The Commentariat -- May 18, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "President Biden traveled Tuesday to Dearborn, Michigan, to visit Ford's electric vehicle plant as his administration continues to push for alternative forms of energy and transportation. 'The future of the auto industry is electric. There's no turning back,' Mr. Biden said in remarks from the auto plant, known as the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center." ~~~

~~~ My name is Joe Biden, and I'm a car guy." ~~~

Lateshia Beachum of the Washington Post: "The sheriff's deputies who shot a 42-year-old Black man [-- Andrew Brown, Jr.,] to death as he drove his vehicle last month in Elizabeth City, N.C., were justified in their actions because they had reason to believe they were in danger, Pasquotank County District Attorney R. Andrew Womble said during a news conference Tuesday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yeah, well, maybe. I watched some of Womble's presentation, and it was pretty convincing -- until you got to wondering why he showed mostly stills from the body cam videos & only a short portion of video (which I did not see). Womble's interpretation of what occurred disputes the small portion of the videos Brown's family & attorneys were able to see. Eventually, we'll get more answers.

Dr. Sema Sgaier, in a New York Times op-ed, breaks down the four reasons people give for not getting Covid-19 vaccines, and a rough estimate of the share of such people, state-by-state. MB: Interesting. Those in the South & fly-over country are the dimwittiest, according to the graphs. There are plenty of dummies in my state. If you want smarter neighbors, move to Vermont. ~~~

~~~ Speaking of the none-too-bright: ~~~

~~~ Cristina Marcos & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday said he will not support bipartisan legislation for the 9/11-style commission to probe the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 'Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker's shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,' McCarthy said in a statement released Tuesday morning. This statement comes after the top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee reached an agreement last week on legislation to create the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack that resulted in the deaths of several people, including a Capitol Police officer." ~~~

~~~ Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday slammed Republicans after the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that he would not support legislation to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Addressing reporters on Tuesday morning, Pelosi lamented the 'cowardice' of those Republicans like McCarthy who oppose bipartisan legislation to form the independent panel."

Liar, Liar. Daniel Dale of CNN: "Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw [R-Texas] tried Sunday to downplay his December decision to sign on to a legal brief in support of the Texas lawsuit that sought to get the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 presidential election.... Crenshaw [told Chuck Todd,] 'That amicus brief was a simple question of the Supreme Court, in saying, "Can you please speak to this question of whether, of whether process changes in the election -- last minute, not approved by the legislature -- can be deemed constitutional?" It was a question, and they didn't want to answer that question.'... In reality, the brief expressed a firm opinion -- that the four Biden-won states had taken 'unconstitutional actions' -- and asked the Supreme Court for a specific response: to allow Texas' lawsuit to proceed and to grant Texas' request for a preliminary injunction forbidding the four states from certifying Biden's victories until the lawsuit was resolved. The brief also invoked baseless claims of election fraud, saying that 'the election of 2020 has been riddled with an unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities.'"

He Probably Needs the Money. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Since leaving the White House in January..., [Donald Trump] has taken $65,600 in presidential pension payments, a spokesperson for the General Services Administration told Insider. Trump unquietly donated his $400,000 annual salary during his four-year term, as he had promised to do as a candidate in 2016, and it's not clear what he has done with the pension he's been receiving since January. The U.S. Constitution requires presidents to be paid a salary in office but does not require them to receive pension payments."

Florida U.S. Senate Race. Marc Caputo of Politico: "Florida Rep. Val Demings is planning to run for the U.S. Senate, rather than governor, providing Democrats with a big-name candidate to take on Republican Sen. Marco Rubio next year.... Demings, 64, was first elected to the House in 2016 from Orlando and held the distinction of being the city's first Black woman police chief. She rose to national prominence as the only non-lawyer on the first House impeachment committee to charge President Donald Trump with wrongdoing. As a Black woman and law enforcement officer, her background made her uniquely situated to be a national Democratic spokesperson for policing and race issues -- it helped catapult her to President Joe Biden's shortlist as a possible running mate in 2020."

New York Gubernatorial Race. Creepy Scions Named Andrew Run for Governor. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former Trump White House official, announced on Tuesday that he would run for New York governor next year. 'I'm a politician out of the womb. It's in my DNA,' Andrew Giuliani, a Republican, told The New York Post in an interview, hyping a potential general election faceoff against incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo."

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Biden Inches Toward Getting Real. Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Monday called for a cease-fire to end a week of fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, urging both sides to 'protect innocent civilians' in a statement that amounted to a subtle rebuke of the Israeli government, a close ally of the United States. Biden 'reiterated his firm support for Israel's right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks' during a call with ­Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said. But in adding that Biden 'expressed support for a cease-fire,' the administration went further than previous accounts of U.S. interactions with Israeli officials in describing the closed-door diplomacy and suggesting a private push. Even as pressure mounted from fellow Democrats and others urging a cease-fire, Biden administration officials had stopped short of joining their calls until Biden spoke to Netanyahu and then issued a carefully worded statement afterward.... Secretary of State Antony Blinken drew short of calling for a cease-fire or a statement at the U.N. Security Council on Monday." ~~~

~~~ Ellen Knickmeyer, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, but stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian."

Nicholas Fandos & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "... a growing number of Democrats in Washington say they are no longer willing to give [Israel] a pass for its harsh treatment of the Palestinians and the spasms of violence that have defined the conflict for years. Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Democrats on the panel on Monday that he would ask the Biden administration to delay a $735 million tranche of precision-guided weapons to Israel.... Mr. Meeks, a fixture at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, convened an emergency meeting of Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats on Monday night to discuss delaying the arms package.... A day earlier, 28 Democratic senators -- more than half of the party's caucus -- put out a letter publicly calling for a cease-fire. The effort was led by Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia and, at 34, the face of a younger generation of American Jews in Congress."

Marie: In all fairness, and I'm serious here, we can't blame Jared Kushner for not resolving a 3,000-year-old ethnic conflict. But the guy is so dense it takes your breath away. I gasped when I read this: ~~~

We are witnessing the last vestiges of what has been known as the Arab-Israeli conflict... The Abraham Accords exposed the conflict as nothing more than a real-estate dispute between Israelis and Palestinians that need not hold up Israel's relations with the broader Arab world. -- Jared Kushner, boasting in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, March 14, ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... the explosion of fighting in Israel and Palestine in recent days makes clear something that never should have been in doubt: justice for the Palestinians is a precondition for peace. And one reason there has been so little justice for the Palestinians is because of the foreign policy of the United States.... The United States has underwritten both Palestinian subjugation and the growing power of Jewish ethnonationalism. It's not enough for Joe Biden to be a little bit better than Trump or to try to restart a spectral 'peace process.' If Israel can no longer afford to ignore the demands of the Palestinians, neither can we." More on the conflict linked under "Way Beyond the Beltway" below.

Normality Returns. Jason Hoffman, et al., of CNN: "The White House released the 2020 tax returns for both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, restoring a presidential tradition that had been ignored under ... Donald Trump. The White House also released the first and second families' financial public financial disclosure reports. The Bidens filed their federal tax return jointly, reported a federal adjusted gross income of $607,336 and owed $157,414 in federal income tax, according to a summary of their taxes released by the White House. According to the first family's 1040 form, they paid $162,063 and received a refund of $4,649. Their 2020 effective federal income tax rate is 25.9%. The Bidens saw a significant drop in income in 2020 as then-candidate Joe Biden was on the campaign trail and not earning an income through speaking engagements or his post with the University of Pennsylvania.... According to the federal tax return for Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the couple reported $1,695,225 in adjusted gross income and owed $621,893 in tax." ~~~

     ~~~ The Bidens' tax return is here.The Emhoff-Harris return is here.

Ken Vogel & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Administration officials have quietly begun evaluating clemency requests and have signaled to activists that President Biden could begin issuing pardons or commutations by the midpoint of his term. The effort, which is being overseen by the White House Counsel's Office and the Justice Department, is an implicit rebuke of ... Donald J. Trump's approach to clemency, which mostly bypassed the Justice Department and relied on an ad hoc network of friends and allies, resulting in a wave of late pardons and commutations to people with wealth or connections. Mr. Biden's team, by contrast, has signaled in discussions with outside groups that it is establishing a more deliberate, systemic process geared toward identifying entire classes of people who deserve mercy. The approach could allow the president to make good on his campaign promise to weave issues of racial equity and justice throughout his government."

Florida Man Pleads Guilty. Lori Rozsa & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "A Florida politician considered key to the investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz formally pleaded guilty Monday to sex trafficking of a minor and a host of other crimes, agreeing to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify in court in hopes of leniency for himself. Appearing in court Monday, Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector for Seminole County, Fla., repeatedly said, 'I do' in response to questions from the judge, affirming what he had already admitted in a written plea agreement made public last week. His plea and deal to cooperate is a potentially ominous sign for Gaetz, as it signals prosecutors have lined up a critical witness as they continue to investigate the congressman." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Dareh Gregorian & Natalie Obregon of NBC News: "Wearing a jail jumpsuit and a blue surgical mask and in shackles, Greenberg admitted his guilt to six of the 33 charges initially filed against him -- identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official and sex trafficking of a minor." MB: Oh, please, Florida, that's how we want to see two other Florida men -- Matt & Donald -- in days to come. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Balsamo & Mike Schneider of the AP: "Outside the courthouse, a plane flew over during the hearing pulling a banner that read: 'TICK TOCK MATT GAETZ.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Because Everything They Did Was Corrupt. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department under President Trump secretly obtained a grand-jury subpoena last year in an attempt to identify the person behind a Twitter account dedicated to mocking Representative Devin Nunes of California, according to a newly unsealed court document. But Twitter fought the subpoena, as well as an associated gag order barring the company from talking about it publicly. Twitter executives raised skepticism about whether the Justice Department might be abusing federal criminal law-enforcement power to retaliate against a critic of Mr. Nunes, a Republican who is a close ally of Mr. Trump, in violation of the First Amendment. Ultimately, according to a person familiar with the matter, the Justice Department withdrew the subpoena this spring, after President Biden took office." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Although this particular subpoena was not about Devin Nunes' Cow, Nunes himself did try to use the court system to unmask the cow. Seems like animal cruelty to me; PETA, take note.

Jeanne Whalen, et al., of the Washington Post: "A sprawling online network tied to Chinese businessman Guo Wengui has become a potent platform for disinformation in the United States, attacking the safety of coronavirus vaccines, promoting false election-fraud claims and spreading baseless QAnon conspiracies, according to research published Monday by the network analysis company Graphika. The report, provided in advance to The Washington Post, details a network that Graphika says amplifies the views of Guo, a Chinese real estate developer whose association with former Trump White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon became a focus of news coverage last year after Bannon was arrested aboard Guo's yacht on federal fraud charges."

Chuck Does Some Journalism. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd took on guest Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), "noting that Trump continues to make baseless claims that the election was stolen -- a view that many GOP leaders have declined to challenge or openly embraced. 'Why should anybody believe a word you say if the Republican Party itself doesn't have credibility?' Todd asked. The fiery exchange, which went viral on Twitter with one clip racking up more than 1 million views, offers vivid evidence of the challenge Republicans face in shifting the conversation from Trump's election lies months after his loss and the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by his followers." Includes clip. (Also linked yesterday.)

John Schwartz of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court handed a victory to fossil fuel companies on Monday in a major climate change case, but gave the industry far less than it had asked for. The decision in the case did not deal with the merits of the lawsuit, which Baltimore filed to try to compel fossil fuel companies to help pay the costs of dealing with climate change. Instead, the justices focused on narrow issues concerning the rules for appealing lower-court decisions that send cases to state courts. By a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court on Monday sent the case back to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reconsider the industry's demand that it review a lower-court decision to have the case proceed in state courts. The issue of whether to hear these cases in federal or state court has been a major point of contention in about 20 similar cases filed around the country.... The lone dissenter, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said that the fossil fuel companies had used what amounts to procedural sleight of hand to avoid the normal limits on review for a decision on appeal."

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Monday said it will review Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, taking up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade just a few months after its newest conservative justice joined the bench. The Mississippi ban, which has been blocked by lower courts since it was enacted in 2018, will be one of the first reproductive rights cases argued before the Supreme Court since Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in October, giving conservatives a 6-3 majority that is widely expected to curtail abortion access." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: So I put up a nice story in the PSA section (right column) about how the federal government was accepting applications to reduce your Internet bill. Now this: ~~~

~~~ Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: "The government has a new program [called the Emergency Broadband Benefit] to help Americans pay their Internet bills. Unfortunately, companies like Verizon are twisting it into an opportunity for an upsell.... Verizon elicited the most ire from readers. It requires customers to call a phone line to register for the EBB, rather than just signing up online. And when you do, Verizon tells some customers the EBB can't be used on 'old' data plans, so they'll have to switch. That might be allowed by the letter of the law but certainly isn't the spirit of the program." So you might save money in the short term (Marie: and you might get faster service), but when the EBB program expires, your bill will be higher. (Also linked yesterday.)

News for Racist Parler Users. Kevin Randall of the Washington Post: "When social media network Parler came back to life on Apple's App Store Monday, it was designed to be a less offensive version than what users are able to see elsewhere. Posts that are labeled 'hate' by Parler's new artificial intelligence moderation system won't be visible on iPhones or iPads. There's a different standard for people who look at Parler on other smartphones or on the Web: They will be able to see posts marked as 'hate,' which includes racial slurs, by clicking through to see them. Parler has resisted placing limits on what appears on its social network, and its leaders have equated blocking hate speech to totalitarian censorship, according to Amy Peikoff, chief policy officer. But Peikoff, who leads Parler's content moderation, says she recognizes the importance of the Apple relationship to Parler's future and seeks to find common ground between them." (Also linked yesterday.)

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: In his last full day in office, President Jimmy Carter granted a full pardon to folk singer Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary. Yarrow had admitted to and was convicted for molesting a 14-year-old girl. The pardon "escaped scrutiny when it happened. It was granted just hours before the American hostages in Iran were freed, which captured headlines for weeks. The Washington Post didn't write about the pardon until Feb. 7, 1981. Even then, it was buried in the back of the Metro section.... Then, 40 years after Carter's pardon, another woman stepped forward with an accusation of her own. In a lawsuit filed in New York on Feb. 24, 2021, she alleged that Yarrow lured her to a Manhattan hotel when she was a minor in 1969 and raped her." MB: I was following the news closely at this particular time, and I never read about this. Just shocking!

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here.

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration announced Monday that roughly 39 million American families will begin receiving direct cash payments in July under a child benefit created by Democrats' coronavirus relief bill. The Internal Revenue Service on July 15 will start delivering a monthly payment of $300 per child under 6 and $250 per child 6 or older for those who qualify. The monthly benefits will be deposited directly in most families' bank accounts on the 15th of every month -- or the closest day to that date, if the 15th falls on a holiday or weekend -- for the rest of the year, without any action required. For instance, an eligible family with two children ages 5 and 13 will receive $550 from the IRS directly to their bank accounts on or close to the 15th of every month from July to December." A USA Today story is here. President Biden spoke about the child tax credit at the top of his speech; video below. ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks as domestic demand for shots drops and global disparities in distribution have grown more evident. The doses will come from existing production of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine stocks, marking the first time that U.S.-controlled doses of vaccines authorized for use in the country will be shared overseas. It will boost the global vaccine sharing commitment from the U.S. to 80 million. 'We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic that's raging globally is under control,' Biden said at the White House. The announcement comes on top of the Biden's administration's prior commitment to share about 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet authorized for use in the U.S., by the end of June. The AstraZeneca doses will be available to ship once they clear a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration." ~~~

Monday afternoon, the front page of the New York Times had an IP-address-specific indicator of the Covid risk in your county. Mine is "very high." The blurb links to a page that provides particulars. Great! I don't know if this works for everyone or how long the feature will remain on the front page, but it worked for me.

Beyond the Beltway

Marie: When you're musing on what's wrong with "the system," bear in mind that all of the (alleged) miscreants identified below are officials in our law & justice system: governors, legislators, a judge, a cop.

Arizona. A "Sham" and a "Con." Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "The Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Monday denounced an ongoing audit of the 2020 election vote as a 'sham' and a 'con,' calling on the GOP-led state Senate to end the controversial recount that has been championed by ... Donald Trump. In a fiery public meeting and subsequent letter to state Senate President Karen Fann, the board members said the audit has been inept, promoted falsehoods and defamed the public servants who ran the fall election. Calling the process a 'spectacle that is harming all of us,' the five members of the board -- including four Republicans -- asked the state Senate to recognize that it is essential to call off the audit, which officials have said is only about one-quarter complete.... In a calculated show of unity, they were joined by Maricopa's other elected officials: the sheriff, a Democrat; and the Republican county recorder, who leads the elections office.... Jointly, the county officials agreed that they would refuse to attend a meeting that had been called Tuesday by Fann to discuss what she had termed 'serious issues' with the vote that Cyber Ninjas claims to have identified." An AP story is here.

Iowa. Erin Murphy of the Sioux City Journal: "Mike Marshall, executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board [which monitors lobbying of Iowa's executive branch], said Monday that he has requested more information from Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Action after a leaked video showed the group's director claiming the organization helped Iowa lawmakers draft legislation that ... significantly shortened the state's early voting period and constrained other early voting programs. The legislation, Senate File 413, was approved by Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Iowa Senate, and passed into law by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.... In a letter to Heritage Action, Marshall requested any information regarding any contact the group made with Reynolds' office.... Because the board is not responsible for overseeing the Iowa Legislature, any inquiries there would fall to the Legislature's ethics committees, which are chaired by majority Republicans."

New Jersey. Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "When police arrived at a fellow officer's home on a domestic disturbance call, they found a surprising scene: explosives, poison, an unsecured gun safe -- and all the chemicals and instruments needed to produce methamphetamine, according to the prosecutor's office in New Jersey's Monmouth County. Long Branch Police Officer Christopher Walls was running a meth lab in the home he shared with his wife and child, in the very community he served, prosecutors said.... Meth labs are considered extremely hazardous, as the chemicals used to produce the drug are highly explosive and toxic and can pose serious health risks to those exposed to them."

New York. Adam Brewster of CBS News: "New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is set to earn $5.1 million from his memoir about leading New York through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to information provided by his office on Monday. Cuomo received $3,120,000 in gross income from the book in 2020 and is set to be paid an additional $2 million over the next two years.... New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a report that found the Cuomo administration may have 'undercounted' nursing home deaths 'by as much as 50%' and multiple women have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, which he has repeatedly denied.... In April, the New York state comptroller ... [asking James] to look into whether state resources were used to help with Cuomo's book...." The New York Times' story is here.

North Carolina. Judge (Allegedly) Tries to Mow Down BLM Protesters. Lateshia Beachum of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina court of appeals judge was summoned by a criminal court Friday after being accused of nearly hitting Black Lives Matter protesters at a demonstration in downtown Fayetteville on May 7. Judge John M. Tyson of Cumberland County has been summoned to appear in a courtroom in his own county next month where he will need to answer to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, the Fayetteville Observer reported.... The summons came after local activist Myah Warren, 23, told a Cumberland County magistrate judge Friday that Tyson was the one who drove the vehicle that nearly hit her and other Fayetteville Activist Movement rally goers who were protesting fatal police shootings, according to the newspaper. Warren told The Washington Post on Monday that she believes Tyson was intentionally trying to harm protesters based on his track record as a judge. 'He's a well-known racist,' she said.... The city released a 12-minute video of the incident Friday...."

Way Beyond

Israel. The New York Times' live updates of developments in Israel's armed conflict Tuesday are here. ~~~

~~~ Fares Akram & Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes on what it said were militant targets in Gaza, leveling a six-story building, and militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday. Palestinians across the region observed a general strike as the war, now in its second week, showed no signs of abating. The strikes toppled a building that housed libraries and educational centers belonging to the Islamic University, leaving behind a massive mound of rebar and concrete slabs.... Israel warned the building's residents ahead of time, sending them fleeing into the predawn darkness, and there were no reports of casualties." ~~~

~~~ Loveday Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than 60 Israeli fighter jets bombarded targets in Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday morning, as Israel showed little sign of easing up its campaign despite growing international pressure and President Biden's call for a cease-fire. Hamas also fired volleys of rockets into southern Israel overnight, but their attacks have slowed in recent days as the Israeli military has pummeled their underground tunnel networks and launch sites. The Israeli military said 62 fighter jets had dropped 110 'guided armaments' on 65 targets, including Hamas commanders, rocket launchpads and the militant group's tunnel network. Neither side reported casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night said that he would 'continue to take whatever action necessary to restore quiet.'..." At the top of today's comments, Bobby Lee explains Bibi's rationale in terms we can all understand.

News Lede

New York Times: "Charles Grodin, the versatile actor familiar from 'Same Time, Next Year' on Broadway, popular movies like 'The Heartbreak Kid,' 'Midnight Run' and 'Beethoven' and numerous television appearances, died on Tuesday at his home in Wilton, Conn. He was 86."

The Commentariat -- May 17, 2021

Today is the deadline for filing federal tax returns. Here's a New York Times story on what you need to know.

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks as domestic demand for shots drops and global disparities in distribution have grown more evident. The doses will come from existing production of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine stocks, marking the first time that U.S.-controlled doses of vaccines authorized for use in the country will be shared overseas. It will boost the global vaccine sharing commitment from the U.S. to 80 million. 'We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic that's raging globally is under control,' Biden said at the White House. The announcement comes on top of the Biden's administration's prior commitment to share about 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet authorized for use in the U.S., by the end of June. The AstraZeneca doses will be available to ship once they clear a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration."

Check out the front page of the New York Times this afternoon; it appears to have an IP-address-specific indicator of the Covid risk in your county. Mine is "very high." The blurb links to a page that provides particulars. Great! I don't know if this works for everyone, but it worked for me.

Chuck Does Some Journalism. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd took on guest Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), "noting that Trump continues to make baseless claims that the election was stolen -- a view that many GOP leaders have declined to challenge or openly embraced. 'Why should anybody believe a word you say if the Republican Party itself doesn't have credibility?' Todd asked. The fiery exchange, which went viral on Twitter with one clip racking up more than 1 million views, offers vivid evidence of the challenge Republicans face in shifting the conversation from Trump's election lies months after his loss and the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by his followers." Includes clip.

News for Racist Parler Users. Kevin Randall of the Washington Post: "When social media network Parler came back to life on Apple's App Store Monday, it was designed to be a less offensive version than what users are able to see elsewhere. Posts that are labeled 'hate' by Parler's new artificial intelligence moderation system won't be visible on iPhones or iPads. There's a different standard for people who look at Parler on other smartphones or on the Web: They will be able to see posts marked as 'hate,' which includes racial slurs, by clicking through to see them. Parler has resisted placing limits on what appears on its social network, and its leaders have equated blocking hate speech to totalitarian censorship, according to Amy Peikoff, chief policy officer. But Peikoff, who leads Parler's content moderation, says she recognizes the importance of the Apple relationship to Parler's future and seeks to find common ground between them."

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Monday said it will review Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, taking up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade just a few months after its newest conservative justice joined the bench. The Mississippi ban, which has been blocked by lower courts since it was enacted in 2018, will be one of the first reproductive rights cases argued before the Supreme Court since Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in October, giving conservatives a 6-3 majority that is widely expected to curtail abortion access." The Washington Post's story is here.

Marie: So I put up a nice story in the PSA section (right column) about how the federal government was accepting applications to reduce your Internet bill. Now this: ~~~

~~~ Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: "The government has a new program [called the Emergency Broadband Benefit] to help Americans pay their Internet bills. Unfortunately, companies like Verizon are twisting it into an opportunity for an upsell.... Verizon elicited the most ire from readers. It requires customers to call a phone line to register for the EBB, rather than just signing up online. And when you do, Verizon tells some customers the EBB can't be used on 'old' data plans, so they'll have to switch. That might be allowed by the letter of the law but certainly isn't the spirit of the program." So you might save money in the short term (Marie: and you might get faster service), but when the EBB program expires, your bill will be higher.

Florida Man Pleads Guilty. Lori Rozsa & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "A Florida politician considered key to the investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz formally pleaded guilty Monday to sex trafficking of a minor and a host of other crimes, agreeing to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify in court in hopes of leniency for himself. Appearing in court Monday, Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector for Seminole County, Fla., repeatedly said, 'I do' in response to questions from the judge, affirming what he had already admitted in a written plea agreement made public last week. His plea and deal to cooperate is a potentially ominous sign for Gaetz, as it signals prosecutors have lined up a critical witness as they continue to investigate the congressman." ~~~

     ~~~ Dareh Gregorian & Natalie Obregon of NBC News: "Wearing a jail jumpsuit and a blue surgical mask and in shackles, Greenberg admitted his guilt to six of the 33 charges initially filed against him -- identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official and sex trafficking of a minor." MB: Please, Florida, that's how we want to see two other Florida men -- Matt & Donald -- in days to come. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Balsamo & Mike Schneider of the AP: "Outside the courthouse, a plane flew over during the hearing pulling a banner that read: 'TICK TOCK MATT GAETZ.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Henry Gomez of NBC News: "Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican mired in controversy, told a crowd of Republican activists Saturday that sexual misconduct allegations involving him are as benign as legislative earmarks. 'I'm being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors,' Gaetz said at the Ohio Political Summit, a gathering sponsored by the Strongsville GOP in suburban Cleveland. 'Yet, Congress has reinstituted a process that legalizes the corrupt act of exchanging money for favors, through earmarks, and everybody knows that that's the corruption.'" MB: Earmarks are sometimes useful in obtaining the votes of reluctant MOCs, yet Congress, in its wisdom, is unlikely to approve legislation providing MOCs with hookups with underaged prostitutes and rentboys in exchange for their votes on an infrastructure bill. As far as I know. But nice try, Matt. Maybe you could introduce a sex-for-votes bill? (Also linked yesterday.)

News Flash! The Former Guy Is an Imbecile. Jonathan Swan & Zachary Basu of Axios: On "Nov. 9, 2020 -- days after Trump lost his re-election bid -- John McEntee, one of Donald Trump's most-favored aides, handed retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor a piece of paper with a few notes scribbled on it. He explained: 'This is what the president wants you to do.' '1. Get us out of Afghanistan. 2. Get us out of Iraq and Syria. 3. Complete the withdrawal from Germany. 4. Get us out of Africa.' [This] was ... just moments after Macgregor was offered a post as senior adviser to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.... The order arrived seemingly out of nowhere, and its instructions, signed by Trump, were stunning.... Top military brass, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, were appalled. This was not the way to conduct policy -- with no consultation, no input, no process for gaming out consequences or offering alternatives." This is a much longer-than-usual Axios story and traces the Pentagon's reactions. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Even in the waning days of his failed fake presidency*, Trump did not understand the first thing about the job. He thought presidenting was barking whimsical orders and watching functionaries scramble to fulfill said whims. For him, moving thousands of troops was no more consequential than ordering a Diet Coke. No one over the age of nine should take this view of the American presidency. ~~~

~~~ AND YET. Anthony Salvanto, et al., of CBS News: "... self-identified Republicans ... still very much want their party to show loyalty to Mr. Trump and adhere to the idea that President Biden didn't legitimately win.... Eighty percent of Republicans who'd heard about the vote [to oust Liz Cheney from her House leadership position] agree with Cheney's removal -- they feel she was off-message, unsupportive of Mr. Trump, and that she's wrong about the 2020 presidential election. To a third of them, and most particularly for those who place the highest importance on loyalty, Cheney's removal also shows 'disloyalty will be punished.'" Your neighbors are very stupid. I suppose they think that blithely ordering troop withdrawals all over the world demonstrates Trump is "bold" and "decisive."

Marie: I'm getting a bit weary of these stories about the search for the "soul of the Republican party." The GOP has no soul.  

Strange Phenomena

Katie Williams, et al., of CNN: "Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year -- including one who was passing through a gate onto the property -- newly revealed details that come as investigators are still struggling to determine who or what is behind these strange incidents. Multiple sources tell CNN that the episodes affected two officials on the National Security Council in November 2020, one the day after the presidential election and one several weeks later. The cases are consistent with an inexplicable constellation of sensory experiences and physical symptoms that have sickened more than 100 US diplomats, spies and troops around the globe and have come to be known as 'Havana Syndrome.' The intelligence community still isn't sure who is causing the strange array of nervous system symptoms, or if they can be definitively termed 'attacks.' Even the technology that might cause such an inconsistent set of symptoms is a matter of debate."

Bill Whitaker of CBS News' "60 Minutes" interviews Lue Elizondo, formerly of the Pentagon's the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, as well as former Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Mellon & Navy pilots who have seen UFOs. Oh, and Marco Rubio. "... the U.S. government [has] grudging[ly] acknowledg[ed the existence] of unidentified aerial phenomena -- UAP -- more commonly known as UFOs. After decades of public denial the Pentagon now admits there's something out there, and the U.S. Senate wants to know what it is. The intelligence committee has ordered the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense to deliver a report on the mysterious sightings by next month." A transcript & video of the segment are at the linked page.

Familiar Phenomenon

Emily Flitter & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage, her husband was known globally as a software pioneer, a billionaire and a leading philanthropist. But in some circles, Bill Gates had also developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings. That is attracting new scrutiny amid the breakup of one of the world's richest, most powerful couples." The report details some of Bill's "questionable conduct." MB: I'm not surprises. Not long after his marriage, my daughter told me she observed Bill "behaving inappropriately" at an industry party. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Bobby Allyn of NPR: "Microsoft's board of directors hired a private law firm to investigate a decades-old 'intimate relationship' Bill Gates had with a company employee. The investigation, according to a company spokesman, took place in the months before the billionaire resigned from the board last year.... A story on Sunday in The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft's board decided that Gates should step down while the prior romantic relationship, that was deemed to be 'inappropriate,' was still being reviewed. A spokeswoman for Gates, however, denied any connection between his departure and the board's investigation." ~~~

~~~ Jay Greene of Politico: "Bill Gates acknowledged through a spokeswoman that he had an extramarital affair with a Microsoft employee, which Microsoft said led its board to investigate the 'intimate relationship' shortly before he resigned from the board last year. It is not clear what role the investigation or the affair, which took place two decades ago, played in the decision the Microsoft co-founder and his wife, Melinda French Gates, made to divorce after 27 years of marriage." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux, in LG&$, who republishes portions of the WSJ & NYT stories linked above, is concerned that our plutocrats are not okay.

Edmund Lee & John Koblin of the New York Times: "AT&T, the wireless carrier that thundered its way into the media business three years ago with grand visions of streaming video on millions of its customers' cellphones, has agreed to spin off its WarnerMedia group and merge it with its rival programmer Discovery Inc., the companies announced Monday. The transaction will combine HBO, Warner Bros. studios, CNN and several other cable networks with a host of reality-based cable channels from Discovery, including Oprah Winfrey's OWN, HGTV, The Food Network and Animal Planet.... In addition to Discovery's strong lineup of reality-based cable channels, the company has a large international sports business.... Industry experts questioned AT&T's [Time Warner foray], and now the spinoff indicates a failed acquisition strategy." CNN's story is here. MB: Other than "It's the Republicans, Stupid," I don't understand why the feds allow these huge monopolies.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "... the Biden administration has [begun] a new phase of its vaccination campaign. The federal government has set up mass vaccination sites at stadiums, sent doses to pharmacies and clinics serving lower-income Americans, and, on Friday, enticed the unvaccinated with the prospect of finally being able to shed their masks. But with the ranks of the willing and able dwindling, the campaign has in many places already morphed into a door-to-door and person-by-person effort. The Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium..., led by Dr. Asa Stanford of Philadelphia], is one of about 11,000 members of what the Department of Health and Human Services is calling its Covid-19 community corps, a loose constellation of volunteers, corporations, advocacy groups and local organizations working to vaccinate Americans often left behind by the nation's health care system.... Andy Slavitt, a White House pandemic adviser, described in an interview last week three categories to organize the unvaccinated: those making a choice at their own pace, those who need easier access to a vaccine and those under 30 who are open to getting a shot but not rushing to."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "The nation's top public health official on Sunday defended her agency's abrupt reversal on wide-ranging mask recommendations, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had weighed new data before announcing that Americans who had been vaccinated could go without masks.'We now have science that has really just evolved, even in the last two weeks,' CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on ABC News's 'This Week,' citing new data that coronavirus vaccines are curbing the spread of the disease covid-19 and offering protection against virus variants. Walensky, who appeared on four separate Sunday morning news shows to explain her agency's new guidelines, also touted widespread access to those vaccines and called on tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans to go get shots."

AP: Dr. Anthony Fauci "said Sunday that 'the undeniable effects of racism' have led to unacceptable health disparities that especially hurt African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans during the pandemic. 'COVID-19 has shone a bright light on our own society's failings,' Dr. ... Fauci said during a graduation ceremony for Emory University. Speaking by webcast from Washington, Fauci told the graduates in Atlanta that many members of minority groups work in essential jobs where they might be exposed to the coronavirus. He also said they are more likely to become infected if exposed because of medical conditions such as hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes or obesity. 'Now, very few of these comorbidities have racial determinants,' Fauci said. 'Almost all relate to the social determinants of health dating back to disadvantageous conditions that some people of color find themselves in from birth regarding the availability of an adequate diet, access to health care and the undeniable effects of racism in our society.'"

David Holtgrave & Eli Rosenberg, public health experts, in a CNN opinion piece: "Unfortunately, we are still not across the finish line in the US pandemic. There is still a Covid-19 death about every 2.5 minutes in the nation, and serious racial and ethnic disparities exists (e.g., in disproportionate access to vaccination services). There are six major concerns about the decision to roll back some key safety measures when in fact we need all of the tools we have in the Covid-19 prevention toolbox for perhaps just a short time longer.... We are going to keep wearing our masks." MB: Me, too, although I've liberalized that a lot. For instance, a friend -- who like me is fully vaccinated -- stopped by yesterday. We chatted outside, and neither of us wore masks. I have a couple of nearly immovable iron benches that are, by happenstance, set about six feet apart, so they provide just the right "social distancing." A couple of weeks ago, we both would have masked up.

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina. Lateshia Beachum of the Washington Post: "Two half-brothers with intellectual disabilities who were wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in 1983 were awarded $75 million by a jury in Raleigh, N.C., as part of a federal civil rights case. After nearly five hours of deliberation Friday, a jury found that Henry McCollum and Leon Brown should each receive $31 million, representing the 31 years they spent in prison, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. The brothers, who are both Black, were also awarded $13 million in punitive damages.

Way Beyond

Israel. The New York Times' liveblog of developments Monday in Israel's armed conflict are here.

~~~ Fares Akram & Ravi Nessman of the AP: "Israeli warplanes unleashed a new series of heavy airstrikes at several locations in Gaza City early Monday, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled the fourth war with Gaza's Hamas rulers would rage on. Explosions rocked the city from north to south for 10 minutes in an attack that was heavier, on a wider area and lasted longer than a series of air raids 24 hours earlier in which 42 Palestinians were killed -- the deadliest single attack in the latest round of violence between Israel and the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza. The earlier Israeli airstrikes flattened three buildings. The Israeli military said it attacked the homes of nine Hamas commanders across Gaza. There were no immediate reports of injuries, and in the predawn darkness there was little information on the extent of damage inflicted early Monday." The Guardian has a story here. ~~~

~~~The New York Times' liveblog of developments in the armed Israel conflict Sunday are here. ~~~

~~~ Julian Borger of the Guardian: "In his staunch defence of Israel, Joe Biden is sticking to a course set decades ago as a young senator, and so far he has not given ground on the issue to the progressive wing of his party or many Jewish Democrats urging a tougher line towards Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden has even been prepared to face isolation at the UN security council, at the potential cost of his own credibility on multilateralism and human rights. But analysts say that as the death toll rises with no sign of a ceasefire, the domestic and international pressures on the president could become impossible to ignore. American Jews have grown increasingly sceptical of Netanyahu and his policies. A Pew Research Center survey published last week found that only 40% thought the prime minister was providing good leadership, falling to 32% among younger Jews. Strikingly, only 34% strongly opposed sanctions or other punitive measures against Israel. The liberal Jewish American lobby, J Street, has growing influence in the Democratic party and has urged Biden to do more to stop the bloodshed and the Israeli policies that have helped drive the conflict." ~~~

~~~ Aubree Weaver of Politico: "While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that the escalating violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces doesn't continue for very long, he acknowledged Sunday morning that he doesn't foresee an 'immediate' end to the conflict. [Speaking on CBS' 'Face the Nation,'] Netanyahu also denied reports that he had rejected a truce offered by Egypt, which also borders on Gaza, and accepted by Hamas. 'That's not what I know,' he said of the suggested truce." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- May 16, 2021

Afternoon Update:

David Holtgrave & Eli Rosenberg, public health experts, in a CNN opinion piece: "Unfortunately, we are still not across the finish line in the US pandemic. There is still a Covid-19 death about every 2.5 minutes in the nation, and serious racial and ethnic disparities exists (e.g., in disproportionate access to vaccination services). There are six major concerns about the decision to roll back some key safety measures when in fact we need all of the tools we have in the Covid-19 prevention toolbox for perhaps just a short time longer.... We are going to keep wearing our masks." MB: Me, too, although I've liberalized that a lot. For instance, a friend -- who like me is fully vaccinated -- stopped by yesterday. We chatted outside, and neither of us wore masks. I have a couple of nearly immovable iron benches that are, by happenstance, set about six feet apart, so they provide just the right "social distancing." A couple of weeks ago, we both would have masked up.

Aubree Weaver of Politico: "While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that the escalating violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces doesn't continue for very long, he acknowledged Sunday morning that he doesn't foresee an 'immediate' end to the conflict. [Speaking on CBS' 'Face the Nation,'] Netanyahu also denied reports that he had rejected a truce offered by Egypt, which also borders on Gaza, and accepted by Hamas. 'That's not what I know,' he said of the suggested truce."

Henry Gomez of NBC News: “Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican mired in controversy, told a crowd of Republican activists Saturday that sexual misconduct allegations involving him are as benign as legislative earmarks. 'I'm being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors,' Gaetz said at the Ohio Political Summit, a gathering sponsored by the Strongsville GOP in suburban Cleveland. 'Yet, Congress has reinstituted a process that legalizes the corrupt act of exchanging money for favors, through earmarks, and everybody knows that that's the corruption.'" MB: Earmarks are sometimes useful in obtaining the votes of reluctant MOCs, yet Congress, in its wisdom, is unlikely to approve legislation providing MOCs with hookups with underaged prostitutes and rentboys in exchange for their votes on an infrastructure bill. As far as I know. But nice try, Matt. Maybe you could introduce a sex-for-votes bill?

Emily Flitter & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage, her husband was known globally as a software pioneer, a billionaire and a leading philanthropist. But in some circles, Bill Gates had also developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings. That is attracting new scrutiny amid the breakup of one of the world’s richest, most powerful couples." The report details some of Bill's "questionable conduct." MB: This doesn't surprise me. Not long after his marriage, my daughter told me she observed Bill "behaving inappropriately" at an industry party.

~~~~~~~~~~

Pay-to-Play. Because Everything They Did Was Crooked. Jeff McDonald of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has begun issuing subpoenas in a criminal investigation into the nomination of San Diego developer Douglas F. Manchester as ambassador to the Bahamas by ... Donald Trump. The case appears to focus on the Republican National Committee and its two senior leaders, and possibly members of Congress. Manchester, a well-known contributor to the Republican Party and to GOP elected officials and candidates, was nominated to become the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in May 2017, just months into the Trump administration. But the nomination stalled in the U.S. Senate, prompting Trump to re-nominate Manchester to the post early in 2018. That nomination also was held up from Senate approval. Manchester withdrew his nomination in October 2019, saying that he was removing his name from consideration due to threats to his family.... Weeks after Manchester withdrew his nomination, emails surfaced indicating that Manchester was at the center of a possible 'pay-to-play' arrangement with the Republican National Committee."

Space Farce. Oriana Pawlyk of Military.com: "A commander of a U.S. Space Force unit tasked with detecting ballistic missile launches has been fired for comments made during a podcast promoting his new book, which claims Marxist ideologies are becoming prevalent in the United States military. Lt Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, was relieved from his post Friday by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of Space Operations Command, over a loss of confidence in his ability to lead, Military.com has exclusively learned.... [Lohmeier] spoke about U.S. institutions, including universities, media and federal agencies including the military, that he said are increasingly adopting leftist practices. These practices -- such as diversity and inclusion training -- are the systemic cause for the divisive climate across America today, he said."

Jennifer Jacquet in a Washington Post op-ed: "Since at least 2006, when the United Nations published a report, 'Livestock's Long Shadow,' cataloguing the sector's global environmental impacts, the industry has been borrowing tactics from the fossil fuel playbook. While meat and dairy producers have not claimed that climate change is a liberal hoax, as oil and gas producers did starting in the 1990s, companies have been downplaying the industry's environmental footprint and undermining climate policy, as my colleagues Oliver Lazarus and Sonali McDermid and I have written in a recent study. For decades, the meat industry, acting through major agricultural trade groups such as the Farm Bureau, has pressured lawmakers to prevent environmental regulations. More recently, that's taken the form of resisting climate regulations, including rules on greenhouse gases and emissions reporting."

Beyond the Beltway

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Voter suppression "is not the only arena in which states -- meaning largely Republican legislators in states -- are responding to the events of 2020 with new legislation. New analysis from the nonprofit organization PEN America has identified 100 pieces of legislation that in some way aim to amplify or introduce penalties associated with what the group calls 'protest-related activity.' A number of those bills have been abandoned, as is the case with the voting legislation tracked by the Brennan Center. But six have been signed into law.... The intent of the restrictions is generally obvious. Many of the bills targeting protest, for example, both increase penalties for rioting and adjust the threshold for declaring a riot downward, as is the case with legislation signed into law in Florida. Many increase penalties for acts of vandalism or for obstructing traffic. Others introduce new trespassing rules, including, as a bill proposed in South Carolina would do, making it a felony to camp on state property without authorization. Another common component of these bills reduces penalties for drivers who strike protesters if the driver feels as though his or her life is at risk."

Arizona. James Arkin of Politico: "Republicans in the state are still divided over the results of the last election, months after President Joe Biden was sworn into office. An ongoing and extraordinary audit of the 2020 vote count in the state's largest county -- rooted in conspiracy theories and the false belief that Biden's election was not legitimate -- is deepening the schism six months after the election, with no clear end in sight.... [Some] Republicans are speaking out to warn that the amateurish conduct of the audit and the conspiracy theories it has amplified could cause lasting damage to the party." ~~~

~~~ Bob Christie of the AP: "The Republican who now leads the Arizona county elections department targeted by a GOP audit of the 2020 election results is slamming ... Donald Trump and others in his party for their continued falsehoods about how the election was run. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer on Saturday called a Trump statement accusing the county of deleting an elections database 'unhinged' and called on other Republicans to stop the unfounded accusations. 'We can't indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country,' Richer tweeted. Richer became recorder in January, after defeating the Democratic incumbent. The former president's statement came as Republican Senate President Karen Fann has demanded the Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors come to the Senate to answer questions raised by the private auditors she has hired."

Georgia. Marc Caputo of Politico: "Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood's bid to bring 'chaos' to South Carolina's GOP was halted on Saturday when he failed to unseat the party's chairman after baselessly accusing the incumbent of voter fraud and a host of other slurs. Chairman Drew McKissick's reelection was not in doubt among knowledgeable Republicans who say the party delegate rules favor longtime insiders. Wood, an accomplished trial lawyer from Georgia who turned into a conspiracy theorist, moved this year from Georgia and mounted an unexpectedly strong candidacy for a complete outsider."

New Mexico. Pilar Melendez of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "A suspected white supremacist is facing charges after allegedly ditching a bullet-riddled car containing three dead men in the parking lot of an Albuquerque hospital this week. Richard Kuykendall, a 41-year-old with an 'apparent association' with the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, was charged Friday with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition for his role in the Wednesday triple homicide, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico. Prosecutors allege that after a deadly shootout in a nearby alley, Kuykendall drove to Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital with the victims, removed his shirt and told a security officer 'that there were three dead guys in the Chevy' before he walked away." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not sure what the idea was to dropping dead bodies at a hospital. Maybe Kookendall thought the coronor's office was too creepy. Or maybe it's just that your average Nazi is none too bright.

Texas. Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "When former Dallas County prosecutor Richard E. Jackson put two homeless Black men on trial in 2000 for the murder of a local pastor, he allegedly withheld a heap of evidence that could have cleared them. Witnesses couldn't pick the suspects out of a lineup, neither of the men matched descriptions provided to investigators, and prosecutors had brokered secret deals with jailhouse informants for favorable testimony, appeals court papers would later show. In separate trials, jurors heard none of it. Jackson got his convictions, and Dennis Allen and Stanley Mozee were sentenced to life in prison. Only after an extensive review by the Innocence Project and Jackson's successors were the men exonerated -- 14 years later. Now, after two decades of legal wrangling, Jackson has been disbarred from practicing law in Texas, in a rare example of severe punishment for misconduct in a wrongful conviction case.... One recent study found more than half of wrongfully convicted defendants were victimized by government misconduct -- but prosecutors almost never face consequences as serious as disbarment."

Texas. The Lady & the Tiger. Juan Lozano of the AP: "A tiger that frightened residents after it was last seen briefly wandering around a Houston neighborhood has been found after a nearly week-long search and appears to be unharmed, police announced Saturday evening.... The tiger was being held at BARC, the city of Houston's animal shelter, but was expected to be taken Sunday morning to ... an animal sanctuary in Murchison, Texas, located southeast of Dallas." Cmdr. Ron Borza of the Houston Police said "that the tiger was passed around to different people but that [the wife of the tiger's owner] knew where the tiger was at all times this week as authorities searched for it. Police are still trying to determine ... if any charges related to having the tiger will be filed." Victor Hugo Cuevas, the tiger's owner, "was arrested Monday by Houston police ... for allegedly fleeing his home with the tiger after officers had responded to a call about a dangerous animal. At the time of his arrest by Houston police, Cuevas was already out on bond for a murder charge in a 2017 fatal shooting in neighboring Fort Bend County." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The lovely Mr. and Mrs. Cuevas should be charged with something. The story of the misisng tiger went national. So they certainly knew public funds were being spent to search for a big cat that was in their custody, even as Houston residents must have been terrified that the tiger was roaming about their neighborhoods.

Way Beyond

Israel. The New York Times' liveblog of developments Sunday in the deadly conflict are here.

~~~ Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "Predawn Israeli airstrikes on several homes along a main road leading to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed 26 people, including eight children, said Gaza's Ministry of Health -- a number expected to rise. It is believed to be the single deadliest attack since the current bout of violence began last week. Diplomatic efforts by President Biden and U.S. regional allies to reach a cease-fire have had little impact on the escalation between Israel and Hamas, which on Sunday trudged into its seventh day, and has spilled over into mass protests in Israeli towns and in the West Bank." ~~~

~~~ Fares Akram & Lee Keath of the AP: "With a U.S. envoy on the ground, calls increased for a cease-fire after five days of mayhem that have left at least 145 Palestinians dead in Gaza -- including 41 children and 23 women -- and eight dead on the Israeli side, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old. President Joe Biden, who has called for a de-escalation but has backed Israel's campaign, spoke separately by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Still, Israel stepped up its assault, vowing to shatter the capabilities of Gaza's Hamas rulers. The week of deadly violence, set off by a Hamas rocket Monday, came after weeks of mounting tensions and heavy-handed Israeli measures in contested Jerusalem. Early Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck several buildings and roads in a vital part of Gaza City. Photos circulated by residents and journalists showed the airstrikes created a crater that blocked one of the main roads leading to Shifa, the largest hospital in the strip." ~~~

~~~ Fares Akram & Joseph Krauss of the AP: "An Israeli airstrike targeted and destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press and other media outlets hours after another Israeli airraid on a densely populated refugee camp killed at least 10 Palestinians from an extended family, mostly children, on Saturday. The strike on the high-rise came nearly an hour after the military ordered people to evacuate the 12-story building, which also housed Al-Jazeera, other offices and residential apartments. The strike brought down the entire structure, which collapsed in a gigantic cloud of dust. There was no immediate explanation for why it was attacked. The earlier Israeli airstrike on the Gaza City refugee camp was the deadliest single strike of the current conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Both sides are pressing for an advantage as cease-fire efforts gather strength." MB: Gosh, just can't think why Israel would destroy a building housing media outlets. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ In a statement, AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said, "We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP's bureau and other news organizations in Gaza. They have long known the location of our bureau and knew journalists were there. We received a warning that the building would be hit.... The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Shinkman of U.S. News: Donald "Trump's attempts to sell the world on the merits of the so-called Abraham Accords -- access to a revered holy site and better conditions for Palestinians -- have come undone.... The U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords ... involving the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have undercut Palestinians' traditional supporters and empowered Israel, which has capitalized in recent months on a policy that appears to persist under the Biden administration of not imposing pressure on the Jewish state.... The accords ... essentially muzzl[ed] signatory countries from providing anything but token criticism of the violence."

News Lede

New York Times: "Damon Weaver, who at age 11 became one of the youngest people to interview a sitting president [-- Barack Obama --], and who later gained attention for scoring other high-profile interviews with celebrities like Dwyane Wade and Oprah Winfrey, died on May 1. He was 23.... The cause was not made known.... Before his meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Weaver gained sizable attention from an interview in 2008 with Joseph R. Biden Jr., then Mr. Obama's running mate."