After 19 young children and two teachers were murdered in a massacre at an elementary school in his district last year, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) joined a bipartisan effort to pass gun control legislation that expanded criminal background checks and banned some domestic abusers from purchasing guns.
His home state Republican Party is now punishing him for it.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Texas GOP Votes To Censure One Of Their Own For Reacting Sanely To Elementary School Shooting”Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is taking another page out of Donald Trump’s playbook for his burgeoning presidential campaign: harnessing his own media echo-chamber.
Continue reading “DeSantis Appears To Be Building His Own Trumpian Media Circuit”The Supreme Court asked for additional briefs Thursday as it figures out how to go forward with a major elections case out of North Carolina, a redistricting case centered around a popular right-wing idea: the independent state legislature theory.
Continue reading “In Newest Twist, Supreme Court Requests Further Briefing On Major Election Case”As the GOP primary begins to take shape, there’s been some questions lately around if and when President Biden will be announcing his bid for the 2024 presidential election.
In December, reporting indicated that the president would announce his plans shortly after the holidays. But months into the new year, it seems he is still deciding. Or, at least, waiting for the right moment to share the news.
Continue reading “Biden Cheekily Clarifies That He’ll Announce His 2024 Candidacy…Whenever He Announces It “From TPM Reader CR …
Continue reading “Readers on the “Lab Leak Theory” #6″You got good advice from readers in your Lab Leak posts #1 – #3. The last one, not so much.
I do think it could be significant that the lab leak nonsense is surfacing in the same week as rather hawkish Congressional hearings and some weapon-rattling by usual suspects, but in a different way than correspondent #4. Namely, that the hawkish faction wants to stir things up, and Lab Leak is one of their tools. Is it possible that Chris Wray is just a little bit hawkish? Hm?
From TPM Reader AS …
Continue reading “Readers on the “Lab Leak Theory” #5″I am a neurobiologist PhD, not a virologist, but I may be able to provide some perspective on what is spilling into your inbox.
I don’t know COVIDs ultimate origins and neither do the people writing in to tell you that various studies “proved” this came from the wildlife market. First, it is entirely possible that a lab leak occurred at WIV but COVID began circulating more widely in humans through the market. If so, it would not be that big of a coincidence – there is a reason tightly packed commercial spaces are considered hotspots for the spread of pathogens and there is no requirement that a disease spread widely at the point of spillover.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’ fixation on the “fairness” of the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan Thursday, which he and his right-wing peers brought up repeatedly during oral arguments earlier this week.
Continue reading “Warren Accuses John Roberts Of Acting As ‘Super Legislator’ During Student Debt Oral Arguments”From TPM Reader SB …
Continue reading “Readers on the “Lab Leak Theory” #4″What do you think of the timing of the lab leak hypothesis coming up again very publicly when the US is putting pressure on the Chinese government to not supply lethal support to Russia? Also a couple of weeks after the balloon nonsense.
I was 50/50 on the Covid source, but Ray coming out and saying what he did moves the needle considerably for me toward the lab leak hypothesis.
From TPM Reader JS …
Continue reading “Readers on the “Lab Leak Theory” #3″I have been sort of paying attention to this from the beginning. I think it’s important to separate the legitimate scientific question of how Covid emerged from the discourse of the “lab leak hypothesis.” I believe that the latter is some kind of shibboleth for people who want to feel vindicated that something they didn’t agree with from someone official about Covid, whether it was masks or the vaccine—they want have this sort of liquid position of not actually believing it but thinking that countervailing opinions aren’t being given enough oxygen. Maybe they were even ok with the vaccine but are worried that the decisions were too political? It’s weird.
From TPM Reader SM …
Continue reading “Readers on the “Lab Leak Theory” #2″I’m a physician and clinical researcher. Viruses are not my specific area, but I have some interest in them and their origins.
I am a bit surprised to see you — and others in the mainstream press — talk about how we “still don’t know” the origins of COVID. While it may be true that we do not strictly know with 100% certainty, the burden of scientific evidence clearly points to a natural species-jumping event at the Wuhan market rather than a lab leak. This study here was published in one of the most world’s most elite journals, and is a sophisticated and thoughtful exploration of the issue. The first author, Michael Worobey, is the guy who did the major work to uncover the origins and early spread patterns of HIV. So he is The Man when it comes to this stuff. And his analysis clearly points to the market.
