How the mighty have Falwellen.

Friday, April 16, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA


** -Louie Gohmert ([link removed]) , doing his darndest to defend Matt Gaetz
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The White House has announced ([link removed]) that President Biden will set an increased refugee cap for this year by May 15, after his apparent decision to leave an unacceptably low cap in place set off a firestorm of criticism and earned an approving nod from, uh, Stephen Miller ([link removed]) .

* On Friday, Biden signed a directive ([link removed]) to change Trump-era allocation limits that disqualified most Muslim and African refugees, but left in place ([link removed]) Donald Trump’s historically low admissions level of 15,000 refugees per year. That sure looked like a reversal from the pledge he made in February, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress that the administration planned to raise the refugee cap to 62,500 for the current fiscal year ending September 30, and to 125,000 for the next year.

* Progressives and human rights advocates immediately hit the roof. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), co-chair of the progressive caucus, released a statement ([link removed]) calling Biden’s evident decision “simply unacceptable and unconscionable.” Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said ([link removed]) it was “incredibly disappointing. The U.S. is the most powerful nation in the world and we can’t do better?”

* Democrats had put increasing pressure on Biden to hurry up and make the new cap official, as the White House continued to insist that it was a top priority. Last week, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit released a report ([link removed]) showing that Biden was on track to accept even fewer refugees than Trump, drawing additional attention to the mysterious delay. Earlier on Friday, a group of House Democrats led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) sent a letter urging Biden to get on with it ([link removed]) , and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued her own nudge ([link removed]) on Thursday.

The delay itself has already had troubling consequences, and the Biden administration hasn’t offered up any justification for it.

* By the beginning of April, the administration had resettled just 2,050 refugees for the year. In the absence of a signed directive finalizing the increased cap, hundreds of refugees who sold off their belongings in preparation to come to the U.S. have had their flights canceled ([link removed]) at the last minute. Many refugees have been worried that the security and health clearances they need to board their flights will expire.

* Senior administration officials have leaked to reporters ([link removed]) that the HHS refugee office has been overwhelmed by asylum-seekers crossing the border, though in theory those are two completely separate systems. Others have speculated that Biden’s concerned about the political optics ([link removed]) amid bad-faith GOP attacks on his immigration policies. It’s also possible that he looked at some polls: Biden has made clear that he’s focused on enacting a popular, unifying agenda, and aiding refugees just isn’t a top priority ([link removed]) for a broad swath of Americans—it simply happens to be the undeniably right thing to do.



On the one hand, Biden’s determination to accomplish a bunch of popular stuff has already done Americans a world of good, and they’re noticing: Biden’s approval rating has risen to 59 percent ([link removed]) . The danger is that less-popular moral imperatives will be left behind on the to-do list, but if Friday’s rollercoaster was any indication, it’s not likely to happen quietly.

On a new ALL CAPS NBA, Jason Concepcion breaks down Kevin Durant's Twitter feud with Shannon Sharpe over journalistic standards and fake content, introduces Stay In Your Line, and give a shout out to the Orlando Magic’s social media team, who have so much room to learn and grow. Watch now → youtube.com/takelineshow ([link removed])
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A 19-year-old gunman shot and killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Thursday night ([link removed]) , and wounded several others before taking his own life. The gunman was a former employee of the facility, and his mother warned law enforcement officials ([link removed]) last year that he might try to commit “suicide by cop.” The authorities put him on an “immediate detention mental health temporary hold,” according to the FBI, and confiscated a shotgun that was not returned. It’s not yet clear when or how he got his hands on a rifle, but Indiana doesn’t require a background check ([link removed]) , training, or a permit to carry one, so not too much mystery there. Thursday marked the third mass shooting in Indianapolis this year, and at least the 45th
([link removed]) mass shooting for the U.S. in the last month. President Biden has renewed his calls for Congress to pass gun-control legislation, which will not happen until Senate Democrats end the filibuster.
* A founding member of the Oath Keepers has pleaded guilty ([link removed]) to two insurrection-related felonies and agreed to cooperate against others in the case, the first Capitol rioter known to have flipped.

* The CDC advisory committee will meet again next Friday ([link removed]) to discuss the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and potentially issue a recommendation, meaning the pause will last at least another week.

* The Biden administration will spend $1.7 billion to better track coronavirus variants ([link removed]) , with the first tranche of money going to boost states’' genomic sequencing of virus samples.

* An America First Caucus tied to Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) ([link removed]) has put out a call for members who are horny for “uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and a return to architecture that “befits the progeny of European architecture.” Seems bad! Greene was also one of two QAnon monsters ([link removed]) to vote against reauthorizing the National Marrow Donor Program, awakening the fiercest wrath of political newsletter writers ([link removed]) .

* Florida lawmakers have approved an anti-protest bill ([link removed]) that would give law enforcement more leeway to detain and charge protesters, prevent them from immediately posting bail, and allow officials to appeal if a municipality reduces its police budget.

* The Arizona Senate hired a cybersecurity CEO who had tweeted out voter fraud-conspiracy theories ([link removed]) to lead the GOP-backed recount of millions of ballots in Maricopa County.

* Simon & Schuster backed away from distributing Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly's book ([link removed]) , claiming to have just found out about it yesterday. How were they to know that Post Hill Press, a client whose other authors include Matt Gaetz, Dan Bongino, and Laura Loomer, had inked a deal with some kind of unsavory psychopath?

* Liberty University has sued Jerry Falwell Jr. for $10 million ([link removed]) , alleging that Falwell should have informed the board of trustees that he and his wife were in a throuple with a young pool attendant when he was negotiating a new contract.

* The Defense Department has confirmed that some leaked videos of UFOs are real ([link removed]) , which means it is once again time to stare at blurry footage of a moving blob and say softly, "well...huh."

Special-operations forces have been radicalizing each other with conspiracy theories in private Facebook groups ([link removed]) , which doesn’t seem like the best scenario. NBC News reporters found their way into forums for current and former Rangers, Green Beret, and other elite forces, where they found the most lethally trained members of the U.S. military sharing misinformation about a “stolen” 2020 election, violent criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement, and QAnon conspiracies. In the wake of January 6, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has outlined new initiatives to combat extremism in the military (earning him some racist scorn in these Facebook groups), and the FBI has been investigating active-duty troops and reservists as part of its probe into the attack. Might be cool to start with the ones who are extraordinarily good at combat?
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The U.S. ([link removed]) has administered 200 million vaccine doses! Friday was another four million shot day ([link removed]) , and all adults in the country will be eligible as of Monday.

The Celebs ([link removed]) will join Joe Biden and Barack Obama for a pro-vaccination TV special on Sunday evening.

A new study ([link removed]) found that a gun violence reduction program in Stockton, CA, contributed to a 20 percent drop in gun homicides, and saved taxpayers many millions of dollars.

The Atlanta school board ([link removed]) has voted to remove the name of a Confederate general and KKK grand wizard (oof) from a public school, and rename it in honor of baseball legend Hank Aaron.
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