FRI 4/8/22
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who attended Tuesday’s Obama-Biden reunion at the White House, has tested positive for COVID-19, as have Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Pelosi has a couple of weeks to recover, however, as Congress takes a two-week Easter/Passover recess. Our week-daily …meanwhile… column will take the time off, too. Meanwhile, look for our center-column feature on the Choose Civility podcast, in this space up next.
More NATO aid to Ukraine … But at least 50 Ukrainians, including at least five children, were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station in the Donetsk region, where crowds of civilians were trying to evacuate (NPR). The attack comes as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns that Russia is concentrating its military forces on fewer cities in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine after its failure to take “many places” at once, including the capital, Kyiv.
“They underestimated the strength of Ukrainian forces,” Stoltenberg said of Russian forces, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Allies “are determined to do more. Now and for the long term,” he said Thursday at a press conference in Brussels, per ukrinform.net. Stoltenberg said it’s more advantageous to Ukraine’s defensive effort if NATO does not publicly say what types of weapons it will supply.
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Meanwhile, in opinions about Russia news . . . Presumably an increasing number of Americans have turned on their TVs and seen the widespread, vicious destruction being perpetrated by the Russian government on the people of Ukraine. That’s because in January only 41% of Americans considered Russia to be an enemy of the United States and now that number is up to 70%, according to polling by the Pew Research Center. Surprisingly, that’s 72% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans.
Republicans have traditionally been more seriously anti-communist and/or anti-socialist compared with Democrats, but the GOP appears more sympathetic to the current authoritarian Russian oligopoly.
Another data point is that although the Former Guy was anything but a supporter of NATO, 67% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the organization — up from 61% in 2021 — and 69% say that the U.S. benefits from being a NATO member. Again, there is an odd inversion of support of this defense organization: 85% of liberal Dems think there is benefit from membership while only 51% of conservative Republicans hold that view. Aren’t the latter all about “freedom”? Perhaps it only matters within the U.S. for them.
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ICYMI … Of course, you didn’t. Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate 53-47, to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday. She becomes SCOTUS’ first Black woman, and the first former public defender. She replaces Justice Stephen Breyer, who retires this June, though she will take her seat on the bench when the court reconvenes in October.
That’s October 2022. The first woman on SCOTUS was Sandra Day O’Conner, who took her seat in October 1981. The first Black associate justice was Thurgood Marshall, from October 1967 to October 1991.
David Iwinski … We are sad to learn of the death of David Iwinski last Sunday after a battle with cancer. Iwinski, a Pittsburgh-based attorney and member of the Braver Angels debate committee, contributed several right-column commentaries to The Hustings last year, including “Nation Building: Change the Rules of Engagement or Step Away: <https://thehustings.news/nation-building-change-the-rules-of-engagement-or-step-away/> October 16, 2021 and “Progressives Push Another Budget Boondoggle < https://thehustings.news/from-the-right/> August 9, 2021. He is survived by his wife, Melissa, his son and daughter and six rescue poodles.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics
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THU 4/7/22
From German intel … Russian soldiers discussed how they questioned Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in their attack on the country and then proceeded to shoot them, in two separate radio communications Germany’s foreign intelligence service claims to have intercepted, The Washington Post reports. WaPo says its reporters saw beheaded and mutilated corpses in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Counter-propaganda: This counters Russian propaganda that its forces were “liberating” Ukrainians being slaughtered by Nazis there. But Russians won’t see the grim reality of its country’s slaughter of Ukrainians on Russian television or on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
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Biden’s Last Shot at SCOTUS … Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson likely gets confirmed by the full Senate today, 53-47, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Mitt Romney (UT) providing marginal bipartisanship. (Per NPR.)
In-pocket: Last year, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted to confirm Brown Jackson to a federal court seat, but he became increasingly heated-up – unhinged, some Democrats might say – in her Judiciary Committee hearings over the White House passing another lead candidate, J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. district court judge in his state.
Now Childs seems the obvious Biden administration choice if another SCOTUS seat opens, which will not happen through 2024 unless there’s a severe health issue. Looking at you, Justice Clarence Thomas.
However: Thomas, who was briefly hospitalized with flu-like symptoms last month just as a trove of texts between his wife Ginni Thomas and Trump administration Chief of Staff Mark Meadows surfaced, will not go quietly into retirement. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has made it clear he will garland any subsequent Biden nominee – doesn’t quite have the same sound as being borked, does it? – if the midterms make McConnell majority leader once again, as expected. A second SCOTUS vacancy would likely give the Biden White House the opportunity to shift its left-right makeup.
Best Democrats can expect is to use Graham’s angry words against him if he would vote against a potential Biden nomination of Childs to the bench.
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Trump wanted to march to the Capitol … Ex-President Donald J. Trump told The Washington Post he regrets the Secret Service kept him from marching to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, with his MAGA supporters and blamed House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others for “not ending the deadly violence.” Trump explained the 457-minute gap in White House phone logs that day saying he didn’t remember getting many calls. He refused to say whether he would testify before the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection.
Want to read more of the same?:
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House wants contempt charges for Navarro, Scavino … But will the attorney general respond? The House voted 220-203 to recommend Merrick Garland hold in contempt of Congress failed San Diego politician turned UC Orange County professor turned Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro, and former deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino, per The Hill. Both have “blown us off completely,” ignoring “several” subpoenas from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection, says panel member Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
Predictably: Reps. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, the two Republicans on the panel, were the only of their party to join all Democrats in the House to vote to recommend the two be held in contempt. If there is a heaven of bipartisan comity, Cheney and Kinzinger are in.
In print: Navarro was subpoenaed back in February when his new book outlined exactly how he “advised” a group of Trump loyalists in attempting to delay the January 6, 2021 certification of Joe Biden as president.
Meanwhile, at the Justice Department: Garland brushed aside a reporter’s question Wednesday on whether his department’s failure to act on contempt of Congress recommendations would prove Congress ineffective in its investigations, according to The Hill.
“We will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead,” Garland said. “We don’t comment on any further negotiations.”
The Justice Department so far has acted on one of two previous contempt of Congress requests – for former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon, but not Trump’s ultimate chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Bannon goes on trial this summer and if convicted could face up to two years in prison and up to $200,000 in fines. Perhaps the Select committee will have to rely on evidence gleaned from Navarro’s book, Bannon’s radio show and Trump’s latest WaPo interview.
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods
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WED 4/6/22
Zelenskyy Calls for War Crimes Investigation … President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an investigation into Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine, telling the United Nations Security Council, via video, that “Russia wants to turn Ukrainians into ‘silent slaves,’” The Guardian reports. Russia and its authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin, “must be brought to justice for war crimes.”
Zelenskyy called on the Security Council “to act for peace” or to “dissolve” itself, the UN’s own news website, news.un.org, reports.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the UN “urged nations to suspend Russia’s membership on the UN Security Council,” The Washington Post reports, a move that would require two-thirds approval among the 193 UN General Assembly members.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s massacre of the Kyiv suburb of Bucha a “deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities.”
‘Fake News’ defense redux: Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, responded that “not a single person has suffered from any violent action” while Bucha was under Russian control, (per The Guardian again) and claimed video footage of bodies in the streets are a “crude forgery” staged by Ukrainians.
More Biden, more sanctions: President Biden called Putin a “war criminal” again, and the U.S., Great Britain, and European Union were expected to impose more economic/financial sanctions against Russia Wednesday, including a ban on new investment.
‘Bunch of Children’ for Putin: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) called out his Republican colleagues as “a bunch of children” more concerned with raising money and winning elections while virtually ignoring the threat of Vladimir Putin. Kinzinger tweeted this (tip of the hat to CNN’s Chris Cillizza in his The Point! Newsletter) and if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth your time … https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1511353892260483078
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Oklahoma anticipates SCOTUS … Ahead of the majority conservative Supreme Court’s re-consideration of Roe v. Wade over Texas’ controversial abortion law, the Oklahoma House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill, 70-14, that would outlaw performing an abortion, except when the mother’s life is in danger. It would impose punishment of up to 10 years in prison and up to $100,000, The Washington Post reports. Republicans added the bill to the legislature’s agenda on Monday, taking some lawmakers by surprise, according to WaPo. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is expected to sign the bill, which would take effect this summer, barring any court injunction.
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Meanwhile, cue Sly and the Family Stone . . . It seems it is increasingly becoming a family affair in the murky realm that is MAGA world. A couple weeks back we learned that Ginni Thomas, wife of associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had a propensity for texting then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with nearly apocalyptic messages regarding why Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election and why it was important that Meadows do what he could to assure that their apparent liege lord not be asked to vacate the premises of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
New reporting from CNBC has it that Thomas operates Liberty Consulting (one would assume “liberty” has a meaning that is associated with freedom from those with authoritarian tendencies, but evidently one would be wrong in relation to Thomas). CNBC reports that among Liberty’s clients are:
- Center for Security Policy, “a nonprofit founded by a conservative activist accused of anti-Muslim rhetoric.”
- FEDUP PAC, which backed the failed Senate run of Alabama Republican Roy Moore.
- Center for Security Policy. CNBC reports its founder, Frank Gaffney Jr., has “been flagged by the Anti-Defamation League for pushing ‘a number of anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.’”
Ivanka speaks: Then yesterday, former First Daughter (sorry Tiffany) Ivanka Trump, who was a senior adviser to her father, appeared via video for more than eight hours before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection. While it isn’t clear exactly what it is she told the committee, its chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), told reporters that she didn’t plead the Fifth (which seems like a bizarre qualifier from the guy who is heading the operation), she wasn’t “chatty” although she was helpful, and it was a good thing that she appeared without being subpoenaed. Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, quipped to MSNBC that Ivanka showed up in true Trump fashion: Late, but before the subpoena.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods
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TUE 4/5/22
Zelenskyy to demand wartime probe … Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy (above) will call on the United Nations Security Council Tuesday to investigate Russian war crimes as revealed when its troops pulled out of the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, The Washington Post reports. After the Russian troops left, photographers and camera crews from western media revealed corpses with their hands tied behind their backs, bodies of civilians left in the streets – and worse.
And no more Russian coal: The European Union will take up a proposal to phase out Russian coal to add to the sanctions against the country.
The reality: Russia is a member of the UN Security Council with veto power, so unless it can be quickly expelled from the council it will not allow a war crimes investigation to go forth. As for Russian coal, an EU “phase out” would require all 27 members for approval. Hungary, run by pro-Putin leader Viktor Orban, is one of those 27 members.
Meanwhile, even talk of a war crimes investigation will surely end any possibility of talks between Zelenskyy and Putin.
What’s next: Fierce battles with Russian military surrounding Ukrainian areas closer to its borders, according to U.S. officials. “The next stage of this conflict may well be protracted,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday. Sounds much like the eight-year battle over Crimea.
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What real friends do … Democrats are hoping former President Obama’s first visit to the White House – public or private – since leaving office in January 2017 will give President Biden’s basement-level approval ratings a boost, The Hill reports. Obama visits with Biden – “real friends, not Washington friends” press secretary Jen Psaki says – to promote the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans spent the length of Donald J. Trump’s term as president trying to dismantle the ACA, or “Obamacare,” only to discover that certain key provisions are more popular with voters than they thought.
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Meanwhile, in the climate at large . . . “It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.” — Jim Skea, IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair, speaking on the occasion of the release of Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released yesterday.
In GOP-world, it is probably never, or so a new Gallup survey on the environment indicates.
Asked if they worry “a Great Deal” about the environment, 24% of Republicans say they do, compared with 50% of Independents and 56% of Democrats. The silver lining in the Republican number is that it was 13% in 2020.
However, it is the individual categories that are surprising.
While we will just show the Republicans’ numbers here, understand that in no instance do the Democrat numbers go below 55% (worry about extinction of plant and animal species) and in no case is the number for independents under 44% (global warming or climate change).
So how much do Republicans worry “a great deal” about the following? …
- Pollution of drinking water: 42%
- Pollution of rivers, lakes & reservoirs: 37%
- The loss of tropical rain forests: 28%
- Air pollution: 24%
- Extinction of plant and animal species: 31%
- Global warming or climate change: 13%
While that 13% is remarkable in the evident resistance among people of that political persuasion to understand science, it is almost more surprising how little they evidently care about polluted water that may flow from their taps.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods