;)
The Commentariat -- October 6, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Jonathan Weisman & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Senator Mitch McConnell, bowing to the immediate threat of a federal default, said Republicans would allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling into December, but he refused to lift his blockade of a long-term increase in the government's borrowing limit.The offer appeared to reflect some nervousness on the part of Republicans in an escalating standoff over the government’s borrowing limit, as a first-ever default on federal debt looms in as few as 12 days.... The proposal ... confronted Democrats with the prospect of a politically uncomfortable vote that some of them had wanted to avoid, embracing a set dollar amount by which they would raise the debt cap.... Shortly after [McConnell] floated his offer, Democrats put off a planned vote on a bill to lift the debt limit -- which Republicans had vowed to block for the second time in two weeks -- and arranged a closed-door gathering in the Capitol."
The Party of Violence. Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "Republicans in Congress have seen the threat of mob violence, and they are going to ... defend the mob, and make sure law enforcement doesn't crack down too hard on it. That's the clear message being sent from up and down the right -- politicians, pundits, and conservative media — in response to a memorandum from the Department of Justice laying out an effort to address the rising tide of angry threats directed at school boards and education officials. The memorandum ... presented a perfect opportunity for Republicans to reemphasize to their supporters that 1) the Biden administration is tyrannical; 2) conservatives are oppressed and afflicted; and 3) mob intimidation is an appropriate response to any public policy they disagree with.... Fox News promptly sent a wave of histrionic, dishonest rants to its viewers.... Threats of violence against public officials are now simply part of the Republican repertoire."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "The White House on Wednesday announced a billion-dollar investment in at-home rapid coronavirus tests that it said would help quadruple their availability by later this year. By December, 200 million rapid tests will be available to Americans each month, with tens of millions more arriving on the market in the coming weeks, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House's Covid-19 coordinator, said at a news conference." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Tuesday that Democrats are considering a change to Senate filibuster rules to bypass a Republican blockade over raising the debt limit, which has set the United States on a collision course with a government default. 'Oh, I think that's a real possibility,' Mr. Biden said when asked if Democrats were considering the last-resort route, which would involve making an exception to allow for a debt ceiling bill to pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60 votes needed. Senate Democrats discussed carving out the exception at their weekly lunch on Tuesday. No conclusions were reached, but notably, according to participants, the two strongest opponents of filibuster changes, Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, did not speak up in protest. They also did not speak up in support."
Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Biden and Democratic leaders i Congress in recent days have slashed their ambitions for a major expansion of America's social safety net to a package worth $2.3 trillion or less, which will force hard choices about how to scale back a proposal that the president hopes will be transformational. The figure is substantially less than Mr. Biden's earlier plan, which called for $3.5 trillion in new spending and tax cuts to spur a generational expansion of government in Americans' lives, including efforts to fight climate change and child poverty, increase access to education and help American companies compete with China. Democratic leaders will probably need to narrow their plans for free community college, child tax credits and universal prekindergarten so they are offered only to lower- and middle-income Americans, according to party members involved in the negotiations." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Maybe Manchinema, House Democratic conservatives & the entire GOP, like the people of Lake Wobegon, really believe in underachievement. In their hearts, they long to yell, "Keep America Mediocre!"
Missy Ryan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken held last-minute talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday, suggesting the two countries are seeking to repair relations following an angry feud over a U.S. submarine deal with Australia. Officials had previously said it was not certain if Blinken would meet with the French leader during his two-day visit, for a summit of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, just weeks after the Biden administration's decision to forge a new security pact with Australia and Britain derailed a lucrative French defense deal and ignited a string of angry rebukes from Paris."
Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department is reviewing its decision not to charge FBI agents who failed to properly investigate sex abuse allegations leveled against Larry Nassar, the disgraced former USA gymnastics doctor who sexually abused his patients, including world-famous gymnasts. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco made the announcement at a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers on the panel have sharply criticized the Justice Department for not pursuing false statements charges against a supervisory FBI agent and his boss for what the agency's inspector general concluded were lies to internal investigators to cover up their failures." (Also linked yesterday.)
Josh Hawley Defends Bullying & Violence. Timothy Bella & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday ordered the FBI to work with local leaders nationwide to help address what he called a 'disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence' against educators and school board members over highly politicized issues such as mask mandates and interpretations of critical race theory.... Republicans at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday accused [President] Biden's Justice Department of heavy-handed tactics to try to intimidate parents speaking at local school board meetings.... 'If this isn't a deliberate attempt to chill parents from showing up at school board meetings, I don't know what is,' Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said to Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. 'You're using the FBI to intervene in school board meetings. This is extraordinary.'"
Julian Barnes & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Top American counterintelligence officials warned every C.I.A. station and base around the world last week about troubling numbers of informants recruited from other countries to spy for the United States being captured or killed, people familiar with the matter said. The message, in an unusual top secret cable, said that the C.I.A.'s counterintelligence mission center had looked at dozens of cases in the last several years involving foreign informants who had been killed, arrested or most likely compromised. Although brief, the cable laid out the specific number of agents executed by rival intelligence agencies -- a closely held detail that counterintelligence officials typically do not share in such cables." (Also linked yesterday.)
I'm here today because I believe Facebook's products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes. -- Frances Haugen, in Senate testimony Tuesday ~~~
~~~ Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "A former Facebook product manager who turned into a whistle-blower gave lawmakers an unvarnished look into the inner workings of the world's largest social network on Tuesday and detailed how the company was deliberate in its efforts to keep people -- including children -- hooked to its service. In more than three hours of testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Frances Haugen, who worked on Facebook's civic misinformation team for nearly two years until May, spoke candidly and with a level of insight that the company's executives have rarely provided. She said Facebook had purposely hidden disturbing research about how teenagers felt worse about themselves after using its products and how it was willing to use hateful content on its site to keep users coming back." ~~~
~~~ Marcy Gordon of the AP: "A former Facebook data scientist told Congress on Tuesday that the social network giant's products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S. while its executives refuse to make changes because they elevate profits over safety. Frances Haugen testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. She is accusing the company of being aware of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation. Haugen has come forward with a wide-ranging condemnation of Facebook, buttressed with tens of thousands of pages of internal research documents she secretly copied before leaving her job in the company's civic integrity unit. She also has filed complaints with federal authorities alleging that Facebook's own research shows that it amplifies hate, misinformation and political unrest, but the company hides what it knows." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times liveblogged the testimony here. The Washington Post's liveblog of the hearing is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Zuck Is Too Cute by Half. Alex Heath of the Verge: "Mark Zuckerberg posted a staunch defense of his company in a note to Facebook staffers, saying that recent claims by an ex-employee about the social network's negative effects on society 'don't make any sense.'... 'The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical,' Zuckerberg said in the memo, which he also posted on his public Facebook page. 'We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content. And I don't know any tech company that sets out to build products that make people angry or depressed. The moral, business and product incentives all point in the opposite direction.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Zuckerberg apparently has never heard of Fox "News," which -- as Chris Hayes pointed out on his MSNBC show Tuesday night -- incentivizes its employs to get vaccinated for Covid-19 while riling its viewers with anti-vax messaging nearly every day. Fox also incessantly encourages its viewers to get hopping mad at all Democrats, climate activists, immigrants, etc. The teevee network's thrives -- as does Facebook, to a lesser extent -- on a business model that provokes user rage. If it "makes sense" for Fox, it "makes sense" for Facebook. And Zuck knows it.
Peter Stone of the Guardian: "Donald Trump is facing increasing legal scrutiny in the crucial battleground state of Georgia over his attempt to sway the 2020 election there, and that heat is now overlapping with investigations in Congress looking at the former president's efforts to subvert American democracy. A criminal investigation into Trump's 2 January call prodding Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to 'just find' him 11,780 votes to block Joe Biden's win in the state is making headway. The Georgia district attorney running the inquiry is now also sharing information with the House committee investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol in Washington DC. Meanwhile, a justice department taskforce investigating threats to election officials nationwide has launched inquiries in Georgia, where election officers and workers received death threats or warnings of violence, including some after Trump singled out one official publicly for not backing his baseless fraud claims." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Worse News for Donald: he is no long one of the Fab Forbes 400. ~~~
~~~ Dan Alexander of Forbes: "Donald Trump is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, leaving him $400 million short of the cutoff to make this year's Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. The real estate mogul is just as wealthy as he was a year ago, when he stood at No. 339 on the ranking, but he is down $600 million since the start of the pandemic. Technology stocks, cryptocurrencies and other assets have thrived in the Covid era. But big-city properties -- which make up the bulk of Trump's fortune -- have languished, knocking the former president out of the nation's most exclusive club. If Trump is looking for someone to blame, he can start with himself. Five years ago, he had a golden opportunity to diversify his fortune. Fresh off the 2016 election, federal ethics officials were pushing Trump to divest his real estate assets. That would have allowed him to reinvest the proceeds into broad-based index funds and assume office free of conflicts of interest." (Also linked yesterday.)
It's the Media's Fault! Donna Cassata of the Washington Post: "Former vice president Mike Pence said media reporting on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection is meant to 'demean' supporters of ... Donald Trump, some of whom stormed the Capitol that day shouting, 'Hang Mike Pence!' In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Monday night, Pence sought to explain media coverage of the Jan. 6 riot in which he was hurriedly evacuated from the Senate chamber and taken to a secure location amid threats to his life. 'I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January,' Pence told Hannity. 'They want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020.'" MB: In case you never noticed, mike pence is really weird. If a bunch of violent lunatics tried to murder me in the course of overturning a (quasi-)democratic election, I know for sure I would not blame the media for making a bit deal of it. (Also linked yesterday.)
Maybe Trump's Former Caddie Is Hiding from the Process Server. Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "More than a week after subpoenaing former Donald Trump aide Dan Scavino to cooperate with its investigation into the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, the House select committee investigating the attack has been unable to physically serve the subpoena to him, according to multiple sources familiar with the effort.... One source familiar with the situation joked that the committee should just tweet the subpoena to the former Trump aide since he's been actively trolling the panel there in recent days." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm not sure the lede makes sense. It seems to me that Scavino has not been subpoenaed if he has not been served in person. It's not entirely clear to me that a Congressional subpoena must be served in person, but that seems to be the case.
Stephanie Grisham is not through skewering the Trumps. In a Washington Post op-ed she writes, Donald and Melania Trump knew that my relationship with my boyfriend, a White House staffer, "turned abusive -- and they didn't seem to care." After I told each of them separately about the abuse, "the president and first lady seemed totally unfazed about whether there was an abuser -- another abuser -- in their workplace. There was no follow-up from either of them to see if I needed help or protection. There was no investigation ordered.... Knowing what he knows, [Donald] Trump has endorsed my ex's bid for Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Tuesday accused her former boyfriend, whom she describes as a congressional candidate who has been endorsed by ... Donald Trump, of being violent toward her during their time working in the White House. Grisham made the accusation in a Washington Post op-ed Tuesday morning. She did not name her former boyfriend but noted in the piece that Trump 'has endorsed my ex's bid for Congress.' Within hours of the piece's publication online, Grisham's former boyfriend, Trump White House aide Max Miller, sued her alleging defamation. Miller accused Grisham of making 'libelous and defamatory statements' and asked a Cleveland judge to prevent her from discussing her accusations during interviews with CNN later Tuesday." A Raw Story report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Unless an abuser severely injures his victim, perhaps the most difficult part of domestic abuse is enduring the abuser's denials. Partner abuse is all about control, and especially in male-on-female abuse, the male will present himself as the psychologically "stable" partner & imply or state outright that his partner or former partner is mentally unbalanced, vindictive and/or a liar. A victim can get away from an abuser, but she can't get out of the sickening afterglow of the gaslight. The effort to control continues long after the bruises have disappeared.
Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: "Climate change is wiping out coral reefs and will kill more if oceans keep getting warmer, researchers warned on Tuesday in a new study that spanned much of the globe. The world already lost 14 percent of its coral between 2009 and 2018 -- or what amounts to more than all the coral now living in Australia's reefs -- scientists with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found. They blamed rising sea surface temperatures: While local factors like too much fishing, pollution and construction on the coast play a role, coral bleaching has done the most harm."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "Johnson & Johnson asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to grant emergency use authorization for a booster dose of its single-shot coronavirus vaccine, making it the final vaccine used in the United States for which permission is being sought for an extra shot. The action is part of an effort by Biden administration officials to provide increased protection against covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 700,000 lives in the United States. The filing came as a top FDA official said updated data might make a strong case that everyone 18 and older should be eligible for boosters -- but added that the agency will have to see whether its outside advisory committee agrees."
Antonio Planas of NBC News: "Covid-19 killed a disproportionate number of the country's Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans last year and exacerbated health disparities among the groups, a new study concludes. An estimated 477,200 more people died because of Covid-19 and other reasons from March to December 2020 compared to the same time in 2019, according to a study led by researchers with the National Cancer Institute published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine."
Arizona. Juan Perez of Politico: "A top Treasury Department official warned Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday that millions of dollars in federal aid may be in jeopardy because of two mask-shirking education programs in his state. The department's notice marks a new front in the Biden administration's attempts to clamp down on Republican governors who have resisted public health guidelines for schools, now that more than 700,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic took hold last year. [Applicants for grand funds must comply with a state law that outlaws mask mandates and vaccine requirements.] 'We are concerned that two recently created Arizona grant programs undermine evidence-based efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19.... A program or service that imposes conditions on participation or acceptance of the service that would undermine efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19 ... is not a permissible use of [federal] funds,' ... Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo wrote in a letter to Ducey...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The story has two grafs outlining the grant conditions. I think there's a "not" missing from the second graf.
Colorado. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "A Colorado-based health system says it is denying organ transplants to patients not vaccinated against the coronavirus in 'almost all situations,' citing studies that show these patients are much more likely to die if they get covid-19.... UCHealth's rules for transplants entered the spotlight Tuesday when Colorado state Rep. Tim Geitner (R) said it denied a kidney transplant to a Colorado Springs woman because she was not vaccinated against the coronavirus.... UCHealth ... confirmed Tuesday that nearly all of its transplant recipients and organ donors must get vaccinated against the coronavirus, in addition to other vaccinations and health requirements. A spokesman, Dan Weaver, said that other transplant centers in the United States have similar policies or are transitioning to them."
Louisiana. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Louisiana's largest health-care system is giving its employees a choice as it seeks to boost coronavirus vaccination numbers: ensure your spouse has received a shot or face higher health insurance costs. Beginning next year, employees of Ochsner Health System will see a roughly $200-a-month surcharge if their spouse or domestic partner on the company health plan is not vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a letter sent to affected employees last week. The surcharge does not apply to child beneficiaries covered by the plan." Access is free to nonsubscribers.
Marie: A Reality Chex contributor commented a few days ago on a story of a nurse who was selling fake vaccination cards, "People are willing to spend money for fake certificates, rather than getting free vaccines that can literally save their lives? I don't understand." It seemed perplexing to me, too. I suppose most anti-vaxxers want the forged cards for convenience's sake, like gaining access to restaurants & other businesses that demand proof of vaccination. But the Louisiana & Colorado stories demonstrate that for some, purchasing a phony "proof" may be cost-effective or even (at least in the short term) life-saving.
Beyond the Beltway
Idaho. Keith Ridler of the AP: "With Idaho Gov. Brad Little out of the state on Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines.... Little ... promised to rescind it in quick order.... McGeachin, a far-right Republican, is running for governor. In Idaho, the governor and lieutenant governor don't run on the same ticket. McGeachin's executive order issued Tuesday afternoon seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to stay out of the employee-employer relationship.... Also on Tuesday, McGeachin was rebuffed by Major General Michael J. Garshak in a query about activating troops and sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border."
Missouri. Raja Razek & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Missouri executed death row inmate Ernest Johnson on Tuesday after the US Supreme Court rejected a petition earlier in the day that had sought to delay it, citing an intellectual disability. Johnson -- who was convicted of robbing a gas station and murdering three clerks nearly 27 years ago -- was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. CT after the administration of a lethal injection, according to Karen Pojmann, communications director for the Missouri Department of Corrections. The petition from Johnson's lawyers, which was submitted to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, argued that the 61-year-old had 'presented overwhelming evidence' of his intellectual disability."
New York. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: Last summer, New York State's Commission on Public Ethics approved then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo's request to write a book about his leadership during the Covid-19 outbreak without even taking a vote. "The book ... -- which earned Mr. Cuomo $5.1 million -- and the commission's approval are now at the center of a fresh controversy surrounding the ex-governor.... [Despite Mr. Cuomo's resignation in August,] just last month [the commission] voted not to look back into the book deal and its approval. Since then, the commission's chair has stepped aside, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has appointed two new members. On Tuesday, both joined a majority in voting to open an investigation into Mr. Cuomo and the approval of his book deal.... The commission agreed on Tuesday to hire outside counsel to run the inquiry."
New York. David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation Tuesday morning raided the offices of the right wing, controversial, pro-Trump NYC Sergeants Benevolent Association. FBI agents may have also raided the home of the group's leader, Ed Mullins, according to multiple reports. 'The union is headed by Mullins, a brash leader known for his over-the-top social media attacks on NYPD leadership and Mayor de Blasio,' The New York Daily News reports, confirming the raid with the FBI.... It is not known why the FBI conducted the raid but last week Gothamist reported on 'a WNYC/Gothamist investigation of online records that appears to tie several New York law enforcement officers and public officials -- including at least two active members of the NYPD -- to a far-right, anti-government militia.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. William Rashbaum & Michael Gold of the New York Times : "In a statement late Tuesday, the union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, acknowledged the search and said that its president, Edward D. Mullins, was 'apparently the target of the federal investigation.' The union, which describes itself as the fifth-largest police union in the United States, added in the statement that 'given the severity of this matter and the uncertainty of its outcome,' its executive board had asked Mr. Mullins to resign and that he had complied.'" This is an update of a story linked earlier. An AP story is here.
Way Beyond
Afghanistan. Sudarsan Raghavan of the Washington Post: "In Kabul and other Afghan cities, the United States will be remembered for enabling two decades of progress in women's rights, an independent media and other freedoms. But in the nation's hinterlands, the main battlegrounds of America's longest war, many Afghans view the United States primarily through the prism of conflict, brutality and death.... In Wardak province, 25 miles southwest of the capital, the U.S. military, the CIA and the ruthless Afghan militias they armed and trained fought the Taliban for years. Trapped in the crossfire were villagers and farmers. Many became casualties of U.S. counterterrorism operations, drone strikes and gun battles.... [The Taliban's ability to seize power so quickly this past summer was] abetted by the harsh tactics of U.S. forces and their Afghan allies and by the corruption and ineffectiveness of the U.S.-backed Afghan government.... The Taliban controlled the villagers through fear, intimidation and their own brand of viciousness. But rural Afghan society is largely conservative, and residents mostly agreed with the militants' harsh interpretation of Islam." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So maybe one reason the U.S. was unprepared for the rapid fall of the Kabul government was not the fault of bad intelligence but a refusal by the U.S. military to believe we weren't beloved in Sinzai.
Europe. Barbara Moens of Politico: "Europe is coming to the bitter realization that it will probably have to make a once unthinkable concession to end the trade war that ... Donald Trump ignited, and which ... Joe Biden is continuing. Many Europeans had hoped Biden would revoke Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, but he hasn't done so, even though the duties were imposed in 2018 on the highly questionable grounds that they were required to protect 'national security.' Lowering the defense shield of Trump's tariffs would expose Biden to blowback from politically sensitive steel milling communities like those in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Under Trump, the EU accused Washington of bullying for trying to force Brussels to accept self-imposed export restrictions on steel and aluminum to end the tariff standoff. But the Europeans are now conceding that they might have to swallow a compromise under Biden that is uncomfortably similar to the one they so adamantly rejected under Trump."
France. Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "Clergy members in the Roman Catholic Church in France sexually abused more than 200,000 minors over the past seven decades, according to an estimate published on Tuesday by an independent commission that concluded the problem was far more pervasive and systematic than previously known. The long-awaited 2,500-page report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church laid out in detail how the church hierarchy had repeatedly silenced the victims and failed to report or discipline the clergy members involved." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ David Herszenhorn of Politico: "Emmanuel Macron is still not sure that Joe Biden gets it, or that the age-old alliance between France and the U.S. is back on track.... As Macron arrived on Tuesday evening for an EU leaders' meeting in Slovenia to discuss so-called strategic autonomy, it was clear that he was still annoyed and still insistent that the White House demonstrate its contrition in deeds not just words. Asked by Politico if he was now confident that Biden recognized France's importance as an ally, Macron replied curtly in English: 'We will see.' 'I just believe in facts,' Macron continued. 'I do hope. I do think it's feasible. I do think it's more productive for both of us. I will see. And I think we scheduled to discuss together mid-October, we will catch up during the G20 and I think it will be the right occasion to see how we can reengage very concretely.'"
Vatican, France. AP: "Pope Francis expressed 'shame' for himself and the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday for the scale of child sexual abuse within the church in France and acknowledged failures in putting the needs of victims first. The pope spoke during his regular audience at the Vatican about a report released Tuesday that estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy and other church authority figures dating back to 1950." Related story linked yesterday.
News Lede
AP: "The Nobel Prize for chemistry has been awarded to German scientist Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute and Scotland-born scientist David W.C. MacMillan of Princeton University. They were cited for their work in developing a new way for building molecules known as 'asymmetric organocatalysis.'"
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Florida Politics https://floridapolitics.com/archives/462708-alachua-broward-schools-face-500k-state-funding-cut-equal-to-federal-grants-awarded/ reports this morning that the state is proposing reducing funding to two school districts which have mandated masks in defiance of governor DeSantis. The state reduced payments to the two districts, which the feds made up. Now the state wants to repeat the process.
Stephanie Grisham doesn't deserved to be abused and Ted Cruz doesn't deserve Covid, but they're personal setbacks don't negate there public utterances and deeds. Stephanie has played the news cycle perfectly with her abomination of a professional life. I don't think that is an accident. This horrible person is piggybacking her story onto a legitimate story of abuse of Olympians by Nassar for profit. How much extra money will Stephanie Grisham make for book sales after her WaPo piece?
Mike Pompeo tweeted and it is too sweet to pass by:
"I think parents should decide what their children are taught in school."
This brought on a goodly number of tweeters giving the finger to Mike and they are hilarious; my favorite: "You lost us at "I think", Mike."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-pompeo-teach-school-idea_n_615d910ae4b045b6faafb9f9
Marie's "Pence is weird" broke me up---Yes, I shouted and one of the reasons is that he––and he has confirmed this–--speaks to God and God speaks to him. Enough said.
Marie's comments re: physical abuse ala Stephanie Grisham's abuser, Max Miller, is exactly right and she knows well of what she speaks. The disregard from the two despicable human beings, Fatty and Felony, must have been––should have been––an eye opener for Grisham. At that point she should have thrown in the towel.
Frances Haugen lit up the room––what an impressive testimony and what a smart cookie she is. Let's hope we put Zuck–-rhythmes with Suck–- in the hot seat and revise that book whose Face is covered with muddy footprints and devious doings.
Biden's plate is filled to the brim and he's trying to deal with it all--don't know how he sleeps at night but maybe he's so exhausted he doesn't have to take a sleeping aid. Compare his days with Fatty's and it's laughable and I wish the press would do more re: the comparisons between a President and a Pretender.
Doesn't explain everything--but it comes close.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/opinion/trump-voters-2020-election.html
The "I'd rather not think" pandemic that has infected nearly half of Americans far longer than Covid...and for which there is no easily available vaccination.
Well, death maybe.
In the Pompeo HuffPost story, where Mike says he wants parents to decide what kids are taught in school, the writer says that it is unclear what prompted MP's twit. Er, tweet.
The VA gubernatorial race is the prompt. Glenn Youngkin (R wanna be guber) has been running a zillion ads a day, one of which seems to be half of those zillion repeats, with a soundbite and video of Terry McAuliffe (once and future D guber) at the debate podium saying he won't let parents tell schools what to teach. The soundbites are clipped and you can tell that there's more to the thought, but the R campaign cut the clip.
These two campaigns have been saturating the DMV market -- N. Va. is the shot-caller in this election ... and one of the dueling themes is "McAuliffe is a big government school vaccine mandater" v. "Youngkin tells people not to get vaccinated and endangers your children."
There's been a whiff of Willie Horton in some of Youngkin's ads, missing only pictures of scary black guys.
McAuliffe has portrayed Youngkin as a heartless Carlyle Group vulture capital child exploiter.
The level of $ and the nastiness have moved the R's prospects up to striking distance.
Why would Pompeo so tweet? He's a nasty guy too, is my guess.
This is probably the most belwether election this fall.
...
So agree with Marie's comment about abusers re Stephanie G's book and/or a WaPo story I have not read. Abusers seldom tell the truth about anything, and since they are largely men, they expect to be believed simply because they ARE men. And they are. It's too bad that ol' Stephanie is rather an unsympathetic soul to begin with-- she will have a hard row to hoe with regard to being believed. And I don't really care, do U?
I don't know how Joe sleeps or if, even-- he is abused by the right no matter what he does or doesn't do. I should stop taking it personally when I hear stories about the usual stormtroopers. They are unable to think of the common good, hence McConnell's refusal to participate in everything. What a s***head. But part of a larger circle of s***heads, hence Pompouseo. All egged on by a willing press. Ugh.