;)
Thursday
Mar252021
The Commentariat -- March 26, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
A Florida Man Analyzes Capitol Insurrection. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed Thursday that his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 posed 'zero threat' -- despite the fact that five people died as a result of the violent insurrection, including a Capitol Police officer. 'It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,' Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'Look, they went in -- they shouldn't have done it -- some of them went in, and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.' The former president's remarks represent perhaps his most serious distortion yet of the events of Jan. 6.... Prosecutors have arrested more than 300 participants in the Capitol attack, and ... the head of the Capitol Police officers' union has indicated that roughly 140 officers were injured in the insurrection." Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead. MB: Yeah, just like a kindergarten field trip.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "States are racing to vaccinate as many people as possible as the United States coronavirus infection curve continues its plateau for a third week at more than 55,000 new cases per day, a level that health experts warn could rapidly escalate into a new wave.... At least 31 states have pledged to make vaccines universally available to their adult populations by mid-April, and many more have announced plans to expand eligibility on or before May 1, a goal set by President Biden." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.
The Grifter Next Door. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has charged 474 people over the past year with trying to swipe more than $569 million by using criminal fraud schemes connected to the covid-19 pandemic and seized at least $580 million in civil proceedings, officials announced Friday, demonstrating how taxpayer-funded programs meant to ease the economic burden of the crisis have become susceptible to scammers. The department said it has seen fraud attempts connected to several government aid programs. The Criminal Division's Fraud Section, for example, has charged at least 120 people in connection with fraud of the Paycheck Protection Program, a taxpayer-subsidized loan program regulated by the Small Business Administration which has long been of concern because of how funds were disbursed with relatively little oversight. The department said it had also seen immense fraud in connection with the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, and, along with the Secret Service and U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, had seized $580 million of possibly stolen money from that program through administrative procedures." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Looks like people who didn't have much to do because they were stuck at home decided to go into the federal fraud business. Idle hands are the devil's tools. As for me, I stuck to Netflix.
Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.... Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks -- the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations. Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like 'Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction -- and Could Wipe out the Human Race' or 'Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: We should get over the idea that these extremists are well-meaning but deluded nutjobs & dimwits who read too many Trump tweets & QAnon posts, and face the fact that they are malevolent perpetrators of anti-American hoaxes whose aim is to bring down the U.S. government. While a percentage of them are violent insurrectionists, most are probably armchair terrorists. And we should bear in mind that these traitors have supporters who hold high government posts, like Sens. Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley & Rand Paul.
Colleen Long of the AP: "Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election. The lawsuit is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by ... Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss to Joe Biden."
Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "The New York attorney general's office has partnered with Manhattan's district attorney to investigate Stephen K. Bannon for the alleged fundraising scam that prompted his federal pardon in the waning hours of Donald Trump's presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. The move adds prosecutorial firepower to a criminal case widely seen as an attempted end-run around the former president's bid to protect a political ally. Investigators employed by the state attorney general were deputized to work as prosecutors with the team led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D), whose investigation of Bannon began shortly after his pardon was announced in January, these people said."
~~~~~~~~~~
** Welcome Back, Jim Crow. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Georgia Republicans on Thursday passed a sweeping law to restrict voting access in the state, introducing more rigid voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limiting drop boxes and expanding the Legislature's power over elections.... The law is less stringent than the initial iterations of the bill, it introduces a raft of new restrictions for voting and elections in the state..., stripping the secretary of state of some of his authority, imposing new oversight of county election boards, restricting who can vote with provisional ballots, and making it a crime to offer food or water to voters waiting in lines.... The law passed the Georgia House on Thursday morning by a party-line vote of 100 to 75, and was approved by the Senate in the evening on a 34-to-20 vote before being signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.... The new measures make Georgia the first major battleground to overhaul its election system since the turmoil of last year's presidential contest.... Seeking to appease a conservative base that remains incensed about the results of the 2020 election, Republicans have already passed a similar law in Iowa, and are moving forward with efforts to restrict voting in states including Arizona, Florida and Texas.... [President] Biden joined Georgia Democrats on Thursday in denouncing efforts to limit voting, calling Republicans' push around the country 'the most pernicious thing.'" ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Thursday that Republican efforts to limit voting rights were 'sick' and 'un-American,' vowing to prevent states from taking what he called 'despicable' actions that undermine democracy by making it harder for people to cast ballots.... But when asked about ending the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to approve most legislation -- one of the biggest obstacles to the voting rights bill and much of the rest of his agenda -- the president was more cautious, suggesting he was open to change but not committing himself to it.... But he also signaled more directly than he has previously that he might eventually back more far-reaching proposals to limit or abolish the filibuster if doing so turned out to be essential for passage of a voting rights measure and other key elements of his agenda...." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's story is here. CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Ari Berman of Mother Jones: "During the 2020 election cycle in Georgia, Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to 'find 11,780 votes' to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the state. His efforts to manipulate the electoral process failed after Raffensperger stood up to the president.... But if the Georgia legislature has its way, Republicans could have a much easier time overturning the will of voters in future elections. The Georgia House of Representatives passed a major power grab on Thursday on a party-line vote that would remove Raffensperger as the chair and a voting member of the state election board ... and instead allow the GOP-controlled legislature to appoint a majority of the board's members, including the chair.... The state board, in turn, would have extraordinary power under the bill to take over county election boards..., raising the possibility that elections officials appointed by and beholden to the heavily gerrymandered Republican legislature could take over election operations in Democratic strongholds.... UPDATE: The Georgia Senate passed the House bill on Thursday afternoon. It was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp a few hours later." ~~~
~~~ As Rachel Maddow put it, the new law sanctions what Trump tried, and failed, to do. Other Republican-led states plan to do the same. ~~~
~~~ Adding Injury to Insult. Shades of Bull Connor. Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "A Democratic Georgia state lawmaker was arrested by state troopers and charged on Thursday after she knocked on Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) door multiple times as he signed a controversial voting bill into law. Police told The Hill that Rep. Park Cannon (D) was taken to the Fulton County Jail, where she was charged with obstruction of law enforcement, as well as 'Preventing or disrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings of members.' Late Thursday night, NAACP Attorney Gerald Griggs confirmed to reporters that the representative had been released during an impromptu press gaggle outside the jail. He added that Cannon sustained bruises during her arrest." ~~~
~~~ Pamela Kirkland, et al., of CNN: "Georgia US Sen. Raphael Warnock, who has slammed the bill signed Thursday for restricting voter access, visited [Rep. Park] Cannon at the jail. His office said in a statement that Cannon is a parishioner at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Warnock has served as senior pastor. Cannon faces two felony charges -- felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CNN. The affidavit states that Cannon was charged with disrupting General Assembly session because she 'knowingly and intentionally did by knocking the governor's door during session of singing [sic] a bill.'" MB: I do wish Kemp had been required to sing the bill.
~~~ Marie: Officials acts of racism did not end well for the racists in the 1860s nor in the 1960s. It took a long time then and it could take a long time now, but I don't think white racists are going to win this recidivist fight, either.
Jonathan Lemire & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden at his first news conference Thursday left the door open to pushing for fundamental changes in Senate procedures to muscle key elements of his agenda such as immigration and voting rights past firm Republican opposition 'if there's complete lockdown and chaos.' The 78-year-old president also, for the first time, said his 'plan is to run for reelection, that is my expectation.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Sean Sullivan & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Thursday set a hierarchy for the country's numerous crises, pledging to administer 200 million coronavirus vaccine shots by the end of April, repair the country's infrastructure and move aggressively to expand voting rights -- while presenting guns and immigration as secondary priorities. In his first presidential news conference, Biden outlined a sort of triage, signaling that his focus for now is chiefly on addressing the pandemic and embarking on a push to rebuild roads, bridges and technology.... Much of the hour-long session was taken up with a discussion of the border, heated at times.... He blamed the Trump administration's policies, saying they left him at a disadvantage, and said he has not traveled to the border because he felt it would be a distraction." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Biden & Schumer should be prioritizing passage of the For the People bill because time is of the essence. Passage of the bill would mean that most states would have to revise their election laws to conform to the new federal law. Plus, there will certainly be a lot of lawsuits challenging both the federal law & nonconforming state laws. ~~~
~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "President Biden used [his first presidential news conference] to pledge that 200 million covid-19 vaccinations would be administered by the end of his first 100 days, double his original goal.... He also announced that a survey showed nearly half of K-12 schools are open full-time for in-person learning.... Certainly, that should be near the top of any news coverage.... On immigration, he made clear that crowded facilities at the southern border are not the result of a policy change from his administration or the fact that migrants see him as a 'nice guy.' He pointed out that there was a higher surge under his predecessor last spring, which certainly was not because migrants believed the former president was a 'nice' guy.... Try as they might to seem 'tough,' the media did not succeed in knocking Biden off message. Biden spoke in great detail and length to show not only his mastery of the issues but also to suck tension and conflict out of the room.... The media did not distinguish themselves. They pleaded for a news conference and then showed themselves to be unserious." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I agree with Rubin. Most reporters were looking for gotcha questions, and they figured immigration was the place to pounce. Therefore, they asked overlapping questions; after many questions -- asked & answered -- of a similar vein, one reporter cited a horror story of a 9-year-old walking from Honduras to the U.S.-Mexican border, & what would he do about that child?Biden's answer, BTW, was spot on: since the reporter mentioned the child's mother in Honduras, Biden said he would send the child back to his mother. ~~~
~~~ A reporter asked President Biden if he agreed with President Obama that the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Biden said "Yes." Zack Beauchamp of Vox explains that "the modern version [of the filibuster], created in 1917, really does have a racist history.... The defenders of Jim Crow pioneered this new filibuster, successfully deploying it again and again to block civil rights bills.... 'It's been a tool used overwhelmingly by racists,' says Kevin Kruse, a historian of race and American politics...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Dan Froomkin of Press Watch: "The White House press corps' abysmal failure to ask important questions about pressing issues during President Biden's first news conference on Thursday was the clearest demonstration yet of the contrast between what the political media cares about and what is real.... The questions reflected the insider, horse-racy obsessions of the political press corps. There were repeated questions about the filibuster, and about the 2024 election(!). There were several contentious questions about the situation at the border, which the right-wing is intent on turning into a cause for hysteria -- with the mainstream media's collaboration. The first border question, from PBS's Yamiche Alcindor, contained such a false and loaded assumption -- direct from far-right talking points -- that Biden actually fact-checked it. That's right, after four years of the media desperately needing to fact-check the president (and often failing), now the president has to fact-check the media.... [White House reporters] should all be replaced with people who care about governing, not politics...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Froomkin is right. Watching the presser was like listening to a high-school teacher parrying with a classful of smartass, callow students.
Ellen Knickmeyer of the AP: "The United States on Thursday imposed what it calls its most significant sanctions to date over the military coup in Myanmar, restricting American dealings with two giant Myanmar military holding companies that dominate much of that country's economy. The sanctions are the latest that the Biden administration and Europea governments have laid on Myanmar since Feb. 1, when the country's generals seized power on the day a newly elected parliament was due to be sworn in. Security forces since then have killed and detained street protesters amid demands for a return to civilian government." (Also linked yesterday.)
Zach Montellaro & Eugene Daniels of Politico: "Black civil rights leaders, voting rights advocates and elected officials are ramping up their lobbying of Senate Democrats to nix the filibuster, arguing that they can keep the rule in place or pass voting rights legislation, but not both. In a half-dozen interviews, top officials framed the choice as existential for a party that depends on Black and brown voters -- and they are planning pressure campaigns privately and publicly to make that clear.... 'The pressure that we are going to put on [Sens.] Sinema and Manchin is calling [the filibuster] racist and saying that they are, in effect, supporting racism,' Sharpton said. 'Why would they be wedded to something that has those results? Their voters need to know that.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The conservative social network Parler informed the FBI of 'specific threats of violence being planned at the Capitol' in advance of the Jan. 6 riot there, the company asserted in a letter to lawmakers Thursday, deepening questions about why the bureau did not muster a more aggressive response. In a lengthy letter to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, lawyers for Parler wrote that the company referred violent content from its platform to the FBI more than 50 times, and those referrals included specific threats to the U.S. Capitol.... FBI officials have since said it can be challenging to distinguish aspirational boasts from actual threats in the massive amount of incendiary chatter online, though FBI Director Christopher A. Wray has conceded that what happened at the Capitol was not 'an acceptable result.'" MB: If the content of the Parler letter is true -- and it appears Parler has the receipts -- Chris Wray should fall on his sword & resign. To do less is not "an acceptable result."
John Tedesco of the Houston Chronicle, et al., published in the Texas Tribune: "The Texas attorney general's office is attempting to withhold all messages [AG] Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol. Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general's work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public's right to government records -- even if those records are stored on personal devices or online accounts of public officials. After Paxton's office refused to release copies of his emails and text messages, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, The Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, and The San Antonio Express-News are working together in an effort to obtain the documents and review Paxton's open-records practices."
Brian Fung of CNN: "The chief executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter faced withering criticism from members of Congress on Thursday about their handling of misinformation and online extremism during their first appearance before lawmakers since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee pressed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about their platforms' efforts to stem baseless election fraud claims and vaccine skepticism. Opaque algorithms that prioritize user engagement and promote misinformation also came under scrutiny.... In his introductory remarks, Zuckerberg rejected responsibility for fomenting the riots, pinning the blame squarely on Trump and a 'political and media environment that drives Americans apart.' Zuckerberg said Facebook 'did our part to secure the integrity of the election. And then on Jan. 6, President Trump gave a speech ... calling on people to fight.'" The Washington Post's story -- a sort-of liveblog -- is here.
Politico has a story about a 2018 incident involving Hunter Biden, a fight with his wife Hallie, a gun his wife tossed in a trash can but then went missing, and some mysterious Secret Service agents. In case you want to read it. ~~~
~~~ U.S. Senate Race, Ohio. AND for anyone who would like to be reminded of Ways of Donald Trump, Alex Isenstadt of Politico describes a surprise meeting Trump called before a fundraising reception in West Palm Beach among four GOP candidates for the open Ohio U.S. Senate seat. Trump, according to the report, forced the candidates into a "Hunger Games"/"Apprentice"-style contest. One of the candidates, a snarky twerp named Josh Mandel who is the Ohio state treasurer, said at one point, "Mr. President I only know two ways to do things: either not at all, or balls to the wall. I hired a bunch of killers on my team. I'm a killer, and we're going to win the primary and then the general."; So if you want a homicidal maniac as your U.S. senator, Josh is your guy.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Isaac Stanley-Becker & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "President Biden's first vaccine promise -- 100 million shots in his first 100 days -- was met 42 days early. So on Thursday he doubled it, saying 200 million doses will have been administered under his presidency by April 30. The nation is already poised to meet the revised target, as the seven-day average of daily vaccinations surpasses 2.5 million. Vaccine supply is also expected to expand in April, prompting numerous states to throw open eligibility to everyone 16 and older.... 'I know it's ambitious -- twice our original goal -- but no other country in the world has even come close, not even close, to what we're doing,' Biden said as part of introductory remarks before his first formal news conference. 'I believe we can do it.'"
Howard Schneider of Reuters: "The United States squandered both money and lives in its response to the coronavirus pandemic, and it could have avoided nearly 400,000 deaths with a more effective health strategy and trimmed federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars while still supporting those who needed it. That is the conclusion of a group of research papers released at a Brookings Institution conference this week, offering an early and broad start to what will likely be an intense effort in coming years to assess the response to the worst pandemic in a century. U.S. COVID-19 fatalities could have stayed under 300,000, versus a death toll of 540,000 and rising, if by last May the country had adopted widespread mask, social distancing, and testing protocols while awaiting a vaccine, estimated Andrew Atkeson, economics professor at University of California, Los Angeles."
Beyond the Beltway
California. Shawn Hubler, et al., of the New York Times: "The University of Southern California on Thursday announced that it will pay more than $1.1 billion to the former patients of a campus gynecologist accused of preying sexually on hundreds of patients.... The staggering sum -- a combination of three sets of settlements with thousands of alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall -- sets a record for collegiate sex abuse payouts, compensating a generation of young U.S.C. women. The U.S.C. claims -- which arose from only one of several scandals to engulf the university in recent years -- reflected a 2018 federal class action settled earlier for $215 million, a second group of several dozen cases in which the amount of the settlement was not made public and a third settlement for $852 million with about 700 plaintiffs, which the university said was reached with the aid of a private mediator and a Los Angeles Superior Court judge."
Georgia. Lateshia Beachum of the Washington Post: A Peachtree City auto mechanics shop paid a former employee his last paycheck in 91,515 greasy pennies left at the end of his driveway, after the employee repeatedly demanded payment. the ex-employee, Andreas Flaten, "said the working relationship soured when the business's owner, Miles Walker, didn't honor their agreement that Flaten could pick up his child from day-care at 5 p.m. each day." Flaten quit, giving two weeks' notice & returning his laundered uniform in a box. "Allegations of dysfunction have dogged the auto shop.... One former employee told CBS 46 that Walker has ripped up final paychecks in front of employees before, and another former employee alleged that he pulled down her pants in a lobby as a joke.... Flaten probably doesn't have any legal options to pursue because being paid in greasy pennies for work isn't exactly illegal, a spokesperson for the Labor Department told the New York Times." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm not sure that's true. Since the pennies were dropped on Flaten's driveway without his consent, he did not "accept" them. Federal law does not require that a business or individual accept the particular legal tender offered. For instance, you've probably seen signs in convenience stores advising that the store won't accept, say, $50 bills & higher. Plus the fact that Walker had the pennies dumped on Flaten's driveway suggests that Walker obstructed Flaten's full use of his property: he couldn't get vehicles in and out; that could breach some local nuisance law.
New York. David Goodman & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "An impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo widened on Thursday to include revelations that the governor's family and other influential people were given special access to state-run coronavirus tests early in the pandemic. The judiciary committee of the New York State Assembly has been looking into several allegations of sexual harassment made in recent weeks against Mr. Cuomo, as well as the manipulation by his senior staff of data related to nursing home deaths. On Thursday, the chair of the committee, Assemblyman Charles D. Lavine, said the preferential access for Mr. Cuomo's family to hard-to-get tests in the beginning of the pandemic would also become part of the inquiry. Those who got tests, mostly during last March when few were available, included the governor's brother, the CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, their mother, Matilda Cuomo, and at least one of their sisters." MB: Things are not looking good for our own Prince Randy Andy. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ted Johnson of Deadline: "CNN is defending anchor Chris Cuomo in the wake of a report that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo secured access to Covid-19 testing for family members.... Chris Cuomo tested positive for the virus almost a year ago and publicly talked about his symptoms and recovery process on the show. [CNN made an excuse for that, too.] Earlier this month, Cuomo said that he would not cover controversies surrounding his brother, including sexual harassment allegations that have led to calls for his resignation."
~~~ David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: “The president of Regeneron, a pharmaceutical company with longstanding ties to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, received special access to coronavirus testing last year as the first wave of the pandemic tore through New York and tests were severely limited. The company requested tests from the state for its president, Dr. George Yancopoulos, and his family after a 'member of his household became infected with Covid-19,' a company spokeswoman said. State officials granted the request and tested the family at home in March."
New York. We Do Smoke Marijuana in Oswego. Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "New York State officials finalized a deal on Thursday to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, paving the way for a potential $4.2 billion industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs and become one of the largest markets in the country. Following several failed attempts, lawmakers in Albany struck an agreement with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, a move that officials hope will help end years of racially disproportionate policing that saw Black and Hispanic people arrested on low-level marijuana charges far more frequently than white people."
Way Beyond
Egypt. Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "As tugboats strained against the weight of the mammoth ship and dredgers worked to clear sand and mud, a salvage company working on the operation warned on Thursday that releasing the container vessel blocking traffic in the Suez Canal could take days or even weeks. Dozens of ships laden with oil and goods destined for ports around the world are stranded in the canal, and with each passing hour, the economic cost of the disruption grows more consequential. The stuck ship, the Ever Given, has been wedged in the canal since running aground amid the heavy winds of a sandstorm on Tuesday. Its bow is lodged in the canal's eastern bank and its stern in the western bank." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Israel. Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fallen short of securing the parliamentary majority he needs to stay in office, according to the official election count announced Thursday, raising the possibility that Israel's political gridlock will continue. The results of Tuesday's election confirm that Netanyahu's Likud party won the most seats in the Israeli Knesset. But the bloc of parties that are certain to support him has only won 52 seats, nine shy of the number needed for a majority in the parliament. His opponents, too, failed to garner a majority, with the disparate group of anti-Netanyahu parties securing 57 seats."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Larry McMurtry, a prolific novelist and screenwriter who demythologized the American West with his unromantic depictions of life on the 19th-century frontier and in contemporary small-town Texas, died on Thursday at home in Archer City, Texas. He was 84."
New York Times: "Beverly Cleary, who enthralled tens of millions of young readers with the adventures and mishaps of Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, the bratty Ramona Quimby and her older sister Beezus, and other residents of Klickitat Street, died on Thursday in Carmel, Calif. She was 104."
Weather Channel: "Severe storms that left at least five people dead in Alabama continued to cause damage early Friday after moving into Georgia. The National Weather Service declared a tornado emergency for Newnan, Georgia, shortly after midnight. The city, about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta, experienced heavy damage in and around its historic downtown, according to a tweet from city officials."
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Reader Comments (18)
Biden did an outstanding job yesterday. I was particularly pleased to hear him (I listened to it on the radio) smack that lying tub of treasonous orange lard around a few times with comments like “No American president has ever done X (something really stupid), oh, except one. The last one.”
Then I heard something that really made me mad. We all see how the Party of Traitors is going after voting rights. I’ve read about a number of ridiculous new regulations designed to screw Democratic voters, but Biden mentioned something I hadn’t heard yet. Democracy hating traitors (R-natch) in Georgia are making it a crime—a fucking crime!—to give water to someone waiting in line to vote. So first, they fix it so Democrats, especially black Democrats, have to wait in line for 7, 8, 9 hours to vote, but if someone hands them a cup of water, they’ll be arrested.
This is beyond partisan. This is vicious.
Get rid of that goddam filibuster and start cracking heads. These fuckers don’t deserve fair treatment. If you were dying of thirst, they’d have the person who gave you a drink of water arrested.
Mighty Christian of them.
@Akhilleus: Marc Elias, the Democratic elections lawyer, is already filing suit against Georgia. That no-water part of the law is beyond the pale.
If I lived in (or closer to) Georgia, I would go buy me a few cases of plain, Walmart-brand bottled water (don't know if Walmart really has a water brand, but the point is "not fancy"), I would go to Jim Crow County where there was a long line of Black people waiting to vote because in Jim Crow County, they have only one Blacks-Only! polling place. I would wear plain clothes & no political buttons or other campaign paraphernalia. I would tape my mouth shut so as I could not be accused of electioneering, and I would start handing out bottles of water. When Sheriff Jim Crow rushed to arrest me, I'd be real nice. Then I'd sue the county for $40 million dollars for violating my right to be a human being.
I was wondering if there was some protection for people who were arrested for committing an act of kindness. I Googled it and didn't find anything, but I did come across this on FindLaw: "A criminal suspect is entitled to humane treatment, no matter how heinous the alleged crime. If you were not treated humanely, for instance if you were deprived of food and water..., your rights may have been violated." IOW, the law requires law enforcement officers to be kindlier to suspected criminals than to suspected voters.
In 2012 when I lived in Florida, I went to get tickets to see some politician speak during the summer. There was a lo-o-ng line. (Ironically, I think the speaker was -- Joe Biden.) It was hot, and the Fort Myers Fire Department had a couple of emergency trucks on hand, and the firemen were handing out -- bottles of water. That bottle they gave me was a lifesaver. Fuck every Georgia Republican legislator. Fuck Brian Kemp. Fuck Georgia.
@Marie: It looks as if you won’t get the R’s attention unless your lawsuit is for $1.3 Billion. Other than that, your plan looks good.
@NiskyGuy: Thanks for the tip. I'm amending my complaint to up the ante, as you suggest.
Hey, those Georgia R's are just trying to help voters make it to the end of the line. Think about it ... old people, plus water, plus a few hours standing ... they'd have to leave the line to pee before voting. There are no public toilets anymore, so they'd have to go pretty far. Placeholders are probably illegal (taking bets here, before checking), so all in all it's tempting to just go home and watch "Judge Judy" and feel good for trying.
See? Denying water just helps make good citizens.
And ... we (humans) can bullshit all day to justify anything!
The fascist racists, in Georgia in this case, are such snowflakes they have to do their dirty deeds behind closed doors and not out in plain site. Are they not proud of what they're doing? I wonder what Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola have to say about this action? I certainly don't think Augusta National golf course changed their racist policies without outside (financial) pressure. Boycott apartheid!
Here's the text of Georgia's SB 202 As Passed (and signed?) Water is only referenced once, in Section 33, line 1888. It states:
"1884 "(e) This Code section shall not be construed to prohibit a poll officer from distributing
1885 materials, as required by law, which are necessary for the purpose of instructing electors
1886 or from distributing materials prepared by the Secretary of State which are designed solely
1887 for the purpose of encouraging voter participation in the election being conducted or from
1888 making available self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in
1889 line to vote."
I guess that could mean that the "poll officer" could place an open 55-gallon drum somewhere with a ladle?
Regarding the pee problem, perhaps someone could put a Porta-Potty on a trailer to move up and down to line to allow those in line a respite from the internal pressure. I don't believe many other line waiters would object to their brief departure. After all, they too may need that relief.
"... self-service water from an unattended receptacle ..."
I immediately had an image of Georgia State Troopers setting up one Lyster Bag at the line beyond which electioneering is forbidden. The water inside tastes like chloroquine and salt and is about 80 degrees F. There are no cups, so if you didn't bring one you have to cup one hand to catch water while the other hand turns the stopcock. The Lyster bag is right next to one of unwashed's PortaPotties, and liquid from both turns the ground under the bag to mud.
When the bag is empty it is done for the day.
The Georgia Spirit of Democracy.
@Patrick, you sound as though you from experience. Hopefully, the water in the bag isn't the same color blue as it is in the potty.
Some time ago Akhilleus asked what makes a human being human and yesterday I cited The Plague's narrator's take on humanity. Today, after learning what evil lurks in the hearts of certain Georgia humans I think we can put the idea of "goodness and mercy resides in most of humanity" to rest. The "jump Jim Crow" is still smacking us in the face with its fancy dance of overt racism–-no more "are they really trying to suppress Black votes?" Power–-white and vicious as ever.
Watched a bit of the hearing yesterday by the House Energy & Commerce Committee in which Facebook, Google & Twitter CEO's were in the hot seats. The Chair–- a Mike Doyle ( D-Penn) liked that we had the same last name) was most impressive. What surprised me was the appearance of my old bête Noire, Cathy McMorris Rogers, she of part of the Young Gun's trio, always standing behind them when they charmed us with their flapdoodles like Ryan's granny starving tax agenda. Yesterday there she was lambasting all three heads of jabberwocky telling them they were ruining young people's lives. She cited all the teenage suicides and how fearful she was for her own three children, one who is disabled, she added. I was stunned at her fury remembering when she fought against the ACA knowing that she had three children, and one disabled.
But back to no water or pee-pee pot-tees–– Hey! there should NOT be those long lines in the first place. I have been voting for many, many years and never once have I had to stand in line. Could it be that I am white and have lived in largely white districts? Do ya think?????? So I'm hoping that in the new "people's bill" there will be mandates for more assessable voting places. more drop off ballot boxes, etc.
And M.B: liked your "pennies in the driveway" commentary–- I swear–-you'd be a bear in any political foray and when confronted with assholes like Josh Mandel who said:
“Mr. President I only know two ways to do things: either not at all, or balls to the wall. I hired a bunch of killers on my team. I’m a killer, and we’re going to win the primary and then the general."
I think you'd show him what balls to the wall looks like! Nicely and neat and with bravado!
Marie points out some of the willing traitors mooching off the public in political office who traffic in the most dangerous, vile, mendacious, invidious, and destructive anti-American and anti-democratic claptrap.
One of those, Josh Hawley, execrable, self-aggrandizing traitor from Missouri, was mentioned a while back by Ken who commented that he had connected Hawley's name with Lord Haw-Haw, the infamous British traitor whose WWII broadcasts ("Germany calling, Germany calling") delighted and comforted the avatars of fascism while attempting to demoralize and denounce the proponents of democracy.
Well, thanks for that, Ken. Now I cannot, for the life of me, read the name of THIS fascist traitor without thinking of that other fascist traitor.
One bit of solace, I suppose, in this nefarious nexus is recalling that the first Haw-Haw was hanged for his treason. On a less comforting note, the current Haw-Haw no doubt sees himself in the White House one day, swastika armband securely in place. And many R fascists, equally without a doubt, will vote for him.
A far cry from the hoped for--and much needed--gallows.
Maybe somewhere down the line. If you ever start hearing "Missouri calling, Missouri calling", you'll know what's coming.
One of the books in the pile on my night stand is "The First Word", by Christine Kenneally, an investigation into the origins of language, fascinating and thoroughly engaging (while reading, you're apt to wonder, whatever the first word might have been, when you come upon a word like "fascinating, where that one lands. Somewhere in the first mid-ten thousands, maybe?).
But I got to wondering what might the first word be for a member of the Party of Traitors. But before that, a word about monkeys. No, not R monkeys, vervet monkeys--slightly smaller monkeys. Kenneally considers various forms of language, or as the linguist de Saussure might have put it, language systems, used by our biological ancestors in her investigation into how language erupted.
Vervets, like many other animal species, use very specific vocalizations for communication, mostly as warning cries: "Snake!" or "Leopard!". Which makes me realize that confederates have their own warning cries: "Black person!", "Liberal!", and now, thanks to President Traitor "Law!", "Decency", and "Ethics!".
I'm not sure if they take to the trees to escape those dangers, as vervets do, but they certainly take cover.
And the more I think about it, I'm guessing that the first word for almost all of these people, the most important, is...ME. To which they add the prefix "What's in it for".
Some years ago, Robert Wright came out with a book about human evolution and progress called "Non-Zero". His main thesis was that we, as a species, make the greatest strides when we work together. Humans evolved to work this way. But cooperation of any sort is anathema to wingers. As I say, their first word being ME, their language is bereft of phrases like "All of us" or "You", unless they precede it with "Fuck".
PD brings up the question of what it means to be human. I think a good answer is someone who is able to balance personal needs and wants with the good of the general community. Ambition and altruism must both have a place if we are to make progress. But making progress is not in the plan for the traitors. For them, it's all back, back, back, and me, me, me.
Look at their stance on the pandemic. These selfish snowflakes look at safety precautions as outrageous infringements into the singing of their favorite notes: me, me, me.
It's instructive to note that, as far as language goes, the leader of the traitors, the Orange Monkey, whose warning cries "Brown person!", "Black person!", "Mooslim", and "DEMOCRACY!!" were on occasion supplanted by what he routinely reminded any who cared to listen, were his list of the "best words". Sadly, these words tended to be either self-congratulatory or insulting.
But the "best word" for Fatty, and for his followers, the first word, really, has always been, and will continue to be ME.
I just heard yet another voice on the radio ask whether “Biden will be able to work with the Republicans” to do XYZ.
No. This has it exactly backwards. The question is whether the Republicans will work with Biden to do the right thing for the country. I get so tired of hearing the question framed in a way that puts the onus on Biden when all the intransigence is on the other side.
Ugh.
Last night on Laura Ingraham's show, "special guest" and
lying former president of the U.S., phones in with his
version of the Jan 6 violence at the Capitol.
"It was zero threat, right from the start. Look, they went
in. They shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in
and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards.
You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the
people were waved in, and they walked in and they
walked out.....they're persecuting a lot of those people.
And some of them should be...Some things should happen
to them."
It appears to me that he sees his future as a fiction
writer. Hugging and kissing the police and guards? I must
not have been attention to all of those news clips that
have aired since Jan 6.
Rockygirl,
Exactly right. I was thinking the same thing yesterday when Biden was being pestered about this and listening to commentators afterward. No one ever asked if Trump would be willing to work with Democrats. The question was always whether Democrats would be willing to bow before the great Trump.
But the media, always fearful of pissing off traitors, has to go after Biden or at least treat him as a poor relation rather than the president. After all, plenty of morons believe he stole the election so let's not piss those assholes off by treating him like a democratically elected president who beat their hero like a dirty rug on a clothesline.
He IS the president. Traitors won't work with him because they are genetically unable to do anything that smacks of cooperation or compromise, even in situations like a fucking pandemic that's killing more Americans than an outright shooting war.
But they all have to pound their chests like the howling apes they are and fling poop at the wall because that's all they got.
Yesterday on NPR, one of the commentators remarked that Biden's response to this sort of question about how Republicans wouldn't work with him because they had to posture first could have been a horrible misstep except that he "recovered" and said he'd be willing to work with anyone. But when Trump was calling people losers and stupid no one ever referred to those crass, cretinous insults as missteps.
He's right. They have to posture for the traitors. They got nothing, so they have to scream and yell and call him names. But as far as the media is concerned, Biden better shape up. Otherwise, the traitors and insurrectionists and crooks and white supremacists and thugs won't like him.
Like that will ever happen no matter what he does.
Fuckers.
I have three words for the moron who said "It was zero threat, right from the start": Hang + Mike + Pence. Seems pretty threat-y to me, though I suppose at least one arrogant asshole would use the schoolyard retort of "That's not a threat, it's a promise."
Wray is another barely mediocre white boy who offers just enough pablum to get by with both parties. He strikes me as perpetually fearful that someone will tweak the family jewels. I can almost smell the sweat through the TV. His appearance at the Jan 6th hearing on the mob of seditionists was nauseating on every level. He touted the importance of diversity (specifically pointing to the female HR head) while stating in a strongly sincere tone, there was certainly no racism or bias in the FBI. Surprised he didn’t salute the nearest flag, kiss his mother and demand a piece of apple pie. What an asshat. Resign indeed.
"'Sitting on their hands': Biden transition officials say Trump officials delayed action on child migrant surge
Trump officials didn't increase capacity for child migrants despite warnings, Biden transition officials say. "They were sitting on their hands," one said.
In early December, the Biden transition team and career government officials began sounding an alarm on the need to increase shelter space for the large number of migrant children expected to soon be crossing the border, but the Trump administration didn't take action until just days before the inauguration, according to two Biden transition officials and a U.S. official with knowledge of the discussions."