The Commentariat -- July 14, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden heads to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to rally Senate Democrats around two bills totaling more than $4 trillion that advance critical elements of his economic agenda, including new investments in aging infrastructure and programs to fight climate change and improve health care. Biden's salesmanship opens a new political chapter in what will probably be a winding, tough debate on Capitol Hill in Congress, particularly because Democrats are divided over whether they should take the early deals they have reached, including with Republicans, or try to leverage their narrow majorities in Washington to seek more federal spending."

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." ~~~

    ~~~ 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.

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."

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."

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."

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

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."

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.

~~~~~~~~~~

Only in America. Marie: Every day, the news gets crazier.

We're facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That's not hyperbole. Since the Civil War -- the Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January the 6th. I'm not saying this to alarm you. I'm saying this because you should be alarmed. -- President Joe Biden, in Philadelphia, Pa., Tuesday ~~~

~~~ Matt Viser, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Tuesday delivered his most forceful condemnation yet of the wave of voting restrictions proposed in Republican-led states nationwide -- efforts the president argued are the biggest threat to American democracy since the Civil War. Biden's speech was an attempt to inject new life into flagging efforts to pass federal legislation addressing the issue. But while he intensified his explanation of the stakes, his speech did not include a call for the Senate to change the filibuster, which is seen by advocates as the best, and perhaps only, way to usher in the kinds of changes Biden is seeking. At the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, in a room filled with images of Benjamin Franklin and quotes from Daniel Webster and Theodore Roosevelt, Biden compared the new laws to voter suppression by the Ku Klux Klan and to the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised nearly all voters who were not White and male." The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "President Biden will nominate Jeff Flake, the former Republican senator from Arizona, to serve as ambassador to Turkey, the White House announced on Tuesday, placing a prominent, moderate Republican in line to assume a high-profile diplomatic role. Mr. Flake, who became one the most vocal Republican critics of Donald J. Trump during Mr. Trump's presidency, had been largely absent from the national stage after stepping away from politics in 2019. In 2017, he announced he would not seek re-election the following year, citing the changing face of the G.O.P., which he said had grown too accepting of Mr. Trump's 'reckless, outrageous and undignified' behavior. Since then, Mr. Flake has rotated between academic fellowships at Harvard, Arizona State University and Brigham Young University. Mr. Flake was also one of a number of former Republican members of Congress who endorsed Mr. Biden for president in 2020."

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Ousted Social Security commissioner Andrew Saul, the Trump appointee who declared Friday he would defy his firing by President Biden, on Monday found his access to agency computers cut off, even as his acting replacement moved to undo his policies. [Saul was trying to work from his home in Katonah, N.Y., where he's been working since March 2020 because of the pandemic.]... Saul said he had no public announcement -- yet -- on his strategy to remain in office as the 'duly confirmed Social Security commissioner.'... Saul [is] a wealthy former women's apparel executive and prominent Republican donor who had served on the board of a conservative think tank that has called for cuts to Social Security benefits. 'Stay tuned.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday warned citizens of Cuba and Haiti against trying to flee to the United States amid unrest in those nations, saying they would be repatriated or referred to other countries for resettlement. Mayorkas, whose family fled the communist takeover of Cuba six decades ago, said during a news conference that the Biden administration supports the people of both countries.... But Mayorkas said migrants should not make the dangerous journey by sea, warning, 'People will die.'... Mayorkas [made his remarks] at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, standing beside Adm. Linda Fagan, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard."

Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats on Tuesday reached an early agreement to pursue a sweeping $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that aims to expand Medicare benefits, boost federal safety net programs and combat climate change. The wide array of planned health, education and social programs if adopted would represent a historic burst of federal spending, as party lawmakers led by President Biden seek to seize on their slim but powerful majorities in Washington to expand the footprint of government and catalyze major changes in the economy. Democrats plan to fashion their bill in a way that it can clear the Senate without Republican support. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and top lawmakers on the chamber's foremost budget committee announced the plans at a late evening press conference. He said 'every major program' Biden had endorsed would be 'funded in a robust way,' a commitment that comes after the president this spring proposed significant jobs and families spending packages that included investments in healthcare and education." The AP's story is here.

Road Trip: Wholesome American Family Tours Citadel of Democracy. Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "Five members of the same Texas family were arrested Tuesday and charged for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to newly-unsealed charging documents. Kristi Munn, Tom Munn, Dawn Munn, Josh Munn and Kayli Munn -- described by prosecutors as a nuclear family from Borger, Texas -- are now each facing four federal charges over their alleged illegal entry and alleged disorderly conduct in the Capitol, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday afternoon.... After the riot, investigators found posts from the family where they discussed joining in the insurrection. 'The only damage to the capital building was several windows and sets of doors,' Tom Munn wrote on Facebook. 'Nothing inside the capital was damaged. I can tell you, patriots NEVER made it to the chamber. There was no violence in the capital building, the crowd was NOT out of control ... they were ANGRY!!!'"

Notes on the Former Guy

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "A war of words broke out Tuesday among former senior Justice Department officials over Pennsylvania politics and the aftermath of the 2020 election, fueled by ... Donald Trump's release of a letter by a former appointee who is seeking Trump's backing as he considers a run for governor.... In a June 9 letter to Trump..., [William] McSwain[, a former U.S. attorney for Philadelphia] said his office 'received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities.' The letter seemed to blame [former AG William] Barr for not allowing McSwain to fully pursue and publicize them.... 'Attorney General Barr ... instructed me not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities. I was also given a directive to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation -- the same State Attorney General who had already declared that you could not win.'" Barr denied the allegation & said McSwain was just trying to curry Trump's favor. ~~~

~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Former Attorney General William Barr pushed back Tuesday against suggestions from ... Donald Trump and a former federal prosecutor in Pennsylvania that federal authorities were ordered not to aggressively investigate claims of fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Trump declared in a statement sent to reporters Monday evening that the former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, William McSwain, was blocked from pursuing assertions of election tampering.... In an interview with Politico, Barr -- who became a favored punching bag for Trump after the 2020 election -- denied ever telling McSwain or others not to pursue fraud allegations related to the vote. 'It's written to make it seem like I gave him a directive,' Barr said. 'I never told him not to investigate anything.'"

David Fahrenthold & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg resigned from his positions at dozens of the company's subsidiaries in late June -- several days before he was indicted on charges of tax fraud and grand larceny -- according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. 'Effective immediately, I, Allen Weisselberg, resign from each and every office and position that I hold' in the subsidiaries, Weisselberg wrote in the letter, dated June 25. What followed was a two-page list.... The list obtained by The Post was largely redacted, so that only a few company names were visible. But, from looking at other corporate records in the United States and Scotland, The Post has identified at least 54 Trump entities where Weisselberg has recently resigned from his positions.... The shifts in leadership that have followed his resignation -- detailed in other corporate filings -- show that the Trump Organization appears to be increasingly reliant on Trump';s adult sons to manage a company...." MB: Yeah, I'll bet that goes well.

The Washington Post publishes what it calls Part 1 of excerpts from Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig's new book, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year. (Also linked yesterday.)

Devan Cole of CNN: "... Donald Trump told a number of his advisers in 2020 that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker in May of that year had committed treason and should be executed for sharing details about the episode with members of the press, according to excerpts of a new book, obtained by CNN, from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Lemann reviews Michael Wolff's book Landslide for the New York Times. The review is worth reading. Here's a sample graf: "Trump, in these pages, is self-obsessed, delusional and administratively incompetent. He has no interest in or understanding of the workings of government. He doesn't read or listen to briefings. He spends vast amounts of time watching conservative television networks and chatting on the phone with cronies. The pandemic puts him at a special disadvantage; many of the people around him are either sick or afraid to come to work because that would entail complying with a regime of Covid noncompliance that Trump demands. If anybody tells him something he doesn't want to hear, he marginalizes or fires that person and finds somebody else to listen to, who may or may not hold an official position. If Fox News becomes less than completely loyal, he'll switch to Newsmax or One America News Network. He lives in a self-curated information environment that bears only a glancing relationship to reality."

Mike Allen of Axios: "... Donald Trump, in a book out Tuesday by Michael Wolff, says he is 'very disappointed' in votes by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, his own hard-won nominee, and that he 'hasn't had the courage you need to be a great justice.'... 'There were so many others I could have appointed, and everyone wanted me to,' Trump told Wolff in an interview.... 'Where would he be without me? I saved his life. He wouldn't even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

** Trump's "Lost Cause." Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “We are not the only democracy to have had a corrupt, would-be authoritarian in high office. But we have had a hard time holding that person minimally accountable.... This isn't the first time the United States has struggled to hold insurrectionists accountable.... Jefferson Davis..., Robert E. Lee ... [and] Alexander Stephens, the Confederate vice president..., [all died free men.]... Other, less prominent Confederates were also able to escape any real punishment.... Typical were those who moved smoothly from open rebellion to opposition to Reconstruction to serving as propagandists for what would become the 'Lost Cause.'... Leniency for defeated Confederates ... also contributed to a climate of impunity that fueled violence against Blacks and their allies.... The United States has never struggled to punish those radicals who stood against hierarchy and domination.... The two Red Scares of the 20th century are evidence enough of this fact." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The determining factor isn't so much the punishment as who does the punishing. If almost all Republicans had condemned Trump for inciting the insurrection -- and for his many other corrupt acts -- then it's likely Trump & Trumpism would be kaput. But most Republicans, after an extremely brief January 6 shiver, went back to defending Trump & kowtowing to him. That left only Democrats, some social media folks & a few corporations to "punish" Trump. Hardly a line-up that could convince the MAGA crowd. The same dynamic would have held after the Civil War. Had Northerners incarcerated Davis, Lee, Stephens & others, they would have become martyrs of the "Lost Cause." It would have taken Southerners to declaim against the leaders of the seditious war, and that never happened. The Great Unwashed, alas, will almost always default to, "He's a jerk, but he's out jerk." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's the Insurectionist-in-Chief talking about the January 6 "lovefest" over this past weekend. Worth watching the part with Trump's, uh, voiceover, which I've set near the top of the video: ~~~

Bill Barr Cleared Up Some Loose Ends Before He Left the Building. Devlin Barrett & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Newly unsealed court documents show the Trump Justice Department sought a court order for the communications records of three Washington Post reporters [-- Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller and Adam Entous --] in the final days of William P. Barr's tenure as attorney general in 2020, as prosecutors sought to identify sources for three articles written in 2017. The papers also reveal the service provider that was the recipient of the secret court order: Proofpoint Corporation, a firm that supplies data security services. Using Proofpoint as a means of trying to get the reporters' email records suggests prosecutors were thinking creatively about where they might be able to find reporters' data, beyond just standard email providers like Google or Microsoft.... In addition, the documents indicate the extent to which federal investigators strongly suspected the disclosures of classified information were coming from Congress."

Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "A former Chicago bank executive was convicted on Tuesday of financial crimes related to his facilitation of millions of dollars in high-risk loans to Paul Manafort, all in an effort to obtain a coveted position in the Trump administration. A jury in New York unanimously found the banker, Stephen M. Calk, 54, guilty of one count each of financial institution bribery and conspiracy to commit financial institution bribery. The charges stemmed from Mr. Calk's use of his position as chairman and chief executive of the Federal Savings Bank to push the bank to give $16 million in loans in 2016 to Mr. Manafort, who served as chairman of Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign during a key stretch."

John Cox of the Washington Post: "About a week ago, a company in Utah ... debuted what it described as a fun new product: a kit that encases Glock handguns in red, yellow and blue Lego blocks, refashioning lethal weapons to look exactly like children's toys. What Culper Precision calls the "BLOCK19" can be purchased for $549 to $765. "There is a satisfaction that can ONLY be found in the shooting sports and this is just one small way to break the rhetoric from Anti-Gun folks and draw attention to the fact that the shooting sports are SUPER FUN! the [Culper] site proclaimed.... What's not fun, and went unaddressed on the sales page, is the reality that thousands of children unintentionally shoot themselves or others each year because they find a gun and pull its trigger.... [The Lego gun is] legal in at least most of the country, said David Pucino, a lawyer at the Giffords Law Center. Although federal law prohibits toys from being manufactured to look like guns, no such law prohibits guns from being made to look like toys." ~~~

This "Lego Glock" is an actual thing you can buy, build and shoot: "...honestly what childhood toy is more welcoming than a big ole pile of blocks:” https://t.co/wBXl5GP6an

Unintentional shootings among children have risen by 30% in the past year. pic.twitter.com/ZmQXiefOE7

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 8, 2021

Ken Starr's Moral Outrage Is Extremely Client-Dependent. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "strong>Ken Starr, the lawyer who hounded Bill Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, waged a 'scorched-earth' legal campaign to persuade federal prosecutors to drop a sex-trafficking case against the billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein relating to the abuse of multiple underaged girls, according to a new book. In Perversion of Justice the Miami Herald reporter Julie K Brown writes about Starr's role in securing the secret 2008 sweetheart deal that granted Epstein effective immunity from federal prosecution. The author, who is credited with blowing open the cover-up, calls Starr a 'fixer' who 'used his political connections in the White House to get the Justice Department to review Epstein's case'.... Though Starr's role in securing the Epstein deal was public knowledge, Brown's book reveals the lengths that the lawyer was prepared to go to in order to protect from federal justice an accused sexual predator and pedophile. The extent of his involvement is all the more striking given the equally passionate lengths that Starr went to in 1998 to pursue Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice, given the much less serious sexual activity that sparked that investigation."

Maeve Sheehy of Politico: "A federal court on Tuesday threw ou the defamation lawsuit filed by Roy Moore, Alabama's former chief justice, against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Moore, who served twice in his role on the Alabama Supreme Court and was twice removed from the position, sued Baron Cohen after Moore was interviewed under the pretense that he would receive an award for his support of Israel. Baron Cohen pretended to be an Israeli anti-terrorism expert and claimed he had technology that would show whether Moore was a pedophile -- a reference to sexual misconduct allegations against Moore -- for the series 'Who Is America?' Moore alleged that Baron Cohen defamed him. He and his wife, Kayla Moore, also alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the case on Tuesday after agreeing with the defendants that because Moore had signed a waiver before the interview, and because of First Amendment protection, Moore's claims were barred. Judge John P. Cronan, an appointee of ... Donald Trump, dismissed the claims by both Moore and his wife."

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "An Iranian American journalist living in Brooklyn who has been a sharp critic of the Iranian government was the target of an international kidnapping plot orchestrated by an intelligence network in Iran, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. In an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, four Iranians were charged with conspiring to kidnap the journalist and author, Masih Alinejad. Ms. Alinejad was not identified by prosecutors, but confirmed in an interview that she was the intended target of the plot. Last year, Ms. Alinejad wrote in a newspaper article that Iranian government officials had unleashed a social media campaign calling for her abduction. The four defendants all live in Iran and remain at large, the prosecutors said, identifying one of them, Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, 50, as an Iranian intelligence official and the three others as 'Iranian intelligence assets.' A fifth defendant, accused of supporting the plot but not participating in the kidnapping conspiracy, was arrested in California." ~~~

     ~~~ A CBS News story is here. The DOJ's statement is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Conservative network Newsmax is rushing to distance itself from one of its own hosts after he said this week that vaccines go 'against nature' because diseases are 'supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people.'... Newsmax issued a statement on Tuesday supporting efforts to get Americans vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, while pointedly disagreeing with host Rob Schmitt's claims that vaccinations unnaturally interfere with viruses' designs on killing people." See also Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread.

Tennessee. Brett Kelman of the Tennessean: "The Tennessee state government on Monday fired its top vaccination official, becoming the latest of about two dozen states to lose years of institutional knowledge about vaccines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The termination comes as the virus shows new signs of spread in Tennessee, and the more-transmissible delta variant surfaces in greater numbers. Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said she was fired on Monday afternoon and provided a copy of her termination letter. It provides no explanation for her termination. Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June. 'It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19,' Fiscus said in a written statement. '"I have now been terminated for doing exactly that.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The Tennessee department of health will reportedly halt all vaccine outreach to teenagers amid a conservative backlash against Covid-19 vaccines for adolescents. The department's new guidance, announced in reports and emails reported by the Tennessean, will apply to vaccinations for all diseases -- not just Covid-19. If the department issues any information about vaccination, staff will reportedly be required to strip the agency logo from documents." The Tennessean's story is firewalled. ~~~

~~~ ** Jill Filipovic in a CNN opinion piece: "The Donald Trump-fueled descent of the GOP into a party of reality-rejecting, science-denying conspiracy theorists is well-documented, and a growing phenomenon.... And almost nowhere is the enduring harm of the Trump years more apparent than in the American right's response to the Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccinations, long rightly heralded as miracles of modern medicine that have saved millions of lives, are suddenly ideologically divisive along party lines. The danger inherent in this conflict came to a head this week in Tennessee, where pediatrician Dr. Michelle Fiscus, one of the state's top vaccine officials, was fired after circulating information about a decades-old state policy regarding vaccinations for teens.... The party of 'pro-life' doesn't believe that children -- including teens -- have basic rights to preserve their well-being, separate from their parents' wishes or consent." Read on.

Beyond the Beltway

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "In the United States in the year 2021, you, as an American citizen, do not necessarily have the right to vote. You do not necessarily have the right to teach or to learn about matters of race, gender or anything else state lawmakers consider 'divisive concepts.'But you do have one absolute, sacrosanct, inviolate, God-given, self-evident and inalienable right: the right to refuse a coronavirus vaccine -- and to infect as many people as you can. With the blessing of the Roberts court, legislatures in Republican-run states are rushing to impose new voting restrictions, particularly on non-White voters.... At the same time, 10 states have enacted, and 26 states are weighing, restrictions on classroom discussions of racism and sexism.... Red states are simultaneously extending civil rights to a previously unprotected class: the anti-vaxxers. A count by the Husch Blackwell law firm lists at least 17 Republican-run states that have enacted laws or orders protecting the rights of those who refuse coronavirus vaccines...."

California. Don Thompson of the AP: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom can't put his Democratic Party affiliation on the ballot voters see when they decide whether to remove him, a judge ruled Monday. Newsom's campaign missed a deadline to submit his affiliation to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber for the Sept. 14 recall election. Newsom's campaign said it was inadvertent and asked Weber, who was appointed by Newsom, to allow the affiliation to appear. She said the issue needed to go to a judge, so Newsom filed a lawsuit.... Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles ... determined that the law 'unambiguously precludes party information from appearing on a recall ballot where the elected officer fails timely to make the designation.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "The death toll from a catastrophic condominium collapse in Florida last month, once feared to be well more than 100 people, is expected to land between 95 and 99 people, with the search-and-recovery operation at the disaster site nearing its end.... In the 20 days crews have searched for victims..., they have found the remains of 95 people. Eighty-five of them have been identified. The other 10 victims will be considered unaccounted for until the medical examiner's office in Miami-Dade County can identify them through various forensic techniques.... In addition to the 10 unidentified people who are known to have been in the building, the list of those potentially still missing includes four more names, for a total of 14, said Alfredo Ramirez III, the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department. Those four were identified by friends or family members as possibly in the building when it collapsed, and they have not been found alive elsewhere." The AP's report is here.

Florida. Amanda Maile & Mina Kaji of ABC News: "Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring its passengers and crew are vaccinated against COVID-19. In a complaint filed Tuesday, the company called the move a 'last resort.'... Florida's law threatens to fine companies $5,000 each time they ask a customer to provide proof that they've been vaccinated."

Texas. Reid Epstein & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Texas lawmakers traveled down starkly divergent political paths on Tuesday, as Republicans in Austin signaled their intention to push forward with an overhaul of the state's election system while Democrats who had fled the state a day earlier began lobbying lawmakers in Congress to pass comprehensive federal voting rights legislation. While Democrats celebrated their success in temporarily delaying the Republican bill, they confronted a much bigger long-term challenge: There is little the party can do to stop Republicans from ultimately passing a wide array of voting restrictions, with Gov. Greg Abbott vowing to call 'special session after special session after special session' until an election bill is passed. But Democrats, as long as they remain away from Texas, appear likely to be able to hold off the G.O.P. effort for now.... Without a quorum in the House, any bill passed by the Senate cannot advance, effectively killing any bill for this session...." ~~~

~~~ That Sound You Hear Is Sabres Rattling. Patrick Svitek & Cassandra Pollock of the Texas Tribune: "A showdown in the Texas House was locked into place Tuesday after the chamber voted overwhelmingly to send law enforcement after Democrats who left [for Washington, D.C.] a day earlier.... The impact of the House move is unclear since Texas law enforcement lacks jurisdiction in the nation's capital."

Texas. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Abortion rights advocates and providers filed a federal lawsuit in Texas on Tuesday seeking to block a new state law empowering individuals to sue anyone assisting a woman with getting an abortion, including those who provide financial help or drive a pregnant patient to a clinic. A dozen states have passed laws banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. But the Texas law, set to take effect in September, goes further by incentivizing private citizens to help enforce the ban -- awarding them at least $10,000 if their court challenges are successful. Even religious leaders who counsel a pregnant woman considering an abortion could be liable, according to the lawsuit filed in Austin by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU on behalf of several other groups." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Who Took Down REvil? David Sanger of the New York Times: "Just days after President Biden demanded that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia shut down ransomware groups attacking American targets, the most aggressive of the groups suddenly went off-line early Tuesday. The mystery is who made it happen. The group, called REvil, short for 'Ransomware evil,' has been identified by U.S. intelligence agencies as responsible for the attack on one of America's largest beef producers, JBS. Two weeks after Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin met in Geneva last month, REvil took credit for a hack that affected thousands of businesses around the world over the July 4 holiday.That latest attack led to Mr. Biden's ultimatum in a phone call on Friday to the Russian president. Later, Mr. Biden said that 'we expect them to act,' and when asked by a reporter later if he would take down the group's servers if Mr. Putin did not, the president simply said, 'Yes.' He may have done exactly that. But that is only one possible explanation for what happened around 1 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, when the group&'s sites on the dark web suddenly disappeared."

Canada. Leyland Cecco of the Guardian: "A First Nations community in western Canada has announced the discovery of at least 160 unmarked graves close to a former residential school -- the latest in a series of grim announcements from across the country in recent weeks. Members of the Penelakut Tribe in south-western British Columbia said in a statement late on Monday that the graves had been discovered near the site of the Kuper Island industrial school on Penelakut Island, nearly 90km north of the provincial capital Victoria."

The Commentariat -- July 13, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

California. Don Thompson of the AP: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom can't put his Democratic Party affiliation on the ballotvoters see when they decide whether to remove him, a judge ruled Monday. Newsom's campaign missed a deadline to submit his affiliation to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber for the Sept. 14 recall election. Newsom's campaign said it was inadvertent and asked Weber, who was appointed by Newsom, to allow the affiliation to appear. She said the issue needed to go to a judge, so Newsom filed a lawsuit.... Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles ... determined that the law 'unambiguously precludes party information from appearing on a recall ballot where the elected officer fails timely to make the designation.'"

Devan Cole of CNN: "... Donald Trump told a number of his advisers in 2020 that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker in May of that year had committed treason and should be executed for sharing details about the episode with members of the press, according to excerpts of a new book, obtained by CNN, from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender."

Mike Allen of Axios: "... Donald Trump, in a book out Tuesday by Michael Wolff, says he is 'very disappointed' in votes by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, his own hard-won nominee, and that he 'hasn't had the courage you need to be a great justice.'... 'There were so many others I could have appointed, and everyone wanted me to,' Trump told Wolff in an interview.... 'Where would he be without me? I saved his life. He wouldn't even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him.'"

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

Tennessee. Brett Kelman of the Tennessean: "The Tennessee state government on Monday fired its top vaccination official, becoming the latest of about two dozen states to lose years of institutional knowledge about vaccines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The termination comes as the virus shows new signs of spread in Tennessee, and the more-transmissible delta variant surfaces in greater numbers. Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said she was fired on Monday afternoon and provided a copy of her termination letter. It provides no explanation for her termination. Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June. 'It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19,' Fiscus said in a written statement. '"I have now been terminated for doing exactly that.'"

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Ousted Social Security commissioner Andrew Saul, the Trump appointee who declared Friday he would defy his firing by President Biden, on Monday found his access to agency computers cut off, even as his acting replacement moved to undo his policies. [Saul was trying to work from his home in Katonah, N.Y., where he's been working since March 2020 because of the pandemic.]... Saul said he had no public announcement -- yet -- on his strategy to remain in office as the 'duly confirmed Social Security commissioner.'... Saul [is] a wealthy former women's apparel executive and prominent Republican donor who had served on the board of a conservative think tank that has called for cuts to Social Security benefits. 'Stay tuned.'"

Texas. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Abortion rights advocates and providers filed a federal lawsuit in Texas on Tuesday seeking to block a new state law empowering individuals to sue anyone assisting a woman with getting an abortion, including those who provide financial help or drive a pregnant patient to a clinic. A dozen states have passed laws banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. But the Texas law, set to take effect in September, goes further by incentivizing private citizens to help enforce the ban -- awarding them at least $10,000 if their court challenges are successful. Even religious leaders who counsel a pregnant woman considering an abortion could be liable, according to the lawsuit filed in Austin by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU on behalf of several other groups."

** Trump's "Lost Cause." Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "We are not the only democracy to have had a corrupt, would-be authoritarian in high office. But we have had a hard time holding that person minimally accountable.... This isn't the first time the United States has struggled to hold insurrectionists accountable.... Jefferson Davis..., Robert E. Lee ... [and] Alexander Stephens, the Confederate vice president..., [all died free men.]... Other, less prominent Confederates were also able to escape any real punishment.... Typical were those who moved smoothly from open rebellion to opposition to Reconstruction to serving as propagandists for what would become the 'Lost Cause.'... Leniency for defeated Confederates ... also contributed to a climate of impunity that fueled violence against Blacks and their allies.... The United States has never struggled to punish those radicals who stood against hierarchy and domination.... The two Red Scares of the 20th century are evidence enough of this fact." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The determining factor isn't so much the punishment as who does the punishing. If almost all Republicans had condemned Trump for inciting the insurrection -- and for his many other corrupt acts -- then it's likely Trump & Trumpism would be kaput. But most Republicans, after an extremely brief January 6 shiver, went back to defending Trump & kowtowing to him. That left only Democrats, some social media folks & a few corporations to "punish" Trump. Hardly a line-up that could convince the MAGA crowd. The same dynamic would have held after the Civil War. Had Northerners incarcerated Davis, Lee, Stephens & others, they would have become martyrs of the "Lost Cause." It would have taken Southerners to declaim against the leaders of the seditious war, and that never happened. The Great Unwashed, alas, will almost always default to, "He's a jerk, but he's out jerk." ~~~

~~~ Here's the Insurectionist-in-Chief talking about the January 6 "lovefest" over this past weekend. Worth watching the part with Trump's, uh, voiceover, which I've set near the top of the video:

The Washington Post publishes what it calls Part 1 of excerpts from Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig's new book, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "Facing rising fears of summer violence, President Joe Biden is embarking on a political high-wire act, trying to balance his strong backing for law enforcement with the police reform movement championed by many of his supporters. His focus Monday was on crime. Biden met at the White House with urban leaders -- including Eric Adams, the heavy favorite to be the next mayor of New York City -- about increased shootings, as Democrats warily watch a surge across the nation. Though limited to what can be done at the federal level, Biden promised to support efforts on the ground to combat crime." The New York Times story is here.

Oscar Lopez & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "As the largest protest movement in decades swept Cuba, President Biden on Monday called on the Cuban government to heed the demands of thousands of citizens who took to the streets on Sunday to protest power outages, food shortages and a worrying lack of medicine. 'We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom,' Mr. Biden said in a statement. 'The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.'" An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Washington Post Editors: "President Biden promised during his campaign that he would dispense with the pampering ... Donald Trump offered to Middle Eastern dictators.... As for the leaders of Saudi Arabia, he would 'make them in fact the pariah that they are.' There is 'very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia,' he said. So why, last week, did Mr. Biden roll out the red carpet for Prince Khalid bin Salman, the brother of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman? The former ambassador to Washington was directly implicated in the 2018 murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi, yet was treated to a host of high-level meetings, including with Mr. Biden's national security adviser, secretary of state and defense secretary. That's not the reception you'd expect for a pariah.&"

David Smith of the Guardian: "Joe Biden, who has been criticised for failing to use his 'bully pulpit' to defend voting rights, is set to deliver on Tuesday an aggressive denunciation of Donald Trump's 'big lie' about a stolen election. After months of sidestepping acrimony with his predecessor in a bid to lower the political temperature, Biden will argue that Trump's false conspiracy theories led to the 6 January insurrection and a rash of voter restrictions, the White House said. 'He'll lay out the moral case for why denying the right to vote is a form of suppression and a form of silencing,' said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, to reporters on Monday. 'And he will redouble his commitment to using every tool at his disposal to continue to fight to protect the fundamental right of Americans to vote against the onslaught of voter suppression laws, based on a dangerous and discredited conspiracy theory that culminated in an assault on our Capitol.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yo, Joe, "every tool" would include an endorsement of ditching the filibuster for voting rights bills. ~~~

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Top Democrats in the House are spearheading a new effort to convince the Senate to carve out a historic exception to the filibuster that would allow them to push through their marquee voting rights and election reform legislation over unanimous Republican opposition. The sweeping measure to expand voting rights known as S1 fell victim to a Republican filibuster last month after Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and his leadership team unified the conference to sink the bill in a party-line vote. Now, furious at Republicans for weaponizing the filibuster against Joe Biden's legislative agenda, House majority whip James Clyburn is pushing Senate Democrats to end its use for constitutional measures, according to sources familiar with the matter. The rare and forceful effort from a member of the House leadership to pressure changes in the Senate underscores the alarm among Democrats that the filibuster may be an insurmountable obstacle as they race to overturn a wave of Republican ballot restrictions." See related stories about the Texas state legislature linked under "Beyond the Beltway" below.

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "The latest effort to hold ... Donald Trump and his allies accountable for months of baseless claims about the 2020 election played out Monday in a Michigan courtroom, where a federal judge asked detailed and skeptical questions of several lawyers she is considering imposing sanctions against for filing a suit seeking to overturn the results. U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker said she would rule on a request to discipline the lawyers in coming weeks. But over and over again during the more than five-hour hearing, she pointedly pressed the lawyers involved -- including Trump allies Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood -- to explain what steps they had taken to ensure their court filings in the case filed last year had been accurate. She appeared astonished by many of their answers.... The affidavits filed to support [their] claims included obvious errors, speculation and basic misunderstandings of how elections are generally conducted in the state, Parker said." ~~~

~~~ Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The Republican Party's top lawyer warned in November against continuing to push false claims that the presidential election was stolen, calling efforts by some of the former president's lawyers a 'joke' that could mislead millions of people, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post. Justin Riemer, the Republican National Committee's chief counsel, sought to discourage a Republican Party staffer from posting claims about ballot fraud on RNC accounts, the email shows, as attempts by Donald Trump and his associates to challenge results in a number of states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, intensified. 'What Rudy and Jenna are doing is a joke and they are getting laughed out of court,' Riemer, a longtime Republican lawyer, wrote to Liz Harrington, a former party spokeswoman, on Nov. 28, referring to Trump attorneys Rudolph W. Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. 'They are misleading millions of people who have wishful thinking that the president is going to somehow win this thing.'... Some Trump allies, including Giuliani, sought to have Riemer fired after learning of the email, according to people familiar with the matter, but he remains employed at the RNC."

Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "A week after state prosecutors in Manhattan indicted Donald J. Trump's family business and its chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, the company began removing Mr. Weisselberg from every leadership position he held atop dozens of its subsidiaries, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The move could be a potential precursor to a wider shake-up at the former president's company, the Trump Organization, as the reality of the indictment takes hold for Mr. Trump and his senior executives.... Mr. Weisselberg continues to work at the Trump Organization, and there is no indication that Mr. Trump wants to cut ties with him...."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's interview on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News encapsulate[s] how the former president has come to publicly embrace the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf.... Trump [declared] that those involved were 'tremendous -- in many cases, tremendous people, tremendous people.' He'd just finished saying that those who overtook the building in an effort to block the finalization of his electoral defeat had 'no guns ... no nothing' (untrue; a rioter was charged with having a firearm, and the crowd had a variety of other weapons from clubs to chemical weapons) and celebrating them as being 'military people, and they're police officers, and they're construction workers.' He repeatedly praised the rioters as righteous and innocuous, as being in a 'lovefest' with the police officers at the scene who, he suggested, stood by near open doors.... From the start, Trump's politics included an often explicit embrace of violence.... The events of Jan. 6 were a natural consequence of his dishonest claims and his obvious approval of force -- and of the failure of his allies to demand any accountability." Bump also gives Bartiromo what-for. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katherine Huggins of Mediaite: "During Donald Trump's CPAC speech on Sunday, Fox News added a disclaimer that 'voting system companies have denied the various allegations made by President Trump and his counsel regarding the 2020 election.' The chyron appeared after Trump started talking about how many votes he received.... The network currently faces a $1.6 billion defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems (that Fox has asked to be dismissed) for their role in promoting baseless election fraud claims. Another voting systems company, Smartmatic, also filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News earlier this year." MB: So while it may have appeared that Fox was attempting to practice some journalism there, they merely were practicing some legal defense against pending lawsuits. The clue: a "normal" disclaimer would have read something like, "Claims of rampant election fraud are untrue," but the Fox "News" chyron mentioned only that the companies suing them disputed Trump's allegations.

Sabrina Embler of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, the Entomological Society of America announced it was removing 'gypsy moth' and 'gypsy ant' as recognized common names for two insects ... because their names are derogatory to the Romani people.... The move by the Entomological Society is the first time the group has removed a common name from an insect on the grounds that it is offensive to a community of people, according to representatives from the society."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: Emmanuel Macron Is Tired of Trying to Reason with Those People. "Hoping to combat a possible wave of coronavirus infections, President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday announced new vaccination requirements, including mandatory inoculation for health care workers and proof of immunization or a recent negative test to enter restaurants and cultural venues."

Sheryl Stolberg & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Representatives of Pfizer met privately with senior U.S. scientists and regulators on Monday to press their case for swift authorization of coronavirus booster vaccines, amid growing public confusion about whether they will be needed and pushback from federal health officials who say the extra doses are not necessary now. The high-level online meeting, which lasted an hour and involved Pfizer's chief scientific officer briefing virtually every top doctor in the federal government, came on the same day Israel started administering third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to heart transplant patients and others with compromised immune systems. Officials said after the meeting that more data -- and possibly several more months -- would be needed before regulators could determine whether booster shots were necessary."

Sharon LaFraniere & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration warned on Monday that Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine can lead to an increased risk of a rare neurological condition known as Guillain-Barré syndrome, another setback for a vaccine that has largely been sidelined in the United States. Although regulators have found that the chances of developing the condition are low, they appear to be three to five times higher among recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine than among the general population in the United States, according to people familiar with the decision. The warning was attached to fact sheets about the vaccine for providers and patients."

Bob Herman of Axios: "More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest Census Bureau data.... Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine, without dinging their already-low incomes, could help boost the country's vaccination rates.... Vaccination has been politicized, but juggling work schedules and child care could be bigger factors than politics." According to a chart by the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey, which Herman republishes, 22 percent of people living households earning less than $25K have not been vaccinated; only 3.4% of those in households of $200K & up haven't been vaccinated. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "What used to be the conservative movement in this country is becoming a death cult. The measure of its power is less in ballots cast than in how many people die needlessly in service of this twisted worldview. This reality was on view over the weekend in Dallas at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where attendees cheered when Alex Berenson, who has made himself a Fox News folk hero for spreading misinformation about covid-19 vaccines, crowed about the fact that fewer Americans were getting their shots than public health officials had hoped.... And the worst-case possibility is that covid-19 roars back -- along with the restrictions and isolations Americans thought we'd left behind.... Under many circumstances, those who choose to gamble with their lives have the right to do so. But refusing to get vaccinated isn't like skydiving or shooting heroin: It's a threat to the rest of us as well."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post, in a post on what a deceptive incompetent Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) is, presents an argument for Covid-19 vaccinations that even dimwits can understand: "It's like making driving under the influence legal and booze free, and touting how much confidence you put in the public to manage their own affairs. Except, of course, that a lot of people killed in the resulting car accidents might be dying from the personal decisions of others, just as many of those infected with the coronavirus in [Noem's] state were probably infected while the pandemic was raging despite their own efforts not to be."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Robert Jablon of the AP: "A federal judge on Monday gave final approval to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit that alleged some 6,000 women were sexually abused by a former University of California, Los Angeles gynecologist. The 2019 class-action suit involved allegations that from 1983 to 2018, Dr. James Heaps groped women, simulated intercourse with an ultrasound probe or made inappropriate comments during examinations at the UCLA student health center, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or his on-campus office. The suit also accused UCLA of failing to take action against Heaps despite complaints and of having a 'policy of indifference' to reports of sexual misconduct.... UCLA didn't acknowledge wrongdoing in reaching the settlement last year, but the university did agree to change its procedures for preventing, identifying, investigating and dealing with sexual misconduct."

Louisiana. Debbie Elliott of NPR: "Four-term Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards, who also served prison time for corruption, died Monday at his home in Gonzales, La. He was 93. A statement from his family said he'd been in hospice care for the past week with respiratory problems. Edwards was the last of the larger-than-life populists who once dominated Louisiana politics. He built his career on political patronage, public works, and sheer force of personality." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Texas. Reid Epstein & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Texas Democrats fled the state on Monday in a last-ditch effort to prevent the passage of a restrictive new voting law by the Republican-controlled Legislature, heading to Washington to draw national attention to their cause. The group left Austin in midafternoon on a pair of chartered flights that arrived at Dulles International Airport just before sunset. Fifty-one of the 67 State House Democrats flew on the planes, leaders of the delegation said, and several others arrived separately in Washington; that's enough to prevent Texas Republicans from attaining a quorum, which is required to conduct state business.... The move could paralyze the Legislature for weeks if Democrats remain out of state until this special session ends in August." An NBC News story is here. (Both the NYT & NBC stories are updates of stories linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Matt Houston of KENS5 San Antonio: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ... said law enforcement will arrest those Democrats when they return to Texas in a procedure unanimously outlined and agreed to by House members. They would return to the capitol, effectively forced to maintain quorum. But troopers cannot arrest lawmakers who are out of state."

Way Beyond

Cuba. Tom Phillips & Ed Augustin of the Guardian: "The Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has attacked the 'shameful delinquents' he claimed were trying to 'fracture' his country's communist revolution after the Caribbean island witnessed its largest anti-government protests in nearly three decades. As Cuban officials blamed the US for Sunday;s demonstrations, Joe Biden called on the island;s leaders to hear its citizens' 'clarion call for freedom'.... In a televised address on Monday morning Díaz-Canel, who recently succeeded Raúl Castro as the Communist party's top figure, painted the protests as part of a United States-backed, social media-driven plot to stir up public discontent and overthrow the Cuban regime.... Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, a top party official who runs its ideology department, denounced the protests as part of a well-funded US-sponsored effort to create 'instability and chaos' in Cuba, which is currently experiencing its worst economic slump in decades as well as a worsening Covid crisis."

News Ledes

CNBC: "Inflation surged in June at its fastest pace in nearly 13 years amid a burst in used vehicle costs and price increases in food and energy, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The consumer price index increased 5.4% from a year earlier, the largest jump since August 2008, just before the worst of the financial crisis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 5% gain." The New York Times story is here.

New York Times: "Richard C. Lewontin, widely considered one of the most brilliant geneticists of the modern era and a prolific, elegant and often caustic writer who condemned the facile use of genetics and evolutionary biology to 'explain' human nature, died on Sunday at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 92."

The Commentariat -- July 12, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Oscar Lopez & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "As the largest protest movement in decades swept Cuba, President Biden on Monday called on the Cuban government to heed the demands of thousands of citizens who took to the streets on Sunday to protest power outages, food shortages and a worrying lack of medicine. 'We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom,' Mr. Biden said in a statement. 'The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.'" An ABC News story is here.

Bob Herman of Axios: "More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest Census Bureau data.... Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine, without dinging their already-low incomes, could help boost the country's vaccination rates.... Vaccination has been politicized, but juggling work schedules and child care could be bigger factors than politics." According to a chart by the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey, which Herman republishes, 22 percent of people living households earning less than $25K have not been vaccinated; only 3.4% of those in households of $200K & up haven't been vaccinated.

Texas. Reid Epstein & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Democrats in the Texas Legislature are making plans to flee the state on Monday ahead of expected votes on new voting laws, and head to Washington to spotlight what they say is a crippling Republican assault on the ability to cast a ballot. The group had arranged for a pair of chartered flights from Austin with plans to arrive in the nation's capital by the early evening. It was unclear as of midday how many Democrats might flee and if it would be enough to prevent Texas Republicans from attaining a quorum, which is required to conduct state business. The cohort of Democrats were aiming to transform themselves into the nation's new symbols in the fight for voting rights, according to several people familiar with their plans. The goal is to apply pressure to Democrats in the U.S. Senate who so far have been unable to pass federal legislation to address the issue." An NBC News story is here.

Louisiana. Debbie Elliott of NPR: "Four-term Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards, who also served prison time for corruption, died Monday at his home in Gonzales, La. He was 93. A statement from his family said he'd been in hospice care for the past week with respiratory problems. Edwards was the last of the larger-than-life populists who once dominated Louisiana politics. He built his career on political patronage, public works, and sheer force of personality."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's interview on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News encapsulate[s] how the former president has come to publicly embrace the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf.... Trump [declared] that those involved were 'tremendous -- in many cases, tremendous people, tremendous people.' He'd just finished saying that those who overtook the building in an effort to block the finalization of his electoral defeat had 'no guns ... no nothing' (untrue; a rioter was charged with having a firearm, and the crowd had a variety of other weapons from clubs to chemical weapons) and celebrating them as being 'military people, and they're police officers, and they're construction workers.' He repeatedly praised the rioters as righteous and innocuous, as being in a 'lovefest' with the police officers at the scene who, he suggested, stood by near open doors.... From the start, Trump's politics included an often explicit embrace of violence.... The events of Jan. 6 were a natural consequence of his dishonest claims and his obvious approval of force -- and of the failure of his allies to demand any accountability." Bump also gives Bartiromo what-for.

~~~~~~~~~~

Perry Bacon of the Washington Post: "President Biden and his team have a logical strategy for how they are attempting to counter the racist, anti-democratic drift in the Republican Party. But it's wrong for this political moment. The administration is filing lawsuits against Republicans' voter suppression efforts, supporting legislation in Congress to defend voting rights and getting the Democratic Party to invest in voter registration initiatives. But while they won't acknowledge this publicly, Biden and his advisers are not pushing these democracy issues as hard as they have pushed covid-19 vaccinations, the economic stimulus bill or the infrastructure package they are trying to get passed. Biden is speaking Tuesday about voting rights, though it's unclear if that will be the start of a broader, sustained push." Bacon has a list of what Biden should do.

The Fed Makes Sure the Rich Get Richer & the Poor Get Poorer. Karen Petrou in a New York Times op-ed: "The Fed, which controls America's monetary policy, is mired in conventional thinking, even though its policy since 2008 has been unconventional in scale, scope and omnipotence. Adhering to its 'lower rates are better' axiom, the Fed has kept 'real' U.S. short-term interest rates at -- or even below -- zero, after taking inflation into account. The Fed now plans to keep rates ultra, ultra low until about 2023, even if inflation ticks up. This results in even wider wealth inequalities as the gap between rich and everyone else grows.... The Fed's approach is premised on trickle-down expectations, adopted in the early 2000s. U.S. central bankers believe the higher that markets fly and the more that the wealthy spend, the better that everyone else will be. In truth, this policy works only for the wealthy."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The top U.S. general in Afghanistan stepped down Monday, marking a symbolic end to 20 years of American military involvement here -- and coming as an ascendant Taliban threatens to topple the central government. Army Gen. Austin 'Scott' Miller, who has overseen the war effort for nearly three years, relinquished responsibility in a ceremony at the top U.S. military headquarters. President Biden said last week that the military withdrawal he ordered will be complete Aug. 31, but Miller's departure is among the only pieces left. Virtually all other troops, contractors and equipment already have exited, defense officials said on the condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity."

** Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "For much of the past decade, oil companies engaged in drilling and fracking have been allowed to pump into the ground chemicals that, over time, can break down into toxic substances known as PFAS -- a class of long-lasting compounds known to pose a threat to people and wildlife -- according to internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. in 2011 approved the use of these chemicals, used to ease the flow of oil from the ground, despite the agency's own grave concerns about their toxicity, according to the documents, which were reviewed by The New York Times. The E.P.A.'s approval of the three chemicals wasn't previously publicly known.... The documents, dating from the Obama administration, are heavily redacted because the E.P.A. allows companies to invoke trade-secret claims.... The Biden administration had made addressing PFAS a top priority, [an EPA spokesman said].... The presence of PFAS in oil and gas extraction threatens to expose oil-field employees and emergency workers handling fires and spills as well as people who live near, or downstream from, drilling sites to a class of chemicals that has faced increasing scrutiny for its links to cancer, birth defects, and other serious health problems."

Trump Praises Insurrectionists. David Cohen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Sunday widely praised those who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word 'love' to describe the tone of the event. Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, 'These were peaceful people, these were great people.' Speaking on 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo' on the Fox News Channel, he also said the rally participants were patriots, that some of them were unjustly arrested and jailed, and that a woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the insurrection was a great hero.... He added: 'Too much spirit and faith and love, there was such love at that rally, you had over a million people,' inflating the size of his rally crowd.... The remarks reflected recent efforts by Trump and his supporters to cast themselves as the aggrieved parties from the Jan. 6 riot...." ~~~

     ~~~ We Ignore Trump at Our Peril. Stephen Collinson of CNN: At CPAC, "Trump demonstrated his still unmatched capacity to sell outrage politics. But more than that, he demonstrated his ability to conjure an alternative belief system that is divorced from reality but that his supporters immediately adopt -- the hallmark of strongmen leaders throughout history.... Trump is not just popular at CPAC where the crowd greeted his speech with glee. That his populist extremism is now being implemented by GOP governors across states he won shows his enduring power.... The former President's threat to American democracy remains extreme."

Stephanie McCrummen of the Washington Post: "... a growing Christian movement that is nondenominational [and] openly political ... has become an engine of ... Donald Trump's Republican Party. It includes some of the largest congregations in the nation, housed in the husks of old Baptist churches, former big-box stores and sprawling multimillion-dollar buildings with private security to direct traffic on Sundays. Its most successful leaders are considered apostles and prophets, including some with followings in the hundreds of thousands, publishing empires, TV shows, vast prayer networks, podcasts, spiritual academies, and branding in the form of T-shirts, bumper stickers and even flags. It is a world in which demons are real, miracles are real, and the ultimate mission is not just transforming individual lives but also turning civilization itself into their version of God's Kingdom: one with two genders, no abortion, a free-market economy, Bible-based education, church-based social programs and laws such as the ones curtailing LGBTQ rights now moving through statehouses around the country.... Influential religious leaders ... helped organize nationwide prayer rallies in the days before the Jan. 6 insurrection, speaking of an imminent 'heavenly strike' and 'a Christian populist uprising,' leading many who stormed the Capitol to believe they were taking back the country for God."

Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "Far from being an innocuous domestic animal, a goldfish freed in fresh water is an invasive species, an organism that is introduced to an environment, can quickly reproduce, outcompete native species and destroy a habitat. And even though they get less attention than invasive organisms such as Asian carp or zebra mussels, goldfish appear to be a growing problem in bodies of water across the United States and around the world, triggering warnings from government officials in Virginia, Washington state, Australia, Canada and elsewhere.... Goldfish can live to be 25 years old, weigh as much as four pounds and measure well over a foot long.... Goldfish, like their common carp relatives, feed at the bottom of lakes, where they uproot plants and stir up sediment, which then damages the water's quality and can lead to algal blooms, harming other species.... Once goldfish are in one body of water, they can move on to others, and they can be tricky to evict."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Marie: Yesterday I saw this clip on CNN. It's from a CPAC "forum" held Saturday. It enraged me: ~~~

~~~ Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci ... called the anti-vaccine politics on display [at CPAC] 'horrifying.' Fauci was reacting to a talk in which anti-vaxxer Alex Berenson was roundly cheered by a CPAC audience for saying the US government had failed to 'sucker' 90 percent of Americans into getting vaccinated.... [Meanwhile,] Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina ... push[ed] the idea that ... if the federal government cultivated the ability to go door-to-door for vaccinations that would create the kind of infrastructure that could 'take your Bibles.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Here's a Partial Explanation. Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: Fox "News" "prime-time shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham ... and guests on their programs have said on the air that the vaccines could be dangerous; that people are justified in refusing them; and that public authorities have overstepped in their attempts to deliver them.... Mr. Carlson ... said the Biden plan [to send medical professionals door-to-door to vaccinate residents] was an attempt to 'force people to take medicine they don't want or need.' He called the initiative 'the greatest scandal in my lifetime, by far.'... Served up to an audience that is more likely than the general population to be wary of Covid vaccines, the remarks by Mr. Carlson and Ms. Ingraham echoed a now-common conservative talking point -- that the government-led effort to raise vaccination rates amounted to a violation of civil liberties and a waste of taxpayer dollars.... Newsmax covered Mr. Biden's outreach plan on its website with the headline 'Biden Blasted for "Sick" Door-to-Door Vaccine Campaign'; One America News Network greeted the proposal with the headline 'Joe Biden To Send Operatives To Harass Americans Into Taking COVID-19 Vaccines.'" ~~~

~~~ Caitlin Owens of Axios: "State Republican lawmakers around the country are pushing bills -- at least one of which [in Montana] has become law -- that would give unvaccinated people the same protections as those surrounding race, gender and religion.... These bills would tie the hands of private businesses that want to protect their employees and customers. But they also show how deep into the political psyche resistance to coronavirus vaccine requirements has become, and how vaccination status has rapidly become a marker of identity."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Amanda Morris of the New York Times: "Under the influence of a movement known as eugenics, whose supporters believed that those with physical disabilities, psychiatric disorders and other conditions were 'genetically defective,' more than 60,000 people across the United States were forcibly sterilized by state-run programs throughout the 20th century. They included more than 20,000 people over seven decades in California, under a eugenics law enacted in 1909.... Even after California repealed its eugenics law in 1979, it continued to sterilize women in prison, sometimes without ensuring that their consent was lawfully obtained, according to a 2014 state report that followed an exposé by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Now, under a budget passed by the legislature and awaiting the governor's approval, California is prepared to spend $7.5 million to find and pay an estimated 600 surviving victims of coerced sterilization..., an estimated $25,000 each. The move follows similar efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to compensate victims.... Not everyone who was forcibly sterilized under California's program had a disability. The vast majority were poor, and many were wards of the state from so-called 'broken homes.' Many had suffered previous abuse, and many were Black, Latino, Asian American or Native American."

Texas. Eva Ruth Moravec & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "New voting restrictions in Texas moved a step closer to becoming law this weekend after two committees advanced the legislation in a special session, setting up a floor vote in the coming days on a GOP proposal that civil rights leaders say would hurt communities of color. It was the second effort by Texas Republicans to pass such voting restrictions, after Democrats foiled a first attempt by staging a dramatic walkout in May, denying the Republican-majority legislature a quorum and forcing them to adjourn without voting on the measure. After the walkout, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vowed that he would call a special session later in the year and include the voting legislation. State GOP lawmakers filed two new bills last week -- one in the House and one in the Senate -- and debated them in hearings on Saturday. The two bills contain similar provisions, including banning 24-hour voting and ending drive-through voting, both of which were used in the state in the 2020 election to help people vote during the coronavirus pandemic."

Virginia. Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "... the stirring image of [Kasey] Meredith becoming VMI's first female regimental commander belied the misogyny she and other female cadets have endured since women were first admitted to the school in 1997 after a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. In the six weeks since her appointment was announced, Meredith ... had been the object of derision by VMI students on Jodel, a widely used anonymous social media app where female cadets are routinely dismissed as 'shedets' or 'sheeds.'... [An] independent investigation by the law firm Barnes & Thornburg ... found that sexism on the Lexington campus ... may be just as serious a problem as racism.... At a college where sexual contact between cadets on campus is forbidden, 'sexual assault is prevalent at VMI yet it is inadequately addressed by the Institute,' the report said.... In ... interviews, [VMI women] described an atmosphere of hostility toward women, with constant ridicule at their expense on Jodel, and an expectation of backlash from male cadets if they reported incidents in which they've been groped or raped.&"

Way Beyond

Cuba. Frances Robles of the New York Times: "Shouting 'Freedom' and other anti-government slogans, hundreds of Cubans took to the streets in cities around the country on Sunday to protest food and medicine shortages, in a remarkable eruption of discontent not seen in nearly 30 years. Hundreds of people marched through San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, with videos streaming live on Facebook for nearly an hour before they suddenly disappeared. As the afternoon wore on, other videos appeared from demonstrations elsewhere, including Palma Soriano, in the country's southeast. Hundreds of people also gathered in Havana, where a heavy police presence preceded their arrival.... In a country known for repressive crackdowns on dissent, the rallies were widely viewed as astonishing.... The protests were set off by a dire economic crisis in Cuba, where the coronavirus pandemic has cut off crucial tourism dollars. People now spend hours in line each day to buy basic food items. Many have been unable to work because restaurants and other businesses have remained on lockdown for months." CNN's story is here.

Haiti. The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Sunday are here: "A Haitian-born doctor based in Florida has been arrested as a 'central' suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the national police chief suggested at a Sunday news conference that he believes the suspect was plotting to become president. The doctor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, is now the third Haitian-born suspect with U.S. ties to be arrested." ~~~

     ~~~ Peter Beaumont of the Guardian: "Police in Haiti say they have arrested a new suspect in the assassination of the country's president, Jovenel Moïse -- a Haitian living in Florida who arrived on a private plane in June allegedly to act as a middleman between the alleged hitmen and the plot's unnamed masterminds. As Haiti descended ever deeper into a dangerous political chaos, with notorious gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier calling on Haitians to 'mobilise', the motive for the killing of Moïse remained clouded in mystery. The latest suspect was identified by police as Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian in his 60s living in Florida who describes himself as a doctor and has accused his homeland's leaders of corruption." MB: I don't think I want to know what Cherizier is called “Barbeque."

Further Yet

Sarah Betancourt of the Guardian: "The British entrepreneur Richard Branson has successfully flown to the edge of space and back in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane, days ahead of a rival launch by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the two billionaires raced to kick off a new era of space tourism. Seventeen years after Branson founded Virgin Galactic to develop commercial spacecraft and cater to future space tourists, the spaceplane went into sub-orbital flight on Sunday morning, reaching 55 miles (88km ) above Earth's surface. The launch was slightly delayed until 10.40ET due to weather conditions at the Virgin Galactic's operational base at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here.