Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
When he took the post of attorney general, William Barr was widely viewed as a conservative man of high integrity and independence that prominent people in politics and the press thought would be a big improvement in the Trump regime. But after his mischaracterization of the Mueller report in a “summary” that distorted its contents, Barr was soon being described in some of the press as a Trump toady. More evidence of the accuracy of that description has flowed steadily ever since. But then came the ABC interview this week in which Barr said Trump’s tweeting was making it “impossible “ to do his job. Suddenly, Barr was reported in some media as having recovered some of his reputation. Jon Alsop at the Columbia Journalism Review writes—Angry Barr and whether the press is getting played:
Barr’s ABC interview, it seems, was an effort to wind back the clock. Did it work? News stories in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal credited him, respectively, with a “remarkable rebuke” and “striking criticism” of the president. Barr, the Times added, had “publicly challenged Mr. Trump in a way that no sitting cabinet member has.” Elsewhere, however, skepticism of Barr’s motives abounded. [...] In a tweet, Ari Melber, chief legal correspondent at MSNBC, offered a pithy rewording of what Barr said: “I stand by intervening to help a convicted Trump adviser, but I wish Trump did not admit what we are doing on Twitter.”
Given Barr’s record as attorney general, skepticism is healthy. But the framing of Barr as Trump’s lapdog risks obscuring a much more important fact. Barr is probably being truthful when he says he’s doing what he thinks is right—because, on available evidence, the subservience of the Justice Department to the will and power of the president is what he thinks is right. Barr believes in the centralization of presidential power—just to the point, critics say, where the president is effectively above the law. Barr reached that view independently of Trump.
A year ago, when the Senate voted to confirm Barr, his views were hardly a secret; we just chose not to emphasize them. Since then, a succession of magazine articles—in the New Yorker, New York magazine, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere—have elucidated his troubling judicial philosophy. (In a provocative essay for the New York Review of Books, Tamsin Shaw compared Barr to Carl Schmitt, the “Crown Jurist” of Nazi Germany.) But day-to-day reporting still tends to overlook it, or to mention it only in passing. That’s regrettable, since Barr’s conception of the presidency will likely have consequences that outlast Trump. “If those views take hold, we will have lost what was won in the Revolution—we will have a chief executive who is more powerful than the king,” Laurence Tribe, a law professor at Harvard, told the New Yorker. “That will be a disaster for the survival of the Republic.” [...]
“Black people are dying in our cities, crossing oceans, in resource wars not of our making. … Indeed, it is obvious that Black peoples’ lives are disposable in a way and fashion that is radically different from other groups globally. It is from this stark reality of marginalization that I want to propose that any new policy actions in the North American contest ought to pass what I will call the Black test. the Black test is simple: it demands that any policy meet the requirement of ameliorating the dire conditions in Black peoples’ lives. … When a policy does not meet this test, then it is a failed policy, from the first instance of its proposal.”~~Rinaldo Walcott, “Left and liberal colour blindness imperil real change for Black people” (2016)
At Daily Kos on this date in 2002—The death of the Republican dog whistle:
In the idealized version of the GOP primary, establishment Republicans would curry favor with their Wall Street pals while sending coded dog whistles to their foot soldiers—on race, immigration, reproductive freedoms, etc. Those dog whistles would motivate the GOP base without revealing their true radical nature to the American mainstream. It was a genius system while it worked, one that saw no parallel on the progressive side.
But the days of the dog whistle are over. The election of President Barack Obama created an entire cottage industry trying to prove how un-American and Kenyan he supposedly is, while Republicans like Rep. Pete Hoekstra run blatantly anti-Asian ads. Republicans laugh about electrocuting immigrants who will cut off your head in the desert if they're not stopped, while passing laws openly hostile to brown people. Attacks on homosexuals have escalated to new hysterical highs as society becomes more tolerant and open to equality
Monday through Friday you can catch the Kagro in the Morning Show 9 AM ET by dropping in here, or you can download the Stitcher app (found in the app stores or at Stitcher.com), and find a live stream there, by searching for "Netroots Radio.”
The Abbreviated Pundit Round-up is a daily feature at Daily Kos.
Jefferson Morley at The New Republic writes—Is the CIA’s Director Going Full MAGA?Gina Haspel is not a typical Trump toady, but recent moves suggest a dangerous dynamic between the runaway president and his spy agency:
While there’s no way to know what’s in Haspel’s mind, her Trump-supportive public actions provide clues. “Some contend this public stance provides Haspel a better ability to privately influence the president,” Douglas London, a 34-year veteran of CIA’s Directorate of Operations and former Haspel colleague, wrote this week for Just Security. “In practice, however, her actions reflect a continued unwillingness to spend any of her political capital on encouraging the president to be more supportive of the Intelligence Community’s views, priorities or its workforce’s morale.”
Yet, as London also points out, the arc of Haspel’s career shows her State of the Union performance was not that surprising. Despite her reputation as a low-key, apolitical director, Haspel could not have made it to her office on the seventh floor of the Langley headquarters without being skilled at cultivating patrons and dodging proverbial bullets. [...]
Haspel’s very reputation in the press as “apolitical” reflects a certain mastery of spin. Her leading role in the waterboarding of suspected terrorists (and the destruction of video evidence) was so political that it motivated President Obama to cancel the program on his first day in office. While passionate opposition in the Senate to the torture program “nearly derailed” her nomination, it was her deeply political embrace of “enhanced interrogation techniques” that secured Trump’s admiration.
When Haspel was first considered for the top job at the CIA, Don McGahn, Trump’s White House counsel, was so disturbed by her résumé that he suggested Trump withdraw her nomination. Trump not only disagreed but “actually liked this aspect of Haspel’s resume,” according to Axios.
Tuesday morning, I began to write about how things seemed to be okay at my old workplace, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. True, Attorney General William P. Barr had recently installed his close aide, Timothy Shea, as the new U.S. attorney. And there had been rumblings that the office might soften its position on the sentencing of convicted former national security adviser Michael Flynn. But the government’s tough sentencing memorandum concerning Roger Stone seemed to be a good sign. I wrote that, at least when it comes to interfering in the cases of those convicted during the investigation conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, maybe my worst fears about Barr’s Justice Department were not going to be realized.
By midday, that draft column was in the trash. It didn’t take long for the Justice Department to demonstrate that, on the contrary, things are even worse than many have feared. [...]
One day, Trump will leave office. But the damage he has done to the Justice Department will endure — and may be irreparable. For those of us who cherish the department and the ideals for which it stands, this is heartbreaking. For the country, it’s extremely dangerous.
The latest national poll from Quinnipiac University shows former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg polling at 4 percent among African American voters. This, amazingly, counts as good news for the Buttigieg campaign, which in the past has polled at 0 percent among black voters. In this most recent poll, that dubious honor goes to the current white centrist darling, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who polled at 0 percent in the survey conducted between February 5 and 9. [...]
It’s not because they’re white. Joe Biden is so white they probably have to hide the shoe polish in his house on Halloween, but he does okay with black voters. It’s not because people think they’re racist. Mike Bloomberg probably tried to frisk Barack Obama before he put him in his campaign ad, and yet he’s polling at 22 percent with African Americans. And it’s not because people don’t think Buttigieg or Klobuchar can win. All the media does is tell people that actual progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren can’t win, yet those two consistently receive more black and brown support than the allegedly “electable” Midwestern white candidates.
It’s not their color. It’s not their gender or sexuality. It’s not even their policies or records that are holding them back with voters of color (their records are not great, but they’re still not Mike Bloomberg). It’s their unexamined white privilege, buoyed by their unearned status among the white media, mixed with their unnerving and incessant prattle about “Midwestern values” that has black and brown voters casting about for other options. It’s not that people of color haven’t “gotten to know” Buttigieg or Klobuchar. It’s that we know them all too well.
Every black person up in this mess has a Pete Buttigieg in their lives.
Fully aware I might be entirely wrong, here's my prediction on the Stone sentencing: Judge Jackson will impose a sentence no lower than 60 mos, no higher than 87 mos. She will remand Stone into custody immediately. (Trump will go berserk, but won't pardon Stone immediately.)
Since budgets don’t lie, the folks crunching the numbers at the White House had to acknowledge there is no plan to get America out of the red anytime soon. They hang their economic hopes on long-term growth projections that make the failed projections of Trump’s first three years seem modest. But they also make clear that Trump wants poor and low-income Americans to pick up the bill for his shortcomings in the meantime.
While Trump touts unemployment rates, which have been trending down since the economic recovery of Obama’s first term, his budget does not address the soaring costs of housing, education, and health care that have created an economic crisis for most Americans. The Poor People’s Campaign, a national movement led by poor people and their allies, has published a moral budget that demonstrates that 140 million Americans—42 percent of the nation—are no more than one $400 emergency away from not being able to pay their bills the next month. [...]
In the same vein, Trump’s new budget proposes $181 billion in cuts to food stamps over the next decade, in addition to slashing $800 billion from Medicaid. If he had his way, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would see a total decrease of 15 percent, Health and Human Services 9 percent, and the Department of Education 8 percent. In the House of Representatives, where Pelosi shredded Trump’s speech last week, such a proposal is dead on arrival. But in an election year, Trump’s message is clear: No matter whose stories he told at the State of the Union, he is not running to represent poor and low-income Americans. He is dedicated to propping up an economy where the rich get richer and the poor get medical debt.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll released in late January—smack in the middle of the impeachment trial—asked 2,000 voters about Trump’s performance on a number of issues ranging from jobs, economy, and terrorism to trade, climate, immigration, foreign relations, health care, and draining the swamp. They were the least impressed with climate: More than half—54 percent—gave Trump a D or F, while just 21 percent gave him an A or B.
Then there was an August survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. The research group found that 64 percent of the 1,058 people included disapproved of his record on climate, while 32 percent approved—”the lowest among six issue areas that the poll asked about, including immigration (38%) and health care (37%),” the AP reported. And in July a poll by the Washington Post-ABC Newspoll found Trump’s lowest rating was on climate: Just 29 percent approving, with 62 percent disapproving, the widest spread in the poll.
The problem with this kind of polling is that the issue is widely polarized, so while climate change is a top-tier issue for Democratic primary voters, it ranks far lower in importance for Republicans. In swing states, it’s unclear whether climate will turn out voters.
Alan Dershowitz is on TV right now trying to convince people that it's entirely normal for presidents to steer the Justice Department to go after some and not others. What a disgrace he is to the legal profession.
Throughout his administration, Bloomberg was also a vocal defender of the interests of the rich. In classic trickle-down fashion, he argued that helping the poor was best accomplished by helping the rich. Want to address poverty? “Attract more very fortunate people. They’re the ones who pay the bills,” he said in 2013. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, Bloomberg ran interference for the banks, repeating right-wing lies that blamed fair housing laws for the mortgage meltdown. When Occupy Wall Street put inequality into the national spotlight, Bloomberg dismissed the protests, arguing that the country had been “overspending” and social services should be cut. And though he’s singing a different tune now, in 2012 he was a dogged opponent of raising the minimum wage.
It would be bad enough if Bloomberg were just a New York problem. However, because of his vast wealth, Bloomberg has secured a role as a player on the national stage, backing politicians and causes that protect the wealth of the billionaire class. He supported George W. Bush for reelection in 2004, after Bush passed massive tax cuts for the rich. He donated money to the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and backed a host of ultra-conservative politicians, ranging from religious zealot Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to racist loudmouth Rep. Peter King (R-NY). Though he donated to Democrats as well, up until the 2018 midterms, Bloomberg’s super PAC Independence USA spent more money funding the campaigns of Republicans than Democrats.
Charles M. Blow at The New York Times writes—The Notorious Michael R. Bloomberg. His racist stop-and-frisk policy as New York mayor can’t be forgotten:
Let’s state some facts: Michael Ruben Bloomberg notoriously expanded stop-and-frisk in New York City to obscene proportions, violating the bodies and constitutional rights of mostly minority men and boys, and not only defended the policy, but mocked his detractors and bragged about it.
What Bloomberg did as mayor amounted to a police occupation of minority neighborhoods, a terroristic pressure campaign, with little evidence that it was accomplishing the goal of sustained, long-term crime reduction.
Nearly 90 percent of the people stopped were completely innocent. He knew that. They were the collateral damage in his crusade, black and brown bodies up against walls and down on the ground, groped in the middle of the city by strange men with guns, a vast expanse of human psychological wreckage about which he couldn’t care less. [...]
In 2012, after million of stops, Bloomberg stood up in a church in Brownsville, Brooklyn, among the neighborhoods hardest hit by the policy, and declared that racial profiling was banned in the Police Department. “We will not tolerate it,” he said.
That was a Donald Trump-level lie.
Sustained standing ovation for Marie Yovanovich at Georgetown University where she accepted the Trainor Award for excellence in diplomacy. �� pic.twitter.com/dqFrrAj9Ox
Paul Waldman recently challenged the meme about Democrats being in disarray. He made some great arguments, but a lot of it comes down to this.
People in politics suffer from a kind of myopia, in which what’s right in front of them, being in sharp focus, seems like the most important thing that has ever happened or will ever happen. This Changes Everything, we say over and over, despite the fact that the last 10 or 15 events that were supposed to Change Everything turned out to be so inconsequential that we’ve already forgotten what they were. [...]
Stories that combat the Democrats in disarray notion abound if you dig deep enough. For example, almost every day the state of Virginia is reminding us of what happens when we elect Democrats. While Trump constantly rails about the “do-nothing Democrats,” the House is about to vote on making Washington, DC the 51st state.
But in a story more directly tied to the 2020 elections, it is what’s happening in Georgia that caught my eye. That state is not only significant because of the presidential race. There are also three open House seats in play, along with both Senate seats.
Donald Trump won Georgia in 2016 by about five points. According to Morning Consult, his current net approval rating now stands at zero. However, the big news coming out of Georgia is that, even as Republicans in that state lead the nation in purging voters, they can’t do so fast enough to keep up with new registrations.
Candidates who flame out early in presidential primaries, almost by definition, do not make history. But Joe Biden may be an exception. Biden’s presidential campaign is now almost certain to fail, but he has done more than any other candidate to shape the outcome. And the result is likely to be disastrous — for Biden’s personal legacy and political agenda.[...]
Biden’s candidacy almost single-handedly stunted the growth of every other center-left alternative. Cory Booker ran the Freaks and Geeks of campaigns — praised by critics, but never registering with the broader public. Booker might well have attracted Biden’s constituency, before low polling forced him off the debate stage and out of the race. [...]
Biden’s campaigns in 1988 and 2008 ended in disaster for Biden. His 2020 campaign is going to end in a disaster for the whole party.
Redlining was an explicitly racist policy that ensured that until 1968 98 % of federally insured loans went to white Americans. It created one of largest white affirmative action programs we�ve seen and is a direct cause of the devastating black/white wealth gap. https://t.co/P8WjFKyzZ2
The extent to which Barr has bent his knee, and increasingly that of the justice department, to Trump is profoundly troubling. Attorneys general have almost always gone to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of political interference in ongoing investigations. For Barr to dance so openly to the tune of Donald Trump’s Twitter feed suggests that not only has he been deeply corrupted, but that he doesn’t care who knows it. His shamelessness puts him in league with the Republican senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump despite clear evidence that he had committed impeachable offences.
But Barr is more dangerous than any senator because he wields more power. If he continues to allow the department to become an instrument of the president’s will, then he can do grave damage to American democracy and the rule of law. Autocrats always seek to corrupt the criminal justice system in order to give themselves and their subordinates legal cover as they attempt to undermine democratic institutions and norms. Another Trump subordinate – Rudy Giuliani – is currently under federal investigation for his involvement in the president’s illegal scheme to sway the outcome of the 2020 election. We can have no confidence that Barr will allow this investigation to go where the facts lead it.
By seeking special treatment for the president’s cronies, Barr creates the impression that future lawbreakers will be able to get away with their crimes so long as they further the interests of the president. Given that the president himself cannot be indicted for a crime, the exposure of his associates and subordinates to legal jeopardy is a key check on the growth of tyranny. As soon as political favoritism begins to play a role in whether or not criminals are prosecuted, the rule of law – and democracy – cannot last.
UPDATE: We tried to prove Eric Trump right. We asked experts: is there any way that Mar-a-Lago is just charging the govt its costs � and it just costs $650 per day to clean one of their rooms? Experts said....no.https://t.co/85oZKi2wL1
BlackRock, the world’s largest money management firm, with over $6 trillion in assets, certainly intends to soldier on. Anticipating that climate change will provoke a “fundamental reshaping of finance,” BlackRock’s chairman, Laurence Fink, recently announced a new policy to make “sustainability” a central factor in evaluating investments. In a letter to investors published on the firm’s website, Fink wrote that “the investment risks presented by climate change are set to accelerate a significant reallocation of capital, which will in turn have a profound impact on the pricing of risk and assets around the world.” The move has received mixed responses, both from the financial press and from climate activists. TheNew York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote that such a move from a firm of BlackRock’s size “could reshape how corporate America does business,” while others were more circumspect. An investor in Barron’s observed skeptically that BlackRock is still the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels, with over $19 billion in Exxon stock alone, as well as large interests in Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP.
Nicole M. Aschoff at Jacobin writes—Wall Street Can’t Fix the Environment. BlackRock’s recent divestment promises are self-serving measures, not meaningful steps in the fight against global warming:
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, recently sent another one of his famous letters. Building on previous promises to value all stakeholders, this year’s message to CEOs outlines BlackRock’s new role as a responsible champion of the environment — it vows to both safeguard people’s money and promote a “sustainable and inclusive capitalism.”
The world’s largest asset management company says that beginning this year it will divest from thermal coal and “mak[e] sustainability integral to portfolio construction and risk management.” Fink insists that in the future BlackRock “will be increasingly disposed to vote against management and board directors when companies are not making sufficient progress on sustainability-related disclosures and the business practices and plans underlying them.”
But on closer examination, the details of BlackRock’s plan are less exciting. The company’s vow to pull back from thermal coal refers to its actively managed portfolios. Roughly three-quarters of the company’s portfolios are passively managed, their assets automatically selected to track the global marketplace. (BlackRock’s strong growth over the past decade owes almost entirely to investment flowing into its exchange-traded funds and other types of passive investing.) The vast majority of BlackRock’s more than $17 billion investment in coal sits in passively invested portfolios.
Fink’s letter also says little about the company’s massive presence in other sectors of the fossil-fuel industry. BlackRock is the world’s largest shareholder in oil and gas. Just last year, it completed a $4 billion investment (along with KKR) in the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The company also pours money into industries associated with deforestation, such as palm oil.
This is the time for a Manhattan Project, to put all public and private energy into vaccine and antiviral development, diagnostics and expanded hospital capabilities. If the worst happens, we’ll be better prepared. If not, we’ll be prepared for the next pandemic.
Instead, Trump this week proposed cutting U.S. funding for the World Health Organization in half. He has also proposed a nearly 16 percent cut to the CDC and a nearly 8 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health, though officials say they won’t cut from infectious-disease work. Trump’s budget director says the virus isn’t being taken into account in economic forecasts. And Trump is parroting advice from the Chinese regime.
Maybe he’ll also endorse North Korea’s plan to fight the virus with “burdock roots.”
Trump administration officials were asked to participate in the Senate hearing; they refused, instead cooperating in a closed briefing later with senators. [...]
Had they come, they would have heard the experts knock down Trump’s claims that we’re in great shape, that there are only 11 cases here and that China has handled the outbreak well.
This is the 630th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the February 1 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—New words for a new world: Finding the right terms to describe mixed feelings about climate change: “We are enjoying early climate change impacts of warmer weather even when we know it’s wrong … and now we have new words to describe that sensation. Life in the Anthropocene, defined at Lexico as ‘the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment,’ requires new words to describe novel experiences that combine the grim realities of climate catastrophe with pleasant results. Bringing this reality into daily life requires talking about its manifestations. We need to share our everyday experiences in a changing climate because people listen to friends and family more than they do a television voice, even (or especially) an expert scientist’s voice.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Book Explains How Industry Corrupts Regulatory Science as A Key Corrupter Leaves EPA: “Good news, everyone! This week, Ryan Jackson, former Inhofe staffer turned Chief of Staff at the EPA, the one accused of bullying scientists over their congressional testimony and otherwise stonewalling the Office of the Inspector General, has decided to stop pretending to work on the public’s behalf and go work for the National Mining Association. Although he appears to have been taking direction from them already, according to emails obtained by E&E. Jackson is formally prohibited from lobbying under Trump’s ethics pledge, but because “Trump ethics pledge” is an oxymoron, that doesn’t mean much. While it prevents him from lobbying the EPA for five years, he’s allowed to be involved in court cases, regulation enforcement actions, and rulemakings.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: Spring's Different Drummers: “One of the most welcome signs of early spring is the unmistakable sound of woodpecker drumming. Longer day length and surging hormones trigger the rapid hammering, which loudly asserts territorial and mating rights to other woodpeckers — ‘This is MY territory!’ Unlike other songbirds, woodpeckers don’t have a distinctive song as part of their avian vocabulary. Instead, drumming is the way woodpeckers communicate to establish and maintain their breeding territories. Drumming is also used to attract a mate, solicit sex, guard mates, maintain contact, and strengthen pair bonds. And drumming is not just the domain of males; females drum too, and pairs often engage in drumming duets.”
Michael Kal writes—Another Butterfly Protector Is Murdered: “From CNN: Raúl Hernández Romero, a part-time guide and conservationist at Mexico's largest monarch butterfly reserve, was discovered dead Friday in the Mexican state of Michoacán, local authorities said in a statement released Saturday. He was found with "blunt blows on different parts of the body and a head injury, caused by a sharp object," the statement said. His wife said he was last seen January 27… the second butterfly activist to be found dead in less than a week. Friday, the body of Homero Gomez Gonzalez was found, also in Ocampo, in a retention pond. According to authorities, he also had a head injury and died of drowning. He had been missing since January 13. Monarchs are under stress from chemicals, breeding areas being plowed under, and the over winter trees in Mexico threatened by illegal logging. Pollinators like butterflies and bees are critical to our food supply.”
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - Bird ID questions: “Oxford, Mississippi is my home. I am spending more time learning about the visiting and permanent wildlife here. I have more questions than answers, but am willing to explore and know other people are willing to do the same. This is one of the places I learn from. Thank you for participating. The bird in the title photo was flying with two other of it’s kind behind a doctor’s office. They flew into one of the few trees at the commercial office park. The birds possible came from the sparse woods surrounding the parking lots and lawns. I was able to get a still photo but no video. I did hear their song. When I got home, I started my search. Here are my best guesses. First, was Wood Thrush (but the song was not right). Second, was a Hermit Thrush. The song seemed right but the markings are off somewhat. I open the floor to discussion and speculation. I suspect winter coloring variation.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Tern, Turn, Turn: “We skedaddled out of Panama City heading kind of north on highway 2. But the paved road turned to dirt after 150 miles.By then we were as far south as you can go in the Northern Hemisphere. We’d driven to the tip of Panama’s southernmost peninsula. You could drive farther, but you would go through rivers every quarter-mile, and then into a National Preserve. In one day you could see both the sunrise and the sunset from the same seat on the beach without turning around. So we stayed at this magical place, 50 yards from the surf. At night we drank and danced with the staff. At dawn I walked the beaches with the gulls.”
OR-54
Besame writes—Gray wolf found dead in NorCal (perhaps another killed by radical anti-environmentalists?)“Open aggression against wolves in California is escalating. A young wolf born in Oregon who traveled in nine northern California counties was found dead in Siskiyou County yesterday. She entered California two years ago and in her first six months traveled at least 638 miles and covered five counties. She was the daughter of famous traveling wolf OR-7, who visited California in 2011. He was the first wolf to enter the state since radical anti-environmentalist ranchers extirpated wolves nearly 100 years earlier. CDFW Press Release. OR-54, a female dispersing wolf approximately 3-4 years old, was found dead in Shasta County on February 5, 2020. OR-54 was born into Oregon's Rogue Pack most likely in 2016. She was the fourth Rogue Pack wolf known to have spent time in California.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Coyote and badger buddy film: A trail camera documenting wildlife activity near major roads filmed a coyote and a badger traveling together. Peninsula Open Space Trust set up cameras near Gilroy California to learn more about how wildlife deal with the roads around the south end of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The camera recorded the pair communicating about a culvert underpass and sharing a moment like two predator people with complex lives (as they are). Coyotes and badgers are known to travel and hunt together but previously had not been seen doing so in this area. The two animals share some of the same prey species (rodents) but their hunting methods differ. Coyotes run fast but don’t dig well. Badgers run slowly but are great diggers. When hunting alone, a prey animal unable to outrun coyote might dive into a burrow to hide. When badger is hunting alone and digging into burrows, prey will jump out and run away. Coyote and badger don’t share the spoils when the hunt is successful, but the partnership boosts the chance that one of them will catch dinner.”
Magnifico writes—Overnight News Digest: Bumblebees Face Extinction: “Climate change has contributed to drastic declines in the population and diversity of bumblebees across North America and Europe, according to a new long-term study of more than 60 bee species published Thursday in the journal Science. In fact, the researchers discovered that bumblebees are disappearing at rates "consistent with a mass extinction.’ The scientists said that North America's bumblebee populations fell by 46 percent between the two time periods the study used – from 1901 to 1974 and from 2000 to 2014. […] ‘If declines continue at this pace, many of these species could vanish forever within a few decades,’ said study lead author Peter Soroye, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, in a statement.”
OceanDiver writes—BackyardBirdRace/Daily Bucket combo - Let's start 2020! “To kick off 2020, I’m expanding my “backyard” to include not just my own property but also those places I go to on my daily walkies. That includes 4 different beaches within ¼-½ mile of my house. [...] Part of the reason I’m expanding my ‘backyard’ definition is I’m not able to be up and about as much as I used to be due to physical debility. My sampling will be more limited in time but more varied in habitat. I’ve been reporting my bird observations to eBird for some years now, so it’s easy enough to compare across years for the same locales. I’m looking on this project as a way of exploring the phenology of bird behavior in my immediate surroundings, where I can get to under my own steam.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - still rainin' still dreamin': “It doesn’t always rain in the PacificNorthwest but winter is the rainy season and wow have we had a lot in the past month. At my house, we’ve had 8.35” 8.94” (as of this morning Feb 7) since the beginning of January. That may not sound like much, but keep in mind our average annual precip is 20.5”, and we’re only 5 weeks into the year. Climate change models for the PacificNorthwest indicate this type of weather will become more typical in future. Specifically, according to the Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, while our overall precipitation will not change much, summer precip will decrease and winter precip will increase. Every climate model forecasts an overall increase in temperature, between 5° to 10°F by 2100 depending on future emissions. Warmer winters means less mountain snowpack which will have severe consequences for this region. In summer, soil will be drier, vegetation more stressed and wildfires will worsen. In fall, with less snowmelt, stream flows will decline. All seasons will be warmer, so in winter we’ll see less snow and more rain.”
foresterbob writes—The Daily Bucket - Camellias at Georgia's Massee Lane Gardens: “Rarely do I say good things about non-native species. We Bucketeers have had numerous spirited discussions about invasive plants and animals. But there are some species that pose no known threat, and they make our lives a little brighter. One such species is Camellia japonica, the Japanese Camellia. Its blooming season runs through the coolest months of the year, giving us showy flowers at a time when bright colors are otherwise scarce. I’ve lived in the same house for 20 years. Some of my neighbors have camellias. They bloom faithfully every winter, and I’ve never seen any evidence of invasive tendencies. My immediate reason for this diary is that, after driving past Massee Lane Gardens dozens of times, I finally took the time to stop and look around. That was on January 10, an unseasonably warm day with temperatures in the 70s. Let’s take a walk down the yellow red brick road to see what’s blooming.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—If Public Pressure Means Climate Denial is Fading, What’s Next? Innovation Denial: “There’s an argument emerging that both people who say climate change is a hoax and people who say climate change is real but fossil fuels are too good to give up are using: it’s impossible to come up with new solutions, and the solutions to climate change we have are actually bad. That’s the gist of Heartland’s latest policy brief (promoted by WUWT), that the Green New Deal would actually be an environmental disaster. Why? Because if you want to power the country on 100% wind or 100% solar, it may end up taking up a lot of space: the size of New York and Vermont for solar, or Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregan and ‘most of West Virginia’ for the 2.12 million wind turbines. That is, if you give Heartland the benefit of the doubt about the veracity of their admitted estimations of land use, which we will do, because we are both lazy and smart enough to know that the real point isn’t exactly how much space they’ll take up, it’s that new renewable developments wouldn’t all need to take up now-wild areas.”
Pakalolo writes—Satellites show Antarctica's doomsday glacier is 'coming apart at the seams': “Leading scientists have warned that nine of the tipping points identified over a decade ago are now active. One of those tipping points is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier, has been alarming scientists about a looming collapse that could raise sea levels, rapidly (not immediately). International scientists have been intensively studying this particular glacier for over a decade. When Thwaites glacier collapses, it will likely take the rest of West Antarctica’s glaciers with it. West Antarctica has glaciers that extend for miles into the ocean. These marine extensions provide the plug that keeps the Inland Ice from flowing into the sea. In the case of Thwaites, the glacier flow has doubled in just the past three decades. The fast flow of ice into the ocean is raising sea levels, and inland snowfall is not replacing the ice that's lost to the sea, according to scientists. They emphasize that this situation will only get worse.”
Angmar writes—"Sea level rise accelerating along US coastlines Worldwide rise being driven by melting glaciers": “The pace of sea level rise accelerated at nearly all measurement stations along the US coastline in 2019, with scientists warning some of the bleakest scenarios for inundation and flooding are steadily becoming more likely. Of 32 tide-gauge stations in locations along the vast US coastline, 25 showed a clear acceleration in sea level rise last year, according to researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Vims). The selected measurements are from coastal locations spanning from Maine to Alaska. About 40% of the US population lives in or near coastal areas. The gathering speed of sea level rise is evident even within the space of a year, with water levels at the 25 sites rising at a faster rate in 2019 than in 2018.”
Maggiejean writes—Overnight News Digest: US Sea Level Rise Accelerating Edition: “The pace of sea level rise accelerated at nearly all measurement stations along the US coastline in 2019, with scientists warning some of the bleakest scenarios for inundation and flooding are steadily becoming more likely. Of 32 tide-gauge stations in locations along the vast US coastline, 25 showed a clear acceleration in sea level rise last year, according to researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Vims). The selected measurements are from coastal locations spanning from Maine to Alaska. About 40% of the US population lives in or near coastal areas. The gathering speed of sea level rise is evident even within the space of a year, with water levels at the 25 sites rising at a faster rate in 2019 than in 2018.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—RCP8.5: World’s Stupidest Debate Makes Jump From Denialsphere To Mainstream: “It’s likely our readers are already aware of the conspiracy theory that claims scientists, media and activists focus on the worst-case climate scenarios where the world burns fossil fuels unrestrained, known as RCP8.5, in order to generate grants, drive clicks, or to scare the public into supporting climate action. When the Trump administration tried to downplay the terrifying possibilities laid out in the National Climate Assessment, for example, it (falsely) blamed the report’s focus on RCP8.5 as being alarmist. (And as Myron Ebell explained at the end of a story about Will Happer’s time in the Trump admin, undercutting the NCA with this argument was the precursor to an attempt undo the Endangerment finding, revealing the strategic purpose of their pursuit of this line of pseudoscientific attack.) Now, the Breakthrough Institute has successfully cleaned this narrative of its most obvious tinfoil-hat elements, and elevated this from the depths of the denialsphere,Twitter and the Daily Caller to the opinion pages of the WSJ, and now with an opinion piece in Nature.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Roy Spencer Offers Prime Example Of Why Scientists Shouldn’t Work Alone: “When you use the correct baseline, it turns out that the models are exactly right. But Spencer remained undeterred in his quest to disparage models he clearly doesn’t understand, criticizing them (without evidence) for showing a decrease in the amount of CO2 the climate will absorb going forward. Spencer concludes with some well-earned humility, although the correction starts with “Well, as I suspected (and warned everyone),” as if this mistake was everyone else’s fault, and not his for publishing something he suspected was wrong in the first place. It’s just the sort of arrogance needed to believe your admittedly ignorant take on a complex issue is accurate and everyone else who actually studies the issue is wrong. ‘It can be claimed that my model is too simple, and does not contain the physics necessary to address how CO2 sinks change in the future,’ Spencer writes, using the passive tense to implicitly admit his model is useless because it fails to actually model the climate in any meaningful way.”
agnostic writes—Trump retasks NOAA: “Apparently someone on Faux made the mistake of explaining just how dangerous climate change is and how millions will be affected. But the biggest mistake was referring to how climate change would impact [Trump’s] golf courses and resorts. Perhaps that caused a rusty penny to drop and attracted the limited attention of our king, Impeached President Trump. Once again, he got pissed at his formerly favorite network. Then, he ordered his staff to assemble at 4 am, and laid out the new rules. All of NOAA resources will be concentrated on his golf courses around the world. With enough warning, he figured that dykes and sea walls could be built with money’s intended for Puerto Rico and infrastructure investment. You know, of course, this is nothing but snark, but it also is just one example of what an empowered post impeachment win Trump will try.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Dan Bacher writes—Environmental Justice Advocates Present Dangers of Oil Drilling to CA State Assembly: “On January 27, the California State Assembly held an oversight hearing to consider the sustainability and safety of California’s oil extraction industry in light of massive spills at Chevron’s Cymric oil field in Kern County over the last few years, according to a press release from the Last Chance Alliance. ‘We have a real opportunity to move California into a new direction, away from a dying, extractive economy toward one that protects our communities and our climate,’ said Ingrid Brostrom, assistant director of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. ‘Nowhere else in the world allows for industrial oil operations in such close proximity to densely populated urban areas. California must do better to achieve our climate goals and protect communities, especially communities of color already overburdened with pollution across our state. We urge the State Assembly to enact sensible measures, like a 2,500 ft. health and safety buffer around extraction sites, to protect families and our environment’, said Brostrom.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
ufw writes—UFW, UFWF leader urges U.S. climate crisis panel to protect farm workers from heat & pesticides: “Former United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez is in Washington D.C. testifying today before the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis at a hearing entitled, ‘Creating a Climate Resilient America: Overcoming the Health Risks of the Climate Crisis.’ Following is the testimony presented by Rodriguez, who still serves the union as president emeritus, representing the UFW and UFW Foundation. While many of us work in climate controlled environments, farm workers across the nation toil under the scorching sun and during extreme weather events, to cultivate and harvest the food that reaches our tables. The danger farmworkers face due to heat exposure will only increase due to climate change. In addition to heat, farm workers are also on the front lines of exposure to a range of harmful pesticides. Not only is the use of pesticides expected to increase due to climate change, but the ways in which farmworkers protect themselves from harmful pesticides, such as by wearing extra clothing or personal protective equipment, can increase the risk of heat-related illness. Of the approximately 2.4 million farm workers across the country, roughly half of farmworkers are undocumented and roughly 10 percent are workers here on H-2A visas for temporary agricultural employment. To keep their employers happy and be invited back, H-2A workers will work to the limits of their endurance. The issues I speak of are not hypothetical. The farmworker communities that we serve are intimately and tragically familiar with the dangers of pesticide and heat exposure, as well as other impacts from climate change, such as wildfires.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
Dan Bacher writes—Western States Petroleum Association Tops CA Lobbying Expenses with $8.8 Million Spent in 2019: “The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in California, placed first in the annual lobbying “competition” in California in 2019 with $8.8 million spent on influencing legislators, the Governor’s office and other state officials, a position it captures most years. The San Ramon-based Chevron spent the third most money on lobbying in California last year, spending a total of $5.9 million. When you add the $8.8 million from WSPA and the $5.9 million from Chevron, that comes to a total of $14.7 million spent of lobbying between the two oil industry giants. Most notably, the money spent on lobbying by WSPA, Chevron and other oil companies was successful in preventing the Legislature from approving Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s AB 345, a bill to ensure that new oil and gas wells not on federal land are located 2,500 feet away from homes, schools, hospitals, playgrounds and health clinics,”
Angmar writes—Canada approves vast new tar sands mine which will pour carbon into the atmosphere through 2060s: “Bill McKibben. Canada elected a government that believes the climate crisis is real and dangerous – and with good reason, since the nation’s Arctic territories give it a front-row seat to the fastest warming on Earth. Yet the country’s leaders seem likely in the next few weeks to approve a vast new tar sands mine which will pour carbon into the atmosphere through the 2060s. They know—yet they can’t bring themselves to act on the knowledge. Now that is cause for despair. The Teck mine would be the biggest tar sands mine yet: 113 square miles of petroleum mining, located just 16 miles from the border of Wood Buffalo national park. A federal panel approved the mine despite conceding that it would likely be harmful to the environment and to the land culture of Indigenous people. These giant tar sands mines (easily visible on Google Earth) are already among the biggest scars humans have ever carved on the planet’s surface. But Canadian authorities ruled that the mine was nonetheless in the “public interest’.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
gmoke writes—Net Zero Energy Buildings at the Poles: “The NYTimes published ‘The Coolest Architecture on Earth Is in Antarctica’ by John Gendall on January 6, 2020. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/science/antarctica-architecture.html) It was a general overview of new research stations and their designs to cope with the ‘world’s harshest environment.’ According to the story, designer architects are bringing ‘aesthetics — as well as operational efficiency, durability and energy improvements’ to the new buildings planned or under construction. The Halley VI research station of the British Antarctic Survey, designed by Hugh Broughton Architects, is credited with changing the state of the art. The Halley VI is built on hydraulic stilts, ‘allowing operators to lift it up out of accumulating snow drifts. And if the entire station needs to be moved — it sits on a drifting ice shelf — skis at the base of those stilts make that possible’."
Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: New Desalination Technologies: “We looked at desalination, particularly using solar power, not long ago. (Renewable Thursday: Desalination) Almost all of it uses energy-intensive distillation or reverse osmosis. It turns out that there is a lot of research going on to find more energy-efficient methods of desalination, not only for seawater, but for far more salty "hypersaline" brines resulting from various industrial and oil well drilling processes. For example:
Each of these new technologies promises greatly reduced cost for desalination. I draw no conclusions about which of these will be commercialized, and which will win out in the variety of locations and applications out in the real world. But I have no doubt that one will.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Deniers Have a Cow Fart: “Cows don't fart methane much. They mostly burp it. But spare a thought for the cows that have to live only on perennial ryegrass rather than natural mixed pasture. It is really bad for their health, besides making their gut bacteria generate all of that methane. There are several ways to fix that. So no, we aren't going to kill off all of the cows and make MAGA-haters eat vegeburgers with soy shakes. Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet. Cows produce methane when they belch, and manure also emits the gas. Farming operations can generate nitrous oxide in the soil, which is then released into the atmosphere. According to the researchers, these best farming practices to reduce these gases are focused on three types of farming operations—feeding animals, storing or processing manure, and cultivating crops. Specific practices include no-till farming, sealed flare storage for manure, and high feed efficiency that can reduce cow belches.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: Green Diary Howto I: “Can you write an environmental (or any) DK Diary? Sure, assuming that you know about something of interest and can tell a story at all. There are some mechanical issues, like the DK editor and scheduler, and search engines, and so on, that I can help with. • Some think they can't write. That can't be true if they can talk. • Some think they lack ideas, in spite of the fire hose of important news coming at us. • Some are afraid of the DK editor and scheduler. There you do need help, and you need to take it one step at a time. I'm going to focus today on the mechanics of creating and posting a Diary, with the bare minimum on the editor, and most of our attention on where, when, and how.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: Germany Finally Going Off Dirty Brown Coal, Eventually: “Germany followed a strange path to renewables. It pushed solar and wind faster than other countries in Europe, but after Fukushima decided to shut down its relatively clean nuclear plants and replace them with highly-polluting lignite-burning plants. Now it is finally getting ready to start shutting down the brown coal plants and mines. However, Germany remains critically dependent on imports of natural gas from Russia. We also need to see a plan for electric vehicles of all kinds, including cars, trucks, buses, ferries, and regional aircraft, topics for another Renewable Day.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Nine Active Climate Tipping Points: “I started Renewable Days with Ys in Them to tell you about solutions to Global Warming that the MSM ignores. But there are real disasters looming, like several meters of sea-level rise from collapsing glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland, enough to inundate much of Florida and Bangladesh, and all of several island nations. This could be the first and worst. Satellites show Antarctica's doomsday glacier is 'coming apart at the seams'. Leading scientists have warned that nine of the tipping points identified over a decade ago are now active. One of those tipping points is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier, has been alarming scientists about a looming collapse that could raise sea levels rapidly. The land ice of Thwaites has the potential to raise sea levels two feet, and if West Antarctica goes down with it, eleven feet of sea-level rise will occur. Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists.”
NATIONAL FORESTS, PARKS, MONUMENTS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Meteor Blades writes—Despite lawsuits against shrinking of Utah nat'l monuments, Trump regime OKs drilling, mining there: “Even though several lawsuits challenging the shrinking of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by the Trump regime are working their way through the federal courts, the Interior Department on Wednesday signed off on plans issued by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to allow mining, oil and gas drilling, and grazing on land that is within the Obama-set boundaries of the two monuments. Critics believe the courts will overturn Trump’s 2017 move to shrink Bears Ears from 1.3 million acres to about 228,000 and Grand Staircase from 1.9 million acres to about 1 million. A lower court decision could come this spring or early summer. When the draft plans appeared last July, Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, called it a ‘cynical attempt’ to codify the shrunken monuments. He told Greenwire reporter Jennifer Yachnin, ‘President Trump's campaign to dismantle our national monuments is illegal and unpopular, and the courts are going to overturn it. This president is willing to inflict lasting damage on our country to benefit his industry boosters, and anyone who invests a dollar in drilling or digging in the newly opened areas should be prepared to lose their bet against public opinion and the strength of our legal system’.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Assaf writes—EV Tuesday: "...but you can't deny Ghosn's Got Style": “Just like his flagship Nissan Leaf, Carlos Ghosn’s very vocal and visible presence in EV world was notable, but seemed to be no match, in terms of showmanship, to Tesla’s Elon Musk… ...until, on December 29 after spending a year in arrest and house arrest, Carlos managed to smuggle himself, tucked inside a musical-instrument box, through Japanese airport security (possibly with the help of American mercenaries), and flew to his birth country, Lebanon, which has no extradition agreement with Japan.Your turn, Elon. Well, much as we love to follow celebrity antics (and I personally don’t), why am I wasting an EV Tuesday diary on this? Because at Nissan, it seems that EVs were Ghosn and Ghosn was EVs. Once he was removed in late 2018, the company has all but abandoned its EV leadership role among major automakers. Worse, it’s gone backwards.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Ocasio-Cortez and Levin co-sponsor bill to build out nationwide electric vehicle infrastructure: “While Donald Trump and his do-nothing-for-Americans Republican henchmen celebrate their corruption, Democratic officials like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Andy Levin of Michigan are putting forward infrastructure legislation that would help build out a nationwide network of high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles. Bloomberg News reports that the EV Freedom Act, publicly proposed on Thursday, would create a mandate for the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation to figure out the details of how to “establish a network of chargers along public highways within five years’.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Pakalolo writes—Climate breakdown shock - Ocean circulation is ramping up significantly due to global heating: “Faster than previously expected. Those four words are horrifying when it comes to describing the changes to our climate. We have been reading about these phenomena frequently lately and, they haunt with such dire consequences as increasing permafrost thaw, marine heatwaves, climate migration, increasing pressure on our food systems, to name just a few. Every one is occurring much faster than climate models suggest. I suspect that there are so much feedbacks not accounted for in current climate models that we should not be surprised anymore. I try not to be a ‘doomer’ when I discuss climate change. I still believe we can save some of what is left, even when the shit hits the fan if we try. But with the faster than expected daily breaking news makes me think that perhaps, in actuality, I am a Pollyanna. Because I report almost exclusively on climate chaos, I am usually wrong about timeframes of tipping points. Tipping points always tend to be happening sooner than what is in my diaries. Anyway, I am scared to death to think of our immediate future.”
Water protectors from the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Winnemem Wintu and other Tribes, and Save California Salmon.
Dan Bacher writes—Tribal Members and Youth Ask for North State Hearings and River Protection at Delta Tunnel Hearing: “Today Northern California Tribal members, supporters, and members of the Hoopa High School water protector club traveled to Sacramento to ask the state of California to protect the Trinity and Sacramento Rivers, and to schedule meetings in Northern California on the Governor’s proposed Delta Conveyance Project, according to a press release from Save California Salmon. The group said the fact that the ‘Delta Tunnel hearings are only occurring in the southern part of the state and started even before the comment period ended on the water portfolio demonstrates that the governor needs to take more public feedback before moving forward on large, environmentally damaging water projects.’ ‘The governor’s water portfolio, Sites Reservoir plan, and Delta Tunnel proposal all threaten the Trinity, Klamath and Sacramento rivers, however the state is not having any public hearings in the North State,’ stated Regina Chichizola from Save California Salmon. ‘It feels like the governor wants the North State’s water, but not our opinions’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Reminder: Delta Tunnel Notice of Preparation Scoping Meetings Start in Sacramento on Monday, Feb. 3! “The Gavin Newsom Administration formally began the planning process for a controversial single tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta when the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its Delta Conveyance Notice of Preparation on January 15, 2020. The first public scoping meeting on this process will take place on Monday, February 3, 2020 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Environmental Protection Agency Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento. Everybody who cares about the future of the Delta farms and fish and West Coast fisheries should attend. If you can’t attend this meeting, the list of public scoping meetings is listed below. The Department of Water Resources is holding seven public scoping meetings between February 3 and 20 on the recently released Notice of Preparation (NOP) for its proposal to “modernize water infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta” — build the Delta Tunnel.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
robctwo writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol 16.06: “Good morning gardeners and friends. I noted last week was Imbolc, or Brigid’s Day for Celtic people. Half-way between solstice and equinox, one of the fire celebrations. Imbolc means in the belly, referring to the large number of animals waiting to give birth in the Spring. It is the start of Spring in my neck of the world. The first crocus patch is in full Spring. [...] I got some more pruning done. I also got a good spray of sulfur on trees and shrubs. OSU extension has lots of information on sprays and pruning. I do not have my new electric sprayer set up, but that will happen soon. I will use copper, sulfur and mineral oil, nothing with a long name and warnings of death to fish.”
MISCELLANY
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—James Taylor’s Confusing Idaho For Iowa Doesn’t Inspire Confidence for Upcoming Heartland Conference: “Yesterday the Heartland Institute announced that its 14th annual climate conference is scheduled for May 7th and 8th, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. [...] And, of course, James ‘my brother Jerry has outed us all as liars for hire’ Taylor will also be presenting. For a sneak preview, we can look at a Powerpoint presentation he recently delivered to an Idaho House of Representatives committee. In it, Taylor hammers home the idea there’s a benefit to warming seen in a longer growing season, warmer winters and more rainfall. Instead of sitting through the presentation, though, we recommend reading some of the reporting on it, which was highly critical and extremely entertaining. Taylor made an attempt to push back on the criticisms, some of which were pretty scathing. One editorial began by describing his talk as ‘an embarrassment to every lawmaker who takes his organization seriously’ in the very first sentence, and later pointed out that Taylor’s presentation was ‘lies from the start’.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Boris Johnson's Surprisingly Green Government: “Boris Johnson shares much of Trump’s character — a lazy womaniser with very little grasp of the intricacies of policy. Unlike Trump he is not a micro-manager, prefering to leave things to his subordinates while he blusters his way through not giving press conferences but arranging special appearances. Much of this involves giving lip service to those areas where the Tories picked up seats from the Labour party, in the “industrial” parts of the Midlands and North of England.Under the British ministerial system, this can lead to unintendedly radical policies.One is the much expected announcement of the approval of HS2, the high speed rail line between London and Birmingham and possibly its ‘stage 2’ of a West-East trans-Pennine route to serve the ‘Northern Powerhouse.’ HS2 is much easier to approve now Boris is not dependent on the ‘NIMBY’ seats in the Home Counties (the ex-urbs of London) for his Commons majority. HS2 is necessary for the London to Birmingham route at least because of severe overcrowding on the line. It would increase speeds from the existing 200Km/h (125 mph) to 300Km/h.”
Michael Brune writes—Heroes and Hypocrites: “You may not have heard of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, but you’ve definitely heard of their employer: It’s the world’s largest online retailer, artificial-intelligence provider, and cloud computing platform. Its founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the planet’s wealthiest man (last week, he actually made $13.5 billion in 15 minutes). Amazon, the company he started in his garage 26 years ago, is now so big and so powerful that its business practices have enormous consequences for our entire economy. No private enterprise on the planet has more opportunities to take meaningful climate action. No one is more conscious of Amazon’s potential than the people who work there, and many of them weren’t impressed with how its commitment to addressing climate change compared to that of other tech giants like Microsoft and Apple. So what did they do? They raised their voices and called on their company to do better.”
macknacat58 writes—Rush is dyin', the ecosystem is too and how the hell am I SUPPOSED to feel?“So yeah- turns out ‘ol Rush — whom I spent too many construction site hours having to endure — was Quite Anti Science when it came to the dangers of tobacco use. Just a bunch of intellectual and Ivory Tower geeks who certainly didn’t know about the “real’ world with ‘real’ men like Dear Ol “i’m a real man” Rush did… ‘Fake Science.’ [...] I kinda can’t give a shit about Rush and his feelings nowadays- he made his millions spewing the kind of hate that I feel sent us right down the divisive , fear mongering, violence prone path I see my country careening down today. So yeah- Rush- don’t let that door hit ya on the ass on yer way out… But I do sense a prelude to the kind of inner and outer dialogues we will encounter as our planet careens down its very apparent path of human caused eco self destruction …..unlike Rush, when these folk made their decisions to discount the science provided mega data of Climate Crisis reality, they included me and mine in those consequences…..think of it as second hand smoking writ very very large…. and guess what?- my thoughts will be even less charitable than they are towards Rush.”
Tevye writes—Australia Rejoices! In Just One Day, Rain Has Extinguished 1/3rd The Fires, More Rain Is On The Way!“Two days ago, there were still sixty-two active fires blazing throughout the Australian eastern coast. And then yesterday, what everyone has been hoping and praying for had finally, finally arrived. Torrential rain fell throughout the New South Wales region and up and down the coast and completely extinguished twenty of the active fires and put all but two below the moderate to low standings.There are seventeen fires that have yet to be contained.”
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
From a Harris Poll survey conducted for the American Psychological Association:
As the effects of climate change become more evident, more than half of U.S. adults (56%) say climate change is the most important issue facing society today, yet 4 in 10 have not made any changes in their behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change, according to a new poll by the American Psychological Association.
While 7 in 10 say they wish there were more they could do to combat climate change, 51% of U.S. adults say they don’t know where to start. And as the election race heats up, 62% say they are willing to vote for a candidate because of his or her position on climate change. [...]
People are taking some steps to combat climate change, with 6 in 10 saying they have changed a behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say they are very or somewhat motivated to make changes.
Among those who have already made behavior changes to reduce their contribution to climate change, when asked why they have not done more, 1 in 4 (26%) cite not having the resources, such as time, money or skills, to make changes. Some people are unwilling to make any changes in their behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change. When those who have not changed their behavior were asked if anything would motivate them to reduce their contribution to climate change, 29% said nothing would motivate them to do so. [...]
Concern about climate change may be having an impact on mental health, with more than two-thirds of adults (68%) saying that they have at least a little “eco-anxiety,” defined as any anxiety or worry about climate change and its effects. These effects may be disproportionately having an impact on the country’s youngest adults; nearly half of those age 18-34 (47%) say the stress they feel about climate change affects their daily lives
“When Politician turned into a showman, followers turned into a cheerleader.
For a leader, it may be a promotion, but for followers, it's demotion.”
~~Mohammed Zaki Ansari, Zaki's Gift Of Love, 2014
At Daily Kos on this date in 2010—Operation Rescue Offers $10,000 Bounty for Doctors:
We saw how this strategy played out in Kansas, with tragic consequences. Operation Rescue collects "evidence" of wrongdoing by abortion providers. It then lobbies law enforcement to investigate the "evidence." In the case of Dr. Tiller, the organization found its ally in Phill Kline, now under investigation for ethics violations, who spent years investigating and intimidating Dr. Tiller and his clinic. Dr. Tiller was tried and acquitted of all charges, but that didn't stop Operation Rescue from continuing to claim that Dr. Tiller had performed illegal abortions.
When the law fails to hold abortion providers accountable for performing a legal medical procedure, Operation Rescue supplies information to an extremist who appears willing to take the law into his own hands, as Scott Roeder did.
In his murder trial, Dr. Tiller's assassin, Scott Roeder, claimed that his decision to murder Dr. Tiller was, in part, a result of the unsuccessful prosecution of Dr. Tiller.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Greg Dworkin joins us in unraveling the Iowa mess. But should we make “momentum” from any first state so important? Next, we could post-game impeachment, but Trump will just blow it all up. So, how about more on the real Burisma story?
A 25th birthday might not be as significant a milestone as one’s 18th or 21st. Sadly, for your mother, Sybrina Fulton, for you and for all of us, you only had the opportunity to celebrate 17 birthdays. The rest were stolen from you. From Sybrina. From us.
I’ve always wondered why we don’t celebrate birthdays by giving presents to the mother. Isn’t a birthday actually an anniversary for something she did? After all, she is the one who actually gifted the world with a life. All the birthday celebrant did is live. Why are they celebrated?
Now I know why.
Because, for a black boy in America, living is an accomplishment. Our simple existence is a reason to celebrate. It would be easy to remember you as a martyr and make a ghost out of your memory. Instead, today we celebrate your accomplishments. We honor the fact that you achieved 17 years of existence. That your purloined life continues to have meaning. You are not simply a symbol of the scourge of police brutality—you were alive. You are.
There is a phenomenon that most black boys and girls spend their lives trying to avoid. I call it “involuntary suicide”—the act of unintentionally and unwillingly giving one’s life. It happened when Philando Castile reached for his firearm license; when Sandra Bland decided to smoke a cigarette; when Botham Jean sat watching TV in his own living room; when Atatiana Jefferson peered out of her window; when Eric Garner breathed. It hovers over all of us, waiting in the shadows.
Of course, the Republican senators who have covered for Mr. Trump love what he delivers for them. But Vice President Mike Pence would give them the same judges, the same tax cuts, the same attacks on workers’ rights and the environment. So that’s not really the reason for their united chorus of “not guilty.”
For the stay-in-office-at-all-cost representatives and senators, fear is the motivator. They are afraid that Mr. Trump might give them a nickname like “Low Energy Jeb” and “Lyin’ Ted,” or that he might tweet about their disloyalty. Or — worst of all — that he might come to their state to campaign against them in the Republican primary. They worry:
“Will the hosts on Fox attack me?”
“Will the mouthpieces on talk radio go after me?”
“Will the Twitter trolls turn their followers against me?”
This wasn’t just a glitch, a temporary speed bump in America’s freeway of exceptionalism. No, the Iowa disaster was a dramatic example of our democratic decline. It was also a stark reminder that our rush to bring 21st century technology to voting — usually to politically wired bidders — has been an abject failure, prone to both the mundane reality of breakdowns and the very real fear of hacking by bad actors. [...]
This was supposed to be a morning for talking about the winners and losers. While there are arguably some early political takeaways to be had, including the unstoppable downward spiral of Joe Biden, it would be dishonest to name anyone else as the winner of the Democrats’ Iowa caucus but one Donald John Trump. For the next nine months, the GOP president will ask voters again and again, why they would trust the Democratic Party to run America when it can’t even run a one-night event in a small state?
And Trump’s attack line will work because — like all of his attack lines — it feeds on Americans’ basest fears and distrusts, that America’s cosmopolitan elites with their overpriced Ivy League degrees are both ethically corrupt and not as smart as they think.
I wager it’s no fun to look into the tweeted proof that sleeping would have been a better way to have spent those wee-hour efforts rather than trying to penetrate that thick David Brooks skull—MB.
Romney’s act of bravery — and perhaps political suicide — changed nothing and it changed everything. Trump stood no chance of being removed either way. But here was the Republicans’ 2012 presidential nominee, rebuking his craven colleagues who saw Trump’s guilt but wouldn’t risk their careers. Romney made the vote to remove Trump bipartisan (no Democrats sided with Trump), and in the process made himself a pariah in his party.
But for Romney there was something higher than partisan tribalism.
Romney said he received pressure to “stand with the team.” He said he would “hear abuse from the president.” But, he said, “were I to ignore the evidence … for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) dabbed his eyes with a tissue. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the lone Republican on the floor, walked out of the chamber. […]
Romney read his 10-minute statement carefully, his calm voice incongruous with the words. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine,” he said.
What we have watched in Washington from Republicans during this impeachment is nothing short of a travesty. Most people fully expected the Republicans in the Senate to do exactly what they did. However, it is still a strike against the country and the Constitution.
Where are we? What’s next?
I, for one, am happy that the Democrats in Congress did what they did. Indeed, they had no choice. A line had to be drawn and defended. If in fact no one in this country is supposed to be above the law, that case had to be made by someone. If the sanctity of our elections is supposed to be inviolable, that principle had to be defended.
Now that Republicans have refused to do their duty out of extreme tribalism and devotion to Trump, Democrats need to make lists and take names. There is no time for crestfallen recriminations. [...]
Anything that can be done to oust these Republican senators must be done. These races are just as important as the presidential race.
Elie Mystal at The Nation writes—Republican Senators Just Sold Out Democracy. By acquitting Trump, Republicans handed the president nearly unlimited power—and revealed the extent of their venality:
We should not be shocked that they’ve done this. Republicans feel empowered to free the president from all constraints because they never intend to be subjected to a Democratic president armed with these new powers. Republicans think they’re on the cusp of locking in one-party control of the government. Their solution to the demographic changes that will soon see us become a majority-minority country is to forge a new theory of government, in which minority white rule can withstand the popular will.
All of the Republican strategies work to accomplish this. They suppress nonwhite voters and gerrymander districts. They protect and defend an Electoral College that functions to elevate the voting power of whites in low-population states over the will of popular majorities. And they have now explicitly authorized the president to use foreign influence to corrupt and steal elections, on the theory that the reelection of that president, by definition, is in the best interests of the nation. These are not the actions of a party trying to win political power; they’re the actions of a party trying to exclude anybody else from having it.
Brittany Gibson at The American Prospect writes—Trump’s Pitch to Black Voters. Not to vote for him, but to keep them from voting at all:
The Trump team must know they’ll never win the support of African American voters. Eight in ten black Americans said Trump is racist, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos Poll from January of this year. But an economic argument may be Trump’s greatest strength in his re-election campaign. Following Steve Bannon’s 2016 recipe for populist economic rhetoric and demonizing foreigners, Trump doesn’t have to convince black voters to turn out for him, but instead try to convince them they can afford to stay home because things are OK.
Most minorities in the United States vote for Democrats, but since Obama’s 2008 campaign engaged minority voters, and black voters in particular, to turn out in record numbers, those numbers have slacked off. Such a lack of enthusiasm works to Trump’s benefit and, of course, is augmented by the Republicans’ systematic implementation of obstacles to voting in black communities: enacting voter suppression laws, purging people from voter rolls, closing down voting sites, and making it harder to restore voting rights for the formerly incarcerated.
By focusing broadly on low unemployment rates, particularly if the Democrats select a nominee who doesn’t engage minority communities, Trump could convince some people to stay away from the polls and avoid the hoops that many black and brown people in this country have to jump through to vote. Nor does it bode well for Democrats that the Iowa debacle confirmed skeptics (not just minorities) in their doubts about the value of voting.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s act of rebellion during President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night came from her sense of political savvy. Fred Guttenberg‘s act of rebellion came from the heart, a heart in pain, a heart irrevocably broken.
So it seemed particularly heartless for him to be removed from the balcony gallery by security after he shouted out in the name of his slain daughter when Trump failed to address any attempt on his part to confront gun violence in America.
Guttenberg’s daughter Jaime was killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland. Pelosi had invited him to attend the State of Union speech. [...]
Tuesday, as Trump finished saying, “So long as I am president, I will always protect your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms,” Republicans began to cheer. Guttenberg, sitting with the South Florida delegation, likely fumed at the president’s total dismissal of America’s gun-violence problem.
As the cheers quieted, Guttenberg could be briefly heard in the chamber saying: “victims of gun violence like my daughter . . .”
Security came and took Guttenberg away as the shocked members of the delegation sitting around him watched.
But the real gift to the MAGA base was a brilliant reality-TV moment, one designed to fill their hearts with joy and make every liberal in America's head explode. There is no one Trump could have brought into the Capitol who could possibly have been more offensive to Democrats everywhere than Rush Limbaugh. He is among the top five people in the country responsible for the utter degradation of American politics over the past 30 years. Trump would not be president were it not for the odious path Limbaugh laid out. So naturally, when he found out that Limbaugh had been diagnosed with cancer, he invited him to a joint session of Congress as his special guest.
Trump extolled Limbaugh's virtues as Republicans ecstatically cheered, then announced that he was presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and instructed First Lady Melania to put it around his neck right then and there. The moment was oddly redolent of Trump's old beauty-pageant days with Limbaugh playing the role of the surprised winner:
He wasn't actually surprised. It had been announced earlier. But that's reality TV for you.
It appears that Nancy Pelosi knows how to do reality show politics as well.
She was asked on her way out why she did it and she replied, "Because it was a manifesto of mistruths."
Authoritarian societies protect the powerful — not the poor or vulnerable — and Trump made that clear in boasting about tax policies that largely benefit the ultra-rich and major corporations. He lied about supporting workers’ rights and “restoring manufacturing rights” even as he continues to implement regulatory roll-backs that endanger both the environment and the health of workers and many other people in the U.S. His claim that he has launched the great American comeback is laced with death-dealing policies that range from criminalizing social problems, demonizing and punishing undocumented immigrants and their children, and laying claim to ultra-nationalist and white supremacist rhetoric that echoes the social and racial cleansing policies of earlier fascist societies. When Trump says in his speech “our families are flourishing,” he leaves out the misery and suffering he has inflicted on the many people who don’t fit into his white Christian notion of the public sphere, as well as on the immigrants and other people of color whom he has deemed disposable. [...]
Trump unapologetically aligned himself with the war-mongering militaristic policies that one expects in fascist societies. His most fascistic statements centered around celebrating Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, conflating undocumented immigrants with “criminals,” and describing sanctuary cities as a threat to American security and safety. Meanwhile he bragged about stacking the federal courts with right-wing judges and expressed admiration for the two right-wing Supreme Court justices he has appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump’s State of the Union reeked with the mobilizing passions of fascism, including invocations of extreme nationalism and calls for the expansion of military power, as well as outright racism, lawlessness, contempt for dissent and anti-immigrant bigotry.
Climate-friendly billionaires are a bit of a paradox. Their multihome, private-jet lifestyles spew prodigious amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Even those who donate massively to environmental causes tend to be doing more to warm the earth than your average meat-eating car-driver subsisting below the poverty line.
There are two such paradoxical beings in the 2020 Democratic primary. Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg—each claiming to be champions of the planet—are running for president. If either of them really cared about the planet, there’s a better way to show that: by spending the money they’re currently blowing on their presidential campaigns on supporting Democrats in just about any other race, in the hopes of making climate change–fighting legislation a reality in 2021.
You’d be forgiven for reading these long-shot campaigns as a shopping spree. As reporter Alex Kotch pointed out, Bloomberg gave $320,000 to the Democratic National Committee in November for the first time since 1998. Last week, the DNC announced it would drop the individual donor threshold that kept him off the debate stage, breaking rules the body swore were sacred when it refused to modify its plans in order to hold a climate debate this summer. Tom Steyer bought his entry the honest way, with millions of dollars’ worth of advertising.
New Hampshire is known for its early primary election but is often on the political periphery the rest of the time. During this long presidential primary season, some, including candidate Julián Castro (who has since dropped out), called for deprioritizing the New Hampshire primary because the state doesn’t represent the demographics of the country at large. According to the last census, it’s one of the whitest states in the country, and its total population is about the same as that of Memphis, Tennessee, or Richmond, Virginia. But for 2020, some young people in the state, driven by climate anxiety and the recent rise of youth activism, are fighting to make the state’s progressive political spaces more representative and inclusive, while bringing some of the issues youth voters care about to the fore.
The New Hampshire Youth Movement has run a program this past month called Party at the Primary, inviting youth organizers from all over the country to come visit New Hampshire, swelling the ranks of volunteers in exchange for the opportunity to build canvassing skills and get direct access to the campaigning candidates. The program is funded in large part by the Sunrise Movement, the youth climate organizing group that is pushing the Green New Deal.
“The idea for this program came from sharing the privilege of our first-in-the-nation primary with people from other states, bringing people from all across the country, especially swing states and other important primaries, and getting them up here,” said Quincy. “Obviously to help us out by knocking doors, making calls, talking to candidates, but also to help them out to give them the skills to run ‘get out the vote’ programs in their home state, and to get some of that energy and electricity that comes from being in New Hampshire within a month of the primary.” Josie Pinto, a regional organizer for NHYM, added that the program helps New Hampshire “be a leader in uplifting more diverse voices, even if they don’t come from our organization.”
Americans elected Donald Trump, who insisted climate change was a hoax – so it’s no surprise that since taking office he’s been all-in for the fossil fuel industry. There’s no sense despairing; the energy is better spent fighting to remove him from office.
Canada, on the other hand, elected a government that believes the climate crisis is real and dangerous – and with good reason, since the nation’s Arctic territories give it a front-row seat to the fastest warming on Earth. Yet the country’s leaders seem likely in the next few weeks to approve a vast new tar sands mine which will pour carbon into the atmosphere through the 2060s. They know – yet they can’t bring themselves to act on the knowledge. Now that is cause for despair.
The Teck mine would be the biggest tar sands mine yet: 113 square miles of petroleum mining, located just 16 miles from the border of Wood Buffalo national park. A federal panel approved the mine despite conceding that it would likely be harmful to the environment and to the land culture of Indigenous people. These giant tar sands mines (easily visible on Google Earth) are already among the biggest scars humans have ever carved on the planet’s surface. But Canadian authorities ruled that the mine was nonetheless in the “public interest”.
[...] The speech was full of audacious—and characteristically inaccurate—claims: “our economy is the best it has ever been”; the “average unemployment rate … is lower than any administration in the history of our country”; and “wages are rising fast.”
The reality, however, doesn’t match Trump’s rhetoric. [...]
In 2019, for instance, the gap between the richest and poorest households in the United States reached its highest point in more than 50 years. The number of Americans without health insurance continues to climb following years of declines since the passage and implementation of Obamacare. And household debt is now in excess of $14 trillion, exceeding the pre-recession high.
Even with low unemployment, wage growth is lagging. The most recent employment report reported wages increasing by just 2.9 percent over the last year. With inflation at 2.1 percent, that’s not much of a pay raise. To the extent that wage growth has picked up in recent months, a major contributor has been increases in state and local minimum wages that Republicans and the president opposed.
Trump’s signature legislative accomplishment, the 2017 tax cut, has produced none of its promised benefits, including the $4,000 pay raise that he and his allies promised to American workers. In fact, as a result of the tax cut, 91 companies in the Fortune 500 paid no federal taxes last year. The country’s six biggest banks saved $32 billion at the same time that they laid off more than 1,000 employees. [...]
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ~~Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1996)
On this date at Daily Kos in 2012—Komen's hypocrisy: Let us count the ways:
When an organization adopts a purportedly blanket policy as cover for undertaking a biased action, the natural laws of the universe (at least of the PR universe) mandate that said policy wrap tightly back on an organization like a pink straitjacket woven with threads of hypocrisy and gall.
That the Susan G. Komen Foundation thought it could get away with stripping funding for Planned Parenthood is not surprising. One of the nation's biggest charities is likely to have some hubris in that regard. That they hired Ari Fleisher to manage the policy rollout and got, well, Ari Fleisher'd is not terribly remarkable either. That the media bought the Komen half-hearted, quasi-sorta reversal as some complete 180 that guaranteed Planned Parenthood funding was also to be expected.
What I didn't expect was that this scandal would still, days later, be a never-ending black hole filled with excuses, contradictions and confusion. It's a marathon of a scandal, and Komen doesn't look to be in any shape to finish strong. […]
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Greg Dworkin joins us for another day in the swirling vortex (or toilet bowl) of the Iowa caucuses, impeachment, and the State of the Reality TV address (SORTA). Ever wonder what was behind the whole Burisma angle? They never talk about that.
This afternoon, Senate Republicans will vote almost certainly with unanimity to acquit Donald Trump of the charges included in two impeachment articles brought against him—abuse of power and obstruction of justice. If that acquittal wasn’t already completely obvious, all doubt was removed last night by the enthusiastic fawning over the lawless Donald J. Trump’s spew of fabrications, exaggerations, and braggadocio in a speech of vindication and denial applauded by men and women who really, clearly don’t care about the gaping wound their decision will leave in constitutional norms. Not yet fatal to democracy, but this gives Trump the freedom to do something that could be.
Fourteen of those Republican senators who will vote today also voted on the impeachment of Bill Clinton 21 years ago. Eight of them, then members of the House, voted in favor of two articles of impeachment—perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath. Six others, who were already in the Senate then and still are, voted to convict Clinton. As you might guess, they had very different things to say about impeachment and what was impeachable at the time than they have said lately.
Below are some of their remarks during Clinton’s impeachment.
First, a look at the eight current Republican senators who were members of the House in 1998-99. All eight voted in favor of the articles of impeachment against Clinton.
Roy Blunt (Missouri)
"No president can be allowed to subvert the judiciary or thwart the investigative responsibility of the legislature," Blunt said, adding that Clinton had committed "serious felonious acts that strike at the heart of our judicial system. [...] Violating these oaths or causing others to impede the investigation into such acts are serious matters that meet the standard for impeachment."
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
"Our entire legal system is dependent on our ability to find the truth. That is why perjury and obstruction of justice are crimes," Crapo said. "Perjury and obstruction of justice are public crimes that strike at the heart of the rule of law — and therefore our freedom — in America."
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
He was one of the House impeachment managers in Clinton’s trial. "He doesn't have to say, 'Go lie for me,' to be a crime. He doesn't have to say, 'Let's obstruct justice,' for it to be a crime. You judge people on their conduct, not a magic phrase," Graham said. “[Impeachment is] not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office."
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
"I choose to be on the side that says no person is above the law; that this is a nation of laws, not men; that telling the truth matters; and that we should expect our public officials to conduct themselves in compliance with the highest ethical standards," Moran said.
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Portman said, “For myself, I believe the evidence of serious wrongdoing is simply too compelling to be swept aside. I am particularly troubled by the clear evidence of lying under oath in that it must be the bedrock of our judicial system.” He followed up with a press statement after he had voted, saying: “Committing perjury, obstructing justice and abusing the power of the presidency violate the rule of law that all citizens—even the president—must obey.”
John Thune (South Dakota)
Thune said, "There is one standard of justice that applies equally to all, and to say or do otherwise will undermine the most sacred of all American ideals. President Clinton has committed federal crimes, and there must be a reckoning, or no American shall ever again be prosecuted for those same crimes."
Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Burr said, "The United States is a nation of laws, not men. And I do not believe we can ignore the facts or disregard the constitution so that the president can be placed above the law."
Roger Wicker (Mississippi)
Wicker said that if Clinton urged Monica Lewinsky to lie, it "would amount to a federal felony, and that would mean serious, serious problems for President Clinton."
And here are the six Republicans who were in the Senate in 1998-99 and voted to convict Clinton:
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Grassley said that Clinton's “misdeeds have caused many to mistrust elected officials. Cynicism is swelling among the grass roots. His breach of trust has eroded the public's faith in the office of the presidency." The "true tragedy" of the case, he said, was "the collapse of the president's moral authority." He co-signed a statement during the impeachment proceedings pointing out that federal law "criminalizes anyone who corruptly persuades or engages in misleading conduct with the intent to influence the testimony of any person in an official proceeding."
Mike Enzi (Wyoming)
Bill Clinton "was intending to influence the testimony of a likely witness in a federal civil rights proceeding," Enzi said. "President Clinton was, in fact, trying to get Betty Currie to join him in his web of deception and obstruction of justice."
Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Along with five other Republican senators, including Jeff Sessions and Pat Roberts, Inhofe signed a statement during the impeachment proceedings nothing that federal law "criminalizes anyone who corruptly persuades or engages in misleading conduct with the intent to influence the testimony of any person in an official proceeding."
Mitch McConnell (Kentucky)
McConnell said in a statement, "Do we want to retain President Clinton in office, or do we want to retain our honor, our principle, and our moral authority? For me, and for many members in my impeachment-fatigued party, I choose honor." He added, "The president of the United States looked 270 million Americans in the eye, and lied, deliberately and methodically. He took an oath to faithfully execute the laws of this nation, and he violated that oath. He pledged to be the nation's chief law enforcement officer, and he violated that pledge. He took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and he willfully and repeatedly violated that oath."
Pat Roberts (Kansas)
In a statement, Roberts said that Clinton had sought to block the investigation into his actions. "Do these actions rise to the level envisioned by our founding fathers in the Constitution as 'high crimes and misdemeanors' so warranting removal from office? Our Constitution requires that the threshold for that judgment must be set by each senator sitting as a juror. Again, I believe an open-minded individual applying Kansas common sense would reach the conclusion that I reached."
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
The senator said after voting, “After reviewing the evidence, I believe that the House managers proved beyond a reasonable doubt that President Clinton obstructed justice. Therefore, I voted for his conviction and removal for the offenses charged in Article II. However, I do not believe that the House managers met the legal requirements of proving perjury beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, I voted against conviction and removal for the offenses charged in Article I.”
For your reading displeasure, let me also include the words of then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, since he could return to the Senate next year:
It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty that President William Jefferson Clinton perjured himself before a federal grand jury and has persisted in a continuous pattern of lying and obstructing justice. The chief law enforcement officer of the land, whose oath of office calls on him to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, crossed the line and failed to defend and protect the law and, in fact, attacked the law and the rights of a fellow citizen. Under our Constitution, equal justice requires that he forfeit his office. For these reasons, I felt compelled to vote to convict and remove the President from office. ...
“It is crucial to our system of justice that we demand the truth. I fear that an acquittal of this president will weaken the legal system by providing an option for those who consider being less than truthful in court. Whereas the handling of the case against President Nixon clearly strengthened the nation's respect for law, justice and truth, the Clinton impeachment may unfortunately have the opposite result.
A study by British and American scientists revealed that a massive sheet of ice known as the "doomsday glacier" is melting faster than experts previously believed—edging the world closer to a possible sea level rise of more than 10 feet.
Researchers at New York University and the British Antarctic Survey drilled through nearly 2,000 feet of ice in the Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica, to measure temperatures at the 75-mile wide ice sheet's "grounding line," where the ice meets the ocean.
The water just beneath the ice was found to be 32º Fahrenheit—more than 2º above freezing temperature in the Antarctic region.
The findings have "huge implications for global sea level rise," NYU scientist David Holland said in a statement. [...]
Scientists refer to Thwaites as the "doomsday glacier" due to the dire implications its rapid melting could have for the planet. Though a 10-foot sea level rise would likely take years, the melting of the glacier could eventually mean the U.S. would lose 28,800 square miles of coastal land—pushing 12.3 million people currently living in those areas out of their homes.
"Warm waters in this part of the world, as remote as they may seem, should serve as a warning to all of us about the potential dire changes to the planet brought about by climate change," Holland said.
At Daily Kos on this date in 2010—It’s the Stupid Sex, Stupid:
After years of warning the Bush administration and social conservatives that abstinence-only education does not stop teens from having sex, nor does it prevent teen pregnancy, a new study by the Guttmacher Institute confirms what many have feared: that deliberately misinforming teens about sex can have serious consequences and that comprehensive sex education, in addition to the availability of contraception, is the best way to reduce teen pregnancy rates.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: The Trump impeachment trial could wrap up today. Even in two hours, it's impossible to unpack the entirety of what that may mean. Unless it means nothing whatsoever, because LOL/YOLO/NM. By the way, WTF did Burisma supposedly do, exactly?
Before celebrities and their publicists figured out that a goofy, faux-homeboy named Ali G was actually the smart, edgy comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, a succession of political and cultural figures – Newt Gingrich, C Everett Koop, James Baker, Gore Vidal, EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman, among others – agreed to sit for televised interviews with the “rapper.” Almost always, Ali G’s calculatedly crass, good-humored stupidity brought out his subjects’ petty vanity and condescension, their humorless self-importance. The unmaskings – the glimpses of bad character – were at once horrifying and hilarious.
I thought of those episodes while listening to NPR journalist Mary Louise Kelly’s January 24 interview with secretary of state Mike Pompeo. One imagines Pompeo or his staffers assuming that a pretty blonde woman with such a good-girl name, Mary Louise Kelly, would lob softballs and take notes as he explained the government’s Iran policy. Someone must have failed to do due diligence, alerting the secretary to Kelly’s paradoxically calm and hard-hitting approach, to the unperturbed persistence with which – in interviews and in reporting from Russia, China and Iran – she has pursued the facts.
When a college basketball player shoots free throws, he can expect opposing fans sitting behind the basket to wave their arms, shout and hold up clever signs to distract his focus from the rim. During opening arguments at the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, his lawyers attempted the same tactics.
A former colleague once used the analogy to free throws during a trial in the prosecution of a massive fraud case. She asked members of the jury to maintain focus on their mission of finding the facts after the defense offered a number of irrelevant arguments to distract them from their job. Similarly, Trump’s team offered several arguments to divert public attention from a quest for the truth.
One bit of arm waving that Trump’s lawyers have engaged in is the argument that House managers are attempting to undo an election. White House counsel Pat Cipollone argued that Democrats are asking the Senate to “tear up every ballot” from the 2016 election, characterizing impeachment as an affront to democracy. But our Constitution includes impeachment to protect our citizens from a leader who abuses his power. Concerned about a monarch with too much power, the framers specifically included a method for removing a president from office. If impeachment were improper because it reversed an election, then no impeachment of a president could ever occur. Our Constitution provides otherwise.
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"... there is nothing unusual about quid pro quos in presidential calls. Diplomacy often is about asking your counterpart to do something for your country in return for something you can deliver." But leveraging public goods for private gain is NOT diplomacy; that's corruption. https://t.co/4ot27Dn44m
For some time, I was against the Democrats’ offering any Biden as a witness in Mr. Trump’s trial, on principle. Just because the Republicans want to batter Hunter Biden is no reason to submit either him or his father as fodder to hostile Republicans. But principle can be turned on its head; calling Hunter Biden could backfire on the Republicans big time. [...]
Having Joe Biden’s son testify would illuminate the Bidens’ irrelevance to the issue of whether the president held up congressionally appropriated military assistance for Ukraine until the Ukrainian president announced — not necessarily conducted, just announced — a government investigation into the Bidens’ role. An appearance by Hunter before Senate questioners now could also go some distance toward removing him as an issue in the general election, should his father be the Democratic nominee. In fact, Hunter could be the star witness as to why a president’s (or vice president’s) offspring should stay out of any business that might have something to do with their parents’ job.
— Jared Kushner, on the conflict in the Middle East
Hello! I’m a relative of your doctor, and I am here to perform your open-heart surgery. [...]
Please lie back and stop attempting to struggle. In case you might worry that I am not qualified to perform this surgery: I read 25 books. So you are in good hands. No, I have not done this before, but in a way, that makes me actually more competent. When I look at you, I don’t see all the problems people saw before: an aorta, and ventricles, and the little tube thing that pokes out. I just see solutions. I am going to put your heart together in a way that has never been tried, but I can guarantee (I read 25 books) that it will make everything 100 percent better, using synergies.
Sasha Abramsky at The Nation writes—Trump Acts Like a Mafia Don—and GOP Senators Yawn. Day by day, tweet by presidential tweet, the country retreats from its democratic premise, yet the grandees of the GOP decline to intervene:
Day by day, tweet by tweet, the country retreats from its democratic premise, this great experiment in pluralism wilts a little more, and the prospect of violence in the political process grows, yet the grandees of the GOP, running scared of its base, declines to intervene.
Former national security adviser John Bolton lets it be known that Trump personally told him that releasing aid to Ukraine was tied to the latter’s announcement of an investigation into the Bidens—and the revelation is met with yawns from GOP senators.
Bolton wants to be a Senate witness, yet majority leader Mitch McConnell’s caucus is terrified that he will blow apart the GOP’s hear-no-evil/see-no-evil strategy. So they pretend his testimony is a nonstarter. The rapidity with which a great democracy has sunk into cultist politics is terrifying.
Lev Parnas produces an audio recording of Trump demanding that his acolytes “take her out,” referring to then–Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Trump sounds just like a Mafia don ordering a hit, yet the GOP meets this revelation of thuggery with silence. It’s now apparently acceptable for the president to “take out” ambassadors who stand in the way of his corrupt machinations.
“This is Kavanaugh all over again,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters on Monday. Soon it was the company line. [...]
Republicans are framing the revelation—from a book manuscript by former national security adviser John Bolton obtained by the New York Times—as a last-minute gimmick, a desperate attempt to change the rules of a game that’s already in progress. Bolton can’t be trusted, and besides, it’s way too late! The House had its chance to get Bolton on the record, the argument goes, and the Senate should not let the development sidetrack it from a case that’s already been laid out. Otherwise you risk losing control of the whole process and creating a partisan spectacle that needlessly tarnishes the reputation of a good man. (The good man, to be clear, is Donald Trump.)
This is, as Barrasso intimates, the basic story Republicans have told themselves about Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for more than a year. Kavanaugh was on his way to confirmation when Christine Blasey Ford came forward to allege that he had sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers in Washington, DC. Under pressure, the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to hold a new hearing to question Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh.
But the lesson of the Kavanaugh hearings wasn’t the effectiveness of Democratic gamesmanship; it was the power of stonewalling. Blasey Ford was unambiguous about what had happened (“indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter,” as she put it), and offered a roadmap for further investigation. But none of it mattered, because Senate Republicans did not want to know what had really happened. They were not interested in figuring out, definitively, whether their nominee for the Supreme Court had sexually assaulted someone, and whether he was lying about that or anything else (for instance: his drinking). They did not want to uncover information that would change their minds, so they constructed an elaborate public ritual to help them not find out.
Donald Trump’s digital advantage may be freaking out Democratic strategists, but what should worry everyone is the technology itself. What makes Trump’s operation so formidable is not so much his investment in digital or any particular architecture that he’s built. It’s more that he’s able to take advantage of monitoring people through their cell phones.
To be clear, the Democrats can and will do the exact same thing. The problem isn’t the candidate, but the capability.
Thomas Edsall discusses this in a piece for the New York Times. It begins with geofencing, a practice that involves tracking every cell phone that enters a predefined area, like a church or MAGA rally. Armed with these phone numbers, identities can be sussed out from other commercial databases, and then people can be sorted by how frequently they vote, their party registration (if any), and all manner of personal information.
It’s possible, we suppose, that former Rep. Darrell Issa didn’t realize his TV ad attacking a GOP rival, Carl DeMaio, in the 50th Congressional District primary race could be seen as gay-baiting. The ad, ostensibly about DeMaio’s stance on immigration and President Trump, includes two gratuitous references to the fact that DeMaio is gay.
But others did make the connection, including the chair of the San Diego County Republican Party, who called the ad “highly inappropriate.” For any honorable candidate, this would have been the moment to apologize for any unintentional (assuming it was unintentional) messaging and agree to stop running the ad. Instead, Issa continues to stand by it. [...]
This district just emerged a few weeks ago from the disgraceful era of Duncan Hunter, who stepped down from Congress this month after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds. Hunter also exploited inflammatory tropes in attack ads against his Democratic challenger in 2018. It was bad enough that voters in this district rewarded him with another term. They should demand better from whoever replaces him.
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Dear - @GOP & @WhiteHouse - Who can I contact to verify this claim? Where are the locations?What are the companies?Who are the workers? https://t.co/LhwOGuBqQD
On Sunday, tens of millions of Americans will tune in to Super Bowl LIV to watch Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs try to crack the nut that is the San Francisco 49ers defense. After the fourth quarter comes to a close and the clock reads triple zeros, the fans, casual and devoted alike, will turn off their televisions or change the channel. They probably won’t think twice about the Kansas City team name or the “tomahawk chop” and redface that Kansas City fans will almost certainly bring to the stadium in Miami.
The contours of the issue are familiar, playing out on repeat in the decades since the tomahawk chop first emerged out of Florida State and made its way to Kansas City, Atlanta, and countless high schools across the country: Native people have protested the cartoonish racism and appropriation, while the franchises, team owners, and local legislators—with varying degrees of malice—have ignored these protests or deflected criticism. Papers put out polls on whether readers believe something that is very obviously racist is actually a problem. Public relations firms are paid to craft campaigns to preserve team names as tradition or some kind of perverse tribute. And then the teams play. Fans watch. Some people make money. Everyone goes home.
The mascot issue is not about whether Native people have been properly polled. It is not a question of American ignorance. It’s that the people with the most power in this situation—the owners, the franchises—know exactly what they’re doing and don’t care. And in the face of much morepressingmaterial concerns, it’s true that a fair number of Native people might not care much, either, which is a sentiment I’ve heard from members of my own family and tribe.
Kate Aronoff at The New Republic writes—Selling the Green New Deal to Texas Unions. The AFL-CIO's endorsement of Mike Siegel suggests a new way forward for environmentalists and labor:
Texas’s 10th Congressional District stretches, improbably, from the outer fringes of the Houston metro area to suburbs west of Austin. After sending Democrats to Congress for over 100 years, it has voted for Republican Representative Michael McCaul in every election since its 2005 redistricting. Two years ago, Mike Siegel—a civil rights lawyer and labor activist running on an ambitious progressive platform—came within five points of flipping the district back to blue. This year, campaigning as a Green New Deal supporter, he’s hoping to finish the job. Influential Democratic Party groups like Emily’s List have lined up behind his primary opponent, corporate lawyer Shannon Hutcheson, who fits a more typical profile of Democrats running for red seats. Having been dual-endorsed by the Houston-based Texas Gulf Coast Labor Federation, Siegel and Hutcheson battled it out for the Texas AFL-CIO endorsement, which Siegel had won in 2018. The endorsement was announced at the regional federation’s Committee on Political Education, or COPE, Convention in Austin this past weekend, and while Siegel won it again, his harder-fought victory this cycle offers a preview of what it will take to win labor’s support for a new generation of climate policies.
Siegel and his supporters spent last weekend in nearly round-the-clock meetings with unions, some of whose international leaderships have previously spoken against the Green New Deal. “Everybody throws in something about a just transition when they talk about taking on climate change,” Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO, told me. “But I think there’s concern about how central workers’ issues are going to be to that process.… It’s just really hard when you’re in that industry, particularly in a place like Texas,” Levy said of unionized fossil fuel workers in the Right to Work state. “You see all these slings and arrows headed your way to your livelihood, climate change being one of them.” The Green New Deal, he told me, “is either the panacea or the devil, depending on where you’re coming from.”
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Schiff: "Alan Dershowitz lost a criminal case in which he argued that if a corrupt motive was only part of the motive, you can't convict. And the court said, 'oh yes, you can' ... So he's lost that argument before, he makes that argument again before this court."
With six days until the Iowa caucuses, the political establishment has arrived at a troubling realization: It might be time to take this Bernie Sanders guy seriously. In the past few days, polls have shown Sanders breaking dramatically from the pack in Iowa and New Hampshire. Polls have shown him leading in Super Tuesday states California and Utah, while he’s climbed meaningfully in early states Nevada and South Carolina.
In the aftermath of Sanders’s ascendancy, various corporate gatekeepers and big-money representatives are scrambling—with little coherence or success—to put together a last-minute campaign to slow him down. The justification for such action, of course, is that the political establishment and their corporate henchmen, self-styled paragons of pragmatism and stewards of lucid, sober thinking, need to protect the electorate from a wild-eyed radical who is dangerously out of touch with America.
But the last-second freakout tells us less about the Sanders campaign than about those political elites themselves, whose political instincts are so alarmingly wrongheaded that they’ve managed to ignore an obvious risk to their continued status until a week before voting begins. If anyone has revealed themselves as inept to the point of disqualification, it’s the anti-Sanders neighborhood watch.
Sanders has been in the race since last February, which means he’s spent some 350 days shattering donation records, building a committed fan base of millions, and never exiting the top three in polling, while spending the majority of the race in second place. Meanwhile, he’s run up a long list of high-profile endorsements from prominent politicians and celebrities. This is not someone who snuck up on the field.
Cedar Falls, Iowa—A roar of approval filled the packed ballroom on the University of Northern Iowa campus when Black Hawk County Supervisor Chris Schwartz reminded hundreds of Iowans that, almost two decades ago, “It was Bernie Sanders who stood up to George Bush and said no to war!”
The applause was just as loud a few minutes later, when Congressional Progressive Caucus cochair Mark Pocan, from neighboring Wisconsin, told the Iowans he was barnstorming for Sanders because “Yes! We must stop endless wars!”
The national media has moved on from discussing the prospect that President Trump’s decision to kill a key Iranian general had brought the Middle East to “the brink of war.” But concerns about issues of war and peace—which briefly upended the national debate in early January—continue to influence the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. That’s benefiting Sanders, especially in Iowa.
Everything old is new again. If American workers are ever to emerge from the economic insecurity and political powerlessness that are so characteristic of our second, contemporary Gilded Age, they are likely to rediscover some of the innovations in labor policy and corporate governance that emerged more than a century ago in that first era of social inequality and capitalist excess.
That’s because the structure of capitalism today, and the legal framework that sustains it, evokes many of the same social and economic pathologies that made Americans of that bygone era question the future of US democracy itself.
It has never been just a question of inequality: robber barons then, and the rise of a politically potent billionaire class today. Rather, the two Gilded Ages are similar because at both times a new and disruptive reconfiguration of American capitalism has made necessary a radical set of policies designed to democratize the world of work and empower a multiracial working class.
A bold and comprehensive report from Harvard’s Labor and Worklife Program, “A Clean Slate for Worker Power: Building a Just Economy and Democracy,” offers twenty-first-century reformers an innovative set of policy ideas challenging corporate power in our time.
It was with something like slack-jawed amazement that I read Dominic Patten’s on-the-ground report from Sundance chronicling attendees’ disgust and amazement at the testimony in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial. The Deadline reporter’s missive reads almost like parody, a communique from an Armando Iannucci-esque parallel universe where Hollywood swells hope and pray that the country is a nation of easily misled rubes. [...]
Patten, wandering around Sundance, found a number of industry bigshots who were shocked, shocked to learn that Weinstein was a world-class monster. The quotes are stunning both in their content and in the fact that they were still, despite Weinstein’s defenestration, delivered anonymously. [...]
All of which is to say it’s a little bit rich to hear the good visitors to Park City profess their disgust with Weinstein. It’s hard to take any of this seriously — especially when it’s offered up anonymously — as a real bit of soul-searching or examination of the predations of the movie profession. Indeed, it reads much more as a bit of rear-end-covering, a way to profess innocence without actually having to put a name to a statement of ignorance.
Yet, as seems the norm today, the press is attaching more weight to the words of a single extremist than to the mountain of careful evidence amassed by some of the most sober and level-headed people elected to Congress.
“Even the well-known conservative X has a problem with Y” is the general structure of the argument. As if somehow the gold standard for what is reasonable and factual is not whether a statement is factually true or an argument is logical and reasonable. A right winger also has to agree, the more extreme the better, or there is no reason to accept it.
“All that area from which the Gore family comes was solid Democrat and progressive under Roosevelt for several decades. So they just didn't become Republicans because they all wanted to be bankers. They became Republicans because they didn't like black people, and they thought the Democrats were pushing integration too fast. And that's how the great split came about, to the shame of the whole country.”
~~Gore Vidal, Interview with Paul Jay, July 5, 2009.
At Daily Kos on this date in 2003—War opposition still increasing:
Yet another poll is showing increased opposition to Bush’s new war in Iraq. The USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll has opposition at 43 percent, up from 38 percent Jan 10-12. Actual support from the invasion is at 52 percent.
Of course, those numbers could move over to the "support" column if either the US or UK present evidence of Iraqi non-compliance. As of yet, all we’re hearing is the same "trust us, we have evidence" bullshit, while all CIA leads to the weapons inspectors have come up empty.
There may also be movement in the polls following the president's SOTU address, though it will be interesting to watch how long any such "bounce" will last. And it will also be interesting how the markets react, not just the Wednesday after the speech, but two weeks out. Bush may claim to ignore polls, but it'll be increasingly difficult to ignore his Wall Street supporters. War jitters alone continue to pound the market today.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Greg Dworkin rounds up a million years of news from a weekend that passed in a flash. Pompeo's map debacle. Bolton's book. Parnas' tape. Iowa and New Hampshire are looming. Not to mention the Kobe story. So, what excuses can Rs use to hang on?
