The Commentariat -- May 9, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "An unexpected slowdown in hiring nationwide has prompted some Republican governors to start slashing jobless benefits in their states, hoping that the loss of generous federal aid might force more people to try to return to work. The new GOP cuts chiefly target the extra $300 in weekly payments that millions of Americans have received for months in addition to their usual unemployment checks. Arkansas on Friday became the latest to announce plans to cancel the extra benefits, joining Montana and South Carolina earlier in the week, in a move that signals a new effort on the part of Republicans to try to combat what they see as a national worker shortage.... Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, called on Washington this week to cancel the program nationally before its planned expiration in early September."
Derby Winner Drugged, Trainer "Shocked." Joe Drape of the New York Times: "The Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test, once more putting the practices of his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, the embattled sport's most recognizable personality, under uncomfortable scrutiny. If disqualified, Medina Spirit would be stripped of the Derby title and the winning purse.... In a statement, Churchill Downs officials said that if Medina Spirit's positive test were confirmed, the Derby's runner-up, Mandaloun, would be declared the winner. 'Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack,' the statement said. In a news conference Sunday morning outside his barn at Churchill Downs, Baffert ... insisted the colt had not been treated with the drug, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling. 'I was totally shocked when I heard this news,' Baffert said." CNN's story is here.
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Maureeen Dowd of the New York Times: "How naïve I was to think that Republicans would be eager to change the channel after Trump cost them the Senate and the White House and unleashed a mob on them.... Let's acknowledge who created the template for Trump's Big Lie. It was [Liz's] father, Dick Cheney, whose Big Lie about the Iraq war led to the worst mistake in the history of American foreign policy.... From her patronage perch in the State Department during the Bush-Cheney years, [Liz Cheney] bolstered her father's trumped-up case for an invasion of Iraq.... She was a staunch defender of the torture program.... She backed the futile, 20-year occupation of the feudal Afghanistan.... Because of 9/11, Dick Cheney thought he could suspend the Constitution, attack nations preemptively and trample civil liberties in the name of the war on terror. (And for his own political survival.)... Trump built a movement based on lies. The Cheneys showed him how it's done." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
In case you'd like to read about Matt & Margie's excellent trip to the Villages of Florida -- a huge retirement community in Central Florida where wingers dominate -- the Washington Post has a story here, and the Hill has a report here. MB: I skipped them.
Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "A ransomware attack led one of the nation's biggest fuel pipeline operators to shut down its entire network on Friday, according to the company and two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. While it is not expected to have an immediate impact on fuel supply or prices, the attack on Colonial Pipeline, which carries almost half of the gasoline, diesel and other fuels used on the East Coast, underscores the potential vulnerability of industrial sectors to the expanding threat of ransomware strikes. It appears to have been carried out by an Eastern European-based criminal gang -- DarkSide, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I suppose international law enforcement agencies can't do much about the 400-pound man on his bed in the basement in New Jersey, but surely they can find & deter these gangs of hackers.
Emily Yahr of the Washington Post: Elon Musk hosted "Saturday Night Live," and "the show proceeded mostly as usual.... 'I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL,' he said, to much applause from the audience. 'Or at least the first to admit it....'... Many social media users quickly ... pointed out that former SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd ... has spoken out over the years about his Asperger's diagnosis as a child." A related AP story is here. ~~~
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "Several states are turning away Covid vaccine doses from their federal government allocations, as the daily average of coronavirus vaccine doses administered across the United States has fallen below two million for the first time since early March. Experts say the states' smaller requests reflect a steep drop in vaccine demand in the United States." ~~~
~~~ An AP story on decreased demand for shots is here.
Erin Schumaker of ABC News: "While early polls indicated that Black Americans were less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial groups, by spring 2021 those polls had shifted dramatically, showing a steep rise in the proportion of Black people who wanted to get the vaccine. Despite that shift and despite newer polls reflecting that Black people were not more hesitant than other groups, the narrative that hesitancy was the primary vaccination barrier in the Black community persisted.... But experts say ... lack of access to vaccines and structural barriers are also hurting vaccination rates in these communities.... Overemphasizing hesitancy diverts attention away from policies that could fix those access problems and hinders the U.S. vaccine distribution strategy at large." One expert points out that having a vaccination site within five miles is not all that helpful if you don't have transportation to the site or if the site runs out of does. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Also, if the hours of the day that shots are available are limited to regular business hours Monday through Friday, many people in low-paying jobs cannot take the time off to get the shots. And if people don't have access to computers, they may not be able to easily find the sites & info about when the shots are administered.
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Ben Leonard of Politico: "A deputy campaign manager to former Sen. Martha McSally pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than six figures from her campaign, the Justice Department announced. Anthony Barry, who was a consultant and a deputy campaign manager for the Arizona Republican, is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to taking more than $115,000 from her campaign in 2018 and 2019, according to a release from the Justice Department. His sentencing is slated for July 6."
Maryland. Emily Davies of the Washington Post: "Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh's office plans to appoint a panel of independent experts to audit and release a public report on all cases of deaths in police custody overseen by David Fowler, the state's former chief medical examiner who testified in Derek Chauvin's defense. In a statement Friday, Frosh (D) said his office would be 'consulting experts, examining similar audits in other jurisdictions, and doing a preliminary review of [the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner] data and protocols.'"
Maryland. Brian Witte of the AP: "Maryland's governor on Saturday posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state dating between 1854 and 1933, saying they were denied legal due process against the allegations they faced. It was a first-of-its-kind pardon by a governor of a U.S. state. Gov. Larry Hogan signed the order at an event honoring Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a jailhouse and hanged from a tree by a mob of white men in 1885 before his attorneys could file an appeal of a rape conviction that an all-white jury reached within minutes. 'My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs and perhaps bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals and to their descendants and their loved ones,' Hogan said."
Massachusetts Senate Race. Alex Thompson of Politico: "In a move that may surprise some ambitious Massachusetts Democrats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren says that she's going to run for reelection in 2024."
Pennsylvania. DA Candidate: About That Body in My Bathtub. Sarah Polus of the Hill: "A Philadelphia district attorney candidate on his campaign website is addressing the death of a woman whose body was found in his home. Charles Peruto Jr.'s website features multiple sections, including ones titled 'Black Lives Matter,' 'The Opioid Crisis' and, on his 'About Me' page, 'The Girl in My Bathtub.' The lengthy section details the incident involving an ex-girlfriend who was found dead in his bathtub. '... because some people will not let this go away, I must address it,' he begins the statement. Peruto goes on to explain that he was out of town when the incident occurred, which he claims can be corroborated by cell phone records.... Peruto then details a feud with a political rival he claims tried to implicate him in a crime.... The Daily Beast noted that at the time of her death, the woman was 26 years old and had been a paralegal in 66-year-old Peruto's law office.... Many times, 'qualified people won't get into politics because silly things in their background will come up, that they have no control over,' he added." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Characterizing the suspicious death of a girlfriend -- decades younger than he -- as a "silly thing" doesn't seem to suggest Peruto would be a responsible DA pursuing justice for Philadelphians. How many suspicious deaths would he dismiss as "silly"? Oh, the Daily Beast story, which is firewalled, says Peruto is a Republican.
Wa-a-ay Beyond
China/Space/Earth. Steven Myers & Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Debris from a large Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives early Sunday morning, China's space administration announced. It said most of the debris had burned up on re-entry. It was not immediately clear whether any of what remained had landed on any of the Maldives's 1,192 islands.... The administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, issued an unusual rebuke after China's announcement, accusing the country of 'failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.'" MB: I heard on the news yesterday that the expected re-entry site of the debris shower was the Atlantic Ocean, half the world away. So clearly, China had no idea what was going on.
News Lede
AP: "A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs, police said. Officers arrived at a trailer to find six dead adults and a man with serious injuries who died later at a hospital, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported."
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Reader Comments (10)
I hate to spoil this Mommy's Day with a negative slam on Maureen Dowd but slam I must.
"... Dick Cheney, whose Big Lie about the Iraq war led to the worst mistake in the history of American foreign policy."
The word "one of" hitched onto "the worst" should have been added. How bout the Vietnam War? And if we go back into that American history I reckon we could come up with some more "worsts" if we put our minds to it. But I do give her credit for confessing her naivety re: Trump's lasting influence which isn't surprising for someone who bashed Obama mercilessly until she realized what a real catastrophic presidency looks like. She seems to have pin pointed Cheney as the template for "The Big Lie"––again she needs to go back to Roy Cohn and Lee Atwater––who set the standards for this kind of political deviance and to others who took up the mantle.
Fatty wasn't fed by a Cheney––he had his own father who fulfilled that position right from the beginning.
@RAS: I want to thank you for putting on that link to "Root" yesterday–-––I was amazed at the amount of research they had to do on this–- amazing stuff!
@PD Pepe: Don't worry about it. I don't think MoDo is anybody's mommy.
Pig pile! https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/08/opinion/sunday/liz-cheney-republicans.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage. I will disagree with this summation: "St. Liz. She refuses our tidy categories. How frustrating. How human." She's a shithead who voted more often together with Orange Turd than Stefanik and she rats on her sister for a few measly votes in a doomed campaign. She's a career politician who likely cheated her way onto the high school cheerleading team because winning is everything. No, all this anti-T**** on her part is a carefully considered wedge to distinguish her politically to become America's Margaret Thatcher. Period. Don't forget that the more Liz sucks out the oxygen, the less there is for Turd; that fuels his rages that antagonize middle class househusbands' support. Make him look crazier, she wins by looking normal. Sheesh.
This is for @Forest but for any of you that love plants and design this extraordinary video (one hr. long) will delight.
Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/36uwmgjejofy7ly/Five%20Seasons%20The%20Gardens%20of%20Piet%20Oudolf%201080p.mp4?dl=0
" I put plants on stage and let them perform"
"I won't come back, but they will"
@ citizen - nailed it.
Thank you, Citizen! I think I have been tired of Liz since I knew about her. I so agree that there is something going on-- a t*** in the already poisoned punchbowl. She has NEVER said anything I agree with, even with her "support" for the Impeachment 2.0. She has decided she is the least objectional person in her party, but that is only in comparison. She still is a wretched human, in a wretched family. (Although, isn't there a sister with other leanings?)
I don't think there is anyone worth considering with R after their names. Our primary is coming up, and if I don't know which school board person or judge is an R, due to cross-filing, I will vote how my local D organizer tells me, all Ds, no Rs EVER AGAIN-- (well, being a D in PA means split primaries anyhow--). I used to be scornful about the people voting a straight ticket, but now I know that is how we got in this majority R condition here, so...sauce for the goose...
an interesting development in the Matt Gaetz story is that the federal investigation is now looking into his ties with the medical marijuana industry here in Florida. He was a leader in the charge for it and now they're checking if he received "gifts" for his support from some of his supporters who benefited from the legalization.
Thanks to PD Pepe for the Piet Oudolf video. Sublime!
Not that we really needed it, here is more evidence that there is simply no reaching many (most?) Trumpers and the faster we come to grips with that, the better.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/a-pennsylvania-lawmaker-and-the-resurgence-of-christian-nationalism