The Commentariat -- May 7, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Biden on Friday defended his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan after a disappointing jobs report, arguing that the new data prove the necessity of the legislation and that it would take more time for the economy to recover. 'When we came into office, we knew we were facing a once-in-a-century pandemic and a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. And we knew this wouldn't be a sprint, it would be a marathon,' Biden said in remarks from the East Room of the White House. 'It was designed to help us over the course of a year. Not 60 days, a year,' he said of the coronavirus relief passed earlier this year. 'We never thought after the first 60 days that everything would be fine.'"

Some were wondering in today's Comments thread if this story was true. It is. Hannah Rabinowitz & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Alleged US Capitol rioter Anthony Antonio was hooked on Fox News and developed 'Foxitis,' his lawyer said Thursday in a virtual hearing interrupted multiple times by another defendant's profane outbursts. Antonio, his lawyer Joseph Hurley said, had lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and for the next six months watched Fox News constantly. Antonio developed what his lawyer called 'Foxitis' and 'Foxmania,' and believed the lies about the 2020 election from Fox News and ... Donald Trump." The Washington Post's story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "Pfizer and the German company BioNTech have become the first companies to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine for use in people 16 and older. The vaccine is currently being administered to adults in America under an emergency use authorization granted in December. The approval process is likely to take months. The companies said in a statement on Friday that they had submitted their clinical data, which includes six months of information on the vaccine's safety and efficacy, to the F.D.A. They plan to submit additional material, including information about the manufacturing of the vaccine, in the coming weeks."

Minnesota. Amy Forliti & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air. A three-count indictment unsealed Friday names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao."

Virginia Governor's Race. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Larry J. Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the Republican candidates for governor this year fit into three categories: 'Trumpy, Trumpier, Trumpiest.'... One candidate brands himself a 'conservative outlaw.' Another boasts of her bipartisan censure by the State Senate for calling the Capitol rioters 'patriots.' A third, asked about Dominion voting machines -- the subject of egregious conspiracy theories on the right -- called them 'the most important issue' of the campaign. These are ... three of the leading contenders in a race that in many ways embodies the decade-long meltdown of Republican power in Virginia, a once-purple state that has gyrated more decisively toward Democrats than perhaps any in the country."

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "On Friday, the State Department and the professional association and union representing Foreign Service officers will unveil 71 more names [honoring Foreign Service officers who have died on duty] after an exhaustive search through the archives to find forgotten or overlooked people who qualify. Included are three envoys who died of yellow fever in the Republic of Texas, then an independent country; a Black diplomat who was born enslaved and died an ambassador to Liberia; and [F.R.] Engdahl, who died in an accidental fall while he was a Japanese prisoner of war."

Arkansas Executed the Wrong Man. Heather Murphy of the New York Times: "For 22 years, Ledell Lee maintained that he had been wrongly convicted of murder. 'My dying words will always be, as it has been, "I am an innocent man,"' he told the BBC in an interview published on April 19, 2017 -- the day before officials in Arkansas administered the lethal injection. Four years later, lawyers affiliated with the Innocence Project and the American Civil Liberties Union say DNA testing has revealed that genetic material on the murder weapon -- which was never previously tested -- in fact belongs to another man. In a highly unusual development for a case in which a person has already been convicted and executed, the new genetic profile has been uploaded to a national criminal database in an attempt to identify the mystery man.... The Innocence Project and the A.C.L.U. ... pushed for additional DNA testing ... on the eve of Mr. Lee's execution. The request was denied. A federal judge rejected Mr. Lee's request for a stay of the execution, saying that he had 'simply delayed too long,' according to a complaint filed by [Mr. Lee's sister]."

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Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: “Backdropped by a dilapidated bridge that has outlived its expected working life by two decades, President Biden sought to define the debate on his $2 trillion infrastructure plan as a question of priorities: overdue investments that would benefit a wide swath of Americans vs. tax cuts that would help a wealthy few. 'In my view, it's an easy choice between giving tax breaks to corporations and the super wealthy and investing in working families,' Biden said in front of the Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles, La. Biden, speaking in a red state he lost by nearly 20 points in November, nonetheless pitched his agenda in contrast with Republicans' most prized policy achievement of the Trump era[:] The 2017 tax cuts.... 'I'd be willing to break bread with anyone who's willing to help,' said Nic Hunter, Lake Charles's mayor, a Republican who introduced Biden. 'Every day that goes by without disaster relief is a day that Washington fails the people of southwest Louisiana.' Hunter was Exhibit A for Biden's argument that addressing the nation's infrastructure has bipartisan support across the nation.... Louisiana's Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards also spoke before Biden.... Biden also toured the Carrollton Water Plant in New Orleans, a city whose water system has pipes that are in some cases more than a century old."

Sarah Kaplan & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Months after President Biden set a goal of conserving 30 percent of the nation's land and waters by 2030, the administration Thursday laid out broad principles -- but few details -- for achieving that vision. The new 22-page document from the Commerce, Interior and Agriculture Departments highlights one of the Biden administration's central challenges: Having committed to bold environmental goals during their early days in power, officials now face the more uncertain and contentious task of figuring out how to follow through on those ambitions. The 'America the Beautiful' report outlines steps the U.S. could take to safeguard key areas on land and in the sea to restore biodiversity, tackle climate change and make natural spaces more accessible to all Americans."

Darryl Fears of the Washington Post: "Months after the Trump administration weakened the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, allowing industry and individuals to unintentionally kill any number o birds, the Biden administration proposed a new rule Thursday that would revoke that change. The proposal announced by the Interior Department would restore protections under the 102-year-old law that governed incidental take, or accidental killings of birds by people and organizations such as oil and gas companies that fail to take proper precautions to not harm the animals."

Who Are These People? Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "'With Donald Trump out of the White House -- not a joke -- you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends,' Joe Biden said during a May 14, 2019, trip to New Hampshire.... But on Wednesday..., Biden offered a more flummoxed, less confident assessment: 'I don't understand the Republicans.'... Biden has watched as post-Trump Republicans, far from reverting to their previous identity, have instead embraced the ex-president with increased fervor.... His rhetoric now has almost a 'bless their hearts' tone, professing to speak more in sorrow than anger.... A new tone of doubt has crept into Biden's assertions about the Republicans/ path."

Missy Ryan & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Pentagon leaders signaled an openness Thursday to altering military rules that govern the prosecution of sexual assaults, as support builds behind congressional initiatives that would take those decisions out of the chain of command. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his decision to drop his opposition to changing the military's system for prosecuting such crimes was based in part on data suggesting that 20,000 service members were sexually assaulted last year. 'We can't tolerate that level of divisiveness in our force. These are blue-on-blue assaults,' he said. 'It cannot stand. It has to be resolved. So, yes, my mind is very open.'"

John Hudson of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Ukraine's leaders in Kyiv on Thursday that the country's future is threatened by a two-front war: the battle against Russian aggression at its border and the fight against corruption within Ukraine. The top U.S. diplomat pledged to increase U.S. security assistance to Ukraine after what he called Russia's 'reckless and aggressive' buildup of troops along its border with Ukraine, and he condemned Kyiv's notoriously corrupt political system after the firing of an energy official.... 'There's clearly a need for more progress on things like corporate governance, on judicial reform, on making sure that the anticorruption bureau is truly independent,' said Blinken, who ... met with [Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, lawmakers,] civil society leaders, members of the news media and virtually with anticorruption activists." An ABC News story is here.

Hypocrites on Parade. Steve Peoples of the AP: "Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.... Polling suggests the Biden stimulus is overwhelmingly popular." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Dale of CNN: "The top candidate to replace [Liz] Cheney [in the House GOP 'leadership'] is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik -- who promoted some of those election lies and sought to get the outcome of the election overturned. Stefanik, whom Trump endorsed Wednesday for the job of House Republican conference chair, supported a lawsuit that tried to get the Supreme Court to invalidate Joe Biden's victory. On January 6, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, she voted to reject some of President Joe Biden's electoral votes. Both before the riot and immediately afterward, Stefanik made false claims about the conduct of the election in some of the states Biden won. And in previous remarks, she amplified baseless claims that there were major 'irregularities' with both voting and election software. Stefanik did not match Trump's incendiary language about the election being 'rigged' or 'stolen.' But using slightly more artful rhetoric, she aided his damaging campaign to undermine confidence in the result. Here's a look at some of Stefanik's election-related words and actions between early December and early January." MB: But, see, that's exactly why Stefanik is the top candidate. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ AND, as Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post points out, Stefanik is still standing by a three-part whopper she told on January 6 about Georgia's election count. Kessler awarded her four Pinocchios.

~~~ Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "... on Thursday, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the Republican whom leaders have anointed as [Liz] Cheney's replacement in waiting, loudly resurrected his false narrative, citing 'unprecedented, unconstitutional overreach' by election officials in 2020 and endorsing an audit in Arizona that has become the latest avenue for conservatives to try to cast doubt on the results. 'It is important to stand up for these constitutional issues, and these are questions that are going to have to be answered before we head into the 2022 midterms,' Ms. Stefanik told Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump's former strategist, in the first of a pair of interviews on Thursday with hard-right acolytes of the former president.... While Ms. Stefanik avoided claiming outright that the election was stolen, she praised the Arizona audit, a Republican-led endeavor that critics in both parties have described as a blow to democratic norms and a political embarrassment, as 'incredibly important.'" A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Tina Nguyen of Politico: "Within minutes of [Donald] Trump's endorsement of [Elise Stefanik] for GOP conference chair on Wednesday, top MAGA voices erupted in anger -- a rare break with the former president. The invective aimed at Stefanik, who was perceived to be insufficiently conservative and a relative newcomer to the Trump cause, continued to zoom through the MAGA-sphere on Thursday." MB: Of course none of this matters to Trump, whose only requirement is that a person show him slavish fealty.

Pete Williams of NBC News: "Four months after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, FBI agents maintain a steady pace of arresting people accused of taking part, as one of the largest criminal investigations in American history keeps growing. 'We're not done rounding up the worst of the worst,' said one law enforcement official. 'We're not slowing down.' More than 440 people have been charged with taking part in the Capitol siege.... Men outnumber women among those arrested by 7 to 1...."

Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "A D.C. police officer injured battling pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 is seeking more recognition for those on the front lines and says he is angered by people who 'continue to downplay the events of that day.' The officer, Michael Fanone, who joined the force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has been on leave since the riot, wrote of his misgivings in a letter he said he sent on Wednesday to members of Congress, the D.C. Council and the mayor's office.... Fanone was part of a group of officers trying to hold off thousands of rioters trying to break through a door on the west terrace of the Capitol. He was pulled into the crowd, beaten with poles, hit multiple times on the neck with a stun gun, rendered unconscious and suffered a mild heart attack. He was stripped of his badge and radio, and said someone tried to grab his firearm. He said he heard someone yell, 'Kill him with his own gun.' Three suspects have been arrested in connection with his attack." ~~~

     ~~~ A WUSA story is here. It includes a facsimile of Fanone's letter.

IOKIY Trump. Otherwise, You Go to Jail. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "The Federal Election Commission said on Thursday that it had formally dropped a case looking into whether ... Donald J. Trump violated election law with a payment of $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to a pornographic-film actress by his personal lawyer at the time, Michael D. Cohen. The payment was never reported on Mr. Trump's campaign filings. Mr. Cohen would go on to say that Mr. Trump had directed him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 race, and would apologize for his involvement in a hush-money scandal. Mr. Cohen was sentenced to prison for breaking campaign finance laws, tax evasion and lying to Congress.... While Mr. Cohen has served time in prison, Mr. Trump has not faced legal consequences for the payment.... The election commission -- split evenly between three Republicans and three Democratic-aligned commissioners -- declined to proceed in a closed-door meeting in February. Two Republican commissioners voted to dismiss the case while two Democratic commissioners voted to move forward. There was one absence and one Republican recusal. That decision was announced on Thursday.... Two of the Democratic commissioners on the F.E.C., Shana Broussard, the current chairwoman, and Ellen Weintraub, objected to not pursuing the case after the agency's staff had recommended further investigation." The Hill's story is here.

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "An Air Force veteran who prosecutors allege worked with Stephen K. Bannon ... to defraud donors to a fundraising campaign for a U.S.-Mexico border wall has been indicted on new tax charges. Brian Kolfage, a conservative activist who lost three limbs in Iraq and was the founder and public face of the 'We Build the Wall' fundraising campaign, was charged in federal court in Florida with filing a false tax return. In an indictment, prosecutors alleged that Kolfage claimed to the IRS in his 2019 tax return that he had a total income of just over $63,000 and did not report hundreds of thousands of dollars deposited into his personal bank account from 'We Build the Wall' and other sources. Federal prosecutors in New York last year charged Bannon, Kolfage and two others with defrauding donors to the campaign, which was publicly supported by several of Trump's allies and raised more than $25 million from hundreds of thousands of donors." A CNN story is here.

Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Twitter suspended an account on Thursday that appeared to be circumventing its ban on ... Donald Trump by posting messages he shared on his own website.... On Thursday morning, a Twitter accounts with the handle '@DJTDesk' appeared on Twitter. The account's bio section stated that the handle would be featuring 'Posts copied from Save America on behalf of the 45th POTUS; Originally composed via DonaldJTrump/Desk.' Within hours, the account was suspended."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Joel Achenbach & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus infections could be driven to low levels and the pandemic at least temporarily throttled in the United States by July if the vast majority of people get vaccinated and continue with precautions against viral transmission, according to a strikingly optimistic paper released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes as administration officials and leaders in many states are sounding more confident that the country can return to a degree of normalcy relatively soon. President Biden on Tuesday announced a new vaccination goal, saying he wants 70 percent of adults to have had at least one dose by July 4. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the modeling results give Americans a road map out of the pandemic -- so long as they continue to get vaccinated and maintain certain mitigation strategies until a 'critical mass of people' get the shots." The article is free to nonsubscribers. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: On Thursday night, Tucker Carlson "told his millions of viewers that he was pro-vaccine and insisted that he was not saying the vaccines were dangerous, but then immediately launched into a rant about 'the apparent death rate from the coronavirus vaccines,' citing data from VAERS (the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). As many people noted, the disclaimer that is literally on the VAERS website, written in clear language: 'As an early warning system, VAERS cannot prove that a vaccine caused a problem....'" Reaction was swift. "Even Fox News' own medical expert subtweeted Carlson for his profoundly flawed take." Rumpf goes into detail about Tucker's mistakes. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Remember Emily Litella, Gilda Radner's character who ranted about things she had misheard? Emily was comically dimwitted, to be sure, but well-meaning. We should think of Tucker as an evil-minded Emily Litella, someone who reads or hears stuff he doesn't understand, then goes on the teevee and rants about it. I would urge Fox "News" to end each Tucker Carlson show with a disclaimer: "Never mind!" ~~~

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "The scene playing out in [the] Arizona [fake recount] is perhaps the most off-the-rails episode in the Republican Party's escalating effort to support ... Donald J. Trump's lie that he won the election.... The review is proving to be every bit as problematic as skeptics had imagined." The article recaps issues covered in stories we linked yesterday.

Florida. Ron DeSantis: Bad for Business. Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald: "If Florida won't allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company's CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere. CEO Frank Del Rio made the threat during an earnings call Thursday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that bans businesses, schools and government entities in Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the world's third largest cruise company, parent to cruise brands Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas. Miami-Dade County spent $263 million building a terminal for Norwegian at PortMiami that finished construction last year." ~~~

~~~ Washington Post Editors: "... thanks to the cynical calculations of Florida's Republican governor, voters in the state's 20th Congressional District --; primarily Black, primarily Democratic -- will have to wait until next year to be represented in Congress. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D) died last month, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has set the general election for Jan. 11, with primaries in November.... It is clear from the experience of other states that it doesn't take months and months for candidates to emerge and qualify for the ballot.... About 800,000 Floridians will be deprived of representation for nine months apparently worries him not one bit. In fact, it meshes neatly with his larger agenda of suppressing the vote whenever possible for anyone but Republican voters. The thread running throughout is a disdain for democracy." ~~~

~~~ Florida. Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed broad legislation Thursday morning that imposes new rules on voting and new penalties for those who do not follow them.... Critics said the new law curtails poll access in a variety of ways that will intimidate, confuse and otherwise make it harder for people to vote by mail, which is popular in Florida." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ As Corasaniti & Epstein note in the NYT story linked below, "... on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, with great fanfare, signed his state's new voting bill, which passed last week. Held at a Palm Beach hotel with cheering supporters in the background, the ceremony showcased Mr. DeSantis's brash style; the governor's office barred most journalists and provided exclusive access to Fox News, a nose-thumbing gesture of contempt toward a news media he viewed as overly critical of the bill." Thanks to Bobby Lee for pointing out, in yesterday's Comments, DeSantis's move to ban the real press from covering an official act. ~~~

     ~~~ Hey, Republicans. Here's a Real First Amendment Issue. Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "When Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new bill Thursday morning to change mail-in voting in Florida, the only television cameras allowed to capture the moment belonged to Fox News. Outside, reporters and videographers from local news outlet were told the ceremonial bill signing was an 'exclusive' for Fox & Friends, the conservative network's morning show.... Fox never asked for the special treatment.... Later, the network clarified that its producers there weren't aware that DeSantis was going to sign the bill on camera.... Aside from the optics, there's also a question of whether DeSantis violated the First Amendment by shutting members of the press out of a public event, experts told the Times. A federal court in Ohio upheld that a public official cannot discriminate against journalists based on perceived bias.... People who don't have a cable subscription or who don't watch that network ... wouldn't have seen it." ~~~

Texas. Nick Corasaniti & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Hours after Florida installed a rash of new voting restrictions, the Republican-led Legislature in Texas pressed ahead on Thursday with its own far-reaching bill that would make it one of the most difficult states in the nation in which to cast a ballot. The Texas bill would, among other restrictions, greatly empower partisan poll watchers, prohibit election officials from mailing out absentee ballot applications and impose strict punishments for those who provide assistance outside the lines of what is permissible. The State House of Representatives was scheduled to debate the measure late into the evening with the possibility that it would pass it and send it to the Senate. Gov. Greg Abbott is widely expected to sign the bill into law." ~~~

     ~~~Update. Acacia Coronado of the AP: "Texas Republican lawmakers advanced a sweeping elections bill early Friday following hours of discussion that would put America's biggest red state closer to imposing a raft of new voting restrictions in the face of growing warning from corporations. The key vote at 3 a.m. in the Texas House followed hours of debate as Democrats, who had little means of stopping the bill in the GOP-controlled state Capitol, deployed technical challenges and hours of questioning that the bill's author, Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain, appeared unprepared at times to answer. Finally, an agreement was reached between Republicans and Democrats leaving the bill with 20 amendments that significantly watered down some of what advocates called the most problematic aspects of the bill as it passed the key vote 81-64."

Georgia. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first-term Atlanta mayor who rose to national prominence this past year with her stern yet empathetic televised message to protesters but has struggled to rein in her city's spike in violent crime, will not seek a second term in office, Ms. Bottoms announced on Twitter on Thursday night.... The news shocked the political world in Atlanta, the most important city in the Southeast.... " The Hill's story is here.

New York. Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "New York Attorney Letitia James wants two right-wing provocateurs to pay up to $2.7 million in penalties for thousands of robocalls allegedly aimed at suppressing the Black vote ahead of the 2020 election. James said Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman 'used misinformation to try to disenfranchise Black communities ahead of the election, in a clear attempt to sway the election in the favor of their preferred presidential candidate.' Wohl and Burkman, conservative political operatives known for smearing political opponents with transparently false accusations, are already facing criminal charges in Michigan and Ohio for the scheme."

New York. Ed Shanahan & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Sheldon Silver, who dominated New York State politics for years as the Democratic Assembly speaker before being convicted on federal corruption charges, was ordered back to prison on Thursday, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the matter. Mr. Silver, 77, was in federal custody at a Lower Manhattan hospital on Thursday afternoon and was expected to be returned to the prison in Otisville, N.Y., later in the day, one of the officials said. The move came just two days after prison officials let Mr. Silver return home on a furlough while he awaited a decision on his request that he be allowed to serve the balance of his prison term under home confinement. At that point, he had served less than a year of his six-and-a-half-year sentence. That Mr. Silver was going back to prison so quickly suggested that his request had been denied, but a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on any aspect of his status."

Way Beyond

China/Space/Earth. Steven Myers & Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Part of China's largest rocket, the Long March 5B, is tumbling out of control in orbit after launching a section of the country's new space station last week. The rocket is expected to fall to Earth in what is called 'an uncontrolled re-entry' sometime on Saturday or Sunday. Whether it splashes harmlessly in the ocean or impacts land where people live, why China's space program let this happen -- again -- remains unclear. And given China's planned schedule of launches, more such uncontrolled rocket re-entries in the years to come are possible.... The country's space program ... continues to create danger, however small, for people all over the planet by failing to control the paths of rockets it launches.... The chances [of your being hit by debris are extremely low, but they] are not zero." NPR's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Okay, Nothing to Worry About. AP: "China says the upper stage of its Long March 5B rocket that launched the core module of its space station will mostly burn up on re-entry, posing little threat to people and property on the ground. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbing said Chinese authorities will release information about the -re-entry of the rocket, expected over the weekend, in a 'timely manner.' Wang said China 'pays great attention to the re-entry of the upper stage of the rocket into the atmosphere.'"

China. Steven Mufson & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "China's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 surpassed those of the United States and the developed world combined, according to an analysis published Thursday by the research firm Rhodium Group. China's share of global emissions rose to 27 percent of the world's total, while the United States remained the second-largest emitter at 11 percent. India's share came third at 6.6 percent, edging the 27 nations in the European Union, which account for 6.4 percent, the report found. China, India and other developing nations have lon noted that over the past century, the United States and Europe grew their economies while generating massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and that requiring the developing world to clamp down on emissions as they industrialize and bring millions of citizens into the middle class is unfair." MB: That's sort of a ridiculous argument; when the West industrialized, the technology to reduce greenhouse gases had not been invented, AND -- although there was no question that air particles were negatively affecting health -- people didn't understand climate change & how greenhouse gases accelerated it. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- May 6, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Daniel Dale of CNN: "The top candidate to replace [Liz] Cheney [in the House GOP 'leadership'] is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik -- who promoted some of those election lies and sought to get the outcome of the election overturned. Stefanik, whom Trump endorsed Wednesday for the job of House Republican conference chair, supported a lawsuit that tried to get the Supreme Court to invalidate Joe Biden's victory. On January 6, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, she voted to reject some of President Joe Biden's electoral votes. Both before the riot and immediately afterward, Stefanik made false claims about the conduct of the election in some of the states Biden won. And in previous remarks, she amplified baseless claims that there were major "irregularities" with both voting and election software. Stefanik did not match Trump's incendiary language about the election being 'rigged' or 'stolen.' But using slightly more artful rhetoric, she aided his damaging campaign to undermine confidence in the result. Here's a look at some of Stefanik's election-related words and actions between early December and early January." MB: But, see, that's exactly why Stefanik is the top candidate.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

Joel Achenbach & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus infections could be driven to low levels and the pandemic at least temporarily throttled in the United States by July if the vast majority of people get vaccinated and continue with precautions against viral transmission, according to a strikingly optimistic paper released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes as administration officials and leaders in many states are sounding more confident that the country can return to a degree of normalcy relatively soon. President Biden on Tuesday announced a new vaccination goal, saying he wants 70 percent of adults to have had at least one dose by July 4. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the modeling results give Americans a road map out of the pandemic -- so long as they continue to get vaccinated and maintain certain mitigation strategies until a 'critical mass of people' get the shots." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Hypocrites on Parade. Steve Peoples of the AP: "Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.... Polling suggests the Biden stimulus is overwhelmingly popular."

Florida. Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed broad legislation Thursday morning that imposes new rules on voting and new penalties for those who do not follow them.... Critics said the new law curtails poll access in a variety of ways that will intimidate, confuse and otherwise make it harder for people to vote by mail, which is popular in Florida."

Steven Mufson & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "China's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 surpassed those of the United States and the developed world combined, according to an analysis published Thursday by the research firm Rhodium Group. China's share of global emissions rose to 27 percent of the world's total, while the United States remained the second-largest emitter at 11 percent. India's share came third at 6.6 percent, edging the 27 nations in the European Union, which account for 6.4 percent, the report found. China, India and other developing nations have long noted that over the past century, the United States and Europe grew their economies while generating massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and that requiring the developing world to clamp down on emissions as they industrialize and bring millions of citizens into the middle class is unfair." MB: That's sort of a ridiculous argument; when the West industrialized, the technology to reduce greenhouse gases had not been invented, AND -- although there was no question that air particles were negatively affecting health -- people didn't understand climate change & how greenhouse gases accelerated it.

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Jim Tankersley & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden delivered a clear and punchy message to America's highest earners on Wednesday: I'm going to raise your taxes, but your vacation homes are safe. In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Mr. Biden defended with gusto his plans to increase taxes on high earners and the wealthy. He railed against high-earning chief executives and promised that his plans were 'about making the average multimillionaire pay just a fair share.... We're not going to deprive any of these executives of their second or third home, travel privately by jet,' Mr. Biden said after brief remarks on an economic aid program he signed into law this year. 'It's not going to affect their standard of living at all.... But I can affect the standard of living that people I grew up with.'" ~~~

~~~ Gabe Hiatt of Eater.com: President Biden stopped by D.C.'s Taqueria Las Gemelas to pick up lunch. "'He also came to let us know that we were the first restaurant to be approved for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in the country,' [restaurant co-owner Josh Phillips said]." Biden ordered quatro tacos y dos quesadillas -- for takeout. MB: And you thought I wasn't fluent in Spanish.

Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The Labor Department is rescinding a rule that made it harder for gig and contract workers to argue they were entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections, part of a push to undo Trump-era decisions that favored businesses and employers. The withdrawal of the 'Independent Contractor' rule, which limited the ability of workers to argue that they were misclassified as contractors when they should have been employees, will be published in the Federal Register today, and become effective on Thursday. Companies have increased the use of contractors in recent decades in part to lower labor costs. Employees are entitled to a range of benefits not afforded to contractors, including a minimum wage and overtime pay." (Also linked yesterday.)

Allan Smith of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is '100 percent' focused 'on stopping' President Joe Biden's administration.... 'One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration,' McConnell said, adding, 'We're confronted with severe challenges from a new administration, and a narrow majority of Democrats in the House and a 50-50 Senate to turn America into a socialist country, and that's 100 percent of my focus.'... McConnell's comments drew comparisons to remarks he made about then-President Barack Obama to the National Journal just prior to the 2010 midterms. 'The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,' McConnell said then...." MB: Pardon my arithmetic, but. If Mitch is "100% focused on stopping Joe Biden, then he's "0% focused on passing legislation to help the American people."

Fadel Allassan of Axios: Donald "Trump and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are openly supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican conference chair.... 'Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,' Trump said in a statement. 'Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!'... The public endorsements of Stefanik mark a new escalation in Republicans' internal feud over Cheney...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Olivia Beavers & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Liz Cheney is not fighting to hold onto her job as House GOP conference chair, even as top Republican leaders openly campaign to replace her in the No. 3 spot.... Cheney has been telling people that if holding onto her leadership role requires having to lie or stay quiet, she doesn't believe that's a price worth paying.... Behind the scenes, Cheney has not been making calls or engaging in the type of campaigning that's ordinarily necessary in politics to build a coalition of support ahead of a vote.... Now it appears all but certain that Cheney will be booted from leadership, raising serious questions about her political future. Cheney, who passed on a Senate bid last year..., just posted a record-breaking fundraising quarter. But she's also facing a tough primary race next year in Wyoming, with pro-Trump challengers already lining up to take her out." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Well, There's This. Liz Cheney in a Washington Post op-ed: "In public statements again this week..., Donald Trump has repeated his claims that the 2020 election was a fraud and was stolen. His message: I am still the rightful president, and President Biden is illegitimate. Trump repeats these words now with full knowledge that exactly this type of language provoked violence on Jan. 6. And, as the Justice Department and multiple federal judges have suggested, there is good reason to believe that Trump's language can provoke violence again. Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work -- confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. No other American president has ever done this." MB: That's how she begins, & there's more worth reading. However, she's Liz Cheney, so she has to get in her digs at Democrats & liberals. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times highlights the main points of Liz Cheney's WashPo op-ed. This Mother Jones post, by Abigail Weinberg, also provides a good summary & analysis.

Charles Blow of the New York Times remembers some of Liz's -- and daddy Dick's -- low marks. "... her present position does not expunge her past positions. The sword she's falling on is one she has spent her political career brandishing."

Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is concerned about being called as a witness by a commission looking into the events of January 6th, CNN reported Wednesday. There have been calls for such a commission, and Liz Cheney has said she supports creating it. CNN reporter Jamie Gangel said, 'Kevin McCarthy was not an innocent bystander to the big lie. For weeks months, leading up to January 6th, he was talking to the president every day, a couple of times a day. Then, on January 6th, he has that critical phone call with the president where he's pleading with him to call it off.'"

Axios: "Facebook's independent Oversight Board ruled to uphold the platform's suspension of former President Trump's account but told the social media giant to rethink the ban's 'indefinite' nature. The board found Trump's posts had 'severely violated' Facebook rules but questioned the 'indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension' and 'insisted' the company find a 'proportionate response' within six months." MB: Bottom line: Facebook will put us through this again. And again. That guy will forever be a threat to democracy, even after he's dead. Update: The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump and other Republicans expressed outrage Wednesday over the Facebook Oversight Board's decision to extend Trump's ban from the social media platform -- and at least one House lawmaker threatened that the company will 'pay the price.' [Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)]... In a statement, Trump called the decision 'a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country. Free speech has been taken away from the president of the United States because the radical left lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before.'" MB: Once again, Trump demonstrates that he has zero understanding of the First Amendment. As for the rest of the lunkheads, they think attempting to violently overthrow a valid presidential election is not nearly as bad as getting kicked off Facebook for inciting the insurrection. ~~~

I defer to you, Nick. -- Mark Zuckerberg, regarding a decision about Donald Trump's account ~~~

~~~ Adam Satariano & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: Nick "Clegg ... a former British deputy prime minister ... played perhaps the biggest behind-the-scenes role in decisions around Mr. Trump's account, colleagues said, an unlikely position for a British political veteran in such an important moment for American free speech. [MB: Bull!] He developed the main justification used by Mr. Zuckerberg for barring Mr. Trump, and he oversaw the creation of the board, including the selection of its members. The board's ruling on Mr. Trump tests the argument that Mr. Clegg championed inside Facebook: Instead of taking all the responsibility for moderation, the company should enlist a quasi-judicial board of outside experts to make the final decision.... Mr. Clegg joined Facebook in 2018 to oversee its policy and public relations team after his political star had faded." ~~~

~~~ ** "Facebook Whiffed." Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "It was not a close call in January to suspend [Donald Trump] indefinitely from the world's largest social media platform, with nearly 3 billion user accounts. The insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 made that obvious. And it should not have been a close call -- or anything to agonize about -- for Facebook to keep him off the platform permanently.... 'This verdict is a desperate attempt to have it both ways,' responded a London-based group of academics and advocates that calls itself the Real Facebook Oversight Board.... What was called for here was a clear, unambiguous message: That a hugely influential public official -- arguably the most powerful person in the world -- can't use Facebook to endanger the public welfare. And once he does just that, hundreds of times, he can't come back.... [Banning Trump worked.] Online misinformation about election fraud plummeted by 73 percent the week after various social media sites -- particularly Twitter -- banned Trump from their platforms in January, a research firm found." ~~~

It's the International Liberal Jewish Cabal! According to a Washington Examiner report or op-ed or something, Facebook's oversight board "is mostly tied to [George] Soros," according to a headline. No link. Isn't this the same gang who used a space laser to start California's deadly wildfires? You'll have to check with Margie Greene on that. No link.

Maggie Haberman & Ben Protess of the New York Times (May 4): "As a federal investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani escalates, his advisers have been pressing aides to ... Donald J. Trump to reach into a $250 million war chest to pay Mr. Giuliani for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election on Mr. Trump's behalf.' Leading the lobbying effort is Bernard Kerik. Kerik was once Giuliani's driver, and he was so good at it that Giuliani appointed New York City police commissioner. Then George W. Bush nominated Kerik to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a gig that didn't work out because Kerik's series of criminal acts soon began to surface, partially, as I recall, because of the FBI background check for the DHS job. Anyhow, Bernie landed in jail, but Trump pardoned him, so everything is good. They're all a bunch of incompetent mobsters of the type we recognize from "The Sopranos." Speaking of sopranos, a couple of pundits pointed out on the teevee Wednesday that Trump should pay up fast or Rudy will sing. ~~~

~~~ Gabby Orr & Paula Reid of CNN: "Allies of Rudy Giuliani continue to call on ... Donald Trump and Republicans to pay for his efforts around the election and, in turn, subsidize the mounting legal bills facing the former New York City mayor. Trump was recently informed directly by Giuliani associates of the increasing debts incurred by his onetime personal lawyer, one source told CNN. Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, also raised the issue in recent days with lawyers for Trump.... One of the most vocal is Giuliani's son Andrew, who worked in the Trump White House and told CNN, 'The nut may crack in the next 36 hours.' He called on Trump to 'take the lead on this one,' adding: 'He can be the hero.'... Andrew Giuliani said his father was reimbursed for travel-related expenses incurred after the 2020 election, when he visited Arizona and other states to argue election fraud lawsuits in court. He said his father has not, however, been paid for legal services." ~~~

~~~ In Andrea Mitchell's interview with Igor Novikov, former adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, he says that Rudy Giuliani wanted the Ukraine government to smear Joe Biden on multiple fronts & get a statement from Zelensky that Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for hacking into the Democratic party in 2016. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link:

Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Peloton announced Wednesday voluntary recalls of both its treadmill machines over safety concerns. The announcement marked a major reversal of Peloton's initial reaction and comes after weeks of discussions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In a statement, Peloton apologized for not acting more quickly to resolve the issue after reports of one death and dozens of injuries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Zack Whittaker of Tech Crunch: "My Peloton profile is set to private and my friend's list is deliberately zero, so nobody can view my profile, age, city, or workout history. But a bug allowed anyone to pull users' private account data directly from Peloton's servers, even with their profile set to private. Peloton, the at-home fitness brand synonymous with its indoor stationary bike and beleaguered treadmills, has more than three million subscribers. Even President Biden is said to own one. The exercise bike alone costs upwards of $1,800...." MB: You know, Zack, your first mistake was buying a pricey Peloton that probably makes your living room look like a gym. I have a $29 under-desk exercise bike. It calculates stuff, but -- to the best of my knowledge -- it does not reveal my private data to Joe Biden.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

** Thomas Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration came out on Wednesday in support of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, siding with international efforts to bolster production amid concerns about vaccine access in developing nations. The United States had been a major holdout at the World Trade Organization over a proposal to suspend some of the world economic body's intellectual property protections, which could allow drugmakers across the globe access to the closely guarded trade secrets of how the viable vaccines have been made. But President Biden had come under increasing pressure to throw his support behind the proposal, drafted by India and South Africa and backed by many congressional Democrats. Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, announced the administration's position on Wednesday afternoon...." The AP's report is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday struck down the nationwide moratorium on evictions imposed by the Trump administration last year and extended by President Biden until June 30, a ruling that could affect tenants struggling to pay rent during the pandemic. The decision, by Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the most significant federal ruling on the moratorium yet, and follows three similar federal court decisions. The Justice Department immediately appealed, and will seek an emergency stay of the decision, potentially delaying a final resolution of the case past the moratorium's planned June 30 expiration." Friedrich is a Trump appointee.

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

Iris Samuels of the AP: "The Blackfeet tribe in northern Montana provided about 1,000 surplus vaccines last month to its First Nations relatives and others from across the [U.S.-Canadian] border, in an illustration of the disparity in speed at which the United States and Canada are distributing doses. While more than 30% of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, in Canada that figure is about 3%.... More than 95% of the [U.S.] Blackfeet reservation's roughly 10,000 residents who are eligible for the vaccine are fully immunized, after [Montana] prioritized Native American communities -- among the most vulnerable U.S. populations -- in the early stages of its vaccination campaign."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. In Search of Bamboo. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) on Wednesday sent a letter outlining a string of problems that she said observers from her office have witnessed at a Republican-led recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona's largest county.... Ballots have been left unattended on counting tables. Laptop computers sit abandoned, at times -- open, unlocked and unmonitored. Procedures are constantly shifting, with untrained workers using different rules to count ballots.... [Hobbs] questioned whether procedures were in place to hire qualified, unbiased people to serve as ballot counters, noting that reporters have spotted former state Rep. Anthony Kern (R) among the ballot counters. Kern was on the November ballot and was photographed attending pro-Trump rallies in Washington on Jan. 6." According to a person working on the so-called audit, some of the processes the "auditors" are using to examine the ballots are designed to find traces of, uh, bamboo. Because of "unfounded accusations that 40,000 ballots were flown from Asia into Arizona." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Personally, I think they should be looking for sticky rice & green tea stains. Helderman outlines many of the irregularities in the GOP's supposed recount of a recount of a recount, but she doesn't mention that -- based on the small percentage of ballots they have examined -- the "auditors" can't possibly finish the process by the deadline, which is May 14. The Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, where the so-called recount is being held, has been reserved by a number of high school students for their graduation ceremonies shortly after May 14. ~~~

     ~~~ Uh-oh. Bob Christie of the AP: "The U.S. Department of Justice expressed concern Wednesday about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate's unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County. In a letter to GOP Senate President Karen Fann, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said the Senate's farming out of 2.1 million ballots from the state's most populous county to a contractor may run afoul of federal law requiring ballots to remain in the control of elections officials for 22 months. And Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan said that the Senate contractor's plans to directly contact voters could amount to illegal voter intimidation.... The Justice Department letter came six days after voting rights groups asked federal officials to intervene or send monitors to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix at the state fairgrounds, where the ballots are being recounted." Helderman briefly mentions the DOJ's letter.

Minnesota. Doha Madani & Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion for a new trial Tuesday after he was convicted last month of murdering George Floyd. Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, is alleging pretrial publicity affected Chauvin's right to a fair trial. The motion alleges the court abused its discretion by denying the requests for a change in venue and a new trial. Because the court failed to sequester the jurors or 'admonish them to avoid all media,' Nelson's filing said, they were subjected not only to prejudicial publicity but also to 'jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

South Carolina. Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state's execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs -- a measure meant to jump-start executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a 66-43 vote, will require condemned inmates to choose either being shot or electrocuted if lethal injection drugs aren't available. The state is one of only nine to still use the electric chair and will become only the fourth to allow a firing squad.... The Senate already had approved the bill in March, by a vote of 32-11.... After a routine final vote in the House and a signoff by the Senate, it will go to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who has said he will sign it." MB: Next up, guillotine. The representatives of the people are bloodthirsty barbarians, leading me to conclude that so are many of the people.

Way Beyond

Colombia. Julie Turkewitz & Sofía Villamil of the New York Times: "Colombians demonstrating over the past week against the poverty and inequality that have worsened the lives of millions since the Covid-19 pandemic began have been met with a powerful crackdown by their government, which has responded to the protests with the same militarized police force it often uses against rebel fighters and organized crime. This explosion of frustration in Colombia, experts say, could presage unrest across Latin America, where several countries face a combustible mix of an unrelenting pandemic, growing hardship and plummeting government revenue.... On Wednesday, after seven days of marches and clashes that turned parts of Colombian cities into battlefields, demonstrators breached protective barriers around the nation's Congress, attacking the building before being repelled by the police.... The clashes have left at least 24 people dead, most of them demonstrators, and at least 87 missing...."

France-U.K. Brexit Was an Excellent Idea. Sunita Patel-Carstairs & Alix Culbertson of Sky News: "A fleet of French fishing boats has descended on Jersey after threatening to blockade the island's main port over a post-Brexit fishing rights row. The UK has sent two Royal Navy ships to Jersey 'as a precaution' - HMS Severn and HMS Tamar are patrolling the waters around Jersey [Thursday] morning. And French authorities have confirmed to Sky News that a vessel, the Military Ops ship Athos, will be arriving 'imminently' to carry out a 'patrol mission' - while local reports suggest another is also en route. The deployment, France says, is to 'guarantee the safety' of people at sea and 'accompany' the flotilla of around 50 French fishing vessels currently protesting off St Helier over a lack of access to waters around the Channel island.... Jersey fisherman Josh Dearing described the scene at the port of St Helier as 'like an invasion'." MB: Fishing rights issues in the English Channel, I assume, were the sort of disputes that the E.U. courts used to work out.

News Lede

CNBC: "The U.S. employment picture improved sharply last week, with first-time claims for unemployment insurance hitting a fresh pandemic-era low. Initial claims totaled 498,000 for the week ended March 1, against the Dow Jones estimate of 527,000. That was down from the previous week's total of 590,000, which saw a substantial upward revision from the initially reported 553,000."

The Commentariat -- May 5, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Fadel Allassan of Axios: Donald "Trump and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are openly supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican conference chair.... 'Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,' Trump said in a statement. 'Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!'... The public endorsements of Stefanik mark a new escalation in Republicans' internal feud over Cheney...."

Olivia Beavers & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Liz Cheney is not fighting to hold onto her job as House GOP conference chair, even as top Republican leaders openly campaign to replace her in the No. 3 spot.... Cheney has been telling people that if holding onto her leadership role requires having to lie or stay quiet, she doesn't believe that's a price worth paying.... Behind the scenes, Cheney has not been making calls or engaging in the type of campaigning that's ordinarily necessary in politics to build a coalition of support ahead of a vote.... Now it appears all but certain that Cheney will be booted from leadership, raising serious questions about her political future. Cheney, who passed on a Senate bid last year..., just posted a record-breaking fundraising quarter. But she's also facing a tough primary race next year in Wyoming, with pro-Trump challengers already lining up to take her out."

Doha Madani & Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion for a new trial Tuesday after he was convicted last month of murdering George Floyd. Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, is alleging pretrial publicity affected Chauvin's right to a fair trial. The motion alleges the court abused its discretion by denying the requests for a change in venue and a new trial. Because the court failed to sequester the jurors or 'admonish them to avoid all media,' Nelson's filing said, they were subjected not only to prejudicial publicity but also to 'jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution.'"

Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Peloton announced Wednesday voluntary recalls of both its treadmill machines over safety concerns. The announcement marked a major reversal of Peloton's initial reaction and comes after weeks of discussions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In a statement, Peloton apologized for not acting more quickly to resolve the issue after reports of one death and dozens of injuries."

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

Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The Labor Department is rescinding a rule that made it harder for gig and contract workers to argue they were entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections, part of a push to undo Trump-era decisions that favored businesses and employers. The withdrawal of the 'Independent Contractor' rule, which limited the ability of workers to argue that they were misclassified as contractors when they should have been employees, will be published in the Federal Register today, and become effective on Thursday. Companies have increased the use of contractors in recent decades in part to lower labor costs. Employees are entitled to a range of benefits not afforded to contractors, including a minimum wage and overtime pay."

Axios: "Facebook's independent Oversight Board ruled to uphold the platform's suspension of former President Trump's account but told the social media giant to rethink the ban's 'indefinite' nature. The board found Trump's posts had 'severely violated' Facebook rules but questioned the 'indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension' and 'insisted' the company find a 'proportionate response' within six months." MB: Bottom line: Facebook will put us through this again. And again. That guy will forever be a threat to democracy, even after he's dead. Update: The New York Times report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha Bertrand & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Biden administration will release its highly anticipated national strategy for fighting domestic terrorists in the coming weeks, the White House announced Tuesday, signaling a major break from ... Donald Trump's administration in addressing more directly the threats posed by White supremacists and right-wing militia groups. The expected release of the strategy comes after the White House said Tuesday that it has completed a sweeping assessment of the threat posed by domestic violent extremism, an issue that took on new urgency after the January 6 assault on the Capitol...."

Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "... the Biden administration ... [has initiated] a massive relocation of parents deported by one U.S. president and returned by another. In total, more than 1,000 families are expected to be reunited.... Last week, the Department of Homeland Security agreed to process the first few returning parents at the border."

Denitsa Tsekova of Yahoo! News: "President Joe Biden is planning to raise revenue to fund his infrastructure plans through numerous tax hikes that would mostly hit the top 0.7% of Americans, a new analysis found. 'The vast, vast majority of the population will not see any tax increases,' Steve Wamhoff ... [of] the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and co-author of the report, told Yahoo Money. 'This plan would really just ask the people who've been very, very successful and have done very well throughout recessions and pandemics... ask those lucky few to pay more.'" MB: If you're one of the lucky duckies whose taxes will be raised, congratulations on having more money than you need! Nevertheless, the proposed rise in your taxes is upsetting 100 percent of your GOP Senate friends. ~~~

~~~ Zachary Evans of Yahoo! News (May 3): "No Republican senator will back President Biden's infrastructure plan as written, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said at a press conference on Monday.... McConnell's reference to a '$4.1 trillion grab bag' would include Biden's roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package as well as his $1.8 trillion 'American Families Plan,' which invests heavily in education and childcare." MB: So that means Democratic Senators can pass a bill under reconciliation, meaning it will be whatever Joe Manchin says is okay.

Kadia Goba of Axios: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he's 'lost confidence' in Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during a moment of candor caught on a hot mic, a tape reviewed by Axios shows.... 'I think she's got real problems,' McCarthy told Steve Doocy off-air ahead of a live 'Fox and Friends' interview. 'I've had it with ... I've had it with her. You know, I've lost confidence. ... Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.' The comments, made amid seeming cross-talk with Doocy, outlined how the House conference chair could be removed by a vote from the chamber's Republican members." ~~~

~~~ Nancy Is a Mean Girl. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mocked House Republicans for reportedly looking for a 'non-threatening female' to replace No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney (Wyo.). Pelosi's office released a mock 'help wanted' ad as talks of ousting Cheney from leadership increase amid GOP frustrations with her anti-Trump stance. 'Word is out that House GOP Leaders are looking to push Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as House Republican Conference Chair -- their most senior woman in GOP leadership -- for a litany of very Republican reasons: she won't lie, she isn't humble enough, she's like a girlfriend rooting for the wrong team, and more,' the ad reads, referring to previous media reports about male Republican criticism of Cheney." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ From the Ashes of the Trumpster Fire

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: "... instead of Trump's Big Lie fading away, just the opposite is happening -- first slowly and now quickly. Under Trump's command and control from Mar-a-Largo, and with the complicity of most of his party's leaders, that Big Lie -- that the greatest election in our history, when more Republicans and Democrats voted than ever before, in the midst of a pandemic, must have been rigged because Trump lost -- has metastasized. It's being embraced by a solid majority of elected Republicans and ordinary party members -- local, state and national.... There is simply nothing more dangerous for a two-party democracy than to have one party declare that no election where it loses is legitimate, and, therefore, if it loses it will just lie about the results and change the rules."

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "A soldier in the Wisconsin National Guard was charged Monday in connection with the Capitol riot Jan. 6, becoming the fourth service member linked to the violent attempt to thwart the certification of Joe Biden's election as president. Abram Markofski and an associate were arrested Monday in Wisconsin and each charged with four counts related to the Capitol breach, including violent entry or disorderly conduct and entering restricted spaces, according to the Justice Department.... At least 41 military veterans have been federally charged in the riot, according to court documents and service records...."

** Judge Says Bill Barr Lied, Spun & Deceived. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Washington accused the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr of misleading her and Congress about advice he had received from top department officials on whether ... Donald J. Trump should have been charged with obstructing the Russia investigation and ordered that a related memo be released. Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court in Washington said in a ruling late Monday that the Justice Department's obfuscation appeared to be part of a pattern in which top officials like Mr. Barr were untruthful to Congress and the public about the investigation.... 'The fact that he [Trump] would not be prosecuted was a given,' Judge Jackson wrote.... She also singled out Mr. Barr for how he had spun the investigation's findings in a letter summarizing the 448-page report before it was released, which allowed Mr. Trump to claim he had been exonerated.... Judge Jackson said that the government had until May 17 to decide whether it planned to appeal her ruling, a decision that will be made by a Justice Department run by Biden appointees." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein, is here. Worth reading. Rachel Maddow covered the ruling in her opening segment Tuesday (embedded below). Maddow pointed out that seems mighty unlikely that the DOJ, "under new management," will appeal Jackson's decision. Marie: Barr's principal lie was that DOJ officials had advised him that Robert Mueller's team did not substantiate evidence that Trump had obstructed justice, so the DOJ could not prosecute. It occurs to me that there's no principle of stare decisis that runs from administration to administration, so there's no reason that Merrick Garland's DOJ couldn't reach a different -- and accurate -- conclusion that Trump committed prosecutable offenses. I doubt it, but maybe we yet shall see Donald in the dock. ~~~

Annals of Journalism, Ctd.

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "'Washington Week,' a calm redoubt in the shouty battleground of political television, is most closely associated with its longtime moderator Gwen Ifill, the pioneering journalist who broke barriers as a Black woman in the Washington press corps. Before her death in 2016, Ms. Ifill also became a mentor to [Yamiche] Alcindor, the White House correspondent at 'PBS NewsHour.' Starting with the episode on Friday, Ms. Alcindor, 34, will take Ms. Ifill's old chair at the helm of 'Washington Week.' She succeeds Robert Costa, a reporter for The Washington Post who took over in 2017 and left the show this year."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: CNN anchor Don Lemon raked former GOP senator-turned-CNN contributor Rick Santorum (R-PA) over the coals on Monday night after Santorum refused to apologize for his racist comments downplaying European settlers' genocide of Native Americans. 'I mean, Rick Santorum, really? Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and to try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?' Lemon said during his program shortly after fellow CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's interview with the contributor. '... It was horrible and insulting, and I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by this,' Lemon continued. 'I was sitting in my office, furious, because he's done it so many times. So many times.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) See also story of Tennessee legislator linked below.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Zeke Miller & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday set a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth as he tackles the vexing problem of winning over the 'doubters' and those unmotivated to get inoculated. Demand for vaccines has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their available doses unordered. Aiming to make it easier to get shots, Biden called for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and he will direct many pharmacies to do likewise." The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The White House on Tuesday told states that coronavirus vaccine supply they choose not to order will become available to other states -- the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution since President Biden took office, and part of an effort to account for flagging demand in parts of the country. Each state's share of the total U.S. adult population will still determine weekly allocations. But instead of allowing unordered doses to carry over week to week, the White House will steer untapped vaccine into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply. Those states will be able to order up to 50 percent above their weekly allocation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been released from a federal prison on furlough while he awaits potential placement to home confinement, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Silver, 77, began serving his more than six-year sentence at a prison in Otisville, New York, in August, after years of fending off going behind bars in a corruption case. He has been released to his home while awaiting a final decision on whether he can serve the rest of his sentence there in home confinement, the person said.... Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, was once one of the three most powerful state officials in New York. He was the Assembly's leader for more than two decades before his abrupt ouster in 2015 after the corruption allegations emerged."

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "The Three-Fifths Compromise, an agreement reached during the negotiations in 1787 to create the United States Constitution, found that, for the purposes of representation and taxation, only three-fifths of a state's enslaved people would be counted toward its total population. It is regarded as one of the most racist deals among the states during the country's founding. Yet in a speech in the Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday, one representative ... Justin Lafferty, a Republican from Knoxville..., defended the compromise, arguing that it was 'a bitter, bitter pill' that was necessary to curtail the power of slaveholding states and that helped clear the way to ending slavery -- remarks that were rebuked by critics, including Black colleagues, as insulting and demeaning." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One would think that by now public figures would know that white-splaining the beauty of American history to people of color is never wise. Apparently not. Last week, a Louisiana state representative said teachers should be teaching "the good, the bad and the ugly" of slavery. The rep's surname is "Garafolo." I'm going to assume he's white.

Texas. Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune: "With less than a month left in the legislative session ... HP, Microsoft, Unilever, Patagonia and two dozen other companies are urging state lawmakers not to pass new restrictions on voting. In the biggest pushback so far by business against the GOP's legislative bid to ratchet up the state's already restrictive voting rules, national companies joined in a statement voicing their opposition Tuesday with local businesses and several local chambers of commerce representing LGBTQ, Hispanic and Black members of the business community.... The statement does not address specific legislation, but comes as Texas Republicans press forward with bills in the name of 'election integrity' despite little to no evidence of widespread fraud and warnings from voting rights advocates and lawyers that many of them would be disproportionately harmful to voters of color."

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. No Surprise. Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that any gains in women's rights in Afghanistan made in the last two decades will be at risk after U.S. troops withdraw later this year. An unclassified report released Tuesday by the Director of National Intelligence says the Taliban remain 'broadly consistent in its restrictive approach to women's rights and would roll back much of the past two decades' progress if the group regained national power.'"

Israel. The Great Pumpkin. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel failed to form a new government by the midnight Tuesday deadline, putting his political future in jeopardy as he stands trial on corruption charges and prolonging a political deadlock that has only worsened after four elections in two years. Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, may now give a rival, eclectic camp of anti-Netanyahu parties a chance to form a government, which could oust Mr. Netanyahu from power after 12 consecutive years in office."