;)
The Commentariat -- Sept. 23, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Of the three officers potential charged in grand jury proceedings related to Breonna Taylor's killing, only one was charged and that was the lesser charge of "wanton disregard for human life" -- generally not used when an actual killing takes place -- and a charge for which the maximum sentence is five years. Mrs. McC: This is not going to cut it, to say the least. I'll get up a real story when one becomes available. ~~~
~~~ Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post in what appears to be a first draft: "A grand jury in Jefferson County, Ky., has charged Brett Hankison, a former Louisville police detective, with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. Hankison, one of the officers involved in the March shooting death of Breonna Taylor, was fired by the department in June, with a termination letter saying he 'wantonly and blindly' shot 10 times into Taylor's apartment.... The grand jury did not announce any charges against the other officers involved in Taylor's death." ~~~
~~~ Richard Oppel, et al., of the New York Times: "... no one was charged for causing Ms. Taylor's death." Mrs. McC: This is probably the most stunning outcome of a grand jury probe led by the state's attorney general Daniel Cameron, a protégé of Mitch McConnell's, who spoke at Trumpapalooza convention. One pundit on MSNBC suggested that Cameron was waiting for a federal judgeship. Sounds plausible. ~~~
~~~ Ray Sanchez & Elizabeth Joseph of CNN: "A former Louisville police officer has been indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in connection with the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. The long-awaited charges against the former officer, Brett Hankison, were immediately criticized by demonstrators who had demanded more serious counts and the arrests of the three officers involved in the March shooting. The other two officers -- Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove -- were not charged following months of demonstrations."
Robert Barnes, et al., of the Washington Post: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. eulogized Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a 'rock star' whose legal victories as a crusading lawyer for women's rights and her decisions over 27 years as a justice moved the nation closer to the goal of 'equal justice under law.... Among the words that describe Ruth: Tough. Brave. A fighter. A winner,' a red-eyed Roberts said during a ceremony in the Supreme Court's Great Hall. 'But also: Thoughtful. Careful. Compassionate. Honest.' Dozens of black-clad former clerks lined the steps of the marble building as Supreme Court police officers delivered Ginsburg's casket to the Great Hall, where justices traditionally have been remembered.... A small gathering of family and close friends gathered for words from Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, whose husband, Ari, is among 159 former clerks who served Ginsburg in her more than 40 years as a justice and an appeals court judge." A Politico story is here.
In testimony Wednesday morning, Dr. Tony Fauci politely slaps down a self-certified know-it-all ophthalmologist:
~~~ Brianna Ehley of Politico: "The government's top infectious disease doctor on Wednesday accused Sen. Rand Paul of repeatedly misconstruing information about the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, including making misleading claims about herd immunity and the effects of mitigation measures. Testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Anthony Fauci rejected Paul's assertion that the United States' mitigation and lockdown efforts were misguided. Paul cited the experiences of countries like Sweden that did not take aggressive measures to control the virus, arguing that 'our death rate is essentially worse than Sweden's.'"
Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune: "A ceremonial resolution honoring the life of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg failed in the Senate on Tuesday after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz objected to language his Democratic counterparts added noting her dying wish that a successor not be chosen until after the presidential inauguration early next year. The war of words on the Senate floor is likely a preamble to a coming brawl to replace Ginsburg.... 'Under the Constitution, members of the judiciary do not appoint their own successors[, Cruz said]. [Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer took to the floor immediately after Cruz spoke, stating that he believed 'Justice Ginsburg would easily see through the legal sophistry' of Cruz's argument. He said Cruz turned the late justice's 'dying words' against her, which Schumer said is 'so, so beneath the dignity of this body. I do not modify.' Cruz then objected to the resolution, and it did not pass."
Ron & Chuck's Excellent Misadventure. Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "For a year, Senate Republicans have teased a bombshell investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden that could rock the former vice president's campaign for the White House. But an interim report, issued by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) less than six weeks before the presidential election and released publicly on Wednesday, is largely a compilation of previously public information -- some of it rehashed anew by witnesses who already testified during the House's impeachment inquiry last year -- as well as news articles and strongly worded insinuations with little evidence to back them up.... The report does little to substantiate allegations against the Democratic presidential nominee, which have been fueled in part by foreign actors linked to the Kremlin whom U.S. officials have said are attempting to interfere in the 2020 election.... The investigation -- which lacked majority support among members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that Johnson chairs -- ... states that Hunter Biden's role 'cast a shadow' over U.S.-Ukraine policy, but provides no evidence that U.S. foreign policy was impacted." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds as if Ron & Chuck put together a teenage-type scrapbook of their childish hopes & dreams. Such a fun way to while away the hours -- and at taxpayer expense!
Jamelle Bouie, speaking to Mary Harris of Slate: "On a practical level, the United States population has grown by about 100 million since the last time the courts were expanded under Jimmy Carter. So there's a very real need for more judges at the district and circuit court level. Create more circuits and create more districts -- that would have the side effect of basically nullifying most of Trump's additions to the judiciary. And that can stand as a threat to the Supreme Court, to say that if you stand in our way, we will just add more seats to your lower courts."
Michael Schmidt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "White House aides improperly intervened to prevent a manuscript by President Trump's former national security adviser John R. Bolton from becoming public, a career official said in a letter filed in court on Wednesday, accusing them of making false assertions and trying to coerce her to join their efforts, and suggesting that they retaliated when she refused. In an extraordinary 18-page document, a lawyer for the official who oversaw the book's prepublication review, Ellen Knight, portrays the Trump administration as handling its response to the book in bad faith. Her account implied that the Justice Department may have told a court that the book contains classified information -- and opened a criminal investigation into Mr. Bolton -- based on false pretenses. An aide to Mr. Trump also 'instructed her to temporarily withhold any response' to a request from Mr. Bolton to review a chapter on Mr. Trump's dealings with Ukraine so it could be released during the impeachment trial, wrote Ms. Knight's lawyer, Kenneth L. Wainstein. He said that his client had determined in April that Mr. Bolton's book, 'The Room Where It Happened,' no longer contained any classified information, but the 'apolitical process' was then 'commandeered by political appointees for a seemingly political purpose' to go after Mr. Bolton. The actions she was asked to take were 'unprecedented in her experience,' the letter said." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's story, by Spencer Hsu & Rosalind Helderman, is here. See also Patrick's commentary below.
Trump, et al., Say Justice Needed to Ensure Trump's Re-Election. Christopher Wilson of Yahoo! News: "President Trump, who has spent the past several months baselessly arguing that Democrats might try to steal the November election from him, now says that the Senate must quickly confirm a new Supreme Court justice to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg in case the court has to rule on the outcome. 'We need nine justices,' Trump said at the White House Tuesday. 'You need that with the unsolicited millions of ballots that they're sending. It's a scam. It's a hoax. Everybody knows that. And the Democrats know it better than anybody else. So you're going to need nine justices out there. I think it's very important.'... Vice President Mike Pence reiterated the message during an interview with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell.... And in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also said a new justice should be confirmed by Election Day in case it needs to weigh in on results."
Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney, John Yarmuth, Zoe Lofgren, Eliot Engel & Richard E. Neal, all chairs of House committees, in a Washington Post op-ed, propose legislative reforms to curb the illicit activities of "a lawless president." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
~~~~~~~~~~
CBS News: "The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in repose Wednesday and Thursday at the U.S. Supreme Court, where Americans can pay their respects to a woman who spent her career fighting for equality and justice. Ginsburg's casket will arrive in front of the court shortly before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the court, and a private ceremony will take place in the court's Great Hall at 9:30 a.m. Following the private ceremony, the public will be able to pay its respects on the portico at the top of the Supreme Court steps. 'The public is invited to pay respects in front of the Building from approximately 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23, and from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 24,' the Supreme Court said in a statement.... On Friday, Ginsburg will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol. She will become the first woman to do so."
Presidential Race, Etc.
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Debate organizers have decided the six debate topics for next week's showdown between ... Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. According to a person familiar with the planning, the 90-minute debate will be divided into six 15-minute discussion areas. They include: Trump's and Biden's records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, race and violence in cities, election integrity, and the economy."
Eric Bradner & Sarah Mucha of CNN: "Cindy McCain, the widow of longtime Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Tuesday night on Twitter that she endorses Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The endorsement follows McCain's appearance in a video about Biden's relationship with her late husband at the Democratic National Convention in August. McCain offered her endorsement on Twitter after Biden had told donors she was supporting him. 'My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden,' she said in a series of tweets. 'Joe and I don't always agree on the issues, and I know he and John certainly had some passionate arguments, but he is a good and honest man. He will lead us with dignity,' she said. 'He will be a commander in chief that the finest fighting force in the history of the world can depend on, because he knows what it is like to send a child off to fight.'"
** Ursula Perano of Axios: "Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has raised over $16 million to help felons pay outstanding fines and fees to regain their voting rights in Florida.... Bloomberg's fundraising, in addition to $5 million from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, has now paid off monetary obligations for 32,000 felons in Florida just before Election Day. Voters who were already registered to vote, Black or Latino, and had fines and fees of less than $1500 were eligible for the payback initiative." (Also linked yesterday.)
Russian Trolls Amplify Trump's Lies. David Sanger & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Four years ago, when Russian intelligence agencies engaged in a systematic attempt to influence the American presidential election, the disinformation they fed American voters required some real imagination at the troll farms producing the ads.... This year, their task is much easier. They are largely amplifying misleading statements from President Trump, mostly about the dangers of mail-in ballots. In interviews, a range of officials and private analysts said that Mr. Trump was feeding many of the disinformation campaigns they were struggling to halt. And rather than travel the back roads of America searching for divisive issues -- as three Russians from the Internet Research Agency did in 2016 -- they are staying home, grabbing screenshots of Mr. Trump's Twitter posts, or quoting his misleading statements and then amplifying those messages." ~~~
~~~ Julian Barnes & David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is most likely continuing to approve and direct interference operations aimed at raising President Trump's re-election chances, a recent C.I.A. analysis concluded, a signal that intelligence agencies continue to back their assessment of Russian activities despite the president's attacks.... Mr. Trump himself remains hostile to arguments that Russia is intervening to support him.... The president has pushed various [Russian-generated] theories about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election and has supported efforts to raise questions about the work Mr. Biden's son did for a Ukrainian energy company, namely a Senate investigation led by Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, that Democrats have warned is the target of Russian disinformation." A Washington Post story by Josh Rogin was linked yesterday. ~~~
~~~ Natasha Bertrand & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "The CIA has made it harder for intelligence about Russia to reach the White House, stoking fears among current and former officials that information is being suppressed to please a president known to erupt in anger whenever he is confronted with bad news about Moscow. Nine current and former officials said in interviews that CIA Director Gina Haspel has become extremely cautious about which, if any, Russia-related intelligence products make their way to President Donald Trump's desk. Haspel also has been keeping a close eye on the agency's fabled 'Russia House,' whose analysts she often disagrees with and sometimes accuses of purposefully misleading her."
"Trump Explicitly Embraces Eugenics." Tim Dickinson of the Rolling Stone: "Last Friday, on the night that Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Donald Trump made a campaign appearance in Bemidji, a small city in northern Minnesota. Trump played to the base instincts of an adoring crowd at the airport, where MAGA hats outnumbered face masks by an extraordinary margin -- before he slipped into a terrifying embrace of eugenics, 'the racehorse theory' of human breeding, and the superiority of Minnesota genes.... [After a racist warm-up in which he denigrated Somali refugees, including Rep. Ilhan Omar as well as Minneapolis protesters against George Floyd's killing, & made a joke of a police attack on reporter Ali Velshi], Trump then veered into an open endorsement of eugenics -- the discredited theory that the human race can be improved with selective breeding for superior traits. The theory has an ugly history in America. And Hitler's embrace of eugenics in Nazi Germany gave rise to the program of 'race hygiene' that culminated in the extermination of millions of Jewish people and others at death camps. 'You have good genes, you know that right?' Trump said to the nearly all-white crowd. 'A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it? Don';t you believe? The racehorse theory,' Trump said. 'You think we're so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.'" ~~~
~~~ Update. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar yet again for her Somali origins, saying the Minnesota Democrat is 'telling us how to run our country.' 'How about Omar of Minnesota?' Trump said at a rally in Moon Township, Pa., outside Pittsburgh. 'We're going to win the state of Minnesota because of her, they say. She's telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How's your country doing? She's going to tell us -- she's telling us how to run our country.' Omar is a U.S. citizen -- a requirement for serving in Congress -- and was naturalized after coming to the country as a child refugee from Somalia. The comment was one of the president's many jabs suggesting Omar is not an American. Going after her has become almost a staple of his campaign rallies, where he often focuses on her more than other progressive lawmakers critical of the president." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps it would be okay if the son & grandson of immigrants, who does in theory "run our country," thought that actual immigrants should not "run our country." After all, the Constitution requires that anyone holding Trump's current job be a natural-born citizen. But, as you'll see in the story linked at the end of today's page, Trump was happy to name an immigrant -- Pete Hoekstra -- as his government's representative in the Netherlands. So what's the difference between Hoekstra & Omar? I'll bet you have a theory.
Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Pennsylvania Republicans will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the legality of allowing voters to return mail ballots up to three days after Election Day, potentially queuing up the first partisan election case for the court to consider since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.... The Republicans filed a stay request with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday, writing that they planned to appeal to the country's highest court, as well.... The death of Ginsburg ... has brought new uncertainty to the battles over election rules in 2020 playing out across the country. Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Democrats' favor on a number of mail-voting rules, permitting voters to turn in ballots via drop box in addition to using the U.S. Postal Service; allowing ballots to be returned up to three days after Election Day; and blocking a Republican effort to allow partisan poll watchers to be stationed in counties where they do not live."
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A Canadian woman who was arrested on suspicion of mailing the lethal substance ricin to the White House wanted President Trump to drop out of the presidential race and pledged to find other ways to assassinate him if her poisoning plot failed, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday. The woman, Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, has been charged by the Justice Department with threatening to kill the president. A federal judge entered a not guilty plea for Ms. Ferrier in a brief appearance on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Buffalo. Ms. Ferrier wrote in a threatening and scornful letter sent with the ricin that she believed Mr. Trump was a dictator who was hurting the United States."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here.
Tomi Kilgore of Market Watch: "The number of deaths as a result of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 in the U.S., as the global total moved closer to 1 million..., even as ... Donald Trump went against facts and his own previous statements by saying virtually nobody was affected.... The U.S. ... saw 54,874 new cases on Monday, and at least 428 deaths. The new case tally is 31% above the average of 41,812 cases a day over the past week, which was a 7% increase from the average two weeks earlier, New York Times data show."
Trump walks away from & refuses to answer female reporter who asks about 200,000 U.S. death from Covid-19, answers male reporter's similar question, claiming it's "a shame" and "If we didn't do it properly & do it right, you'd have 2-1/2 million deaths." ~~~
Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: ";President Trump has sweeping powers to compel companies to produce protective gear and to guarantee that the federal government will pay them for it -- and as his election campaign intensifies, he has been boasting about aggressively using them. But in fact, most of his administration's use of that authority, granted under the Cold-War Defense Production Act, has had nothing to do with the pandemic. A White House report released last month claimed that Mr. Trump has wielded the act nearly 80 times to alleviate shortages of masks and other medical supplies. 'My administration has harnessed the full power of the Defense Production Act to achieve the greatest industrial mobilization since World War II,' Mr. Trump said at a briefing to announce the report's release.... Yet all but six of the examples cited in the report were either executive orders unrelated to the production of medical equipment or Defense Department expenditures that do not address the nation's supply shortages.... Mr. Trump's newfound embrace of the law comes as Joseph R. Biden ... has attacked the president's failure to use it.... An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service described the administration's use of the act as 'sporadic and relatively narrow,' noting that most of the $1 billion that Congress allocated ... was shifted to the Defense Department, which spent most of the money -- $688 million -- on semiconductors, shipbuilding and space surveillance." ~~~
~~~ A related Washington Post story, by Aaron Gregg & Yeganeh Torbati, was linked yesterday. ~~~
~~~ Update: Aaron Gregg & Yeganeh Torbati of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats sharply criticized a Defense Department decision to repurpose a $1 billion coronavirus fund into an economic stimulus for defense contractors, a change the lawmakers say violated congressional intent. Two lawmakers asked for an investigation and public hearings on the matter following a Washington Post article that revealed the change.... Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) called for a formal investigation reviewing the legality of the Defense Department's decision to use any of the coronavirus funding for defense industry stimulus."
Our Great International Embarrassment. Scott Neuman of NPR: "In a speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump once again sought to blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic and called on Beijing to be punished for its handling of the disease, which has killed nearly 1 million people worldwide -- a fifth of them in the United States. Trump, speaking in a video address from the White House to a sparsely occupied hall of mask-wearing delegates at U.N. headquarters in New York, referred to the disease as the 'China virus' and implied that Beijing and the World Health Organization had worked in tandem to cover up the danger of the pandemic.... Despite his own efforts to downplay the pandemic in its early days and criticism over his administration's slow response to combat it, the president defended the U.S. action on Tuesday, calling it 'the most aggressive mobilization since the Second World War.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm disappointed Trump didn't take the time to blame Spain for the "1917" "Spanish Flu," which "probably ended the Second World War, all the soldiers were sick." The influenza was first detected in Kansas in 1918. (How could anyone born in 1946 not know at least approximately the dates of WWII? Our childhoods were filled with it, from soldiers' tales to movies to "war games" we played.) ~~~
~~~ "U.S., Object of Pity." Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "... Donald Trump's former top Russia adviser said Tuesday that the United States is increasingly seen as 'an object of pity' and its standing on the world stage is eroding. 'We are increasingly seen as an object of pity, including by our allies, because they are so shocked by what's happening internally, how we're eating ourselves alive with our divisions,' Fiona Hill, who was a witness in the Trump impeachment hearings, told CNN's Jim Sciutto on Tuesday.... 'We're the ones who are creating all this. It's not the Russians or the Chinese or anyone else. We are doing this to ourselves.' Asked whether the US is still seen as a model, Hill replied, 'Unless we get our domestic act together, no.'"
The Most Dangerous, Diabolical Lie of All. Helen Sullivan of the Guardian: "As the United States' coronavirus death toll edged closer to 200,000..., Donald Trump claimed falsely at a rally in Ohio that the country's fatality rate was 'among the lowest in the world' and that the virus has 'virtually' no effect on young people. Speaking in the town of Swanton, Trump said: 'It affects elderly people. Elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems that's what it really affects, that's it,' he claimed. 'You know in some states, thousands of people -- nobody young.... Take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. But it affects virtually nobody. It's an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools.'... In August, the World Health Organization warned that young people were becoming the primary drivers of the spread of coronavirus in many countries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: How innocent we were just three-and-a-half years ago when we could guffaw over Trump's ridiculous lies about the size of his inaugural crowd or the busloads of Massachusetts residents who sneaked into New Hampshire to vote for Hillary. Those lies of course did present a certain danger -- a danger that some Americans would lose touch with reality or would believe the presidential election was "rigged." And they did. But nobody died.
Laurie McGinley & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration is expected to spell out a tough, new standard for an emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as this week that will make it exceedingly difficult for any vaccine to be cleared before Election Day. The agency is issuing the guidance to boost transparency and public trust as it approaches the momentous decision of whether a prospective vaccine is safe and effective. Public health experts are increasingly worried that President Trump's repeated predictions of a coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 3, coupled with the administration's interference in federal science agencies, may prompt Americans to reject any vaccine as rushed and potentially tainted." Includes an overview of how Trump & HHS have been strongarming the FDA. The article is free to nonsubscribers.
The Consequences of Trump's Fight to Abolish Obamacare. Reed Abelson & Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "... the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg increases the possibility that the [Supreme C]ourt could abolish [the Affordable Care Act], even as millions of people are losing job-based health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic.... Many millions more people would be affected by such a ruling than those who rely on the law for health insurance. Its many provisions touch the lives of most Americans, from nursing mothers to people who eat at chain restaurants.... As many as 133 million Americans -- roughly half the population under the age of 65 -- have pre-existing medical conditions that could disqualify them from buying a health insurance policy or cause them to pay significantly higher premiums if the health law were overturned.... [Coronavirus could be considered a pre-exisiting condition.] About 21 million are at serious risk of becoming uninsured." Insurance companies may not cover substance abuse treatment. One hundred sixty-five million Americans could find that insurers capped their payouts for expensive treatments. Sixty million seniors would have to pay more for wellness treatment & prescription drugs. Two million young people would lose coverage under their parents' policies.
White Supremacy as Federal Policy. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday extended his administration's ban on training involving race- and sex-based discrimination to include federal contractors, doubling down on an issue to appeal to his base, and white voters in particular.... The order applies to executive departments and agencies, the U.S. military, federal contractors and federal grant recipients.... Trump has in recent weeks turned his attention to rooting out concepts that he claims 'indoctrinate' Americans and school children into believing the country is inherently racist in an attempt to stoke cultural issues that appeal to his base...."
** Is It Nearly Time to Ditch Marbury v. Madison? Ryan Cooper of the Week presents a radical -- but not far-out -- idea: that "judicial review" is not Constitutional. Read it. I don't quite know what else could keep an out-of-control president* or Congress in line (though I have some ideas), but maybe it isn't Johnnie & the Dwarfs, after all. Food for thought. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
... if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court..., the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. -- Abraham Lincoln ~~~
~~~ Update. Jamelle Bouie mainstreams the Not-So-Supreme thesis in the New York Times: "The Supreme Court has the power to interpret the Constitution and establish its meaning for federal, state and local government alike. But this power wasn't enumerated in the Constitution and isn't inherent in the court as an institution.... If Democrats win in 2020 and want to deliver on their promises, they will have to do something about the courts. There is no choice other than impotence in the face of a conservative judicial redoubt. The United States may not be a 'pure democracy,' but it's not a judgeocracy either, and if protecting the right of the people to govern for themselves means curbing judicial power and the Supreme Court's claim to judicial supremacy, then Democrats should act without hesitation. If anything, they'll be in good historical company." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It could not please me more if it turns out that the most significant aspect of the Roberts Court is to greatly diminish the power & stature of said Court. John Roberts' willingness to go along with the Court's liberals -- up till now -- suggests to me he is aware that the other two co-equal branches of government could ignore the courts or, more generously, view them as "advisory boards."
Meh, Whoever. Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday appeared to have secured the votes needed to confirm his Supreme Court nominee days before he even names the candidate, while Senate Republicans began working on plans to hold a final vote on the pick before the Nov. 3 election."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) signaled on Tuesday that he is open to confirming a Supreme Court nominee this year. 'My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of "fairness" which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent. The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party's nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own,' Romney said." Mrs. McC: Not sure Romney got his history right, but I guess that doesn't really matter. If he's wrong about that, he'll come up with another thin rationale. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mitt's Delusion. Mrs. McCrabbie: One of Romney's stated fake excuses for confirming a Trump Supreme Court nomination was, "It's also appropriate for a nation, which is, if you will, center-right to have a court which reflects a center-right point of view." But how is that a given? ~~~
~~~ Bryan Schott of the Salt Lake Tribune: "... if Romney's contention were true, the 2012 Republican nominee might be finishing his second term in the White House. Only once since 1992 has the Republican presidential candidate received more votes than their Democratic opponent and that's when George W. Bush [Mrs. McC: -- an incumbent --] defeated John Kerry in 2004. But thanks to the Electoral College, Republican candidates won the White House in 2000 and 2016." Mrs. McC: In the most recent federal election -- the 2018 midterms -- slightly more than 9 million Americans voted for Congressional Democrats than voted for Republicans; that's an 8.1 percent advantage for Democrats and Republicans.
Trump Uses EPA to Threaten New York City. Dana Rubinstein & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “President Trump's politicized campaign to label New York City an 'anarchist jurisdiction' broadened on Tuesday, with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency threatening to move its regional headquarters out of Lower Manhattan. The E.P.A. administrator, Andrew R. Wheeler, suggested that local agency officials had become so fearful of New York streets that they are now considering moving offices. The root of those fears? Mr. Wheeler cited three-month old protests against police brutality, and a small, recent protest against another federal agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a nearby building. That demonstration was quickly shut down by the police. Few in New York have taken the president's rhetoric seriously, and the threat from the E.P.A. administrator was also being dismissed as political theater to be deployed in Mr. Trump's re-election campaign."
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "The House overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill late Tuesday to keep the government funded through early December and avoid a shutdown just before the election. The 359-57 vote sends the legislation to the Senate, which could take it up later this week and send it to President Trump. White House officials say they don't want a shutdown, and Trump is expected to sign the bill, though he's wavered at the last minute in such scenarios in the past. The deal was negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a chaotic series of events over the past several days."
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "A direct line to the White House, but routed through a third party to hide it from public view. Easy access to Alaska's governor, as well as the state's two U.S. senators. A successful push to unseat nine Republican state lawmakers who opposed their plan to build a massive gold and copper mine -- the biggest in North America -- near Bristol Bay in Alaska. Those were some of the boasts made by two top executives of a company trying to build the Pebble Mine in videotapes secretly recorded by an environmental group and made public Monday. It was a rare glimpse into the private discussions surrounding the company's heated campaign to win federal permits for the project, which environmentalists say will destroy a pristine part of Alaska and decimate its world-famous sockeye salmon fishery."
Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "Dutch officials demanded answers from Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, on Tuesday in light of reports that the Trump appointee had held a private event for a rising right-wing political party and its donors at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague earlier this month. On Monday, Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer published a detailed description of the Sept. 10 gathering, attended by a large group of Forum for Democracy (FvD) members and supporters in the business community, bringing it to widespread attention.... U.S. officials told the Dutch media that the proceeding was nothing out of the ordinary, but lawmakers argued it blurred the line between a typical embassy event and a fundraising gathering for the FvD -- a potential breach of international law, which prohibits interference in domestic politics.... 'This is interference in our elections,' Bram van Ojik, a member of parliament with the left-wing GroenLinks, or GreenLeft, party, told public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting."
News Lede
New York Times: "Gale Sayers, the will-o'-the-wisp running back who in a short but brilliant career with the Chicago Bears left opponents, as they used to say, clutching at air, died on Tuesday at his home in Wakarusa, Ind. He was 77. His son Guy Bullard said the cause was complications of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. In March 2017, his family revealed that Sayers had dementia after he had publicly displayed symptoms of it for four years. He joins a growing list of football players who developed dementia and died of brain damage while still young.... Sayers's fame reached beyond the football field in 1971 with the broadcast of the Emmy Award-winning television movie 'Brian's Song,' based on his friendship with his teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer at 26."
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