U.S. House Results

By 2:00 pm ET Saturday, the AP had called 213 seats for Democrats & 220 seats for Republicans. (A majority is 220 218.)

Trump is removing some members of the House & Senate to serve in his administration, which could -- at least in the short run -- give Democrats effective majorities.

The Ledes

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

New York Times: “Arthur Frommer, who expanded the horizons of postwar Americans and virtually invented the low-budget travel industry with his seminal guidebook, 'Europe on 5 Dollars a Day: A Guide to Inexpensive Travel,' which introduced millions to an experience once considered the exclusive domain of the wealthy, died on Monday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 95.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Monday, November 18, 2024

New York Times: “One person has died and 39 people have become ill in an E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots, federal regulators said on Sunday. The infections were tied to multiple brands of recalled organic whole bagged carrots and baby carrots sold by Grimmway Farms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Fifteen people have been hospitalized, according to the agency. Carrots currently on store shelves are unlikely to be affected by the recall but those in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers may be, the authorities said.”

Public Service Announcement

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

New York Times: “Chris Wallace, a veteran TV anchor who left Fox News for CNN three years ago, announced on Monday that he was leaving his post to venture into the streaming or podcasting worlds.... He said his decision to leave CNN at the end of his three-year contract did not come from discontent. 'I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN was very good to me,' he said.”

New York Times: In a collection of memorabilia filed at New York City's Morgan Library, curator Robinson McClellan discovered the manuscript of a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania as well as other experts authenticated the manuscript. Includes video of Lang Lang performing the short waltz. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Times article goes into some of Chopin's life in Paris at the time he wrote the waltz, but it doesn't mention that he helped make ends meet by giving piano lessons. I know this because my great grandmother was one of his students. If her musical talent were anything like mine, those particular lessons would have been painful hours for Chopin.

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Constant Comments

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. -- Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Sunday
Jul252021

The Commentariat -- July 26, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden has announced the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He has started transferring prisoners from Guantánamo Bay in hopes of eventually shutting down the prison. And on Monday, he will welcome Iraq's prime minister to the White House for an expected announcement that U.S. combat forces will leave that country within months. The moves reflect what is emerging as an unmistakable pillar of Biden's foreign policy: seeking to push America past the post-9/11 phase of its history, ending 20 years of relentless focus on the Middle East and terrorism rather than threats like China and cyberattacks. The United States needs to 'fight the battles for the next 20 years, not the last 20,' Biden has said."

Mariana Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Democrats are seeking to elevate the role of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on the committee examining the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, scheduling her to deliver one of the two opening statements at the panel's first public hearing Tuesday, according to two people familiar with the decision. The move is intended to present the committee as a bipartisan effort following Republican leadership's decision not to participate in the panel.... During a closed-door meeting last week, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) proposed to [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and Cheney that having the Wyoming congresswoman speak after Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) would present a 'strong visual' for the committee's goals and intentions as it embarks on a months-long process to investigate the insurrection, according to a person familiar with the conversation, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Pundits have been talking about Nancy Pelosi's outsmarting Kevin McCarthy. Looks as though Liz Cheney outsmarted McCarthy, too -- not that outsmarting Kevin is all that difficult.

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "Congressional investigators expanded their inquiry Monday of political interference at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under ... Donald Trump, citing newly obtained documents and additional reports of the administration's meddling in government scientists' work. The expanded investigation centers on efforts to blunt the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs), which offer public updates on scientists' findings. The reports had been considered sacrosanct for decades and untouchable by political appointees in the past, but Trump appointees pushed last year to edit the findings, worried that they undermined Trump's more optimistic spin on the coronavirus pandemic.... The subcommittee is requesting interviews with Anne Schuchat, a former CDC deputy director; Nancy Messonnier, a former senior official who held a variety of leadership roles at the CDC during the pandemic; and six current career staff members at the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. The subcommittee also is requesting interviews with former Trump appointees Kyle McGowan, Amanda Campbell and Nina Witkofsky, who served as top political appointees at the CDC last year.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana and an outspoken coronavirus skeptic who has drafted legislation to make vaccine mandates a federal crime, announced this weekend that he, his wife and his son have Covid-19. The announcement on Facebook, which did not provide details on symptoms, raised many questions. Mr. Higgins said he and his wife had previously been infected with the coronavirus in January 2020, at the dawn of the pandemic.... He did not say whether he had gotten an antibody test to confirm a previous infection, nor has he said whether he has been vaccinated against the coronavirus.... Mr. Higgins also asserted, without proof, that the Chinese Communist Party created the novel coronavirus as a biological warfare agent, calling it 'weaponized.' Republicans have increasingly stated, with no evidence, that the coronavirus is human-made and leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China -- some say intentionally. Although President Biden has ordered an intelligence assessment of the theory, most scientists continue to believe that the virus emerged naturally from animals. A senior virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology has strenuously denied the virus was created or leaked from her lab."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe the Republicans can't handle the truth, but we have a responsibility to seek it, to find it and in a way that maintains the confidence of the American people. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to George Stephanopolous, Sunday ~~~

~~~ Jessie Naranjo & Olivia Beavers of Politico: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally tapped Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois -- a rare Donald Trump antagonist in his party -- to the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection as part of a boosted Republican presence." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The House select committee envisioned to be the ultimate arbiter of what led ... Donald Trump's supporters to invade the U.S. Capitol in January is scheduled to begin its work this week under a cloud of controversy that threatens to compromise the investigation from the outset.... Nevertheless, on Tuesday, four police officers -- two from the Capitol's protection squad and two from D.C. police -- are set to provide the first public testimony before the select committee. They are expected to testify about their experiences of both physical and verbal abuse on Jan. 6, as they tried to protect the Capitol from a swelling horde of demonstrators determined to stop Congress's efforts to certify the 2020 electoral college results and declare Joe Biden the next president.... Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), said in an interview that the officers' testimony was 'a really important perspective to begin with ... to put to rest this fictional revisionist history,' a reference to efforts by Trump and other Republicans to characterize the Capitol riot as a 'normal tourist visit' from a 'loving crowd.'"

Trump Associates Spawned a Seedy Disinformation Industry. Max Fisher of the New York Times: There is now "a secretive industry that security analysts and American officials say is exploding in scale: disinformation for hire. Private firms, straddling traditional marketing and the shadow world of geopolitical influence operations, are selling services once conducted principally by intelligence agencies. They sow discord, meddle in elections, seed false narratives and push viral conspiracies, mostly on social media. And they offer clients ... deniability.... Most [disinformation social media posts] trace to back-alley firms whose legitimate services resemble those of a bottom-rate marketer or email spammer.... For-hire disinformation, though only sometimes effective, is growing more sophisticated as practitioners iterate and learn.... The [Cambridge Analytica scandal, tied to Trump's 2016 campaign,] ... taught a generation of consultants and opportunists that there was big money in social media marketing for political causes, all disguised as organic activity."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Fox News hosts on Sunday promoted the idea that 'childless' Americans should not be allowed to participate in society by voting. The idea was recently floated by Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance." The hosts seemed to agree that the proposal wasn't "feasible" but that it was morally correct because only people with children are "optimistic" & have a stake in the future of the country. MB: Here's hoping even some elderly Foxbots find this thesis massively offensive.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here.

Madeline Holcombe of CNN: "Less than half of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 -- and with cases on the rise, experts are urging a return to precautions reminiscent of the earlier days of the pandemic. 'What I would say bluntly is: If you are not vaccinated right now in the United States, you should not go into a bar, you should probably not eat at a restaurant. You are at great risk of becoming infected,' CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield. In 48 states, the rate of new Covid-19 cases in the past week jumped by at least 10% compared to the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In 34 of those states, the rate of new cases increased by more than 50%."

Connor O'Brien of Politico: "Anthony Fauci ... on Sunday said more leaders in areas that are lagging in vaccination against the coronavirus should 'speak out' to persuade people to get inoculated as the Delta variant surges."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here.

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. AP: “Elected officials in a conservative Michigan county who gave themselves bonuses of $65,000 with federal COVID-19 relief aid said they will return the money following days of criticism. Shiawassee County commissioners acted after the prosecutor said the payments were illegal, The Argus-Press reported.... The commissioners, all Republicans, voted on July 15 to award themselves $65,000 as part of a plan to give $557,000 to 250 county employees as 'hazard pay' for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.... The commissioners awarded money to other elected officials, including the prosecutor, the sheriff and the county clerk, all Republicans. They, too, said they would give it back."; MB: It's nice to see that it isn't only bigwig Republicans who are corrupt. Right down to rural county commissioners, Republican officials are horrified that the feds might give "those people" financial help but they're perfectly willing to put your tax dollars in their own pockets.

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Susannah George of the Washington Post: "Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have hit record highs as U.S. forces are withdrawing from the country, a U.N. mission reported Monday. The mission warned the conflict is likely to become more deadly as fighting draws closer to urban areas. Nearly 800 civilians were killed and more than 1,600 wounded between May and June, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said. The figures are the highest recorded during those two months since the mission began keeping track in 2009."

Tunisia. Claire Parker of the Washington Post: "Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the country's prime minister and froze parliament for 30 days on Sunday, posing a major test to the young democracy and escalating a political crisis that has built for months. Opponents condemned the move as an attempted coup. Saied announced that he was firing Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and that he and a new prime minister, to be named in the coming hours, would take up executive authority. Under Tunisia's 2014 constitution, executive power is shared by the president, prime minister and the parliament. Saied also suspended lawmakers' parliamentary immunity." The Guardian's story is here.

Japan. The New York Times' live updates of Olympics events Sunday are here. The Washington Post's live updates Sunday are here. The AP's main page has a section on the Olympics.

Saturday
Jul242021

The Commentariat -- July 25, 2021

David Montgomery in the Washington Post Magazine: "Progressives want a dramatic de-Trumpification of the Justice Department. But the attorney general [Merrick Garland] has a different theory of how to heal America.... He stands as a kind of radical institutionalist, a stickler for regular order, a true believer in the norms and processes put in place after Watergate that weathered nearly every storm until Trump.... He is leaving it to existing departmental structures -- mainly the inspector general's office -- to address problems on a case-by-case basis.... In [his] critics' view, the previous Justice Department wasn't normal, so deference to its debatable decisions amounts to a perversion of justice masquerading as institutionalism." MB: Quite a long piece & worth reading -- or at least scanning -- if you have a WashPo subscription.

Brianna Crummy of Politico: "Speaking in Phoenix [Saturday] at a Turning Point USA gathering, [Donald] Trump hailed what he called Arizona Senate Republicans' 'full forensic audit' of results in Maricopa County, while continuing to promulgate baseless conspiracy theories about the election he lost to Joe Biden.... 'This is only the beginning of the irregularities,' he insisted, reeling off a litany of polling grievances, none of which his team of lawyers was able to substantiate in court after the election.... At one point Trump falsely intimated he could return as president before the next presidential election. In lengthy diatribes on his loss, he blamed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, former Vice President Mike Pence and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while defending the actions of his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. 'Like it or not we are becoming a Communist county,' he said...."

Digby in Salon: Republicans' "anti-government [message] worked well for the wealthy benefactors who paid these politicians handsomely to keep their taxes low and regulations scarce. They also used that message to persuade voters that the government was trying to oppress them with everything from creeping communism to affirmative action and women's rights.... Over time they were able to demagogue the issue so thoroughly that average Republicans routinely voted against their own interests.... Fast forward to 2020 and the first global pandemic in a hundred years with an incompetent narcissist in charge. Between his ineptitude and self-serving desire to pretend that the crisis didn't exist and the years of mistrust in the government, the U.S. ended up with an epic disaster and half the population refusing to acknowledge it existed.... The problem is that the virus is spreading, restrictions have been lifted and the Republican base is refusing to save itself. The anti-government chickens have finally come home to roost --and they're killing Republicans."

Andrew Singleton of McSweeney's gets hold of a speech by an unnamed medieval landholder who warns of impending social upheaval: "You see, my fellow land-owning gentry, it seems that the invention of mechanized industry, the rise of 'capitalism,' and the impact of the recent plague have brought upon us a wave of moral degradation and irredeemable sloth -- specifically, nobody wants to be a serf anymore." Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Sarah Kaplan & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "This disastrous summer [of fire & floods] is yet another portent of what humanity faces in coming decades if the world does not take dramatic steps to protect ecosystems and curb use of fossil fuels, scientists say.... Scientists have repeatedly warned that the planet remains on track to exceed a critical threshold for warming within a decade, a change that will accelerate the loss of sea ice, extinction of species and a dramatic escalation of weather extremes. Yet experts and activists believe this moment also offers a rare opportunity to change course -- possibly the last such opportunity before many effects of climate change become irreversible."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times notices we are experiencing the apocalypse now.

A Montana Man Did What We All Want to Do. Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "When a local fly fishing guide spotted noted vaccine skeptic Tucker Carlson at a sporting goods store in Livingston, Montana, he did not waste time. 'You are the worst human being known to mankind. I want you to know that,' Dan Bailey can be heard telling the Fox News host in a video posted to his Instagram page Friday night.... In his Instagram caption, Bailey wrote, 'This man has killed more people with vaccine misinformation, he has supported extreme racism, he is a fascist and does more to rip this country apart than anyone that calls themselves an American.'... [In the shaky video,] Carlson, in a plaid button-down and a gold watch, can be seen holding his hand up against Bailey's chest, making his trademark exaggerated facial expressions. He appears to grimace, and then, realizing he is being filmed, spreads his mouth into a grin and turns away." MB: Apparently a gold watch is part of a fly-fishing outfit.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here: "A conservative radio host in Tennessee who had expressed unwillingness to be vaccinated is now hospitalized with Covid pneumonia and urging his listeners to get the shots. Phil Valentine, 61, whose show airs on 99.7 WTN in Nashville, contracted the virus about a week ago, the station said in a statement on Friday." MB: Why do wingnuts have to get deathly ill before they become believers? Would they jump from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa before they believed in gravity?

Florida. Nada Hassanein of USA Today, republished in Yahoo! News: "Florida leads the nation in new [Covid-19] cases, recording more this week than California, Texas, New York and Illinois combined. And like elsewhere, the unvaccinated make up nearly all of the hospitalized and the dead." The story cites some Floridians' brilliant "reasons" for not getting vaccinated. The USA Today story is firewalled but is free on Yahoo! News.

Beyond the Beltway

Allan Smith & Jane Timm of NBC News: "Republicans seeking to change state voting laws in the face of opposition from Democratic governors or unwilling legislatures are zeroing in on another path -- enacting fresh restrictions via ballot initiatives. In Michigan and Pennsylvania, key battlegrounds that President Joe Biden flipped back blue in 2020, as well as in Massachusetts, Republicans are at the beginning stages of a lengthy process to put proposed limits directly to the voters. Voting rights advocates who connect the moves to the proliferation of restrictive voting laws advanced in states where the GOP enjoys total control say they fear those efforts will prove successful and spread to other states where such initiatives are legally possible."

Georgia Senate Race. Brian Slodysko of the AP: "At first glance, Herschel Walker has a coveted political profile for a potential Senate candidate in Georgia. He was a football hero at the University of Georgia before his long NFL career. He's a business owner whose chicken products are distributed across the U.S. And he's a Black conservative with backing from ... Donald Trump, a longtime friend. But an Associated Press review of hundreds of pages of public records tied to Walker's business ventures and his divorce, including many not previously reported, sheds new light on a turbulent personal history that could dog his Senate bid. The documents detail accusations that Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife's life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior."

Ohio Senate Race Brings Out the Stupid. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Venture capitalist and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance spoke on Friday about the 'cultural wars' being waged by the left and took aim at politicians without children who 'don't have a personal indirect stake' in improving the country.... He noted that potential future presidential candidates in the Democratic Party, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), all do not have children." MB: Harris has children, altho she is not their birth mother; Buttigieg & his husband have said they plan to have children; Booker & Ocasio-Cortez are not married, but there's no reason they couldn't have children in the future (AOC is 31 years old). These kinds of meaningless personal attacks really irritate me. Vance is married with children; his wife was a law clerk for John Roberts & Bart O'Kavanaugh. Vance wrote the best-selling "white-trash 'splainer" Hillybilly Elegy.

Oklahoma. Annie Gowen & Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: When the Supreme Court decided last year "in McGirt v. Oklahoma ... that a large part of eastern Oklahoma is still Indian country..., [it also ruled that] prosecution of Native Americans for crimes in the expanded Indian country must be carried out in federal and tribal courts, rather than by state or local officials. It was celebrated across the country by Native Americans last July, who saw it as a historic affirmation of treaties signed with the U.S. government in the 1800s. But in the year since, the ruling has upended Oklahoma's criminal justice system, imperiled convictions in thousands of cases, sowed confusion for police and emergency responders and led to the direct release of more than 50 criminals convicted on charges including second-degree murder and child abuse.... And there may be wider impacts for the region, which covers 19 million acres in eastern Oklahoma, includes a portion of ... Tulsa, and is home to 1.8 million people.

Way Beyond

Hungary. Saskya Vandoorne, et al., of CNN: "Some 30,000 people have joined the annual Pride celebrations in Budapest on Saturday, organizers say, with attendees marching in colorful outfits across the Hungarian capital in support of inclusion and freedom. But this year, Pride is also a protest, as LGBTQ people and their allies rally against the country's increasingly hostile policy towards their communities -- punctuated by a new, homophobic law recently passed by Hungary's hardline government.... The new law, supported by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, bans all educational materials and programs for children that are considered to promote homosexuality and gender reassignment. Off the back of fierce international criticism, including a scolding assessment (and a push for its repeal) by the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, Orbán has proposed to hold a referendum that will ask the public if they support the 'promotion' of content related to sexual orientation to children."

Japan. The New York Times' live updates of the Olympic games Saturday are here. ~~~

~~~ Karen Mizoguchi of People: "For her first day of spectating at the pandemic-delayed Games, a mask-wearing Dr. [Jill] Biden, dressed in an official Team USA Ralph Lauren ensemble, cheered on the women's 3x3 basketball team for the sport's Olympic debut. The first lady, who was seated one row behind French President Emmanuel Macron, was seen jumping to her feet and clapping near the end of the game when Team USA defeated No. 1-ranked France 17-0.... Shortly after the conclusion of the game, Dr. Biden, who is on her first solo international outing, was seen at the aquatic center where she cheered on the U.S. swimmers during the evening preliminary heats and was seen waving and happily clapping as several Team USA athletes qualified."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Bob Moses, a soft-spoken pioneer of the civil rights movement who faced relentless intimidation and brutal violence to register Black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s, and who later started a national organization devoted to teaching math as a means to a more equal society, died on Sunday at his home in Hollywood, Fla. He was 86." Moses' AP obituary is here.

New York Times: "Jackie Mason, whose staccato, arm-waving delivery and thick Yiddish accent kept the borscht belt style of comedy alive long after the Catskills resorts had shut their doors, and whose career reached new heights in the 1980s with a series of one-man shows on Broadway, died on Saturday in Manhattan."

Friday
Jul232021

The Commentariat -- July 24, 2021

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden made a gleeful return to the campaign trail on Friday evening, joining former Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, who is seeking to regain his old job in November, for his first campaign event since his inauguration. In a park in Arlington County, a short drive from Washington, Mr. Biden appeared to be back in his electoral element, shedding his necktie, whipping up the crowd and repeatedly casting Mr. McAuliffe as a crucial ally in his fight for a sprawling agenda to remake American capitalism.... Trading his more serene presidential demeanor for a fiery campaign one, Mr. Biden sought to tie the coming elections to his own political project. Instead of his typical practice in White House speeches of leaning into the microphone and whispering to emphasize his points, the president leaned in and shouted." ~~~

~~~ Turns Out Biden Remembers the Former Guy's Name. Christopher Cadelago & Zach Montellaro of Politico: }For six months, Joe Biden managed to mostly ignore his predecessor, viewing Donald Trump's lies and conspiracies as a distraction. But returning to the campaign trail Friday in Northern Virginia, the president rolled Trump into his emerging pitch for down-ballot Democrats. 'I ran against Donald Trump, and so is Terry,' Biden said at a rally for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe's comeback bid, joining in comparing his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, to the former president. 'I whipped Donald Trump in Virginia, and so will Terry. Biden ... suggested Youngkin was 'an acolyte for Donald Trump -- for real.'"

Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "President Biden has authorized up to $100 million in additional aid for Afghan refugees and those impacted by ongoing violence between the Taliban and Afghan forces as the U.S. nears completion of its goal to remove all its troops from the country. Biden announced the foreign aid in a memo from the White House Friday, citing a need for '>meeting unexpected urgent refugee and migration needs, victims of conflict, and other persons at risk as a result of the situation in Afghanistan, including applicants for Special Immigrant Visas.'"

Anne Gearan & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Biden is expected to name Caroline Kennedy as the United States ambassador to Australia, according to people familiar with the selection.... Kennedy served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017 and is the daughter of President John F. Kennedy.... Kennedy's previous experience in Asia is likely to prove valuable as Australia finds itself facing an increasingly assertive China. Biden's choice of Kennedy was first reported Friday by CNN. The Washington Post confirmed it with officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity...."

Marie: Lawrence O'Donnell & Norm Ornstein, two political veterans who really know what they're talking about, asserted Friday night that Joe Biden is more-or-less faking it on his Adoration of the Filibuster until after the Senate deals with the infrastructure bills and that he'll amend his remarks when it comes to voting rights. I sure hope they're right, but I'm not counting my chickens.

When we last heard from Assistant FBI Director Jill Tyson, she was making excuses for Chris Wray's failure to address the fake "investigation" into Bart O'Kavanaugh's history of raunchy behavior. Now, there's this: ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A senior FBI official violated agency policies in her handling of a romantic relationship with a subordinate, according to findings of the Justice Department's inspector general, and the bureau's disciplinary office is now weighing what, if anything, to do about the findings, according to current and former law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. Jill C. Tyson, who has a close working relationship with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray..., was criticized in a report issued Thursday by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The inspector general did not name Tyson, but concluded that 'the Assistant Director was engaged in a romantic relationship with a subordinate and failed to timely report the relationship, in violation of FBI policy.'... The inspector general investigation 'also found that the Assistant Director allowed the relationship to negatively affect an appropriate and professional superior-subordinate relationship and to disrupt the workplace by interfering with the ability of other FBI employees to complete their work, and that the Assistant Director participated in a hiring or organizational decision involving the subordinate, all in violation of FBI policy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently "inappropriate sexual relationships" are not, generally speaking, of great concern to Tyson.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Todd Frankel of the Washington Post: "At least a dozen profitable major U.S. companies ... paid little or no U.S. income tax in 2020 -- or, in some cases, over several years -- and today are active in industry groups that object to helping fund with taxes the same public projects they want to profit from, according to interviews and data compiled by The Washington Post.... These companies -- construction and engineering firms, along with manufacturers -- support a deal to fix America's crumbling bridges and antiquated water pipes that will give them a surge in new business. They also belong to industry groups that argue against raising corporate taxes to fund new infrastructure projects, claiming it will hurt their ability to compete against foreign firms -- three years after U.S. corporate tax bills were slashed to the lowest level in more than half a century. 'I think it's completely outrageous,' said Steven Rosenthal ... [of] the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tanaya Macheel & Hannah Maio of CNBC: "U.S. equities rose Friday with the the major averages hitting new records as they overcame concerns about economic growth from earlier in the week. The Dow closed above 35,000 for the first time ever, bringing its gain for 2021 to more than 14%. The blue chip average rose 238.20 points, or 0.68%, to 35,061.55, gaining for a fourth straight day. It made the 1,000-point trek rather quickly, having closed above 34,000 for the first time ever back in mid-April. The S&P 500 gained 1.01% to 4,411.79 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.04% to 14,836.99, both new closing highs for the benchmarks." A Washington Post story is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a longtime Trump fund-raiser and friend, has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to be released on $250 million bond while awaiting trial on charges that he illegally lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of leaders in the United Arab Emirates. The agreement, announced on Friday, requires Mr. Barrack -- a wealthy investor who served as chairman of Mr. Trump's inaugural committee -- to wear a GPS location monitoring bracelet at all times, according to a Justice Department spokesman. The deal restricts his movements to Southern California, where he lives and works, and New York, where he has been charged. It also prohibits Mr. Barrack, who was arrested and detained in Los Angeles on Tuesday, from transferring money from his domestic accounts overseas. Prosecutors, citing his wealth and access to private jets, claimed he was a flight risk and pushed for the high bond." Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein, is here.

     ~~~ Via the Raw Story.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Surprise, Surprise. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Last month, Tucker Carlson told his Fox News audience that the National Security Agency had been monitoring his communications 'in an attempt to take this show off the air.'... Now, The Record has reported, 'The NSA has found no evidence to support Tucker Carlson's accusations that the agency had been spying on him in an effort to knock his show off the air,' according to two sources the outlet spoke with. What the NSA did find was that Carlson had been mentioned by third parties in their communications, and that his name was revealed through 'unmasking,' whereby qualified government officials may request the divulgence of the identities of U.S. citizens who are mentioned in intelligence reports."

Marie: Oh, just read Katharine Seelye's NYT obituary of one-time journalist Laura Foreman. I hope Foreman's executors discover her unpublished autobiography among her papers.

Emily Heil of the Washington Post: "Once high-flying celebrity chef Mario Batali, his business partner Joseph Bastianich and their former restaurant company will pay $600,000 to more than 20 former employees, after a New York attorney general investigation found that management at three of their famed restaurants had suffered sexual harassment and discrimination."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Biden administration health officials increasingly think that vulnerable populations will need booster shots even as research continues into how long the coronavirus vaccines remain effective. Senior officials now say they expect that people who are 65 and older or who have compromised immune systems will most likely need a third shot from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, two vaccines based on the same technology that have been used to inoculate the vast majority of Americans thus far. That is a sharp shift from just a few weeks ago, when the administration said it thought there was not enough evidence to back boosters yet. On Thursday, a key official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [-- Dr. Amanda Cohn --] said the agency is exploring options to give patients with compromised immune systems third doses even before regulators broaden the emergency use authorization for coronavirus vaccines, a step that could come soon for the Pfizer vaccine."

Emmanuel Morgan of the New York Times: N.F.L. "Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday sent a memo to all 32 teams outlining Covid-19 guidelines for the 2021 season that detail drastic penalties for teams with unvaccinated personnel, including the forfeiture of games. Any forfeits could result in players' not being paid -- if their infections are known to have caused an outbreak. The N.F.L. ... will postpone contests only under government or medical orders. If an unvaccinated player or staff member is shown to have caused an outbreak that forces a schedule change, the team experiencing the outbreak will be held financially responsible for the other club's expenses, the memo said. If the game cannot be rescheduled, the team experiencing the outbreak will forfeit. For playoff-seeding purposes, that team will be credited with a loss, while the other will be credited with a win. If an outbreak occurs among vaccinated individuals in a 'breakthrough' infection, the N.F.L. will try to minimize the competitive and fiscal disruption for both teams. The terms of the memo were agreed upon with the N.F.L. Players Association, said Dawn Aponte, the league's chief football administrative officer." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As some pundit -- I think he was a former pro football player -- said on the teevee Friday, it's pretty ridiculous that big, tough pro players, who put their lives on the line every time they walk onto the field by risking injury, including permanent brain injury, are bent out about getting a couple of life-saving shots. ~~~

     ~~~ Courtney Cronin of ESPN: "After refusing to receive a vaccine for COVID-19, Rick Dennison is out as a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, sources told ESPN on Friday.... Another coach in the league, New England Patriots co-offensive line coach Cole Popovich, also won't be with his team in 2021 in a decision related to the COVID-19 vaccine and NFL guidelines, league sources confirmed to ESPN. The vaccine is required for all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers and scouts."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Diamond & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Seven months after the first coronavirus shots were rolled out, vaccinated Americans -- including government, business and health leaders -- are growing frustrated that tens of millions of people are still refusing to get them, endangering themselves and their communities and fueling the virus's spread.... Despite the growing anger, including from some GOP officials, a number of prominent Republicans and conservative media voices continue to shower vaccines with skepticism, and social media disinformation continues largely unabated. 'The Biden administration wants to knock down your door KGB-style to force people to get vaccinated!' Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.) tweeted this month, distorting a new campaign to share information about the shots."

~~~ Alabama. Praise the Lord, Kay Saw the Light. Alabama. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an impassioned plea for residents of her state to get vaccinated against Covid-19, arguing it was 'time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks' for the disease's continued spread. 'I want folks to get vaccinated. That's the cure. That prevents everything,' Ivey, a Republican, told reporters in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.... Ivey went on to describe the shots as 'safe' and 'effective,' saying: 'The data proves that it works. [It] doesn't cost you anything. It saves lives.'... Alabama remains the state with perhaps the lowest vaccination rate in the country...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "A month ago, the number of Covid-19 patients admitted at two University of Florida hospitals in Jacksonville was down to 14. Now more than 140 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus ... -- and the highest number of Covid-19 patients this system has seen during the pandemic.... A national uptick in coronavirus cases has led ... to a steep rise in hospitalizations in some spots around the country where people have been slower to get vaccinated.... Nationally, hospitalizations remain relatively low, nowhere near earlier peaks of the pandemic. But in some regions with lagging vaccination rates and rising virus cases -- such as northeastern Florida, southwestern Missouri and southern Nevada -- the highly contagious Delta variant has flooded intensive care units and Covid-19 wards that, not long ago, had seen their patient counts shrink.... Florida, Missouri and Texas account for about 34 percent of all new cases nationwide."

Tennessee. Timothy Bella & Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "The state of Tennessee announced Friday that it will resume nearly all forms of coronavirus vaccine outreach for children and teenagers after advocacy was halted this month because of pressure from Republican legislators upset by the state health department's efforts to vaccinate minors. Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said at a news conference that the state will jump-start efforts to promote vaccination for adolescents as early as next week, including by offering the shots at events on school property.... Piercey also announced that health officials will provide vaccinations to minors without their parents' permission in what she described as 'fringed and nuanced' circumstances. Her statement Friday contradicted an announcement this week by state Republicans who claimed that Piercey privately agreed 'to stop vaccinating children for covid-19 without parental consent...,' according to the Tennessean newspaper." The Hill's story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Audra Burch & Sophie Kasakove of the New York Times: "As the search for bodies at the collapse site [of a Surfside high-rise condominium building] was officially declared over on Friday, Estelle Hedaya is the last believed -- and still unaccounted for -- casualty.... The search for the final remains -- believed to be Ms. Hedaya's -- would be done off-site, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County, which includes Surfside, said in a statement this week."

** Tennessee. Good News/Idiotic News. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "After years of protests, the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the slave trader, Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader, was removed from the State Capitol in Nashville on Friday and sent to the Tennessee State Museum, state officials said. The operation also included the removal of the busts of Adm. David Farragut, the first leader of the U.S. Navy, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and another Tennessean, Adm. Albert Gleaves, a commander in World War I and naval historian. The move came after the Tennessee State Building Commission, including Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, voted 5-2 on Thursday in favor of relocating all three busts. The removal of the two admirals was intended to avoid singling out the Confederate general.... Before the Civil War, Forrest owned, bought and sold slaves in Memphis. As a general, he led a notoriously gruesome massacre of surrendered Black and white Union troops at Fort Pillow in 1864. And after the South was defeated, he became the original grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan." MB: "You dock me one Confederate traitor; I'll dock you two American war heroes. And we're even."

Texas. Eva Moravec of the Washington Post: "Support is growing among Texas Republicans for a push to audit the results of the 2020 election in a state that former president Donald Trump won handily. But the proposal, introduced in the House earlier this month, would only re-examine votes in Texas's largest counties, most of which went for President Biden. The legislation, House Bill 241, calls for an independent third party appointed by the state's top GOP officials to conduct a forensic audit of results in counties with more than 415,000 people. Of the 13 counties that meet that criteria, 10 voted for Biden last year." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Haiti. Catherine Porter of the New York Times: "Heckled by protesters and surrounded by phalanxes of heavily armed guards, foreign diplomats and Haitian politicians attended the funeral of Haiti's assassinated president on Friday, a tense event that laid bare a fractured nation's problems instead of providing an opportunity for healing. Less than a half-hour into the funeral, foreign dignitaries including an American delegation led by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, departed over safety concerns set off by gunshots fired outside the event. White House officials said that the delegation members were safe and that they had flown back to the United States, cutting the trip short." The Guardian's story is here.

Japan. The New York Times' Olympic games updates Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here.