Even a broken clock, etc. 

Monday, April 12, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA


** -John Cornyn (quoting Politico) ([link removed]) , thirsting for deranged presidential tweets
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In a uniquely degrading weekend for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, hundreds of companies ignored his threatening demands to stay out of politics, while the GOP’s most influential donors flocked to Mar-a-Lago to watch Donald Trump call him names. You hate to see it.

* More than 100 CEOs and corporate leaders gathered over Zoom on Saturday to discuss potential actions ([link removed]) against voter-suppression legislation, including halting donations to GOP lawmakers who support the bills and delaying investments in states that pass the measures. That meeting came days after McConnell warned corporations ([link removed]) to shut the fuck up, or else. The participants didn’t come to any final decisions, but a number of companies will reportedly release a joint statement ([link removed]) sometime this week.

* In Georgia, the economic fallout of the state’s new anti-voting law continues: Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua announced on Monday that they will move the upcoming production ([link removed]) of their film Emancipation out of Georgia in protest. That’s the first film to pull out of the state, and it could mark the start of a larger Hollywood exodus—though some progressives including Stacey Abrams have been urging productions to stay put ([link removed]) .

* Meanwhile, disgraced former president Donald Trump reasserted his position at the rotten center of the Republican Party over the weekend, repeating the election lies ([link removed]) that have animated hundreds of voter-suppression proposals to an audience of GOP donors, lawmakers, and elected officials at the RNC’s spring meeting. In the process, Trump railed against McConnell for not helping him overturn the election, calling him a “stone cold loser” and a “dumb son of a bitch.” (Even a broken clock, etc.)

Republican reactions to the tirade have been mixed—but, like, barely.

* Some donors left the event early, and told reporters ([link removed]) that Trump’s speech sucked. But on Monday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) proudly announced ([link removed]) that its chairman, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), had presented Trump with a shiny little bowl as a made-up award—on top of the $100,000 that the Republican Party paid Trump’s club for the privilege of subjecting donors to Grievance Night. Also on Monday, Nikki Haley—who condemned Trump ([link removed]) after the January 6 insurrection—said that she would support Trump’s candidacy ([link removed]) if he decided to run for president in 2024.
Okay!

* Amid the familiar cycle of toxic lies and party-wide shrugs, an important new detail of the January 6 insurrection came to light. An internal Pentagon document reveals that while then-Vice President Mike Pence was hiding in a secure room during the attack, he called then-acting then-Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and urged him to “clear the Capitol.” ([link removed]) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made similar pleas, but troops didn't arrive until hours later—long after the Pentagon had sent security forces to guard the homes of defense leaders.


The rancor between Trump and McConnell might be a source of tension for the GOP, but in memory-holing the attempted coup and using Trump’s false fraud claims to attack voting rights, the party has both signaled its loyalties and set the stage for the next Donald Trump—who could very well be...Donald Trump. There’s one way to stop that party from cheating back into power, and it’s not press releases from multinational corporations: votesaveamerica.com/forthepeople ([link removed]) .

Let’s get those antibodies into a body of water. Vaccine availability is expanding, and if we work together to get our communities vaccinated, we’ll be setting out of office emails and meeting up IRL in time for pool season.

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A police officer in Brooklyn Center, MN, fatally shot 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright after a traffic stop on Sunday ([link removed]) , sparking a night of protests and rioting around Minneapolis. Police said they found that Wright had an outstanding warrant after pulling him over for a traffic violation—specifically, an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror, according to Wright’s mother. One of the officers shot Wright as he tried to get back into his car. The police chief said on Monday that the officer had accidentally fired her gun instead of her Taser; in body camera footage, the officer can be heard shouting “Taser, Taser!” during the arrest, followed by, “Holy shit, I shot him.” Wright was killed just 10 miles away from the courtroom where Derek Chauvin stands trial for murdering George Floyd, and Minneapolis was already on edge. Protestors clashed with police on Sunday night, President Biden has called for “peace
and calm,” ([link removed]) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has issued a Monday night curfew for the Twin Cities area.
* One person was killed and a police officer was injured in a shooting ([link removed]) at a high school ([link removed]) in Knoxville, TN, on Monday. Authorities said no one else was hurt, and one person had been detained.

* CDC Director Rochelle Walensky urged Michigan to “shut things down,” ([link removed]) in response to a request from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) for more vaccine doses amid a continuing coronavirus surge.

* The CDC is keeping an eye on the tiny percentage of people who test positive for coronavirus after getting vaccinated ([link removed]) . A small number of post-vax cases was always expected and is no cause for alarm on its own, but in the (presently unlikely) event that the virus mutates into a variant that escapes current vaccines, health officials need to know about it.

* President Biden will nominate Tucson, AZ, Police Chief Chris Magnus ([link removed]) , a critic of Trump’s anti-immigration policies, to lead Customs and Border Protection. Biden has selected former New Jersey attorney general Anne Milgram, a criminal justice reform advocate, to lead the DEA ([link removed]) .

* State Rep. Mark Finchem (R-AZ), a QAnon adherent who helped lead the Stop the Steal movement, has launched a campaign to be Arizona’s next secretary of state ([link removed]) . Seems like something to avoid!

* Virginia officials have fired a police officer who pepper sprayed a Black Army lieutenant ([link removed]) during a December traffic stop, after the footage went viral over the weekend—a mere 18 weeks later.

* Iran has vowed revenge against Israel for an attack on an Iranian nuclear enrichment site ([link removed]) , which could complicate U.S-Iran talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement just a titch.

* Myanmar’s military has killed more than 700 civilians since the February 1 coup ([link removed]) , according to a new report from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Security forces killed at least 82 people during anti-coup protests in the town of Bago on Friday.

* Former Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) is expected to launch a bid for North Carolina’s open Senate seat this week ([link removed]) , offering North Carolina voters a tantalizing opportunity to reject him once again.

* Today in Smart Public Health Initiatives That Also Function as Solid Burns, the White House will air vaccination PSAs on Country Music TV and The Deadliest Catch ([link removed]) to reach vaccine-hesitant conservatives.

The Supreme Court blocked California’s coronavirus restrictions from applying to religious gatherings on Friday ([link removed]) , adding to a string of SCOTUS victories for religious conservatives ([link removed]) made possible by the rushed, pre-election confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. For the last 30 years, the Supreme Court has held that as long as a certain law applies equally to everyone regardless of their religion (or lack thereof), then religious people don’t get special exemptions. In Tandon v. Newsom, the Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that California couldn’t enforce a rule limiting both religious and non-religious gatherings in homes to no more than three households, effectively overturning that precedent to give religious conservatives immunity from the
law—even when people could die as a result. Not the greatest.
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The NCAA ([link removed]) released a statement of support for trans athletes, saying it won’t hold college championships in states with anti-trans laws.

The U.S. ([link removed]) set a new single-day vaccination record of 4.6 million shots on Saturday. As of today, 46 percent of adults ([link removed]) have received at least one dose.

Maryland lawmakers ([link removed]) have approved a sweeping police reform package, overriding the veto of Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD).

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) ([link removed]) has signed legislation legalizing recreational marijuana, making New Mexico the seventh state to do so since November.
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