Iran War, Week 17

The Consumer Price Index slipped to +3.5% in June, from +4.2% in May, the Labor Department reports Tuesday morning. Month-over-month CPI was -0.4% in June (from +0.5% in May) largely from the energy index’s 5.7% drop. But that energy index drop follows a 3.9% hike in May, 3.8% in April and 10.9% in March. The June index for food was 0.2%. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Full-On War – There seems to have been some question in recent days about whether what’s going on with Iran amounts to the war being back on. A 60-day ceasefire fell apart last week after a couple of weeks negotiating over an MOU that gave Iran serious advantages [the fifth paragraph essentially put Iran in charge of restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, with a pledge Iran would ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as its mines, The Wall Street Journal noted].

Meanwhile, the US has reimposed a naval blockade and is upping airstrikes after Iran attacked ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, The Associated Press reports Wednesday.

Iran has attacked Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain with drones and missiles, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

US Central Command says it’s striking Iran during daylight hours after days of attacking only at night, The Guardian reports, with hits “designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping” in the Strait. Seven Iranian Army personnel were reported killed, prompting the army to vow a “decisive response.”

•••

Trump Pays – Author and former “Ask E. Jean” Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll has been paid the $5.6 million awarded her in her 2023 defamation case against Donald J. Trump, The New York Times reports, citing a note added to the court’s online docket last week. Damages awarded in E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump in 2023 were held in escrow while Trump exhausted his appeals, all the way up to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.

Carroll accused the president of sexual assault and defaming her when he called her accusations “a Hoax and a lie” on social media.

Her attorney, Robert Kaplan said he was “pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict.”

•••

Let’s Get This Strait – A gallon of unleaded regular Wednesday is up 3.1 cents over Tuesday to $3.89, according to AAA’s national average. That’s up $1.088 from February 27. Diesel is $4.938 Wednesday, up 5.6 cents from Tuesday for a $1.164 premium over late February. –TL

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TUESDAY 7/14/26

Another ICE Shooting – Six days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican immigrant, for allegedly using his vehicle as a “weapon” as he drove a work crew to a construction site, it has happened again. This time in Biddeford, Maine, a small town about half an hour south of Portland.

There, an ICE agent Monday fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, a Colombian man whom immigration advocates say was authorized to work in the US. An ICE agent fired four shots into the windshield of Guerrero’s white Kia. Witnesses described seeing Guerrero bleeding from the head as he was being pulled from the car, telling agents “I tried to stop,” the Portland Press Herald reports. Bystanders shouted at agents as people believed to be family members, including a pre-school girl thought to be Guerrero’s daughter, watched.

A spokesperson for Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told NPR that Guerrero was “not the target of the warrant” connected to a house under ICE surveillance in connection with an alleged illegal alien facing a final order of removal.

King told Morning Edition that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen told him that Guerrero allegedly “weaponized” his car, then claimed the ICE officer worried Guerrero’s car “posed a threat to public safety” by potentially driving into a crowd.

“Police officers are trained all over the country not to shoot into cars,” King said.

Stephen Miller’s secret police? … There is no body camera footage of ICE’s fatal shooting of Guerrero, King said. As an independent, King voted with Senate Democrats against a bill that funds ICE through the end of President Trump’s term. But the Republican majority passed the funding while rejecting Democrats’ demands that it include requirements that ICE agents carry badges, identification and body cameras.

It took ICE nearly 12 hours to issue a statement, to just before 7 p.m. Monday confirming Guerrero’s shooting, according to the Press Herald. There has been no comment from DHS.

A Biddeford police officer’s involvement at the scene was limited to providing security at the scene, according to the newspaper’s report, and the unnamed officer has been placed on leave.

“This has to be a clear and transparent investigation,” King said.

•••

Trump Can’t Sue Himself – US District Judge Kathleen Williams accused President Trump and his attorneys of having manipulated the court system when Trump sued his own Internal Revenue Service for $1.776 billion, thus bypassing the requirement that parties in a lawsuit must have adverse interests, The Associated Press reports.

Trump had said the $1.776 billion would create a fund to compensate allies who believed they had been unjustly persecuted, including possibly those charged in the January 6^th attack on the US Capitol.

This comes just as Acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche testifies before the Senate Appropriations committee Tuesday in his quest to become Trump’s permanent AG.

Williams stopped short of voiding the part of the deal that would shield Trump from IRS scrutiny in perpetuity, but she referred Alejandro Brito, the attorney who filed the case for the president in Florida, for possible disciplinary action before the state bar. Williams also said attorney Daniel Epstein will not be granted permission to file cases within the Southern District of Florida for up to one year.

•••

About that Gas – Relief at the pump comes Tuesday for the first time since the 60-day Memorandum of Understanding ceasefire fell apart late last week. National average for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.859 Tuesday, AAA reports, down 1.3 cents from Monday and up $1.057 from February 27. Diesel is up 0.7 cents, however, to $4.882 over Monday and $1.108 from late February. --TL

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MONDAY 7/13/26

UPDATE: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has appointed Lindsey Graham's sister, Darline Graham Norton, to finish his fourth term ending January 3, 2027, The Hill reports. President Trump had recommended McMaster appoint Graham's sister.

In the meantime South Carolina will hold a GOP primary for US Senate, with filing for the primary opening July 21 and closing July 28, according to the Post and Courier. If a runoff is necessary it will be held August 25.

Graham Dies -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a traditional Republican military/foreign relations hawk who somehow became one of President Trump’s staunchest allies after initially rejecting his MAGA politics, died Saturday evening after returning from Ukraine earlier that day. The Washington, D.C. medical examiner’s office says in a preliminary report that Graham, 71, died of an aortic dissection tear in his main artery, caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, The New York Times reports.

Graham was scheduled to appear Sunday morning on Meet the Press for what NBC News said would have been his 64^thappearance.

Graham had convinced President Trump to back a bipartisan bill to impose “scorching” tariffs and sanctions on Russian oil that has been paying for dictator/President Vladimir Putin’s war scheme against Ukraine, said Graham’s co-sponsor on the bill, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

“In my last conversation with Sen. Graham, he was absolutely exultant calling from Kyiv,” Blumenthal told NPR’s Morning Edition Monday, “seeking final approval from the White House for our Russia sanctions bill, which he was going to discuss with President Zelenskyy.”

Graham briefly ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. In 2015 told CNN; “You know how to make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

That changed quickly as Trump claimed primary election victories leading up to his first win in November 2016, and particularly after Trump’s second win eight years later, Graham had become his closest ally in the Senate.

Trump on Sunday called Graham “one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known.” … “He was always working and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed.”

Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster now must choose a temporary replacement to serve the remainder of Graham’s current term, to January. Graham was running for a fifth Senate term with Annie Andrews his Democratic Party challenger.

•••

Gas Update – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular on Monday came down from Sunday’s prices, according to the AAA, though at $3.872 still higher by 2.6 cents over last Thursday, the most recent day we chronicled. That’s $1.07 costlier than unleaded regular prices on February 27. Diesel was up 6.5 cents over last Thursday to $4.875 per gallon. That’s $1.101 over late February.

•••

Plane Intimidation? – FBI agents knocked on the doors of New York Times reporters late Friday with subpoenas to investigate leaks about President Trump flying on his old Air Force One to return from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, last week. That flight left behind Trump’s Qatari-gifted Boeing 747, which he used as Air Force One to fly to the summit.

The FBI subpoenas demanded that reporters give evidence of leaks about the Qatari jet to a grand jury.

According to The New York Times’ report on the story Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel cancelled a trip to Chicago last Friday and spent “roughly eight hours” at the White House to run the investigation instead of doing so at his agency’s Washington headquarters. MS NOW as well as the NYT broke the story last week that Trump switched airplanes for his return to the US after the Secret Service voiced concerns to the administration that the über-luxurious 747 Qatar gave to Trump lacks the advanced anti-missile capabilities and other defensive countermeasures of the quotidian Air Force One.

Iranians loyal to the governing regime last week called for the death of President Trump during the funeral procession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the first US attacks on Tehran last February (New York Post), apparently prompting the Secret Service to have the president change airplanes for his return. Trump switched back to the Qatari 747 at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England for the final leg of his return to the US last week.

Justice Department Director of Public Affairs Emily Covington “sought to downplay” the unusual nature of the subpoenas, the NYT reported Sunday.

“Every administration has addressed the crime of leaking national security information,” Covington’s statement read. “To the extent that we have to investigate breaches of national security, that’s something that we will continue to do.”

But the investigation smacks of the same sort of Capt. Queegian White House crackdown on Trump’s embarrassing, at least, no-bid contract attempt to “clean up” the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington – a pet project, like the East Wing ballroom that could not legally be made fun of, in a totalitarian regime such as China, Russia or North Korea. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 7/13/26

…meanwhile…

(Funeral for Tyre Nichols is Wednesday, with eulogy by National Action Network founder Rev. Al Sharpton and a call to action by Ben Crump, national civil rights attorney representing the Nichols family. (AP) About 2,500 are expected to attend.)

WEDNESDAY 2/1/23

UPDATE ON REHOBOTH – No classified documents were found in the FBI’s search of the president’s vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, Biden’s attorney said (AP). Federal agents did take some handwritten notes and other materials related to Biden’s time as vice president, however.

•••

UPDATE ON THE FED – The Federal Reserve boosted its interest rate by 0.25% Wednesday afternoon, as expected, but warned that ongoing increases are warranted (per The New York Times).

•••

FBI Searches Biden’s Beach Home – The FBI began a search of President Biden’s beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware, for possible classified documents Wednesday morning, weeks after discovering classified documents in Biden’s former Washington, D.C. office and his primary home in Wilmington, Delaware, The Hill reports. Unlike his longtime home in Wilmington, Biden purchased the Rehoboth home after he left office as vice president in 2017.

•••

Debt Ceiling Confab – President Biden is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over raising the debt ceiling and avoid U.S. government default this June. House Republicans want to make cuts in the federal budget already passed, though McCarthy has said Medicare and Social Security cuts some House Republicans have favored are “off the table,” The Hillsays.

•••

The Fed’s Next Move – The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its eighth consecutive interest rate hike Wednesday. Last year’s increases were at a steep 0.75% as the Consumer Price Index peaked at 9.1% in June, except for December’s hike of 0.5%, when the CPI eased to 6.5%. An 0.25% hike is expected for Wednesday, The Washington Post says, which would put the prime rate at 4.5%-4.75%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference at 2:30 p.m.

--TL

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...meanwhile...

TUESDAY 1/31/23

(Two more Memphis police officers were disciplined and three emergency responders were fired, officials said late Monday, over the death of Tyre Nichols –AP. See “Will Nichols’ Death Force Policing Change?” below.)

“Distracting” Santos Steps Down from Committees – Rep. George Santos (R-NY) told House Republicans he will step down temporarily from his assignments on the Small Business, and Science, Space & Technology committees “because he’s a distraction,” an unnamed Republican colleague tells The Washington Post. Santos, who faces “multiple investigations” into his 2022 campaign finances and has lied about key aspects of his education, employment and religious history, met privately with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday.

•••

Criminal Charges for Trump? – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Briggs (D) is showing a grand jury evidence that about $130,000 in hush money paid by Donald J. Trump to adult film star Stormy Daniels just prior to the 2016 presidential election, a “clear sign” the D.A. is nearing a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against the former president. According to The New York Times, the charges could hinge on whether prosecutors can show that Trump and his company falsified records to hide the hush money payment from voters.

--TL

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Will Nichols' Death Force Policing Change?

MONDAY 1/30/23

After a weekend of peaceful protests in Memphis, Washington, D.C. and other cities following the late-Friday release of video depicting the brutal beating and pepper-spraying by police of Tyre Nichols (above), debate on the danger young Black men face from local police departments seems to be shifting to the need for systemic change.

Nichols is the 29-year-old Black man who died three days after Memphis police pulled him over for erratic driving and dragged him out of his car and according to body camera and remote footage, chased him down and beat him as he called out for his mother. Five officers involved in the beating first were fired, then were charged last week with murder, and their special unit, Scorpion – Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – was disbanded, all within three weeks of Nichols’ traffic stop. Charges against other officers may be forthcoming.

All Scorpion officers who attacked Nichols according to the four videos released last week are Black. As The New York Timesnoted over the weekend, “It took 13 months and an order from a judge for the authorities in Chicago to relase videos showing a police officer firing 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager on a busy roadway in 2014.” Until the swift actions taken by Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, a Black woman in the job since 2021, it was typical for local police departments to delay for months or even refuse to take action against white officers involved in such cases.

But Ben Crump, attorney for the Daniels family in the Memphis case says these cases are about intstutionalized racism in police departments, no matter the racial makeup of police officers involved.

“We have to talk about this institutionalized police culture that has the unwritten law, you can engage in the excessive use of force against Black and brown people,” Crump told ABC News’ This Week.

•••

This Week On the Hill – The Senate and the House are in session Monday through Thursday. The Senate only is in session Friday.

President Biden is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at the White House Wednesday to discuss the debt ceiling, MSNBC’s Morning Joe reports.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Inflation Eases Slightly to 7.7%

The Consumer Price Index dropped to 7.7% in October compared to an 8.2% annual rate in September, the Labor Department announced Thursday. The October rate was slightly better than the 7.9% level Marketplace reported economists had expected.

Used car and truck prices have eased to a CPI of 2%, while new vehicles are up 8.4% year-over-year. CPI for shelter is 6.9%, with food up 10.9% and food at home up 12.4%.

The month-over-month CPI rate was 0.4%.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Trump Loses, Again

By Todd Lassa

As expected, on The Day After, the U.S. Senate is still up for grabs. With Democrat John Fetterman (pictured) beating Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz and picking up the Pennsylvania Senate seat made open by the retirement of never-Trumper Republican John Toomey, Republicans must win at least two of three undecided races currently held by Democrats, among Nevada, Georgia and Arizona. The Georgia race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Trump-backed challenger Herschel Walker is likely to go to a December 6 runoff.

Donald J. Trump’s Senate victories Tuesday came in Ohio, where J.D. Vance beat U.S. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for the seat of another retiring moderate Republican, Rob Portman, and in Wisconsin, where incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson held off Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.

The House of Representatives is still up for grabs too, with the GOP having gained just two of the five seats needed to flip the majority. NPR’s Domenico Montenaro told Morning Edition Wednesday that Republicans are likely to end up with a seven- to nine-seat gain. The resulting slim majority could pose a problem for Republican Speaker-in-Waiting Kevin McCarthy, who bent a knee for ex-President Trump shortly after the Senate voted to acquit him after his impeachment for inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

McCarthy’s own vague plans for impeaching President Biden may be tougher than he had expected.

One surprising race that could flip a House seat to the Democrats: In Colorado’s 3^rd Congressional District, pro-Trump Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert trails Democrat Adam Frisch in her re-election bid.

What the GOP had come to expect was this: Republicans lost 41 House seats in 2018 with Trump in the White House, and Democrats lost 63 seats in 2010 under President Barack Obama.

It seems the same problem polling organizations had tracking Donald J. Trump v. Hillary Clinton in 2016 afflicted those organizations in 2022. Perhaps some of the intended voters who counted inflation and the economy as top concerns did not blame Biden for high inflation and the wobbly economy.

Clearest indication that Trump is done as head of the GOP is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ trouncing of Democratic candidate Charlie Crist for re-election, by nearly 20 percentage points, a day after the ex-prez warned “DeSanctimonious” he could “hurt himself very badly” if he launches a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Florida is now a deep-red state, with DeSantis having flipped formerly blue Miami-Dade Tuesday. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also easily won re-election Tuesday.

Trump apparently still plans to make his “big announcement” next Tuesday to run again in 2024.

We have seen the GOP ready to “move on” before, from the time he lost the 2020 presidential election to the the January 6^thCapitol insurrection and last August 8 when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for confidential government files. Is it for real this time? An article on FoxNews.com Wednesday contained the whole story in the headline, “Conservatives point finger at Trump after GOP’s underwhelming election results: ‘He’s never been weaker.’ Many conservatives say Tuesday’s election results show it’s ‘time to move on’ from Trump.”

After two years enduring Trump’s Big Lie, we may have taken a step back toward democracy.

(WED 11/9/22)

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Inflation Rate Eases to 8.5%

(WED 8/10/22)

Inflation rate is 8.5% … The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in July, after a 1.3% increase in June, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports. The annual rate fell slightly to 8.5% from a record 9.1% the previous month.

Gasoline prices fell 7.7%, while all energy was down 4.6%, the BLS says. Food was up 1.1% and food at home was up 1.3%, leaving the monthly inflation rate for all items except food and energy at 0.3%.

AAA gas prices: The national average is $4.01 per gallon as of Wednesday, AAA reports, down from a record average of $5.016 per gallon on June 14.

•••

Tuesday’s primaries … See Left- and Right-columns for Democratic and Republican primary highlights from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

(WED 5/11/22)

Very, very, very slight inflationary relief in April … The Consumer Price Index was up 0.3% in April, compared with 1.2% in March, to lower the annual inflation rate to 8.3% before seasonal adjustment, compared with 8.5% the previous month. Shelter, food, airline fares and new car and truck prices led the inflation numbers, though as you can see from the chart above, gasoline/diesel prices at the pump, which are determined by global oil prices, are the greatest factor in raising prices. [TIP: Click on "Meanwhile" headline to see larger copy of the CPI chart. Then click on The Hustings banner to return to three-column format.]

•••

Biden’s inflation jawbone … President Biden tried to pre-empt Wednesday’s inflation numbers with a Tuesday White House address, telling Americans; “I know you’ve got to be frustrated. I know. I can taste it.”

He compared his administration’s lowering of the federal deficit after four years of deficit increases under his predecessor (whom he did not directly name) and blasted “extreme MAGA” Republican proposals to “raise taxes” on 75 million Americans and of constant GOP threats to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, singling out Rick Scott of Florida, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Scott has suggested Biden resign over the inflation rate.

Biden promoted minimum tax rates on corporations and billionaires in his stalled Bring Back Better bill, saying the “last thing we should be thinking about is rewarding corporations” for windfall profits from inflation. “You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure corporations pay their fair share.”

Note: With fast-approaching midterms likely to dampen any remaining prospects of advancing his BBB, Biden continues to push for overturning 40 years of “trickle-down” Reaganomics as Republicans of all stripes accuse the president of giving in to progressive, “socialist” Democrats in Congress.

•••

Latest anti-Trump audio … after the January 6 Capitol insurrection comes from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has since become one of the more prominent “traditional” Republicans to express loyalty to ex-President Trump. According to the latest recording released by NYT reporters and co-authors of This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin, Graham, speaking from a secure location as Capitol police were still clearing MAGA rioters from the building said the “best person to have” in the White House was Joe Biden, not Donald J. Trump.

Retraction: Graham told CNN Tuesday “The Joe Biden we see as president is not the Joe Biden we saw in the Senate. He’s pursued a far-left agenda as president.”

Note: We’d guess the GOP that Biden sees from the White House is not the GOP he saw in the Senate.

Hearings date set: House Select Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) has announced that after gathering lots of evidence and recordings of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, the panel will begin public hearings on June 9.

•••

Reed Can’t Wait … Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) announced his resignation Tuesday, half a year ahead of the midterms, citing “extremism” in the House of Representatives. In March 2021 he was accused of sexual harassment of a lobbyist and said he would not seek re-election this November. A moderate, Reed also had resigned as chair of the bi-partisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

Reed has joined the Prime Policy Group as a lobbyist.

•••

Trump’s count is 1-1 in West Virginia, Nebraska primaries … Trump endorsee Alexander Mooney beat David McKinley, 51.9% to 37.9%, for the GOP nomination for West Virginia’s second Congressional district in Tuesday’s primaries according to Ballotpedia. Both candidates are incumbents, having been squeezed into the same district after West Virginia lost a seat from the 2020 U.S. Census, and McKinley was one of 19 House Republicans who supported President Biden’s $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill last year.

Mooney faces Democratic candidate Barry Wendell in November.

Elsewhere in WV: Republican Carol Miller faces Democrat Eugene Watson for the House District 1 seat.

In Nebraska: Ex-President Trump lost the Republican gubernatorial primary, where his choice, Charles Herbster, with 29.2% lost to Jim Pillen’s 33.9%. Pillen was endorsed by current Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who is term-limited, and Herbster faced allegations in a Nebraska Examiner story that he groped or sexually assaulted eight women since 2017. A third Republican, Brett Lindstrom, earned 26.7% of the primary vote.

Pullen faces Democratic candidate Carol Blood and Libertarian candidate Scott Zimmerman in November.

For Nebraska’s House District 1, Republican Mike Flood faces Democrat Patty Pansing; for District 2, it’s incumbent Republican Don Bacon versus Democrat Tony Vargas; and in District 3, it’s incumbent Republican Adrian Smith versus the Legalize Marijuana Now Party candidate Mark Elworth Jr.

According to Newsweek, Herbster’s loss to Pillen breaks Trump’s 55-0 winning streak in GOP primary endorsements to date.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Charles Dervarics

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(TUE 5/10/22)

Tweet Trump's return? ... Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he will lift Twitter's ban of ex-President Donald J. Trump if his $44-billion deal to buy the social media platform happens, The Hill reports. "I think it was a morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme," Musk said at the Financial Times' "Future of the Car" event.

•••

More aid for Ukraine … The House of Representatives and Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to approve a $39.7 billion package of additional aid to help defend Ukraine against Russia’s attack, Reuters reports. President Biden had requested $33 billion, but congressional Democrats added in $3.4 billion in additional military aid and $3.4 billion in additional humanitarian aid.

The additional funds come after Russian President Vladmir Putin held a subdued Victory Day Monday, which some Kremlinologists take as a sign the country will continue to withdraw from most of its neighbor, including Kyiv, even as it intensifies battles in the separatist eastern region of Donbas.

•••

Gas prices hit ‘record’ high … Gasoline prices in the U.S. have hit another record high, $4.374/gallon, Tuesday according to AAA. That’s up from $4.204/gallon a week ago, and $2.967/gallon a year ago. The “record high” is qualified – adjusted for inflation, gas prices were higher during The Great Recession.

President Biden is scheduled to present his plan to fight inflation and “lower costs to working families” from the White House Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

•••

Democracy loses the Philippines … Not that it was thriving under Rodrigo Duterte, but Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr., offspring of the country’s 1970s/80s dictator and an infamous shoe collector, won Monday’s presidential race with a much wider margin than expected. Marcos was supposed to narrowly beat his closest challenger, but according to the unofficial vote count (to be confirmed Tuesday) he garnered more than 30.5 million to the “champion of human rights and reforms” Vice President Leni Robredo’s 14.5 million votes, Politico reports. Third-place Manny Pacquiao, a boxing legend in The Philippines, earned just 3.5 million votes.

Sara Duterte, daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, leads a separate vice- presidential vote. Her father is being investigated by the International Criminal Court for allegedly killing thousands during his anti-drug crackdown.

Facebook strikes again: Marcos Jr.’s father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., declared martial law as president, from 1972 to 1981. The family allegedly stole more than $10 billion before the Marcoses fled the Philippines in 1986 and have never been held accountable, according to The Recount. Marcos Jr. and his family have been “restoring” Ferdinand Sr. and wife Imelda’s reputation with false history, especially on social media site Facebook in the months and years leading up to Monday’s elections, according to several news reports.

Can’t happen here, right?: Whatever happens to the MAGA movement in November 2024 – and keeping in mind ex-President Trump still owns the GOP – Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric are still allowed on Facebook and Twitter.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods

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What's Up... MON 5/9/22

Today … Russian President Vladimir Putin held forth over his country’s Victory Day celebrating its win over Nazi Germany in World War II, NPR reports, and we won’t bother here to repeat his lies from his speech. NPR does note, however, that Putin did not announce plans to intensify his war on Ukraine. His troops have retreated for now from Kyiv and are concentrating on Eastern Ukraine.

Tuesday … Nebraska and West Virginia hold primaries for the November midterm elections (per Ballotpedia).

Wednesday … Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduces the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a federal abortion rights bill that would supercede the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The bill will fail along party lines with Democrats lacking the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, but the vote will give Democratic senators up for re-election and challengers to Republicans in November’s midterms campaign advertising fodder. A similar bill passed by the House of Representatives last September failed in the Senate last February, The Guardian notes.

Meanwhile, Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves refused to rule out banning emergency contraceptive pills and IUDs in his state speaking on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday.

•••

Never mind Trump’s presidential library … A presidential library could be built specializing in post-Trump presidency books, from loyalist Mark Meadows’ The Chief’s Chief to never-Trumper-again John Bolton’s The Room Where it Happened: A Memoir. Latest, and easily one of the most explosive is Mark Esper’s A Sacred Oath: A Defense Secretary in Extraordinary Times.

One of the first questions CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell asked Esper on a 60 Minutes feature interview Sunday was; Why wait until you can sell books to tell us this?

Fair question, and Esper’s response seems like a fair answer: Warning the world about such anti-democratic insanity as then-President Trump suggesting the late-May/early-June 2020 George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C., be declared an insurrection and the National Guard be called in to shoot protesters in the kneecaps, and that Trump wanted to use the military to conduct a “secret” military strike against drug cartels south of the Mexican border, would have resulted in the former host of The Apprentice telling him “you’re fired.” Esper told O’Donnell he couldn’t count on his replacement being as diligent in pushing back against Trump’s MAGA thinking.

Esper said that he and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had to “swat down” such Trumpian suggestions on a weekly basis. Milley, who continues as Joint Chiefs chairman under the Biden administration and Esper were both embarrassed to be conned into a political photo op with Trump when he held up a bible at St. John’s Church near the White House, an account backed up by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in their book, Peril.

Note: Thus Esper’s excuse for withholding stories of Trump’s anti-democratic propensity get a pass, and his memoir serves as yet another warning of what could still come from a GOP filled with pro-Trump midterm election candidates.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news