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New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”
New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”
Click on photo to enlarge.
~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI."
Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”
New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”
Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”
Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."
Ophelia M. passed along the following in Saturday's Comments. She got it from a friend, which is one of the ways the jokes have found their way into the light. Before republishing Ophelia's comment, I looked for the jokes' provenance. They seem to have many mothers & fathers, all of them anonymous. Paul Krugman published a few lines some while back, along with a link to others, but Krugman's "original" got disappeared. So thanks to Ophelia & all you Anonymous Wits. And Curses, Republicans! -- Constant Weader
May you be reunited in the world to come with your ancestors, who were all socialist garment workers.
May you have a large store, and have it all dismantled by vulture capitalists.
May you grow so rich that your widow’s second husband is thrilled they repealed the estate tax.
May you feast every day on chopped liver with onions, chicken soup with dumplings, baked carp with horseradish, braised meat with vegetable stew & latkes, and may every bite of it be contaminated with E. Coli, because the government gutted the E.P.A.
May you sell everything and retire to Florida just as global warming makes it uninhabitable.
May you have a rare disease and need an operation that only one surgeon in the world, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, is able to perform. And may he be unable to perform it because he doesn’t take your insurance. And may that Nobel Laureate be your son.
May your state outlaw the morning-after pill the day before your daughter returns home from the NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) convention.
May your son be elected President, and may you have no idea what you did with his goddamn birth certificate.
May the state of Arizona expand their definition of 'suspected illegal immigrants' to 'anyone who doesn't hunt.'
May you live to a hundred and twenty without Social Security or Medicare.
May you grow like an onion with your head in the ground, and then may that ground be fracked.
May you make a fortune, and lose it all in one of Sheldon Adelson's casinos.
May your child give his Bar Mitzvah speech on the genius of Ayn Rand.
May your insurance company decide constipation is a pre-existing condition.
May God give you a daughter-in-law who is as kind as she is beautiful, as patient as she is rich, as wise as she is devoted: a virtuous woman in every way. And then may a ballot initiative invalidate her marriage to your Rebecca.
May the secretary you're schtupping depend on Planned Parenthood for her birth control.
If you are interested in taking over Reality Chex -- that is, owning it to do with as you will -- please contact me. I am looking forward to discontinuing my work on the site but would like to see it continue "under new management." I'll help you get started. Thank you to all who have contributed over the years. If I don't find a suitable "buyer," I'll close down next Friday, April 1. -- Constant Weader
Afternoon Update:
Sarah Posner in the Washington Post: "The South Carolina Senate on Thursday passed a controversial bill targeting refugees in the state, prompting concern that it may portend a wave of anti-refugee legislation around the country, particularly in the tense climate following the terrorist attacks in Brussels. The bill, if passed by the South Carolina House and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley, would require refugees' sponsors to register them in a database maintained by the state's Department of Social Services. It would also impose strict liability on a refugee's sponsor if the refugee, at some point in the future, commits a terrorist or criminal act." ...
... CW: I'd like to be a confederate so I could sit up nights thinking up draconian, repressive bills to punish minorities & women. Still, I'm not sure my best efforts could have dreamed up this one, which aims not to punish any miscreant refuges but the likely kindhearted people who took them in. Of course the idea of the legislation is to intimidate the kindhearted to the point that they fear helping others. Welcome to Right Wing World. Next stop, Trumpsylvania.
Michael Birnbaum & Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Belgian authorities announced Saturday that they had charged a man in connection with this week's suicide bombings, saying they believe he participated in the attacks. Two others were also charged with terrorism-related offenses. The man, identified by a European official as Fayçal Cheffou, appeared before a judge after he was detained Thursday night while sitting in a car in front of the Belgian prosecutor's office.... Prosecutors did not say whether Cheffou -- whom they identified only as 'Fayçal C.' -- was the third man [in the airport surveillance videos circulated after the attacks]. Belgium's Le Soir newspaper reported that he was, citing an unidentified source...."
David Sanger & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times interviewed Donald Trump for 100 minutes about foreign policy issues. They attempt to synthensize Trump's views: "In Donald Trump's worldview, America comes first and everybody else pays.... Mr. Trump explained his thoughts in concrete and easily digestible terms, but they appeared to reflect little consideration for potential consequences around the globe. Much the same way he treats political rivals and interviewers, he personalized how he would engage foreign nations, suggesting his approach would depend partly on 'how friendly they've been toward us,' not just on national interests or alliances." ...
... The reporters provide a summary, or "highlights," of the interview here. The full, edited transcript is here. ...
... CW: Trump has found a clever way to avoid answering questions about international policy where he has no idea whatsoever: "I wouldn't want to say. I wouldn't want them to know what my real thinking is." Well, it beats, "And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say, you know, I don't know. Do you know?" Trump is on his way to winning the nomination, & who knows where Herman Cain is now? Don't tell me Republican voters aren't discerning. BTW, if you think Trump speaks like a 7th-grader because he is aware that's the best way to reach the great unwashed to whom he appeals, forget that. He uses just about the same level of language & lack of nuance when speaking to David Sanger, a highly-knowledgeable international policy reporter.
*****
The President's Weekly Address
White House: "In this week's address, President Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of Belgium and to families of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, including at least two Americans":
George Lardner & P. S. Ruckman, in a Washington Post op-ed: President Obama "has granted just 70 pardons, the lowest mark for any full-term president since John Adams, and 187 commutations of sentence. Meanwhile, 1,629 pardon petitions have been denied (more than five of the previous six presidents), as well as 8,123 requests for commutations (a new record). An additional 3,444 requests have been 'closed without presidential action.'... If current patterns persist, Obama will go down as one of the most merciless presidents in history." ...
... CW: And remember, the general U.S. population in Adams' time was about 1.5 percent of what it is now, & the prison population was probably one percent or less of today's prison population.
Charles Pierce: "... there's some serious McCarthyite damage being done to medical research by a congressional committee chaired by a member of Congress whose brains are leaking out of her shell-pink ears. You should pay attention if you or any members of your family has been struck by diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or ALS. I think, at this point, former NFL football players should take special note, too." The anti-choice wackos have "moved on from the people who actually perform abortions to the people who use fetal tissue in medical research." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "Just a few years ago, the U.S. oil industry reveled in a surge of production fueled by new technologies. Now it's bracing for the greatest wave of financial defaults since the subprime mortgage crisis -- and the consequences are far-reaching."
Alan Neuhauser of US News: "Citing 'morally reprehensible conduct on the part of Exxon Mobil,' the Rockefeller Family Foundation -- whose namesake, John D. Rockefeller, founded Exxon's precursor, Standard Oil -- will dump its holdings in America's largest oil conglomerate, plus coal and tar sands companies, the charity announced Wednesday. The nonprofit pointed to both economics and ethics: Amid a huge surplus of oil and sluggish global demand, oil prices are in the middle of a 19-month slump, spurring hundreds of thousands of layoffs from the energy sector worldwide. Climate change, meanwhile, has created a moral imperative to decrease the planet's reliance on fossil fuels like oil, the fund said."
Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "The highest-ranking U.S. Navy officer convicted so far in a massive bribery scandal was sentenced to almost four years in prison Friday for selling military secrets to an Asian defense contractor in exchange for prostitutes, stays at luxury hotel and other favors. Capt. Daniel Dusek, the former commander of the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, received a 46-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $100,000 in fines and restitution during a hearing in federal court in San Diego."
Presidential Race
Alaska, Hawaii & Washington state hold Democratic caucuses today.
Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Without a big win in Washington Saturday, there's no path forward for Bernie Sanders. And that cold political reality has turned this state into an unlikely battleground between the Vermont senator and Hillary Clinton."
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Regardless of the results on the scoreboard, the state on the map, the year or even the decade, [Bernie] Sanders has talked with clockwork consistency about an economy rigged against the working class, a campaign finance system that corrupts politicians and a corporate media that obscures the truth.... While other candidates have been lampooned for robotic redundancies or caricatured as cut-and-paste campaigners, Mr. Sanders has made oratorical consistency his calling card."
Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders's campaign lashed out at Hillary Clinton on Friday for a lavish fundraising dinner her campaign has planned with actor George Clooney.... Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in an email to supporters, '... Hillary Clinton ... is now enlisting the support of George Clooney ... at a dinner event that will cost people up to $353,400 to attend.' Weaver added that the price of admission an 'obscene amount of money. It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years.'..." ...
... CW: The figure $353,400 seems like an odd number. Why not $350K or $400K? Brendan O'Connor of Gawker has some details on the planned Clinton fundraiser.
Amy Chozick & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: Donald "Trump's nasty skirmish with [Ted] Cruz, including his warning to 'spill the beans' about Mrs. Cruz, without offering specifics, and his re-posting of a message that mocked her looks, have played into a crucial Democratic strategy to defeat Mr. Trump in November: to portray him as an unabashed sexist. [Hillary] Clinton's allies hope to sway suburban and independent women, who will play an outsized role in deciding the fall election, to support her candidacy by pushing this theme. These Democrats say the matchup would be historic: one pitting the first female nominee of a major political party against a Republican rival who has repeatedly dismissed and disparaged women and their looks." ...
... CW: Be sure to read Franklin Foer's little history of Trump's misogyny, linked yesterday. Clinton has plenty of material to work with.
Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post: In 1996, when Donald Trump was trying to take by the home of an Atlantic City widow by eminent domain, he called the woman's lawyer Glenn Zeitz & tried to hire Zeitz to represent him in another case: "Trump, who had been championing the use of eminent domain to take the home of Zeitz's client, Vera Coking, suddenly wanted him to help fight the use of eminent domain for a project that would have benefited one of his rivals." An associate of Zeitz said, 'It's like, if we can't beat you, we'll buy you."
Six months ago, Dana Milbankpromised to eat his column if Donald Trump got the Republican nomination. Now Milbank is looking for recipes for newsprint.
Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "An aide to Donald Trump on Friday fulfilled the businessman's threat to 'spill the beans' on Republican presidential rival Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi. Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson rattled off a list of attacks three days after Trump first made the threat. 'Spilling the beans is quite simple when it comes to Heidi Cruz,' Pierson said in an interview with MSNBC's Steve Kornacki. 'She is a Bush operative; she worked for the architect of NAFTA, which has killed millions of jobs in this country; she was a member on the Council on Foreign Relations who -- in Sen. Cruz's own words, called a nest of snakes that seeks to undermine national sovereignty; and she's been working for Goldman Sachs, the same global bank that Ted Cruz left off of his financial disclosure,' Pierson said." CW: Some beans. I think all of this is public knowledge.
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Friday accused 'Donald Trump and his henchmen' of planting the seeds behind a 'garbage' National Enquirer report alleging that the Texas senator has had extramarital affairs. 'This National Enquirer story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies,' Cruz said after a campaign event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 'It is a tabloid smear, and it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: Earlier today, I seriously considered skipping the reports of the National Enquirer story, but it seemed to be part-and-parcel of the Nasty Boys' Sleaze-Throwing Fight, so I didn't want to deprive readers of the escalation of said fight. If I made an error, Cruz has retroactively justified my error by addressing it. (And I don't think he had a choice.) If it was just crap earlier; it's crap news now. ...
... Donald Trump on Facebook: "I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week's issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it.... Ted Cruz's problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin' Ted Cruz." ...
.. Asawin Suebsaeng & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz's opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now -- and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubiowere involved in spreading the smears. For months and months, anti-Cruz operatives have pitched a variety of #CruzSexScandal stories to a host of prominent national publications, according to Republican operatives and media figures. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Politico, and ABC News -- reporters at all those outlets heard some version of the Cruz-is-cheating story.... The Cruz campaign team has been aware of the sex-scandal rumors for months." Trump is a friend of the publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker. ...
... CW: The other day, I suggested Marsha Blackburn as Trump's running mate. Now I'm liking a Trump Pecker ticket. ...
... Ed Kilgore thinks Trump might make a "unity pick" for veep: "Even if Donald Trump nails down a majority of delegates on June 7 with a solid showing in California and New Jersey, naming a running mate whose characteristics show a conciliatory attitude toward the rest of the GOP could be just what the doctor ordered to head off some party coup to deny him the nomination, via a rules change or some other devilish device." B-o-o-ring.
... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: "A CNN debate between a Donald Trump supporter and former Ted Cruz communications director Amanda Carpenterwent off the rails Friday when the Trump supporter suddenly accused Carpenter of having an illicit affair with her former boss.... 'What's out there is tabloid trash. If someone wants to comment on it, they can talk to my lawyer,' [Carpenter] responded. 'It's categorically false,' she continued angrily. 'You should be ashamed for spreading this smut. Donald Trump supporters should be held to account for it.'" Includes video of the segment. CW: Yep, this is what passes for presidential today.
Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott of BuzzFeed: "Don Black, the founder of the first major white supremacist website Stormfront.com and a former Ku Klux Klan member, said on his radio program earlier this month that he wanted his listeners to vote for and supportDonald Trump."
... digby: "... but seriously, these people want the rest of us to be subjected to a bunch of loons and crackpots armed to the teeth everywhere we go, they ought to be forced to do it too. What are they so afraid of? If everyone has a gun, they'll all be ready to fire into the crowd if someone loses their cool, right? Isn't that what they always say will keep everyone safe?" ...
... CW: C'mon, digby. They're not going to shoot each other. They're going to shoot Islamic terrorists. ...
... Bethania Markus of the Raw Story: "The petition claims that 'Cleveland, Ohio is consistently ranked as one of the top ten most dangerous cities in America.' But, 'This doesn't even begin to factor in the possibility of an ISIS terrorist attack on the arena during the convention. Without the right to protect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals or others who wish to threaten the American way of life.'" CW: digby should be ashamed of herself for suggesting people dedicated to preserving "the American way of life" might be "loons & crackpots."
Beyond the Beltway
Gray Rohrer of the Orlando Sentinel: "Planned Parenthood and other health clinics that provide abortions in Florida will go without taxpayer funds and face increased regulations for the procedure, under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.... A similar law in Texas, which women's health activists say has helped shut down several abortion clinics there, is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court."
Amy Yurkanin of AL.com: "An Alabama judge has permanently stripped from state law a requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges at local hospitals. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued the ruling Friday. He ruled against the state in 2014 in a lawsuit filed by providers, but the latest development extends that decision to all abortion clinics." CW: There are currently 380 comments on this story. I'm not reading a one, but I'll wager there are some real doozies.
Howard Koplowitz of AL.com: "A complaint into possible misuse of state property by Gov. Robert Bentley and potential violations by his alleged mistress and senior political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, was filed Friday by State AuditorJim Zeigler. Both Bentley and Mason have denied an affair, although the governor admitted earlier this week that he made sexually inappropriate remarks to his senior political advisor after audio of Bentley's side of the conversation was leaked." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Al.com has published another audio recording of Bentley declaring his love for, presumably, Rebekah Mason.
New York TimesEditors: "Officials in Charlotte, N.C., spent more than a year carefully considering and debating an antidiscrimination ordinance that was passed in February to promote the city's culture of inclusiveness. State lawmakers quashed it on Wednesday by passing an appalling, unconstitutional bill that bars transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity and prohibits cities from passing antidiscrimination ordinances that protect gay and transgender people." Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who signed the bill into law, "is running for re-election.... Voters should reject the candidate who made the state a pioneer in bigotry."
Way Beyond
Reuters: "A third man caught on CCTV footage with two bombers who attacked Brussels airport on Tuesday was named as Faycal Cheffou in Belgian media on Saturday." ...
... Lilia Blaise & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "Counterterrorism officials widened a sweep targeting suspected Islamic State operatives to several European countries on Friday, reporting newly uncovered links between the Brussels and Paris massacres, at least five arrests and the foiling of what France described as an advanced plan for another attack. The actions reflected both new momentum from information uncovered since the Brussels bombings on Tuesday and deep worries about missed opportunities to thwart the attacks. European officials, particularly in Belgium, have come under strong criticism for lapses that might have enabled the Brussels plotters to succeed."
Jon Henley & Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: "A veteran Belgian fighter and bomb-maker with Islamic State whose DNA was found on two of the explosive belts used in last November's carnage in Paris has been confirmed as one of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's Brussels attacks. Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had confirmed that Najim Laachraoui, 24, was one of two jihadis who blew themselves up at Brussels airport, killing 11 people."
AP: "A suicide bomber has blown himself up in a football stadium south of the Iraqi capital, killing 29 people and wounding 60, security officials said, as the military announced new gains on the ground against Islamic State. The bombing took place during a match in the small stadium in the city of Iskanderiyah, 30 miles from Baghdad, the officials said. Medical officials confirmed the death toll." CW: Will Republicans urge President Obama to go to Baghdad? Nope. I forgot they don't care about Iraqi civilian deaths. You likely won't hear a peep out of them.
If you are interested in taking over Reality Chex -- that is, owning it to do with as you will -- please contact me. I am looking forward to discontinuing my work on the site but would like to see it continue "under new management." I'll help you get started. Thank you to all who have contributed over the years. If I don't find a suitable "buyer," I'll close down next Friday, April 1. -- Constant Weader
Afternoon Update -- GOP Not-Sex Report:
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Friday accused 'Donald Trump and his henchmen' of planting the seeds behind a 'garbage' National Enquirer report alleging that the Texas senator has had extramarital affairs. 'This National Enquirer story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies,' Cruz said after a campaign event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 'It is a tabloid smear, and it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen.'” ...
... CW: Earlier today, I seriously considered skipping the reports of the National Enquirer story, but it seemed to be part-and-parcel of the Nasty Boys' Sleaze-Throwing Fight, so I didn't want to deprive readers of the escalation of said fight. If I made an error, Cruz has retroactively justified my error by addressing it. (And I don't think he had a choice.) If it was just crap earlier; it's crap news now.
Howard Koplowitz of AL.com: "A complaint into possible misuse of state property by Gov. Robert Bentley and potential violations by his alleged mistress and senior political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, was filed Friday by State AuditorJim Zeigler. Both Bentley and Mason have denied an affair, although the governor admitted earlier this week that he made sexually inappropriate remarks to his senior political advisor after audio of Bentley's side of the conversation was leaked."
MEANWHILE, in Congress. Charles Pierce: "... there's some serious McCarthyite damage being done to medical research by a congressional committee chaired by a member of Congress whose brains are leaking out of her shell-pink ears. You should pay attention if you or any members of your family has been struck by diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or ALS. I think, at this point, former NFL football players should take special note, too." The anti-choice wackos have "moved on from the people who actually perform abortions to the people who use fetal tissue in medical research." CW: This perversion of Congress, people, also is all about sex. They're just pretending it's something else.
*****
"There Is No Biden Rule." Kathleen Hennessey of the AP: "Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday tried to clear his name and tout his record on Supreme Court nominations, calling Republican branding of his past remarks on the subject 'ridiculous' and casting himself as a longtime advocate of bipartisan compromise in filling seats on the high court. In a speech at Georgetown Law School, Biden issued a broad warning that Republicans' election-year blockade of President Barack Obama's nominee 'can lead to a genuine Constitutional crisis' and sought to distance himself from the strategy. He argued Republicans have distorted a 1992 speech in which he seemed to endorse the notion of blocking any Supreme Court nominee put forward in the throes of the election season. Republicans have labeled their strategy the 'Biden rule.'... But there is division within the ranks on that front. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., made the case earlier this week that [Judge Merrick] Garland should get a vote":
... Nick Gass of Politico: "A top conservative group threatened to back a primary challenger against Sen. Jerry Moran on Friday, days after the Kansas Republican told constituents that he was calling upon the Senate to take up Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court." CW: Because the Tea party reveres the Constitution, but only in a special, secret form that can morph to fit their needs of the day. I think they're still solid with the 3/5ths solution, tho. ...
... Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker games out the likely path of Garland's Supreme dreams (not going to happen this term) & sees this: "Merrick Garland’s nomination will prove consequential indeed if it helps usher the filibuster to its long-overdue demise." CW: You'll have to read his post to see how Toobin reaches his conclusion, but it seems plausible, to me, too. Until Democrats control of the House, I don't see how that body will function, but if the Senate eventually dropped the filibuster (and individual holds!), it might start legislating.
Mary Walsh of the New York Times: "Politicians in Washington are coalescing around a financial plan to rescue Puerto Rico, just weeks before an expected major default on bond payments that would spread more turmoil through the island’s shaky economy. The plan, being drafted as legislation by House Republicans, would not grant Puerto Rico’s most fervent request: permission to restructure its entire $72 billion debt in bankruptcy. It would, however, give the island certain crucial tools that bankruptcy proceedings can offer — but only if it first comes under close federal oversight and meets other conditions."
Patrick Clark of Bloomberg: "It's been more than 15 years since Congress increased funding for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the government's primary method for encouraging construction of affordable housing. On Thursday, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is to announce a plan that calls for Congress to spend 50 percent more on the program, enough to build as many as 400,000 homes over the next decade. That makes the Democrat's plan an ambitious attempt to increase the stock of affordable rental housing, one that comes in the face of potential opposition by a Republican majority, along with the legislative gridlock of a presidential election year. It’s also just a drop in the bucket."
Nick Gass: "Dianne Feinstein's office on Friday released a blistering rebuttal to the latest book from former CIA Director Michael Hayden, slamming numerous examples of what it characterizes as misrepresentations or plain falsehoods related to the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. The 38-page document from the staff of the California Democrat, who is vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, methodically goes over statements from Hayden's 464-page book released in February, titled 'Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror.'"
** Gene Demby of NPR: "... the tug of war over who gets to enjoy the benefits reserved for 'real Americans' has always been all tied up with racial politics. People of color were overwhelmingly excluded during the 'glory days' that so many white voters this election cycle look back on as better times. That's why Trump's 'Make America Great Again' mantra reads so menacingly to so many — whiteness seems to be a necessary precondition for that nostalgia." ViaPaul Waldman. ...
... CW: Demby's essay also helps explain -- tho he doesn't discuss this -- Paul Ryan's new disavowal of his infamous "makers & takers" dissection. This was not a moment of self-reflection & correction on Ryan's part; rather, it was another GOP con -- an appeal to the white working-class "takers"/voters who have fled to Trump. A proper translation would be, "Yo, yahoos! My party is your party. You don't need Trump when you've got me, Paul Ryan -- elite, brilliant wonk -- on your side. (P.S. Never mind that just this week I used elite brilliant wonkish jargon to secretly endorse tax breaks for the rich & screw you undeserving yahoos.)" ...
... Digby, in Salon: "... while [Ryan] may be softly chastising Donald Trump for his rudeness and bad manners, it’s highly unlikely that anything fundamental in the GOP has changed. All these modern Republicans, whether Rand-loving 'intellectuals' like Ryan, power-mad hawks like Dick Cheney, anarchic nihilists like Cruz or vulgarians like Trump come from the same toxic ideological swamp."
CW: I'm late with this link, but Graciela Mochkofsky, writing in the New Yorker, provides some essential context for President Obama's declassification of American documents that may reveal the U.S.'s involvement in the Argentine coup that ushered in the infamous junta. (Note to Hillary: You may not want to mention again how much Henry Kissinger likes you.)
Mr. & Mrs. Kelley Learn Their Lawyers Are Not Their Friends. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A Florida couple on Thursday dropped a lawsuit over the federal government’s disclosure of their identities in connection with the F.B.I. investigation that uncovered evidence that David H. Petraeus, the C.I.A. director at the time, was having an affair.... This month, [Jill] Kelley’s lawyers told a federal judge that they would no longer represent the couple, citing irreconcilable differences.... In a statement, Ms. Kelley said she had difficulty finding a new lawyer because her previous ones had demanded that they be paid $7 million of any money she received."
Presidential Race
Nick Gass: "Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sandersare effectively tied among Democratic voters, according to the results of a [national] Bloomberg Politics poll released Thursday. Of the 311 people who indicated that they have voted or will vote in their state's Democratic primary or caucus, 49 percent said they support Sanders, while 48 percent indicated that they prefer Clinton and the remaining 3 percent said they are not sure." CW: This is just one poll, so nothing to get excited about. But it is a reminder that Clinton, assuming she prevails in the delegate count, can't ignore half of her party. Sanders' popularity makes it impossible -- or at least stupid -- for her to Etch-a-Sketch out his platform.
Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect: "Are all these experienced activists even right in hoping that this time will be different, that this time a powerful social democratic left might just take root in America’s political soil? I think they are. Chiefly because Bernie Sanders’s campaign didn’t create a new American left. It revealed it.... At first glance, this new socialist presence just seems to have sprung up, unsummoned, unannounced. And yet, it clearly has been building for years. Its emergence was foretold by Occupy Wall Street...." ...
... CW: Meyerson may be dreaming, but his essay is heartening. Read it & smile.
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Bernie Sanders’ campaign on Thursday officially served the Democratic National Committee with a lawsuit, alleging the organization unfairly revoked its access to voter file data. Sanders’ campaign initially filed a suit in December and was facing a Thursday deadline to serve the committee with the suit. The allegations stem from a controversy late last year in which Sanders staffers improperly accessed information from Hillary Clinton's data file after a firewall between the campaigns' information was inadvertently dropped."
Steve LeBlanc of the AP: "U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warrenwaded deeper into the presidential primary debate Thursday, sharpening her criticism of Donald Trump and cheering on Bernie Sanders.... Warren said. 'He has put the right issues on the table both for the Democratic Party and for the country in general so I'm still cheering Bernie on.' Warren declined to say which candidate she voted for in the Massachusetts primary. She said she plans to make an endorsement, but not yet.... The Massachusetts Democrat described the Republican presidential front-runner as a failed businessman who inherited a fortune from his father and then maintained it 'by cheating people, by defrauding people, and by skipping out on paying his creditors through Chapter 11' bankruptcy protection." ...
... Jim Newell of Slate: "The Democrats won’t force [Bernie Sanders] out of the race, no; they’ll just smother him with smarmy condescension.... They’re asking Sanders to continue running for the nomination without really running for the nomination. It doesn’t work that way.... Sanders has earned the right to finish out his candidacy, just as Clinton had in 2008.... Clinton and her supporters, which include the vast majority of the Democratic Party apparatus, would like Sanders to back the hell off and not put her in any uncomfortable positions. Putting Clinton in uncomfortable positions is exactly what Sanders wants to do."
Drip, Drip. Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Conservative legal watchdogs have discovered new emails from Hillary Clinton’s private email server dating back to the first days of her tenure as secretary of State. The previously undisclosed February 2009 emails between Clinton from her then-chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, raise new questions about the scope of emails from Clinton’s early days in office that were not handed over to the State Department for recordkeeping and may have been lost entirely. Clinton’s presidential campaign has previously claimed that the former top diplomat did not use her personal 'clintonemail.com' account before March 2009, weeks after she was sworn in as secretary of State. But on Thursday, the watchdog group Judicial Watch released one message from Feb. 13, 2009, in which Mills communicated with Clinton on the account to discuss the National Security Agency’s (NSA) efforts to produce a secure BlackBerry device for her to use as secretary of State."
Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker on the fall of Rome -- and other places: "Today ... we find ourselves in the midst of the ascent of a figure right out ofPetronius: an orange-colored vulgarian of meretricious display, right down to the trophy wives from Far Elsewhere — with an ambition to dominate, a cunning out of proportion to his wisdom, a contempt for truth coupled with a readiness to manipulate, and a personal arrogance combined with, and indifferent to, a universal understanding that he is utterly unfit to govern. Now that we are in possession of an honest-to-God demagogue of the classical model, old portents of doom seem pertinent.... Democracy remains more delicate than we imagine."
Katy Tur & Ari Melber of NBC News: "While [Donald] Trump publicly dismisses talk of a battle in Cleveland, he is quietly assembling a team of seasoned operatives to manage a contested convention. Their strategy, NBC has learned, is to convert delegates in the crucial 40 days between the end of the primaries and the convention - while girding for a floor fight in Cleveland if necessary. The outreach is already underway." ...
... Greg Sargentfollows up : "If Trump is far ahead of both his two rivals in delegates, accepting him might look like the most plausible — or the least undesirable — path. Obviously this might not work, because GOP elites and delegates may continue to hold to their #NeverTrump resolve. But it might!"
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... it is with pleasure that we can present [RNC chair Reince] Priebuswith a bit of good news.... There is someone even less popular than the Republican Party and less popular than Congress. That person is Donald Trump." ...
... Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "... Donald Trumpis one of the most unpopular figures in national politics. He’s disliked (or despised) by a large majority of Americans. This isn’t because the public doesn’t know him. With nearly $2 billion in free coverage from news networks — dwarfing Hillary Clinton’s $746 million — the public knows him well. And they don’t like what they see. Far from scrambling political alliances in his favor, Trump may be the key to further gains for Democrats, from solidifying an advantage with Hispanics to making inroads with college-educated whites."
Tim Egan on the symbiotic relationship between Trump & terrorists: "The more people who are murdered by the savages from the Islamic State, the better it is for [Donald Trump]. The Islamic State is a gift to Trump. And he is a gift to them, playing into the grand scheme of the killers. He would make the world far less safe, and bring the Islamic State closer to the global clash of worlds that those monsters desire."
Gene Robinson: "Donald Trump’s ignorance of government policy, both foreign and domestic, is breathtaking. The Republican Party is likely to nominate for president a man who appears to know next to nothing about the issues that would confront him in the job." ...
... CW: Yeah? So? Drumpf knows what he needs to know: like the beans on Heidi he's going to spill. ...
This Is What Republicans Call "Presidential"
"Your wife is a slut!" "Your wife is an ugly, angry nut-job."
The "comparison" Trump tweeted.Nolan McCaskill: "Ted Cruzblasted Donald Trump on Thursday, calling the Republican front-runner a 'sniveling coward' for bringing Cruz’s wife to the forefront of his presidential campaign. 'Donald, you’re a sniveling coward,' Cruz told reporters Thursday in Dane, Wisconsin, forcefully pointing his finger. 'Leave Heidi the hell alone.'” ...
... CW: As far as I can tell, based partly on a Google search, Cruz never disavowed the anti-Trump ad featuring Melania Trump in a nude pose. So his self-righteous "leave my wife the hell alone" is, like all of his temper tantrums, rather hollow dudgeon.
Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Donald Trumphas intensified his feud with Ted Cruz over the Republican presidential rival's wife after she slammed his statements for having 'no basis in reality.' Trump shared an image on Twitter around midnight Wednesday comparing his wife, Melania, a former model, to Cruz's wife, stating, 'A picture is worth a thousand words.'... CNN’s Kate Bolduan sparred with a Trump adviser over the tweet during an interview Thursday.... 'As a woman, it’s demeaning to not only Ted Cruz’s wife, it’s demeaning to Melania Trump because she has a lot more going for her than just her looks, and you don’t see that in this retweet,' Bolduan said...."
Jose DelReal & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "A nasty feud that escalated Thursday between Donald Trump and ... [Ted Cruz] over their wives set off a new wave of alarm among establishment Republicans, who fear the GOP front-runner would drive away female voters in a general-election fight with likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.... GOP strategist Katie Packer, who leads the anti-Trump Our Principles super PAC[, said,] 'Half of the reason why I’m fighting so hard to stop Donald Trump is because I think he’s a walking, talking stereotype of a sexist misogynistic pig.'”
Emma Green of the Atlantic: "Ted Cruzwas ... always that guy ... who would look away as his allies circulated a naked picture of the wife of his enemy, and then suggest that 'real men don’t attack women.'... That guy who would suggest the only female Democratic presidential candidate in this race needs a spanking."
Women, you have to treat them like shit. -- Donald Trump, ca. 1990s
** Franklin Foer in Slate: "... there’s one ideology that [Donald Trump] does hold with sincerity and practices with unwavering fervor: misogyny.... In his view, treating women like meat is a necessary precondition for winning.... By winning, Trump means asserting superiority. And since life is a zero-sum game, superiority can only be achieved at someone else’s expense.... He relishes judging women on the basis of their looks, which he seems to believe amounts to the sum of their character.... Misogyny isn’t an incidental part of Donald Trump. It’s who he is."
CW: Like Karoli Kuns of Crooks & Liars, I don't buy the National Enquirer story that Ted Cruzfound five attractive women who would have sex with him. (Okay, one is supposedly a sex worker, so maybe she was just doing her job.) "It feels to me like Trump dropped a whole lot of garbage over at the Enquirer to discredit Ted Cruz, and that sense is backed up even more by the fact that one of the lovely ladies is supposedly Donald Trump's spokeswoman. That's just a little too convenient.... It's hearsay at this point, but it leaves a nice pile of grist for the rumor mill." ...
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Ted Cruz says he declined to directly attack Donald Trump for much of the Republican primary because those who did ended up 'as roadkill.'... Cruz said Wednesday to radio host Charlie Sykes of WTMJ..., '... If you look at a number of the candidates that took on Donald Trump early on, they ended up as roadkill.... I am very strongly committed on the anti-roadkill approach.'”
Paul Krugman: "... Mr. Cruz has staked out positions on crucial issues that are, not to put too fine a point on it, crazy. How can elite Republicans back him? The answer is the same for Mr. Cruz and the elite as it is for Mr. Trump and the base: Leading Republicans support Mr. Cruz, not despite his policy positions, but because of them. They may not like his style, but they agree with his substance.... While his policy ideas are extreme, they reflect the same extremism that pervades the party’s elite. There are no moderates, or for that matter, sensible people, anywhere in this story."
Pick Me! Pick Me! Jessie Opoein of the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times: "If the Republican Party finds itself with an open convention in July, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker believes the nominee may not beDonald Trump, Ted Cruz or John Kasich. 'I think if it’s an open convention, it’s very likely it would be someone who’s not currently running,' Walker told reporters Thursday."
David Schwartz of Reuters: "Phoenix's mayor on Wednesday urged a federal probe into the local county's handling of voting in Arizona's presidential nominating contest, questioning whether minority voters were granted a fair chance to cast their ballots. Greg Stanton asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a decision by Maricopa County officials to slash the number of polling locations in Arizona's most populous county and leave minority-heavy areas with seemingly fewer sites. The Democratic mayor called the vote 'a fiasco after voters had to wait in line for several hours on Tuesday to cast their ballots." ...
... CW: Cutting down the number of polling places in "urban areas" & voter ID laws are two tricks among many in a well-stuffed Republican Voter Suppression Bag. Ask PresidentKerry. ...
... Fernanda Santos of the New York Times: "Days later, angry and baffled voters are still trying to make sense of how democracy is working in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, where officials cut the number of polling places by 70 percent to save money — to 60 from 200 in the last presidential election. That translated to a single polling place for every 108,000 residents in Phoenix, a majority-minority city that had exceptional turnout in Tuesday’s Democratic and Republican primaries.... But beyond the electoral breakdown here, many observers saw Arizona as a flashing neon sign pointing toward potential problems nationally at a time that 16 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election." ...
... Eliza Collins of Politico: Bernie Sanders & the Clinton campaign weigh in on the Maricopa County voting scandal.
Senate Race
Alex Roarty of Roll Call: "Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson on Wednesday was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an important sign of support for the business-friendly lawmaker ahead of a difficult re-election test this November. But it's unclear whether the behemoth business lobby -- and other well-funded Republican-aligned groups like it -- will actually spend big money on the GOP senator's behalf in a general election.... Early surveys of the race paint a grim picture for Johnson: Since April of last year, five of six polls from Marquette Law School have found [former Sen. Russ] Feingold sporting a double-digit lead, including a mid-February survey that found the Democrat winning by 12 points."
David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Republican leaders say they are taking a principled stand against election-year appointments rather than focusing on Judge [Merrick] Garland’s qualifications, [Sen. Ron] Johnson, without any pretense, is boasting that he and his Republican colleagues are preventing Mr. Obama from tilting the ideological balance of the court to the left. And he is attacking Judge Garland — without any basis, many legal experts say — as posing a grave threat to Second Amendment gun rights.... Democrats, including [former Sen. Russ] Feingold, say they are confident that Mr. Johnson is making a politically fatal mistake by playing to the Republican Party’s conservative base in a state that despite the party’s recent inroads has voted Democratic in the past seven presidential elections, and where pocketbook issues like jobs and trade are dominant."
Beyond the Beltway
Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed a controversial abortion bill Thursday that, among other things, would ban the procedure if it is sought because the fetus was diagnosed with a disability or defect such as Down syndrome.... The law, which was passed by the legislature earlier this month, would make Indiana the second state in the nation, after North Dakota, to ban abortion in cases where a fetal anomaly is detected.... And it could make Indiana the first state in the country to require that fetal remains be buried or cremated, rather than treated like medical waste." ...
... CW: Red State/Blue State. If you're a woman of child-bearing age, you don't want to live in a state governed by Republicans. In fact, any man who intends to be or is in a relationship with a young woman should consider getting the hell out of Red State America. ...
... Let's not forget North Carolina & Georgia:
Sandhya Somashekhar: "A new North Carolina law that bars local governments from extending civil rights protections to gay and transgender people is provoking a growing backlash from businesses and others who say the law is discriminatory. American Airlines, Wells Fargo and the National Basketball Association were among those to raise concerns about the law, which was introduced and passed Wednesday in a hastily called special session and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) later that day." ...
... Niraj Chokshiof the Washington Post: "Another industry is warning Georgia’s governor not to sign a religious-liberty bill into law — the latest to suggest that the state risks losing business over the measure. Actors, writers, producers, directors, movie studios and whole entertainment companies have weighed in on the debate, many calling the bill discriminatory and some threatening to sever ties with Georgia if it’s passed. The latest threat comes from a group of 34 individuals in the movie business, including celebrities Kristin Chenoweth, Lee Daniels, Anne Hathaway, Seth MacFarlane, Julianne Moore, Rob Reiner and Marisa Tomei. In a Thursday letter, they warn Gov. Nathan Deal (R) that they 'plan to take our business elsewhere' should he sign the bill, which passed the legislature last week. The Walt Disney Co. and its subsidiary movie studio, Marvel, said the same in a statement Wednesday.... At least 20 Fortune 500 companies — including Delta Air Lines, Google, Home Depot, IBM, Marriott, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, UPS and Verizon — belong to a coalition urging Deal to veto the measure. The coalition has several hundred corporate members in all." ...
... CW: Excuse me. That's no "religious liberty bill: "The bill protects religious leaders from being forced to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies and individuals from being forced to attend such events. It also allows faith-based organizations to deny use of their facilities for events they find 'objectionable' and exempts them from having to hire or retain any employee whose religious beliefs or practices differ from those of the organization." The first part is absolute nonsense; the First Amendment protects ministers from performing rituals they oppose, & who the hell thinks the government can require "individuals" to go to weddings? The second part isn't about "religious liberty," either; generally speaking, faith-based organization can hire whom they want to & rent their facilities to whom they want, unless they receive government grants.
Paul Gattis of Al.com: "A state audit released last month reported no issues with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, whose director was fired Tuesday by Gov. Robert Bentley after "several areas of concern" were discovered. Spencer Collier, the first director of the new organization designed to consolidate and streamline 12 state law enforcement agencies, denied any wrongdoing at a news conference Wednesday in which he outlined elements of what he described as an inappropriate affair between the governor and senior advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason." ...
... CW: I have a feeling Bentley didn't quite know how to "keep his friends close & his enemies closer." He got right close with one friend, but he canned an enemy -- a guy who had the goods on him -- for no reason Bentley has been willing to make public, so perhaps for no good reason. Feeling up the help, if the help was willing, appears at this time to have been a lesser mistake. The story may evolve, but right now Bentley looks like an idiot.
Way Beyond
Matthew Lee of the AP: "At least two American citizens have been confirmed killed in this week’s attacks in Brussels, a U.S. official said Friday, as Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting the city to express his condolences to the Belgian people." CW: Hate to mention it to Republicans who said President Obama should drop everything & go give some speeches in Brussels, but elite snob John Kerry, unilike Obama, actually speaks one of Belgium's official languages.
Alistair Macdonald, et al., of Reuters: "Belgian police arrested six people in their probe of Tuesday's Islamic State suicide bombings in Brussels, while authorities in France said they thwarted a militant plot there 'that was at an advanced stage.' The federal prosecutor's office in Belgium said on Thursday that the arrests came during police searches in the Brussels neighborhoods of Schaerbeek in the north and Jette in the west, as well as in the center of the Belgian capital." ...
... Aurelien Breeden, et al., of the New York Times: "Belgium’s justice and interior ministers acknowledged Thursday that the authorities had erred by not acting on Turkey’s request last year that they take custody of a Belgian citizen arrested for suspected terrorist activity. The man was one of the Islamic State suicide bombers in the devastating Brussels attacks. The acknowledgments by the justice minister, Koen Geens, and interior minister, Jan Jambon, were the first high-level Belgian admissions of blunder in the aftermath of the bombings on Tuesday. The attacks have exposed missteps by European security officials and police, just four months after the Islamic State’s assault on targets in Paris."
Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "As European governments scramble to contain the expanding terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State, on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria the group is a rapidly diminishing force. In the latest setbacks for the militants on Thursday, Syrian government troops entered the outskirts of the historic town of Palmyra after a weeks-old offensive aided by Russian airstrikes, and U.S. airstrikes helped Iraqi forces overrun a string of Islamic State villages in northern Iraq that had been threatening a U.S. base nearby. These are just two of the many fronts in both countries where the militants are being squeezed, stretched and pushed back."
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