Dispatches

McCONNELL’S ‘STAY OUT OF POLITICS’ WARNING TO CORPORATIONS DOESN’T SEEM TO BE WORKING. Apparently Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s threat to corporations to “stay out of politics” didn’t have the result he intended. Big business seems to be getting more serious about pushing back as Republicans continue to push voter suppression measures in states across the country, Laura Clawson noted at DailyKos (4/12). More than 100 top corporate executives joined a Zoom call (4/10) to discuss how to apply pressure against such legislation, the Washington Post reported.

Companies represented included Delta, American, United, Starbucks, Target, LinkedIn, Levi Strauss and Boston Consulting Group, as well as Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, the Post reported, and the discussion included “potential ways to show they opposed the legislation, including by halting donations to politicians who support the bills and even delaying investments in states that pass the restrictive measures.”

The call, which lasted over an hour, “shows they are not intimidated by the flak. They are not going to be cowed,” according to an organizers, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale management professor. “They felt very strongly that these voting restrictions are based on a flawed premise and are dangerous.”

That “flawed premise” is in fact Donald Trump’s big lie, which even Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has made clear, saying on CNN, “This is really the fallout from the 10 weeks of misinformation that flew in from former President Donald Trump.”

Before Georgia passed the instantly notorious voter suppression law that started the blowback from corporations, some top Georgia businesses worked behind the scenes to try to blunt the bill’s worst provisions. But once the law passed, they saw that that wasn’t going to cut it, prompting the more public corporate opposition to attacks on voting rights.

Republicans in Georgia responded to that corporate opposition with threats of retaliation, including a failed (for now) attempt to strip Delta Air Lines of a major tax break. In Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claimed: “Texans are fed up with corporations that don’t share our values trying to dictate public policy.” And, of course, there was that “warning” from McConnell, though he quickly tried to walk it back a little when he saw how badly it played.

Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to protect the right to vote and expand access to voting, from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms trying to mitigate the impact of the new Georgia anti-voting law to US House Democrats passing historic voting reforms—which, of course, Senate Republicans are blocking. But this can’t be framed as a partisan fight. It’s about whether the United States really values its democracy. Whether voting is a right that all eligible people can equally access, or a privilege easily extended to some while others are forced to overcome barrier after barrier to use it. Whether our voting laws are made in the name of justice or in the name of Trump’s big lie. If you’re on the wrong side of that, it’s not a routine partisan issue. It’s a stain on your name and on your soul.

REPUBLICAN MEGADONORS HAD HIGH HOPES FOR WEEKEND RETREAT. THEN TRUMP TOOK THE STAGE. Wealthy Republican donors were reportedly ready for a big weekend in Palm Beach with the Republican National Committee, chock full of strategizing, power points, and a clear vision to regaining congressional majorities in 2022, Kerry Eleveld noted at DailyKos (4/12).

Instead, they received a weekend of misdirection and deflation courtesy of Donald Trump, who delivered the keynote address Saturday night (4/10) at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But Trump effectively hung over the entire getaway like a dark cloud of grievance, always at the ready to rain on Republicans’ revival parade after he cost them the House, the Senate and the White House.

In fact, the best framework for assessing the complicating factor of Trump as Republicans try to retake the House and the Senate is viewing it through the lens of the shadow he cast over the January runoff bids of Georgia’s two GOP senators. Try as they might, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue couldn’t escape the pall of Trump’s capriciousness and endless grousing long enough to generate a coherent message that stood separate from Dear Loser.

Already, Trump is serving as the same foil to GOP efforts in the midterms. He’s competing with them for fundraising, urging his cultists to send their donations to his own Save America PAC instead of “RINOS,” or Republicans in Name Only. Trump currently has $85 million cash on hand to the RNC’s $84 million. He’s bent on making his perceived detractors pay for their disloyalty and demanding primaries that could hobble the GOP in the general election. And he simply cannot get past the fact that he was 2020’s biggest loser long enough to let anyone reimagine the future because, goddess forbid, what if he didn’t dominate that vision.

Politico’s Playbook reports that the GOP’s top donors went to Palm Beach “excited to be schmoozed,” eager for access to Trump, most importantly, expecting to learn how their largesse would help Republicans recapture Congress and ultimately the White House. 

“Trump’s speech didn’t do any of that,” writes Politico. One attendee offered this shocker about Trump’s keynote on the final night of the retreat: “It was horrible, it was long and negative.” Gee, never saw that coming. “It was dour. He didn’t talk about the positive things that his administration has done.” Like kill over half a million Americans and counting, we presume.

Trump praised the GOP’s most sociopathic governors, like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and South Dakota’s Kristi Noem. He fawned over one of the GOP’s most prolific disinformation spreaders, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Naturally, he also kneecapped his own sycophantic vice president, Mike Pence; lashed out at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for failing to deliver the state; and skewered Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a “dumb son of a bitch” and a “stone cold loser.” McConnell is loathsome, to be sure, but he did manage to win his reelect—a fact that must leave Trump seething with jealousy.  

Anyway, very uplifting stuff. So uplifting that Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, chief of the GOP Senate campaign arm, delivered a newly conceived award to Trump over the weekend amid his anti-McConnell rant—the NRSC’s “Champion for Freedom Award.” Oh, and speaking of freedom, who could forget to shower praise and adulation on attendees of Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, which preceded the deadly Capitol siege? According to the New York Times, Trump waxed nostalgic about the crowd, “admiring how large it was.” LOL. That crowd was estimated at tens of thousands at most—some 15,000 gathered south of the White House, with another 10,000 assembled outside the formal rally. The 800 or so who ultimately stormed the Capitol wreaked enormous havoc, but as Washington rallies go, the crowd that assembled at Trump’s urging was about as overwhelming as the attendance at his 2016 inauguration.

But bottom line, Trump’s diatribe was just a pitch perfect kickoff to the 2022 cycle. Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of GOP mega donors are pretty sick of it. Party officials are clearly desperate to reap the benefits of Trump’s cult following among working-class Americans, but many of the party’s well-heeled donor class are itching to move on. 

BIDEN WANTS TO SEND COVID VACCINES OVERSEAS, BUT TRUMP DEAL PROHIBITS SHARING SURPLUS. As of April 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a third of all Americans, and 42% of American adults, have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, with 171 million doses administered, and the Biden administration has a goal of 200 million shots by the end of April. Before the end of May, the US could see 75% of the population with at least one shot of vaccine. That is, unless Republican vaccine rejection stops the nation short of that goal, Mark Sumner noted at DailyKos (4/8).

The US has secured 300 million doses of vaccine each from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, 200 million from Johnson & Johnson and 100 million from Novovax.

That’s 1.2 billion total doses of vaccine, although AstraZeneca and Novovax have not been approved in the US yet. Some take two doses per person, but it should still be enough for 750 million people—more than twice the whole population of the US. Children included.

Making these big purchases up front, and adding millions more doses even when there were theoretically “enough” made sense because the goal was to get as much vaccine coming as quickly as possible, Sumner noted. But there’s no doubt that when all the smoke clears, the US will have a big vaccine surplus.

The obvious thing to do with all that extra vaccine is to give it away, Sumner noted. Without an effort to vaccinate the world, COVID-19 will likely become an endemic disease in many nations, and an ongoing problem for everyone.

But, Vanity Fair reports, there’s an issue.

The Biden administration definitely understands both the health and political benefits that could come from “vaccine diplomacy.” Not only would handing out big packages of vaccine help to protect the US from a resurgent pandemic, it could go a long way to mending relationships torn apart under Trump.

Only, well, this …

“The contracts the Trump administration signed with the vaccine manufacturers prohibit the U.S. from sharing its surplus doses with the rest of the world.

“The original agreements with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) all contain the same language: ‘The Government may not use, or authorize the use of, any products or materials provided under this Project Agreement, unless such use occurs in the United States.’ or US territories.”

The clauses in question are designed to ensure that the manufacturers retain liability protection, but they have had the effect of projecting the Trump administration’s America First agenda into the Biden era. “That is what has completely and totally prohibited the US from donating or reselling, because it would be in breach of contract,” said a senior administration official involved in the global planning effort to Vanity Fair. “It is a complete and total ban. Those legal parameters must change before we do anything to help the rest of the world.”

In a statement to Vanity Fair, a Defense Department spokesperson acknowledged the contract restrictions, saying: “DoD did attempt to negotiate terms that would allow the use of vaccine doses outside the US, but in some cases, the vaccine manufacturers refused.”

IN REPORT FULL OF HOLES, SHERIFF’S OFFICE CLEARS FEDERAL MARSHAL’S CONTRACTORS IN KILLING OF ANTIFA FUGITIVE. A local law enforcement agency tasked with investigating the death of antifascist Michael Reinoehl at the hands of federal Marshals Service contractors last September finally issued its report on the matter (3/31), it exonerated their actions, claiming that Reinoehl had fired first.

But David Neiwert of DailyKos noted (4/6) the report by Thurston County, Wash., Sheriff’s Office is full of contradictory and fairly obvious holes, and Reinoehl’s family is far from persuaded that he was not the victim of a summary extrajudicial execution encouraged by Donald Trump.

Among other claims, the report says Reinoehl fired at police first with his handgun. But that handgun was found in Reinoehl’s front pants pocket—with six full rounds in the magazine. The scenario the report depicts means he would have had to have fired a shot at police, reloaded the weapon, and stuck it back in his pants pocket before being killed by five shots to his head and torso as he emerged from the vehicle—which is unlikely at best.

An earlier, independent investigation by ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting raised serious issues about the Sept. 3 killing, the result of Reinoehl’s shooting of a far-right demonstrator named Aaron Danielson in downtown Portland on Aug. 29. The portrait that emerged of how the shooting transpired, including witnesses saying the police gave no warning and that Reinoehl did not display a gun, suggested that the 48-year-old fugitive was not arrested so much as he was simply executed.

Trump seemingly confirmed at an October campaign rally that this was the case, commenting approvingly on the killing by telling the audience in Greenville, N.C., that there was no intention of arresting Reinoehl:

“We sent in the US Marshals, it took 15 minutes and it was over ... They knew who he was, they didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes that ended. And they call themselves peaceful protesters.”

The shooting happened in the early evening. Reinoehl had been on the lam ever since the shooting of Danielson, and apparently was hiding out that day in a neighborhood near Lacey, Wash., some 119 miles north of Portland. He had given an interview to Vice magazine earlier in the day, telling the reporter that he had acted in self-defense. He was leaving the apartment where he had been in hiding, and had just gotten into his car when a cluster of SUVs containing US Marshals Service contractors descended and surrounded him.

“We could not confirm with 100% certainty that he fired out of the car because (investigators) couldn’t find the round or where it impacted,” Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Cameron Simper told the Seattle Times. “But we do believe that that’s what happened.”

The Thurston investigation concludes not only that Reinoehl fired first, but that he failed to comply with orders to surrender and was reaching for a gun in his possession when he was shot. However, other witnesses, including 21 people interviewed by the New York Times, said they did not hear officers identify themselves or give commands before opening fire.

“There was no, ‘Get out of the car!’ There was no, ‘Stop!’ There was no nothing. They just got out of the car and started shooting,” one witness said.

Another described it similarly: “There was no yelling. There was no screaming. There was no altercation. It was just straight to gunshots.”

Reinoehl’s family has a lot of questions about the report’s exoneration of law enforcement’s actions that day. Their attorney, Fred Langer of Seattle, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that investigators’ version of the facts of the case “absolutely strain credulity.”

Investigators haven’t released their full report, but the Thurston Sheriff’s Office said it had completed its review and turned it over to prosecutors for a final ruling on whether the killing was justified. It issued a two-page summary of findings that said, based on officer and witness statements, Reinoehl was reaching for a firearm in his possession.

Citing “witness statements,” the summary stated, “there was an exchange of gunfire, which was initiated by Reinoehl from inside his vehicle.”

A .380 caliber shell casing found in the back seat area of Reinoehl’s car came “from the pistol found in Reinoehl’s possession” after he was shot, according to the state crime lab, and the same gun was also linked to Danielson’s shooting in Portland, according to Simper.

However, Simper did not respond to the Seattle Times’ follow-up questions—notably, including whether those state forensics tests determined how recently Reinoehl’s gun had been fired.

Trump may have played a role in the officers’ apparent eagerness to kill Reinoehl. One hour before the fugitive was killed, the then-president had tweeted:

“Why aren’t the Portland Police ARRESTING the cold blooded killer of Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson. Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is. No wonder Portland is going to hell!”

Afterward, Attorney General William Barr issued a statement on the Justice Department letterhead that was equally bloodthirsty:

“The tracking down of Reinoehl—a dangerous fugitive, admitted Antifa member, and suspected murderer—is a significant accomplishment in the ongoing effort to restore law and order to Portland and other cities. I applaud the outstanding cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement, particularly the fugitive task force team that located Reinoehl and prevented him from escaping justice. The streets of our cities are safer with this violent agitator removed, and the actions that led to his location are an unmistakable demonstration that the United States will be governed by law, not violent mobs.”

Trump subsequently told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News: “This guy was a violent criminal, and the US Marshals killed him. And I’ll tell you something—that’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution.”

This all stood in stark contrast to how Trump led a right-wing parade of support for Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager who killed two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, Wis., in August. He remains free on bail.

Trump himself had openly sympathized with Rittenhouse. “That was an interesting situation,” he told a rally in Kenosha. “You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them. I guess it looks like he fell and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that we’re looking at right now, and it’s under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been—probably would have been killed, but it’s under investigation.”

FOUR RIGHT-WING ‘BOOGALOO BOIS’ INDICTED FOR OBSTRUCTING INVESTIGATION OF FEDERAL OFFICER’S MURDER LAST SUMMER. Four members of a militia group associated with the right-wing boogaloo movement were indicted(4/9) on charges of conspiring to obstruct an investigation into the shooting of two federal agents in Oakland, Calif. last May, Reuters reported (4/9).

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in San Francisco, alleged that the four conspired to destroy communications and other records related to the murder and attempted murder of two federal security officers in Oakland, the department said in a statement.

The accused men are Jessie Rush, 29, of Turlock, California, Robert Blancas, 33, a transient in the San Francisco Bay area, Simon Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos, California, and Kenny Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, California.

All are members of the militia groups 1st Detachment and 1st California Grizzly Scouts, the DOJ said.

The shootings happened amid protests against police brutality in the Bay Area following the death of George Floyd, NPR reported (4/9).

Steven Carillo, another person with alleged ties to Boogaloo, has already been charged with murder and attempted murder in connection to those two incidents. Authorities said Carrillo allegedly opened fire in front of a federal building in Oakland, killing Underwood and injuring another officer, the AP reported. In the Santa Cruz town of Ben Lemond on June 6, authorities said Carrillo attacked sheriff’s deputies who’d been responding to a report of a van containing explosive materials and other weapons, killing Gutzwiller and wounding several other law enforcement officials.

Last April, prosecutors said in the news release, the four indicted alleged Boogaloo members connected in a Facebook group bearing the signposts of the anti-government movement.

They’re facing 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine each.

AMIDST WAVE OF VOTER SUPPRESSION BILLS, SOME STATES EXPAND ACCESS TO BALLOT. The struggle for the right to vote is underway at state legislatures throughout the country. Following record voter turnout in the 2020 election, politicians are drumming up false concerns and baseless conspiracies about widespread voter fraud to justify suppressing the right to vote. More than 250 voter suppression bills have been introduced in 45 states. These bills seek to make it more difficult for people to register to vote, vote by mail, or vote in person, the ACLU noted (3/31). 

But voter suppression is only half of the story. In contrast, many other states have learned lessons from the successes of the 2020 election and are seeking to expand access to the ballot.

In Georgia, every method of casting a ballot is under attack. Iowa also has passed a voter suppression bill limiting early voting and vote by mail. A Florida bill seeks to severely restrict access to vote by mail. In Montana, registration and voting may become much more difficult, especially for Indigenous and rural voters.

However, Kentucky, Delaware, and Vermont are poised to expand access to the ballot. After learning beneficial lessons from the 2020 election, the Kentucky legislature is positioned to expand access to the ballot. The Kentucky Senate has approved a bill that will offer the opportunity to vote early to all voters in Kentucky. If passed, Kentucky will join 43 states and D.C. in providing in-person early voting.

In Delaware, the general assembly is considering a variety of measures to improve access to the ballot. Automatic voter registration and same-day registration will be considered this session. Additionally, many state legislators are pushing to amend the state constitution to allow no-excuse absentee voting, which will open the door to permanent vote by mail options for Delawareans.

The Vermont Senate recently passed a bill that would allow for universally mailed ballots to be sent to every active registered voter. If passed, Vermont would be the sixth state in the nation to adopt this policy.  

“The ACLU is combating legislation to suppress the right to vote in state legislatures, while at the same time advocating for policies that will expand access to the ballot. We need no-excuse absentee voting, same day registration, automatic voter registration, and access to in-person early voting for every eligible voter. We won’t stop fighting until every eligible voter can cast their ballot. Let people vote!”

THREE STUDENTS FROM SAME KNOXVILLE HIGH SCHOOL WERE SHOT ALREADY THIS YEAR. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (4/8) signed into law a so-called “constitutional carry” bill, which gave every Tennesseean the right to carry a firearm without a permit. Lee celebrated the new law with all the cheap bunting rhetoric that always attends such ceremonies, Charles P. Pierce noted at Esquire.tcom (4/12).

“I signed constitutional carry today because it shouldn’t be hard for law-abiding Tennesseans to exercise their #2A rights. Thank you members of the General Assembly and @NRA for helping get this done.”

Four days after Lee freed Tennesseans from the jackboots of permit tyranny, there was another unfortunate exercise of those Second Amendment freedoms, this one at a Tennessee high school. From WVLT (4/12):

“The Knoxville Police Department confirmed one person is dead following a shooting at Austin-East High School Monday afternoon. Police said there are multiple gunshot victims including an officer following a shooting at Austin-East Monday afternoon … One male was pronounced dead at the scene, while another was detained for further investigation. There are no other known gunshot victims at this time, according to KPD. The officer who was shot is in stable condition, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. He is currently awaiting surgery.”

“And this detail makes me absolutely furious,” Pierce said, via the *Chattanooga Times Free Press*:

“The school was the subject of media reports in February after three students were shot to death over a three-week span. Those earlier shootings did not take place in the school, and administrators at the time said students felt the arts magnet school was a safe space, according to a story in the Knoxville News Sentinel.”

“Why didn’t I know about those gun deaths?” Pierce wondered. “Three students from the same school in three weeks? But there’s video of the shooting at that same school, so I know about that one.”

And Governor Lee? Well, he’s got Jesus on the mainline.

“Gov. Bill Lee mentioned the shooting at a news conference but said he had little information. ‘I just wanted to make reference to that and ask, for those who are watching, online or otherwise, to pray for that situation and for the families and the victims that might be affected by that in our state,’ he said … When asked earlier this year whether recent mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado and others gave him any concern about timing, Lee has previously said the increased penalties mean that ‘we in fact will be strengthening laws that would help prevent gun crimes in the future.’”

Good luck with that.

CONGRESS ALLOCATED $19B IN STIMULUS MONEY TO TEXAS PUBLIC ED, BUT SCHOOLS HAVE YET TO SEE AN EXTRA DIME. For more than a year, the federal government has been pumping billions of dollars into school districts across the country to help them meet the demands of the pandemic. Most states have used that pot of stimulus funds as Congress intended: buying personal protective equipment for students and teachers, laptops for kids learning from home, improved ventilation systems for school buildings to prevent virus transmission and covering other costs.

But in Texas, local schools have yet to see an extra dime from the more than $19 billion in federal stimulus money given to the state, Duncan Agnew reports at TexasTribune (4/8). After Congress passed the first stimulus bill last year, officials used the state’s $1.3 billion education share to fill other holes in the state budget, leaving public schools with few additional resources to pay for the costs of the pandemic.

Now, educators and advocacy groups worry that the state could do the same thing with the remaining $17.9 billion in funding for Texas public schools from the other two stimulus packages. Because of federal requirements, Texas has to invest over $1 billion of the state’s own budget in higher education to receive the third round of stimulus funding for K-12 public schools. Experts said the state has applied for a waiver to avoid sending that added money to higher education, but the process has caused major delays in local districts receiving funds they desperately need.

IOWA NEARS 60% OF POWER FROM WIND TURBINES. Remember how Texas Republican leaders claimed wind turbines don’t work in winter and tried to blame the collapse of their power grid on them?

The Des Moines Register reported that last year Iowa (which is often quite a bit colder than Texas, and subject to blizzards, ice storms, brutal subzero cold snaps, and other similar winter weather one finds in the upper Midwest in the winter) garnered nearly 60% of is energy from wind turbines and substantially increased the number of turbines functioning in that state, “Witgren” noted at DailyKos (4/9).

Iowa now approaches 5,900 working wind turbines supplying power for the state, having brought 540 new turbines online last year.

In 2019, the state’s wind power generations supplied 44% of its needs, so the increase in 2020 represents a significant increase.

MidAmerican Energy, the state’s largest energy provider, reports that wind power currently accounts for more than 80% of its energy — again, a substantial increase over 2019 when it accounted for 61% of the utility’s output.

Wind power is the biggest source of renewable energy in the state, though there are other sources, including three hydroelectric plants in Southeast Iowa, the largest of which at Keokuk is more than a century old and accounts for about 142 Mw of production. The state also gets a small amount of energy from biomass. Solar power is largely by individual home and business installations, though projects are underway for solar farms near the Minnesota border that anticipates providing 750 Mw, and a 100 Mw facility in Wapello near the southeastern border.

Iowa used to have a single operating nuclear facility in Linn County, in eastern Iowa, but it was decommissioned last year. That site will be turned into part of a solar farm that is expected to come online by the end of 2023. The solar farm will provide more energy than the nuclear plant did — the solar facility is proposed to provide 690 Mw, while the former nuclear plant provided 615 Mw.  

In other Iowa energy news, the coal-fired plant in Lansing, Iowa, is being decommissioned, a process that will be completed by the end of next year) and another coal plant in Burlington is being converted to natural gas. Alliant Energy, owner of the Lansing and Burlington plants, has announced plans to develop 400 Mw of solar energy. Alliant has committed to a goal of zero coal energy production by 2040. At this point, the utility owns only one remaining coal-fired plant in Iowa, and co-owns another coal plant with MidAmerican Energy.

Two more small coal plants in Linn County are targeted to be decommissioned by 2025.

The Register notes there is growing resistance in some areas to wind farms, with claims of negative health and aesthetic impacts. Some jurisdictions have increased required setbacks or put other restrictions on siting and building wind farms in the state. But plenty of farmers are discovering that allowing turbines to be sited on their properties is an attractive additional cash flow — to the tune of around $30 million in lease money — with little to no effort on their part.

In a sidebar — since 2008, Iowa has produced more energy than it uses, and roughly one-third of the state’s energy production is exported to neighboring states. Witgren noted, “that’s why (I’m looking at YOU, Texas) being part of a larger grid is so important — you can generate the power and move it around to where it’s needed, when it’s needed. And that’s why we need to move on upgrading our grid to make that shuffling of energy around easier and more efficient.”

From The Progressive Populist, May 1, 2021

Populist.com