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.

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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.

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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.

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."