;)
The Commentariat -- June 9, 2021
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times is liveblogging President Biden's European adventure.
Paul Murphy of CNN: "Texas' Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland is on 'active shooter lockdown,' according to the base's Facebook page. 'All base personnel implement LOCKDOWN procedures and immediately take cover," the base posted on Facebook and Twitter. A second post said there were no immediate reports of injuries after the incident that took place outside one of the gates. '(Base) emergency responders are working with the San Antonio police department to clear the area and search for the shooters,' the post says."
Zachary Cohen & Christina Carrega of CNN: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday defended a series of controversial arguments made by the Justice Department in recent weeks that endorsed legal positions held by ... Donald Trump and the previous administration. Garland was pressed to explain those moves while testifying before several Senate subcommittees. Specifically, he was asked about the department's support for arguments related to an assault allegation against the former President and the release of a memo of regarding handling the Mueller investigation." MB: Gosh, Merrick, I am not persuaded.
Matt O'Brien, et al., of the AP: "The White House dropped Trump-era executive orders that attempted to ban the popular apps TikTok and WeChat and will conduct its own review aimed at identifying national security risks with software applications tied to China, officials said Wednesday. A new executive order directs the Commerce Department to undertake what officials describe as an 'evidence-based' analysis of transactions involving apps that are manufactured or supplied or controlled by China. Officials are particularly concerned about apps that collect users' persona data or have connections to Chinese military or intelligence activities. The department also will make recommendations on how to further protect Americans' genetic and personal health information, and will address the risks of certain software apps connected to China or other adversaries, according to senior administration officials."
Biden Press Plane Bugged! Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "The Brood X cicadas that rose from the earth after 17 years underground ... ground[ed] the White House press corps as it headed to Europe for President Biden's first overseas trip in office.... Reporters gathered at a Marriott hotel near Dulles International Airport were told by a White House aide that the insects had flown into the engine, causing mechanical problems that required the airline to obtain a new plane and a new captain for the flight. The journalists ended up delayed more than five hours." MB: Wow! Reporters stuck for five hours in a hotel with a bar. Whatever will they do?
GOP "Negotiator" Doesn't Know What "Negotiation" Means. Ben Leonard of Politico: "Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Wednesday that she was 'frustrated' that the White House 'kept moving the goalposts on us' after infrastructure negotiations with the Biden administration fell apart Tuesday. 'I'm a bit disappointed and frustrated that the White House really kept moving the ball on me and then just finally brought me negotiations that were untenable and then ended the negotiations altogether,' Capito said in a Fox News interview."; MB: Shelley, dear, "moving the goalposts" is exactly what negotiators do. You tell Joe Manchin you'll sell him your golden Trump ring for $5,000. Joe offers you $1,000 & a promise to endorse you in a radio ad. You tell Joe $2,500 & a TV endorsement. Joe counters back at $2,000 & two radio ads. That's negotiating, Shelley. Both of you "move the goalposts." And you do know that ring will turn Joe's finger green, don't you? You Republicans always cheat.
Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Sherri Tenpenny, a Cleveland-based doctor invited as an expert witness Tuesday to a hearing in the Ohio House..., falsely told legislators that the drugs could leave people 'magnetized.'... 'They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks. They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick..., [she testified].... Her baseless remarks -- which also suggested that vaccines 'interface' with 5G cellular towers -- didn't elicit strong pushback from legislators.... Instead, some GOP representatives thanked Tenpenny for testifying in front of the Ohio House Health Committee, with one praising a podcast she hosts as 'enlightening in terms of thinking.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: I've been vaccinated, so as soon as I heard Dr. Tenpenny's testimony, I tossed all my keyrings, what with their now being useless, antiquated hardware. Well, imagine my surprise when I tried to slap my housekey on my forehead & the sucker fell right off!
Florida Senate Race. Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., made her Senate bid official Wednesday, announcing that she plans to challenge Republican Marco Rubio for his seat next year. Demings made the announcement in a three-minute video in which she shared her story serving in Orlando's police department, where she worked her way up to serving as its first female chief of police.... In a statement Wednesday, Rubio bashed Demings...," ... MB: essentially revealing that Demings is a Democrat.
~~~~~~~~~
Seung Min Kim & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "President Biden ended negotiations with a group of Republicans led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) over his infrastructure package Tuesday as the two sides failed to strike a deal after weeks of talks. A key part of Biden's domestic agenda now enters a new, uncertain phase, as the president shifts his focus to a separate group of Democrats and Republicans in hopes of reaching a deal. But the failure to reach a deal with Capito, something liberals had warned was inevitable, could increase pressure on Biden to ultimately try to forge ahead with only Democrats as he did during the push for a stimulus law earlier this year." An NBC News report is here. Politico's story is here.
Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "The day before the White House announced that President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin would hold their first in-person meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, the US ambassador to Russia privately told lawmakers he's worried about Washington giving concessions to Moscow without getting anything in return. In a two-hour briefing to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in May..., Ambassador John Sullivan suggested that Putin is not acting in good faith with the US and the Biden administration risks repeating the same mistakes of its predecessors if it does not approach the issue with clear eyes, according to one of the sources.... And within Biden's administration there has been vigorous debate about the right way to engage with Putin, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, particularly within the State Department.... Sullivan, who was appointed by ... Donald Trump but was asked by Biden to stay on..., has been advising the President's national security team ahead of the summit and has attended all of the White House's meetings on Russia leading up to the meeting."
Carol Lee & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "President Joe Biden has quietly begun efforts to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, using an under-the-radar approach to minimize political blowback and to try to make at least some progress in resolving a long-standing legal and human rights morass before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."
Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "In Guatemala, Vice President Harris spoke of the bonds between the nations of the Western hemisphere and offered millions in aid and investment. In Mexico, she stressed the 'interdependence and interconnection' between the United States and its neighbor to the south. But her tone was far more stern toward potential migrants mulling a trip to the U.S. border. 'Do not come,' she instructed during a news conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. 'Do not come. You will be turned back.' And she warned Tuesday in Mexico, 'It can be a very treacherous and dangerous trek.' The strong words were a nod to the shifting political ground facing the Biden administration as Harris concluded a trip aimed at tackling the root causes of migration. The recent tough tone of Harris and other Biden officials presented a contrast with the emphasis of Biden's campaign, which vowed a humane, gentler approach."
Yan Zhuang, et al., of the New York Times: "For years, organized crime figures around the globe relied on [cellphones with encryption capabilities & purchased on the black market] to orchestrate international drug shipments, coordinate the trafficking of arms and explosives, and discuss contract killings, law enforcement officials said. Users trusted the devices' security so much that they often laid out their plans not in code, but in plain language, mentioning specific smuggling vessels and drop-off points. Unbeknown to them, however, the entire network was actually a sophisticated sting run by the F.B.I., in coordination with the Australian police. On Tuesday, global law enforcement officials revealed the unprecedented scope of the three-year operation, saying they had intercepted over 20 million messages in 45 languages, and arrested at least 800 people, most of them in the past two days, in more than a dozen countries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The photo that accompanies the article claims to depict the arrest of a suspect in Australia. But the guy sure looks like that fat man on his bed in New Jersey whom Trump blamed for hacking Hillary's emails.
** Good Grief! Ctd. Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department in a court filing Tuesday said it can 'vigorously' defend a religious exemption from federal civil rights law that allows federally funded religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students, a move that surprised some LGBTQ advocates who said the wording went further than just an obligation to defend an existing law. In the filing, the Biden administration said it 'shares the same ultimate objective' as the conservative Christian schools named in the case. 'What this means is that the government is now aligning itself with anti-LGBTQ hate in order to vigorously defend an exemption that everyone knows causes severe harm to LGBTQ students using taxpayer money,' said Paul Carlos Southwick, director of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project...."
Paul Butler in a Washington Post op-ed: "... the Justice Department is still fighting transparency and accountability in a way that must delight the former attorney general who led the department into the abyss during the Trump administration. The Justice Department is now defending two of the most controversial acts of the previous administration -- using arguments cribbed from Donald Trump himself.... The ... question may be to what lengths the Justice Department will go to defend the Trump administration's abuse of power -- with its primary concern being preserving that power for the Biden administration and beyond.... There is a fine line between protecting the confidentiality of important records and shielding corrupt officials. [AG Merrick] Garland is walking on the wrong side of that line.... Garland should uphold the values of the Justice Department by exposing the misdeeds of the previous administration and ensuring accountability." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "Let's not mince words here: Merrick Garland's position is that the president of the United States should be able to rape a woman when he's a private citizen, and then be totally immunized forever from lying to the world about this, if he lies about it when he's president.... [Contributor DamnYankee writes,] '... The analogy here would be Nazi judges. People who were judges in the Weimar Republic, who were not Nazis when it started. But then Hitler took power and banned alternative parties, and the judges just ... went along. They just continued doing their job, submitting to Nazi rule and acting on their behalf, because ultimately their job was to be judges, nothing more. We talk all the time about how we can/t let Trump be normalized, but he has been. And the highest levels of Democratic governance are not just letting it happen, but actively abetting it....'... I realize that in the abstract a 'politicized' DOJ is a really bad thing. A worse thing is when someone is trying to literally kill you and you keep trying to get them to appear at an Aspen Institute panel moderated by David Brooks." ~~~
~~~ Rachel Maddow let Merrick Garland have it last night. She says Garland is not only failing to clean up some of the worst, most corrupt stuff of strong> Trump's "Justice" Department, he is continuing it. She says so far Garland's DOJ "is AWOL on all of the important things that are happening right now." Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney, appeared on Maddow's show later. Lawyers, and especially government lawyers, are loath to criticize judges, but McQuade said she believed that Garland, who promised to "clean up" Trump's DOJ has "overcorrected" in attempted to appear nonpartisan. Uh, yeah. ~~~
~~~ Marie: President Biden has rightly said that he would not interfere with Justice Department actions. But he can fire Merrick Garland. I think he should call Garland into the Oval toot sweet, ask him WTF he's doing, and if the answer isn't satisfactory, thank Garland for his service and hand him a pen and a resignation letter ready for signature. P.S. Here's what we should do: not put up with this. We can't just think, "Well, Biden -- and maybe Garland -- are Democrats, so they must have A Very Good Reason, and it must be all right." No, it's not all right.
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The Senate voted on Tuesday to adopt an approximately $250 billion bill to counter China's growing economic and military prowess, hoping that major investments in science -- and fresh punishments targeting Beijing -- might give the United States a lasting edge.... Democrats and Republicans found rare accord over the sprawling measure, known as the United States Innovation and Competition Act, as lawmakers warned that Washington risked ceding the country's technological leadership to one of its foremost geopolitical adversaries. The proposal commits billions of dollars in federal funds across a wide array of research areas."
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked debate on a bill to combat pay discrimination against women and L.G.B.T.Q. workers, the first in a series of votes set up by Democratic leaders this month to highlight the power of the filibuster to stop even the consideration of legislation. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which failed, 49 to 50, was never going to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and bring it to the Senate floor under existing rules. The bill, which passed the House in April, has been on the Democratic wish list since 1997. Among other legal provisions, it would require employers to prove that pay disparities between men and women are job related and would strengthen the hand of plaintiffs filing class-action lawsuits that challenge pay discrimination." The Hill's report is here.
Mike DeBonis, et al., of the Washington Post: "An all-hands push by some of the nation's top civil rights leaders Tuesday failed to move Sen. Joe Manchin III's opposition to a major Democratic voting rights bill, leaving advocates with few clear options and as they seek to override a passel of new Republican-passed state voting laws.... Manchin said the meeting was 'constructive,' 'respectful,' 'informative' and 'excellent' at various points in a brief exchange with reporters. But asked whether talking to the civil rights leaders -- who included the heads of the NAACP, the National Urban League and other groups -- had changed his views, the senator said they had not." An NPR story is here.
Ezra Levin in Medium: "... you might have seen Senator Manchin's op-ed explaining his opposition to the For the People Act.... The piece is riddled with historical falsehoods and bizarre, antiquated political analysis.... Worth noting upfront: despite the intransigence of Senate Republicans, the For the People Act has overwhelming bipartisan support in West Virginia and across the country, including overwhelming majorities amongst Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. I'm here to give you my best take on what this means, what comes next, and what is to be done."
The full public report of two Senate committees' January 6 insurrection investigation is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
A Stinkweed by Any Other Name ... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post demonstrates how Republicans -- even those like Mitch McConnell who once referred to the January 6 storming of the Capitol as an "insurrection" -- are now excising the world "insurrection" from the, um, insurrection. Blake notes, "The Senate early in the day released the first big report on Jan. 6, but the report conspicuously avoided a specific word: 'insurrection.' The word appeared 11 times in the report, but only when directly quoting someone or citing a report that used it. CNN quoted those involved saying it was left out to ensure the bipartisanship of the report -- i.e. Republicans, at best, viewed it as overly provocative."
Where Are They Now? Tom Dreisbach of NPR: "Attorneys Michael van der Veen and Bruce Castor defended ... Donald Trump at his Senate impeachment trial over allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.... They argued in a legal brief that the rioters' actions deserve 'robust and swift investigation and prosecution.' Now, van der Veen and Castor [are] defending at least three people charged in connection with the Capitol breach."
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Mo Brooks(R-Ala.) is continuing to promote the false claim that ... Donald Trump won the 2020 election, ahead of a battle for the seat of Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.).... In an interview Monday with the Washington Examiner, Brooks asserted that Trump beat President Biden 'if only lawful votes cast by eligible American citizens were counted.'" MB: Where "eligible American citizens" = "white people." ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post makes mincemeat of Confederate Rep. Mo Insurrection Brooks (Ala.), who was ALL-CAPS angry that a process-server working for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D.-Calif.) finally managed to catch up with the wife of the elusive representative of the white people while the wife was puttering in the garage. Brooks tweeted "a photo of Alabama's trespassing statute ... in such haste that he evidently didn't notice it included what appeared to be a PIN and his Gmail password taped to his monitor. Apparently, taking a screenshot exceeded Brooks's technical capabilities. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) helpfully tweeted advice to his colleague: 'Never tape PW to computer.'... [Brooks] ... is a member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems. And consider Brooks's absurdly selective outrage. He provoked hundreds of Trump supporters to invade the Capitol, injuring hundreds of police and leading to several deaths. But now he's ALL-CAPS enraged because a nonviolent process server walked into his open garage. Brooks is hoping Alabama voters will reward his stupidity by promoting him to the Senate next year."
Thomas Edsall of the New York Times: "Determined to enforce white political dominance in pivotal states like Georgia, Arizona, Texas and North Carolina, Republicans are enacting or trying to enact laws restricting the right to vote, empowering legislatures to reject election outcomes and adopting election rules and procedures designed to block the emergence of multiracial political majorities.... In an email, [Tom] Ginsburg [of the University of Chicago's law school] wrote that there are two forces that lead to the erosion of democracy: 'charismatic populism and partisan degradation, in which a party just gives up on the idea of majority rule and seeks to end democratic competition. Obviously the U.S. has faced both forces at the same time in Trumpism.'"
Not My Fault, Man. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Colonial Pipeline Co. chief executive Joseph Blount took a defensive stance Tuesday during a Senate hearing amid questioning about his company's handling of a devastating ransomware attack that shut off fuel access to much of the Eastern Seaboard last month. In his first remarks to Congress since the breach, he cast his company as a victim of forces beyond its control.... Hackers were able to gain access to the company's network through an account that was not protected with multi-factor authentication, a basic tenet of corporate cybersecurity. Rather, the account was protected by a single password.... Though companies like Colonial play key roles within the nation's economic infrastructure, they are largely left on their own with respect to cybersecurity...." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "The coronavirus might be receding in much of the United States, but it continues to spread in communities with low Covid-19 vaccination rates, where highly contagious virus variants pose a threat to those who have not had shots."
Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "A highly transmissible coronavirus variant first identified in India accounts for 6 percent of new infections in the United States, the Biden administration said Tuesday. Yet vaccines appear to be highly effective against this version of the virus that has quickly spread into Great Britain and elsewhere. Anthony S. Fauci ... revealed the extent of the variant's push into the United States, but said it appears to be slowed by vaccines. 'It's essentially taking over' in the United Kingdom, Fauci said at a briefing for reporters. 'We cannot let that happen in the United States, which is such a powerful argument' for vaccination, he said."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Dozens of staff members at a Houston-area hospital protested on Monday night against a policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The hospital, Houston Methodist, had told employees that they had to be vaccinated by Monday. Last month, 117 employees filed a lawsuit against the hospital over the vaccine policy.... Those who did not meet the hospital's vaccination deadline on Monday will be placed on a two-week unpaid suspension. If they do not meet the requirements by June 21, Houston Methodist said it would 'initiate the employee termination process.'... On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed a law prohibiting businesses or government entities in the state from requiring vaccine passports, or digital proof of vaccination, joining states such as Florida and Arkansas. It's unclear how or if the new law will affect employer mandates like Houston Methodist's." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Washington State. "Joints for Jabs." Far Out, Man. Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "As part of its strategy to vaccinate more of its population, Washington State will allow adults to claim a free marijuana joint when they receive a Covid-19 vaccination shot. The state's liquor and cannabis board announced on Monday that the promotion, called 'Joints for Jabs,' was effective immediately and would run through July 12."
Wisconsin. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "A hospital pharmacist who pleaded guilty to trying to spoil more than 500 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison, federal prosecutors in Wisconsin announced. The pharmacist, Steven R. Brandenburg, 46, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay nearly $84,000 in restitution to the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wis., where he worked an overnight shift. Mr. Brandenburg was 'an admitted conspiracy theorist' who believed the vaccine could harm people and 'change their DNA,' according to the police in Grafton, Wis."
Beyond the Beltway
But She Said a Whole Lotta Hail Marys. California. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: For ten years, the principal of the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., was stealing tuition and fee checks, "along with donations.... Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79..., [was] using [the money] to bankroll her gambling habit, federal prosecutors said, violating her vow of poverty. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged the now-retired nun with wire fraud and money laundering for embezzling more than $835,000 from the school. Kreuper pleaded guilty and is due in court for arraignment on July 1. In a statement to The Washington Post early Wednesday, Kreuper's lawyers, Mark A. Byrne and Daniel V. Nixon, said she is 'very remorseful' and 'sorry for any harm she has caused.'" MB: Seriously, I wonder if Sister Mary Margaret confessed her sins in the confessional. If so, her priests kept her confidence.
New Jersey Election 2021. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman and former lawmaker, beat back challenges from candidates loyal to ... Donald J. Trump to win Tuesday's Republican primary in New Jersey, setting the stage for one of only two governor's races in the nation in November. Mr. Ciattarelli, a moderate former assemblyman making his second bid for governor, will now face Gov. Philip D. Murphy, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination and is hoping to ride high approval ratings for his handling of the pandemic to a second term. Democrats control all branches of government in New Jersey and outnumber Republicans by nearly 1.1 million voters."
Virginia Election 2021. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe captured the Democratic nomination for his old job on Tuesday, easily dispatching four party rivals to set up an expensive general election that will test how liberal Virginia has become and present the first major referendum at the ballot box on the Democratic Party under President Biden. Mr. McAuliffe was winning more than 60 percent of the vote when The Associated Press declared him the winner less than an hour after the polls closed."
Share Article
Reader Comments (14)
I'm wondering if Mr. Garland is trying to convince Moscow Mitch that he was wrong to block him from confirmation to the SCOTUS.
Garland's way of saying, "See what you missed?"
Otherwise....inexplicable.
So confederates have nixed Biden’s much needed and game changing infrastructure plan. Big surprise (after all, what’s in it for them?). Now they’re whining that Biden wouldn’t compromise with them so naturally it’s all his fault. But here’s the problem. “Compromise”, to Republicans, means “Do what we say”, “We get everything we want” and/or “No way, no how”.
Biden was right to stop this bullshit. And Joe Manchin can pat himself on the back. Again.
Seriously, this idea of “Well, I won’t vote for anything unless Republicans are on board” is pretty much the stupidest, most ignorant idea going. That is, if you’re serious about helping the country as opposed to helping yourself. It’s like saying “I’m not voting on anything about hacker and ransom ware protection unless Putin and his dark side criminals are okay with it.”
Speaking of which, will Putin demand that Biden give him back that $2 million recovered after the Colonial Pipeline scheme was (partially) upended? There is no way Putin doesn’t have a hand in the sort of huge hacking jobs that impact other nations. This is state sponsored terrorism. Only slightly different than Manchin-McConnell sponsored terrorism
Holy…
Sister Mary Margaret…the Gambling Nun. Can Sally Fields play her in the Netflix series? It would make a nice career bookend to her stint as the Flying Nun. “C’mon seven! Sister needs some diamond studded rosary beads!”
Will there be a new version of the Ocean’s Eleven series? Nuns in full habits (we used to call them the penguins) cracking the vaults in multiple Vegas casinos? This must be the extreme version of the lord helping those who help themselves. But only up as far as the arraignment, apparently. Will she get a black and white jumpsuit and wimple?
Next season: “Sister Mary Margaret Busts Out of the Joint!” They couldn’t keep her down forever! She’s back, with fellow jail-breakers Sister (saws in the bread loaf) Malvena and Mother Superior Kickassia. More fun than a three hour Lenten stations of the cross extravaganza.
News flash! DNA tests prove positively that Merrick Garland is Joe Manchin’s long lost twin. Separated at birth. Rejoined by the incessant urge to help confederates screw the country.
The word “insurrection” can no longer be used when talking about the Trump insurrection? So what are they calling it? A play date? “Trump supporters held a nice play date on January 6th. Democrats trying to make them look bad. Unfair to Trump! He loves play dates.”
Merrick Garland is both an institution man and a man of process. You can't take those spots off that leopard. We are left hoping that his heart is in the right place. Since he is an attorney "right place" is a caveat also.
This morning the Merrick Garland and Joe Manchin (Joe Lieberman redux and the Neville Chamberlain of the Senate) thing has me thinking along the lines of "a plague on both your houses," as it seems the plague of anti-democratic corruption infects both parties to a greater extent than I had hoped or believed.
I'll try to get over it, but I need a sign that I'm wrong, and I need one soon.
Here's the link to Rachel's diatribe against Garland if you want to hear it in full. When I heard it last night I despaired! I had been wondering what and how ole Merrick was doing and learned he ain't been doing much! I like M.B.'s suggestion:
" I think he should call Garland into the Oval toot sweet, ask him WTF he's doing, and if the answer isn't satisfactory, thank Garland for his service and hand him a pen and a resignation letter ready for signature.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rachel-maddow-merrick-garland-justice-department_n_60c068afe4b059c73bd381f5
And yes––we can't and should NOT put up with this. How long is it going to take to take down the man that took US down?????
On another matter: Lots of rumblings that once again the Democrats need to get some teeth–-the kind that rips into the moribund mountebanks who are getting the upper hand here. Someone on MSNBC said one of the Dems should go to W.V.––Manchin's territory–-and take pictures of all the crumbling bridges, roads, etc. and have a show and tell on the senate floor. Perhaps we could do that for the rest of the nay sayers. Teeth!! People--sharpen them!!!!!
GAMING THE SYSTEM:
John Cassidy's column from the New Yorker on why we need to tax wealth more effectively:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-propublica-revelations-show-why-we-need-to-tax-wealth-more-effectively
Remember when we were shocked at that old chestnut about a secretary of a wealthy business man paying more taxes than he does? Now we are in a whole different territory of wealth management and manipulations–-it's the artful dodgers on steroids.
Hillary: and he brags that he doesn't pay taxes!
Trump: that makes me smart!
Ken,
I made the Neville Chamberlain comparison to a friend recently but I’m thinking that in many ways Manchin is worse. There was little appetite for another European war in Britain in 1938. Hitler had yet to bomb anyone so a shooting war wasn’t a done deal, at least at that point.
Republicans, in contrast, have proven their unreliability, mendacity, and treasonous, anti-democratic proclivities time and again. This is not a hypothetical situation. And unlike the Brits who wanted no part of war, the majority of Americans very much want democracy in the form of fair and honest elections, something Republicans have come out against in no uncertain terms. “If we let everyone vote, we will lose elections!”
Manchin is not just an appeaser, he is an enabler of treason.
“Enlightening, in terms of thinking.”
What he said…
Is that like eating, in terms of ingesting food? Or maybe running, in terms of moving one’s legs quickly so as to move from point A to point B quickly? How about scamming, in terms of acting Trumpish?
This is the sort of sloppy thinking (in terms of, well, thinking) that presents as goofy (or just plain wrong) language, as with people who want to sound smart and believe that employing big words—which they don’t seem to understand—will do the trick. Like people who use “ironic” to mean “coincidence”. Or the classic misuse of “begs the question”.
What makes this unenlightened expression even more egregious is the fact that it refers to something completely bonkers.
Reading the Ms Tenpenny story I can't think but this is one lady who has been hammered at least one time too many.
@Akhilleus: "Enlightening, in terms of thinking," struck me, too. The modifier "in terms of thinking" implies that besides thinking, there are other or even opposing "terms" (types??) of perception that lead to enlightenment. These other "terms" would have to be non-cognitive since "thinking" pretty much covers the using-your-brain thing. So we'll have to assume these people gain their understanding & wisdom through some means that does not involve thought processes. I would be perfectly willing to accept that inasmuch as their brains don't seem to be especially engaged.
As for Neville Chamberlain, yes, Manchin is worse. Many well-informed people of the time believed or had reasonable hope that Hitler could be coaxed out of starting another great war. Nobody in Washington thinks Republicans can be coaxed into thinking they should allow Democrats to vote and govern and in general be treated with the same esteem that white, right-wing elites reserve for themselves. Chamberlain was trying to prevent a war; Manchin is succeeding in preventing voters of his own political party from voting. He's a purposeful saboteur.
@ Akhilleus and Marie
On Chamberlain and Manchin, point taken.
Another difference that occurred to me as I made the shaky comparison: Hitler made some promises, then broke them. IOW, he lied.
The Republicans aren't even lying about their intentions. Manchin knows exactly what he's dealing with and doesn't care. Labels aside, he's one of them.