;)
The Commentariat -- March 11, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
President Biden is scheduled to sign the American Rescue Act a day early, at 2 pm today.
Alyssa Fowers, et al., of the Washington Post: " In contrast with the emergency bills passed last year, the Democratic [Covid-19 stimulus] bill focuses the vast majority of aid on households, states and cities, and vaccine distribution. There is little money directed this time toward businesses.... Over half the money -- 54 percent -- in the bill goes toward households. In addition to the popular $1,400 checks, there is also funding for extra unemployment insurance through Labor Day, expanded tax credits, and various programs to make rent, food and health insurance more affordable.... Economists say low- and moderate-income Americans will benefit the most from this aid, especially individuals earning $75,000 or less and couples earning $150,000 or less. The number of Americans living in poverty is predicted to drop in 2021 by as much as a third because of this legislation."
Dear Americans: Republicans Despise You. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The GOP's national push to enact hundreds of new election restrictions could strain every available method of voting for tens of millions of Americans, potentially amounting to the most sweeping contraction of ballot access in the United States since the end of Reconstruction, when Southern states curtailed the voting rights of formerly enslaved Black men, a Washington Post analysis has found. In 43 states across the country, Republican lawmakers have proposed at least 250 laws that would limit mail, early in-person and Election Day voting with such constraints as stricter ID requirements, limited hours or narrower eligibility to vote absentee, according to data compiled as of Feb. 19 by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice. Even more proposals have been introduced since then."
Ezra Klein of the New York Times lays out the main components of two voting rights bills, the For the People Act & the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (both of which I think have passed the House).... Neither is a budget bill, and so -- unlike the American Rescue Plan -- neither can use budget reconciliation to pass with 51 votes.... I've always been partial to the proposal of former Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who would have ratcheted the votes required to end the filibuster down every few days: It would start at 60, then fall, after a few days of debate, to 57, and then, after a few more, to 54, and finally, after eight days of deliberation, to 51. I'd pair it with reforms to guarantee that senators of all parties could offer amendments on all bills and weaken the majority leader's control of the floor schedule.... It would be obscene to let the Republican Party use the language of minority rights to deprive actual minorities of the right to vote."
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "The judge overseeing the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd reinstated a third-degree murder charge in the case Thursday, paving the way for the trial to proceed as scheduled. The decision was a victory for prosecutors who had sought to reinstate the charge against Derek Chauvin, the White officer filmed with his knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during a police investigation last May. He is already charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the Black man's death. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to take up the appeal filed by Eric Nelson, Chauvin's attorney, seeking to overturn a state Court of Appeals ruling that ordered [Judge Peter] Cahill to reconsider a third-degree murder charge in the case. The appellate court issued a final judgment in the case and then sent the issue back to ... Judge ... Cahill, who is overseeing the trial and heard arguments on the issue Thursday morning."
Texas. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "An arrest warrant has been issued charging a police officer in Austin, Texas, with murder in the shooting death of a man last year that touched off protests against police violence in the state capital, the authorities said on Wednesday. The Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a warrant had been issued for the officer, Christopher Taylor [in the shooting death of Michael Ramos]...." The story reports the details of the incident, which was complicated.
U.K. Isabella Kwai of the New York Times: "Prince William on Thursday denied that Britain's royal family was racist, in his first public comments after his brother, Prince Harry, and Harry's wife, Meghan, alleged in a bombshell interview that a family member had raised concerns about their child's skin tone and shared revelations about a rift in the usually tight-lipped institution." MB: A reporter asked William if the family was racist, and he said no. This is one of those dumb reporter questions where there's only one possible answer.
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Matt Viser & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Biden, in his first prime-time address since taking office, is planning on Thursday night to speak to a nation still reeling from the deadly coronavirus pandemic, offering a look back on the devastating year as well as previewing what he will characterize as a coming return to some sense of normalcy, according to White House officials. Biden views the speech as a key marker to reflect on his first 50 days in office, one that comes almost exactly a year after the nation began to shut down as a result of the pandemic and at an inflection point in his own presidency, officials said. It was last March 11 that ... Donald Trump gave his own widely criticized Oval Office address, suspending travel from Europe while also telling Americans of the virus: 'The risk is very, very low.'... Biden is expected to travel to Pennsylvania next week and hold his first solo news conference of his presidency this month, as well as offer a joint address to Congress in the coming weeks...."
A Big Fucking Deal. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congress approved a sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Wednesday, authorizing a flurry of new federal spending and a temporary yet dramatic increase in anti-poverty programs to help millions of families still struggling amid the pandemic. The 220-211 vote in the House of Representatives almost entirely along party lines now sends to Biden's desk one of the largest economic rescue packages in U.S. history, which Democrats had promised to pass as one of their first acts of governance after securing narrow but potent majorities in Washington after the 2020 presidential election.... The bill now heads to Biden, who is expected to sign it Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The signing comes a day after the president is set to deliver his first prime-time television address on the country's response to the coronavirus." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Democratic leaders take a hard-earned victory lap:
~~~ President Biden on passage of the bill:
~~~ GOP Senator Hails Relief Bill. Emily Cochrane & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, tweeted approvingly just hours after the bill passed.... 'Independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief. This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll,' [he tweeted.]... His post did not mention that he had voted no." ~~~
It's typical that they vote no and take the dough. -- Nancy Pelosi, on Republican members of Congress, all of whom voted against the relief bill
Geoff Bennett & Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "President Joe Biden will announce plans Wednesday to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, giving the U.S. more than enough supply to vaccinate the entire U.S. population. Biden will announce that he is directing his Health and Human Services team to procure the additional doses during a meeting with executives from J&J and Merck, according to two administration officials." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Washington Post story is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: Donald Ducks. "A new series of public service announcements have been released featuring former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus -- the latest bid to convince millions of skeptics who say they're holding out.... The ads do not feature Donald Trump." ~~~
Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The Biden administration published revised guidelines on Wednesday for nursing home visits during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing guests to go inside to see residents regardless of whether they or the residents have been vaccinated. The recommendations, released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with comment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are the first revision to the federal government's nursing home guidance since September.... Federal officials said in the new guidance that outdoor visits were still preferable because of a lower risk of transmission, even when residents and guests have been fully vaccinated."
Jordain Carney & Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Merrick Garland to be President Biden's attorney general, a u-turn from a 2016 stalemate that kept him stuck in Senate limbo. Senators voted 70-30 on Garland's nomination to lead the Justice Department, easily topping the 50 votes needed. The vote comes just days before the five-year anniversary from when then-President Obama nominated Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans, who then controlled the Senate, refused to give Garland a hearing or a vote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Representative Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio was confirmed as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday, becoming the first Black woman in decades to run an agency that will be at the forefront of the Biden administration's efforts to fight racial inequity and poverty. Ms. Fudge, a Democratic member of Congress representing the Cleveland area and the former mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, earned the support of all the Senate Democrats and many top Republicans, including that of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader. The final vote was 66 to 34. For a fleeting moment on Wednesday, her two jobs, in two branches, overlapped: Ms. Fudge voted by proxy in favor of the administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill."
Brady Dennis & Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmed Michael Regan on Wednesday as the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator, a role that lies at the heart of President Biden's promises to cut the nation's greenhouse gas emissions and help poor and minority communities that have long borne the brunt of pollution. In an era defined by partisan divides, Regan won confirmation by a comfortable margin of 66 to 34.... He is the first Black man to lead the EPA in its half-century of existence. The agency's first African American chief was Lisa Jackson, who held the role for four years under President Barack Obama."
Ari Berman of Mother Jones: "As Republicans in the Georgia state legislature passed a series of voting restrictions over the past 10 days, Stacey Abrams, the state's leading voting rights activist, saw an ever more pressing need to reform the filibuster in the US Senate. And she has a plan for how to do it.... 'The judicial appointment exception, the Cabinet appointment exception, the budget reconciliation exception, are all grounded in this idea that these are constitutionally prescribed responsibilities that should not be thwarted by minority imposition,' she says. 'And we should add to it the right to protect democracy. It is a foundational principle in our country. And it is an explicit role and responsibility accorded only to Congress in the elections clause in the Constitution.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) faced backlash this week for releasing an ad attacking Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that ended with a gunshot sound. In the spot, the QAnon-endorsing first-term lawmaker called on Pelosi to 'tear down' the security fence that was put up around the U.S. Capitol following the Jan. 6 insurrection, when a violent mob of ... Donald Trump's supporters overran the Capitol building. 'It's time to cut the crap and remember, this is the people's house,' Boebert bombastically declared. The video concluded with audio of a gunshot, followed by the sound of the weapon being reloaded and fired again.&"
Ryan Nobles of CNN: "Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington [State] has sent letters to the House Committee on Ethics and the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting they launch investigations into three Republican lawmakers, over accusations of the trio 'instigating and aiding' the deadly January 6 riot on the Capitol. Jayapal asks the two groups to 'thoroughly investigate' the activity of the three members of Congress -- Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Paul Gosar of Arizona -- in the time leading up to the insurrection and refer all potential criminal wrongdoing to the Department of Justice. For each member, Jayapal lists examples of their conduct in the weeks before January 6."
Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "A Marine Corps veteran charged in the Capitol riot once served as a crew chief for the presidential helicopter squadron, a highly restrictive unit that requires a top-secret security clearance, officials said Wednesday. John Daniel Andries, 35, of Piney Point, Md., was arrested last month and charged with two felonies, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds. He pleaded not guilty, WUSA9 reported."
The Former Guy. Jason Morris & Sara Murray of CNN: "In a phone call to the Georgia secretary of state's office in December..., Donald Trump urged a top investigator to find fraud in the 2020 presidential election, telling her that she would be 'praised' for overturning results that were in favor of Joe Biden, according to newly reported audio of the call obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The report is the latest example of Trump's extraordinary efforts to influence Georgia election officials as they certified the results.... 'When the right answer comes out, you'll be praised,' Trump tells Frances Watson, the chief investigator at the Georgia secretary of state's office, in a six-minute conversation on December 23, according to the Journal. 'I won everything but Georgia. And I won Georgia, I know that. By a lot. And the people know it. And something happened there. Something bad happened,' Trump reportedly told Watson during the phone call." You can listen to Trump Call here. (This link is to a WSJ copy of the recording, which is accessible to non-subscribers.)
Carrie Johnson of NPR: "Two whistleblowers assert that a Justice Department official improperly injected politics into the hiring process during his waning days in the Trump administration, according to a new filing obtained by NPR. The whistleblowers accuse Jeffrey Bossert Clark of conducting a 'sham' process and elevating a person who volunteered to defend a controversial Trump policy on abortion access, even though the person had far less experience than other finalists for the job in the Civil Division, they said in a Wednesday letter to House and Senate lawmakers and the Justice Department's inspector general. Clark was then the acting assistant attorney general in charge of the department's Civil Division. Clark drew nationwide attention this year after The New York Times reported he had discussed a way to unseat the acting attorney general, take the job for himself and advance then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's election results...."
Capitalism Is Bizarre. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "The Panda Express cashier had already been forced to strip to her underwear in front of her fellow staff during a 'self-improvement' seminar in 2019, she said, and told to open up to the group about her vulnerabilities. But when a male colleague broke down crying while trying to do the same, the session's leaders ordered her to go one step further: She had to 'hug it out' with him, both of them still undressed, as others filmed her or ogled at her body, the 23-year-old employee in California said. That was just part of a bizarre, psychologically abusive four-day seminar that 'more and more resembled a cult initiation ritual as time went on,' according to a lawsuit she filed last month against the fast-food chain in Los Angeles County Superior Court."
Beyond the Beltway
Iowa. Katie Robertson & Rachel Abrams of the New York Times: "An Iowa jury acquitted a journalist on Wednesday in a highly unusual trial of a reporter who was arrested last spring as she covered a protest against racism and police violence. Andrea Sahouri, a public safety reporter for The Des Moines Register, was arrested May 31 while covering a sometimes chaotic demonstration ...l in Des Moines. Police officers ordered protesters to disperse and used pepper spray against them. Ms. Sahouri, who said she had identified herself as a reporter, was arrested along with her boyfriend at the time, Spenser Robnett, who had accompanied her that day. Ms. Sahouri, 25, pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of failing to disperse and interference with official acts, each punishable by up to 30 days in jail. On Wednesday, a six-person jury found Ms. Sahouri and Mr. Robnett not guilty of both charges." The Des Moines Register story is here.
Killing Protesters is OK-lahoma. Carmen Forman of the Oklahoman: "Republican lawmakers in the Oklahoma House approved legislation to grant immunity to drivers who hit protesters. On a party-line vote Wednesday, the House passed a bill that grants civil and criminal immunity for drivers who unintentionally injure or kill protesters while 'fleeing from a riot.' House Bill 1674 from Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, is just one of a handful of GOP-sponsored bills in the Oklahoma Legislature this year designed to crack down on protests. The bill came under fire from legislative Democrats said the Republican majority was looking to lash out at protesters instead of taking steps to address systemic racism and police misconduct that have spurred widespread Black Lives Matter protests.&"
Way Beyond
U.K. Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "The Queen missed a crucial opportunity to publicly acknowledge and condemn racism in her response to the allegations made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, equality campaigners have said. Casting the issue as a 'private' family matter meant there was 'no public accountability' from a public institution and the head of state and Commonwealth, they said." MB: Elizabeth has plenty of advisors, and evidently they, or she, decided to miss the opportunity. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (6)
Nancy Pelosi is correct. The traitors vote no, but gladly take the dough.
But here’s the thing. This bill passed both chambers with razor thin margins. It passed by nine votes in the House (I think it was nine). Democrats have to go full Stacey Abrams, starting today, to maintain control of the House and then widen their margin in the Senate so they can put fuckface Joe Manchin up on the shelf where he belongs. His fifteen minutes (two years? Jesus) of being the controlling vote (along with Sinema) should be ended as quickly as possible.
And get rid of that goddam filibuster!
The other THING that should be gotten rid of is Lauren Boebert! I am actually shocked that she could make that video without it being taken down immediately. The swagger that she displays makes me want to smack her hindquarters good and proper–-something Kevin should do but won't.
Last night Nicole Wallace hosted a special on MSNBC–-honoring the dead from Covid and interviewing a few of their loved ones. Elizabeth Warren told the story of one of her brothers who caught the virus from his wife who suffered only minor irritants but he, unfortunately, was hit hard and died. Brave people coming forth and tearfully telling us what they went through and how they now are coping. The message was how to deal with this kind of grief––and how to help those who are going through the worst: "Just listen."
It was well done and Nicole, although she said it was hard not to break down and cry, did a stellar job. I, myself, went through a few tissues and know I could never have pulled it off. We need to heal as a country, not alone in our grief. We now have a president that understand this.
The story abut the Panda Express hijinks is bizarre–-a "self improvement seminar"? Why would you acquiesce to such nonsense?
Yesterday we mentioned Betsy DeVos in passing and I recall something Diane Ravitch wrote about her. Our Betsy has spent the past three decades leading a campaign against public schools and personally subsidizing political candidates who favor private alternatives. Trump's decision to appoint her as Secretary of Ed. was a reward to right wing Christian groups that share her extremest views. These groups' long standing crusade against public schools are not going to fade away––-they will continue to poke their religious mucky muck into the halls of these public schools: Our new Secretary of Education will have his hands full.
Are Brits racist?
Of course not. But, wogs do begin at Calais, wot?
As most of the country moves forward from out of the medieval claptrap and batshit crazy, cancerous, revanchist reactions of Trump and his churlish sycophants to an America increasingly unwilling to go along with unearned white privilege and Fatty’s own version of droit du seigneur, which he believed gave him carte blanche to violate laws and screw anyone or anything he felt did not bow before his every vile wish, we see two moving, contrapuntal lines, like some crazy sonata, with one line moving towards energetic, harmonious resolution, running above (way above) a crashing, tumultuous dissonant line that sounds like Darth Vader’s Imperial March played by crack addicts on broken instruments.
So while we have daily rollbacks of insidious and downright evil Fatty pronunciamentos and the Trump virus looks like it might soon be under control, and Americans battered by Trump and Republican greed and stupidity are finding relief, we see, on the dark side, reporters pepper sprayed and put on trial for doing their job, laws passed that allow confederates to run over protesters they hate without suffering legal consequences, in Kentucky, R’s are making it illegal to say bad things to police officers, and elected red state representatives from hell are advocating murder as a viable political tool.
It’s like two patients in the same hospital room. One is getting better by the day, the other has descended into total madness and is threatening to murder the staff and any patients they hate.
But the crazy patient is on life support from the very institution it wants to destroy.
I say “Pull the plug, there’s no hope”.
Georgia governor Brian Kemp is upset over a provision in the relief bill that specifically forbids states to use funds to offset a net reduction in tax revenue. Georgia had already passed an income tax cut this year.
Akhilleus use of the term "Droit du Seigneur" gave me a few thrills–– many years ago I came across same and put it in my own booklet of "words I did not know" and he uses this term to describe Fatty's own right of way: it's the supposed right claimable by a feudal lord to have sex with the bride of a vassal on their first night of marriage.
I'd say that about covers it––crazy sonatas & all!