Arlington Cemetery pictured, for Memorial Day weekend.

Uvalde timeline … The big question carrying though the weekend is how long did it take police to enter the Robb Elementary classroom (or classrooms, one of the many confusing pieces) where an 18-year-old with an AR-15 shot 19 children and 2 teachers? Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) has asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate the timeline and take the lead in the case, Castro told NPR’s Morning Edition.

Evidence so far suggests it took police more than an hour to storm the classroom and kill the suspect, which of course flies in the face of NRA President Wayne LaPierre’s comment following the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012 that “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” (It is, sadly, the second time in May LaPierre’s statement was disproven – first being a Tops security guard’s attempt to shoot the Buffalo mass-killing suspect only to be killed himself). 

Singer-songwriter Don American Pie McLean was to have provided entertainment for the National Rifle Association convention Memorial Day weekend in Houston, but has cancelled, the Portland Press Herald (Maine) reports, as has Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who will attend a vigil in Uvalde, and address the NRA by video, instead -- and coincidentally, avoid protesters in Houston. 

Donald J. Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are still scheduled to attend. Cruz suggests the solution is to have one lockable door as an entrance to every school – gun safety trumps fire safety, apparently.

As for any Senate action on gun control, it’s Standard Operating Procedure, with Democrats struggling to find any Republicans, let alone the 10 needed for cloture on significant legislation. However, a bipartisan group of senators is trying to do just that, according to Roll Call; Find 60 votes in order to forward a “Red Flag” law to allow courts to order the temporary seizure of firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are leading the push, but are having trouble finding sufficient Republican support.

Assault rifle rationale: Of the many rationalizations of the need for legal assault rifles made this week, the one by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to VICE News political reporter Elizabeth Landers played on Twitter is getting a lot of attention: “Well, if you talk to the people who use it, killing feral pigs in … wherever … the middle of Louisiana, they wonder why would you take it away from them.”

•••

Relief for veterans … In a rare act of bipartisanship the Senate is expected to pass next month a comprehensive $200 billion bill to cover military veterans who have suffered toxic exposure from the Iraq War, Afghanistan, the Gulf War and Vietnam, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has recognized some exposure to Agent Orange since it was identified in 1962 in Vietnam as the source of some service-connected illness in U.S. troops. But the Senate bill will be the largest expansion of authority at the VA, says Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.

--Todd Lassa

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(THU 5/26/22)

Graph: Debt is expected to rise in relation to GDP over the next decade, mainly because of increasing interest costs and growth in spending for Medicare and Social Security.

No relief from inflation … The sort of high inflation we have been suffering over the last year or so will continue into next year, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicted in a report released Wednesday (hat tip to WaPo). The CBO projects a federal budget deficit of $1.0 trillion in 2022, down from $2.8 trillion in 2021, and the deficit continues to decrease into 2023, though turning to rise thereafter through 2032.

This is not good news for the White House’s stalled Build Back Better plan, which looks to go nowhere through the midterm elections anyway. 

The CBO projects that inflation persists at 4.0% through 2022 due to a combination of strong demand and restrained supply in the markets for goods, services and labor. As the Federal Reserve tightens the money supply and interest rates rise rapidly, the U.S. economy slows, with inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product up 3.1%. The unemployment rate remains at a very low 3.8%, the CBO projects.

The Fed is expected to announce half-point interest rate increases at each of its next two meetings, in June and July, NPR reports Thursday.

Upshot: The unemployment rate remains a bright spot for the White House and the GDP level is about normal, but inflation and tight credit will hurt the Democrats in the November midterms, piling on to gridlock in the second half of the Biden administration.

•••

This might test Pence’s loyalty … The House Select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has heard accounts of Donald J. Trump’s positive reaction to chants about hanging his vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to overturn the Electoral Vote count, according to The New York Times. The report says that the lame duck president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on January 6 left the dining room off the Oval Office and told colleagues that Trump was complaining about television coverage of Pence being guided away to safety.

Upshot: Pence lately has been easing up on sycophancy to his former boss. Before Tuesday’s primaries he endorsed incumbent Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over Trump’s candidate, David Perdue (who lost to Kemp), and is exploring a run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, potentially against Trump himself. 

Trump chose Pence as his 2016 running mate to shore up the conservative evangelical vote. Those voters remain among Trump’s fiercest supporters – can Pence claim them back?

•••

Oz v. McCormick recount … As expected since the dust cleared from the May 17 Pennsylvania GOP primary race for U.S. Senate, ballots for celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick are headed for a recount, The Washington Post reports. As of Thursday, Oz leads McCormick by 947 out of 1.3 million votes, within the 0.5% difference threshold to trigger an automatic recount. 

A reminder that this primary race plays into the tally of Trump’s endorsement success. Oz is his man.

Counties are to recount their ballots by June 7 and inform acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman of the final results June 8.

•••

Anticipating SCOTUS … Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, has signed into law the nation’s strictest abortion law to date, outlawing all abortions from any point in a woman’s pregnancy, except in the case of incest or rape (The Guardian). The Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade before its current-year calendar concludes at the end of June.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Charles Dervarics

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Texas: Rep. Henry Cuellar (pictured), a moderate counted as the only Democrat in the House who opposes abortion rights, held off a challenge by progressive Jessica Cisneros in the Texas primary runoff for the U.S. House 28^th District, 50.2% to 49.8%, Ballotpedia reports.

Minnesota: In primaries for a special election to replace Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN), who died in office February 17, Brad Finstad narrowly defeated Jeremy Munson in the GOP primary, MPR News reports, while Jeff Ettinger easily took the Democratic primary. The special general election is August 9, and the winner will have incumbent advantage in the midterms three months hence.

Georgia: Second-term 6^th House district Rep. Lucy McBath beat first-term 7^th House district Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, 62.6% to 31% in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 7^th District. McBath’s Republican opponent in November has not been determined as of Wednesday morning.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, who won a Georgia runoff against David Perdue in January 2021, easily won the Democratic primary to face Republican challenger and Trump ally Herschel Walker in November.

--TL/CD

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(K-12 School Shooting Database, Center for Homeland Defense and Security)

(WED 5/25/22)

In Uvalde, Texas … Ten days after 10 Black shoppers at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo were shot dead in the last mass shooting, 21 are dead, 19 of them second-, third- and fourth-grade students of Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, about 90 miles west of San Antonio. The other two victims were teachers at the school, CNN reported. The gunman carried an assault rifle and a pistol.

Biden reacts: President Biden addressed the nation Tuesday evening from the White House, where he had just returned from his first trip as president to South Korea and Japan. 

“Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?” he said. As Democratic senator from Delaware, Biden pushed gun control legislation in the 1990s, including an assault weapon ban that expired after 10 years.

The NRA … holds its annual convention on the other side of Texas, in Houston, this weekend. Donald J. Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the state’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott are scheduled speakers.

Steve Kerr: The Golden State Warriors head coach, visibly shaken and angry, dispensed with the traditional pre-game press conference in the NBA team’s playoff against the Dallas Mavericks to address the school shooting; “I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough.” Kerr pleaded with senators to take action. Watch Kerr’s press conference here: https://www.nba.com/watch/video/steve-kerr-comments-on-the-shooting-in-uvalde-texas

Do something?: Democratic senators told The Hill a floor debate on gun control is “inevitable” after the Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo shootings. 

“The bottom line is, I just watched a girl walk across the plaza that held up a sign that said, ‘This is your fault.’ We need to do something,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a lead proponent of gun control, took to the floor Tuesday to give an impassioned speech, but his side of the issue does not have the votes, likely with or without the filibuster.

But Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told colleagues not to expect gun-control measures on the Senate floor anytime soon, because he doesn’t expect sufficient Republican votes for passage (also The Hill).

•••

American Catholics Support Limited Abortion Rights … Catholics are generally in line with Americans in general who believe abortion should be illegal in some cases, but legal in others, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. However, support for some abortion rights drops for Catholics who attend mass at least once a week.

According to Pew:

•76% of Catholics say abortion should be illegal in some cases, but legal in others.

•13% say abortion should be legal with no exceptions, and 10% say abortion should be illegal, with no exceptions.

•69% say it should be legal if the pregnant woman’s life or health is threatened, 66% say it should be legal in cases of rape and 63% say the length of the pregnancy should determine legality.

Of Catholics who attend mass at least once per week:

•68% say it should be illegal in all or most cases, and 43% of the same contingent support legal abortion for such exceptions as rape or incest, while 49% support abortion when the life of the mother is threatened.

•70% of this contingent say life begins at conception.

Pew Research surveyed 2,221 Catholics, of 10,441 adults for this poll.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Charles Dervarics

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Georgia: Incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (pictured), who raised Donald J. Trump’s ire for refusing to “find” 11,780 votes and overturn the state’s Electoral College votes from Joe Biden in 2020, took 52.1% of the Republican primary vote in his race for re-election and avoided a runoff before the November general election. Challenger Jody Hice, who was endorsed by the ex-president, won just 33.7% of the GOP primary, according to Ballotpedia. 

Raffensperger’s win gives anti-Trump Republicans a 2-0 win in Georgia’s most contested races, with incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp’s easy victory over David Perdue, 73.5% to 21.9% (per Ballotpedia). Kemp faces Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams this November for the second time in four years.

But the final count among the most closely watched Republican races in Georgia is 2-2, with Trump ally and University of Georgia football hero Herschel Walker easily winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat Raphael Warnock for his Senate seat in November’s general election. 

Uber-MAGA first-term Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took 70.4% of a crowded GOP primary, according to the AP, and faces Democrat Marcus Flowers this November.

Alabama: Katie Britt, who was campaign manager and chief of staff to retiring Republican Sen. Richard Shelby won 45.2% of the GOP primary vote and faces Trump ally, Rep. Mo Brooks (28.6%) in a runoff for the Republican nomination.

Arkansas: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary to Donald J. Trump, easily won the Republican nomination for governor, a seat held by her father from 1996 to 2007. Her Democrat opponent this November is Chris Jones, considered to have slim-to-zero chance.

--TL/CD

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(TUE 5/24/22)

Three months of war on Ukraine …  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of inflicting as many casualties and as much infrastructure damage on Ukraine as possible, euronews reports. Three months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the general assessment is that Russia has underachieved and Ukraine has overachieved given each country’s military resources, NPR’s Morning Edition says, but Russia is now concentrating on the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east, with two key cities, Mariupol and Kherson, under its control. 

At the World Economic Forum: In Davos, Switzerland, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin “made a big strategic mistake” in invading Ukraine, The Washington Post reports. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia is “trying to trample the aspirations of an entire nation with tanks.”

NPR reports, however, that Ukrainian forces’ ability to shoot down Russian aircraft has generally dissuaded enemy pilots from flying in its airspace.  

More arms to Ukraine: Twenty countries have announced new assistance packages to Ukraine, including harpoon launchers and missiles to protect the country’s coast, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Monday (per The Guardian).

From Moscow Tuesday: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a Q&A at a local event, said the West has espoused “Russophobia” since his country’s invasion of Ukraine, The Guardian reports. Russia is working to replace goods imported from western countries and will depend only on “reliable” countries beholden to the West. Read: China.

Russian counterpoint: Russian diplomat to the United Nations, Boris Bondarev has resigned his post, telling colleagues in a letter he has never been “so ashamed of my country,” over its invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Post reports.

•••

Speaking of China … Lots of hand wringing over President Biden’s statement in Tokyo Monday of military support for Taiwan as a warning against China’s aggression toward its neighbor. The White House has clarified that its policy on China-Taiwan has not changed – a policy of “strategic ambiguity” going back to the Carter administration. 

A White House spokesperson told Fox News; “As the president said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with military means to defend itself.”

The upshot: The U.S. has often reiterated its “One China” policy over the years even in the face of Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. Biden’s statement in Tokyo – “gaffe” or not – seems a way to “remind” Beijing of the Taiwan Relations Act over growing concerns of a Russian-style invasion.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(FRI 5/20/22)

Lordy, we hope there are tapes … Accusations that some Congress members may have given Capitol insurrection rioters “tours” of The Hill, including Senate and House office buildings just before the January 6, 2021 attack, first surfaced in the days immediately after the attack. Now the House Select Committee is chasing evidence that may back such rumors. 

House Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) want Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) (pictured above) to talk about a tour he gave the day prior. 

“We write to seek your voluntary cooperation in advancing our investigation,” Thompson and Cheney wrote, according to Roll Call. “Based on our review of evidence in the Select Committee’s possession, we believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021.”

Loudermilk, a fourth-term representative who serves on the Committee on House Administration, and the committee’s ranking Republican, Rodney Davis of Illinois, say they want to see the security footage first.

“A constituent family with young children meeting with their Member of Congress in the House Office Buildings is not a suspicious group or ‘reconnaissance tour.’ The family never entered the Capitol building,” reads a response from Loudermilk and Davis on the former’s House website. … “The 1/6 political circus released the letter to the press before even notifying Mr. Loudermilk, who has still not received a copy.” 

The response goes on to accuse the 1/6 panel of continuing to push a “false narrative.”

Note: Loudermilk obviously will not agree to “voluntary” cooperation. If the committee has a recording of anyone taking a January 5 tour who is also in January 6 footage, they’ll have to release those tapes – to Loudermilk and Davis at least -- first.

•••

How not to uncover disinformation … The White House did nothing to explain what the Department of Homeland Security’s new Disinformation Governance Board is supposed to be, says NPR in an interview of Nina Jankowicz, who resigned as the board’s chairwoman after three weeks due to a “right-wing backlash.” 

Jankowicz, described as a “well-regarded authority on disinformation,” and author of a 2020 book with the prescient title, How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News and the Future of Conflict, resigned from the board Wednesday after receiving “abuse, harassment and death threats.” The new DHS board has been a target of the left, but mostly of the right, with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) telling Fox News; “This is Orwellian. This is a Ministry of Truth and the person appointed was a Democratic propagandist.” 

•••

Speaking of Fox News … By now you’ve no doubt heard about former President George W. Bush’s gaffe in a speech at his presidential center in Dallas earlier this week. Bush was criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching “a wholly unjustified invasion of Iraq … Ukraine…” with the correction coming that quickly. Then under his breath he adds, “Iraq too.” Also under his breath “Seventy-five,” for his age.

Not surprising that Bush’s mistake was covered everywhere from center to left, from stand-in host Mehdi Hasan who reacted very sternly on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show to Stephen Colbert, who was far less stern on The Late Show.

What came as a surprise was how we first learned of the gaffe; from a Fox News popup on our smartphone. Fox & Friends’ newsfeed said Bush “made an eye-catching gaffe,” a response we wonder if the network would have made in the years before Trump.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Charles Dervarics

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news