Hero rat: 1, Stephen Breyer: 0

Friday, June 4, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS, BRIAN BEUTLER, & CROOKED MEDIA


** -Mike Pence ([link removed]) , on the man who sent a mob to murder him
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The good news is that all the pent-up post-pandemic demand in the country is starting to translate into rapid labor-market and wage growth. The bad news is that this is the only good news on the horizon.

* The economy added an estimated 559,000 jobs in May, according to the Department of Labor’s monthly employment report ([link removed]) , bringing the unemployment rate down from 6.1 to 5.8 percent. That’s about double what in normal economic times we’d call good jobs numbers, and juuust about where we want to be to recreate the millions of jobs the economy lost during the Trump administration. It’s also up from the revised 278,000 jobs the economy added in April, which means if we’re experiencing a trend in growth (not a safe assumption!) then the economy will be roaring through the summer.

* Under the hood, there are more good signs. Over the last two months, wages grew at a nominal annual rate of 7.4 percent, many times the rate at which they were projected to grow. According to former Council of Economic Advisers chair Jason Furman ([link removed]) , this is the fastest private-sector wage growth in recorded history, though he cautioned that if inflation also climbed (we don’t know if it did yet) it would nibble away at those higher wages.

* President Biden touted the figures at a press event in Rehoboth, DE. He contrasted them with the dreadful situation he inherited from President Trump, and attributed them to his administration’s success controlling COVID-19 and implementing the American Rescue Plan. But he noted that progress could falter unless Congress passes his jobs and families plan. “Now is the time to build on the foundation we’ve laid,” he said ([link removed]) . “Because while progress is undeniable it is not assured.”

Unfortunately for Biden and the rest of us, there’s a houseboat captain who says he’d prefer a stalled economic recovery and an authoritarian takeover, and all the misery that would entail, to a prosperous future that makes Senate Republicans sad.

* In a rare dry-land interview, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-S.S. MINNOW) told NBC’s Garrett Haake ([link removed]) , “right now, basically we need to be bipartisan,” effectively empowering Republicans to wreck the Biden presidency, and added that doing anything to stop the state-level GOP assault on democracy would be a “disaster waiting to happen.” Remember folks, the only thing worse than the end of democracy is doing anything at all to defend it.

* Meanwhile that onslaught keeps slaughting. On Friday, Disgraced former president Donald Trump demanded ([link removed]) that Pennsylvania Republicans conduct a disinformation stunt with ballots and voting machines along the lines of the one still underway in Arizona, implicitly threatening to campaign against Republicans who concede that he lost the 2020 election. And now we all wait on tenterhooks to see how explicitly he tries to incite further insurrection when he addresses the North Carolina GOP tomorrow night.


A robust economic recovery is nothing to sneeze at. Democrats should proudly claim credit for it if we get one, and it would go a long way toward helping them hold on to Congress next year. But it probably won’t be enough if they do nothing to stop the antidemocratic headwinds blowing in all of our faces, and right now that seems to be the plan.

This week on ALL CAPS NBA: Mina Kimes, “the Spike Lee of the Brooklyn Nets,” joins the show to explain why it's not worth it to become a Knicks fan. Jason Concepcion reacts to the New York’s playoff exit, with conclusive words for Julius Randle, Tom Thibodeau & Derrick Rose. Miss J Alexander of America’s Next Top Model critiques the sheik of Foul Bae (NBA referee David Guthrie) who is working the camera unlike any of his contemporaries. All that and more on an all-new ALL CAPS NBA → youtube.com/takelineshow ([link removed])
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Facebook said on Friday that it will keep Donald Trump’s suspension in place for two years ([link removed]) , after Facebook’s [DEL: Court of Deflected Responsibility :DEL] Oversight Board ruled that the ban couldn’t be indefinite. Trump will regain his posting privileges just in time for the next election only “if the risk to public safety has receded,” based on unspecified but surely foolproof metrics. Facebook laid out a new policy of time-bound suspensions for public figures who violate content rules during times of civil unrest, with Trump’s two-year suspension representing the harshest punishment. The company will also no longer automatically exempt public figures from its hate-speech rules, and when it makes exceptions (lol), it will disclose them publicly. Facebook did not commit to complying with the Oversight Board’s other recommendation that it publish a full accounting of its own role in fomenting an
insurrection, and will instead launch a partnership with outside academic researchers. In response to the announcement, Trump has disinvited Mark Zuckerberg ([link removed]) from all future White House dinners.
* CDC Director Rochelle Walensky sounded the alarm about a new study that found increased hospitalization rates of teenage coronavirus patients in March and April ([link removed]) , and urged parents to vaccinate their teens.

* Former White House counsel Don McGahn testified before the House Judiciary Committee ([link removed]) about Donald Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation, in a closed-door session that only took a two-year court battle and a new presidential administration for House Democrats to arrange.

* The Justice Department plans to start treating ransomware attacks like terrorism ([link removed]) , so get ready to throw out any liquids larger than 3.4 oz before you do any coding. The Biden administration is also considering offensive cyber operations ([link removed]) against hackers in Russia.

* Texas GOP Chair Allen West abruptly resigned on Friday ([link removed]) , setting up a potential gubernatorial run and apparently leaving the state GOP in shambles ([link removed]) . You hate to see it.

* This is a useful (and horrifying) rundown of the flood of far-right, culture-war legislation ([link removed]) that GOP-controlled states have been aggressively pursuing, and the combination of fear and redistricting-induced-confidence that’s driving it.

* At least one-tenth of the world's giant sequoia trees were wiped out in a single California wildfire last year ([link removed]) , according to a new report by scientists with the National Park Service.

* U.S. intelligence officials have found no evidence that the UFOs spotted by Navy pilots belong to aliens ([link removed]) , but also couldn’t rule it out, according to a new report. Aliens it is.

* Magawa, a celebrated hero rat who sniffed out 71 landmines in Cambodia, will retire at the end of June ([link removed]) . Your move, Stephen Breyer.

A bizarre new far-right digital platform geared towards Latinos launched quietly one week before Election Day 2020 ([link removed]) , and has been rapidly building an audience. El American, which strives to be “Fox News meets The Daily Wire for Latinos” and says its mission is to “save America from the barbarians,” publishes bilingual right-wing content that’s frequently focused on hyping up Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). The founders have set a goal to reach seven-million monthly site visitors within a year, and may very well be on track to meet it. Given the proven success of similar garbage on Facebook, and Republicans’ aggressive efforts to win over Latino voters with fear-mongering and disinformation, seems like something to keep an eye on!
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At least a dozen states ([link removed]) have vaccinated 70 percent of their adult populations.

New Jersey lawmakers ([link removed]) have approved a bill that bars landlords from asking about past convictions on housing applications.

Connecticut ([link removed]) is poised to become the first state to make prison phone calls free.

The FDA ([link removed]) has agreed to conduct a review of its restrictions on mifepristone, a medication used for early abortion and miscarriage care.
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