Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Wednesday May 26, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
May 26 2021
Good morning from Washington, where lawmakers who don’t see election fraud as serious should check out The Heritage Foundation database compiling proven cases. John Malcolm tells why. Biden has sent the abortion industry 20 times more taxpayer dollars than Obama had at this point, Fred Lucas reports. On the podcast, bestselling author Tuvia Tenenbom connects growing antisemitism with Black Lives Matter, a pro-Palestinian organization. Plus: when amnesty is good for the environment; toys that celebrate extremism; and what’s behind the Middle East conflict. On this date in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signs into law the Immigration Act of 1924, imposing the nation’s most stringent limits on immigration up to that time.
Tuvia Tenenbom, a bestselling author, playwright, journalist, and founder of the Jewish Theater of New York, has traveled the world to understand increasing antisemitism.
If Lego wants to trot down this controversial path, they’ll learn pretty quickly that American parents aren’t interested in their building blocks of indoctrination.
If the Iranians cared about fellow Muslims, they would target China, which is accused of committing genocide against the Uighurs, a predominately Muslim ethnic group.
The Navy’s Professional Reading Program includes books that portray America as systemically racist and promote the view that the Constitution was written to perpetuate white supremacy.
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In the past few months, we have seen an unprecedented escalation in the number and intensity of attacks on our American freedoms and liberties.
How much worse can it get? Where do we draw the line? How do we stop this?
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WORDS OF WISDOM
“I have had lots of troubles in my life, most of which never happened.”
The first 100 days under the Biden-Harris administration proved the Abortion Lobby is more emboldened than ever before.
Students for Life of America, the largest and most effective pro-life youth group in the nation with over 1,250 active campus chapters is conducting a brief survey to gauge the enthusiasm of pro-lifers.
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3.) DAYBREAK
Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak Insider
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Biden Shut Down Effort to Prove COVID Started in Lab
From the story: President Joe Biden’s team shut down a closely-held State Department effort launched late in the Trump administration to prove the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab over concerns about the quality of its work, according to three sources familiar with the decision. The existence of the State Department inquiry and its termination this spring by the Biden administration — neither of which has been previously reported — comes to light amid renewed interest in whether the virus could have leaked out of a Wuhan lab with links to the Chinese military. The Biden administration is also facing scrutiny of its own efforts to determine if the Chinese government was responsible for the virus (CNN). From Tom Cotton: The Biden administration *shut down* the work to identify the origins of COVID. If “quality of the evidence” was the problem, why hasn’t the Biden Team launched their own investigation? (Twitter).
2.
Big Tech Leans Hard Left on Matters of Anti-Semitism
From Bethany Mandel: While we’ve seen President Donald Trump and countless numbers of his supporters booted off Twitter’s service, purveyors of Jew hate like Iran’s Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyyeh, and Louis Farrakhan are still regularly posting. Adeel Raja posting in praise of Hitler throughout his time on Twitter finally lost him a gig as a freelance CNN contributor but didn’t even warrant a suspension, let alone ban, from the social media service (NY Post). From Liel Liebovitz: It’s not only that the number of rockets lobbed at Israel, 4,360, marks an all-time high. It’s not just that suddenly it seemed as if every one of your favorite actors, singers, writers, and lawmakers took to social media to accuse Israel of everything from apartheid to deliberately killing Black and brown people, shouting down anyone who advocated for balance and complexity—even Rihanna. It’s not even that speakers on protest stages are saying things like “every time they bomb Gaza, this is what creates antisemitism.” Or that a majority of House Democrats voted against providing Israel with emergency funding to boost its Iron Dome defense system. Or that mini-pogroms are popping up everywhere from West Hollywood to the Upper East Side, with mobs attacking Jews indiscriminately. No, this round felt different because, once and for all, it opened up a chasm that many of us have spent our lifetimes trying to avoid. Simply put, there are only two sides now: the Zionists and the anti-Zionists. Given the events of this past week, it is incumbent upon every person who wants to have any effect on the future, Jew and non-Jew alike, to understand how and why this is—and to pick a side, and soon (Tablet Magazine).
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3.
The Hill Posts Semi-Hit Piece on Chip and Joanna Gaines
With a blatantly misleading headline, which reads “TV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines donate to campaign against critical race theory in schools.” In reality, they gave $1000 to Chip’s sister who is running for the school board. And she is against Critical Race Theory. Later, the article coughs up this line: In 2017, it was reported that the Gaines attended a church well known for its anti-LGBTQ+ views (The Hill). Still, the story has conservatives hoping it’s true. From Erielle Davidson: Joanna Gaines is half-Korean and probably has a better idea of how terrible CRT is than most of the white progressives threatening to cancel them both (Twitter). From Dan McLaughlin: So, they are anti-racist (Twitter).
4.
Rise in Violent Crime Concerns Democrats for 2022
As the GOP is clearly the law-and-order party as cities come unglued.
Tennessee Bans Teaching Critical Race Theory in Schools
From the story: Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a measure into law Monday after it attracted some of the most impassioned debates inside the GOP-controlled General Assembly this year. He signaled his support after it cleared the Legislature, arguing that students should learn “the exceptionalism of our nation,” not things that “inherently divide” people (US News). Meanwhile, another story notes “A new political action committee (PAC) launched Monday that is dedicated to eradicating critical race theory and the 1619 Project from U.S. schools by targeting local school board elections” (Daily Wire).
7.
Colorado Children’s Hospital Declares State of Emergency Over Rising Suicides
The rate of children in the state attempting suicide is through the roof and the hospitals can’t handle the volume. After a year of children forced into isolation, one doctor, in tears, said “Our kids have run out of resilience. Their tank is empty.” The story later notes “isolation and stress of the pandemic have exacerbated mental health struggles” (Colorado Sun). From Carol Platt Liebau: Congratulations, adults. We sacrificed the children so we could feel safer. WHAT A DISGRACE (Twitter).
8.
CNN Okay with Host Helping Brother Beat Sexual Harassment Accusations
The #metoo movement ends when a CNN star gets involved. CNN president Jeff Zucker said Chris Cuomo merely needs to apologize to his audience. But not to the abused women.
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Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 5.26.21
Here’s your AM rundown of people, politics and policy in the Sunshine State.
There may be no more competitive race for Congress anywhere next year than the one for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, where three vibrant criminal justice reform crusaders want to replace Rep. Val Demings.
Sen. Randolph Bracy, civil rights attorney Natalie Jackson, who both announced their candidacies Tuesday, and former State Attorney Aramis Ayala, who’s announcing her candidacy Wednesday, are all Democrats.
Randolph Bracy tossed his hat in the ring for CD 10, which is starting to heat up. Image via Colin Hackley.
And for now, that’s where the competition lies, in the Democratic primary, as Demings turns her sights to the U.S. Senate.
Republicans’ only realistic prospect would require that redistricting completely redefines CD 10 as something other than a solidly blue district. That’s not likely, as calculus probably suggests that Republicans would have an easier chance of expanding their dominance by redrawing maps to dump more Democratic voters into CD 10 from neighboring districts, not the other way around.
Bracy’s positioned as the natural favorite, as he and his family have been almost iconic in their service of western Orange County for decades. And in this crowd, he’s moderate. His record in the Legislature includes both successes working across the aisle and moments of standing steadfast against some Republican affronts to voting rights and protests. Yet Jackson’s background looks like a Hollywood script, and Ayala’s national platform and her oratory presence shouldn’t be underestimated.
It’s not unlike the last time this district was up for grabs. In 2016, then-Sen. Geraldine Thompson and former Democratic Party Chair Bob Poe both looked formidable, and lawyer Fatima Fahmy was a spirited dark horse. Those campaigns got ugly. But Demings blew them all away, winning the Democratic primary by 37 points over second-place Thompson.
The Chamber has produced mountains of research on poverty levels in each corner of the state, down to the ZIP code level.
The same research has also identified several root causes for generational poverty in Florida. The top-10: jobs, education, housing, health, food, safety, child care, justice, transportation and agency-community voice.
Florida Department of Education Chancellor Henry Mack will talk paths to prosperity at a new Florida Chamber summit. Image via Chipley Bugle.
The Prosperity & Economic Opportunity Solution Summit will bring together top officials in government, business and from within Florida communities to analyze a path to prosperity for each of Florida’s ZIP codes and to share best practices from around the state and how they can be replicated elsewhere.
The event will open with Chamber President Mark Wilson‘s remarks and a presentation from the Chamber’s chief economist, Dr. Jerry Parrish, titled “Who Benefits from Helping People Out of Poverty.”
Speakers will include Florida Department of Education Chancellor Henry Mack, CFO Jimmy Patronis, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Principal Adviser Brittany Birken, CareerSource Florida CEO Michelle Dennard, Department of Economic Opportunity Director Dane Eagle, Enterprise Florida President and CEO Jamal Sowell, and Feeding Florida Executive Director Robin Safley.
Topics on the agenda include the fight for equality of opportunity, policy solutions that aid prosperity, the economic and business case for prosperity, tried and true promising practices across Florida’s business community, and how Florida businesses can unite to create prosperity in their ZIP codes, among others.
___
A co-founder of one of Washington’s most successful Democratic lobbying firms is joining Ballard Partners.
John O’Hanlon is one of the founders of The Washington Group, a Washington-based lobbying and advocacy firm. In that role, he successfully represented a who’s who of Fortune 500 Companies, associations, governments and causes.
O’Hanlon has more than 30 years of hands-on political, advocacy, business and entrepreneurial experience. Over the years, he has worked with civil rights leaders and activists to advance the engagement of diverse communities in political, civic and educational processes.
He has also personally represented clients before the President, members of Congress, staff and government officials at all levels.
“John’s vast experience in Washington’s halls of power for more than three decades brings a unique dimension to our firm’s capabilities in the nation’s capital,” firm founder and President Brian Ballard said. “His long-standing reputation and work on behalf of Democratic leadership will be invaluable in assisting our clients with issues on both sides of the aisle.”
Ballard Partners rocketed to new heights under the Trump administration, and its bipartisan staff has allowed it to continue that success since Democrats took over Congress and the White House.
O’Hanlon joins many other former high-ranking Democratic officials in Ballard Partners’ Washington office, including former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, City of Boston Corporation Counsel Eugene O’Flaherty, former Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Ana Cruz, and the recently hired Tola Thompson, a former chief of staff to Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson.
Situational awareness
—@POTUS: As of today, 50% of American adults are fully vaccinated. That’s a big deal, folks.
—@JoshNBCNews: News from (Antony) Blinken’s Mideast trip: He says US will be moving forward with reopening US Consulate in Jerusalem, formerly the de facto US mission to the Palestinians
—@BarbMcQuade: One year since George Floyd’s murder. I’m sure he would rather be alive than be a hashtag. Let’s hope police reform will be his lasting legacy.
—@JeffMillerCA2TX: WTF is wrong with you? I think you need to pay a visit to the US Holocaust Museum. I’d be happy to arrange. Then maybe going forward, you wouldn’t make any more disgusting, ignorant and offensive tweets. If I’m wrong and you’re not ignorant about Holocaust, then you are disgusting.
—@DavidJollyFL: Let’s be real. Marjorie Taylor Greene commands greater audience than Ben Shapiro, Kevin McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, or a (Donald) Trump kid. Condemnation matters. But she’s now an elite GOP fundraiser by total raised and total donors. This is not a simple political issue; it’s a cultural one.
—@McCormackJohn: In February, when Marjorie Greene was under fire for her past QAnon/Parkland/Rothschilds conspiracy theories, (Kevin) McCarthy indicated she’d be stripped of committee assignments if she made similar comments as a member of Congress.
—@AnnaforFlorida: A man who just became homeless. A 70-year-old woman. A dad who can’t afford child care. A mom who can’t afford a pay cut. A Republican pissed at @GovRonDeSantis. Just a few folks who have contacted our office in need of a functioning unemployment system & federal benefits.
—@NoahPransky: It wasn’t that long ago that Florida Republicans were trying to shut down backpage.comand Craigslist for not censoring enough dangerous content.
Days until
‘A Quiet Place Part II’ rescheduled premiere — 2; Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins — 2; Memorial Day — 5; Florida TaxWatch Spring Meeting and PLA Awards — 8; ‘Loki’ premieres on Disney+ — 16; Father’s Day — 25; F9 premieres in the U.S. — 30; ‘Tax Freedom Holiday’ begins — 36; ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ rescheduled premiere — 37; 4th of July — 39; ‘Black Widow’ rescheduled premiere — 44; MLB All-Star Game — 48; new start date for 2021 Olympics — 58; second season of ‘Ted Lasso’ premieres on Apple+ — 58; the NBA Draft — 64; ‘Jungle Cruise’ premieres — 66; ‘The Suicide Squad’ premieres — 72; St. Petersburg Primary Election — 90; Disney’s ‘Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings’ premieres — 100; NFL regular season begins — 106; Broadway’s full-capacity reopening — 111; ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ premieres (rescheduled) — 121; ‘Dune’ premieres — 128; MLB regular season ends — 130; ‘No Time to Die’ premieres (rescheduled) — 136; World Series Game 1 — 153; Florida’s 20th Congressional District primary — 160; St. Petersburg Municipal Elections — 160; Disney’s ‘Eternals’ premieres — 163; San Diego Comic-Con begins — 184; Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ premieres — 198; ‘Spider-Man Far From Home’ sequel premieres — 205; NFL season ends — 228; Florida’s 20th Congressional District election — 230; NFL playoffs begin — 234; Super Bowl LVI — 263; ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ premieres — 303; ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ premieres — 345; “Black Panther 2” premieres — 408; ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ sequel premieres — 499; “Captain Marvel 2” premieres — 534.
Top story
“Hurricane season starts as pandemic continues” via The News Service of Florida — As the six-month hurricane season officially begins June 1, the Florida Division of Emergency Management will have surpassed 450 days responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. “They would love to get back to doing tropical cyclones and wildfires and things like that, because we have been doing COVID-19 a very long time, and we’re ready to be doing something else,” division Director Kevin Guthrie said. The hurricane season is projected to be above average for storms. The federal agency’s scientists based their projections on continued warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
It’s that time again.
Dateline Tally
“Ron DeSantis signs gambling bills” via The News Service of Florida — DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law a series of gambling-related measures approved by state legislators during a Special Session held earlier this month. One of the bills (SB 2-A) authorized a 30-year gambling deal inked by the governor and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. in April. Under the agreement, the Tribe promised to pay the state $2.5 billion over the deal’s first five years. The deal also opens the door for sports betting in Florida, with pari-mutuel operators contracting with the Tribe. The agreement requires the Seminoles to contract with at least three pari-mutuels within three months after sports betting goes live and does not allow the Tribe to launch sports betting until Oct. 15.
“Deal could open doors to new casinos” via Dara Kam of The News Service of Florida — The glitziest casinos in the state have operated on lands owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. But a multibillion-dollar deal by Gov. DeSantis and tribal Chairman Osceola Jr. opens the door for other gambling behemoths. Part of the deal would allow the Tribe to amplify its Broward County operations, which recently underwent a $1.5 billion expansion that added a 36-story, guitar-shaped tower to anchor the Seminoles’ Hard Rock casino. The Compact would allow the Seminoles to contract with other gambling operators to manage up to three new facilities on the tribe’s Hollywood reservation. The compact would allow pari-mutuel operators to sell or transfer permits to other entities, a process known as “portability,” with certain caveats.
The newly signed Seminole Compact is now on its way to D.C.
“DeSantis, Richard Corcoran want to keep ‘crazy liberal stuff’ out of civics lessons in Florida schools” via Leslie Postal of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — DeSantis ran for governor promising to make civics education a priority in Florida’s public schools. He’s fulfilling that by pushing reforms to celebrate “the success of the United States” and to ensure no one is “teaching kids to hate their country.” But critics see his efforts as injecting “highly partisan” and “highly biased” content into the curriculum, with an inappropriate dose of religious values. They don’t like that proposed academic benchmarks ask students to understand “the influence of the Ten Commandments” and identify “disorderly protesting” as a characteristic of “irresponsible citizenship.”
“DeSantis signs pandemic fraud bill” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics — DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday to specify and enhance penalties against fraudsters and scammers capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal (HB 9) establishes criminal penalties and authorizes civil remedies against swindlers seeking vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic. It also stiffens penalties against fake websites and other fraudulent COVID-19 ploys. In many instances, swindlers offer vaccine access in exchange for large sums of money. Sponsored by Republican Rep. Ardian Zika of Pasco County, the bill was introduced as federal and state officials warned consumers to be wary of offers advertising special access to vaccines or PPE.
“Group asks DeSantis to veto measure preempting local cruise ship regulations” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — The Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships, which backed stricter regulations of cruise ships in Key West, is asking DeSantis to veto a bill that would undo those and other local regulations. Last November, Key West voters approved three referendums to limit the size of cruise ships docking there and increase environmental quality. During this year’s Legislative Session, lawmakers approved a measurethat would block local ballot initiatives regulating vessel sizes in any of Florida’s 15 seaports. The bill also bars initiatives aiming to assess a cruise company’s environmental records, something the Key West ballot measures did as well.
“Cultural treasures in Naples, Sarasota tagged budget turkeys” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Florida TaxWatch wasn’t in the mood to stop and smell (or grow) the roses this year. The group targeted plenty of cultural grants and park expenditures in Southwest Florida in its list of turkeys in the Legislature’s budget. TaxWatch maligned a project in Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo‘s Naples district. Passidomo is in line to be the next Senate President. The list includes $750,000 in parks funding for a horticulture campus (HB 2129) at the Naples Botanical Garden. TaxWatch’s report notes a Recreational Development Assistance Program where local governments can apply for grants. The horticulture campus was among projects bypassing the process by reaching out to lawmakers. But Passidomo said the project is necessary and of statewide significance.
Kathleen Passidomo is bristling at projects in her district being labeled ‘turkeys.’ Image via Colin Hackley.
“TaxWatch eyes Hardee County in Turkey targeting” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Southwest Florida is represented nearly entirely by Republicans elected on fiscally conservative platforms. Still, a list of “turkeys” from Florida TaxWatch marked many a member project in the region for a recommended veto. And Hardee County, a community of around 27,400 people according to the latest state estimates, ended up on the list more than any other place in the 10-county region. TaxWatch’s fiscal hawks found fat in the community in facility construction and cultural grants. “Adding more through budget earmarks is done at the expense of statewide priorities,” the TaxWatch report states. Lawmakers in the region balked at the labeling of expenditures as questionable.
“DeSantis earns Americans for Prosperity’s praise in latest pro-school choice ad” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — Americans for Prosperity-Florida has launched an ad campaign praising DeSantis for signing a recent school choice expansion. The ad, a 30-second video airing on television and online, thanks DeSantis for signing the school voucher bill (HB 7045) and encourages him to continue supporting school choice. AFP-FL, the state branch of a libertarian advocacy group, spent six figures on the ad, which is running statewide. The ad argues DeSantis prioritized students by creating individualized educational options and giving students more freedom. “Our children now have the opportunity to access an education that fits their unique needs, and it’s working. Thank Gov. DeSantis and urge him to continue working to ensure Florida’s future remains full of sunshine for our students,” it says.
“Lobbying compensation: Colodny Fass nears $500K in Q1 pay” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — The lobbying team at Colodny Fass collected nearly $500,000 last quarter, new compensation reports show. The reporting period saw the firm take in $300,000 lobbying the Legislature and another $195,000 lobbying the Governor and Cabinet. The legislative lobbying report shows Florida Peninsula Insurance Company and Southern Fidelity Insurance Company sharing the top spot, with each paying $35,000 for the quarter. The top-paying executive client was Ascendant Holdings, which paid $25,000. Overall, Colodny Fass reported earning between $250,000 and $500,000 in legislative lobbying fees and between $100,000 and $250,000 in executive lobbying fees.
“Lobbying compensation: Liberty Partners of Tallahassee reports $460K in Q1 pay” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — Liberty Partners’ President Jennifer Green and lobbyists Melanie Bostick, Ethan Merchant and Timothy Parson represented about 30 clients last quarter, earning $250,000 lobbying the Legislature and another $210,000 lobbying the Governor and Cabinet. The new reports show the firm earned no less than $350,000 last quarter. If their contracts tilted toward the high end of their reported ranges, the firm could have earned as much as $640,000. Whether the true tally was on the low or high end of that range, the new reports indicate rapid growth at the firm. In Q3 2020, Liberty Partners reported median earnings of $260,000.
New and renewed lobbying registrations:
Brian Ballard, Abigail Vail, Ballard Partners: DoorDash
Sara Clements, McGuireWoods Consulting: The Nature Conservancy
Statewide
“Florida is 1 of only 12 states still rejecting Obamacare dollars. Other GOP states say that’s dumb.” via Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel — Democrats liked Obamacare, and Republicans didn’t. As a result, most GOP-run states rejected the federal money meant to provide health insurance for millions more Americans. Here’s what you may not know: Over the past decade, that has changed. Most Republican states have now opted-in to the nation’s health care program. They realized they’d be irresponsible dolts if they rejected the money. Today, Florida is one of only 12 states that continues to reject this money. DeSantis, Simpson and Sprowls support private school vouchers to families that make nearly $100,000 a year but oppose health care coverage to families that earn less than $35,000. They promote choice for education, not for physical well-being.
“Beth Kidder leaving post as Medicaid director” via The News Service of Florida — Kidder submitted her resignation from the state Agency for Health Care Administration and taken a job with a consulting firm that specializes in financing and evaluation of publicly funded health care programs. Kidder’s resignation as a deputy secretary at the agency is effective at the end of the month. Tom Wallace, assistant deputy secretary of Medicaid finance and analytics, has been named the new Medicaid director. Kidder has taken a position at Health Management Associates in Tallahassee. Kidder’s departure comes after Molly McKinstry, a former deputy secretary of health quality assurance, left the Agency for Health Care Administration at the end of March to become chief of staff at the Department of Children and Families.
Beth Kidder leaves the AHCA for a private-sector gig.
“Gainesville may sue state over ‘anti-riot’ law” via John Henderson of the Tallahassee Democrat — Against the advice of their attorney, Gainesville city commissioners have taken a first step toward possibly suing the state over controversial House Bill 1, also known as the “anti-riot” law. The City Commission on Thursday instructed legal staff, working with nonprofit groups that have agreed to handle the legal costs, to draft a lawsuit that would challenge the new law. The Community Justice Project and The Public Rights Project organizations have agreed to file the suit, with the city named as a plaintiff in the case. Commissioners asked that the complaint come back in a month for their review. City Attorney Nicolle Shalley told commissioners that she did not think the city has a cause of action now to move ahead with a lawsuit and urged them not to take action.
2022
“Can Democrats beat the odds in 2022?” via Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Washington Post — Conventional wisdom holds that Democrats are likely to lose control of the House and quite possibly the Senate, putting an abrupt end to the progressive reforms that President Joe Biden is advancing. But can Democrats beat the odds next year? The recovery will be in full gear by 2022, with unemployment plummeting and spirits rising. At the same time, Trump is destroying the Republican Party. Republican identification is down to 40% of adults, with Democrats at 49%. Supporters of the establishment wing of the GOP announce efforts to challenge Trump for the control of the party. To break through, Democrats need to follow through on Biden’s working assumption: act big and boldly.
“NRSC chair presses Donald Trump to support incumbents in 2022” via Alexander Bolton of The Hill — Sen. Rick Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), is pleading with Trump to support GOP Senate incumbents in the 2022 midterm elections, as Trump has welcomed primary challengers to Republicans he views as disloyal. During a Monday meeting at Trump Tower, Scott said that he asked the former President “to help us in where we have incumbents and after the primary help us in the general elections.” The NRSC chairman said the meeting lasted about an hour or an hour and 15 minutes. “He wants to make sure we get a majority. I want to make sure we get a majority,” Scott said.
Rick Scott urges Donald Trump to support incumbent Senate Republicans in primaries. Image via AP.
“EMILY’s List puts Carlos Giménez, María Elvira Salazar on notice for 2022” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — EMILY’s List has placed two South Florida congressional seats on its list of top targets nationwide in 2022. That target list contains 27 seats across the country currently held by Republicans. Two of the 27 are located in South Florida. EMILY’s List will work to oust Rep. Giménez in Florida’s 26th Congressional District and Rep. Salazar in Florida’s 27th Congressional District. Each cycle, EMILY’s List jumps into state and federal races around the country to help elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. The organization highlighted Republicans’ unified opposition to the recent Biden-backed COVID-19 relief package in explaining its push to expand the Democratic House majority.
“Proposed ballot initiatives emerge” via The News Service of Florida — At least seven proposed citizens’ initiatives have emerged in recent weeks. The seven proposals have been posted on the Florida Division of Elections website since April 8. The initiatives include a proposal, backed by a political committee known as Let Florida Vote, that would lead to an elected education commissioner serving on the state Cabinet. A political committee known as FL5.org has filed five initiatives, including proposals to block the construction or expansion of toll roads on conservation and rural lands and ban captive wildlife hunting. Also, a committee known as Floridians for Free and Fair Elections has proposed an initiative that would move to a ranked voting system in general elections.
“Florida elections supervisors scramble to comply with controversial, costly, confusing voting law” via Jeffrey Schweers of the Tallahassee Democrat — Florida’s polarizing new election law wraps up county supervisors in burdensome and contradictory red tape, more duties and responsibilities that will cause unforeseen financial costs, and financial penalties for noncompliance, elections officials said. The biggest cost may fall on voters and taxpayers, something legislative staffers warned could happen in the bill’s analysis. Since the law took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature, all 67 counties had to scramble to make changes to this unfunded mandate. They’ve had to take down information from their websites and figure out how to change online request forms to meet the new ID requirements to change addresses and request absentee ballots. And they’ve had to find software that would meet their needs.
“Broward lawyer’s long-delayed exit hobbles elections panel, but it’s mostly DeSantis’ fault” via Steve Bousquet of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — A statewide commission with the power to issue fines for violations of Florida election laws has too few members to transact business, and the panel has suffered from obvious indifference under DeSantis. Barbra Anne Stern, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who has been on the panel since 2012. Stern is a Democrat whose last four-year term expired in December 2019, but DeSantis has not replaced her because House Democrats have not submitted names of a replacement, sources said. Since he took office two-and-a-half years ago, DeSantis has appointed no one to the commission. By law, the commission is carefully balanced politically because many cases involve Democrats and Republicans.
Corona Florida
“Florida reports 1,874 new COVID-19 cases and 80 more deaths” via Cindy Krischer Goodman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — With more than 10 million Floridians vaccinated, the state is seeing fewer cases, hospitalizations and deaths from earlier this year. Florida reported 1,874 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and another 80 new resident deaths linked to COVID-19. The state has now reported 2,313,815 cases since the pandemic began. The 7-day average for new cases reached as high as 17,991 on Jan. 8. It has now dropped below 2,500. Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. Florida often has exceeded 5% in its widely publicized calculation for assessing the rate for testing of residents. On Tuesday, the statewide positivity rate was less than 4%.
“More than 8 million fully vaccinated in Florida” via News Service of Florida — The number of people in Florida fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has topped 8 million. The state Department of Health issued a report Tuesday showing that 8,038,941 people have finished receiving the required two doses of vaccines produced by drug companies Pfizer or Moderna or the one-dose vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson. In all, 10,075,311 people in Florida have received at least one dose. The largest number of fully vaccinated people, 1,859,299, are ages 65 to 74. The second-largest number, 1,613,203, are ages 55 to 64. Geographically, the largest number of fully vaccinated people, 1,140,338, are in Miami-Dade County, making up nearly 14.2% of the statewide total.
“Will Florida offer a vaccine lottery? Here’s what DeSantis’ office has to say” via Liz Freeman of the Northwest Florida Daily News — Four states, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Oregon, are offering incentives like cash or scholarships to boost turnout for vaccines against COVID-19 but DeSantis isn’t heading down that path, according to his press office. “No, Gov. DeSantis is not and will never consider holding a ‘vaccine lottery’ in Florida,” Christina Pushaw, the Governor’s press secretary, said in an email. Vaccines have been freely available to anyone in Florida for weeks and 57% of adults statewide have gotten at least one dose, she said.
There will be no big checks for vaccinations, says Ron DeSantis. Image via AP.
“Ousted dashboard designer’s claims don’t add up, former colleagues and experts say” via Jay O’Brien of CBS 12 — Former colleagues of fired dashboard designer Rebekah Jones and public health experts tell CBS12 News her claims that she was directed to delete COVID-19 cases and deaths from the state’s data are unsupported by the evidence. Jones, a social media firebrand, has long alleged leadership in the Florida Department of Health asked her to change raw COVID-19 data and in some cases delete deaths. The claims continue to spark national attention and mistrust of Florida’s widely available COVID-19 data. But, despite repeatedly making these startling accusations, Jones has offered no proof. In the past year, Jones has doubled down on her claims and even expanded it. “Her story has changed over time,” one Department of Health Employee told CBS12 News.
Corona local
“Royal Caribbean gets first CDC go-ahead for test cruises from Miami in late June” via Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald — The CDC gave its first green light for test cruises to Royal Caribbean Group Tuesday, the agency said. The cruise company will conduct simulated cruises with volunteer passengers in late June to test out its COVID-19 protocols from PortMiami on its Freedom of the Seas ship. The test cruises are a requirement for ships that are not guaranteeing most passengers and crew on board are vaccinated against COVID-19 before revenue cruises can begin. The approval is a significant step forward for the cruise industry, which has not operated in the U.S. since March 2020 after virus outbreaks and deaths on several ships.
Royal Caribbean gets the CDC thumbs-up to sail out of Miami.
Corona nation
“More than half of American adults vaccinated as COVID-19 cases ebb” via Reuters — More than half of all American adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said, roughly six weeks before Biden’s July 4 goal of a 70% inoculation rate. The halfway mark comes as federal, state and local leaders press ahead with delivering COVID-19 shots to people who have not yet received them, while also battling vaccination hesitancy, fears and misinformation. “Now, with another week left in May, half of all U.S. adults are fully vaccinated,” White House senior COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt tweeted overnight. New coronavirus infections nationwide have settled into a sustained decline as more people become vaccinated.
“Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible” via Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post — The source of the coronavirus remains a mystery. But the idea it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology — once dismissed as a ridiculous conspiracy theory — has gained new credence. How and why? For one, efforts to discover a natural source of the virus have failed. Second, early efforts to spotlight a lab leak often got mixed up with speculation the virus was deliberately created as a bioweapon. But a lack of transparency by China and renewed attention to the activities of the Wuhan lab have led some scientists to say they were too quick to discount a possible link.
The idea COVID-19 started in a lab was ludicrous — not so much anymore. Image via NBC News.
“Moderna says its COVID-19 shot works in kids as young as 12” via Lauran Neergaard of The Associated Press — Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the U.S. With global vaccine supplies still tight, much of the world is struggling to vaccinate adults in the quest to end the pandemic. But earlier this month, the U.S. and Canada authorized another vaccine — the shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech — to be used starting at age 12. Moderna aims to be next in line, saying it will submit its teen data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other global regulators early next month.
Corona economics
“Far-reaching economic effects of school closures” via Bryan Walsh of Axios — The long-term economic cost of school closures could reach into the trillions, according to a paper released this week. Beyond the direct health damage caused by COVID-19, no other area will have as far-reaching impact as pandemic-driven school closures. Researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania calculated that learning loss from school closures will reduce U.S. GDP by 3.6% and hourly wages by 3.5% by 2050. That’s a result of lowered labor productivity in the workers of tomorrow due both to disrupted education and the generally inferior substitution of remote learning, especially as it was practiced during the pandemic.
School closures are having long-term economic effects. Image via AP.
“VISIT FLORIDA looks to boost international tourism” via Jim Turner of News Service of Florida — VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Dana Young said Tuesday the agency is planning a trip to Mexico in June, with a similar excursion planned to England in July or August, depending on the status of United Kingdom border-crossing requirements. “Those trips are to further cement our existing relationships with our in-country trade and to build on some new strategic relationships with airlines and other trade partnerships in those countries,” Young told members of the VISIT FLORIDA board’s Executive Committee. VISIT FLORIDA reported recently that overseas travel was down 74.4% in the first quarter of 2021 from 2020, after falling 70.4% for all of 2020 from 2019.
More corona
“Coronavirus cases in 2021 are already higher than 2020 worldwide” via Jim Sergent, Mike Stucka and Mitchell Thorson of USA Today — The world has already reported more coronavirus cases in 2021 than it had in all of 2020. Through Sunday, the world reported 83.62 million cases this year, up from 83.56 million cases last year. The trajectory of the number of global cases in 2020 compared with 2021 is startling. The early months of 2020 reflect the gradual rise and spread of the virus around the world. But since the fall of 2020, the global pace of infections hasn’t abated, even with 1.7 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. Confirmed coronavirus cases in India, the United States and Brazil have outpaced the rest of the world in 2020 and 2021, but the U.S., with half of the population at least partially vaccinated, is the only country where the number of cases have fallen this year.
The worldwide number of COVID-19 cases in 2021 has eclipsed all of last year. Image via AP.
“More than 1.71 billion shots given” via Bloomberg — The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. More than 1.71 billion doses have been administered across 176 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 28.9 million doses a day. In the U.S., 288 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 1.75 million doses per day were administered. Enough doses have now been administered to fully vaccinate 11.2% of the global population; but the distribution has been lopsided. Countries and regions with the highest incomes are getting vaccinated more than 30 times faster than those with the lowest.
“The Great American Cleanup: Deodorant, teeth whitener fly off the shelves” via Sarah Nassauer and Sharon Terlep of The Wall Street Journal — As vaccination rates climb and restrictions on human interaction ease, shopping carts are filling up with items designed to facilitate people’s reentry into civilization instead of toilet paper and baking flour. Deodorant, teeth whitener and condoms are in high demand. According to companies that make these products and large retailers, sales of perfume, nail polish, swimsuits, sunscreen, tuxedos, luggage, and alarm clocks are climbing fast. When the Mayor of Washington, D.C., announced that bars and clubs would fully reopen in June, Landen Lama, a 25-year-old political consultant thought, “I have a month to get ready.” He ordered teeth-whitening gel online, has been using more facial treatment masks and tanning outside, he said.
“As the Tokyo Olympics near, the U.S. warns against travel to Japan” via Ben Dooley, Yan Zhuang and Tiffany May of The New York Times — The State Department warned Americans against traveling to Japan as the country experiences an increase in coronavirus cases less than two months before the start of the Tokyo Olympics. The move has little practical effect, as Japan’s borders have been closed to most nonresident foreigners since the early months of the pandemic. But the warning is another blow for the Olympics, which face stiff opposition among the Japanese public over concerns that they could become a superspreader event as athletes and their entourages pour in from around the world. The United States added Japan to dozens of nations that have received its highest-level travel warning.
Presidential
“‘Where does that leave us?’: Joe Biden confronts the limits of his unity talk” via Natasha Korecki, Christopher Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López of POLITICO — Biden campaigned for President as the consummate dealmaker — the type of backslapping lawmaker who could forge consensus with even the most hardened cynic. But barring an 11th-hour turnaround, his most promising hope for a major bipartisan policy breakthrough — a massive infrastructure deal — could end up slipping through his fingers. It raises questions about how much longer Biden will be committed to reaching out to Republicans in Congress and whether his agenda would be better served if he just abandoned the effort altogether.
Joe Biden’s talk of unity may be hitting a hard limit. Image via AP.
Epilogue: Trump
“Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Donald Trump in Russia probe” via Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post — The Justice Department late Monday night released part of a key internal document used in 2019 to justify not charging Trump with obstruction, but also signaled it would fight a judge’s effort to make the entire document public. The filing comes after a federal judge excoriated former U.S. Attorney General William Barr — and the Justice Department more broadly — for their explanations of how and why it decided not to pursue a criminal case against Trump over possible obstruction of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. The Justice Department filing is likely to both fuel and frustrate Trump’s biggest critics.
A Justice Department memo sheds light on the decision not to charge Donald Trump. Image via AP.
“Prosecutor in Trump criminal probe convenes grand jury to hear evidence, weigh potential charges” via Shayna Jacobs and David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post — Manhattan’s district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict Trump, other executives at his company or the business itself should prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the development. The panel was convened recently and will sit three days a week for six months. It is likely to hear several matters during the duration of its term, which is longer than a traditional New York state grand-jury assignment, these people said. The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s investigation of the former President and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. It suggests, too, that Vance believes he has found evidence of a crime.
D.C. matters
“GOP Senators ready $1T infrastructure counteroffer to Biden” via The Associated Press — Senate Republicans are preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that would be funded with COVID-19 relief money as a counteroffer to the White House ahead of a Memorial Day deadline toward a bipartisan deal. The Republicans said they would disclose details of the new offer by Thursday, sounding upbeat after both sides had panned other offers. The administration and GOP senators remain far apart over the size and scope of the investment needed to reboot the nation’s roads, bridges and broadband — but also, as Biden sees it, the child care centers and green energy investments needed for a 21st-century economy. They also can’t agree on how to pay for it.
Republicans are working on an infrastructure counter offer to Joe Biden. Image via AP.
“Central Florida advocates call for Rick Scott, Marco Rubio to back immigration bills” via Lisa Maria Garza of the Orlando Sentinel — Through a virtual bipartisan panel hosted by the American Business Immigration Coalition and IMPAC Fund, Democratic Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was among supporters urging Republican U.S. Sens. Scott and Rubio to back legislation that would provide a citizenship path for immigrants relying on reprieves from DACA and TPS. Dyer noted that almost 20% of Orlando residents were born in another country. He credited their work and entrepreneurship that “fuels our economy” and said, “it’s time for our country to come together and pass humane immigration reform.” Al Cárdenas, IMPAC Fund’s co-chair and former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said White House directives like the DACA and TPS policies show progress, but not permanent solutions.
Local notes
“Robert Blackmon files to run for St. Pete Mayor” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — Blackmon, a St. Petersburg City Council Member, is officially running for Mayor. Blackmon filed paperwork with the city to join the race Tuesday. The news comes after Blackmon submitted paperwork Sunday resigning to run for office, effective Jan. 6. Blackmon, a Republican, has served on City Council for less than two years after being first elected in 2019. There is only one Republican candidate in the race for Mayor, Realtor Vincent Nowicki. Nowicki, however, lacks Blackmon’s name recognition and elected experience, giving Blackmon a lane in the hotly contested race as a viable conservative option. Darden Rice and Ken Welch have long been considered the front-runners in the race.
Robert Blackmon makes it official; he’s running for St. Pete Mayor. Image via Facebook.
“Tampa Bay Rays call lawsuit ‘deceptive,’ ‘inflammatory’ and ‘fraught with error’” via Josh Solomon of the Tampa Bay Times — The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday responded to a lawsuit that minority owners filed over the weekend against principal owner Stu Sternberg. “We are disappointed that a handful of our limited partners have filed suit. The suit is deceptive and inflammatory and is fraught with error and falsehood. We have abided by the partnership agreement, and the Tropicana Field use agreement,” the team’s statement read. The allegations in the lawsuit could have wide-ranging consequences for both Sternberg and the team. The Rays are locked into playing home games at Tropicana Field and nowhere else through the 2027 season. The team’s lease of the facility also bars the Rays from even exploring alternatives.
“Weeks after joining law firm, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez joins private equity firm” via Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald — Coral Gables private equity firm DaGrosa Capital Partners has hired Mayor Suarez as a senior operating partner, the second new job for the mayor announced this month. According to the firm’s website, Suarez will co-lead the firm’s acquisition initiatives and domestic and international investment platforms. On May 10, national litigation firm Quinn Emanuel announced Suarez would be of counsel in a new Miami office. The mayor, a real estate attorney, left Greenspoon Marder for the job. On Tuesday, Suarez said his new responsibilities at DaGrosa will “in no way conflict with the time and energy that I spend working for the citizens of Miami.”
“Could Florida’s gambling deal lead to big-time casinos? Will Palm Beach Kennel Club remain?” via Wendy Rhodes of The Palm Beach Post — Tucked into the gambling bill approved by the Florida Legislature is a provision that could lead to the biggest expansion of betting ever in Florida. Not just sportsbooks, but a license transfer clause that could turn small-scale pari-mutuel gambling houses into sprawling casinos. The agreement between the state and the Seminole Tribe allows existing pari-mutuels to relocate to other, possibly larger, locations. It also allows gambling licenses to be sold or transferred, which means new casinos or gambling venues could open up in places that never had gambling.
“Man arrested in hit-and-run crash that injured Quint Studer on Saturday” via Annie Blanks of the Pensacola News Journal — Pensacola police have arrested the man suspected of driving the car that struck Studer, a local philanthropist and businessman, as he was riding his bike home Saturday night. Pensacola Police Department spokesman Mike Wood told the News Journal that Terrance Juwann Myles was arrested early Tuesday afternoon. He’s charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries, driving with a suspended license and careless driving. Bystanders who witnessed the crash called police and paramedics and helped Studer out of the road.
“Blueprint likely to pull away from FSU convention center as Doak renovations request surfaces” via Karl Etters of the Tallahassee Democrat — Put a pin in the proposed convention center. For now. That’s the recommendation of Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency staff as they continue to analyze, along with FSU, budgetary limitations, construction cost increases, and a struggling post-pandemic economy. The proposal, which has been an idea since 2012 when FSU acquired the Tucker Center from Leon County, is set to come before the IA Thursday at the same it considers a $20 million request to partially fund improvements and prime the underlying structure of Doak Campbell Stadium for renovations that will improve the fan experience. At the same time, FSU has signaled it is working toward building a Tucker Center area hotel on its own where such a convention center could be incorporated.
“Sláinte! Tallahassee’s Finnegan’s Wake Irish pub making a Midtown comeback” via TaMaryn Waters of the Tallahassee Democrat — Finnegan’s Wake Irish Pub was forced to shut down last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and left 27 employees jobless. The loss was felt hard and left a hole in the heart of Tallahassee’s Midtown. But, a recent Facebook post showing a key in the door of the beloved pub hints at a comeback sooner than later. “Don’t you wish we could turn back time? … 3,000 likes, and we will open up!” it said. Derek Hart, the pub’s owner, told the Tallahassee Democrat that he’d been inundated with wannabe patrons all but ready to bang down the door for entry. He’s not quite ready to go public with details, but the reopening may happen in late June.
“”Sam Newby will be Jacksonville’s third Black Council President and will do it as a Republican” via David Bauerlein of The Florida Times-Union — Newby‘s rise to the top leadership post also illustrates that Black elected officials have a path to power within the Republican Party, even as the vast majority of Black voters are aligned with the Democratic Party. Councilmember Terrance Freeman, also a Black Republican, won election as vice president-designate in a razor-thin contest over Randy DeFoor. The outcome marks the first time in Jacksonville history that Black council members will fill the posts of president and vice president. In an emotional acceptance speech after the Council unanimously selected him, Newby said “without God, this wouldn’t be possible because only God can bring a young man born at Fifth and Cleveland Road to the presidency of City Council.”
Sam Newby shows there is a path to power for Black Republicans in Jacksonville.
“Duval Superintendent Diana Greene recommends renaming 6 confederate-tied schools” via Emily Bloch of The Florida Times-Union — Greene, Duval Schools Superintendent, thinks six Jacksonville schools should be renamed, her recommendations said. The news comes after nearly a year of debates prompting locals to reckon with the city’s ties to Confederate leaders and colonizers. After a contentious set of community meetings and balloting, voting results showed that Jaxsons wanted to see schools tied to the Confederacy renamed. Now, through a formal set of recommendations to the school board, Greene has revealed that she agrees.
“Jaguars owner contributing $1 million to boost Eastside neighborhood” via Monty Zickuhr of the Jacksonville Daily Record — Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan announced May 21 he is donating $1 million to LIFT JAX to support the “holistic revitalization” of the Eastside neighborhood north of TIAA Bank Field. The contribution is through the Jaguars Foundation. Through the NFL’s Inspire Change platform, the Jaguars and LIFT JAX have been working with Historic Eastside Community Development Corp. for more than a year. “I love what LIFT JAX represents, so it’s my privilege to make this donation and help to set a course that I hope will have immediate and lasting impact,” Khan said.
“County announces new leaders in 2 departments, plus positive pandemic news” via Charlotte Twine of Keys Weekly — Wednesday’s BOCC meeting ground to a good-natured halt during an emotional presentation for the retirement of longtime Fire Rescue Chief James “Jim” Callahan. At the gathering, he received two plaques, many tributes and a tongue-in-cheek roast or two. Callahan’s retirement and the appointment of his successor took place during the May 19 meeting of the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners. Callahan retired after 15 years with the county, and a video detailed his accomplishments: for example, after a devastating fire on Conch Key when he first started, he instituted a countywide hydrant installation program; following another large fire on Stock Island, he pushed for additional equipment and career-service firefighters to meet the community’s expectations.
“September reprimand set for circuit judge” via The News Service of Florida — The Florida Supreme Court scheduled a Sept. 2 public reprimand for a Citrus County circuit judge who improperly tried to dissuade an attorney from running against a fellow judge in last year’s elections. The Court approved a settlement that was reached by Judge Richard Howard and the state Judicial Qualifications Commission. An investigative panel alleged that Howard in 2019 tried to dissuade attorney Pamela Vergara from running against then-Circuit Judge George Angeliadis. Angeliadis was a judge in Hernando County, which, like Citrus County, is in the 5th Judicial Circuit. Among other things, Howard tried to convince Vergara to run instead against Circuit Judge Mary Hatcher, who hears cases in Marion County, another part of the circuit.
Top opinion
“What’s irretrievable after a pandemic year” via Salman Rushdie in The Washington Post — Many people wanted to feel that some good would come out of the horror, that we would as a species somehow learn virtuous lessons and emerge from the cocoon of the lockdown as splendid New Age butterflies and create kinder, gentler, less greedy, more ecologically wise, less racist, less capitalist, more inclusive societies. This seemed to me, still seems to me, like Utopian thinking. The coronavirus did not strike me as the harbinger of socialism. The world’s power structures and their beneficiaries would not easily surrender to a new idealism. I couldn’t help finding strange our need to imagine the good emerging out of the bad.
Opinions
“Here’s your chance to prove you’re more than a Trump sycophant, Sen. Rubio” via the Miami Herald editorial board — It’s hard to take a principled stand when one lacks a spine, as Rubio has shown us since Trump’s election, most recently by declaring he’s against the creation of a bipartisan commission to look into the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attacks. However, we continue to hold out hope for Rubio. Unlike Scott, Rubio voted to certify the 2020 election results. Essentially, he did his job, but given the low bar congressional Republicans have set on matters dealing with Trump and facts about the elections, that says a lot. However, as a Republican running for reelection next year, it’s in Rubio’s best interest to act as if there’s nothing to see, nothing to learn about why a mob of Trump supporters violently disrupted a democratic process.
“Too many political appointments = too much power for Florida’s Governor” via the Orlando Sentinel editorial board — Our attempts to pry a total number of gubernatorial appointments from the executive office were met with the administration’s familiar stonewalling. Whatever. We can count. And according to his office’s news releases, DeSantis has made more than 200 gubernatorial appointments since Jan. 1, representing just a portion of the total number. The system vests far too much power in one person. Plus, we know a busy Governor isn’t personally finding and vetting these candidates. He has people to do that for him. Therein is another problem. The political advisers or bureaucrats or whoever has the Governor’s ear at the moment aren’t elected. They’re not accountable to voters. But they’re influencing who’s getting appointed to positions where regional and statewide public policy is made.
“Get back to work — to help DeSantis get a job” via Randy Schultz of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Tuesday’s front page of the Sun-Sentinel perfectly juxtaposed Republican gaslighting and reality. The gaslighting was DeSantis’ announcement that on June 26, Florida would end the additional $300 in federal unemployment benefits from the American Rescue Plan. Those slackers, the Governor said, are holding back economic recovery. Yet the talking point persists, especially among Republicans in Florida and their enablers. One of the most enabling is Florida Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Wilson. To Wilson, it’s simple. Good jobs are available, but handing out generous federal freebies “encourages people to stay home.”
“COVID-19 crisis should have brought us together, but it drove us further apart” via Leonard Pitts, Jr. of the Miami Herald — To our credit, we are a nation that has always united in times of national crisis. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, when the Russians launched Sputnik, when John Kennedy was murdered, when terrorists flew planes into skyscrapers, we ceased, albeit briefly, to be red or blue or Black or White. The post mortem of this era will be that, for arguably the first time in history, we faced a crisis that did not bring us together. That is a sobering realization. It induces mixed emotions as the pandemic begins to ebb. We used to know how to forge a common cause from national calamity. Apparently, we no longer do. This is the kind of thing that once brought Americans together.
“We aren’t getting a national vaccine ‘passport.’ So let’s use the next best thing: CDC vaccination cards.” via Drew Altman of The Washington Post — Vaccine passports quickly became a political lightning rod, but they offer a simple and effective way to end confusion about who is vaccinated and who still ought to wear masks in public spaces or workplaces. Rather than waste any more time squabbling over passports, let’s ramp up the use of the next best thing: CDC vaccination cards. More than 160 million Americans have been vaccinated, which means nearly 50% of the population has the cards they were given when they got their shots. These cards are not perfect, but they are a good step, and they could be pressed into service immediately. Airlines, employers, stadiums and schools can start requiring patrons or students to show proof of vaccination.
“Homes, businesses have the right to choose energy sources” via Rick Harper of the Orlando Sentinel — Florida’s economic comeback from 2020 is fueled by many sources. It’s the hard work, grit and determination of our workforce. It’s the entrepreneurial spirit of Florida’s business owners. And it’s the free-market policies that allow us to choose from what’s available, affordable and reliable. Floridians’ access to natural gas is an important part of our free market that enables consumers and businesses to make the best choice from the available options and prosper. That’s why it’s so important to protect our access to energy sources. This Legislative Session, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 919. The measure prevents local governments from banning sources of energy.
On today’s Sunrise
DeSantis and Education Commissioner Corcoran are asking the state Board of Education to adopt a new policy to whitewash American history by forbidding the teaching of “critical race theory.”
Also, on today’s Sunrise:
— DeSantis wants schools to stick with the approved version of history and penalize teachers and schools that don’t toe the line.
— The number of new COVID-19 cases is way down, but the Florida Department of Health reported 81 new fatalities Tuesday.
— The COVID-19 crisis has decimated Florida’s tourism industry, but VISIT FLORIDA says they’re going to turn that around, thanks in part to a record-setting budget.
— VISIT FLORIDA will be trying to lure more international travelers by hosting marketing trips to Mexico and the United Kingdom over the summer.
— The COVID-19 crisis isn’t done yet, but Florida TaxWatch says we’ve already learned a lot, like the toll on our mental health. TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro talks about long-term changes in health care beyond the pandemic.
— And finally, police arrested a Florida Man for dropping a deuce outside a synagogue in Broward County.
“Blood moon, total lunar eclipse to dazzle Western U.S. on Wednesday morning” via Matthew Cappucci of The Washington Post — If you glance skyward during the predawn hours Wednesday and the moon is bathed in an eerie red glow, don’t be alarmed. Parts of the Western United States will be treated to a total lunar eclipse early in the morning, while skywatchers coast to coast can enjoy a bright full moon. Some are even calling it a “super flower blood moon,” making reference to its apparent size in the sky, the abundance of blooms at this time of year, and the color the moon will turn during the eclipse. Eclipses occur when one celestial object blocks another, casting a shadow known as an “umbra.”
A spectacular ‘blood moon’ is visible in parts of the Western U.S. this morning. Image via AP.
“SpaceX set for Wednesday launch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral” via Emre Kelly of Florida Today — SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are preparing for the company’s next launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday, this time flying the 29th batch of internet satellites for the Starlink constellation. The 230-foot rocket is poised for liftoff at 2:59 p.m., the opening of an instantaneous window at Launch Complex 40, after what appeared to be a successful test-fire of the rocket’s main engines Monday evening. SpaceX has not yet confirmed mission details, but filings with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Space Force indicate the company is on track for Wednesday. On the weather front, the Space Force on Tuesday confirmed that conditions should be 90% favorable for liftoff.
“Disneyland to introduce a $100 sandwich” via Fox 5 News — The Disneyland Resort will soon be home to a new attraction, one of the most expensive sandwiches in the world. The Anaheim, California resort will feature a new panini sandwich that will debut when Avengers Campus opens at Disney California Adventure Park on June 4. The sandwich will cost $99.99. The menu says it will serve 6-8 guests. It comes with salami, rosemary ham, provolone, and sun-dried tomato spread on toasted focaccia. It is served with marinara dipping sauce and arugula salad. The sandwich will also be available in a single serving for $14.99. Also on the menu is an oversized can that is filled with soda. That drink will put you back $22.99.
Happy birthday
Celebrating today are the great Marian Johnson of The Florida Chamber of Commerce, as well as Florida Politics contributor Mark Bergin, Jason Harrell, Mike Fischer (it’s his real birthday), Dan Krassner, and Dr. Jason Wilson.
___
Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Renzo Downey and Drew Wilson.
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Good morning. Imagine for a moment that you’re on a failing first date. In a last ditch effort your date asks you the standard icebreaker question, “If you could bring one thing to a deserted island, what would it be?” You try to think of something to impress them: a book? A copy of the 2011 comedy Hall Pass? But then you remember the coolest thing you can think of: your CoolCabanas. Your date gasps and through excited tears asks, “You mean the world’s best beach shelter?” They immediately propose.
That’s why we are sending 30 beach cabanas to readers for this month’s giveaway. You can enter to win by referring friends to the Brew with your unique referral link: 1 referral = 1 entry in the raffle. The contest runs for exactly one week.
Covid-19: Moderna will apply for FDA authorization next month to administer its coronavirus vaccine to kids as young as 12. Half of US adults are now fully vaccinated.
Economy: Republicans are planning to offer President Biden a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package this week. Biden’s initial plan had been to spend $2.3 trillion.
Markets: Energy, healthcare, and financial stocks sent the major indexes down yesterday, but the latest readings of consumer confidence and the housing market offered good news on the economic recovery.
Do Amazon’s marketplace policies make shopping on the internet more expensive?
Washington, DC, Attorney General Karl Racine thinks so, which is why he sued Amazon over antitrust allegations yesterday.
Those allegations: Amazon’s restrictive agreements with third-party sellers limit their ability to sell products for less on other e-commerce sites, artificially inflating prices and reducing competition.
Until 2019, the suit says, Amazon flat-out banned sellers on its marketplace from offering their items for cheaper elsewhere.
When lawmakers started snooping around, Amazon threw out that rule…then ended up replacing it with a clone, Racine said. If sellers try to list products on other sites for a lower cost, Amazon will allegedly bury them on its site.
In a statement, Amazon said Racine “has it exactly backwards—sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store…and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively.”
Why it’s a big deal
Actually…if we’re being honest…the lawsuit itself isn’t a huge deal. It was filed only in DC, not federal court, and Racine didn’t invite other AGs to the party, as is common in these types of cases. So overall, the lawsuit doesn’t have a lot of teeth.
But it’s important in many ways, too. It’s believed to be the first time that Amazon’s been sued by the US government over antitrust allegations. It also strikes at the core of Amazon’s retail business: its marketplace, which brings in more than half of the company’s total sales.
Bottom line: Amazon now joins Facebook and Google, which have both been hit with antitrust lawsuits. Those cases will be slower moving than you on a Saturday morning, and experts say the tech companies have the advantage due to the current structure of antitrust law.
It’s no Yurchenko double pike, but Vimeo became the 11th company to be spun off from IAC yesterday when it went public on the NYSE.
IAC, a holding company, is known for prolific dealmaking; previous spin-offs include Match Group, Expedia, and LendingTree.
Vimeo’s no longer an “indie version of YouTube”
CEO Anjali Sud told The Verge that, under her leadership, it’s become “more like a Slack or a Dropbox model, but for video.” Vimeo’s main business is software as a service, or Saas, that makes it easier for the Average Joe’s Gymnasiums of the world to create and distribute video content.
The strategic pivot is paying off. In the first quarter of 2021, Vimeo reported…
$89.4 million in revenue, a 57% annual increase
$3.3 million in net profit, compared to a $20.3 million loss last year
Looking ahead…Sud told Barron’s that Vimeo’s growth will slow later this year as face masks come down and in-person happy hours come back, but should pick back up in 2022.
Yesterday, Bowery Farming announced a $300 million fundraising round that included A-list investors like Natalie Portman, José Andrés, and Lewis Hamilton. Justin Timberlake also chipped in.
The startup, now valued at $2.3 billion, grows produce using indoor vertical farming setups. Its 13 varieties of greens are sold in 850 stores, and with its new funds it’ll build additional farms and expand into new crops including tomatoes, strawberries, and carrots.
Sci-fi farming is catching on
Climate change concerns and a renewed focus on the food supply chain have contributed to increased investor appetite for indoor farming. Last year, global VC investment in indoor farms tripled to almost $1.9 billion.
Bowery’s deal is the biggest on record for the industry, but competitors have scored plenty of dough in recent months, including BrightFarms ($100 million last October), “Omakase” strawberry grower Oishii ($50 million in March), and AppHarvest, which SPAC’d in February and is now worth $1.5 billion.
Zoom out: The indoor farming sector is growing but is still just a wee seedling. In 2019, California grew nearly 4x more pounds of lettuce than all indoor-grown veggies across the country combined.
Look, not every headline has to be groundbreaking–especially if what we are saying is technically, ingeniously true.
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Sales are : New home sales in April fell almost 6%, more than analysts expected. Every region saw a decline except the West, which was up ~8%.
Prices are : The median price of a new home jumped 11.4% in April to $372,400.
Those are connected. The number of homes for sale remains low, and expensive lumber and supply chain shortages are delaying new ones from being built. The backlog of new homes sold in April but awaiting construction rose 16.5%, the most since 2006, Bloomberg reports.
Big picture: Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman rounded up some anecdotes from this “bizarre” housing market yesterday:
63% of surveyed buyers said they put in a bid without seeing a property in person.
Sales are closing an average 1.7% above asking price, despite home prices already rising 24% annually.
Lenders have called employers to confirm buyers have permission to WFH after the pandemic.
Best for last: One would-be homebuyer promised to name her first-born after the seller. She didn’t get the house.
Stat: Guy Fieri’s new deal with the Food Network will earn him $80 million over three years, according to Forbes, making him the highest-paid chef on cable TV. And it’s still a good deal for the network. Fieri’s show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives generated more than $230 million in ad revenue last year, according to Kantar.
Quote: “I made a mistake. I must say now that, very very very importantly, I love and respect China and Chinese people.”
Actor John Cena apologized to China after calling Taiwan, which China considers its sovereign territory, a “country” while promoting the new Fast & Furious film. Critics body-slammed the former pro wrestler for capitulating to the Chinese government, but on the other hand many Chinese social media users didn’t think the apology was sufficient.
Read: A super helpful primer on machine learning. (MIT)
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Background music: Stop by the lofi cafe for chill beats and a coffee shop vibe, all wrapped in a retro interface.
Put the “I” in Ikea: Here’s a collection of home accessory and furniture projects to make yourself, ranging from a simple vase to a legit velvet sofa.
A number of countries have banned their airlines from flying over Belarus following the forced landing that led to the arrest of a dissident journalist. Here’s our question to you: Can you spot Belarus on this map?
ANSWER
It’s F
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[The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act aims] to hold police accountable for wrongdoing, banish long-criticized law enforcement practices like chokeholds and no-knock warrants and create a nationwide registry of bad cops. The legislation is being mulled over by the Senate and President Joe Biden, who met with Floyd’s family on Tuesday.
…
Some cities, like Minneapolis and Louisville, have already implemented significant police reforms, outlawing chokeholds and imposing severe restrictions on the use of no-knock warrants. Elected officials in other cities, including Austin, Seattle, New York and Portland, Oregon, voted in 2020 to reallocate funds from police agencies to other services like housing and mental health assistance.
…
Polls conducted last summer, including ones by the Pew Research Center and Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 16 million to 26 million people in America participated in at least one BLM protest following Floyd’s death, making it the largest social movement in U.S. history.
Why is the Justice Department blocking the full release of a Russiagate memo?
A federal judge angrily ordered the Justice Department to produce a key document related to its decision not to charge then-President Trump with obstruction of justice…
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How would an incoming state law affect Texas’ gun owners?
House Bill 1927 would allow anyone over the age of 21 who can legally possess a firearm in Texas to carry a handgun in public without a permit. Current state law allows residents 2…
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Why was a high-profile UK social justice leader shot?
Sasha Johnson, 27, became a familiar face as an organizer and speaker at anti-racism demonstrations that spread from the United States to Britain last summer. Black Lives Matter U.K. paid tribute to Jo…
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How does a new Florida law prevent social media sites from ‘deplatforming’ politicians?
Florida’s law says that social media companies may not “permanently delete or ban” a candidate for office. Suspensions of up to 14 days are allowed, and a service can remove…
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All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PST
YESTERDAY’S POLLShould there be quotas for female representation in government?
No
85%
Yes
9%
Unsure
6%
380 votes, 99 comments
Context: Samoa elects its first female prime minister and implements a quota for female legislators.
HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS
“No – We need more women in government. For example, countries with female leaders fared better against COVID-19. But a quota is undemocratic. Instead, we need to look at what holds us women back from successfully running for office, societally and culturally, and address those causes. Having worked in politics for over a decade, I know many women who would be more involved if they had access to quality childcare. Another factor used to be networking opportunities, but women are starting to rectify that on our own with local women in business clubs.”
“Yes – Ideally, we could treat our government like a free market where the best leaders naturally rise to the top, based on…”
“No – I agree that there needs to be more women in our political infrastru…”
The Hill has acknowledged a predicament in which the media finds themselves as evidence increasingly suggests that COVID-19 originated from a virology lab in Wuhan, China. For about a year, U.S. news outlets ran cover for the Chinese by panning anyone who mentioned the Wuhan lab as a racist or a conspiracy theorist. One of the main promoters of suspicions over the Chinese lab was former President Donald Trump. It should be interesting to watch Trump-hating news organizations report on this developing story whilst trying to avoid owning up to their previous attempts to dismiss and deflect from what has always been a solid theory about where the virus came from. As for these media entities admitting that Trump was right all along; don’t hold your breath.
Iran Deal Revival Effort Is Working Out Well – for Iran
Something political to ponder as you enjoy your morning coffee.
The almost completely unrestrained influx of illegal aliens into the United States should be recognized for what it really is: the largest human trafficking operation in history, now actively facilitated by the U.S. government. It is hard to ignore the fact that a great many migrants attempt to enter the U.S. in search of a better future for themselves and their children, but it is nothing short of inhumane to also ignore the fact that thousands of these migrants are being subjected to extortion, coercion, misery, and great danger by those who make a profit from smuggling them across the border. At what point do lawmakers in Washington, D.C. acknowledge that taking decisive action to discourage illegal immigration is the only truly compassionate thing to do?
Hopefully the Joe Biden administration will adopt sounder policies to finance its ambitious public spending programs than it has been proposing to date.
It is time to silence our concerns about kids getting messy, stop following kids around with bottles of hand sanitizer and extra masks, and start letting them explore the world on their own. It’s time to embrace our inner free-range parent.
Here’s our coverage of the Chauvin trial and verdict. The Flip Side
From the Left
The left is focused on police accountability, and calls for further reforms to prevent unnecessary deaths.
“In the weeks following Floyd’s May 25, 2020, death in Minneapolis, the country saw an astonishing shift in public opinion. The number of Americans saying that Black people face serious discrimination, holding unfavorable views of the police, and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement spiked in the weeks after his murder. But since that peak, views have tempered somewhat, with support settling below the highs of that summer… [Nevertheless] Floyd’s death has created a window for agreement and policy changes…
“[There’s a] growing recognition within the broader population of unequal treatment of Black Americans, demonstrated by the massive, diverse protests in summer 2020 as well as the widespread approval for the conviction last month of Derek Chauvin for Floyd’s murder. Before the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery last spring, Americans believed that race relations were improving… That trend quickly reversed. Gallup found that Americans are now more conscious of race as a problem in American society, with the biggest shifts coming among white people…
“Six in 10 respondents (though only three in 10 white conservatives) in Navigator’s polling said the country needs to change the way the police operate, including 50 percent who said that big changes are needed… nearly two-thirds of all voters back the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act [JPA], which would ban police choke holds and no-knock warrants, among other reforms.” David A. Graham, The Atlantic
“George Floyd’s death helped to accelerate the evolution of America’s Third Reconstruction. And just like the backlash faced after racial slavery and the challenges endured during the Second Reconstruction (the modern civil rights era) and the first (in the years following the Civil War when Black people got elected to office and started to legislate their own post-slavery new deal before being disenfranchised by Jim Crow), we face continuous assaults on Black voting rights, resistance to telling the truth about American history and political roadblocks to efforts to achieve reparations for the wealth that has been plundered from the African American community…
“The Biden administration’s focus on racial equity in the passing of the pandemic relief bill, the organization of the Justice Department, executive orders and public pronouncements following the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial all reflect the power of Black grassroots insurgency in the wake of Floyd’s death.” Peniel E. Joseph, CNN
“Hundreds of agencies have incorporated [a police training program called Integrating Communications, Assessments, and Tactics (ICAT)] into [their] training. Robin Engel, a professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, evaluated the program and found a 28% drop in use of force incidents by Louisville officers. This comes as more recent incidents of police using deadly force dominate the news cycle, including Daunte Wright, 20, in Minnesota and Adam Toledo, 13, in Illinois, have continued to erode the trust between communities and police.” Emma Tucker and Omar Jimenez, CNN
Critics of current reform efforts note that “After a jury convicted Chauvin of murder last month, congressional staffers told Axios there was a sense of relief in the Capitol that Chauvin’s conviction alleviated pressure to pass a police reform package. Meanwhile, organizers renewed a push to further policies that prevent violent interactions with law enforcement in the first place, rather than simply trying to hold police accountable after they’ve already caused harm to someone, as was the aim of most congressional negotiations…
“[The political arm of the Movement for Black Lives] helped develop an alternative proposal [to JPA], the BREATHE Act, which would divest from law enforcement agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and reinvest funds from such agencies into social, health, and education programs… but the proposal never took off in Congress… While it’s true that JPA was one of the most significant congressional efforts to address police brutality in decades, that’s only because there wasn’t much to compare it to before.” Akela Lacy, The Intercept
From the Right
The right is focused on increases in crime, which they blame on reduced policing.
“Floyd’s death was an outrage. But the response — to vilify all cops, and ‘defund’ them — has backfired. Shootings and murders have skyrocketed in cities such as Minneapolis, St. Louis and New York. The movement has done little to reform departments, but it has undermined thousands of police tasked with protecting the most vulnerable people in the most crime-ridden communities…
“Society entrusts cops with extraordinary powers and responsibilities. It shouldn’t be forgotten, however, that Derek Chauvin was fired and convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers who were at the scene of the Floyd murder also face criminal charges. Cities need police departments that offer accountability and better training. What cities don’t need is angry sloganeering and blanket condemnation of all cops.” David Harsanyi, New York Post
“Homicides rose 50% in Chicago in 2020, 46% in New York City, and 38% in Los Angeles. The U.S. saw the largest annual percentage increase in homicides in recorded history in 2020. That increase has continued in 2021. The number of shooting victims in Chicago was up 43% in the first three months of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. Through May 16, the number of shooting victims in New York City is up 78.6% over a year ago…
“Minneapolis homicides between Jan. 1 and last week were up 108% compared with the same period in 2020; shootings were up 153%, and carjackings 222%…
“The victims of that additional crime increase will, as always, be disproportionately black. At least three-quarters of Minneapolis’s homicide and shooting victims are black, though the city is less than a fifth black. Messrs. Sharpton and Crump have no answers to that dilemma, so they ignore it. While police need to train relentlessly in de-escalation and sound tactics, they are not the problem in minority communities; criminals are. As long as the police are demonized and scapegoated, law-abiding residents of high-crime neighborhoods will continue to live in fear.” Heather Mac Donald, Wall Street Journal
“In 2018, the latest year for which federal data is available, there were about 3.7 million police-initiated contacts between law enforcement and black people, wherein nonlethal force or the threat of force was used. That same year, according to the Washington Post, 232 black people were shot dead by police. That would mean 0.006% of police-initiated contacts between law enforcement and black people, wherein nonlethal and lethal force was used, resulted in the death of a black person. Only a small fraction of those incidents, about 20 cases a year, involved an unarmed black person being killed…
“Overwhelming majorities of black people give police high marks for their behavior when it comes to interacting with police. Looking at just traffic stops in 2015, the most recent year for which this type of data is available, 85% of black people said the police behaved properly when they received a ticket during a traffic stop. For black people who just got a warning, 92% said the police behaved properly. Amusingly, even when the stop resulted in a car search or an arrest, nearly 70% of black people said they thought police conducted themselves appropriately…
“I fear the real legacy we mark this day is that our constitutional commitment to due process of law has given way to mob justice. Derek Chauvin did not receive a fair trial — which is a different issue from whether he was guilty of murder or manslaughter. The city of Minneapolis, which was principally responsible for ensuring a fair trial, went out of its way to inflame the jury pool against him. The trial judge failed to take adequate steps to shield the jury from prejudicial publicity…
“In a complex three-week trial, freighted with so much expert medical and use-of-force testimony that the trial judge gave the lawyers a long weekend to prepare their full day of summations, the jury convicted Chauvin on all counts at breakneck speed — just a few hours, during which they did not ask to review a single exhibit, hear a word of testimony read back, or seek clarification on any point of law. The main legacy of George Floyd’s death is societal division exacerbated by surging violent crime.” Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review
🐪 Happy Wednesday!Smart Brevity™ count: 1,164 words … 4½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.
📊 At 12:30 p.m. ET today, please join Axios’ Sara Fischer and Nicholas Johnston for a virtual event unpacking 2021 Axios Harris Poll rankings for top brands. Guests: Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema, 3M’s Brian Henry, and Stagwell Group president Mark Penn and vice chair Ray Day. Sign up here.
1 big thing … 🚨 Axios interview: Microsoft CEO warns Big Tech
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tells Axios’ Ina Fried that tech companies face more regulation if they don’t do a better job of anticipating malicious uses for what they develop, with more attention to security and ethics.
“You can’t, as a tech provider, platform creator, say: ‘Hey, I’ll scale this and then worry about the unintended consequences,'” Nadella said. “That’s just not going to be acceptable in society, first. And then regulation, of course, ultimately will catch up.”
“Tech is becoming so pervasive in our lives, in our society and our economy, that when it breaks, it’s not just about any one tech breaking or one company breaking,” Nadella added. “It impacts us all.”
Nadella said that where once Microsoft may have lacked competition, other companies now merit close antitrust scrutiny.
“I think it’s pretty self-evident, right? I mean, when you look at … what is happening in the advertising space, what’s happening in certain platforms and the restrictions on those platforms, I think it’s clear as day where there is competition and where there isn’t.”
Ina’s thought bubble: Nadella didn’t name names. But if I were Apple’s Tim Cook or Google’s Sundar Pichai, I’d take his comments personally.
As America reopens, men are broadly optimistic; women aren’t. Parents see a brighter future than the childless. And the rich, naturally, have a sunnier outlook than the poor, Felix Salmon writes from a major new survey from McKinsey and Ipsos, provided first to Axios.
By far the biggest dividing line on economic optimism: access to health care and health insurance.
Overall, Americans are modestly optimistic about their economic futures, according to McKinsey’s index. But many Americans have deep reservations:
Women bore the brunt of the extra childcare burden during the pandemic, and also the brunt of the job losses. Both of those have significantly harmed their economic prospects.
Among moms who have stopped looking for work during the pandemic, 14% said they did so in order to look after their family. For dads, the equivalent number is a mere 3%.
62% of workers in the gig economy prefer to have permanent employment.
3. Scientists: Canceling Tokyo games “may be safest option”
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
With 58 daysuntil the summer Olympics’ opening ceremony, scientists warn that “canceling the games may be the safest option,” Axios’ Marisa Fernandez writes from a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Why it matters: Preparing for 20,000 athletes and support staff from 200 countries, Japan remains in a state of emergency — with 70,000 active COVID cases and only 5% of the population vaccinated.
On Monday, the surge prompted both the CDC and State Department to warn Americans against travel to Japan.
The IOC’s plan emphasizes unsuccessful mitigation measures like temperature checks and contact tracing apps that are “often ineffective,” the authors write:
There is no safety guidance in risk levels associated with outdoor and indoor sporting events.
Players aren’t provided masks by the IOC and must bring their own.
The IOC provides “insufficient detail” on testing frequency and hotel isolation, as well as limited contact tracing.
Athletes have limited insurance coverage if they contract COVID.
More foreign-born immigrants are moving to the center of the U.S. than in the past, Worth Sparkman of Axios Northwest Arkansas and Linh Ta of Axios Des Moineswrite from a new report by Heartland Forward.
Why it matters: With population growth in the U.S. slower than it has been for 100 years, both high-skilled and lower-skilled industries across America rely more on immigrants to power their workforces.
Many states’ populations would be shrinking if not for immigrants, the N.Y. Times reported (subscription) last year.
Republicans in at least nine states are moving to limit students’ exposure to critical race theory, which links racial discrimination to the nation’s foundations and legal system, Axios’ Russell Contreras reports.
Why it matters: A year after George Floyd’s killing, how systemic racism is — or is not — taught in public schools has become a new fault line in the culture wars, with implications for how the next generation of Americans understands U.S. history.
Conservative activists are pressing for less talk about racism and more talk about patriotism.
Civil rights advocates and some educators say banning critical race theory from schools constrains academic freedom, and suppresses the experiences of people of color.
What’s next: President Biden will travel to Tulsa next Tuesday to observe the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the White House said yesterday.
The massacre has become a rallying cry for African Americans seeking reparations from one of the worst acts of racial violence in the nation’s history.
New York prosecutors have convened a special grand jury to consider evidence in a criminal investigation into former President Trump’s business dealings, AP reports.
Why it matters: That signals that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is moving toward seeking charges after a two-year investigation, including a lengthy legal battle for Trump’s tax records.
Trump said in a statement: “This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history.”
Go deeper: Vance is scrutinizing Trump business practices, and compensation for top Trump Organization executives, per the WashPost.
8. Top Biden official pushes new look at Wuhan lab-leak theory
High school students in San Pedro, Calif., are part of an effort to use pep-rally tactics to get students vaccinated before summer. Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told a WHO assembly that the U.S. wants an expanded probe of COVID’s origins, “amid renewed questions about whether the virus jumped from an animal host into humans … or escaped from a lab in Wuhan,” the WashPost reports in its lead story.
Becerra said in prerecorded remarks: “Phase 2 of the COVID origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based, and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak.”
Why it matters: The lab-leak theory was initially dismissed as unlikely, but “recent reports about the hospitalization of Wuhan lab researchers in November 2019 … have given it new traction,” The Post writes.
9. Scoop: Katty Kay leaves BBC
Photos: Felix Mallaby-Kay and Gabriella Hasbun
BBC News star Katty Kay will join OZY Media, Carlos Watson’s digital-first media and entertainment company, on June 28 as senior editor and executive producer, Axios’ Sara Fischer scoops.
Why it matters: Kay brings decades of global editorial experience to OZY, which produces dozens of shows, podcasts and documentaries.
Kay and Watson launched a podcast in September called “When Katty Met Carlos,” inspiring them to make the partnership permanent.
“I’ve never found a reason to leave the BBC,” Kay told Axios. “It took a really special place to get me to leave a special place.”
The big picture: Kay’s hiring comes as OZY hits its stride.
The company brought in $50 million in revenue last year, helping it hit profitability for the first time in its seven-year history.
1,000+ people flooded the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday night after a birthday-party invitation went viral on TikTok. Photo: Fox 11 KTTV via AP
“Adrian’s Kickback” — an invitation for a 17th-birthday party for Adrian Lopez — went viral on TikTok, drawing thousands of strangers to fire pits at Huntington Beach and an event space in L.A., the N.Y. Times’ Taylor Lorenz reports (subscription).
“It was meant to be for my school,” Adrian said.
“TikTok videos with the hashtag #adrianskickback … attracted nearly 280 million views,” Lorenz writes.
“YouTubers, TikTokers and live streamers went to make posts about it for the millions at home who couldn’t attend.”
Kai Watson, 20, of the podcast network The Sync — who was at Huntington Beach on Saturday — described the scene as a “zombie apocalypse” of 17-to-19-year-olds. He expects more mass mobilizations.
The morning’s most important stories, curated by Post editors.
Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, said he and many experts felt it was more likely that the coronavirus was a “natural occurrence” but called for further investigation. (Reuters)
The theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, China, has gained traction amid criticism of an international probe and reports that several workers there were ill in November 2019 — weeks before the virus was officially identified.
By Yasmeen Abutaleb, Shane Harris and Ben Guarino ● Read more »
President Joe Biden is keeping his campaign promise to be cagey about his health as the White House dithers on the patient in chief’s next doctor’s visit.
Both the United States steel industry and the environment would be big winners if policymakers imposed a new tax on carbon-intensive imports with a similar duty on their domestic counterparts, according to a new report.
A bipartisan Senate bill would direct the Federal Communications Commission not to sign off on any applications from companies on its national security threats list, including Huawei, after one of the commissioners pushed for a bigger crackdown on Chinese Communist Party-linked companies in the United States.
The threat of COVID-19 infection remains high for kidney transplant patients, underscoring that people with weakened immune systems are still vulnerable even as the pandemic recedes and people are eager to abandon social distancing guidelines.
A hypothesis about the origins of COVID-19 has, in the space of a few weeks, gone from a seemingly debunked conspiracy theory to a plausible explanation in the eyes of some in the media.
President Joe Biden and Alaska’s congressional delegation gave the state’s tourism industry a shot in the arm with the signing of legislation that allows cruise ships to return to the Last Frontier this summer.
Big Tech bias and social media censorship is a serious concern. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis needs to realize that any conservative “solution” that violates the First Amendment is no solution at all.
Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were indicted on Tuesday with murder charges in the death of Vallow’s two children nearly two years after they went missing.
Former CIA Director John Brennan suggested more exists on the “financial front” than the public knows within the alleged ties between members of ex-President Donald Trump’s orbit and Russia.
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18.) ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 26, 2021
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AP Morning Wire
Good morning. Here is today’s selection of top stories from The Associated Press at this hour to begin the U.S. day.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have convened a special grand jury to consider evidence in a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business dealings, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday….Read More
BEIRUT (AP) — Auto magnate-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn is campaigning to clear his name, and hopes a visit by French investigators to his home in exile in Lebanon will be his first real opportunity to defend himself since the bombshell arrest that…Read More
Two black pickups speed down an empty city street in Myanmar before coming to a sudden stop. Security forces standing in the back of the trucks begin firing at an oncoming motorbike carrying three young men. …Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans revived negotiations over President Joe Biden’s sweeping investment plan, preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that would be funded with COVID-19 relief money as a counteroffer to the White House ahea…Read More
NEW DELHI (AP) — As the coronavirus tears through India, night watchman Sagar Kumar thinks constantly about getting vaccines for himself and his family of five amid critical shortages of shots in the country. …Read More
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angelina Jolie criticized a judge deciding on custody arrangements for her and Brad Pitt’s children during their divorce, saying in a court filing …Read More
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For Vanessa Gregson, the four-lane highway that borders the beach along San Francisco’s Pacific Ocean is now an automobile-free sanctuary where s…Read More
ROME (AP) — Police in northern Italy arrested three people early Wednesday in the cable car disaster that killed 14 people after an investigation showed a clamp, inte…Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government will issue cybersecurity regulations in the coming days for U.S. pipeline operators following a ransomware attack that led to…Read More
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Good morning, Chicago. Yesterday daily COVID-19 numbers hit their lowest in over two months, with officials reporting 808 new cases. This was also the third day in a row when cases were under 1,000. Officials also reported that 17 Illinoisans died from the coronavirus.
Chicago officials also announced a shift in the focus of vaccination efforts. While many of the larger sites will be winding down, including the United Center and other mass vaccination sites, the city is planning dozens of pop-up events, vaccine incentives and home visits, in an attempt to reach more Chicagoans.
Meanwhile, are you a parent with questions about getting your kid vaccinated against COVID-19? With parents scrambling to get COVID-19 vaccine shots in their kids’ arms before the start of summer, the Tribune is talking to the University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Allison Bartlett in a Facebook Live conversation, today at 12:30 p.m. Here’s how to tune in.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Illinois Democrats, already drawing legislative and congressional maps to solidify their majorities in those bodies, on Tuesday offered a new map of state Supreme Court districts in an effort to ensure the party maintains control of the state’s highest court.
Illinois Supreme Court districts haven’t been redrawn since 1964. But changing demographics and shifting regional politics, as well as the ouster of a Democratic justice by voters last year, have Democrats fearing that their advantage on the court could evaporate in next year’s election.
Outside the Thompson Center on Tuesday afternoon, about 15 activists from various organizations gathered for a news conference to recognize the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and to call for the City Council to pass the Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, also known as the “People’s Ordinance.”
The last time Neha Kaul Mehra was in her hometown of New Delhi was in October 2019 for Diwali. Since then, a pandemic emerged, travel became impossible and she has not seen family members abroad for more than a year.
Adding to that heartbreak has been watching from afar as India faces a deadly COVID-19 wave. For the Andersonville resident, as for many in Chicago worried about family abroad, the situation has been wrenching.
The Tribune’s Darcel Rockett spoke with Steven Rogers about his life at the intersection of finance, Black history and entrepreneurship as well as the historical data, case studies and practical ways laid out in the book to improve Black and white racial relations. This includes reparations: $153,000 from the federal government for each of the 20 million Black adults who are descendants of enslaved people.
Memorial Day is for both honorable remembrances and festivities that serve as the unofficial start of summer. As Chicago embraces relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and people flock to restaurants and bars, there’s plenty of fun to be had and delicious things to eat over the holiday weekend. Here’s our list of specials across the city and the suburbs.
Barring an 11th-hour parliamentary maneuver, City Council is poised Wednesday to rename Outer Lake Shore Drive in honor of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable at a cost pegged at $2.5 million.
Ald. David Moore, the Council’s champion for DuSable Drive, said Tuesday that Mayor Lightfoot’s administration tried to block the ordinance with an alternative he views as having “racial overtones” — renaming the Dan Ryan Expressway in honor of Chicago’s first permanent, non-indigenous settler. Fran Spielman has the full story…
A year after race protests in Chicago sounded calls for unity, shifting racial demographics, longstanding segregation and differing views on the role of police influence efforts to unite Black and Brown communities.
Democrats say populations shifts over the past ten years have caused large fluctuations among the existing court districts, but Republicans say the proposed boundaries are “the latest example of the extraordinary lengths the corrupt political class will go to keep control of power.”
Substitutes offered by Lightfoot’s administration, such as renaming the Dan Ryan Expressway, had “racial overtones,” Ald. David Moore said, characterizing the attitude as, “Keep it on the South Side. South of like 35th Street. Let’s be honest: Keep it in the Black community.”
The massive 1917 Hartwell Memorial Window will go on view May 27 in the Henry Crown Gallery at the top of the grand staircase in the museum’s Michigan Avenue building.
Adam Toledo’s family on Tuesday announced a not-for-profit organization that aims to help at-risk youth from Chicago and other Midwestern cities steer clear of trouble.
Asked about his 2019 resolution calling on Chicago to break away from the rest of Illinois, Bailey said, “Many times when two people are in a relationship or there’s a marriage and someone’s not happy, someone finally says I’m not happy. To me, that’s what that resolution was. It was a warning shot.”
Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Wednesday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe!
Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday, 589,893; Tuesday, 590,533; Wednesday, 590,941.
Lawmakers are taking a slow approach to their expected summer of policy debates while filling the vacuum with sideshows and acrimony.
Chatter surrounding a potential infrastructure deal cropped up again on Tuesday as Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), are preparing to make a new counteroffer to the White House in the neighborhood of $1 trillion.
“I think the American people are behind us here on this in terms of core infrastructure,” Capito told reporters, adding that GOP members were “disappointed” by President Biden’s most recent offer late last week, which tackled matters that are not considered traditional infrastructure.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), a member of the group, pointed to the likely $1 trillion price tag, indicating that Biden told senators that he could also agree to that top-line figure. Wicker previously floated on Monday that Republicans could go as high as $1 trillion.
“He indicated that that would be a figure that he could agree to,” Wicker said of Biden.
Declining to weigh in on the details of the impending proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that their expectation is that it will be a week of positive progression on the topic.
“Our view is that this week can be a week of progress, and including the counteroffer, which we expect to get later this week. I’m not going to prejudge what that looks like; we’ll have to look at the nitty-gritty details. Certainly, them coming up in funding is progress, but we’ll see what that looks like,” she said (CNN).
As The Hill’s Jordain Carney writes, the upcoming counteroffer comes as talks appeared to hit multiple snags, especially over how to pay for a bill and its scope ahead of the administration’s self-imposed soft Memorial Day deadline. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters that he expects to take up a package in July (The Hill).
The Associated Press: GOP senators ready $1 trillion infrastructure counteroffer to Biden.
NBC News: “A big divide”: Biden-GOP infrastructure talks sputter as Democrats ponder going it alone.
Not everyone is convinced the current GOP plan of attack will do the trick, including on their own side. According to The Washington Post, a group of more than a half-dozen senators, including Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), are in the early stages of drafting a plan that could earn broad support in each party after talks sputtered over the past five days between Biden and Capito.
Romney told the Post that the group reached a “pretty close consensus” on a package that is centered on traditional infrastructure elements. However, the group is giving the Biden-Capito negotiations every chance to succeed, framing their efforts as a backstop in case they go south.
The Washington Post: Bipartisan Senate group prepares a new infrastructure plan as talks stall between the White House and the GOP.
Takeaway: A bipartisan bill remains unlikely. Biden gave the GOP an-end-of-May deadline and we’re nearly there. Democratic leaders are already plotting a path to pass a partisan measure.
The Hill: Democrats start putting GOP on notice as patience runs thin.
With the Senate hard at work on the policy front, the House is doing the exact opposite. Members on both sides of the aisle found themselves in a public spat with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over multiple incendiary remarks and tweets equating COVID-19 vaccination and mask-wearing rules to the Holocaust, which resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews during World War II.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday condemned the remarks, calling the comparison “appalling,” adding that House Republicans as a whole condemn her language (The Hill). Absent from the GOP leader’s statement though is what, if any, action the conference will take on Greene’s latest remarks, even after a new video showed her at a public meeting in 2020 saying she would not take down a statue of Adolf Hitler.
The issue burst into the open Tuesday morning after Greene tweeted a news story about a grocery store in Tennessee that will allow vaccinated workers to stop wearing masks, noting that they will have a logo showing that they are vaccinated on their badge.
“Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star,” she tweeted. “Vaccine passports & mask mandates create discrimination against unvaxxed people who trust their immune systems to a virus that is 99% survivable.”
The bottom line: While the House is out of Washington, Republicans are spared reporters’ questions in the Capitol about Greene. And they are relieved.
The Hill: GOP senators introduce resolution condemning antisemitic violence amid “horrific” spike in attacks.
The New York Times: Greene’s Holocaust comparisons cause new headaches for GOP.
More in Congress: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) became the third Senate Republican to throw her weight behind a commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6, after Romney and Collins (The Hill). Also on Tuesday, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) issued a statement to “implore” their Republican colleagues to support a commission, with Schumer set to bring up the commission for a vote as early as this week … Schumer’s bipartisan bill seeking to improve U.S. competitiveness with China and other countries is attracting barbs from the GOP and progressives alike. The measure could be stalled past the Memorial Day recess, potentially delaying the rest of the Democratic agenda, with Republicans threatening to derail it due to a lack of votes on their amendments. Concurrently, Schumer is also feeling the heat Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who wants to add conditions to the $52 billion Schumer and other Democrats want to send to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers facing fierce foreign competition (The Hill). …Schumer tees up a vote on legislation to create a commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 (The Hill).
A MESSAGE FROM UBER
Meet Fallon. Delivering with Uber Eats helps her pay for college. “I like the flexibility of driving with Uber,” she says. “I can drive when I want to.”
*Driver earnings may vary depending on location, demand, hours, drivers, and other variables.
ADMINISTRATION: Biden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, the White House announced on Tuesday, confirming plans the president for weeks said were in the works. In seeking relations with Russia that the new administration hopes can be “stable and predictable,” Biden in April invited Putin to a one-on-one summit. It will take place following the Group of Seven gathering of world leaders in June in Cornwall, England, and Biden’s stop in Brussels on June 14 to meet with NATO leaders (The Associated Press).
Biden and Putin have spoken by phone since January, and the two met previously when Biden was vice president. In past interviews and public remarks, Biden has described Putin as a killer and malign influence in geopolitics and ordered sanctions against Russia as punishment for cyberattacks. But the president has also said the U.S. and Russia share common interests he wants to discuss with Putin, including nuclear nonproliferation and climate change.
Their meeting will take place exactly six years after former President Trump announced his presidential campaign with remarks that roped Russia in among economic complaints focused on China. “With all our problems with Russia, with all our problems with everything— everything, they got away with it again. And it’s impossible for our people here to compete,” he said at Trump Tower in 2015.
> Middle East: Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that the U.S. would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem — a move that restores ties with Palestinians that had been downgraded by the Trump administration. The consulate long served as an autonomous office in charge of diplomatic relations with the Palestinians. But Trump downgraded its operations and placed them under the authority of his ambassador to Israel when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem (The Associated Press).
> Afghanistan: The Pentagon accelerated U.S. troop withdrawals, which will be completed in Afghanistan by early to mid-July rather than Sept. 11 (The New York Times).
> Justice: Biden on Tuesday met at the White House with relatives of George Floyd, including his daughter Gianna Floyd (pictured below), and called on Congress to support “accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths.” He endorsed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House in March and remains in negotiations in the Senate. “I appreciate the good-faith efforts from Democrats and Republicans to pass a meaningful bill out of the Senate. It’s my hope they will get a bill to my desk quickly,” he said in a statement. … Separately, Attorney General Merrick Garland is attempting to strike a delicate balance at the Justice Department over secrecy, reports The Hill’s Harper Neidig.
> CMS: Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) following a 55-44 vote by the Senate to confirm her on Tuesday. The first Black woman to become CMS administrator, she will oversee the Biden administration’s goals of expanding the Affordable Care Act (The Hill).
> Biden up close: Reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere reports on his interview with Biden, conducted after Inauguration Day for his book, “Battle for the Soul.” Find it in The Atlantic. … Biden’s Catholicism is getting some media attention. The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Amie Parnes report their take on the president’s faith in the context of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. … Biden’s beloved Delaware has a new bishop. One of the debates is whether Biden can or should receive communion because of his rejection of the church’s doctrine that abortion is contrary to moral law (The Associated Press).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
CORONAVIRUS: As Americans return to active lives with (and without) COVID-19 inoculations, including travel, office work and in-person school schedules ahead, scientists are still trying to figure out how a novel coronavirus moved into Wuhan’s population and started a pandemic.
Some think the answer will never be clear because of China’s opaque policies. Others believe an answer can and should be found because knowing how a pandemic begins can help shut down the next one. The scientific community predicts it will not be long before another deadly pathogen will try to outwit the human immune system.
The question of COVID-19’s origins emerged with the first reported cases of mysterious and fatal infections in China. More than a year later, the quest for answers has become a scientific whodunit, fodder for hypotheses and myths, a target for political finger-pointing, and a puzzle inside government intelligence agencies.
In Congress, Republicans are demanding that Democrats launch investigations into China’s actions, including the role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, seizing on recent comments from public health officials and scientists that a viral leak from the Chinese lab could still turn out to be responsible for COVID-19’s leap into humans (The Hill). Another explanation based on the scientific world’s experience with coronaviruses is that COVID-19 moved from bats to small mammals and eventually adapted to infect humans in Wuhan.
It’s an assumption the National Institutes of Health’s Anthony Fauci embraced last year in the White House briefing room, but he now says more investigation is needed. “I am not convinced about that. I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” he said during a recent PolitiFact event. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a prerecorded message on Tuesday also called for continued international investigation (The Washington Post).
CNN: Chinese state media this week turned against Fauci in response to his remarks, assailing him for “fanning a huge lie against China.”
The continuing search for the origin of the virus has become a political irritant for conservatives because they believe the hypothesis was unfairly dismissed by the scientific world and by the news media simply because former President Trump asserted (without evidence or explanation) that he believed China’s lab was a likely culprit.
The “lab leak” theory recently moved back into U.S. conversations. The Washington Post published a timeline explaining how a hypothesis drifted from conjecture to dismissal to circumstantial evidence and then to second thoughts and credibility. U.S. intelligence agencies want to know more about workers from the Wuhan lab who were sick enough to be hospitalized in the fall of 2019 (denied by the lab director). The Wall Street Journal reported again on Monday that in April 2012, six miners in the mountains of Southwest China contracted a mysterious illness after entering a mine to clear bat guano. Three of them died. Wuhan Institute of Virology scientists investigated and, after taking samples from bats in the mine, identified several new coronaviruses. Is there a connection?
Shi Zhengli, a virologist known as China’s “bat woman” because of her study of coronaviruses found in bats (she’s pictured below), was seized with initial fears, recounted during an interview with Scientific American published in March 2020, that the virus could have leaked from the Wuhan lab she heads. “If coronaviruses were the culprit, she remembers thinking, ‘Could they have come from our lab?’” Through genomic testing, Shi said she determined that none of the samples from people infected with the mysterious Wuhan pathogen late in 2019 matched the viral sequences her team had sampled from bat caves.
A year ago, The Washington Post fact-checked the lab leak theory and the search for information by intelligence agencies with help from public health and scientific experts and labeled the theory “doubtful” as an explanation for the COVID-19 pandemic. “The balance of the scientific evidence strongly supports the conclusion that the new coronavirus emerged from nature — be it the Wuhan market or somewhere else,” the Post reported after lengthy explanations about what was known and still unknown.
Along the way, some Republicans credited Trump and blamed news outlets for “bias” in focusing on the scientific world’s uncertainty as the hunt for the origin of COVID-19 continues. The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes that the news media face hard questions. Liberal journalist Jonathan Chait, writing for New York magazine, published a piece on Monday titled “How the liberal media dismissed the lab-leak theory and smeared its supporters.”
The Biden administration early this year shut down an internal federal investigation launched under former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department. Sources recently told CNN the new administration backs WHO’s continued probe into COVID-19’s origins but found the former administration’s internal assessment to be faulty.
> Vaccines: Moderna said on Tuesday it will seek an expansion of emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents, pointing to effectiveness in trials with teens (The Associated Press and CNBC). Pfizer’s vaccine is the only one currently approved for emergency use in adolescents. … The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Tuesday that more than 10,000 fully vaccinated Americans were nonetheless infected with COVID-19 from Jan. 1 through April 30, despite their inoculations (a result considered much better than the usual track record with annual influenza). The government said its figures for COVID-19 over four months are likely an underestimate. Two percent, or 160 vaccinated people, died, according to the CDC. About a quarter of those who were infected but vaccinated exhibited no symptoms (Medscape). The quarterly data mean the CDC will no longer investigate mild cases of COVID-19 infections in Americans (only hospitalization cases and/or deaths) (The New York Times). … The WHO is pushing for more data from Sinovac as it considers whether to approve its CoronaVac shot with the hopes of doling out more shots to poor nations (The Wall Street Journal).
> U.S. vaccination record: This week, 50 percent of U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated, a fact celebrated in the White House. Biden has been shooting for 70 percent as a goal by July (The Hill).
*****
POLITICS: The Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday convened a grand jury expected to weigh potential criminal evidence against Trump, the Trump Organization and company executives. The move indicates that prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr.’s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. Vance’s term ends next year (The Washington Post).
> A federal judge on Monday dismissed a fraud case pending against former White House senior adviser Stephen Bannon, who received a pardon from Trump on Jan. 20. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, citing examples of other cases being dismissed following a presidential reprieve, granted Bannon’s application — saying in a seven-page ruling that Trump’s pardon was valid and that “dismissal of the Indictment is the proper course.” Bannon was charged with fraud last year alongside three others in what prosecutors described as a massive fundraising scam targeting the donors of a private campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border (The Washington Post).
Politico: Trump is starting to put together his own Contract with America. And he’s teaming up with Newt Gingrich.
> Grand Canyon politics: In an interview with The Hill’s Reid Wilson, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) raised fresh concerns about the way auditors hired by the Republican-controlled state Senate have handled more than 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 election, panning the probe as “highly partisan” and a “fringe” effort.
The auditors, overseen by a Florida firm with zero experience auditing elections, earlier this month left ballots cast in November in Maricopa County inside a trailer blocks from the state capital after their count took longer than expected. During that time, temperatures neared 100 degrees as auditors paused the count to allow previously scheduled high school graduation ceremonies to take place at the location.
Hobbs also criticized the hyper partisan nature of the audit, describing it as a faux effort that isn’t “based in reality.”
“If they were conducting a real audit, there would be willingness for bipartisan participation, but they’re not. Now that they’re blatantly recruiting partisans, there’s no confidence in this at all. It is not independent, it is completely biased, being run by people who have already said that Donald Trump won Arizona with no evidence to back that up,” Hobbs said. “These are folks with a highly partisan agenda who aren’t based in reality.”
The Hill: Tech company backs out of Arizona election audit.
Elsewhere in the state, Arizona Republicans are preparing to pass a massive tax overhaul that would cut tax rates and implement a flat income tax just months after voters approved a new, higher excise tax on high-income earners aimed at funding schools.
Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and state lawmakers have proposed implementing a 2.5 percent flat income tax that would amount to a $1.5 billion cut in state tax revenues. A vote on a final budget in the state House and Senate are expected in the coming days (The Hill).
The Hill: Environmental issues at center of New Mexico special election.
Roll Call: Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) rules out a Senate bid.
The Hill and The Wall Street Journal: CNN’s President Jeff Zucker said Tuesday that anchor Chris Cuomo made a “mistake” in advising his embattled brother, the New York governor, during calls with aides about how Andrew Cuomo could respond to a series of sexual harassment accusations and the resulting media coverage.
OPINIONS
How Biden can bust through the gridlock, by William A. Galston, columnist, The Wall Street Journal. https://on.wsj.com/3uqu3Tz
Who’s guilty of what in the Hamas-Israel conflict? by Charles Lane, columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3voZLSB
A MESSAGE FROM UBER
Meet Fallon. Delivering with Uber Eats helps her pay for college. “I like the flexibility of driving with Uber,” she says. “I can drive when I want to.”
*Driver earnings may vary depending on location, demand, hours, drivers, and other variables.
The House meets on Friday at 10 a.m. for a pro forma session. Lawmakers resume legislative work in the Capitol next month.
TheSenate will convene at 10:30 a.m. to resume consideration of the Endless Frontier Act.
The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:50 a.m. Biden has no events on his public schedule.
Vice President Harris at 3:30 p.m. will meet in her formal office with members of Congress from both parties to discuss federal investments in broadband infrastructure.
The White House press briefing is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.
➔ DISSIDENTS AND DETENTIONS: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday that he is facing three new criminal investigations. ”I’m becoming a more hardened criminal every day,” he joked in an Instagram post. “So don’t think I’m only sitting in a cell, drinking tea and doing nothing” (Reuters). … Navalny was also dealt a blow on Tuesday when Russian lawmakers greenlighted a bill barring members of what they consider to be extremist groups from running for office, a move aimed at preventing allies of the dissident from election (The Associated Press). … In Belarus, activist journalist and blogger Roman Protasevich, 26, arrested by the government on Sunday after being plucked from a Ryanair flight that was grounded in Minsk on false pretenses, appears to show signs of coercion and mistreatment in a video in which he purports to confess to organizing “mass riots,” according to his family and international human rights advocates (The Washington Post). The international community, including the United States, has called for Protasevich’s immediate release and threatened Belarus with punishment including sanctions. … Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko is defending his actions in nabbing Ryanair’s flight as lawful under international rules. Charges he supports against Protasevich carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years, or possibly the death penalty (The Associated Press).
➔TECH: Amazon on Tuesday was accused of price fixing in a lawsuit filed by the Washington, D.C., attorney general. The tech behemoth is alleged to use provisions and policies that prevent sellers that offer products on Amazon.com from offering their products at lower prices or on better terms on any other online platform, including their own websites (The Washington Post). … Tech companies are facing pressure from activists to adopt proposals at their upcoming shareholder meetings aimed at expanding whistleblower protections, investigating potential civil rights violations and curbing hate speech online (The Hill).
➔ TRAVEL: Memorial Day this year is colliding with soaring travel prices just as millions of Americans are eager to enjoy their first holiday weekend following a long year during which many families skipped vacations and travel because of COVID-19. The costs of airfares, car rentals and Airbnb bookings are up. Some lawmakers and industry leaders think the administration and Congress could help the travel industry by loosening some COVID-19 travel restrictions and providing more targeted assistance to companies (The Hill).
And finally … The “flower” supermoon will grace the sky today and will be the closest moon to Earth this year. May’s supermoon will also be the first total lunar eclipse since January 2019. It’s called the “flower” moon because it’s when flowers blossom across North America. Most of North and South America will be able to see the eclipse in the early morning hours while eastern Asia and Australia will see it in the evening (CNN).
The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!
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Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, “Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) bipartisan bill seeking to improve U.S. competitiveness with China and other countries is attracting barbs from Republicans and progressives alike.” https://bit.ly/3hRaT6Z
It was supposed to be a pre-Memorial Day thing: “The measure — which is supposed to be a major bipartisan accomplishment for President Biden — now faces a threat of being stalled until after the Memorial Day recess, which would in turn delay the rest of the packed Democratic agenda.”
Why Republicans may derail the bill: They want more votes on amendments.
Schumer insists the bill won’t be delayed though: “We are moving forward in the most bipartisan way that I can, and I’m confident we’re going to pass the bill this week,” Schumer said.
Happy Wednesday! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.
Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill’s 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn
Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney, “Democrats are warning Republicans that they won’t keep waiting around for potential bipartisan deals, as congressional leaders face growing pressure to go-it-alone on their agenda.” https://bit.ly/3undiZy
Why Democrats are annoyed: “More than four months since President Biden took office, most of the party’s biggest priorities have been stuck in limbo in the Senate, forcing Democrats to focus instead on nominations and smaller bills that can garner enough support from both sides of the aisle.”
^But after Memorial Day passes and bipartisan negotiations are stalling, Democrats are vowing to just move ahead without Republicans involved.
Tuesday’s 12:30 Report misstated a quote regarding congressional leaders’ reactions to the Holocaust comments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made the full comments, not Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Via CNN’s Frank Pallotta, “Amazon (AMZN) is investing even more heavily in growing its position in the entertainment world. The company announced Wednesday that it made a deal to acquire MGM, the home of James Bond and one of the most iconic movie studios in Hollywood.” https://cnn.it/2Tou7qt
The deal’s price tag: $8.45 billion
The gist of what this means: It “gives Amazon an extensive library of film and TV shows that it can use to fill out its Prime Video content coffers. MGM has a catalog with more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows, according to Mike Hopkins, who heads Prime Video and Amazon Studios.”
Via The Washington Post’s Donald P. Baker, former Republican Sen. John Warner(Va.), who played a big role in military matters, has died at the age of 94. https://wapo.st/2TooloN
What to know about Warner’s tenure: “Because of his willingness to buck his increasingly conservative party, Mr. Warner became the Republican whom many Virginia independents and Democrats respected and voted for. By the time he retired in 2009, he held the second-longest tenure of any Virginia senator.”
I had to do a double-take seeing a Trump story on ESPN:
Via ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, “Son, ghostwriter of late senator say [former President Trump] intervened to stop probe of Patriots’ Spygate scandal.”
Via The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel, “Congressional Republicans are seizing on recent comments from health officials and top scientists about the origins of the coronavirus as vindication of their previous claims, and are demanding Democrats launch investigations.” https://bit.ly/3bV9SXv
Republicans have been talking about this theory for a while now: “Top Republicans, including former President Trump, blamed China for the emergence of the virus in 2020, but early reports about the possibility that the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan, China, lab were dismissed.”
But now some health officials, including Anthony Fauci, are saying it’s possible: “Many of us feel that it is more likely this is a natural occurrence, but we don’t know 100 percent the answer to that,” Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, said yesterday. “Because we don’t know 100 percent what the origin is, it’s imperative that we look and we do an investigation.”
THE MEDIA OVERSTEPPED BY NOT TAKING THOSE CLAIMS SERIOUSLY:
Via CBS News’s Sophie Lewis, “Skywatchers around the world were treated to the most spectacular full moon of the year in the early morning hours on Wednesday. May 26 marked not just a supermoon, but also a lunar eclipse, or so-called ‘blood moon.’ ” https://cbsn.ws/3wxRSui
At the beginning of this year, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito appeared poised to take the gavel of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But when two Senate races in Georgia upended that possibility, she became something else: the go-to deal-maker for Senate Republicans on infrastructure. Read more…
The White House promised to dramatically increase the number of refugees it resettles, but even President Joe Biden noted a difficult road ahead when he recently raised the cap to 62,500 refugees for the current fiscal year — and admitted “the sad truth” that the country won’t be able to meet that goal. Read more…
OPINION — The pandemic has taught us an important lesson about the pressing need to offer more Americans a personal option in their health care. Now, as life begins to return to normal, we can carry that lesson forward to help more patients and better prepare for the next crisis, writes Daniel Garza, president of The LIBRE Initiative. Read more…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
Facing a $5 million barrage of ads attacking their health care plans as “socialist,” Democrats are hitting back with a “five-figure” digital campaign thanking members in battleground districts for supporting a bill they say would lower the cost of prescription drugs. Read more…
Democratic senators, led by Delaware’s Thomas R. Carper, used the chamber floor Tuesday afternoon to argue for statehood for the District of Columbia, giving advocates a boost even as the effort faces a lack of votes and an uncertain future. Read more…
Tucked in the Biden administration’s public works proposal is a requirement that could remold and decarbonize the country’s electricity network. But the administration has offered scant information on how its proposal for a so-called clean electricity standard would work, leaving it to Congress to fill in the details. Read more…
New federal incentives to expand Medicaid coverage do not appear to be enough to convince 12 holdout states to broaden eligibility, leaving lawmakers and advocates weighing their next steps. Read more…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
‘Cloud of nerves’ hovers over Trump land after grand jury report
Presented by Facebook
DRIVING THE DAY
BREAKING OVERNIGHT — IN MEMORIAM: Former Sen. JOHN WARNER (R-Va.) died Tuesday evening at 94 of heart failure, with his wife Jeanne and daughter Virginia at his side, according to an email sent out overnight to Warner alumni and family by his longtime chief of staff Susan Magill. The World War II and Korean War veteran served three decades in the Senate after a stint as secretary of the Navy. We’ll have more tributes to the senator in Playbook PM. Read the letter he wrote to Virginians when he retired
A ‘CLOUD OF NERVES’ HANGS OVER TRUMP: AfterWaPo reported Tuesday night that Manhattan DA CY VANCE has convened a special grand jury to decide whether to indict former President DONALD TRUMP or execs at his company, we checked in with Trump world to get their take on the latest news.
“There’s definitely a cloud of nerves in the air,” one adviser said, adding that this feels different than the typical barrage of legal issues surrounding Trump because there is pressure on Trump Org CFO ALLEN WEISSELBERG to flip. “I think the Weisselberg involvement and the wild card of that makes the particular situation more real, because there’s no sort of fluff and made-up fictional circumstances around the guy. … The fact that they’re dealing with a numbers guy who just has plain details makes people more nervous. This is not a MICHAEL COHEN situation.”
As for Trump, his first reaction to the grand jury news was his default — it’s a political witch hunt. But how can it be a political witch hunt if he’s not in the game anymore, you ask? Simple: Float another run for president. “Interesting that today a poll came out indicating I’m far in the lead for the Republican Presidential Primary and the General Election in 2024,” he said in a statement responding to the news. His aides say his interest in running isn’t just a defense tactic — “he’s missing being president terribly,” one said. Others have said that he gets angry when questioned if he’s really serious.
Meanwhile, POLITICO legal affairs ace Josh Gerstein writes in about the significance of the Trump grand jury: “A source close to one witness in the probe says prosecutors have been methodically combing through evidence in informal interviews and were expected to move to take formal testimony soon.
“That Vance is using a grand jury to gather information about Trump and Trump Organization finances is nothing new. A legal fight over a grand jury subpoena for Trump’s tax returns broke out back in 2019 and went all the way to the Supreme Court. Vance prevailed, finally winning copies of Trump’s taxes this past February.
“But the new grand jury is expected to go beyond assembling records by hearing live testimony from various witnesses — which will give prosecutors an opportunity to present a narrative that could persuade jurors to return an indictment in the coming months. Coupled with [New York] Attorney General LETITIA JAMES’ recent decision to team up with Vance and Vance’s hiring of veteran mafia prosecutor MARK POMERANTZ, the move to a new grand jury suggests a steady progression towards criminal charges against some person or company in the Trump orbit.”
DECODING THE INFRASTRUCTURE CONFUSION— If you’re at a loss for what to make of this week’s infrastructure talks, we get it. They’re dead. They’re alive. They’re near a deal. They’re miles apart. Oh, and there’s a new bipartisan group coming up with a Plan B!
We’re here to help. Here’s a guide to help parse what’s actually going on:
ABOUT THAT $1 TRILLION GOP COUNTEROFFER — Yes, Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO’S (R-W.Va.) group of GOP senators are set to up their offer to around $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. CNN’s Manu Raju, Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox have a good scoop about why they chose that figure: because President JOE BIDEN himself told them he could accept a $1 trillion deal.
But here’s the problem: How much of the $1 trillion is new spending, and how much of it will Dems pan as gimmicks and/or existing funds shifted from other accounts? We’ll soon find out, and it should determine how real the GOP’s latest counteroffer is.
There’s another reason to be skeptical: Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) dismissed the idea of a $1 trillion infrastructure deal just Tuesday. “That’s unlikely,” he told our Burgess Everett before making a plug about this other group of Republicans and Democrats negotiating on infrastructure on their own. If you can’t get Romney, how do you get to a filibuster-proof majority?
AS FOR THAT OTHER GROUP — WaPo’s Seung Min Kim and Tony Romm were first Tuesday with a story about another group of centrists — Romney, SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine), ROB PORTMAN (R-Ohio) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) — working on a totally separate infrastructure proposal that they’ll release if Capito’s talks with the White House unravel.
Our first reaction to this was: Is Capito getting benched? But after making some calls, it’s clear she’s still the main event and that few are taking this side group seriously, at least for now. (Capito would also likely be incorporated into this separate group if talks take off.) But it’s worth keeping an eye on this group because it includes Manchin and Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.),two unpredictable Democrats the White House has been watching closely.
Some view this as an attempt by centrists to signal that Biden can forget about his Memorial Day infrastructure deadline. While White House staff and Democratic leaders are eager to move on, this group of senators isn’t done negotiating.
MANCHIN WANTS SOME LOVE — Leave it to Manchin to throw another curveball into all this. He said he sees no reason for the party to use reconciliation at this point: Bipartisan talks should continue until a deal is reached. (You can hear the groans from Democratic leaders.)
What about Sen. BERNIE SANDERS’ (I-Vt.) move to start the reconciliation process? Manchin dared him to try: “If you think you got it, then go for it,” he tells dissent-seeding Burgess, who has more.
WHAT THE OPTIMISTS SAY — If you want the sunny take on all this, here goes: Let’s assume the GOP’s counteroffer is only half real money — say, $500 billion. If the GOP also supports a new, bipartisan $300 billion transportation proposal, that puts both sides within striking distance of a $1 trillion deal. But even then, Democrats and Republicans are nowhere near consensus on how to pay for it all, and the left is running out of patience. Color us skeptical.
BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:50 a.m.
— VP KAMALA HARRIS will meet with a bipartisan group of congressional members to discuss infrastructure at 3:30 p.m. in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office.
— Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 12:30 p.m.
THE HOUSE is out. Testifying before Appropriations subcommittees today: DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS at 10 a.m., CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY at 10 a.m. and SEC Chair GARY GENSLER at 2 p.m. SBA Administrator ISABEL GUZMAN will testify before the Small Business Committee at 10 a.m. And actor NICK OFFERMAN will testify before an Energy and Commerce subcommittee at 11 a.m.
THE SENATE is in. Testifying before Appropriations subcommittees today: DNI AVRIL HAINES, CIA Director WILLIAM BURNS and NSA Director PAUL NAKASONE at 10 a.m., ANTHONY FAUCI and NIH Director FRANCIS COLLINS at 10 a.m., Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO at 2 p.m., Mayorkas at 2 p.m. and USAID Administrator SAMANTHA POWER at 2:30 p.m. The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on DAVID CHIPMAN for ATF director and other nominations at 10 a.m. Guzman will testify before the Small Business Committee at 1:30 p.m.
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
AT LONG LAST — “Biden to name Tom Nides ambassador to Israel,”AP: “[TOM] NIDES is currently the managing director and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley. He previously served as deputy secretary of state for management and resources under HILLARY CLINTON from 2011 to 2013. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be announced pick, said Nides has already been formally offered the position.”
AFGHANISTAN ACCELERATED — “Pentagon Accelerates Withdrawal From Afghanistan,”NYT: “United States troops and their NATO allies intend to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline, military officials said, in what has turned into an accelerated ending to America’s longest war.
“The Pentagon still has not determined how it will combat terrorist threats like Al Qaeda from afar after American troops leave. Nor have top Defense Department officials secured agreement from allies about repositioning American troops in other nearby countries. And administration officials are still grappling with the thorny question of whether American warplanes — most likely armed Reaper drones — will provide air support to Afghan forces to help prevent the country’s cities from falling to the Taliban.”
BIDEN EXTENDS A HAND TO PALESTINIANS — “Blinken announces $110 million in new Gaza funding — now comes the hard part,”by Ryan Heath: “The Biden administration’s effort to keep Congress onside and Hamas at arms length — while battling donor fatigue among foreign governments — is already at risk of derailing crucial assistance. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN announced $110 million in new economic assistance to Palestinians, during a visit to Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, including $5.5 million in immediate relief to Gaza. ..
“U.N. humanitarian workers on the ground in Gaza told POLITICO that it will take weeks to know how much money is needed to repair damage inflicted on thousands of buildings during the May conflict, and that the hidden cost of the conflict is much higher than the physical toll.”
WUHAN INVESTIGATION— “Top U.S. health official calls for follow-up investigation into pandemic’s origins,”WaPo: “The United States’ top health official called Tuesday for a swift follow-up investigation into the coronavirus’s origins amid renewed questions about whether the virus jumped from an animal host into humans in a naturally occurring event or escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.
“Health and Human Services Secretary XAVIER BECERRA told an annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organization that international experts should be given ‘the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak.’”
CONGRESS
FILIBUSTER WATCH — “McConnell, the minority leader with ‘veto’ power,”by Burgess Everett: “[T]he Kentucky Republican is nonetheless leveraging the existence of the filibuster into remarkable power over legislation. He’s doing it through a subtle but unmistakable bet: that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for most bills is here to stay, and so too is his ability to shape or derail Democrats’ priorities. …
“McConnell warned Republicans at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that regardless of tweaks to the bill … approving the [Jan. 6] commission could hurt the party’s midterm election message, according to attendees. … ‘That is extremely frustrating and disturbing. I know he’s an institutionalist. I would like to think he loves this institution,’ Manchin said Tuesday. ‘There’s a time when you rise above. And I’m hoping this would be the time he would do that. What I’m hearing is, he hasn’t.’”
COONS GETS THE TIMES TREATMENT — “Coons, Biden’s Eyes and Ears in the Senate, Reaches for Bipartisanship,”NYT: “To trail [Sen. CHRIS] COONS on Capitol Hill is to witness how he operates as an extra pair of eyes and ears for the Biden administration in Congress, a kind of consigliere trusted by both the president and the senators — many of them Republicans — whom Mr. Biden needs to succeed.
“It is a far less prestigious job than the one that Mr. Coons — who interned for Mr. Biden three decades ago, became his mentee on the New Castle County Council, campaigned for him in Iowa and now holds the seat that once belonged to him — initially sought in the Biden administration, where he had hoped to serve as secretary of state. But it can demand the same kind of shuttle diplomacy and high-stakes negotiation.
“On Tuesday, as the two parties went their separate ways for their weekly closed-door strategy sessions, Mr. Coons crossed enemy lines to be a guest at the Republican senators’ lunch, where he was invited to give a briefing as chairman of the Ethics Committee.”
KINZINGER LETS IT RIP — In a POLITICO Live event Tuesday, EUGENE and RACHAEL sat down with Rep. ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.), who made news on two big fronts.
He called on leadership to kick Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) out of the House GOP Conference after she compared mask requirements to the Holocaust. (Unlikely but notable.) More from Ben Leonard
He also said he wouldn’t support current Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY for speaker at this point. “This country deserves people that are going to do tough things and tell the truth,” Kinzinger told us. Watch the full interview here
POLITICS ROUNDUP
WORKING WITH NEWT — “Trump is starting to put together his own Contract with America. And he’s teaming up with Newt,” by Meridith McGraw: “With an eye toward winning back the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, former President Donald Trumphas begun crafting a policy agenda outlining a MAGA doctrine for the party. His template is the 1994 ‘Contract with America,’ a legislative agenda released ahead of the midterm elections in the middle of President BILL CLINTON’S first term. And, as a cherry on top, he’s teaming up with its main architect — [NEWT] GINGRICH — to do it.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A NEW SUPER PAC TARGETING THE ‘TREASON CAUCUS’ — A pair of former advisers to Coons and Biden’s campaign are launching a super PAC today targeting Republicans embracing the “Big Lie.” DAVID BOWES, Coons’ former finance director, and IAN MOSKOWITZ, who served as New Hampshire state director for Biden during the primary and his regional director for the general election, are teaming up on the effort, dubbed the “Never Again PAC.”
The group, which aims to raise $4 million this cycle, will be “dedicated to breaking the cycle of dangerous Republican extremism by defeating the Congressional ‘Treason Caucus,’” the pair said in an email. They’re referring to the 147 Republicans who refused to certify the Electoral College results — and possibly also those who object to the creation of a Jan. 6 commission, which could see a vote this week.
PILLOW TALK — “MyPillow’s Mike Lindell is turned away from Republican governors event,” by Daniel Lippman: “The Republican Governors Association on Tuesday threw out MIKE LINDELL, the CEO of MyPillow and a top Trump ally, after he showed up to its spring conference in Tennessee, he told POLITICO in an interview.
“Lindell said he had flown to Nashville on Monday to attend the three-day meeting starting on Tuesday, but that only a few minutes after he collected his credential at the JW Marriott Hotel, an event coordinator in the lobby told him he was not allowed at any of the official RGA events. An RGA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday night that Lindell tried to join transportation for members only for a dinner at the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion and was denied.”
NO LOVE FROM BEZOS’ ADOPTED CITY— “DC attorney general sues Amazon on antitrust grounds, alleges it illegally raises prices,”CNBC: “[D.C. A.G. KARL] RACINE is seeking to end what he alleges is Amazon’s illegal use of price agreements to edge out competition; the lawsuit also asks for damages and penalties to deter similar conduct. The suit asks the court to stop what it calls Amazon’s ability to harm competition through a variety of remedies as needed, which could include structural relief, often referred to as a form of breakup.”
BANNON CASE THROWN OUT — “Steve Bannon’s fraud case dismissed after months of haggling over Trump pardon,” WaPo: “U.S. District Judge ANALISA TORRES, citing examples of other cases being dismissed following a presidential reprieve, granted Bannon’s application — saying in a seven-page ruling that Trump’s pardon was valid and that ‘dismissal of the Indictment is the proper course.’ Bannon was charged with fraud last year alongside three others in what prosecutors described as a massive fundraising scam targeting the donors of a private campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
LEDE OF THE DAY, via AP: “TOPEKA, Kan. — A high school student reported that a Kansas House member working as a substitute teacher manhandled him and kicked him in the testicles during class, and the lawmaker told authorities that God told him to do it, according to a sheriff’s deputy’s written statement.”
PLAYBOOKERS
SCOOP: MEET THE ‘BAND OF BROTHERS’ — The 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump have formed a support group, dubbing themselves “The Band of Brothers” for the moralistic stand they took regarding the former president and Jan. 6. Most of the 10 are known for keeping their heads down — and were a bit shocked by the outpouring of hate and personal attacks that followed their votes.
The 10 Republicans have an active group text chain going and frequently discuss threats or nasty comments they’ve received. They are: Kinzinger, Liz Cheney (Wyo.), John Katko (N.Y.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Dan Newhouse (Wash.), Peter Meijer (Mich.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Tom Rice (S.C.) and David Valadao (Calif.).
“Look … misery loves company, and we’re all dealing with the same challenges,” Kinzinger told us when we asked him about this Tuesday. Kinzinger, for example, has been attacked by his own extended family as a general in the “devil’s army” and told us that people he thought were his friends have called him a POS.
When we asked Kinzinger who specifically said that, he answered nonchalantly: “Oh, everybody calls me that.”
RAND PAUL vs. ’80s POP STAR: Twitter removed a tweet from ’80s pop singer Richard Marx for violating its rules after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said it encouraged violence against him. (The tweet came days before someone sent a suspicious package with white powder to the senator’s home in Kentucky.) But that hasn’t stopped Marx from spreading the message in his original tweet — that if he ever meets the neighbor who assaulted Paul in 2017, he will “hug him and buy him as many drinks as he can consume.” Marx has instead been retweeting a slew of messages supporting his initial tweet, like this one and this one. Good luck breaking this one up, @jack.
MEDIAWATCH —“Chris Cuomo Made a ‘Mistake,’ CNN Boss Jeff Zucker Tells Concerned Staffers,” Daily Beast: “During a Tuesday afternoon town-hall meeting with staff, [Jeff] Zucker claimed he understood the ‘unease’ over [Chris] Cuomo’s conduct, saying ‘in no uncertain terms’ that it was a ‘mistake’ for the primetime star to participate in strategy calls advising his politically powerful brother. ‘He did cross a line,’ Zucker said.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Nathan Brand is now deputy comms director at the RNC. He previously was press secretary at the NRSC, and is an America Rising and Marco Rubio alum.
— Shawn Affolter is joining Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions as VP of government relations. He previously was deputy assistant Energy secretary for Senate affairs, and is a John Hoeven alum.
TRUMP ALUMNI — Jenny Korn is now executive director of the New Majority’s Orange County Chapter, taking over for Kally Rapsey, who is leaving to focus on her political fundraising business. Korn most recently was a deputy assistant to the president in the Trump White House and is a George W. Bush White House alum.
TRANSITIONS — Trevor Pearson is now a senior associate director for energy policy at APCO Worldwide. He most recently was a policy adviser for Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and is a Paul Gosar alum. … Retired Army Lt. Col. Brian Babcock-Lumish will be director of the Gen. David H. Petraeus Center for Emerging Leaders.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) … NPR’s Noel King … Andrew Beilein … Commerce’s Mike Harney … Dina Ellis Rochkind … MSNBC’s Tom Ranzweiler … John Brodtke … Rachel VerVelde of Rep. Glenn Grothman’s (R-Wis.) office … Matt Keelen … Miriam Cash of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-N.Y.) office … Emily Langer … ClearPath’s Chris Tomassi … Hana Veselka Vizcarra … Covington & Burling’s Ben Cavataro … Yardena Schwartz … Morgan Jacobs … Allison Davis Tuck … Sunny Lee … Alyssa McClenning … Kevin Bailey … Jennifer Vinson … Erin Gray … POLITICO’s Noor Adatia, Clayton Getchell and Steven Stiles … E&E News’ Jess Locklear … former Reps. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Rich Nugent (R-Fla.) (7-0) … Katie Wise
Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
Brian Myers: When considering the responsibilities for the Christian in relation to his citizenship, we first need to consider what kind of nation we are in.
Florida State University (FSU) settled a lawsuit Tuesday with former Student Senate President Jack Denton who alleged he had been discriminated against because he is Catholic. “If you stand against cancel culture, you can win,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer told the DCNF. “Cancel culture is scary and …
Democrats have unified control of government and multiple priorities on their agenda, but are faced with a time crunch and a divided Senate. Some legislation passed the House relatively easily, but faces steep odds in a Senate where 10 Republicans would need to vote in favor for them to pass. …
Tuesday night, former President Trump released a statement following the announcement of a grand jury in Manhattan. The Washington Post reported that a grand jury was convened in order to consider charges in the probe of the Trump Organization. The New York Attorney General joined in on the probe and …
Summary: President Joe Biden will receive his daily briefing on Wednesday. President Biden’s Itinerary for 5/26/21: All Times EDT 9:50 AM Receive daily briefing – Oval Office White House Briefing Schedule 12:30 PM White House Press Briefing [Live Stream] – James S. Brady Briefing Room Keep an Eye on the …
In the Gopher State yesterday, the inept and embarrassing governor issued a proclamation that all Minnesotans should honor the memory of George Floyd and remember the systemic racism that took his life. His decree stated that: “George Floyd’s murder ignited a global movement and awakened many Minnesotans and people around …
Both the FBI and Capitol Hill police are now investigating a “suspicious package” reported to have been delivered Monday to the home of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.). In addition to an unidentified white powder that is undergoing screening for harmful substances, the package contained a doctored image of the senator …
Migrant children housed at a federal facility near El Paso, Texas, allegedly did not have access to showers, clean clothes or their case managers, according to CBS News. “We have already caught staff with minors inappropriately,” an unidentified trainer with the Chenega Corporation allegedly said in a recording obtained by …
EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents discover 98 migrants in two stash houses, one containing 82 subjects. Yesterday morning, a residence suspected of harboring migrants was shut down by the combined efforts of RGV agents, Texas Department of Public Safety, Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, and …
A Chinese Communist Party-controlled news outlet paid major newspapers and magazines over $1.95 million between November and April to run advertisements stylized as news stories, according to a Justice Department disclosure filed Monday. Time Magazine received $700,000 from the outlet, China Daily, for “advertisement expenses” during the six-month time period, …
The leader of a Pentagon working group overseeing efforts to root out domestic extremists in the military tweeted in 2019 that any supporter of former President Donald Trump unequivocally supports extremism and racism. “Support for him, a racist, is support for ALL his beliefs,” Bishop Garrison, who was appointed by …
Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against Amazon Tuesday alleging the massive online retailer regularly engages in illegal, anticompetitive price control practices. Amazon prevents third-party sellers who use its online marketplace from selling their products at a lower price on other platforms, Democratic Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine alleged in …
Protesters who use lasers, fireworks or block roads during demonstrations could face increased criminal charges according to two bills sent to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Sunday and Monday. Texas House Bill 9 would increase the criminal penalty for individuals who obstruct roadways while House Bill 2366 could increase criminal penalties …
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are teaming up to improve the military’s response to sexual assault within its ranks. The two are introducing a bill Tuesday to strengthen the role of the military’s sexual assault response coordinators and improve the training they receive, …
More than two dozen business groups have formed a coalition to fight future tax hikes proposed by Democrats and President Joe Biden, CNBC reported. The coalition, titled “America’s Job Creators for a Strong Recovery,” is made up of 28 organizations that argue additional tax increases will punish those that create …
“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.”—Galatians 6:3-5. America will never be …
On Monday, several media outlets were reporting that President Joe Biden’s approval rating is still strong. The Hill reported that 62% supported Biden in the most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll that was released to the organization. I have no doubt this is probably poll manipulation at its finest. Think back …
We claim that we are not Black or White, Straight or gay, Indigenous or Asian, but we are all members of the Human Race. So why do we choose to isolate individual segments of the Race by dedicating entire months to commemorate them? It seems to me that when you …
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a briefing Tuesday. The briefing is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Content created by Conservative Daily News is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details.
Happy Wednesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. I really don’t know where the country is headed with this whole kombucha thing.
We’re going to mostly continue with yesterday’s theme: Biden’s an idiot, the media is evil, all the worst people wear pants and so on. Some things just bear repeating.
I spent part of yesterday going over some more media-generated fairy tales about Joe Biden for the column I mentioned that I was writing. The longer he’s squatting in the Oval Office, the more concussed and fantastical the tales become. We see a doddering old man who always looks confused; they see a champion on a winged stallion, soaring about the land and performing feats of transformation. It’s quite good stuff if you’re a fan of fiction.
Once more, with feeling: the Biden kinda/sorta presidency thus far is an unmitigated disaster. True, there are partisans out there who are so invested in hating Donald Trump that they’re willing to tell themselves otherwise but that doesn’t change reality. We call these people unwell. Harsher terms could be used, but I’m in a generous mood today. We’ll get back to referring to them as bottom-feeding participants in a moronic mass-delusion tomorrow.
Can’t you just feel the positivity radiating from me?
Here’s a partial list of Biden disasters thus far: the Mexican border, inflation, the overnight vanishing of the peace Trump brokered in the Middle East, gas lines, and endless press reporting about his stupid dogs.
Oh yeah, what he does to the English language when he speaks in public has been pretty brutal too.
The only thing that Team Dumpster Fire can point to as a success has been the widespread rollout and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, which has gone very well. Biden, Democrats, and their flying monkeys in the media are all doing victory laps over this but the man they love to hate reminded them that he’s the reason they’re in this position.
“New United States COVID cases, because of the record-breaking development of the vaccine and its early purchase and distribution by the Trump Administration, has hit its lowest level in more than one year, and falling fast,” the former president said.
“I want to thank all within the Trump Administration who pushed so hard for a vaccine and got it done in less than nine months when everybody was saying it would take at least 3-5 years, and probably not happen,” Trump added. “Without the vaccine the world would be a much different place right now.”
Trump also thanked the U.S. military “for its incredible distribution and logistical planning.”
“Operation Warp Speed and our decision to purchase billions of dollars of vaccine before it was even approved, has been ‘One of the greatest miracles of the ages,’ according to many,” the former president concluded. “Thank you!”
While the Democrats are pretending that the COVID vaccine appeared out of the clouds like Brigadoon on the morning that Biden was inaugurated, those of us dwelling on the sane side of the street remember the effort of Trump and his administration to make it a reality. They did it while being constantly excoriated by Democrats for even saying it could be done quickly. The press repeatedly said it was irresponsible of Trump to promise a vaccine by the end of 2020. Most of the Democrats now pretending it’s Biden’s thing were saying that any vaccine developed under Trump shouldn’t be trusted and that they wouldn’t be getting it.
Yeah, the very people now try to shame and force skeptics into getting the COVID vaccine were the original COVID anti-vaxxers.
At this rate, the lying Dems may start crediting Biden with the fall of the Soviet Union just to try and put an extra coats of lipstick on this pig of an administration.
PJ Media senior columnist and associate editor Stephen Kruiser is a professional stand-up comic, writer, and recovering political activist who edits and writes PJ’s Morning Briefing, aka The Greatest Political Newsletter in America. His latest book, Straight Outta Feelings, is a humorous exploration of how the 2016 election made him enjoy politics more than he ever had before. When not being a reclusive writer, Kruiser has had the honor of entertaining U.S. troops all over the world. Follow on: Gab, Parler, MeWe
The Coming Un-Silent Majority Will Bring Victory to GOP in 2022 and 2024 . . . America is poised for a big reaction. The Democratic Party will be trounced by a renewed GOP in 2022 and most probably 2024. The big winner will be the Trump-DeSantis party and among the big losers, besides the Democrats, will be the thirty-five House Republicans who voted for a Jan. 6 investigation. Due to the overwhelming majority of the media, the academy and their own extreme leftwing, the Democrats are losing contact with the American people on a daily basis. In their gigantic, seemingly endless, spending programs, they ignore the obvious, spoken aloud by Bill Clinton in his 1996 State of the Union and not really contradicted since: “The era of big government is over.”
In a new Rasmussen poll voters prefer small to big government by the significant margin of 55 percent to 37 percent. They also, in a poll only a week or two before, prefer capitalism to socialism by more than three to one—65 percent to 18 percent. (Rasmussen does tilt Republican but his record has historically been among the most accurate—and these aren’t close calls.) Analysis. Epoch Times
‘Ignore the CDC’: Johns Hopkins Professor Says Half Of Americans Have ‘Natural Immunity’ . . . A professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said Tuesday that almost “half the country” has natural immunity from COVID-19 due to prior infection.
Dr. Marty Makary appeared on “The Vince Coglianese Show” where he called dismissal of natural immunity “one of the biggest failures of our current medical leadership.” Makary said that “natural immunity works.” He disputed claims that natural immunity is inferior to that acquired through vaccination, saying that both are “probably life-long” and that no boosters will be needed. “There is more data on natural immunity than there is on vaccinated immunity, because natural immunity has been around longer,” Makary claimed.
Makary claimed that the U.S. has already achieved the 85%-benchmark, or herd immunity. “Please, ignore the CDC guidance,” he added. “Live a normal life, unless you are unvaccinated and did not have the infection, in which case you need to be careful.” Daily Caller
Politics
Majority of Republicans believe Trump won the 2020 election . . . A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The May 17-19 national poll found that 53% of Republicans believe Trump, their party’s nominee, is the “true president” now, compared to 3% of Democrats and 25% of all Americans. About one-quarter of adults believe the Nov. 3 election was tainted by illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans, according to the poll. White House Dossier
States passed 243 policing bills — and left activists wanting . . . Governors in nearly every state have collectively signed 243 bills over the past year meant to change policing in the the U.S., a landmark moment following the national reckoning on race touched off by George Floyd’s murder. Maryland, Virginia and Washington are among the states that enacted laws banning chokeholds, limiting no-knock warrants and increasing transparency around disciplinary records for law enforcement. Some states, like Arkansas, Massachusetts and Colorado, passed measures requiring law enforcement to intervene when another officer is using excessive force. Leaders in statehouses say they’re proud of the work they’ve done. Politico
They are proud of endangering our police officers and the rest of us.
Biden’s BLM State Department . . . On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, Joe Biden’s State Department is encouraging employees to promote the Marxist Black Lives Matter organization via flying “the Black Lives Matter flag.” According to an anonymous source within the State Department, a memo was circulated on Saturday that reads in part, “The Department supports the use of the term ‘Black Lives Matter’ in messaging content, speeches, and other diplomatic engagements with foreign audiences to advance racial equity and access to justice on May 25 and beyond. We encourage posts to focus on the need to eliminate systemic racism and its continued impact.” Patriot Post
The referenced Memo actually identifies ‘racial equity and support for underserved communities’ a national security priority. And what are ‘undeserved communities’? I thought one of America’s core beliefs is that everyone was ‘deserved’.
Guy who is digging for extremism at Pentagon says Trump supporters are extremists . . . If you needed proof that the hunt for “extremists” at the Pentagon could become a political inquisition designed to round up conservatives and opponents of President Biden — especially if he or Kamala Harris runs in 2024 against Donald Trump — now you have it. The leader of a Pentagon working group overseeing efforts to root out domestic extremists in the military tweeted in 2019 that any supporter of former President Donald Trump unequivocally supports extremism and racism. “Support for him, a racist, is support for ALL his beliefs,” Bishop Garrison, who was appointed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to lead the Countering Extremism Working Group (CEWG), tweeted in July 2019 in reference to Trump. “He’s dragging a lot of bad actors (misogynist, extremists, other racists) out into the light, normalizing their actions,” Garrison, an Army veteran, tweeted. “If you support the President, you support that.” White House Dossier
Hamas Terror Spree Sparks GOP Demand That Biden Terminate Iran Nuclear Negotiations . . . The Iranian-backed terror group Hamas’s recent terror campaign against Israel is generating demands from Republican foreign policy leaders in Congress that the Biden administration immediately abandon its diplomacy with Iran aimed at cementing a revamped nuclear accord. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Iran-backed jihadist group, bombarded Israel with thousands of rockets over a two-week period. Iran played a central role in arming Hamas with sophisticated missiles capable of striking further into Israel and endangering millions of civilians. The hardline regime has committed to sending more money to Palestinian terror groups in the wake of the latest conflict, money that likely will come from the massive sanctions relief the Biden administration promises to grant Iran in the coming weeks. Washington Free Beacon
Blinken: Biden will push $75M in Palestinian aid, reopen Jerusalem consulate . . . Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said that the Biden administration would seek an additional $75 million in assistance for the Palestinians during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Blinken met with Abbas in the West Bank hours after he held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, in which he reaffirmed the US commitment to Israeli security. During his meeting with Abbas in Ramallah, Blinken said he told Netanyahu that the US would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem to “engage the Palestinian people” and said the Biden administration will work with the United Nations, international partners and the “government of Israel” to “assist in the relief and recovery efforts in Gaza.”
Blinken said he informed both Abbas and Netanyahu that the US will seek an additional $75 million from Congress for the Palestinians. New York Post
Hope stirs as Biden-Putin summit falls on 900th day of US Marine’s detention . . . President Joe Biden’s June summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place as Michigan native Paul Whelan “spends his 900th day as a Russian hostage.” “We hope that we will be able to share news that the US and Russian Federation are at least engaged in a positive way on the many issues they share,” wrote the brother of the former Marine. Whelan is one of two Marines languishing in Russian prisons based on allegations that American officials have deemed baseless. Their cases have been entangled in the broader deterioration of relations between Washington and Moscow, with the potential to inaugurate an era of hostage diplomacy by Russian officials. Washington Examiner
Hope but no change. Putin is unlikely to release these US Marines unless Biden agrees to exchange them for Viktor Boot, a former Soviet/Russian military intelligence officer and weapons smuggler. Boot who is imprisoned in the US. Boot is serving time (25-years sentence) in a US prison, convicted of a conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials.
If Biden is tricked into the prisoner swap, it will only embolden the Russians to jail more Americans in Russia, based on bogus charges.
National Security
Atlantic Council Scholars Made Millions Lobbying for Putin-Backed Pipeline . . . Two scholars at the Atlantic Council, the prominent US foreign policy think tank that claims to staunchly oppose Russian influence, have raked in nearly $3 million lobbying in favor of a Russian pipeline that American officials worry will allow Vladimir Putin to increase his influence in Europe. Since 2017, Richard Burt, an Atlantic Council board member, and Frances Burwell, a distinguished fellow, have lobbied for five European companies financing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will transport gas from Russia to Germany. In addition to their perches at the Atlantic Council, Burt and Burwell are partners at McLarty Inbound, a consulting group that lobbies for foreign companies.
Burt and Burwell have used their positions at the Atlantic Council to further their work at McLarty. The conflict of interest raises the question of whether the Atlantic Council, founded in 1961 to strengthen NATO and the Atlantic alliance, promotes a set of core beliefs any longer. Washington Free Beacon
Some US think tanks that serve as “feeders” of foreign policy “experts” into US Presidential Administrations actually receive funding from foreign entities. It’s a revolving door in the DC Swampland. A self-licking ice-cream cone. Dig deeper and broader, Free Beacon.
After Colonial Pipeline Hack, US to Require Operators to Report Cyberattacks . . . The Transportation Security Administration intends to release the first of at least two security directives that would require pipeline operators to notify it when they are targets or victims of cyberattacks, according to senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security. The action, expected this week, also will require each company to designate a point person for cybersecurity. The order “should be understood as step one” in a detailed program by the Biden administration to boost the security of more than 2.5 million miles of U.S. pipelines. “Step two will be a more muscular mandate,” in coming weeks, that will require pipeline owners to take concrete steps to secure their assets against attacks, said one of the DHS officials. Wall Street Journal
How Black Lives Matter Contributes to Rise in Antisemitism . . . Tuvia Tenenbom, a bestselling author, playwright, journalist, and founder of the Jewish Theater of New York, has traveled the world to understand increasing antisemitism. He documents his experiences in his latest book “The Taming of the Jew.” Recent fighting between Israel and Hamas has brought the issue to the forefront with more than two dozen antisemitic attacks reported in the United States since May 10. Tenenbom attributes this troubling trend to the pro-Palestinian organization Black Lives Matter and its supporters on the American left and in the news media. Tenenbom, 64, also speaks about the antisemitism he personally has experienced. Publishers in America and Europe rejected “The Taming of the Jew,” prompting him to seek an Israel-based company. Now he is speaking out against cancel culture and urging Americans to take action before it’s too late. Analysis. Daily Signal
Coronavirus
Biden Admin Shut Down Trump-Era Probe Into Coronavirus Lab Leak Theory . . . President Joe Biden’s administration shut down a State Department inquiry into whether the coronavirus could have spread out of a lab where the Chinese government was studying coronaviruses. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly started the inquiry in late fall of 2020, seeking to establish whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had been using a lab in Wuhan to research COVID-19 and diseases like it. Biden’s administration reportedly cut off the inquiry this spring after questioning the legitimacy of the research and ultimately concluding it was a poor use of resources. Daily Caller
Covid-19 Vaccine Makers Press Countries to Oppose Patent Waiver . . . Covid-19 vaccine makers have dialed up lobbying and public-relations efforts to rally opposition to a proposal to temporarily waive their patents. Since the Biden administration threw its support behind the waiver proposal early this month, pharmaceutical industry trade groups have been moving to support Germany, Japan and other countries that expressed opposition. The industry lobbyists have told the governments, in meetings and phone calls, that a waiver wouldn’t address shortages any time soon, while straining raw material supplies, the people said. Industry lobbyists have met with Biden administration officials to argue for alternative actions and lobbied members of Congress to pressure the Biden administration to reverse its support of the waiver. Wall Street Journal
International
YouTube feels heat as Russia ramps up ‘digital sovereignty’ drive . . . Until last summer, Tsargrad TV, which styles itself as a Russian Orthodox answer to Fox News, was an obscure corner of YouTube. The Russian-language online news channel was best known for its priestly presenters and conspiratorial musings about the global financial system plotting against Moscow — suspicions it viewed as confirmed last July when the Google-owned streaming service took the channel down over what it claimed was a US sanctions breach. Now Tsargrad is poised to strike back after a landmark court ruling that could put Google’s entire Russian business in jeopardy as Moscow steps up attempts to force western technology companies to comply with its laws. Financial Times
China Defends Belarus in Airplane Hijacking . . . Chinese state media came to the defense of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko after he ordered the grounding of a commercial flight to imprison a journalist critical of his regime. A Monday editorial from Global Times, a Chinese newspaper known for its anti-American views, said it remains unclear why Lukashenko forced the flight to land on Sunday. The paper’s editors affirmed that Belarus should have “the right to defend itself.” “Some Western leaders and media quickly classified the incident as a ‘hijack’ and ‘state terrorism,’ making it extremely sensational,” the editorial says. “We believe that the international community should give Belarus the right to defend itself. Washington Free Beacon
Shocking. Note how the Chicoms’ use of proper lexicon to deceive to appeal to the leftists: “the right to defense itself.” Hamas and Palestinians also have been “defending” themselves from Israel.
American held in Russia contracts COVID-19 after denied vaccine . . . An American detained in Russia has contracted the coronavirus after being denied a vaccine, his family said Tuesday.
Trevor Reed’s family announced that his symptoms began on May 17 as a fever and a cough and have since progressed to include a loss of smell. Trevor now has COVID as a result of a toxic mix of incompetence, recklessness and spitefulness on the part of Russian authorities,” his family stated. “Needless to say, should anything happen to Trevor, we will hold the Russian Government entirely responsible.” Reed, a Marine Corps veteran, was sentenced in July to nine years in prison for assaulting a police officer. The U.S. and Reed’s family contest the allegations. The Hill
He’ll probably be better off surviving COVID than the Sputnik vaccine.
Money
One-third of Americans unwilling to spend $1 to fight climate change . . . President Biden wants to spend in excess of $1 trillion to combat climate change, but more than one-third of Americans are unwilling to chip in a single buck. A poll of 1,200 registered voters released Tuesday by the Competitive Enterprise Institute found that 35% were unwilling to spend any of their own money to reduce the impact of climate change, with another 15% saying they would only go as high as $10 per month. Washington Times
Business groups form alliance to oppose Biden’s tax hikes . . . Nearly three dozen business groups representing a range of industries have created an alliance to fight President Biden’s plans to raise taxes, arguing the proposed levies will kill job creation and hinder the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic.
The coalition of 28 industry groups – called “America’s Job Creators for a Strong Recovery” – was spearheaded by the National Association of Wholesale Distributors. The alliance comes as Biden pushes forward with his $4 trillion “Build Back Better” agenda, which is comprised of the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan and the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan.
US steel lobby mobilizes to preserve Donald Trump’s tariffs . . . US president Joe Biden’s promise to end trade wars with Europe after four years of transatlantic strain under Donald Trump is running into hard opposition from the American steel industry. Steel mills in the US have prospered in the past year as commodity prices have surged and the industry consolidates. Another factor in their favour is the 25 per cent tariff that the Trump administration placed on imported steel in 2018. European officials want the tariffs removed. Last week the Biden administration said it hoped to reach an agreement with the EU on the issue by the end of the year after Brussels said it would delay escalating retaliatory tariffs of at least 50 per cent on US goods including bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Financial Times
You should also know
Conservative Black intellectuals battle 1619 Project, ‘race-grievance onslaught’ . . . The backlash against what Robert L. Woodson calls the “race-grievance industry” is surging, and leading the revolt are right-tilting Black intellectuals like himself. On the heels of 1776 Unites, the Woodson Center’s response to the 1619 Project, Mr. Woodson has a surprise bestseller on his hands with “Red, White and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers,” a collection of essays by prominent Black thought leaders and scholars. The book hit No. 1 on Amazon in New Releases shortly after its May 18 debut, thanks to what Mr. Woodson called a yearning for “a counter-narrative that celebrates America’s founding. Washington Times
Catholic Priest Who Held Masses In Defiance Of COVID Restrictions Asked To Step Down . . . A Catholic priest who preached against the Democratic Party’s progressive policies and held masses in defiance of coronavirus restrictions has been asked to step down by his bishop. Fr. James Altman announced that the bishop had asked him to step down during Mass Sunday, where he said that Bishop William Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse accused him of being both ineffective and divisive, the Federalist reported. The priest, who said he does not intend to resign, will appeal the bishop’s decision to the Vatican and has retained a canon law attorney, the publication reported. Daily Caller
USSR 2.0 is here.
Judge Dismisses Indictment Against Ex-Trump Adviser Bannon, Cites Pardon . . . Steve Bannon, the onetime top strategist for former President Donald Trump and recipient of a presidential pardon, on Tuesday won dismissal of an indictment that accused him of defrauding donors to a fund to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said that a dismissal was “the proper course” in light of the pardon, which Bannon received in the final hours of Trump’s presidency. Judge Torres said the pardon was valid, and that even if Bannon did not formally admit guilt “the issuance of a pardon may carry an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it.” Epoch Times
Lego Releases Set Celebrating ‘LGBTQIA+’ Figures, Drag Queens . . . The left is tearing down mainstream values—brick by brick! Lego, the latest company to pander to the woke, just decided to test the waters with a rainbow set of “LGBTQIA+” figures. “Everyone is awesome!” the iconic toy company tweeted with a picture of the pack, which also boasts a transgender flag-colored spectrum. And if you’ve always wanted your kids to get an early education on cross-dressers, creator Matthew Ashton says you’re in luck. Although the characters are supposed to be nonconformist, the purple figure is meant as “a clear nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there.” Lego isn’t the first toy company to wade into radical politics. Barbie and American Girl dolls have tried it too. Daily Signal
Fabulous!
This is the maximum age humans can physically reach, scientists say . . . Researchers believe they have identified the upper limit of human mortality: 150 years old. This would top the current record for oldest human — Jeanne Calment, who passed away in 1997 at 122 years — but it sure does put a damper on efforts to live forever. Scientists think they’ve confirmed the maximum age people can anticipate ever living to, the researchers wrote in a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Artificial intelligence analyzed the health- and fitness-related information, and researchers determined that the human lifespan is most significantly based on two data points: biological age — associated with stress, lifestyle and chronic diseases — and resilience — how quickly the person returns to normal after responding to a stressor. Using these findings and related trends, researchers reckoned that, at around 120 to 150 years old, the human body shows “a complete loss” of resilience, resulting in an inability to recover. New York Post
Guilty Pleasures
Nine Easy Ways For Your Church To Be Less White . . . If the church is truly going to come together around the teachings of Jesus — a kind of coalition for the gospel — then we need to be less white. But how do you even do that? We’ve got ideas, fam:
1. Ask white people to stop coming. – This is an easy one. Before the service, ask people to silence their cellphones and also tell white people to leave and never come back.
2. Hire a black person to stand in all your promotional photos. – Don’t have any black people? Hire one on Fiverr to be in every single website photo.
3. Stop reading the Bible, since it might give your congregation the idea that race and whiteness don’t matter at all. – Yep, if you want to be woke, the Bible has to go. People might start getting the idea that we are all one race and one blood, made in the image of God.
4. At potlucks, replace all ranch with hot sauce. – White people will flee in terror.
5. Hire a black person to help you clap on beat. – 2 and 4, people, not 1 and 3! Read the rest in Babylon Bee
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GOP leaders in Congress say they’re moving forward from relitigating the 2020 election. But 2022 candidates are embracing Trump’s handling of the results as a way to prove their MAGA bona fides.
Former President Donald Trump. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images.)
Happy Wednesday! Congratulations to Guy Fieri, who just signed a contract extension with the Food Network that will pay him $80 million over the next three years. The Dispatch was willing to go to $85 million, but we respect Fieri’s brand loyalty.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his first official Middle East trip as part of the Biden administration, said Tuesday that the U.S. will make “significant contributions” toward the rebuilding of Gaza, which suffered substantial damage from Israeli airstrikes in the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. Blinken made the remarks in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that the U.S. would “work to ensure that Hamas does not benefit” from the aid.
A CDC study published yesterday found that, among the approximately 101 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 30, just 706—0.0007 percent—were reported to have been hospitalized due to “breakthrough infections” of the virus. The report noted, however, that “the national surveillance system relies on passive and voluntary reporting, and data might not be complete or representative.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill this week intended to significantly curtail social media companies’ discretion to moderate content on their sites. The new law prohibits platforms from banning Florida political candidates and gives Florida residents a new legal pathway to sue companies that “deplatform” them. It is expected to face immediate court challenges.
New data from Moderna’s Phase 3 trial of 3,700 participants aged 12 to 17 found the mRNA vaccine to be 100 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 infection without any “significant safety concerns.” The pharmaceutical company said it plans to submit the data to regulators in early June.
An American journalist working in Rangoon, Burma was detained by local authorities Monday and transferred to a nearby prison. Danny Fenster, a 37-year-old Michigan native, was boarding a flight to leave the country when he was taken into custody.
The Senate voted 51-48 on Tuesday to confirm Kristen Clarke as the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
The United States confirmed 24,678 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, with 2.6 percent of the 949,929 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 409 deaths were attributed to the virus on Tuesday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 590,925. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 23,183 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Meanwhile, 897,972 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered yesterday, with 164,378,258 Americans having now received at least one dose.
Meet the New Litmus Test, Same as the Old Litmus Test
In the immediate aftermath of the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, there was a general consensus among Republican leaders about the cause of the violence: Supporters of Donald Trump had been deliberately misled into believing that their man was the rightful victor of the 2020 presidential election and was being denied a second term.
“The President bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters,” GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on the House floor on January 13. “He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”
“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it,” Senate Minority Mitch McConnell said on February 13.
Even Sen. Ted Cruz—who has evolved into quite the MAGA enthusiast since encouraging Republican National Convention delegates to “vote their conscience” approximately six lifetimes ago—said the former president “plainly bears some responsibility” for the violence of his supporters who attacked the Capitol hoping to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College results.
“I think it was reckless and I think he needs to recognize it,” Cruz—who himself was one of only a handful of senators to object to certifying the election results—told a local Texas TV station one day after the attack.
If uttered today, such statements—true as they may be—would be grounds for almost immediate political ostracization. In February, Rep. Liz Cheney still had the overwhelming support of her colleagues to remain House Republican conference chair after voting to impeach the former president—and making crystal clear exactly what she thought of him in doing so. But she got the boot three months later, despite her positions and rhetoric not changing a whit. So what did?
Republicans’ political reality had sunk in, with poll after poll showing Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP base wasn’t loosening as much as many congressional leaders privately hoped it would.
In January, just after the attempted insurrection, 48 percent of Republican and lean-Republican voters reported in an Echelon Insights survey they would definitely or probably support Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. That number has steadily rebounded as the events of January 6 have faded, and it now sits at 63 percent. In the same poll, 45 percent of Republicans classify themselves as “primarily” supporters of Donald Trump, compared to 44 percent who consider themselves “primarily” supporters of the GOP.
Earlier this week, an Ipsos/Reuters poll found that 61 percent of Republican voters believe “the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump” and 53 percent “think Donald Trump is the actual President.” Just over half agreed that “the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was led by violent left-wing protestors trying to make Trump look bad.”
So instead of confronting Trump’s election lies head on as some did in early January, top GOP officials have instead resigned themselves to downplaying or ignoring them in the hope that they will fade away on their own. McCarthy, for example, tried to speak his own reality into existence on May 12 when he told a group of reporters that he “[doesn’t] think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.”
McConnell, for his part, did not repeat anything close to his remarks from February when asked earlier this month about Republican in-fighting over Trump. “One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration,” he responded, adding that he is “looking forward, not backwards.”
With antisemitic violence in the streets of major U.S. cities and antisemitic rhetoric in the halls of Congress, Blake Flayton’s recent piece for The Bulwark offers a timely reminder that both sides of the aisle must condemn hatred against Jews—even when doing so isn’t politically expedient. “Those so quick to (rightly) condemn Marjorie Taylor Greene for her theory about the Rothschilds’ secret space lasers can’t seem to concern themselves with throngs of ‘Pro-Palestinian’ demonstrators in Los Angeles attacking Jewish men on the street simply for being Jewish,” Flayton writes. “They’re not speaking up when marchers for Palestinian liberation attribute Israel to Nazi Germany and call for its destruction. They’re not speaking up when Jews are assaulted in Times Square for holding an Israeli flag, or when a firecracker is thrown in The Diamond District at visibly Jewish people.”
A Floridian himself, National Review’s Charlie Cooke is generally a fan of Gov. Ron DeSantis. But he’s not a fan of the bill targeting Big Tech that DeSantis signed into law this week. “Yes, Twitter, Facebook, and Google are precisely the hives of hypocrisy and inconsistency that their critics say they are. But, under present American law, those companies are allowed to be hives of hypocrisy and inconsistency—not only as a result of statutes such as Section 230, but as a result of the plain text of the First Amendment itself,” Cooke wrote a few weeks ago. “To force private entities to host or disseminate speech that they abhor is, ultimately, to force them to violate their conscience.”
Friend of Advisory Opinions Marina Koren breaks alien-loving hearts everywhere in her latest for The Atlantic, where she outlines a few very rational, very terrestrial explanations for unidentified flying objects ahead of the Pentagon’s UFO briefing to Congress next month. While the studies of ufology and extraterrestrial intelligence both occupy important places in academia, they’re largely distinct from one another. “Many mundane objects can masquerade as something otherworldly: experimental aircraft, atmospheric quirks, drones, balloons, even the planet Venus,” Koren writes. “Camera glitches and distortions can manifest something that isn’t really there. Consider these explanations, and the magic starts to dissipate.”
In a short-and-sweet Tuesday Uphill, Haley offers an update on congressional haggling over a potential police reform compromise. Sen. Tim Scott “sounded optimistic about the talks on Monday night,” Haley writes, when he told reporters that he and Democratic Rep. Karen Bass and Sen. Cory Booker made progress over the weekend. The biggest question now might not be whether the working group can reach a deal, but whether it’s one progressives in the House are willing to support.
Sarah’s latest Sweepoffers a smorgasbord of recent Dispatch 2022 Senate campaign offerings: Andrew’s piece on Missouri, Audrey’s on Alabama, and Ryan’s on Pennsylvania. Sarah also walks through why the path back to a GOP Senate isn’t necessarily as easy as it might seem: “Republicans already have four big retirements to deal with … and that doesn’t count either Iowa’s Chuck Grassley (who is 87 years old) or Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson (who said in 2016 he wouldn’t run again), neither of whom have yet declared their intentions.”
David provided his own take on Florida’s new social media law in his French Press yesterday, and he didn’t mince words. “One of the incredibly bizarre developments of this dysfunctional modern time is the extent to which a faction of the Republican Party is now rejecting the crown achievements of the conservative legal movement,” he writes. “Increasingly, the GOP is looking at remarkable legal advances in the fight against speech codes, against government regulation of corporate speech, and against government-mandated viewpoint discrimination—and declaring that it prefers power over liberty. It wants more government control over speech. It wants speech codes.”
On the site today: Jonah confronts the disconnect between GOP arguments about last summer’s riots around the country and the January 6 attack on the Capitol. And Dan Lips writes about the Senate’s sweeping research and competition bill and potential new security measures for higher education.
The Deseret News and Institute for Family Studies will convene Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) alongside a panel of distinguished scholars and experts to explore how to best strengthen the American family.
George Floyd Anniversary: Victim, But Not Hero
On the anniversary of his tragic death, the left tries to turn George Floyd into a hero.
From Andy McCarthy:
“Today marks one year since the death of George Floyd in police custody — I can never get used to invoking the term “anniversary” in connection with such dark events. There is, as one has come to expect, no shortage of vaporous talk about Floyd’s “legacy.” We should not, however, conflate the man with the event.
Floyd should not have died as he did. For their complicity in his demise, four former Minneapolis police are being held accountable, beginning with Derek Chauvin, who was convicted last month. Still, a stubborn fact remains: Floyd bore significant responsibility for the tragedy that unfolded.”
I think the verdict in the Chauvin case was reasonable. No part of George Floyd’s life gave Officer Chauvin the right to take it. But I balk at turning Floyd into some kind of national saint.
Risk and American Frontier
Many have observed that America is, at its heart, a frontier nation.
There’s a reason the cowboy, until recently, remained the unofficial American mascot, so instantly identifiable with our country that Western imagery has been used to symbolize American freedom all over the world.
On the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s call to conquer the frontier of space, it’s worth taking a moment to wonder what America has lost with the closing of its frontiers, and whether we’re still a nation capable of taking on great risks for great glory.
“In his call for a project of immense national import, President Kennedy comes across as the leader of a free people, committing us to a clear-eyed task of achieving something that seemed utterly impossible. He has none of the lecturing attitude of philosopher king wannabe Barack Obama, the bombast of a reality show star like Donald Trump, or the weary old man anger of Joe Biden. Instead of patronizing the audience or handing out tax largesse, he walks Americans through an issue with clear language to explain why it’s important. He speaks to them as citizens, not subjects.
Kennedy called us to undertake the moonshot as a free people, for the good of all mankind. Such a national mega-project commitment with a nine-year horizon is basically unthinkable today. The politics of the 1960s allowed for it, but those of today do not…
What does that say about the state of the republic — one where our trust for every major institution with the exception of the military has decayed beyond the point of usefulness in audacious endeavors?…
The American spirit is still there. It still beats in the heart of this great nation. But we need to honor it, and unite around it, again. And that will require more than just a fine speech from a politician. It will require something of you, as well.”
Making Sense of Cancel Culture as Political Weapon
Where are the boundaries of mainstream discourse? It does no good to suggest that there aren’t any, writes Emily Jashinsky in The Federalist. It’s never been good for your career to have a swastika tattooed on your forehead. The real question is whose boundaries prevail.
“In each of these cases, of course, some subsection of the right was acting cynically or hypocritically. But the mounting leftist consensus that conservative criticism of cancel culture is categorically cynical or hypocritical is absurd, reflexive, and facile…
Further, while the Very Online know that Hannah-Jones is controversial, she’s a Pulitzer winner whose work ended up in school curricula around the country. It hardly seems unreasonable to imagine some stakeholders at UNC only became aware of her many, obvious journalistic failures after controversy bubbled. Who cares if she’s a leftist? Hannah-Jones is an unprofessional fabulist who has no business teaching students to do journalism.
But, of course, the Enlightened Consensus among Reasonable Observers held that Wilder and Jones were victims of cancel culture. This is a consequence of cancel culture’s inevitable weaponization, its murky definition, and the elite consensus that conservative bad faith is always disproportionate to bad faith on the left.
The murkily defined “cancel culture” is becoming increasingly useless as a category because the left and right are becoming increasingly aware some things truly warrant cancelation, that moral codes matter, whether you side with Tipper Gore or Jessica Valenti…
The purest definition of ‘cancel culture’ refers to unjust consequences for speech, whether it’s bad but years old, whether it’s heterodox but recent. The left wishes to subject even J.K. Rowling to deplatforming over her narrow opposition to trans ideology applied to children. They should just say they love cancel culture and come to terms with it. It’ll save us a lot of time, a lot of bad-faith hackery, and a lot of meta-analysis whenever these stupid controversies erupt.”
Who defines what consequences for speech are “unjust”? Once cancel culture was politically weaponized, just like #MeToo, it was inevitable that it would be wielded.
Fashion Moment of the Week
Thank the Lord parties are back on the menu! Rent the Runway has a great list of bright, cool dresses of all lengths and styles for your summer soiree needs. I am all about the garden parties right now, and this is where I think renting is particularly helpful, since party dresses are some of the least-repeated parts of a wardrobe and instead just hang in my closet taking up space while I hunt for a new one.
Wednesday Links
John Cena licks CCP boot over remark about Taiwan. (The Federalist)
Transition regret stories go mainstream on 60 Minutes. (The Federalist)
Biden administration diverts education funds intended for COVID relief to “antiracist therapy” for white teachers. (City Journal)
Matt Welch: teachers’ unions try to rewrite unpopular history. (Reason)
Youthful CRT proponents target parents in smear campaigns. (Free Beacon)
Related to the previous two stories: a list of victories in what has become the real “year of school choice” – 2021. (Ed Choice)
Lukashenko’s state-sponsored skyjacking can’t go unanswered. (Best24 News)
Meanwhile, Biden admin approves Putin’s favorite pipeline project. (The Federalist)
CRT revolution undermines art at Julliard. (City Journal)
Taibbi: fact-checking chalks up another L. (Substack)
Inez Feltscher Stepman is a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum and a senior contributor to The Federalist. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native with a BA in Philosophy from UCSD and a JD from the University of Virginia. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Jarrett Stepman, her puggle Thor, and her cat Thaddeus Kosciuszko. You can follow her on Twitter at @inezfeltscher and on Instagram (for #ootd, obvi) under the same handle. Opinions expressed on this website are her own and not those of her employers. Or her husband.
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May 26, 2021 01:00 am
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Notes on the State of Politics: May 26, 2021
A silver lining for House Democrats; Democrats in good shape in NM-1 special; Republicans still clearly favored in top Florida races despite emergence of credible challengers
By Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman
Sabato’s Crystal Ball
Dear Readers: This is the latest edition of the Crystal Ball’s “Notes on the State of Politics,” which features short updates on elections and politics.— The Editors
The House: A silver lining for Democrats
Last week’s Crystal Ball, which featured hypothetical ratings of the House that did not take looming redistricting into account, painted a relatively bleak picture for Democrats. We rated 19 Democratic seats as Toss-ups if no district lines changed, and just two Republican ones. Republicans need to net just five additional seats to win the House next year.
However, there is at least one reason to think Democrats could be able to limit their losses next year or even hold on to the majority: The Democrats are not that overextended into hostile, Republican territory.
Despite not holding the majority, Republicans hold more seats in districts that Joe Biden won, nine, than Democrats hold in districts Donald Trump won, seven. And three of the seven Trump-district Democrats — Reps. Cindy Axne (D, IA-3), Elissa Slotkin (D, MI-8), and Andy Kim (D, NJ-3) — hold seats that Trump won by less than a point apiece. The most Republican-leaning seat based on the 2020 presidential results won by any Democrat is ME-2, which Rep. Jared Golden (D) held despite it voting for Trump by 7.4 points.
Compare that to 2010, the last time Democrats were trying to defend a House majority in the first midterm of a Democratic president. Democrats won 49 seats carried by John McCain in the 2008 presidential race, and roughly half of those were in districts Barack Obama had lost by double digits: Democrats actually won 31 of Obama’s 150 worst-performing districts in 2008. Republicans held a fair number of Obama-won seats in 2008 — 34, which speaks to the higher levels of ticket-splitting just a dozen years ago — but only nine were ones Obama won by double digits. Democrats would go on to lose all but 12 of their McCain-won districts in 2010.
We saw something similar in 2018, when Democrats won back the House: Republicans won 25 seats carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, and they lost all but three in the 2018 midterm.
Part of the reason why Democrats are not very overextended is that they only won 222 House seats in 2020. Democrats won 257 in 2008, and Republicans won 241 in 2016. The bigger your majority, the likelier it is that you are cutting into unfavorable turf. As such, Democrats don’t hold a lot of Trump-won territory, which could insulate them from significant losses if the political environment cooperates to at least some degree.
There’s one major caveat here: These numbers will change because of redistricting. Some current Democrats in Biden-won seats may find themselves in Trump-won seats, or vice versa, next year. It may also be that some current crossover district members might find themselves no longer in crossover seats, as friendly map-drawers alter their districts in ways that help them win reelection. So we’ll have to revisit the list of crossover members as the redistricting process begins in earnest later this year.
NM-1: Democrats remain favored as election nears
While redistricting is certainly an obstacle to handicapping most 2022 House elections, one race that won’t be dependent on new lines will be next week’s special election in New Mexico’s 1st District. The seat was vacated earlier this year when then-Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM-1) resigned to lead the Department of the Interior.
The Crystal Ball’s initial read on the race was that this Albuquerque-area district should stay in Democratic hands, but Republicans could pull off an upset if enough factors lined up — in early February, we rated a potential special election in NM-1 as Likely Democratic. Nearly four months later, we feel the same way about it.
In the months since February, voters in three other districts have gone to the polls for special elections, but none have been especially informative of the national mood. In Louisiana’s 5th District, now-Rep. Julia Letlow (R, LA-5) won a March primary outright — the whole campaign, she was seen as a clear favorite to replace her late husband, who won the seat last year, then died of COVID-19. In Louisiana’s heavily Democratic 2nd District, which went to an April runoff, the partisan outcome was never in question. Finally, though TX-6 is a competitive district on paper, it’s headed to a July 27 runoff that will feature two Republicans — Democrats, admittedly, did not invest in getting one of their candidates past a jungle primary earlier this month.
While New Mexico may not be the first state that comes to mind on the subject of Trump-era political realignments, NM-1 is an example of how pervasive recent national shifts have been. In their March conventions, both parties nominated legislators whose districts speak to this.
The Republican nominee, state Sen. Mark Moores, holds a seat that takes in some northern Albuquerque neighborhoods: in 2008, his SD-21 supported John McCain 53%-46%, but went for Biden by about five points last year. Democratic state Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s district followed a similar path. Her HD-28 is on the city’s eastern edge and gave McCain a narrow majority, then supported Biden 55%-43% a dozen years later.
Still, despite the longer-term Democratic trend at the presidential level, Republicans are pointing to their overperformance there in last year’s Senate race. Biden carried New Mexico by nearly 11 points, while now-Sen. Ben Ray Lujan’s (D-NM) margin was only a little more than half that. In fact, Lujan ran furthest behind Biden in NM-1. The Republican nominee, Mark Ronchetti, who was (and now is again) a longtime TV meteorologist, got within 15% in NM-1, while Trump lost it by over 20%. Map 1 considers the presidential and Senate results in the Bernalillo County part of NM-1 (the county casts over 90% of the district’s votes).
Map 1: Bernalillo County portion of NM-1 in 2020
Biden and Lujan carried the vast majority of precincts — perhaps not very surprising, considering the Democratic lean of the district. Still, if Republicans are going to pull off an upset next week, the light blue Biden/Ronchetti precincts would be the areas to watch. Moores’ (SD-21) and Stansbury’s (HD-28) districts are outlined, and both are in the more competitive part of the county. Ronchetti won SD-21 by about six points (similar to McCain’s showing in 2008) and came within a point of carrying HD-28, despite Biden’s double-digit lead there.
The remaining counties in NM-1 don’t account for many votes, but they lean Republican. So Moores’ formula would seem to hinge on running up the score in those areas, then banking on pro-GOP reversion in the suburbs.
A crowdfunded poll out Monday, conducted jointly by the nonpartisan Elections Daily and the conservative RRH Elections, gave Stansbury a 49%-33% lead, roughly the same margin that Haaland won with last year. The race will feature two third party candidates. One is a Libertarian, and the other is former state Commissioner of Public Lands Aubrey Dunn — elected as a Republican to that post, he switched to the Libertarian Party while in office, but he is on the ballot as independent. Given his past affiliations, it seemed Dunn would be more of a net drain on Moores, but he actually fares better in the poll with college graduates, a group that has fueled Democratic gains in the area. President Biden’s approval stood at 58%-39% in the poll, down slightly from the margin he sported there last year against Trump.
A datapoint from the poll that election enthusiasts will appreciate is that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) would lead her 2018 opponent, former Rep. Steve Pearce (R, NM-2) by 15%, down from the 23% margin she took there three years ago — Lujan Grisham has seen some unfavorable headlines in recent months, though she could still win statewide, with a few points to spare, with that type of margin in NM-1. Lujan Grisham preceded Haaland as NM-1’s representative.As of last Friday, registered Democrats seemed to have a healthy lead in the early vote, casting 61% of the early ballots compared to just 27% for Republicans. Early voting will continue until Saturday, and the picture could change by then, but we suspect that there could be a familiar polarization by voting method — as with the 2020 general election, Republicans could be waiting until next week to vote. But barring a sizeable Republican surge next Tuesday, Democrats are going into the final stretch of this race as the favorites.
Florida: Top races still rated Likely Republican
Democratic wheels have been turning in Florida in recent weeks. Rep. Val Demings (D, FL-10), a one-time contender for the second slot on Joe Biden’s presidential ticket, is likely to run for Senate against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Rubio is set to seek a third term in the Senate next year. Demings’ decision appears to have sidelined another Senate contender from the Orlando area, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D, FL-7), who somewhat surprisingly decided against a Senate bid on Monday.
Democrats therefore may avoid a contentious primary for the right to face Rubio, although there are at least two big names in Democratic circles who appear to want the right to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL): Rep. Charlie Crist (D, FL-13) and state Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried (D). Crist has already announced his bid, and Fried has indicated she is likely to run. Back when he was a Republican, Crist served a single term as governor from 2007-2011. He lost to Rubio running as an independent in a 2010 Senate contest — Crist left the GOP after it became apparent that Rubio was likely to beat him for the Republican Senate nomination — and then lost a very close race against then-Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) as a Democrat for governor in 2014. Crist won election to the House in 2016, where he has served ever since. Fried, meanwhile, won an open seat squeaker for agriculture commissioner in 2018 even as Democrats were narrowly losing the Senate and gubernatorial races to Scott and DeSantis, respectively.
Florida holds its primaries in late August, so while Murphy’s decision may prevent Demings from having to win a tough, late primary, Crist versus Fried, if it happens, could be somewhat reminiscent of the 2018 primary between former Rep. Gwen Graham (D, FL-2) and then-Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D), which Gillum somewhat surprisingly won (there were other prominent candidates in that race, but Gillum and Graham finished well ahead of the others and together split nearly two-thirds of all the votes). Gillum lost to DeSantis in November 2018 by about half a point.
Demings plus Crist or Fried would give the Democrats a pairing of credible candidates, but we still favor DeSantis and Rubio in these races. Both are incumbents without obvious problems, and Democrats have in recent years come up empty in Florida’s top statewide races.The 2020 presidential election in the Sunshine State was perhaps the Democrats’ worst performance over the last several cycles, as Donald Trump carried the state by 3.4 points. Trump’s increased margin from 2016 — when he carried the state by 1.2 points — was driven largely by significant improvements in South Florida’s Palm Beach, Broward, and (especially) Miami-Dade counties. Joe Biden carried all three counties, but he only won Miami-Dade by seven points after Hillary Clinton carried it by 29 points in 2016, and Biden suffered smaller but still notable underperformances in Palm Beach and Broward. If Biden had matched Clinton’s margin of victory (based on percentage of the vote cast) in these three counties, Trump’s winning statewide margin would have been cut from about 370,000 votes to only about 50,000. A recent report from the Democratic data firm Catalist found that Trump performed better in 2020 than he did in 2016 with Latinos overall, but his biggest overperformance came with those of Cuban ancestry — an important group in Miami-Dade. Catalist estimated that Clinton won Florida Latinos by a 65%-35% spread in the two-party vote, but Biden only won them 51%-49%. Latinos make up a little less than a fifth of all Florida voters.
So one challenge for the Democratic statewide ticket, whoever ends up leading it, is improving the party’s performance in South Florida and with Latinos. At least against Rubio, a Cuban-American candidate from South Florida, this may be challenging: In his successful 2016 reelection, Rubio only lost Miami-Dade by 11 points, 18 points better than Trump (it also seems reasonable to expect that DeSantis and Rubio might perform similarly across the state — there was not much daylight between Scott and DeSantis in 2018). And however credible some combination of Demings along with Crist or Fried may be, none of those three candidates are Latino (Crist is a white man, Fried is a white, Jewish woman, and Demings is a Black woman).
The stakes in Florida, as always, are high: DeSantis is emerging as a top, non-Trump contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but a reelection loss likely would cripple his candidacy. A Rubio loss would likely kneecap Republican odds of winning the Senate majority next year. But despite the likelihood of a decent pairing of Senate and gubernatorial candidates for Democrats, the incumbent Republicans remain well-situated barring convincing evidence to the contrary in a state where Republicans retain a small but solid statewide edge.
NOW AVAILABLE: A Return to Normalcy? Our Book on the 2020 Election
A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election That (Almost) Broke America — the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ new look at the 2020 presidential election and its consequences — is now available through UVA Bookstores, IndieBound, and other onlinebooksellers.
Crystal Ball readers can also buy the book directly from the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield, and receive a 30% discount using the code RLFANDF30.
Edited by Crystal Ball editors Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik, and J. Miles Coleman, A Return to Normalcy? brings together what Booklistcalls a “stellar coterie of reporters, pundits, and scholars” to “parse the 2020 election via a data-driven set of analytics displayed in useful charts and graphs, drawing conclusions that will satisfy hard-core political junkies and provide a solid foundation for everyone looking ahead to 2022 and 2024.”
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Kelley Paul, wife of Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), is no shrinking violet — and she made it perfectly clear Monday night that she and her husband will not be backing down in the face of a recent reported death threat. If thugs and haters want to threaten her husband and family as the lawmaker continues to “stand up for our constitutionally p … Read more
President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly shut down a State Department investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that was started last year by the Trump administration under then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s leadership.News of the Biden administration’s actions are significant because the theory that COVID-19 leake … Read more
Video footage posted on social media shows a transgender-affirming medical professional arguing that children should be able to choose to undergo sex reassignment procedures because they “most of the time make good decisions.”And besides, the doctor added — in specific reference to breast reduction surgery — it can always … Read more
A USA Today reporter who has worked directly with a Bloomberg-funded anti-gun group is preparing an attack on a major gun industry trade group ahead of hearings for Biden’s ATF nominee.
While migrants from Central America stream to the U.S. border, any positive effects of Biden’s ‘root-cause’ strategy will be slow and incremental at best.
‘Nothing has changed,’ said pharmacist Randal Policare. ‘It’s hanging over our heads and could happen again any day now. I’m not going to let them win.’
To Democrats, David Chipman’s qualifications aren’t his achievements in law enforcement. They’re his zeal for attacking the Second Amendment and ridiculing gun-owning Americans.
Concerns over the 1619 Project and its creator stem not from a desire to ‘cancel’ anyone but to ensure American history education is truthful and accurate.
Modern women follow a set of rules that are supposed to make them happy when followed. But the rules aren’t based on anything other than an entitled, self-obsessed, victimization complex.
At a time the wealthiest Americans have gotten even richer due to booming times on Wall Street, pernicious inflation would give working families a crushing blow.
With spiking crime rates and police officers leaving the force in droves, the ‘defund the police’ movement proves to be endangering the very lives it sought to serve.
The Transom is a daily email newsletter written by publisher of The Federalist Ben Domenech for political and media insiders, which arrives in your inbox each morning, collecting news, notes, and thoughts from around the web.
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40.) REUTERS
The Reuters Daily Briefing
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
by Linda Noakes
Hello
Here’s what you need to know.
The U.S. steps up its pursuit of far-right activists, WhatsApp sues the Indian government, and a startling claim from Boris Johnson’s former adviser
Today’s biggest stories
FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants from Romania hold their children after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft in La Joya, Texas, May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
U.S.
Scores of Romanians who are part of the Roma ethnic minority have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in south Texas in recent weeks to seek asylum, highlighting the far-flung origins of some of the migrants who have contributed to border arrests reaching a 20-year high.
Two Senate Democrats known for independent streaks urged Republicans to support a bipartisan commission into the deadly January attack on the Capitol, after one in six House Republicans broke with party leadership and backed the probe.
Steve Bannon, the onetime top strategist for former President Donald Trump and recipient of a presidential pardon, won dismissal of an indictment accusing him of defrauding donors to a fund to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
A sign is seen during a protest outside Portcullis House, in Westminster, central London, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said a journalist pulled off a plane that landed in Minsk had been plotting a bloody rebellion, and accused the West of waging a hybrid war against him. Meanwhile, the journalist’s girlfriend appeared in a video in which she made a confession that the opposition said looked forced.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged on a Middle East mission that Washington would provide new aid to help rebuild Gaza as part of efforts to bolster a ceasefire between its Islamist Hamas rulers and Israel. As the fighting ebbs, Israel’s communities are eyeing each other warily.
A powerful cyclone destroyed tens of thousands of mud houses in eastern India, forcing the closure of the busiest regional airport in the city of Kolkata as it brought storm surges to coastal areas, the second such event within a week.
The showdown pitting Exxon Mobil against a tiny activist fund to determine the oil giant’s board and future direction is too close to call, according to people familiar with the matter. Exxon has long fought to keep climate activists at bay, negotiating with big holders to supply details of its emissions and publicly supporting carbon reduction.
China’s banking regulator has asked lenders to stop selling investment products linked to commodities futures to mom-and-pop buyers, to curb investment losses amid volatile commodity prices.
A lawyer for the European Union accused AstraZeneca of failing to respect its contract with the 27-nation bloc for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and asked a Belgian court to impose a large fine on the company.
Quote of the day
“They are definitely not going to have a COVID-19 free event, that’s for sure”
After 17 years spent alone underground, billions of red-eyed cicadas are emerging across the U.S. East Coast. Scientists suspect their life cycles could be related to global warming.
Eleven-year-old Seenlada Supat says her voluntary weekly performances are giving her a chance to practice before a live audience and overcome stage fright.
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by Gary Bauer: China Lied & Millions Died.
When the coronavirus was ravaging America and the world last year, a debate erupted over its origin. One view was that someone in China ate an infected bat and caught the disease. A year and a half later, 600,000 Americans and 3.5 million people around the world were dead.
The Trump Administration raised a more likely possibility — that COVID leaked from a bio-research lab known to be experimenting with these types of viruses in Wuhan, China, the same city where COVID-19 first appeared.
The Chinese Communist Party furiously rejected that idea. The media, Dr. Anthony Fauci and congressional Democrats immediately sided with the Chinese Communist Party. They mocked Trump and anyone else who dared to question communist China. When Trump referred to the disease as the “China virus,” they accused him of racism.
As time passed, evidence for COVID’s natural occurrence remained elusive. And numerous scientists and officials have continued to insist that the preponderance of evidence points to the Wuhan lab.
These aren’t kooks and crackpots. I’m referring to statements from former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, former CDC Director Robert Redfield, former FDA Administrator Scott Gottlieb, former HHS Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir and former Director National IntelligenceJohn Ratcliffe.
This week, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that three workers at the Wuhan lab were hospitalized in November 2019 with all the symptoms of the coronavirus.
Even Dr. Fauci is changing his tune. Now he says he’s not totally convinced that COVID developed naturally, adding, “We should continue to investigate what went on in China.” And Politifact has retracted its “fact check” supposedly debunking the lab leak theory.
Once again, it appears that Trump was right. This episode is another sad example of the fake news media’s failure to do its job of objective journalism. Our media spent four years reflexively opposing anything Donald Trump said and did. They attacked Donald Trump and gave communist China the benefit of the doubt!
In this case, the implications couldn’t be greater. Communist China is not a normal country. It is engaged in genocide. It always lies. Our media repeated China’s lies, and 600,000 Americans died. We must have a full American-led investigation into COVID’s origins to discover the truth.
But we won’t get that from the Biden Administration, which continues to insist that the World Health Organization (WHO) lead any investigation. That’s right – the same WHO that is hopelessly compromised by communist China.
A Tale Of Two Investigations
The left is insisting that the breaching of the Capitol on January 6th by an unruly pro-Trump crowd was the greatest assault on Congress since the War of 1812 when the British set fire to the building. That is another lie. Whatever your view is on the events of January 6th, they were not a threat to our Republic. Nor were they unprecedented.
For example, in March 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the visitors’ gallery and shot five members of the House of Representatives.
In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in 140 U.S. cities. In Washington, D.C., 6,100 people were arrested, over 1,000 were injured and 16 people were killed. U.S. Marines mounted machine guns on the steps of the Capitol, and the Third Infantry Regiment prevented the rioters from sacking the White House.
Over the last 18 months, America’s Constitution and our liberty have been threatened, but not by conservatives.
When the coronavirus came roaring out of communist China, it delivered a horrible blow to our country. Nearly 600,000 Americans have died. Our constitutional rights were severely restricted, including freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and due process.
It is imperative that we get the truth about the origins of the virus and communist China’s lies and disinformation, which contributed to a world-wide disaster.
Yet, the only investigation of interest to Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi is the January 6th investigation. That investigation helps the left smear and demonize the 74 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump. An investigation into communist China and COVID is of no interest to the left.
A thorough investigation of COVID’s origins could uncover inconvenient truths and expose the deep reach of the Chinese communists into the highest levels of the U.S. government, business and academia.
Confronting Communist China
The Senate is expected to consider the Endless Frontier Act this week. This bi-partisan legislation will spend $100 billion at American universities to counter communist China’s aggressive efforts to dominate the world in critical technologies like quantum computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised the bill as a good start and a needed initiative. But Rubio warned:
“The problem is it pours all this money into research and development. But as of today, and I hope that will change, it doesn’t have safeguards in place to keep that from being stolen. . . It’s crazy. It’s nuts.”
Rubio is absolutely right. As we have previously reported, communist China has seriously infiltrated higher education in America.
For example, the chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department was charged last year for lying about his work with communist China’s Thousand Talents program. Earlier this month, a professor at Ohio State University was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the Thousand Talents program.
In fact, the problem is so severe that the National Institutes of Health recently admitted that it is investigating “over 500 scientists of concern.” And FBI Director Christopher Wray testified last month that his agency is “opening a new investigation into [Chinese spying] every 10 hours.”
We should do whatever it takes to maintain America’s edge in critical advanced technology. But we should also do whatever it takes to maintain our national security and prevent communist China’s espionage and the theft of our technology.
One Year Later
Today marks the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, a horrific tragedy that triggered weeks of violent rioting and launched various social justice movements, some good, some bad.
While the debate over policing techniques has yielded some reforms, violent crime has surged. In Minneapolis, murders have doubled, and carjackings are up 222%. Now the left-wing mayor of Minneapolis admits that “defunding the police” was a disaster.
Unfortunately, the left’s insanity wasn’t isolated to Minneapolis. Other so-called “progressive” cities attacked their police departments with predictable results. As Heather Mac Donald notes:
“The U.S. saw the largest annual percentage increase in homicides in recorded history in 2020. That increase has continued in 2021. . . Through May 16, the number of shooting victims in New York City is up 78.6% over a year ago. In the Bronx, the number is up 165.7%.”
Is this to be George Floyd’s legacy – even more needless death and destruction?
If Black Lives Matter – and they do – why isn’t Joe Biden lowering the White House flag for the 55 people shot and 12 killed in Chicago this past weekend?
The fact of the matter is that the police are not the enemy. Criminals are. We need police to maintain law and order, to keep our streets safe and, yes, to save black lives.
But the radical left doesn’t see it that way. The Marxist co-founder of the Black Lives Matter organization said that she has “always wanted to fight the police,” whom she described as “terrorists.”
Corporations giving money to her organization should be ashamed.
Our Flag Matters
The Biden Administration has given our foreign embassies permission to fly the BLM flag for the rest of the year. This is outrageous!
The only flag that should ever fly outside of an American embassy is the American flag. It says to the host country, “American Lives Matter.”
——————————- Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer) is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families
Tags:Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, China Lied & Millions Died, A Tale Of Two Investigations, One Year LaterTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Mary Szoch: Instead of political party leaders setting the agenda for the mid-term elections, the Supreme Court decided to take over that role. The court’s decision to review Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and answer whether all pre-viability abortion bans are unconstitutional, placed overturning Roe v. Wade at center stage heading into mid-terms. The problem is most Americas do not know what Roe did, and consequently, as Scott Rasmussen points out on “Washington Watch,” most Americas do not know what overturning Roe would do. Education surrounding Roe v. Wade will have a major impact on how the issue plays out politically.
When Roe v. Wade and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton were decided in 1973, the Supreme Court’s rulings overturned nearly every state law regarding abortion. The Roe decision prevented states from limiting abortion in the first trimester, allowed for state regulation in the interest of a woman’s health in the second trimester, and allowed states to outlaw abortion in the third trimester except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother; however, the decision handed down in Doe has been interpreted to say that Roe’s health exception must include mental health. As a result, unless a state passes laws stating otherwise, abortion through all nine months of pregnancy is the default state law.
Even in the 1970s, when it was virtually impossible for an average person to recognize an unborn child in an ultrasound, <79 percent of Americans disagreed with Roe’s findings. Today, as Rasmussen mentioned, “A large number of people believe that it’s too easy to get an abortion in America. In fact, that’s the plurality position. So the idea of tightening some restrictions is not, as people on the political left would have you believe, something that is greatly opposed by the American people. There is a desire to place some restrictions.”
In fact, 76 percent of Americans including 55 percent who identify as pro-choice, want abortion restricted to the first three months of pregnancy — indicating that Americans want abortion laws significantly more restrictive than the one the Supreme Court is reviewing in Dobbs, which restricts abortions after 15 weeks.
Though 76 percent of Americans disagree with Roe’s findings because of confusion over what overturning Roe would do, 70 percent of Americans say they do not want Roe overturned. As Rasmussen mentioned, “A majority of voters do not know what would happen if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Thirty percent think that abortion would be outlawed everywhere in the country. Twenty-six percent simply don’t know what would happen.”
Regardless, Rasmussen says, if abortion becomes a bigger issue (and the Supreme Court is certainly helping to make it one), the slight edge that Republicans have in their pro-life enthusiasm could come in to play in a major way in 2022. “The [intensity] is generally on the pro-life side.” So, Scott said, depending on what happens, “I think it helps get Republican turnout even stronger. We’re already seeing Republicans more fired up about the midterm elections than Democrats. Obviously, there’s a very long way to go. But for many Democrats, the primary reason that turnout in 2020 was to get Donald Trump out of office. So that would remove from the equation.” If the Supreme Court drops a bombshell, he acknowledged, all bets are off.
If Roe is overturned, state legislatures will make their own abortion laws. It would “allow states to…identify themselves as either pro-life or pro-abortion. And…if people feel strongly about it, they can move to another state.” Tony Perkins stated. If this year’s 536 pieces of state level pro-life legislation including 146 abortion bans, are any indication, people certainly feel strongly about abortion, and they are electing legislators who will reflect their views.
Of course, that was the intention behind the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. There is no “right” to an abortion listed in the Constitution. As such, the power to rule on the constitutionality of abortion should never have been in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Right now, America’s laws on abortion are some of the most barbaric in the world, putting the U.S. on equal footing with human rights violators like China and North Korea. If the Supreme Court rules to overturn Roe in Dobbs, states will have the opportunity to change that. The future of pro-life legislation should be at the forefront of voters’ minds during the upcoming midterm elections — and during every election. Electing pro-life state legislators will result in pro-life laws, and for unborn babies in America, the stakes have never been higher.
——————————– Mary Szoch writes for Family Research Center.
Tags:Mary Szoch, Supreme Court, Sets the Stage, for the 2022, Midterm ElectionsTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Ron Paul: In March, Governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas would open for business 100 percent without a statewide mask mandate. The pro-lockdown “experts” were shocked. If a state as big as Texas joined Florida and succeeded in thumbing its nose at “the science” – which told us that for the first time in history healthy people should be forced to stay in their houses and wear oxygen-restricting face masks – then the lockdown narrative would begin falling apart.
President Biden famously attacked the decision as “Neanderthal thinking.” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa warned that, with this order, Abbott would “kill Texans.” Incoming CDC Director Rochelle Walensky tearfully told us about her feelings of “impending doom.”
When the poster child for Covid lockdowns Dr. Fauci was asked several weeks later why cases and deaths continued to evaporate in Texas, he answered simply, “I’m not sure.” That moment may have been a look at the man behind the proverbial curtain, who projected his power so confidently until confronted with reality.
Now a new study appearing as a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, highlighted recently in Reason Magazine, has found “no evidence that the reopening affected the rate of new COVID-19 cases in the five-week period following the reopening. …State-level COVID-19 mortality rates were unaffected by the March 10 reopening.”
In other words, not only did the doom and gloom predicted by the lockdown fanatics fail to materialize, but the steady, seasonal downward trend of the virus toward extinction continued regardless of government action. As we have repeated for a year on the Liberty Report, the virus was going to virus regardless of anything we did about it. And Texas proved it.
However, some very important questions remain to be answered as the Covid panic across the United States is finally starting to recede.
First, will anyone be held responsible for the thousands who died because of the prohibition on safe treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin that have since been shown to be effective against Covid-19? As soon as Donald Trump mentioned that hydroxychloroquine might be effective against the virus, the “experts” circled the wagons. It was banned for use, until it later was quietly un-banned.
The politicization of medicine is anti-science, anti-human, and anti-American. Will those who needlessly died due to this politicization finally get their justice?
Second, though Abbott deserves credit for taking the bold step, shouldn’t he be held accountable for closing the state in the first place? After all, when someone has been punching you in the face and then they stop, do you thank them for letting up or do you ask why they punched you in the first place? Will all the tyrannical rule-by-decree orders across the United States be stricken from the books? Or will they just be allowed to do this again for any reason they choose?
Third, thanks to Senator Rand Paul, we are now all aware of Dr. Fauci’s role in funding gain-of-function research on viruses in China. Will we be able to find out exactly why we are being forced to pay for the mad scientist research into how to create more deadly viruses? Can we opt-out of this funding?
Though Greg Abbott deserves much criticism for shutting Texas down, his re-opening decree effectively ended Covid tyranny across the country. We are thankful for that. Now we must resolve to never let this happen again.
————————————– Dr. Ron Paul (@ronpaul), Chairman of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, is a former U.S.Congressman (R-TX). He twice sought the Republican nomination for President. As a MD, he was an Air Force flight surgeon and has delivered over 4000 babies. Paul writes on numerous topics but focuses on monetary policies, the military-industrial complex, the Federal Reserve, and compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
Tags:Ron Paul, How Texas Killed CovidTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
Tags:AF Branco, editorial cartoon, Hool, Line and SinkerTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Stephen Moore: One of my early memories, and not a happy one, is sitting in gas lines in the 1970s. My parents would rustle me out of bed early on frigid February mornings, and we’d pack into the Ford and speed over to the gas station.
When we got there, there would often be six or seven cars in front of us. Sometimes, we’d wait 20 or 30 minutes for a fill-up. And we’d notice that every few weeks there would be someone on a ladder posting a higher price on the 20-foot-high sign. It always sticks in my memory because even though I was only about 12 years old, it was a shocking indicator that something terribly wrong was going on in our country. I couldn’t understand how a bunch of Saudi oil sheikhs could hijack the greatest nation on earth.
Fast-forward four decades, and for the first time in my life, we had a president, Donald Trump, who made America energy-independent again. In the last week of December 2020, the United States imported zero oil from Saudi Arabia. Hooray! In the wake of the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, one of our major domestic energy pipelines, the 1970s malaise was brought back into focus. In many parts of the Southeast, there was no gas to be had at any price because of the supply disruptions. Alas, this wasn’t just a result of some evil foreign hackers. This is the predictable outcome when we have a president who teams with the radical green left and declares war on American energy.
President Joe Biden has said that he wants to eliminate American fossil fuels over the next 15 years. He’s doing his best to keep that promise, starting with his cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline. (How deranged does that seem today?) A few weeks later, he stopped oil and gas drilling on federal lands. We have some $30 trillion to $50 trillion of energy resources underneath federal lands and federal waters.
This “America last” energy policy is not just a frontal assault on our economy, transportation system and national security. It is a policy that imposes a hefty tax on the poorest people. According to AAA, when Biden was elected, the average gasoline price across America was $2.20 a gallon. Since then, the price has risen every month, and on May 15 of this year, the average gas price hit $3.04.
Make no mistake: this 84-cent-per-gallon price hike is a highly regressive “tax” on motorists, just as lower gas prices during the Trump administration were the equivalent of a tax cut for consumers. I doubt that billionaire Democratic donors such as Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer or Bill and Melinda Gates, who are significant financial supporters of the war on fossil fuels, care much that gas prices are rising.
But for the rest of us, when the price of a fill-up rises by $10 or $12, that’s a genuine financial hardship. That’s especially true for those on fixed incomes or earning less than $50,000 a year. Yes, indeed, gas prices are often out of the direct control of the president. Biden didn’t cause the Colonial Pipeline sabotage. But if you want people to stop using oil and gas, what better way to achieve that than by making it much more expensive to buy? What did the White House brainiacs think would happen to gas prices if we stop building pipelines, erect new Environmental Protection Agency regulations designed to kill oil and gas exploration from Texas up to North Dakota, and outlaw drilling in many areas of the country?
Biden seems oblivious to all this pain as he visits electric car plants and gleefully test-drives these new vehicles. That’s fine. But even if every car bought starting tomorrow was battery-operated, and even if people could afford the $50,000-plus price tag, we’d still need gas for vehicles already on the road for at least the next 20 years. Where are we going to get it? The Saudis?
Meanwhile, the poorest people are now paying his green tax at the gas pump. Most amazingly, Biden still has a straight face while saying that no one with an income of less than $400,000 a year will pay higher taxes under his economic plan. Come on, Joe. Get out of the Washington bubble, and go to a gas station. People of all incomes are paying your gas “tax.”
———————————- Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an economic consultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the American Economy.” Article shared by Rasmussen Reports.
Tags:Stephen Moore, Rasmussen Reports, Biden’s ‘Gas Tax’, Is a Pain at the PumpTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Patrick J. Buchanan: When the U.S. created NATO, a primary purpose of the alliance was to serve as a western wall to defend Germany against the 400,000 Russian troops on the eastern side of the Elbe River.
Seventy years later, Germany has decided to double its dependence on Vladimir Putin’s Russia for the natural gas needed to run the German economy, despite the opposition of her great protector, the USA.
The Biden administration decided to waive sanctions on Matthias Warnig, the ally of Putin whose company, Nord Stream 2 AG, is laying the pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany that is now 95% complete.
When done, Nord Stream 2 will make Moscow Germany’s principal supplier of natural gas, and cut Kyiv out of hundreds of millions in transit fees it annually receives for letting Russian gas pass through Ukraine to Germany.
Previously, Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had seemed resolute in opposition. Said Blinken:
“We think the (Nord Stream 2) pipeline is a bad idea. It advances Russia’s interests and undermines Europe’s interests and our own. It actually goes against the very principles that the EU has set out in terms of energy security and not being too dependent on any one country, notably, in this case, Russia.”
As late as March, the Biden administration had made clear its commitment to complying with sanctions legislation put in place with bipartisan support in Congress, and had called on companies involved in Nord Stream 2 to “immediately abandon work on the pipeline.”
Ukraine is stunned and outraged. Its parliament, the Rada, has passed a resolution urging Congress to “use all available tools provided by US law to completely and irreversibly stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by applying blocking sanctions against all participants in this Russian geopolitical project.”
Why did Biden and Blinken fold? Was it to set the table for the Biden’s June summit with Putin?
The decisive factor was probably that Nord Stream 2 is just about complete and America’s principal continental ally, Germany, is wholly committed to the project. Prime Minister Angela Merkel, who is leaving office this year, approved the deal with Putin’s Russia and her legacy is now tied to its completion.
Germany’s dependence on Russian gas is certain to grow as Berlin, as it plans to do, phases out its coal and nuclear power plants.
This raises a question about NATO, and the commitment of its 30 members to treat an attack against one as an attack against all.
Would a Germany that is doubling its dependency on Russia for the natural gas that fuels its economy be willing to go to war against that same Russia, and send German troops to fight alongside NATO?
Would Berlin be willing to declare war on its own gas station?
Biden’s climbdown on opposition to Nord Stream 2 is startling from another standpoint. He and his team have shown themselves to be true climate change zealots who want to see gas and oil rapidly phased out.
On his first day in office, Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, enraging the Canadians and killing off 11,000 American jobs. Biden then outlawed any new drilling permits for oil or gas on federal lands.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just told a Canadian energy company, Enbridge, it must shut down a controversial oil and gas pipeline that passes under the Straits of Mackinac, amid rising fears that a spill would be catastrophic to the region.
For 67 years, Enbridge has moved oil and gas from western Canada through Michigan and the Great Lakes to refineries in Ontario.
But Michigan now says that this one section of the pipeline is too risky to continue operating.
Earlier in May, America got a wake-up call about the vulnerability of its energy supply. Colonial Pipeline, which carries refined gasoline and jet fuel from Texas up the East Coast to New York, was forced to shut down after being hit by ransomware.
The attack was apparently the act of a criminal group, not a nation-state. But the damage done was considerable.
Half the gas stations in several states on the Eastern seaboard had to close when their gasoline pumps were exhausted by long lines of panicked motorists. To get their pipeline fully operating again, Colonial had to pay millions.
This demonstrated the vulnerability of the U.S. energy system and its new technology to the kind of cyberattacks that enemies far more serious than the criminal gang who launched the attack on the Colonial Pipeline could launch.
Fifty years ago, we confronted a grave threat to U.S. energy security and independence: an oil embargo imposed by the Saudis and other Arab OPEC countries in retaliation for Richard Nixon’s military aid that enabled Israel to survive and prevail in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Are we still prepared for something of that magnitude?
———————————– Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of “Nixon’s White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever.” Article shared by Rasmussen Reports.
Tags:Patrick J. Buchanan, Merkel Flips Off, Biden’s Protest, to Buy Putin’s Gas, Rasmussen ReportsTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Rick Manning: While no one will ever replace Rush Limbaugh, conservative commentator Dan Bongino now fills Limbaugh’s mid-day radio slot in many cities across the country.
Bongino kicked off his new radio show this week by interviewing former President Donald Trump, who gave listeners a glimpse into his thoughts about 2024.
“Well, I’ll tell you what. We are going to make you very happy, and we’re going to do what’s right. And we’ve done a great job for the country, rebuilt our military, and had the greatest economy ever twice,” Trump said when told by Bongino that people were “dying to hear” if he’d make another bid for the White House. “You know, we rebuilt it — then the world collapsed. … Then we built it again, with the stock market was higher than it was even the first time. But we’re going to do the right thing.”
“We’re very proud of what we’ve done, and we’ll let you know at the right time, Dan, but certainly I’m looking at it very seriously,” Trump concluded.
Dan has been a good friend of mine personally and a loyal friend and support of Americans for Limited Government for many years. I’ve watched him work extraordinarily hard to build a national brand for his hard-nosed, common-sense defense of liberty. His success is a triumph for all of us who fight to protect liberty and freedom, and nothing could make me happier. Few people have worked as hard for their “overnight” success as Dan. Dan will provide the kind of fresh perspective that they came to expect from the man behind the Golden EIB microphone.
Bongino is a former Secret Service Agent, NYPD Officer and New York Times best-selling author.
Tags:Rick Manning, Americans for Limited Government, Dan Bongino, Welcome Voice. Fight for LibertyTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Gary Bauer: Jew-Hatred On The Rise
We now know the full extent of the anti-Semitic savagery that has swept the United States. From coast to coast, synagogues have been vandalized. American Jews have been chased down by cars, attacked by mobs and verbally harassed in the worst outbreak of anti-Semitism this country has seen in decades.
In virtually every case, the attacks took place in large cities. They were committed by Middle Eastern men waving Palestinian flags. Left-wing extremists frequently joined in the attacks.
These are Democrat-controlled cities from top to bottom. Any president would have an obligation to condemn anti-Semitism, but Democrat Joe Biden, who is always eager to wag his finger at alleged bigotry and police misconduct, has a particular obligation to do so.
This morning, Biden finally did denounce anti-Semitism – in a tweet. That’s too little too late. Where’s the forceful, passionate statement from the White House podium that should air on the evening news to seen by millions of Americans?
The sad reality is that there is a growing hate-Israel movement on the left.
You can see it in the halls of Congress when so-called “progressive” politicians like, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Omar and Tlaib spread lies about Israel.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and even Barack Obama, love getting their pictures taken with Louis Farrakhan, America’s leading anti-Semite.
The Black Lives Matter organization has cast its lot with anti-Semitic Palestinian extremists too.
Even the gay rights movement isn’t so tolerant when it comes to Israel.
Remember the left-wing Women’s March group that protested against Donald Trump after his inauguration? It banned pro-Israel Jewish women from its leadership. Later key co-founders were fired for their raw anti-Semitism.
Biden and leading Democrats must find their voice. This hatred will consume the party of FDR, Harry Truman and JFK unless brave Democrats condemn it and expel the haters from their ranks.
I have a friend who has lived in Paris for a while, and often commented on what life must have been like before and during World War II. He recently noticed people marching through his neighborhood chanting, “Death to the Jews!” He saw an Israeli flag with the Star of David replaced with a swastika.
Instead of wondering whether he would have hidden Jews in his attic in the 1930s or 1940s, he’s wondering what he will do now. All of us must ask ourselves that same question now.
Stop Importing Hate
Every day the left and its media allies are telling us that America is systemically racist, that whites are especially racist, that blacks like Justice Clarence Thomas, Sen. Tim Scott and Dr. Alveda King aren’t really black because they refuse to engage in the left’s smear of America.
With all this emphasis on hatred and violence, why is it so difficult for the American left to find its voice and call out anti-Semitism? Perhaps it is because the victims and perpetrators don’t fit a convenient leftist narrative.
The attacks aren’t happening in “Trump country,” but in urban, liberal America. And the perpetrators are Muslim Palestinians, part of the left’s coalition.
All of this raises serious questions about our globalist-driven immigration policy, which is bringing into the country millions of people from the most anti-Semitic nations.
When President Trump called for a moratorium on immigration from countries linked to terrorism, the left attacked him as a bigot. While I was pleased to support the president’s position, I thought he should have gone further.
We should be calling for an immigration moratorium not only on nations infected with terrorism, but also nations with statistically provable high-levels of hatred for Christians and Jews. Instead, the flood gates are wide open, and we are bringing every ancient hatred right here into the United States.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written extensively on the need for Western nations to control immigration and seriously vet the commitment of immigrants to the values of free speech, religious liberty, respect for women and the rule of law. Allowing millions of people to come here who hate our values, and Jews and Christians in particular, is suicidal.
The failure to address this shows how the whole “hate crimes/white supremacy” narrative is a just a political farce intended to silence conservatives without any real commitment to stopping hate in America because we continue importing more of it.
Our Open Borders
A Fox News video taken this weekend shows exactly what’s happening at our southern border. A group of 40 illegal aliens were chased by two Border Patrol agents – one on foot and one in his vehicle. Not surprisingly, most of the migrant men escaped.
America is the greatest nation on earth. We are the most powerful nation on earth. We sacrifice our blood and treasure to secure the borders of countries in far off places. We encircled the Capitol building with National Guard troops for months to ensure the security of our elected officials.
But we leave our border wide open, with just a few Border Patrol agents trying to figure out which of the dozens of illegal aliens they should pursue. This is beyond stupid.
Are we to assume that our enemies are also this stupid?
You name the enemy – North Korea, radical Islamists, the drug cartels, Chinese communists, Vladimir Putin. Pick one. Are they really too stupid to see that video and not realize the obvious – that the easiest way to infiltrate the country is across the southern border?
The Iranian government has bragged it has terrorist sleeper cells in the U.S. How is that possible? Well, with liberal immigration laws and an open border, it would be impossible for that not to be true!
As I have noted many times before, border security is national security, and people are dying because of our open borders.
Gov. Greg Abbott said yesterday that Texas border officials have seen an 800% increase in the amount of fentanyl seized at the border this year, “enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the entire state of New York.”
Biden Bails On Notre Dame
There’s a tradition of sorts for a new president to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame – Jimmy Carter in 1977, Ronald Reagan in 1981, George W. Bush in 2001, Barack Obama in 2009 and Mike Pence on behalf of President Trump in 2017. This year, Notre Dame extended an invitation to President Biden, but he declined due to a scheduling conflict.
The backstory is much more complicated. Biden’s invitation was tremendously controversial due to his aggressive support for abortion and other policies that are hostile to religious liberty. There is a debate raging now among the nation’s Catholic bishops as to whether pro-abortion politicians should be allowed to take communion.
Of all the outrages our eyes are forced to see and all the false claims our ears are forced to hear, at least we won’t be forced to endure Joe Biden standing at the podium of America’s leading Catholic university, with the blood of unborn children dripping from his hands, as he talks about bringing us all together.
———————————— Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer) is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families
Tags:Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Jew-Hatred On The Rise, Stop Importing Hate, Our Open BordersTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Seton Motley, Contributing Author: In 1961, on his way out the White House door, President Dwight Eisenhower gave his Farewell Address. Or what has come to be known as the “Military-Industrial Complex” speech.
It became thusly known – because historians are almost entirely Leftist. Leftists don’t like the military. And Leftists like (while only selectively presenting) what Eisenhower had to say about it:
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.”This was Eisenhower warning about the military sinking into the Swamp. With its leaders becoming slaves to the Deep State. Very, very prescient.
Our military procurement process has largely transmogrified from what’s best for the nation’s defense – to what’s best for weapons-makers. And what’s best for the most powerfully-bribed members of Congress – many of whom have often-obsolete military bases in their districts.
And our military advancement process has gone from merit-based – to “woke”-based. The more Leftist you are – the higher up the ladder you go. Traditional military personnel who believe in original military priorities – are now actually driven out of the armed forces.
Our Leftist historians stopped there in Eisenhower’s speech. Eisenhower did not:
“Akin to and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial military posture has been the technological revolution during the recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central. It also becomes more formalized, complex and costly.“A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by or at the direction of the federal government. Today, the solitary inventor tinkering in his shop has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields.
“In the same fashion the free university – historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery – has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
“Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
“It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.”This is Eisenhower being even more visionary than he was about the Deep State Swamp military. But because he preemptively outs several Leftist takeovers of major US institutions – our Leftist historians never, ever mention it.
We often warn of Leftist money warping and poisoning. Government money is worse. Government money pretends to be non-partisan. But as we’ve seen for many decades, it is almost always pro-Left – and is ALWAYS pro-government. Government will only spend government money on things that expand government.
Eisenhower first warns of government money in science – which has now politicized and thus ruined science. And with it the colleges and universities – where much of our scientific research is conducted.
Decades of government money have poisoned entirely the science well.
“Global Warming” – oops, I mean “Climate Change” – is a quintessential example. Government self-justifies getting bigger when “Climate Change” research says this fake problem is real. So guess which “Climate Change” research and researchers get government money – and which do not?
We are only now beginning to emerge from a year-plus of titanically stupid government lockdowns in fear of a flu. This happened in large part because We the Sheeple entirely outsourced our thinking to these unimpressive, corrupt, government-funded “scientists.” Who keep saying things that are obviously wrong – and imposing policies that are obviously antithetical to Reality.
With these fake scientists providing “justification,” government mass-expanded its powers – and We the Sheeple suppliantly submitted. Even now, after delivery of the Donald Trump vaccines – government still refuses to give up the powers it grabbed.
And Eisenhower foresaw government poison – spreading to poison the private sector. Again:
“(W)e must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.”A “scientific-technological elite?” Big Tech, anyone?
As if we are living in a Godzilla movie, government poison has spawned all sorts of massive private sector monsters. Amazon and Google, Apple and Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter – Big Tech has now nigh entirely captured our society – and its public policy.
Government doesn’t make a move – unless and until that move is pre-approved by our Big Tech elite.
Section 230 is the massive-cronyism government poison that created these beasts. So of course these beasts will never allow it to be altered in any way – let alone be ended.
And of course the area where Big Tech most dominates our public policy – is its domination of our public discourse. Speech precedes deeds. Before Congress does something – it hears about it from We the People.
Not anymore. If Big Tech doesn’t approve of your speech – your speech is erased by Big Tech. If Big Tech doesn’t like you – you are erased by Big Tech.
Real news that is damaging to Big Tech’s preferred policies and political candidates – is erased. Fake news that helps Big Tech’s preferred policies and political candidates – is amplified.
And when Big Tech erases you – you are as good as gone. Ask Parler. Because Big Tech is now the gatekeeper on all things speech.
Many conservative people and groups looking to…speak – pay Big Tech billions of dollars to run ads to acquire Follows and Likes. And then Big Tech rewrites its algorithms – and nigh all traffic to these pages instantaneously evaporates. Bait and switch, anyone? But Big Tech keeps the money. Because of course.
Dwight David Nostradamus Eisenhower predicted all of this Big Tech-Government dominance of our public policy. And warned us about it.
If only We the Sheeple had listened.
———————————— Seton Motley is the President of Less Government and he contributes articles to ARRA News Service.
Tags:Seton Motley, Red State, Eisenhower Also Predicted. Fake Science, Virus Lockdowns, Big Tech. Leftist CollegesTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
Tags:Editorial Cartoon, AF Branco, IntersectionalityTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
Bill Donohue comments on how Rev. Martin Luther King’s work is being undermined:
The legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King is being dishonored on a daily basis. Those who are trashing his noble record are not white supremacists; rather, they are professionals who claim to be fighting racism. These people work primarily in education, law, and the media. Regrettably, they are as heavily populated in the for-profit sector of the economy as they are the non-profit sector.
It was in King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech where he articulated his vision of America. While he made several references to problems that blacks were faced with, ranging from discrimination in public accommodations to police brutality, he did so against the backdrop of respect for the American commitment to liberty, equality and justice for all. Indeed, his “dream” was based on his conviction that these goals would eventually be reached.
Unlike today, where street anarchists and professional agitators are tearing down statues of American icons, King was celebrating these heroic figures. He opened his speech by referencing the Emancipation Proclamation, calling its author (Lincoln) “a great American.” He also credited the Founders, whom he called “the architects of our republic,” for writing “the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
King knew that the goals of these documents were a work in progress, but he was wise enough to know that the Founders gave us “this promissory note,” without which appeals to liberty, equality and justice were impotent. “America has given the Negro people a bad check,” he noted, but “we refuse to believe the bank of justice is bankrupt.” He never gave up hope, insisting that “Now is the time to make justice for all of God’s children.” That was a very Christian response.
Now contrast what King said with what our new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations recently said. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters in New York City that “the original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles.” Wrong. It was our inalienable rights that were weaved into our founding documents and principles.
King would have been appalled. He had nothing but praise and admiration for our founding documents and principles. His problem was with our failure to make good on what they embodied, namely the contents of the American creed.
Indeed, it was precisely the documents and principles that galvanized him to act—they were the “promissory note.” If anything, the existential reality of white supremacy at the time of the founding was the complete opposite of what our creed entailed, and it was this inconsistency that he used, to great effect, to leverage the civil rights movement.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
This classic statement by King is now seen as contemptible by those who promote critical race theory. The proponents expressly judge people by the color of their skin, treating the content of their character as meaningless. Their demonization of white people—asking them to repent for their alleged positions of privilege—is patently racist. To them, the individual does not count; only his collective ascribed status does. Ironically, that’s what the slavemasters believed about blacks.
Martin Luther King would be very happy with legislation recently passed in Idaho. This law prohibits public schools from teaching that “any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.” Who objects? Critical race theory advocates. This explains why the entire Oklahoma City School Board of Education slammed a law that is based on the Idaho legislation. One critic said the non-discrimination law was done to “protect white fragility.”
The governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, sounded very much like King when he said, “I firmly believe that not one cent of taxpayer money should be used to define and divide Oklahomans by their race or sex.” He added that “We can, and should, teach this history without labeling a young child as a ‘oppressor’ or requiring he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex.”
Rev. Martin Luther King sought to bring the races together. Today’s brand of “anti-racism and discrimination” activists seek to drive the races apart. In doing so they are at odds with the principles upon which our nation was founded. Indeed, they are fomenting racism, thus dishonoring King’s legacy.
——————————– Bill Donohue is President of Catholic League.
Tags:Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Dishonoring, Martin Luther King, LegacyTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Paul Jacob: “The core of the dispute is this,” declaresThe Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” column: “Did the virus emerge from nature — ‘zoonotically’ from animals — or was it the result of a lab experiment gone awry?”Ah, modern journalism: even when dealing with some actual facts, is the real point to maneuver the reader not to consider possibilities?In “Fact-checking the Paul-Fauci flap over Wuhan lab funding,” the Post’s fact-checkers seem most concerned to tell readers that while it is now OK to question the origin of SARS-CoV-2, still, only within limits: as between normal viral evolution and an accident regarding gain-of-function research into viruses.Outside this Overton Window, though, readers are still being instructed not to think about sabotage, conspiracy and biochemical warfare.
The upshot of the Post piece?
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) gets “two Pinocchios” for his alleged overstatements about NIH funding of Wuhan gain-of-function research.
After the Post’s listicle treatment of relevant facts, though, if you came to a different distribution of wooden noses — say, giving a few to Dr. Anthony Fauci, instead — you could make a plausible case.
After all, when Fauci himself says that he’s not convinced that the pandemic was not human-created — despite telling Rand Paul that the senator’s facts were “entirely and completely incorrect” — we should take that not merely as a cue to accept the Post’s latest Overton Window placement.
I say, open up that window all the way.
On Medium, science writer Nicholas Wade treated the actual evidence seriously, discovering that “the science” we were fed early on — the “science” that insisted that the gain-of-function story was highly unlikely — was actually orchestrated by the NIH’s subcontractor at Wuhan.
If you smell a rat — or a bat — at this point?
Your schnozz is in working order.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Note: While trying to put this story to bed, The Wall Street Journalbroke news that “Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory.” Previous coverage: here. ——————————– Paul Jacob (@Common_Sense_PJ) is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacob is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi schmoozes with Democrats while unmasked after fining GOP lawmakers for not masking. by Frank McCaffrey: According to a story in the Post Millennial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued fines to Republican lawmakers who insisted on following CDC guidance and remained unmasked on the House floor. Pelosi then went to an event at the White House where she and other unmasked Democrats talked together within spitting distance, shook hands, and even embraced.
The Post Millennial reports:“Pelosi could be seen schmoozing it up with other Democrat lawmakers, when only two days before she had been issuing orders for GOP legislators to mask up.“Earlier on Thursday, Pelosi had issued fines to six GOP lawmakers for not masking on the House floor. South Carolina’s Rep. Ralph Norman was one of those congressmen. So was Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene.“Pelosi’s rules demand compliance from representatives, only allowing them to show their full faces when they are speaking during debate, the New York Post reports. The breaking of those rules results in fines of $500 for first time rule-breakers, and $2,500 if they go for round two.“Pelosi’s House Sergeant-at-Arms sent a letter to representatives after their Tuesday behavior, telling them to mask up or they would be forced to pay up. Two reps chucked the letters, and suffered fines. Six members of the House GOP refused to mask while voting on bills on Tuesday.“Members Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, Texas’ Chip Roy of Texas, Virginia’s Bob Good, Texas’ Louie Gohmert and Illinois’ Mary Miller all received letters. Fines were issued to Florida’s Brian Mast, Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Texas’ Beth Van Duyne.Massie and Greene were both publicly defiant, showing what they thought of the letter by dumping it in a waste bin and posting the picture on Twitter.
Greene shared video of her defiance, saying “You can’t discriminate against people simply because they won’t wear a mask, and today, I refused to wear a mask on the House floor and I received a warning from Speaker Pelosi that leads to fines if I continue to refuse to wear a mask. Well, here’s what I think of your warning, Speaker Pelosi,” and then she ran the pages through a shedder.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) May 19, 2021
According to the Post Millennial, the Speaker wants everyone in the House to get vaccinated before she’ll lift the requirement. About 75 percent of representatives are vaccinated.
But the GOP has said that they are following CDC masking guidance, which says that vaccinated folks don’t need to mask, inside or out. Pelosi’s rule is only for the House chamber, too, and in the rest of the Capitol people can roam mask-free.
“We have a responsibility to make sure the House of Representatives’ chamber is not a petri dish,” Pelosi said. “Until they are vaccinated, we cannot have meetings without masks.”
—————————– Frank McCaffrey is Director of News for the Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
Tags:Frank McCaffrey, Americans for Limited Government Foundation, Nancy Pelosi, again caught without a mask, Will she fine herself, like she did RepublicansTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Daniel Greenfield: In 1948, the armies of seven Arab nations invaded Israel. They failed to wipe out the newly reborn nation, but Jordan occupied part of Jerusalem and ethnically cleansed its Jews.
Among the former Jewish neighborhoods was a small area named Shimon HaTzadik or Simon the Righteous after a high priest who became famous for talking Alexander the Great out of putting up an idol in the Temple. The Arab Muslim colonists who had occupied the area however called it Sheikh Jarrah after an associate of the Iraqi invader Saladin.
Saladin had invaded Israel some 1500 years after Shimon HaTzadik’s death. His associate settled in Jerusalem and died there. A mosque was built over the house of the invader, Jarrah, which later gave its name to the neighborhood when the Husseini family set up shop there in the 19th century. Hitler’s Mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, grew up in the first house in the neighborhood.
Seven years after he got a pledge from Hitler to invade and kill all the Jews, the Islamic leader tried to finish the job with the Army of the Sacred Jihad backed by thousands of Muslim Brotherhood Jihadis. Aside from blowing up the newspaper that would later be known as the Jerusalem Post, the Jihadis performed poorly in battle and fell apart when their commander, another Husseini, was killed trying to cut off Israeli supply convoys to the siege of Jerusalem.
The Jordanians desecrated the synagogues of East Jerusalem, used Jewish tombstones to pave roads, and seized Jewish property through their Custodian of Enemy Property.
In 1956, UNRWA worked with the Jordanian occupiers to settle “Palestinian refugees” in this Jewish neighborhood. The UN agency had been entirely dedicated to caring for the Arab Muslim settlers who had failed in their invasion of Israel and was settling them in violation of international law in the homes of the Jewish residents who had fled the illegal occupation.
Once the UNRWA had “resettled” its “refugees” in homes stolen from their Jewish owners through ethnic cleansing, it deemed them to no longer be refugees. The actual refugees however were the Jewish residents who had their homes stolen by the UNRWA.
The only thing more disturbing than a UN agency collaborating in ethnic cleansing was that after Israel liberated and unified Jerusalem, the illegal Arab Muslim occupiers of the homes not only refused to leave, but their right to remain in homes stolen from their Jewish inhabitants was taken up by the UN and the international community. Not to mention a lot of lawyers.
It took the original Jewish owners five years to even win legal rights to the homes in court. But they didn’t actually get the property back. In an attempt to avoid just the kind of international incident going on now, the Israeli authorities brokered a deal in which the Muslim squatters would pay rent and accept the legal rights of the Jewish owners of the trusts.
The rent on the homes was a fraction of what they would go for on the open market. But even that money was never actually paid. The next three decades were spent trying to evict the illegal Muslim settlers who wouldn’t pay rent or leave.
The recent court decision on evictions, which was used by Hamas and the PLO as a pretext for the war that they had been planning on starting anyway, is the latest in a string of legal decisions over these homes going back 50 years.
These decisions came from independent courts, not the Netanyahu government, in a legal battle that began when he was a college student studying at MIT. There isn’t a single argument for why the Jewish trusts that owned the homes should have lost the right to them when Jordan invaded and seized those homes, or why the UNRWA’s decision to illegally collaborate in ethnic cleansing by settling members of an occupying nation in those homes was legal.
All their arguments come down to shouting, “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” when the only time there was apartheid and ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem was under Arab Muslim occupation.
Every anti-Israel radical in public office from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and the rest of the gang have denounced evictions from ‘Sheikh Jarrah’.
“We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces are forcing families from their homes,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez tweeted.
“The evictions of Palestinian families must not go forward,” Bernie Sanders ranted.
“The Administration should make clear to the Israeli government that these evictions are illegal and must stop immediately,” Senator Elizabeth Warren declared. Despite being a lawyer, she declined to identify how the Israeli court ruling was “illegal”.
The Biden administration also got into the act.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential eviction of Palestinian families in the Silwan neighborhood and in Sheikh Jarrah, many of whom have lived in their homes for generations,” State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter, a former cheerleader who had falsely accused America of genocide, claimed.
The only way to argue that the homes were “theirs” is by recognizing the legitimacy of occupation and ethnic cleansing, at least when it’s practiced by Muslim invading armies.
The moral principle for which AOC, Sanders, Warren, and the State Department are fighting is that when Arab Muslims drive out the Jews and seize their homes, it’s their property now.
The entire legal basis for the court case by the squatters is their claim that the property had been given to them by Jordan’s Custodian of Enemy Property office. This claim has standing in Israeli courts which chose to wrongly recognize those seizures. And so the court cases have revolved around whether the squatters could ever prove that an illegal occupying power had transferred title to them during its ethnic cleansing campaign. The squatters couldn’t even meet this low bar because they were never given title to the homes, but the vicissitudes of local real estate law aside, there’s still the invasion, the illegal occupation and the ethnic cleansing.
When AOC, Warren, Sanders, Tlaib, Omar, the UN, and the Biden administration treat the occupiers of Sheikh Jarrah as the rightful owners, they’re defending ethnic cleansing.
And it should be called what it is.
The fundamental issue at stake in Shimon HaTzadik and Sheikh Jarrah are crystal clear. Unlike some parts of Israel where territory changed hands in more complex ways, we know exactly what happened and why it happened. And those simple facts tell a story of the UNRWA’s complicity in the ethnic cleansing of Jews, not just today when it serves as a storehouse for Hamas missiles and an employment agency for Hamas propagandists, but back in the 50s.
Jews were ethnically cleansed from Jerusalem after an invasion and occupation. The United Nations, through UNRWA, violated international law by taking part in population transfer by an occupying power which had expelled the indigenous population. This is the charge that the UN and the anti-Israel politicians and media have repeatedly lobbed at Israel.
And they’re the ones guilty of it.
Their Sheikh Jarrah argument is that ethnic cleansing and occupation are moral and legal when Arab Muslim armies do it. It’s that Arab Muslim squatters who moved into Jewish homes in 1956 had gained an immutable moral right to live in them by 1967 that outweighed those of the Jewish trusts which had owned them since the 19th century.
There’s no better way to show the hypocritical double standards of an anti-Israel movement that cries about occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid while practicing those very things.
AOC, Sanders, Warren, the UN, the Quarter, the EU, and the Biden administration are demanding that the Arab Muslim occupation of Jerusalem continue. They are ordering a free country to overturn the legal ruling of a court in case that goes back to the 1970s because they believe that Arab Muslim occupiers have a right to live in Jerusalem… and Jews don’t.
That’s what this was about in 1948. That’s still what it’s about in 2021.
The occupiers cry about the “occupation” and the ethnic cleansers cry about “ethnic cleansing” as they fight to bring back the state of apartheid that drove the Jews out of Jerusalem.
—————————— Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center’s Front Page Magazine.
Tags:Daniel Greenfield, How the UN, Stole Jewish Homes, in Occupied Jerusalem, and Set Off, the Latest ConflictTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Victor Davis Hanson : I’ve been reading the Satyricon again, which I taught for a number of years in early imperial Latin literature classes for advanced Latin students. The Latin, outside of the slang and neologisms, and the fragmented text, is pretty easy. The style flows. The Cena Trimalchionis is a brilliant damnation of the combination of wealth and leisure.
What I was struck by again were Petronius’s symptoms of a “decadent” society: obsessions with showy materialism such as food, dress, and high-price luxuries; idleness or the notion that lots of young people are just wandering around without jobs but not starving either; polite mockery of those who work with their hands; childlessness and infertility; legacy hunting or the idea of easy money by flattering one’s way into an inheritance, cults, and not just promiscuity but also pan-sexuality, orgies, pederasty, pedophilia, transgenderism, transvestism, mockery of past marriage customs and traditions, general fear of impotence, and infidelity.
The novel satirizes widespread ignorance about Roman myths, traditions, and customs, and the general cynicism about traditional morality, of the Milesian Tales, Widow of Ephesus, and Pergamon Boy sort. Education is discussed but from the view that pedants like Eumolpus and Agamemnon are bankrupt souls, and it has bifurcated into meaningless rhetoric for the elite and dumbed-down learning for the less wealthy others.
The author Petronius Arbiter was likely the famous suicide Petronius of the Neroian Court. And he seems to think in the early days of the Principate that globalization (Mare Nostrum) has resulted in a leisured and corrupt Italy (the novel takes place, no surprise, in the Bay of Naples). His world is made possible by the huge influx of slaves, risk-taking non-Italian entrepreneurs, provincial money, and the rise of transcontinental commerce that has replaced the staid old Italian agrarianism, that Virgil recreated in his Eclogues and Georgics a generation after it had died.
It is hard to know whether the author has more contempt for the played-out old Italian stuffy establishment or the crass, uncouth, and richer imperial wheeler-dealers like Trimalchio—or both. Unspoken but implied is that the entire circus is predicated on slave labor, a still potent army on the border, the fumes of what was once Augustan court stability, and the riches of the east that are becoming Romanized and globalized — and that it won’t go on for much longer (in fact, the empire would endure for another 400 years in the West, and 1400 in the East).
When one collates the Satyricon with the poems of Catullus and works of Tacitus and Suetonius, the picture from say 60 BC to AD 100 is that leisure, over-refinement, money, rapid growth in urbanism, and cheap labor (chattel slavery), destroy the collective Roman character. They conspire to ensure cultural decadence and are twins to political corruption.
No wonder the pessimistic determinist schools of Hegel, Spengler, and Toynbee concocted their evolutionary scales of Western struggle, maturity, and inevitable decline and self-loathing, as if stable government, and private property combined with freedom, both economic and political, eventually become passé, leading to consumption rather than investment and thus ultimately suicide—until the cycle repeats. Contempt for one’s ancestors and forefathers is a sure sign of societal pathology.
No comment on all this, other than to suggest that older people see third-generational decline, younger people first-generational ascendence. Where AOC sees a dynamic green new utopia and an energetic diverse more capable demography replacing the played out fading 1950s sort, others might see a generation that will not be able to return to the moon (at least in public fashion) or can’t ensure safety in the streets, or can’t build a railroad, or an affordable middle-class existence for its people, or do much of anything but obsesses about themselves in their selfies and tweets.
—————————- Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) is a senior fellow, classicist and historian and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution where many of his articles are found; his focus is classics and military history. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush. Via Private Papers
Tags:Victor Davis Hanson, Private Papers, Eeyore’s Cabinet, The Decadent CultureTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
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by Ambassador Callista L. Gingrich: The United States recognizes religious freedom as an unalienable right and is committed to its advancement and protection for all.
As the world’s leading defender of the right to worship freely, the United States strongly condemns and holds accountable those nations and nonstate actors who reject and violate this fundamental freedom.
In support of this mission, on May 12, 2021, the United States Department of State released the 23rd annual Report on International Religious Freedom as required by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). This report describes the status of religious freedom in every country, government policies violating religious beliefs and practices, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world. Each year, the report is presented to the U.S. Congress.
With over 80 percent of the world’s population living in countries with high or severe restrictions on the right to worship freely, the Report on International Religious Freedom is an essential tool for governments, religious communities, activists, and others to defend religious freedom. The recent 2020 report includes nearly 2,400 pages of compiled information from U.S. embassies, foreign government officials, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, and human rights advocates.
Daniel Nadel, Director of the Office of International Religious Freedom for three consecutive presidential administrations, recently emphasized the following themes that are found in the 2020 report.
First, the criminalization of speech and other forms of expression do not advance “religious harmony” or “combat intolerance.” Nadel highlighted particular concern about blasphemy laws, regulations of religious attire, and laws that criminalize evangelization and restrict religious education for children.
Second, governments alienate communities through the extreme regulation of religion and religious expression, specifically through registration laws, religious material restrictions, arrests, harassment, and online censorship. Such excessive oppression, Nadel noted increases the possibility that citizens will use violence in defense of their beliefs.
In addition to the annual report, the IRFA mandates that the president designates any nation that is a severe violator of religious freedom as a “Country of Particular Concern.” These are countries in which the government has “engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
On December 2, 2020, the Trump administration designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and, for the first time, Nigeria, as Countries of Particular Concern. The Report on International Religious Freedom details the violations of religious freedom taking place in each of these countries.
For example, in Nigeria, the country’s decline of religious freedom results from violations committed by state and nonstate actors. In 2020, Nigerian authorities arrested and convicted two individuals for blasphemy. The convicted individuals received severe sentences of long-term imprisonment and the death penalty. Additionally, terrorist groups including Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa carried out numerous violent attacks and kidnappings against religious and civilian targets. The report also notes that predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and predominantly Christian farmers continued to violently clash, with nearly 2,500 civilian deaths attributed to attacks by Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
In Iran, the government increasingly represses religious minorities while supporting religious extremism abroad. Amendments to the Islamic Penal Code were passed last year which stated that those guilty of “deviant psychological manipulation” or “propaganda contrary to Islam” could face punishments of fines, imprisonment, flogging, or death.
In China, religious freedom and belief threaten the Chinese Communist Party’s total control and authority in the country. As a result, the Chinese Communist Party continues to persecute people of faith and exert control over religious practices. According to the report, “The government continued its 2019-2024 campaign of ‘Sinicization’ to bring all religious doctrine and practice in line with CCP doctrine, requiring indoctrination sessions, monitoring religious services, preapproving sermons, and altering religious texts, including, according to media, stories from the life of Jesus, to emphasize loyalty to the CCP and the State.”
Tragically, religious persecution and repression are daily realities around the world. It is in America’s best interest to champion international religious freedom through foreign policy, diplomacy, and advocacy. The Office of International Religious Freedom’s efforts to hold violators of religious freedom accountable are essential.
The United States has shown time and time again that Americans will not sit back as individuals are killed, jailed, or tortured for their faith. The Report on International Religious Freedom is a critical tool for governments and activists alike to advance and defend religious freedom around the world.
—————————— Callista Louise Gingrich is an American businesswoman, author, documentary film producer, and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 2017 to 2021.
Tags:Callista Louise Gingrich, A Critical Tool, for Advancing and Defending, International Religious FreedomTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks!
by Penna Dexter: In a study of 10th and 12th graders conducted during peak Covid-19 school lockdown months, fewer respondents reported feeling depressed than in a study conducted two years earlier. The study’s lead author, academic psychologist Jean Twenge, says spending more time with their families was good for these teenagers’ mental health.
The baseline for Gen-Z happiness is low. Their extensive social media use and often minimal in-person social interaction makes healthy family life crucial for them.
Yet there are powerful societal forces threatening to mitigate the influence of the nuclear family.
Countless studies and simple common sense tell us that a child fares best when raised by a married mom and dad. Even organizations one could describe as woke admit that kids with married parents do best. To them, the nuclear family is an oppressor precisely because it provides these good outcomes.
The Colson Center’s John Stonestreet and Maria Baer point to Black Lives Matter’s prior statements of their intention to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” Mr. Stonestreet’s Breakpoint commentary identifies “scholars” who acknowledge the benefits but maintain that nuclear families “disadvantage other family arrangements…an example of privilege rooted in white supremacy.”
In a recent sermon, Pastor John MacArthur, told the congregation at Grace Community Church and his radio audience: “This culture is weaponized to destroy children. It’s systematically designed to do that.” He lamented the millions of babies “slaughtered in the womb”. He then critiqued public education where children “come under the influence of those whose agenda is anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Scripture.”
Politicians, he said, “are making laws that are devastating to children under the pressure of sexual freedom, homosexuality, transgenderism” and banning hate speech to punish people who speak against these things.
The current universal government daycare proposal with its stated goal to get mothers into the workforce is not a solution to the weakening of the American family.
We must summon the courage to uphold God’s good design for the family.
————————— Penna Dexter writes for Point of View.
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Fauci “must be eliminated from the post that lends him such credence in matters pertaining to the most important and overdue investigation the world has ever known.”Read more…
She’s one of the most staunch defenders of lockdowns and face masks during the pandemic, and now this infamous governor has been caught barefaced violating her own statewide rules that are apparently not meant for herself. Read more…
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Morning Rundown
George Floyd’s family meets with Biden, lawmakers on policing reform: George Floyd’s family met with President Joe Biden and key lawmakers on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on the anniversary of Floyd’s death. Biden held a “private discussion” with the family behind closed doors and also treated Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, to ice cream and Cheetos as he showed the family around the White House. The president’s meeting with Floyd’s family comes as lawmakers push for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which aims to address “a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability.” The legislation, which will ban chokeholds and end qualified immunity for law enforcement, was introduced last year and passed by the House of Representatives in March. But due to opposition by Republicans, it has faced an uphill climb in the Senate. While Biden hopes that the bill will pass sometime after Memorial Day, attorney Benjamin Crump, Floyd’s family and lawmakers including Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chief author of the bill, all agreed that they want to make sure the legislation isn’t “rushed.” “We will work until we get the job done,” Bass said during a meeting with Floyd’s family. Click here to see how many across the country remembered George Floyd’s legacy.
Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 18: Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is 100% effective in children ages 12 to under 18, the company said Tuesday, announcing the results of its latest clinical trials. In addition to its efficacy, the vaccine showed “no significant safety concerns” in the trial of more than 3,700 adolescent participants, according to Moderna, which said it plans to submit results of the trial to U.S. regulators and request authorization in early June. The announcement comes two weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for use in children ages 12 to 15. Pfizer is currently conducting clinical trials with children as young as 6 months old and it will likely seek an emergency use authorization for its vaccine for children ages 2 to 11 in September.
TSA screening 7 times more passengers than at this time in 2020: As many take to the skies for Memorial Day weekend, the Transportation Security Administration is seeing an influx of passengers. On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said TSA screened seven times more passengers this past weekend than at this time in 2020. The increase represents 90% of the volume the TSA, which is overseen by DHS, would log during a typical day in 2019 before the pandemic, said Mayorkas. Darby LaJoye, the acting TSA administrator, said that there is a “pent-up demand” for travel this summer as the health crisis begins to come to an end in some countries and the agency is expecting high numbers at airports this summer. To combat longer wait times at the airport, LaJoye said the TSA has hired over 3,000 employees since January and plans to hire 1,000 more by July 4.
Mom and 5-year-old daughter share commencement stage after preschool graduation is canceled: When 5-year-old Reagan Brielle Robinson’s preschool graduation was canceled, her mom, Briana Hawkins, came up with a different plan so her daughter could still get the graduation experience. “I wanted her to see what accomplishing goals looks like,” Briana told “GMA.” So Briana, who also graduated this month with a master’s from Drake University, decided to take Reagan to her own commencement ceremony so they could walk the stage together. As a first-generation grad student, Briana wanted to show Reagan that she can do anything. “I want her to always believe in herself, even when times get hard,” she said of her daughter.
GMA Must-Watch
This morning on “GMA,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, joins us live to reveal a new change to the app. Plus, “Rise and Shine,” Illinois, for a very special surprise. Michael Strahan takes us on a tour as he discovers the incredible things to do across the Windy City. All this and more only on “GMA.”
With the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre coming up, this morning we’re taking a closer look at how government bureaucracy and institutional racism inflicted its own violence on the city’s once thriving Black community. Plus more potential legal woes for former President Donald Trump and a first glimpse of the “super flower blood moon.”
Here’s what we’re watching this Wednesday morning.
At the end of May, it will be a century since a white mob looted, burned and murdered in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, then known as the Black Wall Street, killing hundreds and displacing thousands more.
With the anniversary just days away, many have focused on the violence. But that’s not the full story of Greenwood.
After the 1921 massacre, Greenwood had a renaissance led by Black Tulsans who rebuilt their neighborhood brick by brick. By the 1950s and ʼ60s, Greenwood had blossomed into one of the most successful Black neighborhoods in the country.
Then came the highways — and government seizure of property by eminent domain.
“The plot to take it over has happened — it just didn’t happen in 1921,” said Sean Thomas, a doctoral candidate at Oklahoma State University’s geography department. “And it didn’t happen via the massacre — it happened over time through just urban renewal and regular processes.”
The White House has not yet announced details of Biden’s trip, but his visit on the centennial underscores the renewed push to acknowledge the massacre, which has been left out of American history.
The reported move by New York prosecutors to convene a special grand jury to hear evidence against the Trump Organization signals that the criminal investigation into the former president has entered a new phase.
‘Havana Syndrome’ sufferers say Biden admin still doing too little
In a letter obtained by NBC News, U.S. diplomats and others with symptoms consistent with “Havana Syndrome” voiced frustration with the Biden administration’s lack of attention to their plight and warned that injured workers are still being denied proper care.
Democratic lawmakers are trying to secure one piece of the expanded social safety net the country has developed during the national emergency created by the Covid pandemic. “Hunger doesn’t take time off when school buildings are closed, so neither can we,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
More than 170 business PACS have contributed more than $2.6 million to campaigns and PACS associated with lawmakers who objected to certifying the election, according to a new watchdog report.
In response to the lawsuit, a representative for the reality TV star said Kardashian West “hopes that the issue between these workers and the vendor who hired them can be amicably resolved soon.”
Skywatchers were in for a treat early this morning when a full moon, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse were all set to occur on the same day — a rare lunar trifecta, according to NASA.
The celestial spectacle was expected to take place before dawn Wednesday and to be visible across much of the Western United States.
In the photo above, you can see the progression of the eclipse beginning with a partial covering of the moon seen in Santa Monica, California, early this morning.
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
FIRST READ: The GOP remains stuck with Trump – and his latest legal drama
Back in January, the Republican Party had a chance to walk away from Donald Trump – after his defeat, after Jan. 6, after his second impeachment and after he refused to attend President Biden’s inauguration.
Instead, they stuck with him, which has led to many GOP members downplaying the Capitol attack, fighting the creation of a bipartisan commission to study what happened on Jan. 6, and watching the former president continue to question the legitimacy of a contest he lost fair and square.
And now they face the very real possibility of seeing their party’s de-facto leader and potential 2024 frontrunner getting indicted in the coming months.
“Manhattan’s district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president Donald Trump, other executives at his company or the business itself, should prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the development,” the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
“The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. It suggests, too, that Vance thinks he has found evidence of a crime — if not by Trump, by someone potentially close to him or by his company.”
It’s important to note that this empaneled grand jury doesn’t mean charges have been filed against Trump (at least not yet). And Trump has called yesterday’s news “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in American history.”
But it does mean that this new Trump legal drama will be with us – and the GOP – for months.
Since last January, the Republican Party has been stuck in a no-win situation with Trump: Either they cut ties with their former president and see him take his base of supporters with him, thus hurting them in 2022 and 2024.
Or they stick with him — and all of the drama that comes with it.
Well, they chose Door No. 2.
Huge and insignificant at the same time
The grand jury news, which Manhattan’s DA hasn’t confirmed, is both huge and insignificant.
Huge that a former president and possible 2024 frontrunner might be indicted.
But also insignificant, because Trump has been under investigation – in one way or another – ever since first entering office in 2017.
And Trump being under investigation has never truly moved public opinion and his base of supporters.
Then again, erosion is something that you can’t witness in days, weeks or months. It takes years to see it.
Schumer files cloture motion to proceed on Jan. 6 commission
Speaking of the Jan. 6 commission, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the House-passed resolution that establishes the commission, per NBC’s Frank Thorp and the NBC Capitol Hill team.
Translation: A 60-vote procedural motion related to the January 6th commission could happen as soon as this week (likely Thursday, if it happens this week).
More from NBC’s Hill team: The vote could also happen when they return from the Memorial Day recess. Either way, the bill does not currently have the 60 votes needed to bypass a Republican filibuster, so it’s currently on its way to being blocked by Republicans.
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
Only 40 percent: The share of Californians who support recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a new PPIC poll.
$110 million: The amount of new U.S. economic assistance to Palestinians, announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week.
33,332,924: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 22,701 more than yesterday morning.)
595,106: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News.(That’s 702 more than yesterday morning.)
287,788,872: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
36.4 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per NBC News.
50 percent: The share of all American adults over 18 who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.
Talking Policy with Benjy: Where’s infrastructure?
Infrastructure talks are still up in the air, despite pessimism from Democrats and Republicans alike that the two sides are at an impasse after the White House put out a $1.7 trillion offer that included both physical infrastructure and funding for the “care economy.”
A GOP working group led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va. said they would present a new offer of up to $1 trillion in spending on Thursday. Meanwhile, a second bipartisan group that includes Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. is working on another plan. Both would stay limited to what Manchin calls “traditional” infrastructure items like transportation and broadband.
The big obstacle so far is how to pay for it. Capito’s group has said undoing any of the 2017 Trump tax cuts is a nonstarter and has called for repurposing Covid relief funding that’s already been approved. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the bipartisan working group is considering a mix of existing COVID-19 funding, raising gas taxes in line with inflation, imposing new fees on electric vehicles and increasing tax enforcement (an idea Biden has endorsed).
“We’ll work on the pay-fors as we need to, there’s a reasonable path forward, but you got to pay for it,” Manchin told reporters on Tuesday.
Repurposing Covid aid money seemed like a nonstarter earlier this year, and so far the White House has not warmed to the idea. But with state budgets looking stronger than expected, coronavirus cases plummeting, and more than 60 percent of adults at least partially vaccinated, there may be at least some flexibility.
In theory, there’s upside to Democrats working out a bipartisan deal on what Manchin called “traditional” infrastructure, leaving them free to potentially pass Biden’s proposals on things like electric vehicles, caregiving, and schools separately. For one, it could make it easier to pay for the rest of his agenda, where Democrats appear divided on some of Biden’s plans to tax wealthy investors, heirs, and corporations and could water down the available revenue.
But Democrats are nervous about getting bogged down in long negotiations, especially with a fragile minority in both chambers. Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a goal early on of passing a bill by July 4. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also named a July target on Tuesday “regardless of the vehicle” used to pass a bill. He may not have a choice, though. So long as the White House and especially moderate Democrats like Manchin want to keep talking, it will be difficult to move forward.
TWEET OF THE DAY: RIP, John Warner
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
Here’s the latest on where the infrastructure talks stand, per our Hill team.
Trump is bashing the reported convening of a grand jury as “purely political.”
Biden will visit Tulsa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre.
Sufferers of “Havana syndrome” say the Biden administration needs to do more to support them.
HHS chief Xavier Becerra is calling for a follow-up investigation into the origins of Covid-19.
Democrats want to make a pandemic-born summer meal program for kids into a permanent one.
Arizona Republicans have introduced a measure to strip the Democratic secretary of state of her ability to defend election lawsuits.
An avowed member of the Proud Boys says he attended a meeting of state party officials in Nevada and cast a vote in the censure of an elected official who said the 2020 election was not the product of fraud.
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A major milestone in the fight against COVID-19 as more than half of American adults are now fully vaccinated. Also, Republican leaders are condemning GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for her latest comments comparing masks and vaccines to the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.
A doctor has partnered with the Los Angeles School District to clear up COVID-19 vaccine misinformation among parents and to help get kids vaccinated. CBS This Morning lead national correspondent David Begnaud spoke to the doctor who says the hardest part is when a kid wants to get the vaccine, but they can’t because their family doesn’t want them to.
Belarus leader claims it’s a “total lie” Ryanair jet forced to land
Russia backs implausible explanation from “Europe’s last dictator” as arrested dissident’s mom pleads for help: “Please save him, they’re going to kill him in there!”
Former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner is one of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s most high-profile challengers in the upcoming recall election. Jenner talks to “CBS This Morning” about why she feels qualified to run, her stance on the issues important to voters.
There are allegations the world-famous Juilliard art school has issues with race and diversity. One student alleges a teacher used a racial slur in class. Michelle Miller reports
Plus: Debate over critical race theory bans, Oklahoma City takes on major occupational licensing reform, and more…
“Restrictions on flavored tobacco product sales are increasingly popular,”notes Yale School of Public Health researcher Abigail S. Friedman in JAMA Pediatrics. Five states “and hundreds of localities have implemented them in the past few years alone.” They’re generally instituted under the banner of protecting teenagers, who are assumed to be more likely than adults to dig flavored smokes and vapes.
But do these bans really encourage healthier behaviors among young people? New evidence suggests that they do not. In fact, they could actually drive up cigarette smoking rates among teens and young adults.
“Given the relative health costs of smoking vs vaping nicotine, flavor bans that increase smoking may prove harmful,” Friedman points out.
In newly published research, she looked at youth smoking rates in San Francisco, which banned flavored tobacco products—including flavored cigarettes and flavored vaping liquids—in June 2018. Previous research suggested the ban actually increased cigarette smoking in 18- to 24-year-olds while decreasing overall tobacco product use in 18- to 34-year-olds. Friedman wanted to measure the ban’s effect on high school students under 18.
Using data from the 2011-2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), Friedman was able to look at under-18 cigarette smoking rates in Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Florida’s Broward, Palm Beach, and Orange counties. This allowed her to compare youth smoking in San Francisco with districts that did not ban flavored cigarettes and vaping products.
“Comparing recent smoking rates by wave revealed similar trends in San Francisco vs other districts prior to 2018 but subsequent divergence,” writes Friedman of her findings. “San Francisco’s flavor ban was associated with more than doubled odds of recent smoking among underage high school students relative to concurrent changes in other districts.”
“While the policy applied to all tobacco products, its outcome was likely greater for youths who vaped than those who smoked due to higher rates of flavored tobacco use among those who vaped,” she adds. “This raises concerns that reducing access to flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems may motivate youths who would otherwise vape to substitute smoking. Indeed, analyses of how minimum legal sales ages for electronic nicotine delivery systems are associated with youth smoking also suggest such substitution.”
FREE MINDS
Are bans on teaching “critical race theory” (CRT) in schools against the First Amendment? A growing number of states have seen Republican legislators introducing such measures. (Ohio is the latest to see such a bill introduced, the Texas Senate just approved one, and Tennessee’s governor just signed one.) These bans have drawn ample criticism from the left. But a number of heterodox thinkers, including Thomas Chatterton Williams and Kmele Foster, also have qualms about them:
You cannot be a genuine proponent of free expression and want to ban CRT.
— Thomas Chatterton Williams 🌍 🎧 (@thomaschattwill) May 25, 2021
“The past year has convinced me freedom of expression has to be nearly absolute,” added Williams. “Hitchens is right: ‘Every time you violate or propose to violate the free speech of someone else, in potentia, you’re making a rod for your own back.’ It always comes back at you.”
Sure, but I *do not* have a right to compel public schoolchildren to believe what I believe.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 25, 2021
They, in turn, have also received pushback from folks also outside the typical U.S. left-right culture war spectrum:
For those of us who grew up in Georgia in the early 2000s, remember this? https://t.co/RQoXQ3Bw7i
You cannot be a genuine proponent of free expression and want to ban CRT.
— Thomas Chatterton Williams 🌍 🎧 (@thomaschattwill) May 25, 2021
Meanwhile, others are calling bullshit on the idea that these bills properly define critical race theory in the first place:
There are many misleading descriptions of various state “anti-woke” bills. Any description of them as “banning critical race theory” is generally so incomplete as to be misleading. Many of them betray little understanding of CRT while sweeping far more broadly than CRT.
Major occupational licensing reform in Oklahoma City:
Today, the City of Oklahoma City has made a bold statement about occupational licensing reform, as the Council unanimously repealed 85 percent of our city’s occupational licenses (16 of 19). pic.twitter.com/CmQfuewVkm
• Here’s an interesting thread on home sales data from the CEO of Redfin:
1 of 15: It has been hard to convey, through anecdotes or data, how bizarre the U.S. housing market has become. For example, a Bethesda, Maryland homebuyer working with @Redfin included in her written offer a pledge to name her first-born child after the seller. She lost.
• The Mercatus Center’s Liya Palagashvili on “four ‘gig work’ misconceptions driving counterproductive reforms.”
• Tennessee’s governor has “signed into law measures to divert more people away from state prisons and to expand support services for people who are leaving prisons after serving their sentences,” reports the Tennessean.
• In Maine, “the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted Monday to recommend a measure that would decriminalize prostitution.”
Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason, where she writes regularly on the intersections of sex, speech, tech, crime, politics, panic, and civil liberties. She is also co-founder of the libertarian feminist group Feminists for Liberty.
Since starting at Reason in 2014, Brown has won multiple awards for her writing on the U.S. government’s war on sex. Brown’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, Buzzfeed, Playboy, Fox News, Politico, The Week, and numerous other publications. You can follow her on Twitter @ENBrown.
Reason is the magazine of “free minds and free markets,” offering a refreshing alternative to the left-wing and right-wing echo chambers for independent-minded readers who love liberty.
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55.) REALCLEARPOLITICS MORNING NOTE
05/26/2021
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Carl Cannon’s Morning Note
WHO Distrust; Zuckerberg Influence; the Heart of Big Sky
By Carl M. Cannon on May 26, 2021 08:24 am
Good morning, it’s Wednesday, May 26, 2021. On this date in 1864, in the brief and fraught respite between the gruesome battles at Spotsylvania Courthouse and Cold Harbor, Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Montana a U.S. territory. Statehood would come 25 years earlier.
In the ensuing decades, Montana has stamped itself as a special place in our national consciousness, celebrated in songs, novels, and movies as “the last best place,” a Lincoln-esque description coined in 1983 by naturalist Douglas H. Chadwick.
I’ve been to Montana many times, fished its rivers and streams, patronized its saloons, hiked its mountains, broke bread in that state with old friends and new. But I loved the place before I ever set foot in it, mainly because of its writers.
Movie fans (and followers of this newsletter) are familiar with the opening sentence in “A River Runs Through It,” by Montana native Norman Maclean. “In our family,” he wrote, “there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.”
Equally evocative are some of the first few lines of “This House of Sky,” Ivan Doig’s autobiographical account of his own Montana childhood:
“Soon before daybreak on my sixth birthday, my mother’s breathing wheezed more raggedly than ever, then quieted. And then stopped.
“The remembering begins out of that new silence. Through the time since, I reached back along my father’s telling and around the urgings which would have me face about and forget, to feel into these oldest shadows for the first sudden edge of it all.
“It starts, early in the mountain summer, far back among the high spilling slopes of the Bridger Range of southwestern Montana. The single sound is hidden water — the south fork of Sixteenmile Creek diving down its willow-masked gulch. The stream flees north through this secret and people-less land, until, under the dark fur flanks of Hatfield Mountain, a bow of meadow makes the riffled water curl wide to the west.”
And with that, I’d point you to our front page, which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. We also offer a complement of original material from RCP reporters and contributors, including the following:
* * *
Senate Republicans to Biden: Don’t Trust WHO. Phil Wegmann has the story on calls for the U.S., not the World Health Organization, to lead a new investigation into China’s role in the origin of the coronavirus.
How Zuckerberg’s Millions Funded the Left’s Work With 2020 Vote Officials. Drawing on hundreds of public records requests, Steve Miller reports for RealClearInvestigations how 2020 vote officials nationwide worked with a progressive group funded by Facebook’s founder to create ballots, target voters and develop “cure” letters for faulty votes.
The True Lesson of Jan. 6. Jason Garshfield writes that the assault on the Capitol must be examined in light of the violence in U.S. cities nationwide following the death of George Floyd.
In Defense of Frank Luntz. Dane Strother calls the embattled pollster a master of conducting focus groups and pushing people to enunciate clearly what they are thinking, and then delving into why they think as they do.
Taking Risks Does Not Equal Being Reckless. Jessica Curtis explains why it’s time to buck up and get back to our way of life.
Don’t Sabotage the Military Justice System. At RealClearDefense, Thomas Spoehr finds fault with legislation that would remove military commanders’ authority to refer charges to trial and instead vest military lawyers with that responsibility.
The Fantasy Assumptions Behind the IEA’s Roadmap to Net-Zero. At RealClearEnergy, Robert Bryce writes that the agency envisions a world where there is no shortage of money, land, or commodities like copper, cobalt, and lithium.
Repeal Durbin Amendment to Benefit Consumers. At RealClearPolicy, B. Dan Berger asserts that the Durbin Debit Interchange Amendment is a failed attempt at price fixing.
In Los Angeles, a Palestinian gang assaulted Jews outside a Sushi restaurant. Rioters asked whether victims are Jewish before assaulting them. Other video showed Arab men outside a restaurant spitting on Jewish diners.
The Chinese Communist Party evidently was responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. A Chinese military laboratory in Wuhan involved in so-called “gain of function” experiments had the first victims back in November 2019.
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62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 26, and we’re covering vaccines in teens, mounting legal challenges for Amazon, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is 100% effective in children aged 12 to 17, according to results released by the company yesterday. In a trial with more than 3,700 participants, zero infections were observed after the two-dose regimen, and the treatment was found to be 93% effective after the first shot. The company plans to seek authorization for use in the age group in the coming weeks; a vaccine from Pfizer and partner BioNTech is already approved for the more than 25 million 12- to 17-year-olds in the US.
Officials said no significant safety concerns were observed. However, researchers are investigating whether the Pfizer vaccine—of which almost 5 million doses have been administered to teens—is linked to a small number of myocarditis cases. The condition, inflammation of the heart muscle, typically resolves itself without issue. It’s unclear whether the number of cases, none of which were fatal, is higher than what would be naturally expected in the general population.
Almost 62% of US adults, and more than 58% of Americans over age 12, have received at least one vaccine dose. Roughly half of US adults are now fully vaccinated.
DC Sues Amazon
The attorney general in the nation’s capital announced a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the tech giant of anticompetitive price-fixing practices.
At issue is an updated version of the company’s “most favored nation” clauses—provisions in contracts that prohibit sellers from offering the same item for a lower price on a competing platform. Violations would result in sellers losing access to Amazon’s online marketplace, which facilitates about 40% of e-commerce in the US. The company reportedly dropped the explicit clause in 2019; however, Washington, DC, officials allege it was replaced by a nearly identical clause allowing Amazon to level sanctions on third-party sellers.
The suit is the latest legal battlefront for Amazon, which has been accused of similar practices around e-books and of misusing data collected by third-party sellers to boost its own-label products.
Dylann Roof Appeals
Lawyers representing mass shooter Dylann Roof asked an appeals court yesterday to overturn his conviction and death sentence, arguing Roof should have been found incompetent to stand trial.
An avowed white supremacist, a then-21-year-old Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 opening fire during bible study. Nine people were killed in the attack. Roof was subsequently found guilty on 33 federal charges and sentenced to death—the first time the death penalty had been meted out for a hate crime in the US. Federal executions had been on a hiatus since 2003 until being revived last year, with 13 inmates being put to death since July 2020.
Roof himself was not a signatory on the original appeal brief; earlier court documents revealed he was staunchly against using mental illness as a defense for fear it would damage his reputation.
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Demand for healthy food is steadily rising, but it’s still difficult (read: impossible?) to find affordable, delicious, and healthy food when you’re on the go.
>Alex Trebek and Larry King earn posthumous nominations for Daytime Emmy Awards (June 25, 8pm ET, CBS); see full list of nominations (More)
>NFL announces 30 of 32 franchises given approval to have full stadium capacity next season; all teams permitted to host fans at training camp(More)
>Samuel E. Wright, actor who voiced Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid” and originated the role of Mufasa in “The Lion King” on Broadway, dies at 74(More) | Bachelorette star Ryan Sutter reveals Lyme disease diagnosis after yearlong health battle (More)
From our partners:Mortgage rates are still sliding, and you could be saving big by refinancing. See if you can decrease your monthly payments and enjoy a streamlined process, amounting to many thousands of dollars in possible savings. Check it out now.
Science & Technology
>Meta-analysis suggests immune system T cells can target more than 1,400 sites on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, suggesting it would be difficult for variants to acquire enough mutations to evade the cells (More) | What are T cells? (More)
>Molecules used in stem cell research shown to rebuild muscle tissue, reverse age-related muscle loss in mice (More)
>Scientists discover hypersensitized connections between the auditory and motor regions of the brain in those suffering from misophonia; the condition causes intense reactions to certain sounds (More)
Business & Markets
>Following the Colonial Pipeline hack, Department of Homeland Security will require pipeline operators to report cyberattacks and designate a cybersecurity point person (More)
>“Meme stocks” trade higher Tuesday—GameStop up 16%, AMC Theatres up 19%—as discussions of another potential short squeeze surface on social media (More)
>Lumber shortages continue construction delays; lumber sees all-time high pricing up more than 300% in the last year (More)
Politics & World Affairs
>President Joe Biden to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland; the first face-to-face meeting between the pair (More)
>Senate GOP raises its infrastructure counterproposal to nearly $1T, up from around $560B; White House proposal currently sits at $1.7T, down from $2.3T (More)
>Rallies held around the US to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd(More) | Riot declared in Portland, Oregon (More) | Kristen Clarke confirmed as first Black female to lead Justice Department’s civil rights division (More)
Blendid’s fully autonomous robotic kiosk is quite the Renaissance robot. It knows what you’re most likely to enjoy (based on AI), recognizes ingredients, constantly calibrates inventory, makes delicious healthy food, and never takes a break or asks for help. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg (lettuce).
They’ve already launched high-profile partnerships with both Jamba and Walmart, and—thanks to strong margins and high demand—are planning on expanding nationwide with their current crowdfunding round. Learn all about this investment opportunity today.
Historybook: Dow Jones Industrial Average begins with 12 stocks (1896); Actor John Wayne born (1907); Legendary jazz musician Miles Davis born (1926); First American woman in space, Sally Ride, born (1951); HBD musician Lenny Kravitz (1964).
“Young girls need to see role models in whatever careers they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday. You can’t be what you can’t see.”
– Sally Ride
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63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
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May 26, 2021
Lockdowns Need to Be Intellectually Discredited Once and …
By Ethan Yang | “Unilaterally and arbitrarily shutting down all of economic and social life was never part of the solution, nor should it ever be. Covid-19 has been the first test for these experimental lockdown policies and no rational observer…
Will the Pandemic Promote Political Power in Perpetuity?
By James Bovard | “The more people who view government as their personal savior, the easier it becomes for politicians to demagogue to ever greater power. But as economist Warren Nutter warned, ‘The more that government takes, the less likely that…
By Anthony Gill | “We are often too quick to pull the trigger on government regulation whenever we suspect a problem exists. It is important to first ask what civil society can do (or is doing) to mitigate that problem before deferring to the…
By Robert Hughes | Sales of new single-family homes fell in April, decreasing 5.9 percent to 863,000 at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate from a 917,000 pace in March. Sales are still up 48.3 percent from the year-ago level but have fallen in five…
‘Big Tech’ Risks Going Down a Path of Decline Paved by…
By John Tamny | “Here’s hoping a desire for near-term comfort from competition, criticism, and the markets doesn’t do to Big Tech what was done to Big Rail. Time will tell. But for now, it seems Big Tech is intent on traveling a path toward…
Papers, Please! Oregon Now Requires ‘Proof of Vaccination’
By Jordan Schachtel | “With the corrupt policies being pursued by the authorities in statewide office, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that not everyone in the state is thrilled with the policies being pushed by Salem. On Tuesday, 5 Oregon…
Edward C. Harwood fought for sound money when few Americans seemed to care. He was the original gold standard man before that became cool. Now he is honored in this beautiful sewn silk tie in the richest possible color and greatest detail.
The red is not just red; it is darker and deeper, more distinctive and suggestive of seriousness of purpose.
The Harwood coin is carefully sewn (not stamped). Sporting this, others might miss that you are secretly supporting the revolution for freedom and sound money, but you will know, and that is what matters.
In 1826 the famous novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott entered an economic policy debate. Adopting a pseudonym, his Letters … from Malachi Malagrowther, Esq., on the Proposed Change of Currency fiercely defended the Scottish banking system from a British government proposal to ban banknotes under five pounds. Malagrowther built cogently on Adam Smith’s explanation of how the voluntary substitution of paper banknotes for specie in circulation enhances an economy’s stock of productive capital. The Letters ignited Scottish public opinion, and the government decided to exempt Scotland from the small note ban.
On the menu today: Sorry folks, I really tried, but I can’t contain my internal tsunami of “I told you so.” The crowd of prominent figures who are open to the lab-leak theory now includes Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra! And on a lighter note, let’s contemplate if Marvel Studios is about to hit a wall.
Oh, now the Biden administration is willing to openly state that this whole pandemic might trace back to someone not being careful in a Chinese state-run lab working on dangerous viruses.
Okay, I didn’t want today’s newsletter to be all about the lab-leak theory again, when I wrote about it Monday … READ MORE
How much do voters trust Dr. Anthony Fauci? Less than they did a year ago, and a majority believe that the government’s COVID-19 expert has been influenced by politics.
Politico: “The second gentleman will be heading to New Mexico to campaign with Democratic congressional candidate Melanie Stansbury ahead of the special election on Tuesday…”
“This won’t be the first political event for Emhoff who joined DNC Chair Jaime Harrison in March for the latter’s first virtual fundraiser. It is, however, his first campaign event since the November election.”
Donald Trump met with late Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) in 2008 and offered him “money in Palm Beach” if he dropped his investigation into the Spygate scandal, in which the New England Patriots were disciplined by the NFL for filming a rival team’s coaching signals, ESPN reports.
However, a Trump spokesman said the report “is completely false.”
A spokesman for the Patriots also denied the allegations.
Roll Call: “Dozens of at-risk House Democrats are betting that securing money for their constituents through earmarks will be somewhere between a net positive for their reelection campaigns and a neutral factor that won’t turn off undecided voters.”
Said Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA): “I’ve been through two energetic elections, 2018 and 2020, and the charges that my opponents leveled had so little basis in fact that it makes me think something real like community project funding would not interest them.”
Aaron Blake: “‘Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’ was always a phrase that was going to be trouble for House Republicans. It’s why GOP leaders went to the unusual trouble of subtly trying to prevent the QAnon supporter and conspiracy theorist from winning the GOP nomination in an extremely safe Republican seat. Georgia’s 14th District is the kind of district they would never have otherwise bothered to pay attention to.”
“But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is reality, and Republicans need to ask themselves how much more of it they can take before they do something more severe. Because it’s clearly not working.”
CNN: “Two key GOP negotiators — Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Roger Wicker of Mississippi — both indicated on Tuesday that Biden has signaled openness to that price tag, a reason why they plan to make a counteroffer around that amount on Thursday, even as there are still sharp disagreements on how to pay for the massive proposal.”
“The upcoming Senate GOP offer is a sign that negotiations with the White House aren’t over yet even as talks are teetering on the edge ahead of a Memorial Day deadline.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Ever since photos showed State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) at the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that devolved into the deadly Capitol riot, the Franklin County Republican has said he did not cross police lines and left when the scene started to turn violent.”
“But video recently uncovered by amateur online sleuths appears to show that Mastriano — widely seen as a leading Republican contender for Pennsylvania governor in 2022 — stuck around longer and advanced closer to the Capitol building than he has previously acknowledged.”
Associated Press: “The Georgia Democratic Party has its answer for how the state delivered its electoral votes to Joe Biden for president in November and gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate with runoff victories two months later.”
“The short answer: time, money and plenty of staff and volunteers using ‘tailored outreach’ to make Georgia’s electorate younger, less white and more focused on absentee and early voting than it’s ever been.”
Washington Post: “John W. Warner, the five-term U.S. senator from Virginia who helped plan the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations, played a central role in military affairs and gained respect on both sides of the aisle for his diligence, consensus-building and independence, has died at 94.”
First Read: “Back in January, the Republican Party had a chance to walk away from Donald Trump — after his defeat, after Jan. 6, after his second impeachment and after he refused to attend President Biden’s inauguration.”
“Instead, they stuck with him, which has led to many GOP members downplaying the Capitol attack, fighting the creation of a bipartisan commission to study what happened on Jan. 6, and watching the former president continue to question the legitimacy of a contest he lost fair and square.”
“And now they face the very real possibility of seeing their party’s de-facto leader and potential 2024 frontrunner getting indicted in the coming months.”
New York Times: “Jimmy Kimmel rehashed the details of a new feud with Senator Ted Cruz. It began, Kimmel explained, when the Texas Republican posted a tweet in which he referred to the U.S. military as ‘woke’ and ’emasculated.’”
Said Kimmel: “Which I pointed out fairly, I thought, is funny coming from a guy who let Donald Trump use his testicles on the driving range. I mean, look, he was Trump’s Theon Greyjoy.”
If you did not watch Game of Thrones, that’s a reference to a character who was castrated.
Doyle McManus: “It’s not surprising that negotiations on ambitious legislation would be tough; they’re supposed to be. The problem is that only one party is behaving as if it wants to pass anything at all.”
“McConnell, in contrast, is rooting openly for Biden and the Democrats to fail. He’s revived the playbook he used against then-President Obama, when he saw obstructionism as a way to turn voters against the administration and toward the GOP.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) told Politico that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is not fit to serve as Speaker if Republicans take back the majority in the lower chamber in next year’s midterm elections.
Said Kinzinger: “I certainly wouldn’t support him if it were today. This country deserves people who are going to do tough things and tell the truth.”
Politico: “With an eye toward winning back the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, former President Donald Trump has begun crafting a policy agenda outlining a MAGA doctrine for the party. His template is the 1994 ‘Contract with America,’ a legislative agenda released ahead of the midterm elections in the middle of President Bill Clinton’s first term. And, as a cherry on top, he’s teaming up with its main architect — Gingrich — to do it.”
Politico: “The Kentucky Republican is nonetheless leveraging the existence of the filibuster into remarkable power over legislation. He’s doing it through a subtle but unmistakable bet: that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for most bills is here to stay, and so too is his ability to shape or derail Democrats’ priorities.”
Former President Donald Trump claimed in an interview Tuesday that “it was obvious to smart people” that the coronavirus emerged from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “I had no doubt about it. I was criticized by the press because China has a lot of people taken care of. They took care of Hunter. They took care of Joe. They took care of everybody, didn’t they? And people didn’t want to say China. Usually, they blame it on Russia. It’s always Russia, Russia, Russia, but I said right at the beginning it came out of Wuhan.”
Washington Post: Top U.S. health official calls for follow up investigation into pandemic’s origins.
New York Times: “United States troops and their NATO allies intend to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline, military officials said, in what has turned into an accelerated ending to America’s longest war.”
“A year ago this week, a brusque, defiant figure in shirt sleeves appeared in the sun-dappled garden behind 10 Downing Street to give one of the most extraordinary news conferences in recent British political history,” the New York Times reports.
“On Wednesday, that same man — Dominic Cummings, then the most powerful adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson; now arguably his most dangerous enemy — will testify before two Parliamentary committees on Britain’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. It is being billed as a can’t-miss sequel in the Cummings Chronicles.”
“Mr. Cummings is expected to unload a trove of inside details about how Mr. Johnson bungled Britain’s initial response, necessitating what he claims were months of needless and ruinous lockdowns.”
Melissa Carone Trump Republicans protested at the Michigan Republican Party’s headquarters in Lansing, Michigan today. They were upset that the…Read more…
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Does elite thinking about the Black experience in America, as expressed via the teaching of critical race theory and the 1619 Project, benefit the descendants of slavery? Glenn Loury, a Hoover Institution distinguished visiting fellow and Brown University economist who writes frequently on racial inequality, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss the historical and economic arcs of race in America.
Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley has just published Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, the definitive account of the life of Hoover senior fellow Thomas Sowell. In this wide-ranging interview, Peter Robinson and Riley discuss the events and people that helped Sowell become one of the most important American voices on cultural, economic, and racial matters of the last 50 years.
via Battlegrounds: International Perspectives On Crucial Challenges To Security
In this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discuss how the U.S. can work together with the world’s largest democracy on economics, diplomacy, and security to build a better future.
The project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, and the National Security Task Force the Hoover Institution hosts a conversation on Watch This Space: Beijing’s Push to Close Off Taiwan’s International Space and the U.S. Response on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 4:30 PM PT.
The United States, Taiwan, and countries in the Indo-Pacific are dealing with a more aggressive People’s Republic of China (PRC) and a much more capable People’s Liberation Army (PLA). PRC military modernization has shifted the regional balance of power in a more favorable direction, although the United States maintains significant advantages in power projection and in a long conflict.
Hoover Archives has acquired the collection of Dan Caldwell, which contains research materials for Caldwell’s work on U.S. foreign policy and military strategies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet face-to-face in Geneva on June 16, their first summit as Biden looks for what he calls a more “stable, predictable relationship” despite the many points of conflict between the two nations.
The Hoover Institution announces a new seminar series on Using Text as Data in Policy Analysis, co-organized by Steven J. Davis and Justin Grimmer. These seminars will feature applications of natural language processing, structured human readings, and machine learning methods to text as data to examine policy issues in economics, history, national security, political science, and other fields.
This second session features a conversation with Steven J. Davis speaking on What Triggers Stock Market Jumps? on Thursday, May 27, 2021 from 9:00AM – 10:30AM PT and the paper under discussion can be found here.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.
Anti-Semitism, Anti-Israel Sentiment Permeates Streets as Leftist Support for Palestine Grows
The Los Angeles Times is reporting a rash of recent antisemitic hate crimes in Los Angeles.
Outside a sushi restaurant, a caravan of pro-Palestine vehicles waving giant Palestinian flags, paraded by, shouting expletives and antisemitic statements at diners.
A few moments later, approximately eight people, dressed in black, approached the diners. Shouts of “Israel kills children!” and “Death to Jews!” as well as “Free Palestine!” could be heard echoing through the streets.
The intimidating display rapidly became violent as vehicles in the caravan began throwing bottles and other items at the diners. Then a man, attempting to defend himself, swung a metal stanchion at the attackers. The man was thrown against a car while the violent protestors punched and kicked him. Eventually someone with a megaphone yelled, “Guys, guys, it’s not worth it!” and the attackers dispersed down the street.
There was a second incident in which an orthodox Jewish man was chased by a caravan of people waving Palestinian flags.
There have been no arrests to date.
The Israeli-American Civic Action Network condemned the attack, stating, “As Palestinian protesters attack Jews seated for dinner at a Los Angeles restaurant, and another Jewish individual on foot chased by two cars driven by Palestinian protesters, the scenes of violence that unfolded are undeniable evidence of the dangerous spike in antisemitism in the United States and abroad.”
These incidents are just a sample of several recent hate crimes in California. In fact, antisemitic incidents have seen a 40 percent increase over the last five years.
Justified: Deputies in N.C. Will Not Be Charged in Andrew Brown Jr. Case
Multiple news sourcesreported the well-publicized case in Elizabeth City, N.C., involving the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., will not go forward.
Officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant to Brown on April 21. Brown fled, using his vehicle as a weapon, he hit and then attempted to run over an officer. Police quickly assessed their lives were in danger and acted accordingly.
Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble explained how he concluded that the officers would not be charged.
“The deputies faced both actual and apparent danger as perceived by them on the scene,” Womble stated. “This apparent threat was reinforced by Brown’s dangerous and felonious use of a deadly weapon. As tragic as this incident is with the loss of life, the deputies on scene were nonetheless justified in defending themselves from death or great bodily injury.”
He added, “There is insufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to show that any of the deputies acted in a manner that was inconsistent with their perception of an apparent threat.”
Womble also cited case law that grants police-wide discretion in using deadly force against a fleeing suspect.
“Once a threat is perceived … and the officers fire the first shot, if the first shot is justified, the last shot is justified until the threat is extinguished,” Womble said.
ATP analysis: The American justice system is still the bedrock of our society, despite the court of public opinion against law enforcement and white male officers specifically.
The Defund the Police and Black Lives Matter movements, as well as the Leftist media, likely believed they had gained ground after the jury found Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd.
The justice system must try every case on its own merits of evidence and truth. We cannot allow these racially biased movements or the media to infect law, order and justice.
Why Are Members of the GOP at Odds Over the January 6 Commission?
Last Wednesday, the house approved legislation to create a bipartisan investigation of the January 6 Capitol attack. The vote has raised dissent among Republicans who seem to lie squarely in the Trump defense camp versus everyone else.
In a final vote of 252-175, what became evident were the GOP defections from the current party line. Former President Trump urged Republican members to vote against the legislation. The next step is for the vote to head to the Senate where it is expected to meet resistance from a growing number of Republicans.
In the House vote, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., opposed the legislation because he says it puts too much focus on the January 6 attack that interrupted a joint session of Congress. He wanted the commission’s scope to include a broader array of issues around violent protests, including the months-long riots in Portland, Oregon, and other U.S. cities. He also wanted to ensure the attack on GOP lawmakers at a Congressional Baseball Game in 2017, as well as the recent murder of a Capitol police officer were included.
But detractors argued that including those additional issues would distract from the commission’s focus on the insurrection and Trump.
Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have been calling for the independent commission, similar to the 9/11 commission formed to evaluate one of the worst security lapses in U.S. history.
Despite McCarthy’s distaste for the current bill, calling it “duplicative and potentially counterproductive,” 35 Republicans voted in favor of the commission. This display of support will make it more difficult for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to dismiss the commission on partisan terms.
McConnell is unhappy with the current form of the agreement and formerly announced his opposition on the Senate floor on Wednesday last week.
In order for the commission to pass, 10 GOP senators’ votes will be needed in the Senate.
The Daily Intelligence Brief, The DIB as we call it, is curated by a hard working team with a diverse background of experience including government intelligence, investigative journalism, high-risk missionary work and marketing.
From All Things Possible and the Victor Marx Group we aim to provide you with a daily intelligence brief collected from trusted sources and analysts.
Sources for the DIB include local and national media outlets, state and government websites, proprietary sources, in addition to social media networks. State reporting of COVID-19 deaths includes probable cases and probable deaths from COVID-19, in accordance with each state’s guidelines.
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Welcome to the FEE Daily, your go-to newsletter for free-market news and analysis, authored by FEE.org Policy Correspondent Brad Polumbo. If you’re reading this online, click here to make sure you’re subscribed to the email list.
Good afternoon! If you’re a parent or student, you’re going to want to have an iced coffee on hand for today’s top story—because the latest report card for our school system is, erm, less-than-stellar. Stick around for new polling on the cost of climate change proposals, a bitcoin update, and a Drake meme.
New National ‘Report Card’ Shows Public Schools Are Failing in One Huge Way
Image Credit: Flickr
Students often face punishment from parents when they get a bad report card. But what happens when our school system gets one?
The latest national “report card” is out, and it shows that our schools are failing Americans when it comes to science education. These most recent data come from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment.
Just 36 percent of 4th graders were at least “proficient” in science in 2019. Meanwhile, only 35 percent of 8th graders were proficient, and, most worryingly, just 22 percent of 12th graders tested at or above a proficient level in science. These numbers are all essentially unchanged or marginally worse than the same figures in 2015, suggesting no improvement or progress has been made on this front.
Image Credit: Nationsreportcard.gov
These findings are more than just an embarrassment for those who run our nation’s educational systems. They serve as yet another reminder that the public education system, where roughly 90 percent of students are enrolled, isn’t working. Indeed, a perusal of the report card’s sub-data shows that while results across the board aren’t great, public school students’ test scores are significantly lower than students enrolled in Catholic private schools, for one example.
It also proves that simply pouring more taxpayer money into the public education system does not advance results.
Despite conventional wisdom, we have not actually “defunded education.” As the Reason Foundation’s Corey DeAngelis notes, “The United States currently spends over $15,000 per student each year, and inflation-adjusted K-12 education spending per student has increased by 280 percent since 1960.”
But it’s all for naught.
Economic research shows no clear correlation between public education spending and outcomes. If throwing more taxpayer money at the problem could accomplish anything, we wouldn’t have such abysmal results.
The truth is that no amount of resources can change the structural problems facing the public school system. “Pouring more money into the same broken system won’t fix the deeper problem — government monopolies have weak incentives to cater to the needs of their customers by spending money wisely,” DeAngelis explains.
When government-run schools are the only option, those schools have little incentive to improve. In contrast, school choice policies that give American families more options empower them to choose the public school, charter school, private school, or homeschooling option that best suits their needs.
And families having options fosters a competitive system that can actually deliver results. Schools that perform well will attract more students (and thus more money), while those that underdeliver will bleed students and money. Over time, this will lead to the rise and expansion of effective schools and educational options and the demise of inefficient, broken ones.
New Poll: Americans Aren’t Willing to Pay for the ‘Green New Deal’— And It’s Not Even Close
Image Credit: Competitive Enterprise Institute
Americans largely agree that climate change and pollution are real problems. But a new poll reveals that they aren’t interested in shelling out massive amounts from their wallets in pursuit of progressive, big-government “solutions” like the so-called “Green New Deal.”
After all, the Green New Deal would cost taxpayers up to $93 trillion, a truly astounding sum that comes out to nearly $600,000 per US household. Yet most Americans aren’t even willing to sacrifice $50 a month to mitigate climate change. At least, that’s the finding of newly-released polling from the fiscally-conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).
CEI surveyed a representative sample of 1,200 registered voters on environmental issues, and their findings have a margin of error of 2.83 percent. A strong majority of respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned about the issue of climate change. However, one of the most interesting follow-up questions was this: “How much of your own money would you be willing to personally spend each month to reduce the impact of climate change?”
The vast majority of voters were only willing to make very minimal financial sacrifices.
About 35 percent said they wouldn’t be willing to spend anything, with another 15 percent saying they’d only sacrifice $1-$10. Another 6 percent were willing to give up $11-$20, while 5 percent said they’d sacrifice $21-$30. In all, a whopping 75 percent of respondents were not willing to pay more than $50 a month.
One need not extrapolate very far from this data to conclude that essentially zero American households are willing to pay $600,000 a year for a “Green New Deal”-style big-government climate change agenda.
“This poll shows once again that Americans are unwilling to pay for the left’s anti-energy policies,” concluded Myron Ebell, the director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment.
Indeed it does. And, hopefully, this polling will mean that ultra-expensive, big-government approaches to addressing climate change are taken off the table. From deregulating artificial meat to cutting the red tape blocking emission-free, extremely safe forms of nuclear power, there are plenty of ways to address this issue without digging into Americans’ wallets.
Data of the Day: After a week of drastic fluctuation, bitcoin returned to around $40,000 this morning, CNBCreports. I’m thankful that my boyfriend manages the (very small) amount of money I have in crypto, so thankfully, I am not constantly checking the updated swings. It must be stressful!
You don’t always have time to read a full in-depth article. Thankfully, FEE Fellow Patrick Carroll is here to give you the key takeaways from one highlighted article each day.
On May 12, Elon Musk shocked the crypto community by announcing that he was scaling back Tesla’s use of bitcoin, citing concerns regarding bitcoin’s energy usage, and specifically its use of fossil fuels. Musk is not alone. In recent weeks, other prominent figures such as Bill Gates and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have also expressed concerns over bitcoin’s “inefficient” use of energy.
But while bitcoin’s energy usage is certainly high, the figures need to be put in context. Bitcoin is competing against the gold industry and the banking industry, after all, so it’s worth considering how much energy those industries use before making a judgement.
Unfortunately, the stats for banking and gold can be difficult to estimate due to the complexity and opacity of the networks. But as Jon Miltimore reports, a new paper by Galaxy Digital comes up with some reasonable estimates, and as it turns out, the competition isn’t even close.
While bitcoin’s energy usage is estimated to be roughly 113.89 terawatt-hours per year (TWh/yr), the gold industry uses roughly 240.61 TWh/yr, and the banking system uses roughly 263.72 TWh/yr.
Now, it’s worth acknowledging that bitcoin is still in its infancy, and that its energy use may well increase if the network scales up. But since bitcoin can be mined anywhere in the world, its power consumption will likely gravitate to places like Iceland where energy is relatively cheap and clean.
And besides, we also need to consider the benefits of bitcoin. For the first time in human history, we are developing money that can’t be debased or controlled by governments. This is a massive achievement, and it should not be underestimated.
“I don’t believe we shall ever have good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government,” economist F.A. Hayek once said. “Because we can’t take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly, roundabout way, introduce something they can’t stop.”
Bitcoin Uses Half the Energy of the Banking System: New Paper
by Jon Miltimore
“If we want to have an honest conversation about Bitcoin’s energy use, it seems appropriate to consider it in light of the industries it is most often compared to,” Galaxy Digital researchers wrote.
12 H.L. Mencken Quotes on Government, Democracy, and Politicians
by Mark J. Perry
The “Sage of Baltimore” was born in 1880 and is regarded by many as one of the most influential American journalists, essayists, and writers of the early 20th century.
Kim Kardashian Is Right: Lawyers Shouldn’t Have to Attend Law School
by Hans Bader
Kim Kardashian has expressed a desire to become a lawyer without going to law school. As it happens, many of the finest lawyers in American history never attended law school.
Blake Scott Ball joins us to discuss his book on Charles Schulz and the political narrative in the Peanuts comic that managed to attract both liberals and conservatives.
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What you’ve missed:Texas mother was shot dead in front of her children on the way to school, and a father against Critical Race Theory has been barred from his daughter’s graduation by a Maine school board.
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A drive-by shooting appears to have been caught on live television at George Floyd’s memorial Tuesday in Minneapolis, on the one-year anniversary of his death.
“what the State Department doesn’t appear to understand, or maybe this is the whole point, is that the existence of BLM is a national humiliation to the United States.”
Seattle City Council has been at the forefront of the “Defund the Police” movement and this is another way for city leaders to create a civilian-led police force.
Two Facebook Insiders have come forward to Project Veritas with leaked internal documents, showing the Big Tech giant’s plan to police “Vaccine Hesitancy” (VH) through surreptitious “comment demotion.”
The modern Internet has become a hopeless cesspool of lies, misinformation, malinformation, bad intentions, ignorant good intentions and half-truths, outright hoaxes, slander, cruelty; as well as a refuge for creeps, criminals, thieves, phonies, agent provocateurs, would-be revolutionaries, predators, useless and fake reviews, Satanists, and worse.
Ciao! Every Wednesday, our internet culture staff discusses the world of streaming entertainment in this newsletter. In today’s Insider:
A Eurovision fan encounters Eurovision
Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead is a ridiculous thrill ride
Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR was tailor-made for TikTok trends
Appointment TV: Friends: The Reunion
BREAK THE INTERNET
An American foray into the Eurovision Song Contest
Every year, musicians from dozens of countries across Europe get together to compete in the biggest song contest in the world, a weeklong event that captivates hundreds of millions of viewers and always overtakes Twitter. It’s loud and bombastic, a spectacle where pyrotechnics, flashing lights, and gimmicks are just as likely as a heartfelt ballad, and the audience vote is just as important as the jury’s (and you can’t vote for your own country). Now in its 65th year, Eurovision is a competition rife with rivalries, familiar faces, and plenty of scandals and controversy, although it’s taken much longer for it to catch on in the U.S. (Many Americans will likely have heard the most famous Eurovision winner—ABBA’s “Waterloo”—and the performer of another in Céline Dion.)
Part of that is because it often takes a lot of maneuvering (and a VPN) to watch it. Luckily for us, Peacock nabbed the streaming rights to Eurovision in the U.S. and streamed the competition live, letting us get in on the action. So this year, I watched my first Eurovision Song contest as part of the show’s newest demographic: An American viewer who watched Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest and fell in love with the concept of the real thing. And it was quite the way, considering that the 2020 contest was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I came in with no baggage of the contest itself, no knowledge of who any of the performers were—apart from Flo Rida, who performed on behalf of San Marino—and only a slight idea of what the rules were based on the Netflix movie. It turns out you don’t need any of that to get invested. I quickly picked out my favorites during the two semi-finals, and by the time the grand finals took place on Saturday, I had some idea of who I wanted to root for; even my mom, who only watched the grand final and had even less context for Eurovision than I did, got invested and started yelling at the TV when many of the countries’ juries awarded points to acts she really despised. (I also appreciated the utter lack of commercials.)
In the end, Italy came out on top with “Zitti E Buoni,” although it wasn’t without false claims that the lead singer of Måneskin, the band that performed the winning song, did drugs on live TV. But there was still plenty of Eurovision to go around: Hannes Óli Ágústsson, who played Olaf Yohansson (a.k.a. the “Jaja Ding Dong” guy) in the movie, awarded Iceland’s 12 jury points to Switzerland (but not before trying to give them to “Jaja Ding Dong”). And after Eurovision ended, I introduced my mom to Eurovision. With the actual competition so fresh in our minds, many of the jokes landed much harder. But the harshest quip came from Russia’s Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens), who “predicted” the U.K.’s fate of getting nul points (zero points from the jury and the audience) in this year’s Eurovision. In Eurovision, Lemtov points out the U.K.’s singer to Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) and Lars (Will Ferrell) at a party, noting that the singer “come No. 1, England’s Got Talent, four years ago, so she quite good. But everybody hates U.K., so zero points.”
Put your mask supply on autopilot with a subscription
We live in a world where you can subscribe to anything from cat food to underwear (which is pretty dang great, honestly). Now that masks have become a part of our everyday lives, why not put them on subscription too? Armbrust’s Subscribe and Save program not only keeps your mask supply coming, but also offers 30% off the total cost. That’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about. Not to mention, keeping a box of them in the car when you forget your mask can come in the clutch, big time.
Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ is a ridiculous thrill ride
Like all good heist movies, Army of the Deadwastes no time in introducing a quirky team of specialized characters. Dave Bautista—an underrated dramatic actor as well as a hulking action star—plays to type as a classic Sad Dad, hoping to win back his estranged daughter (Ella Purnell). Then we have an extensive international cast including Maria Cruz playing a mechanic, Omari Hardwick as a circular saw-toting philosopher, Matthias Schweighöfer as an eccentric safecracker, Raúl Castillo as a zombie-killing YouTube star, and Nora Arnezeder as their guide through the perilous ruins of Las Vegas. Tig Notaro was CGI’d in at the last moment, replacing Chris D’Elia after a sexual misconduct scandal. If only more Hollywood blockbusters would replace shitty men with wisecracking lesbians!
Co-written by Snyder, Shay Hatten, and Joby Harold, this film steers clear of Snyder’s more divisive habits: sexism, maudlin slow-mo, grim masculinity. (I was amused to note, however, that Snyder’s zombies are just as superhumanly muscular as his living heroes.) Instead, Army of the Deadramps up Snyder’s sense of humor, offering a satisfying range of punchy, charismatic characters. By the law of zombie movies, we know that many of them won’t live to see the end. But Snyder does a good job of making us root for their survival—aside from the intentionally hateable assholes like Theo Rossi’s abusive refugee camp guard. (Love him! What a slimeball!)
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘SOUR’ was tailor-made for TIkTok trends
SOUR is, in essence, a breakup album, a take on pop-punk through a Swiftie lens. As Lindsay Zoladz writes in her review: “Rodrigo’s songs have lived-in details to spare, as though she had all this time been assembling a detailed dossier on the emotional minutiae of the teenage experience.”
Rodrigo is known for her role on Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. But a scandalous theory about co-star Joshua Bassett, originating on TikTok back in January, opened up the first single “drivers license” to a bigger audience. Then the song became a certified hit and another example of how TikTok can elevate musicians—and create them.
TikTok, of course, made several trends out of the album. One inspired mashup combines the cathartic “good 4 u” and Paramore’s “Misery Business,” showing how closely the songs sync up.
It’s been 17 years since Friends went off the air, but between its constant rotation in syndication and a massive boost from streamers like Netflix, people’s adoration of—or annoyance with—Friends never ended; many of its fans started watching well after it ended. Now, after years of being bombarded with questions about reunions and reboots, the main Friends cast is finally reuniting for a star-studded reunion special. If it sounds like déjà vu, it should: The special was originally supposed to debut last year, but filming was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Friends: The Reunion will debut Thursday, May 27 on HBO Max.
We all know why things fell apart in the Middle East so quickly: Joe Biden sucked up to Iran while trying to undo Donald Trump’s peace progress. Now Iran is attacking Israel with their Hamas proxies.
Even as Biden wrecks Trump’s peace deals, the media is praising him. Anything to smear Donald Trump’s legacy! Don’t let them get away with this.
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If you’ve seen any of the recent videos of magnets sticking to people’s arms after they’ve been vaccinated, you might be wondering: Are there magnetic nanoparticles in those vaccines?
A study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2014 proves that “superparamagnetic nanoparticles” are successfully delivered into the body via vaccines, and once in the body, they can be used to inject DNA into cells, altering their genetics. The study is entitled Superparamagnetic nanoparticle delivery of DNA vaccine.
In today’s Situation Update podcasts, we cover this shocking technology which can also use external magnetic fields to control the magnetic nanoparticles that insert DNA into your cells.
Organic Pumpkin Seed Protein is packed with antioxidants, vitamins and mineralsTo help you boost your intake of beneficial antioxidants, phytonutrients and protein, we’re bringing back Groovy Bee Organic Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder. Our organic pumpkin seed protein powder contains no gluten or GMOs and is certified Kosher and organic. It is also vegan, non-China and meticulously lab tested for glyphosate, heavy metals and microbiology.
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NM-01 Preview, A Change In The Polling Leader In NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary, And The Phrase That May Mean Big Changes In MI’s Congressional Map
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DDHQ News Round Up
School board elections don’t usually get a lot of attention but this year with issues such as legislation relating to the teaching of Critical Race Theory and the handling of COVID closures, these elections are generating more interest around the country than usual. Now there’s a national PAC run by conservative activists targeting school board races around the country.
Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (FL-7) announced she won’t be running for her party’s nomination for Senate in 2022. The move is seen as part of the effort to clear the field for Congresswoman Val Demings (FL-10). The winner of the Democratic nomination will take on incumbent Republican Marco Rubio, who will be seeking his third term. Rubio held his seat in 2016 by 8% over then Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy.
Voters in Michigan moved the power of redistricting from the state legislature to an independent commission. How that commission defines the term “communities of interest” could play an unexpected role in what the state’s congressional district maps look like next year.
The special election primary to replace the late Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings in Florida’s 20th Congressional District doesn’t take place until November 2nd but a number of candidates have already declared for the race and are actively campaigning.
A new WPIX/Emerson College poll of the New York City mayoral race has Kathryn Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner in the lead followed by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and businessman Andrew Yang. The June 22nd primary will be the first citywide election to use Ranked Choice Voting. Today the New York State Board of Elections certified the voting system that will conduct the tally.
New Mexico’s First Congressional District is nearly demographically contiguous with Bernalillo County. Bernalillo contains the city of Albuquerque and is New Mexico’s largest county by population. NM-01 contains nearly all 680,000 Bernalillo residents, with only five percent of the County’s population outside the district. Just 7% of NM-01 residents live outside Bernalillo, either in Torrance County to the southeast, or in the small portions of three additional neighboring counties. New Mexico’s many cross-county communities, Native American Reservations, and limited road connections forces minor additions into and exclusions from the Albuquerque district.
The 2020 Presidential Election results in NM-01. Democratic Albuquerque understandably dominates the district.
The special election congressional ballot contains the names of four candidates. Democratic convention delegates nominated State Representative Melanie Stansbury and Republican delegates nominated State Senator Mark Moores. Stansbury flipped the affluent northeastern Albuquerque 28th House District in 2018, and then defended her seat in 2020. Moores is one of only two Bernalillo GOP legislators who won reelection despite Biden receiving more votes than Trump within their districts. Rounding out the field is Libertarian Chris Manning and Republican-turned-Libertarian-turned-Independent, Aubrey Dunn Jr.
Stansbury began her political career working within President Obama’s administration. She used her ecological education as a White House fellow and advisor to the Council on Environmental Quality, and then later served in the Office of Management and Budget. Stansbury defeated Republican incumbent Jimmie C. Hall by 54% to 46% in 2018, and won reelection in 2020 with 54.6% verses Republican Thomas R. Stull’s 42.8%. Her legislative career is built on her experience tackling the issues of climate change, environmental justice, and water security.
The Red Riding Horses Political Blog and Elections Daily released their Election Twitter crowdfunded poll on May 24. It is the only public poll of the NM-01 race. The poll found Stansbury at 49%, Moores at 33%, Dunn Jr. at 5%, and Manning the Libertarian at 3%. 9% of respondents were undecided. This margin is similar to Haaland’s 16.4% margin of victory in the 2020 NM-01 Congressional election. 58% of likely voters approve of President Biden’s performance as President, and 39% disapprove.
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Coronavirus cases have already hit a significant milestone, Blinken continues Mideast trip and more news to start your Wednesday.
Happy Hump Day, Daily Briefing readers! A new analysis has delivered the sobering reminder that the coronavirus pandemic still is going strong. And, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will continue his maiden trip to the Middle East as the U.S. seeks to fix its ties with Palestinians.
🌎New this morning: Six women reported a Louisiana college student for sexual misconduct. One by one, those in charge of protecting students ignored or skirted a law designed to rid campuses of sexual predators.
🔴 “We are not quite out of the woods yet.” While coronavirus cases continue to trend down, the CDC’s director is cautioning Americans ahead of Memorial Day. Tap here for the latest COVID-19 updates.
⚖ Major development: The prosecutor overseeing the criminal probe into formerPresident Donald Trump and his close orbit has convened a grand jury, signaling that indictments could be coming.
Cam Anthony was crowned the winner of “The Voice” during Tuesday’s finale.
USA TODAY Life
🎧 On today’s 5 Things podcast, listen as Adam Toledo, who was killed by a Chicago police officer, would have turned 14. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
Here’s what’s in the news today:
Coronavirus cases in 2021 are already higher than in 2020 worldwide
Even with 1.7 billion COVID-19 vaccines administered, the number of reported coronavirus cases across the globe in 2021 is already more than all of 2020 , a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Through Sunday, the world reported 83.62 million cases this year, up from 83.56 million cases last year. The early months of 2020 reflect the gradual rise and spread of the virus around the world. But since the fall of 2020, the global pace of infections hasn’t abated.
George Floyd’s family meets with Biden, Harris
Gianna Floyd, the daughter of George Floyd, walks into the West Wing at the White House, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in Washington. Members of the Floyd family were meeting with President Joe Biden.
Evan Vucci, AP
The family of George Floyd met with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and congressional leaders Tuesday to mark one year since Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Attendees included Floyd’s daughter Gianna , 7, and her mother, Roxie Washington; Floyd’s sister Bridgett; and Floyd’s three brothers and nephew.
Blinken continues maiden Mideast trip as US seeks to fix Palestinian ties
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will on Wednesday visit Egypt and Jordan, which have acted as mediators in the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. Egypt succeeded in brokering the Gaza truce after the Biden administration pressed Israel to wind down its offensive. While in Israel on Tuesday, Blinken said the Biden administration would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, which had served as a de facto embassy for Palestinians until former President Donald Trump shuttered it in 2019.
What else people are reading:
🔵 “They were done”: The IT company that was in charge of running the hand recount of nearly 2.1 million Maricopa County, Arizona, ballots is no longer involved.
Adam Toledo’s family creates sanctuary for at-risk youth in honor of 14th birthday
Adam Toledo would have celebrated his 14th birthday on Wednesday . His family announced the creation of Adam’s Place, a rural sanctuary for at-risk youth in honor of Adam, who was fatally shot by a Chicago police offer on March 29. “This year, as they struggle with their grief, Adam’s parents and siblings are dedicating themselves to helping other families prevent the excruciating sorrow that comes from the loss of a child,” said the lawyers for the Toledo family. Adam’s Place will provide a “safe and nurturing haven” where youth ages 10 to 14 can “develop skills, values, and self-worth by learning to care for the natural world, others, and themselves,” the lawyers said.
Record temps possible as heat wave scorches Southeast
For much of the South, midsummer-like heat will peak Wednesday , bringing the greatest chance to break daily record highs. More than 70 daily heat records may be broken as a high pressure system dominates the eastern half of the country. “The heat will challenge daily record highs for several days in a row in cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh with afternoon highs around or even slightly above what they normally peak at in July or August,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said. Parts of the Southeast could stay hot right through the end of the work week, according to Weather.com.
Newsmakers in their own words: Reflecting on George Floyd’s death
Darnella Frazier
PEN America photo; USA TODAY graphic
On the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, Darnella Frazier, who recorded the incident, said she was still traumatized.
Frazier, then 17, was visiting a Minneapolis store when she saw then-police officer Derek Chauvin and several others restraining Floyd. Her recording was key evidence in Chauvin’s murder trial.
📸 Photo of the day: How the U.S. honored George Floyd 📸
Hundreds of protestors walk over the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan in to Brooklyn May 25, 2021 on the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. The protestors closed off the Brooklyn bound side of the bridge.
Seth Harrison, The Journal News/USA TODAY Network
Protests, marches, moments of silence and musical performances were among the ways people across the country honored George Floyd and marked the year since he died at the hands of Minneapolis police.
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– May 24, 2021 – Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America Highly respected pollster John McLaughlin says 73% of all Republicans want Trump to run again in 2024 and Republican primary voters would support him 82%-13%. Even the Washington Post has just reported “All Republican Roads Lead to Mar-a-Lago.” […]
With a surge of interest in UFOs, Gallup has re-released some of its poll numbers on the topic. One-third of Americans say that at least some reported UFO sightings have been alien spacecraft visiting Earth. That’s according to a poll taken by Gallup in 2019. Sixty percent (60%) say the sightings can be explained by […]
– May 25, 2021 – Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history. It began the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower, and it’s never stopped. They wasted two years and $48 million in taxpayer […]
– May 25, 2021 – Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America Thank you to the Washington Examiner newspaper for covering the Forensic Audits for the 2020 Presidential Election, the most corrupt Election in the history of our Country. Read and study it carefully—it’s not Fake News!
We hope you and the people you love are staying healthy at this time.
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Watch: Reporter tries to dunk on DeSantis, he completely clowns her and gets a standing ovation
Well THAT didn’t go the way you imagined it, now did it?? 😂
U.S. cities that defunded their police are continuing to experience historic crime waves
WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING??
Someone stole Akon’s Range Rover while he was pumping gas in Atlanta 😬
I have to wonder if the thief in this situation knew he was stealing from a celeb:
Jordan Peterson and James Lindsay started a “Resign for Diversity” campaign urging white wokies to be the “QUIT” in “EQUITY” 🤣
Once upon a time, a moderate conservative named Noah opined that we need a campaign to tell the woke to put their money where their mouth is:
Watch: A wild shooting happened live on-air at George Floyd Square on the anniversary of his death, sending people scrambling for cover
A crowd gathered in Minneapolis on Tuesday to remember the death of George Floyd one year ago on May 25th.
The Pentagon’s chosen leader to root out “extremism” in the military once tweeted that all Trump supporters are extremists
This is fine:
CDC urges Americans not to kiss chickens
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the CDC is at it again!
Spanish man becomes first creature killed by a dinosaur in a long dang time
A 39-year old Spanish man died last week when he got stuck inside a giant stegosaurus in a town outside Barcelona.
The recent Alvarez-Canelo fight was supposed to be a “superspreader” event, but the only thing it spread was joy and excitement as Texas Covid cases have continued to plunge.
Nearly two months before a boxing match in Texas, we were dutifully informed that we should be outraged at 60,000 people packing into an indoor stadium:
Facebook whistleblowers say company is censoring “vaccine hesitant” content without users’ knowledge but I’m sure it’s for our own good
You may not understand how much of a bombshell this new report from the actual journalists at Project Veritas is.
The NYT ran an op-ed explaining why Jews being beaten in the streets is actually great for those evil conservatives
When conservatives do something, the media story is whatever they did (painted in a bad light, of course).
Jordan Peterson responds to “REAL communism has never been tried” and murders it with fire 🔥⚰️
.
Gavin Newsom has been barred from indiscriminately shutting down churches and ordered to pay $1.35 million in legal fees
Just when I think the Democratic Republic of California is hopelessly lost to the woke virus, a ray of sunlight bursts through and gives me hope anew:
How much do you think Guy Fieri makes? Cuz I’m about to blow your mind
I’m gonna level with you. I don’t know anything about Guy Fieri even though I’ve seen him around the internet for years. I’ve never watched an episode of any of his shows. I am not sure I even knew before today that the “r” in his last name is pronounced like a “d” for some reason. I thought he was mostly just an internet meme because he’s on TV and says cringey things and well … look at him.
A popular phrase from the pit of Hell
For the life of me, I can’t remember where this came up recently. It was either a discussion I had with a friend, something I internalized from a book I’m currently reading, or a thread I came across on social media. Wherever it was, and whoever it was that highlighted the foolishness of this phrase, it bears repeating.
Once again, here’s Joe Biden saying a bunch of words that make absolutely no sense
Okay, what the absolute heck is President Biden saying here?
Rand Paul received a profane death threat package filled with white powder at his home 👀
Sen. Rand Paul may be the most hated politician on Capitol Hill – you know, because he believes in inherent rights, the Constitution, limited government, and other controversial stuff like freedom:
Video: Major weenie John Cena apologizes to commie China for referring to Taiwan as a country
Translation:
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99.) MARK LEVIN
May 25, 2021
Posted on
On Tuesday’s Mark Levin Show, Do you know the names of the police officers including African Americans and Hispanics that were killed in the line of duty? Why doesn’t the nation doesn’t mourn the deaths of these minority police officers? Why doesn’t the White House honor these fallen heroes? Do all deaths matter? William ‘Billy’ Evans was a Capitol Hill Police officer murdered by Jihadist Noel Greene. But the corrupt media, the Biden Administration, and the Democrat Party cherry-pick which deaths they will highlight as long as it promotes their divisive narrative. The Squad and Marxists like the Squad are getting people killed in America by opposing the police. Then, border facilities continue to house tens of thousands of children that are interned in these camps, and the poisonous media won’t fairly report on it. The same way they wouldn’t report on how the Wuhan Virus escaped from a Chinese lab. Later, Joe Biden is already a failed president! Crime is up across the country. The border is out of control. The nation’s finances are a disaster as is the country’s foreign policy. Congress entertains demands to remove qualified immunity for cops while on duty, yet all members of Congress have qualified immunity while they are on duty. Afterward, Christopher Rufo, Sr. Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins the show to discuss how public schools are training children to become race-conscious revolutionaries. Finally, Dr. Marc Siegel calls in to discuss the fear of COVID, even though it’s on the way out.
Amen! Note to Democrat criminal party – the audits are not going away. And no, you will not succeed in stealing America from Americans. not without a knock-down, drag out.
Nobody is fighting harder for the American people than Governor DeSantis. DeSantis is almost single handedly taking on the Left. And he is winning. Florida is ground zero for the Republican Party.
The BBC hired the ‘Hitler was right’ lady after she had stated publicly that ‘Hitler was right’And the British people are forced to pay for this genocidal poison.
A suspicious package was delivered to the home of U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Monday, with the FBI and Capitol Hill police launching a probe into the incident. “I take… Read more…
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@DaybreakInsider
: New home sales in April fell almost 6%, more than analysts expected. Every region saw a decline except the West, which was up ~8%.
: The median price of a new home jumped 11.4% in April to $372,400.
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At the beginning of this year, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito appeared poised to take the gavel of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But when two Senate races in Georgia upended that possibility, she became something else: the go-to deal-maker for Senate Republicans on infrastructure. Read more…
The White House promised to dramatically increase the number of refugees it resettles, but even President Joe Biden noted a difficult road ahead when he recently raised the cap to 62,500 refugees for the current fiscal year — and admitted “the sad truth” that the country won’t be able to meet that goal. Read more…
OPINION — The pandemic has taught us an important lesson about the pressing need to offer more Americans a personal option in their health care. Now, as life begins to return to normal, we can carry that lesson forward to help more patients and better prepare for the next crisis, writes Daniel Garza, president of The LIBRE Initiative. Read more…
Facing a $5 million barrage of ads attacking their health care plans as “socialist,” Democrats are hitting back with a “five-figure” digital campaign thanking members in battleground districts for supporting a bill they say would lower the cost of prescription drugs. Read more…
Democratic senators, led by Delaware’s Thomas R. Carper, used the chamber floor Tuesday afternoon to argue for statehood for the District of Columbia, giving advocates a boost even as the effort faces a lack of votes and an uncertain future. Read more…
Tucked in the Biden administration’s public works proposal is a requirement that could remold and decarbonize the country’s electricity network. But the administration has offered scant information on how its proposal for a so-called clean electricity standard would work, leaving it to Congress to fill in the details. Read more…
New federal incentives to expand Medicaid coverage do not appear to be enough to convince 12 holdout states to broaden eligibility, leaving lawmakers and advocates weighing their next steps. Read more…
FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants from Romania hold their children after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft in La Joya, Texas, May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
A sign is seen during a protest outside Portcullis House, in Westminster, central London, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
by Frank McCaffrey: According to a story in the Post Millennial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued fines to Republican lawmakers who insisted on following CDC guidance and remained unmasked on the House floor. Pelosi then went to an event at the White House where she and other unmasked Democrats talked together within spitting distance, shook hands, and even embraced.
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Watch Now
May 26 2021
Episode 331: The Suddenly Popular… 
Actor John Cena… 
19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA
