FRI 3/25/22

Growing GOP Opposition to Brown Jackson – Support among the few Republican senators who might cross the aisle and vote for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is shrinking, The Hill reports. President Biden’s nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer needs only the Senate’s 50 Democrats, but as Politico reported yesterday, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Krysten Sinema, of Arizona, are among nine perceived swing-votes.

This Just In: Friday morning, Manchin has announced he will vote to confirm Brown Jackson to SCOTUS, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Timing: With Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) having constantly grilled Brown Jackson over her child pornography case sentencing – a line of attack some pundits are connecting to QAnon conspiracy theories that conflate child sexual abuse with liberal Democrats -- and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) complaining that the nominee is not J. Michelle Childs, a federal judge in his home state, Republicans may be looking at a way to at least stretch out the vote on Brown Jackson beyond the three-week goal set by the White House. 

•••

Meanwhile, in the Thomas Household – Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, exchanged text messages with former President Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to “pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 elections,” according to The Washington Post and CBS News. The two news organizations obtained 29 text messages exchanged between “Ginni” Thomas and Meadows beginning November 10, 2020 – a week after the election and three days after Joe Biden was declared the winner – from among 2,320 texts obtained by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection. 

Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger III, confirmed the texts’ existence, but said “nothing about the texts messages presents any legal issue.”

Such As?: Meadows texted Thomas on November 24; “This is a fight of good versus evil. Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs.”

Note: Conservative religious evangelicals, including many who adhere to QAnon conspiracy theories, comprise Donald J. Trump’s most loyal base.

•••

Meanwhile, in English 101 -- Let’s put aside the fact that Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is married to Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Ms. Thomas is an attorney in her own right. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from Creighton University, a private Jesuit college in Omaha. The Jesuits, among other things, are known to be a highly intellectual order in the Catholic Church.

Which brings us to wonder how the faculty at Creighton feel about the grammatical performance that has been made public by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in reporting related to Ms. Thomas’ series of text exchanges with Meadows[CD1]  in her efforts to have the 2020 presidential election overturned on behalf of Donald Trump (which could lead to a bit of wondering about how Jesuits [CD2]  feel about the moral leadership of that man, but that’s a question for another time).

Excerpts of the texts include:

• “I hope this is true; never heard anything like this before, or even a hint of it. Possible???”
• “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! The Left tastes their power!!!”
• “Those who attacked the Capitol are not representative of our great teams of patriots for DJT!!”
• “Tearing up and praying for you guys!!!!”

While Ms. Thomas says that she and her husband never discuss their work, one of the things that they evidently don’t talk about is the use of punctuation marks. 

This seems to be the stuff of a teenager with a crush on someone rather than communication between two adults about something of immense importance.

“Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.” 

Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Thomas spend their time talking about bad movie remakes.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

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 THU 3/24/22

Brown Jackson’s Public Hearing Ends – Day Three of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings dragged on into Wednesday evening with repeats of much of Day One’s opening statements and Day Two’s first round of Q&A. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) led a second day of interrogation of Brown Jackson’s sentencing record as a judge on child pornography cases, and her position on Critical Race Theory as a member of the parents’ board of Georgetown Day School, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) continued to complain about far-left dark money groups allegedly sinking his preferred nominee, J. Michelle Childs. 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) countered by telling Brown Jackson, “You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.”

But it’s Not Quite Over: Senators continued their interviews with the SCOTUS nominee, though in private, behind closed doors.

•••

Meanwhile, North of the 38^th Parallel -- “The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its test of a long-range ballistic missile. On March 10^th, the United States Government publicly released information that the DPRK’s tests on February 26 and March 4, 2022 EST involved an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system. We noted that there would likely be further tests in the future. The President and his national security team are assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners.  This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region. This action demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people.  We urge all countries to hold the DPRK accountable for such violations and call on the DPRK to come to the table for serious negotiations.  The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions. The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and Republic of Korea and Japanese allies.” -- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, 3/24/22

No, Russia isn’t the only country undertaking global destabilization.

•••

Ex-Prosecutor Say Ex-Prez “Committed Crimes” – Donald J. Trump is “guilty of numerous felony violations” and it was a “grave failure of justice” not to hold him criminally accountable, former prosecutor Mark F. Pomerantz said in his resignation letter, obtained by The New York Times. Pomerantz and fellow prosecutor Carey R. Dunne resigned last month after Manhattan’s new district attorney, Alvin Bragg, put the brakes on the effort to seek a criminal indictment against the former president in an investigation of falsified business records. 

“The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes – he did,” Pomerantz wrote.

Bragg took over the case after Cyrus Vance retired as Manhattan D.A. rather than run for re-election last November. In his letter Pomerantz expressed confidence that Vance’s investigation would have led to criminal charges against Trump and his organization. Bragg insists the grand jury investigation continues, though its term expires in April. 

Boilerplate: Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but Donald J. Trump has slammed the D.A.’s investigation as “political.” The Trump Organization responded to Pomerantz’s resignation letter by calling the former prosecutor “a never-Trumper” and adding, “never before have we seen this level of corruption in our legal system.”

But Wait, There’s More: New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case against the Trump Organization for similar allegations continues, and the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection has indicated it has evidence of Trump’s complicity in the attempted coup. But the House panel would have to convince U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to issue charges against the former president. 

•••

Mo v. Trump -- ICYMI, former President Trump “removed” his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-AL) re-election campaign this year, saying he had “hired a new campaign staff who ‘brilliantly’ convinced him to ‘stop talking about the 2020 election’” … perhaps because this is 2022. “Election fraud must be captured and stopped or we won’t have a country anymore.”

Brooks shot back yesterday with an accusation that Trump asked him to remove President Biden from the White House following the 2020 elections, despite the congressman’s protests, according to The Hill. 

Brooks’ Statement: “President Trump has asked me to rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, and hold a new special election for the presidency. As a lawyer, I’ve repeatedly advised President Trump that January 6 was the final election contest verdict and neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S. Code permit what President Trump asked. Period.”

But Not the Last Word: We know from experience of the last two years that Brooks’ “period” on that statement will not stop Trump from perpetuating the Big Lie. In Ohio, seven Republicans are running for the primary to replace Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), with all top candidates claiming to be “Trumpiest,” according to NPR’s All Things Considered. But Rep. Brooks’ break from MAGA-ism indicates the former president’s grip on the GOP may finally be loosening.

•••

Meanwhile, in Job Approval Ratings -- According to Gallup, Donald Trump began his presidency with a 44% approval rating, peaked at 49% (May 1-13, 2020), then was at 34% in his last week in office. Makes one wonder about the power of “the Base,” but that’s a subject for another time.

The latest numbers for Joe Biden have him at 42%, which is a 1% bump over his number in February.

According to Gallup, there are two categories where there are numbers considered “statistically significant changes,” the 6% improvements in both his response to coronavirus (now at 53% approval) and his handling of the situation with Russia (now at 42%).

As for the first, that might be predicated on the sense that many Americans now have that COVID is “over.” Not true, of course, but it seems like it.

As for the second, that 42% leads to a question of what the surveyed would prefer —and most of them probably don’t have an answer for that.

Biden’s job approval ratings since he’s been in office started at 57%, his peak, and since September 2021 (43%) has been bumping along in the low 40%s. Better than Trump’s consistency in the mid- to high-30%s, but not exactly the stuff of a rousing rendition of “Hail to the Chief.”

•••

Former Secretary of State Albright has Died – Madeleine Albright, who “rose to power as a brilliant analyst of world affairs” according to The New York Times, before becoming the first female secretary of state for President Bill Clinton from 1993-97, died Wednesday of cancer. She was 84.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

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Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

By Todd Lassa

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled Ketanji Brown Jackson on “Critical Race Theory” (which is not taught below the college level) at Georgetown Day School, where President Biden’s nominee for Supreme Court associate justice is a board member. For Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), it was Judge Jackson’s record of “liberal” prison sentences for those convicted of various child pornography charges. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) queried Brown Jackson what her “personal, hidden agenda” might be when she is confirmed by a very thin majority of senators to SCOTUS. And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) fumed once again over Biden’s choice of Brown Jackson instead of his, and Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) preferred candidate J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina.

But it was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) friendly questioning of Biden’s nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the first full day of her confirmation hearings that caught my attention.

Whitehouse asked Brown Jackson whether she thinks there is more to civil juries than simply being a “fact-finding appendage” to the trial judge. 

The civil jury is a “mechanism by which citizens can participate in governance,” she replied, noting that “citizens are brought in from the community” and are screened for potential conflicts of interest.

On the second day of her Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Wednesday, Brown Jackson answered Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) questions about her experience as a federal public defender, by summarizing Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 case in which SCOTUS ruled that the 6^th Amendment guarantees right to counsel, thus establishing public defenders for the indigent. 

“It was crucial for our justice system to have representation for both sides,” Brown Jackson answered. “Having lawyers for criminal defendants aids in this process” and having defense for the indigent is important for our society, she said. Ossoff noted that the Southern District of Georgia is one of only three districts in the nation that does not have a public defender’s office.

I can’t help but think of the last time I was called to jury duty, about a half decade ago to a suburban Detroit municipal court – criminal court. 

The Metro Detroit court was for hearing cases over relatively small-time crimes – narcotics possession, theft and burglary, that sort of thing. Or so I figure. My day on the jury pool went something like the following:

Arrive early in the morning. Hold in a waiting room, then be escorted into a typical wood-paneled courtroom. There were maybe 20-30 jurors, filling perhaps half the courtroom. Somewhere on our way into the courtroom we could see in the hallway another room, probably the judge’s chambers, with one of those small vertical windows, large enough for the jury pool to see a couple of suits – a prosecutor and a defense attorney. What does stick out in my memory is that the judge and the lawyers in that office could see the jury pool file in easier than we could see them. 

The court clerk – I think – came into the courtroom to tell us to sit tight. About lunchtime the clerk told us it wouldn’t be long now. The jury pool started squirming and complaining a bit, talking about missed work and having had to drop kids off at school early, that sort of thing, and how this process seems to be a huge waste of everyone’s time. At one point, I noted, perhaps a bit too loudly, that we in the jury pool were all white.

A little while later, we were all told we could go home. The clerk told me that she didn’t remember the last time a criminal case actually went to court.

All the defendants had pleaded out. I do not have any idea what their racial, ethnic, or gender make-up might have been – they may have been all white. 

If confirmed, Brown Jackson will be the first-ever public defender on the Supreme Court, and that experience – and insight into how criminal defense works in this country – will serve the court as well as anything else on her resume.

---

Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

TUE 3/22/22

Culture Wars and the KBJ Hearings – Republican scrutiny of President Biden’s nominee for Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, began with Sen. Lindsay Graham’s (R-SC) complaint that far-left lobbying groups and “dark money” sunk White House consideration of Judge J. Michelle Childs for the seat, because of her alleged rulings that were unfriendly to labor unions. 

Childs is a U.S. district judge in South Carolina, who also had the backing of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a close ally of Biden. 

But scrutiny of Jackson reached a crescendo when Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said, “You once wrote that every judge has ‘Personal, hidden agendas’ that influence how they decide cases. I can only wonder what your hidden agenda is?”

Backlash: According to Fox News Digital, “reporters and media commentators took to social media to complain about Blackburn asking for the Supreme Court nominee’s ‘hidden agenda’. First example was by CNN reporter Manu Raju, who tweeted this caption to a photo from the hearings: “Judge Jackson listens on as Marsha Blackburn questions whether the Supreme Court nominee has a ‘hidden agenda.’”

You can read other examples here: https://www.foxnews.com/media/media-attack-marsha-blackburn-take-hearing-comments-context

A Blackburn aide told Fox News Digital, “You can always count on mainstream media to target and harass the only female conservative in the room – it appears that’s their full-time job.”

Day Two: And that’s just from the opening comments on the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings. The second day, with committee grilling of Brown, has just begun.

•••

Vintage Defense in Ukraine – The U.S. is sending into Ukraine Russian defense systems it secretly obtained before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, as protection against Russia’s attacks. The U.S. military acquired the Soviet-era defense systems to better understand the capabilities of missile defense systems Moscow was using around the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What’s Not 40-years Old: Meanwhile, President Biden warned Monday of likelihood of Russian cyber-attacks against “critical-sector” U.S. companies, The Washington Post says.

On the Physical Battlefield: President Volodymyr Zelensky says some Ukrainian cities have been bombed beyond recognition as Russia steps up its shelling. Ukrainian forces have re-taken a suburb of Kyiv as Russian troops remain stalled outside the city.

On Tuesday, Zelensky told the Italian government that Ukraine is on the brink of surviving the war, per BBC.

And What Would Trump Do?: As the Trump wing of the Republican Party continues to paint President Biden as “weak” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Fox News host Stuart Varney pressed Donald J. Trump on what the ex-president would have done better. Would Trump send in MiG jets, as requested by Zelensky?

“Well, maybe, even more, to be honest with you,” according to a transcript of the Varney & Co. segment published by Mediaite. 

“Like what, Mr. President, like what?” Varney pressed. 

“Let me just explain that Putin is saying things like ‘don’t you dare send in anything … In the meantime, he’s killing thousands and thousands of people…” Trump went on to explain that the U.S. military has a fleet of “44-year-old” fighter jets.

“Well, what I would do, is I would, we would, we have tremendous military capability and what we can do without planes, to be honest with you, without 44-year-old jets, what we can do is enormous, and we should be doing it and we should be helping them to survive and they’re doing an amazing job.”

And there you have it. That’s why the Trump wing of the GOP finds Biden “weak” on the war.

•••

Meanwhile, in proposed financial/environmental regulations – The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday a proposed rule change that would require public companies to include information about “climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited financial statements.”

Rationalizing this, SEC chairman Gary Gensler wrote, “Today, investors representing literally tens of trillions of dollars support climate-related disclosures because they recognize that climate risks can pose significant financial risks to companies, and investors need reliable information about climate risks to make informed investment decisions. Today’s proposal would help issuers more efficiently and effectively disclose these risks and meet investor demand, as many issuers already seek to do.”

The proposal calls for companies to include information about:

1. Its approach to handling climate-related risks
2. Any identified climate-related risks that may impact its financial situation in the short-, medium- and long-term
3. How climate-related risks have affected or are likely to affect the company’s business
4. The impact that climate-related risks have had on the company

What’s more, it would require companies to disclose information about the greenhouse gas emissions that it produces directly or indirectly (e.g., by purchases from other companies that generate GHG).

A Form Too Far:  While we all like clean air and water, this may be a case of what is commonly referred to as “government overreach.” To be sure, if a company is polluting and it is found out, odds are its stock will plummet and investors will be negatively affected (to say nothing of those who are affected by the waste).

But couldn’t one argue that it would be worth knowing the cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings to the executives in charge of public companies, too? After all, if a key executive has a health issue that puts them out of action, odds are the valuation of said company is going to take a tumble.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods

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MON 3/21/22

Public Defenders Get Their Day – The first-ever Supreme Court justice nominee to have served as a public defender, Ketanji Brown Jackson (pictured above), gets grilled beginning today by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jackson most recently sailed through her nomination by President Biden to federal court, but now Judiciary Committee Republicans including Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, and Josh Hawley of Missouri, envision soundbites of their grilling Jackson as being “soft on crime” for their re-election campaigns. One of the issues they’ll focus on is her membership on  the U.S. Sentencing Commission, described by The Washington Post as a “bipartisan agency created by Congress in 1984 to reduce disparity and promote transparency and proportionality in sentencing.”

Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer is the only former member of the Sentencing Commission to sit on the Supreme Court. 

Known Knowns: In 2010, Jackson was one of several federal public defenders who “had either represented Guantanamo detainees or done policy work on behalf of detainees,” Lawforce editor-in-chief Benjamin Wittes writes. The Republican National Committee says, Wittes continues, that Jackson’s “advocacy” goes “beyond just giving them a competent defense.” (She had continued advocating for the Guantanamo defendants after moving on to private practice.)

Jackson’s advocates fear Cruz & Co. will attack her for doing what public defenders are supposed to do: Practice law that is effective in defense against a determined prosecution.

Unknown Unknowns: SCOTUS watchers figure the Democratic majority on the Judiciary Committee will send Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate, where she will pass by at least a vote of 51-50. 

•••

Zelensky to CNN – Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview over the weekend he is open to negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, but if such talks fail it could lead to “a third World War.” 

Known Unknowns: Zelensky still hopes to convince NATO to transfer Polish MiG fighter jets to Ukraine at the very least and conduct a no-fly zone over his country at best, which NATO leaders and President Biden believe will also lead to World War III. Meanwhile, Russia has negotiated “ceasefires” and “humanitarian corridors” which it has promptly violated by firing upon and bombing Ukrainian civilians, so this begs the question of whether Putin expects -- or even wants -- to fire of some nuclear missiles to trigger WWIII no matter what.

How does Zelensky negotiate with such a leader?

The Latest in Negotiations: Ukraine on Monday rejected Russia’s demand it surrender Mariupol, NPR reports.

General Count: Latest reports claim the Ukraine’s military has killed five of 20 Russian generals who are part of the invasion.

Least-Worst Outcome?: Experts tell The Washington Post the war could end in a “stalemate.” “I don’t think Ukraine forces can push Russian forces out of Ukraine, but I also don’t think Russian forces can take that much more of Ukraine,” says former U.S. Marine Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

President Biden travels to Brussels Wednesday to meet with leaders of NATO, the European Commission and G-7, then on to Warsaw Friday to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda, according to Punchbowl News.

•••

Meanwhile, in COVID-adjacent news -- On Friday President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (H.R. 1667), which might seem unimportant to you, unless you happen to ever need to see a health care professional.

The bill, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA):

• Authorizes “grants for programs that offer behavioral health services for front-line health care workers.”
• Requires “the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend strategies to facilitate health care provider well-being and launch a campaign encouraging health care workers to seek assistance when needed.”

On March 4, 2021, the AHA — which represents some 5,000 hospitals, 270,000 physicians, 2 million nurses and caregivers — wrote a letter to four senators: 

“Front-line health care workers have been steadfast in leading the fight against this pandemic since the first COVID-19 cases were identified last January, and their efforts have been extraordinary. After more than a year of working through the intensity of the pandemic, these dedicated workers are still on the front lines.

“Concerns are mounting about how the number of physicians, nurses and other health workers are coping with emotional and physical strain from treating COVID-19 patients. We know – both from survey data and anecdotally from extensive discussions with our members – that clinicians are suffering. A study reported by the National Academy of Medicine shows that between 35% and 54% of clinicians report at least one symptom of burnout, more than double the amount of burnout found in other fields. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this situation worse. These workers need and deserve added support as they continue to care for severely ill patients.”

And back then it seemed as though COVID would soon be gone.

Think about what the AHA wrote when considering the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers.

The bill was named for a doctor who led the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital. Dr. Breen, 49, overwhelmed by what she was facing day after day after day, committed suicide.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

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Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

FRI 3/18/22

Lviv Hit – Russian missiles destroyed an aircraft maintenance facility four miles from the center of the western Ukrainian town of Lviv, just 45 miles from the Polish-NATO border, BBC and NPR report Friday. 

Meanwhile: President Biden was set to hold his first phone call since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with China President Xi Jinping Friday morning. Biden wants Beijing to put more pressure on Russia, counter to fears China will offer military aid and equipment to Putin.

Numbers: Key to convincing Putin to agree to a ceasefire is allowing him to save face as Ukraine continues to fight back effectively. U.S. intelligence officials put the number of Russian soldiers killed in the war at more than 7,000, greater than the number of U.S. troops killed in various conflicts over the last 20 years, Newsweek reports. Other reports place the number of Russian dead at more than 10,000. Four of the 20 Russian generals in Ukraine have been killed since the war began February 24, though Putin has acknowledged just one killed, in a March 3 televised address.

Russia’s invasion is “basically frozen” on the ground, The Washington Post reports. The United Nations has confirmed more than 1,900 civilian deaths in Ukraine.

•••

While picking a side -- “The Ukrainian president's speech before Congress was a triumph, cementing his hero status and showing off the kind of courage Americans are left longing for in this administration. Now, as the war enters its fourth week, voters are even more disgusted by the White House's response to Russia -- agreeing (in greater numbers now) that he's mishandled this crisis too.” —Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, March 17.

Yesterday a bill passed the House that will suspend permanent normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. It passed 424-8.

The eight are all Republicans:

• Andy Biggs (AZ)
• Dan Bishop (NC)
• Lauren (CO)
• Matt Gaetz (FL)
• Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)
• Glenn Grothman (WI)
• Tom Massie (KY)
• Chip Roy (TX)

The Family Research Council sent out emails to Republican lawmakers as it is against the bill.

Punchbowl News writes: 

“FRC complainedthe House bill modifies the Magnitsky Act. It would allow the Biden administration to ‘push a radical social agenda both here and abroad which is a problem for a host of reasons, not the least of which is emboldening other nations to target their citizens because they don’t believe the United States will oppose them,’ according to an email from the FRC.”

This pro-life organization needs to know that more than 100 living children have died in Ukraine.

Perhaps that sentence above should be modified: “Now, as the war enters its fourth week, voters are even more disgusted by the eight Congress members and the FRC’s response to Russia.”

They can’t have it both ways.

Tucker Carlson ‘Moscow Rose’: Fox News’ American propagandist for Vladimir Putin and Russia, Tucker Carlson, argues “if (he, Carlson, is) a propagandist, so is Zelenskyy,” according to The Recount, which we presume assigns the loser of a newsroom lottery to regularly watch Tucker Carlson Tonight. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

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THU 3/17/22

Zelenskyy to Scholz: ‘Tear Down This Wall’…

Speaking to the German Bundestag via video a day after he addressed U.S. Congress, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday compared Russia’s bombing of his country to building of the Berlin Wall in 1962. He severely criticized German businesses and politicians who have until very recently maintained good relations with Russia, the BBC reports, and called on Chancellor Olaf Sholz to “tear down this wall.” (Photo from Zelenskyy's March 16 address to U.S. Congress, via C-Span.)

Zelenskyy’s metaphorical 21^st Century Berlin “wall” is splitting Europe between NATO nations and Russia and countries in its political orbit, including Belarus and Chechnya, and of course Ukraine itself, as Vladimir Putin wages war to regain control. 

Despite Zelenskyy’s harsh criticisms of Germany, members of the Bundestag gave him a standing ovation.

•••

A Known Known – Responding to a reporter’s question about Russian President Vladimir Putin shouted to President Biden after he delivered remarks Wednesday for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the president said, “I think he is a war criminal.” (Per The Washington Post.)

Compare and contrast to “savvy” and “very genius.”

•••

Some Companies Won’t Leave Russia – Dozens of Western-based companies have withdrawn from or suspended operations in Russia to support sanctions meant to counter its invasion of Ukraine, but many remain. Now the Yale School of Management lays it all out for you, notes Washington Post opinion columnist Dana Millbank. The Ivy League school has a list of 1.) companies that have withdrawn; 2.) companies that have suspended, keeping options open (Apple and Google’s app stores have kept operating to offer open information to counter Russian propaganda); 3.) companies scaling back; and 4.) companies “digging in,” which include Authentic Brands, Reebok, Bacardi, Cargill, Halliburton, Koch Industries, LG Electronics, Pirelli and Subway. For complete lists in each category, go to: https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-400-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain.

•••

Interest Rate Hike to Counter Inflation – Acknowledging that the annual inflation rate for 2022 will be closer to 4% than the 2% predicted late last year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced Wednesday a quarter-percentage increase in its rate for borrowing to between 0.25% and 0.5%. It’s the “most aggressive pace in more than 15 years,” and marks the first increase since 2018, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed signaled it will ramp up the rate six more times this year to end 2022 with a rate of at least 1.875%, on the way up to 2.75% by the end of 2023, then holding in ’24.

Known Unknown: That 2018 increase came just before then-President Trump “jawboned” the Fed to keep rates low and keep the economy chugging under his administration. Since then, of course, the global COVID-19 pandemic has turned economic theory on its head, with record low unemployment coming along with 40 year-high inflation in the U.S. It also should be noted the sub-2% inflation rate for much of the last decade was considered the sign of a lagging economy.

Unknown Unknowns: Bottom line is that between the still-ongoing pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen.

•••

Meanwhile, over at the service station -- No one like high gas prices. Including us. Even those who don’t drive are affected by higher prices because whether it is that Amazon Prime truck or semis taking food to the local grocery store or buses taking kids to school, diesel and gas price hikes push upward the price of other goods and services.

While Russian oil is off the proverbial table, there are other countries that could provide petroleum products to the U.S. — except that the U.S. doesn’t have good trade relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, all of which are run by leaders that have issues when it comes to the governance of their people. To put it mildly.

But with inflation that started well before Ukraine was invaded and the sanctions that have followed that invasion, there are pressures in Washington to perhaps consider being more friendly to the trio of countries with which we are, more or less, on the outs with.

It seems that American voters — 52% of them — think the U.S. should improve relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. So says a Morning Consult poll. The margin of error is +/-2% so that number is probably accurate.

What’s interesting is that 63% of Democrats and just 41% of Republicans think that diplomatic relations should be improved.

One might think that Dems would be against more carbon-emitting fuels and that the numbers would be switched[CD1] .

Note: But then, if we were could buy more oil from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela we might potentially lower fuel costs in the U.S. without the domestic drilling and fracking and use of pipelines like Keystone that progressive Democrats oppose.

•••

Obituary: Former Rep. Fazio – Former Rep. Victor Fazio (D-CA) has died. He served the Sacramento area from 1979 to 1999 and was known as a congressman who could “reach across the aisle” to Republicans (at a time when that was still seen as possible on Capitol Hill), according to the Associated Press. He was 79.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

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 [CD1]The point you’re missing is that many GOPers want to drill more in the US (Alaska/fracking) and support pipelines (Keystone), thereby lessening the need to ask more from those 3 countries. You could argue Dems are more disingenuous on this issue (pleasing the progs by not getting US oil, but still getting it from somewhere else).

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Please email your comments on today’s …meanwhile…to editors@thehustings.news

President Biden announces today an additional $800 million to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself, The Washington Post reports.

•Scroll down this column to read pundit Eric Blair’s commentary on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pleas for a no-fly zone to stop Russian aggression. Our columnists on the left and the right are not very far apart on this issue. Whether you agree or have a different point of view, we want to hear from you. Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative in general.

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WED 3/16/22

Scroll down below today’s news to read our debate, No-Fly Zone = WWIII? with commentary in the left and right columns.

Zelenskyy Wants Polish MiGs and U-24 – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for a no-fly zone – unlikely because of the implications of starting a “hot war” with Russia – Polish MiG fighter jets, and the formation of a new international organization he called “U-24” to fight Russian aggression in his live video address to the U.S. Congress Wednesday morning. Zelenskyy evoked the attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11, 2001, saying “Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into death… . Is this a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone?”

Zelenskyy also asked for more aid and tougher sanctions against Russia, including the withdrawal of all U.S. businesses from the country.

“Ukraine is grateful to the U.S. for its overwhelming support,” Zelenskyy added, “I am grateful to President Biden for his faithful commitments.” 

Closing Quote: “I’m addressing President Biden. … You are the leader of the nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. It means to be the leader of peace. Slava Ukrain!

What is ‘U-24’? – Zelenskyy did not go into detail, but it obviously would be a way to back Ukraine with some of the 30 European and North American (U.S. and Canada) nations in NATO, and likely to evoke a strong reaction from Russia’s dictator-president, Vladimir Putin. 

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Fall Back No More? – Who says an evenly split Senate can’t agree on anything? Republicans, Democrats, and whatever Manchinema are voted unanimously to make Daylight Savings Time permanent. You sprung forward last weekend? You won’t fall back this autumn in a sort of Groundhog Day for Americans’ internal body clock if the House forwards the bill to the White House and President Biden signs it.

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Meanwhile, in the Home of Starbucks -- After graduation, most college graduates would like to move to Seattle, according to a survey from the Axios-Generation Lab Next Cities Index. The other cities in the top five are New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Boston.

However: Amazon has told some 1,800 of its employees who worked in an office in downtown Seattle they can work elsewhere, GeekWire reports, not because of COVID but because of crime occurring around the offices.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods

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Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news, and let us know whether you consider yourself “left” or “right.”

After Zelenskyy’s half-hour address -- Republicans, including Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska (pictured above) and House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, criticized Biden for failing to provide the Polish MiGs to Ukraine so the country could protect its own skies. The White House has rejected the transfer of MiGs as an action Putin would consider a NATO/U.S. declaration of war.

•Scroll down this column to read pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pleas for a no-fly zone to stop Russian attacks. Our columnists on the right and left are not very far apart on this issue. Whether you agree or have a different point of view, we want to hear from you. Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and whether you consider yourself conservative or liberal in general.

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