The good thing about presidential primaries and electability is that we aren’t just limited to guessing. Everyone’s running (almost literally). We’ve got the better part of a year to see how the different contenders campaign and hold up under the pressure of a campaign. For the moment, Joe Biden clearly polls better than any other current candidate against Donald Trump.
Early reports of a shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California. Reports suggest that there are shooting victims (extent of injuries not clear) and that someone has been detained for questioning. But beyond that details are sketchy.
3:48 PM: Union-Tribune says “As many as four people have reportedly been shot”, so you can see, reports from the local press remain imprecise, sketchy. Police were reported first called to the scene at 11:30 AM local time. Numerous reports refer to a man being “detained” in connection with the shooting. But we can’t assume that that person is the shooter or that the incident is over.
4:16 PM: Local TV report suggests that police on the scene seem confident that the man taken into custody was the shooter, according to this report taken into custody a few blocks from the synagogue. Notably, this report refers to the Rabbi, who was reportedly shot in the hand, trying to calm both congregants and the shooter. So possibly, he was able to disrupt the shooting or the shooter panicked in some way. Obviously, all these reports should be treated as highly tentative.
Additional details in this local affiliate report from on the scene in Poway. More clarity on presumed shooter in custody, injuries, etc. pic.twitter.com/erU7RWbZPN
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 27, 2019
4:22 PM: Mayor of Poway says he has “unconfirmed reports of one fatality,” also refers to members of the congregation “engaging” with the shooter and in some way limiting the injuries. Unclear whether this is verbal engagement or some attempt to physically disrupt the shooting.
Summarizing the threads of information we’ve received so far about the Poway (near San Diego, CA) synagogue shooting.
A man police believe is the shooter is in custody. No details on his identity. Town Mayor says the synagogue was clearly targeted.
A local medical center confirms receiving four shooting victims from the incident. There’s no clarity on the extent of the injuries. There are unconfirmed reports of a single fatality. The town mayor referred to “unconfirmed reports” of a fatality in TV appearances shortly after the shooting.
[At roughly 4:59 PM, the mayor appeared on CNN and appeared to confirm a single fatality.]
The rabbi was apparently shot in the hand and continued trying to calm the congregants and the shooter – what that meant about the shooter wasn’t entirely clear. There are reports that the congregants somehow “engaged” with the shooter. Unclear whether this was trying to talk down the shooter or physically engage him.
Details now firming up on the synagogue shooting. It appears that there were four shooting victims, one of whom died.
Attorney General Bill Barr has dramatically escalated his Mueller Report coverup and effort to effectively end independent oversight of his Department by Congress. According to this report, he is refusing to show up to testify this week before the House Judiciary Committee unless he is accorded a veto right over the questioning format. Read More
This may be the first instance where President Trump’s experience dealing with contractors in real estate development projects came in handy in international relations.
LOL. Bolton: Trump had negotiator sign a contract to pay North Korea $2 million for Warmbier's medical care/release. But don't worry, Trump never intended to honor the deal. pic.twitter.com/2edZJCXwAU
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 28, 2019
You probably saw the fireworks last week and over the weekend in which the two top leaders of the National Rifle Association publicly accused each other of corruption and tried to kick each other out of the organization. Wayne LaPierre, who has essentially owned the NRA for a couple decades, appears to have won that battle. Oliver North, who announced he will not run for another term, lost. But I want to talk about some dimensions and implications of this implosion that may be less clear.
So is this NRA investigation for real? Does the NY investigation present a real threat to the future of the NRA? Josh Kovensky took a deep dive into the jeopardy the NRA faces and it turns out they’re in a lot of trouble. Here’s Josh’s report.
There seems now to be a widespread belief, if not quite a consensus, among critics of President Trump that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who submitted his letter of resignation yesterday, turned out to be just another hack. He’s provided plenty of grist for that appraisal over the last month. But that doesn’t quite capture the full picture. We must always be open to new evidence, constantly be in a process of revising or at least revisiting our settled opinions. But we must resist the temptation to toss out old evidence or settled opinion when new evidence cuts against our assumptions or is contradicted. The evidence that doesn’t fit is always the most important. Read More
