;)
The Commentariat -- September 9, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Annie Linskey, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden is announcing sweeping new vaccine mandates Thursday that will impact tens of millions of Americans, pushing all businesses with more than 100 employees to require their workforces to be inoculated or face weekly testing. Biden also will require all health facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid funding to vaccinate their workforces, which the White House believes will impact 50,000 locations. And the president plans to sign an executive order that would require all federal employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus -- without an option for those who prefer to be regularly tested instead -- in an effort to create a model he hopes state governments and private companies will adopt." CNN's report is here.
Devlin Barrett & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "President Biden's Justice Department sued the state of Texas on Thursday to try to block the nation's most restrictive abortion law, which bans the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy and allows private citizens to take legal action against anyone who helps a woman terminate her pregnancy. At a news conference to announce the lawsuit filed in federal court in Austin, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ban 'is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent.' The suit asks a judge to declare the measure unlawful, block its enforcement and 'protect the rights that Texas has violated.'" The AP story is here.
Dana Farrington of NPR: "Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., announced Thursday that she underwent radiation treatment for breast cancer earlier this year and her doctors recently confirmed that the treatment went well.... A mammogram in February alerted Klobuchar to a possible issue, and a biopsy later confirmed it was stage 1A breast cancer. She completed a course of radiation in May. In her post, Klobuchar noted that many people have delayed routine exams because of the pandemic -- including her."
Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Lawyers for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) filed an emergency appeal Wednesday evening after a circuit judge earlier that day rejected a previous appeal from the governor, a move that put his ban on school mask mandates on hold and allows school districts to require face coverings in academic buildings for the time being. DeSantis's lawyers are now calling for the automatic stay on his mask mandate ban to be reinstated, which would allow the ban on the mandates toonce again take effect."
~~~~~~~~~~
Biden's Gift to Earth. Ivan Penn of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Wednesday released a plan to produce almost half of the nation's electricity from the sun by 2050 -- something that would require the country to double the amount of solar energy installed every year over the next four years and then double it again by 2030. The expansion of solar energy is part of President Biden's effort to fight climate change, but the new target would represent a huge leap with little historical precedent -- solar energy contributed less than 4 percent of the country's electricity last year. Such a large increase, laid out in an Energy Department report, is in line with what most climate scientists say is needed to stave off the worst effects of global warming. It would require a vast transformation in technology, the energy industry and the way people live.... Getting there will mean trillions of dollars in investments by homeowners, businesses and the government." A UPI story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "The White House pushed out several prominent Trump administration appointees from their posts on the advisory boards of U.S. military service academies, administration officials said on Wednesday. The Biden administration was seeking to ensure that nominees and board members were 'qualified to serve on them' and 'aligned' with the president's values, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at a White House briefing. Chris Meagher, a White House spokesman, later confirmed that all of the appointees 'either resigned or has been terminated from their position.' Eighteen Trump appointees were asked to resign. They included former White House officials such as Kellyanne Conway..., Donald J. Trump's counselor; Sean Spicer, his first White House press secretary; Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Mr. Trump's second national security adviser; and Russell T. Vought, a former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget under Mr. Trump."
Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that 'the Justice Department could file a lawsuit as soon as Thursday' against Texas's new [anti-abortion] law, which offers citizens $10,000 bounties if they successfully file lawsuits against anyone in the state who performs or even assists in an abortion procedure." The WSJ story is here.
Jennifer Scholtes & Caitlin Emma of Politico: "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned congressional leaders on Wednesday that she expects the country's debt limit will hit its breaking point next month, dealing a likely blow to the global economy without quick action. In a letter to top lawmakers in both parties, Yellen said the Biden administration's 'best and most recent' calculations suggest that the United States will run out of cash 'during the month of October.' If Congress continues to push off action on the debt limit over the next few weeks, she warned, the uncertainty alone could hurt financial markets."
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans are the nation's most egregious tax evaders, failing to pay as much as $163 billion in owed taxes per year, according to a new Treasury Department report released on Wednesday. The analysis comes as the Biden administration is pushing lawmakers to embrace its ambitious proposal to beef up the Internal Revenue Service to narrow the 'tax gap,' which it estimates amounts to $7 trillion in unpaid taxes over a decade. The White House has proposed investing $80 billion in the agency over the next 10 years to hire more enforcement staff, overhaul its technology and usher in new information-reporting requirements that would give the government greater insight into tax evasion schemes." MB: Hey, Joe & Kyrsten, here's some found money that will pay pretty much all of that omnibus infrastructure bill you find too expensive -- without raising taxes. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here.
Seung Min Kim & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "The White House is planning to withdraw David Chipman's nomination to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this week amid bipartisan pushback over his gun control advocacy, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. President Biden nominated Chipman, who worked at ATF for more than two decades before joining the gun control group led by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), in April as part of a larger effort to curb gun violence." MB: It seems to me that advocating for gun control is completely consistent with the ATF's mission. I'm having trouble seeing what the problem is (Joe Manchin?).
Yes, Big Government Programs Work. Jason DeParle of the New York Times: "As 20 million jobs vanished at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and traffic jams formed outside food banks, many experts warned that the twin crises of unemployment and disease would produce soaring rates of hunger. But huge expansions of government aid followed, and data released on Wednesday suggests the extraordinary spending achieved a major goal: Despite shuttered businesses and schools, food insecurity remained unchanged from prepandemic levels. That result defied past experience, when recessions caused food hardship to spike."
Look at Me! Look at Me! Manu Raju of CNN: Sen. Joe Manchin (Dino-W.Va.) "and his staff have been engaged for weeks in intensive negotiations with the chairs of key Senate committees ahead of his party's release of a sprawling bill to expand the social safety net, laying down his demands on a wide-range of issues: health care, education, child care and taxes, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. And Manchin is making clear he won't cave on aggressive climate provisions sought by many Democrats, throwing a wrench in his party's efforts to make the bill key to combating global warming. With Democrats needing every vote in their caucus to get the bill through the Senate along straight party lines, Manchin has received more attention than any other Democrat, even as others -- like Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema -- have also balked at the $3.5 trillion price tag." MB: Yes, because climate change is a hoax when some of your biggest campaign contributors are oil & gas interests.
Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: "Law enforcement officials concerned by the prospect for violence at a rally in the nation's capital next week are planning to reinstall protective fencing that surrounded the U.S. Capitol for months after the Jan. 6 insurrection there, according to a person familiar with the discussions.... A security plan that is being finalized calls for a fenced perimeter on the streets immediately surrounding the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, though not around the congressional office buildings nearby, said the person...." MB: Okay, so Capitol & Supreme Court building. I hope they're a little worried about the White House, what with the guy who stole the election from The Furor having taken up residence there. It seems to me the White House would be the focus of any new attack.
Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Frank Scavo, a Donald Trump supporter from Pennsylvania who chartered four buses to D.C. on the day that the U.S. Capitol was attacked, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge on Wednesday. As part of a plea agreement, Scavo pleaded guilty to one of the four counts in his criminal information during a virtual hearing before Judge Royce C. Lamberth. Scavo admitted that he 'willfully and knowingly paraded, demonstrated, and picketed in a Capitol Building.' Scavo, an Old Forge resident who said that about 200 Pennsylvania residents traveled on the trip he organized, initially lied to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, saying that he and his group 'didn't see what was going on inside the Capitol.' But the news outlet spotted Scavo in news photographs inside the Capitol building. Scavo's plea deal requires him to cooperate with federal authorities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
This Mom Might Be a Little Too Proud of Her Son. Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "A 34-year-old man [Russell James Peterson] who traveled with his mother to D.C. for ... Donald Trump's Jan. 6 rally and stormed the U.S. Capitol while wearing a '(F**k) your feelings' sweatshirt pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor on Wednesday.... A witness told the FBI that Peterson's mother, Shelly Peterson, had posted on Facebook that her son 'sat in Pelosi's chair.'..."
Life Is Difficult for an Insurrectionist. Tess Owen of Vice: "An Oath Keeper and accused Capitol rioter who owns a tattoo parlor in upstate New York unwittingly poured his heart out to an off-duty FBI agent who'd stopped by his business for an appointment.... Minuta told the group that his life 'had been crazy since 6 January 2021,' according to the unclassified FBI memo. He explained that he was part of the security detail for right-wing operative and Trump ally Roger Stone on Jan. 6. He called the conspiracy charges 'fake,' said he wasn't involved in any conspiracy, and claimed he saw 'antifa' at the Capitol (FYI, there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that antifascist protesters were present at the Capitol). He said he had to turn in his firearms in exchange for being released pending the outcome of his jury trial, and has had some problems with security at airports (plus, his travel is limited). He also talked about how his tattoo parlor had been vandalized in March after he'd been charged in connection with the Capitol riot."
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The FBI on Wednesday released new video of a person believed to have placed pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters in D.C. the night before the U.S. Capitol riot and revealed that investigators think the suspect is 'not from the area,' as officials made another call for the public's help to solve the case.... The FBI said the person wore a face mask, glasses, a hooded gray sweatshirt, gloves, and black and light gray Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo." MB: Hmmm, except for the Nikes, the perp seems to be wearing the same outfit I often wear in winter. ~~~
Marie: There are a number of Trump stories in the news these past couple of days: Trump is gearing up his 2024 campaign, Trump is planning rallies in Iowa & someplace else, Trump horrified by removal of Robert E. Lee statue, Trump endorses Liz Cheney's primary race opponent, Trump & Number One Son are providing color commentary for a stock car race or something. I really don't care, do u?
Robert Barnes of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday night granted a last-minute reprieve to a Texas inmate who wants his preacher physically by his side and audibly praying for him at the time of his execution. Just hours before John Henry Ramirez was to be executed, the court issued a one-paragraph order granting his request for a stay. The court will order full briefing and argument in the case, which will be added to the court's docket in October or November.... The Supreme Court has been increasingly siding with death-row inmates in requiring prison officials to allow spiritual advisers." MB: So a break for a vicious murderer but not for Texas victims of rape & incest. Nice work, Supremes.
Joyce Vance, in an MSNBC opinion column: "Last week the Supreme Court did something courts don't usually do: It gutted Roe v. Wade, a landmark legal precedent that stood for almost 50 years.... The majority ducked [the] issues [of the Texas law], simply declining to grant an emergency request to block the Texas law while litigation to determine its constitutionality continues.... The scheme is such a transparent violation of Roe that it would have been laughable a few years ago. But now, suddenly, it isn't. The majority agreed the plaintiffs had presented 'serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law' but then went on to ignore them.... Under Roe, abortion can't be prohibited, but in Texas it essentially is. The Supreme Court's decision sends a message to women and girls that it won't protect their rights and that they can't be trusted to make the most intimate decisions about their own bodies.... Nothing says women are second-class citizens like the Texas anti-abortion law."
Bannon Banished. James Iman of the Art Newspaper: "After a protracted legal battle, the Italian culture ministry has evicted Benjamin Harnwell, a British Catholic conservative, from the 13th-century Italian monastery where he planned to launch a right-wing political academy with Donald Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. The ministry is now enlisting a coalition of community groups to open the Certosa di Trisulti to the public and determine what purpose it should serve. But Harnwell, who says he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, has filed a final appeal on the case with the Corte di Cassazione, the Italian Supreme Court."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Joe Biden Is Tired of Trying to Reason with You People. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden is expected on Thursday to detail his administration's plan to put pressure on private businesses, federal agencies and schools to enact stricter vaccination mandates and testing policies as the Delta variant continues its spread across the United States, pushing the country's daily average caseload over 150,000 for the first time since late January, overwhelming hospitals in hard-hit areas and killing roughly 1,500 people a day. Mr. Biden, who was briefed by his team of coronavirus advisers on Wednesday afternoon, is set to deliver a speech at 5 p.m. that will address about six areas where his administration can encourage -- or, at this point, push -- more eligible Americans to receive vaccines, according to the White House."
Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "A Florida judge on Wednesday ruled against Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration for a second time over school mask mandates, allowing school boards to require that students wear face coverings. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper again sided with parents who said an executive order from DeSantis (R) overstepped the state's authority in restricting school districts from requiring masks. 'We have a variant that's more infectious and more dangerous to children than the one we had last year,' Cooper said when issuing his ruling. 'We're in a non-disputed pandemic situation with threats to young children who, at least based on the evidence, have no way to avoid this unless to stay home and isolate themselves. I think everybody agrees that's not good for them.' Cooper pointed to the guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommends masks for students and staff in schools, calling it the 'the gold standard.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Texas. Jack Douglas & Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "Masks are now mandatory for students and staff in the Connally Independent School District, on the outskirts of Waco. The decision, made late last week, followed ... two teacher deaths and a surge of cases in the community.... Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in May barred Texas school districts and other governmental entities from requiring masks, saying it should be a matter of personal choice. But as this school year began, with the highly contagious delta variant bearing down, several big-city school districts defied him. Then a court put his order on hold. Now, many smaller, more rural school districts are following their big-city counterparts." MB: Teachers have to die as martyrs to Greg Abbott's stupidity before schools, parents & students wake up to reality. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. The Lowest of Lowlifes. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "... on Wednesday..., prosecutors in Miami-Dade County announced that they had charged three people for stealing the identities of at least seven Champlain Towers residents [who were victims of the Surfside tower collapse]. Five of them ... had been killed in the June 24 collapse. Two had survived.... In all, the three stole at least $45,000 and attempted to steal an additional $67,000...."
South Carolina. Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "At the center of [a saga of a Hampton, South Carolina dynasty] is Alex Murdaugh, 53, the now-resigned lawyer whose wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and 22-year-old son, Paul, were murdered on June 7 at the family's hunting compound a few miles from town. Alex said he discovered their bodies upon returning to the compound. Both had been shot multiple times. In a recording of his 911 call, Alex said that his wife and son needed urgent attention and had been shot 'badly.'... In a 72-hour period last weekend, Alex's law partners informed Alex that he was suspected of misusing firm funds (reportedly in the millions, according to the New York Times), and suggested he resign, which he did.... Then, on Saturday, while allegedly changing a tire..., Alex again called 911 and claimed that someone in a passing truck had shot him. Alex was airlifted to a Savannah, Ga., hospital and released with a 'superficial' head wound. On Monday, Alex declared that he had an addiction and checked into an undisclosed rehab center." There's more.
Texas. Marie: As we learned yesterday, Gov. Greg Abbott stated that Texas women need not worry about becoming impregnated by rapists because Texas would be getting all rapists off the streets. Chris Hayes of MSNBC was wondering how that was going to happen inasmuch as Texas law enforcement agencies currently have a backlog of 6,000 unprocessed rape kits.
Virginia. A Monument to a Traitor Comes Down. Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "After more than a year of legal wrangling, one of the nation's largest Confederate monuments -- a soaring statue of Robert E. Lee, the South's Civil War general -- was hoisted off its pedestal in downtown Richmond, Va., on Wednesday morning. At 8:54 a.m., a man in an orange jacket waved his arms, and the 21-foot statue rose into the air and glided, slowly, to a flatbed truck below. The sun had just come out and illuminated the towering gray pedestal as a small crowd on the east side of the monument let out a cheer.... It was an emotional moment. The Lee statue was erected in 1890, the first of six Confederate monuments -- symbols of white power that dotted the main boulevard in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. On Wednesday, it became the last of them to be removed, opening up the story of this city to all of its residents to write." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
Wisconsin. Scott Bauer of the AP: "Former Republican officeholders and elections experts said Wednesday that the GOP-ordered investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin lacks credibility, transparency and raises security risks and legal concerns."
Way Beyond
Afghanistan. >Marc Santora & Sami Sahak of the New York Times: "Several passenger jets arrived on Thursday morning in Kabul as Taliban officials said that American passport holders and other foreigners would soon be able to fly out of the international airport there, the first passenger flights to leave Afghanistan since the frenzied U.S. military evacuation drew to a close late last month. A U.S. official familiar with the negotiations but who spoke only on the condition of anonymity said that about 200 people had been cleared to leave and that they included Americans and other third-country nationals. Bilal Karimi, a close aide to the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that three flights from Persian Gulf nations had landed at the airport and that more were expected. They arrived with desperately needed humanitarian aid, Mr. Karimi said, and would be allowed to take off when technical issues involving the radar at the airport had been resolved." MB: Scary thought: the "technical issue" might be they don't have any qualified air traffic controllers.
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Reader Comments (20)
May be something wrong with me but when I skimmed the Parker piece about that messed up (for two of them, messed up as in dead) , privileged S.C. family earlier today, it called to mind the words on Melanie's infamous jacket.
@Ken Winkes: I think Parker's point is that these dynastic families -- Murdaugh men have been running the county for about 100 years -- don't well-serve their communities and that the scions of such families are particularly flawed. When I read the column, I was reminded of some Southern gothic novel, herein played out in real life. Of course, dynastic models are hardly limited to the South: Kennedys, Cuomos, Stevensons, etc., etc.
I agree, Marie.
I think that was the point Parker would say or might even think she was making, but as some of the commenters on the piece said, it is precisely Parker's brand of Republicanism that has long given the green light to such unearned and undeserved privilege.
I simply couldn't summon any sympathy for their troubles, tho I'm sure there are thousands of S. Carolinians whose troubles would have touched me if she had bothered to tell their stories.
But she didn't and won't.
Miss Wendy Molyneux certainly has a way with words whilst
trying to convince antivaxxers to just get the shot:
mcsweeneys.net/articles/oh-my-fucking-god-get-the-fucking-
vaccine-already-you-fucking-fucks
In today's episode of lack of self-awareness: After being removed from the military academy board, Kellyanne Conway is complaining that the Biden white house is not following "presidential norms."
If the Biden white house followed the previous "administration's" norms, Biden would have had his number one bodyguard deliver the notice to her house with a bulldozer.
@FM: There seems to be a theme running through the piece you mention but, for fuck's sake, I can't fucking figure it out.
The link didn't work for me but it's on the front page of
mcsweeneys.net
@NiskyGuy: Here's the link. Forrest's link did work for me. It seems to me Miss Wendy is at a loss for verbs, adjectives, adverbs & interjections, though I'll admit the one she chose in lieu of variety did work for me, too.
LEGISLATING in the NAME of GOD:
Linda Greenhouse has written an excellent piece on the corruption of the separation of that church and state thingy that our courts are ignoring.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/opinion/abortion-supreme-court-religion.html
She begins with the story of Myra Bradwell, who, one hundred fifty years ago, brought her case to the S. Court claiming a constitutional right to be admitted to the Illinois bar (she had passed the bar exam with honors). Here's what she got:
"The paramount destiny and mission of a woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator." Issued by S.C. Justice Joseph Bradley*
Greenhouse proceeds from there with a stinging retribution on our Catholic Cabul that sits on the high court cozy and confident in their cross bearing ideology. Fintan O'Toole wrote a scathing piece a year ago about Catholic overload and what they intended to do.
I think of R.B.G. and how hard she worked for the equality of women in the workplace and otherwise. There should be a placard with her face on it and the words underneath "RUTH WEEPS."
* One can only hope Bradley's wife burned his toast while tending to those benign but noble offices of womanhood.
To give Kathleen Parker (the Ross Douthat of WaPo) more time than she deserves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Converse_University. I happened to check her CV the other day when I asked myself how anyone so well positioned could be such an anti-woman dolt? She might as well have attended DeVos U. She is a soggy cornflake of a journalist.
"Soggy cornflake of a journalist" is fantastic...I imagine it is useful as a description for people like Manchin. Thanks, c-625!
Charlie's commenters are noticing that not only do the pigs of the GQP want full credit to be given to the Monster of Mar-a-Lago even though they say it is a bogus pandemic/hoax/flu...but they also are screeching about the Afghans that were left behind by Biden personally, but by damn, they had better not be brought to Wisconsin etc.
They never pay a price for their lying hypocrisy. Never...
I heard that trump wanted to buy the Robert E. Lee statue for
Mard-a-Lardo. Melony said put it in the bedroom so I'll never
have to look at it.
I don't think Biden gave much of a gift to Earth. I do think that the article about the "plan" is another example of bad journalism. There's nothing in the article that tell us what actions will be taken over whatever timeframe.
Even the linked "report" isn't a report, it's a press release titled "DOE Releases Solar Futures Study Providing the Blueprint for a Zero-Carbon Grid". This doesn't seem, to me, to be an accurate title either. I don't agree that the study provides anything solid as a blueprint would have. Here's a link to the study itself.
It's really just a summary of what could result if all of their assumptions about the future of unknown parameters calculate properly in their models of three scenarios. It's all speculation.
There's no nuts and bolts about how to make is happen. No established goals and no details, not even top-level, on how to achieve them. No whos, whats, wheres, whens. Nothing for even a rudimentary Gantt chart.
I find it disappointing.
I would love for a reporter to ask governor abbot what the fetus looks like at day 10 of his six weeks.
Day 10, as it is normally counted, is before ovulation, so there's no there there. Ovulation typically happens around day 14, but can easily range from day 11 to 18 for any number of reasons or no reason at all. Conception (if it happens) is a short window after ovulation, and implantation in the uterus (another big IF) happens about a week or more later.
So for the first three weeks of the six weeks, there is precious little information to go on, even if one is paying attention. And on Day 10, chances are close to zero that an egg has even been released for that cycle.
My wife and I used this information both to avoid pregnancies and to help achieve pregnancy for decades, with the temperature taking charts and all. It's not hard to understand.
@NiskyGuy: Yes, I hope in one of these lawsuits, Greg Abbott -- who, after all, signed this bill into law -- is deposed and called upon to testify on all of the scientific details of pregnancy detection and on how he will "end rape" by getting all the rapists "off the streets." And what about incest, Greg? How are you going to ensure that no Texas uncles, fathers, brothers, first cousins, impregnate a girl or woman? Then the plaintiffs can get some actual doctors & law enforcement officers to make a mockery of Abbott's testimony.
An adult woman who is accustomed to getting her periods like clockwork, who knows what the interval is, and who is charting her menstrual cycle on a calendar theoretically could suspect she is pregnant about 15 days after having unprotected sex with a man. At any given time, probably no more than 5 percent of women meet these criteria -- and it's apt to be those who are hoping to get pregnant, not those who got there in an accidental way.
Forrest,
Speaking of Robert E. Lee, the Fat Fascist announced that had Lee been in charge in Afghanistan, he would have achieved complete victory (he never misses a chance to throw a sop to the traitors). I assume this opinion (such as it is) is based on Lee’s stunning victory in the Civil War. Didn’t you hate it when Grant had to surrender at Appomattox?
But can’t you just picture Lee, riding his horse Traveler, galloping around Helmand Province, waving his sword at the Taliban? I’m sure unconditional surrender would have been immediate.
(And even if the Orange Menace was referring to Lee’s strategic skills as a general, a cursory familiarity with Civil War history would put the kibosh on that idea. For all his earlier brilliance as a battlefield tactician, when it counted most, in the biggest battle of his career, Lee failed. Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, the so called high water mark of the Confederacy, was all Lee’s idea. It was an unmitigated disaster.)
@Akhilleus: Yes to all that. Of course, Lee's overarching strategy was to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans to perpetuate slavery. That's perfectly consistent with Trump's views. Trump chose to be President of the Lost Cause, and in that he succeeded. It's all he's got, and he's sticking with it.
Here's something I learned today. When Virginia seceded, there were eight Army colonels in the state. Seven of them joined the Union. Lee was the eighth.
@unwashed: Yeah, Trump would have probably come up with the same plan. And we would have had Climate Week every week that wasn't Infrastructure Week (except in late December when it would have been White Baby Jesus Week).
@Unwashed and Marie,
Exactly; earnest pleasings are not a plan.
I remember quoting in a Sunday sermon (LTTE) these wise words, which I might have cribbed from another RC contributor: "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."
Period.
Fascinating:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/us/politics/vaccine-mandates-history.html
And discouraging,..
So, when I type into Google: Stephanie Grisham's publishing house, I get nada. I figured it'd be Regnery. She, remember, was the communications director for Fat Lil' Hands Donny and his wife and didn't believe in press conferences. The upshot, it looks to this observer, is that Harper publishing doesn't want to announce themselves and then get publication boycotts. I had to go to Amazon and look over the advert. Any opinions on that tactical change on the part of publishers?