As Hurricane Ida approached Mississippi on Monday morning, MSNBC correspondent Shaquille Brewster unexpectedly found himself embroiled in another storm — a white man who angrily confronted Brewster, a Black man, during his live report on the hurricane. Continue reading “Angry White Dude Waddles Hard Into Black Reporter’s Live Shot In Ida-Hit Mississippi”
Many Corporations Have A Short-Term Memory When It Comes To The Trump Administration
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
In the wake of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, many companies vowed publicly to stop supporting members of Congress who voted to overturn the election and sowed doubt about the legitimacy of the results in the minds of millions of Americans without providing a shred of evidence. It was understood that undermining the peaceful transfer of power went too far, even if that meant companies lost some clout in Washington.
Jan. 6 Committee Digging Into Trump’s Attempt To Pressure Michigan GOPers
The House select committee on investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has its sights set on ex-President Donald Trump’s desperate gambit to turn the screws on Michigan GOP officials to help him steal the 2020 election.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Digging Into Trump’s Attempt To Pressure Michigan GOPers”
Report: Jan. 6 Committee Eyes Phone Records Of GOPers Involved In Rally Before Attack
The House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 will reportedly request that a group of telecommunications companies preserve the phone records of Republican lawmakers, former President Trump and members of the Trump family who were involved in the “Stop the Steal” rally held shortly before Trump supporters breached the Capitol in an effort to overturn the election results, according to CNN. Continue reading “Report: Jan. 6 Committee Eyes Phone Records Of GOPers Involved In Rally Before Attack”
All Political Power is Unitary
All political power is unitary. In the rare instances when I’ve given advice to people who have political power or money to support people who do, this is the central point I’ve emphasized. All political power is unitary. You can’t be gaining it in foreign policy and losing it on the domestic front. It’s all one thing. And this is particularly important right now for Democrats looking at what the President can accomplish during these critical two years in which Democrats hold both the White House and the Congress by the thinnest of margins. In fact, in political terms it is the most important thing happening right now.
Yesterday Axios ‘Sneak Peak’ blared this: “1 big thing: Biden faces Dem defections”. The story is about Democratic representatives and Senators in marginal seats trying to distance themselves from the situation in Afghanistan and President Biden. “Many moderate Democrats and their aides are huddling with campaign consultants over how to handle the setback in Afghanistan,” as they put it.
This is a cliche Axios storyline, entirely in line with the elite DC political reaction to recent events we’ve been discussing. But if it is an Axios comfort-zone storyline it’s one they know really well. Wobbly, Sunday show going Democratic moderates is their métier. And in this case it’s real.
Conservative Anti-Vax Radio Hosts Keep Dying Of COVID-19
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Number Three
Marc Bernier, a right-wing radio host in Florida who called himself “Mr. Anti-Vax,” died from COVID-19 on Saturday after three weeks of hospitalization.
- His last tweet compared vaccine mandates to Nazism:
Should say, "Now the US Government is acting like Nazi's. Get the shot!" https://t.co/8WLpXVxGRm
— Marc Bernier (@MarcBernierShow) July 30, 2021
Bernier’s death came a week after Phil Valentine, a conservative radio host in Tennessee who railed against the vaccine, died from the virus.
- Valentine regretted “not being more adamant about getting the vaccine,” his brother told the Tennessean in July after the host was diagnosed.
In early August, another right-wing radio personality who had used his platform to play down the pandemic and cast doubt on the COVID-19 vaccine died after contracting the virus.
- Dick Farrel, who was also a Newsmax substitute host, had called White House COVID-19 expert Dr. Anthony Fauci a “power tripping lying freak” and the pandemic a “scam-demic.”
- Like Valentine, Dick Farrel ultimately regretted not getting the jab, according to his loved ones, and he encouraged others to get it.
Hurricane Ida Batters Louisiana
The category 4 hurricane knocked out power in all of New Orleans after it made landfall on Sunday. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.
LAFOURCE PARISH: Part of the roof of Lady of the Sea General Hospital, in Galliano, blew off. ?@BrennanMatherne told me @LafourcheSO is hearing reports of some broken power poles, roof damage, some structure damage. @wdsu #HurricaneIda pic.twitter.com/iXMmURLNH2
— Christina Watkins (@CWatkinsWDSU) August 29, 2021
Security camera footage in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, shows streets and structures flooded over the course of an hour, just before Hurricane Ida made landfall as a major Category 4 storm. https://t.co/J8RRAK2TUZ pic.twitter.com/cX5fCxtLq9
— ABC News (@ABC) August 30, 2021
Footage taken from a backyard in Houma, Louisiana, shows raging winds and rain from Hurricane Ida. pic.twitter.com/B8F7MwJRLA
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 30, 2021
Be a reporter they said…#HurricaneIda #NewOrleans pic.twitter.com/dRC3U4x86I
— Jay Gray (@jaygraymatters) August 30, 2021
Closest thing we get to a parade this year. pic.twitter.com/gJRi9Zgw1t
— Machine Gun Karsty (@jameskarst) August 29, 2021
Key analysis: “How climate change helped make Hurricane Ida one of Louisiana’s worst” – The Washington Post
An Unmasked And Unvaccinated Teacher With COVID-19 Infects Half Their Class
An elementary school teacher in Marin County, California read out loud to their class of 24 students without a mask several times even after experiencing symptoms of the virus, according to a report by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Most of the 12 students who tested positive sat in the two front rows of the classroom.
- The school had an indoor mask requirement, according to the CDC.
Fauci Boosts COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates For Students
Requiring students to get the vaccine is “a good idea,” the White House official said during an CNN appearance on Sunday.
- Fauci pointed out that student vaccine requirements aren’t exactly new. “We’ve done this for decades and decades requiring (vaccines for) polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis,” he said.
“I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says about Covid-19 vaccines.
“We’ve done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis. So this would not be something new” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/5zWmCpaPoh
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 29, 2021
Election Trouble Brewing In Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has “three alternatives” for his future ahead of his country’s elections next year, he declared on Saturday: “being arrested, killed or victory.”
Al Roker Weathers The Storm
The famed NBC weather anchor took quite a beating from Hurricane Idea:
WATCH: @alroker pummeled by waves as Hurricane Ida targets New Orleans pic.twitter.com/Fe6LlgmUJp
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 29, 2021
But 67-year-old Roker wants all the “young punks” who think he’s too old to get smacked around by a storm to know that he will “drop them like a bag of dirt!”
.@alroker has a message for those who think he’s too old to stand outside in a hurricane! #SundayShow pic.twitter.com/v2RD6xA7ku
— The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart (@TheSundayShow) August 29, 2021
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McConnell Won’t Call Out GOP Govs Whose School Mask Mandate Bans Are Backfiring
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Sunday offered an evasive answer when asked about his thoughts on Republican governors’ bans on mask mandates despite rising COVID-19 infections in their states. Continue reading “McConnell Won’t Call Out GOP Govs Whose School Mask Mandate Bans Are Backfiring”
Jim Jordan Claims He Spoke To Trump ‘More Than Once’ On Jan. 6
After reluctantly admitting last month that he spoke to former President Trump on Jan. 6, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) reportedly had more than one conversation with Trump on the day of the Capitol insurrection. Continue reading “Jim Jordan Claims He Spoke To Trump ‘More Than Once’ On Jan. 6”
Force, Future and Thinking Seriously About How Governments Fall
This morning The Washington Post published an illuminating new look at the fall of Kabul. What is most telling, however, is the commentary about the facts revealed in the article. First let’s look at the new details.
The flight of former President Ghani, which triggered the final collapse of the Afghan government, was driven at least in part by apparently false reports that Taliban fighters were in the palace searching for him. The more resonant claim is about the mechanics of the turnover of control in Kabul.
Continue reading “Force, Future and Thinking Seriously About How Governments Fall”
Louisiana Governor Warns Hurricane Ida Will Put Hospitals With COVID Patients To The Test
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) on Sunday outlined his concerns with hospitals housing COVID-19 patients as Hurricane Ida nears landfall into the coast of southeastern Louisiana after intensifying overnight into Category 4 storm. Continue reading “Louisiana Governor Warns Hurricane Ida Will Put Hospitals With COVID Patients To The Test”