The Commentariat -- July 17, 2021

Tyler Pager & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden will nominate Jane Hartley, a former ambassador to France, to serve as ambassador to Britain, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The ambassadorship to the Court of St. James's, along with the one to Paris, is considered among the most prestigious postings for an American president to fill. Of the two plum spots -- each with a lovely mansion in the heart of two of Europe's great cities --, the London position is usually considered the more consequential job because of the close diplomatic, military and historical relationship between the United States and Britain."

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Texas has largely halted an Obama administration initiative that grants work permits and protection from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, though he allowed the more than 600,000 young people already in the program to keep their protected status. But the judge ruled that new applications may not be granted. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, a Republican [MB: Dubya] appointee, sided with Texas and other states in his ruling that President Barack Obama (D) overstepped his executive authority when he created the program in 2012. Hanen's ruling called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an 'illegally implemented program' and said 'the public interest of the nation is always served by the cessation of a program that was created in violation of law and whose existence violates the law.'" The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Congress has an easy fix for this -- pass a law authorizing DACA -- but Republicans + filibuster.

Just What Did You-All Do with that $54BB the Taxpayers Sent You? Ian Duncan & Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "A key lawmaker..., Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Commerce Committee..., wrote to the bosses of a half-dozen domestic airlines Friday asking why apparent staffing shortages are causing flight delays and cancellations despite the carriers receiving billions of dollars in pandemic relief designed to keep workers on the payroll.... Cantwell asked each airline 11 questions about its staffing levels, the source of its challenges and how it used the government assistance. She asked that airlines brief her staff by the end of the month. Air passenger numbers dropped precipitously at the start of the pandemic, by as much as 95 percent on some days. Congress responded by approving the multibillion-dollar Payroll Support Program (PSP), designed to keep airline workers on the job. Lawmakers followed up with billions more in subsequent relief bills designed to last through September. Aid to passenger airlines ultimately totaled $54 billion."

Texas Republicans Show Joe Filibuster Manchin Some Love -- and Money. Abby Livingston & Carla Astudillo of the Texas Tribune: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin -- a key Democratic holdout over efforts to pass federal voting rights legislation -- is expected to head to Texas on Friday for a fundraiser with a host committee that includes several wealthy Republican donors. The fundraiser comes just a day after Manchin met with Texas House Democrats on Capitol Hill who are desperate for his support of the congressional efforts which could preempt the statewide GOP's push to pass bills that would restrict voting access for Texans. Manchin is also one of two Democratic senators, along with Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have proven to be obstacles to moving voting rights legislation through the U.S. Senate. At the center of the impasse is their opposition to eliminating or changing the filibuster, which requires 60 senators to put a bill on the floor." MB: If you were wondering why Manchin won't allow for a voting rights filibuster carve-out, you just found out the answer comes with dollar signs, not principles.

Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "A federal judge on Friday denied a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to share grand jury materials from investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot with a contractor who was hired to organize them into a database. The DOJ had revealed in a court filing last week that it had planned on paying Deloitte Financial Advisory Services $6.1 million to create a sweeping database organizing videos, photos, emails and other evidence federal authorities have acquired in their ongoing probe involving more than 500 individuals who have been charged in connection with the mob attack. However, Beryl Howell, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said in a 54-page memorandum opinion that the DOJ was incorrect in arguing that employees of Deloitte contracted to work on the project could be considered 'government personnel,' which would grant them access to the grand jury evidence.... Thus, Howell argued that the secrecy provisions pertaining to grand jury rules do 'not allow disclosure of grand jury matters to Deloitte and its employees.'"

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Officials in a little-known security unit within the Commerce Department conducted unauthorized surveillance and investigations into the agency's employees that targeted people of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent, Senate investigators said in a new report. The report, informed by more than two dozen whistle-blowers and released this week by Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, concluded that the Investigations and Threat Management Service functioned for more than a decade as 'a rogue, unaccountable police force,' opening thousands of unauthorized investigations into department employees, often for specious reasons. It found that the work of the office -- consumed by concerns about rampant Chinese espionage in the United States -- sometimes veered into racial profiling, and that its leaders used extreme tactics, such as sending masked agents to break into offices to search for incriminating evidence.... Under the Biden administration, department officials suspended the unit's investigations and began an internal review of the program in April.... The report indicated that the bulk of those efforts were driven over the course of multiple administrations by one official: George Lee, the unit's longtime director, who has since been placed on leave.... Investigators said that the practice dated back 'as early as 2014,' during the Obama administration...." The Hill's story is here.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A father and son, who are current and former Florida police officers, and a North Carolina man have been charged with joining alleged Proud Boys members in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, according to a new, five co-defendant indictment unsealed in Washington on Friday. Kevin 'Tito' Tuck, 51, and Nathaniel A. Tuck, 29, of central Florida were arrested and released on $25,000 unsecured bond Thursday by a U.S. magistrate judge in Tampa, court records show. Edward George Jr. was also arrested Thursday and was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday in Raleigh, according to court records. The charges bring the number of off-duty law enforcement officers charged in the Capitol mob to at least 20, and the defendants' ties to several central Florida police agencies highlight the continued pressure on sheriffs and police chiefs nationwide to scrub their ranks of members with links to white supremacist and far-right armed groups."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A witness directly implicated Donald Trump in the tax fraud scheme that landed his family business and longtime accountant under indictment. Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter in law to indicted Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, told investigators last month in New York that Trump personally guaranteed he would pay school tuition for her two children instead of increasing a salary that could be taxed, reported The Daily Beast.... The Trump Organization was indicted five days after Jennifer Weisselberg's interview on tax fraud charges related to unreported fringe benefits like those she described, and her claims would directly tie the twice-impeached one-term president to the running scheme." The Daily Beast story is firewalled. (Also linked yesterday.)

Did that ever occur to you? That, possibly, [you're] just repeating stuff the president is lying about? -- Federal Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter to two Trumpy lawyers ~~~

~~~ Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Just before Christmas, two Colorado lawyers [-- Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker --] filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 160 million American voters, alleging a vast conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election by the voting equipment manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems, Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan and elected officials in four states -- and asking for $160 billion in damages. The case was dismissed in April, but now a federal judge is considering disciplining the lawyers for filing a frivolous claim -- sharply questioning the duo in a Friday hearing about whether they had allowed themselves to be used as 'a propaganda tool' of ... Donald Trump.... It was the second time this week that a judge dressed down lawyers who filed cases alleging fraud in the 2020 election, as the legal system grapples with how to hold accountable those who used the court system to spread falsehoods about the vote."

The True Cost of a Coca-Cola. Laura Reilly of the Washington Post: "The true cost of food is even higher than you think, a new report out Thursday says. The U.S. spends $1.1 trillion a year on food. But when the impacts of the food system on different parts of our society -- including rising health care costs, climate change and biodiversity loss -- are factored in, the bill is around three times that, according to a report by the Rockefeller Foundation, a private charity that funds medical and agricultural research.... Health impacts are the biggest hidden cost of the food system, with more than $1 trillion per year in health-related costs paid by Americans, with an estimated $604 billion of that attributable to diseases -- such as hypertension, cancer and diabetes -- linked to diet."

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis took a significant step toward putting the Roman Catholic Church's liturgy solidly on the side of modernization Friday by cracking down on the use of the old Latin Mass, essentially reversing a decision by his conservative predecessor. The move also dealt a blow to church conservatives who have long complained that the pope is diluting the traditions of the church. Francis, in a papal Motu Proprio -- or a document issued under the pope's own legal authority -- placed new restrictions on where the traditional Latin Mass can be celebrated, who can celebrate it and requiring new permissions from local bishops for its use. Those hurdles made it clear that Francis believes that champions of the old Latin Mass are exploiting it to oppose more recent church reforms and to divide the church. Since the 1960s, the church has used a more modern and vernacular liturgical book to make the faith more accessible to the faithful." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "President Biden unleashed his growing frustration with social media on Friday, saying that platforms like Facebook were 'killing people' by allowing disinformation about the coronavirus vaccine to spread online. Mr. Biden's forceful statement capped weeks of anger in the White House over the dissemination of vaccine disinformation online, even as the pace of inoculations slows and health officials warn of the rising danger of the Delta variant. Just before boarding Marine One for a weekend in Camp David in Maryland, Mr. Biden was asked what his message was to social media platforms when it came to Covid-19 disinformation. 'They're killing people,' he said. 'Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and that -- and they're killing people.'" An NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think social media are as bad as Fox "News." A normal person (not to suggest that vaccination skeptics mostly fall within the "normal" category) will take health advice from a friend or an unknown source with a grain of salt. But s/he is apt to heed advice she hears on her trusted TV station. So within the bubble of Fox World, it's perfectly reasonable for a viewer to accept as fact the word of "experts" who appear on Fox "News," especially when their favorite "journalists" are nodding in agreement.

Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "The Republican governor of Utah on Thursday decried 'propaganda' spread against coronavirus vaccines, warning that those discouraging immunization are 'killing people.' 'We have these -- these talking heads who have gotten the vaccine and are telling other people not to get the vaccine,' Gov. Spencer Cox said in response to a reporter's question about anti-vaccine rhetoric coming in large part from the political right. 'That kind of stuff is just, it's ridiculous. It's dangerous, it's damaging, and it's killing people. I mean, it's literally killing their supporters. And that makes no sense to me.' Cox's sharp words at a news conference came as some lawmakers and other prominent Republicans fan doubts about the coronavirus vaccines or speak about them with outright hostility, framing efforts to promote the shots as unwelcome incursions from big government."

Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky warned of rising cases on Friday, stating that COVID-19 is 'becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated' and that vaccinated people are protected against severe disease. The highly transmissible delta variant is fueling expanding outbreaks, but they are centered in parts of the country with lower vaccination rates."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki forcefully defended the Biden administration's growing offensive on vaccine-related misinformation spreading on Facebook and other social media platforms. 'Our biggest concern, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they are getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine,' Psaki said during Friday's daily press briefing.... Psaki's defense was in response to a question from Fox News' Peter Doocy, who framed the Biden administration's concern about bad actors online as 'spying' on Americans' social media usage. 'For how long has the administration been spying on people's Facebook profiles looking for vaccine misinformation?' Doocy asked.... Psaki called the characterization 'a loaded and inaccurate question.' She said the White House flagging concerning posts to platforms like Facebook is similar to outreach to news outlets when they take issue with particular coverage. 'This is publicly open information, people sharing information online, just as you are all reporting information on your news stations,' she said during a testy exchange in which the pair talked over one another at times." ~~~

~~~ A Chip Off the Old Blockhead. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Peter Doocy, who is Fox "News" supposed White House correspondent [and the son of "Fox and Friends' nitwit cohost Steve Doocy], was in high dudgeon at the White House press briefing Friday about all the spying the Biden administration had done on a dozen Facebook users; i.e., supposedly checking out their public profiles. This was stupid enough on the face of it, but the fact that the boy Doocy made up the story rendered it particularly stupid. It took Blake 30 seconds of "research" to disprove Doocy's false premise. The "spying" was done by "the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The[ir] study was picked up by the likes of NPR and others in May."

Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "Senior Biden administration officials overseeing an intelligence review into the origins of the coronavirus now believe the theory that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan is at least as credible as the possibility that it emerged naturally in the wild -- a dramatic shift from a year ago, when Democrats publicly downplayed the so-called lab leak theory. Still, more than halfway into President Joe Biden's renewed 90-day push to find answers, the intelligence community remains firmly divided over whether the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab or jumped naturally from animals to humans in the wild, multiple sources familiar with the probe told CNN. Little new evidence has emerged to move the needle in one direction or another, these people said. But the fact that the lab leak theory is being seriously considered by top Biden officials is noteworthy...."

Florida. Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: "Nearly 20 percent of the nation's new coronavirus infections are now happening in Florida alone, according to a White House official. Cases are rising across the nation as a whole as the more transmissible delta variant spreads but are concentrated in areas with low vaccination rates. 'Just four states accounted for more than 40 percent of all cases in the past week, with 1 in 5 of all cases occurring in Florida alone," White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters during a briefing Friday.... Currently, the state is reporting an average of 29 new infections for every 100,000 people per day -- more than four times the national average.... Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ... has proudly bucked the advice of federal health officials -- schools remained open, and statewide public health mitigation measures were minimal. The governor has encouraged people to get vaccinated but also banned businesses from requiring proof of vaccination and has banned local governments from enacting mask mandates."~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The article doesn't ID the other three states. I checked half-a-dozen other stories re: Zients' remarks, & they don't say, either. However, according to this Market Watch report, "Cases are rising fastest in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri and Nevada, which have vaccinated less than half of their residents." It isn't clear if the number here are raw or per-capita. The framing suggests they're per capita.

Nevada. Ken Ritter of the AP: "Masks are back in Las Vegas, after regional health officials on Friday cited a rising number of coronavirus cases and advised everyone -- vaccinated or not -- to wear facial coverings in crowds and indoor places. The recommendation from the Southern Nevada Health District isn't a requirement. But it affects casinos, concerts and clubs where business has boomed since restrictions were lifted and the state fully returned pandemic control measures to counties about seven weeks ago."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Bob Christie & Christina Cassidy of the AP: "Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year's presidential election, further discrediting ... Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state's most populous county. An Associated Press investigation found 182 cases where problems were clear enough that officials referred them to investigators for further review. So far, only four cases have led to charges, including those identified in a separate state investigation. No one has been convicted. No person's vote was counted twice.... Virtually all the cases ... are in Pima County, home to Tucson, and involved voters who attempted to cast two ballots. The Pima County Recorder's Office has a practice of referring all cases with even a hint of potential fraud to prosecutors for review, something the state's 14 other county recorders do not do."

California. Trump Fans (Allegedly) Planned to Firebomb State DNC HQ. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Two men have been charged in an alleged plot to firebomb the California Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland were 'prompted by the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election' and believed their attack would spark a 'movement,' according to federal prosecutors, who said the men were members of a militia group. Law enforcement officers seized five pipe bombs, thousands of rounds of ammunition and 'between 45 and 50 firearms, including at least three fully-automatic weapons' during a January search of Rogers's home and business, according to the indictment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cheri Mossberg of CNN: "A California man is in custody after police found a cache of weapons, ammunition, and racist writings in his vehicle saying he wanted to wipe out the Black, Hispanic and Jewish populations, officials said Thursday. Wesley Charles Martines, 32, was stopped by Campbell Police officers on July 9, officials said, after a local business owner alerted police shortly after midnight that someone was prowling in the area, peering into vehicles and a storage shed. Responding officers found assault-style rifles, a handgun, body armor and ammunition, along with what was believed to be an inactive pipe bomb in Martines' truck, according to a statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Police seized a journal that included the racist and anti-Semitic writings, along with a plan to 'go to sporting goods store, dress up as an employee and tie everybody up,' the statement said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Setting aside for a moment the guy's racism & anti-Semitism, I see an insanity defense here. A person has to be stark-staring bonkers to think he can single-handedly murder millions of people.

New Jersey. Municipal Judge Explains First Amendment to Nitwits. Rebecca Panico of NJ.com: "A municipal judge on Thursday ruled that a Roselle Park homeowner's owner's anti- President Biden flags including the F-bomb on her fence were obscene and must be removed because they violated a borough ordinance. Roselle Park Municipal Court Judge Gary Bundy ordered the Willow Avenue homeowner to remove the signs with profanity within a week or face a $250-a-day fine. Patricia Dilascio is the property owner but her daughter, Andrea Dick, had the signs, three of which include the F-word, on display. 'This is not a case about politics. It is a case, pure and simple, about language,' Bundy said. 'This ordinance does not restrict political speech. Neither this town or its laws may abridge or eliminate Ms. Dilascio's freedom of speech. However, freedom of speech is not simply an absolute right. It is clear from state law and statutes that we cannot simply put up the umbrella of the First Amendment and say everything and anything is protected speech.' Roselle Park Mayor Joseph Signorello III, a Democrat who is running for state Senate in Union County, previously said the home is close to a school and angered some residents. But Dick repeatedly said she would not remove the signs since they are political speech protected by the First Amendment."

Virginia. Stephanie Lai of the Washington Post: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced a $700 million plan to achieve universal broadband accessibility across Virginia by 2024, a historic investment in broadband for a state long beset by a digital divide. Northam (D) and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) met in Abingdon with legislative leaders Friday afternoon to unveil their proposal for spending a portion of the state's $4.3 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding under the American Rescue Plan. The General Assembly will meet in a special session on Aug. 2 to decide how to spend the funds, as well as discuss the $353 million plan announced by Northam earlier this week to aid businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic.... According to Northam, the commonwealth has 233,500 homes, businesses and other locations without access to broadband."

News Ledes

Saturday Night in NRA-USA. Washington Post: “Saturday night's game between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres was suspended after multiple gunshots were fired outside Nationals Park. Two people were shot, according to a D.C. police spokesman, in an incident that took place by one of the gates on South Capitol Street. Police said a man was shot in the leg and a woman was shot in the back, with wounds not said to be life-threatening."

New York Times: "Twenty-six people were hospitalized with breathing problems or skin irritation after they were exposed to bleach and sulfuric acid on Saturday afternoon at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown, a water park in Spring, Texas, the authorities said. One person was in critical condition on Saturday evening, said Rachel Neutzler, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.... Ms. Neutzler said investigators did not believe the exposure to the chemicals, which are used to maintain pH balance, had been the result of an intentional act. She said it had occurred in a shallow pool intended for children."

Weather Channel: "The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Germany and Belgium rose to 150 Saturday as rescuers continued to search through the rubble of buildings, holding out hope of finding survivors. 'Whole places are scarred by the disaster,' German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a news conference.... Late Friday, a dam broke in the town of Wassenberg near Cologne, forcing 700 residents to evacuate, Reuters reported. The worst of the destruction was in areas near the Germany-Belgium border." ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Victoria for the link.

Washington Post: "Gloria Richardson, a firebrand civil rights activist who drew national attention in the early 1960s in a showdown on Maryland's Eastern Shore that presaged the Black Power movement and led to a year-long imposition of martial law, died July 15 at her home in Manhattan. She was 99.... The uprising in Cambridge[, Maryland,] straddled a fault line between advocates for nonviolence, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and more-extremist leaders such as Malcolm X, whom Ms. Richardson considered a friend and supporter. Calling herself 'a radical, a revolutionary,' she also was reportedly one of few women leading a local civil rights protest movement at the time."

Also deceased, this guy: ~~~

~~~ Huffington Post: "William H. Regnery II, a racist, reclusive multimillionaire who used his inherited fortune to finance vile white supremacist groups in the hopes of one day forming an American whites-only ethnostate, died earlier this month, his family and associates confirmed. He was 80 years old. Regnery, whose family amassed riches from its right-wing publishing empire, died on July 2 in Florida after a 'long battle with cancer,' his cousin Alfred, the former head of Regnery Publishing, confirmed to HuffPost."

The Commentariat -- July 16, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Trump Fans (Allegedly) Planned to Firebomb California DNC HQ. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Two men have been charged in an alleged plot to firebomb the California Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland were 'prompted by the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election' and believed their attack would spark a 'movement,' according to federal prosecutors, who said the men were members of a militia group. Law enforcement officers seized five pipe bombs, thousands of rounds of ammunition and 'between 45 and 50 firearms, including at least three fully-automatic weapons' during a January search of Rogers's home and business, according to the indictment."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A witness directly implicated Donald Trump in the tax fraud scheme that landed his family business and longtime accountant under indictment. Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter in law to indicted Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, told investigators last month in New York that Trump personally guaranteed he would pay school tuition for her two children instead of increasing a salary that could be taxed, reported The Daily Beast.... The Trump Organization was indicted five days after Jennifer Weisselberg's interview on tax fraud charges related to unreported fringe benefits like those she described, and her claims would directly tie the twice-impeached one-term president to the running scheme." The Beast story is firewalled.

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis took a significant step toward putting the Roman Catholic Church's liturgy solidly on the side of modernization Friday by cracking down on the use of the old Latin Mass, essentially reversing a decision by his conservative predecessor. The move also dealt a blow to church conservatives who have long complained that the pope is diluting the traditions of the church. Francis, in a papal Motu Proprio -- or a document issued under the pope's own legal authority -- placed new restrictions on where the traditional Latin Mass can be celebrated, who can celebrate it and requiring new permissions from local bishops for its use. Those hurdles made it clear that Francis believes that champions of the old Latin Mass are exploiting it to oppose more recent church reforms and to divide the church. Since the 1960s, the church has used a more modern and vernacular liturgical book to make the faith more accessible to the faithful."

~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah Kolinovsky, et al., of ABC News: "As the first round of monthly child tax credits hit Americans' bank accounts Thursday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took a victory lap..., speaking about the 'historic day' for American families and emphasizing the sea change the payments could represent for millions of American children living in poverty. 'Today, for families all over our country, for children all over our country, help is here,' Harris said, before introducing the president. 'This has never happened before. And America, yes, it is a big deal.' Biden and Harris marked the rollout of checks and direct deposits from the child tax credit with a White House event featuring Americans set to benefit." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Signaling that the U.S.-European alliance remained strong after the tension of the Trump era, President Biden and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Thursday stressed their shared values, even as both acknowledged differences on a major Russian pipeline and how best to approach China. During meetings at the White House, Mr. Biden's agenda included several of his most pressing geopolitical priorities, such as restraining Chinese influence, curbing Russian aggression and waiving intellectual property restrictions on coronavirus vaccine manufacturers. While there were no apparent breakthroughs, the visit was a way to show a unified front after ... Donald J. Trump's hostile exchanges with Ms. Merkel over NATO contributions, trade and multilateralism badly frayed relations. The meeting also comes before the chancellor's term ends.... 'Good friends can disagree,' said Mr. Biden, who appeared alongside Ms. Merkel at a news conference in the East Room after the meeting." The AP's report is here.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The story of voting rights in the United States looks ... like a sine wave; there are highs and lows, peaks and plateaus. President Biden captured this reality in his address on Tuesday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where he spoke on the gathering threat to our democracy from the Republican Party's twin efforts to suppress rival constituencies and seize control of state voting apparatuses.... As he points out, it is as focused on 'who gets to count the vote' as it is on 'who gets to vote.'... As much as Jim Crow dominates our collective memory of voting restrictions, it is the attack on suffrage in the North in those last decades of the 19th century that might actually be more relevant to our present situation.... Out of this furious attack on universal male suffrage (and also, in other corners, the rising call for women's suffrage) came a host of efforts to purify the electorate, spearheaded by Progressive reformers in both parties.... [The] claim, that Black and immigrant voters were venal and corrupt -- that they voted either illegally or irresponsibly -- was common."

U.S. Trained Alleged Assassins. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Some of the former Colombian servicemen arrested after last week's assassination of Haiti's president previously received U.S. military training, according to the Pentagon, raising fresh questions about the United States' ties to Jovenel Moïse's death. 'A review of our training databases indicates that a small number of the Colombian individuals detained as part of this investigation had participated in past U.S. military training and education programs, while serving as active members of the Colombian Military Forces,' Lt. Col. Ken Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement to The Washington Post.... It is common for Colombian troops and other security personnel across Latin America to receive U.S. training and education. Colombia, in particular, has been a significant U.S. military partner for decades, receiving billions of U.S. dollars since 2000 in its effort to battle drug trafficking organizations, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitary groups. Colombian military and police also use U.S.-provided weapons and equipment, an agreement that came under scrutiny earlier this year after police there killed multiple protesters during demonstrations against government tax proposals." A USA Today report is here.

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the Capitol this afternoon. Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol police (USCP) officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building. 'Let the people vote. Fight for justice,' Beatty said in the tweet.... Beatty shared another tweet shortly after her arrest that said simply, '#GoodTrouble'.... The congresswoman had been participating in a protest calling on the Senate to pass the For the People Act, Democrats' sweeping election reform bill. The For the People Act passed the House in March, but it is being held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: What's wrong with this picture? Why is it so easy for Capitol Police to decide to arrest a group of mostly Black women singing than it was to decide to arrest a gang of mostly white men attempting to violently overthrow the government? ~~~

Marie: I wonder if the insurrection would have happened if some Capitol Police captain had got on a bullhorn outside the building and broadcast, "You are all under arrest. Remain in place. The paddy wagons are on the way."

Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Nathan Wayne Entrekin, a man who wore a Roman gladiator costume to the Jan. 6 Capitol..., was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday. Entrekin, whom online 'sedition hunters' had dubbed 'Caesar No Salad,' wore his costume to portray Captain Moroni, a figure from the Book of Mormon.... He was arrested in Cottonwood, Arizona.... On [his phone, agents] found videos of him narrating the scene for his mother (whom he lives with) about what he's seeing at the Capitol. 'I'm here, Mom!' Entrekin says in one video.... Entrekin, according to the feds, continued narrating the scene for his mother as he stormed the Capitol." Read on. The guy is unintentionally hilarious, as insurrectionists go -- the epitome of a Trumpbot. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's story is here: "Police say Entrekin told them in the interview that he had entered the federal building but said he did not realize he was not allowed inside, despite video that showed alarms blaring as he walked in. FBI agents also found videos on Entrekin's phone that showed him relaying that police had sprayed tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. 'Here comes the riot police, Mom,' he allegedly said for the camera."

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "Rep. Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $25,000 in June to a Manhattan criminal defense attorney who lists Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison, as a notable client, according to a filing Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.... The June payment, for legal consulting, went to the law office of Marc Fernich, whose website says he specializes in 'subtle, novel and creative arguments that other attorneys may miss.'... [The website] lists Epstein, along with Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, the Mexican kingpin known as 'El Chapo,' among his 'Notable Clients.'" The Tampa Bay Times story is here.

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "More companies that pledged to pause or rethink political donations after the Jan. 6 insurrection are once again donating to Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying President Biden's victory. The flow of money is a sign that the promises issued by corporate America were temporary, especially in light of razor-thin Democratic majorities. American Airlines was among the flock of companies vowing changes after the deadly assault on the Capitol.... According to a June report from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, more than $5 million in corporate or industry money has already gone to lawmakers who contested the election results or to aligned party committees." The Corporations for Irresponsibility & Unethical Behavior include Cigna, Aflac, UPS, Walmart, Pfizer, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

Dentist, Extract Thyself. Tess Owen of Vice: "The American Dental Association has donated over $75,000 to [white nationalist Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.], a former dentist, since he was elected to Congress in 2010, making them his top donor.... Until recently, the American Dental Association, its political fundraising arm ADPAC, and the 162,000 dentists they represent, have been willing to turn a blind eye to Gosar's controversies on behalf of 'Tooth Party' interests. But Gosar's latest antics are creating fissures in the Tooth Party.... Gosar is one of five dentists currently in Congress, and he's been one of the American Dental Association's top recipients in the past three election cycles.... [A] #CallYourDentist campaign [to end ADA's backingof Gosar] may be having some impact: According to the 'Remove Paul Gosar' website, the American Dental Association hired a reception service to take calls from angry Americans. In an email to VICE News, the American Dental Association wrote that the issue of its ongoing support for Gosar was currently pending before the Board of Trustees and declined to comment any further."

Just. Plain. Selfish. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "Justice Stephen Breyer has not decided when he will retire and is especially gratified with his new role as the senior liberal on the bench, he told CNN in an exclusive interview -- his first public comments amid the incessant speculation of a Supreme Court vacancy. Far from Washington and the pressures of the recently completed session and chatter over his possible retirement, Breyer, a 27-year veteran of the high court, said Wednesday that two factors will be overriding in his decision. 'Primarily, of course, health,' said Breyer, who will turn 83 in August. 'Second, the court.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Notes on the Former Guy*

McCarthy Works to Ensure Trump Remains a Clear & Present Danger. Ryan Nobles & Melanie Zanona of CNN: "House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy met with Donald Trump on Thursday at the former President's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, as the California Republican is considering which members of his conference to appoint to a special committee tasked with investigating the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol." (An update of a story linked yesterday.)

If I Were to Coup, It Wouldn't Be with You. Jill Colvin of the AP: "In a lengthy statement [issued Thursday], Trump responded to revelations in a new book detailing fears from Gen. Mark Milley that the outgoing president would stage a coup during his final weeks in office. Trump said he's 'not into coups' and 'never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government.' At the same time, Trump said that 'if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is' Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump has been expressing regret in recent weeks that he didn't order the White House flag lowered to half-staff for slain U.S. Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt.... Trump and his allies have been trying to portray Babbitt as a martyr shot down by a rogue police officer, rather than a rioter seen on video climbing through a broken window to a secure area where lawmakers hid in fear for their lives, and they're fixated on learning the name of the officer who killed her."

** The Washington Post publishes Part 2 of excerpts from Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker's book I Alone Can Fix It. This part covers some of the events of January 6. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jared Kushner, Boy Hero. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Journalist Michael Wolff's new book, Landslide, describes [Jared] Kushner's role over the four years in office as staffing up the White House with his own loyalists who could circumvent Trump's demands. 'The four-year history of the Trump White House was, in one sense, the unlikely story of the rise and strange effectiveness of Jared Kushner,' wrote Wolff. 'Much of the West Wing and campaign staffs were made up of people whom Jared had picked. Their common characteristic was that, while they were tolerant of Trump, they could be counted on to slow-walk his worst excesses; some..., acting for Kushner, even often sought to put a brake on them. Kushner, both for temperamental and strategic reasons, would not, in almost any circumstance, directly confront his father-in-law.'" MB: Now, I wonder who could have been the source for this tale tale. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Book Report. Dwight Garner of the New York Times: "Two new books about the final year of Donald J. Trump's presidency are entering the cultural bloodstream. The first, 'Landslide,' by the gadfly journalist Michael Wolff, is the one to leap upon, even though the second, 'I Alone Can Fix It,' from the Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, is vastly more earnest and diligent, to a fault.... [The Leonnig/Rucker book] reads like 300 daily newspaper articles taped together so that they resemble an inky Kerouacian scroll.... A primary and not insignificant achievement in 'I Alone Can Fix It,' however, is its bravura introduction of a new American hero, a man who has heretofore not received a great deal of attention: Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A better title for this book might have been 'Mr. Milley Goes to Washington.'... But 'Landslide' is a smart, vivid and intrepid book. [Wolff] has great instincts."

Luke Harding, et al., of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a 'mentally unstable' Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia's national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them 'social turmoil' in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position. Russia's three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin's signature.... Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months.... There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an 'impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex'. There is also apparent confirmation that the Kremlin possesses kompromat, or potentially compromising material, on the future president, collected -- the document says -- from Trump's earlier 'non-official visits to Russian Federation territory'." Thanks to Forrest M. for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "But it's hard not to be skeptical of the [supposed Kremlin] document, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's very neat.... More to that point is the vague reference to compromising material on Trump collected during 'non-official visits to Russian Federation territory,' the long-sought kompromat of legend.... The document also shows a remarkable perspicacity on the part of the Russian government.... It is odd that this document, so closely related to the national discourse over the past five years, only emerged now." MB: I think the doc is a fake; it seems to describe what we know now, not what was known in 2015 & 2016. It is entirely possible, IMO, that the doc did come from the Kremlin, but it was cooked up last week, not four or five years ago.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "A self-proclaimed 'Bitcoin millionaire' is pitching a mobile device called the 'Freedom Phone' to supporters of ... Donald Trump -- but as the Daily Beast's Will Sommer reports, it looks like a massive grift. It turns out that the phone, which was created by conservative cryptocurrency enthusiast Erik Finman, 'appears to be merely a more expensive rebranding of a budget Chinese phone available elsewhere for a fraction of the Freedom Phone's price,' writes Sommer."

"I Know It Cost $28MM, but I'm Busy That Day." Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Blue Origin announced Thursday that 18-year-old Oliver Daemen of the Netherlands will be joining founder Jeff Bezos on the company's first crewed spaceflight after the winner of a $28 million auction postponed. Blue Origin said the auction winner, who has asked to remain anonymous, would fly 'on a future mission due to scheduling conflicts.' A company spokesman said Daemen, an incoming physics and innovation management student at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, had participated in the auction and 'secured a seat on the second flight. We moved him up when this seat on the first flight became available.' The company would not say how much Daemen bid. His father is Joes Daemen, the founder and chief executive of Somerset Capital Partners, which invests in real estate, private equity and financial markets." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Geoff Brumfiel of NPR: "With about a third of adults in the U.S. still completely unvaccinated, and cases of COVID-19 on the rise, the U.S. surgeon general is calling for a war against 'health misinformation.' On Thursday, Dr. Vivek Murthy released the first surgeon general's advisory of his time serving in the Biden administration, describing the 'urgent threat' posed by the rise of false information around COVID-19 -- one that continues to put 'lives at risk' and prolong the pandemic." ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "What began as 'vaccine hesitancy' has morphed into outright vaccine hostility, as conservatives increasingly attack the White House's coronavirus message, mischaracterize its vaccination campaign and, more and more, vow to skip the shots altogether. The notion that the vaccine drive is pointless or harmful -- or perhaps even a government plot -- is increasingly an article of faith among supporters of ... Donald Trump, on a par with assertions that the last election was stolen and the assault on the U.S. Capitol was overblown." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mitch Smith & Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "The number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in every state, setting off a growing sense of concern from health officials who are warning that the pandemic in the United States is far from over, even though the national outlook is far better than during previous upticks. The 160 million people across the country who are fully vaccinated are largely protected from the virus, including the highly contagious Delta variant, scientists say. In the Upper Midwest, the Northeast and on the West Coast -- including in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco -- coronavirus infections remain relatively low. But the picture is different in pockets of the country where residents are vaccinated at lower rates. Hot spots have emerged in recent weeks in parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Nevada, among other states, leaving hospital workers strained as they care for an influx of coronavirus patients. Less than a month after reports of new cases nationally bottomed out at around 11,000 a day, virus cases overall are increasing again, with about 26,000 new cases a day, and hospitalizations are on the rise."

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

California. Victoria Colliver of Politico: "Los Angeles County will reinstate indoor mask requirements in public spaces for all this weekend, regardless of vaccination status, amid an alarming rise in Covid-19 cases driven by the Delta variant. Thursday's announcement by the nation's largest county sent a chill through the state just one month into California's long-awaited reopening. And it could prompt other local health officials to follow suit, complicating the post-pandemic recovery narrative of Gov. Gavin Newsom as he faces a September recall election."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Andrew Oxford & Mary Jo Pitzi of the Arizona Republic: "Arizona Senate President Karen Fann said Thursday that the Legislature needs more materials and data from Maricopa County for an unprecedented and controversial review of 2020 election results that is deep into its third month.... Fann said during a hearing at the Capitol that she expects the demands for additional materials will end up in court.... Also during the hearing, the Senate's top contractor on the review [Cyber Ninjas] recommended reviving plans to go door to door to inquire about some residents' participation in last year's general election.... Doing both a canvass of voters and taking the county back to court means the review effort that appeared to be wrapping up is likely to last even longer. Initially, the review was slated to end in May. ~~~

~~~ Democracy Docket: "On Thursday, the Arizona Superior Court in Maricopa County deniedthe state Senate's request to dismiss a case seeking records of the Republican-led 'audit' of the 2020 election. The case, filed by the nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight, asks for the release of all documents relating to the audit of the 2020 Maricopa County election results."

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to be questioned on Saturday by investigators from the New York State attorney general's office, signaling that a four-month-long inquiry into several sexual harassment accusations may be entering its final stages. Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark, the two outside lawyers hired to lead the investigation that is being overseen by Letitia James, the state attorney general, are expected to interview the governor in Albany, according to two people familiar with the matter. The lawyers have spent months gathering hours of testimony from several women who have accused Mr. Cuomo of sexual misconduct or harassment. The lawyers have also in recent weeks interviewed senior administration officials in preparation for questioning the governor." CNN's story is here.

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Ezzatullah Mehrdad of the Washington Post: "A Reuters photojournalist was killed in southern Afghanistan while covering the fight between Afghan government forces and the Taliban, Reuters confirmed Friday. Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer from India, was embedded with Afghan forces attempting to retake a handful of districts that recently fell to the militants.... Siddiqui was with an Afghan special forces unit attempting to retake the district of Spin Boldak, southeast of Kandahar city along the border with Pakistan. He was killed along with a senior Afghan officer, according to the Reuters report."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Following a day of frantic rescue efforts and orders to evacuate towns rapidly filling with water unloosed by violent storms, the German authorities said late Thursday that after confirming scores of deaths, they were unable to account for at least 1,300 people. That staggering figure was announced after swift-moving water from swollen rivers surged through cities and villages in two western German states, where news outlets said more than 80 people were known to have died in the hardest-hit regions and other fatalities were expected.... The storms and resulting high water also battered neighboring Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg as a slow-moving weather system threatened to dump even more rain on the inundated region overnight and into Friday." An AP story is here.

New York Times: "Esther Bejarano..., [who] played accordion in the women's orchestra at Auschwitz..., died on Saturday at a hospital in Hamburg, Germany. She was 96.... Mrs. Bejarano's death was announced by the International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by survivors of the death camp and to which she belonged, serving as a powerful voice against intolerance in her later years."

Washington Post: "Three weeks after rescue crews began searching for victims, officials said they were nearing the end of their search for those trapped in the ruins of the Champlain Towers South condo building, a somber bookend to one of the deadliest such collapses in U.S. history. In total, 97 people have been confirmed dead -- young couples, entire families and retirees whose footprints stretched across multiple continents. No survivors had been found since the initial hours after the collapse. A Miami-Dade police spokesman said that as of Thursday, 97 missing reports had been confirmed, a number equal to the dead."

The Commentariat -- July 15, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Sarah Kolinovsky, et al., of ABC News: "As the first round of monthly child tax credits hit Americans' bank accounts Thursday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took a victory lap..., speaking about the 'historic day' for American families and emphasizing the sea change the payments could represent for millions of American children living in poverty. 'Today, for families all over our country, for children all over our country, help is here,' Harris said, before introducing the president. 'This has never happened before. And America, yes, it is a big deal.' Biden and Harris marked the rollout of checks and direct deposits from the child tax credit with a White House event featuring Americans set to benefit."

Just. Plain. Selfish. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "Justice Stephen Breyer has not decided when he will retire and is especially gratified with his new role as the senior liberal on the bench, he told CNN in an exclusive interview -- his first public comments amid the incessant speculation of a Supreme Court vacancy. Far from Washington and the pressures of the recently completed session and chatter over his possible retirement, Breyer, a 27-year veteran of the high court, said Wednesday that two factors will be overriding in his decision. 'Primarily, of course, health,' said Breyer, who will turn 83 in August. 'Second, the court.'"

McCarthy Works to Ensure Trump Remains a Clear & Present Danger. Ryan Nobles of CNN: "House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to meet with ... Donald Trump on Thursday, as the California Republican is considering which members of his conference to appoint to a special committee tasked with investigating the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol."

** The Washington Post publishes Part 2 of excerpts from Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker's book I Alone Can Fix It. This part covers some of the events of January 6.

Luke Harding, et al., of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a 'mentally unstable' Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia's national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them 'social turmoil' in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position. Russia's three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin's signature.... Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months.... There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an 'impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex'. There is also apparent confirmation that the Kremlin possesses kompromat, or potentially compromising material, on the future president, collected -- the document says -- from Trump's earlier 'non-official visits to Russian Federation territory'." Thanks to Forrest M. for the link.

Jared Kushner, Boy Hero. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Journalist Michael Wolff's new book, Landslide, describes [Jared] Kushner's role over the four years in office as staffing up the White House with his own loyalists who could circumvent Trump's demands. 'The four-year history of the Trump White House was, in one sense, the unlikely story of the rise and strange effectiveness of Jared Kushner,' wrote Wolff. 'Much of the West Wing and campaign staffs were made up of people whom Jared had picked. Their common characteristic was that, while they were tolerant of Trump, they could be counted on to slow-walk his worst excesses; some..., acting for Kushner, even often sought to put a brake on them. Kushner, both for temperamental and strategic reasons, would not, in almost any circumstance, directly confront his father-in-law.'" MB: Now, I wonder who could have been the source for this tale tale.

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

Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "What began as 'vaccine hesitancy' has morphed into outright vaccine hostility, as conservatives increasingly attack the White House's coronavirus message, mischaracterize its vaccination campaign and, more and more, vow to skip the shots altogether. The notion that the vaccine drive is pointless or harmful -- or perhaps even a government plot -- is increasingly an article of faith among supporters of ... Donald Trump, on a par with assertions that the last election was stolen and the assault on the U.S. Capitol was overblown."

"I Know It Cost $28MM, but I'm Busy That Day." Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Blue Origin announced Thursday that 18-year-old Oliver Daemen of the Netherlands will be joining founder Jeff Bezos on the company's first crewed spaceflight after the winner of a $28 million auction postponed. Blue Origin said the auction winner, who has asked to remain anonymous, would fly 'on a future mission due to scheduling conflicts.' A company spokesman said Daemen, an incoming physics and innovation management student at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, had participated in the auction and 'secured a seat on the second flight. We moved him up when this seat on the first flight became available.' The company would not say how much Daemen bid. His father is Joes Daemen, the founder and chief executive of Somerset Capital Partners, which invests in real estate, private equity and financial markets."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan Weisman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden and congressional Democrats vowed on Wednesday to push through a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint to vastly expand social and environmental programs by extending the reach of education and health care, taxing the rich and tackling the warming of the planet. The legislation is far from passage, but top Democrats have agreed on working to include several far-reaching details. They include universal prekindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds, two years of free community college, clean energy requirements for utilities and lower prescription drug prices. Medicare benefits would be expanded, and green cards would be extended to some undocumented immigrants. At a closed-door luncheon in the Capitol, Mr. Biden rallied Democrats and the independents aligned with them to embrace the plan, which would require every single one of their votes to move forward over united Republican opposition. But several moderate lawmakers who are crucial to the plan's success had yet to say whether they would accept the proposal. Mr. Biden's message was 'be unified, strong, big and courageous,' Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said." ~~~

     ~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Wednesday he's open to the $3.5 trillion spending agreement reached by Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee, which would be entirely paid for with yet to be specified tax measures, but he's holding back on fully endorsing the deal until further review. Manchin's cautious optimism about the agreement means that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) two-track strategy for moving President Biden's infrastructure agenda is still moving in the right direction." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Democrats have agreed to include a tax on imports from nations that lack aggressive climate change policies as part of a sweeping $3.5 trillion budget plan stocked with other provisions aimed at ratcheting down fossil fuel pollution in the United States. The move to tax imports was made public Wednesday, the same day that the European Union outlined its own proposal for a similar carbon border tax, a novel tool that is designed to protect domestic manufacturing while simultaneously pressuring other countries to reduce the emissions that are warming the planet.... Top Democrats called the timing coincidental but said both the United States and Europe must work together to put pressure on China and other heavy polluting countries to reduce emissions." ~~~

~~~ Steven Erlanger & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "In what may be a seminal moment in the global effort to fight climate change, Europe on Wednesday challenged the rest of the world by laying out an ambitious blueprint to pivot away from fossil fuels over the next nine years, a plan that has the potential to set off global trade disputes. The most radical, and possibly contentious, proposal would impose tariffs on certain imports from countries with less stringent climate-protection rules. The proposals also include eliminating the sales of new gas- and diesel-powered cars in just 14 years, and raising the price of using fossil fuels." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Karen DeYoung & David Lynch of the Washington Post: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit President Biden at the White House Thursday for discussions on a host of outstanding economic and foreign policy issues, with little likelihood that any of them will be settled. Instead, what is characterized as a 'working' trip will be an opportunity to reaffirm close bilateral ties and to underline what a senior German official called 'the continuity and importance of the relationship' as Merkel prepares to step down following September elections after 16 years in office."

The Check Is in the Mail. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Thursday is launching the biggest anti-poverty program undertaken by the federal government in more than a half-century, delivering monthly payments to the overwhelming majority of American parents for the first time. The Department of Treasury said it has sent checks to households representing approximately 60 million children under a provision in the stimulus package passed by Democrats in March. The payments can be withdrawn Thursday but appeared in many bank accounts as early as Wednesday. The benefit, expected to cost roughly $120 billion per year, provides $300 per child under age 6, as well as $250 per child 6 or older. The administration previously said that roughly 88 percent of all U.S. children nationwide would receive the aid. The program is a major political and economic test for President Biden and his administration."

Sarah Kolinovsky & Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "The Biden administration will begin evacuation flights in late July for Afghans who have aided the U.S. military and diplomatic missions, according to a senior administration official. President Joe Biden earlier this month said all U.S. combat forces will be out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31 and defended his decision to leave the country in the face of Taliban gains in the area.... The evacuation effort, dubbed Operation Allies Refuge, will relocate Afghans who have applied for a U.S. Special Immigrant Visa and their families to a safe third country, but it is still unclear how many of these translators, guides and other contractors will be moved and to exactly where."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "President Biden's decision to withdraw completely from Afghanistan is overwhelmingly popular. It's also strongly bipartisan in a way very few things are these days.... While speaking to Deutsche Welle in Germany, [former President George W. Bush] had some rather unvarnished thoughts on the pullout from Afghanistan, a war he launched after 9/11. Bush flatly agreed that it [was] 'a mistake' and warned of looming tragedies and atrocities.... The fact that he's sought to make this argument, however self-serving and academic at this point, reinforces how this might not be such a consensus issue moving forward -- and how it almost certainly won't be a simple one." MB: Another extraordinary aspect to Bush's remarks: he made them outside the U.S.

Joseph Marks of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is increasing its efforts to disrupt ransomware campaigns and punish the criminals who launch them. Among the new initiatives is a new State Department program that's being announced today offering rewards of up to $10 million for information that helps halt or punish hackers that lock up computers at vital U.S. industries and hold them for ransom. It's an offshoot of a program called Rewards for Justice aimed at combating international terrorism -- another sign the administration is increasingly treating ransomware as a top national security threat."

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "On Friday, President Biden called on regulators to crack down on consolidation in the shipping and rail industries, as part of a broad executive order promoting competition throughout the U.S. economy. Freight may seem a prosaic topic for presidential attention. But the smooth movement of goods has perhaps never been more essential, amid the explosion of e-commerce that accompanied the pandemic. Transport bottlenecks in June helped fuel the highest inflation in 13 years, rattling Americans with sticker shock on goods such as used cars, airfare and bacon.... The White House officials who drafted Biden's order say high freight costs, resulting from a lack of competition, are an economywide drag." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: OR, customers could try my bitch-a-lot method. Sunday, I was about to make an online purchase of an item that cost about $275. But when I got to the last page in the check-out process, I learned that the shipping charges were $290. So I didn't make the purchase, but I called the company Monday and told them I thought they had miscalculated the shipping charges. I got a song-and-dance. I was polite, but I said I wasn't going to make the purchase as their shipping charges were 6 or 7 times higher than what another company had just charged me for shipping an item of similar size and weight from the same state. Half an hour later the song-and-dance lady called me back & said the company had reduced the shipping charge from $290 to $45. Okay then.

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will move forward with a plan to fully restore environmental protections to Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the world's largest intact temperate rain forests. The protections had been stripped away by ... Donald J. Trump. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose agency includes the United States Forest Service, is expected to announce the news, according to a person briefed on the matter who asked to speak anonymously because it had not yet been made public."

Natalie Fertig of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released sweeping draft legislation Wednesday to legalize weed, officially kickstarting a difficult debate in his chamber that also makes a major splash for one of his campaign promises. The measure floated by the New York Democrat -- along with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) -- proposes removing federal penalties on cannabis, expunging nonviolent federal cannabis-related criminal records and letting states decide if or how to legalize the drug." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "The House Oversight and Reform Committee is launching an investigation into Arizona's GOP-commissioned review of the 2020 presidential election and the private contractor leading the effort, whose chief executive has echoed ... Donald Trump's false claims. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the committee, and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) sent a letter Wednesday to Douglas Logan, CEO of Cyber Ninjas, seeking correspondences, documents and other information about his Florida-based company's review of nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County. 'The committee is seeking to determine whether the privately funded audit conducted by your company in Arizona protects the right to vote or is instead an effort to promote baseless conspiracy theories, undermine confidence in America's elections, and reverse the result of a free and fair election for partisan gain,' Maloney and Raskin ... wrote to Logan." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rachel Maddow reported that Maloney & Raskin had to send their letter to a UPS mailbox store because Cyber Ninjas apparently doesn't have a real street address. Well, of course not, Rachel. They're cyber ninjas. I checked the Googles, and Cyber Ninjas does have a URL, and their Website has a facility to send them a message online. No return receipt, I guess.

Juliet Macur & Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's inspector general released a long-awaited report on Wednesday that sharply criticized the F.B.I.'s handling of the sexual abuse case involving Lawrence G. Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S.A. Gymnastics national team and Michigan State sports, which led to Mr. Nassar's continued abuse of girls and women. Mr. Nassar, who is serving what amounts to life in prison, has been accused of abusing hundreds of female patients -- including the Olympic champion Simone Biles and a majority of the last two United States women's Olympic gymnastics teams -- under the guise of medical treatment.... The inspector general's report said senior F.B.I. officials in the Indianapolis field office failed to respond to the allegations 'with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required' and the investigation did not proceed until after a September 2016 report by The Indianapolis Star detailed Mr. Nassar's abuse." Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "An Idaho man photographed hanging from the Senate balcony and sitting in the presiding officer's chair in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony obstruction of Congress, admitting to joining a group who came to Washington armed with firearms, knives and body armor to support ... Donald Trump. Josiah B. Colt, 34, became the latest defendant to agree to cooperate in the breach investigation, seeking to pare down a possible recommended five-year prison sentence. Though Colt is not accused of being part of a larger militia-like group, he admitted in plea papers to joining at least two men from Nevada and Tennessee who arranged travel, raised funds, bought paramilitary gear and recorded themselves before breaking in to the building and rushing to the Senate just evacuated by lawmakers."

Notes on the Former Guy*:

Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "In the waning weeks of Donald Trump's term, the country's top military leader repeatedly worried about what the president might do to maintain power after losing reelection, comparing his rhetoric to Adolf Hitler's during the rise of Nazi Germany and asking confidants whether a coup was forthcoming, according to a new book by two Washington Post reporters. As Trump ceaselessly pushed false claims about the 2020 presidential election, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, grew more and more nervous, telling aides he feared that the president and his acolytes might attempt to use the military to stay in office, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker report in 'I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.' Milley described 'a stomach-churning' feeling as he listened to Trump's untrue complaints of election fraud, drawing a comparison to the 1933 attack on Germany's parliament building that Hitler used as a pretext to establish a Nazi dictatorship.... [Milley] saw himself as one of the last empowered defenders of democracy during some of the darkest days in the country's recent history." ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Shortly before the deadly attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, told aides the US was facing a 'Reichstag moment' because Donald Trump was preaching 'the gospel of the Führer', according to an eagerly awaited book [by Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig ]about Trump's last year in office." ~~~

     ~~~ Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "The top US military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, was so shaken that ... Donald Trump and his allies might attempt a coup or take other dangerous or illegal measures after the November election that Milley and other top officials informally planned for different ways to stop Trump, according to excerpts of an upcoming book obtained by CNN. The book, from Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, describes how Milley and the other Joint Chiefs discussed a plan to resign, one-by-one, rather than carry out orders from Trump that they considered to be illegal, dangerous or ill-advised. 'It was a kind of Saturday Night Massacre in reverse,' Leonnig and Rucker write." ~~~

~~~ Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that he was responsible for the Capitol riot while the scene was evolving on Jan. 6, according to a new book. In 'I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year,' Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker write about a phone call between Cheney and Gen. Mark Milley<, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in which the Wyoming Republican describes a confrontation she had with Jordan during the riot, CNN reported. 'That f---ing guy Jim Jordan. That son of a b----.... While these maniacs are going through the place, I'm standing in the aisle and he said, "We need to get the ladies away from the aisle. Let me help you." I smacked his hand away and told him, "Get away from me. You f---ing did this,"' Cheney reportedly told the general."

Todd Frankel & Jay Greene of the Washington Post: "Federal safety regulators filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Wednesday that accuses the retail giant of refusing to recognize regulators' authority to force the company to recall defective and unsafe products, setting up a fight over how much responsibility Amazon should take for the products it sells on its website. The action by the Consumer Product Safety Commission comes after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between regulators and Amazon as the agency tried to persuade the company to follow the CPSC's rules for getting dangerous products off the market, according to a senior agency official.... The official said Amazon officials refused to acknowledge that the CPSC has the authority to compel the company to remove unsafe products."

Charles Pierce of Esquire: "If there is a less excusable human being walking upright than Ken Starr, head huntsman of the Great Penis Chase of 1998, then I'm hard pressed to think of who it is. Since his salacious moment in the national spotlight, Starr has presided over a disastrous sexual-misconduct scandal and alleged cover-up at Baylor University in Texas. He took a job as part of the former president*'s defense team during Impeachment I, an indication that he was less offended by extramarital foolery than he used to be. And now comes a book by Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, the journalist who blew open the story of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking empire and the sweetheart plea deal that helped enable it, in which Starr is featured as a legal engine behind said plea bargain. (Guardian story on Brown's revelations linked below.) Firewalled. MB: I am informed this is my last freebie-of-the-month. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Here are six candidates for Pierce's list of inexcusable human beings: Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavenaugh & Barrett. ~~~

Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The Voting Rights Act decision that concluded the Supreme Court term this month offered two mutually exclusive visions of what the right to vote means today. Justice Samuel Alito's opinion for the six-justice majority insisted that the law should pay little mind to the occasional 'inconvenience' of casting a ballot. Justice Elena Kagan's dissenting opinion, joined by two other justices, accused the majority of taking the 'grand and obvious' right to an 'equal opportunityto vote' and reducing it to nothing more than 'equality-lite.' The competing visions in the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision reflected profoundly different understandings of what law needs to do to keep the basic mechanics of democracy functioning.... In the three dissenters' view, a voting regulation with a racially disparate impact is invalid if the plaintiff can show that the state's interest can be met by a less discriminatory policy. This was [a] 'radical' interpretation of Section 2 that ... alarmed Justice Alito." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Alito's view of "inconvenience" makes perfect sense to confederates. There's a moral imperative here. All people -- they believe -- should be as "civilized" as they are. So it isn't so much voting rights that should be equal; it's "inconvenience." If you have got yourself in a situation where it's less convenient for you to vote than it is for Sam Alito (say it's a hardship to get a required identity card), then that's your own damned fault. People who enjoy the right to vote enjoy it because they have arranged their lives in such a way that state laws don't make it especially inconvenient for them to cast their ballots. Everybody should live as these lucky duckies do, where the "inconveniences" to voting are relatively equal. Those who don't live this righteous life must learn to live with the hurdles legislatures have put in front of them.

Joe Coscarelli, et al., of the New York Times: "More than 13 years after being deemed mentally unfit to choose her own legal representation, Britney Spears can hire a high-powered Hollywood lawyer, [Mathew Rosengart,] a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday, signaling a new phase in the battle to end the conservatorship that controls the singer's life. The decision by Judge Brenda Penny came at the first hearing since Ms. Spears, 39, called the conservatorship that she has lived under since 2008 abusive and said that she wanted it to end without her having to undergo additional psychiatric evaluations."

Danish Company Imposes Some Sanity on U.S. Gun Modifier. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "At first glance, the gun resembled a toy, one whose building blocks were the ubiquitous red, yellow, blue and green Legos. But beneath the surface of its colorful shell was something lethal: a Glock 19 pistol that had been customized by a Utah-based company that specializes in modifications to firearms. The Lego Group, the Danish brand known for being fiercely protective of its intellectual property and likeness, recently demanded that the company, Culper Precision of Provo, Utah, stop selling the casing.... 'We have contacted the company and they have agreed to remove the product from their website and not make or sell anything like this in the future,' Lego said in an email statement on Wednesday."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Apoorva Mandavilli & Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "The [Delta] variant, the most contagious version yet of the coronavirus, accounts for more than half of new infections in the United States,federal health officials reported this month. The spread of the variant has prompted a vigorous new vaccination push from the Biden administration, and federal officials are planning to send medical teams to communities facing outbreaks that now seem inevitable.... Broadly speaking, the West and Northeast have relatively high rates of vaccination, while the South has the least. The vaccinated and unvaccinated 'two Americas' -- as Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... has called them -- also are divided along political lines. Counties that voted for Mr. Biden average higher vaccination levels than those that voted for Donald Trump. Conservatives tend to decline vaccination far more often than Democrats."

Max Hauptman of the Washington Post: "An Alabama military base is taking increased actions to combat the ongoing prevalence of coronavirus infections, authorizing leaders to ask for proof of vaccination of service members not wearing a mask while on duty. It is the first military base in the continental United States to allow leaders to check the vaccination status of those in uniform. The new guidance at Fort Rucker comes as the new delta variant of the virus continues to drive infection rates and now accounts for a majority of cases in the United States. The base is among facilities, including Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Fort Sill in Oklahoma and Fort Jackson in South Carolina, where less than half of the surrounding populations have been vaccinated." MB: Let's see if the Congressional Anti-Vax Caucus goes nuts over this.

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

Brad Reed of the Raw Story: Some normal people react to the so-called Tennessee health department's decision to halt all vaccination out reach -- for all diseases -- in their effort to "own the libs" by "killing the kids." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Florida. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "'Don't Fauci My Florida,' read drink koozies and T-shirts that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign team >rolled out just as his state sees some of the highest coronavirus hospitalizations, new infections and deaths per capita in the country.... New coronavirus infection numbers plummeted in Florida after vaccinations became widely available, but they have ticked up in recent weeks. The state is reporting daily cases close to four times the national average.... [DeSantis' merchandise] the latest example of Republicans running on their opposition to virus-fueled shutdowns and mask mandates.... A key part of [DeSantis'] pitch [for 2022 (gubernatorial) & 2024 (presidential*)]: He resisted public health experts' calls for stricter measures against the spread of the coronavirus, spurring criticism on the left and praise from the right for keeping his state's schools and economy comparatively open." ~~~

     ~~~ In reporting this story on-air, CNN posted a chyron citing a June 7 tweet by DeSantis: "... FLORIDA CHOSE FREEDOM OVER FAUCISM." (All CAPS original.) MB: To put it as delicately as possible, DeSantis is one sick fuck.

Josh Katz & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "As Covid raged, so did the country's other epidemic. Drug overdose deaths rose nearly 30 percent in 2020 to a record 93,000, according to preliminary statistics released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's the largest single-year increase recorded. The deaths rose in every state but two, South Dakota and New Hampshire, with pronounced increases in the South and West. Several grim records were set: the most drug overdose deaths in a year; the most deaths from opioid overdoses; the most overdose deaths from stimulants like methamphetamine; the most deaths from the deadly class of synthetic opioids known as fentanyls."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Prosecutorial "Discretion," Confederate-Style. Brittany Shamas, et al.,; of the Washington Post: "Scores of people crowded a major Miami-area highway Tuesday, chanting in support of rare protests that erupted days earlier in Cuba against the country's communist government. The rally caused an hours-long closure on part of the Palmetto Expressway in Miami-Dade County. It was the sort of scene envisioned by a divisive Florida law that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed amid last year's wave of racial justice demonstrations. The legislation calls for protesters to be cited if they block traffic. But no citations were given Tuesday, according to state and local law enforcement. Critics took issue with the lack of citations, saying the law is unclear or unevenly applied. DeSantis, who invoked the possibility of protesters shutting down a highway as he signed the bill into law, has been vocal in his support of rallies against the Cuban government. Asked about the Palmetto Expressway protests during a Tuesday roundtable with reporters, he said the recent demonstrations were 'fundamentally different' than last summer's protests that had inspired the law.... Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat who opposed the law, said it was '100 percent applicable' to the protest in the Miami area. She criticized the 'hypocrisy' and said the lack of enforcement showed that the law was aimed specifically at Black Lives Matter demonstrations" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: C'mon, Anna. This law -- like many other confederate-backed laws -- was never meant to be applied against groups of people likely disposed to vote Republican. It's like the jelly-bean-counting test. On paper, it applies to everyone, but it's only imposed upon Black people and/or left-leaning groups.

Michigan. Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "The executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, who said the 2020 presidential election wasn't stolen and blamed Donald Trump for the GOP loss, has resigned. Jason Roe, a veteran strategist who was brought on in February, stepped down from the post but declined to expand on why he resigned less than six months later, the Detroit Free Press reported." The Detroit Free Press story is here.

Way Beyond

Brazil. Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil faced possible emergency surgery for an intestinal obstruction after doctors on Wednesday ordered that he be flown to a hospital in São Paulo for evaluation, the government said. The obstruction is related to a stabbing injury Mr. Bolsonaro suffered in 2018 as he campaigned for president. He had complained in recent days about a persistent bout of hiccups, which had lasted more than 10 days, but it was unclear whether that was related."

Haiti. Anatoly Kurmanaev, et al., of the New York Times: "Several of the central figures under investigation by the Haitian authorities in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse gathered in the months before the killing to discuss rebuilding the troubled nation once the president was out of power, according to the Haitian police, Colombian intelligence officers and participants in the discussions. The meetings, conducted in Florida and the Dominican Republic over the last year, appear to connect a seemingly disparate collection of suspects in the investigation, linking a 63-year-old doctor and pastor, a security equipment salesman, and a mortgage and insurance broker in Florida. All have been identified by the Haitian authorities as prominent players in a sprawling plot to kill the president with the help of more than 20 former Colombian commandos. But the ties between them have been murky, at best, and until recently it was not clear how, or even if, they knew one another." ~~~

~~~ Widlore Merancourt & Rachel Pannett of the Washington Post: "The head of security [Dimitri Hérard] at the presidential palace [in Port-au-Prince] has been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the mysterious assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.... Much public anger has been directed against Hérard, as Haitians wonder how a team of alleged assassins appeared to easily infiltrate Moïse's residence but were later swiftly taken into custody.... Haitian police on Wednesday evening announced the arrest of two new suspects, including a former top police officer, as their investigation continues. Four high-ranking members of the president's security detail are also being held in isolation as authorities continue to track down other fugitives, police chief Léon Charles told reporters during a news conference."

News Lede:

Washington Post: "Devastating floods swept across a swath of Western Europe on Thursday, engulfing whole villages in raging muddy brown waters, overturning cars and killing at least 67 people and leaving more than 1,300 unaccounted for after a summer deluge at levels not seen in some areas for a century. At least 58 people died in Germany, by far the worst-hit country, where whole villages were cut off from rescuers and helicopters were deployed to pluck the stranded off rooftops. Some houses were simply washed away as a tributary of the Rhine burst its banks."