The Commentariat -- July 11, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Marie: I just saw this clip on CNN. It's from a CPAC "forum" held Saturday. I am shaking with rage: ~~~

~~~ 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.'"

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." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Richard Branson's short hop into inner space are here: "Branson and crew landed safely after their trip to the edge of space." CNN's live updates are here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah Betancourt of the Guardian & Agencies: "British entrepreneur Richard Branson is set to fly to the edge of space in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane on Sunday, days ahead of a rival launch by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the two billionaires race to kick off an era of space tourism. Branson's extraterrestrial venture Virgin Galactic will send its space plane into sub-orbital flight on Sunday morning, aimed at reaching 55 miles above Earth at its peak altitude." MB: If Richy-Rich is only venturing 55 miles above the Earth & not into the galaxy, I don't see why he named the project "Virgin Galactic." There's nothing galactic about it. ~~~

~~~ Kenneth Chang of the New York Times writes on how to watch Richard Branson's space plane flight: "The flight is scheduled to take off on Sunday morning from Spaceport America in New Mexico, about 180 miles south of Albuquerque.... Virgin will broadcast coverage of the flight beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern time, with Stephen Colbert hosting the livestream. The singer Khalid is scheduled to perform a new song after the crew lands, and Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, suggested he may make an appearance.... The Virgin Galactic design already has an imperfect safety record." MB: There's not a chance I'll watch this possible disaster. I can see why people who enjoy watching contact sports & rubbernecking highway accidents would tune in.

Laura Barron-Lopez of Politico: "After months of setbacks and gridlock on voting rights, one of President Joe Biden's top allies in Congress is calling for him to support amending the Senate filibuster. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Politico Biden 'should endorse' the idea of creating a carveout to the legislative filibuster in the Senate for legislation that applies to the Constitution. In effect, the reform would make it possible for Democrats to pass their sweeping elections reform bill and another bill reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with just Democratic support." MB: Biden would not be President if not for Clyburn's pre-primary endorsement in South Carolina. Biden owes Clyburn & should follow his advice.

Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "Haiti's request for U.S. troops to help stabilize the country following the assassination of its president presents a difficult choice for President Biden: send forces to aid a neighbor even as he is trying to pare down America's military footprint overseas, or refrain and risk allowing the chaos unfolding there to escalate into a refugee crisis. Thus far, administration officials have expressed caution about any deployment to Haiti, reflecting the fast pace of events since attackers killed President Jovenel Moïse in his home on Wednesday, but also a broader shift in American attitudes toward military interventions as the 20-year war in Afghanistan winds down."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Global leaders on Saturday agreed to move ahead with what would be the most significant overhaul of the international tax system in decades, with finance ministers from the world's 20 largest economies backing a proposal that would crack down on tax havens and impose new levies on large, profitable multinational companies. If enacted, the plan could reshape the global economy, altering where corporations choose to operate, who gets to tax them and the incentives that nations offer to lure investment. But major details remain to be worked out ahead of an October deadline to finalize the agreement and resistance is mounting from businesses, which could soon face higher tax bills, as well as from small, but pivotal, low-tax countries such as Ireland, which would see their economic models turned upside down."

Mary Jordan & Kevin Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Country music stars, a billionaire, a civil rights icon and the most powerful woman in Congress traveled to [Plains, Georgia,] on Saturday to toast Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter for their 75th wedding anniversary. Yet the biggest surprise was that Bill and Hillary Clinton showed up, too, perhaps because time has eased the couples' past tensions. The marquee names, including singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, CNN founder Ted Turner, former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), gathered in the former high school that the Carters attended 80 years ago. There were relatives and neighbors, poor as well as rich, Republicans as well as Democrats."

Brooke Staggs of the Orange County Register: "A Laguna Hills event center canceled plans to host an 'America First' rally on July 17 after learning the speakers were slated to be ... Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene. 'We just want to stay clear of that,' Javad Mirtavoosi, general manager of Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center, said by phone Friday. Greene's campaign disputed that account of how the cancellation transpired. And they're still selling tickets for a rally, though they're still trying to find an Orange County venue for the same day." MB: Seems to me you have to be pretty far out of touch with reality when you can't admit your hotel reservation was cancelled.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times (July 8) on how we're still paying for Trump's government by temper tantrum. "... why are we facing a semiconductor shortage? Part of the answer is that the pandemic created a weird business cycle. People couldn't go out to eat, so they remodeled their kitchens, and they couldn't go to the gym, so they bought Pelotons. So demand for services is still depressed, while demand for goods has soared. And ... practically every physical good now has a chip in it. But as Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics documents in an important new article, the Trump administration's trade policy made the situation much worse.... The structure of the Trump tariffs was, well, stupid.... Multiple studies have found, the tariffs actually reduced U.S. manufacturing employment. But Trump's trade policy wasn't just poorly conceived. It was also erratic.... Basically, international supply chains don't work very well when the policies of one of the world's key economies are governed by the whims of a leader who gets his ideas from cable TV."

Amanda Morris of the New York Times: "Revelations about [Britney] Spears's wish to end the conservatorship that has bound her decision-making and finances since 2008 have drawn new attention to legal mechanisms known in many states as guardianships. These arrangements are intended to support people who are incapacitated and incapable of making decisions, and some families say guardianships have protected their loved ones, including relatives in comas or with severe disabilities.... But advocates for people with disabilities say guardianships have been used too broadly, including in cases of individuals ... who, the advocates say, do not require such intense or continuous oversight.... Under some guardianships, people can lose the right to marry, vote, drive, or seek and retain employment.... Ending a guardianship is extremely difficult in many places, experts said.... There are less restrictive arrangements that can be used instead of guardianship, including what is known as supported decision-making...."

Beyond the Beltway

Alaska Senate Race: Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "The Alaska Republican Party endorsed GOP Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka on Saturday, breaking from longtime incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski ... in a 58-17 vote.... Trump ... formally endorsed Tshibaka last month...." The Anchorage Daily News story is here.

Marie: This is a tale of two states. One, Virginia, which is led by Democrats, faces up to its racist past & attempts to make amends. The other, Texas, led by Republicans, figures it isn't quite racist enough. ~~~

Texas. David Montgomery of the New York Times: "In a year in which Republican led-states around the country have pared back the ability to vote, the legislative process in Texas has been among the most contentious. 'This is the single greatest coordinated attack on democracy in our lifetimes, and perhaps in the life of this country,' declared Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat and a former U.S. representative, echoing the party's contention that the Republican bills would suppress access to the polls, particularly for members of minority groups and low-income residents.... In fact, studies consistently put Texas near the top of the list of states that make it harder to register and vote, which explains, in part, why the stakes are viewed as so high."

Texas. Isabella Paz of the New York Times: "A 62-year-old Texas man who waited hours to cast a ballot in last year's presidential primary was arrested this week on charges that he had voted illegally. The man, Hervis Earl Rogers of Houston, waited seven hours outside Texas Southern University to vote in the state's presidential primary in March 2020. On Wednesday, he was arrested and charged with two counts of illegal voting, a felony. According to court documents, the charges stem from ballots that Mr. Rogers cast on March 3, 2020, and on Nov. 6, 2018, while he was still on parole and not legally permitted to vote. Tommy Buser-Clancy, [of the ACLU] ... and one of the lawyers representing Mr. Rogers, said that Mr. Rogers thought that he could vote during the primary. 'Mr. Rogers's prosecution really shows the danger of overcriminalizing the election code and the process of participating in a democratic society,' he said. 'In particular, it raises the danger that criminal statutes in the election code are being used to go after individuals who at worse have made an innocent mistake. That's not what any laws should be doing.'... Mr. Rogers was being held at the Montgomery County Jail with bail set at $100,000. He could face upward of 40 years in prison.... Texas' attorney general, Ken Paxton, who is under investigation for professional misconduct after he challenged President Biden's win in court, brought the charges against Mr. Rogers." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You may be shocked, shocked to learn that Rogers is Black. (You can't tell from the NYT story, but I saw a photo of him in an article on another site.)

Virginia. Hawes Spencer & Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Four years after a woman was killed and dozens were injured when white nationalists protested the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va., workers removed the statue on Saturday, along with a nearby monument to Stonewall Jackson, another Confederate general. The larger-than-life-sized statue of Lee was hoisted off its granite base shortly after 8 a.m. as a crowd of about 200 looked on. As the flatbed truck carrying the bronze statue rumbled down East Jefferson Street, a toot of the truck's horn prompted cheers and applause. Jackson was removed about two hours later, and shortly after noon, the City Council held an emergency meeting and voted unanimously to remove yet another statue, this one of the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The 1919 sculpture has long provoked concern for its depiction of Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who is shown along with the two better-known explorers in a crouching manner that some see as subservient." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post: "Virginia is preserving hundreds of acres of tall grasslands and woods overlooking the York River, home to Native Americans over several centuries. More than a half-dozen tribes lived in the area before White settlers forced out many of the Indigenous people. After decades of various owners and plans for the land, it was turned into Machicomoco State Park, a name that means 'a special meeting place' in the Algonquin language. The park is the state's 40th and the only one dedicated to Native Americans. Officials said it has a dual purpose: to honor Native American tribes that trace their ancestral roots to the land and to educate nonnative visitors about the land's importance to Indigenous people who still live in the region."

News Lede

New York Times : "The U.S. men's basketball team was upset by Nigeria on Saturday evening in its first exhibition game ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, a stunning outcome even if the effects are more symbolic than likely to affect the United States' eventual gold medal hopes. Nigeria defeated a Team U.S.A. roster stacked with All-N.B.A. players, 90-87, at Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas. It was the first win by an African team over the U.S. men's national team."

The Commentariat -- July 10, 2021

David McCabe & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden signed a sweeping executive order on Friday intended to increase competition within the nation's economy and to limit corporate dominance, factors the White House says have led to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers while dampening pay and restricting the freedom to change jobs. The administration encouraged federal agencies to take a wide range of actions, such as more closely scrutinizing the tech industry, cracking down on high fees charged by ocean shippers and allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter. 'What we've seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back,' Mr. Biden said in the White House on Friday, citing the agriculture, technology and pharmaceutical industries. 'Rather than competing for consumers, they are consuming their competitors. Rather than competing for workers, they're finding ways to gain the upper hand on labor.'" (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden signed an executive order Friday taking aim at industries where certain companies dominate the market, kicking off a major new battle between the administration and corporate titans that could reshape aspects of the U.S. economy. The executive order -- which contains 72 initiatives -- is striking in its scope and ambition, challenging the business practices of America's enormous technology, health-care, agricultural and manufacturing firms while also aiming to shake up smaller sectors dominated by only a handful of companies, such as the hearing aid industry. 'The heart of American capitalism is a simple idea: open and fair competition,' Biden said in remarks before signing the order, accompanied by several members of his Cabinet. '...Competition keeps the economy moving and keeps it growing. Fair competition is why capitalism has been the world's greatest force for prosperity and growth.'... The effort ... tees up a major challenge for the administration, which is likely to face sharp resistance from businesses that may seek relief through courts that have shown skepticism about competition arguments in the past." ~~~

David Sanger & Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "President Biden warned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday that time was running out for him to rein in the ransomware groups striking the United States, telegraphing that this could be Mr. Putin's final chance to take action on Russia's harboring of cybercriminals before the United States moved to dismantle the threat. In Mr. Biden's starkest warning yet, he conveyed in a phone call to Mr. Putin that the attacks would no longer be treated only as criminal acts, but as national security threats -- and thus may provoke a far more severe response, administration officials said. It is a rationale that has echoes of the legal justification used by the United States and other nations when they cross inside another country's borders to rout terrorist groups or drug cartels.... Later, as he was leaving for Delaware for the weekend, Mr. Biden appeared to specify one of the ways the United States could respond. Asked if it might attack the servers Russian cybercriminals have used to hijack American networks -- meaning knock them offline -- Mr. Biden responded, 'Yes,' according to a pool report." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the White House readout of the call.

Get Out! Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden fired ... Donald J. Trump's appointed head of the Social Security Administration on Friday, setting off a possible legal showdown over who rightfully holds the position. Mr. Biden asked on Friday morning for the resignations of Andrew Saul, the agency's commissioner, and David Black, a deputy commissioner. Mr. Black resigned as requested, but Mr. Saul refused and was notified by the administration that he had been fired, an administration official said. He has vowed to fight Mr. Biden's move as illegal. Mr. Biden moved to appoint an acting commissioner, Kilolo Kijakazi, while the administration looks for permanent successors for the two jobs. Ms. Kijakazi has been the deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy at the agency.... A White House official said Friday that Mr. Saul had undermined Social Security's disability benefits, terminated a telework policy at the agency and alienated federal employee unions over work force safety planning amid the pandemic. In March, three top Democrats on the House's Ways and Means Committee called for Mr. Saul's ouster, accusing him of 'aggressive anti-union activities' and the pursuit of benefit cuts that would hurt vulnerable Americans." A number of Congressional Democrats have called for Saul's firing. CNN's story is here.

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will no longer detain most pregnant, nursing and postpartum women for deportation, reversing a Trump-era rule that permitted officials to jail thousands of immigrants in those circumstances, according to a new policy to be released Friday. ICE's new policy is even more expansive than it was during the Obama era, when President Biden was vice president. The Obama administration generally exempted pregnant women from immigration detention, but the Biden administration is also including women who gave birth within the prior year and those who are nursing, which could last longer than a year." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ ** Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration began separating migrant families along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border months earlier than has been previously reported -- part of a little known program coming into view only now as the Biden administration examines government data. In May 2017, Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Ariz., began implementing a program known as the Criminal Consequence Initiative, which allowed for the prosecution of first-time border crossers, including parents who entered the United States with their children and were separated from them.... Some of the parents separated under the Yuma program still remain apart from their children four years later." MB: Reports about Trump & Sessions' "zero tolerance" program horrified Americans, and apparently we didn't know the half of it.

Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for a federal investigation of the process that led to the approval of a new drug for Alzheimer's disease that has spurred sharp criticism from lawmakers and the medical community. In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services' independent Office of the Inspector General, the F.D.A.'s acting commissioner, Dr. Jane Woodcock, acknowledged the scrutiny the agency has faced about the approval process for the drug, which is known as Aduhelm and has a $56,000 annual price tag. She pointed to interactions between representatives from the drug's developer, Biogen, and the agency, saying some 'may have occurred outside of the formal correspondence process.'... It is unusual for the agency to request an investigation into its own staff's decision-making process for an individual drug approval."

Felicia Sonmez & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The panel charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob will hold its first hearing this month, its chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), said Friday. In an interview on MSNBC, Thompson also said the hearing will 'absolutely' go forward even if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declines to recommend Republican members for the panel.... McCarthy opposed the creation of the committee and has repeatedly declined to say whether he plans to appoint members; at a news conference last month, he dodged questions on the subject."

Jasmine Hilton & Ellie Silverman of the Washington Post: "The metal fence that has encircled the Capitol since a mob of Trump supporters stormed the complex on Jan. 6 began coming down early Friday evening, relieving residents who had been walled off in their own neighborhood and making way for tourists to get a closer look at the iconic democratic building. The perimeter had become one of the last remaining symbols of the failed security response to the riots that disrupted Congress from confirming President Biden's election victory and led to the deaths of five people.... Capitol Police will continue to monitor threats and the Capitol will still remain closed to public visitors, according to ... a memo sent to lawmakers Wednesday [MB: from, uh, somebody]."

Allen Feuer of the New York Times: "Against the advice of a lawyer, [Stewart] Rhodes..., the leader of the Oath Keepers militia..., spoke freely with [FBI] agents about the Capitol assault for nearly three hours, he said in an interview on Friday. Mr. Rhodes said that he denied that he or any other Oath Keepers had intended to disrupt Congress's certification of the Electoral College vote -- the chief accusation the government has lodged against 16 members of the group who are charged with conspiracy. He also said he told the agents that members of his militia went into the building only after they had heard that someone had been shot inside and wanted to render aid. (A New York Times visual investigation of the events of Jan. 6 did not find evidence of Mr. Rhodes's claims.)" A TPM summary story is here.

A "Spurious" Defense. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's claim that the First Amendment shields his conduct leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is legally 'spurious' and should be rejected as a federal court considers lawsuits that allege he incited the violence, four prominent First Amendment lawyers and scholars argued Thursday. Targeting a key defense raised by lawyers for Trump and co-defendants including Rudolph W. Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), the legal experts said that courts have long recognized that speech central to a crime -- such as the political intimidation of voters, lawmakers and government officials -- is barred and not protected by the Constitution. In a 23-page proposed friend-of-the-court brief filed Thursday in a case brought by members of Congress and Capitol police, the legal scholars argued that courts must strike a balance between protecting freedom of political speech and preventing political intimidation.... The four signers were First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who has fought several precedent-making cases in court, Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky, former Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow and noted constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe."

The Odd Couple. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Ten days ago..., [Mitch McConnell] was asked ... to imagine: 'You're stranded on a desert island and you can only have one companion. Your choices are Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter. Who do you choose? McConnell had little hesitation. 'Biden and I did four bipartisan deals during the Obama administration. I consider him a personal friend,' he said. 'I was the only Republican who went to his son Beau's funeral. So that would be an easy choice. I think Biden is a first-rate person.'" Milbank imagines Joe & Mitch doing a couple of TV survival shows in which they're stranded together on a desert island. For instance, "Episode Two: The survivalists go fishing. Biden spears a fish. Biden goes foraging for kindling to cook the fish but returns to discover tha McConnell has eaten the whole fish raw. McConnell blames Biden for his upset stomach."

This Should Work! ~~~

CPAC attendee sent me this pic of a card they were handed about a “7-pt. plan to restore Donald J. Trump in days, not years,” which involves installing Trump as speaker and ousting Biden & Harris. pic.twitter.com/dS0tQ5jW7b

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) July 9, 2021

     ~~~ Solender is a Forbes political reporter. Via the Raw Story.

Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service: In the U.S., "white Christians ... have expanded their share of the population, particularly white mainline Protestants. That group sits at 16.4%, an increase from 13% in 2016, whereas white evangelicals ... now represent about 14.5% of the population, down from a peak of 23% in 2006. White Catholics now hover around 11.7%, up from a 2018 low of 10.9%.... The percentage of white Christians ticked up overall, rising from 42% in 2018 to 44% in 2020.... Even with these small gains, however, white Christians have shrunk dramatically as a proportion of the population over the past few decades, having represented 54% of the population as recently as 2006.... Religiously unaffiliated Americans, or 'nones' in religion demography parlance, have lost ground, making up just 23% of the country. The complex group -- which includes atheists, agnostics and some people who say they pray daily but don't claim a specific faith tradition -- peaked at 25.5% of the population in 2018." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ ** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The presidency of George W. Bush may have been the high point of the modern Christian right's influence in America.... But the evangelicals who thought they were about to take over America were destined for disappointment.... From this fact derives much of our country's cultural conflict. It helps explain not just the rise of Donald Trump, but also the growth of QAnon and even the escalating conflagration over critical race theory.... QAnon is essentially a millenarian movement, with Trump taking the place of Jesus.... [As for those who are anti-C.R.T.,] the idea that public schools are corrupting children by leading them away from a providential understanding of American history has deep roots in white evangelical culture.... I was frightened by the religious right in its triumphant phase. But it turns out that the movement is just as dangerous in decline.... It didn't take long for the cocky optimism of Generation Joshua to give way to the nihilism of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. If they can't own the country, they're ready to defile it." (Also linked yesterday.)

Steve Thompson & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Attorneys general in four states are looking into the online fundraising practices of both major political parties.... The practices being examined include the use of pre-checked boxes that lock in recurring donations from political donors who may not intend to sign up for more than one contribution, according to an April 29 letter included in a court filing Wednesday by WinRed, a fundraising platform for GOP committees and campaigns. WinRed is asking the U.S. District Court in Minnesota to stop the investigations by the attorneys general of Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and New York, arguing that consumer protection statutes that the attorneys general may try to enforce are preempted by federal law. Identical letters were sent to WinRed and ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democrats, according to a person familiar with the inquiry...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "In recent months, local TV news crews have faced verbal and physical abuse while on the job. A few reporters have been injured. Some have been robbed or had equipment damaged.... [The year] 2020 ... may have been the most dangerous year in history for TV reporters in the United States.... 'What we're seeing now is part of a disturbing trend of [TV] journalists being in jeopardy in what otherwise are routine stories,' said Dan Shelley, the [Radio Television Digital News Directors Association's] ... director. 'It's not just riots and protests.... Many people feel as if they have permission to be aggressive toward journalists.'... Station managers ... said their journalists had been verbally harassed, punched, slapped, shoved, spat on, robbed at gunpoint, and hit with rocks and water bottles.... Many of the culprits were demonstrators, managers said, but police have also been involved in roughing up journalists."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Sheryl Stolberg, et al., of the New York Times: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged schools on Friday to fully reopen in the fall, even if they cannot take all of the steps the agency recommends to curb the spread of the coronavirus -- a major turn in a public health crisis in which childhood education has long been a political flash point. The agency also said school districts should use local health data to guide decisions about when to tighten or relax prevention measures like masking and physical distancing. With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading and children under 12 still ineligible for vaccination, it recommended that unvaccinated students and staff members keep wearing masks. The guidance is a departure from the C.D.C.'s past recommendations for schools."

Fear of "Needle Nazis." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "It has been three days since President Biden announced an initiative to send people door-to-door trying to get more people vaccinated, and Republicans and their conservative media allies have wasted no time turning those door-knockers into terrifying straw men.... Republican members of Congress and conservative talkers have wrongly pitched the effort as forced vaccination -- even repeatedly invoking the Nazis -- and lodged baseless suggestions that it would be done using illegally obtained medical information. Others have suggested it's something akin to government coercion or even a precursor to gun confiscation.... [After] Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) ... compar[ed] the effort to 'medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations.'..., Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took to Twitter the next day to offer her own Nazi comparison, labeling the door-knockers 'needle Nazis.'... Fox News host Tucker Carlson also wrongly pitched this effort as being about forcing vaccinations." (Also linked yesterday.)

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

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a bill on Friday preventing local governments from teaching critical race theory. The measure, House Bill 2906, prohibits 'the state and any local governments from requiring their employees to engage in orientation, training or therapy that suggest an employee is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,' Ducey's office said in a statement. The Arizona state House passed the bill in a 31-25 vote.... The state Senate passed the bill on a 16-12 vote.... Republicans have used the term critical race theory as a catch-all for teaching racism, with some panning the theory as discriminatory." MB: The bill, as reported, doesn't seem to have anything to do with critical race theory.

Texas. Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "People across the country may soon be able to sue abortion clinics, doctors and anyone helping a woman get an abortion in Texas, under a new state law that contains a legal innovation with broad implications for the American court system. The provision passed the State Legislature this spring as part of a bill that bans abortion after a doctor detects a fetal heartbeat, usually at about six weeks of pregnancy. Many states have passed such bans, but the law in Texas is different. Ordinarily enforcement would be up to government official.... But the law in Texas prohibits officials from enforcing it. Instead, it ... effectively deputizing ordinary citizens -- including from outside Texas -- to sue clinics and others who violate the law. It awards them at least $10,000 per illegal abortion if they are successful." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's odd how confederates are all concerned about medical professionals getting your "medical information" when they go door-to-door to vaccinate people, but it's just fine for me, as a wingnut busybody with no professional code of ethics, to interfere with the health care of a young woman far, far away.

Virginia. City to Remove "Totems for Terrorists." Michael Levenson & Hawes Spencer of the New York Times: "Four years after a woman was killed and dozens were injured when white nationalists protested the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va., city officials said they would remove the statue on Saturday, along with a nearby monument to Stonewall Jackson, another Confederate general. The announcement by the city on Friday came more than four years after the City Council initially put forth a plan to remove the statue of Lee from what was then known as Lee Park, prompting scores of white nationalists to descend on Charlottesville in August 2017 in a 'Unite the Right' rally to protest the removal.... The violence that day, as well as the open racism and anti-Semitism displayed at the rally, intensified calls to remove Confederate statues across the country." The AP's report is here.

Way Beyond

Haiti. The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Saturday are here: "United States and Colombian officials say they will work with Haiti to understand the origins of a complicated plot that left Haiti's president dead and the country in chaos even as Haitian investigators confront questions emerging closer to home. Of the at least 20 people detained so far in the investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse this past week, 18 have been identified as Colombians and two as Haitian Americans. Five suspects are still being sought." ~~~

~~~ Natalie Kitroeff, et al., of the New York Times: "After 24 hours of wild gun battles with suspects in the assassination of Haiti's president, the nation's authorities announced the arrests of 20 people and called on the United States to send troops to help protect crucial infrastructure. Haiti's remarkable request for military assistance from the United States, a former colonial overlord that has repeatedly intervened in the nation's affairs, is a measure of how deeply shaken the nation has been by days of chaos and intrigue. As new developments unfolded at a dizzying pace on Friday, the mystery over who was ultimately behind the assassination only deepened. On the streets, vigilantes prowled for suspects, and the police killed at least three people in gunfights. The vast majority of those arrested have turned out to be from Colombia -- former military men said to have turned mercenaries -- as questions arose about why it had been so easy for attackers to burst into President Jovenel Moïse's home and kill him, seemingly with no shots fired from security staff. And in a brewing political crisis, suspicion has prompted what may shape up to be a standoff between rival governments." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Reporters can marvel at Haiti's "remarkable" request for U.S. military assistance. But you can bet no one in Haiti would be dialing Washington's help line if the former guy had not been run out of town.

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Friday are here: "Two Americans arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti this week said that they were not in the room when he was killed and that they had worked only as translators for the hit squad, a Haitian judge said on Friday. Clément Noël, a judge who is involved with the investigation and who interviewed both men soon after their arrest, said that neither was injured in the assault." (Also linked yesterday.)

Algeria. Siobhán O'Grady of the Washington Post profiles Zohra Drif, an Algerian resistance fighter who in 1956 set off a bomb in an Algiers bar popular with French settlers, an incident that "marked a major turning point in Algeria's struggle for independence."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The temperature [in Death Valley, California,] soared to 130 degrees on both Friday and Saturday and was forecast to hit the same peak on Sunday.... The blistering weekend heat, one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on Earth, matched a similar level from August 2020. Those readings could set records if verified, as an earlier record of 134 degrees in 1913 has been disputed by scientists. Much of the West is facing further record-breaking temperatures over the coming days, with over 31 million people in areas under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories. It is the third heat wave to sweep the region this summer."

New York Times: "The death toll [at the collapsed Surfside, Florida, condominium] rose to 86 on Saturday, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County. Dozens of people remained unaccounted for...."

The Commentariat -- July 9, 2021

Late Morning Update:

David McCabe & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday will encourage federal agencies to crack down on the way major tech companies grow through mergers and gain a competitive advantage by leveraging reams of consumer data, as part of a larger executive order aimed at dispersing corporate consolidation throughout the economy. The executive order includes several measures specifically targeting big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, people with knowledge of its contents said."

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will no longer detain most pregnant, nursing and postpartum women for deportation, reversing a Trump-era rule that permitted officials to jail thousands of immigrants in those circumstances, according to a new policy to be released Friday. ICE's new policy is even more expansive than it was during the Obama era, when President Biden was vice president. The Obama administration generally exempted pregnant women from immigration detention, but the Biden administration is also including women who gave birth within the prior year and those who are nursing, which could last longer than a year." The Hill's story is here.

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

Fear of "Needle Nazis." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "It has been three days since President Biden announced an initiative to send people door-to-door trying to get more people vaccinated, and Republicans and their conservative media allies have wasted no time turning those door-knockers into terrifying straw men.... Republican members of Congress and conservative talkers have wrongly pitched the effort as forced vaccination -- even repeatedly invoking the Nazis -- and lodged baseless suggestions that it would be done using illegally obtained medical information. Others have suggested it's something akin to government coercion or even a precursor to gun confiscation.... [After] Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) ... compar[ed] the effort to 'medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations.'..., Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took to Twitter the next day to offer her own Nazi comparison, labeling the door-knockers 'needle Nazis.'... Fox News host Tucker Carlson also wrongly pitched this effort as being about forcing vaccinations." ~~~

     ~~~ See also related story re: Missouri governor linked under "The Pandemic, Ctd."

Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service: In the U.S., "white Christians ... have expanded their share of the population, particularly white mainline Protestants. That group sits at 16.4%, an increase from 13% in 2016, whereas white evangelicals ... now represent about 14.5% of the population, down from a peak of 23% in 2006. White Catholics now hover around 11.7%, up from a 2018 low of 10.9%.... The percentage of white Christians ticked up overall, rising from 42% in 2018 to 44% in 2020.... Even with these small gains, however, white Christians have shrunk dramatically as a proportion of the population over the past few decades, having represented 54% of the population as recently as 2006.... Religiously unaffiliated Americans, or 'nones' in religion demography parlance, have lost ground, making up just 23% of the country. The complex group -- which includes atheists, agnostics and some people who say they pray daily but don't claim a specific faith tradition -- peaked at 25.5% of the population in 2018." ~~~

~~~ ** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The presidency of George W. Bush may have been the high point of the modern Christian right’s influence in America.... But the evangelicals who thought they were about to take over America were destined for disappointment.... From this fact derives much of our country's cultural conflict. It helps explain not just the rise of Donald Trump, but also the growth of QAnon and even the escalating conflagration over critical race theory.... QAnon is essentially a millenarian movement, with Trump taking the place of Jesus.... [As for those who are anti-C.R.T.,] the idea that public schools are corrupting children by leading them away from a providential understanding of American history has deep roots in white evangelical culture.... I was frightened by the religious right in its triumphant phase. But it turns out that the movement is just as dangerous in decline.... It didn't take long for the cocky optimism of Generation Joshua to give way to the nihilism of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. If they can't own the country, they're ready to defile it."

Steve Thompson & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Attorneys general in four states are looking into the online fundraising practices of both major political parties.... The practices being examined include the use of pre-checked boxes that lock in recurring donations from political donors who may not intend to sign up for more than one contribution, according to an April 29 letter included in a court filing Wednesday by WinRed, a fundraising platform for GOP committees and campaigns. WinRed is asking the U.S. District Court in Minnesota to stop the investigations by the attorneys general of Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and New York, arguing that consumer protection statutes that the attorneys general may try to enforce are preempted by federal law. Identical letters were sent to WinRed and ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democrats, according to a person familiar with the inquiry...."

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Friday are here: "Two Americans arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti this week said that they were not in the room when he was killed and that they had worked only as translators for the hit squad, a Haitian judge said on Friday. Clément Noël, a judge who is involved with the investigation and who interviewed both men soon after their arrest, said that neither was injured in the assault."

~~~~~~~~~~

John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Thursday that the country had accomplished its objectives in Afghanistan of killing Osama bin Laden and undercutting al-Qaeda's ability to launch more attacks on the United States as he defended his decision to bring a 20-year war to an end. Biden, during a White House speech, was defiant in the face of gains by the Taliban since he announced a planned U.S. troop withdrawal in April and said the Afghan people needed to dictate their own future. 'We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build,' Biden said.... 'I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome.'... Biden also pledged to evacuate thousands of interpreters who served alongside troops in Afghanistan, as well as their families." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "Facing a call to 'save American democracy,' the Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new efforts to help protect voting rights amid growing complaints from civil rights activists and other Democrats that the White House has not done enough to fight attempts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot. President Joe Biden met with civil rights leaders in the West Wing, while Vice President Kamala Harris announced $25 million in new spending by the Democratic National Committee to support efforts to protect voting access ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.... The president last week told reporters that he planned on 'speaking extensively' on voting rights and that he would be 'going on the road on this issue.' So far, a major speech has not happened and a trip has not occurred, leading to rising frustration from those in his own party who view the GOP crackdown on voting rights as an existential threat to both Democrats and democracy." ~~~

~~~ Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Several top civil rights leaders, in what was described as a 'a very candid, no-holds-barred meeting' that stretched nearly two hours, urged President Biden on Thursday to take more assertive action to combat Republican efforts to change voting laws around the country. While several of the civil rights leaders described Biden as one of their allies, they also pressed him to do more, speak louder and make voting rights a central priority. Their exasperation with waiting on Washington to act was evident as they also pledged to embark on 'a summer of activism, a summer of getting back in the streets,' evoking the 1960s movement that helped lead to the Voting Rights Act."

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Justice Department has agreed to pay $6.1 million to a technology contractor to create a massive database of videos, photographs, documents and social media posts related to the Capitol riot as part of the process of turning relevant evidence over to defense attorneys for the more than 500 people facing criminal charges in the Jan. 6 events, according to a court filing and government records. To take on the daunting task, the federal government has turned to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, a firm prosecutors called 'a litigation support vendor with extensive experience providing complex litigation technology services.' Prosecutors are trying to organize thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage, closed-circuit surveillance camera footage, more than a million social media videos, data from phones and email accounts, and the responses to more than 6,000 grand jury subpoenas, according to a court filing Thursday."

William Booth & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Should he be convicted of espionage in Virginia federal court, the United States has offered that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could serve his sentence in Australia, a British court said Wednesday. The assurance came as the Justice Department seeks to extradite Assange from London, where he is currently in custody. A judge in Britain blocked his transfer to the United States in January, ruling that he was at extreme risk of suicide and might not be protected from harming himself in a federal prison. Now, the United States has been granted an appeal before Britain's High Court, on the grounds that the lower-court judge did not hear assurances of how Assange would be treated in American custody.... Should he serve time in a U.S. facility, the government pledged that Assange would not be held in total isolation or imprisoned at a 'Supermax' facility in Colorado."

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans have agreed to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service so that the agency can bring in more tax revenue, hoping the money can help pay down some of the infrastructure package's expected price tag. The early contours of the infrastructure blueprint have won the White House's support, but the IRS provision in particular is drawing opposition from well-funded conservative groups, which are strongly opposed to expanding the reach of a tax-collection agency that they long have alleged is politically motivated.... They are preparing a letter that warns Republicans should not negotiate with the White House unless they agree to 'no additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rebecca Robbins & Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Under fire for approving a questionable drug for all Alzheime's patients, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday greatly narrowed its previous recommendation and is now suggesting that only those with mild memory or thinking problems should receive it. The reversal, highly unusual for a drug that has been available for only a few weeks, is likely to reduce the approximate number of Americans who are eligible for the treatment to 1.5 million from six million. The approval of Aduhelm early last month was one of the most contentious F.D.A. decisions in years."

Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Fifteen states have reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, that would pave the way toward a $4.5 billion settlement of thousands of opioid cases. The states decided late Wednesday to drop their opposition to Purdue's bankruptcy reorganization plan, in exchange for a release of millions of documents and an additional $50 million from members of the Sackler family, the company's owners. The agreement was contained in a late-night filing by a mediator in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y. The settlement extracts concessions that will be added to a comprehensive proposal now being voted upon by more than 3,000 plaintiffs, including cities, counties, tribes and states, who sought to hold Purdue and its owners responsible for their role in the opioid epidemic. More than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses of prescription and illegal opioids." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oh, Lordy, Don't Tell the Kids about the 3/5ths Provision. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Sen. Tom Cotton is calling for the firing of a U.S. Air Force Academy professor after she admitted to discussing critical race theory with cadets. But even a cursory look at the Arkansas Republican's slimy argument shows how full of holes it really is. This episode sheds light on a larger absurdity about this whole debate. Republicans keep telling us the mere discussion of such topics risks weakening our country.... Cotton and other Republicans are unloading over this op-ed piece in The Post by Lynne Chandler García, an associate professor of political science at the Air Force Academy. In it, García says she teaches critical race theory as an 'academic framework' to analyze the fact that the founding and its documents harbored a 'duality' between ideals of equality and realities of inequality and slavery.... This is all anodyne stuff. The idea that the founding harbored that 'duality' doesn't seem controversial.... What makes this so ridiculous is that generally speaking, such self-scrutiny is something you want institutions to undertake." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If that so-called professor were worth her salt, she'd be leading an Air Force cadets all-male a capella glee club in heartfelt renditions of "Dixie" and "Swanee Ribber." Still longing for de old plantation.

Even Trump's Adversaries Are Grifters. Kevin Draper of the New York Times: "Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who rose to national prominence while representing the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against ... Donald J. Trump, was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release by Judge Paul G. Gardephe in federal court in Manhattan. Avenatti was convicted in February 2020 of trying to extort more than $20 million from the apparel giant Nike, but his sentencing was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic." Aventatti fought back tears as he told the judge how sorry he was. CNBC's report is here. It has Avenatti "weeping." MB: "But more than anything else I'm sorry for myself...."

The Wall Street Journal publishes an adaptation from Michael Bender's book about the last days of Trump's presidency*. I've linked the page, but of course it's subscriber-firewalled. If you can't access it from this link, you might be able to get it via Google, as I did.

After This ~~~

~~~ This. Lachlan Markay of Axios: "Toyota has announced it will cease donations to Republicans who objected to the certification of President Biden's electoral college victory.... The company revealed its decision, first reported by the Detroit News, in a statement on Thursday, saying it understood that its PAC's donations to those objectors, which far outpaced those of any other company, 'troubled some stakeholders.' Toyota's statement came less than two weeks after Axios reported the Japanese automaker donated $55,000 to 37 election objectors, the most of any corporate PAC by a significant margin." The Washington Post's story, by Amy Wang, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "This Thursday, the anti-Trump conservative PAC Lincoln Project released a new ad targeting Toyota for being part of a string of corporations 'lavishing massive campaign donations on Republicans who tried to overturn the 2020 election and who now seek to cover up the January 6th attack on the Capitol.'... Toyota announced on the same day the ad was released that it will stop contributing to members of Congress who opposed the election certification." ~~~

~~~ BUT. Karl Evers-Hillstrom of the Hill: "Six months after the Capitol attack, only a small number of powerful corporations have made good on their pledge to suspend PAC donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Among the 10 biggest corporate PAC donors that pledged to pause their contributions to election objectors, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Verizon have followed through on their promises, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings. Other top PACs that vowed to withhold contributions, such as AT&T, Comcast, General Electric, Home Depot, Pfizer and Walmart, have been bankrolling party committees or leadership PACs that can easily funnel campaign cash to election objectors. Those company PACs have not made direct donations to the lawmakers" campaigns."

Clothilde Goujard of Politico: "Violent videos and misinformation are amplified by YouTube's algorithm, despite the company's rules meant to limit their spread, according to a Mozilla Foundation report published July 7. The foundation -- a nonprofit that advocates on privacy issues -- found 71 percent of all videos that volunteers reported as disturbing were recommended by the video-sharing platform's algorithm. They included conspiracies about 9/11 and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the promotion of white supremacy. Researchers also found that people in non-English speaking countries were more likely to encounter videos they considered disturbing, indicating that YouTube's efforts to better police its platforms have been uneven." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently it depends a lot upon what you usually search for. When I call up YouTube, as I do daily, I get Biden speeches & tours of tiny houses built by environmentalists. Not much violence there.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Li Cohen of CBS News: "Pfizer announced on Thursday that its COVID vaccine booster shot could further protect individuals from 'all currently known variants' of COVID-19 -- including the highly transmittable Delta variant. The booster shot is currently undergoing trials, the company said, and has shown 'encouraging clinical trial data in a small number of participants in our study.'"

Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci -- a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant.... Cases are rising in nearly half the states as low vaccination rates are being met with the more transmissible and severe Delta or B.1.617.2, variant, identified in India in December 2020. Vaccinations administered in the US have shown to be effective against the Delta variant, though it poses serious risks to those who remain unvaccinated. The variant is already the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the country, accounting for more than 50% of all new US cases and up to 80% of cases in some regions, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released Tuesday." ~~~

~~~ SO ... Missouri. Heather Hollingsworth of the AP: "... Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he doesn't want government employees going door-to-door in his state to urge people to get vaccinated, even as a COVID-19 outbreak overwhelms some hospitals. Missouri asked for help last week from newly formed federal 'surge response' teams as it combats an influx of cases that public health officials are blaming on fast-spreading delta variant and deep-seated concerns about the vaccine. After President Joe Biden mentioned the possibility of door-to-door promotion of the vaccine, Parson tweeted: 'I have directed our health department to let the federal government know that sending government employees or agents door-to-door to compel vaccination would NOT be an effective OR a welcome strategy in Missouri!'... 'We know there's a vast number of people that is hesitant to take the vaccine,' Parson said. 'That is what we all should be working together trying to find a solution to get more vaccine in more people's arms, not trying to force people to take it. Not trying to scare them into it....'... Jeffrey Zeints, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Thursday that the best people to promote vaccinations are 'local trusted messengers' like doctors, faith leaders and community leaders, who may go door to door."

Japan. Ben Dooley of the New York Times: "Olympic organizers said on Thursday that they would bar spectators from most events at the Games scheduled to open in two weeks, a decision that followed the declaration of a new state of emergency in Tokyo in response to a sudden spike in coronavirus cases. Officials have long insisted that they can hold the Tokyo Games safely amid a pandemic. Last month, they announced that they would allow domestic spectators at the events despite public fears that the Games could become a petri dish for new variants of the virus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Bobby Calvan & Steven Sloan of the AP: In the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse tragedy, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tones down the Trumpiness. Sometimes.

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors challenged an assertion from the judge who oversaw Derek Chauvin's murder trial that the children who witnessed George Floyd's killing weren't traumatized by the event and therefore did not factor that into his sentencing decision. In a letter made public Thursday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asked Hennepin County District Judge Peter A. Cahill to amend a June 25 memo detailing his decision to sentence Chauvin to 22½ years in prison for Floyd's murder. In the memo, Cahill said he found no evidence of trauma among four young girls who witnessed the killing and ultimately didn't take that into account when determining Chauvin's jail time. 'The state expressly does not request that the court modify any part of (the) defendant's 22.5-year sentence for the murder of George Floyd,' Ellison wrote. But Ellison pressed Cahill to 'correct the public record' and amend his analysis to 'more accurately reflect the experiences' of the children who witnessed the killing and later testified at trial to 'prevent potentially causing further harm by discounting the trauma suffered by these young girls.'" The Hill's story is here.

Way Beyond

Haiti. Tom Phillips, et al., of the Guardian: "A heavily armed commando unit that assassinated Haiti's president, Jovenel Moïse, was composed of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, authorities have said, as the hunt goes on for the masterminds of the killing.... Authorities tracked the suspected assassins on Wednesday to a house near the scene of the crime in Petionville, a northern, hillside suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A firefight lasted late into the night and authorities detained a number of suspects on Thursday. Police chief Charles Leon paraded 17 men before journalists at a news conference late on Thursday, showing a number of Colombian passports plus assault rifles, machetes, walkie-talkies and materials including bolt cutters and hammers."

~~~ Jacqueline Charles & Michael Wilner of the Miami Herald: "Two South Florida men have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse, along with 15 Colombian nationals, Haiti police said Thursday night. James Solages, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, was identified as one of the assailants by Mathias Pierre, a minister in charge of Haitian elections. Solages, originally from Haiti, is an American citizen, Pierre said.... Pierre identified a second man arrested in the assassination as Joseph Vincent, 55, from the Miami area. Vincent, originally from Haiti, is also a U.S. citizen, Pierre said."

~~~ Widlore Merancourt, et al., of the Washington Post: "A U.S. citizen of Haitian descent has been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, a senior official here said Thursday. James Solages, a U.S. citizen, is among the six people arrested so far in Moïse's killing, according to Mathias Pierre, Haiti's minister of elections and inter-party relations. Pierre told The Washington Post that at least one other detainee is also believed to be a Haitian American. Four other suspects have been killed, authorities have said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Constant Méheut, et al., of the New York Times: "The political storm in Haiti intensified on Thursday as two competing prime ministers claimed the right to run the country, setting up an extraordinary power struggle over who had the legal authority to govern after the brazen assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in his home the day before. Haiti's interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, says he has taken command of the police and the army, declaring a 'state of siege' that essentially put the country under martial law. But constitutional experts questioned his right to impose it, and his claim to power was quickly challenged by a rival. Two days before his death, Mr. Moïse had appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who was supposed to take up the role this week and told a local newspaper that he was the rightful prime minister instead."

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Thursday are here: "Two American citizens are among at least 15 people detained in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse Haitian officials said Thursday night as they paraded the suspects before the news media and asserted that 'foreigners' had been involved in the brazen attack."

News Lede

Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Elsa is spreading heavy rain, gusty winds and the threat of a few tornadoes up the East Coast through Friday.... Elsa is located about 5 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, as of early Friday morning." MB: It's already spreading heavy rain in New Hampshire at 7:30 am ET.