An Arizona state judge on Thursday ordered that the Arizona “audit” contractor Cyber Ninjas pay $50,000 in fines every day until it provided documents that the Arizona Republic newspaper had successfully sought in a public records request.
Continue reading “Cyber Ninjas Says It’s Shutting Down As Judge Orders $50K Daily Fine For Records Violations”Cruz Goes On Tucker To Beg For Forgiveness After Calling Jan. 6 A ‘Violent Terrorist Attack’
A lot of things happened. Here are some of them.
A Masterclass In Dignity Loss
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) got so bold as to call the insurrectionists terrorists this week, enraging his brethren in the Republican Party’s fringier flank, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). But the loudest and most influential voice to speak up was Tucker Carlson:
- “It was not a ‘violent terrorist attack,’ sorry!” Carlson declared on Wednesday night, after showing a clip of Cruz’s comments. “So why are you telling us it was, Ted Cruz?”
- Just 24 hours later, Cruz was on the air with the cable host, groveling. He claimed the word choice was “sloppy and frankly it was dumb.”
- Carlson was not letting him off that easily: “I don’t buy that.”
- The commentator went on to make the senator squirm for three excruciating minutes, repeatedly saying he doesn’t believe him, before inviting him to indulge in conspiracy theorizing — speculating that the insurrection was planned by the feds — as a way to let the senator back into the fold. Cruz did so with gusto.
Some Reviews Of That Performance
Mandates and More
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two major vaccine mandate cases today: one that requires employees of large employers to get the vaccine or submit to weekly testing, and one which requires health-care workers who work at facilities that receive federal funding to be vaccinated. The cases are important on their face, given that over 830,000 Americans have already died of the virus.
- But there’s more going on under the hood. These cases could have massive ramifications for how the Court treats federal agencies’ authority.
- Given the paralysis of Congress, the Court deciding to constrain the power of the Biden administration to act unilaterally could, in turn, have dramatic policy implications for his presidency.
- “It is about what the Court is willing to let the administration do,” Keith Bradley, co-chair of the Squire Patton Boggs appellate and Supreme Court practice, told TPM.
From Whence It Came
Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity firm that was plucked from obscurity to lead the Arizona GOP’s shambolic audit of the 2020 election, is no more.
- Doug Logan, the conspiracy theorizing CEO of the company, has been fired, a spokesperson said, as have the rest of staff.
- That news came on the same day the firm was found in contempt of court and ordered to pay $50,000 a day (a day!) until it turns over records to the Arizona Republic newspaper.
Choosing Words Carefully
Jan. 6 sparked an outpouring of reflections, from first-hand accounts of the violence to essays about the dangerous precipice we are teetering on as a democracy. For some, it has inspired strong language.
- President Joe Biden delivered a speech Thursday needling the former President and condemning his anti-democracy crusade in equal measure. “I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of Democracy,” he intoned.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tacked in the opposite direction from Cruz’s since-retracted statements.
- Graham this time last year: “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
- Graham Thursday: “What brazen politicization of January 6 by President Biden. I wonder if the Taliban who now rule Afghanistan with al-Qaeda elements present, contrary to President Biden’s beliefs, are allowing this speech to be carried?”
- Gov. Ron Desantis (R-FL) has accompanied Graham on his journey.
- Last year: “I actually am glad to see some of these people being arrested from the DC thing, because I think the prosecutions will really make a difference.”
- This year: “The D.C.-NY media, this is their Christmas — January 6th,” he said.
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), striking a different tone, from a very lonely wing of her party: “Today marks one year since the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob incited by our former president,” she said. “Those of us who were there to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities can never erase what we saw and heard.”
Presidents Assemble
Like aging Avengers, former Presidents felt compelled to warn the country about the danger it’s in on the Jan. 6 anniversary.
- President Barack Obama said, reflecting on the insurrection last year, that “democracy is at greater risk today than it was back then.”
- He joined Carter, who stated in a Times op-ed: “Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss. Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.”
- Bill Clinton: “Far too many elected officials and public figures continue to spread the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, to sow distrust in our system, and to make it harder to cast a ballot and easier for partisan legislatures to overturn free and fair election they don’t like the results.”
- George W. Bush was notably quiet, though he has previously denounced the insurrection. Former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared at the Capitol remembrances with some disgruntled comments about his Republican colleagues’ handling of Jan. 6 and its aftermath.
- The only other living former president not named, of course — the man himself — struck a markedly different tone.
Other Key Jan. 6 Reads
CNN: Capitol Police officer who suffered concussion on January 6 is latest to sue Trump seeking accountability
WaPo: Biden breaks his silence: Inside his decision to forcefully denounce Trump
TPM: This County GOP Is Paying Tribute To Jan. 6, ‘The Most Significant Patriot Event Of 2021’
Weird Timing
Mike Pompeo emerged on Jan. 6 from relative silence to … talk to the New York Post about his weight-loss regimen?
It is pretty impressive, we’ll give him that.
Have thoughts on Morning Memo? Let us know!
Where Things Stand: Some News Amid The Commemorations And Noise
A decent chunk of what would’ve been the right’s blusteringly distasteful counter-programming to Congress’ introspective coup-versary commemorations today were canceled last minute.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Some News Amid The Commemorations And Noise”This County GOP Is Paying Tribute To Jan. 6, ‘The Most Significant Patriot Event Of 2021’
Dick Shaughnessy, the vice chair of the Polk County, North Carolina Republican Party, was in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, near the Capitol building that hundreds of Trump supporters sacked as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s presidency.
Continue reading “This County GOP Is Paying Tribute To Jan. 6, ‘The Most Significant Patriot Event Of 2021’”Members Of Congress Mark One Year Anniversary Of Insurrection
In a morning speech, President Joe Biden condemned Trump and his campaign to subvert the election, which culminated in the insurrection one year ago today.
“You can’t love your country only when you win,” he said. “You can’t obey the law only when it is convenient. You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies.”
Throughout the day Thursday, lawmakers and others will share their experiences of the Capitol riot.
Follow along below:
Vaccine Mandate Cases May Hold Clues About Whether Supreme Court Intends To Drastically Constrain Biden’s Power
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two vaccine mandate cases Friday, the culmination of an extremely expedited and unusual process to get the mandates before the high court.
Continue reading “Vaccine Mandate Cases May Hold Clues About Whether Supreme Court Intends To Drastically Constrain Biden’s Power”Can A Christian Flag Fly At City Hall? The Supreme Court Will Have To Decide
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared at The Conversation.
There are three flagpoles outside Boston City Hall. One flies the United States flag. Another flies the Massachusetts state flag. What can – and can’t – fly from the third is an issue being taken up by the Supreme Court.
On Jan. 18, 2022, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Shurtleff v. Boston. The case addresses whether the city violated the First Amendment by denying a request to temporarily raise the Christian flag on a flagpole outside City Hall, where Boston has temporarily displayed many secular organizations’ flags.
Continue reading “Can A Christian Flag Fly At City Hall? The Supreme Court Will Have To Decide”Who Are the Ivy League Glossy Mag Freedom Fighters Lecturing You About Schools?
There’s a deep conventional wisdom out there which has it that liberal Twitter and the broader Blue State commentariat is a hotbed of demands for school closures. The reality is almost diametrically opposed to this. From mid-2020 the country’s most esteemed and prestigious liberal/cosmopolitan publications, electronic broadcasts and university programs have been dominated by voices of highly educated, affluent and mostly white people demanding schools never close, even for brief periods, and almost always in the name of students from minority and/or marginalized communities.
But there is an upside down character to the image these demands create. In fact, during the pre-vaccine period, when significant sections of the country remained in remote leaning, it was precisely these communities which were most resistant to going back to in-person education. The blunt reality is that the staunchest voices against school closures of any sort for any duration are people with PhDs working from home. That’s just the fact.
Continue reading “Who Are the Ivy League Glossy Mag Freedom Fighters Lecturing You About Schools?”Biden Walks Line Between Persuasion, Fight In Jan. 6 Speech
President Biden’s speech commemorating the first anniversary of Jan. 6 this morning treaded a fine line: on one side, condemning and promising to fight a burgeoning anti-democracy movement committed to former President Trump.
Continue reading “Biden Walks Line Between Persuasion, Fight In Jan. 6 Speech”I Saw Firsthand What It Takes To Keep COVID Out Of Hong Kong. It Felt Like a Different Planet.
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
As I walked off the jet bridge into Hong Kong International Airport, I stepped into another world. I was home for Christmas, to see my parents for the first time in two years. But first, I had to get through a gantlet of COVID-19 precautions that envelop the city like a protective bubble.
Incoming travelers were greeted by gowned, gloved and masked workers, who directed us through the terminal. As I followed the passengers ahead of me, I was unnerved by the shuttered stores. Every other time I’ve flown in and out of Hong Kong, the airport hums with thousands of travelers, children scampering across the polished floors, announcements intoned in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. The terminal was now eerily still. My feet made too much noise as I trudged along the path marked by guardrails.
Continue reading “I Saw Firsthand What It Takes To Keep COVID Out Of Hong Kong. It Felt Like a Different Planet.”