I’m scrambling between the Ukraine war, this absurd story of Matt Shea and the Ukrainian “orphans” in Poland and our membership drive (please become a member … it’s important!!!). But for a couple days I’ve been meaning to do a short post on the signs that COVID is coming back. Yep, I don’t mean to bum you out. But yeah. Not necessarily another wave. But a rise off the levels we’ve been relieved to have in recent weeks. One sign of this are increasing signals from wastewater analysis around country. They’ve started tipping higher in most of the country. (If you’re not familiar with this it’s what it sounds like: analysis of sewage for COVID levels. A bit icky, yes, but also a fascinating and incredibly important tool since it’s not dependent on testing levels or behavior or symptoms. It’s a critical early warning system.) Numbers have also been going up rapidly in Europe, which is often a precursor for rises in the United States.
Continue reading “And Also … COVID”Prosecutors Reveal Jan. 6 Defendant Bragged That She’d ‘Absolutely’ Attack Capitol ‘Again’
Flower shop owner-turned-insurrectionist Jenny Cudd, who’s pleaded guilty to breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6, didn’t seem especially sorry about trying to overthrow the government, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo on Wednesday.
Continue reading “Prosecutors Reveal Jan. 6 Defendant Bragged That She’d ‘Absolutely’ Attack Capitol ‘Again’”State Rep Who Wrote Genocide Plan for Libs Shows Up in Poland with Ukrainian Kids He Wants to Give to American Families
I think we’ll have more on this today. But because I was hunting around on this last night I wanted to give you a quick update because it’s a pretty insane story, intersects with a story we’ve been following on and off for years and is directly tied to the war in Ukraine.
Back about four years ago a state legislator from Washington State got in trouble for writing a plan for the mass killing of liberals in order to usher in a theocracy in the United States. He got booted out of Washington electoral politics for being involved with “domestic terrorism.” So, kind of a problem. Here’s one of our many pieces on disgraced former Rep. Matt Shea from 2018. So this week he showed up in Poland with a few dozen alleged orphans from the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine which he planned to bring to America to give away for adoption to American families.
Continue reading “State Rep Who Wrote Genocide Plan for Libs Shows Up in Poland with Ukrainian Kids He Wants to Give to American Families”More Than 7,000 Russian Troops Killed In Opening Weeks Of War
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Staggering Figures
U.S. intelligence officials estimate that the death toll for Russian troops in Ukraine has climbed to more than 7,000 since the invasion began.
- That’s higher than the U.S. troop death toll over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
- About 14,000 to 21,000 Russian troops have been injured, according to the intelligence officials.
- At least three Russian generals have died in the fighting.
Biden Calls Putin A War Criminal
After announcing the U.S. was giving an extra $800 million in aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time since Russia began its siege on Ukraine.
- The Kremlin fired back at Biden, its spokesperson Dmitry Peskov describing the President’s comments about Putin, which came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an impassioned speech to Congress, as “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric.”
- Russia’s bombing of hospitals, residential neighborhoods and other non-military areas have caused complete devastation in Ukrainian cities like Mariupol.
GOP Sen To Dems: Pls Pass Drug Reform Before My Party Takes Over
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) admitted during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday that his and committee chair Ron Wyden’ (D-OR) drug reform bill will likely die if the GOP takes control of Congress.
- Grassley acknowledged “the difficulty of passing something like this in a Republican Congress.”
- The GOP senator told Democrats they had an “opportunity” to “do it right now.” In fact, “If we want to reduce drug prices, then we need to do it now,” Grassley said.
Ohio District Maps Shot Down By Supreme Court For Gerrymandering ………………… Again
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that, for the third time, the Ohio Redistricting Commission had gerrymandered the state House and Senate district maps in favor of Republicans. The court tossed out the maps and ordered the commission to start over.
- The court slammed Republicans’ “self-created chaos” in the seemingly endless redistricting process.
- The court suggested the commission hire an independent map drawer “who answers to all commission members, not only to the Republican legislative leaders.”
- The decision effectively delays Ohio’s May 3 primary. The commission was ordered to draw new maps by March 28.
- The court’s Republican chief justice, Maureen O’Connor, was the deciding vote again.
GOP Kansas Senators Met With Trucker Convoy Protesters For Capitol Tour And Pics
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KA) showed the truckers of the “People’s Convoy” around the Capitol, where Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KA) took photos with them in his office last week on March 9, the Kansas City Star reported yesterday.
- Marshall’s office told the Kansas City Star that the group was made up of about 13 people. They were all from Kansas, according to the senator’s office.
- The Capitol, which has been closed to the public for the past two years since the pandemic began, loosened its restrictions in December to allow small tours on the Senate side. Marshall’s office said the senator had followed the rules with his tour.
- A senior congressional aide reported the tour to the Justice Department, according to Politico.
- Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) had met with the truckers the day before.
Sinema Mocked Biden And Gushed Over Big Lie-Peddling GOPer
New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns’ upcoming book about the 2020 election and Biden’s first year in office has some new maverick-y details about Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who is a Maverick.
- “I love Andy Biggs,” Sinema reportedly said at a GOP-heavy private fundraiser, referring to the Arizona congressman who, to this day, still refuses to acknowledge Biden won his state in the 2020 election. “I know some people think he’s crazy, but that’s just because they don’t know him.”
- But the thing about that is, Biggs’ own brothers say he helped fuel the Capitol attack, lied about the election and should be kicked out of office.
- Sinema mocked Biden at the same fundraiser, according to the book.
Revenge Of The Cuomos
Disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his younger brother, ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, are trying to claw their way back in after their falls from grace over the ex-governor’s sexual harassment scandal that CNN Cuomo tried to help cover up.
- Andrew Cuomo and his team have started floating trial balloons about the ex-governor potentially challenging his successor and former lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, this year.
- Chris Cuomo is seeking a $125 million arbitration award from CNN for his allegedly wrongful termination.
Russian Oligarch’s Megayacht Stranded In Norway Because Nobody Wants To Fuel It
A yacht owned by former KGB agent and mining executive Vladimir Strzhalkovsky is currently stuck in northern Norway because local suppliers flatly refuse to sell fuel to it.
- Though other European governments have been seizing the fancy boats (several complete with helipads), Norway can’t do the same without a directive from the E.U., according to Norway’s foreign minister.
- One helpful oil supplier offered several solutions: “They can row home. Or use a sail.”
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Advancing On Court Wins, Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Seek To Police Behavior Across State Lines
With SB 8, Texas Republicans showed the world exactly how much the Supreme Court would let them get away with.
Continue reading “Advancing On Court Wins, Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Seek To Police Behavior Across State Lines”Where Things Stand: Anti-Vax Truck Guys Say GOPers Can Have A Little Attention, As A Treat
Critics agree — the American installment of Canada’s trucker “Freedom Convoy” protests have been, as is often the case on Netflix, a sad adaptation of the original foreign series.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Anti-Vax Truck Guys Say GOPers Can Have A Little Attention, As A Treat”Zelensky Takes His Pro-Democracy Pitch To Congress
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Congress Wednesday morning, the first foreign leader to ever do so virtually. As expected, he asked for the U.S. to “close the skies” over Ukraine: A request for a no-fly zone that the U.S. has rejected out of concern that enforcing it — which would mean attacking Russia — would escalate the conflict into a full-fledged World War.
“If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” Zelensky said, and requested additional military aid and continually increasing sanctions on Russia and its companies.
He ended with an appeal to the White House. “As the leader of my nation, I am addressing President Biden: You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation,” he said. “I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Biden is scheduled to speak at 11:45 a.m. ET, at which time he is expected to announce additional military aid.
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Trump Is Rethinking Endorsement Of Mo Brooks After Lawmaker Suggested It’s Time To Move On
Former President Trump is reportedly considering revoking his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-AL) for Senate and backing one his primary rivals instead as the incumbent GOP congressman struggles in the polls.
Lackluster polling is one thing — but Trump also said he was not thrilled with Brooks for telling voters it’s time to move on from the 2020 presidential election, a hill Trump will likely die on.
Continue reading “Trump Is Rethinking Endorsement Of Mo Brooks After Lawmaker Suggested It’s Time To Move On”What About the Sanctions?
There are a few points I disagree with here. And I think — albeit perhaps indirectly — Joe Biden is very much part of these negotiations, for just the reason TPM Reader PT says: What Russia needs most is relief from sanctions and those are not under the Ukrainian government’s control. There is also a lot of broken glass that won’t be fixed even if all the sanctions were rescinded immediately. Having said all this, if the Ukrainian government said ‘hey we have an agreement that’s good for our country. We need you to drop the sanctions to make it happen,’ I think we’d be hard pressed to say, ‘Sorry, but we’re still too pissed about this.’ And yet the nature of Putin’s government, the depth of its revisionism and more, seems much more menacing than it did a month ago. There’s really no winding back to the clock to December 2021.
Here’s TPM Reader PT
Continue reading “What About the Sanctions?”I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: The person who’s not involved in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and who ought to be, is Joe Biden.
I say this because a big part of what Russia is going to want out of a settlement with Ukraine is the removal of economic sanctions, which is not subject to Ukraine’s control. Ultimately it’s the free world that Russia needs to convince to relax those sanctions. At this point, Joe Biden is the undisputed leader of the free world. Thus it’s Biden that Putin needs to work with on this.