Four inmates at an Arkansas jail have sued the jail, the jail doctor and the county sheriff, alleging they were given Ivermectin as a COVID treatment without their informed consent.
Continue reading “Inmates Sue Jail Doc, Alleging He Gave Them Ivermectin For COVID Without Consent”Texas Primaries Give An Early Indication Of Chaos New Voting Restrictions Could Cause
The veteran clerk of Travis County, Texas on Tuesday lamented that Texas’ new voting restrictions had led to a spike in rejected requests for absentee ballots in her county, and several others across the state.
Continue reading “Texas Primaries Give An Early Indication Of Chaos New Voting Restrictions Could Cause”GOP Senator Who Fauci Called A ‘Moron’ Tries To Fundraise Off The Incident
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is now looking to fundraise off the fact that the U.S.’s top infectious disease expert dubbed him a “moron” last week. The remark was uttered into a hot mic, after the GOP senator falsely and conspiratorially insisted that the White House chief medical adviser hadn’t already made his financial disclosures public (he had).
Continue reading “GOP Senator Who Fauci Called A ‘Moron’ Tries To Fundraise Off The Incident”Make A Note of It
Make a note of this for future reference. Axios’s Sara Fischer notes that Al Jazeera seems to be sidelining or perhaps even shuttering “Rightly”. What’s that? It’s yet another right-leaning niche publication, launched in February of last year to “provide fresh voices that are too often left out of the mainstream media space.”
Continue reading “Make A Note of It”Fast And Furious
New York City was one of the first parts of the United States hit by the Omicron variant. The trajectory of the city’s surge now appears remarkably similar to the pattern we saw earlier in South Africa and other countries.
Data out of South Africa showed a roughly four week interval between the start of the Omicron surge and its peak. “Peak in four weeks and precipitous decline in another two,” said Fareed Abdullah of the South African Medical Research Council. “It was a flash flood more than a wave.”
New York City numbers appear to match this pattern almost exactly.
Continue reading “Fast And Furious”Gorsuch, Sotomayor And Roberts Respond To Reporting That Gorsuch Refuses To Don Mask
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Sonia Sotomayor responded in rare statements to a report that claimed Gorsuch refuses to wear a mask, forcing the high-risk Sotomayor to participate remotely from her chambers.
Continue reading “Gorsuch, Sotomayor And Roberts Respond To Reporting That Gorsuch Refuses To Don Mask”NRC Chair Blames Biden For Debate That Had To Go Virtual Because Of Trump
National Republican Committee (NRC) chair Ronna McDaniel, who’s moving toward banning GOP candidates from participating in debates sponsored by the Committee on Presidential Debates (CPD), apparently forgot a key detail behind one of her grievances against the CPD.
Continue reading “NRC Chair Blames Biden For Debate That Had To Go Virtual Because Of Trump”People Stonewalling Voting Rights Post MLK Day Tributes And Somehow Aren’t Taken Seriously
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
People Who Actually Like Democracy Focus Their Ire
“Today we remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #MLKDay,” tweeted Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), is refusing to vote for any changes to the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation
Her post was met with more than a little rage:
- In fact, the family of Martin Luther King Jr. called out Sinema and fellow filibuster holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) yesterday. King’s granddaughter gave a speech telling the senators that “our future hinges on your decision, and history will remember what choice you make.”
- Manchin did not tweet about MLK Day. He put out a statement on Friday.
- Here’s a compilation of tributes from GOP lawmakers who’re fighting tooth and nail to uphold discriminatory voting restrictions:
Very inspiring to see these GOP lawmakers praising King’s “enduring commitment to justice,” “tenacity in the face of adversity” and “legacy of justice” while trying to gut voting rights or throw out election results.
Also:
Harris’ Frustrated Message To Sinema and Manchin
Vice President Kamala Harris asserted yesterday that she’s “not going to absolve” her two former Senate colleagues if they kill voting rights reform by keeping the filibuster intact.
Voting Rights Showdown Kicks Off
The Senate is back in session today, and so begins what looks like a pretty grim journey through the upper chamber for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which have virtually no chance of passing unless Sinema and Manchin change their minds about a filibuster carveout for voting rights.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is marching forward with the legislation this week regardless, so here’s what to expect:
- The chamber will begin a debate today on combining the two voting rights bills into an unrelated NASA bill.
- Senate Democrats are having an in-person caucus meeting this evening, according to multiple reports.
- The vote on the legislation is expected to be held on Wednesday at the earliest (though the schedule isn’t finalized). That’s when Republicans will almost inevitably invoke the filibuster to shoot it down, which is when Schumer would hold a vote on changing the filibuster rules if he decides to do so, which is when Sinema and Manchin would either reverse course and vote for the changes or stick to their position and doom the legislation.
Arizona GOPer Boosts Confederate Celebration On MLK Day
Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R), one of Trump’s top Big Lie crusaders, retweeted a white nationalist’s call for a holiday honoring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson yesterday.
- Rogers spoke at Trump’s rally in Arizona several days prior, during which she demanded that the 2020 election results be decertified (somehow).
- She’s suggested that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors be sent to prison for defying subpoenas for election materials in the Arizona Senate’s notorious “audit.”
- This isn’t even the first time the senator’s cozied up to white nationalists on Twitter.
- Oh and she’s rolling in campaign donations: The Arizona senator raked in a record-breaking $2.5 million last year.
Trump-DeSantis Pissing Match Drags On
A couple of unnamed Trump sources went to Axios this weekend for a helpful “leak” of Trump’s complaints about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has “a dull personality” and “no personal charisma,” the former president has reportedly said.
- Trump’s clearly trying to put DeSantis in his place several days after the GOP governor, a potential 2024 contender, jabbed at the Trump administration’s COVID-19 lockdown policies.
- Ex-convicted Trump crony Roger Stone hopped in on the action after the Axios gossip dropped, calling DeSantis “fat slow and dumb” on Telegram.
The Right-Wing Media Cesspit
This is how Fox News host Laura Ingraham reported that Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tested positive for COVID-19 (he is experiencing minor symptoms, according to his spokesperson):
Gaetz’s Ex Gets Immunity
Prosecutors granted Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) ex-girlfriend immunity before she reportedly testified in front of a grand jury last week in the sex trafficking investigation into the GOP congressman, according to CBS News.
Must Read
“The Hostages Escaped. But Synagogues Ask, How Can They Be More Secure?” – The New York Times
FBI’s MLK Day Tribute Also Poorly Received
Yesterday the FBI’s Twitter account posted a tribute to the civil rights leader (a guy the FBI liked a lot). It, too, probably shouldn’t have:
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MLK’s Family Call Out Sinemanchin For Stonewalling Voting Rights
The family of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been turning up the heat on Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) as the senators clutch onto the filibuster, which dooms any chance of passing Democrats’ voting rights legislation.
Continue reading “MLK’s Family Call Out Sinemanchin For Stonewalling Voting Rights”Warnock Declares ‘This Is A 1965 Moment’ Amid Battle Over Filibuster And Voting Rights
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), one of Congress’ most outspoken advocates for changing the filibuster to pass Democrats’ voting rights legislation, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day pressed the senators who have poured cold water on filibuster reform to understand the urgency of the situation amid waves of state GOP anti-voting laws.
Continue reading “Warnock Declares ‘This Is A 1965 Moment’ Amid Battle Over Filibuster And Voting Rights”