Integrity Committee -- sent a report to the White House about Laura Wertheimer, the inspector general overseeing FHFA, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2014. The report noted years of complaints against Wertheimer and other staff members, and it ultimately concluded that 'misconduct of this nature warrants consideration of substantial disciplinary action, up to and including removal.'"
Adam Reiss, et al., of NBC News: "The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is expected to charge the Trump Organization with tax-related crimes on Thursday, two representatives of the company told NBC News.... It is not clear whether the company's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, will also be charged Thursday." ~~~
~~~ So many thanks to Ken W. for reminding us, in today's Comments, of this gem (albeit Hillary was speaking of Trump's personal federal income tax, but as we would say in the South, "same difference"):
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday stood by advice that people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus do not need to wear masks in most situations, but added that there are instances where local authorities might impose more stringent measures to protect the unvaccinated. The comments came after the World Health Organization recently reiterated longstanding guidance that everyone, vaccinated or not, wear masks and take other precautions, following a global surge in infections of the highly contagious Delta variant." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I did attend events over the weekend where I did not wear a mask and where I was in close contact with people from around the country, so I'm wearing a mask for the next few weeks when I go out in order to protect other people in case I'm a carrier.
Fenit Nirappil of the Washington Post: "Los Angeles County public health authorities are urging unvaccinated and vaccinated people alike to don masks again inside restaurants, stores and other public indoor spaces because of the growing threat posed by the more contagious delta variant of the novel coronavirus. The high-profile move by the county of 10 million marks an abrupt shift in tone after states and localities have dropped most mask mandates and social distancing requirements in recent weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in mid-May rescinded almost all masking recommendations for fully vaccinated people." The article is free to nonsubscribers.
Graham Bowley of the New York Times: "Bill Cosby had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by a Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday, a decision that will set free a man whose case had represented the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. Three years into the prison sentence of three to 10 years he has served at a maximum-security facility outside Philadelphia, the 7-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Mr. Cosby, 83, had been denied a fair trial in 2018. The ruling upended the legal case against Mr. Cosby brought by prosecutors in Pennsylvania that began with his arrest in 2015 on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in the Philadelphia suburbs eleven years earlier." The AP's story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Kate Sullivan of CNN: "President Joe Biden argued in Wisconsin on Tuesday that the bipartisan infrastructure proposal he agreed to last week would benefit working and middle-class families around the country.... Biden said: 'This is a generational investment, a generational investment to modernize our infrastructure, creating millions of good-paying jobs ... and positions America to compete with the rest of the world in the 21st century....' The speech is Biden's first time pitching the bipartisan infrastructure proposal to the American people since nearly derailing the deal in off-the-cuff remarks last week.... The President stressed the safety aspect of his plan, and said the US has one of the highest road fatality rates of anywhere in the industrial world. He paused for a moment and then said, 'I lost a wife and daughter and almost lost two sons.'... Biden laid out the specific ways the plan would benefit those in Wisconsin, including replacing all of Milwaukee's lead water service lines, bringing high-speed internet to the 82,000 children in Wisconsin ... and help address the 1,000 bridges in Wisconsin rated structurally deficient. He touted how the plan would also deploy 35,000 electric buses to school districts and create half a million electric vehicle charging stations around the nation."
Maeve Sheehey of Politico: "President Joe Biden [and Dr. Jill Biden] will visit Surfside, Fla., on Thursday following the collapse of a condo building in the coastal suburb, a departure from the White House's position a day earlier that the president had no immediate plans to visit the site of the disaster.... The president spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the day after the building collapse to offer support for the area. That day, Biden also approved an emergency declaration for Florida."
Kate Bennett of CNN: "It is back en vogue for the first lady to be back in Vogue. After a four year hiatus of first ladies gracing the cover of the fashion magazine, Jill Biden is on the August issue, which goes on sale on July 20.... A first lady in the pages of Vogue, or on the cover, has -- for the last several decades -- become an American publishing tradition; almost every modern first lady has been photographed for the magazine. The exception was Melania Trump, whose tenure in the White House was tied to the controversies of ... Donald Trump. There have been conflicting arguments as to which side -- Trump's or Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour's -- was responsible for keeping Trump, a former model, from being featured. Neither spoke of it publicly, but Wintour was vocal about her thoughts on Donald Trump, using her editorial note in the March 2020 issue of Vogue to endorse Biden for president, pointing to the 45th President's 'dishonesty,' and 'shocking lack of empathy.'" MB: Ironically, Melanie was the only First Lady who ever worked as a model, and no one doubts she would have made for a glamorous Vogue cover. (Also linked yesterday.)
Julia Preston in Politico Magazine: "... the Biden administration, with little public fanfare, is working on plans for an organized review of thousands of cases of people who say they were unjustly deported in recent years, senior officials in charge of immigration said. The officials say that many deportations, especially under Trump, were unduly harsh, with little law enforcement benefit. They are working to devise a system to reconsider cases of immigrants who were removed despite strong ties to the United States. Legal scholars said a process that resulted in returns of significant numbers of deported people would be highly unusual in American immigration law." MB: Yeah but Trump.
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Rushing to help Afghans who face retribution for working alongside American troops in their home country, the House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to speed up the process that would allow them to immigrate to the United States. With the American military in the final phases of withdrawing from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, more than 18,000 Afghans who have worked for the United States as interpreters, drivers, engineers, security guards and embassy clerks are stuck in a bureaucratic morass after applying for Special Immigrant Visas, available to people who face threats because of work for the U.S. government.... The measure, passed 366 to 46, would waive a requirement for applicants to undergo medical examinations in Afghanistan before qualifying, instead allowing them to do so after entering the United States." MB: It boggles the mind that 46 members of Congress thought it was a really bad idea to help these Afghans who have helped the U.S.
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "The House on Tuesday passed legislation to remove statues of Confederate leaders from the U.S. Capitol and replace the bust of Roger B. Taney, the U.S. chief justice who wrote the 1857 Supreme Court decision that said people of African descent are not U.S. citizens. The vote was 285 to 120, with 67 Republicans joining Democrats in backing the measure. A similar bill passed the House last year on a 305-to-113 vote but did not advance in the Senate, then controlled by Republicans. Upon reintroducing the bill this year, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) pointed to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, during which some supporters of ... Donald Trump carried Confederate flags.... The legislation would replace the bust of Taney ... with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the Supreme Court.... The legislation faces challenges in the evenly divided Senate where it would have to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Perhaps the reason Mitch would not bring the measure to the Senate floor last year was that the Capitol bust of Taney bears a striking resemblance to ... Mitch. Anyway, I see no reason to keep a bunch of cold marble statues of dead Confederates around when there are living, breathing, racist confederate specimens roaming those same halls. ~~~
~~~ Paul Gosar Is Even Worse Than You Thought. Aiden McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is holding a fundraiser with Nick Fuentes, an online commentator who has achieved a following as an open anti-Semite, Holocaust denier, and white supremacist. A flyer posted to a Telegram account linked to Fuentes promoted a July fundraiser with the ardently pro-Trump congressman.... Fuentes is a virulent anti-Semite who has denied the Holocaust, defended racial segregation and called for the killing of 'globalists at CNN'. He also spoke at the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017.... 'Not sure why anyone is freaking out,' [Gosar] said [in a tweet]." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday denied that he plans to attend a fundraiser this week with a group that promotes white nationalist ideas, despite an invitation for the event circulating online that features the congressman and Nick Fuentes, a far-right operative who leads America First. Gosar has previously attended events with Fuentes and appeared to defend the fundraiser in a tweet Monday night...."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Tuesday that he's supportive of going forward with a larger, Democratic-only infrastructure bill but that it shouldn't be linked to a separate bipartisan framework. Manchin, during an interview with MSNBC, said that he had been assuming since 'day one' that Democrats would have to use reconciliation, a budget process that allows them to bypass a 60-vote legislative filibuster, to pass a larger infrastructure bill because Republicans don't want to make changes to the 2017 tax bill."
Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "New York prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization are scrutinizing cash bonuses as part of their focus on whether the company failed to pay taxes on benefits provided to some of its employees, people familiar with the matter say. The interest in cash payments, which has not been previously reported, is part of investigators' look at whether executives and the company failed to pay appropriate taxes on benefits, including school tuition, cars and rent-free apartments, the people said. It's not clear who received the bonuses or how much they totaled."
** Because Everything They Did Was Corrupt. Desmond Butler of the Washington Post: "In February 2017, weeks after ... Donald Trump selected him to be agriculture secretary, [Sonny] Perdue's company bought a small grain plant in South Carolina from one of the biggest agricultural corporations in America. Had anyone noticed, it would have prompted questions ahead of his confirmation, a period when most nominees lie low and avoid potential controversy. The former governor of Georgia did not disclose the deal -- there was no legal requirement to do so. An examination of public records ... has found that the agricultural company, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), sold the land at a small fraction of its estimated value just as it stood to benefit from a friendly secretary of agriculture.... Danny Brown, the former president of [Perdue's former company] AGrowStar, confirmed negotiations began in late 2015. But Brown said ADM wanted $4 million for the plant -- 16 times what Perdue's company ultimately paid for it.... 'This stinks to high heaven,' said Julie O'Sullivan, a Georgetown University law professor and former federal prosecutor. 'It deserves a prosecutor's attention.'..." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Both Perdue & ADM have histories of participating in shady transactions, as Butler reports. And, yes, while he was Ag Secretary, Perdue helped out ADM. A lot. Sometimes at your expense. In picture accompanying the article, Sonny is pictured laughing with some ADM employees at an ag show. I'd like to see the big grin wiped off his face -- and his big ass tightly encased in an orange jumpsuit.
Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "United Airlines announced a deal Tuesday for its largest airplane order amid a continuing rebound in air travel: 270 new aircraft, including 200 Boeing 737 Max jets and 70 A321neos built by Airbus. The order is a boost for Boeing's 737 Max aircraft and the largest since the Federal Aviation Administration certified they were safe after they were grounded following fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. At the end of March, Southwest Airlines announced it would order 100 Max jets. With its latest order, United expects to add more than 500 new aircraft to its fleet in the coming years, with 40 expected to arrive in 2022; 138 in 2023 and as many as 350 in 2024. While airlines have struggled during the pandemic, passenger counts have risen significantly in recent weeks as coronavirus caseloads fall and Americans spend more time traveling." (Also linked yesterday.)
David Bauder of the AP: "The New York City Commission on Human Rights has fined Fox News $1 million, the largest penalty in its history, for violations of laws protecting against sexua harassment and job retaliation. As part of a settlement agreement announced Tuesday, Fox also agreed to mandate anti-harassment training for its New York-based staff and contributors and to temporarily drop a policy requiring people who allege misconduct to enter into binding arbitration. The penalty stems from an investigation that began in 2017 following several reports of what the commission called 'rampant abuse' at the popular news and opinion outlet."
NSA Refutes Tucker's Self-Aggrandizing Fake Grievance. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "The National Security Agency (NSA) on Tuesday rejected claims made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the agency was monitoring his electronic communications and seeking to leak them in an effort to take his show off the air, calling the allegations 'not true.' 'Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the Agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air,' the NSA wrote in a statement shared on its Twitter page. 'NSA has a foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States. With limited exceptions (e.g. an emergency), NSA may not target a US citizen without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting,' the agency added. The Fox personality on Monday had alleged that the Biden administration was 'spying' on him in an attempt to 'take this show off the air,' declaring that his show had 'confirmed' the claim. He said the 'war on terror is now being waged against American citizens,' adding that he heard from a 'whistleblower from within the U.S. government' that the NSA was monitoring his show's communications."
Master Class: How to Write a "Dear Leader" Letter. Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "... Donald Trump recently accused three Wisconsin Republican leaders of 'working hard to cover up election corruption' as he continued pushing lies about the November presidential vote. Mr. Trump delights in turning his fire on members of his party who he feels are being insufficiently servile. Many promptly prostrate themselves; a few shrug it off. Then there is State Senate President Chris Kapenga of Wisconsin, one of the Republicans singled out by Mr. Trump. He responded to the former president with a letter that approaches North Korean-style levels of Dear Leader obsequiousness.... Mr. Kapenga's missive ... provides a valuable master class in the art of Trump sycophancy. The text of the letter below has been annotated for instructional purposes." MB: Kapenga's letter is hilarious ... in a pathetic way. Cottle's notes are helpful. If it all sounds a tad familiar, it may be because you remember the preambles to Trump's Cabinet meetings.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 on Tuesday night to leave in place the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ban on evictions, imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic and prevent homelessness. The ban has just been extended another month, until the end of July, and the Biden administration said it will end then.... At the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined fellow conservative Brett M. Kavanaugh and liberal Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to keep the stay in place." Politico's story is here. MB: Young Justice I. Like Beer is proving to be much less cruel than Neil Gorsuch., not to mention the lovely Amy, Sam, & Clarence, none of whom gives a damn if you can't pay the rent. ~~~
Aya Elamroussi of CNN: "With the Delta variant accounting for more than a quarter of Covid-19 cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci warns there could soon be 'two Americas' -- one where most people are vaccinated and another where low vaccination rates could lead to spikes in cases." MB: There already are "two Americas," one that is Trumpy and one that has a greater percentage of normal people. It is Trumpy America where the virus will maintain its hold.
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona Backfire. Marc Caputo of Politico: "When Arizona Republicans first pushed for a partisan audit of the 2020 presidential ballots cast in the Phoenix metropolitan area, they argued that they needed to know if any irregularities or fraud caused President Trump to lose this rapidly evolving swing state. But the audit itself could be damaging Republican prospects, according to a new Bendixen & Amandi International poll, which shows roughly half of Arizona voters oppose the recount effort. In addition, a narrow majority favors President Biden in a 2024 rematch against Trump. The news isn't entirely promising for Democrats, however: A majority of voters don't think Biden should run for a second term. (Also linked yesterday.)
Florida. Jon Swaine, et al., of the Washington Post: "A Washington Post examination of video and images from the deadly collapse of a high-rise apartment building outside Miami -- along with interviews with structural engineers, a key witness and an investigator -- deepens questions about whether existing damage to a deck in the pool area contributed to the disaster. A resident told The Post that minutes before Champlain Towers South in Surfside came down, she noticed that a section of the pool deck and a street-level parking area had collapsed into the parking garage below. The husband of another resident has said that his wife, who has not been seen since the disaster, made a similar observation in a telephone call shortly before the collapse. An engineer in 2018 found 'major structural damage' in the pool deck area caused by what he said was a flaw that limited water drainage.... Allyn E. Kilsheimer, a veteran engineer hired by Surfside to investigate the collapse, told The Post that such a failure could have set off a wider catastrophe."
New York. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "A new tally of votes in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary suggested that the race between Eric Adams, the primary night leader, and his two closest rivals had tightened significantly, plunging the closely watched contest into a period of fresh uncertainty. A week after Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, notched a substantial lead among those who voted in person last Tuesday or during the early voting period, a preliminary counting of ranked-choice preferences released on Tuesday showed him ahead by a much narrower margin in the city's first ranked-choice mayoral election. According to Tuesday’s unofficial tally, Mr. Adams leads Kathryn Garcia by just 15,908 votes, a margin of less than two percentage points, in the final round. Maya Wiley, who came in second place in the initial vote count, was in third place after the elimination rounds were completed." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ ** Update of the story linked above. What a Mess. "The New York City mayor's race plunged into chaos on Tuesday night when the city Board of Elections released a new tally of votes in the Democratic mayoral primary, and then removed the tabulations from its website after citing a 'discrepancy.' The results released earlier in the day had suggested that the race between Eric Adams and his two closest rivals had tightened significantly. But just a few hours after releasing the preliminary results, the elections board issued a cryptic tweet revealing a 'discrepancy' in the report, saying that it was working with its 'technical staff to identify where the discrepancy occurred.' By Tuesday evening, the tabulations had been taken down, replaced by a new advisory that the ranked-choice results would be available 'starting on June 30.' Then, around 10:30 p.m., the board finally released a statement, explaining that it had failed to remove sample ballot images used to test its ranked-choice voting software. When the board ran the program, it counted 'both test and election night results, producing approximately 135,000 additional records,' the statement said. The ranked-choice numbers, it said, would be tabulated again.... The Board of Elections ... has long been plagued by dysfunction and nepotism...." An AP story is here.
New York. Sad. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York mayor-cum-Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, received no votes in a poll of state Republican leaders about the party's next choice for governor of New York state. The poll was not binding but it indicated that Lee Zeldin, a Long Island congressman, is the presumptive Republican nominee to challenge Andrew Cuomo next year. It will likely be seen as an embarrassment to Giuliani, whose bid for governor ... has largely traded off his famous surname more than any meaningful experience of practical politics." MB: But, but Andy often golfed with the former POTUS*.
** South Dakota/Texas. Noem Turns National Guard Troops into Trumpy Mercenaries. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) will deploy up to 50 National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border, her office said Tuesday, with a highly unusual caveat -- the mission will be funded by a 'private donation' from an out-of-state GOP megadonor billionaire. The Guard members will deploy in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's plea to augment border security with law enforcement resources from other states, Noem's office said in a statement. Like Abbott (R), Noem is a close ally of former president Donald Trump, whose focus on illegal immigration spurred his controversial deployment of military personnel to the U.S.-Mexico border and remains a pillar of the Republican Party's political platform.... Privately funding a military mission is an affront to civilian oversight of the armed forces, said military and oversight experts, describing the move -- a Republican governor sending troops to a Republican-led state, paid for by a Republican donor -- as likely unprecedented and unethical." A USA Today story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I find this shocking. Noem is using military troops under her command for strictly political purposes. As Horton explains, troops under Noem's command "are permitted to act in law enforcement capacities, which is forbidden for Guard members serving on federal mobilization." The Guard troops currently at the border act under federal orders, which means they cannot perform police duties.
Way Beyond
Ethiopia. Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "It had been eight months since the government of Ethiopia mounted an offensive in the country's Tigray region, unleashing civil war, atrocities and famine in Africa's second most populous country, and creating what is now one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. More than 1.7 million people have been displaced, and as many as 900,000 are suffering from famine, according to U.S. officials. But on Monday, Ethiopian troops suddenly withdrew from Mekelle, the capital city of Tigray, as well as other towns in the region, ahead of advancing Tigrayan fighters. The fall of Mekelle signaled a turning point in a war that has plunged Ethiopia into chaos and threatened to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region. It was also a stunning blow to the authority of the country's leader, Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel peace prize in 2019 and a year later gambled his power and reputation on what he said would be a brief, decisive campaign to bring the restive Tigray region under control." A related AP story is here.
News Ledes
The New York Times is live-updating developments in the condo collapse near Miami Beach, Florida. Related stories in today's Commentariat. ~~~
~~~ Washington Post: "The Miami-Dade Fire Department has at least two robots in its arsenal that the Massachusetts-based robotics company Teledyne Flir overnighted to assist with the Surfside, Fla., rescue effort. The gadgets are designed to operate where it is nearly impossible for humans to go. 'They can also go where humans shouldn’t go,' said Tom Frost, Teledyne Flir's vice president of unmanned ground systems. 'In a collapse situation like this, the pile is structurally unsound and constantly vulnerable to shifting. It's much safer to have a robot crawl deeper into a void than to have a person crawling into that void.'... One of its microrobots can be tossed onto unstable rubble and will then roll into crevices humans cannot see or fit into. The company also sent a 50-pound automated machine with an arm to pick up and move around objects."
AP: "A sweltering heat wave that has settled over western Canada for several days is believed to be a contributing factor in dozens of sudden-death calls received by police in the Vancouver area, authorities said Tuesday. Cpl. Mike Kalanj of Burnaby Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the detachment responded to 25 sudden-death calls in a 24-hour period starting Monday. The deaths are still under investigation and many of the deceased were seniors, he said." ~~~
~~~ CNN: "More than 230 deaths have been reported in British Columbia since Friday as a historic heat wave brought record-high temperatures, officials said Tuesday. The province's chief coroner called it an 'unprecedented time.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's hot here in the Northeast, too. A big group of kids was playing in the park across the street from me, so the Fire Department came out & turned its nozzle to a fine spray so the kids can play under the hose.
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Reader Comments (18)
Oxymoron of the day (not to be confused with justplainmoron):
TucKKKer KKKarlson: intelligence target.
“Waaah, Biden is spying on me! UnAmerican!”
Funny, I don’t recall TuKKKer complaining when a US president actually WAS spying on US citizens. And the Decider and his pet shark, Darth Cheney, weren’t spying on Americans to do in their TV shows, they were kidnapping them and sending them off to black sites in foreign countries to be tortured.
I’ll say what KKKarlson and his fascist brethren used to say back then, when Americans who believed in the Constitution complained about all that illegal snooping and renditioning: if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
But there again, TuKKKer KKKarlson: intelligence target.
Ummm…nope.
Other countries, reading about the complaints about removal of statues of confederate soldiers must be totally perplexed. As far as I can make out, the United States is the only place in the world that has hundreds of monuments honoring traitors who killed US citizens and tried to destroy the country.
Oh, wait. We still have traitors in elected office who helped a treasonous tyrant kill far more American citizens than died in the Civil War. Never mind.
And for the fact checkers, yes the total dead in the Civil War was over 600,000, but only about 360,000 were US citizens. The rest were traitors (ie, no longer US citizens) who fought for a slave state.
But, as things are going, the Trump Virus, combined with continued disinformation from the right about vaccinations, may yet kill well over 600,000.
It sounds like Fox News is going to be indoctrinating it's employees with critical sex theory. I'm sure this time they will take the lessons to heart and change their ways for the better. Or it will take two minutes until they are offering an intern some private help. Who can know.
Regarding a possible Vogue cover featuring Mrs. Orange Monster…
I’m guessing Anna Wintour decided that Melanie’s patented snarling grimace, which twisted those (C level) model features during her years in the Blight House, wouldn’t be the best choice to grace the cover of her magazine. Besides, Fatty would have insisted that she wear a string bikini or dental floss thong in order to lord it over Ted Cruz.
Good decision, Anna.
CRUMBLINGS IN THE GRANITE STATE:
Ten members of New Hampshire's GOP Governor's Diversity Council resigned in protest due to a new law signed by Gov. Chris Sununu that limits how educators and state employees can talk about racism. I found this to be not only an interesting story but an encouraging one.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-hampshire-governor-chris-sununu-diversity-council-protest-resign_n_60db5e93e4b0b9e497df733d
Frontline on PBS last night featured the rapid influx of white supremacists directed at Jews in Germany. They use the Nazi insignia and do the Nazi salute. One gets the sense of a redux of history at this time in our lives, here, there and elsewhere; only it has a truly sick side to it much like a virus that continues to infect.
"Jews will not replace us"–––said here some years ago––and a president of the U.S. at the time telling us that there were fine people within that group–––was this the beginning of giving sanction to the ugly underbellies? Ironically we can't even get a confederate statue removed from the U.S. Capitol while people like Paul Gosar sit in the seats of congress.
Meanwhile the collapse of the high rise in Florida is a stark reminder of sheer criminal neglect. Any bells go off? Are we learning some lessons?
Akhilleus,
Interesting distinction, that of citizens and traitors.
Am wondering how one could/should apply it to the mounting Covid deaths.
Most innocent victims to be sure, but of those who chose to ignore reason, science and expertise, drank the bleach so to speak per their traitorous leader's instructions, often killing the innocent or unwary along the way, what of them?
To answer PD's question from yesterday:
We're fine here in the sweltering Northwest.
Did top 100 degrees for a few days here, over 110 up the river valley at whose delta end we reside, all records, the AC function of our heat pump handily went on vacation at the same time (but fixed yesterday) and we have the seven and five year old grandsons in our care until tomorrow, all circumstances which drove us to the nearby lake twice a day Sunday-yesterday.
This morning woke (early) to the more traditional marine influence that we're used to here near the Sound. Supposed to get in the mid-80's later in the day, but as we noted that's a warm more than 20 degrees cooler than it was.
Had a lawn that had to be mowed, which I put off until yesterday, when the temps had begun to moderate and will do a little garden work later today while the kids are back at the lake.
And this morning grandma decided it's finally cool enough to turn on the oven and bake cookies.
That's it.
One more thought: Can't imagine what the last week would have been like had it occurred a year ago at the height of the Covid lockdown.
Brutal most likely.
Crazy anti-vax/(likely)white supremists: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-lawmaker-wears-gold-star-of-david-evoking-nazi-persecution-to-protest-covid-vaccine-mandates/. This jackass has the lowdown on what is what in elementary school level obfuscation. It is nice to see that the barriers to entry into electoral politics are low and open to all. I think.?! Poor Fauci: dealing with the pond scum, Tony deserves a lot more than a paycheck and an attaboy.
" ... The rest were traitors (ie, no longer US citizens) ..."
I'm not sure I agree with you 100% on your citizenship work there, Ak.
The Union leadership (Lincoln, anyway) always ensured that the confederacy (see that lower case there?) was not recognized (ergo, there was no confederate state of which they could be citizens; and individual states were treated as "in rebellion," not as new, successor states), and after Appomattox wanted individual (non-leader) rebs to regain citizenship as soon as they took an oath to abide. I'm not aware that anyone lost citizenship, although confederate officeholders were barred from many citizen's rights.
You could be convicted of treason today and you would not lose citizenship. Even after you hang, you remain a deceased citizen.
You can renounce it, but that's another story.
Oops!
" ... to regain citizenship ..." above should be "to regain citizen's rights".
Because they didn't actually lose citizenship. Even after trying to throw it away.
@Ken--good to know you are not melting and enjoyed your home grown scenario mit kinder and cookies!
@Patrick: Good call on the citizen bit–-interesting history, isn't it?
I was just imagining Melania sending off a tweet to Anna Wintour calling foul on not being on the cover of Vogue and Anna, true to her word and deed, writes back:
"I DON'T REALLY CARE but obviously in this case YOU Do!
Patrick,
I get your point. My distinction, I suppose, was more moral than legal. You open fire on representatives of your own country, you secede from the union, in my book, you’ve turned your back on that country and effectively renounced your citizenship. That distinction is just as plain today. You defy democracy in order to prop up a traitor, you wave the flag of slavery and rebellion against the union while storming the epicenter of constitutional democracy, you’ve turned your back on the founding principles of the nation.
What is this poor country coming to?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/trump-organization-expects-to-be-charged-thursday-in-manhattan-criminal-case.html
Just a few years back I heard that not paying taxes makes you "smart."
Must be part of that "stable genius" business I was never smart enough to understood.
@Marie, I really can't see the resemblance of McTurtle to Taney. Maybe it's because Taney has a chin without the goiter.
@unwashed: The greatest resemblances are in the face: bug eyes, long nose and downturned mouth. Taney has jowls, but they are not quite as pronounced as Mitch's.
However, I think Taney has a goiter, too. Notice that in the sculpture, Taney is wearing an upturned collar. (Why, you might call the shirt a formal version of a turtleneck!) The collar so high, it hits his chin & hides all of his neck except a small portion in the center. That part of his goiter is tucked it into his tight collar.
The NYT montage of the January 6 assault is really well done.
I wonder why they went with an Irish narrator. I assume he's Irish, the accent sounds so and his first name is Malachy.
Rumsfeld is dead. The wars he and his Bush connivers declared would be over in a month rage on 18 years later. I guess that was one of the “unknown unknowns”. What’s not unknown is the glee with which savage, sulphur smeared satanic testicle crushers await his arrival in the nether regions. Abu Ghraib and black site torture chambers will look like a church picnic compared to what awaits the Bush war criminals in hell. “Oooh, nice doggie…oh, don’t bite that!!”